Chapter Two:
"I want to test your tolerance for things that vampires can't tolerate." Carl expanded. "Things like?"
"Garlic, sunlight, crucifixes, holy water, mirrors, things like that."
"But not stakes?"
"Well, we don't want to KILL you..." Carl said, then immediately held up a small mirror in front of her face. Chesshika's face reflected sarcasm as it reflected back at her, fine eyebrows cocked, full mouth in a smirk. Carl looked at the reflection in dismay. "I was hoping to catch you off- guard..." The smirk widened, and Chesshika laughed, a full and throaty sound. "Next."
Carl handed her a clove of garlic. "Do you want to me eat a piece?" she asked, taking it. "Whatever you want," he said with a shrug. She peeled off the skin and popped a piece in her mouth, chewing and swallowing. Carl's shoulder's hunched deeper in defeat. He picked up a flask. "Holy water. Here." Chesshika took it. "This hurt?"
"No."
"Try this." A golden crucifix.
"No."
"Any difference?"
"No."
"Are you sure?" Van Helsing asked suddenly. Chesshika turned to face him. "Yes." Anna cleared her throat. "Well, it's, err, melting."
"What? "Carl and Chesshika yelped at the same time. Chesshika opened her hand, and sure enough, smoke was winding up through her fingers and a small trickle of gold was melting off and dripping to the floor. Carl quickly snatched it from her. "Here." He led her to the window. She squinted against the sunlight, her pupils narrowing into slits. "Bright, but warm," she announced when she didn't go up in flames. Carl sighed, but Van Helsing filed that information away. That was the second time he had seen her eyes narrow into slits like that. He had seen that the day before when the three brides of Dracula had attacked the village upon his arrival. Their eyes had been like those of a cat's as well. Interesting.
"Ok, let's take a trip." Carl said, grabbing Chesshika's forearm. "Where to?" she asked.
"The church."
"You really want to prove that I'm a vampire or at least close to one, huh?"
Carl looked ashamed for a minute. "Well, yes. At least that way we would know what you were." Chesshika shrugged. "Agreed."
The four of them stood in front of the church. Carl leaned against the side of it, Van Helsing and Anna sat on the steps, and Chesshika stood before them all, arms crossed. "So we now know that she has a natural aversion to churches, can melt crucifixes, doesn't like the texture of garlic, and is nocturnal." Carl said wearily. "What does that mean?" Anna asked. "Absolutely nothing." Carl and Van Helsing said at the same time. Chesshika just grinned.
A storm rolled in later that night. Chesshika startled to consciousness with the first loud clap of thunder. She sat up and looked out the window straight across the room. A bolt of lightning split the sky and illuminated the village below ever so briefly. Chesshika sighed and settled back into bed. Rain pelted against the windows, and she huddled up into a ball. She drifted back to sleep, cold and frightened.
Chesshika had the strangest feeling. She could swear that someone was lying next to her, radiating body heat. She snuggled closer, and someone wrapped their arms around her. The odd thing was, they were wet. And she could feel them. 'This is an odd dream,' she thought to herself in her sleep. 'I think I want to wake up now...'
Chesshika opened her eyes, and they promptly widened. "Velkan? " "Darling, I'm here." "But...how? " "Shhh...go back to sleep. I'm right here. You're safe." A sad look crossed his face. "Velkan, what is it?" "Nothing, love." "Velkan..." "Shhh." Chesshika thought for a moment. "I don't like being alone, Velkan." "Neither do I, Chessh." "Stay here?" "For now, yes." "Thank you." She curled closer to him and breathed his scent in. He smelled musky, and wet, like soil after it had rained. "I love you, Chessh." She smiled at her old pet name that he called her and raised her head to look up at him. "Am I dreaming?" "Maybe." Chesshika looked down again. "I don't want to be dreaming. I want you to be here when I wake up." Velkan looked down at here. "I can't, pet. I'm sorry." "Why?" "Because...it's complicated." "I hate complications." "I know you do. Still impatient as always." "Well..." She could feel him smile. "No changes in you, Chessh." She looked at his shoulder and traced it with her fingertip. "What about you?" He stiffened, and she looked up. His face was hard, and for a second in a flash of light from lightning, she thought that she saw a wild look in his eyes, something feral and filled with rage. "Velkan?" His features turned back to normal, and he smoothed her hair down. "It's alright. Everything's going to be fine," he said, kissing her forehead. He raised her head up with a finger under her chin, and kissed her gently. It seemed as though he was being as careful as he could be that he didn't get his mouth in the way of Chesshika's. She frowned inwardly. That wasn't like him. He deepened the kiss, but his mouth remained distant, mindful of his teeth and the proximity of her mouth in relation to his. She whimpered softly, and his hand traveled down her side to circle her waist, comforting her. She splayed her hands across his chest. His warmth enveloped her, and his mouth traveled oh so carefully down her neck.
The lightning and thunder drowned out any other sense of being then each other.
Chesshika woke up later, and smiled, stretching luxuriously. She turned to her side, and was opening her mouth to say 'hello' to Velkan when she snapped it shut. He wasn't there. There was an indent in the bed where he had lain, and the warmth from his body still lingered under the sheets. She frowned, then shrugged. She had expected as much after their conversation earlier that night. The night...she smiled. He was back. She didn't know how, but he was back. She dressed quickly, and hurried down the stairs. She burst into the large dining room, face aglow. "Anna. Anna! Did you see him? He's back! Where is he? Is he with you?" Anna and Van Helsing looked up, and Anna's eyes misted over. "You saw him, too?" Chesshika, impatient, answered. "Of course. Where did he go?" Anna's eyes spilled over, and she stood up, drawing Chesshika to her. "Oh, you poor girl. When did you see him?" Chesshika was confused. "Tonight. He was with me." Van Helsing hissed in a breath, and Anna drew back. "What?! Did he bite you? Oh God, Chesshika, why didn't you get someone?!" Chesshika batted Anna's hands away as they pulled at her clothing. "Anna, what are you talking about? Van Helsing, what's wrong? Why would he bite me? Why did I need to get someone?" Her face clouded over. "What's going on? Are you two turned mad?" Anna turned to Van Helsing. "Earlier, when the storm started, the moon was hid behind clouds, wasn't it?" He nodded. Anna turned back to Chesshika. "The moon...Velkan..." "What about the moon? Velkan was fine." "Chesshika, tell me again what happened to Velkan." Van Helsing cut in gently. "He fell off the ravine edge into the abyss with the werewolf! For the second time!" she yelled irately. "Where is h-..." She stopped. "He fell off the edge with the werewolf...with the werewolf...his mouth, so careful with his mouth...bitten...the moon was covered...wouldn't be able to stay...werewolf..." she whispered to herself, eyes wide. Her mouth fell open and she covered her face with her hands. "Oh my god, he's a werewolf." Van Helsing nodded. "I am so sorry, Chesshika. He came in this night. He was sent, for Anna. He resisted, and ran outside. We followed, but he got away. When the storm came, he must have come back for you." Chesshika slowly fell, her knees hitting the stone floor hard. Her upper body crumbled over it, and she rested her forehead on the cold stone. "Oh my God...Velkan..." Anna helped pick her back up, and Chesshika stood unsteadily. "Where did he come from?" she asked finally. Anna looked away. Van Helsing looked straight at Chesshika. "From what your sister has told me, the werewolves tend to work,... work with Dracula." Chesshika bit down on her bottom lip, hard. Her upper left canine sliced through the skin, and a trickle of blood flowed from it onto her chin. She licked it up. "Where do we find them?"
