Ragweed (singsong): I'm back, I know you all missed me!
Dracula: No we didn't…
Ragweed: Watch it! Your life is currently in my hands! Ahhhh! Holy crow! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in over three weeks! I didn't have internet access for the longest time. I was out in Prince Rupert camping with my uncle and was trying (and failing) to improve my archery abilities. (Don't I live an exciting fun-filled life?)
Gabriel/Carl/Dracula: Get on with it!
Ragweed: Fine…. Um okay, reviews. Atleng: Wow, that must be the first time I've ever caused physical harm to a reader…this gives me so many ideas! I actual never watched 'Days of our Lives' and the other I've never heard of. I'm not a big soap opera person…. Anyway, thank you so much for your long reviews! They make me want to write so much more! Verona, glad to know we're both either very weird, or very smart when it comes to vampire biology.
Gabriel/Carl/Dracula:…riiight.
Ragweed: Okay, I'm going to say that, Jet, Tsume and Hige (three of my muses) overtook me on this one so, this chapter may not be the best, I'm sorry. I tried my best but this chapter was just a bit difficult to write. I will return to more frequent updates after this.
Crimson-Stained Shards of Memory
Chapter 6: Willing for Darkness
"'Cause I'm broken when I'm open,
And I don't think that I am strong enough,"--'Broken'Seether
.:I:.
"Damn it!"
Gabriel wiped a small amount of blood from a line of small scratches on his arm that the thorns of a blackberry bush not far off thought he needed. It wasn't that they bled, it was that they stung like hell. Two thumbnail-sized thorns were embedded in the flesh of his forearm. Pinching his skin, Gabriel tore the two thorns from his arm without much thought. He had had a lot worse happen to him then stinging blackberry thorns.
The days had gone by slowly so far; riding through the foothills of the Carpathians was only so exciting after doing it so many times. Gabriel had noticed how much colder it had gotten though. The tail end of winter was slipping out of Europe, leaving a chilling, damp mist that clung to the trees during the early days of spring. Thick, flat, grey clouds hung low in the darkened sky, threatening to rain down upon the forests and meadows of the foothills. Old stone walls of long forgotten farms and homes were hidden from view under ferns and vines and overgrown shrubbery. The stone and wooden foundations of ancient homes lay crumbled in the fields that sprawled along the foothills. Trimmed green grass fields lined with hedges and trees blanketed the rolling foothills while the mountains loomed in the distance, shrouded in the thick mist. Towering like angry black gates, guarding the snowy misery that was Transylvania.
Gabriel's mind wandered as thoughts of Transylvania returned. A stab of guilt hit him square in the chest as his true motives behind this entire journey began to be questioned in his own mind. Had he tricked himself into leaving everything and thinking that there was something he was actually running to? Running from? More guilt surfaced from deep places within his soul he thought he'd locked away long ago. The long-forgotten voice of reason gnawed in the back of his mind. Whispering almost mockingly, What are you running from, Gabriel? You know there is nothing to find. Your letting your own weaknesses take over you. You were trained to not let that happen. It seems you're slipping, Gabriel. Running never did anything but leave people broken hearted behind. Think of the Order, you simply abandoned your duties there. Think of Carl, he's been your only friend and you've cast him aside. Think of all the people who will suffer because you let your own paranoia overtake you.
"Every achievement comes with sacrifices," Gabriel whispered aloud to the voice. It was a line he had repeated many times to justify what he did. Justification more for himself then for others.
Ha! scoffed the voice. Achievement!? What exactly are you achieving here, Gabriel?
A mix of what felt like rage and hidden guilt built within his body as Gabriel's horse trotted along on the worn dirt path up into the mountains. Silence returned and remained unbroken for several hours, save the singsong calls of red-wing blackbirds, flushed from their long-grass hideaways by the clopping of horse hooves.
