Disclaimer: Somewhere, in an alternate universe, I have just won the lottery and am currently buying the rights to everything Van Helsing. However, that is sadly not this universe. Therefore, I still own nothing except my original characters and the plotline, and anything else you don't recognize from the movie.
A/N: Hey everyone! Well, I was worried about that last chapter, but no one seemed to have any problems, so I guess it's all okay. :) My goal was to have at least 100 reviews before the end of this fic, and huge thanks go out to Manson and Fortune Zyne, who pushed me over the top! YAY! And of course, thanks to all my other reviewers, who I love dearly. :) Now, I've got some PR's to dish out, then it's on to chapter 20.
FastFuriousChick: Hey there! Sorry I didn't get your review until I'd already posted the next chappie; it's not like I forgot about you! I'm so glad you LOVED chapter 18, and of course you are forgiven for yelling. I quite understand, lol. Anyway, I hope you're now all caught up chapter-wise, and I look forward to your next caps-filled review, lol.
M: Forgive me! I think you were the only one who was upset over what happened…you're not mad at are you? Are you! Jeez, I hope not, lol. Oh, and fanfiction has some serious but pointless issues with astericks, so the one in your name probly won't show up, but I put it there, I swear! I didn't want you to think I was forgetting it or something. I hope you enjoy this chappie more than the last one:)
Manson: 8 Hours, no WAY! Must be some kind of record, lol. No, she wasn't, I mean she's 28, I should hope not, lol. Thank you for all your reviews, even though you didn't review every chapter, lol. I didn't mind; they made me smile. Yes, Belgian waffles are quite delicious, especially with all the fixin's. :) Did a little kid really ask you that! OMG, that's too funny. I think of LotR too actually, which you may notice in upcoming chappies, and that's all I'll say on the subject. Yeah, don't know what was up with chappie 15, I guess it was just rather unloved, I don't know. Thanks for making it feel special, lol. Your reviews were great, and I hope you like this next chapter! Oh, btw, now you've got me not sleeping, lol. I've been going to bed at like 2:30 every night. :) Don't you feel ashamed about being such a bad influence on me. Tsk, tsk. Lol.
Lady Kathrin: Hey hey! Charlie and the Choclate Factory was great! My friends and I had a great time, but I think my parents would've hated it, lol. I want the soundtrack so BAD! I've gotta talk my mom into letting me buy it…I'm working on her, lol. I am a soundtrack fiend; this one must be added to my collection. :) Yes, Drac is VERY hot, I agree; thankfully, he's in this chappie a lot so rest assured, lol. Oh, I LOVE chocolate. And Johnny Depp, Gerard Butler and of course Dracula. They all hold a special place in my heart, lol. Thanks for your review; enjoy!
Fortune Zyne: God, you're so blunt in your reviews, lol. Oh, and THANKS oodles and oodles for being my 100th reviewer; your certificate and expensive dessert tray should be arriving in the mail soon. :) Yeah, about that…it wasn't part of my original plan to have them go all the way, but since you're so insistent upon it I'll try to work it in, though I don't think it'll be so graphic. My most sincere apologies to you, but I do owe you for giving me 100 reviews, lol. And thanks for reviewing chapter 15 and making it feel loved. Enjoy!
Alrighty, that's all for now…I guess I had a lot to say, lol. Hope all you wonderful people enjoy this chapter and, now I won't hinder your reading any longer. Onward:)
Chapter 20
While I was deep sleep, Van Helsing and the others were just walking up to the gigantic doors to Dracula's fortress. All five stared up at the doors, unsure of how to open them. Van Helsing walked up and pushed, then pulled, but they were indeed shut and didn't budge an inch. Van Helsing sighed.
"Well, what do we do now?" Lydia asked softly, still gazing at the doors.
"Nothing." Van Helsing replied bitterly. The others turned to stare incredulously at him. "I know. It seems ridiculous that the great Van Helsing could be stopped by a pair of doors, but it's true. Once these doors close, no mortal force from the outside can open them. We're stuck out here until something opens them from the inside. AARGH!" Van Helsing cried, shoving the doors in frustration. "DAMN YOU DRACULA!" He turned around and began pacing in front of the doors, his footsteps melting a path in the snow. Carl looked worried and helpless, and the girls' faces were downcast with despair. There was nothing they could do but wait. For what, none of them knew.
I woke up slowly, stretching and unwinding from my curled position. Aside from a dull ache in my neck, I felt wonderful, as if imbued with a vibrant inner fire I'd never had before. At first, I couldn't remember where I was. I noticed I was lying in a bed on my side, but I couldn't quite remember why or what had happened. Then, I felt the weight of someone sitting down on the bed behind me. Someone's hand moved my hair from my face and ran his hands softly through my curls. Gabriel..., I thought. But no, this person was not Van Helsing; they smelled...familiar, but different from Van Helsing. I realized then that I had a very acute sense of smell, and I could hear better too. The person behind me smelled of nobility, and aristocracy, definitely masculine. And also faintly of blood, and death. Curious, I rolled over to see who was sitting beside me and froze. Dracula smiled coolly down at me, still running his hands through my curls.
