Let the fluff begin!
Disclaimer: I can't think of anything witty to say… so Own not Van Helsing do I will have to work. For those who don't speak Yoda, I don't own Van Helsing…
(As another note, why does spell check in Microsoft word consider Yoda a word? But whenever I type "Van Helsing" it tries to get me to say "Van Helping"?)
In case anyone cares, or is wondering… I will have the bonus chapter of Gabriel's First Christmas up in a little bit… It needs some fine-tuning.
It was a dark and stormy night.
Quite literally.
Thunder boomed, and lightning cracked the sky, rain fell in torrents, beating down on the small Transylvanian village.
Yet, this being Transylvania, the people were more comfortable with the thunder then with silence. Here silence was often much more terrifying… and deadly.
Silence was often broken by the sound of horrible screams, followed by an even more awful quiet. It was always silent when they hunted.
So this night, despite the rumble of the angry sky, everyone in Vaseria was sleeping peacefully.
Well almost everyone.
Anna Valerious-Van Helsing shivered in her bed and pulled the blankets in tighter to her chest. Her eyes were closed, but she was not sleeping, not at all.
Growling softly to herself she rolled over, facing the window. The window she'd forgotten to pull the curtains on. Rain ran in a steady stream over the clear glass panes, blurring the view of balcony outside.
Anna shivered again, her eyes snapped open in the dark, and she stared out the window for a moment, watching the rain pour. Shadows flickered across her face and the room; everything was cast in a watery bluish-gray light. A color she normally found soothing in its familiarity. But tonight was different, even though it shouldn't have been.
It was different because he wasn't there.
With a heavy sigh Anna rolled onto her back and folded her hands on her stomach. It was no use; she wasn't going to get any sleep with him gone.
Listening to the sound of the rain, another thing she loved, she couldn't help but think that even that wasn't the same.
Twisting her head she looked over at the empty side of the bed and an intolerable longing rose in her chest. She reached out with one pale hand and traced her fingers over his pillow. Dragging the soft cotton to her she pressed her face into his pillow and inhaled deeply. Eye's fluttering closed again she cuddled into his pillow, a sorry substitute for the real thing.
God I miss him,Which she realized was completely ridiculous. She'd been by herself for far longer then they'd been married. She smiled wistfully and breathed in his unique sent again. What can I say; I guess I'm addicted?
Gabriel was in Rome, some kind of briefing that absolutely could not be done by mail. Anna snorted as she clutched the now warm lump of cotton. Naturally she'd wanted to go with him, but he, being the logical one, said that it didn't make sense for both of them to be gone.
"After all, someone's got to watch after the villagers. You weren't thinking of leaving Carl to do that were you?"
He'd said it with that lopsided grin firmly in place, a laughing twinkle in his dark eyes. Then he'd kissed her goodbye, and with his bag over his shoulder left her standing in the doorway of their home.
Alone.
Not really alone, she chided herself lightly, rolling again she settled onto her side with Gabriel's pillow held against her. Carl is here with you.
Though, she thought with a smile, he might as well be gone, after all he spends all his time in his lab doing God knows what.
A dark shadow moved across her vision.
Surprised, Anna's eyes flew open, she stared off into the now pitch black room.
"What the hell," she whispered softly, sitting up in her bed. The blankets slid off her shoulders, baring her skin to the chill in the room.
Trembling slightly she tried to see in the blackness, looking over at the window she discovered what happened.
The curtain had fallen over the window.
Feeling decidedly foolish Anna tossed back the blankets and slid her feet to the floor. Still she felt vulnerable, and had that eerie feeling that someone was watching her. Standing from the warmth and security her bed offered she took a shaky step towards the window.
What's the matter with you? She chastised herself but nevertheless she took another careful step in the direction of the window. Her head moved like it was on a swivel, looking every which way, trying to find the threat her senses were screaming was there.
A hand suddenly reached from the dark and grabbed her arm in an iron grip, another reaching out to smother her cry of surprise.
Moving out of instinct Anna reached for her bedside table, looking for some kind of weapon. Her fingers felt the cool ceramic of the vase on her nightstand.
Eye's flashing as furiously as the lightning outside she snatched up the vase. Squeezing her eyes shut she slammed the vase up into the general area of her attackers head. She heard the vase shatter against his skull with a satisfying crash, followed by a groan from her attacker.
Slamming her elbow into his ribcage she jerked out of his arms as he doubled over. Rushing over to the window she grabbed the sword hanging conveniently next to it. Yanking the saber from its case she reached with her left hand and pulled the curtain open.
So much better if you can see your opponent, she thought, eyes scanning the now relatively lit room. She saw a crumpled black shape lying in a heap by the bed.
Lip curled back in a snarl she approached the man, intent on firstly finding out why he was in her room, secondly on killing him.
He groaned again as she approached and Anna almost felt sorry for him… almost.
"Who are you, and what the hell are you doing in my house," she demanded kicking him onto his side. You'd better feel lucky that my husband isn't home, she thought viciously.
"What do you want?" she sneered, preparing to kick him again, when he surprised her for the second time that evening by stretching out his hand to her.
"Anna," he whispered hoarsely then coughed, putting his hand to his head and moaning again. The gold of a wedding band glittered in the gloom.
