"What is your plan, Uncle?" Lucas asked as we sat down at one of the tables.

I took my phone from my bag and tried to call Alina, once, twice, but there was no answer, not even a voicemail. Hopefully she's alright. Hopefully they all are... What if this fire is somehow... in Vlad's version of the castle too...

"It depends," Stoker said, bringing his left hand under his chin and running his fingers along his jaw thoughtfully. "Do you still want to go in today, Samara?" He asked all of a sudden, looking at me seriously.

"I do. Of course I do." I said, pushing the phone back in the bag. I spent the whole year waiting for this day, and came all the way back here... I couldn't simply turn around and go home now. And if Stoker's theory was correct, then I could not afford to wait another year... And now this fire, what if something happened to him... "I must get to him today."

"Then we'll walk in from Poenari. I'll come with you, you can't possibly cross there on your own," he said, sighing.

He wasn't happy about this, but, apparently, he saw me as his responsibility, he wanted to deliver me back to Vlad.

"No." Lia and Lucas said at the same time.

"I'll go with her." Lucas beat Lia to the next line. "We'll take that bus and find the passage in the ruins, and someone, any one of 'them' to lead us through."

"Lucas, it might be dangerous, I don't want you to risk..." I started, but Stoker interrupted me.

"You must be extremely careful..." he said slowly, considering the idea.

"We'll try not to get noticed too much on the bus, so no one looks for us on this side once we are in, but if they will, you must invent something, Uncle. You and Lia must stay here, and take Aurora to the castle as soon as it reopens. If everything goes well, we'll meet you there tonight." Lucas explained his plan.

I took a deep, shaky breath. "Should I not come back," I said, looking between Lia and Stoker, "but you meet Vlad, please, give Aurora to him. But should you not see him either, take her back to London. Here," I added, passing Lia my handbag full of Aurora's things for the day, keeping only my copy of Dracula, "are letters, for everyone, it's all explained and settled... Only read them if I don't return, please," I instructed, trying to suppress my tears when I saw those appearing in Lia's eyes.

I glanced at Stoker meaningfully, he knew about the letters; it was one of his many vampire lawyer friends who helped me with them. But there was no time for explaining this to Lia now.

"You two," Stoker said, shaking his head at Lucas and me, "must promise me that you will try to avoid any danger. If something happens to either of you, your father, Lucas, and your husband, Samara, shall have my head!"

Nodding, I opened the jar of baby food Lia had passed me in the meantime, before I freed Aurora from the baby carrier and took her from Lucas, to feed her.

"Listen carefully now," Stoker said and I forced myself to hear what he had to say, even though I wished I could only think about my baby right now. You only have half an hour left with her, my subconscious announced, making my skin crawl.

"Samara, this is important," Stoker called me to attention, and I looked up at him. "From what I've read about Poenari Citadel recently, I don't think there will be many visitors there today. It had been shut for years because of bears, see, the ruin is on top of a steep hill, surrounded by forests, in the middle of nowhere. There will most likely be a person to check your tickets at the foot of the hill, maybe not even that. Then, you'll have to climb more than one thousand concrete steps leading to the ruin, it will take you a while to get up. I don't expect you to meet another guide on top, however, be careful!"

"Don't go towards the main entrance," he continued after a while, closing his eyes in an attempt to remember the details he forced himself to forget more than a century ago. "You must walk to the right, along a stretch of the half crumbled outer wall until you reach a stone arch. Then you must follow one of those from the other side through. Unnoticed, of course! The passage will take you to an empty courtyard-- there are neither Knights nor too many Guards in Lady Jusztyna's service, the place looks abandoned compared to your husband's castle, Samara," Stoker said, opening his eyes and looking at me. "However, do not linger, get out of there immediately. Don't go inside the castle, you know well who lives there! Descend the hill again as fast as you can-- it will be night when you reach the other side, and of course, without street lights or concrete steps in that world, it won't be an easy task."

I nodded my understanding while I fed Aurora another spoon of her food, trying to picture it. No, descending a steep hill in the dark didn't sound easy, and it wasn't like I could bring my phone with its torch...

Lucas nudged my foot with his gently, before his Uncle would notice that I got lost in my thoughts instead of listening to him once again.

"In their version of the world, there's a tiny village just under the castle," Stoker went on. "I remember it had at least one inn. I advise you two to get lodgings there for the night, and hire someone to carry a letter from you to your husband immediately, Samara. It will be safer for you to wait for him there, than to travel to Bran alone, at night."

"But what about money, Uncle? They won't even let us in if we can't pay." Lucas inquired practically, while I passed Lia the empty jar, and using one of my infinite wet wipes cleaned Aurora's face, then hands too.

She was becoming curious, always trying to grab and taste everything she could reach... I smiled at her and it made her giggle happily.

"Samara!" Stoker disturbed my reverie, making me sigh.

"I'm listening." I said, kissing Aurora on her forehead before I put her in the baby carrier again, and passed her to Lia. Ten minutes to go.

"Here," Stoker said, fishing a small leather pouch from his pocket. "This is all the money from her era, which I could find on the market over the last few months..."

"How... Why?" I mumbled, surprised. It hadn't even crossed my mind to do something like this.

"I've been around for long enough to know that we should always expect the unexpected. Things happen, Samara," he said darkly. "This money should be enough to pay someone to carry your letter to Bran, buy you a room for the night, or even two, should you need to wait for your husband there. See, we don't know what's happening on the other side now, if this fire happened there too, and if it will delay him somehow," Stoker said, voicing my unspoken thoughts. "Or, if you see that the inn is not safe and the two of you decide to travel to Bran alone, it will buy you a horse."

"Thank you..." I started, but he raised his hand to interrupt me. Apparently there was something else he needed to tell us.

"Should you run out of money too soon, or get in trouble, you might decide to tell someone who you are, Samara, and they might help you to get to your husband, out of friendship or loyalty. But you never know, I'm not sure that revealing your true identity to a stranger would be worth the risk... And one last thing, for you, Lucas. There is my letter for Lord Vlad in that pouch, too. You keep it with you, you might need it as a proof of your identity, should you two get separated. I mentioned you in it, they'll know that you belong to me."

"Thanks, Uncle," Lucas said, putting his coat on and stuffing the proffered pouch in his pocket, before he glanced at his watch and stood up quickly.

He pulled me to my feet and helped me in my jacket, then picked my book off the table and passed it to me. I put it in one of my own pockets, then we walked to Lia who stood up to embrace us both, carefully, with Aurora already sleeping in the carrier, over her chest.

It was... easier this way, whispering my goodbye to her while she slept, it felt less heartbreaking somehow.

"Are you sure that we will find someone there to lead us through?" Lucas spoke to Stoker again, while he took my hand in his and pulled me towards the door, as I suddenly could not move away from Aurora.

"You will. They are out there every Halloween night, having fun..." Stoker said ominously.

"Samara, if you really want to do this, we must go now." Lucas said gently as I stumbled backwards behind him, still looking at my baby across the room.

"Yes," I said, voice shaking, and with the final glance towards the three of them, leaving a chunk of my heart behind, I followed Lucas out of the breakfast room, across the now empty reception, and into the freezing misty morning outside, towards a small bus, already waiting in the parking lot.