A/N: And we welcome you back to the world of Jackman's-Girl, where updates take forever and reviewers get impatient waiting! I know it's been a very long time since I updated, but I have my reasons. Really. I'm not just torturing any fans that I may still have. For one thing, my inspiration disappeared and it was hard to write anything. Also, my internet connection stuffed, so I couldn't get into Anyway, I better get onto review replies.
Review replies:
Nini Mouse, Electrocuted Sheep: Please forgive my stupid mistakes. If I make any in this chapter, then I apologize in advance. The attacking men are explained in this chapter, too. Sorry about that cliffhanger ending – somehow, I have a feeling this one is too. Thanks for your review.
silver-shadow (review one): What's your fic called? I'll go have a read of it. I'm glad you're enjoying the Dark Elf thing. Thanks for reviewing.
fanfiction fanactic: Um... I don't know if I've done a review reply for your review already, but I'll do another one anyway. Thank you for your support, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. (If I forgot to do a review reply for you last chapter, then I apologize. Please forgive me) Thanks for your review.
The White Werewolf: It honors me that you enjoy my angst and torture, as well as everything else about this story. If Lyridana starts going Mary Sue-ish, can you warn me? How can you tell if a character is going like that? Anyway, I'm VERY sorry about the slow update, but thanks for your review.
silver-shadow (review two): Sorry about the late update. Please forgive me. At least now I've updated for you. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I hope you don't totally hate me. But thanks for your (second) review.
Disclaimer: Van Helsing is not mine. Not yet, anyway... (evil laugh) But Lyridana's mine, and no one will ever get her!
Chapter Five
Lyridana and Carl never left Gabriel's side. They waited there with him, hoping that he'd open his eyes and be his normal self again. It had been a long and anxious wait for both the individuals, who had realized the severity of the situation – they were out in the woods with no hope of getting Van Helsing any medical attention.
Lyridana had searched through the remains of the village, searching for some remedy of any sort, but she didn't find anything. She returned to Carl empty handed, her hopes running low. However, she discovered something about their attackers in the process.
"Did you find anything?" Carl asked as she reappeared out of the bushes. She shook her head sadly and knelt before Van Helsing's body, placing a hand on his forehead. He was burning up.
She turned to Carl. "Do we have any more water?" The friar instantly began to search around in his bags, while Lyridana's interest was caught by a flat, black stone with a hole at the top.
"Lyridana?" Carl gently nudged the elf, which knocked her out of her trance. He looked at the rock in her hands and gave her a look. "Why are you so interested in that?"
She turned it over in her hands. "My brother was like a healer in this clan. He made potions and remedies, and amulets that could ward off evil." She held up the rock for Carl to see clearly. "These were the rocks he used in his amulets. You scratch in the symbol you want, and the amulet could protect you." She pocketed the rock and sighed. "I thought it was mumbo-jumbo. I haven't seen it work yet. Did you find any water?"
Carl held out a bottle of Holy Water, making Lyridana raise her eyebrows. "It's still fairly cool, and who knows, maybe it will help him!" Lyridana still didn't take the bottle, giving it a glare instead. "It won't kill him, Lyridana!"
She muttered "It might" under her breath before she took the bottle very carefully. She tore off a strip of her shirt and poured the Holy Water over it. Then she hesitantly placed the wet strip of material on Gabriel's forehead, before turning to Carl. "If it kills him, I'm blaming you."
"Yes, well seeing as we're out of water, I think I should go collect some more." He gave Lyridana a look that said, "Where do I get it from", and she sighed and shook her head to herself. She gave him directions and Van Helsing's silver stake, just as a precaution. Carl looked a little uncomfortable with it, but he went anyway.
Lyridana took out her ivory knife and looked at Gabriel's seemingly lifeless body. She pulled up his shirt a bit so she could see his bruised chest, and slowly ran her hand gently across his right ribs, feeling the broken one beneath the skin. He wasn't in as bad shape as he was originally, but she was worried that he wouldn't survive. Both the battle and his transformation had been hard on him.
Lyridana realized how limp his body suddenly was. He wasn't moving at all. She moved to find his pulse, but was confused when she found it – he had moved slightly before, so why did he suddenly seem to be paralyzed? Maybe it's that Holy Water Carl used on him! It's having a negative affect because Van Helsing's fighting for control with a werewolf!
But as much as she wanted to help, she couldn't. There was nothing she could do but wait. Carl was going to get an earful when he returned, but until that time, she'd have to wait. She pulled out the rock she found and began scratching something into its surface.
Van Helsing was trapped in darkness. It was all around him, smothering him, suffocating him. He couldn't move, but even if he could, where would he go? He felt like he was burning up, and that made the situation feel even more desperate. Where were his friends? Where were Carl and Lyridana? How come they weren't there with him, helping him overcome this?
"I'm... alone..." he managed to gasp out, falling to his knees. He clutched his heart as the burning intensified, and it felt as if the entire werewolf bite was on fire. This had to be the worst pain he had ever felt before. He closed his eyes tight, trying to block out the pain.