Soon, the ground underfoot became rockier and the sweeping green grass and the fir trees were replaced with the brittle and bare shrubs of bracken and thicket. The mountains were still thriving on the coattails of winter and the temperature in the air dropped far bellow freezing. As Gabriel and his horse climbed higher along the mountain side, a fringe of thin, spare snow lined the bases of small boulders and rocks that dotted the steep landscape. Soon, Gabriel's breath as well as the horse's became a misty fog on the frozen air.
After what seemed like several hours further, the black Transylvanian stallion crested the top of the first crag. Gabriel almost winced as his eyes fell upon the snow-blanketed range of mountains that lay between him and Transylvania. The white mountaintops seemingly stretched on forever, dipping and rising in shadows of a shining sun. Raised far above the mist, the sun shone in cold light, bright enough to cause a man to squint. Spares was the amount of foliage in these unworldly heights. Only small groves of pine and fir trees like cypress and arbutus grew in the shadowed dewy dells in-between mountain peaks.
A long way to go for nothing, mocked the voice.
Shoving the doubting thoughts from his mind, Gabriel spurred his horse in the flanks. The animal reared to life, pawing its fore-hooves at the air for a moment, then with a whinny and a rage of whipping mane and leather, the horse took off down the first of many mountainsides to come. Onwards to Transylvania.
.:I:.
Night fell surprisingly quickly upon the Carpathians. Almost instantly as the sun slipped behind the uneven horizon, the indigo shield of the night sky chased away the sunlight and glared down upon the horseshoe-shaped mountain range. The blue-indigo lights of the night caused the ivory snow to glow. The powdery, thick snow was luminous with a soft white haze. But, this was hard to noticed, given that the winds and snow raced around overhead. Torrential amounts of snow whipped through the air along with hail and wind. The snow was so thick in the air, it felt as if the very air was liquid, making breathing near impossible. Ebbing and flowing, the hail struck without mercy down upon the mountaintops. Snow tipped, were the peaks of the swelling mountains. In-between the rising mountains, small dells and depressions in the rocky soil were buried under feet of powdered snow. Here, in these dells, small groves of high-altitude trees grew such as cypress and aspens. The small dell that was nestled in the tops of the mountains would have provided great shelter, had anything living been in the depression of rocky terrain. But, as you may know, very little lives in the frost-bitten tops of the mountains of Carpathia. This does not mean, however, that nothing ever visit's these lonely mountains-peaks. For at that moment, settled in the copse of cypress and young redwoods, a man and a black horse sheltered away from the storm that raged outside the meagre shelter of the copse.
Gabriel drew the deerskin blanket further up on himself. Even in the black shelter of the cypress and aspen copse, the air was still sharp with the icy bite of winter. The Transylvanian horse, an animal that naturally took to sleeping upright, had lain down near the base of the massive cypress Gabriel had lain against to sleep, to keep the blood in its legs warm. Concerned that the animal would freeze in its sleep, Gabriel had drawn the thinner, smaller, rabbit-skinned blanket over the animal's back. The rabbit-skin Carl had sewn together on their first trip to Transylvania after Gabriel had brought the animals back to eat. (The little friar was and endless river of talents, be they odd, useless, or useful.) But surprisingly, the horse had not stirred when Gabriel draped it, as one would expect such an animal to do.
Gabriel feared the animal may be ill and the fright it would die was ever-present. Though with the way his luck was going, Gabriel would be too surprised if the animal did parish. It would top every thing off, he thought with a bitter smirk. The stallion, Gabriel guessed, must have been well over five years of age. And a strong, long-distance, cross-country running horse like the Transylvanian would break down at a younger age then a working horse would have. Meaning this would more the likely be the animal's last run. Shifting onto his side, Gabriel faced the stallion a few feet from him, laying among the gnarled cypress roots.
"One last journey, boy," he whispered, not really to the horse, "then you can go home." A sad smile crossed Gabriel's face as memories of Anna he had long thought gone by now returned and began to circle in his mind, no matter how hard he tried to suppress him. It was ironic, the only memories he had were the ones he wanted gone the most.
