Dracula's hold seemingly vanished from Anna. It was as if she had never been affected after a few days, the only reminders being a few dreams that presented themselves that were simply a memory of her pain. Dracula had lost his battle once again against the last of the Valerious. Anna lived on, surviving him twice. After a while, Anna finally accepted that she was free from his grasp.
In a beautiful ceremony in the village church, Carl married Anna Valerious and Gabriel Van Helsing. Anna wore her mother's dress that exposed her shoulders and neckline with the low sleeves, and the small bump that was their unborn child made her glow even more. Gabriel wore a suit that Carl had had made specifically for the occasion. And after the ceremony, came their honeymoon on a small island off the coast of Rome, where Anna finally lived to see the sea.
A few months later, Anna gave birth to a baby girl. She was a truly amazing child, with her mother's beauty. All around her loved her and the new princess was welcomed into the village instantly. They named her Megan Van Helsing.
Megan was now seven years old. She was wise beyond her years, and though she was young still in appearance, in voice and mind she may as well have been fifteen. One thing that she loved doing was singing. Rachel often helped her to write songs to sing to the guests at her parent's balls. She loved to make her parents happy, to see the proud smiles on their faces as they danced slowly to the sound of her voice.
Today, Megan was even happier than usual. She was singing a brand new song at the party tonight. It was a ball in celebration of her parents 8th Wedding Anniversary and her and Rachel had been working on this certain song for over a month, getting it precisely how they needed it to represent the life Anna and Gabriel shared. She went downstairs to breakfast, dressed in a pale pink dress with a matching cardigan over the top.
"Morning." She said cheerfully to her father as she sat down. Carl was eating some toast beside her and she stole the final piece off his plate.
"I was going to eat that." He mumbled quietly, but gave up at her sweet smile. She was simply an angel, and neither Carl nor Gabriel could face saying no to her once she had fluttered her eyelashes playfully at them.
"Morning Baby" Gabriel said. She smiled at him, then looked around.
"Where's Momma?" She asked confused, Anna was normally the first one up, and usually came in to wake her up unless it was a Sunday.
"She's still sleeping." Gabriel said, glancing carefully sideways at Carl, whose eyes narrowed at the notion.
"Oh ok" Megan said simply, she stood up, "Can I go round to Demi's house today Dad?" She asked, considering fluttering her eyelashes but deciding against it. Demi was her best friend, and her father was one of Anna and Gabriel's most trusted soldiers. Demi was born around the same time as Megan, and they had always been together.
"Sure," He replied, knowing it was best to get her out of the house for a while. "Make sure you are back by 4 though," He reminded, though he knew she knew when to be back so Rachel and Anna could get her ready for the party.
"Ok Daddy see you later." She said, kissing him on the cheek before running off.
Carl turned fully to face Gabriel, concern all over his face. "You mean-?"
"She had a nightmare against last night. She woke up screaming and it took her a while to realise it was me holding her and not Dracula. I think he's regaining power." Gabriel said quietly. It was unlikely thing to happen. Unlikely, but not impossible. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned on the table. "I'm worried about her."
Carl didn't want to believe that for all these years Dracula had been steadily regaining his power only to once again try to claim his revenge. Before Carl could answer Gabriel continued.
"It had changed this time though. She was seeing Megan in her dreams; she said that Dracula was holding Megan. She kept crying out for me to get her back. I ended up taking her to Megan's room so she could see for herself that Megan was safe. But when I opened the door, I became scared that I would open it and see an empty bed."
Carl sighed in sympathy. It was going to be harder this time around for Gabriel, as he not only had Anna to protect, but also Megan now. Though it was impossible to imagine Gabriel not protecting either of them, he didn't know what he would do if he were forced to choose between them. It had been a dream he was having more often now, with the lives of Anna and Megan in his hands, and only being able to save one of them.
"I'll look into it." Carl promised. "Go see of she's ok. It is a day to celebrate after all. I'll make sure that we have the toughest men securing the party later on."
Gabriel smiled at the young friar. He then left the table, still feeling unable to eat, and went to his and Anna's bedroom.
He opened the door quietly to see Anna lying in bed, staring out at the window. She was propped up slightly by her pillows, as Gabriel had left her sleeping that morning. She smiled weakly as he walked over to her and sat beside her on the edge of the bed.
"Happy anniversary." He greeted, kissing her lips softly. She smiled, returning the kiss hungrily. They parted and he looked down at her. "How do you feel?" He asked quietly, removing a strand of hair from her face.
"Better," She replied. "I can't wait until later." She smiled. "Being with you, and hearing our Angel sing again."
Gabriel laughed a little. Although Megan was a beautiful singer, the only person she would let hear her sing before a performance was Rachel, which meant that Anna was always happy to attend the parties all over Europe to hear her daughter sing. For her birthday last year, she was invited to sing in London to an audience of two thousand people, and hadn't she been excited!
That night, the party was brimming with finely dressed guests, who sipped on wine if they weren't dancing to the carefully composed music. Anna sat on a golden chair beside a small one exactly the same, which seated Megan. Megan was shaking a little. Anna noticed this and, tearing her eyes away from the scene of happy dancers before her, placed a hand on Megan's shoulder. Megan snapped out of her trance and smiled at her mother.
"What's wrong Megan?" Anna asked quietly, staring into Megan's shining green eyes. "Why are you shaking?"
Megan realised she was shaking and bit her lip. "I'm nervous." She admitted.
Anna smiled and put her arm around her daughter's shoulders, embracing her before letting go and gesturing to the crowd in front of them. "Megan, sweetheart, this isn't the biggest crowd you've performed in front of. You shouldn't be nervous."
