Don't say anything! My subconscious whisper-shouted while I was thinking where to start with my confession. You'll only lose your friend!

Whether my subconscious agreed with me or not, I had to tell Lia. She was my best friend. And if someone was going to at least try to believe me, it was her.

"His father. Wow," Lia said, pouring some water for both of us. "Since when do you like older, married, or divorced men with adult children? The blonde guy I saw with you must be our age... so his father would be what, some forty-five years old?" she asked, laughing.

"Lia, please, stop it. This is not funny," I begged. "Just think that if you are right and I'm really pregnant, I'll have to move out, and that will be the smallest of my problems."

"That's not a problem at all. You'll finally move out, that's it. Tell me about the rest," she insisted. "Who is the mysterious 'father'? Do I know him?"

"You don't. But you have seen him. Remember the guide in Bran...?"

"But... You've only just met him, it wouldn't sum up... you are at least two months pregnant, possibly more... And he definitely didn't look old enough to be the other man's father. They could be brothers," she said thoughtfully, her fork pausing halfway to her mouth, eyebrows knitting in confusion.

You have to continue. If you don't tell her now, when she brought it up herself, you'll never gather enough courage to talk to her about it again... I mused, picking up a slice of pizza with my fingers and bringing it to my lips.

"Lia, I know how this sounds. But that guide, Vlad, is the blonde guy's father. He is not forty-five, but thirty-two. Forever."

"Wait. What sort of name is that? Vlad, like Dracula? The Impaler, I mean. And even if... How can he be thirty-two, and 'forever', if his son is as old as us?" she asked around a mouthful of pizza. "Samara, you know, you are not making any sense. It's not the first time, to be honest, but this time you are exaggerating, don't you think? This... Vlad of yours starts to sound like one of the many imaginary friends you had when we went to nursery school."

"Lia, it's true," I said, looking at her pleadingly.

"Ok. I... trust you? You are my best friend. I promise I won't laugh or criticize, but I want to know everything so I can think it through. And you must eat, it's important in your condition. That, and the peace of mind. You mustn't worry. I'm here for you," she said, bringing new tears in my eyes with her declaration.

I blinked them away rapidly before she would notice, while Lia finished another slice of her pizza.

"I know that something strange has happened to you," she said, pushing her plate to the side and replacing it with her notebook. "You're pregnant, but I only saw you nauseous a couple of times. You keep ignoring forks," she added as I picked at my food with my fingers again. "From one day to another, you stopped using make-up and changed your style completely. And you look so much... not older, but... more experienced and sadder... And... " She trailed off momentarily, taking a deep breath, her pupils going wide with curiosity as she stared at me. "I remember well the guide in the castle, Vlad, as you call him, and his 'son'... " She shuddered. "There was something strange about them. They were... something else. The way you looked around that black-haired man, it wasn't you... Tell me everything so I can try to understand you, Samara. Please."

I wiped my fingers thoroughly with a white linen napkin and took a sip of water, playing for time.

"Samara. Come on. I said I believed you. I just want to catch on."

Fine, I thought, taking a deep breath. "Vlad is my husband," I said, letting my eyes drop to my hands. I turned my ring around, making the diamond lustre and shine in the bright lights of the restaurant. "This is not an engagement, but a medieval wedding ring."

I looked back at Lia. She was staring at me, her eyes filled with interest and curiosity rather than doubt.

"We married in fourteen-sixty, two weeks before I died..." I recounted my other life to her, slowly, trying to choose the most important events while letting my eyes stroll to the pond spreading beyond the glass of the window. It was easier to talk, observing the shimmering water and pretending that no one could hear me, rather than looking at my friend's face.

"Ok," Lia said once I finished and looked back at her. "But help me with the timeline here. You met Mr. Dracula, your husband, three days ago. However, you're some eight, maybe ten weeks pregnant... Honestly, it points to William..."

"No, Lia. As I said, I had met Vlad centuries ago for the first time. This time, in the castle... I time travelled. And the time in the place where I had been passes differently, for some reason. What for you was no more than ten minutes, was a year for me."

"So you spent a year in the fifteenth century. Interesting. That would explain why you are suddenly so weird. Also, that would be the reason why you speak Romanian now."

She was amazing. She deserved as much truth as I dared to reveal.