Dracula paced the floor of his laboratory. He looked down at the transforming Velkan. "New werewolves are so unruly." Velkan howled, tearing at his transforming flesh. Dracula looked down at him. "Oh, do be quiet." Velkan shuddered, settling back into his human form. He gasped, and looked up at Dracula. "You...you...evil bastard!" Dracula laughed. "Oh my, see the puppy growl." He bent down and placed a hand under Velkan's chin, against his throat, choking him. "Did you find her? What about your sister Anna? Is she dead yet?" Velkan choked, and Dracula laughed. "What? I can't understand you. Speak up." Velkan glared murder at him. Dracula released him. "Now. Tell me." "Never." "Oh yes, Velkan. Your sister is just a nuisance, but won't it be amusing when her own brother kills her when he can't help himself in wolf form?" "I won't, ever. I love my sister." "Oh, I know you do. That's why it will be even better when you DO kill her. Now, and what about our little pale angel?" "Leave her out of this, Vladislaus. She has no part in this. This is between our families." "But wasn't she about to become part of your family before the tragic accident? "
Velkan lunged at him, and Dracula caught him by the throat, slamming
him against the wall. "Don't. You. Dare. Touch. Me. Insolent. Puppy." Velkan gritted his teeth and rolled his eyes down at the Count. "Ah, there,"Dracula said breezily, stepping back. "Now what do you have to say?"
"I say the same as I did before: Keep her out of this. Chesshika isn't a part of this game." Velkan grated out. Dracula looked at the young werewolf. "She isn't part of this game? Tell me, Velkan, boyar, why would one so prestigious as you actually look at such a low orphan in the first place? You wouldn't have." Dracula circled him slowly. "She was just so odd, so strange, such a wonderful oddity, so strikingly exotic." Dracula leaned in closer to Velkan and whispered in his ear: "You couldn't keep your eyes off her. She bewitched you." Velkan roared and swung at Dracula. The Count caught his hand and forced him down. "Don't," he said in a voice filled with iron. Velkan gritted his teeth. The Count continued. "You see, Velkan, I have something that you want. Something that you crave. And for this, you will serve me infinitely. I have the antidote, the cure, for a werewolf bite that will restore you to normal. And because your wolf form is so loathsome, and of such an inconvenience; (oh yes, I know where you were this night after your complete FAILURE to kill your sister; you went and sought refuge with Chesshika;) that knowledge that you can never safely spend a night, spend a period of time with her as long as you are still a wolf, THAT will drive you to serve me. But unfortunately for you, my hapless friend, I too have had my eye on your wonderful fiancée for awhile. And I would take a guess to say, longer then you have. I knew what she tasted like long before you did. I knew the flavor of her blood, the ultimate bond."
Velkan twisted beneath Dracula's grip. "Chesshika would never agree to any kind of bond to you."
"Aren't you so naïve. She doesn't need to agree, she just needs to be persuaded. Or rather, transfixed. She's so easy to catch unawares. And at this point, she doesn't care anymore. She doesn't even fight. Your little warrior angel, lets me bleed her without a noise. By this point, you just need to bring her here. I'll take care of the rest."
Velkan gasped as Dracula suddenly twisted his arm farther behind him, leaning into his back. He arched, eyes closed and mouth open, gasping for air. His backbone and arm muscles strained against the vampire's grip. "I refuse to bring her to you! She won't follow me. Not on my life would I do that," he choked out. Dracula wrenched his arm back again, harder. "That could be arranged. You see, I don't like it when people touch things that belong to me."
"She'll never belong to you."
"What a sweet sentiment. You can keep that thought for awhile. It will keep your mind in denial."
"There's no denial about it, Vladislaus. Chesshika will never be yours, never. "
Dracula's face hardened and his eyes narrowed. "We shall see about that, boyar. "He spat the word. "In the meantime, your werewolf energy will help bring my children to life. Up you go." He picked Velkan up by his throat and slammed him into the pod behind him. Dracula's minions, the Dwergi, quickly fastened the metal skullcap and restraints around Velkan's body. Velkan locked eyes with Dracula. "I might have failed my family, but my sister will not. And if she doesn't, Chesshika will." Velkan grinned, and held his right hand into two fingers beside himself in their bonds. "For, if two become one," he demonstrated, bringing his two fingers together, "Don't they become one? Family to family line?" Dracula glared murder at him, and Velkan laughed. "I may be the second to last of my family line, but it's comforting to know that there is someone who you love who can kill you if she wants." Velkan leaned forward toward the vampire in his bonds. "Don't you know what she is? Haven't you figured that out yet?" Dracula gritted his teeth and turned to his side. He cranked a wheel sharply to its side, and the pod holding Velkan started it's ascent into the open roof, where lightning flashed overhead.
Chesshika tilted the hat slightly sideways over her head, shielding her right eye from the rain. She shook her head, and rainwater went flying off hat and hair. Van Helsing and Anna both looked her from horses beside her. "Are you sure you still want to go through with this?" Van Helsing asked. Anna nodded, concerned. Chesshika shot them a look. "Of course. Let's go. We don't have much time. At midnight...there will be no turning back." She spurred her horse on, and the well-trained steed surged forward. She stroked its neck, and looked back over her shoulder at Anna and Van Helsing. "Come on!" she called. Van Helsing started forward, and Anna followed. "Who taught her to ride?" he called over the rain. "Velkan. She already knew how, but he gave her the horse, tack, lessons, everything." A trace of envy in her voice wasn't lost on Van Helsing. It seemed as if while Velkan was busy with his fiancée, his sister had gotten jealous at the attention lavished on the girl. "Well, the lessons seem to have paid off. She's good." Anna shook her head. "She was always a natural." Adding, she said, "At everything."
