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The line of friends and acquaintances had been riding for two days straight and had actually made very good time on their trip to St. Petersburg. They were only another twelve-hour ride from the ancient and noble city, and the wear on their steeds, along with the hunters themselves was starting to show. Each had started to slip off their saddle at least once from the pure exhaustion of riding this hard for two days straight, and each time another member of the line had to ride forward and keep them steady, they couldn't afford to lose the time, no matter how tired they were.

"How much longer do we have?" asked Gabriel from two riders behind Melania, who had taken up the front of the line to allow Ivan some sleep, even if it was only a few moments sitting atop his horse.

"I'd say somewhere between another eighteen and twenty hours." She called back to him, keeping her back straight and her eyes ahead, not wanting to look back and find Anna plastered against his back fast asleep as she had found her only a few hours earlier. It upset her stomach.

"How much longer do we have to go?" he asked a few seconds after and Melania sighed heavily.

"Another twelve-hours, but I don't like the look of those dark clouds." She replied, looking up at the angry purple sky.

"How can you see anything, it's midnight." Gabriel retorted, looking up into the sky but seeing nothing.

"The sky should be an inky black, or blue, with some star visibility, even through the trees, and it doesn't. It's angry and purple. Everything is too dark in here." She shivered visibly and Gabriel wanted nothing more than to be able to ride forward to her side and wrap his arms around her. But he knew he couldn't. Anna was still fast asleep behind him and Melania had been very careful not to look at him or talk to him unless it was completely necessary.

"Melania, you get some sleep, I'll take over the lead." He offered a few minutes later but she shook her head.

"No, I'm fine, you get some rest, you'll need it." She retorted a bit sharply as she shook her head as though to rid it of the sleep that was threatening to overwhelm her.

"Melania, don't be so damn stubborn, let me take over."

"I don't need you to take care of me, thank you very much." She snipped, looking over her shoulder only once to gauge his reaction. He looked a bit shocked and a bit hurt, but looked away from her when their eyes met.

She turned her head back to the front, watching the dirt road in front of her that cut through the forest, and missing the shrieking beast that came at her from above.

"Melania!" Gabriel called for her as Dracula came sweeping out of the sky with grace, snatching the beautiful monster hunter from her perch.

"Gabriel!" Melania reached a hand out as though she could reach the man that was left sitting on the ground, watching her, helpless, as she was lifted off into the sky.

"Melania, hold on!" Ivan had heard the screams and was awake now, grabbing Tamary's reins and tossing them to Gabriel before chasing Dracula with his own steed.

Gabriel understood the unspoken message and helped Anna, who had woken up after all the screaming as well, off the back of his steed onto the back of Tamary, and followed Ivan, Anna and Carl chasing after him with Garm on their heels.

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Melania struggled as hard as she dared against the large vampire holding her, as much as she wanted to get away from him, she did not want to splatter all over the ground.

"Let go of me." She growled low, trying her best to loosen his grip.

"You took Elisabeth from me, and now, I shall take you." He retorted viciously, his grip tightening and with a final effort Melania took her nails and scratched as hard as she could against the inside of the claw that was holding her right shoulder. Dracula hissed and let go momentarily, dropping Melania and she plummeted towards the ground only to be jerked back into the sky as Dracula swooped low and snagged her left foot in his own, pulling her back into the sky.

"Let go." She howled again, noticing that she was much closer to the ground this time and scratched him again. And again he let go of her, allowing her to drop closer to the ground only to catch her once again.

Ivan was catching up to her and now Melania could see him, he was riding as hard as he could, and the line was behind him the entire way.

"Ivan!" she called to him and as hard as he was trying to get to her, he just couldn't reach.

"Hold on Melania!" he called back to her as Dracula changed direction and swooped down low over the line, teasing them, Melania just out of their reach.

She screamed, her body out of line now that she was upside down. She couldn't tell where she was, or where any of the people that were there to help her were. Everything was backwards and upside down.

"Melania!"

She couldn't tell if that was Gabriel or Ivan, they were too far away now.

"You mustn't be too sad, my dear, perhaps you will see them again." Dracula teased her.

