Chapter 9

"I can't get you all up there at once." Van Helsing said, noticing an entrance at the top over the door.

"Take them then." Larissa said, spotting one of those side doors. She looked at it in appreciation. It was infinitely easier, and she didn't have to get closer to Van Helsing than necessary.

Larissa frowned at that thought but rushed to the door and threw her shoulder against it; it gave way almost immediately. She was in before the other three even reached the top. They looked startled to see Larissa in already when they landed, but it didn't last because Van Helsing started growling and got this crazed look in his eyes.

"Let's go." He said when he got control over himself. They followed him, but it was clear he had no idea where he was going.

"Hey Anna," Larissa asked, "What was with Van Helsing back there?"

"He's been bitten by a werewolf." She said abruptly.

Larissa wasn't done, however. "Speaking of werewolves, what happened to Velkan? He went with Verona and Aleera."

"He was killed." Anna said angrily and shot a glare a Van Helsing, which she thought Larissa couldn't see. Larissa really was starting to not like Van Helsing. He killed Marishka, and now Velkan, and he was the cause of Verona's death, from what she was led to believe. Maybe that's why she was uncomfortable around him; her subconscious know before she did.

The sound of metal embedding itself in stone brought her attention to Van Helsing where he was threatening Igor with a wire clipper. A screech cut off all speech. As soon as it was done, Igor said, "My master has awakened." A second later, a yell was heard and some machinery was faintly heard.

Van Helsing, Anna and Carl rushed to the window nearby, which was adorned with blackened metal bars. Larissa however, moved and tried to pull out the weapon that was pinning Igor to the wall. She wasn't strong enough though.

"The master knew that they'd bring you back. Play along and do they say." Igor whispered to Larissa. She nodded and moved back as Anna stepped away from the window. "Come. We must find it!"
"Wait a minute! Why does Dracula have a cure?" Van Helsing said.

"I don't care."

"I do," he looked at Igor. "Why does he have a cure? Why? " Igor just groaned reluctantly.

"Because, because the only thing that can kill him is a werewolf. The painting…that's what it meant."
"But Dracula has been using werewolves to do his bidding for centuries." Anna protested.

"Yes," Carl reasoned, "but it one ever had the will to turn against him, he'd need a cure so that he could turn it human again before it bit him."

Van Helsing turned back to Igor. "Where is the cure?"

Larissa spoke. "It's funny that you aren't asking someone who would probably be willing to give you directions. Especially since she's been here before…"

"Do you know?" He asked her.

"Nope!" She said innocently. Van Helsing growled and Anna asked, "Then why did you say that?"

"I was just wondering why you hadn't asked!" Van Helsing turned back to Igor with a muttered, 'kids' and demanded directions.

"The tower over there, that's where it is."

"…and the other tower?" He subtly threatened again.

"That is where we set up the laboratory. Would I lie to you?"
"Not if you wanted to live. You will take these three and lead them to the antidote." Igor looked like he wanted to protest, but didn't. Instead he set off at a brisk pace in the direction of the east tower. Carl followed, Anna got pulled back by Van Helsing to say something, and Larissa tried to sneak off in the opposite direction. That actually didn't work too well, considering Van Helsing caught her by the arm and pushed her in the 'right' direction, and watched that she stayed with them until they reached the base of the tower.

All thoughts of trying to sneak off left the moment she was caught a second time. She looked up in exasperation and spotted Aleera posed stably up in the rafters' above, watching them. Larissa smiled and saw Aleera wink before disappearing.

Carl looked suspicious at Larissa's sudden compliance, and watched her closely, but otherwise didn't mention it. Larissa on her part was trying to act as though she gave up, which was probably why Carl caught on so fast.

Several times Igor started to slow but kept going as Anna threatened him in various ways. For that, Larissa glared at Anna, but didn't say much of anything. It got colder and colder as the climbed the tower and Larissa was really starting to regret not taking something to block the wind from penetrating her clothes.

"There it is." Igor drawled to the others, heading forward until Anna put an arm out in front of him.

"I'll go first."
Larissa followed Anna through the door towards a syringe gloating in a clear material in a tank in the middle of a circular room. Carl followed too, almost hesitantly. Apparently he wasn't fast enough for Igor, because he kicked Carl into the room and pulled a lever, dropping a gate in the only way out of the room.

