Disclaimer: Never have and never will own Van Helsing or anything to do with the merchandise or actors (lip trembles)

Note: ok finally get some action in the next few chapters. I know it's a long time coming but I'm a firm believer in character development…doesn't mean I can pull it off, just that I believe in it…

Chapter 9

Anna was greeted at the stables by one of the elusive servants. He was just a young boy barely twelve and he was leading a brown mare out ready to lead a small wooden cart.

He watched curiously as Sarah approached averting his eyes and busying himself with the harnesses when she smiled a greeting. Anna was right she thought, strangers defiantly weren't a welcome sight.

Anna began to lead the way down the pathway towards the village allowing Sarah to lead the horse and cart. "Stay close and don't draw attention to yourself," she instructed as they entered the busy streets.

Sarah nervously kept her eyes on the ground in front of her, images of an angry mob burning a witch at the stake entered her mind and made her shiver involuntarily. The mare sensed her unease and began to toss her head. Jolting the girls arm violently Sarah glared at it. "Your horse doesn't like me" she said to Anna who chuckled and carried on walking towards the town square.

The square was crowded with people and market stalls with various goods, everyone was going about their daily business. Sarah began to relax and led the horse and cart after the princess who instructed her to leave it beside the inn where a water trough had been prepared for the beast. The girl broke the thin layer of ice on its surface so the animal could drink and then they left it there walking towards a clothes stall on the opposite side.

"Princess Anna!" a slightly high-pitched voice called from behind them. Sarah saw Anna tense as she turned to acknowledge the caller. Curious Sarah also turned and was horrified to see a pale man with long white hair wearing a top hat approaching. "Oh crap," she whispered recognising the creepy and homicidal undertaker walking towards them.

Anna looked at her "shall I take it you know who he is?" she asked. Sarah nodded grimly Anna put a supportive hand on her shoulder "just follow my lead and relax, make sure he doesn't see your necklace or there will be nothing I can do to help you." She whispered frantically.

Sarah pulled the cloak tighter round her self and adjusted her necklace so it was no longer visible.

The undertaker stepped up to them a grotesque sneer on his skeletal face. He openly stared at Sarah not looking away as he addressed the princess. "I take it you and Van Helsing didn't manage to kill the wolfman last night," he stated sounding almost gleeful at the prospect. Sarah shuddered under his probing gaze.

"What makes you say that?" Anna asked her tone cool. He glanced quickly at her before returning his gaze to Sarah, who was suddenly very interested in her shoes. "Ah well he got Merrick last night he did, tore him to pieces." Pain flashed in Anna's eyes for a second at this news, she sighed heavily "Poor Merrick he was probably defending his farm" she said voice full of suppressed emotion.

To Sarah's horror the undertaker's smile seemed to grow wider as he said, "Yes very sad business." Anna looked at him sharply. But he didn't notice, "So princess who might this be?" he asked gesturing towards Sarah. Anna met Sarah's eyes before saying "this is my brothers friend…Lidia, she's visiting us from England" she said without hesitation "I'm afraid she's very shy and so doesn't talk very much" Sarah took the hint and began to stare nervously at the floor again avoiding the undertaker's gaze.

Dracula watched the exchange through his servant's eyes. In his mind the undertaker felt his master withdraw. Grinning madly he produced his tape measure and began measuring Sarah up, muttering to himself. "Ah yes 5 foot 4, shoulder width 55cm approximately…" Sarah was disgusted he was measuring her up for a coffin!! When he was finished he gave an awkward bow "good day too you." He said cheerfully before walking away looking very pleased with himself.

Sarah shuddered violently "That guy enjoys his job way too much!" she said indignantly. Anna smiled "That's exactly what Van Helsing said when he first arrived here" she said then her expression turned sour "He also observed that the undertaker might be in league with Dracula"

Sarah nodded her accent "I remember" she whispered. They both stood silently for a moment "Come on" Anna said finally "we've got shopping to do" Sarah grinned walking after the princess.

"How do they cope with it?" Sarah asked watching the villagers going about their business.

"Cope with what?" Anna asked selecting a pair of brown trousers from a stall. They were in the town square; it was a very different place in the daytime. A market had been set up, the stalls surrounding the central fountain.

"Being hunted day and night, knowing that they're nothing but fodder." Sarah elaborated holding up a thin blue nightgown that she quite liked and adding it to her pile.

Anna continued to select various items of clothing adding them to the pile in Sarah's arms. "This is their home, they refuse to leave the place of their birth and so they must cope with the consequences. We Transylvanians always try to look on the…" Sarah cut her off. "Brighter side of death?" she asked.

Anna turned sharply and regarded Sarah with raised eyebrows at the use of her own words. She grinned and shook her head "You seem to know a lot about us Sarah. It makes me wonder what else you may know." Sarah grinned and carried her bundle to the cart waiting nearby.

The barmaid was busy cleaning the windows of the inn, she smiled a greeting to the princess's young friend and glanced casually towards the cloudy sky 'looks like rain' she thought idly. Suddenly movement above square caught her attention, fear clutched at her heart and for a moment she was frozen watching the two huge bat-like monsters approach. "Vampire's!!!!" she screamed before dashing into the inn.