"Let go of me." She growled in response, wriggling in his grasp.

"I can't do that dear, I can't allow Anna to guard the gate, how will I get Elisabeth back otherwise?" he asked her incredulously and she stared up at him in shock and fear for a moment before reaching up and scratching him as hard as she could, drawing a heavy blood flow this time and when he dropped her, he couldn't swoop low fast enough to catch her again.

She screamed as she fell through the air and she felt a claw tear into her shoulder, pulling her out of her fall for only a moment before her weight became too much and she kept falling.

"Melania!"

That was Gabriel she was sure of it this time and when her body made contact with something hard but warm she knew she was safe.

"I've got you, hold on." His soothing voice reached her ears as he steadied her body, draped over the horse he was riding.

He joined with Ivan and the others, riding in a group instead of a line, further into the woods until Dracula's cries and figure could no longer be seen or heard.

"Do you think she's all right?" Ivan asked once the line had stopped running. Melania was draped over the steed that Gabriel sat upon, her body limp.

"I think so, just a little hurt, he scratched her shoulder pretty badly when he tried to catch her that last time."

Melania groaned when her shoulder was touched by her brother, but she didn't wake, her green eyes stayed slammed shut, as though in pain.

"She'll be all right, but we'll need to stop, for now."

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When Melania woke up she couldn't remember where she was or why her shoulder hurt so badly.

"Ugh, Ivan?"

"I'm here Melania, how are you feeling?" Ivan was leaning over her, his face etched with concern and scratches across his cheek.

"What happened to your face?" she asked him, her good arm reaching out to caress the red lines on his skin.

"Just some over zealous tree branches, how're you feeling?" he asked her again, and she smirked at him.

"My shoulder hurts, what happened?" she started to sit up only to feel a strong hand on her good shoulder.

"You should stay down for a little while longer Melania, that shoulder is still looking dangerous." Gabriel's voice weaved through the air to hit her ears and never in her life had she been so happy to hear him. She spun around to face him, ignoring his request that she lay down and instantly wished she hadn't because her entire world started to tilt as her vision swam and blurred.

"What happened?" she asked him as he kneeled to her height and steadied her.

"Dracula attacked us…"

"Anna!" fear gripped her, if Dracula had snagged her, then the gate would never get closed.

"I'm fine." The only other feminine voice reached her ears and she felt relaxed, relieved and a bit annoyed at the sound.

"Melania lay back."

Again she ignored his request and this time stood up completely, swaying on the spot for a moment or two before blinking the dizziness away and heading over towards Tamary.

"We have to get moving, who knows how much time we've lost."

"Melania, Melania." Gabriel reached her side quickly and grabbed her arms to keep her from swinging herself up onto the saddle.

"What?" she turned to meet his gaze and he took another step towards her, closing in on her personal space quickly.

"Take some time, we lost an hour at the most. We have to bandage that shoulder and make sure that you haven't got any more injuries." He slowly pried her hands off of Tamary's reigns and pulled her away from the noble creature.

"Gabriel, we don't have time to rest or bandage anything, we have to get moving." She tried to rid herself of his grip, but he only held tighter.

"I won't let us be late, I swear, but Melania, right now, we have to take care of you and that's it." He said it with such an air of finality that Melania didn't even argue as he took her over to the fire that they had built, sat her next to Carl and pulled out the bandages for her shoulder, along with a canteen of water to clean the cut.

She watched him a bit warily as he took the collar of her shirt and opened it a bit more, pulling the shoulder down her arm to expose the smooth expanse of skin that was split by an angry red mark that still seeped some blood. His dark eyes scanned over the exposed skin a bit slower than entirely necessary and Melania could feel color start to rise to her cheeks.

He gently cleaned the wound, giving her apologetic looks as she hissed in pain. He blew on the cut to soothe the stinging that his actions caused and color slashed both their cheeks as they noticed exactly how close his lips were to her skin and when he pulled away his lips were close to her lips and all the butterflies that had existed in Melania's stomach the first time he had looked at her like he was looking at her now reappeared.

