Van Helsing was surprised to see Kathleen riding up at full speed. It had been two days since their first encounter with the Necromancer and she had withdrawn from everyone around her. He could tell by the look on her face that whatever it was she had to say, it was urgent. He wondered if she had another vision but managed not to cry out loud, but he knew that was not possible.

"It's tonight! Whatever he is planning, it's going to be tonight." She said as she dismounted her horse.

"How do you know this?" He never did quite understand where her insight came from but so far, it was dead on.

"Can't you feel it? There's death all around us, like a heavy fog. Besides, bad things usually happen during a full moon, that's tonight." That fact hadn't slipped his mind. He knew full and well that it was a full moon, the werewolf part of him was always strongest during a full moon.

"Carl! Saddle up, we're going hunting." Carl disappeared back into the inn to gather the necessary weapons as Van Helsing made his way to the stables.

Right behind him, Kathleen followed. "I'm coming with you." She called to him.

"Not this time, you're staying here."

"The bloody hell I am. I'm a part of this whether you like it or not. You need me."

Van Helsing swiftly turned around and stood face to face to the young woman. "You're too vulnerable. He can force those images into your head again and you wouldn't be much use to me then."

"I can feel him, feel his presence. You need that edge to know he's coming, him and the Dullahan." She looked him straight in they eyes and he could see that there was more to it than her just wanting to go in for a fight, "He's killed my people, he's using their bodies for his evil purposed. I've had to watch nine of my people die horrifically, people I care about. I want…I need to see this through."

To him, it was another job. To her, it was personal. He could understand that. His mind raced through his options. He could refuse to let her come but she would most likely follow anyway. He could knock her out and leave her behind. Or he could let her come.

"Alright, you can come. But I can't look out for you, I have the feeling I'll have much on my hands." He turned back around and made his way to the stable.

"Thank you." She said, but she wasn't sure he heard her. She turned and walked back to her own horse. She loved feeling his chocolate fur and gave him a quick rub on the forehead, then proceeded to tighten the saddle and check her weapons.

She gave a startled cry when a hand suddenly grabbed her shoulder. Spinning around, she was ready for a fight and pulled out her dagger. She was surprised to see who it was that got her attention.

"Connor? Jesus you scared me." She felt her body shake from the adrenaline.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you like that." He gave her a small smile.

"It's alright. We're all just a little jumpy around here." She realized she was still pointing the dagger at him and put it back into its sheathe. Looking back at him, she saw that he was staring at her. There was so much she wanted to say to him, but she just didn't know how.

"So, you're going with them." He said, finally breaking the silence, "To go hunt the Dullahan and the, uh…"

"Necromancer. Yes, I am." She said bluntly. She could tell by the tone of his voice that he wasn't happy with the idea of her going. She watched as his mind raced for something to say, something to convince her that she should go. Before he could open his mouth, she interrupted, "I have to do this. I have this feeling that somehow I'm responsible. You were right, I should've warned everyone instead of holding it in."

"No, it wouldn't have mattered. I understand that. I was just angry, I don't blame you for Liam's death, for anyone's death." His face softened and he placed a hand on her face, "I don't want to see you hurt."

Her eyes watered and she placed her hand on his. "I have to go…" she said softly.

"I'll come with you…"

"No." she interrupted, "It's my responsibility to help Van Helsing. You'll be safer here."

"You haven't seen my death." He stressed.

"And I don't want to. Stay here, protect our people incase we fail." She said.

"Kathleen!" Van Helsing called. He and Carl were already on their horses, ready to set out. "We can't waste any time."

She looked into Connor's eyes and lightly touched his face. She couldn't say goodbye, there was nothing she could say, the words just weren't there. She mounted her horse. Looking at Connor one last time she rode off after Van Helsing and Carl.

*****

Carl ran out of the inn after gathering the weapons they would need for dispatching the monsters. He walked by Kathleen who was talking to the man known as Connor whom he met when he first arrived. Carl could plainly see that there was a connection between the two. He quickly made his way to the stable where Van Helsing had already saddled two horses.

"Will Kathleen be joining us?" he inquired.

"Yes." He simply said.

