The Jump

'I just love this movie,' I told my younger sister, Marie, after we had just finished watching Van Helsing together. It was her first time, but my tenth time this month. 'It always makes me wonder where the Frankenstein monster rows of to and what Van Helsing does next.'

'I thought it was depressing,' replied Marie. I frowned; this wasn't the comment I was expecting.

'Why do you say that?'

'Anna died in the end. They were supposed to fall in love and get married, Erica.' I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

'Van Helsing is a free spirit, he has to be a loner because his loved ones can be kidnapped and used against him,' I explained. I smiled, 'plus, he's mine.'

It was Maria's turn to roll her eyes as she stood up, gathering our empty popcorn bowl and her diet soda.

'Where are you going?' I asked.

'I have to get ready for the Halloween dance. James is picking me up at six to go out to eat.' I glanced at the clock.

'It's not even three,' I objected.

'I still have to take a shower, do my hair, do my makeup, and put on my costume.'

'I do too, Marie, but I'm not getting ready until four.'

'You don't have a date to impress,' she replied and left.

I sighed and leaned back into my chair. She was right; I didn't have a date, or even a boyfriend like she did. And she was only 16, and I was 17 and a senior in high school.

We honestly did look like sisters, with the same pointed nose, brown eyes, and dark hair. But her hair was cut at a chin length and always straight. Mine was long and was in waves, with made me wary of cutting it short, in case it would become a frizz-ball. She was athletic, preppy, and had all the curves in the right places to make the boys go wild.

I was, more or less, a geek. I thought sports were a waste of my academic time, but I wasn't necessarily the smartest person in class, but I was in the top ten of my class. I was also thin, with the only curves being at my breasts, which was regularly covered by an oversized shirt.

But, tonight, I was going to wear something that no one but I know about. I haven't even told my friends what I am going to be, that is why they wanted to meet at six at the park before the dance.

I was going to be Anna Valerious in her hunting costume. And it looked like it too, considering all the hours I had spent making it.

So, I waited until four to take my shower, put on my costume, my makeup, and do my hair. I applied a little makeup to make me look pretty much au natural. And when I was finished getting totally ready, Marie was just beginning to do her makeup.

I went into her room to look at her costume and to let her see mine. We both gasped in surprise at each other's costume, hers was beautiful on her and she gasped in surprise to see me wearing something that showed that I actually had something in my chest area.

She wore a Goddess costume, with a short white skirt that was mid-thigh, with gold cording for the belt and golden shoes. She had done her hair up into a messy bun and she had curled the loose hairs into ringlets.

'I should have guess that your costume would have been Van Helsing related,' she said with a smile before going back to apply some eyeliner.

'You look beautiful, Marie. You should consider wearing white and gold more often,' I returned the smile as I plopped down on her bed. As soon as I did this, the doorbell rang. 'I'll get it.'

I jumped up and went to the door and found James, dressed as Zeus, waiting outside.

'Come in, James,' I said, opening the door farther. But he stopped short when he saw that I actually looked like a girl for once.

'I like your costume, Erica.' I smiled.

'Ditto, James,' I replied. He walked in and sat down in the living room. I sat across from him on the couch. 'She should be about done.'

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Marie came out and she and her date left. This was my cue to leave the house to meet up with a few of my best friends to hang out before the dance.

When I had arrived at the park, I found that I was the last one to arrive. Three of my best friends were sitting on the swings, waiting for me. Courtney was Captain Jack Sparrow (Savvy?), Kait was a sultry devil, and Jen was Tinkerbell.

When I walked up, they didn't recognize me until I was just ten feet away from them. They couldn't believe, like the rest of the world, that I was in this type of costume. And I had several compliments from them.

I sat on the swing next to them, carefully moving my plastic sword so I wouldn't break it. We all began to swing, and it wasn't too long before Courtney and I were engaged in our age-old contest to see who could jump out of the swing and land the farthest away. Bonus points were if we would land upright and not fall over.

I let her go first, and then I began to swing, pumping my legs until I reached my desired height, where I could launch myself forward and not just up. I pushed myself out of the swing and flew into the air. I straightened my legs out and prepared to land on the sand and gravel mix that was in the playground.

I closed my eyes as my feet hit the ground, which seemed to be a little harder than I had planned. I ended up crouching down to help absorb the shock and to keep my balance. But when I touched the ground, it wasn't tiny pieces of dirt that I touched; it was a hard, bumpy surface, like a brick.

I slowly opened my eyes and frowned, I wasn't at the playground anymore. Instead, I was in an alleyway, and it was daylight. Stone buildings with thatched roofs lined the alley. Ahead of me was a large cobblestone street. I walked towards it, unsure of what I would see, when the sky suddenly became overcast, blocking out the sun's warming rays.

And, oddly enough, all of this seemed familiar.

A loud screech filled the air, forcing me to cover my ears. When it had stopped, I hesitated before walking the rest of the way to the edge of the alley. When I looked out into the street, I saw the most unbelievable scene, Transylvania. I was in Transylvania.

I watched as a man, near the town square, fire a succession of arrows at a flying creature. I hid back in the alley and pressed my back against the wall.

How could I be in Van Helsing? It was just a movie, wasn't it? Could I have landed wrong when I had jumped out of the swing and have hit my head? Was it possible that I was hallucinating? Dreaming?

