As she cautiously walked into the watchtower, Anna kept her had at the handle of her short sword. Hopefully, she wouldn't actually have to use it, considering how little skill she had, but it reassured her all the same. Dracula was battling Van Helsing, and his brides were off with those horrible creatures in the city. That meant Dracula's remaining servants would all be mortal - vulnerable.
At the top of the stairs, she drew her weapon, her eyes flicking back and forth. She saw, down below in the laboratory, the terrible Dwerger scurrying about to maintain the machinery, and a twisted man who was shouting out orders. He looked familiar...
Of course! He was that wretch who had killed a pair of children in the city some years ago, Igor. The people of Tirgoviste had hung him for his crime, but somehow, he'd survived with a broken neck. The rumor had been he'd worked for Doctor Frankenstein after the doctor had moved into this castle. There had been a scandal, she recalled, involving grave-robbery, and Igor had been nowhere to be found on the night Frankenstein and his monster were killed.
"Keep the atmosphere electrified!" Igor shouted out, trying to get the Dwergi to work faster. "Activate the generators! Power the dynamos!"
A gauge showed that the output was dropping rapidly, and Igor growled as he hit it. Still, there was no change. "We are losing power!" he cried out to the trolls. "The human is insufficient!"
Human? It had to be Velkan. Anna looked up just as a bolt of lightning struck the rooftop conductor and could see her cousin's arms flail widely. He was still alive, in that pod up there. But werewolf's blood or not, he couldn't take that assault for much longer. She had to get him out of there.
Climbing a ladder, she came to the catwalk. Stepping onto it, Anna hurried towards the ladder at the other end, then skidded to a halt when she saw a Dweger standing before her, now turning around and growling. Looking back, Anna saw another of the horrible trolls. She was trapped.
She turned and saw a rope leading upwards. Sheathing her sword, Anna leaned over the railing of the catwalk and pulled herself up the rope, climbing as fast as she could. The girl held on as tight as she could, for down below was a large vat of nasty looking chemicals that were bubbling madly. A moment later, the two Dwergi made the same leap, catching to the rope below her. Anna swore at herself, having forgotten for a moment just how quick and clever these creatures were; more than one of her countrymen had fallen to these beasts for having underestimated them.
But she would not. Drawing out her sword, Ann pulled her legs up and swung, cutting the rope beneath her in a single slice. The Dwergi screamed as they, along with their length of rope, fell into the vat. The girl breathed with relief as she sheathed her sword again, then started climbing once more.
The rest of Dracula's servants seemed to not even notice her, which, for Anna, was all the better. They continued to toil below, and Anna could hear Igor shouting off orders still. "We must not lose the Master's progeny!"
You most certainly will if I have something to do about it.
-
He looked about, trying to find his prey, but there was no sign of that man in black. Dracula was perturbed. First, this man not only dared to kill one of his brides, now he invaded his home and set about killing his creations. But more than that, he had weapons that could do such. For that, he was to be loathed.
He walked down through the hall, eyes watching for any sign of the intruder. Something had seemed familiar about him from that glance he had before. Something in his eyes, and in his voice. Dracula kept his composure, and for all his fury, he was going about his task with cold precision.
Something fell from above. Dracula spun about to see what looked like a sort of flare. A flare that had to have been dropped. He suddenly realized his mistake, then turned in time to see the man in black drop down from above and ram a wooden stake into his heart. He twisted it hard while continuing to push in, then, stepping back, made the sign of the cross.
"Requiescat in pace," he said in a clear and angry tone. Van Helsing noted the pain on Dracula's face, waited for him to fall. He had hit directly into the monster's heart, driven the stake down as much as possible just to be sure. Maybe it would be this easy after all.
And then Dracula smiled.
"Hello, Gabriel."
A horrible realization dawn on Van Helsing's face. Dracula wasn't dead. This was impossible, he was a vampire. To drive a stake through the heart of a vampire was to kill them, to destroy their unholy source of life. How could Dracula still be standing there, with an oak stake in his heart, smiling?
