A/N: Ok! New chapter! First before we get to that. THANK YOU TO ALL MY AWESOME REVEIWERS! Seriously, you guys rock.
Chapter 18-
High above the land of Transylvania wings beat furiously, as the air around them rippled and flew over the set of wings in a whistling sound, Corbett was approaching Valerious manor. A determined look set in stone, over his demonic face masked the rage that his eyes now burned with, a fiery anger over his sister's death. A force to be reckoned with, he would finish them all off in a single blow and then, yes then, he would bring all the creatures of darkness back…and hopefully someday, his sister. Swiftly he approached Valerious Manor and dropped from the sky, landing gracefully on the cobblestone walk. His large leathery wings folded back and took the shape of his normal clothing as his body decreased to its normal size. In his hand was the Hourglass and around his neck was the amulet, he would have some work to do before he would attack.
"Before this day has donned, I swear, this house shall lay in smoldering ruins." He disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Inside-
Van Helsing stood, well more like floated, outside of Anna's door. He hung his head, really, was he doing the right thing? Even if he was a ghost and here…he couldn't very well be there to comfort her in her times of need…. he couldn't even hold her close. He gave a low, whispering sigh and swiped his hand through the doorknob, morosely. Should he even be here? Should he wait? Should he just…disappear? He drew in a breath made to go through the door but stopped, half way, he couldn't, no, it would only harm. Slowly he turned and ghosted right through Anna, whom, he assumed was in her room. Anna froze in place as a powerful violent shiver ran through her body; a light layer of frost covered her over jacket. Van Helsing stopped almost immediately; warmth ran right through him, instantly the air around him warmed. Slowly both turned; Anna's face was filled with disbelief, sadness and…love.
"Gabriel?" Her voice was just above a whisper, as if breaking the silence of the hall would send him away.
"Anna…I…" He was cut off before he could finish. A loud crashing sound came from within the walls of the manor and another, just at the end of the hall, bits of splintered wood flew everywhere and Anna dove to the ground, instinctively Van Helsing dove over her to protect her from the splinters, completely forgetting that he was dead.
When the dust cleared Anna looked up, amazed to see herself completely surrounded in a light and she saw something that jolted her to her core, a large splinter was hovering just inches from her stomach, impaling itself through Van Helsing's ghostly form. He opened his eyes and the splinters all dropped, hitting the floor, harmlessly.
"How…" Anna questioned, looking at the large splinter.
"I don't know…" Van Helsing answered, floating back up, exactly at that moment a malicious laugh came from behind them, were the dust still had yet to clear, a laugh he could not forget.
"Well, look here, a lovely pair of love birds!" The rumbling voice came from inside the dust.
A large knurled hand waved the dust away and then, just before the dust could clear away from the thing's face, came the distinct odor of cigar smoke. Suddenly its face stuck out of the dust and it grinned, a horrid grin it was, and a single scare gave him a blind eye.
"Hyde." Van Helsing said, resolutely.
"In the flesh." Hyde said, putting the cigar out on his tongue and tossing it to one side, he sprinted forward.
"Anna run!" Van Helsing yelled as she scrambled up and sprinted the length of the hall, turning and disappearing with Van Helsing not far behind.
Come on, Gabriel! How did you pull off that trick before! He thought desperately, he could hear Hyde gaining on them and something needed to be done.
"Anna! Keep running!" He yelled, his voice coming in clearer, like a solid wall almost. He spun and stopped, facing the incoming monster. He threw his hands out in front of him and willed with all his might for the beast to stop. Suddenly he felt something push him back with a great force and he opened his eyes, it looked the like very air was rippling! Suddenly he realized he was moving back and leaned forward, stopping himself after sliding a few feet. Hyde was frozen in mid-step, he looked about angrily as he tried in vain to move his limbs and reach his prey. Van Helsing's arms shook, he didn't know how long he could hold this, but he had to hold out, for Anna, just for her, it was the least he could do now…he was dead…what more could he do?
Anna whipped around another corner just in time to see Libby and James thrown backwards by the force of an explosion. Libby pushed herself up and groaned as a very tall man in robes walked over them, his hands were flaming. He began to laugh, but was cut short when Anna rammed him, sending him flying to one side. Pulling the two up they made a break for the stairs. Upon reaching them, they found that it was no better down stairs, it seemed the entire house had been thrown into utter chaos. Servants ran everyway, and the teens and Carl could been seen trying to make sense of this chaotic situation, while trying not to get themselves killed by the swarming amount of monsters and spirits that seemed to have simply appeared from out of the hollowed walls of time.
"What the hell is going on!" Came a familiar voice from above them. Kate's ghost dropped out of a few malicious ghosts ways.
"Kate!" Libby screamed in shock.
"Yeah, I'm here, not in heaven, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!"
Anna pushed them all down to the floor as a large explosion blew them all down the stairs, well, except for Kate, who's eyes just got rather large and then they glowed with annoyance.
"Outside!" Anna yelled, making a mad dash for the door. They burst through the door and down the cobble stone path; skidding to a halt Anna looked back just as a whole section of wall was blown out, amid the rubble was Prince Velkan. He hit the ground, bouncing a few times, and as the smoke cleared, a figure could be seen standing in the hole.
"Your chains are mine, werewolf! You belong to me, you have no free will!" The voice boomed over everything else, silencing the chaos, well, except for Van Helsing, as he came speeding through another wall, blown back by a force, which shook the entirety of Valerious Manor to its very core.
Anna gasped and the form laughed, dropping gracefully down to the ground and stroing confidently out of the still settling dust. It was Corbett, his yellow eyes positively flaming with pure anger and resentment.