I watched one of Dracula's brides flew past the entrance and my heart began to pound harder.

Dream or not, I was in danger.

I ran deeper into the alley and went into the first door I found. I latched it shut, trying my best to lock it.

I turned around and leaned against the door for a second to try to get myself to relax a little. Once I had relaxed, I walked farther into the storage room of a tavern.

'30 years old, perfectly aged.' I froze and looked around, seeing Aleera sitting next to a man slumped over a table. She was holding a glass chalice full of his blood. I backed away, horrified at what I had just seen.

Suddenly, a vampire with long dark hair appeared at my side, it was Verona.

'Hello, Anna, my dear.'

'I'm not Anna,' I stuttered as they both began to come towards me, cornering me. I kept backing away until my back was pressed against two large barrels full of ale. They both smirked when they saw that I was trapped.

I tried to push past them, but Verona grabbed my wrist and twisted it. I winced at the pain.

'I can feel fresh blood rushing through her veins,' commented Aleera, 'I want first bite.'

They hissed at each other, each extending their fangs.

'Alright, Van Helsing, you can kill Marishka now,' I muttered, slightly afraid. I knew that Van Helsing would kill her, but what would happen if he didn't?

My doubts were soon shattered when both vampires screeched in pain and Verona released my wrist. They headed for the middle of the room and transformed into their bat-like forms and took off, creating two large holes in the thatched roof.

I threw my hands over my head as several bits of the thatch came down on my head. Once I was sure they were gone, I uncovered my head and looked up at the sun shining in. I sighed in relief, wondering why I had ever doubted him.

I stood up from where I had fallen when Verona had twisted my wrist, and headed for the front door. I opened it and looked out at the church. Everyone had crowded around Van Helsing as Anna offered him a drink and praised him for killing Marishka.

I leaned against the doorway, on my hurt wrist, and it sent a spasm of protest up my arm. I looked at it and saw five oblong circles darkening into a bruise from where Verona had grabbed me. I frowned.

Aren't dreams normally painless? And, if they were, why was I bruising?

I looked up at the crowd again and saw three figures walking through a parting.

Could my presence change the story? Or will everything stay the same? If I could change it, shouldn't I stay away?

I smiled and shook my head.

I want to meet Van Helsing, in person, and I am going to, no matter what.

Explanations

I followed Anna, Van Helsing, and Carl to Anna's manor. As I walked behind them, I tried to keep my distance so I wouldn't be spotted. I had to hide many times, each time cursing Van Helsing's over-cautiousness. The castle was only about a mile out of Transylvania, but he looked over his shoulder about fifteen times.

They went in the front way and I headed for another way, the servant's door. It didn't take too long to find it, it was just on the side adjacent to the main way in. As I walked to it, I thought of how I would make my presence known.

I couldn't just show myself to Anna first, she would think that it's a trick from Dracula and try to kill me. Van Helsing would try to kill me too. But Carl, he couldn't kill me because he was a holy man. Plus, he was well educated and seemed to be the most likely to understand me.

I headed for the tower, since Carl would be heading up there to begin his studying and he would be alone. I went up the first flight of stairs in the main hall, turned left, and headed for the end of the hallway, it was almost as though I knew exactly where I was going.

The door at the end opened to a winding staircase, which I took up. After going just a couple dozen stairs, I opened the trap door and climbed up.

The room was very dark because of the rapidly setting sun, and the approaching dark rain clouds didn't help either.

I didn't know how to light the candles or the fireplace because I didn't have a lighter, or even own one (smoking is pointless in my opinion). So, I found the most comfortable place, a red, plush couch covered with papers and books. I cleaned it off and laid down

There was a decorative pillow there, so I fluffed it up, coughing at the dust that went into the air. I shook the pillow out at arm's length away and then fluffed it again before I settled down to take a nap.

It felt as though I had barely closed my eyes when I heard the trap door bang open as it hit the floor. I opened my eyes and, instinctively, laid still as I watched a heavily shadowed Carl, led by a torch, walk in.

First, the young friar made his way around the room, lighting the several dozen candles before he lit the fireplace. He, then, placed his torch into a bracket and turned to look at the room. His eyes traveled from pile to pile and he sighed.

'More work than I had thought,' he muttered to himself. He made his way over to the first stack of scrolls, gathered about a dozen in his arms before he headed for the couch. But, when he saw that I occupied it, he jumped back in surprise, dropping all of his scrolls on the floor.

'Princess Anna,' he said, trying to hide his surprise, 'I thought that you were getting Van Helsing that drink.'

I sat up and smirked

'First of all, Friar, the Princess is with Van Helsing, wanting to go after Dracula. But Van Helsing just sprayed a sleeping potion on her. And second, I'm not the Princess.'

He looked me over and replied, 'if you are not the princess, then who are you?'

'I'm Erica Townsend. I am actually from the future.' At this, I gave him a very

quick summary of what had happened to me. He stepped over his scrolls and sat next to me.

'So, you are real,' he said, jabbing his finger into my arm. I winced and rubbed my sore spot.

'Yes, I'm real,' I replied. 'But you didn't have to poke me.'

'Yes I did. It was the only way to make sure that I wasn't hallucinating or dreaming.'

'This must be real,' I concluded, 'otherwise, that wouldn't have hurt. Nor, could I do this,' I poked him in the arm.