Moving onto his back once more, Gabriel pulled the deerskin up 'round his neck. Settling down as best he could the darkness settled in. The snow and hail wailed outside of the tightly-nit grove of cypress and redwoods and every once in a while, the far-off howl of a wolf would jolt the senses of both Gabriel and his horse. But, despite all of the icy wretchedness that raged just outside of the grove, even Gabriel was surprised at how quickly sleep came in the misery of winter.
There were no more dreams that night, nor the presence of the Ghost Dracula that had invaded his mind. In fact, sleep had been blissful blackness that night and Gabriel cursed as sensation of consciousness returned to his body. Twisting onto his stomach, Gabriel arced his back and let the blood in his body move again. Stretching his arms, letting his skin re-fit his body, Gabriel drew in a deep breath and held it, deep within himself, stretching his ribs back into the right shape of his body, then let it go and sink back into the cold embrace of the cypress roots. Laying for a moment, Gabriel aloud all the thoughts in his mind to swirled and skip around before he forced them to rebury themselves away deep within his mind. Someone like him could not afford such emotions to rule him.
Then what am I doing here?
The first thing he noticed--despite the fact that a rather large amount of frost had sealed his eyelashes shut for a moment before he woke--was that the storm had letup during the night and in its place a bright sun shone down in the little copse that filled the bowl-shaped dell; as well as the tips and peaks of the rest of the mountain range. But despite the piercing sun, the air was still cold and bitter.
Flipping the deerskin off himself, Gabriel sprang to his feet and stretched his arms out as sleep slipped its grip from around him. Pulling his leather full-length coat off the ground--which he had sprawled over himself during the night--and pulled it over himself, shaking what little snow there was off of himself. The horse, Gabriel noticed, was already awake and was pulling at its reins, which were tied to a redwood sapling, trying desperately to nibble at the newly-blooming flowers of a hawthorn bush. The rabbitskin that Gabriel had draped over the horse that night lay shaken off on the ground in the mangled cypress roots.
Glad that the animal had survived the night, Gabriel release the horse's reins from the tree and let it feed on the little amount of grass and foliage there was. Turning back he rolled up the animal skins and stuffed them into his cloth bag. Throwing the sacks into a pile under the horse's saddle, which he had hung up on one of the lower branches of the cypress tree, Gabriel took in another deep breath and let the tensions gathered over the night to let slip from his body. Stepping out from under the low-hanging pine-needle branches into the edge of the dell. The instant his bare skin touched the frozen air a large shudder swept through Gabriel's body. Only then did he notice the lack of feeling in his fingertips. Rubbing his hand together to bring his blood back to life, Gabriel suddenly felt his legs tremor and give-way beneath him and he sank to his knees in the snow.
The image hit him hard, knocking him to the ground. Harsh pounding in his head struck him and Gabriel was thrown to the ground. Twisted and fragmented, the image played out in his mind, moving quickly and jolting. A piercing whistle broke his ears and Gabriel clamped his hand over them in a desperate attempt to stop to the howling, although he was sure that he could feel blood ebb from them. Some invisible force grabbed him and Gabriel's body refused to breathe. Everything became swirled and broken and shattered. Screaming. People screaming. Memories. His memories. Confused shards of memories, distorted, warped and twisted into something beyond recognition. But, they were his. As always, a terrible pain swept through his veins as the nightmares began. Darkness enfolded him, spiralling down into emptiness that he seemed to never come out of. He didn't fight it though, he found, that he didn't want to. The Darkness Engulfing seemed so welcoming. Perhaps the ending wouldn't be so terrible. Perhaps it would be easier for it all to end. And the last thing he heard before the image began was the racing clack of horse hooves towards him and the panicked screaming, of a strangely familiar voice.
"Vlad watch out!" called a voice from the side of the cliff, "You'll get yourself killed."
A laugh sprang up from the tangled tree limbs hanging over the hundred foot cliff, "It is almost ridiculous how much you can be like my father at times."