"Look inside," I said, taking my copy of Bram Stoker's Dracula from my handbag and passing it to her.

"Wow. These pictures are beautiful, Samara! So detailed. Look at the wolves!"

"Shadow and Mist," I said, studying her face as she looked at my drawings.

"The castle, all these people and the dresses, the white horse! And the... guide, wearing a crown!" Lia exclaimed.

"It's really me on that postcard," I said when she found it among the pages.

She looked up after a while, and our eyes met. I was glad when she spoke first; I was busy fighting my tears away and couldn't speak at the moment.

"I know there were no drawings in this book when we entered that castle. And you would never have time to draw all of these pictures since our return," Lia mused while I took the book from her, closed it, and put it back in my bag. I didn't want her to find Vlad's note, hidden among its pages, somewhere at the back.

"So you really believe me?" I asked, dabbing at the corners of my eyes with the napkin. How could she? I thought, imagining our roles swapped with myself in her place.

"Hmm, to be completely honest with you... I believe that you believe all that. You sound convinced and very, very convincing. You're my best friend, and this is not the first time you push me to my limits, but this time... " She paused for a moment, obviously trying to organize her thoughts, to choose the most proper words to express herself. "I believe that you believe it, and my believing you is important for you, right? So... I do," she said, looking at me intently. "But tell me one more thing. This... family of yours and the people around them... What are they? Because neither of the two guys I saw was 'normal'. They seemed... well, out of this world, I don't know... "

Right. Here goes nothing. 

"Vampires," I admitted in a half whisper.

A loud clatter coming from the next table alerted me about Luigi's very close presence.

I sighed and rolled my eyes at Lia. "Did he hear that?"

Lia laughed nervously. "Yes. He did. But never mind that now. He doesn't know what we are talking about, exactly. Talk to me. Vampires, you say? If that's what they are, how come you are still alive, telling me this tale in person? I thought that vampires... "

"They are not all the same, Lia. My vampires are different. They don't harm humans. But look here."

I bid her to lean closer. Mirroring her movement, I unwrapped my scarf and showed her the scar on my neck. My remembrance of Radu, another souvenir from my life in the castle.

"Ok. Fine." She sat back, obviously startled. "That does look like a bite... hmm... a vampire bite. Now... let's not talk about any of this anymore tonight. I need to think. My best friend is a medieval princess and pregnant with Dracula on top of it," she mumbled to herself, summing up all the information I had given her into one simple line.

The weirdest line I'd ever heard anyone say. And it was about me. "Thanks for reminding me," I muttered. But what am I to do now?!

We finished our dinner in complete silence, both lost in our own thoughts.

When we were ready to leave, I donned my jacket and grabbed my bag, then went to pay our heavily discounted bill to a small counter by the door. I tried to ignore Luigi's curious looks; he had definitely overheard enough tonight to feel confused. However, I couldn't explain anything to him. I was pushing Lia to her very limits with my story, and she was my best friend. Luigi could never understand.

"I'll pass by tomorrow on my way to work," I told him, kissing him on both cheeks, the Italian way he had taught me, before leaving. "I missed your cappuccino to go."

"Just take care of yourself, girl," Luigi said as Lia joined me next to him, and the two of us exited into the cold night.

It had started to rain while we were inside, but very lightly, so Lia allowed me to walk with her to the bus stop on the other side of the pond and wait for her bus.

"What time do you have to be at work tomorrow?" she asked as we watched the illuminated vehicle crawl slowly towards us along the high road from the direction of the river.

"At one. I'm doing the afternoon shift with Anne. Unless she swapped with Jessica again."

"Why don't you come earlier? You need more skirts," she said, observing the hem of my floor-length skirt. It was soaking up a small puddle shimmering in the lights of the approaching bus. "It's Sunday, there won't be too many people around the shops in the morning. We can have lunch after."

The bus pulled to a stop, and its doors opened with a loud hiss, letting out some heat from the inside, making me shiver. It was freezing.

Lia climbed in, and just before the doors closed again behind her, she managed to remind me, "Do the test first thing in the morning. Eat. And rush home before you get drenched. Not through your creepy lanes, there are the streets!"

She looked at me seriously through the closing doors, then the bus was off, with the gasp of motion and turning wheels.

I smiled and shook my head. Lia is a treasure.