The First Bride
A Van Helsing Fanfic
by
Cairo Sinclair
Author's note: Takes place after the movie.
Disclaimer: I own Eleana, nothing more.
Van Helsing and Carl rode triumphantly into Rome. Leaving their horses in a stable nearby, they made their way to the Vatican church the Order's headquarters were under. Carl spotted the girl lying on the steps first. A black leather bag lay at her side
"Hello?" he asked, poking the girl. She looked about nineteen. Her eyes shot open and she sat up.
"Hello," she answered nervously. Then she looked at him intently. "Are you Van Helsing?"
"I am," Van Helsing said, standing to the side of the girl and offering her his hand. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. She slung the bag over her shoulder.
"I was told to find you. I have... information... that could be useful."
"Information about what?"
She glanced toward Carl. "I have information about how to defeat Dracula."
"Oh, we already defeated him," Carl said proudly. Van Helsing glanced at him. "Well, it was mostly Van Helsing who did the defeating. I just... helped," Carl corrected.
The girl smirked. "You may have killed him, but you did not defeat him. But since you do not need my help, I will be going." She started down the steps. Carl looked at Van Helsing, confused.
"Aren't killing and defeating the same thing?" But he had already followed the girl.
Van Helsing caught up with the girl at the bottom of the stairs. "What do you mean, we haven't defeated him? He was killed by a werewolf, like he was supposed to be."
"I mean, until you have defeated him, he will keep coming back. He always has, and he always will. No matter how many werewolves attack him, he will always return."
Van Helsing sighed. "But how do you defeat him?"
The girl blinked. "It's quite simple, really. You drive a stake through his heart."
"We tried that!" Carl explained.
"No, you didn't. Because-" she paused and pulled something out of her bag. It was a wooden chest, about a foot on each side, with elaborately carved skulls on it. "Because," she continued, "his heart is in here."
Van Helsing made a grab for the box. The girl swiftly pulled it out of his reach.
"I won't give it to you until you promise me something," she said.
"Anything," Van Helsing said, still trying to grab the chest.
"When you stab this heart, Dracula will become mortal for ten minutes." Van Helsing and Carl nodded eagerly. "I want nine of those ten minutes alone with him."
"Why?" Van Helsing was puzzled.
"You don't know who I am, do you?" she said, almost to herself. Then in a slightly louder voice, she added, "I want to see him as he was four hundred years ago, when he was human. When-" she broke off. She took a breath and continued. "When he was my lover."
Van Helsing and Carl stared at her.
"So that would make you..." Carl started working it out in his head.
"Four hundred and forty five years old," she filled in. "I am a vampire. I am Eleana, Dracula's first bride."
Van Helsing pulled out a stake, but she was too fast for him. She grabbed his wrist.
"Hear me out," she said. "I am willing to give you the heart on three conditions. Firstly, that you give me nine minutes alone with him when he is mortal. Secondly, that you not kill me. Thirdly, that you allow me to travel with you back to his castle."
"I'll grant your conditions, if you answer one question," Van Helsing agreed.
"Ask it," Eleana said.
"Why did you not die when I killed Dracula? The legends say that anything created by him would also die."
Eleana smiled. "He did not create me. I was created by an older vampire, one who still lives today, in England."
Carl had a question for the vampire. "If Dracula was your lover, why are you so eager to help us kill him?"
Eleana's answer was one abrupt word. "Revenge."