AFTER JACK LEFT, Zoe had sat down at the head of the table. Dracula on one side and Arabella on the other - both standing.

"What's this about?" Arabella questioned, her brow raised and arms crossed, refusing to look in Dracula's direction.

"There is one thing Dracula is truly afraid of and finally I know what it is," Zoe explained, looking at the witch. 

"And I don't?" Dracula questioned in mock surprise.

"I know you don't," Zoe chuckled. Arabella rolled her eyes at the exchange between the two, before setting her eyes on the thin curtains. Her mind travelled back to 1897 when Dracula turned Johnathan Harker and just before he jumped to his 'death', his metal cross caught the sunlight and shone directly into Dracula's face, yet caused no damage to his skin.

She had never told him about the small incident. After she assessed his face for injuries and finding none, she wiped his memory clean of the ending of the confrontation and altering it so Johnathan simply jumped without turning around. He didn't need to know at the time. Now, Arabella still didn't know whether to tell him. Arabella watched as Zoe stood from her seat and stepped onto the table, running towards the curtains and yanking them down, causing the bright sunbeams to hit Dracula directly.

Arabella knew Zoe was smarter than this. The two women knew that the sun wouldn't hurt him. His screaming fit would only last a few minutes before he realised he wasn't dying. He extended a hand out to his side to inspect it and saw no boils or burns - his hand was in perfect condition. Arabella helped the dying Zoe up from the floor and then the two women walked over to the lying vampire. "It's 93 million miles away, it's not going to hurt you," Zoe spoke in her Dutch accent once more, indicating that Agatha was part of Zoe indifferently.

Dracula held his hand up to hover over his face, blocking the sunlight from his adjusting eyes. "I don't understand."

"I have very few breaths to explain, so I shall let Arabella explain, after all, she was the one to turn you in the first place. She knows better than I."

Zoe moved to sit at the table, as Arabella moved closer to the Count. She moved to block his view of the blinding sun so he could lower his hand. "You remember when we first met, correct?" Arabella questioned.

Dracula nodded. "Yes. In 1448, you were 16, I was 19. It was the middle of the war."

Arabella smiled softly, at how much he remembered from so long ago. "Yes," she whispered. "That was when you got me hanged. And when I cursed you."

Dracula nodded, slowly standing and moving into the shadows, Arabella following him but remaining in the sunlight in front of him.

"It all happened rather quickly. I didn't have time to set a full curse. And I was only young - I hardly knew the difference a spell and a curse, so my vampire curse wasn't the whole shebang like it was meant to be. Yes, it turned you but the rules of the beast were not in place for long. They only lasted a century at most, then they wore away. I only realised in 1897, with Johnathan Harker," she waved her hand, casting a small spell so Dracula could see what she was referring to - his lost memory.

Dracula seemed flustered with all the new information. Zoe spoke up. "The only question is why. Why are you afraid? You come from a long line of warriors - fathers and son who died fighting on the battlefield - but not you. A man you sleeps in the dirt yet dreams of a warrior's grave. And here he is, in love with the girl who can offer him the one thing he fears the most. Death," Zoe spoke, referring to Arabella at the end of her speech. She reached into the pocket, retrieving a small metal cross necklace. "Now we know why this works. Because it speaks of the courage you long to possess. The courage it takes to die," Dracula and Arabella both shielded their gaze from the cross before Zoe continued.

"Arabella, you are similar in your symptoms. You, too, fear death. You are afraid to die alone. That is why you clung to Dracula for centuries, hoping he could relieving you of this fear - that maybe he could love you and die with you so your worst nightmare wouldn't become a reality. After all, Dracula is the only other immortal being on the Earth so anyone else wouldn't suffice your desires. That is why you were so frustrated with yourself as you finally realised Dracula only wished to reproduce, putting you second on his priority list as his brides came first. The only way both of you could conquer these fears if you," she points to Dracula. "Kill her by sucking her blood. Yet you don't want to in case it doesn't work and you end up simply murdering your one true love and you are left alone with no one constant around you. So here you both are, constantly living through your fears until one day, you finally finish it all - together."

The room fell silent after Zoe's explanations. "Wow," Arabella breathed out. "She's incredible," Arabella whispered as she stared at the doctor.

Zoe threw the cross to the floor, moving towards the seat, her breath hitching in the throat in agony.

"You're in pain," Dracula noticed.

"I'm used to it. You seem to conquer death. But you cannot 'til you face it without fear," Zoe sat back in her chair. "Goodbye, Count Dracula. Goodbye Lady Arabella. It's game over. You lose. You'll live forever in shame."

Dracula hesitantly reached out to Arabella as she stood in the sunlight. Arabella noticed and held her hand out to him. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I shouldn't have kept it from you."

Dracula quietly shushed her, scaredly stepping from the shadows to come closer to the witch. "Shh. Don't apologise, my love," Dracula placed his hand upon Arabella's cheek and she gladly nuzzled into his palm. The vampire looked up at the open window. "Come with me?"

Arabella nodded and held Dracula's hand as they walked up to the window. Dracula tried to hold back his tears as he stared up at the sun pouring into the room. "It's beautiful," he whispered. Arabella smiled as she watched her lover bath in the warmth of the sunbeams.

Arabella stole a glance at Zoe to see she was one breath away from death's doorstep. A small smile graced Zoe's lips as she noticed Arabella's stare. "Thank you, Agatha. You truly are the brightest nun I had ever met," Zoe grinned as taking her last breath. 

Arabella turned to Dracula who remained staring at the sun, his hand still tightly clasped around the witch's palm. "Dracula?"

The vampire reluctantly tore his gaze from the window to smile at the women beside him. "Yes, my dear?"

"I want you to do it," Arabella demanded, shedding off her black coat and scarf and discarding them on the floor. She pulled her hair away from her neck, to reveal her old scar that Dracula left over 400 years ago.

"But what if it doesn't work?" Dracula questioned, his finger delicately skimming across the raised scar on her collar.

"We both know it will. We accidentally tried this once before and we were both dying from it. Did you ever wonder why I never got rid of my scar? It's because it wouldn't leave. No spell, potion or charm would erase it. It's our fate to die like this - together - just like Agatha said."

Dracula gulped but nodded, wrapping his arms around Arabella's waist. "Do you trust me?"

Arabella smiled. "I always have, my beloved."

Dracula nuzzled his nose against the side of Arabella's face, leaving a sweet kiss to her cheek. "I love you, Arabella Victoria Andrei."

Arabella grinned, tears pricking her eyes as she felt his fangs blare and gaze her scar. "I love you, Count Dracula."

His rugged fangs dug into Arabella's collar causing the witch to gasp. Her hand's desperately clung to Dracula's shoulders as he guided the two back towards the table. He moved them atop of the long table so Arabella could be more comfortable as she died. Dracula begrudgingly swallowed Arabella's toxic blood, yet he couldn't stop himself from taking more and more of it. Arabella's body went limp in his arms - she had finally died. Dracula was not far behind her as he swallowed his last gulp of her blood.

"Your blood is still the sweetest thing I have ever tasted, my love," Dracula weakly sighed into Arabella's neck. Before he took his last breath, he pressed a gentle kiss to Arabella's pale forehead. 

"After all this time, did you think I'd let it hurt?"