Chesshika couldn't believe how slow they were. Anger and frustration goaded at her, and she urged for more speed. She smiled grimly as her gelding pressed faster with more speed. Velkan had chosen a good horse. Now let it get her there in time to save him.
Van Helsing saw movement in front of him. He turned to look at Chesshika. "She sped up," he said incredulously. "What is she, insane? She'll get there before we do and be alone." Anna nodded. "Hurry. She might be the last hope if anything happens to me. I don't know much about her relationship with my brother, but I know," She paused. "Knew Velkan, and after three years of engagement, something had to be going on between them. My brother wasn't one to wait for marriage to, um, consummate their...well, their engagement. The marriage was never a definite thing. They seemed to be happy just being engaged, and well, my brother was never one for self- control when it came to his libido. Maybe that bond will be as strong as blood." Van Helsing grinned, and Anna looked at him sternly. He coughed, trying to cover his amusement. "Three years is a long time," he said dryly, shrugging. Anna rolled her eyes, and her horse picked up to a gallop after Chesshika.
Chesshika slowed her gelding as she came into the open courtyard of the old castle. 'So this is Castle Frankenstein. It looks so...homey,' she thought sarcastically. She slid off her horse, and whispered to it. It flicked an ear forward, and blew out his nostrils softly. She patted its forehead. "Good boy," she whispered. She walked across the rain-slicked courtyard, her footfalls making no sound on the cobblestones, long black coat whirling around her back and legs. "Into the dragon's lair..." she whispered. "Alone, as always. Some things are better done alone, your own way."
Velkan gritted his teeth, straining against the straps that held him. The open window in the roof was coming closer and closer. 'Oh my God, this is really it,' he thought in desperation. 'This is how I'm going to die. My life energy will give life to thousands of little vampires that will kill my people. I've failed my family. Anna, don't fail me. And then there's Chessh...what will happen to her once I'm gone? They'll kill her once they find out...my poor Chessh...why did you ever come here?'
Van Helsing and Anna trotted into the courtyard, horse's shoes clattering on the wet stones. Anna pointed to a familiar black horse. "There," she said. Van Helsing nodded, and pointed at the edge of a black cloak as it whipped around a corner. "And there."
Chesshika's senses were on fire. Heightened almost unbearably by her awareness, they were going off with little alarms at every small sound, every tiny waft of air. "There, there!" they shrieked. She thrust her jaw forward and pressed on, up the stairs, two at a time. Small thoughts processed. 'You're not making any noise...you're walking straight into a place you should be running away fast in the other direction from...if he catches you...Velkan, have to find him fast...save Velkan...this almost seems familiar...there's no lights...and you aren't running into things...how odd...they really will kill you now...' She ignored most of them, keeping in the front of her mind the one thing that was important: Save Velkan. A few small sounds caught her attention, and she whipped behind a pillar, peering across the side. Small figures in tattered clothing, masks and goggles walked past the other side of the pillar she was hiding behind, talking amongst themselves in a strange language of growls and gibberish. 'Dwergi...' she thought. 'Nasty, evil little things. Dracula's minions...they'll lead me straight to him. Wonderful. Where Dracula is, Velkan should be.' She felt a pang in her heart. 'Or what was Velkan...' She shook her head forcefully. No, Velkan was still in there. Somewhere inside the beast, Velkan was trapped. The small Dwergi passed, and she counted to ten before she slunk out from behind the pillar, following them at a safe distance. They led her down the long hall, up another flight of stairs. And they passed through a large door, into a room that was lit brilliantly from the inside. The hall was flooded with light for an instant was the Dwergi passed through, and she shrunk back into the shadows. The door shut, and Chesshika started forward again. She stood in front of the door, sizing it up. Dracula was in there, and Velkan, she knew it. And something was going on, probably something bad. Something evil. Her blood boiled with rage, and a piece of shattered glass imbedded in the door caught her glance. Her pale green eyes were positively glowing, pupils dilated into slits of anger. Gnashing her teeth, wincing as her large canines ripped into the side of her mouth, she raised a heavily booted foot, and slammed it into the door, bursting it open.
Van Helsing and Anna ran through the castle. A group of Dwergi stopped their progress for a minute. "Dwergi. Dracula's minions. Kill them if you get a chance; they'll do worse to you if you don't," Anna whispered. Van Helsing nodded. "Where could she be? She's moving too fast...and she doesn't know her way around." Anna shrugged. "She doesn't know her way around here, does she?" Van Helsing asked again. He received another shrug. "It could just be one of those things," Anna supplied. "You know, I'm starting to like that girl less and less." "She's just unnatural. She can't help it." "She's spooky, that's what she is." Van Helsing countered back. Anna shrugged yet again. "Eww...what is this place?" she asked as they walked through a door into a long hall absolutely covered with small green, mucus- y sacs. "I think...I think we found the nursery." Van Helsing said.
Velkan heard the doors open with a bang from below him as he continued to move upward. 'Someone's not happy...' he thought through his fear. 'I hope Dracula gets hell from them...'
The doors slammed shut again behind Chesshika, leaving her standing in a room filled with large pieces of odd machinery that buzzed with energy. Dwergi stopped what they were doing, holding various parts of equipment in their short arms. A figure on the bridge above whirled around. But Chesshika's eyes and attention was on a pod above everything, supported by a moving rod. A bolt of lightning hit a conductor, went through the pod, and a great burst of power spiraled down the rod and through the machinery. A yell drifted down from the pod. Velkan was up there.
She pried her eyes off the pod, recognizing that she needed a way to get up there, to him. Her eyes skimmed the large room, from the motionless Dwergi who had dropped what they were carrying to the figure on the bridge...
...that wasn't there anymore. Her senses screamed in alarm, and before she could move, a hand grabbed her shoulder from behind. She was bodily spun around, and was staring face-to-face with Dracula, scant inches away from his face. "So nice of you to come by and see him in his last moments, lovelie. He would be touched. But seeing as though as he can't welcome you, I think that honor falls to me." He let go of her shoulder and stepped back, throwing his arms wide, gesturing to the room. "Welcome, my dear, to Castle Frankenstein." He stepped forward again, and pointed up. "May I direct your gaze to my latest accomplishment? Taken over from the late Dr. Frankenstein, the power source needed to bring the dead back to life. And well, that's Velkan inside it at the moment." Chesshika eyed him, and did what was natural. She drew a fist back and punched him in the face.
