Chapter 7: Don't Hold Back
When she got back to the village there were still people were trying to flee. Jezebel got the other witches together and they formed a tight circle. Quickly they started to chant. No sooner had the ground slowly trembled…it rumbled...louder and LOUDER.
A large crack in the earth opened wide and it ran towards their cemetery. Grave markers fell over and wooden caskets rose to the surface. These were the chosen. These were the men and women of the wrongly accused, the bitter, the victimized, and the vengeful.
They screamed as the dead rose. After dusting themselves off, the dead found whatever weapons they could grab and attacked anyone in their path.
"GET OUT!" Van Helsing shouted at Dryden.
The vampire was trying to provide comfort for Brooke in her weakened state. He shook his head no...refusing to leave the newborn vampire.
"It would be easy for me to kill you right here…but you did save her life. In exchange I'm letting you go. Meet me at the Vatican in a week's time; if I can't reverse it then I'll let you have her."
The vampire kissed her forehead and backed away. "Remember...she still hasn't gone through all the changes," he sighed. "Sounds like a deal," he said shaking his hand. After taking one last look at Brooke he left the cabin.
Gabriel knelt down next to her sorrowfully, "as long as you don't drink human blood there is still a chance I can reverse it."
Brooke got up and headed for a bucket that was in the corner of the room. She threw up just about everything that was in stomach. A glance in the bucket revealed a black inky liquid that only made her vomit more. It felt like dying to her and literally that's what was taking place.
This was what Dryden had warned him about. Brooke's body was ridding of body fluids in preparation for blood- the only fluid a vampire needed to survive. Meanwhile, Gabriel had other issues to deal with…the witches were creating chaos and taking lives. Now the hunter wished the vampire was here to baby sat while he took care things.
"Stay here…don't you dare leave this cabin for ANY reason, do you hear me? I can help you Brooke, but the less human contact you have right now, the better off you'll be."
She wiped her mouth and looked over at him, "I'm not an idiot…I know what drinking blood will do, but after so long I won't be able to control it. Just go- burn the witches."
He chuckled, "don't worry, they'll pay for this."
The hunter put his hat back on and headed out to the village. It didn't take long for him to encounter the scene…or the smell. It was one of the most horrible things his nose had ever encountered. The stench of rotting bodies walking about would make anyone pass out. The combination of that and burning wood and metal made it worse.
He shot his gun at the horrid creatures, but nothing happened.
"Never seen anything like it…" he stared in disbelief as the angry creature that resembled a person ran at him.
Van Helsing switched to something more dramatic as he dug through the bag he was carrying over his shoulder. The hunter pulled out a curved Mongolian broadsword. Never before had he the opportunity to use it until now.
With one swoop he was able to slice off the head of the creature that soon turned to ash.
"That's interesting…effective and not as messy as I anticipated."
Once he destroyed all of the walking dead, he came upon the circle of witches. Their chanting was now directed towards him. Gabe dropped the sword and fell to the ground at their mercy.
Jezebel left the circle and picked up the sword, "hunter…you've done well, but alas you've failed. A coven is stronger than one…we are stronger than many. Your head will be a warning to them not to disturb us again. Are you ready to die Gabriel Van Helsing?"
The witch held the sword up high over his head ready to strike him down.
Brooke appeared behind the witch through the darkness.
"Are you?" She snapped the high priestess's neck and took the sword from her dead hand before she fell to the ground.
Brooke wielded the sword at the coven that watched in horror.
"Don't do it…they were just taking orders," he encouraged her not to kill the others.
"You don't understand…they did nothing, so they deserve the same fate," her voice was cold, her movements were calculated.
She moved with enhanced speed…slicing and dicing the witches as they tried to scatter and hide. They were all in too much of a panic to try any magick against her.
The rest of the villagers were just as afraid of her…when they saw her teeth they knew exactly what she was. What they couldn't believe was…why a vampire was using a sword and not draining them of blood.
"That's enough Brooke!" he shouted at her and tried to take the sword, but she pushed him away.
Once the last witch was sliced in half through her torso, Brooke dropped the sword. She had blood on her clothes, her hands, and even splatter across her face. Her adrenaline was going and the smell of blood was arousing and intoxicating to her senses.
The witches would no longer be useful in helping Brooke and this was exactly what he was afraid of. Van Helsing quickly went back to bag to dig for something.
She dropped to the ground and breathed in the blood that covered the dirt. When she looked up she hissed with her fangs out and lunged at the curious crowd of brave onlookers.
Van Helsing aimed a mini crossbow at Brooke and fired a unique dart right at the top of her spine. The newborn vampire dropped to the ground unconscious before she could even lay a finger on them.
"That was too close," he breathed a sigh of relief and took his sword and carried her on his back before picking up his bag and setting off into the woods.
Dawn was fast approaching when they arrived at the cabin. They would have to settle for a small shed off to the side of the cabin. It was dirty and smelly, but it was dark and that's all that mattered.
Meanwhile, Van Helsing had the daylight hours to figure out how to cure her. He knew that if he couldn't cure her by sundown she would be lost to him forever.
