A/N Ouch! According to reviews only one person read my last chapter! That means there might only be one person reading this – my tenth chapter! I can't believe I made it here! Since this is after all chapter 10, I'm going to make it as special as possible – enjoy!
Chapter 10: Saviour
Wind screamed past Marie's ears as she soared through the air, bound for Valerious Manor. She clutched a small maroon velvet bag in trembling hands as she contemplated what was happening.
Everything was happening so very fast. It was almost too easy; how they had captured the princess and tormented her, without consequence. I could get used to that, thought Marie. Don't think too soon Marie, her mind told her, Van Helsing has yet to get involved.
And then there was her desire for Dracula. It was true; she felt intense attraction towards Dracula. She longed for him to make her his new bride, but she was unsure of his feelings. In the beginning, he had been so forthcoming and obvious with his lust for her. Then, thought Marie angrily, that bloody princess Anna entered the picture, and my effect on him vanished. The vision of Dracula tenderly caressing Anna's cheek and pulling the duvet over her sprung up in Marie's mind. How she hated Anna for stealing Dracula from her. The princess despised him, yet somehow he still seemed attracted. But what about tonight? Marie's mind asked her. He spared no cruelty to her, and he didn't stop Jacob or myself. Perhaps my lord is not as infatuated with the princess as I thought.
"Yes," Marie told herself, "That is it."
She released the thoughts as Valerious Manor came up beneath her. She swooped down and circled a few times, peering in the windows, looking for Van Helsing. She caught sight of him in the armoury. Marie landed on the windowsill and quickly morphed to her human form. She looked through the frosty glass, squinting to see what was going on. Van Helsing was standing behind one of the tables of weapons, staring longingly at what looked like one of Anna's knives. Marie let loose a shrill cackle at the sight. The sound echoed through the empty halls of the house and Van Helsing immediately grabbed a large axe, holding it ready to strike as he spun around to face Marie.
"Uh uh uh!" Marie waved her finger, hoping to stop him from throwing the weapon.
"What do you want?!" demanded Van Helsing in a harsh tone, keeping the axe raised as he slowly walked towards the window.
"I come with a gift from my lord." Marie grinned mischievously and tossed the velvet bag to Van Helsing. He put out is hand, and caught it, not taking his eyes of her.
Gabriel narrowed his eyes, "What have you done with Anna?"
"Not much..." Marie said coyly.
"Where is she?"
"So many questions you ask," Marie said. "So many questions."
"Answer me!" Gabriel demanded, growing angry.
Marie began to laugh. She changed to her demon form and hovered slightly in the air.
"Answer me, damn it!" Gabriel yelled.
Marie gave him a devious look over the back of her shoulder, putting her games aside.
"Your beloved princess," she said with malevolence dripping off her voice, "Is with the creature that is soon to kill you."
With that, Marie began laughing hysterically and took off into the darkness of the night.
"Damn!" Gabriel cursed to himself. He slammed the window shut in bitter frustration. He wanted to scream. None of this would have happened if he hadn't forced Anna to go to bed.
Having heard the commotion, Carl came hurrying into the room.
"Van Helsing? What happened? Is something wrong? What's that?" Gabriel noticed that Carl's eyes were focused on the small bag in his hands.
"Lets find out." Van Helsing walked over to the table and put the axe down. Slowly, he pulled the black ribbon off and tipped the contents onto the table.
"Oh my God! Is that what I think it is?" Carl gasped.
Van Helsing stared down at the small vial of blood, knowing instantly whose it was. A small roll of parchment was tied to it with a bloodstained piece of cloth. Gabriel recognised the flowery pattern of Anna's shirt and winced at the thought of what might have happened to her. Bitter regret began to churn inside him, but he suppressed the feeling, forcing himself to concentrate as he slowing pulled the note out and opened it.
"Well go on. What does it say," asked Carl curtly.
Gabriel gave him a death glare then read out aloud:
Hello Gabriel.
How does it feel to have what you love wrenched from your heart?
I look very much forward to our next meeting
-Count Vladislaus Dracula
A heavy silence fell over the two as the words sank in. Van Helsing was the first to speak.
"Carl. Ready everything and forget daybreak. We leave in ten minutes!" he ordered.
Carl looked up at his friend and nodded sincerely, fully understanding how he was feeling.
"Is it done?"
"Yes my lord."
"Good," Dracula nodded with satisfaction.
What happened to 'call me Vladislaus' thought Marie, feeling disgruntled.
"Now," Dracula stood up from the throne on which he was sitting, "we wait for my old friend."
He looked towards Marie who kept her eyes fixed on the floor.
"What troubles you?" Dracula asked.
"I wonder where my brother is." Lied Marie.
"Jacob, went to 'check on the princess'." Marie noticed something flicker in his eyes. "We wouldn't want her to die before the fun starts, now would we," he added.
Anger flared in Marie once more and she ground her teeth, "No, we would not want that." She agreed irritably.
