Author's note: Here we go! I know the first chapter was pretty short (and was posted quite awhile ago) but I am writing outlines so what I publish is the best content I'm outputting. I don't like revising after publishing so I like to make sure it's right (or write? Ahahaha) the first time! Hopefully this longer chapter will satisfy the thirst (or at least my happiness) for more content!
Chapter 2: Changes
The first thing Lucy noticed when she began to stir awake was the smell of rubbing alcohol. It was extremely pungent, so much so that she began to feel sick. She slowly began to rouse from a deep, and realizing upon moving, painful sleep feeling an abnormal texture across her skin. Lucy slowly began to open her eyes, bright lanterns greeting her clouded vision. She began to lift her arm to rub her eyes, hoping it would bring some clarity to her vision.
"Ah, Lucy!" A voice blurted out in surprise. She felt an arm grab her wrist gently and place it to her side. "You must be careful, you are not as you were. You have had quite a brush with death." That voice began to sound clearer by the second.
"…Uncle Abraham? What happened? When did I arrive in Amsterdam? Did I fall asleep on the train?" Her head was pounding and her vision still foggy. It was strange, she never had woken up so groggy she couldn't remember the previous day clearly. She heard a somber sigh come from her uncle.
"You didn't get to Amsterdam. You didn't even make it on the train. We're still in Perth." Her vision began to clear as her blood ran cold.
"What? Uncle Abraham… why can't I remember yesterday… What happened?" She began panicking as bits of yesterday's memories began seeping into her mind. Then the memory of the carriage crashing came flooding back. "…Where are mother and father?" Abraham was silent. "Uncle Abraham…. What happened…?" She felt tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. She heard him take a large breath.
"Alan… and Charlotte… they died Lucy. I'm so sorry." The tears spilled over and her lip trembled. "The carriage was overturned and… they were just laying there… I couldn't get to them in time… Lucy, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." He kept repeating it as if he was convincing himself instead of her.
Lucy kept blinking the tears out as her vision was coming back to her. She was in a medical ward and her uncle was sitting by her side, shaking with unshed tears. She reached out for him, to make sure any of this chaos was real. Lucy only became more shocked. Her arm was wrapped in bandages and scratches peeked out from underneath them. The memories all came flooding back. The horror before the crash, the corpses of her parents, and the monster that haunted it all. The monster that sank its teeth into her neck. She immediately grasped at her neck with her other hand. Around her neck was several thick bandages and cotton pads. She took the scene around her in; the empty beds with fresh sheets, the surgical tools to her bedside, the blood transfusion equipment in the corner, and the intense reek of alcohol was to disinfect and dispel the stench of dead bodies. If her uncle didn't notice her lifeless body, she would be on the other side with her parents. Her emotions were becoming too much, she was drowning in sorrow and she was falling fast.
"I thought I died. I shouldn't be here. I thought I was going to die… just like them. There's no God that saved me… this isn't real…" She sobbed. Abraham looked up at her and put his lanky arms over her shoulders, gently embracing her. "What am I going to do? They're gone! I can't run some governmental position, just look at me. I'm twenty-five with no idea how I'll support myself and live, no husband, no parents, just nothing!" She clutched at his red duster burying her face into his chest. Her life as she knew it had so drastically changed. Her parents that had watched over her every waking moment were simply gone. Taken from this world by some monster, she saw their bodies lifeless across a plain. She had been attacked by the same monster and survived. Why? Was God playing a cruel trick? Was this penance for some unknown deed she had committed or has yet to commit? What reason could it be that she had to live and her parents had to die. She had so many questions but no answers. Would she ever learn the answers? Was all of this just some horrid hallucination?
No She decided. I know what I saw. What I felt. That was real. I just don't know how real others will perceive it. Perhaps I should just keep this to myself.