"Sleep well, my darling? You look beautiful." Suddenly, it all made sense, Dracula, this bed, my neck, everything came rushing back with frightening clarity. Oh God, what had I done?
I tried to move as far away from him as I could, speaking incoherently. "No...No!...This can't..."
He captured me with a stare and I stopped moving, like a deer in headlights. "Hush," he said softly, putting a finger to my lips. "Let us enjoy this moment together. How do you feel?" He removed his finger from my mouth and traced my jaw line back to my ear, down my neck, and over my bare shoulder, an unnerving glint in his eye.
I found my voice. "Feel?" I echoed, and took stock of myself. "I feel...so alive! As if nothing could stop me! But, I also feel empty, hollow...like I've lost some very important part of me. And my neck hurts a little, but I feel younger, stronger." I looked up at Dracula to see him smiling knowingly down at me as if to say, "Aw, they're so cute when they're just starting out." Inside, I suddenly felt more like the old me, like she had still been sleeping until now. Thoughts and things I wanted to say flooded my mind as the reality of it all hit me like a ton of bricks. I gasped and tears formed in my eyes.
"What have you done to me!" I shouted, all at once angry and afraid. How could my life have gone so wrong? What was I to do? Then, I remembered our deal, and the reason why I had been turned, why all of this had happened. Dracula was looking at me patiently, almost bored, waiting for me to calm down. He seemed not at all afraid or bothered by my outburst. "I hate you." I said, with as much sincerity as I could muster. "I hate you for what you've done to me and my friends. I hate you for all the pain you've caused, and I hate you for being so damn attractive!" What? I hadn't meant to say that last part! But I chose not to think on it then and to finish what I was saying. "But," I continued, "I haven't forgotten: we had a deal."
Dracula's eyes clouded and he stood. "I was hoping that other things would occupy your mind for a while, but I see that you are not to be deterred." He sighed. "Very well, I shall tell you what you want to know, if only to humor the silly whims of my beautiful new bride. You do realize that if our dear Gabriel finally succeeds in killing me, which I doubt, that you will be destroyed now as well?"
I had realized this, but also that it was the only way. I nodded once, determination etched in every feature. Dracula gazed at me for another moment, then sat down again on the bed. He looked at the ring on his hand, watching as the silver dragon on it caught the light. "Oh," he looked back up at me, momentarily distracted. "I had this made especially for you. You'll look stunning in it." He moved his hand in a short, upward motion, and a dress almost identical to his old brides' appeared, except that this one was red.
I sighed, slightly frustrated at the interruption, but grudgingly grateful that now I had something to wear so I could get out of that bed. "You know, red really isn't my color." Dracula smirked, remembering the last time we'd had this conversation. I remembered it too.
"And you know, that I really think it is. Put it on." Dracula responded.
"Why are you always thrusting clothes at me?" I asked, reaching out to put it on anyway. It was thin, gauzy, and billowy, but the fabric was soft and comfortable. I guessed silk. My new dress left my stomach exposed, as well as my arms and much of my chest. The material draped and hang, trailing behind my arms like wings, and over my legs in voluminous folds. It was, I had to admit, luxurious and pretty, if reveling as well.
"There. You look, dare I say it? Perfect." Dracula announced, ignoring my question. "Absolutely entrancing." He stood and walked up to me, trailing his hand up from my bare stomach to my neck. He had that look in his eyes again, and that smile on his face. He moved even closer, and I stiffened, fast losing my patience.
"Vladislaus!" I snapped, my eyes flaring, "The ring. Focus!" I stepped away from him and sat down on the other side of the bed, wrapping the trailing fabric of the dress around me in an effort to cover up a bit more.
Dracula smiled humorously and walked back around the bed to sit opposite me. "I think I like you better this way." he said, "So fiery and unpredictable, even more so than before. But," and at this he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "I will miss listening to your heartbeat, so calm and steady it was. Intoxicating." He opened his eyes to see me staring at him in horror. I moved and put a hand on my chest, then flinched back as if burned.
"It's gone. Oh my– It's really gone!" Tears began to well in my eyes again at the thought that I had forever lost my heart, but I blinked them back. Later, I thought, there will be time for grief later. "Stop making excuses and distractions, Dracula!" I spat the name out like it left a bad taste in my mouth. "Tell me what I want to know! We had a deal."
"Yes, yes, I haven't forgotten either. Well, pet, this ring of mine," and he slipped it off his finger, tossed it up into the air, disappeared, reappeared on the ceiling, and caught the ring before it began to fall, "this ring," he continued, still on the ceiling, "is the key. It is the keeper of my powers and immortality. In short, unless it is destroyed, you will never succeed in destroying me." He placed it back on his finger and looked down at me. Then a frown creased his forehead when he noticed I had disappeared.
"But what about all those hundreds of years when you didn't have it? It's not like you died or lost your powers." I said, standing on the ceiling directly behind him. I smiled devilishly as he whirled around in surprise. "It's actually not bad up here." He smiled back, amused. It had only taken me a moment to figure out how to move about the way Dracula was so fond of doing.