Anna cleared her throat noisily as she stood up and left the side of the fire to help Carl tend to the horses and the pair on the ground quickly sprang apart at the noise. They looked at one another sheepishly as Gabriel grabbed the clean white bandages and covered the red mark on her shoulder.

"We should rest for another hour or two, get some sleep." Gabriel managed to whisper as he recovered from the feelings that were coursing through his body.

"We can't, we have to keep moving." Melania shook her head, ridding the feelings just like Gabriel had.

"Melania, we all need sleep, we were so tired that Dracula managed to swoop down and grab you right off of Tamary without any warning, we need the rest, we can't keep riding like this." He tried to convince her and she sighed, her head hitting her knees as she drew them up to her chest.

"Fine, but only for a few hours, then we have to keep moving, without Anna the gate will stay open, and we can't have that." She reluctantly agreed and he smiled leaning in and kissing her temple.

"You rest, I'm going to check on Carl and the horses." He got up from his place at her side and headed out of the reach of the firelight to where Anna and Carl were with the horses.

Ivan leaned down towards his sister.

"He seems to care for you."

She looked up at him and returned the smile he sent her way.

"Yes he does."

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Melania woke up a few hours later still next to the fire; that was now just some struggling ember. At first she wasn't sure what had woken her but when she heard slightly raised voices she realized the sound was what had jarred her out of a rather heavy sleep. She looked around slowly, not wanting to disturb anyone and saw Ivan just a few feet from her, Carl on his left, snoring loudly but Anna and Gabriel were no where to be found.

So she got up to find them. Figuring they were the raised voices she walked around the silent horses and stayed in the shadows to watch what was happening.

The pair of monster hunters were facing one another, Garm in a sleeping heap at Anna's feet, and while their voices were slightly raised, they were obviously trying to keep the sound low. Gabriel looked annoyed while Anna looked down right angry, her hands were clenched in fists at her sides and her eyes were on fire.

"I should go by myself." She hissed at him and he sighed, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"No, Anna, it is our job to get you there and we are going to get you to St. Petersburg." Gabriel retorted, his voice laced with fury that was barely hidden.

"Gabriel, I can't stay here and put you in danger." Her voice lost its anger and just shook with the fear that gripped the woman's heart as she faced the man that she still loved.

"Anna." Her name was a soft whisper and Melania looked over her shoulder at the men sleeping behind her to make sure they hadn't woken up and just when she turned back, intent on stepping between the two before her and fixing the fight, she saw something that made her stomach drop.

The pair were no longer talking, they were kissing. Anna's lips settled over Gabriel's, his hands on her waist and hers curled tightly into his long hair. Barely suppressing the sobs that rose to her throat Melania spun on her heel and ran back to the fire, hitting her knees in the dirt, tears threatening to choke her as she tried to keep them at bay. She wouldn't cry, she couldn't cry. She was so stupid for not seeing this coming. She knew of Gabriel's history, knew all about him and Anna and their feelings for one another. With Anna back she was being a ridiculous little girl not to expect him to run back to her, even if he couldn't keep her.

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"Anna, no." Gabriel separated their lips by grabbing her upper arms and pushing her away from him, hurt and anger in his eyes.

"Gabriel, what's the matter?" she asked him softly, startled by his actions.

"Anna…" he sighed, looking down, "Melania and I…I care about her."

Anna felt her heart shatter as she looked at him and realized he was telling the truth.

"How could you care for her and kiss me?" she was being ridiculous and petty, and she knew that, but she couldn't stop the words from leaving her lips.

"Anna, you kissed me." That was the most ridiculous excuse and he knew it, but he cared for Melania; that he knew without any doubt. As much as he had once cared for Anna, as much as he still cared for her, their relationship, whatever it was, had been doomed from the beginning. He couldn't be with her, and if he was honest, if he had to choose between her and Melania, it wasn't even a contest.

"Gabriel, I care about you." She finally admitted what she never had when they had been together in Transylvania.

"I cared about you as well Anna."

Cared. Past tense.

She nodded at him and stepped back, her heart hitting the ground with a loud crash, the bloody pieces flinging everywhere.