"Now, I know that didn't hurt you," she drawled, "But I hope it made you mad. Because I'm really mad right now. In fact, I would wager a bet that I'm more pissed off then you are for me hitting you." Dracula was still doubled over. "Pity you can't get a nosebleed," Chesshika said. "That would be interesting."
While the vampire was distracted, Chesshika ran for the nearest bridge, climbing the ladder up to it. Once on the bridge, she grabbed onto a chain close by that ran up to the ceiling. Kicking it free of its anchor, she held on tight as it whizzed upward, toward the roof.
Dracula straightened below. The broken cartilage in his nose reformed, healing his nose in an eye-blink. That damn girl had broken his nose. That really made him mad. He could have fun killing her, then turning her. Shedding his human form, he grew wings and turned into a giant bat-like monster, flying upward.
Suddenly, a great boom of thunder shook the ground, and a gigantic bolt of lightning coursed through the entire room of equipment. It coursed through wires leading out the door. Dracula stopped in mid-wing beat, and dropped back to the ground, turning back into a man as he fell. He hit the ground, and ran toward a door. Two woman dropped from nowhere and joined him. Chesshika watched. 'Aleera,' she thought. 'And Verona. What in the name of God is going on?'
Down in the nursery, Van Helsing and Anna looked up as the sacs began to wiggle furiously. The small vampire baby that Van Helsing had just torn out of its sac snapped to life. He let go of it reflexively, and it joined the thousands of others flying through the room. A door burst open above. Dracula and his brides appeared above them, rapturously happy. "Go! Feed them! Prey on the villagers! And pray to the Devil that they live!" The two women changed shape rapidly, into giant white bats with a shape and face of a woman. They flew off, and the small vampires followed them. "Go my children!" Dracula shouted. Van Helsing raised his crossbow and took aim. A small vampire fell, crossbow shot in its body. Dracula looked down in fury. "Now that I have your attention..." Van Helsing started, "May I do what I came here to do?" Dracula screamed and dropped down at them, turning into a bat again as he fell. Anna shot to the side, and ran up the stairs to the room above. The laboratory...where Velkan was. All thoughts of Van Helsing or Chesshika escaped her mind.
Chesshika jumped off the chain onto the rooftop, and watched as the chain fell down the other side of the pulley, straight to the floor. It hit with a clanging resonance, and she turned away, toward the pod. Lightning flashed around her, but she was oblivious to it.
Below her, Anna fought off Dwergi as she climbed up a rope to the pod above her. Dwergi clung to the rope above and below her, and she took her saber out of its hilt, thrusting at the Dwergi. They dropped to the floor, into vats of a hissing liquid. She continued climbing.
Above Anna, Chesshika was in trouble. A group of Dwergi had gathered on the roof, between her and Velkan. She searched her body for a weapon, but in her haste to get to the castle, she realized she had forgotten to pack any. All she had was her dagger, and that wasn't going to do much against a group of ten Dwergi. She stood her ground as they advance, chattering at her. "Velkan..." she screamed above the noise.
Through his pain, Velkan heard her. Chessh. That was Chessh's voice. What was she doing here? He must be dead, imaging her voice now, at the castle...
Chesshika heard a short yell from behind her, and turned her head slightly. A flash of black caught her eye as it hurtled through the air toward her. She grabbed the bullwhip out of the air as it was thrown to her. Unfurling it, she cracked it expertly, then swung it around in front of her in an arc. It hissed through the air, creating a whoosh, whoosh, whoosh sound. She couldn't have asked for a better weapon. Its twelve-foot range would keep anything out of her way. The Dwergi backed up slowly, keeping their glittering eyes on the black leather lash. She reached out, and using the whip as an extension of her arm, wrapped it around a Dwerger's neck and pulled it forward. It's neck snapped, and she flung it off the side of the castle roof. Flicking the whip gently, it uncurled from around the creature's neck. She brought it back forward, and lashed out with it, letting it bite deep into the skin of the Dwergi in front of her. If used correctly, a whip can be as sharp and deadly as a sword, and Chesshika hadn't trained with it for years for nothing. The remaining Dwergi fled, some holding stubs of arms that were severed and cuts on their body. She drew the bullwhip back to her body, wrapping it around its self and tucking it into her belt. She looked toward the pod, and saw Anna there, cutting Velkan out of his bonds. Chesshika started forward at a run toward them. Another roll of thunder shook the castle, and made the shingles at Chesshika's feet jump. She lost her footing, and skidded off the side of the roof, into the black oblivion below. "NOOOO!" she screamed, but a roll of thunder swallowed her cry as she dropped. She plummeted straight down, the blackness of the night enveloping her as she fell farther and farther. 'Is it a river? An abyss? Oh, my God, it's going to be like how it was for Velkan falling. Except not with a werewolf. Velkan...I'll never know if he lives. And what will happen to everyone...I'll be dead. What's down there? What am I falling into?' Falling silently, she made no sound. She would not allow herself to scream. 'God damn it, I'm going to die with bravery. No one will ever know, but at least I will.' Her coat spread out behind her, dragging in the air as it rushed past her, slowing her speed of drop. She streamlined her lower body, pulling one leg up slightly so that her foot rested on her other calf. It would absorb some of the shock of impact, if she lived. She raised her arms above her head, reaching out carefully to grab onto anything that passed by her as she fell. Through the fog, she saw something looming out beneath her. Treetops. She was falling straight into a forest top. Her cloak billowed out once more, grabbing a stray gust of wind. 'It slows my descent...drag rate is increased...' she though suddenly. She quickly looked down and closed her eyes. 'Oh God, I'm sorry for everything,' she thought. 'If I die now, I am so sorry for all the trouble I have caused, and all the fear I have created.' She crashed through the treetops. Her raised arms grabbed a tree branch, and her body snapped in whiplash at the impact, up and down quickly. She gritted her teeth, and kept her hold on the branch, wrapping both arms around it. Once she stopped moving, she gently swung her body backwards, causing her body to then swing forward. With great focus and control, Chesshika used her body as a giant pendulum, swinging her lower body closer and closer to the tree branch she was hanging from. Finally, she had enough swing that she was able to wrap her legs around the branch too. She hung upside down for a minute, catching her breath. 'You know, I almost wish I was a vampire now,' she thought wryly. 'I could physically hang here with no strain.' She grunted in pain as her muscles protested. 'Unlike what I feel now.' Carefully, she started to move herself up to the top of the branch, working her body around the side of the branch methodically. Once she was laying secure on top, arms and legs still wrapped in a death-grip, she fell asleep from exhaustion.
