Wanted… Preferably Dead.

By Latanya

Disclaimer: Everything is great. I own nothing by my mind, my laptop and my PDA. Also, I'm sorry but this is going to have to be an ending for some time to this story. I finished this chapter and discovered that I couldn't really write any more to it. But don't worry; I will get around to finishing the next chapter and posting it as soon as I have the time but because now is the busiest time of the year at uni, I'm really run down and I've been quite sick of late.

Chapter Twelve: What the morning had to bring….

Because of Tasya and how weak she was at the moment, Van Helsing arranged it so that their ride would be undercover as much as possible. She had told him the quickest route to the sea, knowing that Vladimir would be taking it. His trip would be slower than theirs because they could ride through both day and night… at least, for the time being they could.

During the day, Van Helsing led them but when night fell, Tasya was the one in charge. The Vampire venom in her veins had already begun to change her and her senses were heightened. Understanding what she was going through, Van Helsing tried to support her as much as he could because he knew that she wasn't just fighting the change but the darkness as well.

Narrowing her eyes, Tasya glanced over her shoulder at the mountains. The sun was coming up and it was her third day since being bitten by Torgny… the third day since she had had to kill her companion of many years, the man who had saved her life on several occasions and who had kept her company even when the darkness threatened to come crashing in. This day that rose slowly with the sun would be the deciding day, Tasya knew, it would be the day that told her if her she was going to make it as far at the sea before she turned.

"Tasya, are you all right?" Van Helsing called a head to her, his dark eyes shadowed with worry… and with fear.

"Yes. I'm fine. Just a little tired I guess." She called back, facing forward again and reminding herself that so long as she stayed in the shadows and out of the sun, she should be all right.

He glanced quickly at Carl, "Do you think she's telling the truth Carl? I think that she's worried about the sun… and you know what."

"You're probably right Van Helsing, but this is not the time nor the place to be talking about her problems." The friar pointed towards the distant sea. "That's our problem."

They could see white sails anchored a distance off the shore and a dark coach waiting. Vladimir would not risk going over to the ship while it was still daylight. Starting out towards it, Van Helsing and Carl were prepared to end it then and there if it hadn't been for Tasya's sudden scream.

"I can't… I can't leave the shade." She whispered, staring at the coach in anger. "You must kill him Gabriel and hurry."

Rushing back over to her, the man was horrified to see that her skin had been burnt away on her hands and arms where the sunlight had found her. "It's started hasn't it Tasya? Please don't tell me it has started."

Her blue eyes were clouded over and she pushed at him, indivertibly exposing her arms to the sunlight again. Biting her bottom lip to hold back her shriek, Tasya backed away from the edge of the forest, finding an area of deep shadow. "Go Van Helsing, destroy Vladimir. Destroy him before it is to late for me. You must for I cannot."

Meeting her pain filled eyes, Van Helsing spun his horse around and kicked him into a gallop, racing past Carl towards the coach. He was trying to escape the smell of burnt flesh though it lingered sharply with him. Whoever was driving the dark vehicle must have noticed him coming because a crossbow bolt flew past his face, thudding into the damp ground – he just hoped that he wouldn't be hit before he reached the coach. It was now more than a game of kill the evil beast. It was now a game of kill to save another's life. Looking between Tasya and Van Helsing, Carl couldn't decide whom to go with and was trying to work out whom his chances would be better with.

"Carl, unless you plan to kill me if Gabriel fails, you'd better go with him and make sure he doesn't fail." Tasya called from the shadows of the trees where she was seeking shelter.

He cringed and stared at her with his mouth open. "Kill you?" Carl squeaked. "I couldn't possibly kill you! Van Helsing would kill me if I killed you. Vampire or not."

"I don't care Carl. You will kill me if he fails. It is very important because I cannot be allowed to leave here as a Vampire… no Valerious should be doomed to that fate, not when the Gates of Heaven are now opened to us and I am the last."

"By God Tasya, are you absolutely sure about that? I mean, death is an eternal thing."

