Chapter 6: Betrayal

Carl was the first to awaken. He slowly sat up, wondering what had happened. His head hurt terribly. The last thing he remembered was him and Van Helsing in the swamp, and then... The creature! Everything came back to him.

"Van Helsing!" he cried.

The door burst open and Van Helsing came in. Wait, the door? Carl suddenly realized he was back in Valerious Manor.

"Carl, are you alright?" Van Helsing asked in concern.

Carl put his hand to his head, desperately wishing the room would stop spinning around. "How long have I been out?"

Van Helsing shrugged. "A couple of hours. I had to carry you and Anna all the way back here."

Carl immediately perked up. "Oh yes, how is she?"

"Still sleeping." said Van Helsing. "She woke up for a couple of seconds back in the swamp, but she blacked out again."

"Oh. Well, thank you for saving me from that… thing."

"Thank Anna when she wakes." said Van Helsing, heading back into the other room.

Carl got off the couch and followed him into Anna's room. The princess was lying down on her bed, still fast asleep. Van Helsing sat in a chair next to her, watching over her protectively. The Necronomicon lay on the floor by him.

Walking over to Van Helsing Carl asked, "How is she?"

"Fine physically." Van Helsing replied, not taking his eyes off her. "She just continues to sleep. If she doesn't wake soon, I'm going to go get a doctor. Explaining how she's alive after being dead for 2 months will be difficult though."

Carl nodded in understanding. He briefly wondered how Van Helsing had managed to get Anna into Valerious Manor without anyone seeing.

Suddenly Anna moaned and began moving around.

"Anna!" cried Van Helsing.

At hearing his voice, Anna's eyes opened. She took in her surroundings and quickly sat up. She home. Back on Earth. She had thought that moment back in the swamp had been a dream; yes, even in Heaven people dreamed. And when she dreamed, it had always been of the man standing over her.

"Gabriel." she muttered, not believing her eyes. He was here. He was really here.

"Anna." Van Helsing whispered her name, still not believing this himself.

Anna nearly threw herself at him, kissing him passionately. Van Helsing kissed her back with just as much love and desire. Both were completely oblivious to Carl, who was standing there with his mouth open.

Anna reluctantly broke away. "Is this real?" she asked. "How is this possible?" None of this made sense to her. One moment she had been with her family in Heaven, the next she was back on Earth, very much alive.

"I brought you back." said Van Helsing. "Anna I am so sorry. I couldn't control myself. Please forgive me-"

Anna silenced him with another kiss. "You have nothing to be sorry for. I don't blame you in the least. In fact, I thank you. You killed Dracula. You allowed me to see my family once again. And now you have given me life once more. You are a hero."

Van Helsing's heart leapt for joy. All the pain he had been going through these past 2 months was gone. He kissed her again. Nothing else mattered. Not the Order, not the monsters he was hunting, nothing. All that mattered was him and Anna.

Carl was growing a little uncomfortable watching his two friends make out. He cleared his voice, making them aware of his presence. Anna and Van Helsing broke apart, blushing furiously. "Glad to see you're awake." said Carl. "How are you feeling?"

Anna smiled. "I feel fine. What happened to you?" she said, indicating his bandaged head.

Carl looked a little embarrassed. "Just a little accident from in the Black Swamp."

Anna's eyes widened. She turned to Van Helsing. "You went into the Black Swamp! Why?"

Van Helsing bent down and picked up the Necronomicon. "We went to get this." Anna carefully took the book. "It's the Book of the Dead. We used it to bring you back."

Anna stared at the book in wonder. "How?"

"There's spells in their on ways to bring the dead back to life. We found one to bring you back. You don't know what Van Helsing went through to bring you back."

Anna turned to Van Helsing. "What did you do?" she asked in concern.

"Just gave some blood." he said with a shrug. "Nothing big."

"Nothing big!" Carl exclaimed. "You were nearly bled dry!"

Van Helsing threw Carl a dirty look as Anna rounded on him. "What?"

"It was just a little prick." said Van Helsing. "I didn't know I was going to have to give up that much. But I would have given every drop for you."

Anna slapped his arm. "Gabriel Van Helsing, don't you ever talk like that again! I don't want you talking about you giving up your life for me!"

Van Helsing looked embarrassed. "If it meant bringing you back, I would have gladly sacrificed myself."

"I won't have you giving up your life for me." said Anna. "I'm not worth that."

"You're worth anything."

"Not your own life."

Van Helsing backed down from the fight. He knew he would never win this argument. Anna's anger left her at the look on Van Helsing's face. She looked down at the book in her hands.

"How did you find out about this?" she asked.

Van Helsing sighed in relief, glad that Anna wasn't mad at him any more. "I was given an assignment here to kill Orlok." he said.

Anna looked up at him with open shock. "Count Graf Orlok? He's here?"

"Yes." said Carl. "He came after Dracula was killed. And he wants the book for some reason. Any ideas why?"

