Sarge1: Yes, work is bloody work. I'm so sick of work right now, I've been running around trying to catch a cold. Aw! (hugs back) here's the next chapter, I'm glad you liked the last one.
Liz-Bathory7: Epic? Really? I'm so happy that you love it, makes my job so much more enjoyable. Ready to read and review? 'Cause I'm a-going.
angel-death-dealer: An honor? Oh, stop it... seriously, I've got like a permanent blush! You're very welcome, I really enjoyed that last chapter, it was very warm and fuzzy.
EbonyBeach: Be happy! I wasn't sure if anyone would get that, "I'm going to have to poke out my mental eye" that's just something that I say. Thought it might fit Carl. Glad you love it, makes me not feel so stupid for saying it! (lol)
the Widow Dracula: Proud of me? Really? Thanks! Ah, yes, I knew someone would say something about the length. I had so much to say, but I figured I'd go with the direct approach. I didn't want to bury the feeling of it with so much, I don't know, stuff. You know what I mean? I'm very serious. I don't mind if people use my stuff in their fic, I just like to be asked first. It's kinda weird to be reading a fic and see something you recognize and go "Wow! What a great idea, wish I'd have thought of it." Then it dawns on you that you did think of it. But since I suggested you write it, I have no problems with you writing the fic, it was an excellent idea. So please, go right on ahead! I'll look foreword to reading it!
pIrAtEs TrEaSuRe: Hi! Me? Ruin Christmas? Wouldn't dream of it! Hm, I think you'll be surprised with how our hero comes home.
SilverFlover: Don't cry! Though, that's what I was aiming for... Shhh, that's a secret! Monsters don't go on pause for anyone, not even for Christmas vacation! But isn't that the job of the hero? You know, duty calls and all that jazz? Ah, so you liked the cross thing, I thought I might be getting a little corny, but I'm glad you liked it. I felt sorry for Carl, I would not want to give Anna that letter, he's very courageous, that little Friar. I'm very proud of him. (lol)
Countess Jackman: I don't know, I'm just the author at the mercy of my muse (they don't tell me anything), you'll have to read and find out. I'm so very happy that you loved it!
RockinLizzy: Never fear...
Spaztic Arwen: Could be, might be. I'm not really sure, you'd have to ask Selene, it was her idea.
funkyflamingo: As cute and fluffy was my goal, I am very glad you think so! Here's the next chapter, enjoy!
And now! (pauses for a drink of Diet Coke) Ahem, and now! Without much ado about nothing... (lol) I give you... CHAPTER 8!!
"Look out!" a random person shouted above the screams of the others. Gabriel whirled toward the sound, bringing his new crossbow to bear. He launched a flurry of silver tipped arrows without hesitation. The vampire he was shooting at didn't seem too intimidated. Cackling madly it swatted the bolts aside, heading straight at Van Helsing at break-neck speed.
Gabriel waited till the last moment to drop to the ground, rolling onto his back so he could keep firing. The vampire hissed and twisted acrobatically, landing gracefully on the roof of a house. She transformed quickly, shedding her demon appearance in favor of her softer human shape.
Vampiric green eyes stared at Van Helsing frankly, the vampiress snorted and in a mirror of Marishka calmly pulled a bolt from her shoulder. She looked at the silver tip, a less then pleased expression flitted across her pale features.
"You'll bleed for that," she stated matter-of-factly, watching almost amusedly as Gabriel scrambled to his feet. You're not getting old are you? his mind teased, he growled at the thought and straightened indignantly. He tossed the crossbow aside, he was out of arrows. He smirked up at the vampire, muscles tensed, he had one more trick up his sleeve, quite literally.
"Come on then you crazy old bat," he sneered, keeping his hands at his sides placidly. She hissed in anger, and flipped the bolt over, holding it like a dagger.
That's just great, attack the monster hunter with his own weapon, he thought with a sigh. Without waiting another second the vampire leaped from the roof, changing instantly back into her hellish form. Gabriel quickly dropped his tojo blades from his sleeves, activating them and hurriedly getting them spinning.
