Disclaimer: I don't own Carl or anyone else featured in this piece of fanfiction. I WISH I owned Carl but, alas, I don't. Gr.

Devil's Love

Chapter Ten

"The tower…Carl, start there."

Van Helsing was combing through the Valerious tower, those words echoing in his ears, a simple brown leather jerkin covering the bandages on his torso. In the week they had been in the village, Carl had spent most of the time locked away in the tower, searching for the location to Dracula's castle on Van's orders.

The deep smell of the stew arrived in the tower room before Anna. The gypsy woman glanced out the dark window, looking at the glowing full moon. She stood before the hunter, looking down at his bowed head. "Here," she said, holding out the bowl. "You have been up here long enough. You have to eat."

Van laid the book down in his lap carefully, making sure he didn't lose his place. The warmth of the stew flowed from the smooth wood into his fingers but he simply put the bowl down on the old wooden desk. "I'm not hungry. I'll eat when I am."

Anna sighed. "You're no good to Carl if you starve. You need to eat. We don't even know if he's alive at all."

"Don't say that!" Van was on his feet in an instant, the book falling from his lap to the floor with a heavy thud. "Why would Dracula take him, send me a sign, if Carl's dead? He is alive."

Anna watched his face, studying the look in his eyes as Van slowly sat down again, breathing heavily. The hunter bent over and picked up the book again, its pages bent from the fall. As he straightened the pages out, flipping for his place again, he still didn't look at Anna.

"You blame yourself, don't you? You think it's your fault that Carl got captured."

"I could've done something. It's obvious that he was taken during the attack-"

"You were fighting Mirashka. There was no-"

"I should've stayed near him! He's a friar for God's sake, not a soldier! He needed me to protect him…and I didn't," Van said, his voice going soft. "If he dies, then it's my fault."

-

Carl's fingers trailed over the uneven surface of the stone wall, searching for a door or some sort of entryway. The hair on the back of his neck prickled, creating a tickling sensation. I am not being watched, Carl told himself. It's just my nerves. I am not being watched. But he still couldn't shake the feeling.

Suddenly, his fingers weren't on the wall. They were in the air; the wall had run out! But Carl found the wall again and retraced its surface; it hadn't run out, it had turned. His other arm reached out and he found the other side of the wall. It had to be an entryway. Carl took a tentative step forward, and then felt along with his other foot. Stairs.

Carl hadn't descended for long before the stairs took a winding curve and a torch was in view. Carl hadn't seen any source of light along the stairs until this one and, by the look of the darkness before him, there wouldn't be many more. Carl tugged on the torch, carefully keeping his hands from the flame, and freed it from its bracket.

The torch certainly made Carl feel safer, though he didn't know why. His logical brain kept repeating that fire wouldn't harm a vampire, but his heart continued to feel lighter. Maybe just because the fire chased away the darkness surrounding him.

But it didn't stop Carl from shivering at the sound of a moan and a series of cracks. The sounds were loud; he must be nearly there.

Just as Carl was thinking this, he turned the last winding corner and came to a wooden door with a chain across the front. This is where it has to be coming from. But why would Dracula lock this door and not mine? Carl asked himself, even as he unwound the chain and let it fall to the ground with a loud clank. Carl pulled on the iron ring that served as a doorknob, throwing all his weight back. It creaked open slowly. Once it was wide enough for Carl to squeeze through, he dropped the ring and wriggled through, feeling the stone claw at his skin.

He silently shut the door, thinking to keep unwanted eyes from looking in. Inside the room, Carl looked down on the huddled form of a near-naked man on the floor. Kneeling down, Carl could hearthe shaking man's mutterings.

"I didn't harm her…didn't kill…"

Carl looked closer at him, but couldn't see much detail; clouds were blocking the moonlight from the shattered window above. Carl brought the torch closer and asked, "Didn't kill who?"

The man jumped, sitting up with his feet half under him, leaning away from Carl. The fire-light revealed a dimly familiar face that Carl couldn't place. "Who are you?" the man asked warily.

"Carl…er, I'm a friar." Now that Carl was here, he wasn't sure of what to do. He knew what he intended to do, the reason he came down here, but he wasn't sure of how to go about it. And the way the man's eyes kept going to the flame of his torch…

"A friar?" the man asked, sounding puzzled. "Why would Dracula keep his friar in his castle?"

Exactly my question, Carl thought. The moon revealed itself and he moved closer to the stranger, peering at the now-visible gash along his stomach. As he opened his mouth to ask about it, the man began to gag. "Are you alright? What…"

Carl sank into a shocked silence as the man writhed on the floor, his hand grabbing at the wall. His fingers latched onto any hand-hold as he began to climb it. His mouth opened wide in a howl as his head lengthened into that of a wolf's. His spine grew out into a tail and his skin fell from his body to reveal matted brown fur.

Dropping the torch, Carl ran for the door. His hands hit its surface and he pushed it frantically. It wouldn't open. He heard the chain grate against the stone on the other side.

The door was locked, trapping Carl with a monster. The friar knew he was about to die, but he couldn't utter a final to prayer to God. The only thing he could think of as he looked into the wolf's eyes was Van Helsing.

End of Chapter Ten

Sorry for not writing for a long, long time!! I've been busy…but I'm not so much right now. This chapter is indeed longer than the last one, by two whole pages! Yay! Anyway, I intend to work on the next chapter tonight, so it won't take so long to update again. I apologize deeply once again and humbly for you to review!