He mimicked me and rubbed his sore arm.

'Why didn't you go to Van Helsing? Since you look like the Princess, you may need protection from Dracula was well,' he said.

'The only problem I see with that is that he will think that I'm some unholy creature and that I would need to be killed.'

'Well…are you?' I raised an eyebrow at Carl.

'Am I what?'

'An unholy creature.'

'If I were, would I have survived being poked by a holy man?' He shrugged.

'We have to tell Van Helsing.' I nodded.

'I know, Carl, but that's going to be your job. He'll kill me.' When I finished, my stomach voiced its hunger by growling loudly. I wrapped my arms around my mid-section and look at Carl, my cheeks slightly warm. 'I need some food,' I explained, 'I'm going to the kitchen.'

'Do you know where it is, Miss Townsend?'

'I do, and don't call me Miss Townsend. I'm Erica, I won't answer to anything else.'

He nodded. I took a nearby candle and made my way down the stairs and soon found the kitchens. I got some bread and drank a little wine to quell my hunger.

I ate these slowly, thinking of how amazing this was that I would be able to meet Van Helsing, and maybe even Dracula. I mean, in the movie they are both handsome men and they both fall for Anna. Why not me?

When I finished, I headed back for the tower, but not before I checked out the study where all the weapons were. I walked past each shelf, my fingers running across all the shined handles. This would have been heaven if I could have found a crossbow.

'Anna,' I heard a gruff voice behind me. My heart leapt when I recognized it as Van Helsing. I turned to face Van Helsing as he marched into the room. 'I thought that you were sleeping.'

I shook my head and he raised his eyebrow as he studied my face. A couple of seconds later, he grabbed one of the nearby weapons and pointed it at me.

'I knew I saw someone following us,' he growled, 'who are you?'

'Erica Townsend.'

'And why do you look like Anna?'

'It's a Halloween costume, Mr. Van Helsing.'

'And you thought it was intelligent to dress as a woman who has Dracula as her enemy?'

'Where I come from, vampires aren't real.'

'And where is that?' I bit my lip, did I really want to reveal my true self?

I sighed.

He'd find out sooner or later, might as well tell him the truth.

'I'm from the 21st century in the United States, and somehow I traveled back in time.'

'If that's true, how do you know me?'

'Your history is written down.'

'Then what happens to me?'

'Things may have changed, Mr. Van Helsing, since I came here.'

'What do you know so far?'

'That, soon, you and Anna will travel to Frankenstein's castle and will find that

Dracula and his three brides have egg sacs full of their spawn. Velkan is now a werewolf and Dracula is going to use him to resurrect his children.' I was quiet for a moment, before saying, 'how much longer before the sleeping thing you put on Anna wears off?'

'In a few minutes, why?'

'Velkan is going to pay us a visit. He will transform into his animal self and try to kill Anna. You have to chase him away.'

He stared at me for a moment in silence until we heard Anna yelling his name.

'Go, now,' I urged him, 'Velkan is already in the castle.'

His gaze held a moment longer before he ran off, taking his pistol out of its holster as he went. After he had disappeared, I waited a few seconds before I heard gunfire.

I knew that Velkan would have run off already, so I went out into the hall.

'Why does it smell like wet dog in here?' asked Carl as he came into view.

'Werewolf.'

'Right, you'll be needing silver bullets,' said Carl, before running off to find them. Anna was still looking out the window as Van Helsing turned to face me.

'We need to talk,' he said as he walked towards me, grabbing my arm to pull me back into the study. He threw me in and closed the door for privacy.

He pointed his pistol at me, 'give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now.'

'I am not evil, Mr. Van Helsing, just a time traveler. Now put that thing away.'

He put his pistol away, 'how did you know all that?'

'Your legacy, as I had said, was recorded and I just know parts of your story.' He paused before asking in a low voice, 'do you know who I am?'

'All I know is that you and Dracula had a past experience together.' He thought about it for a second before I continued, 'but you had better get going, Velkan will get away.'

He nodded and headed for the door. But, before he opened it he said without turning back to me, 'we'll continue this discussion later.'

He left and I stood there for a moment longer. I had met Van Helsing.

But, should I have told him that? Should I leave so I can't change anything else, or get myself killed?

I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed.

'Anna?' Carl asked in a hesitant voice as he poked his head into the room.

'It's Erica,' I replied. He opened the door farther and walked inside.

'Good, I had wondered what took you so long.'

'Van Helsing found me and I told him the truth.' I told Carl what Van Helsing had told me and I had told him.

'So,' he said when I had finished, 'there is a record of Van Helsing in the future.'

'Yea, and it started with his attempt to capture Dr. Jekyll in Paris, it goes to the Vatican and your secret order, to your travels to here and now.'

'Then you know what will happen.'

'I know what would have happened if I hadn't appeared. I could have changed it.'

'But you know how to find Dracula?'

'Maybe,' I smiled mischievously, 'but you are the one who finds out where he is and how to kill him. I can point you in the right direction though.'

Carl frowned and we went back up to the tower to the study. But it wasn't much longer before I found myself needing to go to bed. I said goodnight to Carl and headed down the stairs to find a spare bedroom.

It wasn't four hours later that I was shaken awake by Carl.

'Come along, Erica, Van Helsing requests your presence.'