"I want to test your tolerance for things that vampires can't tolerate." Carl expanded. "Things like?"
"Garlic, sunlight, crucifixes, holy water, mirrors, things like that."
"But not stakes?"
"Well, we don't want to KILL you..." Carl said, then immediately held up a small mirror in front of her face. Chesshika's face reflected sarcasm as it reflected back at her, fine eyebrows cocked, full mouth in a smirk. Carl looked at the reflection in dismay. "I was hoping to catch you off- guard..." The smirk widened, and Chesshika laughed, a full and throaty sound. "Next."
Carl handed her a clove of garlic. "Do you want to me eat a piece?" she asked, taking it. "Whatever you want," he said with a shrug. She peeled off the skin and popped a piece in her mouth, chewing and swallowing. Carl's shoulder's hunched deeper in defeat. He picked up a flask. "Holy water. Here." Chesshika took it. "This hurt?"
"No."
"Try this." A golden crucifix.
"No."
"Any difference?"
"No."
"Are you sure?" Van Helsing asked suddenly. Chesshika turned to face him. "Yes." Anna cleared her throat. "Well, it's, err, melting."
"What? "Carl and Chesshika yelped at the same time. Chesshika opened her hand, and sure enough, smoke was winding up through her fingers and a small trickle of gold was melting off and dripping to the floor. Carl quickly snatched it from her. "Here." He led her to the window. She squinted against the sunlight, her pupils narrowing into slits. "Bright, but warm," she announced when she didn't go up in flames. Carl sighed, but Van Helsing filed that information away. That was the second time he had seen her eyes narrow into slits like that. He had seen that the day before when the three brides of Dracula had attacked the village upon his arrival. Their eyes had been like those of a cat's as well. Interesting.
"Ok, let's take a trip." Carl said, grabbing Chesshika's forearm. "Where to?" she asked.
"The church."
"You really want to prove that I'm a vampire or at least close to one, huh?"
Carl looked ashamed for a minute. "Well, yes. At least that way we would know what you were." Chesshika shrugged. "Agreed."
The four of them stood in front of the church. Carl leaned against the side of it, Van Helsing and Anna sat on the steps, and Chesshika stood before them all, arms crossed. "So we now know that she has a natural aversion to churches, can melt crucifixes, doesn't like the texture of garlic, and is nocturnal." Carl said wearily. "What does that mean?" Anna asked. "Absolutely nothing." Carl and Van Helsing said at the same time. Chesshika just grinned.
A storm rolled in later that night. Chesshika startled to consciousness with the first loud clap of thunder. She sat up and looked out the window straight across the room. A bolt of lightning split the sky and illuminated the village below ever so briefly. Chesshika sighed and settled back into bed. Rain pelted against the windows, and she huddled up into a ball. She drifted back to sleep, cold and frightened.
Chesshika had the strangest feeling. She could swear that someone was lying next to her, radiating body heat. She snuggled closer, and someone wrapped their arms around her. The odd thing was, they were wet. And she could feel them. 'This is an odd dream,' she thought to herself in her sleep. 'I think I want to wake up now...'
Chesshika opened her eyes, and they promptly widened. "Velkan? " "Darling, I'm here." "But...how? " "Shhh...go back to sleep. I'm right here. You're safe." A sad look crossed his face. "Velkan, what is it?" "Nothing, love." "Velkan..." "Shhh." Chesshika thought for a moment. "I don't like being alone, Velkan." "Neither do I, Chessh." "Stay here?" "For now, yes." "Thank you." She curled closer to him and breathed his scent in. He smelled musky, and wet, like soil after it had rained. "I love you, Chessh." She smiled at her old pet name that he called her and raised her head to look up at him. "Am I dreaming?" "Maybe." Chesshika looked down again. "I don't want to be dreaming. I want you to be here when I wake up." Velkan looked down at here. "I can't, pet. I'm sorry." "Why?" "Because...it's complicated." "I hate complications." "I know you do. Still impatient as always." "Well..." She could feel him smile. "No changes in you, Chessh." She looked at his shoulder and traced it with her fingertip. "What about you?" He stiffened, and she looked up. His face was hard, and for a second in a flash of light from lightning, she thought that she saw a wild look in his eyes, something feral and filled with rage. "Velkan?" His features turned back to normal, and he smoothed her hair down. "It's alright. Everything's going to be fine," he said, kissing her forehead. He raised her head up with a finger under her chin, and kissed her gently. It seemed as though he was being as careful as he could be that he didn't get his mouth in the way of Chesshika's. She frowned inwardly. That wasn't like him. He deepened the kiss, but his mouth remained distant, mindful of his teeth and the proximity of her mouth in relation to his. She whimpered softly, and his hand traveled down her side to circle her waist, comforting her. She splayed her hands across his chest. His warmth enveloped her, and his mouth traveled oh so carefully down her neck.
The lightning and thunder drowned out any other sense of being then each other.
Chesshika woke up later, and smiled, stretching luxuriously. She turned to her side, and was opening her mouth to say 'hello' to Velkan when she snapped it shut. He wasn't there. There was an indent in the bed where he had lain, and the warmth from his body still lingered under the sheets. She frowned, then shrugged. She had expected as much after their conversation earlier that night. The night...she smiled. He was back. She didn't know how, but he was back. She dressed quickly, and hurried down the stairs. She burst into the large dining room, face aglow. "Anna. Anna! Did you see him? He's back! Where is he? Is he with you?" Anna and Van Helsing looked up, and Anna's eyes misted over. "You saw him, too?" Chesshika, impatient, answered. "Of course. Where did he go?" Anna's eyes spilled over, and she stood up, drawing Chesshika to her. "Oh, you poor girl. When did you see him?" Chesshika was confused. "Tonight. He was with me." Van Helsing hissed in a breath, and Anna drew back. "What?! Did he bite you? Oh God, Chesshika, why didn't you get someone?!" Chesshika batted Anna's hands away as they pulled at her clothing. "Anna, what are you talking about? Van Helsing, what's wrong? Why would he bite me? Why did I need to get someone?" Her face clouded over. "What's going on? Are you two turned mad?" Anna turned to Van Helsing. "Earlier, when the storm started, the moon was hid behind clouds, wasn't it?" He nodded. Anna turned back to Chesshika. "The moon...Velkan..." "What about the moon? Velkan was fine." "Chesshika, tell me again what happened to Velkan." Van Helsing cut in gently. "He fell off the ravine edge into the abyss with the werewolf! For the second time!" she yelled irately. "Where is h-..." She stopped. "He fell off the edge with the werewolf...with the werewolf...his mouth, so careful with his mouth...bitten...the moon was covered...wouldn't be able to stay...werewolf..." she whispered to herself, eyes wide. Her mouth fell open and she covered her face with her hands. "Oh my god, he's a werewolf." Van Helsing nodded. "I am so sorry, Chesshika. He came in this night. He was sent, for Anna. He resisted, and ran outside. We followed, but he got away. When the storm came, he must have come back for you." Chesshika slowly fell, her knees hitting the stone floor hard. Her upper body crumbled over it, and she rested her forehead on the cold stone. "Oh my God...Velkan..." Anna helped pick her back up, and Chesshika stood unsteadily. "Where did he come from?" she asked finally. Anna looked away. Van Helsing looked straight at Chesshika. "From what your sister has told me, the werewolves tend to work,... work with Dracula." Chesshika bit down on her bottom lip, hard. Her upper left canine sliced through the skin, and a trickle of blood flowed from it onto her chin. She licked it up. "Where do we find them?"