Tasya laughed softly, her eyes strangely shadowed. "By some curse I have lived hundreds of years. I have seen families rise and fall to the tide of time. There is nothing in this world that has any real hold over me. There is nothing to keep me from seeking death in order to join my family. Willingly would I lay my life down just so that I could be with my mother, my father, my brothers, my daughter and all those of my family who died over the years. Death is just a beginning Carl, a wonderful new beginning where one has the chance to prove that their soul is worthy of the light."

"Well, if you are totally sure about this. And I promise that I will try to kill you since you will become an evil, blood-sucking Vampire if Van Helsing fails which, I assure you, he will not! Van Helsing never fails when there is so much to loose from failing. This is not a mission that has been given to him by the Order… it is a mission that has been given to him by God himself." Carl declared proudly, pulling out a stake from one of the packs he had with him. "This will work on you won't it?"

Her look of amusement surprised him. "Of course. I'm not Dracula you realize. Related to him… yes… but that has nothing to do with it."

Van Helsing had reached the coach and was preparing to deal with the angry looking man whose size rivaled that of the Frankenstein Monster. "Oh wonderful." He growled.

"Prepare to die!" The man started to run at him with a long sword held out before him.

"How original. Never heard that one before." Van Helsing lifted his crossbow and fired three bolts straight into the man's chest.

However, given the momentum and speed at which the mad man was traveling, Van Helsing was caught by him and pushed to the ground even before the man was truly dead. From the trees, Tasya cried out and would have rushed to his aid had she not been hit by another beam of sunlight. For all appearances sake, it looked as if the man had managed to down Van Helsing.

"Is he dead?" She whispered to Carl, too scared to consider the idea.

He pushed the dead body off him and struggled to stand up, wincing in pain. The fall had caused several of Van Helsing's ribs to break due to the sheer weight of the man who had landed on him. "Just wonderful. I killed him so his ghost thought it would try to break my ribs as revenge."

Carl grinned. "Nope, he's alive though it looks like he's hurt."

"Can't see any wounds though…. There seems to be no blood either." Her response surprised even her. By all rights, she couldn't have told him how she knew that Van Helsing had shed none of his own blood since she didn't know… the scary part being that she could smell the blood that had once been the life support for the man who had just died.

"Well that's reassuring but how do you know about the blood?"

"Soon to be Vampire if he fails."

"Right. Forgot about that for a moment. I take it you can smell the blood?"

Her look of annoyance said it all and Carl instantly shut up. "Wise choice Carl. I wouldn't have wanted to have to gag you."

Van Helsing made his way slowly towards the coach with his weapons held ready as if he suspected an attack at any moment from within. It seemed very likely that there would be another person inside, guarding the precious cargo. Tasya expected it. She knew that Vladimir would not have traveled with only one guard when he knew that Van Helsing as well as herself was on his trail.

"Where are you…." Gabriel murmured with his eyes locked on the door to the coach as he reached out his hand to yank open the door. "Something is not right here. You should have more people protecting you Vladimir. This seems to open."

At the same time, Tasya was biting her bottom lip. "It's a ruse. He's not there. I'm sure of it. Vladimir would not travel so light. He was always into big guards and fancy protection."

Pulling open the door and leaping back, Van Helsing surveyed that there was only a lidded coffin inside the coach. Frowning more, he glanced back at where he could see the other two watching him. Tasya's life and her soul depended on him destroying Vladimir. She would change for the worse if he did not. Calling to Carl to come and help him, Van Helsing started to drag the coffin out of the coach. Upon reaching him, the friar said a quick prayer and helped lift the wooden box out and onto the sand of the beach.

"Step back Carl, this might get messy. I suspect that Vladimir is in here and when we expose him to the suns rays, he should go poof."

"Poof? Are you sure he'll go poof? I mean, since when to Vampires go poof?" Carl argued.

Shooting him a dark glare, Van Helsing started to open the lid. "How is Tasya? Is she all right to be left on her own while we do this?"

"She doesn't think he's in there. Thinks this is all a ruse and he's somewhere else. Said she was sure he wasn't. You know, her sense of smell has become incredible! She could smell that man's blood all the way over there in the forest."

"Carl?"

"Yes Van Helsing?"

"Shut up and back away so that I can throw this lid off. On the count to three. One. Two. Three!"

