They approached the Black Sea, toward where Elisabetha Corvinus had been buried four hundred years ago when she died. Carl and Velkan had driven the horses the whole way, with Van Helsing sitting in the carriage with Anna. She didn't want to leave Adrian's side, even in his death. He could see how much the dunpeal had meant to her. He once was the living legacy of her ancestors, and, as Van Helsing had no problem admitting, a noble soul.

His wing had healed itself, just as he'd known it would. It had taken a little explaining of what he knew, but once Van Helsing had told Carl everything, the man had been able to accept it. And so, these people knew his secret, that he was an Archangel bound to earth. For what true purpose, he did not know, but it hadn't been just Dracula.

But right now, his concern was to bring Adrian's body to its final rest. He could smell the sea before they saw it. The moon was abscent, but the stars shined brightly in the heavens, guiding their way. With Dracula's death, the one-way door had opened up, allowing them to depart the horrible black castle just before it had crumbled into the ground. Gabriel had thought it only proper if they laid Adrian to rest with his mother, the person who had give him the heart to fight his father.

When they arrived, the sky was barely starting to brighten. It was still a few hours until sunrise, which gave them time to build a pyre for Adrian. Anna had insisted doing it herself, but the three men denied her the sole burden. They all felt it was their duty to help lay the prince to rest. And so, with the wood they had brought, they constructed a pyre three feet tall. The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon when they had finished. Velkan carefully set the body on the wood mount, then turned to Carl and nodded.

The man read from the bible, saying a prayer for Adrian. As his friend preformed the ceremony, Van Helsing could not help but feel sad. He hadn't known Adrian that long, but the man had been a true hero, sacrificing everything of his own to protect those in need. Just like his mother, he reflected. Such horrible burdens they all now had to bear. And yet, Van Helsing wondered if they were not alone. Did Jinette, who had sent him on so many assignments, know of the price that had to be paid for these victories? Certainly, Professor Van Helsing knew that weight, and he had to have known who his prodigal son really was.

No, they were not alone in their pain. But they were the ones who had been there, fighting on the front lines, and paid the price in full.

Carl finished reading. There were tears running Anna's cheeks. She wanted to refuse this had happened, wanted to believe that any moment now, Adrian would return to life, as if nothing had happened. But she knew that she would only be fooling herself. Of all of them, Adrian had paid the greatest price in the war with Dracula; his life. And he was never coming back.

And so, as the last of his family, Anna was the one who consigned him to eternity. She stepped forward, reaching the torch into the pyre and igniting it. The flames spread, and even now began to warm her face. And then, she whispered good-bye.

Frankenstein watched the fire from his raft as he drifted out to sea. He pulled down his hood and bowed his head in prayer, paying his last respects to Adrian Tepes. He knew the suffering that the dunpeal had endured in life, outcast only because of the way he was born.

His own life had not been long, certainly nowhere even near the centuries that Adrian had lived. But he did know loss. His time with Father had been heartbreakingly short, and in the end, Father had died to protect him from the very same darkness that had claimed Adrian's life. But Adrian's sacrifice had given them all life, just like Father's gift to him.

And Frankenstein promised that he would not let Father's gift be wasted.

His shoulders tingled, and Van Helsing had the strangest feeling that they were being watched. He turned around, but saw no one out there, save Frankenstein out in the distance on the Black Sea. There was no one else beside Carl, Anna, and Velkan.

And yet, there was someone else here. He could feel the presence, someone who felt pure, a noble soul. He turned to the pyre, and saw the smoke wafting out, almost like it was moving toward them. It seemed to reach tendrils out, lifting Anna's chin, and that's when he knew what it was.

"Adrian," he whispered. The smoke looked to shift toward him, and there was a face in the smoke. It smiled, now moving toward the reddening dawn sky.

They stood there, stunned, then turned toward the sky. What they saw was incredible. The clouds opened up, a bright source of light shining down as the image of Adrian Tepes appeared, like a specter in the sky. Behind him was a young woman, one who looked a lot like Anna, and next to her was an older man who bore royal features. More faces appeared, and Van Helsing realized that this was Adrien's family, those who had been waiting four centuries to pass into Heaven. The young woman was Elisabetha, his mother, and the man had to be Matthias.

And Anna now saw her past, all coming togther. There, smiling down, was her father, beaming with pride. Her mother was there as well, the smile one that said how proud she was of her daughter. They were at last at peace.

"Thank you," the image of Adrian seemed to say. And he was happy. At last, he was with his family, with the people he had lost over the hundreds of years he'd been forced to live, immortal as his father. And Van Helsing could see his peace, feel how thankful Adrian truly was. And he saw that he was being given his chance to go back, that he, the Archangel Gabriel, could go home.

He was ever so tempted. It was where he came from, where he belonged, at the left hand of God. He turned to see his companions, his friends. The looks in their eyes all said that they would not blame him, for he had earned this.

Yet, in his heart, Gabriel knew that he had to refuse. His role may be in Heaven, but where he belonged was here, on Earth. And looking toward the gates of Paradise, he shook his head, letting Adrian know that he had made his decision. "I belong here," he whispered. "But you earned this."

The man's spirit nodded, well understanding his angelic ally. He turned toward his mother, to his uncle, and then, they all ascended into the light, at last entering the gates of Heaven and finding peace. And as the clouds closed on the light, Van Helsing turned to his still living companions. They wouldn't have blamed him for going, but in his heart, Gabriel would have known it was not his purpose. He was needed here, on Earth, to protect mankind form the Darkness which they could not fight.

And as the pyre burned to embers, he looked once more to the sky. One day, he would return to Paradise, but this was not that day. He would live here on Earth, the angelic guardian of humanity, and protect it from all those who would plunge the world into darkness. That was his purpose, his job.

"Bless me, Father," he whispered to the rising sun. He smiled faintly, and now accepted his duty. But, even an angel had a sense of humor. "For I will surly sin."

Afterword

Well, it's been a long road writing this e-book. What started as a challenge from some fellow GAFFers turn into something I've made into an eventual trilogy. Shadow of the Vampire has been a great trip for me, and I hope you enjoy it as much as you probably enjoyed the actual Van Helsing movie, if not a bit more. I'd like to thank Steve Sommers for giving us what I like to call the "Universal Classics Trilogy", that being The Mummy, Mummy Returns, and Van Helsing. If not for that series of movies, this story probably would have ended up much different than it did, not that it's a bad thing. I'd also like to send great kudos to Kevin Ryan who wrote the novelization of the movie, since that was my friend during a long two weeks when I was on vacation and did not have access to the movie for reference. Mostly the point was to fix a lot of things that many watchers thought went wrong with the movie, like the point of teasing us with Van's real history, and then dropping it the minute we're about to find out. I also made it a point to be as historically accurate as possible with Dracula's origins, as well as geographically accurate. Much research was done for this book, and most likely will be done just as much for the second book, Curse of the Mummy. BTW, if anyone is wondering, yes, as a paper back, this thing would be as big as the actual novelization. ;;; So, here's too the future, and the next book, which I'm still working on. We say good-bye to Walachia, and hello to Egypt.