The waterfall roared down from a good thirty feet above head, then cascaded down the cliff-side into the frozen lake a good hundred feet below. On either side of this massive sight, two cliffs jutted out near thirty feet down the falls walling the falls in. Gnarled trees grew straight from the cliff faces, their leaves constantly soaked in it's mist. But know it was winter and the trees were laced with pure white snow. At least two feet of untouched snow lay among the woods and on the trees on the valley's mountains. The birch trees that rose majestically from the white ground made for a beautiful sight in the forest.
Hopping nimbly along these branches, a young man, no more then twenty, leaped outwards along the tree limbs until they bent so far it seemed would snap under his weight, but they didn't. As usual, Vlad was dressed in all black, his long, silky, black hair pulled back into a braid. With the abilities of a cat, Vlad crouched low on the outmost branches, gazing almost in childlike wonder at the massive falls that roared and cascaded down in front of him.
"Well your father will roast us alive if we come back from this hunting trip empty-handed," replied Gabriel, stringing his bow together and reaching back for an arrow in the quiver strapped to his back by a leather sling. "Now, get back from there before you fall!"
"Well then, Gabriel, it seems you have a choice," said Vlad, turning on the branch with a self-satisfied smirk on his face, "you can either wait for me and we'll go back and be roasted alive together. Or, you can go back now and be roasted alive yourself."
"Or we can leave now and still catch up with that herd of roe deer you scarred away," shouted back Gabriel over the roar of the falls, loading the arrow into his bow.
Turning back, Vlad leapt from one of the branches of the mangled trees protruding from the face of the cliff to another closer to the solid ground, "I seem to recall that you were the one who spooked the bucks. That one almost ran into you. Now, get my arrows, I'm coming back."
Rolling his eyes at his friend, Gabriel strutted over to a large snow-covered bolder near the edge of the woods and lifted Vlad's quiver and unstrung bow from the tree they rested against. With the agility of a cat Vlad sprang from one snow covered branch to the next, shaking what snow that had settled on the branches off and would pause to watch it flutter to the misty white abyss below. Brittle twigs breaking and scratching at him as he did. But, as always, he did seem to mind. Almost at the cliff-edge Vlad came to one of the larger jumps he had to make, nearly eight feet from one branch to the next. Crouching on all fours Vlad readied himself and shot one last look at Gabriel.
"Think you can make it?" he said with a laugh, stringing Vlad's bow back together.
"If I don't and I fall, I'm blaming it on you."
And with out another word, Vlad sprang, the jump had been easier then he had expected and for a second, he worried if he had overshot the jump. But he landed almost perfectly, coming down crouched on all fours. The tree limb wavered under him as the impact of his land traveled through the wood of the branch, shaking off what snow had settled along the branch. With his landing a success Vlad shot another smug look at Gabriel who rolled his eyes. All he needed to do now was walk along the tree limb on the cliff and parade his achievement in front of Gabriel who would, in turn, knock him on straight to the ground.
Oh what fun, Vlad thought with a smug snicker added. Tightening his hands around the thick frosty tree limb below he prepared for the final leap. Snap. Vlad froze, nerve endings surged with adrenalin, his ears perked. The sound…had it come from the branch he was perched on. Crack. A long net of cracks spider webbed across the full length of the ice that encased the tree limb. Flakes of ice fell from dizzying height into the white mist oblivion below. Clack. That was no ice…that was the wood. The wood beneath his feet, the wood that the only thing separating him from life and death. Slightly, he was sure he felt the branch underneath him shift. His heart thumped so loudly in his ears he was sure he could feel the blood pushing through his veins, Oh, God, Archangels, Virgin Mary, anyone up there who may be listening, Vlad swallowed hard and raised his head to look at Gabriel, Don't let him see me die like this.
