The days and weeks after Stoker presented me with his latest, awful theory, followed each other in an unpredictable manner. They either flew by too fast, or dragged too slow, making me often lose the sense of how much time had really passed.

Waking up in the mornings, I never knew how my day would be. Sometimes I got up filled with optimism, impatient to return to Bran, feeling certain that everything would go well, and the day would pass away in no time. Other times I only forced myself out of the bed when Aurora insisted on being fed, feeling anxious, nervous and insecure, and the mere twenty four hours would feel like a week.

But Lucas and Lia were always there by my side, pulling me through when I thought I couldn't walk alone any farther.

Not only Stoker's words, but even my encounter with Viorel changed my life in some ways-- I never wished to walk outside alone anymore, not even just to take Aurora for a walk around the pond in broad daylight, where there were Luigi and Veronica watching over us through the windows of their restaurant. I felt followed and observed day and night, and even scared when I realised that Viorel and his friends must have been watching me constantly even before, waiting in the shadows for the best occasion to approach me, even though I never noticed them.

Stoker, most probably following Lia's advice, avoided me for a while, then he was suddenly back as if nothing had passed. However, no more new theories reached my ears and slowly, very slowly my life shifted back to its previous normalcy, and I started getting ready for the journey to Bran.

"What are you up to?" Lia asked as she reached me in the kitchen where I sat at the dining table alone, on a sunny but chilly October morning, two days before our trip.

Most of the things for the journey were planned and organized, the plane tickets were booked, the rooms in the small hotel in Bran village also-- I kept in touch with Alina as I had promised when Aurora was born, and now she was well informed about my plans, and impatient to meet the little one.

I still needed to pack, which wouldn't be easy having in mind how many things I'd need to carry only for Aurora, and write letters I meant to leave behind, for Lia, Lucas, and Mum, just in case...

Banishing the unpleasant thought, I looked up at Lia who stood above me, noticing Stoker's arm wrapped around her waist from behind. I had to admit, they were a great, inseparable couple.

"Lucas took Aurora to Luigi's, Veronica asked to have her this morning." I said, smiling at the two. "At least we can do our sword practice undisturbed for once."

"Oh, right, I forgot that you took the whole week off, lucky you..." Lia said, sitting down next to me, then added, looking at her fiancé, "Could you make me a cup of coffee please? I must be in the hospital in an hour..."

But there was no need to tell him, he was already by the coffee machine, getting her breakfast ready.

I raised my eyebrows at her, trying to suppress a giggle at the sight of that annoying, ancient vampire preparing her food, and she rolled her eyes at me, mouthing something along the lines that I was incredibly childish and silly, in her opinion.

"So, what are you doing, exactly?" She asked aloud, picking up the pile of photographs of Aurora placed on the table in front of me.

"I... want to choose a couple of them for this locket." I said, feeling a little silly about it, pulling the Victorian silver locket I got from Mum for my last birthday from under my jumper. "I... want to show her to Vlad. My clothes will change again the moment I set my foot into that time passage, I'm sure, but last time my book, which I was holding in my hand, and then even the ring remained... I hope that this locket, if I'll hold on to it, will carry over with me..."

"This really is so fascinating, Samara. You know that when I crossed that passage, my clothes remained the same, I did not lose anything. It really feels like because you are from there originally, the place wants you back the way you were before, stripped of all the things which don't belong to the original you..." Stoker mused, shaking his head.

"It's annoying rather than fascinating," I mumbled. It would be so much better if I could carry at least some things with me. "So, which two pictures shall I put in?" I asked Lia, letting her choose and cut them out, before Stoker, having more skills with Victorian gadgets, fixed them in the locket for me.

"Do you have any idea why Nicole is not coming with us?" I asked Lia as she finished her breakfast and stood up, before she could follow Stoker out of the room.

They only made me book the plane tickets and hotel rooms for myself, Lucas and Aurora, and the two of them, without telling me the reason why the girl changed her mind.

Lia sat back down, looking at me quizzically.

"Haven't you noticed that she hasn't been coming here lately?" she asked, making me feel bad.

I did not notice Nicole's sudden absence at all; I had been feeling so low over the last month that it was difficult for me to think or worry about anyone except Aurora... And now I was feeling like the most selfish person in the world for that.