"But what if you and Dad don't like our song?" She questioned, pessimism taking over for a brief moment. She was really worried that her parents would hate her song she had worked so hard on.
"I will love your song no matter what it is about Megan. I love hearing you sing, it brings joy to my heart. Now," She said, causing Megan to smile at her. She smiled back. "I think that is time to hear this song don't you?" Anna reasoned.
Carl took his place before the crowd and they stopped dancing. Anna went to stand with Gabriel at the front of the crowd, but facing Carl. Megan went to stand with Rachel at the side of the crowd. Carl began his introduction.
"Ladies and Gentleman. Today, as you all know, is the anniversary of Anna and Gabriel Van Helsing. I was going to sing them a song, but I think that would probably make their day horrible, so their daughter, Princess Megan, is going to do it instead. She had written this song with the help of Rachel Weaver, and it was written to show the love in her parent's lives. Ladies and Gentleman, Megan Van Helsing."
Megan bit her lip again and stepped up the front of the crowd. Before she started to sing, she did her own introduction. "My mum complained last time that her and Dad always dance to the same song on their anniversary that Carl recommends. So I wrote this for their dance." The crowd moved to the edges of the ball room and Gabriel led Anna by the hand to the centre. They smiled and nodded at their seven year old daughter up on the podium and she began her song, nerves disappearing.
"For all those times you stood by me
For all the truth that you made me see
For all the joy you brought to my life
For all the wrong that you made right
For every dream you made come true
For all the love I found in you
I'll be forever thankful baby
You're the one who held me up
Never let me fall
You're the one who saw me through it all"
Anna smiled and leaned her head against Gabriel's shoulder. Her daughter's voice soothing all fears she had felt that morning. She felt calm and happy as Gabriel's arms wrapped around her waist and they danced peacefully around the hall.
"You were my strength when I was weak
You were my voice when I couldn't speak
You were my eyes when I couldn't see
You saw the best there was in me
Lifted me up when I couldn't reach
You gave me faith 'coz you believed
I'm everything I am
Because you loved me"
Carl looked over at his Goddaughter as she sang. She looked like an angel as well as sounded like one with her long brown curls draping over her shoulders. It made him smile, and he could only imagine how proud Anna and Gabriel must have felt at that moment.
"You gave me wings and made me fly
You touched my hand I could touch the sky
I lost my faith, you gave it back to me
You said no star was out of reach
You stood by me and I stood tall
I had your love I had it all
I'm grateful for each day you gave me
Maybe I don't know that much
But I know this much is true
I was blessed because I was loved by you"
Rachel sighed happily as Megan sang the song she had worked on for so long. Though she was so young and inexperienced in love, many of the lyrics had come from her, only a few prompts from Rachel herself. She was proud to have raised Anna and Velkan, and she felt even prouder to be helping to raise the child who was like a grandchild to her.
"You were my strength when I was weak
You were my voice when I couldn't speak
You were my eyes when I couldn't see
You saw the best there was in me
Lifted me up when I couldn't reach
You gave me faith 'coz you believed
I'm everything I am
Because you loved me"
Gabriel smiled broadly at his daughter as she threw her voice into the chorus again. The song was nothing short of perfect for them. He would have to ask her to sing it more often for them. He twirled Anna and dipped her, kissing her softly, causing her to giggle like a small girl herself.
"You were always there for me
The tender wind that carried me
A light in the dark shining your love into my life
You've been my inspiration
Through the lies you were the truth
My world is a better place because of you"
Dracula stood up on the balcony, hidden by a large column. No one could see him from his hiding spot. He listened to the song and it reminded him of his three brides, Verona, Aleera and Marishka. If he could have felt emotions, he may have shed tears to the angelic voice. But his pride would not allow that. As the demon looked down on the daughter of Van Helsing, it only fuelled his anger more and raised his need for revenge. He glanced over at his dreaded enemy, who was dancing with Anna in the centre of the room. He watched as Van Helsing smiled at the little girl, who smiled back. He spat on the floor with disgust. It should have been him who was the proud father, and if wasn't for those two despicable excuses for hunters and their luck, he would be. "Watch out, Van Helsing. I shall have my revenge." He whispered to himself.
"You were my strength when I was weak
You were my voice when I couldn't speak
You were my eyes when I couldn't see
You saw the best there was in me
Lifted me up when I couldn't reach
You gave me faith 'coz you believed
I'm everything I am
Because you loved me
I'm everything I am
Because you loved me"
As her song ended, Megan smiled. The crown applauded loudly, she looked over to her parents, to see what they thought of her gift. They stood side by side, clapping along with the hundreds of others; only they had tears streaming down their faces as they did so. They were not tears of sorrow, but tears of joy, and Megan realised that it was indeed the right song for them. She was about to run over to them when a load roar stopped distracted her.
Anna and Gabriel's heads snapped up in the direction of the roar, and saw a man transforming into a large black bat. "Oh God." Gabriel gasped. As the bat began to fly down towards Megan, both hunters ran towards the girl. She stood frozen, terrified by what she had seen. Gabriel was faster, and was inches away from his daughter when the claws of the beast snatched her away from his grasp.
"NO!" he cried. Him and Anna turned towards where the beast was headed. Instead of leaving however, he transformed back into a man. As he landed on the ground, people everywhere ran to exits of the building, leaving Anna, Gabriel, Rachel and Carl alone with the beast that had their daughter.
Anna gazed in disbelief at the man dressed in ancient black finery, with long black hair and a single hoop earring. There was fire in his eyes as he held the struggling child in a tight grip around her neck, not hard enough to choke her, but enough to make them all realise he was not playing around.
"Anna Valerious...and Gabriel Van Helsing...we meet again."