And then, it hit him. Dracula had addressed him by a name. Not by a title, not as 'Van Helsing', but as 'Gabriel', a true name. The monster had addressed him as if he knew him personally, not merely of him. And that name alone ignited a flood of memories. He now saw, clearly, a vision of that horrible battle which had plagued his mind. He was standing there, on a field filled with death. People were hanging upon pikes and poles, some still alive and suffering. It was horrible, but he knew that he wasn't the one who had done this.
The man before him was.
Looking to the stake in his heart, Dracula snorted. "Is this your wooden stake?" he asked, pulling the object from his chest and throwing it aside. He chuckled, taking a step towards Van Helsing, who quickly moved away. "How long has it been, Gabriel...three, four hundred years!" He saw the confusion in his opponent's eyes, the uncertainty. "You don't remember...do you?"
"Exactly what is it," Van Helsing replied while making sure to keep his distance, "that I should be remembering?" He took a step back into the ancient foyer. Dracula's movements reminded him all too much of a cat that was playing with a mouse.
This was too amusing for the vampire. He pulled off his cloak and tossed it aside, the pleasure on his face all too clear. "You are the great Van Helsing!" Dracula exclaimed, continuing to walk towards the man. "Trained by monks and mullahs from Tibet to Constantinople. Protected by Rome herself." The vampire's features now went dark. "But, like me, hunted by all others."
"The Knights of the Templar know all about you," Van Helsing retorted, trying to buy enough time to sort this all out, time he wouldn't have if he let Dracula get close. He took a step around one of the generator relays, noting the amusement on Dracula's face. "It's no surprise that you would know about me."
"But it is so much more than that!" the vampire exclaimed, continuing his odd dance about the foyer in his attempt to follow Van Helsing. He spread his arms, as if gesturing to the castle walls around him. "We have such history together, Gabriel." He paused. "You really don't remember it at all, do you? Haven't you wondered why you have such horrible nightmares, memories of ancient battles long past?" A smile again. "And who can forget those scars on your back...the ones near your shoulders?"
This was wrong, all wrong. How did Dracula know him? He was a man with a mission from God, so the professor kept saying. And he'd never met Dracula before in his life, hadn't he? But then how did the vampire know so much about him, knew who he was, about his nightmares, about those odd scars that were over his shoulder blades?
Something flickered in his mind. Not the usual visions of battles, but something else, something new. He could see light all around him, voices singing. He felt an awesome presence unlike anything else, a presence of benevolence, of clarity. And then, Van Helsing was brought back to reality, a cold reality where he was facing Dracula, the most dangerous being on the planet.
And somehow, Dracula had begun a chain reaction that was returning his lost past to him. It made no sense at all, but it was happening. He was starting to remember. It left only one question now.
"How do you know me?"
Dracula only smiled, taking a step toward Van Helsing while some of the machinery sparked. "So," he said calmly. "Would you like me to refresh your memory a little?" He raised his hand, fingers positioned as if holding something. "A few details from your sordid past?"
There it was - the thing he wanted most of all. The end of his search, and Dracula was offering it to him. But the images were now coming clear and true, not in shattered fragments. Who knew what lies he would be told if he trusted this man, this...beast. No, Dracula could not be trusted. Van Helsing's reaction was immediate as he pulled out the silver cross and raised it to Dracula's face.
His reaction was also immediate.
Shrieking out in horror, the vampire grabbed the cross, which instantly caught on fire, now melting violently. Van Helsing pulled away, releasing his tool and stepping back while Dracula yelled in rage and then threw the melted cross to the ground. Just as quickly, he regained his composure, looking as if nothing had happened.
"Hm," he snorted. "Perhaps that is a conversation for another time." Dracula paused, then regained his smile. "Allow me to re-introduce myself." He bowed, triggering a more recent memory in Van Helsing's mind. The style, the mannerism...it was just like Adrian! "I am Count Vladislaus Dracula. Born fourteen thirty-one." He hesitated a moment, letting the lightning crash in the sky. "Murdered fourteen sixty-two."
