Disclaimer: Nope, Van Helsing is not mine. I get tired of saying that…
A/N: Hey all! I'm sorry you had to wait so long for me to update, but now all my school musical stuff is over and I have lots of free time to update, YAY! Okay, to hurry things along, I got personal responses to dish out, then we'll get to the anxiously-awaited chappie, lol. BTW, this chappie has a bit of a twist…I think it's unexpected, but I figured it was time to introduce this character, so…you'll see. Anyway…
Christine Marquez: Sorry to keep you waiting. This chappie's not very long either, but oh, well. I think it's pretty good anyway. Glad you liked chap.7 and I hope you like this one as well.
Lady Kathrin: Yeah, Drac still lives in Transylvania in his time. The Devil just sent him to the future to do something about Andrea, but he's technically supposed to be in the past…it's pretty confusing I know. I'm sorry. Yay, April 3rd is here (and gone actually) so there's no more waiting! Enjoy!
Countess Alana: Thanks for your review; I WISH you would update more often! Your sequel sounds awesome; can't wait for you to write it so I can read it, lol. Hope you like this chappie!
And that's all I have to say. So, without any more incessant rambling from me, here's chapter 8!
Chapter 8
"I'm not sure what to do about this whole thing." I said to Lydia as we arrived at our lab.
"Don't look at me, I have no clue." Lydia responded shrugging. We put our lab coats back on and sat down, each at our respective desks. I was still sitting there, trying to think what to do about Dracula and Fiona, when the door opened and in walked Sylvia. She had a strange, unreadable look on her face and I had no idea what she was doing here. Last I had heard, she'd been working furiously on some breakthrough; I hadn't seen her for days. Maybe she'd come for advice or a question about something. She came right up to my desk and sat down in a wheelie chair next to me.
"So," Sylvia began, in her calm, slightly Italian-accented voice, "what are you going to do?" Her question took me by surprise, especially because that's the very question I had just been thinking about.
"About what?" I asked, thoroughly confused as to what she was referring to.
"About Dracula." Sylvia stated matter-of-factly, as if it were obvious. Lydia and I looked at each other, shocked.
"W-what!" Lydia and I managed to spit out at the same time. What was she talking about? How did Sylvia know anything about this!
"Oh, relax guys. Don't act so surprised; I've known from the beginning."
"What! But– how? What do you know?" Lydia asked while I just sat there disbelievingly.
"Everything. Right down to Andrea's adventure in the past." I finally found my voice.
"How did you find out? Who told you! Sylvia, explain yourself!" Sylvia sighed.
"I should be asking you to do that, what with all that's been going on. I really shouldn't be wasting time telling you how I found out, but if you want me to..." Lydia and I both nodded very seriously. "Alright. Well, I noticed a few weeks ago that Andrea, you didn't seem yourself. And I glimpsed the ring, the one that's always around your neck, a few times when you took it out to look at it. I was worried about you. Remember that afternoon when you fell asleep at your lab table for no apparent reason and didn't wake up for hours?" She gave me an embarrassed smile. "That was me. I slipped a couple sleeping pills into your drink at lunch, then went to your dorm to look around and make sure everything was okay. As I said, I was really worried about you! I wouldn't have done it otherwise. Andrea, I found your journal. The one you typed up about your dream adventure to the past, on your laptop, you know? And I read it. Andrea, please don't be mad; it explained a lot, and I believed every word, I swear! I meant to tell you, and ask you about it, but I could never find a good moment to, then Dracula showed up. He was posing as another scientist recently transferred here, but I knew right away that it was him. Then, when he got involved with Fiona, I realized we had to act fast, and it was even more important to talk to you and figure out what to do. So, here I am. I saw you and Lydia coming back from lunch and decided now was as good a time as any." She stopped and looked at me, waiting for my reaction.
"Well," I began, trying to sort out my mixed feelings. "I appreciate your being worried about me, and I know you're one of my best friends, but you shouldn't have gone through my stuff without at least asking me first!"
"I know, I know! I'm sorry; I feel awful about it, like I've betrayed you or something, but it's no real harm done, is it?" I sighed.
"No, I suppose not. And I'm glad you believe me and don't just think I'm crazy or anything."
Sylvia smiled. "I know you're not crazy. And you wouldn't make something like that up either. I assume Lydia knows about everything as well?" Sylvia asked, glancing at her. Lydia and I both nodded. "I thought so. And is that really Dracula's ring?"
