“Yes, you were.” He sighed and shook his head.

“The last sacrifice … she was my wife, your sister ...”

Kurt fell silent for a moment letting that sink in. He surmised that Sigfried was the larger one and Gustav the one in the hall. He had yet to meet Sabin though he wondered about matters. If Sabin had his own Master then this was only the tip of the iceburg. And if Sabin's Master had a Master or something else … Christ … looks like we fucked this one up. Sabin's crew was the immediate threat though this is unlike typical vampiric behavior that it blind sided me.

“I thought that we would have an easy time of it, that the Master or in this case Sabin, was in charge of it all and could be dealt with.”

I blinked, my mouth hanging open.

"You are my brother in law?!" I exclaimed. "What were you thinking... What was I thinking?!"

I started to pace, gesculating wildly in frustration. Not a single thing he said rang false... although at the same time none of it rang true either. It really felt like I was being dumped on, information that I wasn't prepared or willing to deal with properly! On top of that if I was understanding him correctly the moment this Serum ran out then I was going to end up batshit insane again.

Joy.

At least I was sane for now I suppose. It was a little troubling though, to be told so much information that I felt should make me cry but it didn't latch into my emotions at all. It was like being told about someone elses life. Worse, because even then I would care... But I couldn't. Instead I turned back to Kurt.

"Look. Assuming everything you've told me is correct then I think your best plan would be to cut and run. I can't, and since, from what you tell me i'm likely to lose my marbles within a couple of days. And no, I can't help you. Its all I can do to survive myself! My only other advice is if you can't figure out a way to get the hell out of here, talk to Sabin and get a deal. Offer to help against his master - that way everyone is happy. You survive, and Sabin gets what he wants."

“I suppose that we were both caught up in grief,” Kurt answered. “You weren't in the best state of mind, not insane, but not well either. I didn't expect to get any assistance from you though I suppose if he is willing dealing with Sabin's master is a small constalation. I doubt that I would manage to get all too far if I do escape from here.

“I've dealt with vampires before, I went from village to village, town to town hired by the locals to deal with their problems … ironic that this would happen when your sister went back home to visit family.”

He shook his head. “What do you intend to do?”

I felt like I wanted to punch something out of frustration. All this information and I felt nothing. Aside, ironically, from the frustration of not feeling anything!

"I will leave and see if I can get Sabin to talk with you before Gustav or Sigfried decide to do something a little too permanant to you. I can't to anything directly as I have a... deal with Sabin. Its the single thing that is keeping me alive in this place and if i jepodise that then..." A image of Sigfrieds face drifted in front of my eyes, full of lust

"Well... Lets say I'll live long enough to regret it, and not much longer."

I almost turned to leave but another question popped into my mind "What do you know about the fact they can't dominate me with their eye-trick?"

I was curious to know if he knew anything. It was no secret after all, as Gustav had already mentioned the fact earlier.

(nice pic)

“I appreciate that,” Kurt said, options weren't so open to him right now. “I understand that you have to do what you must.” He did consider what sort of deal she might have made and didn't know whether or not to be saddened by the fact that she needed this deal to survive or happy that she had some manner of protection.

He also considered what sort of consequences that she might be put through though he was still in the process of thinking about that as she turned to go but stopped shy of the door and asked him another question.

Kurt blinked, a bit confused though Gustav had already mentioned the fact that he could not dominate her but it was more the suddeness of the question that confused him for a moment at least.

“I don't know … that one is news to me, Anne. I … we … suspected that they could do it to you and hence why you took the serum. If you didn't know anything, they could learn much. I am baffled a little about that, have they mentioned a reason why? Ther may be some lore I've picked up that might be helpful if I'm pointed in the right direction.

I stepped away from the door, turning back to Kurt. Perhaps he did have a different take on this.

"Well... According to Sabin i'm a direct descendant of Vlad the impaler, or Dracula or whoever he was. What do you think it means?"

I deliberately left out what Sabin had told me. Not because I wanted to keep it to myself, but simply I wanted another persons input and if this Kurt (My brother-in-law?! Still couldn't wrap my head around that!) was a vampire hunter then perhaps he knew more than Sabin? Or at least different information and I didn't want him to get distracted by what I had been told.

Kurt thought for a moment. He looked at her in disbelief.

“Vlad's descentant!” He snorted, not really thinking she was serious until he noted the look in her eyes and considered how this could be a factor.

“Well there are stories … the blood of Vlad is powerful. He is the scion of the entire species after all and no vampire can turn against their master, at least not directly. Nor can he or she use their powers against a supior so your buddy in the hall for instance couldn't dominate Sabin. Conversely, and this is but a theory here, I suspect he wouldn't be able to affect his Master's Master.

“The blood of Vlad sort of superceeds all vampires since Vlad was the first I guess you are sort of a Master, the original or as close to the original as possible so that blood protects you … and I don't see any puncture wounds so the stories may even be true ...”

Kurt gave it a bit of thought. “Your blood is like a poison to them I suspect, otherwise I don't see why they would not have drunk you dry or turned you already.” Kurt of course had not known about her deal. Perhaps she still could be turned, at least Sabin had eluded to it … so either it was possible or Sabin didn't realize that her blood would effectively poison her so who was right?

“The is a bit of lore about Vlad, about Dracula that I wouldn't know what is real and what is not since so much of it contradicts one another.”

I was silent for a moment as I processed this. So.. techinically I was immune as I was all of their elders? But of course without the vampire element that meant that I had no way of using it on them...