I opened one eye and asked, 'what time is it?'

'Around five.'

'In the morning?' He nodded and I let out a groan. 'Ten more minutes.' I rolled over and went back to sleep when I heard him leave.

A few minutes later, the door opened again. I ignored it and acted like I was still

sleeping until a fowl smelling liquid was thrust under my nose.

This woke me up quickly and I sat up. I glared at the person holding the vial, Van Helsing, as he corked it again.

'Damn it, Van Helsing,' I growled. His eyebrows raised in surprise and amusement.

'You certainly know foul language for your age.'

'I'm 17, Van Helsing, and I only cursed because you pissed me off.' We glared at each other for a few mores seconds before I looked away, 'that wasn't very nice, you know.'

'Ignoring my request, just to be lazy is a sin, you know.' I frowned as he smiled; he knew that he had outsmarted me.

'Now that I'm up, what do you want?'

'I want you to tell me what was supposed to happen last night.' I sighed.

'You chased after Velkan but Anna stopped you from killing him. You both went to Frankenstein's castle, ran into Dracula, and found out that Velkan is a full fledged werewolf now. You then headed back here, but fell into an underground lodging where you found the monster. But Velkan saw you and now you have to get the monster out of here.'

He nodded and said, 'that's good.'

'What's good?'

'That means nothing has changed, you can tell me how to destroy Dracula.'

'I can't,' I shook my head, 'the story must play on as planned. I wasn't in it originally.' I thought of the movie and remembered what came next. 'But, if Anna drives that carriage, she may be in danger. I wish to go in her place.' He thought for a moment before nodding.

'You are still planning on taking two, correct?' I asked and he nodded, 'good, now let's go.'

I got up and put on my boots, since I had slept in my clothes. We, then, went into the hall, were Anna and I first met face to face. We looked exactly the same, except she was older than me; probably 30 would be my guess.

The look on her face almost made me laugh.

'Hello, Princess Anna, I'm Erica Townsend.' She nodded in recognition before turning to Van Helsing, 'the horses are ready.'

He nodded and led the way outside. Anna gave me a scornful look before going after him.

I frowned. She didn't like me.

The Carriage Ride

A few minutes later, I headed outside after gobbling down a little bit of food for my breakfast. I found them out in the front of the house and was just in time to watch Anna as she climbed up into her seat on the carriage.

'Anna,' said Van Helsing when he saw me, remembering what he had said I could do,

'Erica is going to drive the carriage instead of you.'

She opened her mouth to protest, but quickly closed it, pursing her lips into a pout, but she climbed down, nonetheless. Before she passed me to go into the manor, I asked, 'could you tell me which road I am to take?'

'When you go through the forest, the road will fork. Van Helsing will take the northern road; you will take the southern road. Just follow it until you meet up with him again.'

'Thank you, Princess Anna,' I replied. She started walking towards the door again, but paused to take off her long coat. She then turned to me and tossed it at me. I caught it.

'Take it, I won't be needing it.'

'Thank you.' She turned again and left to go inside. When she did, I turned to look at Van Helsing.

'Did you say something to her?' He smirked.

'Why?'

'She didn't give me the death glare this time.' His smirk formed a mysterious smile.

'Ready to go?' he asked.

'Ready,' I said, climbing up into the second carriage. He climbed into the first one and took off. I grabbed the reigns and shook them against their backs. None of them moved. I slapped them harder against their backs and said in a really loud and commanding voice, 'hyah!'

They took off, sending be backwards into my seat, surprised. It didn't take long to catch up to Van Helsing, and it wasn't soon after that where we had to split. I kept the horses going at a steady pace, guiding them through the slightly narrow road in the forest. The wind whistled past my ears, so I couldn't hear Carl's whimpering whenever he glanced at the Frankenstein monster tucked safely inside with him.

It was almost an hour later when Van Helsing caught up with me, riding his team of horses and without a carriage. He jumped up next to me and gave me a smile, which I returned. This meant that everything had gone according to plan. I shook the reigns again to hurry my team on, now that I didn't need to worry about staying a moderate pace to have Van Helsing catch up with me.

It wasn't a minute later that I heard a rather loud thunk behind me. Both Van Helsing and I turned to see Velkan in his werewolf form, crouched on top of the carriage. I tried to remember what happened in the movie…didn't Velkan come from in front of us and we fell off?

'Do you have the silver bullets?' I asked Van Helsing out of the side of my mouth.

'I was hoping that you did,' he replied in the same manner.

'Jump?' I asked him a little louder.

'Jump,' he agreed and the both of us dove off.

Actually, I never really found out if Velkan truly died, how Carl or the Frankenstein monster escaped the ruins of the carriage, or even if Van Helsing actually was bitten.

What really happened was something I never expected.

When I had jumped off, I rolled down from where the road was, stopping only when I hit a tree with my midsection. I paused for a moment, trying to catch my breath, and to make the world stop spinning. And when I finally stood, I went off to find Van Helsing or Velkan or someone.

'Hello, Princess,' I heard a voice say behind me when I was only ten feet from the tree.

I stopped and turned around to see Aleera.

'I'm not the Princess, you're wasting your time,' I replied, stepping away from her.

'Good,' she smiled and disappeared and reappeared next to me. 'Because, I don't want the Princess.'

