Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine. Duh.

A/N: Hey all! Sorry it took so long to update! (Don't hate me!) I was gonna update, but then I got grounded-ish so I couldn't. (sniff) But now everything's better, so I'm updating, YAY! And this chappie's pretty long too, lol. Okay, just some quick personal responses and we'll get this show on the road!

Lady Kathrin: Yeah, sorry I took so long to update. I'm glad ur not confused anymore though, lol. Enjoy!

Fortune Zyne: Don't tell me you just figured all that out! Lol, jk, but if you were confused you should've asked me! I'm happy you like the idea, and I hope you like this chappie too!

Christine Marquez: Yay, approval from you, lol. I could've written sooner, but, you know. (See above) So, I'm sorry, but here's chappie 9 now!

Cutelittlekitten18: Wow, ur review was great, lol. I'm glad you like my story, so here I am updating. :)

Kat500: I'm happy you liked/understood Sylvia's long explanation thing, lol. I had fun writing it. Of course, everyone likes Carl…how can you not! He's just the awesome comedy relief, lol. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chappie as well!

FastFuriousChick: AKA Roselynn, lol. I'm so glad you found this…I missed you, lol. Was it really that hard to find? I'm sorry. :) Anywho, I hope you like this chappie too! Not much Drac in it though, sorry.

And that's all for now! Happy reading! lol

Chapter 9

Van Helsing and Carl warmed up to Sylvia soon enough, though I think it took them a moment to get over their initial shock at seeing her. Seeming how closely she resembled Verona, including her accent. They were very interested to hear what she had to say however. Carl was especially fascinated. All the lab tests Verona had run were right up his alley. He couldn't stop staring at her while she talked, in fact.

"So that's all I've been able to learn." Sylvia finished, after recounting everything she had told Lydia and I to Van Helsing and Carl.

"Well, at least it's something, even if it's not exactly good news." Van Helsing said.

"I think we should test Holy Water as well." Carl commented suddenly. We all turned to look at him. "Just to make sure." he added hurriedly.

"You just want to see Andrea's lab." Van Helsing said teasingly. Carl took on the indignant air of denial.

"That's not the only reason. I just thought it would be a good idea." I laughed at Carl's expression.

"It's okay Carl. I was going to suggest we do that anyway, and I've been meaning to show you the lab. We'll go..." I looked at Lydia ad Sylvia. "When do you think is a good time to take them? We don't really want them to be to conspicuous, and we certainly don't want anyone asking questions."

Sylvia nodded in agreement. "People are working in the labs at all hours, but I think night is probably our best bet. It's not like there's much security to worry about, and your lab is usually empty when it gets late. We could even go tonight even, after dark, maybe 11-ish."

"That sounds like a plan." I checked my watch. "It's about 5 now. Sylvia should go back to her dorm with Fiona, we should all eat dinner, and Sylvia, plan to meet us back here around 11, okay?"

"I think I'll be able to get away without Fiona asking too much. She's usually pretty good about those things."

"Good." I said in relief. "And remember, don't let on to Fiona that anything's up. The last thing we need is her getting more mixed up in this than she already is."

"Of course. Don't worry about me; I'll see you at 11." Sylvia said, as she made her way towards the door. Carl stood up to see her out; Lydia, Van Helsing, and I watched him, amused smiles on our faces. When Sylvia got to the door, she turned back to us for a moment. "Oh, and Carl," she said, a smile on her face, "Nice pants."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Carl's too-large pants slipped down around his knees once again. His face flushed crimson and he scrabbled to pull them back up. Sylvia flashed him one more devilish grin, and left, Lydia's and my laughter ringing behind her. Even Van Helsing had a grin on his face. Poor Carl, he looked so embarrassed, but it was just the funniest thing! Lydia and I could not stop laughing. "Oh, Carl," I said, gasping for breath, "I told you to wear a belt!" And that set Lydia and I off all over again.

