Disclaimer: Van Helsing is still not owned by me. Oh, the shock, lol. Bet you weren't expecting that, right?
A/N: OMG, OMG, OMG! I am SO INCREDIBLY SORRY for not updating until now! I feel absolutely horrible beyond belief for leaving you all for so long, and I really hope I haven't lost any readers. For those of you who are still with me, thank you so much for sticking it out and I love you all! This chapter was VERY hard to write, but I finally got over my writer's block and did it. Unfortunately, this is the second to last chapter, guys, and I'll really miss writing this fic. :( But, I am working on an HP one, like I said, so I shouldn't be idle for too long. Also, the next/last chapter is already about half-written, so it won't be long before I post that one too. Oh, and I don't know about the whole rule thing, but I'm going to personally thank all of you who reviewed because I feel that you deserve it!
Fortune Zyne: Short and sweet as always. :) Thanks for reading; I hope you still are, and I'm glad you liked it, lol.
BW-girl: Yeah, about that not updating thing…heh heh, lol. Anyway, I'm sorry and I'm updating now, so it's OK, right? The ending was definitely tough to write, but this has been the ending I've planned pretty much from the beginning, so…I really hope it works, you know?
Manson: Is what going to be an OC? If you meant my HP fic, then yes, there is an OC. If you meant something else, you'll have to clarify for me. :) Thanks for reading my story and I hope you still are! P.S. have you slept lately, lol?
HottDarkPrincess: I'm Sorry to keep you waiting! Please forgive me! I'm glad you want to read my HP fic too, though. :) I really hope you haven't given up on me and stopped reading! That would be so sad…I'd cry!
Lady Kathrin: Yeah, VH always seems to butt in…oh well. Hope you're still out there reading and I'm glad you liked that last chapter!
Remember: Saved the best for last, lol. OMG, dahling, loved your email. Holy crap, way to spice up Microeconomics, lol! Okay, you know I love you and I would never want to make you upset or hate me, or anything, so please PLEASE just bare with me and forgive me for this chapter! I don't want to you to be mad at me! I'm SORRY! (wails uncontrollably) Alright, I'm okay, just, don't hate me for life, ok? (sniffles)
And now, you've all definitely waited long enough. So, here's chapter 24 for all you wonderful people out there who still read my fic even though I didn't update in the longest time. I love you! Enjoy!
Chapter 24
Dracula's eyes grew cloudy with anger, and he stepped away from me. "Ah, Gabriel. How nice of you to join us. However, I do not remember inviting you." The edge in his voice was unmistakable. "But then, when have you ever waited for an invitation?"
"This ends now, Dracula. Once and for all." Van Helsing growled.
"Don't be so hasty." Dracula responded. "It has merely begun. And don't be rude, Gabriel. Invite your friends to play with us." I blinked, confused at first. Then I noticed something I hadn't before: my head was filled with muffled and erratic, yet rhythmic, thumps. Suddenly I realized what I was hearing. The heartbeats of Van Helsing and the others sounding in my head. Now I understood how Dracula had known there were other people in the hall. Warily, Carl, Fiona, Sylvia, and Lydia stepped out and stood behind Van Helsing. Dracula smiled, revealing razor sharp fangs. "How nice of you all to join us. Oh, Fiona, I never did get the chance to thank you. You were, after all, so helpful providing me with Andrea's location." He wrapped his arm around me and grinned broader.
Fiona just glared at him. "You bastard." the fiery red-head spat.
"Tut, tut, such temper." Dracula and I rose up as one and floated over until we were in front of Van Helsing, Carl, and the girls. We gently alighted on the ground, Dracula still holding me tightly to his side. Van Helsing didn't even glance at me.
"Cut the chit-chat." Van Helsing ordered tersely. "It's me you want."
"Oh, stop acting so self-important. It gets dreadfully tiresome after a while. How many times do I have to tell you that I was never overly concerned with getting rid of you? However, since you're here...you have been an obnoxiously large thorn in my side for quite some time. If only you could remember, I have a feeling you would not be so self-righteous." Dracula spat these last words, his voice laced with venom, and his eyes darkened even further, then flashed electric blue. Van Helsing tensed, and Dracula stepped away from me and closer to Van Helsing. They stood glaring at each other for what seemed like ages; we all held our breath, watching, waiting. Dracula's anger was boiling with a fury just under the surface of his cool mask, barely concealed. I remember numbly wondering if Dracula's looks really COULD kill. Then, Van Helsing slowly smiled smugly, and Dracula's mask cracked. With a wild shriek of rage, he launched himself right at Van Helsing's throat, arms outstretched ready to throttle him on the spot. Van Helsing pulled back, grabbed Dracula's arm and launched him back over his shoulder. Dracula hit the ground, rolled off to the side, and snapped back up again in an instant. Whirling around, he snarled at Van Helsing and transformed. Rapidly beating his wings, Dracula flew up and disappeared among the rafters. Van Helsing glanced all around, tensely waiting for another attack.
"No werewolf venom in your veins to help you this time, Gabriel." Dracula's disembodied voice echoed eerily throughout the hall. "And I don't think your friends will assist you much either." Dracula chuckled derisively. "Their hearts are beating louder than horse hooves on cobblestone." Carl, Fiona, Sylvia, and Lydia had backed behind a pillar and were watching the scene fearfully. None of them looked to be much help. I stood off to the side, unsure of what to do. Who did I want to come out of this final battle on top? I didn't know.
"Quit stalling!" Van Helsing shouted up to the unseen vampire lord. "I have had enough of this! Let's end it!"
