Chapter XV

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Sorry for the long wait betwween updates! My computer was being stupid and the geek squad had to come and fix it! .

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right then, on to the chapter!

Aluka, Carl and Van Helsing left the library and went to get ready to make Castle Frankenstein difficult for Dracula to get into, and impossible for his brides.

"This should be fun," said Aluka, smiling.

"It should indeed," said Van Helsing, smiling back.

"Carl, do you have everything we will need?" asked Aluka.

"Yes. I have silver stakes, holy water, and a whole bag of crucifixes. That should do it. I also brought my ingenious invention with me," said Carl, clearly pleased with him self.

"And what is this 'ingenious invention' you speak of so fondly?" asked Aluka with interest.

"I'm glad you asked. It is the size of a medium sized melon, made of glass, and able to have the power of the sun," said Carl.

"I see."

"Yes. It is good for killing vampires. They can't be exposed to sunlight you know," said Carl, as if teaching a lesson.

"Yes I did know that Carl. About the sun and vampires," said Aluka, smiling at Carl.

"Oh good."

"So," said Van Helsing, wanting to move on," We are going to Castle Frankenstein again, correct?"

"Yes, because there is unmistakably something there that Dracula wants. Or he just likes the castle. Or it's something that Dracula's brides want. Or-"

"Thank you Carl," said Van Helsing, cutting him off before letting him continue with his possible choices.

"Well, let's get a move on," said Aluka, walking out of the library and down to get the horses. They set off right away, because the sun wouldn't wait for them to be in safety before it set. Aluka rode her horse up to Van Helsing just after they left Valerious Manor.

"So what happened at the bar that Carl won't talk about?" asked Aluka in interest.

"What? Oh. That," said Van Helsing, smiling evilly.

"Well, the last time Dracula was un-dead, he had this issue with brining his kids alive. I mean, when you think about it, it is logical that someone who is dead would have their children born dead." Gabriel continued with the story that only he and Carl knew, and now Aluka did as well.

"I see," she said when the story was over.

"Isn't Carl a monk though?" Carl, hearing this rode up next to Aluka.

"I'm a friar, who's asking?" Gabriel smiled and Aluka did the same.

"How's your friend at the bar, Carl?" she asked smirking.

"What?! Van Helsing! You told her?!" Carl yelled more than asked of Gabriel.

"You never said I couldn't tell anyone else," said Gabriel still smiling.

"Oh," said Carl dully," Oh I guess you are right on that one. I should've told you not to tell anyone-"

"Oh," mocked Van Helsing.

"Well, we're almost there," said Aluka, looking ahead. The three riders could see Castle Frankenstein looming over the surrounding land, casting a shadow of darkness along the trees around it.

"That looks slightly sinister," said Aluka.

"It does. It does without a doubt."

"Let's keep going."

"Right behind you," said Carl. They rode their horses up to Castle Frankenstein, walking along the path they had taken before.

"Where should we start?" asked Aluka.

"Hmm, there are so many rooms and so little time-"said Carl.

"We should go up to the higher rooms, because Dracula won't waste time using doors, he'll just crash through the windows up above," said Van Helsing.

"Okay, good idea! Let's go there!" said Carl with a little too much enthusiasm than could be good for you.

"Yes Carl, that would be the plan," said Van Helsing, looking at him like he was crazy.

"Hmm. I'm not crazy," he said, correctly reading Gabriel's expression. Out of nowhere, Aluka started rambling about being crazy.

"Crazy? I was crazy once. They locked me up. I died there. Then the worms came. Worms? I hate worms. They drive me crazy. Crazy?" and it just kept going on like that.

"Yes, we can see that you are crazy, but please keep the annoyance level to a minimum," said Van Helsing, who was clearly agitated.

"Right-o."

"So, Aluka take this room, Carl, take this room, and I'll go to this one," said Van Helsing, pointing to three different rooms once they were near the top of the castle.

"Okay," said Aluka, grabbing some holy items from Carl and walking into her assigned room. Carl walked over to his room, but before he could go in grabbed the bag and also took some items.

"Have fun!" said Carl happily, walking over to his assigned area.

"Yeah, you too," he said walking into his room. As he turned to survey the vicinity, he had the vague feeling that he was not alone. He knew that these odd feelings should not go ignored for very long. He walked in slowly, looking around.

Okay, I can't see anything, he said, not really believing that just because he could not see anything that there was nothing there. There were not any working lights in the room, and the one window there was dirty and facing the east, so now that the sun was about to set, was not getting much light.

"Who's there?" he asked loudly.

There was a swish from above him, and Van Helsing looked up. There wasn't anything there. When he brought his eyes back down, however, he saw that he was face to face with Verona. He automatically took a step back.

"Hello, Van Helsing," she said, with a wicked grin on her face. Gabriel nodded rather than speak to her. The door closed as Van Helsing heard a scream from the other room.

Not my day, thought Van Helsing as he faced Verona, ready to take on the worst.

Ok that will be all, so please review! i shall try and update as soon as i can...my computer may hate me though...but i hope not! the evil platypus of doom