Author's Note: Ahhhh! I made such a big mistake. I'm sorry. I'm o sorry. That part that just says - cardinal's speech about the knights of the holy order was supposed to be this speech that the Cardinal gives Mina. I was going to use the same speech that he gave to Van Helsing in the movie. I'm sure that you all have an idea of what that would have said. I apologize to you all on my hands and knees with a cherry on top, (I know that's for when you say please but I really like it).

On another note I'd like to reassure Fortune Zyne. You can't have a story about Van Helsing without bringing Dracula in somehow. He is coming, (but shush it's a surprise), so don't worry.

And thank you enigmagirl2727 for all of your ideas. I think it's funny that the review board is now where we leave messages that have nothing to do with the story. We all have our little problems! Keep writing you need to post a new chapter! Or else!

I could still use ideas or suggestions on the partly formed plot. If you have any let me know. Wow that was a long note. I'll try to keep it shorter next time.

Chapter #3

The young man who wore the robes of someone training to be a priest led Mina to her room in complete silence. He remained silent even when she thanked him for brining her bags there. As he left she gave him an uncertain wave. Mina opened the door and peered in. There were two girls already in there. They appeared to be in the middle of an argument. There was a window directly across from the door. The room had three beds all along the same wall. One was close to the door, one closest to the window and one in between them. There was wall-to-wall bookshelves on the opposite wall. The third wall, with the window had three large chests.

"Um," Mina began awkwardly, "I'm your roommate Magdamina Monstrous." The girl on sitting on the bed in the middle of the room opened her mouth to reply but the girl on the bed closest to the door cut her off.

"This sucks," she growled, "I do no want to spend my whole time here stuck sharing a room with you two. This is worse then home." She glared at the girl sitting on the middle bed the whole time. With that she stormed out pushing past Mina roughly and slamming the door behind her.

"Ignore her," the girl still sitting on the bed stood up and reached down to help Mina with her bags, "she never expected that when she got to Rome she would be stuck sharing a room with her little sister."

"You're her little sister? But you two look-"

"The same age? Yeah we are, she was born two minutes before me and will never let me forget it. We're twins." Now that she mentioned it Mina wondered why she hadn't seen it. "I'm Rosita and this is, or was Claudia. We used to be really good friends, then one day she decided we were enemies. Go figure." Mina didn't say so but she was really jealous. She had always wanted a brother or sister, all she had was parent-figures and they weren't the same. Of course she had lived at a school so she saw plenty of other kids but they didn't like her very much. Probably because they hated her mom. Lydian was a tough teacher, as Mina knew only too well.

"It's great to meet you Rosita."

"Well," Rosita surveyed the room, "I guess you'll be sleeping on the bed by the window, since it's the only one left."

"That's fine." As Mina unpacked the two girls compared their feelings, mostly nervous worrying, about the next day. They would have their first day of classes. By the time Claudia returned to the room both of the other girls were in bed.

Mina felt as if she had hardly got into bed when a ringing bell dragged her from bed.

"What's going on?" Movement from the other two beds showed that she wasn't the only one who had been woken up.

"That's the bell to get up," answered Claudia in a snooty voice, "it tells us we have fifteen minutes to get to the Chapel of Religions."

"Even though Rome is the center of Catholics there are many other religions from all over. Every morning we have a service that encompasses all religions." Mina looked out the window.

"What time is it?" She asked. "The sun is barely up."

"It's five in the morning," Rosita answered, "or it will be in fifteen minutes. You should hurry. I'll show you where the chapel is."

"Thanks," Mina said gratefully, "I would never find it on my own." Claudia snorted and muttered under her breath. Rosita rolled her eyes and ignored her sister.

Exactly fifteen minutes later the three girls had joined the rest of the over fifty students prepared to begin studies with The Knights Of The Holy Order. The service was a concise, yet brief, mixture of almost every imaginable religion. The Cardinal then stood up. He welcomed all the students, expressing his pleasure at seeing so many new students attending. He passed out schedules to all of them, then he sent them on their way.

From six to seven the students had a chance to do their morning exercises. While this was a new concept to many of the students Mina had been doing exercises every morning for as long as she could imagine. People like her mother and Van Helsing did not keep their forms by just eating healthy. Rosita hadn't ever had a real exercise routine so Mina gave her a few tips. Right after that, from seven to eight, they could clean up and eat breakfast.

Their first class was religions, it was taught by The Cardinal. From eight to nine they took notes and memorized prayers from religions all over the world. But this class, The Cardinal explained, would also deal in such subjects as symbols, languages, and the maintaining of ancient texts.

The next hour they had a class on Healing and Potions. The short man who taught it obviously wore the same cloths while he gardened. His boots were caked with dry mud. The classroom he taught in resembled a kitchen more then a classroom.

From ten to eleven they had a class in monster awareness. Their teacher started them working immediately with a lecture on clues to look for when determining if people were turning into a monster. The classroom had three wall to wall book shelves on three sides. The shelves were crammed with books with labels like 'Fangs, Fur, and Full Moons' 'Terrors Of The East' and 'Magical Beasts And Where To Find Them'.

The last class of the morning was a class that taught how to make weapons. The man who taught it was young with hair that hadn't been cut or brushed for that matter for years. He set them all to work heating metal to shape it into a circle. It was their first assignment and none of the students could shape a perfect circle. Quite a few were rushed off to the infirmary to be treated for burns.

At lunch all the students sank into their chairs and dug into the food. Mina found the food served here much better then the junk they had at her mother's school.

After lunch, from one to two the students had a class in hand to hand combat. Their teacher was a little old Asian woman. Any person who thought she was a pushover was in for a shock when she soundly beat every student in a bout. Each bout lasted several seconds and resulted in the students being flipped, thrown, pushed, or otherwise forced out of the chalk circle. After that they spent the rest of the hour performing various muscle strengthening activities.

They had all been looking forward to their class in fighting with weapons. The teacher gave them a lecture on choosing a weapon that suited your personality. She said all this while sharpening a lethal looking knife with a foot long blade. The wall was decorated with every imaginable weapon.

Their next class was from three to four. It was a class in horseback riding. The teacher who met them in front of the stables. She instructed them to choose a horse to ride. Then they spent the rest of the class learning how to properly groom their horse.

Their last class was a class about undercover and concealment. Their teacher was a plain woman who instantly set them to practicing picking up bags filled with stones without making a noise. It was an almost impossible task that their teacher managed to do perfectly.

The next hour was their free period. Even though they knew they should be starting their work all the students wanted to do was relax. Then the next hour, six to seven, was dinner time. And the last hour from seven to eight was another free time. Then they were allowed to spend a hour in their rooms studying.