Chapter 25
A window. I stared at it as if it was the holy grail and I were Galahad. The only fault I found with that analogy was that the grail at this point seemed like a more likely object to attain. The window was far to high for me to reach. Velkan looked at it for a few moments before answering.
"Ah, yes." Velkan said with an amused expression on his face. I followed close behind him as he approached the window. He looked up at it, a thoughtful expression on his face. I could not but help at smiling. He turned back to me suddenly, laughing a quiet laugh.
"We should be able to leave through there, yes." He said. Velkan immediately ran to a shelf of books, taking an armful and stacking them at the foot of the opening. "It doesn't look like you can reach it on your own. Come here." He finished. He held his hand out for me to take, but I hesitated for a moment at leaving the shelter of the locked room.
"What if those things are out there?" I asked him. "What do we do then?" Velkan merely shrugged his shoulders in answer.
"We will find out soon enough, now won't we? Would you rather stay here and wait for those werewolves to pay you a visit?" Velkan asked.
A loud bang was suddenly heard and I jumped in surprise. Velkan shot a look behind us, a frightened look on his face. Velkan slowly returned his gaze to me. He smirked despite the situation and reached his hand out for me to take. "Hmmmm?" he asked.
"I think I will take your advice." I responded, looking back at the source of the noise. In the next room, the beasts were tearing apart everything in search of us. As I looked back, pure rage overwhelmed me. The Count had done this. He had taken my cousin, and had tried to kill us.
"Are you coming?" Velkan asked. His voice seemed almost worried as he watched me. Pushing those thoughts from my mind, I approached Velkan and took his hand, climbing onto the stack of books.
"Look for a latch to the window." He said simply. Sitting on the edge of the windowsill, I undid the latch. "Good." He said as he heard the click. "Now slide the window upwards…" he murmured silently. As quietly as I could, I opened the window. It had not been used for such a long time, making it difficult to slide open. It took a few moments before I had readied our escape route. I looked down at Velkan, smiling.
"Come." I said simply. He jumped, pulling himself onto the windowsill. I climbed through the small opening in the window, jumping down onto the soft grass outside. I rose from where I had fallen, and looked up to see Velkan climbing through as well. He stopped for a moment, closing the window behind him silently. He looked down and smiled, before jumping and landing gracefully on his feet.
"Anna said we should meet at the Church." I said, not allowing a moment of silence between us. Velkan looked about, trying to find a hidden route of escape. We saw nothing but open grass.
"Let us go." He said quietly. He began to walk quickly down the small incline directly in front of us. I picked up my skirts, following carefully behind him.
"Which church do we go to?" I asked. Velkan turned back and looked at me for a moment, shrugging his shoulder.
"I don't know. I suppose we should go to the first one we find." He said simply. I nodded in silence. We could still hear the cries of the wolves behind us, the shattering of glass and other objects ringing shrilly through the air. I wrapped my arms around myself, shuttering at the thought that we had only moments before been in the same building with those creatures.
"It is a disappointment that those people became werewolves when they did." Velkan said suddenly. "I'm sure with your cousin and uncle, we all would have been able to finish the Count then and there. It was almost as if he had planned for that to happen when it did." I said nothing.
Velkan did not venture any more comments as we walked briskly down the hill. Looking of into the distance, I saw the church steeple. I smiled and slowly began to quicken my step.
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Verona, Marishka, and Aleera watched me with a curious gaze as I looked out the window, off into the distance. We had failed to kill them, and as I thought about this more and more the anger slowly began to build. I turned away from the window and glared at my brides.
I found William standing off to the corner, his soft gaze looking at my dear Aleera. It almost amused me. He was quickly becoming infatuated with her. I looked to Marishka, addressing her first.
"Where is Christine?" I asked simply. Marishka slowly stepped forward, a mocking grin on her face.
"She didn't want to come, my Lord." She said simply. I looked past her and found Aleera quietly approaching William. I noticed as his eyes almost lit up unnaturally. My dearest Aleera. She was always the charmer. I felt Marishka's hand reach out gently to take mine. Angrily, I pushed her away.
