"MOVIE KNIGHT: ACT 5"
Van Helsing was not one to be intimidated. He bravely stepped forward to confront Dracula, declaring that he already knew ways to save Mina's life, if not her immortal soul. The Count was not bothered, saying he only had to kill Mina during the night and she would be forever his. Once again, Van Helsing would not be intimidated, revealing he already knew Dracula dwelled in Carfax Abbey and once Mina was saved, he would have the entire building taken apart stone by stone and the grounds unearthed a mile around. All to find Dracula's coffin and drive a stake through his heart.
"Like a boss!" Rob grinned at Van Helsing's bravery.
Realizing that Van Helsing was a greater threat than he imagined, Dracula invoked his power of persuasion, ordering Van Helsing to come closer. The older man did not move one step, but instead planted his feet firmly on the ground, unmoving.
"He's trying to lure Van Helsing in!" Raven gasped.
"Why not just attack him?" Asked Ramona.
"Likely because the victim has to come in willingly, or it's Dracula's own code," Max answered. "He doesn't attack others like an animal, he lures them to their own doom."
Dracula's frown only deepened and he pointed his arm at Van Helsing, increasing the power of his charm. Van Helsing shifted on the spot slightly but he did not move from his spot. Dracula repeated his order, beckoning Van Helsing to come closer. Van Helsing's stance loosened and he took three steps closer towards the vampire.
"No!" many fairy tales cried out in fear.
After those three steps, Van Helsing seemed to collect himself and stopped approaching. Instead, he forced himself back despite Dracula's supernatural influence. Dracula begrudgingly praised Van Helsing on his willpower, proving himself to be a very strong individual. Deciding to forego his usual methods, Dracula began to approach Van Helsing himself who reached into his coat.
Dracula mockingly asked if Van Helsing had more wolfsbane. While it may have worked on Renfield, a sprig would not be enough to deter Dracula himself. Van Helsing merely said he had something much more effective than the plant. Dracula tried to seize the opportunity to destroy Van Helsing before he could use it, but the older man was quick and produced a crucifix. Dracula recoiled at the sight of it, letting out a hiss before he dashed from the house into the night once again.
"Score one for Van Helsing!" Briar cheered, eliciting the same from many of her friends.
Upstairs, Johnathan came to Mina's room. He could hear Mina arguing with the female nurse tending to her. Mina seemed to deeply wish for the windows to be open since the smell of the wolfsbane was just so stifling to her. The nurse insisted that it was the professor's orders that it remained, but Mina was having none of it.
The nurse came out and quickly exchanged words with Johnathan. According to her, she suddenly started feeling drowsy and seemed to pass out. When she woke up, Mina was dressed and brazenly disobeyed the doctor by opening the terrace doors and stepped outside.
"Oh come on! Can't she follow instructions?" Poppy groaned.
"Dracula's influence no doubt," Tristan frowned.
Johnathan was quick to come to the room and see Mina, who was now dressed in a very fine shimmering gown which outlined her figure very well. It made her look very seductive compared to the nice girl she appeared as earlier in the film.
"Oh boy, a new predator is on the prowl," Ramona commented.
"And Harker is falling for it hook, line, and sinker," Max nodded.
Johnathan seemed relieved that Mina was so full of life. Mina pulled Johnathan out onto the terrace where they could enjoy the night. Johnathan was looking up into the sky, commenting on how bright the stars were. While he wasn't paying attention, Mina's gaze became focused entirely on his throat and she was slowly drifting closer towards it like she saw a meal.
"Ack! Johnathan, look out!" Nina gasped.
Mina seemed to stop herself for a moment, playing off her moment of weakness as nothing at all. Johnathan was none the wiser as Mina pulled him towards an outdoor lounge so they could sit together.
Downstairs, Van Helsing was beginning to head upstairs to Mina after his confrontation with Dracula. Seward was quick to join him and Van Helsing explained Dracula's boast of infusing his blood with Mina's. She was in dangerous risk of becoming like Dracula if she was not stopped. Both men began to move faster as there was not a moment to lose!
Mina and Johnathan continued their nighttime chat, Mina seemingly having lost all of the fear she had of the darkness and the night. Mina denied she ever felt that way, saying that she never felt so alive.
