Disclaimer: what makes you think i'd own people and ideas that are over a hundred years old? Really? well, i dont, so no law suits please

Angel of Beauty: Thanks, I will

Princess Airiana:Sorry Princess. Larissa's dad really did die. That part of the story is focused on her finding her mom, but if you want to guess who that is, i could probably give you a heads up if you guessed right.

Fortune Zyne: I'm glad to know you think so : )

Catlover15489: Thanks! sorry for making you wait so long, I'll try not to do that again.

Chapter 3

"You do?" Dracula didn't sound too surprised, but the emotion still inflicted his voice. "From somewhere. When I was younger, because you were taller than you are now." He just raised an eyebrow and plucked at a silver chain around his neck.

"Did you enjoy your little tour of the castle, Larissa?" he asked slyly. Now why the heck would he say that that way? Then she remembered; the unease, the feeling of being watched. "Yes, I did as a matter of fact. Thank you."

They sat there for several minutes. "So," Marishka said softly. "Did you find the library Larissa?" Larissa's eyes went wide. "You have a LIBRARY!"

"I'll take that as a no, love, how about that?" Aleera said to her, amused.

'Love?' Larissa questioned to herself. But she just shrugged it off. 'They can call me what they want. They did save me after all.'

"We can take you there tomorrow love, but now it's time for bed." Right as Aleera finished talking, the clock above the mantelpiece of the fireplace struck nine. Larissa didn't argue; she saw the flash of bright blue directed at the brides, and she wasn't stupid. He had a bone to pick with them.

The next day, well, week, Larissa spent the majority of her time in the library, whether it was reading or talking to Dracula and/or the brides. She ate, but only because one of the women brought the food to her. Her father always tried to keep her away from libraries, big or small. Not because he didn't want her to read, but because once she was in it, it was difficult to get her out! Her father once said that her love of books reminded him of her mother, and then had picked her up and swept away from the stand selling rare, leather bound tomes.

So one night when the brides (now she know Verona and Marishka's names) had somehow managed to get her out of the library and back to their chambers, she collapsed on the couch.

Sighing, she said, "You know, after nine days practically living there, one gets sick of books." (a/n: this is sooo true. I once got physically ill because I read too much ☺) Verona, Marishka, and the red head giggled at her.

"What were you expecting? Too much of anything is a bad thing." Aleera said. "In most cases." Verona amended.

All four women jumped when Dracula didn't bother with his dramatic, 'scare-the-crap-out-of-Larissa-because-his-brides-were-used-to-it-already' entrance and rather just threw the doors open in his haste. He looked somewhat, uh; elated perhaps is not the best word.

"My brides! Complete overcast skies for the next three days!" they kind of just looked between each other, no really knowing where this was going. "Tomorrow I want you to go down to the village and try to catch Anna Valerious off guard. She doesn't arm herself during the day-and why should she? We'll make this to our advantage!" Dracula said extremely quickly as he saw their glances and strode quickly out of the room.

"Did you catch any of that?" Aleera asked.

"Only Ana Valerious and village." Marishka answered.

"Nope, nothing. I got our advantage out of that." Verona added.

Larissa sighed, a frown deep on her face. "My dad used to do that too. He said go to the village tomorrow and get rid of this Anna person." The brides heard this, but were presently more concerned with what was going through Larissa's head that was making her make such an expression. "Love, what's wrong?" Aleera inquired, putting an arm around Larissa's shoulders. Larissa didn't even have to move her gaze from the fire to know it was the bride whose name still eluded her that asked the question; she was the only one who called her love. She absent mindedly waved the question off, and dug further into her memories.

(a/n: as a question, do any of you know what made Larissa go into though like that?)

A few minutes later, Larissa shrugged out of her memories, not finding what she was looking for. "So, how long does it take to get to the village?"

"About two hours by foot, just under an hour by horse and about three minutes by flight." Verona said offhandedly.

"Flight?"

"Joking dear, joking." Verona quickly said, realizing her mistake.

"Oh, ok, so when do you think you'll be going tomorrow?"

"Probably right after we wake. Why Larissa?"

"No reason Marishka, I was just wondering is all. So why did Dracula call you three his brides?" She had a suspicion, but only that. All three seemed to not know what to say.

"Ah, well…" Aleera said after a while, but didn't get much more out.

"Oh, I see. Never mind then. I get it." They seemed to melt in relief when she gave them a way out. And Larissa didn't blame them either; that was a somewhat awkward question.

A while later, Larissa was lying half asleep in Verona's arms on the couch listening to the three talk about an upcoming ball. She had shifted from Aleera's shoulder to Verona's due to constant movement while she spoke. Marishka wasn't even an option; she seemed most excited for the ball, and she and Aleera ended up dancing and laughing between the couch and fireplace. Verona looked on, amused at their actions and Larissa fell asleep for the first time on the couch, listening to laughter and soft voices.