Larissa sighed, annoyed as Carl and Anna started pondering over the tank. Then she gave up all hope for them when they started, "Grab it." "No, you grab it." And leaned against a pillar and scrutinized her nails.

"Go ahead, grab it."

"You go ahead and grab it. If its one thing I've learned, it's never to be the first one to stick your hand into a viscous material."

Without any of the noticing, Aleera crept down from the ceiling using some form of anti-gravitation and screeched whilst contorting her features. Anna and Carl jumped and both rounded the tank so that they were on the opposite side from Aleera.

"Did I scare you?" she said, clearly amused.

"N-no!" Carl responded in a high voice that squeaked as he finished.

"Then maybe I need to try a little harder." Aleera laughed, amused at Carl's face of alarm that sprung onto his face the moment she said that. Anna, being the cool one in situations like this, lurched forward and pushed the tank over so that it splashed onto Aleera as it shattered, causing her to erupt in cries of temporary pain.

Larissa stepped carefully around the acidic liquid, away from it seeing as it was coming in her direction as Carl gave a word, something along the line of 'I told you so' to Anna. Anna wasn't amused and pushed Carl towards the antidote that was rolling across the slightly uneven stone floor. "Get it!" Anna then went to the smashed glass on the floor and carefully lifted a large piece of glass with the material still resting in it and threw it onto the metal barricade. Larissa glanced over and watched the door seemingly melt away where the acid touched it.

Carl was playing hot potato with the antidote on the way through the hole in the door; Anna was pushing him, hurrying him through, but didn't make it in time to go out herself. Aleera pulled Anna back and pushed her against a wall to keep her in place, but looked like she wanted to go after the antidote. "Don't mind the monk; he'll do what he needs to do." Larissa said across the room, finally making the passage across the mess of acid.

Carl, who was only a few stairs down the staircase, hollered back, "Actually, I'm just a friar!"

"Keep running CARL!" Anna shouted to him, and he hurried to comply. Anna struggled to get out of Aleera's death grip, but could hardly move.

"You can't go until I say you can!" Aleera said, the skin eaten away by the acid stitching itself back together, while Anna got a look on her face. "And I say you can go when you're dead!" Aleera threw her across the room, slowly walking after her. Larissa looked in shock while the two fought their battle. Anna refused to be tossed about and took the liberty to fight Aleera, running half way up a wall and grabbing one of the torches out of its bracket. Aleera seemed to have expected that though, and calmly blew it out, laughing at the simplicity of the situation. She turned about until she was a blur and all the light in the room was extinguished, in the case of one, which was promptly blown out when Aleera came to a halt.

Larissa had stopped moving the moment the fires went out, being perilously close to the acid at the moment, and did not want to change sticking her foot in it; so she merely pushed herself up against the wall so that she had some stability. Through the twilight, she could almost see Anna starting to panic while Aleera stood there silently. Lightening flashed across the room and suddenly Aleera was lost in the gloom, causing Anna to brandish her unlit torch a bit more firmly.

The silence pushed away all thought, letting the lightening take over every now and then, and Larissa started to grow tense. Once again the lightening flashed, but this time Aleera appeared directly in front of Larissa, getting a small yelp from her.

"Larissa! Are you alright?" Anna called out frantically.

Recovering from the shock, Larissa called out to her in the darkness, "Sorry! I ran into a wall!" Aleera was so close that even through the dark she could see her trying not to laugh. As Aleera stepped over next to Larissa, the girl started to relax. Aleera was there, things would be okay for the moment. Aleera leaned down slightly and spoke ever so quietly into Larissa's ear, the girl was having a hard time trying not to tell her to speak up.

"Go down the stairs and across the south bridge. Run fast, lightening has been hitting it fairly often tonight. The lab is there in that tower. The master will protect you Love."

"But—"

"Go, please go."

"Don't hurt her!"

Aleera looked surprised at this request and didn't answer. "Go!"