It was a romantic moment, but one which was interrupted by a bat flying around the couple. Johnathan immediately tried to swat it away, but Mina seemed to be having a conversation with it, answering its squeaks as if she could understand it. Johnathan clearly heard her, although she quickly tried to deny saying anything.
Johnathan was suspicious, but he didn't turn down Mina's request for him to sit down with her again. Van Helsing and Seward entered her room and began to hear the pair conversing. Mina was quick to tell Johnathan that Van Helsing had a crucifix in his possession and that Johnathan had to take it away and hide it somewhere. When Johnathan asked her why, she fumbled for an answer, claiming he would just try to protect her from something silly or from Count Dracula. Johnathan was suspicious, clearly able to tell that Mina wasn't acting quite right.
The camera zoomed closer to Mina whose gaze suddenly intensified. Slowly, she drew closer to Johnathan. Now he could tell something was indeed not right and tried to snap her out of whatever state of mind she was in.
"She's going for the throat!" Deacon called. "Run, John, run!"
Fortunately for Johnathan, Van Helsing was quick to intervene. He produced his cross and held it in front of Mina. The young woman screamed and collapsed in the lounge, crying hysterically. Johnathan was quick to take the cross from the professor, wanting to know just what he thought he was doing to her.
"Saving your life, bonehead," Cerise huffed.
Mina sobbed, whatever spell Dracula put on her temporarily broken. However, seeing the crucifix still made her recoil. She tearfully confessed to everything, confirming that everything Van Helsing was saying was true. Dracula was not human and now Mina was losing her humanity as well. She confessed to everything, how Dracula met her on the terrace, split open a vein on his arm, and then fed his blood to Mina.
"Bleh! That's worse than eating bugs!" Darling grimaced.
A sudden gunshot came from nearby and Van Helsing looked over the side to see Martin and the maid from before, apparently hunting the large bat which had been flying around the grounds. Van Helsing declared it was useless as bullets wouldn't harm that particular bat.
"Wait, isn't that the maid Renfield stalked over to?" asked Apple, recognising the maid. "He must have resisted! There's still some good left in him!"
"Let's see if he can keep it," Harry nodded.
Mina was put back to bed, although her sleep was fitful. In the midst of it, she pulled off the wolfsbane wreaths she was instructed to wear. Her nurse didn't seem to notice. Instead, she was staring out the window onto the terrace. Once again, the mist rolled in and in the middle of it was Dracula himself.
Dazed, the nurse slowly walked to the door where the wolfsbane hung and promptly took it down to put away in a drawer outside of the room. Seward, who was nearby, didn't notice and merely assumed it was a nurse doing their duty and kept working. The hypnotized nurse then walked back into Mina's room, unlocking the terrace doors to invite Dracula inside. The vampire's gaze didn't deter from Mina for one moment as he walked to her bedside before leaning over her once again.
"Is Dracula actually going to win and get the girl?" Darling asked fearfully.
"Don't worry," Gwen smiled warmly. "This movie has a happy ending."
"No spoilers!" Faybelle hissed.
Van Helsing and Johnathan were on their way to Carfax Abbey to find Dracula and put him down once and for all before Mina was fully transformed into a vampire. As they were getting closer, they saw Renfield who had escaped again, travelling through the wild growth with a lantern, giving the pair a trail towards Dracula.
Unbeknownst to them, Dracula had already entered the ruined abbey from a higher level, Mina in her white nightgown compared to his dark suit, making for a dark and ethereal sight. Mina walked in a daze, not seeing anything around her as Dracula led her down the stairs, deeper into the abbey.
Renfield came to one of the lower doors, almost stumbling in. Once he was inside, he announced himself, his slavish devotion to Dracula having returned once again. Stumbling up a long set of stars which Dracula and Mina were descending, he stopped as Dracula once again spoke wordlessly to him. It seemed to cause Renfield distress causing him to back away, but a sharp word from Dracula caused him to stop.
Their conversation was cut off as Johnathan's voice cut into the gloom, alerting the pair to his presence. Dracula's face turned thunderous as he began approaching Renfield. The madman grew terrified, begging Dracula to spare his life, to torture or maim him, but not kill him due to all the blood on his hands for helping Dracula reach England. The vampire lifted Renfield up before tossing him over the side of the stairs, sending him tumbling several feet before he crashed to the stone floor, dead.