At that moment, a window smashed in, glass raining down as a large black and white wolf leapt through into the foyer. It raced at Dracula, jumping up to attack him, then, as the vampire fell back, moved away. It stood there on the steps, bright blue eyes shining with intelligence. There looked to be a belt strapped onto the wolf, upon which was a sword and sheath. Then, something happened that made everything clear to Van Helsing. It changed.
The body lengthened, back legs transforming to be those of a human while the black fur reformed into velvet. Red flaps capped the shoulders now, and the white fur transformed into pale blonde hair while the forelegs became human arms, brown gloves covering the hands. The sword was pulled back under the velvet overcoat. But those eyes didn't change one bit. They were what revealed him for who he was.
Dracula was the first to speak after healing his wounds. "Welcome home, Alucard."
-
Chaos reigned in the city, the humans fleeing from the vampire creatures while Aleera and Verona circled about in joy. "Feed, my darlings," Verona cried, grabbing a man from the ground and throwing him up to the creatures. They quickly swarmed him, preventing his return fall and attacking him viciously. "Feed!"
Meanwhile, Carl continued to pulled the barmaid along through the streets, determined to at least get her to safety. Then, he could set about finding others to rescue, but it was best to work one step at a time. All around, the vampire creatures were attacking Tirgoviste, and a fear was building deep within him. He knew what would happen once these things got loose. This city was only the beginning, they would consume the whole world if they weren't stopped.
A shattering sound came from above, and glass rained down from the third story window of the city inn. A woman had leapt out the window, chased by a swarm of the creatures and they caught her and flew back upwards into the air. Carl, for a moment, let go of his charge, watching the poor woman be taken away for death. He then heard a scream and looked back to see the barmaid clutching to a signpost while one of the vampiric monsters was pulling her up by the leg.
"Bloody, bloody 'ell!" he swore. There was just no winning this one. But, he may as well try. Carl grabbed a bucket from the ground, ran up, and threw it hard, hitting the bat dead on and knocking it away. He stepped forward and caught the hapless barmaid, setting her on her feet again. Then he heard the screech.
The vampire bat threw off the bucket, glared at Carl, and hissed just before diving at him. Its small mind expected him to panic, and while the barmaid let out a scream, what Carl did was the exact opposite. He calmly reached into his coat as the bat descended, then brought out a revolver and cocked the hammer. The look in his eyes said that he was very tired of things assuming he was no threat.
"I don't think so."
He pulled the trigger and unleashed a silver nitrate bullet that went flying through the air to hit the bat right between the eyes. The impact cause the creature's head to explode, the body falling to the ground in a lifeless heap. And then, as the bells began to toll, something else amazing happened.
At first, it was a few, one by one, but the reaction spread, groups of the bats exploding into viscous slime. Clusters of them erupted, and then, they all at once were gone in a splatter. The brides screamed out as they watched in horror. The people that the creatures had been carrying plummeted to the ground, some surviving a short fall while others were not so lucky. But the end result was the same.
Aleera screamed out angrily before she turned and soared off back toward the castle. Verona, however, was in tears, drops of blood falling from her eyes just as she too flew off to return to the castle. Once again, it had been a failure.
-
Near the top of the rope, Anna reached up and grabbed hold of the skylight framing. She grunted, then pulled herself up and onto the roof of the watchtower, her eyes fixed on the pod where Velkan was being held prisoner. Laying on that steel table, Connected to the horrible machines by wires, was her beloved cousin. It made her furious that her family had been used by Dracula like this. It wasn't bad enough that he had turned Velkan into a werewolf, but he was using the man as the instrument of his evil. With a deep breath, Anna ran over, moving to undo the straps and catches that held him down. She didn't have much time, she had to get him away from the place now.
He looked dazed, not seeing here, but then he came to, eyes now showing awareness. Velkan blinked, looked to the girl, then sucked in air with shock. "Anna?"