"Go fetch Jacob, make sure he has not harmed the princess further and send him to me. We have much to discuss before Gabriel's arrival." Dracula commanded.
"Then we will have to work quickly, will we not?" asked Marie.
"If I know my old friend, he will not rush into a battle unprepared. Especially one where his love's life is at risk." Dracula said ignorantly. He waved his arm at her, "Now go. And once you've summoned Jacob, stand watch outside the princess's room."
"As you wish." Marie nodded and left the room, grumbling as she went. One moment, she was destined to be the first new bride of the great Count Dracula, and the next, she was stomping 'round like some common watchdog. Marie stopped to give the head of a bear rug a good kick before continuing to find her brother.
"Why me?" Carl asked pathetically as he and Van Helsing stood once again in front of Castle Dracula.
Van Helsing ignored Carl's comment, focussing entirely on rescuing Anna.
A few minutes later, they found themselves standing in the same 'foyer' they had with Anna not four nights ago.
"Where to now? Which way is the dungeon?" asked Carl.
"We're not going to the dungeon." Said Gabriel flatly.
"Why not?"
"That's not where Anna is."
"How do you know that?
Van Helsing looked to Carl and shrugged, "It's what my heart tells me."
"Oh. All right then, off we go to the...um... Van Helsing? Where are we going?" Carl asked, feeling a little lost.
Van Helsing glanced around a bit, and then pointed to a rocky-looking staircase covered in cobwebs and random shadows.
Carl gulped, but stuck his bottom lip out and held his head high. "Off we go then."
At the top of the staircase, was a long corridor with doors lining both walls. Van Helsing glanced around and suddenly became aware of a low mumbling coming from one of the rooms. Reaching for his crossbow, he moved slowly, ready for anything. Soon, he came to an open door. Gabriel poked his head into the room and gasped.
Anna was lying unconscious on a large bed as the female vampire who had brought Dracula's 'message' bent over her muttering frenziedly to herself. Anna's face was bruised and marked by a harsh cut that made Van Helsing shudder to think what the rest of her looked like. Rage filled Gabriel, nobody had the right to do this to his Anna, nobody. Gabriel watched as Marie ran her hand along Anna's neck, exposing her skin. A shiver ran Van Helsing's spine and he knew it was time to act. Quickly moving into the room, he fired several bolts into the vampiress' back, causing her to shriek and fly away from Anna. She looked up at him disbelievingly.
"You!?"
"Expecting someone else?" Gabriel grinned. He noticed the wounds beginning to heal and kicked himself for not remembering the holy water.
"Only a dead man!" Marie screeched. Instantly changing into demon-form, she lunged at Gabriel, pinning him to the ground. He quickly put up his foot and flipped her over his head.
"Carl!" He yelled, "The silver stake!"
Fumbling in the bag, Carl's fingers closed on the cold metal and he hurled it towards Van Helsing. But Marie was already there, she swatted it away and it lodged itself in the bed's headboard inches from Anna's head.
Marie quickly took off, making for the door, intending to alert Dracula, but Gabriel quickly grabbed the crossbow and sent a few more bolts into her shoulder. Carl quickly slammed the door and she barrelled directly into it.
"Ha! Score for us!" Yelled Carl triumphantly.
Gabriel immediately ran towards Anna, but Marie was back on her feet, shoving Carl aside and pouncing on Van Helsing. The two crashed to the floor beside the bed, both struggling to gain the upper hand. Marie won, but Gabriel, but his feet against her stomach and kicked back hard. She flew backwards towards the bed. Suddenly, she stopped. Her eyes growing wide, her body began to disintegrate to ashes. Soon only a small dust pile remained.
Gabriel and Carl's eyes moved from the pile up to the stake and Anna who lay on her stomach, trembling, but holding the silver weapon firmly nonetheless. Anna's shocked eyes moved from the stake to the ash pile and finally to Van Helsing.
"You came," she said breathlessly before collapsing.
"Anna!" Gabriel hurried to her side, quickly enveloping her in his strong arms.
Anna immediately cried out as pain ripped through her body. Gabriel loosened his grip, taking in, for the first time, the state Anna was in.
"My God, what have they done to you?!" he said, shocked by the amount of blood and bruising covering her pale body.
Anna smiled and murmured drowsily. Gabriel quickly turned to Carl. He tossed his crossbow over and Carl fumbled to catch it.
"Lead the way Carl. With any luck, we will be able to slip out of here unnoticed."
Carl nodded, despite the raw terror rushing through him.
And so, for the second time, Gabriel picked up Anna's broken body and began make his way out of Castle Dracula.
When they reached the ice barrier/mirror, Carl turned to look back.
"Why hasn't anyone noticed us?" he asked timidly.
"I don't know, but stop dawdling before they do! Here take my ring." Gabriel said.
Anna groaned in discomfort as Gabriel shifted her to hold out his hand for Carl to remove the ring. Hurrying to the wall, Carl quickly found a small round notch and inserted the ring into it. The icy turned black for a few seconds. When it cleared, they were looking into a huge mirror.
