The Supernatural World of Vladimir and Viktor, Chapter 59

Vladimir and Viktor busied themselves in Hank's room in the Vam San. They could hear Anica's hearty voice in the great hall at the front door.

"Let's give Hank some time to himself for a while," she said. "Joseph, you and Eddie go with him. You, too, Claire. Come on everyone. Set up for a party. We're going to celebrate Hank's return and not having to use the blue solution any more."

They heard Joseph questioning Eddie, saying, "They replaced his head with a what? A pumpkin? And Jack Pumpkinhead made it talk? So, if I died I could be brought back to life?

"Only if you lose your head and your body is frozen," replied Eddie. "And, of course, if you are on good terms with Jack."

Hank opened the door to his room and spied the banner Vladimir and Viktor held which read "Welcome Back, Hank!" Around the words were painted faces of almost everyone associated with the Vam San.

"Oh, hey guys. Uh. A surprise! That's nice, "Hank said weakly.

"He wasn't really surprised was he," Vladimir said glumly to Viktor.

"I told you he was watching when we painted it at the house," frowned Viktor.

"That's not it," Hank's brother Joseph interrupted. "Let's go put up the banner along the dining room. 'Punkin' here just needs some private time first."

Everyone left Hank alone with Claire in their awkward silence.

"It's a girlfriend thing," Joseph whispered to the boys.

"Well, let's find Dean. He's not growing up any time soon," groused Viktor.

"Well, here I am," Hank finally offered after everyone was gone. "Alive and well. And no vampire soul. I'm totally safe to be with."

Claire was still feeling miffed. "Nobody told me they were bringing you back. Or that they even could."

"Hey, nobody told me either," said Hank. "Castiel shows up in Purgatory and says my body is ready to go back into. I mean I was happy to return. But when they explained the gruesome steps it took in Professor Wogglebug's lab and I saw a pumpkin-headed stick figure using my body as a ventriloquist's dummy, I was pretty creeped out. I don't think Wogglebug, Eddie and Castiel were all that sure it would work, so no one else was told. Jody and Anica learned after it succeeded a few days ago. Even then we had to wait in case of complications."

"Not a vampire now?" Claire asked doubtfully.

"No, Vladimir's father was in Purgatory and cured me. Well, one of the other vampires did, but they passed down his blood. I was told Christ changed the rules, so Anica and Vladimir's blood will do the same thing here on Earth. That's what everyone was being injected with here. Wanna check out my teeth?"

Hank leaned his head back, opened his mouth and ran a finger along the roof to show there were no sharp teeth.

"If we kissed, you could find out for sure," Hank suggested coyly.

Clair thought it over for a minute then finally smiled, walked to the door to Hank's room, and closed it.

"Okay," she said. "Prove to me how safe you are."

Hank's face turned beet red but he recovered and replied softly, "I can't climb walls anymore but right now I think maybe I could fly."

Vladimir and Viktor walked out into the lobby where Dean was telling one of the women, "You know. I killed Hitler..."

"See?" Viktor told Vladimir. "Dean will be single forever."

"Hey! What's wrong with that?" Dean shot back. "I do great in the bars. Besides, Andy's going to be my wingman soon."

They heard Anica nearby choking from coffee shooting out of her nose.

Sam came in through the front door dragging a man along with him.

"Remember this guy?" he asked Dean. "He's the one who was trying to keep from being changed. I saw him headed up the road out front. I thought something was not quite right when he was injected. He's human but something has some control over him. He won't say why he was leaving, but I can tell something is urging he to go somewhere. We can't leave him alone for a while."

"Let's take him to the basement," said Anica, wiping her eyes and then the coffee on the dining room counter.

Residents around them gasped. Serious unknown things went on when someone was taken to the basement. Sometimes someone did not come back. Conversation stilled as Anica unlocked the door to downstairs.

Sam and Dean followed her and the resident down the steps. They passed through the laundry room and into the next room where the resident was told to sit in the lone folding chair.

Sam noticed a new room, a dark hallway, and pointed towards it.

"Goes to the restaurant," explained Anica tersely as she looked into the seated resident's eyes.

"Look at me," she commanded the resident, who complied. "You will answer my questions. Why did you leave?"

"I was told to."

"Who told you to leave?"

"Belladonna said to leave when I found the vampire sanctuary and go to find her in Chicago."

"Is Belladonna in Chicago?"

"She will have a place on 64th Street by the time I arrive. But we were in Erie, Pennsylvania when she told me."

"Did she tell anyone else to contact her?"

"Not that I know."

"What else did Belladonna say?"

The resident shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

"Okay," said Anica. "You will forget everything that Belladonna told you. You will come and tell me as soon as you see Belladonna or hear anyone mention her name. You will not recall our conversation here in the basement."

Anica patted the resident on the shoulder and told him to go back upstairs. As the door closed behind him, she turned back to Sam and Dean.

"So, do you want to explore the tunnel?" she asked.

"Yeah! Sure!"

Anica flipped a switch and a few lights in the hallway came on. The three walked down the hallway. Eventually Sam and Dean could see the steps going up at the far end.

"Nothing remarkable," said Anica. "A cement hallway connects the Vam San and the restaurant. No locks. There are a few side rooms with locked doors. But the one unusual thing is this."

She stopped at a light switch and tapped her foot on wooden slats in the cement floor. She searched for the recessed handle at her foot and pulled on it, lifting the wooden door up. Steps could be seen going down into the darkness.

"Eddie says this is magical. If I went down here I would come up through that door." She pointed to a matching door ahead of them. "But if I go down that door I wouldn't come up through this one. I would come out in Eddie's barn. Eddie said you would understand."

Anica looked for a response from Sam and Dean.

"Uh, yeah," said Sam. "Magic. Eddie has two doors in the floor of his barn in Indiana and if he went down the front one he could come up through this door in you place. Eddie had several portals like this. One in a barn near our place in Kansas, one in Utah, one in Montana and one in Tennessee."

"Yeah, what he said," said Dean. "Magic like the sigil at the end of the Vam San building that takes you to a ballroom in Oz if they call you from there."

"Any other things like this I don't know about?" asked Anica.

"Well," said Dean. "There's a cave outside the barn in Tennessee that takes you to the fairy lands if the tinks don't kill you trying to go in."

"Yeah," added Sam. "And Eddie can use the door in his barn in Utah to connect to a passage to Hell."

"Don't you guys find this all frightening?" Anica said, alarmed.

"We kill demons and monsters," said Sam. "I don't think we thought about it. At least, not until now."

"I need to think seriously about this," said Anica. "I understood humans and vampires. And then witches and werewolves and people from Oz. But the thought of Satan coming up through a door in the floor is giving me second thoughts."

"Actually Satan wouldn't bother with tunnels, if that helps any," said Dean as assuringly as he could.