A/N: Hey guys... sorry this took a while my computer is still being a bitch and I do not own my own lap top... birthday in May keeping my fingers crossed! anyway it did not take as long as the last one and for that I am glad. I have an answer to Carl's dilemma... but I won't be able to put her in till at least next chapter. But now Carl does officially have a pairing. (smiles huge smile) thanks to Erikslittleangel13 for sparking my creative juices. anyways this chapter comes to you courtesy of the school computers of MBCI... my school. I hope y'all enjoy the chapter. for those who don't like fluff sorry couldn't help it ... it's vital to the over all plot. If you choose not to read this chapter because of the fluff... you'll miss some major events so my suggestion? Suck it up buttercup the fluff won't kill you!! I now turn it over to Gabriel who is taking over my disclaimer today as Vlad has mysteriously disappeared.
Gabriel: Ahem, unfortunately Kairi's-twin does not own any of the characters of Van Helsing only those that she has created.
Thanks Gabe! enjoy the chapter everyone I'll see you at the end!
-Kairi's-Twin-
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Chapter 8; of consequences and the beginnings of affection
Dracula had decided to wait until Natalie's second day out of bed to confront her about her escape attempt. He had to find out the truth about who had helped Natalie and whether they had sent her into a blizzard on purpose to kill her. The count gently knocked on her door. There was no answer; this puzzled him for he could hear her heart beat in the room. He carefully opened the door and immediately realized why there was no answer. The vampire king smiled at what he saw. There was Natalie wrapped in blankets, curled up like a kitten on the couch before the fire a book resting in her limp hands whilst the girl slept peacefully. It was a beautiful sight, the way the fire played across her face made her seem to glow with ethereal beauty. It caused a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach that he could not explain. As the door softly clicked shut behind him the girl began to stir. He sat in an armchair near the couch as her eyes fluttered open. Natalie yawned and stretched before she noticed her guest.
"Oh! C-Count I did not realize you were there…"she opened her mouth to say more but the vampire motioned her to be silent.
"It is alright Miss Madison. I am not angry, and I can not say that I did not expect some sort of escape attempt." He gave her a beseeching look, "however the truth of the matter is that it almost killed you. I am aware that you had an accomplice in your escape… for your own safety I must know who it was."
The girl looked down studying the book in her lap, Swiss Family Robinson, when she spoke her voice was very quite and would have been hard to hear had he not been a vampire, "I… I can not, I promised."
"Whoever they are they tried to kill you! You owe them nothing!"
"I realize that, but I gave my word. That means a lot to me."
"I understand," he sighed she gave him no choice. The count reached into her mind in search of a name… he found it, "Alina!" he snarled forgetting himself momentarily.
Natalie realized what he had done she paled and her eyes went wide, "please you must not tell her! She will think that I told you." The poor girl was absolutely terrified; Vladislaus knew that he must remedy this at once… though Selena would probably be a better comfort for the girl than he.
"I can not allow her to get away with this not only has she disobeyed me again but she has put your life in danger. This I can not permit to continue, no she will answer for her deed." He bowed to her and moved to the door, "good evening Miss Madison, Tasha will be up soon with your supper."
Soon after the Count's departure Natalie began to pace the length of her room. What would Alina do? Would she attack her? Or would she bide her time? Before she knew it an hour had passed in her pacing. The girl jumped at the knock on the door but was quickly relived to see that it only Selena with her supper tray. The eldest bride smiled kindly at the girl who, remembering her lies to the vampiress looked rather ashamed of herself as well as still being extremely nervous about her Alina situation.
"You do not need to worry about Alina for a few days… she and Aria have been sent on an errand for the master." She spoke, "I guess now I know why Alina was acting so friendly towards you."
"Selena…" the girl faltered not sure how to continue, "Selena I am sorry that I lied to you about Alina. I-" Selena cut her off.
"Never mind about that Natalie, I understand why you did it. There is no shame in wanting to be with your loved ones. I only wish that you would have trusted me rather than Alina."
"I know. I cannot believe I was stupid enough to believe that she truly wanted to help me. I thought it was too convenient, how easy it was. I realized when the blizzard hit why she seemed so eager to help me. I have to say I expected the Count to be angrier…from what I have heard."