Gabriel rose slowly to his feet, eyes fixed on his friend, balancing perilously on the frozen tree-limb, only five feet from solid ground. Had…had he really heard that sound. The terrible sound of ice shattering and wood splintering. Had it been some frozen branch on a tree in the forest? Both men froze, waiting for the other to say something. Vlad's eyes rose and locked them with Gabriel's. Some unspoken terror travelled through Vlad's eyes into Gabriel's. Some unspoken words that called out to his friend, an unspoken, yet loud and desperate plea.
Help me.
"Don't…move," he whispered as he edge toward the cliff edge where Vlad perched frozen. As Gabriel, still clutching Vlad's strung bow quickly heard another body-breaking snap as the wood splintered along the centre once more. Gabriel flinched and stopped his advance, as if worried--since technically he was walking on the roots of this tree--his movement would cause the tree limb to break. After a few moments of absolute stillness (save the waterfall that roared dully in the back) Gabriel edged closer, returning Vlad's unspoken plea.
Hang on.
Through the sound of his pounding heart, Vlad tried to weigh the situation. If he was quick enough, he could leap the remaining five feet to the cliff's edge. But if he missed…he would plummet a good hundred feet to the frozen lake below, and most likely his death. But he if waited perched like this, the tree limb beneath him my fall before Gabriel could reach him. His nerves came alive with fire and adrenalin so much he felt himself trembling and prayed silently that the subtle movement wouldn't cause the tree branch to shatter beneath him.
Locking the bow in one hand Gabriel, now at the teetering edge of the cliff knelt down one knee so he was eye level with Vlad. Gabriel reached out with his other hand to Vlad. Green eyes shone with fear, something Gabriel thought was non-existent to Vlad. Gabriel was sure his own brown eyes reflected Vlad's fear perfectly, but he couldn't think about that now. He was jolted out of thought when he felt Vlad's cold, slender hand interlace with his outstretch one. They locked eyes once more and they silently agreed….
1...2...
Crawo! Wood shattered and ice flew. Whatever solid ground was beneath Vlad vanished and the white mist of the waterfall below opened up to swallow him. He trashed out with his arms, trying to find any hold before he plummeted into oblivion. His slender fingers closed around something, something smooth and wooden. Force of Vlad's weight on the bow jolted Gabriel flat on his stomach, his hands and arms, still grasping the bow, hanging over the edge. With one hand on either tip of the bow, Gabriel looked down with panicked eyes at Vlad hanging above oblivion. Sheer, unbridled fear shone in the young aristocrat's eyes, a look Gabriel had never seen in his friend before. And it shocked him. But that was not important now.
With a sudden, newfound strength, Gabriel hooked his arms under Vlad's, the bow cradled between them, and with a great heave, pulled the young aristocrat up onto the cliff. Solid ground met him with a surge of relief. Snow embraced him in a cold yet welcomed grip of life. For a moment, they sat kneeling in the snow, panting, staring at each other, the roar of the waterfall still surging in the background. Unshed tears of absolute fear on the edge of his eyes, Gabriel grabbed Vlad and pulled him close, the salty tears threatening to fall from his eyes. His heart pounded with relief and fear. Gabriel wrapped his arms around Vlad tightly, just to make sure he was really there, just to make sure he was really with him. Gabriel drew a shuddering breath. Thoughts Gabriel believed he would never have to face invaded his head. He had almost lost him, his one friend in the entire world, the only one who cared about him and understood him. He had almost lost him. The thought was impossible to even believe. He just wanted to hold on to Vlad and never let him go, for if he did, he feared that the falls would open up and steal with only friend in the world away from him.
Vlad didn't do anything. His heart was pounded too hard to make thought possible at the moment. The only thing he could think to do at the moment was to return Gabriel's embrace, holding his friend tightly to him. Kneeling in the snow, Vlad released a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. He tried to speak but words would not come. Vlad held Gabriel tight as he felt a sob wrack his friend's body.