Finally it started to become a little easier for him to breathe, and as he opened his eyes he saw his hands – covered in black hair and turning into paws. He cried out in shock and staggered to his feet, walking backwards like he was trying to outrun himself.
What was wrong with him? Why was he transforming like this? Carl had said that he'd be able to control himself, not have to struggle for control! Why was this happening to him?
As he stood there a sudden calmness washed over him. His fever disappeared and it felt like he was out in the open on a cool day, instead of smothered in the dark. As he looked down at his hands he saw that the hair had fallen off and his hands had returned to normal. Everything slowly began to clear, and Gabriel shielded his eyes as a burst of white light cleared the darkness.
Slowly he moved his hands away from his eyes and as he looked around, he found himself in a completely white room. It seemed to stretch on forever, and when he went to move, he found he couldn't. He could only look around as shining vapors of air whirled around him, coming together in front of him to form what seemed like a mirror. As Van Helsing looked at his reflection, he watched it transform before his eyes. Soon he wasn't looking at himself, but the werewolf inside him.
As he moved his hand, the werewolf in the image did as well. Every time he moved, the monster mimicked him. Why was he here? To prove some point to himself? He didn't care. He just wanted to wake up and find out what happened to him.
"Why can't I leave?" Van Helsing asked, not to anybody in particular. He heard his voice echo around the room, but there was no reply. As he turned from the mirror he found that once again, he couldn't move.
"You can't leave until you accept the truth, Van Helsing."
His head snapped around as he heard the voice echo throughout the room. It sounded familiar in a way, but still seemed odd to his ears. He looked back at the mirror, but found the werewolf was wearing the same expression of confusion as he was. Werewolves can't talk anyway, he thought to himself, continuing to search for the voice.
"What truth am I meant to accept?" he asked the emptiness, hoping that the owner of the voice would appear. Talking to nothing made him feel like he was insane.
"You're rejecting the monster inside you... If you continue to fight it, you will destroy yourself. Accept it, and you'll be as good as invincible."
"I don't need to be invincible. The werewolf inside me is just another weapon. I don't have to accept it if I don't want to." Van Helsing said, staring at his reflection. The voice would probably tell him that he was in denial, but he believed what he had said.
"This is what will get you killed. You are the werewolf, Van Helsing! It is a part of you, and you are a part of it. You won't get anywhere by fighting the truth, so accept what is true! What are you afraid of?"
"I know what will happen if I let the werewolf get control. I'll never get control again. I'll end up hurting Lyridana and Carl, and that's something I can't afford. I wouldn't be able to take the guilt of having another two deaths on my hands."
"Oh, you poor tortured thing." The voice mocked. "Have you not realized that your friends trust you, even with your werewolf side? They're willing to put their lives at risk to help you, Van Helsing. That's the most trust anyone could put in someone, so do not fear for them. Learn to trust yourself and your... "gift"."
Van Helsing looked at his werewolf reflection. Did his friends truly trust him that much? And why did they trust him? He understood that they were his friends, but he was just like the monsters he hunted. He could hurt them at any moment as the werewolf, and feel no remorse. Carl had said he'd get control, but...
Finally, it hit him. Carl had helped him by telling him that hope wasn't totally lost, and Lyridana had found him by the sea when he first transformed. They trusted him, even when he was in the position to kill them with ease. If they could trust him, he'd have to trust himself, just like the voice had said.
When he found that he could move again, Gabriel reached out towards the mirror, finding the werewolf doing the same. Fingers and claws met as the mirror seemed to disappear, and excruciating pain shot through his entire body. The werewolf bite was on fire again, and he screwed his eyes shut and screamed in pain. The world seemed to spin around him...
It was almost dawn, and even though he hadn't been gone for an insanely long time, Lyridana was worried about how Carl was doing. He had been gone for maybe three quarters of an hour, and she hoped he hadn't gotten lost in the woods. She didn't want to go and look for him and leave Van Helsing alone.
She held up the black rock, turning it with her fingers so she could see the other side. She had engraved a picture on either side for the monster hunter, even though she knew it wouldn't help him. She tore free a bit of material, which she carefully threaded through the small hole at the top. Just as she finished she heard a few twigs snap, courtesy of her enhanced elf hearing, and she turned to see Carl coming out from behind the trees.
She gave him a look of confusion. "I thought you went to get water! Couldn't you find any?"
Carl smiled at her and pulled out of his robes a few bottles of water. "The layers serve as pockets." He explained while she gave him a smile. He passed one to her and was surprised when she found that it was still cool.
Carl saw one side of the rock and gently took it from her, turning it over so he could see the other side. On one side there was a perfect circle, and on the other side there was something that looked like a triangle with three separate parts. She saw the confused expression on his face and took the rock back.
"It's a Celtic trinity. It's the symbol of protection (1). It won't help him much, but there's not much I can do apart from that." Lyridana put the material around Van Helsing's neck and tied a firm knot, leaning back to look at the man.