He felt the bite of the arrow piercing his shoulder, but that was nothing compared to what he'd done to the vampiress. She shrieked in agony, sailing over his head, drenching him in blood and gore. He'd sliced her stomach open.
She landed in a bloody tangled heap just behind him, he dropped the right tojo blade and pulled out a silver stake in the same instant. Whirling around, too quick for the eye to follow, he let the stake fly. He didn't miss.
The vampiress screamed one final time, before she crumbled into ash before his eyes. The entire village went eerily quiet for a heartbeat before the crowd of onlookers burst into cheers.
Sighing heavily and grunting at the pain from his wounded shoulder, Gabriel, all business still, marched over and retrieved his weapons. Shaking his head disgustedly he hurriedly shoved the items back into their pockets.
I must be quite the sight he thought bemusedly, taking note of his blood slicked clothing. He absentmindedly picked a piece of gore from his shirt and tossed it over his shoulder. Another day, another vampire.
Spitting some blood out of his mouth, he rolled his lip and whistled loudly. His trusty black stallion came trotting up, stopping before his bedraggled monster hunter with a whinny and a toss of his head.
"No need to show off" he admonished the black steed, patting his mounts soft nose. The stallion snorted, and Gabriel knew that if the horse could, he'd have rolled his eyes.
Shaking his head he grabbed onto the saddle horn and pulled himself up, crossbow bolt and all. It stung like hell, but he had somewhere to be, and more importantly he had someone he had to see.
"Good sir! Good sir!" one of the villagers cried, rushing up to the black horse and rider. The former laid back his ears and stomped his forefoot, Gabriel smiled and patted his neck.
"Thanks pal, but I got it," he said reassuringly, you're talking to your horse, you idiot he reminded himself. He twisted in his saddle, wincing as the arrow in his shoulder protested.
"Please, Mr. Van Helsing, let me remove that bolt for you. I'm a doctor!" the man said, gesturing to Gabriel's injured shoulder. The monster hunter looked down at the bolt, and frowned, he glanced back at the 'doctor'.
"I'll manage" he said gruffly, turning his proud steed back toward home.
"Thanks though" he called over his shoulder, then shook his head, you've gotten soft he berated himself silently. Securing his hat with his good arm, he snapped the reigns with the other.
"Let's go home," he said to the beast beneath him. Black ears flickered back at him before his horse surged foreword into a brisk trot.
Anna sighed boredly, there was absolutely nothing to do. So she sat, curled up on the couch in the front room, a warm blanket draped over her curled legs.
That's not true, you could be reading a book, or helping Miruna, you could train her mind supplied. Anna rolled her eyes, train for what? she thought back, Dracula's return?. She snorted and twisted on the couch, sick of talking with herself. Herself was a pain and really not all that helpful at the moment.
She hadn't really realized what a huge part of her life training to kill Dracula had been. Now that he was dead, she had nothing else to do. Gabriel helped with some of that, though she knew he couldn't think of anything to do either. So they mostly fooled around, that is when there wasn't some monster to be tracked down. Not that she really minded fooling around. But now that her monster hunter was gone she didn't have even that to do.
Sighing again, heavier this time, she slumped against the back of the couch and rested her head against it. Fine just sit here and stare at the ceiling, that's so entertaining, her mind fired at her. Shaking her head Anna twisted her neck and caught site of the presents sitting under the tree.
That's an idea! her mind cried, her brow wrinkled as she tried to figure out what she meant. Anna, hello! Christmas presents, you could open them and re-wrap them before Gabriel gets home!
"I don't think so," she said aloud, laughing at the notion. "After all the lectures I've given him about not peeking. It would be just my luck for him to come home while I was in the process of 'peeking'." She mumbled with another swift eye roll, still they were intriguing, just sitting there so patiently. They almost begged to be opened, her fingers twitched in her lap.
"No," she said firmly, looking away from the tempting sight and clenching her hands together. Where was Gabriel? Didn't he realize she was going insane?
