Previously: Van Helsing grew bored with the conversation he was having and began to walk back to his monk friend and the woman and together they began to walk away.

Buffy quickly came to her senses and began to chase after them.

"Hey! Wait up!"

Chapter 2

Meanwhile…

"Marishka!" Dracula screamed at the top of his lungs as his two remaining brides flew in through the castle window and huddled together on the ceiling. His scream sent a swarm of bats flying from the chamber walls. He had just felt one of his brides, Marishka die and knew that the princess, Anna Valerious still lived.

"Why can't they just leave us alone? We never kill more than our fill and less than our share. Can they say the same?" He then began to walk towards one of the pillars in the room they were currently occupying and walked up the pillar, onto the ceiling where his two brides stood. Just like bats on a cavern roof.

"Did I not stress how important it was… to be finished with Anna Valerious… before she destroys what we are trying to create?"

"We lost Marishka" Verona, the brunette bride who liked the colour green, sobbed.

Dracula spoke to them in a soothing tone, trying his best to comfort his brides. "There, there, my darlings. Do not worry…" he hugged them both around the shoulders with an arm each. "I shall find another bride"

The brides drew out of the hug with looks on their faces that suggested that Dracula had just tried to stake them himself.

"What?" They shrieked.

"Do we mean so little to you?" Aleera, the red head who took a liking to pink dresses, asked.

"Have you no heart?" Verona said.

"NO!" shouted Dracula, as he jumped from the ceiling to the floor, "I have no heart! I feel no love... nor fear… or joy… or sorrow! I am hollow! And I will live forever"

"Oh my lord" Aleera said as she too, dropped to the ground.

"It is not so bad" Verona added as she hit the ground.

Dracula's mood changed instantly and he chuckled. "I am at war with the world, and every living soul in it!" he threw his arms up in the air to emphasize the point. "But soon the final battle will begin" he began to pace the room in thought.

"I must go and find out who our new visitor is. You will have to make a little aperitif out of him." He said to his brides. "We are much too close to success to be interrupted now"

"No! The last experiment was a failure!" cried Verona.

"Please, say you will not try again" Aleera begged him as she hung onto his arm. "My heart could bear the sorrow if we fail again"

Dracula beckoned both brides to him "Come. Do not fear me. Everybody else fears me. Not my brides."

"Igor!"

A short little ugly man with long, oily hair and buck teeth appeared from behind a curtain holding what appeared to be a taser gun. "Yes, master?" there was a shadow of some huge beast behind the curtain tugging at the chain restraining it. It howled.

"Why do you torment that thing so?" Dracula asked.

Igor shrugged "It's what I do"

Dracula shook his head and waved a finger towards his minion "Remember Igor, Do unto others…."
Before they do unto me, master" Igor finished for him and Dracula smiled and then waved his arms at everyone in the room. "Now go, all of you! To Castle Frankenstein!"

"Yes we will try again!" the brides cheered as both of them and Dracula turned into massive bat like creatures and flew out the window, leaving Igor alone in the room holding the taser.

~**~

Buffy finally caught up to the group of three as they were heading towards, would you believe it, another castle.

"Hey!" Buffy jumped in front of the group, forcing them to stop in their tracks. Anna Valerious, the woman with the amazing dark hair and jacket, stood with hands on hips. The little monk friend of Van Helsing's kept giving Buffy funny looks and she wasn't quite sure why. Did she have something in her teeth or hair? As for the fearless vampire killer himself he just rolled his eyes and tried to push past. Buffy stopped him with a hand on his chest.

"Do you mind?" He attempted to stare her down. Spike, Giles and Angel had tried this many times too, so now it had no affect on her whatsoever.

"No I don't," She said back. Van Helsing removed her hand from his chest. He wasn't entirely comfortable with some strange woman's hand being there.

"What do you want?" The woman asked. She had a thick Romanian accent. Buffy thought it was quite pretty. Just the woman in general, was quite pretty. Where's Willow when you need her Buffy thought.

"Anna" Van Helsing warned her. It was quite clear that this man didn't want to make the group any bigger than it already was.

"My name is Buffy Summers. I am also a vampire slayer…" Van Helsing snorted and crossed his arms getting ready to hear her tale. Buffy flashed him a menacing death stare.

"I am Princess Anna Valerious," said the woman. "Go on Buffy Summers" she too glanced at Van Helsing.

Buffy was glad that at least someone was interested in listening to her. "I would like to help. I'm not from around here and, well, I find a bunch of vampire slayers. In the Buffy books that's not coincidence" she shrugged.

Anna began to think it over. It would probably be nice to have another woman with her. She wouldn't always be classed as the weakest then. Anna was about to say yes, when Van Helsing spoke over her.

"How do we know you can even fight? By what I saw back there you're not so good"

Buffy placed her hands on her hips "Wanna let me prove it?"

