Author's Note: Yes I'm back! I know, I know it's been forever and I'd like to apologize for that. I have been incredibly busy this summer and this new school year which has caused me to neglect all my fanfics. Add to that a severe case of writer's block, which I'm still fighting the effects of. I know this chapter isn't much but it's something to let you know I'm still here. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions please let me know and I would be forever in your debt! Thank you to all who have reviewed and have waited so patiently for this. I only wish it was more. Thanks!
Disclaimer: I do not own Van Helsing
Chapter 12 Darkness and Despair
Vela slid her hands along the rough burnt shafts. The wood creaked and she jumped back, perhaps they had heard her. But all was silent inside the old windmill, troubling her greatly. Had it not been just a few moments ago that she had heard the wispy voice of the princess arguing with Van Helsing's gruff tones? Yet they had disappeared, so suddenly that she wondered if they too, were creatures of the night. She stood still, her eyes searching the wreckage for some sign of life. The scent of human blood trailed past her nose, a scent she would have known anywhere. Perhaps the werewolf had reached them already. No, he couldn't have! Then all of her plans would be ruined. The vampire sighed, turning away from the charred wood. Should she try to venture inside, crawl through the twisted beams in search of the two humans that were probably already dead? It was foolish, even she knew that. Besides, the night was growing dim, the sun would soon rise. In frustration Vela kicked an empty bottle of absinth on the ground, before transforming and taking flight.
The darkness of the night had faded into a gossamer blue veil by the time she landed in the foyer of Castles Dracula. For the first time in a long while, the girl felt something akin to despair. Her children were dead and so was her hope of ever having the master's love for herself. She leaned against the icy stone wall, her dead hand not feeling the cold. Vela would have stood there longer, had Aleera not come dancing down the hall. She seemed to have gotten over the death of her children rather quickly and she grinned at her enemy, mimicking the sprightliness of a forest nymph perfectly.
"Returned already have we?" she asked, her shrill voice ripping through the quiet of the castle. "The master will be most disappointed in you. I assume you failed to locate Van Helsing and the princess."
"Oh will you shut up?" Vela hissed, her canines growing. "At least I looked for them. You would float around picking off peasants instead."
"Are you suggesting I am not loyal to my husband?" Aleera asked sweetly. "He trust me the most of all of the brides. Why else do you think he favors me?"
"I told you to be quiet!" Vela shrieked, finally unable to control her rage. Without delay, the girl launched herself at the other and would have proceeded to fight her had Verona not stepped in between.
"Enough!" the black haired vampire near roared the word. With superhuman strength she caught Vela by the throat and threw her clear across the room. The youngest bride landed with a thud in the corner. She was on her feet in an instant however and prepared to do battle. But Verona's ice cold stare of fury made her retreat. Turning on her heel, she sprinted down the halls, gliding up a flight of stairs until she came to her chamber. The freezing stone coffin would make any human shiver but to Vela it was the picture of comfort. The girl laid herself down and traced her hands along its edges for a few minutes before she realized she was shaking. It was in this chamber of death, that she felt alone. The void, the hollowness inside her had grown, spanning across a deep chasm in her heart. Tears began to fall like icicles from her blue eyes, trickling down her pallid cheeks. But the calling of sleep came strongly, her undead body being forced to obey.
Vela shifted uncomfortably in her coffin. Someone was shaking her shoulder, roughly. In annoyance she sat up quickly, brushing the hand away.
"What?" she grumbled, her eyes slowly clearing for sleep. Was it night already?
"We must go, now," Verona's voice, cut through her grogginess. Vela was about to argue with her, when the memory of the previous night came flooding back. Perhaps it was not wise to anger the older bride. "Van Helsing has the monster."
"I don't understand," the young vampire rubbed her eyes, before leaping out of her coffin.
"The creature Doctor Frankenstein brought to life a year ago," Dracula answered, he was standing in the doorway. With one fluid motion he was by Vela's side, his hand on her shoulder. "He will take it Rome and then we will have no hope of retrieving it. You must go with Verona and Aleera, before it's too late."
"But master, I thought you didn't want me to be seen?" she asked confused.
"I know, I know," Dracula waved his hand, his eyes shut in thought. "But with Marishka gone I will need your help more than ever. That is, until I find another bride." Vela cringed inwardly. There is was again, he sought to find a new bride. She could not let Van Helsing be killed. He served too great a purpose.
"Yes master," she gazed at his handsome face. "I will fly apart from Verona and Aleera until we catch up with Van Helsing. It will be easier for us to trap him that way, if we attack from different sides."
"Ah my little Vela thinks wisely," he passed his hand gently under her chin. "Go now, before it is too late."