Van Helsing wasted no time and quickly stepped through, back into the warmth of Valerious Manor with Carl close behind him.
"So that's how you get out," Anna mumbled softly from Gabriel's arms.
"Yes well," said Carl sarcastically, "If I had known that a few nights ago!"
A few hours later, after a lot of pain, blood and screaming, Anna lay in her white nightdress, freshly bandaged with Gabriel sitting beside her on her bed. He was slowly dabbing a warm cloth over the fresh cuts on her face. Nearby, Carl was wrapping a thick chain around the window handles. He held up a large lock the size of his hand, grunting with the effort it took.
"With all these chains, do we really need one this size?" He muttered.
"No," Van Helsing answered. Carl sighed with relief and quickly put the lock down.
"We need one larger but since that's all we have, be sure to secure it tightly!" Gabriel winked down at Anna as he turned to see Carl's shocked expression.
Carl scowled at him then huffed as he hauled the lock up.
"I don't see why all this is necessary," said Anna, "I can protect myself."
"Not in that state you can't," commented Gabriel as he got up to put the cloth down.
He went back to sit beside her. "What happened here, that that vampire got her claws on you so easily?" he questioned her.
"I...I don't know. I fell asleep here and woke up there." Anna said, frowning.
"But didn't you hear the vase breaking?" Carl asked, coming to stand beside Van Helsing.
"My mother's vase is broken!?" Anna ignored the pain and sat up to look for the vase. True to Carl's word, the table beside her bed was vacant.
"Damn that Marie!" Anna swore loudly.
"Well, actually," started Van Helsing, "You did damn her. To hell I'm sure."
Carl kept silent, neglecting to mention that it was he who broke the vase. Besides, how was he to know it had been Anna's mother's?
"That aside, I still wonder how she managed it," Gabriel said.
Carl frowned. "The bag." He said vaguely.
"What bag?"
"Marie had a small bag of powder. The last thing I remember is her dumping it on me. Perhaps that's what happened?" Carl explained.
Gabriel bent down and put his hand under the bed. It soon connected with a small bag.
"Looks like she forgot it," He commented. Gabriel shook the bag, checking if it was safe.
"Watch out!" Anna gasped. A small cloud of silver powder emerged from the bag and blew directly into Carl's face.
"Why me?" he moaned as his eyes rolled back and he fell to the ground, snoring loudly.
Gabriel glanced over his shoulder at the sleeping friar, "Whoops!"
"Gabriel! Shame on you!" Anna scolded. But she couldn't mask her amusement and grinned mischievously
"It's wonderful to see you smiling again." Gabriel set the bag down and sat back on the bed, gently pushing a strand of hair from her face.
"It's just wonderful to see you again." Anna smiled. She reached her hand up behind his neck and gently pulled him down. His lips met hers once again and tingling warmth shot through her body. The kiss was gentle, tentative at first, but deepened as the pain of what had happened returned to them.
Gabriel was the first to break the kiss. He pulled back so his forehead was gently touching hers.
"I missed you."
"You saved me as well." Anna whispered back.
"I couldn't bear the thought of what might have been happening to you." Gabriel confessed. "But you're safe now."
"What about Dracula? How did he return?" Anna asked.
Gabriel sensed her beginning to panic and put a finger to her lips. "Shh. Let me worry about him, you concentrate on getting well."
Anna smiled and pulled Gabriel back down for another kiss. They were interrupted by a loud snort. Van Helsing groaned and sat back, looking down at Carl then back to Anna.
"I had better take him back to his room. And you need to rest." He bent down and kissed her forehead. "I'll be right back."
Grunting, Van Helsing lifted the friar and left the room, but not before accidentally bumping Carl's head on the doorframe.
Anna snuggled into her pillow, revelling in the warmth and softness of her bed. Gabriel had lit a roaring fire, which had now burnt down considerably. From under the curtains, Anna could see the first rays of light as another stormy day in Vaseria began. But this time she wouldn't have to get up, wouldn't have to face the day. After the night she had had, Gabriel would make sure that she didn't get up for a very long time. Anna closed her eyes and relaxed, feeling safe. Yes, Dracula was out there, but she had one less vampire to worry about and the love of her life to protect her.
A few minutes later, Gabriel returned to find her sleeping peacefully. Slowly, he slid into the bed beside her and pulled her into his arms. Anna quickly snuggled up to him, sensing his comforting presence. He was taking no chances this time. He would make sure that she was safe. Quickly, he leaned over and blew out the candle, letting only the small rays defying the curtain light the dim room.
Making sure his crossbow and a silver stake were positioned beside the bed, Gabriel settled down to watch over Anna.
"Sleep tight, my princess," he said softly. Within minutes, his 'stand guard' plan fell to pieces as sleep took him as well.
A/N Whew! My longest chapter yet! Perhaps I should have broken it up after all.
Anyway, if you read this, at ANY time, please let me know – I would really appreciate it! Constant lack of reviews is making my muse suicidal ;) so please please please review!