"Ah." Carl placed the bag on the ground and pulled out a few weapons to hand to the hunter. "Silver stake, gold tipped bullets…" he said, handing the weapons one by one to Van Helsing who proceeded to put them in their appropriate places.

As he took the gold bullets, he began to load his gun with them. "Not that they did much good last time." He said.

"Well yes, I've been thinking about that and I think I know why it didn't work. Aim for the head. It seems to be where the highest concentration of the Dullahan's power is."

"I'll be sure to do that." Van Helsing was about to lead his horse out of the stable when Carl stopped him. In his hand was a strange looking stake.

Van Helsing gave him a confused look, "A clear stake?"

"This is no ordinary stake. It has two parts: this clear pointed section is filled with ground silver and high pressured holy water, the second part pulls out and locks into place. It's used for close combat, a final blow to the monster. You first pull out the sliding part, then jam the stake through your enemy. Finally, you slam down on moving part which breaks the tip and sends high pressured holy water and silver into the chest cavity. The liquid is then carried through the entire body, there's no way anything evil could survive." Carl sounded so assured of himself.

As always, Van Helsing was impressed with the things that came from the mind of the friar. "Good thinking Carl. I'm sure this will be of some use."

Van Helsing and Carl led their horses out of the stable and mounted them. Van Helsing turned and saw Kathleen a short distance from them talking to Connor. There was sadness and concern on her face.

"Kathleen." He shouted, getting her attention. "We can't waste any time." Then he started off with Carl following closely behind. A moment later, he heard Kathleen's horse quickly approach and ride up beside him. "Which way?" he asked, knowing she would sense the Necromancer.

She closed her eyes for a moment as she tried to feel for death. Slowly opening her eyes, she looked to her right, "This way, follow me." She said bringing her horse up to a run, followed by Van Helsing and Carl.

*****

The sun was beginning to set, they had spent several hours looking for the Necromancer. Kathleen had led them to a small forest where she had last sensed him. But it seemed every time Kathleen had gotten a good feel for where he was, she lost it once they got close. The Necromancer was sending them on a wild goose chase and Van Helsing was starting to get annoyed.

"He's moved again. But he was here." Kathleen said, anger was rising in her voice. She turned and looked at Van Helsing, "He's toying with me."

But Van Helsing wasn't concentrating on her. It looked as if he was hearing for something else in the woods. This didn't go unnoticed by Kathleen or Carl. He suddenly dismounted his horse and walked to the side of the road and stared out into the trees. Both Kathleen and Carl dismounted and walked to his side.

"What do you see?" Carl asked, panic rising in his voice.

Van Helsing didn't answer. Instead, in the blink of an eye, he slipped out a tojo blade and threw it into the woods. A second later, a yelp was heard coming from darkness of the trees. Van Helsing quickly ran into the woods, followed by a stunned Kathleen and an anxious Carl. Van Helsing had caught something in the woods, fifteen feet away in the filtered light of the sun. As they got closer, they could see the shadow of whatever it was he caught.

They made their way to a small clearing and Kathleen was shocked to see what Van Helsing had caught.

"Connor?" she said in disbelief.

There was Connor, pinned by his jacket to a tree by Van Helsing's tojo blade. On his belt were a pistol on one side and a sword on the other.

Van Helsing walked over and freed Connor from the tree, "Just what I need. Another local to get himself killed."

"I don't plan on getting myself killed, I plan on killing the Dullahan." He said with annoyance.

Kathleen stormed up to Connor and shoved him hard against the tree he had just been freed from. Van Helsing raised an eyebrow in amusement. "I told you to stay behind! I told you that it was too dangerous!" Her voice had risen considerably, "Why didn't you listen to me, tell me why you have to risk your life! Tell me!" Her voice got louder and louder as she began yelling at him in gaelic.

It looked to Van Helsing that Kathleen was going to start taking swings at Connor. Before she could do some harm, he grabbed her and pulled her away from Connor. She struggled against his grip but he was much stronger than she was. She continued to yell at Connor but most of what she said was lost.

"That's enough! Kathleen! Enough!" Van Helsing yelled. He turned her around so that he stood between her and Connor and looked her in the eyes. There was nothing but hurt in them. "Calm down."