What about Carl? she barked a laugh at the thought, what would she say to him?
"Excuse me Carl, but since my husbands not here for me to fool around with I was wondering if you might be able to entertain me." She snickered as she imagined the look on his face. But then again, maybe she could help him with one of his experiments, that could be interesting, couldn't it?
Set on her decision she stood up from the couch, folding the blanket neatly and setting it on the arm of the couch. Swimming in Gabriel's oversized clothing she headed for Carl's room, hoping to be saved from her boredom.
A knock sounded at the front door, Anna paused mid-stride, her heart leaping in her chest. Could she dare to hope?
Hell yes! her mind screamed, she raced to the door, throwing it open excitedly. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped at the sight that greeted her.
There stood her husband, sure enough, though he was barely recognizable. He was covered from head to toe in blood, and he had an arrow sticking out of his shoulder. He looked exhausted, he was panting heavily, his chest heaving with each breath.
"Gabriel! What happened to you!" Anna cried, pulling him into the house.
"Nice to see you too," he said sarcastically, wincing when she touched the bolt in his shoulder.
"Why did you leave this in!" she scolded, "You know better then that!"
"Yes I do, but I wanted to come home to my wife, so for time's sake, I left it in," he explained. "But now that you mention it, it hurts a little, think we could move this elsewhere? I'd like to get this out" he said conversationally, pushing her fingers from the wound.
"Well, leaving the bolt did keep you from bleeding out" she conceded, he grunted as she tugged him up the stairs with her. Pushing open their bedroom door, she lead him over to the ridiculously large bed and pushed him down onto it.
"Hold on, I'll be right back," she said quickly, disappearing back down the hallway. Gabriel sighed and looked at the bolt in his shoulder disgustedly,
"My own crossbow bolt," he grumbled unhappily. Reaching up he took off his hat and tossed it in the general direction of the coat rack, then ran a hand through his messy hair.
"You can take a bath after I pull that out," Anna said stepping back into the room. "If you're nice I might be talked into washing your hair for you," she teased lightly. Dropping a pile of towels on the bed next to the weary monster hunter, she tenderly brushed his forehead with her soft fingers.
"Poor baby" she purred, watching amusedly as his eyes closed in bliss as she continued to stroke his face. Biting her bottom lip she tried to get a closer look at the arrow sticking from his skin.
"Just do it," he whispered hoarsely, blinking his eyes open he stared up at her. She nodded and tentatively reached to grab the end of it. He hissed as a fresh wave of agony speared from the wound when she grabbed the bolt. She cringed but tightened her grip on the blood-slicked arrow. He shut his eyes tight against the torment and clenched his teeth together.
"I'll count to three," she said softly, watching his face contort with pain.
"One..."
"Two..." Gabriel tensed, every nerve ending screaming.
"Three!" Anna shouted and pulled at the same time, using all the strength she had, hoping to make it quicker. Gabriel cried out, his entire body convulsing in pain, a fiery tremor snaking down his spine. He shuddered and gasped, blood quickly spurted from the fresh wound, dribbling down his already ruined sweater.
"Sorry, sorry!" Anna exclaimed, grabbing a white towel and pressing it to his bleeding shoulder. He gasped and shook his head, unable to help the small whine that escaped his throat.
"It's all right, stitch it up Anna" he ground out, trying not to think about how much that was going to hurt.
"Let's get these filthy clothes off first, are you hurt anywhere else?" she asked gently, pushing off his trench coat as gently as possible. He gave a short humorless laugh.
"Am I hurt anywhere else? It might be easier to ask where I'm not hurt," he said softly, a wry grin twisting his features. Anna smiled at him,
"Glad you still have your sparkling sense of humor," she said, raising one dark eyebrow. He snorted and pulled his good arm out of his sweater sleeve, she helped him remove the other side as gently as possible.
"Good lord, how many were there?!" Anna cried, seeing the various cuts and bruises marking his bare chest. He looked down at himself and blushed, then cleared his throat.