Carl sat down beside the Dark Elf and watched the monster hunter. Whatever she had been doing for his friend, it must be working. Van Helsing wasn't burning up like he had been before, instead he felt rather normal. It seemed more likely that he was sleeping, rather than lying there unconscious.
As Lyridana drew the symbol in the ground, they both heard Van Helsing murmur. Their eyes landed on his face, and as they watched, he slowly opened his eyes. He opened his mouth to breathe in deep, and then looked over at them. His eyes weren't golden anymore.
Carl couldn't contain himself anymore, and he pulled Gabriel into a huge hug. The monster hunter groaned in pain and Carl nervously pulled back, casting a glance to Lyridana. She caught his glance and moved closer to Van Helsing. He looked at her silently, and she returned his gaze.
"Are you alright?" She asked softly, her hand moving to take the Holy Water soaked piece of material from his forehead. He watched her calmly, before moving his hand to touch his injured torso. She heard a sharp intake of breath.
"How many ribs are broken?" It had been hard to say that one simple sentence. Gabriel had to stop himself from growling it. As he looked at his hands, he found claws at the ends of his fingers. "Or am I hallucinating?"
Lyridana gently pressed down on his wound, and he drew in a breath quickly. "You're not hallucinating, Werewolf. And by my count you have... at least one broken rib. You should think yourself lucky after everything you took."
"Who were they working for?"
Both Carl and Lyridana looked at him, confused. "What do you mean, Van Helsing?" Carl asked, looking at his friend.
"They were working for someone. Why else would they come all the way out here?"
"They could've been working for anyone. People in the village, someone from the boat... Don't forget who you are – the most wanted man in the whole of Europe." Carl stopped talking as Lyridana got to her feet and left the area. They both waited silently for her to return, and when she did, she was carrying something with her. It was the body of one of their attackers.
Dropping it before them, she instantly started searching through the man's pockets. W hen she didn't find anything she pulled back his shirt and looked over his back, and then his chest. She smiled in triumph, and showed the man to Van Helsing.
There was a tattoo over his heart, the image looking like a clawed hand clutching a skull with black flames surrounding it. Van Helsing looked at it with his eyes narrowed; it was a strange symbol that he'd never seen before. He looked up at Lyridana, who was tracing the tattoo with her ivory knife.
"Everyone who serves Him has this tattoo. He obviously sent His men out to kill me, but they didn't count on you being here. I should think myself lucky."
"You mean O'Shanesey?" Lyridana flinched at the name, and gave Gabriel a look that practically said "Who else would it be". "I thought he'd be smarter than that. He's practically asking us to come after him."
"Maybe that's what he's doing. Perhaps he's counting on us tracking him down. There could be many possibilities that we haven't thought about yet. We can't go running off into battle, Van Helsing!" Carl said, his voice shaking slightly as he said the last sentence.
"This man could be as evil as Dracula, Carl. Would you like a version of him running around, capable to kill everyone in this world? He must be stopped. Both for the people's sake, and Lyridana's." Gabriel looked over at Lyridana, who smiled sadly, and looked at Carl.
"If you don't want to join us in our fight, I'll understand. But believe me, it'll be a long trip back to Rome." Lyridana said, making Carl glare at her.
Van Helsing took a deep breath and tried to rise to his feet, but a stab of pain ran through him from the broken rib, so he eased back down again. As he did, the pendant Lyridana had made for him fell into his line of vision, and he looked at it in curiosity. Yet another piece of mysterious jewelry to add to his collection.
"Lyridana made that for you." Carl said softly, hoping that the elf wouldn't hear him. She did, of course, but she pretended that she didn't. "She was quite worried about you. She stayed by your side until you awoke."
"Are you hinting at something, Carl?" Gabriel said, putting on a tough guy act to scare the friar.
Carl got up and walked away, sighing. Van Helsing was trying to scare him again, and he really didn't need it. He had been plenty scared when his friend had collapsed, and he didn't need to be scared again. As Van Helsing lay there on his own, he took another look at the pendant. There was a full moon inscribed on one side.
Instantly, he felt the power of the werewolf inside him awaken. Yet somehow, it didn't feel as strong and commanding as it did before. He felt like he could control the monster in him, somehow, even though that seemed impossible. He closed his eyes and willed the power away, finding it to be a battle that he just barely won.
It was like that voice had said; if he accepted the werewolf, he'd be invincible. But who did the voice belong to? Was it just part of his mind, or was it something... else?
Gabriel just decided to think about that another time. He needed to rest, and let himself heal. And he needed to think about how he would deal with Seamus O'Shanesey when he finally came face-to-face with him.
(1) I'm not totally sure if this is completely true or not, but that's the description I got. If it's incorrect, forgive me.
A/N: I know that this was a major crap chapter, but my inspiration has run dry. Totally gone. At least Van Helsing comes out on DVD this Wednesday, I'll be able to watch it and get some inspiration back. Sorry if anyone seemed OOC this chapter. So go ahead, review, flame, whatever you feel like. I've come too far to stop now. See you whenever I update next!