"If you think this is fun, try the walls. That's when things get really entertaining. As for your question," Dracula resumed, as I vanished, then materialized hanging sideways on the wall to Dracula's right, "I am not completely powerless without this little trinket, it just adds so much more that it's almost incomparable." He tossed it up into the air again, which was actually down seeming how he was still on the ceiling, then reappeared beneath it and deftly caught it once again, slipping it firmly onto his finger.
"You seem pretty cavalier in your attitude towards it. And why are you telling me all this? Do you really trust me so much?" I watched him from the wall and caught myself admiring his good looks and cat-like grace. I think becoming a bride was beginning to affect my judgment.
Dracula chuckled at my questions. "Darling, you don't really think I would tell you all this if I thought you were a threat, do you? The Devil himself protects this ring; nothing will happen to it. It is impossible to even come close to destroying it. I have nothing to worry about, so why should I?" This news was a little disheartening, but I didn't show it or dwell on it for long.
"That makes sense, I suppose." I mumbled. "But I won't take offense because I don't really trust you either." I looked smugly down at him, and he smiled playfully. God, I loved his smile.
"Come down here, sweet; you're too far away." I shook my head in mock defiance.
"No, I rather like the view up here." I said, as I began walking around the room sideways, still on the walls. "I like this gravity-defying trick. I don't think I'll ever come down."
"Don't make me come up there." Dracula said, acting angry.
I stuck my tongue out at him. "Just try and catch me!" I dared, smiling. He grinned back rather evilly.
"Alright, two can play this game." I watched him disappear, then I did immediately afterwards. We spent the next ten minutes popping about the room chasing and trying to outwit each other. I went from the wall, to the ceiling in the opposite corner, to a different wall, to the floor standing normally, to sitting on a wall, to standing on the vertical side of the bed about a foot off the floor (that was a creative one, if I do say so myself), back to the ceiling, and finally I plopped down on the bed, rather exhausted. The whole time Dracula had been only a step behind me as he tried to guess where I'd appear next, and my laughter had echoed around the room.
"Ha, I win. Ooh, I'm a little dizzy though." I said, acting so superior, then almost falling over. All the sudden changes in orientation made my head spin. Dracula appeared next to me, pretending to be angry again.
"I'll get you next time." He growled at me. Then his tone lightened. "The side of the bed was very clever, though, I must admit. I never would've thought of it." I smiled.
"Yeah,well, that's 'cause you're not me. I am a genius after all." I sat there and realized how much fun I'd just had with Dracula of all people, someone I thought I had come to loathe. I began to think that maybe being his new bride wasn't so bad after all, maybe there was a tolerable side of Dracula few people ever saw.
Dracula laughed. "Andrea my dear, you make me feel so...young and alive." He pulled me close and kissed me passionately, and I returned his attentions with as much passion.
"Vladislaus." I whispered in between kisses, and he began to tease the exposed skin of my stomach with his light fingertips. I shivered in response and deepened the kiss. Abruptly he stopped, and looked into my eyes.
"Come, Andrea, to my chambers, and sleep with me tonight. You are so beautiful..." I moved a little away from him and stared back.
"Don't you mean today? It's not really night out." The curtain over the only window was closed, but I could see daylight beyond it, even though there were large clouds covering most of the sky. Dracula shrugged.
"Whichever you like. It means the same to me. Now, come." He took my hand and made to stand up with me, but I held back.
"Wait, do you mean, like, in your coffin? Because I think that's kind of creepy and I'm not sure I'm quite comfortable with that. And I'm not really all that tired, so why don't you go on and I'll see you later..." I trailed off when I saw his eyes glint in the beginnings of anger.
"It really wasn't an option, sweet. Besides, I doubt we'll do much sleeping." His expression flared with that hungry look I'd come to recognize. He reached for my wrist, but I pulled away again. His eyes flashed with the waves of anger he felt at my refusal, and as I saw his expression alter I flared in anger too. All the reasons why I hated him came rushing back. I glared at him in determination and anger, the feelings I'd just had for him long forgotten. Before he could move or speak, I opened my mouth.
"Why do you do that? Why do you have to be so controlling! We were having so much fun, but you had to go and ruin it. I hate you! Get away from me!" I snapped, as he made to move closer. I closed my eyes and wished myself anywhere but there, and I opened my eyes to nothing but snow and biting, icy wind.
"ANDREA!" I heard a chorus of familiar voices exclaim behind me, sounding shocked and elated all at the same time. I turned around, hardly daring to believe it, and a huge smile broke out over my face.
So…what do you all think? I hope I haven't lost my touch when writing Drac and Andrea scenes, they are my favorite after all. I'm sure you all can guess where Andrea is, so you can't blame me for much of a cliffie, haha. You'll just have to review lots and lots, then wait patiently for me to update again, lol. But I won't keep you waiting too long. Anywho, hope you liked it, and now you feel insanely obligated to review. So, go ahead already! Lol, Sorry, I just love reviews, don't we all:)
Gem