Lowering her head, she took a few deep breaths. She had calmed a bit and looked back at Van Helsing, "I'm alright."

He turned back to Connor who stood there, a look of guilt mixed with determination on his face. "How did you find us?" Van Helsing demanded.

"A hunch, this is the direction the Dullahan dragged Liam. I've been coming here every night since hoping he'd show." He replied. "He has yet to do so. But I figured that with you out tonight, he just might make an appearance."

"Look, I know you're upset over the loss of your friend and I understand that you want your revenge but it's too dangerous for you out here. It would be best if you…"

Van Helsing was interrupted by a loud gasp coming from Kathleen. He could see by the look on her face that she sensed something nearby. She had become agitated and her eyes were darting around looking for what it was she felt.

"What is it?" he quickly asked.

"It feels like death." She whispered.

"Necromancer…" he growled.

"No, not the Necromancer." She was confused, unable to determine what it was that caused the feeling of death.

"Well, if it isn't the Necromancer then what else could it be?" Carl asked.

Just then, eleven figures rose straight out of the ground as if being pulled by a string attached to their heads. They surrounded the group and were poised to attack.

"The walking undead would be a good possibility." Kathleen said, answering Carl's question. As she looked at them, she could see a few of them had to be the ones the Dullahan had taken. The rest looked a little more decomposed as if they had been dead for years.

"This is a nice little development." With that, Van Helsing slipped his tojos out and quickly sliced through a nearby undead, taking its head off. The corpse collapsed to the ground and a fine green mist emanated from it.

After seeing one of their own fall, the rest of the undead attacked and all hell broke loose.

*****

Connor had been grabbed from behind by two of the undead. They threw him further into the forest and he went flying, slamming against a tree. He felt his head hit hard and he had to fight the urge to let the darkness consume him. He managed to regain some of his bearings, just in time to avoid being punched by one of the undead. Stepping and dodging, every one of their swings missed Connor, but each time they got just a little closer. Connor unsheathed his sword and sliced off the arm of one of the attackers. It gave an unearthly cry, a deep guttural sound of a dying animal. The other one tried to jump him from the side but Connor spun out of the way and separated the head from its body. The second undead charged but also found itself without a head.

A green mist escaped from the corpses and dissipated into the air. Connor breathed a sigh of relief but could hear the others continuing to fight the remaining undead. He was about to make his way over to help the others when he saw a shadow in front of him. He griped his sword tightly and prepared to attack when it spoke.

"Well done, Connor. You were always better at that than I." the voice had the quality of an eighty year old chain smoker, a croaking sound full of phlegm. But despite this, Connor would recognize that voice anywhere.

"Liam." At the sound of his name, Liam stepped out of the shadows and into the sun's fading light. Connor got a good look at the corpse of his friend. His eyes had sunken in and were hollow looking. His entire face, his entire body for that matter, had seemed to collapse in on itself. The skin had a sickly grey-green color to it and it was peeling.

"You don't seem so happy to see me Connor. It's me, your best friend. The one you let die." He snarled.

"There was nothing I could do to save you, you know that. I wish it had been…"

"Oh save your wishes. Now it's time for you to die." He then leaped at Connor.

Connor couldn't shake the feeling of guilt in time to move out of the way before Liam had made contact and knocked him backwards onto the ground. He felt his sword fly from his hand and couldn't see where it had gone. Liam had landed somewhere above his head and bent over to pick something off the ground. Connor could see in his hands was a very large rock, larger and heavier than a normal human could carry. Liam moved to throw the rock onto Connor's head and as the rock came flying towards him, Connor quickly rolled out of the way and onto his feet.

He unholstered his pistol and aimed it at the last place he had seen Liam. But Liam wasn't there. Looking around, Connor couldn't see him. Liam appeared at his side and knocked the gun from Connor's hand and punched him in the face. Connor took a few steps back and took up a boxing stance.

"Have you forgotten Connor that I am the best boxer?" Liam taunted.

Liam attacked Connor, throwing punch after punch, connecting every one. Connor managed to make a few of his own but Liam had managed to dodge most of them. Liam was just too fast for Connor and connected a punch to the head that sent Connor to the ground. As he laid there, Connor could see Liam standing over him, his own sword in Liam's hand.