Van Helsing looked back at the other two comrades; Anna nodded, as did his monk friend Carl. "Very well" he placed his weaponry in Carl's hands and rolled up his sleeves. "Give it your best"

Buffy quirked an eyebrow "You sure?"

Van Helsing smirked. "What's the matter? Scared you'll break a nail?"

Buffy took a fighting stance "Actually I was thinking about you losing your hat, but whatever" she shrugged.

"Awfully confidant" Carl observed.

"It gets a girl where she wants to be" Anna answered as she watched the way Buffy stood. She was clearly a fighter of some sort. It was plain to see.

"On my word" Anna instructed as she glanced at both persons. "Begin!"

At first they didn't do anything but stand there. Each sizing the other up. Buffy wasn't sure if he was even going to attack so relaxed just a little, that was when he struck.

Van Helsing threw a punch from the right and Buffy managed to block it with ease even though she had been unprepared. With his punch blocked, Van Helsing swung around with his left leg to aim a kick at her. Buffy dodged that too and sent a punch back his way. It wasn't a slayer strengthened punched because she knew she would probably hurt him if she had chosen to and so had stuck with forceful. Her punch connected with his right shoulder and sent him stumbling back a few paces. Buffy then advanced and swept his legs out from under him, only to have him flip himself back up within a few seconds. Van Helsing then attacked again, Buffy blocking everything he threw at her and when finally the time came, she kicked him in the gut, causing him to fly back a metre or two and lie on the ground.

She then strode over and sat atop him, trapping his arms and stopping him from using his legs with her hands and thighs.

"I think she won," Carl murmured to Anna. Anna nodded with a smile on her.

"I think she did"

Van Helsing grunted as Buffy offered her hand to help him up; he didn't take it. She was a bit offended that he had shunned her offer, but she had just kicked his ass, so kinda understood.

"Can I help now?" Buffy grinned as she swung her arms by her sides and rocking on the heels of her feet. She looked like a five year old waiting for something really, really fantastic.

"For now" was the response she heard as Van Helsing adjusted his hat and coat. He was disgruntled with the fact that a girl the size of this Buffy Summers had just beaten him in what he did best, kicking ass.

"Yay me!" Buffy breathed, pumping her fist into the air as if she had won some grand tournament.

Anna and Carl made their way over to the two and Anna slung her arm around Buffy's shoulders. "But first we'll have to do something about your clothing"

Buffy looked down. "What's wrong with it?" then she realised "Oh"

Anan nodded "Not to worry though. I have clothes that may fit you"

Buffy looked up at her. Anna wasn't that much taller than Buffy herself. She was more Spike's height. Spike. Buffy mentally shook herself and hoped to god that Spike was behaving himself.

Carl had been giving Van Helsing back all of his weaponry. "She's good" Carl praised the blonde girl though not to her face, more to the man she had just beaten. The one who was now rubbing his neck as if she had cramped it. "She is" was the gruff reply.

"Shall we?" Anna gestured forward with her free arm that wasn't draped around Buffy's shoulders.

Carl nodded and Anna began to lead the way, Buffy by her side and the boys behind her.

"So where did you come from?" Anna asked in polite conversation.

Buffy shrugged "I'm not exactly sure to be honest"

"So you're not from around here?" Carl asked. In some ways, he reminded Buffy of Giles, only better. He wasn't trying to run her life and he was just different in some ways. It was a good change. Van Helsing on the other hand, reminded her of both Spike and Angel and hoped that she was wrong. That he would be some sort of wonderful person. Maybe goofy like Xander and Willow, or quiet like Tara. She doubted it.

Anna reminded Buffy very much of herself and in some aspects Faith. Except for the psycho killer thing.

"No I'm not from around here. I'm from Sunnydale" Buffy answered.

"Sunnydale?" Van Helsing asked. "Never heard of the place"

Buffy tried to explain it "Well, it's in America… overseas…"

"But how did you get here?" Anna asked. She was truly interested in the 'overseas' bit. She had never seen the sea.

Buffy shrugged again. "No idea. Probably a spell of some sort. Where I'm from they're pretty common"

Carl's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. Spells? That was new.

Van Helsing just rolled his eyes and figured that this girl was taking over his spotlight. He was meant to be the shiny new toy in the village, not her.

Anna on the other hand, wanted to know more and decided to ask her about it when she gave her some clothing.

"So how did you get here?" Anna asked the two men as they walked down a hallway in the castle they had been walking towards before.

"We came by sea," Carl said

"Really? The sea?" Anna asked as she looked back over her shoulder. Why was everyone she talked to talking about the sea?

"Well, yes" Carl said.

"The Adriatic Sea?" Anna asked Carl was about to answer but Van Helsing cut him off.

"So where do I find Dracula?"

Buffy was shocked. Dracula. She was amazed that he existed here wherever she was. She had already kicked his ass, though he hadn't died. She had never thought that she would have to face him again.

