Chapter 1
It was late at night when the young woman and her husband entered the home they were staying at. Due to the unfortunate situation, she was tied to this man for the rest of her life. For better or for worse, in sickness and in health, she was married to one of them.
"Elizabeth." Her husband called her.
She turned to him with a glare on her face. "What, Victor?"
"I just wanted to know if you were alright."
"Well," she started with poison in her voice. "I'm not. Because of our families, I was forced to marry my sworn enemy."
She crossed her arms and turned away from him, her anger flowing through her like a flash flood. He wasn't angry at her though, he knew why she was like this.
"I understand." He said as he bent down to pick up the bag she dropped earlier. "You're a Van Helsing and I'm a Dracula. We were born as enemies and are meant to die as enemies. But right now, it would be best if we just did what we agreed and follow through with this marriage."
Elizabeth Van Helsing remembered the day she first was told the news six months prior to then.
She slowly brushed her chestnut hair in front of the vanity when her father entered the room. When she heard the first creek of the door she set down the brush and looked over to him. His older face was contorted in a way of concern.
"What is it?" she dared to ask.
The old man let out a sigh. "It has been decided that since you are the eldest of the direct descendants of Van Helsing, you will be married to Victor Dracula to make peace between our races."
She was silent, her shock causing her heart to fall. "What?" she managed to squeak out.
"In six months you will marry Victor and this war will be over." He was even struggling to get the words out. "He is several centuries old because of being a Vampire, but he is considered slightly older than you in his race. You are an eighth generation Van Helsing, I expect you to not shame the name."
"I'm going to be a Dracula?!" she shouted. "No, I refuse to marry a Vampire. I was raised to fight them and try to kill as many as I can, not marry one!"
"You are not given a choice in the matter." She jumped back slightly. "Your mother wouldn't like it but I'm certain that she would have wanted peace as much as the rest of us."
Elizabeth turned away from her father to stare out the stained glass window of her great grandfather. She hated the idea of having to marry someone she didn't love, as well as someone who she was raised to fight. She bit the bottom of her lip and refused to look at her father.
"I will do it, but for the family." She said. "I'll do it for my mom, but not for the vampires or this war. I want them gone as much as any other hunter."
Six months later she was at the reception of her forced wedding. It was held in the evening so that all the vampires who were invited could come. She wore her mother's wedding dress, which was as beautiful as the day it was first worn. It flowed with lace and organza on the skirt which met with a silk long sleeved bodice that was beaded with an elegant floral design.
Elizabeth twirled part of her curled up due pinned with her vail. She could literally feel the tension in the air as the vampires and hunters tried to get along. Her new husband seemed to have a lot of the hunters glaring at him while she gained immense amounts of glares from the vampires.
Victor Dracula was the son of Vlad Dracula. He was tall, dark, and as always with vampires, handsome. His black hair was longer than usual styles in this era, but it was slicked back on his head and curled up slightly on the back of his neck. His eyes were gray and seemed very lifeless.
"Eliza!" a familiar voice cut into her thoughts.
"Tori?" Elizabeth looked at the blond who was finally able to get though the long line of people greeting the newlyweds.
Victoria was human and didn't know about vampires or about the hunters. Anything she heard about she just thought it was a story.
"Congratulations! Man, you are so lucky to have married such a handsome man." Her friend laughed. "I'm so happy for you, Eliza."
The bride smiled. "Thank you, Tori. I would like you to meet, Victor Alucard."
The groom nodded his head to the woman, but did not smile. He seemed very unenthused about the evening.
"Alucard? Isn't that the name of…?" Victoria thought.
"My father, Vlad Alucard, is the owner of the Alucard industries." Victor finally spoke.
Elizabeth's friend stared at her husband in shock. "Lizzy, you found a keeper! You're set for life when you marry someone with that kind of social status."
"I didn't marry him for his money." She replied to her friend.
"Oh," Tori said with a sweet voice then looked to Victor. "She's a good woman for you. You must be happy, Mr. Alucard."
"Mr. Alucard is my father, you can call me Victor." Elizabeth thought it was a trick of the light, but she swore she saw him smile slightly.
After several hours had passed, she was standing in the same place she entered the house. Several long minutes passed as she continued to glare at her new husband, his eyes staring into hers. She let out a cough and turned away to go to the master bedroom.
After a few more moments, she was changed out of her wedding gown and in comfortable night cloths. She walked over and sat on the couch, her arms crossed over her chest. She looked over to the door and saw that Victor hadn't moved from his spot. His eyes continued to bore into her as her glare intensified.
"What?!" she yelled at him.
He let out a sigh and walked over to her and sat down on the couch about six inches away from her. "If we are going to pull off this marriage thing, we are going to have to act like we at least like each other."
"That's going to be hard, seeing you're a vampire." She spat at him before turning her body away from him.
He looked at her slightly confused. "Why do you hate my kind so much? Other than that's how you were raised."
"Maybe," she shouted as she jumped up to glare down at him. "Because your kind killed my mother in front of me when I was only six years old!"
He jumped at her state meant as she walked away. She headed into the kitchen and let out a harsh breath of air. She leaned against the black granite counter and continued to glare at her situation.
"It's getting late." Elizabeth jumped at the sudden appearance of Victor. "You go ahead and sleep in the master bedroom. I won't be going to bed till sunrise. Besides, I have something's to do for the industry."
He turned to leave, but paused at the doorway before he turned and looked at her over his shoulder. "I'm sorry."
She watched his back retreat into the darkness of the living room and enter the study that was next-door to the room she was to sleep in.
Well one nice thing about this union is that I won't see him often because of his work and my work being completely different. She thought as she walked quietly into the bedroom and exhaustion began to take its effect. She fell onto the dark, large, king-sized bed. Moments after being enveloped in the warmth of the covers, her heavy eyelids closed, causing her to fall into a deep sleep.
