Evil from the Past
Author's Note:
Not utterly sure if Captain Jack Sparrow comes from the 19th century, but I guess it's around there. Well, this chapter is kind of funnier ('cos anything with dear Jack in it is funny.)
Enormous, tearful thanks to JudgeMaster X, JB and mad sam (again!) for giving me such lovely reviews. You people are the best.
By the way, I don't own Captain Jack Sparrow's crew either. The Rum Song is a converted version of 'The Wunnerful Thing about Tiggers' which is a lovely song to drive anyone mad with.
Pirates of the Adriatic
Adriatic Coast, Transylvania, 19th Century
Van Helsing and Anna had, after running wildly through the Transylvanian woods from the marauding Brides, reached the Adriatic Coast. And Anna's beautiful longing.
"Oh," gasped Anna. "It's...it's..."
"Beautiful?" suggested Van Helsing.
"Oh, no. That's mild in comparison."
She could have stayed there forever, staring on at the sea, the wonderful sea, at its sapphire cerulean waves, its delicate foam, its sparkling sun-kissed waters. With Dracula and her quest forgotten, her family's struggle, her burdens, even Van Helsing standing beside her, all forgotten. Just the sea and its ever-changing glory.
She was, however, distracted by a little bobbing dot on the waves. Which grew bigger. "Van Helsing!" she pointed out excitedly. "It's a ship!"
Van Helsing took out a small spyglass and peered through it at the ship. "Oh, no," he muttered. "It's a pirate ship."
Anna couldn't have cared less if she had known the real meaning of 'pirate'. It was just a whole new wonderful world for her. "Come on!" she cried, slipping away from Van Helsing's side and running down the sandy slope towards the beach and the pirate ship. "Let's go see them!"
Van Helsing, startled, dashed after her. In sight of the sea, she was just like a child without any responsibilities or the burden of her cursed lineage. "Anna!" he yelled. "Don't go down there! Pirates are dangerous!"
Anna did not hear him. She raced down the beach, waving wildly at the pirate ship. "Hello!" she cried. "Are you stopping here?"
Captain Jack Sparrow saw them through his spyglass, from the crow's-nest. The dark-haired girl and the cloaked man with the weapon running after her. Below him, Annemaria and Gibbs were arguing about the weapon.
"I say it's a crossbow," said Gibbs.
"I say it's a rifle," retorted Anamaria
"Shut up, you two," put in Captain Jack Sparrow, sliding down the mast. There was a ladder, but one had to do things with style in front of one's crew. "It's a hostile, that's what it is."
"So are we landing or not?" Anamaria wanted to know.
Jack considered. "We're not going to let a cloaked hostile prevent us from having a holiday, are we?" he decided eventually. "After all, there's only two of them. C'mon, you scurvy knaves! Drop anchor and land!"
"Aye-aye, Cap'n!"
On the beach, Anna could not believe her luck. "They're landing!" she squealed in delight. Van Helsing rolled his eyes.
Jack, as captain, landed first. He took in his surroundings, like any cautious pirate, including the girl and the hostile. The hostile at the moment wasn't attacking, though he had to be watched carefully. The girl looked harmless. Furthermore, she was very pretty.
"Hello," said Anna breathlessly.
"Hel-lo," replied Jack. "This be Transylvania?"
"Yes." Anna smiled. "I'm Anna, and this is Van Helsing. Who are you?"
Jack smiled. "Me? I'm Captain Jack Sparrow. The Black Pearl here's my ship." He flung his arm out to indicate the crew scrambling over the deck rails onto the sand. "And this be my crew. We've come to Transylvania for a holiday."
Van Helsing snorted. Pirates on a holiday? He'd eat his leather hat.
"Ooh." Anna was fascinated by the ship. "It's a pirate ship, isn't it? Are you pirates?"
"You got a problem wi' that?" snapped Anamaria.
"No," said Anna, looking quite hurt.
Jack gave Anamaria a disapproving nudge and draped a long arm over Anna's shoulder to make her feel better. "Know any good places to visit round here, lass?"
"Um, not a lot of places. There's the village, where I live, but there's nothing much there."
"Ah," Jack turned around to see if his crew had all landed, then turned back to ask another question. "Say, lass, you're a bonny one. You single?"
Van Helsing swiftly un-draped Jack's arm. "Yes. Not that it matters to you." Anamaria showed agreement by rapping Jack smartly on the head with her hat.
Anna glared at Van Helsing. "Anna," he said urgently. If she went on like this...he winced to think of the consequences. "We've still got to kill Dracula."
"Oh." A shadow fell on Anna's features. "I'd forgotten."
"Who?" asked Jack, who had wandered up curiously. "You killing someone?"
Anna explained. "My family has been trying to hunt down this vampire called Dracula for years."
"Vampires suck blood, don't they?" interrupted Gibbs. Jack elbowed him out of the conversation. Anna continued.
"He's becoming even more powerful lately. We think he and his three vampire Brides are trying to bring their baby vampires to life – they were born dead, you see – and he's got some new evil helpers, as we heard the Brides say when they attacked our village yesterday. There's an Egyptian called Imhotep, and some Captain Barbossa, and they're helping him bring the babies t— "
"Barbossa!" Jack shouted, startling Anna and the other listeners. "I thought I shot him! I saw him die!"
"You shot him?" exclaimed Van Helsing. "You were enemies?"
"Oh, you bet." Jack turned to his crew. "You heard her!" he cried to them. "Let's go kill the yellow-faced skulduggering scoundrel again!"
The crew did not provide the expected answer. "Jack!" complained Gibbs. "We're on holiday!"
"Mind yer own business! Mind yer own business!" reminded Cotton's parrot.