She nodded, continuing her attempt to free him. "Just give me a minute to get you out of here."
He grabbed her hands, trying to get her away. "No!" he cried. "Don't unstrap me, get away from here!"
She ignored him, refusing to leave him behind. "Velkan, we're going to get you out of here," Anna replied, her voice cracking with the barely held hope that there was a chance to save her cousin. "Van Helsing knows a way to cure you!"
"Anna, get out of here and leave me, please!"
He was so noble, so self-sacrificing. She couldn't just abandon him, not now. But then, she heard the chime, and realized now why he was trying to again send her away; it was too late. The moon came out from behind the clouds, and as the clock tower of the castle struck midnight, she felt something grab her face; Velkan's hand. It was already bursting with coarse fur, his body splitting and cracking as he was fighting to contain the werewolf long enough for her to flee.
She'd already lost him.
-
The dance had now changed. Adrian was the one who matched moves with the count this time, and it was now that Van Helsing realized who it was Adrian resembled. It wasn't Corvinus; it was Dracula. "I had hoped we'd not meet again."
"It has been a while, Alucard," the vampire lord said. The anger in Adrian's eyes was all too clear. It was a vicious anger, almost bestial. Dracula was evidentially amused by it. "Perhaps once I claim Anastasia Corvinus as my Bride, we can be like a family again."
"I had wondered why you seek to take her alive," the younger man replied. "You see the same thing in her that I do." Clearly, he had a strong relation to Dracula. They shared features, mannerisms...even their voices were similar save in the strength of their accents. But Dracula has a malicious glint to his eyes, while Adrian had one of compassion, righteous duty, and purpose. "But I know that she only resembles her...father."
It was impossible. Dracula was a vampire, the walking dead. The only being he could be father to was another vampire, and Adrian was certainly no vampire. He had stood out in broad daylight, commanded light of the sun, and even wore a crucifix on his attire. His own weapon was a sword made of pure silver. None of it made any sense. Why did Adrian refer to Dracula as his father?
Clearly, there was something he had missed.
"She is Lisa's reincarnation," came his sharp retort. Dracula then glanced to Van Helsing, noting the look of confusion on the man's face. "I see you are well acquainted with my son," the vampire said, his expression calm, but his voice was straining to hide his anger. "No surprise. He takes whatever allies he can get in his ridiculous rebellion against me and my kind." There was a grunt of displeasure, distain, and resentment. Van Helsing could see it clearly; Dracula hated Adrian. "So typical of a dunpeal."
"You act as if what I am is such a horrible thing," Adrian countered, moving about like he was ready to pounce. "You hated Matthias Corvinus so much, even now detest his memory, yet was it not you who married my mother, Elisabetha Corvinus! Lied to her and all her family about what you were, what you are!"
There was a roar from the count. He looked as if he could loose fire from his eyes, but his gaze caught notice of Adrian's buckle, and he pulled back. Dracula quickly brushed his hair back, trying to remain calm, but clearly, it was hard for him to do so. Adrian clearly was a reminder of something, something Dracula had lost a long time ago. Van Helsing also realized what that something was; Alucard reminded the vampire of his mother.
"I hate all humans!" the count spat back angrily. "I hate them all! It was the humans who killed my Lisa, my light!" He and Adrian were now circling each other, like a pair of rival wolves. "And yet, despite that you were there when they killed her, burned your mother alive, you defend them!"
Adrian's expression was cold. He knew Dracula spoke the truth, but he also remember what his mother had told him before she had died. "At least I remember her dying words," he retorted. "At least I still have enough love for her that I keep her spirit alive by following those words! 'Do not hate the humans. If you can not live with them, then at least do them no harm, for ours is already a hard lot!'"
"But they murdered her!"
The argument between father and son was getting violent. Dracula was already in a state of partial transformation, his face shifting in flux. And as powerful as Van Helsing knew Adrian was, there was no doubt that Dracula could kill him. Or was it possible to kill the half-breed child of a vampire? If Adrian was as old as he seemed to be suggesting, he very well might be just as immortal as his father. He was, after all, a dunpeal; half-dead. Something that was practically a myth even to the Roma gypsies who told stories of them. Adrian was a living, breathing example of something that should not be; the undead siring a child with the living.
