Disclaimer: I don't own Van Helsing or its characters, I swear!!

Devil's Love

Chapter Eight

Carl's thoughts had continued to drift through the night; he knew it was late, but he couldn't sleep. He was now re-playing the dinner in his head, re-called images floating before his eyes.

"You are a man of God, are you not, little friar? You would not understand my reasons for doing what I did."

A man of God, a friar. But...sometimes, Carl questioned his devotion to the Lord. It was wrong, he shouldn't question, he knew that. But he did it anyway. It seemed to Carl like he was always finding loop-holes or excuses to do things that the church-leaders didn't exactly smile upon. Of course, Carl just assumed that it was Satan's doing, trying to tempt him away from the Order. But then there was Carl's secret sin, one he didn't confess to the cardinal, one that he often tried to deny to himself...

A tremor shook the little room, startling the friar off his bed, his hand going to his neck before he remembered he didn't have his crucifix anymore. From the lower levels came a howl, like a wolf, but as Carl listened and shivered, it became more human, then faded away. It sounded painful, as if the screamer was injured.

Before Carl realized what he was doing, he had put on his cloak over his night-shift and had his hand on the door-knob. It was instinct; when a hunter cam back hurt, everybody would rush out to see. But this isn't the Order, Carl reminded himself. Dracula's quiet warning to him about leaving the room echoed in his head. Of course, it could be a monster...

But if it's human...they certainly won't find help from anyone else.

Carl glanced out the window to the cloudy night sky. Whatever was down there was at least part human. He took a deep breathe, shut his eyes, and turned the door-knob. Surprisingly, it wasn't locked; it opened easily. Carl poked his head out into the hall. There was nothing, no vampires swooping at him for his nerve. He stepped out and walked as quietly to the staircase that the disfigured man (Igor, that's what Dracula called him) had lead him to earlier.

He walked down carefully, clutching the banister, testing each step before putting his full weight on it, flinching at every creak. He reached the landing, with no person, living or dead, in sight. Carl let out his breath slowly, suddenly realizing he had been holding it. But now that he had reached the bottom...how was he supposed to find the person who was injured?

-

From the rafters, two women watched the small, red-haired friar walk hesitantly down the hall. Verona made a move to jump to the floor, but Aleera stopped her, grabbing her by the arm, nails digging in slightly. "Leave him for now; this may be entertaining."

Verona continued to watch Carl with narrowed eyes, but she nodded in agreement. "Alright...we will watch...and we will wait."

End of Chapter Eight

Yes, yes, its short I know. I'm will force myself to write a long(er) chapter next time. But the good news is: FOURTEEN DAYS UNTIL VAN HELSING IS OUT ON DVD!! As you can tell, I'm excited. I also started a poll on who Van Helsing's soul-mate is (Carl or Anna (or anybody else, I suppose)). That's all I have to share. Until the next I post!

P.S.: Please review!