Carl leapt back as Van Helsing kicked the lid off of the coffin the rest of the way. When he did so, he dashed backwards a few steps and grabbed the crossbow he had put down while he was handling the coffin.

There was nothing inside except a fluttering white dove.

"It's empty." He whispered.

"Can't be! Where would a sun sensitive Vampire be hiding at this time of the day?" Carl replied with a snort.

They watched the dove fly away, revealing a note underneath. Picking it up as if it was poisonous, Van Helsing read it out loud. "I see you managed to kill the stupid guard I left guarding an empty coffin. Congratulations. I also assume that Hanne managed to kill her pet priest. Pity, he would have made an interesting addition to my armies. By the time you read this, I will have already set sail from a different port to my new home. A place that I have no intentions of indulging you with the locations of… but you would hopefully be smart enough to know that and even if you are not, Hanne Valerious is. Wish her luck and please, do inform her that I enjoyed the babe that she birthed all those years ago."

"NO!" The friar seemed to realize what this meant and turned around to start back towards the forest.

Smiling to herself, Tasya could hear every word. When Van Helsing had kicked open the coffin, it had dawned on her that Vladimir would have no real way of knowing that she was turning into a Vampire. He would have assumed that Torgny had left her weak and that either she or Gabriel had killed him. It would not have occurred to him that by some stroke of misfortune, she would have been cursed even more.

"But every dawn I have seen does not compare with this one." She murmured, memories of her long life flittering through her mind. "I have been both blessed and cursed with a long and interesting life. Forgive me father for I have sinned. May my death reconcile those who were innocent when I took their lives from them. At times, I indeed strayed from the path that you set before me, a path that was intended to test my strength. I just hope that this final test of my soul and my determination will bless me with forgiveness and with the right to enter into Heaven to join my beloved family."

She leapt down from her horse and pulled out from a pocket a silver chain and crucifix. Securing it around her neck, Tasya lifted her hand and waved to Van Helsing and Carl who were running towards her.

Everything around her seemed to slow down and Tasya was sure that she felt the presence of her brothers and family around her.

Walking out into the sunlight, she didn't even feel pain. 'I am free at last... at last. Mother, father, brothers, my sweet Bellona; I am coming to join to join you all at last. Anna, Velkan, I shall see you both again and we can exchange stories of battles fought. Gabriel, I hope you forgive me one day but I had no choice. May peace be with you.'

"TASYA! NO!" Gabriel shouted, seeing what she was about to do.

But Carl stopped him before they could reach her. "It is what she wants. She knows that Vladimir has gone… actually, I think she knew the whole time that he wouldn't be here."

"NO!" Van Helsing pushed Carl away and started running towards Tasya.

But there was a slight wind that lifted the fine grains of sand and dust, blowing away all traces of Tasya's form. It lifted the men's hair and stirred the leaves in the trees.

Tasya Van Lura was gone for good. She had been a warrior in her own right, seeking justice when it was called for.

But she had also been a cold-hearted killer. An assassin who had killed for money.

Pulling out a large glass vile from his robes, Carl held it out to Van Helsing. "I thought it was strange when she gave this to me last night but I think you should have it."

Taking the vile of what appeared to be blood, the man blinked back a tear. "Did she say anything when she gave it to you?"

"Well she said that it was both the blood of a pure soul and of a Vampire. Combined like it should be. She said that you would know what to do with it and where to find the answer."

And with Tasya Van Lura had left Hanne Valerious. She had been the last Valerious to leave the world of the living and the second eldest. She had been a clear link to his past and she had helped him remember fragments of what had been a totally different time in his life.

She was gone.

And they cried for her in a moment where they forgot who they were and desired nothing more than to grieve for a soul that had just passed in a final act of bravery and of love.

But somewhere else in the continent, a baby girl just newly born was opening intense blue eyes to look upon the world. When she grew up, only God knew what she would be but the path set in front of her feet was one that had rivaled those of heroes in stories that were untold. Would she shake the foundations of the church with her determination? Would time eventually cause her to discover a truth that should never have been forgotten? Her soul was old, at least as old as some kingdoms that still exist… if not as old as the world was.

She was chosen.

She was vengeance reborn.