"Okay, I understand."

"Anna, forgive me."

She smiled at him and a calm expression took over her eyes. She stepped forward, took his hands in her own and brought them to her lips, kissing them softly.

"I wish you every blessing."

"Thank you Anna."

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Melania had battled with her mind the entire night and as she pretended to wake and get ready for the ride that faced her she made up her mind finally.

"Melania how's your shoulder?" Gabriel appeared at her side and she felt her heart contract painfully.

"It is perfectly fine." She answered a bit coldly.

"We'll make it in time, I promise." His warm hand rested against her uninjured shoulder and she quickly shrugged him off.

"Yes, you will." She nodded, not looking at him.

"I will? What are you talking about?" a small flame of fear erupted in his chest.

"I need you to take Anna to St. Petersburg, the Cathedral of St. Paul is the largest cathedral in the city, set right in the middle. You can't miss it. Now, the portal that will get Anna and Garm to the gate is located in the basement, just under the large cross of the main pulpit."

"Why are you telling me this? You'll be right there beside me."

She finally turned to look at him and almost burst into tears right there at the sight of his face.

"No I won't. I finally figured it out. Dracula took me, because he wanted you to come after me. If he can distract us long enough, then he can make it so we won't reach St. Petersburg in time."

"Melania."

"Listen to me. If he stops Anna from getting there on time, the gate will remained open until Anna dies and the new keeper is made."

"Wait, I thought Baba Yaga said that Anna was only alive for these three days."

"No, if she can't reach the gate, her life is restored. But if that gate remains opened Dracula could get inside and pull Elisabeth back out."

"I thought you had to be the keeper or dead to reach the inside of the gate." He was confused, by her speech and her cold attitude towards him.

"Dracula's heart does not beat, therefore he is dead. He can reach the inside and if he pulls Elisabeth back out, the world will not survive; he can have an army of the undead."

"Then why can't you come with us, it's daylight, he can't reach us." He reached out for her as though to soothe her, but she stepped out of his reach.

"No, he could, those clouds don't look so good. If it starts to rain, the sun disappears and he appears. I can't take the chance that Anna will not reach the gate on time."

"Melania, we'll protect you."

"No, I don't need protecting," she swung herself up on to Tamary's back, "Get her there on time, I will distract Dracula."

"Melania, please, let me protect you." He was practically begging her now and she knew it, but the power of what she had to do, and what had transpired last night made his pleas fall on deaf ears.

"Why don't you protect your precious Anna, Van Helsing?" She spat his name out like it was the dirtiest of curses and it was as powerful as though she had slapped him across the face. He regarded her with a hurt look before she urged Tamary forward and took off, turning to the left to draw Dracula away from the line.

"Where in the hell is she going?" Ivan ran over to where his sister had been just seconds before. He turned towards Gabriel, who hadn't moved a millimeter since Melania had called him Van Helsing.

"Gabriel?"

He stayed as silent and still as stone; his heart shattering as his mind made the connection that Melania had seen him and Anna together the night before. If something happened to her, he would never forgive himself.

"Where is she going?" Ivan reached out and shook the larger man by the shoulders, his eyes snapping dangerously.

"She said that she had to distract Dracula in order to give us a chance to get Anna to St. Petersburg."

"What, but she can't go off on her own!" Ivan turned to grab the reins of his own horse but Gabriel reached out to stop him.

"We don't know where she's headed, and I am going to need your help to get Anna and Garm into the gate, all right?"

"I can't let my sister head off into the woods, all alone, with Dracula after her." Ivan sounded outraged by the very idea.

"No Ivan, we have to." Gabriel replied, his voice soft and still sounding hurt. Ivan looked from the seemingly broken man before him to the empty space his sister had once occupied.

"All right, lets get started, we only have twenty hours to get Anna there and we're going to need at least twelve of those."

The line started once more, short one member.

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Okay, this is like the longest chapter that I have written, for this story or any of my others. I hope you like it, I hope you still like me and this silly little piece of fiction, read and review please.

Andrew's Slinky.