"Much of what people hear about Vladislaus is false. Though his temper can be spectacular his fuse is not as short as it is made out to be. It is only because we feed on blood that people hate us. They often do not stop to think about our alternative diet." At the girl's questioning look she continued, "Most of us feed off of criminals or animals."
Natalie nodded, "where exactly did Alina go?"
"Do not worry about Alina, the master will deal with her. We won't let her try to kill you again." Finally the bride's reassurances seemed to affect the girl as she noticeably relaxed.
Two days later Natalie was in the library. She had seen her favorite book, Little Women, on a shelf a few feet above her. Natalie stood on her tiptoes and stretched her arm out as far as it would go straining to reach the volume. Her finger tips just managed to brush its leather bound spine but there was no way to get it off of the shelf. The young woman resumed her normal stance and glanced around for anything near by that she could stand on, 'I wonder if it would be too unladylike to stand on the shelves…then again it is not like I care about that.' She thought, as she could find nothing on which to stand. She discreetly glanced around the library once more this time on the look out for witnesses. Seeing no one she turned back towards the shelf. Standing back on her tiptoes and jumped to try and reach the novel. When this did not work she jumped as high as she could, but she still couldn't reach it! Sometimes she hated being only five foot four inches. Right now she was wishing she had Selena's extra two inches. She tried a few more times to reach the book jumping up and down. Just as she was about to give up an elegant white hand reached past hers and removed the book from the shelf. Natalie immediately whirled around to see the count standing right behind her with the book in his hand.
"I believe this is what you were after?" he said holding out the book with a wry smile. Natalie stared at him for a while feeling very aware of how close they were. At the same time she realized that he must have seen her extremely childish behavior. Blushing a deep shade of scarlet she took the book from the vampire king, muttering her thanks and accidentally brushing his cool hand with her warm one. This only caused her to blush more.
As Natalie's hand brushed his, the count felt a warm tingling sensation spread through his body. Her skin was so soft and warm. His sensitive nose caught a whiff of the girl's scent, a sweet mix of sweet pea and lavender. He noticed her flushed face thinking that she was rather cute when she was embarrassed. However he decided that he would relieve her of this awkward situation.
"If you would excuse me Miss Madison? I have some business to attend to." The young woman just nodded silently.
Once the count had left Natalie breathed a sigh. Though she was not sure whether it was a sigh of relief or of something else. She tried to make sense of all the things she had just felt. Embarrassment was, of course, foremost. But what about the strange emotion that had swept through her when their hands brushed? What had that strange tingling sensation been? She shook her head at her inability to fathom this unknown emotion. She thought she knew what it could be… but no that was out of the question it was not that. Whatever it had been she would figure it out later.
Five days after Aria and Alina had left on their errand Natalie sat in the library with Selena, reading. They had been there for several hours enjoying each other's companionship and their books. The Count was also somewhere in the library probably working on some kind of paper work. Natalie was lying on her stomach on a settee with her book propped against a pillow. Selena was seated on her left in an armchair just to the right of the large carved stone fireplace with a mantle large enough to walk along. Natalie was three-quarters of the way through Little Women when Selena suddenly gasped. When the girl glanced up at the vampiress she could see Selena had her hand to her chest. Her eyes were clouded and blank.
"Selena! What is the matter?" the girl inquired frantically. However before she could cross to the woman the count was kneeling before his bride gently holding her shoulders.
"Selena," his voice was calm and firm; his eyes were concerned, "what happened? Which of them has been slain?" This revealed to Natalie the nature of the bride's distress. She had explained to Natalie the bond that all of the brides shared. It allowed them to communicate and know when one of the others was killed.
When the bride spoke her voice was soft and hollow sounding, trance like, "Alina, she is gone. She attacked the village against your orders my lord."
The count did not react to this news, "and what of Aria? Is she alright?"
There was a long moment of silence while they waited for Selena's answer. During this silence the Count began pacing in front of the fireplace a worried frown on his face. Natalie's gaze followed him as she studied the vampire king more closely than she had ever really dared, since his attention was preoccupied. Finally the bride continued to speak, "Aria is returning immediately. She is unhurt; she did not join in Alina's attack."
"How soon shall she return? We must know what has happened." He had ceased his pacing now and stood gazing into the fire, hands clasped behind his back.