"She didn't have the option as to whether she would come with us or not!" my voice boomed. I noticed Marishka's eyes darken with sorrow. "You should have taken her by force!" I yelled angrily. Verona immediately stepped to Marishka's side, wrapping her arms protectively around her.
"You speak to harshly, my lord." She said. I heard a quiet cry issue from my injured bride. "She did not mean to offend you." I softened my gaze and turned away from them both. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Aleera in the arms of William, her soft piercing gaze on me. I smirked.
"It is alright." I said quietly, never looking away from the window. "We will get our chance again, sooner or later. Come Marishka." I said. She said nothing, and did not venture to release herself from Verona's comfortable grip.
"I did not mean to hurt you, my bride, my love." I ventured, softening my voice to a comfortable whisper. I turned to her and noticed she had not yet moved. I looked to Verona.
"Go to him." I heard Verona say. "Go to him Marishka. He is not mad with you, can't you see that. How could anyone be angry with you?" she said. I noticed the small smile form on her lips. I held out my hand for her.
"Marishka…" I said. In moments she was in my arms, planting seductive kisses on my cheek. "Marishka…" I murmured again. "I am so very sorry if I offended you."
"What do we do?" I heard Aleera ask. She looked up at William for a moment, and turned her gaze back to me. "Are we going to kill her?" Aleera asked. I smiled despite myself.
"I do not know, Aleera." I said simply. I kissed Marishka's forehead in comfort. "Go for now and let me think." I finished. I felt Marishka release me gently, following Verona and the others out. Aleera had taken William's hand, leading him as well.
"Aleera!" I called. I saw her turn to me.
"Yes, my Lord?" she asked.
"You stay. I think you could be of some use. William remained where he was for a moment, his soft gaze on Aleera. I saw Aleera turn to him.
"Go with my sister, William." She said softly. "They will take care of you. Go, I will be there in a moment." William turned silently and followed behind my brides, closing the door quietly behind him.
"We have much to talk about, you and I." I said simply. I saw Aleera sneer.
"You mean to use William, don't you?" she asked. I nodded my head and turned away.
"Yes, he seems to have grown quite fond of you so quickly. Perhaps you can coax him into doing this small favor for me."
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"They are not here." I said. My heart was beating wildly for Anna and my Uncle. Where had they gone? I looked around like a madwoman, hoping against hope that they had arrived in one piece.
"Anna…" I heard Velkan's voice say. My heart tore in two as I heard him. He was worried for his sister. I tried my best to shake off the feeling of dread and put on a smile. We had to go inside. It was the only safe place we had. I took Velkan's hand in reassurance.
"I am sure they are alright. Let us go inside, Velkan. We will look for them in the morning." I said simply. Velkan nodded silently and followed me to the large doors. I opened them carefully and stepped into the small chapel.
"At least it is safe in here." I murmured quietly to myself. I heard the doors shut quietly behind us, and I turned to see Velkan closing them. I smiled despite the situation. "They are alright, I am sure of it!" I said with determination.
He leaned against the doors, looking up at the ceiling. His eyes seemed so distant as he thought. He slowly brought his gaze back down from the ceiling, and looked at me. Velkan took a deep breath, mustering the courage to say what he was going to say.
"You are right." He said simply. "My sister is perfectly capable of taking care of herself…" I noticed him smile.
"I'm sure wherever she has gone, my Uncle is sure to be. She took off after him, if you didn't notice." I said in response. "They are probably in the neighboring village, wondering where we have gone." He laughed quietly.
"You are right, more than likely." He said. He slowly pulled away from leaning against the wall. I still heard the hint of sadness in his voice as he spoke. I hated to hear him speak in that manner. My mind wandered over different topics we could speak of, things that would help him forget his sister, if only for a moment. I smiled when I found something.
"You know," I continued. "That was rather fun." I turned away from him and began to walk down the aisle of the chapel, towards the small alter. Velkan walked towards the window of the building, looking out into the darkness. "It is not everyday that you run for your life from a pack of rabid werewolves." I said simply. Slowly, but surely, I heard a small laugh come from him.
"You are an amusing girl." He said simply. "It is not everyday I can find someone quite like you. It has been much too long, Christine." He said. Velkan kept his gaze locked on the outside, watching the stars and moon.