"I couldn't agree more." Dracula whispered, and suddenly swooped down behind Van Helsing, claws and teeth bared. Van Helsing turned just in time, whipped out his sword, and managed to deflect Dracula's killing blow. They grappled for a few moments, equally pitted against each other, until Dracula overcame Van Helsing and tossed him to the side. Bruised, but not hurt too badly, Van Helsing leapt up again, and ran at Dracula. Sword and claws clashing against each other again and again in a flurry of noise and sparks. Both man and beast took hits, but Dracula could heal himself, while Van Helsing could not. It seemed as if this battle would soon be over, and Dracula would emerge victorious.
I could do nothing but watch the fighting before me. My conflicting feelings were tearing me apart inside. Van Helsing? Dracula? Which one! Who did I really love? My thoughts circled in my head, racing around, and I couldn't decide. Even my heart was torn. With a wild cry, I put my hands around my head and squeezed my eyes shut. Opposite forces inside me were pulling me, screaming at me to choose. Dracula's hold over me as his bride demanded my loyalty to him, but that bit of Anna inside that had caused so much to happen was clamoring for me to recognize and stay true to my love Van Helsing.
While these vicious feelings raged inside of me, Van Helsing and Dracula fought on tirelessly. With an unexpected strength, Van Helsing stabbed Dracula right through the heart with his sword and pinned him to the wall. Half the blade was embedded in the brickwork, and while Dracula struggled with ear-shattering roars to free himself, Van Helsing whipped out one of his tojo blades lightening fast and severed the hand that wore Dracula's ring. I gasped and looked up at the sudden commotion, Dracula's emotions flashing through my mind in a violent stormy blur. I could do nothing but watch in paralyzing shock as Van Helsing stooped and yanked the ring off.
"CARL! Remember the plan!" Van Helsing screamed, as he threw the ring with all his might across the front hall and into Carl's shaking hands. Dracula's shrieks increased in intensity as his frustration to get free grew. Carl's fumbling fingers managed to catch the small silver circlet, and he quickly turned to Sylvia.
"Quick! Give me them!" Sylvia scrambled to hand over a large silver crucifix and a vial of Holy Water. Trying not to spill or drop anything, Carl thrust the ring onto the post of the cross, threw them onto the ground, and dumped the entire vial over the staked ring and cross. Carl and the girls stared, breathless, as the ring began to bubble and hiss. Almost in slow motion, it melted off from around the crucifix and puddled on the floor underneath it, the dragon emblem wavering for a moment on the brink of solidity, then disintegrating to become unrecognizable amid the small pool of metal. All eyes turned to Dracula, who gasped as if a shock had run through him, and slowly morphed back into his human form.
"Now what?" Lydia asked softly, looking on wide-eyed.
"Now he is mortal, and old beyond any normal human standards." Carl replied in a hushed tone. Blood began to spill from the sword wound in Dracula's chest, and his eyes glazed over from shock to a steeled calm that only eternal death can bring. With a final breath, Dracula looked over at me and smiled weakly, looking almost relieved.
"Vladislaus..." I whispered almost inaudibly, as the body that should have aged and wasted away centuries ago crumbled to dust before our eyes, leaving Van Helsing's sword behind, stuck in the cold, stone wall. Dracula's final thought rang in my head as he died at last, "Well my dear, you were perfect..."
Suddenly a great and terrible pain began growing from the very pit of my stomach outward. I clutched my waist and let out an involuntary scream. Van Helsing and the others whipped around at the sound of the noise, comprehension dawning in all of our eyes. Now that Dracula was dead, I would die as well, alone and a shell of my true and former self. Unable to stop myself from crying out, I transformed and rose into the air, watching in horror as my body decomposed before my very eyes. I looked down and saw Van Helsing staring up at me, tears of sorrow and suffering glinting in his eyes. "GABRIEL!" I screamed hysterically one last time, and my body exploded into a cloud of ash that slowly rained down upon the heads of my friends.
"Andrea!" Lydia exclaimed running out from behind the pillar and staring upward. Carl, Sylvia, and Fiona slowly came out to join her. They all seemed rather numb with shock; Carl eyed Van Helsing, afraid to go over to him and unsure how he was reacting to the whole thing. Van Helsing blinked rapidly a few times, then put his stoic and serious mask on and walked wearily over to the others.
"Let's go home." he said softly, looking resigned and exhausted. Carl and the girls were quick to agree, and as one they turned and walked out of the now silent castle forever.
(cringes) Please don't hate me! I know, it's horrible, this chapter was so hard to write and I didn't want to, but it's kinda been my plan from the beginning and I didn't know how else I wanted to end it. I'M SORRY, REMEMBER! And any and all other Drac fans out there who completely loathe me right now…(twitch) I can feel the animosity and the glares of death from here. Just understand that I never meant for Andrea and Drac to be together. She just had this strange fascination for him, and she was just an object of his lust. THEY DID NOT REALLY LOVE EACH OTHER! Andrea really loves VH, and that's how I meant for the story to turn out. I truly suffered while writing this chapter, so please forgive me, but I had to. (sniff) There is one more chapter after this though, and that will wrap everything up. So, please no flames unless you really REALLY can't control yourself and just hate me beyond all measure, but hopefully none of you do…Anyway, just review and yell at me if you want, but I do really want to know what you all think. Once again, forgive me for the horrible sin I have committed in writing this, and I hope you all still love me enough to review. Thank you! You guys mean the world to me!
Yours sadly and humbly,
Gem