Aleera grinned as she saw villages scrambling in panic, beside her Verona dived into their midst reappearing with an old man writhing in her grasp. She bit savagely into his neck a sudden burst of blood covering her demonic face. Aleera clapped gleefully as he ceased his struggles and Verona let his corpse fall to smash against the street below. "Come sister we have business to attend too," she said pleasantly.

Anna drew her sword and ran among the panicked villages "Get inside!!! Everybody get inside!!" she yelled frantically. She saw Sarah dart into the inn and slam the door behind her. Satisfied that the girl was safe Anna made for the house on her left.

Verona swooped above the square scanning the crowd for the last of the Valerius line. She was here the undertaker had not lied to them, and with the princess they would find their real prey. A glint of light drew her attention to the retreating figure of the princess, her sword was drawn and she was following the last of the villagers towards the open door of a nearby house. Verona gave a gleeful cackle and dived towards her. "Hello Anna dear!" she yelled as she closed in.

Sarah watched from the inn's window as Verona closed in on Anna. She ran to the door and to the horror of the barmaid began to unlock it. Strong hands grabbed her from behind and pulled her away from the door. The landlord had her in his arms and would not let go despite her protests. "Let me go we've got to help her!!" she yelled. Ceasing her struggles she looked around at the gathered villagers, most would not meet her gaze. "She's the last Valerius!" she yelled "Her family defended yours for years and yet you won't even attempt to help her?" she looked to the barmaid who stared at the floor. "Cowards!" she yelled renewing her struggles.

The landlord gasped in pain as she threw her head back to connect painfully with his, Sarah saw red for a few seconds before the pain subsided and she realized that she was free. Without hesitating she was at the door and removing the final bolt.

Marston made his way sleepily through the halls of the manor searching for the kitchen. He'd already gotten lost twice stumbling into a library and then the armoury. Finally he walked into the kitchen dropping himself on to a stool next to Jory who was already halfway through a large bowl of porridge.

"Morning" he muttered.

Jory grunted in reply as Amie, Bob and Chris walked in "This place is not morning friendly" Bob announced helping himself from the large pot of porridge on the stove.

"Tell me about it" Marston muttered. Carl soon joined them followed closely by Van Helsing and finally Tony.

"Did every body sleep well?" asked Carl politely.

"Oh yeah great" Tony said sarcastically moving to sit beside Jory

"I'll take that as a no then shall I?" Carl poured himself some water and joined them around the table. "It is a little bit hard to sleep in a place where there actually are monsters under the bed," Amie agreed. Bob put his arm round her.

"Yep we checked Amie's room three times for them but we couldn't be sure that they weren't there so sadly we had to share" he grinned looking anything but sad. Jory laughed, nearly choking on his porridge, Van Helsing raised his eyebrows "I'm guessing where you come from people aren't shy about their relationships?" Chris grinned,

"Nope, if you've done it, you've done it and most people know by the next morning" Carl went bright red and suddenly found his mug very interesting.

Marston glanced around at the group "Where are Sarah and Anna then?" he asked.

Jory didn't miss a beat. Loudly he announced "Dead!"

For a second Jory chuckled to himself until he noticed that the room had grown suddenly still, every face was turned to his "What?" he asked confused. He always made that joke; it had been his trademark response for over a year now.

Van Helsing stepped up to him "Why would you say that?" he asked looking shocked. Jory stammered, "I always do" he explained,

Amie jumped to his defence "he didn't mean it he just always says that like a running joke in our group, we always tell him that one day he'll regret it though." She said. Jory nodded feeling like he already did regret it.

Unconsciously Jory's thoughtless words had made Van Helsing aware of how unnaturally quiet it was. 'Why can't I hear birds?' he thought.

Van Helsing felt uneasy, something evil was close he could sense it. He walked to one of the windows and looked at the cloud filled sky. There was no sign of the sun. "Vampire's can sometimes come out during the day" he said matter of factly "but only if there is enough cloud cover and their mission requires it" the group listened to him in silence casting each other nervous glances now and again. Tony walked over to him "Why are you telling us this now?" he asked.

Van Helsing gestured towards the cloudy sky "Vampire weather" he said. Fear went through the group and they unconsciously drew themselves closer together. Jory went pale "Anna and Sarah went down to the village!" he blurted out.

"Oh dear" muttered Carl.

"Did they take weapons?" Van Helsing asked quickly Jory nodded "swords" he said "Anna gave Sarah a quick lesson before they left."

Suddenly a distant scream was heard coming from the village below. Everyone ran to the nearest window. From here they saw what looked like large birds swooping above the houses.

"Damn" Van Helsing was already moving, heading at a run towards the armoury. Tony, Marston, Jory and Chris exchanged a glance before following.

Van Helsing wasted little time; he swept up his long coat and hat and checked the bolts in his crossbow. The sound of swords being drawn made him glance behind him. The boys were all armed with Katana's their faces determined, Van Helsing raised an eyebrow "Sarah's down there" Tony said simply. Van Helsing thought for a second before relenting "all right but you do what I say, no heroics. There won't be time to argue" Van Helsing led the way through the doors.

Amie, Bob and Carl watched them run towards the village Bob held Amie while she cried. "Don't worry" Carl said cheerfully "Anna has been trained to fight vampires her entire life, and Van Helsing has already killed one of Dracula's brides they'll be back before we know it"

Bob wasn't convinced "We've seen the movie Carl," he whispered.