"I'm so sorry," Vlad finally whispered next to Gabriel's ear, burring his tearing eyes in Gabriel's long, curly brown hair. The young man mentally kicked himself; his own foolishness had nearly cost himself his life. And Gabriel's. His own recklessness had nearly left his best friend standing at the top of a cliff were his friend had stood only moments before. "I'm so sorry, Gabriel." Tears fell from his eyes as guilt raged through his body. How could he have been so stupid!? He pulled Gabriel tighter into himself, so close he could feel the man's heart beat within his chest. A heartbeat he could sense was racing with fear and thanks.
Gabriel's eyes, too, filled with tears that began to fall, "Don't be, Vlad," he whispered through sobs. "You…you just scared me." He unconsciously wrapped his arms tighter around Vlad, afraid to let him go. Afraid that if he did, the young aristocrat would vanish forever. "You scared me. I thought you had gone over. I thought you were dead. Oh, don't do that again." Gabriel could feel Vlad's heart beating in his chest. Heartbeat. That meant life. That meant, Vlad truly was still with him. Gabriel held Vlad tighter still.
A small, vacant laugh escape through tears, "Glad to see you care so much."
Vlad had not expected the sharp shove that had followed his comment. Snow crashed into his face as he was slammed into the ground. Quickly shaking the confusion from his mind, Vlad look up to what had struck him. He was shocked to see Gabriel standing above him, Vlad's blood smeared on his fist. Only then did Vlad feel the warm blood begin to trickle from a gash along his cheekbone. Vlad gazed up like a rabbit-in-headlight up at his friend who, just a moment ago, was sobbing that he had almost fallen to his death. Now, he was know staring daggers down at him.
For a second time, Vlad was at a lost for words. What…what had he done? More silence fallowed until Gabriel finally broke it, "How dare you question my friendship to you!" he screamed almost hysterically, salt streaks dripping from his face. "How dare you think I not care! When I wandered into Vaseria five years ago with nothing to claim as my own, you were the only one to care for me. Even if your father looked down upon me as your friend you didn't care. I thought you valued my friendship. I thought you knew I would do anything to help you! Of course I care for you! How could you think that!?" Gabriel stared down at his friend with a mixture of disgust and disbelief. Slowly he back away from he friend as if he were some diseased animal.
Vlad looked on with, surprisingly, sadness in his eyes, "I…I…" he stuttered. Staggering to his feet Vlad, leaning on his right leg--somehow his left leg had been injured. Staring in shock he reached out to his friend, Gabriel almost instinctively shied away from his touch. "Gabriel…. I'm, I didn't…I'm." With every advance on his friend, Gabriel back away, staring at Vlad like he were a leper.
"Gabriel!" both Vlad and Gabriel froze in midstep. Vlad placed two slender hands on his Gabriel's shoulders. Piercing green eyes bore deep within Gabriel's soul, searching him for something. It was a look Gabriel received many times from Vlad once he had done something wrong. Gabriel felt like a child being scolded by its parents. He half expected Vlad to strike him back; he would deserve it. So, he was very surprised when Vlad drew his friend into himself in a warm embrace. I'm sorry, Vlad thought desperately, I'm so sorry.
At first, Gabriel tensed at Vlad's embrace, but then, he remembered. He remembered that he was not the Son of the Dragon, he was not the young man who would once rule over all of Transylvania, he was not the tyrant his father was, he was his friend, Vladislaus Dracula. His only friend in all of the world. And he had just hit him. What had he done?! Vlad, I'm sorry, Gabriel thought, his voice at a lose for words.
"This world you live in, Transylvania, it is petrified in a time of war," Gabriel whispered, "and yet you find it in you to take me in as your friend. I'm not deserving of your friendship."
"No, don't say that. You've been my only friend as well. My father, the people, they, he just doesn't see you the way I do. For what you really are. They treat you like this, because you are not of our religion, not of our blood. I do not care what he thinks. You are my only friend, I value your friendship more then I value the throne my father will leave me. Without you, I would have turned into a tyrant like him. I may saved you from death, but you saved me from much more."
Gabriel was silent for a moment, then released Vlad from his embrace. With a small smile, he wiped the tears from his eyes, "Are you hurt?"