"Time to die Connor." Liam's hand lifted high in the air and was about to drive into Connor's heart when it seemed he had been struck by something. Some sort of pain had washed over him and he screamed as he quickly sank into the ground.

Connor was confused as to what had just happened. Not that he wasn't grateful, by all accounts he should be dead, but something had driven Liam off. Picking up his sword that had been dropped beside him, he stood up and looked around. In the distance, he saw an eerie blue glow.

"Oh no."

*****

It seemed to him that each of the undead had already chosen their target ahead of time, before they had even showed up. Carl watched as two of them had grabbed Connor and thrown him into the forest as a third followed him in, the two females had attacked Kathleen, and four of the males had jumped Van Helsing.

That left one for him. This one was more skin and bones than the others, leaning more towards the bones area. It obviously had been dead for a very long time. There were still patches of hair on its head and a thin layer of dried skin.

It seemed to be sizing him up, seeing how much of a threat he really posed. Apparently it figured Carl was enough of a problem. It charged, skeletal arms stretched out, looking sharp enough to do some damage. It leaped and flew through the air.

It flew high enough for Carl to simply duck and it safely glided over him, landing head first into a tree. Carl turned around to face it. He watched as it stood up and had to turn its head back to face forward. It coiled for another charge.

Carl quickly searched around for something he could use to defend himself. He found something hard in one of his pockets and when he pulled it out, he found himself holding the accursed bottle of holy water.

"Oh damn it to hell." He mumbled. The undead gave predacious cry and began to run, intent on hitting its target. Carl once again struggled to open the bottle of holy water. He frantically pulled at the cork but it didn't seem to want to move. The undead was almost on top of him. It leaped and was in the air when Carl finally managed to open the bottle of holy water and throw some at the rapidly approaching undead. The creature reacted like it had been hit by acid and landed on the ground in front of Carl with a thud. Seeing the thing lying on the ground, Carl did the only thing he could think of to finish it off, he dumped the rest of the bottle onto it. The undead convulsed and disintegrated, and with one final cry it stopped. A green mist floated above it and dissipated.

Pleased with his accomplishment, Carl turned to head back to where the rest of the group was but stopped suddenly when he saw a strange blue glow.

*****

There was a momentary pause as the rest of the undead realized what he had done. Van Helsing eyed his next target, beckoning him to charge. He was suddenly aware of three other undead all leaping and landing on him at the same time. He could feel them clawing at him, trying to do what damage they could. Van Helsing felt his anger rising. Within him, the werewolf's power began to surface.

Instead of suppressing it, Van Helsing welcomed it and let it take over. He gave an animalistic cry and threw the undead off of him. He could feel his body had changed slightly to the werewolf form; his hands were more like a werewolf's, his muscles had strengthened, his eyesight and hearing became sharper, and he could feel the beginnings of fangs.

The undead that surrounded him looked surprised and unsure as to what to do next. Van Helsing made the decision for them. With a snarl, Van Helsing leaped forward and rammed into the closest undead, pinning it against a tree. Using his claws, he crushed its neck and it crumpled to the ground. He turned around in time to see the other three charge at him. He leaped up and over them and using his sword, he decapitated one in the center.

Seeing their tactic wasn't working, they took off into the woods. Not wanting them to escape, Van Helsing followed. He could hear them and smell them, the smell of decaying flesh. He could hear a strange crunching noise as if the ground was caving in. The noise randomly came and went and each time the position of the undead would change. Van Helsing was getting irritated, he couldn't attack them if they kept moving into the ground.

Suddenly, the ground shifted behind him as an undead rose from the ground. Van Helsing had little time to react before the second undead appeared to his right. He couldn't tell which one it was, but one of the undead managed to back-hand him across the face, sending him flying. He landed hard on his back, the undead swiftly approached. Van Helsing pulled out his shot gun and fired several times, hitting one in the shoulder and chest. The other was hit in the head, gut and had his arm shot off. Even with these wounds, they still were coming. Van Helsing rose to his feet and slipped out his tojo blade and wound it up. They stopped in their tracks, seeming to try to figure out what to do next. What they chose to do next was attack, Van Helsing was ready for them.