Dracula paced the floor of his laboratory. He looked down at the transforming Velkan. "New werewolves are so unruly." Velkan howled, tearing at his transforming flesh. Dracula looked down at him. "Oh, do be quiet." Velkan shuddered, settling back into his human form. He gasped, and looked up at Dracula. "You...you...evil bastard!" Dracula laughed. "Oh my, see the puppy growl." He bent down and placed a hand under Velkan's chin, against his throat, choking him. "Did you find her? What about your sister Anna? Is she dead yet?" Velkan choked, and Dracula laughed. "What? I can't understand you. Speak up." Velkan glared murder at him. Dracula released him. "Now. Tell me." "Never." "Oh yes, Velkan. Your sister is just a nuisance, but won't it be amusing when her own brother kills her when he can't help himself in wolf form?" "I won't, ever. I love my sister." "Oh, I know you do. That's why it will be even better when you DO kill her. Now, and what about our little pale angel?" "Leave her out of this, Vladislaus. She has no part in this. This is between our families." "But wasn't she about to become part of your family before the tragic accident? "
Velkan lunged at him, and Dracula caught him by the throat, slamming
him against the wall. "Don't. You. Dare. Touch. Me. Insolent. Puppy." Velkan gritted his teeth and rolled his eyes down at the Count. "Ah, there,"Dracula said breezily, stepping back. "Now what do you have to say?"
"I say the same as I did before: Keep her out of this. Chesshika isn't a part of this game." Velkan grated out. Dracula looked at the young werewolf. "She isn't part of this game? Tell me, Velkan, boyar, why would one so prestigious as you actually look at such a low orphan in the first place? You wouldn't have." Dracula circled him slowly. "She was just so odd, so strange, such a wonderful oddity, so strikingly exotic." Dracula leaned in closer to Velkan and whispered in his ear: "You couldn't keep your eyes off her. She bewitched you." Velkan roared and swung at Dracula. The Count caught his hand and forced him down. "Don't," he said in a voice filled with iron. Velkan gritted his teeth. The Count continued. "You see, Velkan, I have something that you want. Something that you crave. And for this, you will serve me infinitely. I have the antidote, the cure, for a werewolf bite that will restore you to normal. And because your wolf form is so loathsome, and of such an inconvenience; (oh yes, I know where you were this night after your complete FAILURE to kill your sister; you went and sought refuge with Chesshika;) that knowledge that you can never safely spend a night, spend a period of time with her as long as you are still a wolf, THAT will drive you to serve me. But unfortunately for you, my hapless friend, I too have had my eye on your wonderful fiancée for awhile. And I would take a guess to say, longer then you have. I knew what she tasted like long before you did. I knew the flavor of her blood, the ultimate bond."
Velkan twisted beneath Dracula's grip. "Chesshika would never agree to any kind of bond to you."
"Aren't you so naïve. She doesn't need to agree, she just needs to be persuaded. Or rather, transfixed. She's so easy to catch unawares. And at this point, she doesn't care anymore. She doesn't even fight. Your little warrior angel, lets me bleed her without a noise. By this point, you just need to bring her here. I'll take care of the rest."
Velkan gasped as Dracula suddenly twisted his arm farther behind him, leaning into his back. He arched, eyes closed and mouth open, gasping for air. His backbone and arm muscles strained against the vampire's grip. "I refuse to bring her to you! She won't follow me. Not on my life would I do that," he choked out. Dracula wrenched his arm back again, harder. "That could be arranged. You see, I don't like it when people touch things that belong to me."
"She'll never belong to you."
"What a sweet sentiment. You can keep that thought for awhile. It will keep your mind in denial."
"There's no denial about it, Vladislaus. Chesshika will never be yours, never. "
Dracula's face hardened and his eyes narrowed. "We shall see about that, boyar. "He spat the word. "In the meantime, your werewolf energy will help bring my children to life. Up you go." He picked Velkan up by his throat and slammed him into the pod behind him. Dracula's minions, the Dwergi, quickly fastened the metal skullcap and restraints around Velkan's body. Velkan locked eyes with Dracula. "I might have failed my family, but my sister will not. And if she doesn't, Chesshika will." Velkan grinned, and held his right hand into two fingers beside himself in their bonds. "For, if two become one," he demonstrated, bringing his two fingers together, "Don't they become one? Family to family line?" Dracula glared murder at him, and Velkan laughed. "I may be the second to last of my family line, but it's comforting to know that there is someone who you love who can kill you if she wants." Velkan leaned forward toward the vampire in his bonds. "Don't you know what she is? Haven't you figured that out yet?" Dracula gritted his teeth and turned to his side. He cranked a wheel sharply to its side, and the pod holding Velkan started it's ascent into the open roof, where lightning flashed overhead.
Chesshika tilted the hat slightly sideways over her head, shielding her right eye from the rain. She shook her head, and rainwater went flying off hat and hair. Van Helsing and Anna both looked her from horses beside her. "Are you sure you still want to go through with this?" Van Helsing asked. Anna nodded, concerned. Chesshika shot them a look. "Of course. Let's go. We don't have much time. At midnight...there will be no turning back." She spurred her horse on, and the well-trained steed surged forward. She stroked its neck, and looked back over her shoulder at Anna and Van Helsing. "Come on!" she called. Van Helsing started forward, and Anna followed. "Who taught her to ride?" he called over the rain. "Velkan. She already knew how, but he gave her the horse, tack, lessons, everything." A trace of envy in her voice wasn't lost on Van Helsing. It seemed as if while Velkan was busy with his fiancée, his sister had gotten jealous at the attention lavished on the girl. "Well, the lessons seem to have paid off. She's good." Anna shook her head. "She was always a natural." Adding, she said, "At everything."