"Uh, just one," he said abashedly, Anna decided to laugh at him later as she took in the damage. She sighed and reached for another towel, unfolding it to reveal a needle and thread.
"This is going to hurt," she warned, threading the needle carefully, she brought it to his skin. He reached over and grabbed hold of another towel, placing it in his mouth and biting down on it. He nodded his consent to her, and closed his eyes, prepared for a world of hurt.
Anna's face screwed up in disgust as she pulled the needle through his skin,
"I'm almost done," she soothed, a few moments later. He nodded again, completely silent except for the occasional grunt.
"Finished," she said softly, pulling her knife off the bed, using it to cut the leftover string. He spit out the towel, and flopped back onto the bed, unbelievably tired. He felt Anna sit down next to him, her cool hand on his knee.
"You okay?" she asked worriedly, he could just imagine the look on her face. He peeked an eye open at her,
"If I say 'no' will you wash my hair?"
An hour or so later, he was finally clean of the muck and grime.
"I feel like I've been run over by a heard of charging wildebeest" he moaned, Anna pushed him onto the bed, towel drying his hair.
"My poor brave monster hunter," she commented absentmindedly, she turned and tossed the towel back into the bathroom.
"You realize what this means don't you?" he said, eyes distant as he lost himself in thought.
"Hm?" Anna responded, bending she picked up his feet and slid his legs onto the mattress. Gabriel sighed, his dark eyes tracking her every movement, she pulled the soft blankets up to his neck. Tucking him in like a mother would a child, even bending to press a kiss against his forehead.
"I'm getting old," he moaned, a slightly worried look crossing his face.
"Shush, go to sleep," Anna said softly, brushing his hair out of his face lovingly. He looked up at her pleadingly,
"Where are you going?" he asked, struggling to sit up. Anna rolled her eyes and pushed on his uninjured shoulder, shoving him back into the pillows.
"I'm not going anywhere, I need to change my clothes, and you need to go to sleep. I'll be right back," she said softly. He smiled sleepily,
"Did you miss me?" he asked, watching her through half closed eyes, she smiled and nodded.
"Of course," she said simply, that seemed to make him feel better. He relaxed further into the pillows, his eyes slipping shut. He was sound asleep seconds later. Anna smiled to herself and stood from the bed, stretching her arms above her head and yawning. She watched him sleep for a moment, his chest gently rising and falling, the stark white bandage a sharp contrast to the crimson sheets. Smiling to herself she padded over to her dresser, Gabriel wasn't the only one who needed sleep.
Dressed in a soft royal blue nightie she stood still for a minute, savoring the feel of the soft, cool, silk against her skin. Careful, so as not to wake her slumbering husband, Anna crawled into the bed. She hadn't been able to sleep since he'd left, the bed had felt far too cold and lonesome. Not to mention much to big, when she was left by herself to fill it. It tweaked her a bit when she realized that this was the same bed she'd always had, she'd had it to herself for years. It just wasn't the same anymore, to know that if she rolled over Gabriel wouldn't be there. It felt wrong.
But now he was back, and maybe, just maybe, they could both get some rest.
She yanked the blankets up to her chin, settling comfortably on her side, the pillow felt so heavenly under her head. She felt Gabriel stir beside her, and seconds later she was enveloped in a warm embrace. He wasn't awake at all, moving out of habit.
"You pull those stitches out and you're going to have to put them back in yourself," she warned. He of course didn't respond, still lost in dreamland. She played with his fingers for a minute, fighting off sleep for just a little longer. She lost her battle with unconsciousness seconds later, chestnut eyes disappeared, crimson lips parted. Her breathing grew softer, her chest rose and fell with every effortless breath.
Outside the bedroom window, soft new snow began to fall. Drifting to the ground and blanketing the Transylvanian town. All the inhabitants slumbered peacefully, the sun a few hours away from rising. Vaseria was going to have a white Christmas.
Who's ready for Christmas with the Van Helsings? Two chapters left!