'Wha-' I never finished my question because I was hit on the back of my head and everything blacked out.

The Ball

When I woke, my head was pounding as though a train had hit me. I put my hand to my forehead, slightly covering my eyes as I opened one cautiously. At first, my sight was blurry, but everything soon sharpened. When it did, I saw that I was in an extravagant bedroom.

Across the room from where I laid was a fireplace, burning brightly with a facing towards it. There was another chair and a few brackets on the wall where two dresses hung.

'Where am I?' I asked aloud as I sat up, not really expecting an answer.

'In Dracula's castle in Budapest,' came the reply from near the fireplace. I jumped as I saw Anna stood up from the chair and walked towards me. 'How are you feeling?'

'Not too bad, major headache. But, how did you get here? I thought you would be perfectly safe back at the castle.'

'Dracula had wanted both you and me. So, he sent his brides out to find the both of us, as well as the Frankenstein monster.'

'But, why me?' She shrugged.

'I don't know. You can ask him at the Halloween ball.'

'Both of us are going?'

'Of course, the both of us. There are two gowns,' she gestured to the two gowns I had seen earlier. There was the red ball gown that she wore in the movie, and then a green and black version of it. I chose the green one while she took the red.

The main design of the dress was like the red one, except it was pure black and had a green trimming.

We both put our hair up in duplicate buns and put on a mask, hers was gold and mine was silver.

It wasn't a minute after we had finished getting ready when someone knocked on the door and opened it.

It was Aleera.

'I'm here for the Princess,' she said. And, before Anna could reply, I stepped forward, saying in my best impersonation of her, 'I am she.'

She grabbed my arm, not too gently, might I add, and pushed me out into the hall before closing the door. She, then, walked alongside me, uttering only the word, 'come.'

We walked down that long torch-lit hall until we had reached the door she favored and she knocked on it.

'Enter,' called a voice from inside, a voice that chilled my blood for a moment and raised the hair on the back of my neck.

Aleera did as she was told and pushed me in before her. I stumbled in, tripping over the hem of my dress. I threw her a distasteful glare and saw her smirking.

'Master, I have brought you the Princess,' she said aloud. I turned around and saw no one in the room.

Where was he?

'Leave us.' I watched Aleera nod and leave. I wished to go with her, but my feet refused to move.

I watched to door close, yearning to be on the other side of it. Despite the fact that I had ultimately wanted to meet Count Dracula, this scared the crap out of me.

I looked around the room again.

I'm making a run for it. I told myself and took a step towards the door.

'I wouldn't be doing that, if I were you. Aleera would gladly drain you if you step outside that door.' I heard something go quickly past my ear and a thump as something landed behind me. I turned to see Count Dracula, already dressed for his All Hallows' Eve Ball.

'I won't let you trade me, Count,' I told him, looking into his beautiful deep brown eyes. They were absolutely gorgeous. sigh

'You, my dear, are not in the bargaining for the trade, outsider, the princess is.'

'I am the Princess,' I lied.

'A true Valerious, my dear, would have chosen the red dress for her passion and bravery.'

'I gave it to the outsider. She did try to save my life.'

'But, you didn't,' he said, coming closer to me. 'You gave Anna the dress and posed as her to save her. I knew all of this would happen, of course.'

Why do I feel so tired all of a sudden?

He studied my face and asked, 'who are you, outsider?'

'A human,' I replied smartly.

'Your name?' he clarified with a smirk. When I didn't answer, he continued, 'it must be a great name for a great person. Cleopatra? Helen? Maxine? Erica?' I was smiling all until he said my name. My heart dropped. How did he know?

'How did you…'

'I knew all along, Erica.'

'Then why did you ask me?'

'You are going to be a difficult person to deal with, Erica. That's until you become my bride.'

'You're bride?' I asked. 'Why?'

'You are not athletic or as feisty as Anna. But you are intelligent, witty, and, above all, know the future. Once you're mine, I'll have control of everything you do.'

I took a step back as he took one forward. We did this until I was trapped between him and a wall. As he got closer to me, my heart began to beat faster and faster.

I watched in horror as his teeth became pointy and sharp. I thought I was going to faint and my legs wouldn't work no matter how much urging my brain put behind it.

His arm went around my waist and pulled me closer to him, before he tipped me backwards. He slipped off my mask and threw it away from us. His free hand traced its way from my naval, between my breast, and up to my neck.

'Just a little pain, my dear, and it will all be over,' he whispered. My breathing quickened in fright and, soon, I fainted.

Yes, fainted.

When I came to, I was in a bedchamber again; very similar to the one I had found

myself in earlier, except it was ultimately cool, despite the roaring fire in the fireplace.

Everything began to rush back to me from the time I woke up to when I fainted in Dracula's arms. Remembering that he was just about to bite me, I checked my entire body for marks, but, thankfully, found none. And when I climbed out of bed, I found that I was still fully clothed in the black and green gown with my jewelry.

The door out of the chamber was unlocked and I found myself looking down a very familiar hall.

I was back in Anna's manor.

How did I get back here?

'How are you feeling, Erica?' asked a voice from behind me. I turned around to see Van Helsing.

'Better, thanks to you, I'm sure.' He smiled, so I continued, 'how did I get back here?'

'Carl and I saw you being carried out and being put into a carriage. We simply brought you back here. What happened with you?'