Just when it seemed as if they were going to attack, they stopped and screamed in pain. Van Helsing was sure he didn't do anything and no one else was around their immediate area. The pain seemed too much for them and they suddenly sank into the ground. Van Helsing looked around, trying to determine what had just happened. It occurred to him that there was a blue light coming from the clearing he had just been. Figuring that the light is what drove them away, Van Helsing made his way towards it.

*****

Kathleen knew that the two women closest to her would be the ones to attack her. After Van Helsing had destroyed one of the undead, she turned around to face them. She was surprised to see that she knew them; one was Bridget, the last one to be taken only a few days ago and the other was Alana, the second person the Dullahan had taken.

"It isn't them anymore" she told herself. She swung her staff around to a defensive position, "Come on." she beckoned. It happened faster than she anticipated and she couldn't tell which one attacked her first. It managed to take a swipe at her and scratch the back of her shoulder. Kathleen ignored the pain and swung back, hitting it on the head and sending it flying. The second one charged and ducked under as Kathleen swung the staff. The undead backhanded Kathleen with such strength that she went flying backwards and landed hard on her back. She saw a shadow rapidly flying towards her. Using her legs as leverage, she kicked the attacker up and back away from her. The other one rushed forward, trying to use a large branch to club her. Kathleen rolled out of the way and got to her feet. She faced her attacker, this time taking the offensive, ran forward.

The undead had been off her guard and found itself pinned against a tree with a dagger lodged into its chest.

"I'm sorry Alana." Kathleen whispered. And then, using the tojo blade Van Helsing had discarded earlier, she sliced the head off its head. She stepped back and watched as the body fell and a green mist rose up from it. She spun around when she heard a snap behind her. There she faced Bridget. She held tightly to the dagger, wishing she had her staff.

Then a wave of dizziness hit her and she became light headed. Her vision began to tunnel and she started to feel like she couldn't support her own weight.

"Not now, please God not now." She barely managed to whisper. She looked up at Bridget, who stood there staring at her. Instead of attacking, when it was obvious Kathleen was in a weak state, Bridget simply sank into the ground and disappeared.

Kathleen fell to her knees and she felt great despair, the sadness encompassed her like a thick blanket. Tears began to roll down her face as the weight of death fell upon her mind. She began to cry, feeling the build up of a keen. Time slowed for her as she witnessed a death that was to soon come.

*****

Van Helsing had made his way back to the clearing. On his left was Carl, standing awestruck at the sight. Straight ahead of him was Kathleen, on her knees curled over in obvious pain and enveloped in a blue light. He ran towards her, not sure what he was going to do but he had to do something for her. He was only slightly aware of the figure approaching him from the side. When it reached him, it grabbed Van Helsing by the arm and started pulling back. It took a moment for Van Helsing to realize that the figure was Connor, pulling him away from Kathleen.

"No! Get back!" Connor yelled.

"We have to help her." Van Helsing yelled back, angry that Connor was trying to stop him.

"There's nothing you can do for her. Get back and cover your ears."

Suddenly, Kathleen arched her back and started to scream. The force of her scream knocked the three men down. Van Helsing could only stare at the sight. Kathleen glowed brightly, an otherworldly blue. Energy radiated from her, her hair flew wildly and her eyes seemed to fill with white light. But it was the scream that was the most overwhelming part of what was happening to her. Van Helsing had heard her keen before but from a distance where it was less powerful and not as clear. But being closer to her, he could here that her scream wasn't just one single voice, but many voices. He could pick out several voices ranging from the very old to the very young, male and female.

Her scream got louder and louder, to the point where it was hurting the men's ears. It seemed there was no end to it. The men fell back and held their ears, trying to filter out the scream but it was no use. Just when it felt as if their heads were going to explode, she stopped.

Kathleen fell forward onto her hands, trying to catch her breath. She was drained, physically and emotionally. It was the same every time she saw death, all she needed was a moment to recover. She became aware of Van Helsing kneeling beside her, helping her sit up against a tree.

"Are you alright?" he asked, very concerned, he had never seen anything like this before.