For a moment I wondered if Sabin was partly wrong, and if he /did/ turn me then I would actually "outrank" him, and thus could control him?

The thought was interesting and I wondered if I could use that as a bargaining chip. It was certainly not something I would mention though, as it might just encourage him to kill me instead!

Forcing my mind back to the present I nodded to Kurt.

"Thank you. Although, I don't think you are right about my blood being poision.. I'm merely unusual enough and quite possibly lucky enough for them to have let me alone for now... Also, if I have this blood then so did my sister and they are still alive..."

I grimanced at the thought. Not because apparently she had died here, but the fact that no matter how I tried I still couldn't feel /anything/. It was a decidedly unpleasent feeling.

Kurt consider that. It made sense that the folklore was wrong about her blood being poisonous. It would be likely that the vampires would be more cautious if one of their own died. She was probably used as a plaything then drank dried …

He shuddered at that thought though he did not possess the same sort of knowledge that Anne had. Vlad's blood may indeed allow her to shrug off the natural order of things, awakening her so to speak and allowing her to shrug off these comands. Surely, Vlad nor his blood would be subjected to domination …

She considered her thoughts for a moment and how best to use it. Of course it was a gamble but there was evidence that this might be the case …

Of course, if this was true the Sabin knew not of it or there may have been vampiric legends concerning the blood … but why risk turning her at all if that was the case unless … unless perhaps he was to awaken something darker in her soul by doing so. Then again, perhaps none of the vampires believed in it, just as adults stopped believing in Santa Claus.

Still, the idea was out there for her to explore further and it was up to her what she did in the long run when armed with this knowledge. Still it seemed that she needed a little more to get a better understanding of things first, that is, if she had enough time.

As it was apparent there was nothing more to say, I smiled at Kurt and turned, opening the door to see exactly where Gustav had been standing. I was rather expecting him to literally have his ear to the door and it would have been nice to catch him in a compromising position. Still, I had some questions for him, and for Sabin.

However I found him I was going to ask what he planned for next. After all, there was so much going on! Vampire hunters, plots against elders, my brother in law and me being a little crazy with no memory... And from what he just said, not entirely certain I wanted my memory back any time soon! Going crazy didn't really appeal to me!

But it was still my memory though and it would be nice to know who I was from my own thoughts rather than from someone elses.

Gustav wasn't at the door. He must have been confident that their little conversation had not mattered or that he could easily get the results of it through dominating their recent “guest” so he was closer to the end of the hall though he approached as she exited the room.

When he had arrived he said nothing at first though he locked the door of the cell before turning his attention to her.

Could he discern the gamut of emotions there?

He studied her for just a moemt before making a sweeping gesture with his arm telling her to follow going back the way they had came.

“I suppose you want to speak with Master now?” He questioned as he brought those brillant eyes of his back upon her.

I smiled, my lips creasing into a amused grin at his words. It was odd, the more exposure I got to these Vampires the less I was afraid of them. I certainly hadn't forgotten the simple fact that they could break me into small splinters of blood and bone with very little effort but.. since Sabin, and then Gustav himself acceding to my... well... demands my confidence had taken a huge boost.

"Yes please Gustav" I replied.

As we walked, I asked him a question "Why didn't you dominate Kurt at the beginning? Why did you even bother to introduce us? And what will happen to him?"

He walked along with her. She had seemed more comfortable in his presence though he attributed that to the fact that Sigried was no longer around. He brought her along the path that they had come as he escorted her along his hands dipping behind his back folding into one another.

“Oh, I did not discover him, Sig did and while he can dominate if he wishes he tends to be more brutish. I needed to introduce you to him so he would have a point of reference to you though it was likely that he would have realized who you were I felt that I would not take the change and get all the required information I needed to bring Sabin up to speed as soon as possible though I am sure that you will appraise him of the situation when you see him.”

Back upstairs they went, crossing a lavish foyer then ascended the stairs to the master bedroom.

“It is not my place to decide what happens to him, I merely carry out Master's wishes so it is his decision, hence why Sig hasn't killed him yet as he longs to do.”

As we walked towards the master bedroom I asked another question.

"What do you do on a day to day basis? What are your duties?"

It was an old adage, "Know thy enemy" but one that seemed somehow appoiate. The more they told me the more I realised that these creatures obeyed a very strict set of rules and it was interesting... and troubling although I couldn't say why.

The question caught him off guard. It wasn't often that the “guests” wanted to know about him though he quickly appraise the situation searching for a hidden angel. What was she hoping to get out of this?

The answere was harmless of course, though he doubted that she was simply curious as to what it was that he did around here but he could not see the answer as hurting his position any or strengthening her own if push came to shove.

“The prime duty of course is to obey the words of the Master. But Daffney is responsible for most of the cleaning and Sig is called in when something needs to be found or tracked down but I am more a people person so to speak. I get things for the Master that he seeks me to fetch from a rare hirlom to theater tickets and see that he is not disturbed by the trival things in running the manor. Dealing with the txes for instance, entertaining some of the guests but over seeing his security for the most part and the security of this estate.

“In my roll of fetching things I ofen fin myself paired up with Sig and retrieving sacrifices from the town for the Master … so I do a little of this and that. Sig is usually here for security reasons. He's not the greatest with inter personal skills as you know and likes to pummel and destroy things so we ususally leave him in positions where he has a chance to carry out these wishes for the most part or cast him in situations that feeds his violence.”