The library remained quiet for a few good seconds. Arene looked sadly down at the floor. She so desperately wanted this to stop. She wanted the answers more than anything. She just wanted Nicola to be safe. She cursed herself for not being fast enough and letting Marishka hurt her friend. She looked at Nicola with sadness in her eyes. Van Helsing put his hand to Arene's shoulder and his other hand on Nicola's arm.

"Well, its obvious the brides want Nicola out of the picture for good, but why?" he asked himself.

Carl put the book he was holding down and sat beside them.

"I don't understand, that should have worked," he said thoughtfully.

Van Helsing looked at him.

"This is more than just a simple demon. These... monsters should not be able to come back. Why now?"

Arene sat next to Nicola in deep thought. She looked at the marks on Nicola's back and just sat there, pondering. Nicola looked at her.

"What's wrong, mon cherie?" she asked.

"These marks," Arene said finally, after a moment. "They make no sense."

Van Helsing looked at her critically.

"What do you mean?"

"Just the way they were written," Arene replied. "I don't think it was the brides who wrote this message. I mean, if it was them wouldn't they have written 'we can return?'" she asked.

Carl shrugged.

"Maybe just one of them wrote the message. I'm still puzzled about the exorcism not working. It should have worked at once. No demon can resist a chant that powerful."

Suddenly Arene's eyes lit up as she turned to Carl.

"That's it! We were doing the wrong thing! A vampire is a vampire even in death! They can't be affected by chants for Demons! We were making them stronger! The cross... that's it! Unlike Dracula they could be hurt by crosses and holy water. We need to remember that they aren't demons, that was our biggest mistake!" Arene declared.

Van Helsing nodded proudly.

"She's right. We need to stay true to our old tactics and find out what the message on Nicola's back means. If we can find out why the brides wrote that maybe it will help."

Arene shook her head.

"I still don't believe it was the brides."

Carl looked at her with interest.

"Than who was it?"

Arene shrugged her reply.

"I don't know. It just wasn't them... it was somebody else."

At that moment, Arene could feel an icy hand touch her neck. She spun around to find the source, but there was nobody there.