Larissa woke, only to find herself under the large black comforter on her bed, with sunlight streaming through the window.

From the position of the sun, she could tell it was about mid-morning, and scrambled out of bed. If she was going to reach the village before the brides, she had to leave early. Knowing from experience that all Romanian towns/villages/cities hated strangers, she threw on her traveling clothes that had been lying in a pile next to the wardrobe. Travelers were tolerated slightly more because everyone know they would be gone within the next two or so days. Alright, now she just had to find the exit in this place.

Throwing her cloak onto her shoulders, she swept out of the chambers. She barely had to wonder and poke around for more than twenty minutes before she found someone. Or rather, they found her.

"What are you doing her lass?" Larissa spun on heel to find a hunched over, scarred man.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know I was intruding. I was just looking for the way out…"

"Igor, come, I'll show you the way out." So this was Igor. Interesting. Either way, she was leaving, so she'd have to deal with her identity to him later. Igor took her down two levels and across a hall before reaching gigantic double doors.

"There is a side door there. Use it." Igor grunted before limping off, wires circling one arm. Larissa watched his retreating back for a moment, then passed through the regular sized wooden door.

The door she realized, had lead her to the stables. Convenient if you think about it; now she didn't have to search for them. She looked through each empty stall, and became slightly discouraged. However, it was the same way with the many rooms in the castle. There was a midnight black mare in the very last stall. Larissa smiled, before strapping the saddle on the horses back and leading her out of the stable.

At a full gallop, the ride actually took little more than half an hour, so as she reached the village, she hopped off the mare and led her by the reigns into the village to let her rest a bit.

She felt eyes on her as she stepped through the gates surrounding the village, particularly from the white haired man with a measuring stick. He had this gleam in his eye that just couldn't be healthy.

Ignoring them and the extremely noticeable sharp, pointy objects most of the adults held, Larissa dug a few pieces of gold out of her pocket and bought a loaf of bread form the local backer, making it look like she was the traveler she appeared to be. As she sat in the shadows of a strategetically placed building, Larissa arranged herself and the mare so that it looked as though she was minding her own business while in actuality, she was watching all in sight.

A couple hours later, she found herself slumped against the building, pretending and near succeeding at being asleep. She was jolted out of her doze when two people came into the village horseback. A monk and a…hunter by the looks of it. She could see the crossbow across his back even from clear across the square.

Larissa spun about when she felt a tap on her shoulder, to come face to face with a woman. "Hello stranger. Are you not going to follow the commotion?"

"I've never really been the kind to follow the crowd. They're boring and overall too pushy." Larissa responded.

The woman gave a hint of a smile, her dark brown curls falling into her face. Before she could answer, one of the villagers hissed, "Anna! Get over there!"

"You're Anna? Where's your sword? You're going to need it really soon."

"Only at night lass." Anna responded, her brown eyes flashed in amusement before she was off. "Your funeral." Larissa said, but she wasn't sure Anna had heard her. A few minutes later, she scarcely heard the mumbling of the visitors as the crowd moved forward slightly. She then heard Anna say, "I don't need you help." And the hunter return with, "Really." There was shing of metal on metal which was soon followed by a screech.

In the sky sweeping this way and that, were-"Vampires!" yes, those. The crowd scattered, and zipping of arrows through the air, courtesy of the hunter, were momentarily covered as Anna yelled, "Everybody inside!"

Larissa watched as the village scrambled-not trying to get into somewhere safe, but kind of running around like headless chickens-while the whitish gray, human sized bats flew around. It was almost comical; the…vampires, was it? weren't even doing anything-besides of course, dodging arrows from that stupid hunter. Didn't he see that when he hit them, they just took them out and healed themselves?

Okay, she knew that she was missing some of the action, but it was a lot more fun to watch what was happening backstage. Suddenly, she caught sight of the hunter. He was shooting at the two vampires in sight while they were chasing Anna. Larissa watched fascinated by how the arrows seemed to miss both vampires and Anna and embedded into wood. When it missed Anna as she dived over a stack of barrels, one of the vampires grabbed a nearby man and bit his neck. Larissa touched her neck, almost feeling the pinpricks on the man's neck.

Next thing anyone knew, the clouds parted slightly and sun flooded though the opening. Ant the presence of the sunlight on the village, she vampires disappeared. Everybody, once they seemed to have regained their wits about them, stayed inside with the cover of buildings provided.

Anna, the hunter, the monk, and Larissa were at that moment, the only people not in somewhere safe. The monk was already standing by the well in the center of the square when there was an echo from within, causing him to jump. The hunter started to slowly step towards it; Anna did as well, picking up a curved knife from the ground. Larissa herself was unconsciously moving forward, searching for a spare weapon, but jerked back before anyone saw her. The two reached and jumped to the entrance of the well at the same time finding nothing. The monk noticed thee clouds shifting, starting to cover the sun once again. "V-Van Helsing…" he stuttered.