"She should be here early tomorrow evening judging by her speed." Selena replied coming out of her trance. The count nodded silently still watching the ravenous flames as they eagerly licked the wood like a thirsty dog when is comes to a lake. After a few moments he turned and walked back to his study to continue with his paperwork. He would know the truth soon enough.
After Vladislaus left Selena took up his position of standing and watching the flames. She thought about the events that Aria had just shared with her.
"Selena?" she had forgotten that Natalie was still there, "I am sorry about Alina… I know she was your sister."
The bride turned to the girl still seated on the settee, "you should not be sorry." The vampire was some what puzzled by the girls response to this event.
"I may not have particularly liked Alina but I understand what it is to lose a family member. So I am sorry for you but not for her."
"You need not be sorry for me or Aria. Alina was never very sisterly and she was extremely foolish. It may seem a little empty without her for a while but we will adjust. Besides she tried to kill you, an innocent, who has never done any harm." The girl opened her mouth to speak again, "she died attacking your youngest sister." The vampiress finished grimly.
The young woman immediately paled, "Sophie?" the bride affirmed this.
Vaseria earlier that day…
The sky was overcast about a week after the discovery that Natalie actually was a Valerious. The inactive rescue party was in town to buy supplies; they were still waiting for some news of Natalie. Sophie and Carl brought up the rear of the party chattering about this and that. Raphael led the group stopping every now and then to speak with his people. As he inquired about their families and business it was obvious that he truly cared about these people. They could here some yells from further off but did not realize what was happening until they all heard Sophie scream. They all spun around to see a large white bat like creature; three of them recognized it as a vampire, with long curly brown hair had grabbed the young girl by the shoulders and was now lifting her into the air. Without a second thought Raphael ran forward and grabbed on to the vampiress's ankle weighing her down. Alina slashed him across the chest with the talons of her other foot in an attempt to dislodge him. But the gypsy prince refused to release his hold. Then the vampire bride let out a screech of pain releasing Sophie to clutch at her chest where Van Helsing had lodged a holy water stained crossbow bolt. Sophie landed on the ground in a heap; Raphael was immediately at her side as was Clarisse.
"Oh my God Sophie are you all right?" her sister was frantic.
"Yes I'm alright…just some shallow scratches. Are you all right Raphael? Those cuts look deep."
"What these? I have had worse." Was his nonchalant reply.
"You saved me again… how can I ever repay you?" Sophie asked with a slight blush that she hoped went unnoticed.
"There is no need for repayment," the Valerious replied smiling down at the girl, "I could not very well let you become vampire food now could I?"
Sophie laughed a little at that, "fine but you must at least let me help you bind your wounds. Natalie taught me a lot about treating injuries and it is the least I can do."
"If you insist." Was his only reply though he bowed gallantly, flirting shamelessly.
Then Carl puffed up to them out of breath having run the whole way, "Van Helsing… found another…bride!" They all jumped up and went to join the hunter.
Aria had watched Alina attack the girl with deep worry etched on her face. The master would be furious if Alina killed any of Natalie's family. This was supposed to be a scouting mission only to find out if her sisters had gotten help and how much they knew about Natalie's where abouts. She had immediately recognized the Madison sister's allies. Raphael from having had run ins with him before. She knew Van Helsing and his Monk from Vladislaus description of them.
When Alina died Aria felt an unbearably, excruciating pain burn through her body. She realized that she was falling to the ground but the pain was too terrible for her to remain airborne. Soon after she crashed to the ground the pain receded. She knew what had caused this, she remembered the day Alina had said they would be better sisters if they drank each others blood… Aria had believed her. She slowly got to her feet only to find herself confronted by the famous monster hunter and his automatic crossbow. Soon after he was joined by the rest of the party. The only thought going through Aria's head at the time was that she was in really big trouble. She could see no way to escape as the hunter started to squeeze the trigger. It took all of Aria's will power not to flinch at that ominous sound.
The girls, Raphael, and Carl found Gabriel preparing to finish the second bride. Sophie however was not watching the Van Helsing her attention was fixed on the vampire. The bride was, in appearance, not much older than Natalie. Her hair was very light blond almost white, with eyes that shone like sapphires. There was fear in those eyes. It was an innocent fear that would melt a heart of stone. But Van Helsing did not see it as he began to pull the trigger.