Before Anna could reply, the door opened and Reinfield walked in. "Mr. Van Helsing I…" He noticed Anna and his mouth dropped open. "P-p-princess? You… how… but… you're dead."

Anna smiled. "Was. I'm back thanks to these two." she said, referring to Van Helsing and Carl.

Reinfield was utterly bewildered. "But how?"

"We used this." said Carl, without thinking, pointing to the Necronomicon.

"Carl!" said Van Helsing, warningly.

Reinfield curiously went over to the book to examine it. "What is this?" he asked taking the book and turning through it. "It's terrible."

"Only if it's used that way." said Carl. "It can be used for good. Anna here is a fine example."

Reinfield continued looking through the book. "How did this bring her back."

Carl turned to the page that had the passage on it that was used to resurrect Anna. "We used this spell."

Reinfield gave Carl a curious look. "You can read this?"

"A little." said Carl.

Reinfield closed the book. "How you can is beyond me." He handed the book to Van Helsing. Make sure you don't lose this. I shudder to think what would happen if this fell in the wrong hands. Princess, if you need anything, I will be more than happy to help."

Anna nodded. "Thank you Reinfield."

Reinfield left, closing the door behind him to give them some privacy. The three sat in silence for a bit before an idea suddenly occurred to Anna.

"Gabriel, do you think we can use this to bring my parents and brother back?" she asked hopefully.

Van Helsing turned to Carl, who just shrugged. "I don't see why not. Let me see the passage again."

Van Helsing handed the book to Carl. Anna got up and stood by Van Helsing's side. "Gabriel, you don't think that Velkan will be a werewolf when he comes back, do you?"

Van Helsing wasn't sure how to answer that. "Let's see what the passage says."

They looked at Carl who was just staring at the open book. "Uh, that could be a problem." He turned the book to them. "The page with the spell on it is gone."

"What?" cried Van Helsing and Anna together. They jumped up to see that the page had indeed been removed.

"How?" gasped Anna.

After a few seconds Van Helsing understood. "Reinfield." he growled. He and Anna ran out of the room, leaving a very confused Carl behind. "He'll be heading for Castle Dracula."

"Why?" asked Anna, running alone sighed him.

"Because it used to belong to Orlok. And that's where he'll be."

They ran to the map of Transylvania, which was really a hidden door to Castle Dracula. They stopped in front of the painting, their hopes crashing down. The map was torn to ribbons.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Orlok was not happy with the way the Invisible Man's mission had gone. How could someone invisible get themselves caught? It was inexcusable. Orlok would have killed him on the spot if he wasn't so useful.

Still, his servant had done his job. He had discovered the identity of the monster hunter. Van Helsing. Of course. He should have seen it coming. The Knights of the Holy Order sent him to kill Dracula, why not him too.

No matter. Orlok wasn't an overconfident fool like Dracula. Cure or no cure, he would never work with werewolves. Besides, he had something much better.

"Master!"

Orlok was brought out of his thoughts by someone calling to him. He saw his faithful human spy, Reinfield, coming up to him.

"Reinfield, what are you doing here?" Orlok demanded angrily. "You were to stay in the village and give me daily reports."

Reinfield bowed to his master. "Master, I have it. I have the passage."

Orlok's eyes widened, his irritation at the man vanishing instantly. "You have it? Give to me!"

Reinfield handed Orlok the page he had stolen from the Necronomicon. The fools hadn't even noticed him tear out the page. He looked at his master with a triumphant look on his face. He would be greatly rewarded for this.

Orlok took the page and began examining it. But the more he read, the more his smile faded, until he had an angry scowl on his face.

"Reinfield, what is this?" he asked.

Reinfield continued to smile. "It's the passage you've been looking for. The one to bring back the dead. Van Helsing used it to bring back the princess."

Orlok narrowed his eyes. "The Valerious wench has returned. And Van Helsing has the Necronomicon." His voice became deep and evil. "And you bring me this! This is not what I wanted!"

Reinfield took a step backwards. "But, it's the passage to bring back the dead. Is that not what you wanted?"

Orlok's eyes flashed with anger. "There are many ways to bring back the dead. This merely bring a person back as a mortal. Nothing else. They are exactly the same as they were before they died. I do not want this!" He crumbled up the page in his hand. "This is useless!" He tossed the crumbled up page into the nearby fireplace. The page burned to ashes as the fire claimed it. "Why did you not bring me the entire book?"

Clearly terrified, Reinfield threw himself at Orlok's feet. "Forgive me master! I thought I could steal the passage without anyone knowing. This way you would be able to fulfill your plans without anyone knowing. Please, give me another chance. I shall retrieve the book. I will not fail you again."

Orlok grabbed Reinfield by his shirt and lifted him up. "And how are you going to do that? You have blown your cover. You are of no use to me anymore."

Orlok got an evil look in his eye. Reinfield knew what was coming. "No master, please. Spare me!"

Orlok ignored him. His mouth opened wide and his already long teeth grew even longer and sharper as he bit into Reinfield's neck.