Disclaimer: I do not own Van Helsing or any of its characters.

Chapter 4: In the Woods

Van Helsing woke up the next morning on the floor of the study. He got up and stretched a bit.

"Finally, you're awake," Carl said putting down the book he was reading.

"What time is it?" asked Van Helsing.

"Eleven o clock," replied Carl getting up from his chair. "You haven't gotten much sleep lately, so I didn't wake you."

"You're right, Carl, I did need some sleep." Van Helsing picked up his hat and put it on.

"We'd better have a look in the woods before nightfall," said Carl.

Van Helsing nodded and opened the sack with all his weapons in it. He quickly put them all in the appropriate holsters except his crossbow. "Let's go."

Van Helsing and Carl went back through the Valerious Manor and out to the stables. They got onto their horses and rode to the woods. When they got there they dismounted and tied the horses to a tree.

Van Helsing started to go in until he noticed that Carl wasn't with him. He turned around and saw Carl staring blankly into the woods.

"Don't tell me you're afraid, Carl," Van Helsing said with a bit of humor in his voice.

"No... I was just looking at this tree. It is a very fine specimen," Carl muttered.

Van Helsing rolled his eyes, "Carl."

"Fine," Carl replied reluctantly following Van Helsing into the woods.

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(The night before)

Dracula moved stealthily through the woods looking for any stray people to feed on. "Damn it all," he thought after looking for an hour. "There are no people out. I'm so hungry I could eat a..." He hadn't been paying attention and had come to the outskirts of the town. There was a beautiful young girl getting water from a pond singing to her self.

Dracula smiled widely, "Now who is this?" He slowly approached her from behind. When he was about five feet away she got up and that is when he made his move. He leaped upon the girl, giving her no chance to scream. He slowly drained her of her blood until there was only a little left. He licked his lips and picked up the girls lifeless body. "You're coming with me." He jumped up in the air and transformed into the hell beast, carrying the girl all the way back to his Artic Castle.

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Van Helsing and Carl crept slowly through the woods, listening carefully for any sounds other than their own.

When they were half way into the woods, they found a dead body. Van Helsing bent down and looked at the man's neck. It had two puncture near the jugular. Van Helsing pulled out a stake and put it through the man's heart. He said a prayer and crossed his chest as the body of the man slowly disintegrated. "Well a vampire has definitely been here."

"Well that much is obvious," said Carl sarcastically.

Van Helsing smiled and picked his stake up from the pile of ashes. "Well, it's getting late... let's get back to town."

"Yes good idea...wait, why back to town?"

"Stake out, Carl, stake out."