Chesshika couldn't believe how slow they were. Anger and frustration goaded at her, and she urged for more speed. She smiled grimly as her gelding pressed faster with more speed. Velkan had chosen a good horse. Now let it get her there in time to save him.
Van Helsing saw movement in front of him. He turned to look at Chesshika. "She sped up," he said incredulously. "What is she, insane? She'll get there before we do and be alone." Anna nodded. "Hurry. She might be the last hope if anything happens to me. I don't know much about her relationship with my brother, but I know," She paused. "Knew Velkan, and after three years of engagement, something had to be going on between them. My brother wasn't one to wait for marriage to, um, consummate their...well, their engagement. The marriage was never a definite thing. They seemed to be happy just being engaged, and well, my brother was never one for self- control when it came to his libido. Maybe that bond will be as strong as blood." Van Helsing grinned, and Anna looked at him sternly. He coughed, trying to cover his amusement. "Three years is a long time," he said dryly, shrugging. Anna rolled her eyes, and her horse picked up to a gallop after Chesshika.
Chesshika slowed her gelding as she came into the open courtyard of the old castle. 'So this is Castle Frankenstein. It looks so...homey,' she thought sarcastically. She slid off her horse, and whispered to it. It flicked an ear forward, and blew out his nostrils softly. She patted its forehead. "Good boy," she whispered. She walked across the rain-slicked courtyard, her footfalls making no sound on the cobblestones, long black coat whirling around her back and legs. "Into the dragon's lair..." she whispered. "Alone, as always. Some things are better done alone, your own way."
Velkan gritted his teeth, straining against the straps that held him. The open window in the roof was coming closer and closer. 'Oh my God, this is really it,' he thought in desperation. 'This is how I'm going to die. My life energy will give life to thousands of little vampires that will kill my people. I've failed my family. Anna, don't fail me. And then there's Chessh...what will happen to her once I'm gone? They'll kill her once they find out...my poor Chessh...why did you ever come here?'
Van Helsing and Anna trotted into the courtyard, horse's shoes clattering on the wet stones. Anna pointed to a familiar black horse. "There," she said. Van Helsing nodded, and pointed at the edge of a black cloak as it whipped around a corner. "And there."
Chesshika's senses were on fire. Heightened almost unbearably by her awareness, they were going off with little alarms at every small sound, every tiny waft of air. "There, there!" they shrieked. She thrust her jaw forward and pressed on, up the stairs, two at a time. Small thoughts processed. 'You're not making any noise...you're walking straight into a place you should be running away fast in the other direction from...if he catches you...Velkan, have to find him fast...save Velkan...this almost seems familiar...there's no lights...and you aren't running into things...how odd...they really will kill you now...' She ignored most of them, keeping in the front of her mind the one thing that was important: Save Velkan. A few small sounds caught her attention, and she whipped behind a pillar, peering across the side. Small figures in tattered clothing, masks and goggles walked past the other side of the pillar she was hiding behind, talking amongst themselves in a strange language of growls and gibberish. 'Dwergi...' she thought. 'Nasty, evil little things. Dracula's minions...they'll lead me straight to him. Wonderful. Where Dracula is, Velkan should be.' She felt a pang in her heart. 'Or what was Velkan...' She shook her head forcefully. No, Velkan was still in there. Somewhere inside the beast, Velkan was trapped. The small Dwergi passed, and she counted to ten before she slunk out from behind the pillar, following them at a safe distance. They led her down the long hall, up another flight of stairs. And they passed through a large door, into a room that was lit brilliantly from the inside. The hall was flooded with light for an instant was the Dwergi passed through, and she shrunk back into the shadows. The door shut, and Chesshika started forward again. She stood in front of the door, sizing it up. Dracula was in there, and Velkan, she knew it. And something was going on, probably something bad. Something evil. Her blood boiled with rage, and a piece of shattered glass imbedded in the door caught her glance. Her pale green eyes were positively glowing, pupils dilated into slits of anger. Gnashing her teeth, wincing as her large canines ripped into the side of her mouth, she raised a heavily booted foot, and slammed it into the door, bursting it open.
Van Helsing and Anna ran through the castle. A group of Dwergi stopped their progress for a minute. "Dwergi. Dracula's minions. Kill them if you get a chance; they'll do worse to you if you don't," Anna whispered. Van Helsing nodded. "Where could she be? She's moving too fast...and she doesn't know her way around." Anna shrugged. "She doesn't know her way around here, does she?" Van Helsing asked again. He received another shrug. "It could just be one of those things," Anna supplied. "You know, I'm starting to like that girl less and less." "She's just unnatural. She can't help it." "She's spooky, that's what she is." Van Helsing countered back. Anna shrugged yet again. "Eww...what is this place?" she asked as they walked through a door into a long hall absolutely covered with small green, mucus- y sacs. "I think...I think we found the nursery." Van Helsing said.
Velkan heard the doors open with a bang from below him as he continued to move upward. 'Someone's not happy...' he thought through his fear. 'I hope Dracula gets hell from them...'
The doors slammed shut again behind Chesshika, leaving her standing in a room filled with large pieces of odd machinery that buzzed with energy. Dwergi stopped what they were doing, holding various parts of equipment in their short arms. A figure on the bridge above whirled around. But Chesshika's eyes and attention was on a pod above everything, supported by a moving rod. A bolt of lightning hit a conductor, went through the pod, and a great burst of power spiraled down the rod and through the machinery. A yell drifted down from the pod. Velkan was up there.
She pried her eyes off the pod, recognizing that she needed a way to get up there, to him. Her eyes skimmed the large room, from the motionless Dwergi who had dropped what they were carrying to the figure on the bridge...
...that wasn't there anymore. Her senses screamed in alarm, and before she could move, a hand grabbed her shoulder from behind. She was bodily spun around, and was staring face-to-face with Dracula, scant inches away from his face. "So nice of you to come by and see him in his last moments, lovelie. He would be touched. But seeing as though as he can't welcome you, I think that honor falls to me." He let go of her shoulder and stepped back, throwing his arms wide, gesturing to the room. "Welcome, my dear, to Castle Frankenstein." He stepped forward again, and pointed up. "May I direct your gaze to my latest accomplishment? Taken over from the late Dr. Frankenstein, the power source needed to bring the dead back to life. And well, that's Velkan inside it at the moment." Chesshika eyed him, and did what was natural. She drew a fist back and punched him in the face.