Several screams erupted from the princesses at the sight.
Johnathan and Van Helsing managed to break open the door to the abbey just as Dracula picked Mina up and began dashing to the catacombs below, locking a door behind him. As the pair broke open the door, daylight began spilling into the abbey, trapping Dracula within.
"Go, Johnathan!" Briar cheered.
"Get him, Van Helsing!" Cerise joined in.
The pair of heroes desperately broke open the door and dashed into the catacombs just as Mina screamed. The fairy tales were on the edge of their seats from the tension. The heroes stumbled onto a pair of coffins, the only clean things in the dusty catacombs. Van Helsing opened one, revealing Dracula, slumbering as the daylight forced him to. He quickly told Johnathan to find him something heavy such as a rock or a piece of metal to drive a stake into Dracula's heart. Johnathan obeyed as Van Helsing broke the coffin lid to make a stake.
Johnathan returned and Van Helsing opened the second coffin, expecting to find Mina. To his shock, she was not hidden within.
"Is Mina still alive?" asked Rosabella with some hope.
Van Helsing set to his grizzly work, his body covering the view of the event. Briefly, there was a strike of metal on wood before a cry of pain echoed through the catacombs. Mina, standing elsewhere in the catacombs, blinked, clenching her chest, sharing sympathetic pain with Dracula. She wobbled and seemed confused before she screamed. Johnathan quickly found her after that, embracing his fiancée, finally safe from Dracula once and for all.
Cheers erupted from the princesses.
Van Helsing was quick to find the pair, reassuring them that the threat was over. He told them to leave, although he would stay behind.
"Why?" Asked Briar.
"Dracula brought three boxes with him. The last one probably has Lucy in it and Van Helsing wants to finish her as well," Harry answered.
Wishing to leave and put this ugly affair behind them, Johnathan and Mina were quick to reach the catacombs stairs. As they travelled up, sunlight began to shine through the ruined ceiling as bells rang in the distance. With the long trail of Mina's nightgown, it gave the image of a bride and groom together walking into the sun together. The scene then faded to familiar curved words, declaring 'The End'.
The fairy tales applauded after the movie ended.
"A beautiful happy ending. Even after all that terror," Apple smiled.
"Too bad Dracula bit the dust. I was rooting for him," Faybelle remarked as Dracula was so close but had died so anticlimactically.
"He comes back in sequels and remakes," Kevin replied. "So many sequels and remakes."
"And don't forget the Castlevania series," Gabriel added. "Dracula's infamous for coming back over and over in those."
"Well it's a good movie but it just makes vampires look bad," Cupid huffed. "I know Dracula's daughter and she's a total sweetheart just like her dad!"
"You know Dracula's daughter?" Arthur raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, and she's a vegetarian. Trust me, she's nothing like this Dracula and neither is her dad."
Arthur and Lance shared a look. A vegetarian vampire? Shrugging, Arthur let the idea go.
"Well, maybe we might get a chance to meet her and hear her dad's side of the story," Arthur replied.
Cupid hummed at the thought. It would be rather clawsome if her friends from her old school could meet her new ones. She especially wanted to be able to show off her boyfriend and brag about what a prince he was and how much she loved him.
"This was fun," Poppy smiled.
"Sure was, little sis," Holly agreed. "It was a little scary but luckily I have a cute and brave little Knight to cuddle with."
"Maybe we should invite more of our friends to Movie Knight," Gabe suggested.
"Hope it's not another horror movie," Meeshell said, still trembling from Dracula. It may have ended happily but the movie still spooked her quite a bit.
"Don't worry. Maybe next time we can watch a nice musical," Ben suggested.
"Well it's still early and there's no reason we can't make tonight a double feature. Who's in the mood for 'Night of the Living Dead'?" Max asked.
"NO!" the other Knights objected heatedly. They did not want to traumatize their fairy tale friends.
"Hmph," Max frowned. Well, then he'd watch it with Ramona. She should be able to appreciate it.
KRC: And so ends Movie Knight. Paladin and I hoped you enjoyed the show. We actually enjoyed making this little minisode series. You know, slice of life just gives us more freedom to do these things.