"Don't you worry about Anna." I said finally. "She left before we did. I'm sure that they didn't follow her. It seemed to me like the vast army kept it's concentration on us." I continued. He turned to me and smirked. He was not thinking of Anna.
"How long has it been?" he asked. I looked at him, a confused smile on my lips. He had changed the topic so quickly. I didn't even know what he was thinking. Had he gone mad?
"What are you talking about?" I asked. He shrugged his shoulders before he replied.
"I am asking you how long has it been since I saw you last." He responded straightforwardly.
"Since the last time we met?" I continued. He nodded his head in agreement.
"Three years." I said simply. "Why?" I heard him laugh, and I jumped, not expecting him to do that. "What is so funny?" I asked. He turned away from the window and leaned against it, smiling at me.
"It seems that every time we meet, we always do under the most dangerous of circumstances. That does not bode well for our relationship." He said. I turned away from him, reddening in embarrassment. I could feel my heart beating wildly again.
"I realize that." I said. I turned and faced him once again. I said nothing more on the subject, but I could still feel Velkan's strong gaze on my face. I walked past him, feeling his eyes still on me as I pretended to check for some form of lock on the door.
"What are you doing?" he asked after a moment. I looked over at him before returning my attention back to the door.
"Looking for a lock." I said simply.
"I don't think there are locks on church doors." He said simply. I stopped suddenly and raised my gaze to his, a mocking smile on my lips.
"I know that now." I said simply. I turned from the door, and sat at the last pew. I closed my eyes and looked up at the ceiling, wanting more than anything for this nightmare to be over. I could hear the howls of the werewolves in the distance, searching for us all. They weren't giving up. "Oh God…" I murmured to myself.
I felt a soft breeze on my cheek, and I opened my eyes. I turned to find Velkan sitting beside me. "It has been three years." He said, looking at me. "My offer still stands."
"This is hardly the time nor the place!" I whispered. He smiled.
"This is the perfect time." He responded. "No one is here to interrupt us. In addition, there is nothing else to talk about." I looked away from him, remembering that night so long ago in my memory. The Count's words still burned in my mind.
"Find anything else to talk about." I said simply. He reached out quickly for my hand, wrapping it firmly around my own.
"Christine…" he ventured further. His voice seemed so insistent. His hand traveled slowly to my shoulder, squeezing it gently. "I know that is the only thing you wish to speak of. I can tell just by the way you move." He said simply.
"Please," I said, looking out the window at the night sky. "This cannot happen. I won't allow it to happen." I continued. He smiled, despite my resistance. He leaned in slowly to kiss me. I pulled away, flashes of so long ago in my mind.
"Are you sure?" I asked him. I felt him tighten his grip on my shoulder. He pulled me roughly into a kiss. To me, it almost seemed as if this action was the beginning of the end. We were playing right into the Count's hands.
A/N: I know I know, a stupid ending, but I couldn't think of anyway else to end the chapter, you know!? Lol. I hope you liked the latest installment of this crazy saga….I didn't think that this fic was going to get as long as it did. I'm sort of glad, though.
Countess Alana: I love your reviews, and I'm so glad you have been as loyal to the story as you have! I'm hoping when I finally post this story that you will have had an update on yours!!! I really want to read!
Widowed Dracula: I am happy to know that I have been able to keep the brides in character for all this time…I have been trying so very hard not to screw up their canon personalities!!! I really hate it when other people do that, you know!? Hope Christine isn't sounding too much like a Mary-Sue…(another one of my nightmares….errrrrr…shudders)
Luthien: I checked your profile page, and was very sad to see that you haven't gotten anything posted….I really wanted to see what kind of stuff you write. I guess when you get inspiration you'll be sure to write something really good! lol. I love your reviews and greatly appreciate the positive feedback that I have been getting from you!
Well, I must be off to write another chapter to this huge thing…I don't even think I can even call it a fanfic anymore, it's more of a major production. (I keep thinking that somehow, somewhay, a director will read this and like it enough to make a Van Helsing prequel….I know, I know, it will never happen but I can dream, can't I?)