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[draws in her breath in surprise]

Make w-what too easy?

[ He grants a wicked smile and steps around her question. ]

What a pleasant surprise. It has been quite some time now, hasn't it?

Vlad... [she grips her cane hard to stop her hands shaking]

It has, indeed. I believed you dead.

[ He takes note of the cane and regards it with some curiosity before returning his gaze to her face. ]

Belief is a fickle thing. You believe too much and find it has doubled back on you. I'm afraid it takes much more than a stake to the heart and holy water to rid me from the world.

[ He strides closer to her until he is standing shoulder-to-shoulder and staring down upon the side of her neck. ]

But you still manage to... "stick around". Finally moved past self-loathing, my dear?

[Her trembling increases as he moves closer -- she can't see him, but even blind she can sense his presence, can feel his eyes upon her.]

Somewhat, but I doubt you would see it that way.

[When did her voice become so breathy? So full of emotion. Where's that protective coldness she has shrouded herself in for so long?]

Is that so? Then enlighten me.

[ Suddenly, he grasps her chin and turns her head as if to make her look at him. He does no more than that, however, as he merely wishes to see if her eyes will focus on him. ]

[She finds the darker blur amidst the light, yes. And doesn't, for some reason, try to pull away. In fact, she closes her eyes and holds still.]

I have... a measure of peace with myself. I've learned to contain my... [her lip curls in a sneer] appetites.

[ He makes a small frown of distate when she chooses to close her eyes instead. Still, he doesn't let go right away and stares into her features. ]

What a shame. And here I had hoped you may have become a worthy vampire.

[ At this he finally releases her jaw and his hand hovers back at his side. ]

What is it you do with your time, then? [ He pauses, stopping her before she can start and grins harshly. ] I don't suppose you've attempted to find a way for your new lifestyle to help mankind, have you?

Abraham van Helsing was quite helpful in that regard, yes.

[Faint thrill in her chest: she knows to the marrow of her bones that invoking that particular name is an insanely provocative thing to do. And that provoking the one who made her into what she has become is very, very dangerous.]

[ Yellow eyes narrow and bore into her with a certain fierceness, yet he manages to retain a sort of class about him. His words are snarled out a notch above a harsh whisper. ]

Van Helsing?

[ Then, Dracula slowly straightens and seemingly calms. ]

Helpful. Ah, yes... If his ability to finish me off is any indication to his ability to be helpful, you certainly have nothing to fear.

[She bites her lip, pleased at being able to draw such a response from him. It's good to know she's still able to affect him, when he can so plainly affect her.]

He had his strengths, and ... you were always unique, my Lord Tepes.

[For all that she tries for a formality, a distance, through using his honorific, her tone reveals more about how deeply conflicted she is about him than she realises... or would like.]

[ There is a moment of silence before Dracula finally allows a physical distance between them and takes a long stride backwards. Instead, he slowly circles her once, like a vulture, before stopping behind her. ]

Unique... hardly begins to cover what I am, dear Mina, let alone what you are. And I would be curious to know what your... subconcious would tell me in place of the defiant words you spit at me.

[She turns around to face him, the hair on the back of her neck prickling at the feel of him at her back: looks up, would meet his eyes if she had her sight.]

What would you have my say, my Lord?

[ A cruel smile works its way across his lips. ]

You enjoy this lifestyle. Perhaps not for the hunt... But the thrill of secrecry. If anyone were to find out you are a blood-leeching monster...

[ He cants his head to the side, looking almost playful in a twisted way. ]

...What would they think, hm?

[Her voice is soft.]

I don't feed. My treatments contain it. ... and those closest to me know my secrets.

[His words still cut, though, and she bites her full, red lower lip. They know what she is, and she always holds herself apart because of it. Because she's unclean. Unworthy. And achingly lonely.]

Edited 2009-02-17 01:27 (UTC)

And what if these "treatments" start failing to suffice? You take them away and you are exactly what you hate the most. Control is an easy thing to lose, and "those closest to you" will always be watching their backs.

[ He briefly pauses, letting the tension dangle on a thin string for a moment. ] But you know that. It's why you try so agonizingly hard to keep your distance, isn't it?

I have willpower. It got me to the point that we found the treatment--

[He's playing her like a instrument, drawing out old pain and her exhaustion with always, always fighting. She sinks into a chair, drawing her arms protectively about herself.]

[ He seems pleased, in a way, when she stops herself and sits herself down. He doesn't advance, but merely watches her. ]

Perhaps immortality has not failed you completely after all. Where it has made you weaker, you seem to have gotten smarter. Bravo.

[She's so very small, tucked up like that in the chair, a veritable symphony of regrets, loneliness and pain. And she's silent for a long, long time... When she does finally speak, it's raw and honest, her walls crumbled before him.]

Why torture me like this, Vlad? You loved me once -- or... or I thought you did. Perhaps it was just possession.

[ A smirk soon turns into a dark chuckle. He is unnervingly calm... seemingly unaffected. There is only silence as he watches all of her walls come crashing down around her-- no comment lacking in regard or spiteful counter. ]

I have no heart, Mina, and so I cannot love. You ought be aware of that better than anyone.

[ He doesn't directly answer her question, however. But perhaps later she would be ready for an honest answer. ]

[There's something faintly dreamy, addled in her voice now: a little girl seeking something solid to stop herself drowning.]
I -- I don't know. Once... once, you taught me passion that I never dreamed of.

[ Catching that dreamy sound, his voice becomes harsher, countering the soft quality of Mina's with the grounding force of his own. ]

Once is a long time ago. You will never survive if you cannot learn to stop dwelling in it.

[Her head snaps up at the change in his tone, and she bites down hard on the inside of her cheek, painful, but bloodless. She's herself again, angry and glorious, reaching for her cane reflexively. Her posture moves from a slump to poised like a queen.]

I've managed quite well, thank you for your concern.

[ He smiles — just barely — but it's there nonetheless. There is no trace of it in his voice when he speaks, but instead that very same forceful tone he had used prior to her assertion. ]

Keep that in mind the next time you falter, for this is not some ill dream. You have not seen the last of me.

[tartly]

I don't see you now.

[ He lets out a short, airy chuckle, but whether it's in scoffing manner or amusement, he leaves unclear. ]

Figure of speech, dear Mina. Now if you will excuse me...

[ Swiping his hand through the air, he manipulates his dark sorcery to alter his shape into his... hunting form: a young man that easily looks and sounds like a younger version of Dracula in comparison. This conversation has left him particularly hungry... ]

I have business to attend to. It was a pleasure running into you again.

[ He sounds cold and hollow, yet there is a tone of honesty his words. ]

[Mina rises from her seat, regal and lovely, and offers her hand in an old-fashioned courtly gesture: she's still very Victorian at times.]

I wish I could say the same. I'm honestly not sure...

[ He moves past her hand, footsteps near silent. Once he stops infront of her, he inches his face forward until their cheeks are nearly touching and takes that outstretched hand in his palm. ]

No need to be so formal.

[ There is an unfeeling grin in his voice as he turns his head and touches his lips to the apple of her cheek. Then as sudden as lightning, he is gone. ]

Why don't I ever get to find things easy?

Where is the sport in easy findings?

True....... You know I have this feeling I should know you.....

[ He smirks vaguely. ]

Think harder, perhaps.

*thinks hard takes a quick step back* You're a half life.

Smart boy. If a name comes to you, there may be hope yet.

But we've not met.......