I took the ring and its chain out from under my shirt. "Yeah, it is. Kind of cool, in a scary way, if you know what I mean." Sylvia stared at it closely, then turned to Lydia.
"Does she wear it all the time?" Lydia nodded again.
"As far as I know."
"Hmmm." A small frown crossed Sylvia's face. "I'm not sure it would be a good idea for you to wear it anymore. It could be dangerous; it could lead Dracula to you or something equally bad. I assume that's why he's here? For you?" This time I nodded.
"But," Lydia cut in, "I'm pretty sure Van Helsing knows that she wears it and he didn't say she shouldn't. Besides, this way she'll always know where it is."
"Wait, did you say Van Helsing? Have you talked with him or something? Since your adventure, I mean. Is he here!" Lydia and I glanced at each other.
"You mean you don't know?" I asked, a little surprised, "Wow, with all you just told us, I figured you already knew the rest of it as well. Well then, since you've already found out so much, I guess we'd better fill you in on what's been happening since Dracula showed up. Especially if you plan on helping us." Sylvia nodded, and Lydia and I each took turns telling her of Van Helsing and Carl's arrival, lunch with Fiona and Dracula, and what we've been able to figure out about Dracula's plans and such.
After filling Sylvia in on all the details of the recent, but undeniably strange events, a few hours had gone by, and we were spent. I turned to Sylvia and said, "So, now you're fully up to date on our situation, but I have a question for you. Last I heard you were hard at work on some breakthrough or something. What's the status on that? Fill us in; I have no idea what you've been working on."
Sylvia looked eager to share her work with us. "Well, I've actually been doing some testing and running some experiments with relation to Dracula." She smiled at our shocked faces.
"Like what?" Lydia asked, confused. "What testing can you do that has to do with an umpteen-thousand year old dead vampire?"
"Oh, just basic things, only one or two using our more expensive machinery. I managed to get a sample of our good friend 'Vlad's' skin cells. And I've been observing what happens to them in certain conditions."
"Wait a minute." I interrupted, "You've been running tests on something totally unrelated to what we're doing here at the lab, but you charged it to the lab funding? What are you doing? You know we're not allowed to spend government money allotted to laboratory research and development on personal experiments! You could get in a lot of trouble!"
Lydia sighed loudly. "Oh my God, Andrea, you are unbelievable. Hello, the King of the Damned is out to kill you and all you can think of is funding! Can you look at the big picture here please? I think there are more important things to worry about right now, like you and saving the world and all!" I glared at her for a moment, then looked down slightly embarrassed. She was right I suppose. "So Sylvia," Lydia continued eagerly, "What did you find out? Anything useful?"
"Well, sunlight has no affect on the cells at all; you've already told me that Dracula was fine in the sunlight and that fact supports my findings. Silver doesn't react with them, and neither does wood. Garlic didn't do anything either, but I didn't expect the Devil's Son to be bothered by a vegetable. I've yet to test Holy Water or anything of that nature, but as far as I can tell, they're perfectly normal skin cells like ours. Actually, they're too normal; they're perfect. Nothing can kill these cells, no disease, whether viral or bacterial. Not even nuclear or chemical radiation. It's like they're immortal."
"Or they're already dead." I said, my voice hollow.
"I thought of that." Sylvia said, quieter, "but they act like they're alive like normal cells. They use energy, they go through mitosis, just like any cell. It's the strangest thing I've ever seen. I can't explain it."
"I guess that's just the inexplicable mystery of being undead." Lydia said calmly, but her words didn't make us feel any better.
"It's getting late," I said, deciding to ignore Lydia's last comment. "Sylvia, you should come with us and meet Van Helsing and Carl. Now that you're on our side and all."
Sylvia grinned. "That sounds like a great idea. I'm so excited! I still almost can't believe they're real. What should I say to them? I'm actually a little nervous."
"Oh," I responded nonchalantly, smiling, "just tell them what you told us, what you've learned. I'm sure they'll be interested." Lydia nodded in agreement, and the three of us left the lab and headed back to our dorm.
So, what do you think? Were you surprised? I really wasn't sure where to go, and I thought about how we really didn't know much about Sylvia, so I decided it was time to introduce her to the story. Turns out she already knew everything that was going on, but that's beside the point, lol. Anywho, I hope you liked this chappie even though it is rather short, and sorry if I lost any of you withthe bio stuff I threw in there;I couldn't resist, lol. And I'll try to update again soon now that I have my life back. Until then, and make sure you review please and thank you:)
GEM