The two vampires dove out of the well, one catching Anna and throwing her to the other, who only just caught her before she hit the ground. The hunter- Van Helsing shot one arrow at the ankle of the vampire, and actually hit it, causing the creature to drop Anna, who then slid and hung off the side of a stone building. Wait…one…two…where'd the third on go? It was almost obvious they were after something if this was the way they were working.

Larissa suddenly had a though and started scrutinizing the closest, almost motionless vampire hovering in the air. Now that she looked, she could see the characteristics of a female; kind of like a female body with the skin so stretched, you could see every single bone across the torso, and long black hair.

A crash brought Larissa's attention to a large hole in the upper part of one of the buildings across the way. Van Helsing stood very close to said building, looking for any signs of movement within. Silence may be a virtue, but at this point in time, it was excruciatingly painful. Another crash, another gaping hole, and Van Helsing was sent flying along with losing his weapon.

The vampire that had hit him with such force glided in a circle, pulling arrows out of her body as she landed on a railing, changing into the form of Marishka. She pulled the last arrow out, looked at it unconcernedly as though labeling it of no importance, before throwing it to the side. Van Helsing was looking at her, breathing heavily. The weapon was halfway between the two-exactly in front of Larissa. The monk yelled "Holy water!" and threw a silver bottle to him. Verona (since she had the black hair, that's who Larissa assumed it was) grabbed it in mid-air before Van Helsing could catch it and tossed it into the well.

"Stop you're teasing Marishka, and finish him!" Verona yelled before too, disappearing. Yep, that was definitely Verona. Marishka put her hands on her knees and said, "Too bad, so sad." She sounded sort of sad, but was still more amused than anything.

The monk then yelled, "The church!" causing Larissa to roll her eyes in a way that said, 'who the heck wouldn't think of that…and where did Anna go?' As Van Helsing and Marishka looked towards the church and back to each other almost simultaneously, Marishka smiled-well, a bit evilly and her eyes glowed gold, fangs extended.

They stood there a moment 'til Van Helsing tried to sprint towards his crossbow; a bit unsuccessfully as Marishka jumped, transformed halfway to the ground, and swooped down into him, sending him crashing to the ground fifteen feet away. While the two were both preoccupied, Larissa darted forward out of her hiding place and scooped up the weapon gingerly. Before she could shrink into the shadows however, Marishka caught sight of her. She shifted quickly while Van Helsing struggled to stay out of momentary unconsciousness. "Larissa?"

"No, Bigfoot." Larissa smirked.

"Who?" Marishka answered her.

"No one. You've got one heck of an evil laugh, you know. Surprising how I live with you for nearly two weeks and am just no learning you're a vampire." Larissa let the crossbow fall lax in her grip. "Actually, I'm just learning what a vampire is, so…"

"We tried not to let you know. Nice to new that we succeeded. Oh, thanks by the way. I try." Marishka said. As they were talking, neither of them saw Van Helsing circle them; when he reached Larissa, he wrestled the crossbow out of her hands, twisted her arm behind her back and grabbed hold of his shot gun. Marishka stepped forward in concern and anger.

"Stay back!" stupid hunter. If he put all his attention on convincing a vampire into a standstill, all the easier to hurt him. Van Helsing started moving towards the holy water outside the church, letting Larissa stumbled her way before him, not falling only because he had hold of her. Marishka watched every move he mad besides his feet, only realizing the change of background scenery when Van Helsing dipped his gun's tip in the water. Hurriedly, in a panic, Marishka changed and flew to just outside the village and over some tree's we he sot. Unfortunately, the bullet struck her upper leg and Marishka dropped like a stone into the trees. Moments later, screeching was heard and the remaining two vampires burst through a roof top and back towards the castle, as if in pain.

Larissa was worried about Marishka, and was unused to the feeling. She swiftly dug her free elbow into the hunter's side, causing him to release her with a grunt of pain and slightly double over. Larissa sprinted towards the black mare, which was in the place she left her, jumped onto her back, and sent the horse into a gallop to where she was Marishka drop.

She could hear the village crowd outside again, and Anna's voice ringing out, but all that was in her was to reach Marishka . In a sense of déjà vu, as the tree branches slashed at her arms and face, she frantically searched the outskirts of the woods.

As she was about to delve deeper into the forest, she caught sight of blonde and white. Not even waiting for the mare to halt, she leaped off and knelt next to Marishka who was breathing heavily, yet shallowly, her lips turning blue; the cause, holy water starting to kick in. "It's okay, I'm going to get you to the castle, you're going to be okay." Larissa said to reassure herself as much as Marishka. She slung one of Marishka's arms around her neck, and together they were able to get up onto the gorse, but what little strength Marishka had left was used up in that one simple action. She gave a small smile to Larissa, unable to say anything before breathing out once and going limp. Gone. Realizing what happened, Larissa felt tears stream slowly down her face.