Smoke and Mirrors

Chapter Two: In Which Drea gives Explanations

A/N: GAH! My (deleted) computer got (deleted) (DELETED) HOT CHOCOLATE on the MONITOR, and because the (deleted) thing's seven or so years old, I have to get a new one! (Adele precedes to swear silently for ten minutes.) I had the next FOUR chapters of this on it, and now I have to redo them! Oh well, so it goes.

Drea walked over to two teenagers playing checkers, allowing the slightly dazed trio to talk amongst themselves.

"How do we know we can trust this girl?" Anna asked angrily.

"She did kill Aleera," Van Helsing pointed out.

"That's true." Carl agreed. "But why were there three Brides?"

"I don't know? Maybe this Drea girl brought Marishka back!" Anna said.

"I did NOT!" Drea bellowed the last word.

"Drea, what's going on?" The speaker was a blonde girl with light blue eyes, and she towered over Drea.

"Gwen, you know how weird things happen every once in a while around me…" Drea started.

"Like when Mrs. Dawson's science lab broke, and the time the power short circuited, and when Morgan conveniently "tripped" during his final after he kept bugging you," interrupted a boy with sandy blonde hair and green eyes.

"Lysander, shut up." Drea's voice was tired. "I'm serious. Gwen, can you get the others?" Gwen nodded and vanished into the hall for a moment, returning with three other girls. "Alrighty then. The girl with the black glasses is Cricket, she's Lysander's sister."

"Take my book and die," she said holding aloft a battered copy of The Hound of the Baskervilles, gray eyes dangerous. Her dark brown hair was wavy, and fell to past her shoulders.

"Colleen's her real name, and I swear she knows that stupid book by heart," commented a redheaded girl, hazel eyes dancing. " I'm Raze."

"And I'm Ella," said a girl with black hair and brown eyes.

"Okay well, now they've introduced themselves, that's Anna, Carl, and Van Helsing." Drea counted to three.

"WHAT!" Blastoff.

"Well in a nutshell, I'm a witch, and when I went to take my not-killing-Lysander-for-being-an idiot walk, I found these three, fighting Dracula, Aleera…"

"Marishka and Verona," Anna said.

"Yeah, them. Well, Aleera grabbed me, and, well, I was more than a little annoyed, and I used a little magic to get Aleera off me. But she reacted badly and exploded." Drea looked a little sheepish.

"Well she probably would have killed you first," Cricket pointed out. She was pale at the thought.

"So what are we gonna DO about it?" Ella scowled.

"Anna, Carl and I are going to continue hunting Dracula. You are going to stay here."

"Not a chance," Raze snorted.

"He'll kill you!" Gwen squeaked.

"We want to help," Cricket said steadily. "You're too close to the problem, a fresh set of eyes is what's needed."

"What Cricket said," Lysander added.

"Besides, our fates are already bound in this, as well as one other," Drea said calmly.

"What do you mean?" Anna asked.

"Have you ever heard of the Prophecies of the Shadows?" Drea's eyes were sparkling.

"I think I ran across a reference to them in the Vatican library." Carl said excitedly. "They were said to tell how to destroy a great evil."

"And you neglected to mention this why?" Anna said. Carl was silent.

"Carl, we're waiting." Van Helsing growled.

"No one has the actual prophecies."

"No one without magic, actually," Cricket guessed.

"Yes, I have them, they're in the Book." Drea smiled.

"Book?" Ella asked. Drea shook her head.

"The Book of Night with Moon, sort of a textbook for the girls in my family." Drea explained.

"Why the girls?" asked Lysander.

"The boys have another book, the Book of Sun Without Clouds." Drea grimaced. "The boys in my family have a different type of magic, more showy."

"Showy?" Raze questioned.

"They tend to specialize in explosions."

"Oh." A knocking at the door interrupted them.

"That would be my mom with Maggie." Gwen said darkly.

"Maggie?" Van Helsing asked.

"My little sister."

"Oh." Cricket, being the most presentable in a black sweater and jeans, went to the front hall and opened the door.

"Hello, Mrs. Holmes."

"Hello, Colleen. Maggie's been very excited to come."

"Yup!" said a cheerful voice.

"Cool, Maggie. Guess what? I found that movie you wanted to see!" Cricket, who liked Maggie, frequently baby-sat her.

"Really?"

"What movie?" Mrs. Holmes' voice sounded nervous.

"The Great Mouse Detective!" Maggie laughed

"Oh, all right. If it's alright, can you pick up Maggie after school?"

"Of course!"

"Thank you. Goodbye, Magpie!"

"Bye, Mommy!" The door closed.

Cricket walked back, followed by a wiry girl of seven with strawberry blonde hair and green hazel eyes. "Who's that, Cricket?" the little girl asked curiously, pointing at the trio from the past.

"That's Anna, Carl, and Van Helsing," Ella said. Maggie looked confused, but nodded.

"What's up, Magpie?" Lysander asked.

"The ceiling, the sky, and that bat thingy!" Maggie said.

"Bat thingy!?" Everyone whirled to the window, where Marishka was in bat form, watching them. Gwen grabbed Maggie, Van Helsing grabbed his crossbow, and Drea raised a hand with glowing gray fire. The bride cackled, and flew away.

"Gwen, what's going on?"

"Long story, sweetling." Gwen replied.

"I think it would be a very good idea to read the prophecies now." Anna said.

"Prophecies?" Maggie frowned.

A/N: That was two or three chapters, only with major editing.

Next Week: In which the prophecies are read.