There were screams now. One of them, Van Helsing recognized; Anna. But the others were those of Verona and Aleera, Dracula's brides, and the emotion in those screams could not bee missed; abject horror. Dracula turned around at the wails of his brides, and Van Helsing took his chance to run while Adrian transformed into a large white furred bat and flew upwards towards the skylight. The man ran to a dumbwaiter, pulled out a tojo, and pumped the grip to get the blades spinning. He flicked it against the catch, now shooting upwards while Dracula looked back to see his foes escaping.
-
Even as Velkan was yelling out, Anna walked about on the roof, looking for a way to escape. She had pulled herself from his grip, a few bruises on her cheeks, but they were nothing compared what he would do once the werewolf took total control. She had to get out of there, now.
Going back down was not an option. The brides' screams could be heard, they were returning, and Anna was no match for the Dwergi in the lab. She looked toward the pod. Velkan was battling the beast in him, trying to give her time, but it was a fight he was losing. Soon, he would become the wolf, and then, he would-
Something bumped into her. She reached for her sword, then was harshly spun around to face the man who stood behind her.
Van Helsing. He'd come back for her.
"I think we've overstayed our welcome," he said while taking her by the hand and leading her to the edge of the roof. One hand slipping into his coat, he withdrew his grappling gun, aimed towards the forest that lay across the river which ran beside the castle, and fired. The hook plug tore through the air, tether spiraling forward while a puff of smoke came from the barrel. The plug ripped through the trunk of a tall oak tree, opened up with the hooks, and went back to lock into place.
Van Helsing tested the line, then wedged the gun into one of the girders to secure the tether. Now whipping out a device that locked onto the cable, he wrapped his arm around Anna's waist, then, glancing back a moment to where Velkan was going through the final throes of his transformation, pushed off and sent them both sliding across the line. "Hold on!"
There was movement in the corner of her vision. Anna saw the werewolf that had once been her cousin break free and leap to the wall of the tower. There was a deafening roar, and then, she heard the cable snap; they were falling. No, swinging. The device in Van Helsing's hand locked onto the tether, and they swung downwards, flying through the trees of the Black Forest before crashing along the ground.
He stood up, shaking his head, then moving to help Anna to her feet. "Are you hurt?" he asked.
Anna shook her head. "I'm all right," she replied. Physically, it was true, but emotionally, she was shattered. They had failed to save Velkan, and now he was forever lost to the curse of the werewolf. She burst into tears, throwing herself into Van Helsing's arms, looking for comfort.
There was a rustling noise from above. Van Helsing spun Anna about to put her behind him as he drew out one of his revolvers, then sighed with relief when the large white bat came down and transformed into Adrian. "Just you," he muttered. He slipped the gun back in its holster, then took a deep breath before looking back toward the castle. That had been a very close call for a minute back there.
-
On the walkway up in the parapets of the castle, Igor stood, looking fearfully toward his master. Dracula was perched on the wall like a gargoyle, his eyes seething with anger. His brides, however, stood a good distance behind him, wailing in agony over the lose of the vampirlings.
He snapped his head back at his mortal servant. If Igor had a tail, it most definitely would be between his legs. Good, best to show such humiliation. Dracula turned to glare back out toward the Black Forest, where Van Helsing and Anna Corvinus had escaped to. He was so close, both to success and to her. So young she was, yet so beautiful. And so much like her ancestor.
"My Lisa," he hissed. "I have found you again..."
Igor finally moved. Dracula spun his gaze back just as quickly towards his minion. "I fear that we are not so smart as the good doctor."
It pained him to agree, but it was true; Frankenstein was the only one who could do what they could not. "Truly," he snapped. Looking back towards the forest, Dracula growled angrily. "It appears the good doctor took the secret of life with him to his grave."
