Chapter Three

Poison was woken by the strange commotion going on in the village's centre. She often slept the days away, her depression from the constant loss she had suffered made her tired and run down. Fortunately she had been woken before midday by the looks of where the sun was, although it was often hard to tell where the sun was as the mountains shrouded it.

Poison clambered out of bed and donned one of her less appealing outfits, which was used when she prepared food and did other jobs in which she would likely become dirty. Made of leftover blankets and other dark material the outfit was like a basic dress with long sleeves and a high neck. This way she would fit in with the dirty look of the villagers. She tied her dead straight brown hair back messily with an old ribbon so it looked like she had been working with the other villagers, it was odd that her hair was no longer wavy like it was when she was a child, it also had a light burgundy tint that was more noticeable when the sun shone through it. She grabbed an old blanket and arranged it over her head so only her eyes could be seen.

She had to hide who she really was, as she was not allowed outside without the company of a family member, although her family rarely visited. This did not bother Poison, as she preferred her own company after loosing her husband.

She climbed out of the back window in her bedroom so no one would see her walk out of her house and recognise her instantly. Keeping her head down to hide the unique colour of her eyes she joined the group of villagers in the centre of the village.

It seemed that two male strangers had just arrived unwelcomed into the village. Of course the beloved Anna was in charge of scrutinising them. Poison found it quite ironic that Anna and the rest of the Valerious family were greatly respected by the rest of the villagers. For starters Dracula was related to Anna. He was a great uncle or something along those lines. Secondly if people knew what Anna's father had done to Poison all those years ago her family would have been banished from the town. But now that Anna was the only Valerious left, everyone felt sorry for her, and did not question her.

One of the men clad in black was unwilling to be disarmed. Poison could not see much of him as he wore a long leather cape that hid his figure although the way he held himself showed that he was tall and well built. Poison could not see his face as he had his hat pulled down. The other, who seemed to be dressed like a monk, in lage woollen clothing seemed skittish and fearful of his surroundings, he would not last long in Transylvania.

Anna had ordered the men to be killed, but before this order could be carried out a familiar screech filled the air. Dracula's brides had appeared.

The stranger clad in black began to shoot arrows at them with a contraption Poison had never seen, like an automatic arrow shooter. Poison felt an odd rage bubble inside her, as though the stranger was shooting at her not the vampires.

Everyone began to race back to their homes to gain shelter from the attack. Poison found herself one of the only ones outside when the sun came out of its hiding place behind the mountains. In an instant the three vampires had disappeared. It was very unusual for an attack to be launched during the day; it seemed they were desperate to kill Anna. Obviously her existence and passion for finding a way to kill Dracula was beginning to become tedious.

The sun hid behind the mountains once again, and the vampires remerged. Marishka, one of the Brides had been given the job of destroying the stranger. Soon only her, the stranger clad in black, the monk and Poison were the only ones outside. Poison hid crouched in a dark corner as not to be seen as she tried to calm her rage, before her power became uncontrollable again.

Marishka had her fun, throwing the stranger at numerous objects in the village. The village was now a mess, produce and baskets had been strewn all over the place and some of the buildings had been damaged. Obviously feeling she had the upper hand she flew out above the houses in preparation for her last attack. Unfortunately for her the stranger had landed by his weapon that had been flung out of his hands when Marishka attacked.

After instructions from the monk, the stranger raced to the Church hoping to reach the tap of holy water and dip his weapon in it in preparation to attack Marishka. Poison knew that if the arrow saturated in holy water hit Marishka she would be killed. Poison held out her hand, palm up and fingers spread, and stopped the arrow inches from Marishka's chest. She did not want to give herself away by shouting out to the vampire to move, as both Marishka and the stranger stood looking at the arrow dumbfounded.

Suddenly Poison lost her hold on the arrow as the monk tripped over her, in his quest to hide from the vampire.

"Stupid human," Poison snarled almost animal like. Just as the first arrow hit Marishka, Poison raced back to the solitude of her home.

Poison slumped onto her bed as she heard the villagers return to the village centre. She became frustrated at herself. What had come over her that had caused her to try and save a vampire? What shocked her most was the pain she felt when Marishka was killed.

"Get out of my head, whatever you are. I'm human. I am. No matter what you do to me." Poison shouted to an unknown presence in anger at what had just happened. She promised herself she would never again allow the evil in her soul take over.

Poison got up as she heard the commotion in the village. Oddly the villagers seemed angry that the stranger had killed a vampire. They were shouting something about revenge.

Poison needed to hear this; she needed it so much that she found her presence moved from inside her house to outside among the villagers.

She was correct the villagers seemed to believe the vampires would now hunt them for revenge.

"Well maybe if they killed them before they could avenge the death of each other they wouldn't have to worry about revenge," Poison muttered to herself.

Anna knew the name of the stranger now; she must have heard the monk mention it, or something along those lines. "Van Helsing."

Van Helsing, Poison had heard that name before, but not from the rumours the villagers spoke of. Annoyed at herself Poison returned her essence to her body. Although it was only halfway through the day Poison found herself tired, this was not unusual. With nothing better to do, she went back to bed. Trying to remember where she had heard the name 'Van Helsing' before.