'I…uh…' I wanted to lie so much. Fainting was totally embarrassing. But I'm sure he knew what had happened, right? 'I fainted.'

Van Helsing snorted in an attempt to not laugh at me. I smacked his arm.

'Don't you dare laugh at me,' I warned him. 'It wasn't funny; I was scared out of my wits. He was going to bite me.'

'Then we'll have to make sure that you don't get bitten, now won't we?' I frowned, I didn't know if he was making a joke at me or if he was being serious.

'Thank you for saving me, Van Helsing,' I said after a moment, when I deemed his last remark as serious. I walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek. But my lips didn't touch his cheek because he turned his head and our lips brushed.

When we released, I froze.

Did that just really happen?

Once I regained my thoughts, I did what was instinct. I pushed against his chest with my hand. He stumbled backwards slightly, wincing.

'I'm so sorry, I had forgotten, you were bitten.' His face became serious and almost frightening to me.

'You knew?' he growled.

Eeep!

I hesitated before I nodded slowly and only once.

'Why didn't you tell us that we were in danger?' he demanded.

'Everything started going so differently from the story I knew,' I explained. 'I was supposed to see Velkan die and find out that you had been bitten before Aleera had captured me. And I had thought that Anna would be safe here at the manor.'

'You knew that you would be kidnapped?'

'Yes, that's why I offered to take her place.'

'And you knew that they would get the Frankenstein Monster?' His voice was so frightening that I looked away when I felt the tears forming in my eyes.

'Yes,' I replied, my voice barely above a whisper.

'I should have left you with Dracula, you would have made a great bride; telling him everything you know.'

'His fate is to be worst than yours,' I blurted out before I could think my words out.

'Then there is a way to defeat him,' he concluded after a moment. Once again, I nodded. 'How?'

'I…' I thought for a moment. What ever happened to not interfering? Even if I had really really really wanted to meet with Van Helsing and Dracula, didn't I want to not say anything that could change the course of the story? 'I can't say how.'

I hung my head, not being able to look at him in the eyes, knowing that he was absolutely angry at me. He let out a frustrated growl and started to storm away.

'I can give you a clue, though.' He paused but did not turn around. I took this as a sign that he was listening. 'The painting in the study, finish the inscription, and walk through the mirror that appears. Dracula may be defeated by that which he enslaves.'

When I finished, Van Helsing let out a grunt and left to go to the study, where, I presumed, Carl and Anna were. I waited for a while before I followed after him.

The study door was closed, so I waited outside for a while, listening to what they said. The words I caught were that of Van Helsing's.

'In the name of God, open this door.'

I waited for a little while longer before I opened the door a crack. I peered in and saw that the study was empty. I went in and went up to the large, dark opaque glass was on the wall where a painting of a map once was.

I found a nearby torch and grabbed it before I stood myself in front of the doorway to Dracula's Icy Fortress. I took a deep breath before plunging myself into darkness and cold.

The Icy Fortress

By the time I had gotten through, I was chilled to the bone and shivering. My light was still burning bright, so I brought it closer to my body in hopes that it would warm me even more.

Van Helsing, Anna, and Carl were nowhere in sight, and when I had neared the giant door, is saw an extinguished torch thrown off to the side.

They had already jumped, and Van Helsing was feeling the affects of the bite.

I walked up to the door and began my search for one that I could open. I slowly felt the wall, trying to find something that would open to the inside before my fingers froze beyond feeling. It didn't take too long to find a door, but it was frozen shut.

I took my torch and placed it near the frozen door, allowing the flames to lick the ice, melting it into a liquid that froze seconds later and half an inch lower than it was originally.

It felt like forever before I could get the door to pull open, since I tried every few minutes, hoping that the little bit I had melted had allowed me to pry it open. And when I went inside, I found myself right in a huge room. It had lots of equipment in it and these little men in strange costumes were running around. Dwergi.

I threw my torch out of the door, hearing it hiss as it extinguished before I closed it and I ran for the nearest hiding place, a stack of wooden crates in one corner. I crouched down behind it, looking through a crack between two of them. I watched as things were carried to and fro, connected to other things with sparks flying out of somewhere on the machine, and just the dwergi running around.

A low growl sounded from behind me and I froze. My blood ran cold as I turned around to see a dwergi, up close.

Anna's words from the movie came to mind at this time.

'Industrious but vicious. If you get the chance to kill one, do it, because they'll do worse to you.'

The only problem, I had nothing to kill it, let alone the knowledge as to how to.

It dove at me and I jumped away from it. It barely missed getting a hold my full skirts. I backed away a few more steps before I turned and ran out from behind my hiding place and right into Dracula.

I bounced off of him and landed hard on the floor. I looked up at him and began to crawl away. He seemed amused by this and said, 'Erica, it's lovely to see you.'

Since I was far enough away from him where I wouldn't be caught if I stood to run. So I stood and ran. I didn't go too far before he appeared before me. I skidded to a stop and ran in another direction, going deeper into the laboratory.

Once again he appeared before me, laughing. I took off in another direction as his voice echoed all around me, 'you can run all you want, Erica, but you can never escape from me.'

He appeared so suddenly in front of me, that I wasn't expecting it. I stopped just before I hit him, but I was in his reach. And before I could run, he grabbed my arms. I tried to pull myself out of his grasp and he smirked.