His remaining servant climbed up to the rampart. Dracula gave the werewolf an indignant stare, then smiled when he felt no resistance to his control; Velkan Valerious was his. At least one victory came of all this, even if it was a minor one. He turned once more to look out upon the country side. He could feel unbridled rage now, the fire of Hell itself burning within him. He would have liked very much to go after Van Helsing, but he could not leave his brides in such a state.
As the wolf man shook to get the river water out of his fur, Dracula turned to him with a commanding stare. "Hunt them down," he hissed. The wolf looked to him, then nodded, turning to scan the forest. "Kill my son and that man. Bring me Anna Corvinus alive."
-
The rain was pouring now as the trio made their way across the moors. Up ahead were ruins which Anna and Adrian recognized as the remains of the old windmill which had burned down a year ago, when the townfolk had chased Frankenstein and his monster in here.
Already, Van Helsing looked to be seething with anger. Adrian as well looked upset, but he was the first to vent it upon his companion. "A stake?" he questioned after finding out what had happened in the foyer before his arrival. "A silver cross? Do you think we haven't tried all those things before!" His anger from the verbal fight with Dracula was still burning, and now, it was finding a release. "We've shot him, stabbed him, clubbed him, burned him, sprayed him with holy water, forced him into the sunlight, impaled him with my uncle's own sword, and still he lives!" The dunpeal shoved Van Helsing against one of the charred struts of the mill sails. "Don't you get it! No one knows how to kill Dracula, and I've been trying for almost four hundred years!"
"Well, it would have been damn nice if you'd told me the truth before!" Van Helsing yelled back. Now it was his turn to unleash his anger, and Anna wasn't the one who deserved the lashing. It was Adrian who had lied to him, withheld information from him and Carl, information vital to their mission. "Dracula is your father, why didn't you tell me in the first place!"
There was a look of resentment now on Adrian's face. He sighed, now looking away from Van Helsing. "You're right," he said at last, conceding the point. "I was wrong to hide my blood from you. But...would you have trusted me then, if I had told you that I am Dracula's son?"
He didn't answer right away. Adrian was right; would he have given his trust if he had known before? Could he have trusted him then, before Adrian had proved himself. The answer was painfully obvious when he looked back on it. "No," Van Helsing whispered. "I wouldn't have. And as hard as I find it to trust you now, at least I know what side you're on." He looked now to Anna, apology in his eyes. "And I'm sorry that we couldn't save Velkan, I should have gone with you."
She shook her head, letting him know that she did not blame him. "We did what we could," Anna replied, but her voice was cracked with her sadness. "We just were too late."
Van Helsing knew her pain now, if only because he had promised to help her cousin and failed. With a resound sigh, he bent down and picked up an undamaged bottle of absinthe. Opening the cork, he took a sniff; still good. "No one is more regretful of that than I," he said.
She nodded, but the pain didn't stop. For a moment, the girl let her memories of Velkan Valerious go through her mind, to remind her of the good man he had been, the brave man who had sacrificed himself to save her. It was then Anna smiled. Those memories felt good. "Do you have any family, Mister Van Helsing?"
It was an odd question, and he'd never thought about it before. Granted, he had the professor, but that was more of an adoptive family than anything. "I don't really know," he replied. He looked into Anna's eyes, felt that spark she had which could lift a man's spirits, then smiled and pulled his hat from his head to lightly set it on hers. "I hope to find out some day, it's what keep me going."
Adrian nodded. It was something he knew well. After all, he'd been fighting Dracula since he was old enough to wield a sword, driven only by the slim hope that someday, that war would be over, and he could have a real life. Free from the confines of his past, free from the oaths of his family, free to be who he wanted to be. He held his hand out for the bottle, smiling as Van Helsing handed it over. "Here's to what keeps you going."
Bringing the bottle to his lips, he heard something, a cracking, just before the ground gave away beneath them and sent the three tumbling down under the ground. Anna gave a scream as they fell, debris crashing down all around them as they hit the water.