"So…how is it that you vere able to attack my sister!" He eyes flared again and he seemed to fade into the night, suddenly appearing right over Velkan, picking him up and slowly choking the life out of him. Just behind him, out of the hole, bounds Hyde and the man with the flaming hands; a window bursts into shards as a werewolf leaps out, landing next to the other two. Suddenly Kate's ghost flies forward, black light pulsating, almost like spikes.
"Drop him!" Her voice was like a suddenly booming thunder, no longer soft and wispy. Van Helsing's ghost floated resolutely along side Kate and Anna, soon joined, her hand gripping the hilt of her sword.
Corbett regarded the tiny group with mild interest, he tossed the prince forward and smirked. Slowly stepping back he held up the amulet.
"So…you two didn't survive the fall…. shame, really, I would have enjoyed your blood."
He walked; confidently out in front of his enemies, fully intent on flaunting these possessions, which was of great importance to the group, completely forgetting that Valken was struggling away into the shadows.
Corbett's voice could be heard, full of arrogance, rising slowly, yelling out just what "crimes" Valken had committed against his sister. The gypsy prince shook as he tried to stand, in his heart he knew the only way to save Anna…everyone was to change…use this accursed beast within him, that beast…which he could control. He was sweating, shaking, gasping for breath, he needed rest, but, no, he couldn't rest, couldn't collapse into a pile on the ground and succumb to darkness. Pushing himself up onto one knee he felt his skin begin to ripple, the hairs beginning to push up through his own, human skin. The rippling turned to a burning, stretching pain as he ripped at his skin and listened as his bones and sinew popped and reformed. Letting out a deafening roar that turned from a human in pain to one of a wolf, haunting and yet…comforting, to those on Valken's side. Turning his feral gaze he could see, hear, and smell Corbett, letting out a snarl he burst through the shadows, landing just a few feet in front of the vampire.
Something that could have been fear, just a fleeting glimpse of it passed over Corbett's face, before it darkened and all his anger was let loose. In a whirl of fur and talon the two were battling it out. Chaos erupted once again as the other three of Corbett's cronies burst forth onto the group; somewhere in the chaotic fighting, someone fell to the ground, the form shuddered back to human. It was a werewolf, no, not the prince, it was the other one, a silver wolf, loosing it form, to that of…a kind old man. Anna stopped, it was the very man who had bitten her brother in the first place. His life was fading fast, faster than it had before. He didn't live, perhaps, more than a few seconds after Libby's stake plunged into its heart. At around the same moment Carl made a very daring move and, in the vampire's lack of vigilance, scurrying over the ground, keeping to the shadows, he saw his opportunity and dove.
Suddenly, a blinding light blazed throughout the darkness, lighting every crevice and crack of Valerious Manor and its vast grounds. Every face lit in its light everything seemed to stop and then, it was as if Corbett's face took on confusion and movement sped back up then slowed down and everything was dark again.
Kate's P.O.V-
Too bright! I knew what the light was, all too well, it was from the hourglass…but that stupid bat had it…no…he threw down when Valken attacked…oh god, why is he even here! The light suddenly disappeared and I was being sucked back through time, back through the ages, through the vortex to who knows when. Suddenly I felt myself hitting something…solid? My vision got bleary, I could beryl see my own hand in front of me…wait…where was that hand! Suddenly it felt as if I was being pulled back down, into something, I couldn't see, it was all black. Darkness…cold air…oh god, was it ever so cold, it felt like my flesh was freezing. Wait flesh!
My eyes shot open just in time to be hit with a whopping headache and face full of sunlight bouncing off of a lake. Morning sun…soft…cool…I closed my eyes and took in the feeling.
Aaahhh…so nice to feel the sun against my face again…so…very…nice…am I in heaven at last?
A scream came from somewhere to my left, followed by a flutter of wings and heavy pounding of feet. Something hit me full force, I fell over onto my side and pain rushed through my body and I screamed.
Normal P.O.V-
The morning sunburned at Corbett's skin, even as he flew away, shrieking. Hyde and the wizard followed, as fast as they could. Libby took one look at Kate, completely solid and very much alive and she dove for her locking her best friend forever in a huge bone-crushing hug.
"Ah! Ack! Breath…. can't breath!" Kate chocked out as she tried to squirm to get free of her friends grasp.
"Oh my god, Kate! You're alive again! I thought I'd never see you alive again!" Libby yelled out, just as Carl came racing forward.
He stopped and poked Kate in the arm and looked at her curiously, before suddenly looking deep in thought and wondering away. Kate glared at the friar and looked around her, confused; suddenly realization hit her, they were home. Home…back in their own time, back in Orlando…and she was alive. If Kate was alive than that meant that…Van Helsing…maybe.
"HELSING!" She spun in Libby's tight grasp only to see Van Helsing fall over, Anna diving for him in pure joy.
"Gabriel! I thought I'd lost you forever!" Anna's voice rose up over the chaos and still echoing screams of Corbett.
Later, Kate's House-
"Just how…. are we alive?" Van Helsing asked, once the sun had risen and Kate's home had been cleaned up a little.
"Well…I have a theory…" Carl said remerging from the kitchen, having changed back into normal robes from his Halloween costume, everyone was back in them for some reason when they came back through the time vortex. "My theory is that, everything is reversed once we go back through the time vortex." He took a breath to continue but was cut short by Kevin, walking out holding up a bit of paper.
"Kate…you might want to take a look at this…." He handed the paper to Kate who looked at it, and then she went pale, paler than the piece of paper.
Kate, we came home early…we need to talk, bring ALL your friends.
Love Mom and Dad.
On the paper was an address that looked semi familiar…but it was far away.
"Ooooooh fudge monkeys."
A/N: MUWHAHAHAA! Cliffy, needed to do it. EVERYTHING will be explained later and in detail and we will finally find a few more bits about Kate's parents out!