'Didn't I tell you, Erica? You can never escape me,' he said.

'Don't be too full of yourself, Dracula,' I replied, 'Escape is still probable.'

'And who would save you?' he asked, highly amused this time.

'Van Helsing will save me. He'll find out that I found a way to here and he'll come and rescue me.' He made a bat-like screech of laughter. I winced at the sound, but couldn't cover my ears.

'Him?' he scoffed when he stopped. 'You mean nothing to him. He only wishes to save dear Anna because he was told to. You are only included because he is obliged to help anyone who asks for it.'

'I never asked for his help,' I snapped.

'He has done his job with protecting Anna. And he'll just forget about you once he knows that you are safe. If he cannot find you at where ever he had put you, he'll think that you ran.'

'He'll think that you captured me.'

'Not if he believes that I am trying to bring my young to life. He'll think that I'm too busy to go after you and Anna. Plus, I never made an attack on Anna.'

'He'll save me,' I repeated, mostly to reassure myself.

'He'll be too late.' He pulled me closer and whispered, 'do you honestly believe that he has feelings for someone like you?' My eyes met with his and then I looked away. He laughed again. 'He'll never feel for you like I do.'

I looked at his eyes again, those deep brown eyes, so full of years and wisdom, yet youthful. I felt so relaxed when I looked into them, so much in…

'No, you have no feelings.'

'You're right, Erica, I have none,' he laughed. He then tipped me over again, supporting me with one arm again. His other hand went to my neck and he stroke it gently, sending shivers down my spine.

He sensed my fear again and said, 'pain is only temporary. It will soon all be over.'

I grimaced and closed my eyes, knowing that there was nothing I could do but wait for death to come on swift wings. I cried out in pain as two fangs, not all of them, bit into the base of my neck.

He drained me little by little until a voice boomed, 'get off me, you vermin from hell!'

Dracula released me, and disappeared. I opened my eyes, surprised to see myself still on my feet. I looked around, ignoring the headache I got as I did so. He was nowhere in sight. I had to get out of here.

I began to walk for the doorway, almost falling after a few steps from being lightheaded. I put my hand on the crates to balance myself to keep myself from falling. I had barely gone ten feet when Dracula appeared in front of me again.

'Trying to run again?' he asked. I felt the tears burning in my eyes in anticipation to get out. I couldn't get away. I didn't waste my breath and strength on a reply. Instead, I leaned against the crate and slid to the floor with a small sob.

He picked me up and held me in his arms, as though he was comforting me.

Why wasn't he finishing off what he had begun earlier?

'Shh…my dear Erica. Immortality is the most wonderful gift given to us. You don't die of anything if you play it safe.' He rocked me back and forth like a little girl. Once again, I felt safe in his arms and my tears faded away.

'I don't want immortality. I was meant to be mortal,' I said into his shoulder. He kissed the top of my head just as the first bolt of lightening struck the tower. I jumped almost a foot into the air.

He didn't laugh, but cooed into my ear, 'it was only lightening, nothing more.'

Everything in my body began to relax some more, and I felt tired again. I wanted to go to sleep.

'I'm so tired,' I muttered.

'Then sleep,' he said softly, rocking me back and forth again, as though he was encouraging it. I closed my eyes and almost went to sleep when another bolt hit the tower, the thunder echoing through the building. I jumped again, now fully awake. He noticed this and frowned at me. He, then, put his arm around my waist to help me stay steadied as we walked towards the center of the room. I tried to distance us, but his wrapped his arm around me, tighter.

Another and another bolt hit the tower. He smiled and bragged in triumph, 'one more bolt and my young will live!'

He took me over to some crates and sat me down on them, making sure that I was up almost ten feet making it almost impossible for me to climb down and get away quickly.

He left and went back to the center of the room where I could see him and Van Helsing.

'You are too late, my friend. My children live.'

'Then, the only way to kill them is to kill you?'

'Correct.'

'So be it,' said Van Helsing as he glanced at the clock. Seeing that it was just seconds before midnight, he tore off his coat. The first chime rang through the building and he growled, 'one.'

Dracula's eyes widened and he gasped, 'no. This cannot be.'

I didn't watch Van Helsing turn into a werewolf; instead I started to climb down, knowing that I needed to get out of there. Slowly, I went down, carefully finding my footing before I put any weight on it so I could move to the next.

When I got down, I headed for the doorway, pressing my hand against the wall

for support. I was almost to the door when something darted past me. I turned to see

Anna standing just feet in the doorway, unaware of my presence.

'Anna,' I said. She turned around and saw me.

'Erica,' she hurried to my side as I almost fell again.

'The antidote,' I asked. She held up the syringe filled with a red substance. 'Give it to me.'

'What?'

'Give it to me,' I repeated.

'It was my brother who bit him, I'll turn him back.'

'You can't,' I object but she ignored me and left my side. I turned to see a werewolf looking at a pile of ash. I heard her mutter, 'for God!'

She took off.

'No Anna, wait, he'll kill you!'

My warning fell to deaf ears. I saw Van Helsing jump on her and they both landed on a small sofa.

'No,' I whispered, knowing that she was dead. Carl ran past me this time, ignoring me as well. He had the silver stake in his hand. He stopped about ten feet away from me and said, 'God forgive me.'