"Now, I know that didn't hurt you," she drawled, "But I hope it made you mad. Because I'm really mad right now. In fact, I would wager a bet that I'm more pissed off then you are for me hitting you." Dracula was still doubled over. "Pity you can't get a nosebleed," Chesshika said. "That would be interesting."
While the vampire was distracted, Chesshika ran for the nearest bridge, climbing the ladder up to it. Once on the bridge, she grabbed onto a chain close by that ran up to the ceiling. Kicking it free of its anchor, she held on tight as it whizzed upward, toward the roof.
Dracula straightened below. The broken cartilage in his nose reformed, healing his nose in an eye-blink. That damn girl had broken his nose. That really made him mad. He could have fun killing her, then turning her. Shedding his human form, he grew wings and turned into a giant bat-like monster, flying upward.
Suddenly, a great boom of thunder shook the ground, and a gigantic bolt of lightning coursed through the entire room of equipment. It coursed through wires leading out the door. Dracula stopped in mid-wing beat, and dropped back to the ground, turning back into a man as he fell. He hit the ground, and ran toward a door. Two woman dropped from nowhere and joined him. Chesshika watched. 'Aleera,' she thought. 'And Verona. What in the name of God is going on?'
Down in the nursery, Van Helsing and Anna looked up as the sacs began to wiggle furiously. The small vampire baby that Van Helsing had just torn out of its sac snapped to life. He let go of it reflexively, and it joined the thousands of others flying through the room. A door burst open above. Dracula and his brides appeared above them, rapturously happy. "Go! Feed them! Prey on the villagers! And pray to the Devil that they live!" The two women changed shape rapidly, into giant white bats with a shape and face of a woman. They flew off, and the small vampires followed them. "Go my children!" Dracula shouted. Van Helsing raised his crossbow and took aim. A small vampire fell, crossbow shot in its body. Dracula looked down in fury. "Now that I have your attention..." Van Helsing started, "May I do what I came here to do?" Dracula screamed and dropped down at them, turning into a bat again as he fell. Anna shot to the side, and ran up the stairs to the room above. The laboratory...where Velkan was. All thoughts of Van Helsing or Chesshika escaped her mind.
Chesshika jumped off the chain onto the rooftop, and watched as the chain fell down the other side of the pulley, straight to the floor. It hit with a clanging resonance, and she turned away, toward the pod. Lightning flashed around her, but she was oblivious to it.
Below her, Anna fought off Dwergi as she climbed up a rope to the pod above her. Dwergi clung to the rope above and below her, and she took her saber out of its hilt, thrusting at the Dwergi. They dropped to the floor, into vats of a hissing liquid. She continued climbing.
Above Anna, Chesshika was in trouble. A group of Dwergi had gathered on the roof, between her and Velkan. She searched her body for a weapon, but in her haste to get to the castle, she realized she had forgotten to pack any. All she had was her dagger, and that wasn't going to do much against a group of ten Dwergi. She stood her ground as they advance, chattering at her. "Velkan..." she screamed above the noise.
Through his pain, Velkan heard her. Chessh. That was Chessh's voice. What was she doing here? He must be dead, imaging her voice now, at the castle...
Chesshika heard a short yell from behind her, and turned her head slightly. A flash of black caught her eye as it hurtled through the air toward her. She grabbed the bullwhip out of the air as it was thrown to her. Unfurling it, she cracked it expertly, then swung it around in front of her in an arc. It hissed through the air, creating a whoosh, whoosh, whoosh sound. She couldn't have asked for a better weapon. Its twelve-foot range would keep anything out of her way. The Dwergi backed up slowly, keeping their glittering eyes on the black leather lash. She reached out, and using the whip as an extension of her arm, wrapped it around a Dwerger's neck and pulled it forward. It's neck snapped, and she flung it off the side of the castle roof. Flicking the whip gently, it uncurled from around the creature's neck. She brought it back forward, and lashed out with it, letting it bite deep into the skin of the Dwergi in front of her. If used correctly, a whip can be as sharp and deadly as a sword, and Chesshika hadn't trained with it for years for nothing. The remaining Dwergi fled, some holding stubs of arms that were severed and cuts on their body. She drew the bullwhip back to her body, wrapping it around its self and tucking it into her belt. She looked toward the pod, and saw Anna there, cutting Velkan out of his bonds. Chesshika started forward at a run toward them. Another roll of thunder shook the castle, and made the shingles at Chesshika's feet jump. She lost her footing, and skidded off the side of the roof, into the black oblivion below. "NOOOO!" she screamed, but a roll of thunder swallowed her cry as she dropped. She plummeted straight down, the blackness of the night enveloping her as she fell farther and farther. 'Is it a river? An abyss? Oh, my God, it's going to be like how it was for Velkan falling. Except not with a werewolf. Velkan...I'll never know if he lives. And what will happen to everyone...I'll be dead. What's down there? What am I falling into?' Falling silently, she made no sound. She would not allow herself to scream. 'God damn it, I'm going to die with bravery. No one will ever know, but at least I will.' Her coat spread out behind her, dragging in the air as it rushed past her, slowing her speed of drop. She streamlined her lower body, pulling one leg up slightly so that her foot rested on her other calf. It would absorb some of the shock of impact, if she lived. She raised her arms above her head, reaching out carefully to grab onto anything that passed by her as she fell. Through the fog, she saw something looming out beneath her. Treetops. She was falling straight into a forest top. Her cloak billowed out once more, grabbing a stray gust of wind. 'It slows my descent...drag rate is increased...' she though suddenly. She quickly looked down and closed her eyes. 'Oh God, I'm sorry for everything,' she thought. 'If I die now, I am so sorry for all the trouble I have caused, and all the fear I have created.' She crashed through the treetops. Her raised arms grabbed a tree branch, and her body snapped in whiplash at the impact, up and down quickly. She gritted her teeth, and kept her hold on the branch, wrapping both arms around it. Once she stopped moving, she gently swung her body backwards, causing her body to then swing forward. With great focus and control, Chesshika used her body as a giant pendulum, swinging her lower body closer and closer to the tree branch she was hanging from. Finally, she had enough swing that she was able to wrap her legs around the branch too. She hung upside down for a minute, catching her breath. 'You know, I almost wish I was a vampire now,' she thought wryly. 'I could physically hang here with no strain.' She grunted in pain as her muscles protested. 'Unlike what I feel now.' Carefully, she started to move herself up to the top of the branch, working her body around the side of the branch methodically. Once she was laying secure on top, arms and legs still wrapped in a death-grip, she fell asleep from exhaustion.