16

Welcome Back Gabriel

Carl waited impatiently for Anna and Gabriel to return. "Where are they? They should be back by now", said Carl aloud. He began to pace back and forth in front of the door. "Come on guys…" Just then Anna and Gabriel burst through the door. "What took you so long?" asked Carl. "Not now Carl", said Gabriel now holding his chest in pain. "Come on, I don't have much time. I can feel the curse growing stronger." Gabriel led the way to Dracula's door. "This is it", he said to himself. He walked through the door followed closely by Anna. Carl stood alone in front of the door and said, "Here we go again." He then slowly walked through the door.

They were met by a blast of cold air. They were in the middle of a huge blizzard. "This is Dracula's doing", said Anna, "He knows we're coming." "I'm counting on it", said Gabriel. "God help us", said Carl. Gabriel led the way to the front of the castle. They headed to the side door that they had gone through the first time. They found the door bolted shut. "I can't budge it", said Gabriel, "We'll have to find another way inside."

Dracula and Aleera were standing at one of the windows looking down at the group. "You see Aleera, I told you he would come back", said Dracula, "Verona has passed and he is seeking revenge." "What are we going to do master?" "We let them in. They cannot defeat us, they do not know how. Aleera, you will take Anna; suck the life out of her. I will take Gabriel, he will pay for what he has done to us." "What of the friar master?" The count smiled and said, "Use your imagination."

Gabriel, Anna, and Carl stood in front of the castle doors. "What now?" asked Anna. "I don't know", said Gabriel. "Maybe we should just knock." Just then the doors began to slowly swing open. "Not bad", said Anna smiling looking at Carl. "Let's go", said Gabriel. Gabriel walked into the castle followed closely by Anna and Carl.

Once they were inside the castle the doors slammed shut. "He knows we're here", said Anna. Gabriel turned to Anna and said, "Anna, I need you and Carl to go find the cure. I'll find Dracula." Anna nodded and said, "Good luck." Then Gabriel turned to Carl and handed him a silver stake, "In case you are late." Carl's expression turned to shock. "Gabriel, no I couldn't." "Carl, you must. You can't let me run free as a werewolf." Carl hesitated and then took the stake. Gabriel put his hand on the friar's shoulder and said, "Be strong Carl." Carl nodded. Gabriel turned and walked away.

Carl and Anna turned and headed in the opposite direction. "Where now?" asked Carl. Anna stopped and grabbed Carl's arm, "Shhh…" "What?" asked the friar. Anna's voice dropped to a whisper, "Look it's Igor. He'll know where it is." Anna drew her sword and waited for Igor to come closer. She jumped out and threw Igor to he floor. She then put the tip of the sword on his neck. "Where is the werewolf cure?" she asked. "What werewolf cure?" asked Igor. "Don't play games with me creep" said Anna pushing the tip of the blade harder against his throat. "Ok, ok I'll tell you. It's in the east tower." Anna grabbed Igor, "Get up, you will take us." Igor got to his feet and led the way.

Meanwhile Gabriel was on the other side of the castle. He walked down the cold hallways looking for the monster that stole everything from him. He knew he was getting closer, he could feel it. "Welcome back Gabriel." Gabriel stopped and looked around. "Come out, show yourself." "Oh Gabriel, what's wrong. Did you lose something?" Gabriel looked up and saw Dracula walking on the ceiling above him. Dracula jumped down and landed right in front of Gabriel. He smiled and then knocked Gabriel to the other side of the room.

The count slowly walked towards Gabriel, who was now on the floor. "We could have been friends you know. Partners, in this dark game." "We were, but you betrayed me for darkness." Dracula laughed and said, "Yes, and now I am on top of the world, and you are at my feet." Dracula kicked Gabriel to the other side of the room. Gabriel slammed into the wall and fell to the floor. I can't let her down, he thought to himself. He pushed himself to his feet and Dracula said, "You already let her down Gabriel. You let her die." "No your hell-beast of a wife killed her."

Carl and Anna followed Igor up the stairs leading to the tower. Once they reached the door Anna pulled Igor back and said, "I'll go first." Anna carefully walked into the room. She spotted the vaccine in the middle of the room. It was up on a pedestal in a glass container filled with a clear liquid. She walked up closer to the pedestal followed by Carl. Igor stayed behind and waited until Carl was completely inside the room. Then he pulled a lever causing the tower door to slam shut. "Ha ha ha, you tried to get Igor, but Igor got you." Igor turned around and ran back down the stairs. Anna ran to the door and grabbed the bars. "You just wait until I get out of here Igor!"

Dracula started to play with Gabriel's mind. He flooded his mind with the memories of Verona. Gabriel fell to his knees as he saw her. Dracula smiled as he enjoyed every second of Gabriel's pain. Gabriel tried to ignore the visions, but he couldn't. He saw her, the day that he took her. He saw the count bite her all over again. Gabriel watched Verona's eyes fade as she became the living dead.

"Get out of my head!" yelled Gabriel as he jumped to his feet. The count smiled with satisfaction. "Something wrong Gabriel?" The count knew that he was hurting Gabriel, but what he didn't know was that this pain would become Gabriel's motivation. Gabriel could feel it, the curse was growing, it was time. He heard the deep chime of Dracula's clock. "One", said Gabriel as he fell to his knees and screamed. His scream suddenly turned to a roar as he transformed into a werewolf. Dracula's eyes widened with fear, "No, this cannot be."

Sorry I took so long to update. I'm going to try to bring this story to an end in the next chapter and it's taken a while to figure out how to do it. I'd like to say thanks to all of the great reviews. I really appreciate them. So what did you think of this chapter? Do you think Anna shoulddie? Please Review!

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