"What happened?"

"Well, nothing really happened between her and Lucas apparently, nothing she could consider a step forward in their relationship..." Lia said. "She told me she was... bored of waiting. She's taking a break, giving him time to make up his mind." Lia shrugged.

"But... how, since when...?" This situation was making me feel guilty, Aurora and I were taking up too much of Lucas's time, his life. We were a burden for him.

"They had quite a row the night you... met that Viorel, Lucas was a mess. But don't you worry about them, somehow, they both look happier apart, at least for the moment. Nicole is so young, I'm not sure that she really knows what she wants, let alone what to expect from a proper, long-term relationship. It's not always sunshine and roses, is it? And I'm pretty sure she's seeing somebody else." Lia concluded.

I nodded, not sure what to say to that.

Then Lia left me alone at the table, lost in thoughts, where I stayed until Lucas got back home, half an hour later.

Even though I wanted to ask him how he felt about it, to apologize an umpteenth time for having turned his life upside down, I was too much of a coward to start that sort of conversation again now. This crazy year was coming to its end, and in a few days, if everything went well, and really, even if it didn't, he would be able to finally go back to his existence, the way it had been before we met one year ago.

So I simply embraced him the moment he entered the kitchen, wiping my tears of gratitude in his shirt, but did not say anything when he hugged me back, resting his chin on top of my head, asking what was wrong.

I did not ask him anything even the last night before the trip, when he appeared in my room with Aurora's milk even before I could switch on the light and find my slippers, then sat on the edge of my bed, talking to me about unimportant things, until I fell asleep again.

And then, too fast, it was the morning of our departure, and I had neither enough time, nor peace of mind, left to talk or think about anyone apart from Vlad and Aurora.

"That's it, let's go." I told Lucas, descending the stairs and setting the last luggage at his feet.

I took the baby from him after I checked my handbag quickly again-- my copy of Dracula, with its last free pages now obliterated by sketches of Aurora, one bottle of milk ready at hand, wet wipes, a couple of nappies and the changing mat, spare set of Aurora's clothes, her favourite blanket and one of her soft toys...

"Are you sure? Do you want to double check anything? There is still time..."

"No, as long as you have the plane tickets and our passports, we can go. I'm sure it will take us a while to find a place to park, and then look for Lia and your uncle in the airport..."

"Fine." Lucas said, slinging two large bags on his shoulders and pulling a small suitcase, filled nearly entirely with Aurora's stuff, behind him.

I set the alarm, which I used so rarely that for a few moments I wasn't quite sure that I dialled the right numbers, then followed him quickly outside and locked the door, giving the old house one last look as I walked down the tiled path, before entering Lucas' car.

Leaving it felt... different, this time. I shook my head, trying to disperse the awful sense of finality as I strapped Aurora in her seat, watching as her eyes began to close the moment we left the quiet, deserted street and Lucas eased the car into London's early morning's traffic, moving smoothly down the highroad.

She has grown and changed so much since she was born, five months and two days ago, and I only properly realised how fast the time flew when I looked at her, comparing in my mind the crying little bundle she had been, with this tiny, green eyed girl, with her head full of soft, ginger curls, imagining how she would look in a few years...

Sighing, I fished her blanket from my handbag, spreading it over her. It's going to be a very long and boring journey, hopefully she will manage to sleep through most of it...

"Are you all right?" Lucas' voice pulled me out from my reverie suddenly, and as I looked up from the baby our eyes met in the rear-view mirror.

No. "Yes. Just... thinking." I smiled at him before his eyes dropped back to the road stretching in front of us. The sun had not risen yet, it was still dark outside, and the windscreen was sprinkled with the first drops of autumnal rain into which the thick, freezing mist rising from the nearby river was slowly morphing.

I shivered, smiling again as I noticed how Lucas turned the heating to maximum before I could ask him to do so.

"Thanks, Lucas," I said, snuggling more comfortably in my seat and closing my eyes, pretending to sleep, as I did not want my melancholy to worry him.

It would be a very long journey... But I was finally going home, back to the man to whom I belonged.

Tomorrow you'll be with him again. My subconscious whispered, making my heart skip with joy and anticipation.