We finally calmed down and made dinner...well, Lydia made dinner, but I helped! I stirred! Don't laugh; I'm really pathetic in the kitchen. But Van Helsing's not a bad cook at all, in fact he's almost better than Lydia. So I guess he gets dinner credit as well. We had a roast with mashed potatoes and peas, with pudding for dessert. (The pudding was my idea; I can't have a meal without dessert at the end. The pudding was chocolate of course...)

Carl got such a kick out of the oven and the microwave. He kept asking Lydia if she was sure there was no fireplace involved. And he could barely fathom the thought of a dishwasher, especially because he couldn't see what was going on inside it. Then he wanted to know how they all worked and made Lydia and I drag out the owner's manuals so he could study them more closely. That kept him entertained, but Lydia, Van Helsing and I weren't sure what to do. It was only 7:30, and we had no idea how to go about wasting 3 and a half hours. Then Lydia had an idea.

"Hey," she said, an excited look on her face, "let's go drive around for a while! Come on Andrea, it'll be fun! And I've been meaning to give my new car a test drive." Her parents had just given her a car for her birthday, and she hadn't yet had a chance to really drive it. I was a little reluctant at first, but if we just stayed in the car I figured it would be alright. And Van Helsing would have fun.

"Alright." I agreed.

"YES!" Lydia shouted and ran to get her keys.

"But we have to stay in the car."

"Yup, okay." Lydia called.

"And it's only for a few hours."

"I know."

"And we can't speed or break any laws."

"Okay, Andrea, I get it! Relax and just come on, will you?" I smiled, half-embarrassed at my motherly attitude.

"I'm coming. Hey Carl!" I shouted into the living room, "Are you coming with us? You get to ride in a car."

"What? Oh, no, that's okay. I think I'll just stay here. Now, the water pipe connects to..." Carl responded, before once again burying himself in the dishwasher manual. I shook my head, not comprehending how anyone could find that interesting. I turned to Van Helsing, tossed him his new leather jacket from the chair it was hanging on, and followed Lydia outside. She had already pulled her new Lexus around in front of the dorm building and honked her horn impatiently. Twice.

"Alright! We're coming!" I shouted out to her as Van Helsing and I walked outside. Van Helsing stopped to stare at the car parked out front.

"This metal box with wheels is a mode of transportation?" he asked as I opened the door to the front seat for him.

"Hey. This baby is way more than a metal box. You just wait and see." Lydia replied as I climbed into the back.

"Remember, buckle up!" I chimed, as Lydia helped Van Helsing with his seatbelt. "It's a safety precaution." I explained to Van Helsing.

"Are we ready? Then let's ride!" Lydia shouted, hitting the gas and speeding away from the lab campus. She turned on the radio and got on the highway, just to show Van Helsing how fast we could go. We drove around for a while once off the highway, through commercial areas with strip malls, and residential neighborhoods, showing off our town I guess. We even went to a McDonald's drive-thru and got french fries, even though we'd already had dinner. The whole time Van Helsing was pretty quiet, but he had a look of awe and disbelief on his face, especially when Lydia would hit the gas and we'd go flying through a yellow light or something. I imagine it must've been a lot to take in, what with all the cars, streets, buildings, lights, and all the other stuff we're so used to seeing. I have to admit, it was fun watching Van Helsing's reactions, and I was anxious to hear what he thought about it all.

We arrived back home at about 10:30, relieved to see that Carl hadn't burned the place down or anything. Lydia dropped us off by the door and drove off to park her car, while Van Helsing and I walked inside. "So, Gabriel," I asked him, "What do you think of the future?"

Van Helsing looked thoughtful and serious before he answered. "It's...amazing. You have things I never even could've imagined. And you adjusted so quickly to my time; I had no idea your world was so..."

"Technologically advanced?" I asked with a smile.

"Yeah, I guess you could put it that way..." I laughed. "Carl would've had fun, though." Van Helsing continued.

"I almost think it would've been too much for him. He probably would've hyperventilated and passed out or something." Now it was Van Helsing's turn to laugh.

"Those...what did you call them? Oh right, french fries. They were good." I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, but they're SO bad for you. You would not believe it." By now we had entered my dorm and I called out to Carl.

"Oh, back so soon?" Carl asked as he came out of the living room.