Vlad returned the smile, "Oh yes, deathly, my friend, I don't believe I can walk. My farther will kill you for letting his only son nearly fall to his death over a waterfall in the valley-mountains. When he sees what you let me do…he's going to treat you like a Muslim prisoner."
"Well I'm sure he would be much more distraught if I were to simple push you over the edge. Please remind me why I saved you, again," laughed Gabriel, but as soon as he said it he could feel the humour leave his voice. Vlad's answer was simple though.
"Because I'm your friend."
Another silence hung in the air for a moment
"Come," said Gabriel tightening his long, brown, winter cloak around his neck and tossing Vlad's quiver and bow to him, "Let's see if we can still find those roe you scared off. If their as slow as you they should still be on the mountain side."
Vlad smiled and slung his quiver over his shoulder, "Fine, my friend." he said tightening his own black cloak around his neck, "A wager then. If you can shoot the first buck down, I'll carry it home. I've seen you with a bow; you'll be carrying the meat home tonight." And with the last word Vlad took off into the white forest, Gabriel rolling his eyes, hot on his tail.
Here, the image ended, leaving Gabriel in a black abyss of nothingness. But Gabriel found he could not awake. Fighting with his own body he tried to open his eyes, but could not will himself to. Instead, the darkness remained and everything was silent. No. There was a noise. A voice. Calling to him. It was familiar somehow. Very familiar. Repeating something. His name. A sudden pounding in his head snapped his train of thought. Some sense of feeling returned to his body and he could see a red, crackling glow through his eyelids. Fire? There was certainly warmth. But, he hadn't started a fire. The voice returned, along with a thumping pain in his head. Memory came back slowly. The small grove he had spent the night in, the storm, the memory. The memory? Another mind-breaking blow hit him and he heard himself cry out.
"Van Helsing?!" A familiar, frantic voice called.
Gabriel felt his head being cradled in someone's arms. Cool hands slid down his face, and held him still. Gabriel felt his body shiver at the chilling touch, was his body really that hot? Still unable to see, Gabriel struggled to re-establish his mind in his body. He desperately reached out blindly, his hand tightening on the arm of someone. Animal instinct kinked into his body instantaneously and he clawed his hand into the body of whoever was holding him.
"Van Helsing, calm down! Don't worry, I'm here. Oh Van Helsing, please don't die." But the deep, heavy, veil of unconsciousness was creeping up on him slowly once more and the voice calling to him seemed to become further and further away. Energy suddenly voided him and his death grip on the person released as blackness began to enfold him once more. Deeper within himself he was buried until the voice became nothing more than a weak cry.
"No, Van Helsing! Please Van Helsing, don't die! Don't die! Please, wake up! Van Helsing!"
He couldn't answer, he was too far buried in blackness. An invisible weight on his lungs prevented him from breathing. He was gone this time. This was it, the end. He had always wondered if he was able to die. Apparently he was. Numbness replaced the pulsing pain in his head and soon, nothing could be seen or heard and the cold rapture of darkness pulled him under.
One may find it humorous or ironic that both the terrific monster Dracula and the great demon hunter Gabriel Van Helsing would meat the same fate so close in time. Each by forces that run far deeper into the fabric of the universe, run far deeper then any being, human or demon, ever could. Both snatched from the world and locked into somewhere deeper within the darkness that is ever-present in the world. We just can't see it, for it takes us only when we ask, only when we can no longer sustain or lives and we wish for everything to end. Willing for Darkness to take us. But, even the universe and be wrong, once in a million years. For without Dracula and Van Helsing, there would be no story now would there?
Okay, everyone with me, 1...2...3...awwwwww. That was so sweet. I feel cheesy, who wants to hit me now?
(Hands skyrocket into air)
Ragweed: Thought so. Well how's that for a cliffhanger!? I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter even if isn't the best, but it wouldn't come out right when I wrote it. Damn you Forces of the Universe! Well, I promise better updates from now on. Till then….
