Vanessa is a vampire, plain and simple. She was raised by Dracula as a child, and when she turned sixteen, he changed her into a vampire. He's one of those parents that worries about everything, especially when it comes to his child—adopted child, anyway.
Feeling overprotected, Vanessa makes a wish that she had never been turned into a vampire.
That wish sends her back in time where she lives in a carnival under the Ring Leader. Vanessa knows there's something off about him, but she can't quite place her finger on what, exactly.
All she knows is he wants her dead.