Disclaimer: I don't own Carl, Dracula, Van Helsing, Igor, or anybody else from the Van Helsing movie. (Which I also do not own, by the way...well, not the rights to it anyway.)

Devil's Love

Chapter Nine

Carl had found another staircase, one that looked longer than the last. He had been wandering along the hall, trying to see past doors. The more he explored, the smaller he felt. The castle was bigger than any Carl had ever read about. The farther down he went, theless grand the décor got.

And he still hadn't seen anyone, living or dead, yet.

Then, as if sensing his thoughts, something brown flashed down the side corridor just as Carl was passing it. He saw it out of the corner of his eye, whipping his head around as it disappeared, too late to get a good look. He glanced over his shoulder, a sudden paranoia washing over him. But the hall was empty.

Carl turned back to the side hall, squinting, trying to catch the brown flash again, but it must've gone into a room. Or maybe down a staircase. It couldn't have been Dracula, since he only wears black, Carl figured. He hadn't seen the brides yet in their human form, only in their winged form, and they had been white at the time. Only one person he had seen in the castle wore brown clothing...

"Igor?" Carl called, hesitantly, softly. Carl didn't know if he wanted an answer or not. If it was Igor, and he was the injured one, then Carl, as a friar, was obligated to help him; but if Igor wasn't hurt, he would certainly call Dracula. Carl shivered. Besides, he didn't want to call the vampires down on himself by being too loud.

But instead of a human voice answering, a strange chattering noise echoed from the corridor before dying off. As frightened as Carl was, he took a hesitant step into the side-hall, and then another. If he was to find an injured person, then he'd have to find people first. And he certainly wasn't going to find them wandering alone by himself.

Carl reached the end of the short, weaving hall, another staircase at his feet. He had looked into every empty room, with no clue as to where the brown flash had gone. But now the only logical explanation was that it had gone down these stairs.

It was much longer than any of the other staircases Carl had gone down. It was also much darker, lit only by a few irregularly-placed torches, and the occasional window. Whenever Carl reached one of the windows, he pressed his face against the glass, flinching inwardly at the biting cold of the frosted pane, and searched the landscape, praying for any familiar sign at all. But it was always the same; snow-covered mountains filling the sky and dark clouds floating swiftly along in the fierce wind. The full moon glowed onto Carl's face as he turned away.

When Carl finally reached the foot of the staircase, he was breathing heavily. He sat on the bottom stair, looking into the silent darkness surrounding him. By the drop of temperature, Carl guessed he had reached at least the first floor.

A thunking noise echoed a little further down the hall.

-

Aleera and Verona watched the friar stand up and walk in the direction of the wall on his right, his outstretched fingers seeking it out.

"He is headed for the werewolf," Verona said, her eyes following him. Aleera watched him as well, eyes glowing, a smile spreading across her face.

"Wonderful."

End of Chapter Nine

This chapter is slightly longer! Yay! Sorry it took so long to update (I actually had this written out for a couple weeks, but there was no time to type it up). The good thing is that marching band season is over now (well, I'm still sad about that, but now I have more time to write!). I've already started the next chapter, which is a flash to Van Helsing and Anna, with maybe a slash thrown in? Please tell me what you think be reviewing!