"Wait!" Sophie had surprised everyone including herself by calling out but as the youngest and most troublesome she was always having to think fast to get herself out of tricky situations, "she might know where Natalie is! After all she is one of his brides right? And she is one of the three that kidnapped my sister."
Van Helsing seemed to be reluctant to speak to the bride until Claire spoke to him placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, "Sophie is right. This is our chance to get an answer as to where Natalie is instead of sitting around guessing." As this was said the hunter lowered his crossbow a little with a sigh. He knew they were right.
"Alright," then he addressed Dracula's youngest bride, "Where did you take the girl, Natalie?"
Aria knew she would have to be careful if she did not want to end up like Alina, "She is unharmed and safe. I swear it on my undead life." Was her simplistic answer. The sisters looked thoroughly relieved by this news. The hunter was not so easily diverted.
"Where is Dracula keeping her? Answer me!" Gabriel growled.
"I can not tell you that! He would know! Master would be so incredibly angry."
Sophie noticed that some liquid was welling in the vampiress's eyes. They were tears! For some reason she could not quite explain Sophie felt bad for the bride, after all Aria had not attacked anyone. The youngest sister stepped towards the youngest bride, her eyes shone with compassion that Aria had not expected.
"Please," her voice was gentle, "please tell us where our sister is? We must know and we miss her terribly."
The bride's answer was so quite that they could barely hear it, "I truly am sorry but I can not. I just can't."
Van Helsing raised the crossbow again to shoot her. Sophie saw the bride's eye widen and turned to see the hunter prepare to shoot the vampire. Sophie grabbed Gabriel's wrist to stop him.
"Don't kill her!"
"She's a vampire, she kidnapped your sister. You were just attacked for God's sake!"
"I know but she didn't attack anyone." The girl entreated.
As they argued Aria saw her chance. She quickly transformed and before Van Helsing could get his crossbow up again she flapped her large wings and stirred up a great cloud of dust making it impossible for them to see her. Then she made a break for it. When the dust settled the hunter could see that the vampire was already out of range and flying towards Budapest. There was a tense moment of silence while Van Helsing tried to find words to say to Sophie. Raphael saved the girl from the hunter's wrath.
"It is a good thing you saved Aria, Sophie. Now we know where Dracula is keeping your sister. I say we start for Budapest so that we can be in position when All Hallows Eve comes around."
"Carl," Van Helsing spoke to his partner as he realized that Raphael was right and his anger at the young woman unfounded, "how soon can we leave for Budapest?"
The friar thought for a moment doing some kind of mental calculation, "well… I'll need to make some more flares, it is a very precise scientific process… it might take a week and a half to get everything ready. However I'll see if I can cut down the time."
"Alright then, for now we should return to the manor. I think we have all have enough excitement for one day." Claire suggested.
Back in Budapest after Aria has arrived…
She has told him everything she knew about Van Helsing helping Natalie's sisters. Aria apologized profusely for having been caught. The count did not care much about that. He was just glad to have the child back safely, he thought of Aria as more of a daughter than a bride. The three vampires discussed the situation at length and decided that they would not worry about Van Helsing for now. They would play it by ear.
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A/N: Howdy folks! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I was going to wait until the next chapter for All Hallows was done but it is still a ways from being finished it is really super long so I decided to give you this one ahead of schedule.
Carl: (decidedly happier than at the end of the last chapter) I just want to thank Erikslittleangel13! (beams)
Kt: It's good to see you chipper again Carl, it was really depressing for me to have you down in the dumps.
Gabriel: you know it was my idea to ask the reviewers.
Kt: (rolls eyes) yes Gabriel you are a genius... how many times are you going to make me say it?
Gabriel: a few more for good measure.
Kt: (sighs) hey! where is Vlad? I would have thought he would be back by now.
Gabriel and Carl in unison: how should I know?
KT: I hate arrant Muses. He is in sooo much trouble when he comes back!
P.S. for any one who is interested I now have a Pirates of the Caribbean Fic up. I hope you guys really like it and for this chapter... any comments about the fluff would be appreciated. Thanks!
Peace Out
Kairi's Twin