"Soon? It's been 3 hours! Have you done nothing but read that obnoxiously boring dishwasher manual this whole time?"

Carl looked slightly offended. "It's not obnoxiously boring, and, I read the oven and microwave ones too. Oh, and the washer and dryer ones." Van Helsing and I exchanged glances both silently agreeing that that sounded way beyond obnoxiously boring. Just then Lydia came in from parking the car.

"So," she started, turning towards Van Helsing, "what did you think of it all?"

"Yes," Carl jumped in, "Tell me everything Van Helsing." I was also eager to hear Van Helsing's thoughts, and I figured listening to what he described to Carl would be the perfect opportunity. Lydia went upstairs, and the three of us went back into the living room. Carl had papers strewn about everywhere, drawings on most of them. "I hope you don't mind, Andrea, but I found some paper and wanted to do some sketches and scale models." I flipped the papers over. They were Lydia's lab print-outs for whatever she was working on, covered in data. I smiled to myself, and figured that I would tell her later. Preferably when Carl wasn't around for her to kill him.

"Oh, yeah, it's fine, Carl." I lied, and sat down next to Van Helsing on the couch. Van Helsing began to describe to Carl in great detail what he had seen, and I was content just to listen. I watched Van Helsing, marveling at how he could be here, in my time, in my living room. And I thought my life was boring. Well, just goes to show you. I thought about all we'd been through, and thoughts of Dracula clouded my mind with worry, but there was always a small part of me that found him absolutely fascinating. Trying to forget Dracula and the muddled feelings I felt about him, I turned my thoughts back to Van Helsing, and then I had even more muddled feelings. I was falling for him, no doubt about that. But did he like me back? He did, didn't he? He had told me he loved me, right before I came back to my time, hadn't he? Maybe he didn't have time to love someone, and I had this nagging thought that he still wasn't over Anna, would never be, and that the only reason he liked me was because I was so much like her. And it would never work out between us; how could it? We had our own, separate, and very different lives, and our worlds were 114 years apart! I was probably just chasing a dream, but some part of me wouldn't let go. I didn't want to. I wouldn't give up yet, not until I knew for sure.

A knock on the door interrupted my brooding thoughts and I looked up at the clock. It's 11, it must be Sylvia! Lydia came down the stairs and opened the door. Sure enough, Sylvia stood there, her eyes alight with mischief and excitement. "Are we ready to go?" she asked us all. Carl jumped up when he heard her voice and asked us if he looked alright, sounding slightly panicked. I laughed and told him he looked fine. He ran a hand through his hair hurriedly and I couldn't help giggling. Anyone could tell he liked her. Van Helsing and I got up off the sofa and walked to the front door, where Sylvia and Lydia were waiting.

"I think we're ready." I said, waiting for Carl.

"Carl? Are you coming?" Sylvia asked, "I can't wait to show you my lab; you're going to love it!"

"C-coming!" Carl said as he came around the corner, his voice cracking and his face beat red.

"Well, let's go then!" Lydia shouted impatiently. "We don't have all night! Well, we do, but let's go already!" She led the way out the door, the four of us following, as we walked the short route to the main laboratory building.

So, what did y'all think? Again, I'm sorry I took so long to update…and I can't make any promises about the next time I can, but that's okay, right? You forgive me, right? Right! Okay then. Btw, you don't have to answer or be very specific, but I'm curious…where are you all reading from? Whenever I think of you guys, I imagine that you live nearby, but you probably don't, lol. So where are you all from? It'd be cool if you lived near me, but you probly don't. Oh, well. :) Anywho, I was just wondering. Later!

Gem

P.S. Do any of you guys go to or like to read manga? Cuz if you do, one of my bestest friends has an anime she posted there and she wants reviews! You know, that special feeling, lol. Her pen name is Shadowsofmymind, and the anime is called Lost Affections. Go check it out if you have some time…I liked it! It's sorta like InuYasha (if you've ever seen that show) but it's an original fic. Duh, seeming how it's not on here, lol. So go R & R it please and thank you! Byes! (for real this time, lol)