"Yes, I'll be fine." She gasped for air. Lifting her head, she looked Van Helsing in the eyes, "I saw it, I saw where he hiding or at least…it's wherever he will bring his plans to completion."

"Where? When?" Van Helsing demanded.

"Tonight. It was one of the burial mounds, surrounded by fields and very little else."

"Burial mounds?" He asked, not understanding what she was talking about.

"There are three large burial mounds not far from here and not far from each other, but I'm not sure which one. I couldn't tell."

Van Helsing mulled over what she said. It then occurred to him that Kathleen was doing what she could not to look at him, looking away from him. "Whose death did you see?" She wouldn't look at him and was shaking her head. It was an answer Van Helsing was sure he wouldn't like, but he needed to know. "Whose death? Was it mine? Was my death?" he grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to look at him, "Was it my death?" he demanded.

"No! It wasn't your death." She wispered, looking away from him. Tears were filling her eyes.

"Then whose?" he asked firmly. Kathleen took a deep breath then lifted her head up and looked Van Helsing in the eyes. Locking on to his eyes for a moment, they held the look of sorrow and guilt. Then her eyes moved away from his to something over his right shoulder.

Van Helsing watched her eyes move and quickly turned around and saw Carl standing there. Carl had heard the whole conversation and knew what it meant when Kathleen looked at him.

"Me?" His voice filled with surprise and fear.

"I'm sorry." Kathleen whispered.

Van Helsing turned back to Kathleen, "How does he die?" he asked.

Her mind searched for the answer, trying to remember the exact way she saw it happen. But her visions were always vague and she could only get the slightest hint of what happened. "I'm not sure, some sort of projectile through the chest. I don't know." She wished she could provide them with more information, there was none.

Van Helsing slowly stood up and walked over to Carl, placing a reassuring hand on the friar. "I promise not to let that happen, you just won't come with me to wherever the Necromancer is."

"But the legend says that once a Banshee sees your death, there's nothing you can do about it. I'm as good as dead." Carl was very disheartened, there was so much he still hadn't done.

Connor walked over to Kathleen and helped her to her feet. He held on to her hand and placed his other hand on her face, using his thumb to wipe a tear making its way down her cheek. "It'll be alright, don't worry."

Kathleen gave him the first genuine smile she had in a long time. She had almost forgotten how Connor had made her feel, he had been so angry for a long time that they had grown distant. She wanted to say something, but like always, the words escaped her.

Suddenly, she felt a chill up her spine. "Van Helsing!" she yelled, just as the Dullahan crashed through the trees.

Carl was knocked backwards. Van Helsing pulled out his pistols and began to fire, trying to aim for the Dullahan's head. Connor charged, sword in hand, to do what he could to help Van Helsing. Kathleen just stood there, her mind seemed to freeze and she felt powerless.

Then she felt it, the strong presence of death. It was close, almost like it was right next to her. Just as the thought crossed her mind, it appeared behind her, the Necromancer. She gave a small cry as he stunned her from behind, knocking her unconscious. She fell back into his arms.

Connor had heard Kathleen cry out and turned around in time to see her fall back into the Necromancer's arms. The Necromancer wrapped his arms around her.

"Kathleen!" he cried. Connor ran for the Necromancer, trying to grab at Kathleen. But before he could reach her, the Necromancer sank into the ground with her in his arms.

The Dullahan, seeing that his master had gotten away, quickly fled. Van Helsing continued to fire his pistols, but the Dullahan was too fast and once again had escaped. He holstered his weapon and looked around. He saw Carl on the ground and lent him a hand to help him.

"Still alive." Carl flatly stated.

Van Helsing gave him an amused look. He spotted Connor standing where Kathleen was supposed to be, but she wasn't there. In fact, she wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Where's Kathleen?" he called out to Connor.

Connor slowly turned around and faced Van Helsing. There was anger on his face, "He took her." He said, tears beginning to fill his eyes.

"What? Who?" Van Helsing hadn't seen anyone else around when the Dullahan attacked.

Connor looked him in the eyes, his face bright red from rage. "The Necromancer, he took Kathleen. He came up behind her and grabbed her. They're gone."