Cassandra Lucard sat on the edge of the stage of her boarding school theater. She had learned every line of the play backwards and forwards; Hell, she had known most of it since she was a child. This was her favorite Shakespeare role and she knew she had to play the part. She had, however, been cast as the understudy Lady MacBeth to Katerina di Nonte. Katerina was head of the drama club and always got what she wanted. Throughout rehearsals, she had personally made sure Cassandra would be miserable being stuck as the understudy.

"Cassandra, don't get your hopes up," Katerina had said to her earlier. "I never get sick and I never miss a performance."

Cassandra flashed her blue eyes up at Katerina as she stood in front of the stage. "You think you are perfect, do you? Things do sometimes happen that are beyond even your control."

"Do you think to threaten me? I would not try it, my dear. I come from a very powerful family. If you would even think of doing something to me, my father would be after you in court so fast. My family runs international law agencies throughout Europe."

"I would never threaten you, Katerina. And I, too, come from a powerful family."

"Your father? Ha! He never even comes to visit you. Nobody in this school even knows what your father looks like. The only person who even half-cares about you is that handsome brother of yours."

Cassandra pushed back her blonde hair as she leaned back on the stage, smiling faintly. "You like my brother, do you? I happen to know he will be here after tonight's dress rehearsal."

"Oh, come to see what a failure his sister is?" Katerina walked off, laughing.

Cassandra watched her leave and just smiled. "No, my dear Katerina, he has come to see you, for your last performance."

Katerina was standing onstage, giving her bow to the small audience that had arrived for dress rehearsal. She had seen Cassandra's brother, Alexander, arrive just after the first act. He had kept his eyes on her, and for the first time, she got nervous performing on stage. Alexander did bear a slight resemblance to his sister, for they both had the same blond hair and blue eyes. He had a strange, mixed Eastern European accent that seemed as if from some place she had never been to.

Katerina walked off the stage after everyone had been dismissed and approached him, still in her costume. "Hello, Mr. Lucard. Will you be here for the play tomorrow night?"

"Of course, I would not miss it. You look very beautiful in that dress, Miss di Nonte." He reached down and kissed her hand. "Or, should I say, m'lady?"

"Thank you, sir. Do you have any plans with your sister?"

"Not until much later. Would you like to take a walk?"

"Yes, let me go change first." Katerina hurried off to change and then met Alexander outside the theater building.

"I have always enjoyed the beauty of this school," said Alexander. "A few centuries ago, it was just another castle in the French countryside."

"Katerina smiled at him. "You talk as if you saw it back then."

"I read about it when Cassandra started here. Father wanted her in the best schools. If he only knew what fine ladies it produced," he said looking at her.

"Why hasn't your father ever come here?"

Alexander smiled. "He will be here tomorrow night. He can't wait to see Cassandra in the play."

"Oh, even if she is playing some lady in waiting?" Katerina said with a laugh.

"I would be careful of what you say about her."

"I'm sorry," she said, knowing full well she was not. "What does your father look like?"

"Like me."

Alexander turned to her and gave her a quick kiss, catching Katerina by surprise. She kissed him back, feeling as if something came over her and kissing him again and again. She could feel him pick her up and pin her against a wall of the school. His right hand moved up under her dress and she moaned. He began to move his kisses down to her neck.

"Tell me," he whispered, "Do you think Cassandra would make a good Lady MacBeth?"

Katerina laughed. "Hardly. She lacks the coldness to play the part well," she whispered as he continued to kiss her neck.

"You think so?"

"Yes."

"You are wrong, my sweet. I raised her to be just like her father."

"Oh, her father?" asked Katerina. She felt him bite into her neck and it hurt more than any other bite she had ever gotten. The pain was strong and she tried to push him away but he did not move. She could feel a hot liquid beginning to flow down her neck and was wondering how deep he had bitten. "Please, Alexander, this hurts."

She felt the hand under her skirt scratching her leg and blood beginning to pour out. "Does it now? Maybe next time, you will let Dracula's daughter get the lead role."

"Dracula's what?" she said as she opened her eyes and saw his face. His mouth was covered in blood and she could see fangs. He opened his eyes, no longer blue but an eerie orangish-yellow. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out.

"So, Katerina," she heard Cassandra say, "You think your family is powerful? Mine has been around for centuries. Hello, father."

"Cassandra, my dear," he said as he kissed her on the cheek leaving a mark of blood.

Cassandra took her hand and wiped off the blood and then licked it from her very hand, smiling all too sweetly. "I told you my father comes around to visit."

"He can't be your father," said Katerina.

"I'm afraid you are wrong," said Alexander. "I love my daughter very much. I have always given her anything she wanted. And tomorrow, she will be Lady MacBeth."

"Fine, she can play it...please, both of you let me go?"

"You don't want to play the part, Katerina?" asked Cassandra. "I thought we could share."

"Share?"

"Of course. You can play Lady Macbeth at the end of the play. Act V is all yours, okay?" said Cassandra with a smile.

Alexander Lucard sat in the crowded theater. Cassandra had played the role better than he could ever have imagined. The director had been told that Katerina had been out all night and gotten terribly sick. As Lady Macbeth's last scene came, Cassandra snuck out from backstage and changed her clothes so no one recognized her as she took a seat next to her father.

Katerina appeared on stage; several members of the audience were puzzled but continued to watch. She played the role of the madwoman perfectly. Alexander sat in his seat, telling her every line and move. After she walked off the stage he kept commanding her every motion.

"Katerina, you see that dagger? Yes, that one. Pick it up... good girl. Now remember, Lady MacBeth kills herself."

The woman playing the nurse let out a scream and came running back onstage. The doctor carried out the body of Lady MacBeth, stabbed with a dagger.

"It looks so real," said Cassandra with a giggle.

"Yes, and now I am rather in need of a drink," said Alexander.

Soon several of the players on stage began to scream. "She's dead! Katerina di Nonte killed herself!"

People began to rush to the stage. Alexander and Cassandra left the building without anyone noticing them. They walked quietly over to his limo and got in.

As the car drove off, Alexander looked at his daughter. "You did wonderful, my dear. I just could not bear the thought of my daughter playing a crazy woman."

"Yes, father, I agree. Just a shame we missed the very end of the play. We could have made MacBeth's head on a pike look very real as well."

"Yes, you are too much like father, dear Cassandra."

"I should hope so."