"Ah, yes?" Carl said, adding to Van Helsing' question.

"He used to live in this very house four centuries ago" Anna explained. Buffy was amazed with all the armour and stuff in the hallway and so wandered off to examine a suit of armour that seemed shifty.

"No one knows where he lives now…" Anna continued. She passed a map of Transylvania on the wall and nodded towards it. "My father would stare at that painting for hours looking for Dracula's lair" Carl headed towards it to take a closer look.

"So, that's why you've come?" Anna asked, facing Van Helsing.

"I can help you" Van Helsing stated.

Anna was standing in front of what seemed like a weapons cabinet and was choosing certain ones. They consisted of a short sword and a long one, as well as some pointy thing that Buffy couldn't quite make out.

"No one can help me," Anna said as she began to place the swords into holsters.

"I can try" Helsing said as he raised his arm slightly in order to try and get the point across, but she wasn't looking and so it didn't matter. Buffy was amused at how the scene was playing out. She was blowing him off.

"You can die trying" Anna placed the short sword into the holster on her hip. "All of my family has. I can handle this myself"

"So I noticed" Anan turned on Van Helsing with the long sword she had just picked up.

"The vampires attacked in daylight. They never do that.

I was unprepared. It won't happen again." She hit him with the sword, but it wasn't intended to hurt him. Van Helsing didn't flinch.

"So why did they attack in daylight?"

"Clearly they wanted to catch me off guard. They seem almost desperate to finish off my family"

"Why is that? Why now?" Van Helsing asked as Anna made her way over to the pistols on the other side of the hall.

"You ask a lot of questions" Anna stated.

"Usually I ask only two: What are we dealing with? How do I kill it?" Van Helsing reasoned.

Anna was still choosing a pistol. "My father spent most of his life looking for answers year after year. Tearing through the tower, combing through the family archives" Anna said as she placed a pistol into yet another holster.

Van Helsing turned towards Carl "Carl, the tower. Start there"

"Right" Carl said and he hurried off.

Buffy wasn't admiring the suit anymore. She was more interested in the little spat Anna and Van Helsing were having and so had come closer by pretending to admire the sword cabinet that Anna had just left.

"The only way to save your family is to stay alive till Dracula's killed" Helsing told Anna as she placed a knife into her boot holster.

She turned on him, hands on hips "And who will kill him if not me? Who will show courage if not me?"

"If you go alone you'll be outmanned and outpositioned…" Van Helsing pointed a finger at her "And you can't see in the dark" Anna was trying to find more weapons. "In the morning, we will hunt him...

but we'll do it together" Van Helsing said.

Anna turned towards him, sizing him up. "Some say you're a murderer, Mr. Van Helsing. Others say you're a holy man. Which is it?"

Van Helsing thought about it a second. "It's a bit of both, I think"

Anna then smiled. "I promised you a drink"

"Yes you did"

Anna pointed "The bar is down the hall. Help yourself. As for me, I'm going to finish this once and for all" she began to walk back the way she had come. Passing Buffy on the way. Van Helsing followed her. It was as if everyone had forgotten Buffy was even there.

"I'm sorry you've to carry this burden alone" he said.

"On the contrary, I would wish for it no other way"

Van Helsing tried again. "And I'm sorry about your father and brother"

Anna wasn't phased. "I will see them again. We Transylvanians always look on the brighter side of death"

Van Helsing paused. "There's a brighter side of death?"

Buffy was confused about that one too.

Anna faced him again. "Yes. It's just harder to see"

Anna turned away so she could walk out the door and into the night but Van Helsing grabbed her shoulder and spun her round. He sprayed something in her face and it knocked her out almost instantly. Buffy was horrified.

He caught Anna just before she hit the floor, then sighed "I'm sorry about that, too."

"Hey!" Buffy yelled storming up to him. "What did you do?"

Van Helsing placed the unconscious Anna on the floor and straightened up "I couldn't have her risking her life now could I?"

Buffy thought about it "Guess not"

Van Helsing nodded. "At least someone agrees with me" he looked over at the body on the floor. "Can you do something with her? Find a bedroom or something. I need to check on Carl" He began to walk away.

"Why me?" Buffy demanded.

"You don't seem like the researching type. At least this way, you can be useful" and he was gone without another moments hesitation.

Buffy looked down at Anna and was suddenly so angry at the man walking away, she could have chased him down and punched his lights out.

She bent over and picked up Anna "I'll show him…" she grumbled as she carried the body up a flight of stairs and found a bedroom at the top of the landing.

"He'll be sorry" she placed Anna's body on the bed, making sure she looked comfortable enough and then stormed out of the room, looking for the man that seemed to despise her so much

~**~

Well there you go guys!

Hope you enjoy the second chapter…

I know Buffy wasn't in it a hell of a lot towards the end, but I had to flesh it out a little…

Reviews would be awesome!