1. Chapter 1 (1/1)

little bat readers - i'm sorry, i'm working on an update but this got into my

ain first. thanks to werepuppy black for all your advice - this one's for you.

set just before the opening scenes of series 3, episode 9, in an undisclosed location where somebody has managed to catch himself a

eather...

disclaimer: i don't own young dracula - all credit for the good parts of this goes to cbbc, all responsibility for the bad parts is entirely mine.

"i'm not here to talk about my drinking problem. in fact, i'll probably have a few pints the moment i finish what i have to say. but that's what makes this such a safe space to talk in, and i'm truly grateful for that. so... thank you.

"i've spent my entire existence working towards one purpose, whether i knew it or not. for four hundred years i've carried around a big, dusty old book and travelled the world in search of the chosen one. oh, of course, you don't know about the chosen one. that's alright, i can tell you all about that. i am a tutor, after all. you don't need to know much; the important thing, for the purpose of this conversation, is that the chosen one will

ing vampires into a new, golden age. it's been quite important, my job, as you might appreciate. when rumours emerged of someone claiming to be the chosen one, i had to go and check them over. when each of them turned out to be a liar, i silenced their claims and moved on to the next rumour. if nobody needed my attention, i studied and trained, trying to be the best guardian i could be to the praedictum impaver – that's the book – and the eventual chosen one.

"still, four hundred years of disappointment can take their toll on anyone, even someone with a clear purpose, and i was beginning to doubt that the real chosen one would ever appear. then i met vladimir dracula. i tested him, and i realised i was wrong. there was a real chosen one, and i had finally found him. he hated me at first, because i'd threatened his family, but eventually he agreed to take me on as his tutor. i've been teaching him to use his powers more effectively, training him to defend himself, and trying to help him open the book.

"we got along alright for a while, but he had this half-fang pet; she was distracting him so i tried to get rid of her. vlad wasn't too pleased when he found out about that. then he went bad for a bit, and opened the book, which turns out to be blank. he tried to kill almost everyone – except me –before he decided he didn't want to be bad anymore and now he's disappeared to 'sort his head out'. i've searched everywhere i can think of, but i expect if he doesn't want to be found, there's not much i can do. he is the chosen one, after all.

"i'm sure you're wondering why i took you off the street to tell you all of this. well, here's the thing. i find myself in something of a predicament, and i thought i'd try some of that 'therapy' ingrid keeps being threatened with. the

eathers think it's good to talk things through, and usually i'd ignore them but i'm somewhat lacking in options at this point. so i'm going to tell you my secrets, and you're never going to tell anyone.

"i should have know it would happen. someone should have realised, although i don't know what i could have done even if i had. it's strange; when your entire existence revolves around one person for four hundred years, you get a little obsessive. perhaps, even if i hadn't known before i met vlad, i should have realised in the moment he turned me away and i felt hurt. if not then, i should have known when he sided with the half-fang against me and i felt... well, i felt. i spent four centuries never getting attached to anyone – in case they were the next pretender i had to destroy – and suddenly there i was, caring what people thought about me. no, not people. vlad.

"still, it wasn't any of those things that made me realise what had happened. no, it was when he em

aced his dark side and attacked everyone he held most dear, leaving me unthreatened. i realised i was proud that he hadn't attacked me, but there was also hope. i had no reason to feel hope, it had no place in the situation. that's when i realised i had more problems than just the blood.

"i've never, in four hundred years, had what you might call a best friend. i've barely had any friends, actually; you'd be surprised how alienated you can become when your calling involves slaying entire families. i've had the odd ally, and there are still a few vampires in the world i could call and know they'd answer, but only if there was something in it for them. i liked it that way; i understood that. i've never been particularly concerned with feelings or friendship, but suddenly there i was hoping that i was somehow special, that vlad had left me alone because he cared.

"honestly, someone should have warned me. because if you think about it, no matter what happened or who he was, the chosen one was always going to be four hundred years of disappointed dreams come true. suddenly, the book isn't my one focus in life; he is. my job's not hunting down pretenders; it's training him. everything i do is about vladimir dracula, and that was never going to be straightforward. once you get emotionally invested, things never are. that's why i kept myself closed off from those things for so long.

"now, that's my problem. i'm not sure how much obsession can still be counted as mere loyalty, or even friendship. i'm four centuries old, and he's barely more than a boy. i'm his tutor, and he's effectively king of the vampires. i have the emotional experience of a half-fang, and he has a little

eather girlfriend. i don't know what you'd call our situation, but i'm fairly certain it would be considered inappropriate in some way.

"no, i'm afraid there's no way this can end well. especially for you. now, i think our time's just about up."