Chapter 2: A Way to Bring Her Back
It has been almost a full year since Anna died. During the past months since her death, Van Helsing continued his work. He was pretty depressed during the time, but he never gave up on Anna. Everyday, he would wonder how he could ever see her again. He already asked Carl to find a way to get her back. Since then, he would usually find his friend researching in the library or trying out different failing inventions to help.
They tried voodoo of every culture they could think of, they tried black magic (which was much like the voodoo they tried, just a bit different), they even tried a time portal that was too unstable to use. All these methods failed and it just made Van Helsing hate life even more.
One day though, Carl came bursting through the door to the chambers of Van Helsing. He did this because he found a way that he was so sure of that he'd bet the Vatican on it, even though the Vatican didn't belong to him.
"Gabriel, Gabriel! You need to come to the laboratory!" Carl cried, "I might have found a way to find Anna!" He was shaking Van Helsing's sleeping figure that lay on the floor of all places.
Van Helsing grunted in response and rose from the floor.
"You know, there is a bed." Carl stated when he noticed that his friend was on the floor.
Van Helsing just grunted, again. Carl sighed. This was usually how he responded nowadays. Van Helsing never said a word more than required. There weren't anymore smart-ass remarks, either and that bothered Carl. That was why he desperately helped him to find Anna. He needed the real Van Helsing back.
The two men hurried to the laboratory where Carl usually made his inventions. He showed Gabriel the machine that he so brilliantly designed. It was a metal bed that was hooked to a series of wires. The wires were hooked onto a device with a keyboard and a screen. It closely resembled a computer that looked really, really, really aged, worn out and plain old. The metal bed made Van Helsing nervous. It reminded him of the thing that Dracula strapped his friend, the Frankenstein monster, to.
When Carl noticed the look Van Helsing was giving the bed, he quickly explained to him that it was not intended for electrocution and resurrection of vile vampire children. After that, he explained to Van Helsing what exactly the machine was supposed to do and how to work it.
"It is another version of a time machine and this time, it's stable!" Carl began enthusiastically.
"All you need to do is punch in the year that you want to visit. You do that by using this keyboard device." He explained while showing Van Helsing the keyboard. "Oh yeah, and before that, you need to lie down on the metal bed while I punch in the year." He quickly added.
"The screen is supposed to display any trace of being that may resemble Anna and the resemblance rating. If the screen stays black, then that year is useless." Carl said while gesturing to the black screen. Van Helsing took in all this information and simply nodded.
"The finishing step is to simply punch in the security code and press enter. Then you'll be transported to the wanted year." Carl finished.
"What's the security code for?" Van Helsing inquired.
"You never know. Someone may want to use it for different reasons and I just wanted to be safe." Carl explained. The response he received wasn't even a simple "Oh." It was a simply nod. He sighed again. He really hoped that this would work.
"Did you already find a year?" Van Helsing finally asked. Carl smiled brightly and nodded.
"The year 2004. She's the best that I've found. All the other beings were useless and didn't even have resemblance ratings of over 50." Carl explained.
Van Helsing nodded and made his way to the metal bed. He ran his fingers over the smooth surface. It was cold, but he didn't notice.
"Show me the girl." He ordered. Carl nodded and turned the screen so that it would face Van Helsing. He punched in 2 0 0 4 and the face of a woman that looked very much like Anna. Her face was a little bit paler and her eyes were icy blue. She didn't wear makeup and her hair was short and black. What made her look like his beloved was the look of independence, strong-will and determination in her eyes. She also had a feature to her face that reminded Van Helsing so much of Anna.
He felt a pang in his heart and he looked away. "I'm going to inform the Cardinal. Just prepare the machine." He muttered. Carl nodded and obeyed.
Van Helsing knocked on the Cardinal's door three times.
"Come in, Van Helsing." The Cardinal said from inside the room.
Van Helsing turned the brass knob and entered the Cardinal's room.
"How may I be of service to you?" the Cardinal inquired.
"I'm going to bring Anna back." Van Helsing said simply.
This didn't shock Cardinal Jinette. He knew of the attempts that the monster hunter and his companion made. He knew that all of them failed. But he knew that every attempt is a possible success, so he began to interrogate Van Helsing.
"What are you going to do to bring her back?" Cardinal Jinette asked.
Van Helsing sighed. He didn't want to take long and he knew that this would. He sat down on a red chair and began to explain Carl's invention.
"I'm going to go through time." The famous monster slayer began. The Cardinal nodded and indicated that he should continue.
"Carl has made a time machine that will show me who Anna's soul may reside in." he explained. Before he could continue, the Cardinal interrupted him.
"And to what year are you planning on traveling to?" he interrogated.
"2004." Was Van Helsing's concise reply. At the mention of the grand number, Cardinal Jinette's face hardened.
"You do know that's a couple of millenniums from our time, don't you?" his tone was harsh and held warning within it. Van Helsing simply nodded. The Cardinal sighed and knew that he must let him go. He's surely noticed the depression of Van Helsing and he needed his monster hunter to regain his usual health.
"Go." Was the last thing that the Cardinal said before Van Helsing nodded and hurried to the friar.
"Are you sure that you want to go so far into the future?" Carl asked just to make sure. "Yes, Carl!" Van Helsing repeated for the third time.
Just as the friar began to touch the button that would bring Van Helsing to year 2004, he remembered something important.
"You must remember that this woman may not be what she seems. Anna may be within her, but maybe Anna's soul's simply sleeping inside her. This woman may be a whole different creature." Carl warned.
Van Helsing nodded. "Oh yeah, and before I go… how do I get back?" Van Helsing asked.
"When you've either entirely failed to retrieve Anna or you've gotten her back, then you'll return." Carl replied.
Van Helsing was silent. Carl finally pushed the button. Van Helsing took one last look at the woman on the screen before disappearing through the fourth dimension known as time.
And that was the last that Carl saw his friend for a while…