Jack ignored the bird. "I'm the Captain, aren't I? Anyway, we can have a drinking party along the way. That's what I call a holiday. Savvy?"
The crew immediately cheered up at the mention of drinks. They scrambled up the beach after their captain as he asked Anna to recommend a good pub.
"The pub isn't functioning," said Anna apologetically. "The Brides killed the barman in the attack yesterday."
The crew stopped halfway up the beach and made complanative noises.
"But you can come to my house," suggested Anna hurriedly. "My father used to keep a good stock of rum, and we do have a bar."
Van Helsing's heart sank. Bad move, Anna.
"You mean it?" asked Jack, after a shocked silence. "You'd invite a horde of pirates to your house for a drink?"
"Why not?" replied the princess. "After all, what are friends for?"
The pirates whooped, and rushed up the beach, only to turn around indignantly when Jack insisted on them going back to the ship to fetch the portable cannons "if we're going to be any help against those vamps. Bats. Bloodsuckers. Whatever."
Van Helsing was very annoyed. He had been quite sure up till now that Anna was sane.
Van Helsing, perched on a stool in the corner of the bar, swirled rum around in a glass bottle moodily.
Everyone else, however, was having a very good time. The crew was not drunk yet, but getting there. Captain Jack Sparrow and the parrot were now trying to teach Anna drinking songs.
"How about this one now?" slurred Jack. "Here....
The wonderful thing about Rum
Is that Rum is a wonderful thing
Its top is made out of fizzy
Its bottom is made out of swing
It's bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy!
Rum, rum rum, rum rum!
And since you know that rum is so great
Let's all drink the rum!"
"And let's – all drink the rum!" chorused the rest of the pirates.
Van Helsing threw the bottle in the sink to see if it would make him feel any better. It didn't.
Anamaria and Jack each grabbed one of Anna's arms as all the pirates formed a circle and began to do the Carribean jig around the table in the bar, all the while singing the Rum Song. Van Helsing wondered if he should take a nap, but the Rum Song doing rounds, loops and parades in his head through his ears was not helping in the least.
Suddenly, he heard something which did not sound so good. "Shut. UP!" he yelled.
The pirates shut up. Van Helsing knew from previous experience that he had approximately five seconds to make his point.
"There's something large in the house," he declared.
Everyone jumped to action stations. Anna whipped out her sword. Anamaria put her hat back on. Jack put the rum away from any possible danger in the bar cupboard and drew his sabre. Van Helsing, crossbow at the ready, sneaked out of the bar and peered down the hallway. His eyes widened in shock. "God help us. It's a...."
A roar sounded before he could finish his sentence. There was a rush of air, and a huge, shaggy creature crashed into Van Helsing, spinning him off his feet. He crashed into the table leg.
"Werewolf!" screamed Anna, and leapt for Van Helsing.
Van Helsing scrambled to his feet with Anna's help, despite what he presumed to be concussion. Anamaria cocked her pistol and fired at the beast, with no apparent effect except to enrage it. It charged the group.
Chaos ensued. The werewolf smashed several glasses as it scrambled towards Anamaria. Jack caught it with a sabre blow across the flanks, which served to distract it from Anamaria and go after him instead. Someone threw a bottle at it, which shattered on its head. The werewolf howled, eyes bloodshot and bestial. It spun around in confusion, and then made for Van Helsing, who was pointing his silver gun at it.
"Velkan, no!" shrieked Anna. For the second time that day, Van Helsing was tackled by the werewolf, the two crashing to the ground. The momentum stunned him momentarily, and the gun skidded away. Everything was a blur of black fur, fangs and snarling. Anna darted forward, although she knew she could not choose between Van Helsing and Velkan, but stopped dead when the gunshot split the air.
Velkan rolled off Van Helsing, both bleeding terribly. All eyes turned to Jack Sparrow – and Van Helsing's gun that he held in his hand.
Anna rushed towards Velkan, kneeling down beside his body. She could see the hole which the silver bullet had made in his chest. He was changing swiftly even as she looked, shedding his wolf's skin and becoming the brother that she had known and loved.
The look of sorrow and pain in his eyes cut her to the heart.
"Anna..." gasped Velkan. "Little sister...forgive me." Then he died, so softly and quietly that she only realised it when his head flopped back upon her shoulder.
"Velkan..." The tears started, flooding her eyes, as she cradled her only brother close in her arms. Impossible! her mind cried, but he was dead. Nothing could bring him back. The tears rolled down her cheeks and her neck, some dripping with quiet finality onto Velkan's cold face. She could not take it. She spun around screaming at Jack: " You killed him! You!"
Jack spread his arms in helpless exasperation. The rest of the crew readied themselves in case Anna attempted to kill Jack in her despair, but it was Van Helsing who staggered to his feet and said quietly, "Anna."
Anna turned, and saw the wound on his shoulder, the bloodied teethmarks. "No..." Velkan had passed his curse on. It's so unfair, her heart cried. Unfair! Papa and Velkan had already been taken from her, and now Van Helsing...
Her grieving flow of tears turned into a terrible, desperate storm. Dracula! It was him, who was rending her life apart, and he would pay! For Papa, for Velkan, and for Van Helsing! Crying her rage out in a new flood of tears, she flung her arms around Van Helsing and sobbed away. Van Helsing did not wince in pain or push her away; he only reached up and stroked her hair gently, comfortingly. No one else in the room moved. They stared at the weeping girl, and the wounded man, and the werewolf's corpse, and the pain in the room was so real it was quite tangible.
End of ChapterNext chapter coming...Defence against the Dark Arts
In which Holly Short and Commander Root are enlightened, Imhotep infiltrates Hogwarts and Hermione gives Malfoy a nosebleed to think about.