He ran towards him, but stopped short as the werewolf turned, showing an emptied syringe embedded in his stomach. He pulled it out before looking at the lifeless body of Anna on the chaise lounge. He picked her up and howled, shedding his fur as he did so.

The world began to spin around me and I grasped onto the wall again for support, but it didn't help at all. The world went dark again.

The Movie's End

When I had woken again, I was laying on the bed I had woken on the last time when I

had fainted.

'That was a close call, Erica,' said Carl sitting next to me.

'I didn't think that I had lost that much blood,' I commented as I propped myself up against the headboard. 'Where's Van Helsing?'

'Getting a much needed rest.'

'How is he doing? Have you burned her body yet?' I asked in a low voice.

'He'll eventually get over it. But we've been waiting for you to awaken.'

'How long have I been out?'

'Just a couple of hours, not very long.' I nodded and threw my legs over the edge of the bed. 'You shouldn't be walking around in your condition. You might faint again.'

'Hey,' I said, giving him a look, 'that was only because I was scared out of my wits. It won't happen again. Now, where are my other clothes?'

'We don't know. Somewhere at Frankenstein's castle.' I frowned. I had spent about fifty hours on that costume and it's gone?

He saw my frown and added, 'but we have some of Anna's clothes that are clean. She won't be needing them anymore.'

'I don't know…'

'She would have wanted you to have them, Erica,' he reassured me. I nodded slowly and he left the room to get them. A minute later he returned and I was able to dress. I carefully bundled up my dress and jewelry and put it into a knapsack. I threw it over my shoulder and headed out the door to get some type of food in the kitchens.

I met Van Helsing there.

He didn't look physically affected like my mother had been when she had lost grandpa, but I could tell that he had some mental strain on him. I walked up to him with a small smile.

'How are you doing?' I asked.

'Not bad. What about you?'

'Same.'

We ate our food, mostly in silence. A couple of hours later, we headed for a cliff where Anna's funeral pyre was already made and her body laid there with proper burial garments.

Carl gave the sermon for the funeral. Van Helsing and I were the only people who attended it; I didn't know why no one else did. Maybe they didn't approve of this type of memorial.

My mind went back to when I had first met her, the time when we had gotten ready for the ball and I had learned things about her from her childhood, as well as her last moments. I only heard the end of his sermon, when the pyre was lit, as he said, 'eternal rest grant unto her, Oh, Lord, and let your perpetual light shine upon her. On her soul and the souls of all…' He stopped, trying to stop himself from crying. 'On her soul and the souls of all the dead faithful have mercy. Amen.'

'Amen,' I muttered and crossed myself. I looked around to see Van Helsing looking up into the sky. I followed his gaze and saw, in the clouds, Anna's smiling face, as well as her brother's, her father's and several others. I walked up to Van Helsing and stood next to him as he put on his hat.

'Where will you go now?' I asked in a low voice.

'To Rome and where ever I'm sent,' he replied.

'I'll miss you, Van Helsing,' I replied.

'As will I, Erica. But, I have something I want to give to you,' he said as he pulled

a ring off of his finger. It was Dracula's ring.

'I cannot accept this,' I said when he held it out to me.

'Take it, Erica. You deserve it. You had helped me in every way you could and I

understand this now. You couldn't tell us what you knew incase we changed it. And if we had changed it, Dracula would not be dead.' He took my hand and slid it onto my right ring finger.

I looked at it and said, 'thank you.'

He kissed me on the forehead and began to walk away. I picked up my pack, knowing that it was time to leave, and looked at him.

'Goodbye, Van Helsing,' I whispered as everything began to evaporate in front of me. Before he wholly disappeared, I saw him turn around to look at me, one last time. I raised my hand as if to wave.

Everything became dark again and slowly it became lighter again and I found myself sitting on something quite hard, leaning against a chain link.

'Hello, earth to Erica,' I heard Courtney say. I looked around me and saw that I was back in the park. 'Are you gonna jump or not?'

'Oh,' I said, blinking a few times, 'I must have been daydreaming.'

'You must have,' agreed Kait. I nodded and began to swing again until I had reached my favored height. I jumped, closing my eyes as I landed on the ground. When I had landed, I opened one eye and looked around.

I was still in the park.

Courtney saw this and laughed, 'what was that all about?'

'I'm still here,' I muttered. She heard and kicked me in the butt, pushing me over.

'Of course you're still here. Why wouldn't you be?' I winced as I hit the ground, my wrist crying out in pain. I sat on the ground and pulled up my sleeve and looked at the five bruises on my wrist from where Verona had grabbed me.

I rubbed my wrist as I looked around until I saw what I was looking for. A black lump was sitting on the other side of the swing set. I got up, ignoring Courtney's gloating that she had won. I approached it, crouching down.

On the top was the coat I never made, the one that Anna had given me before I had went on that carriage ride. Underneath was the black knapsack that I had gotten from the house that held my gown and jewels in it. My friends looked over my shoulder and asked, 'where did that come from?'

'I brought it,' I told them slowly. I looked down, my eye was now catching the ring Van Helsing had giving me. My hand went up to where I had been bitten. Two scabs were on my neck, just big enough and far enough apart to bring me to the conclusion that they were, in fact, created by two canines.

I thought it was just a dream…