Smoke and Mirrors

Chapter Four

Five minutes later, Maggie, seated on Gwen's lap, stared open mouthed at Drea. "That creepy bat was a vampire? Like in ghost stories?" Cricket grinned sheepishly as Gwen glared at her.

"Yes, but who told you ghost stories?" Gwen asked the seven year old. Maggie's green hazel eyes glittered with laughter as she pointed at Cricket, who paled.

"Please don't kill me, Gwen." Carl, Anna, and Van Helsing looked at each other. Raze rolled her eyes.

"Chill, you two, it isn't as if she read anything really spooky to Magpie here." Ella raised an eyebrow at Cricket's nervous smile.

"Anyway, don't you guys remember a certain prophecy? Might tell us how to get rid of Dracula? Or am I the only one who cares about an evil demon loose in the town?" Ella's voice was icy.

"Ella's right. We need to destroy Dracula before anyone else gets hurt." Van Helsing said.

"Yes, we can't waste any more time," Anna said descisively.

Drea nodded absentmindedly. "Here it is.

"In the depths of the night

lies a hunger none can fight

on Devil's wing's they fly

beware of a darkened sky

Try you might

You cannot win the fight

Save by the gray power

And the prize of the tower

Those of two times must unite

Lest darkness clouds all's sight

Seven plus three

Shall they be

The girl of the moor shall know all

The dove shall not let them fall

The friar, princess, and twin

Shall be pivotal to win

The little bird and girl of the moor

Shall face the gold creature of lore

The dark one raised from her pyre

Shall face her of fire

The sister shall cause darkness ruin

The wolf of the moon shall hang in the balance soon

An era of darkness must not begin

Learn caution to win

Under the brightest moonlight

The fall of the prince of night

This is not the final battle of the war

The unenchanted shall - the door."

"Well, parts of it are very clear," Carl stated optimistically. Lysander looked at him.

"Yes, as clear as mud." The boy sighed. Cricket's gray eyes rolled heavenwards.

"You are a royal pain, 'Sander. The first part tells- quite clearly, I might add- that this is about Dracula and the Brides. The second states that you need the "gray power", and "the prize of the tower" to win."

"Cricket, you have SO read The Hound of the Baskervilles one too many times," Raze smirked, prompting the shorter girl to smack the redhead.

"Hey, that story is set on a moor, right?" Gwen spoke up. Cricket nodded. "Maybe you're the "Girl of the Moor"." Anna nodded at that.

"I am likely the "princess", and Carl is the "friar". Mr. Van Helsing, any thoughts on the matter?" she asked curiously. He thought carefully.

"I think that Drea should copy down the Prophecy for Cricket to work on." Drea nodded sleepily. Gwen looked at the clock.

"My god, look at the time! We have school tomorrow! Bed, now!" Gwen said. "Carl, Van Helsing, Drea might take you to pick out sleeping stuff for tonight." Drea grinned wickedly and grabbed the two men.

S M O K E A N D M I R R O R S

Drea led them in a small room. "This is my dad's room. He's on a business trip, so he won't be around for a while." Carl looked at her curiously.

"Where is your mother?" Drea's face clouded over. "I'm sorry, Drea, I didn't mean to upset you." Drea smiled sadly.

"It's OK, Carl. Mom died on an assignment, sorta like what you do, Van Helsing. I was eight at the time." Drea's green eyes focused sharply on Van Helsing's left side. "Now, let me take care of that wound." Van Helsing's eyes widened.

"How did you-"

"-know? I've trained as a healer for years. I'm one of the top in my class. Honestly, I think Lysander might have realized something, god knows Cricket and Gwen did. Let me see." At the irritated tone in the teen's voice, Carl grinned slightly at Van Helsing. Van Helsing rolled his eyes at the girl as she inspected the bite.

"My hand to god! Did ANY of you EVER heard of clean bandages! I wouldn't be surprised if a zillion and one diseases are in that bite. What made it, so I can heal the stupid thing?" Drea said, flipping though the Book.

"A werewolf." Drea raised an eyebrow, but still flipped through the Book.

"Ah, to clean it I need essence of…" she rattled off names while grabbing several glass vials and pouring varying amounts of the contents on a clean white cloth. She held the cloth to the wound and said "We're gonna need to stop at the Moonlight Café, a sort of store for witches who use the Book of Night with Moon tomorrow to get ingredients for a self-control potion. I don't need you to go around killing anybody on me."

"So your Book doesn't have a cure either?" Van Helsing asked sadly. Drea shook her head and muttered something under her breath. Gray fire shuttled around the wound until it was fully healed. She pulled out two pairs of pajamas and handed them to Carl. She said a good night and tottered to sleep.

Van Helsing looked at where the bite had been. It was gone.

"Now that's a talent I'd like to have," he muttered.