Larissa stumbled across the room in the direction Aleera pushed her. Her eyes seemed completely incapable of adjusting to this lighting. At the door Larissa looked back and saw Aleera backhand Anna across the room as lightening rang, before she quickly exited. Outside the room and down the stairs a bit, the torches were once again lit, and it took Larissa much less time to navigate down the stairs. The only problem with the bridge was that Larissa's ridiculously long hair kept blowing into her eyes, so that was a nuisance, with the rain there to keep it in place.

The tower had one hall that led directly to the lab, along with a set of stairs that led up to higher levels in the tower. "Count!" Larissa yelled when she got into the lab. "Dracula?" she began to slightly panic when he didn't answer at once.

"Quit your fretting girl. I'm here." Dracula stepped out from behind a big knot of technological equipment to see her dripping. In her state, he decided that she needed to not know about some things…and know about others. "Come Larissa, I'll explain this beautiful machine to you. It's surprisingly simple, considering what it does. To bring one person to life you don't even need somebody else. The only reason I need them is because we're trying to bring thousands of beings to life. Now if you watch what the dwergi are doing here..."

Larissa momentarily forgot what the problem across the big scary chasm was and listened raptly to Dracula as he explained the machine to her, and he was correct. The machine was very easy to use, it just took longer with someone needing to be hooked up to the system. Dracula came up to the last step and was about to explain it to her when something very solid hit the ground in the room and something slammed against the wall outside of the tower. Dracula cut himself off and turned to find out what it was that caused the distraction inside and Larissa rushed out of the tower, knowing what it was that had caused the noise, and it didn't sound as though it would have been a very safe fall either.

Larissa searched quickly along the edge of the tower, where a person would have been capable of grabbing onto to stop their fall. Around the bend was Carl, who was looking sickly enough as it was without having a stake embedded two inches from his head. If he would have moved-no forget that. Larissa shoved him to the side so that she could get to the other side of him and get to the main action. However, what she saw was that of Aleera's body pressed against the side of the tower while Anna tried to stand on the slippery slope so she could get the antidote to Van Helsing, where ever he was. Larissa's mind went into overdrive, and she calmly leaped the gap between the bridge and the ledge.

"Aleera?" Larissa said, and her heart lifted when the woman in question shuddered in pain. In pain, but at least she was alive.

"I'm sorry Larissa." Anna almost stepped off the edge when Larissa pinned her with a glare. Fast enough Anna and the monk were off out of her sight, before she could turn her attention back to the injured bride. "Are you—"

"Shh. No, I'm not. Stupid stakes and their stupid—" Aleera had to stop talking and grasped her stomach in pain, where blood was pooling onto her hands. When she stopped, she said, "It isn't usually this messy. You need to go help Dracula…please…" she stopped talking once again, but her eyes closed this time instead.

Larissa refused to think that Aleera was dead. She just…passed out! That's it! So, Larissa picked her up bridal style and questioningly made her way across the gap safely and into the lab. What she saw stopped her in her tracks. Dracula-well, she thought, anyways, was just a pile of bones on the floor, and Carl was standing next to Van Helsing, who in turn was leaning over Anna who was…not moving. Not breathing. Just, staring wide eyed at some invisible force. With the shocked and self-degrading look on Van Helsing's face, Larissa didn't take much time figuring out what had happened: Van Helsing had killed Anna. And Dracula. And Marishka. And Anna had killed Aleera. But Van Helsing killed more.

Larissa gently laid Aleera down next to Dracula's remains and headed over to Van Helsing. As he went to reach for her, she snapped at him, "What do you think you're doing? Don't touch her!" Larissa placed herself firmly between Anna's body and Van Helsing, who was glaring at her as though he could make her turn to a pile of ashes right that moment if he concentrated long enough.

"Just-just leave!"

Van Helsing kept glaring until Carl pulled him back and said, "Leave her for a while, women are complicated like that. She needs time." Van Helsing reluctantly followed Carl out of the tower, and Larissa fell to her knees, just calmly, sadly observing her surroundings, with nothing to lose anymore. One of these women was her mother. Now they were both gone.

Sorry, sorry, sorry, don't hit me. I apologize for taking a lifetime, but life has been tough, so there. There is one more chapter after this, which really sets up the sequel, which I plan on typing up soon enough, but if you've read close enough you should be able to predict a bunch of stuff that's going to happen.