8
The Search Is On
Meanwhile Carl was buried in a mound of books. He was still trying to find the way into Dracula's castle. "Its gotta be here somewhere." He sat back in his chair and looked at the stacks of books that he had already checked. He proudly smiled to himself and thought look how many books I have gone through. Then he turned and looked at the stack that he hadn't gone through yet and the smile was gone. Damn, he thought to himself. He saw that the stack he hadn't gone through greatly outweighed the stack he had. He was so frustrated because he was not making any progress. Anytime he got a lead, he was soon met by a dead end. He began to wonder if he had set out on an impossible mission. Maybe the only way to get to the castle was to fly.
"Have you made any progress?" asked Anna. Carl almost fell from his seat. "Anna don't do that. Here I am reading books about vampires and you're coming in scaring me." Anna just laughed. "Well, no I haven't made any progress. I've been through a lot of books but I haven't come across any clues. Although I did read an interesting story about possessed midgets in Greece but that's another story." "Possessed midgets? Carl I think you have been up here alone for too long. How about some help. I'll stay up here and give you a hand." "Thanks I could probably use the company." They both started laughing and went back to work. Although the tension had subsided both of them were still worried about Van Helsing.
Anna and Carl went through the books for hours and came across nothing. "This is useless we are getting absolutely nowhere!" yelled Anna. "I know but what else can we do?" "I don't know but we'll have to think of something." Anna stood up and started to pace. She tried to remember some of the stories her father had told her when she was young. She couldn't recall any of the specific stories. "Anna are you ok?" "Yeah I'm just trying to remember my father's stories. He used to tell them to me when I was a child. He once told me about the history of Dracula. He also told me that the most complex problems were the simplest to answer…" Anna stopped talking and her gaze was fixed on an old painting. Carl was clueless, "Is there something I am missing?" Anna walked to the painting and said, "The stories my father used to tell me always told me came out of one of his most important books. He always kept these books behind this painting." Anna walked to the painting and removed it from the wall and sure enough, there was a stack of books inside a hole.
She took the books from the shelf and then said, "This is the one." Carl walked over and they both sat down. Anna opened the book and started to go through it. The first chapter was about how Dracula came to be. As they read Carl was amazed, "I never knew there was so much to Dracula. I just thought he was another creepy bad guy that needed to be killed." "Well judging by this Dracula was a first officer in a great army and was murdered because of his interest in the commanding officer's fiancée. Of course he then became a vampire." "Then he was banished here to this very house and then eventually to his castle." "Then the devil gave him wings." Carl looked around and said, "If he was here there would have to be a door. Maybe we have been looking in the wrong place. Like you said the most complex problems can be solved by the simplest answers."
"Ok, think where could a secret door be hidden here?" said Carl. "I don't know my father spent his entire life trying to find the door. He never seemed to get close." Anna and Carl left the tower and headed down to the main level. "Well the only way to find the door is to begin looking. You start here and I'll start at the other end of the house." Carl nodded and started looking around. He had a feeling they had a long night ahead of them.
Thanks for all of the reviews. They encourage me to write more. I'll try to update soon.