Anna dropped her sword and gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.
"Gabriel?" she asked,
"Who were you expecting? Dracula?" he rasped, Anna dropped to her knees next to him. She'd recognize that voice anywhere.
Wincing she rolled him onto his back, two familiar hazel eyes squinted up at her.
"Surprise baby," he said gruffly, shaking his head, "That was quite the welcome. Not exactly what I was expecting, or had in mind, but hey whatever works" he chuckled weakly.
"Oh I'm sorry!" Anna gushed, finally getting over her shock at seeing him. She put a hand onto his chest and moved the other to cradle his head.
"Love I'm so sorry!" she repeated and tilted his head to get a look at her own handiwork.
"Well Doc am I going to live?" he joked lightly then coughed, "Geeze Anna did you have to kick me too?" he gasped.
Unable to stop herself, Anna laughed softly at the ridiculousness of the situation. Her fingers gently messaged his scalp.
"I mean, first the vase, then the elbow, and you know you have a very sharp elbow," he continued, then closing one eye he stared up at her, "And what exactly is so funny?"
Anna shook her head and stood up, then held out a hand for him. He accepted it warily and wobbled up to his feet.
"I liked that vase too," he said with false lamentation, reaching around to the back of his head he tenderly touched the spot where the vase had connected.
"Well, ow," he commented and winced. Then reaching down he lifted up his shirt to examine his ribs. A lovely red spot marked where her elbow had struck him.
"Poor old man," he wheezed, gently probing the spot for broken ribs.
Anna rolled her eyes, "Oh stop, I didn't break anything, and you're not old" she scoffed.
Yeah I'm only a little over a hundred, Gabriel thought with an eye roll of his own.
"You know I was actually worried about leaving you alone. I guess I forget that you're the great Anna Valerious, monster hunter extraordinaire." He smiled his lopsided grin at her and put his shirt back down.
Anna looked back at him through a veil of curls, she couldn't help but worry that this was all a dream and she'd wake up soon…alone.
Deciding that there was only one way to find out she reached out for him and tugged him into a hug.
Warm arms encircled her waist; the special smell of Gabriel filled her senses. His heart beat steadily against her ear. He exhaled softly, his warm breath brushing against her hair. She smiled and pressed closer still, it wasn't a dream, he really was home.
"I'm sorry about the welcome, but you scared me to death!" she said, her voice muffled by his shirt.
"It's all right, I've had worse," he joked and ran a hand through her silky hair, "And I'm sorry for scaring you."
"Well I guess we're even then, I'm sorry for hitting you and you're sorry for scaring me. I'm sorry and you're sorry," she laughed, pulling back to look up at him.
He grinned at her and reached with one long finger to bop the end of her nose affectionately.
"You weren't supposed to be home for another week," she said, smoothing her hands across his back.
"I left early," he mumbled and tightened his grip on her waist.
"Soooo, did you miss me?" he asked, suddenly playful, she cocked her head to the side and grinned back at him.
"Of course I missed you. You know I don't sleep well when you're gone," she replied with a shake of her head. "Which is ludicrous, I lived alone for longer then we've been married. Not to mention that fact that I've slept in this bed alone for all my life. It makes no—"
Gabriel cut her off bending to capture her lips in a harsh kiss.
"Sorry," he panted once he'd managed to pull himself away. "I've been waiting to do that ever since I left the house," he explained breathlessly.
Anna nodded swiftly; "uh-huh" then reached up and yanked his head back down.
"God I missed you," he whispered against her mouth, "You have no idea how hard it is to leave this house."
"You're the one that left me," she accused in between urgent kisses.
"Well someone had to look after things here," he responded with a soft smirk, "If there's one thing I've learned about Transylvanians it is that you all seem to have a knack for getting in trouble. I mean if you think about it, every monster imaginable always comes here. You're like a delicacy," he laughed.
"Shut up," Anna hissed, smothering his reply with a fierce kiss that left him dizzy.
"Maybe I should go away more often," he commented, ignoring her previous command. She growled and moved to nibble at his ear,
"We'd run out of vases," she whispered with a smirk. He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away.
Her head tilted to the side in her famous 'Anna' stance she quirked an eyebrow at him.
"What a pity," he said thoughtfully, voice rough and deep. "We'll have to invest in something soft, like a teddy bear, to take their place."
Anna laughed as she imagined clocking him over the head with a soft stuffed bear.
"Wouldn't that be embarrassing though? The great Van Helsing brought down by a teddy bear that his wife hit him with?" she pointed out. He pretended to ponder it, all the while running his palms up and down her bare arms.
"Hm, wounded pride I think is better then a wounded head," he chuckled.
"Gabriel," Anna whispered softly, making him bend to hear her, she grinned, "You talk to much," and she kissed him again. Effectively ending all conversation for the rest of the evening.
Lightning flashed outside, briefly illuminating the mountains and the sleeping village below them. Thunder rumbled darkly, almost seeming to challenge the lightning. Rain fell harder, soaking everything. Beads of water caught on Anna's roses sitting on the balcony.
Another typical evening in Transylvania…
How was that? I'm trying to work on my imagery a bit… you know, be more descriptive? So did I do okay? Feedback would be most appreciated…
Thanks