"You don't have nothing Lucy. You still have me and your aunt Mary and me. We've always been here for you and if we abandoned you now in your time of need we wouldn't be much of a family. You shan't worry a moment." Lucy's crying tapered off hearing her uncle's kind words console her. She pulled away and looked up at him. He offered a small reassuring smile. Could he be truly offering her a place to find resonance again in this world that is unraveling before her eyes and becoming something horrifying and creatures arriving into reality, some beings she previously thought only mental patients believed existed."Once you are well enough for travel, I think the best thing would be to extend that visit you planned in Amsterdam, yes?" Lucy felt a broken smile creep across her face. The kindness of her uncle truly knew no bounds. If it weren't for his words and teachings she knew she wouldn't be here beside him to begin with.
"Yes. That sounds perfect." She laid back on the pillows as her reality tried to mend itself. "I just still can't believe all this is happening. It still seems like a never-waking nightmare. I can't imagine how you must feel too." Lucy closed her eyes feeling sympathy wash over her for her uncle, after all he cared greatly for his sister and brother in law. Only within the past two years did news about her uncle and aunt expecting child reach her family, just for the news to turn dark learning Mary had miscarried seven months into her pregnancy. It was a girl, perhaps that is why Lucy felt so akin to her uncle. She is now truly becoming the daughter he never got the opportunity to have. Lucy shut her eyes at the memory of her mother crying with her uncle in Amsterdam. The monster's face kept flashing in her mind each time she closed her eyes, as if the darkness kept calling out to it.
A nurse walked in motioning for Abraham, he gave a slight wave with his hand and turned back to Lucy.
"Well, I think they're wanting you to rest some more." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "I'll be right here when you wake though. You won't be alone Lucy, I promise you that." Lucy gave him a reassuring smile and sunk further into the hard mattress, careful to not jostle her bandages too much. She listened to his footfalls retreating as she slowly succumbed into sleep.
Sleep would continue to be a horrid experience for Lucy. Her nightmares were full of haunting monsters eating people and the dead faces of her parents plagued her mind. When sleep would evade her, she would frequently request books from the nurse who would apprehensively comply, the topics ranging from historical pieces to medical textbooks. The medical textbooks she began to intensively study, Lucy felt it was only right to know what they were doing to her after all. Her healing process was lengthy but she managed to keep her mind busy. One thing she decided to research was wounds, specifically ones left by animal teeth. If any information could be gleaned from her invalid state, it could at the very least try to help her put some sanity into this abstract vision she witnessed whenever the nurse changed her dressings. She had read over seventeen different pieces about surgery, medical oddities, animal induced wounds, and doctor reports. The one constant she discovered is nothing remotely looked like the wounds she carried on her neck. Her curiosity and fear only grew past that point.
Is it possible that a demon truly could have attacked me and killed my parents? Anything seemed possible at this point to her.
Several days have passed since Lucy had been taken to the hospital by her uncle and yet the mystery of her injuries were just as confusing to doctors and Van Hellsing. No one could explain the types of wounds upon her neck. 'It was as if she had been attacked by some savage animal' they would say, true to their word Lucy's neck wound was as if steel nails as thick as fingers had been driven into her flesh. They interrogated her but she remained defiant that she knew anything, knowing full well if she told them she was attacked by a demon, they'd lock her up in an asylum and then she truly would be alone in the world. It wasn't until the day before her release when she asked the nurse if any new books had come in when she got a semblance of answers.
"Oh yes, we got a few books today but I think they'll all be donated to a library. They are a bit too far-fetched for our patients' taste." The nurse tittered as she re-applied bandages to Lucy's neck.
"Oh, they surely can't be that bad. What is the subject matter? Nursery rhymes could be useful should a child become sick." Lucy said feeling slightly put out that no useful books might be readily avalible. The nurse took a step back to observe her handiwork on the bandages.
"Oh some folklore books. They were donated by a family that's relocating to Wales. Ah! There we go, all nice and dressed." She put the remainder of bandages in her cart and began to leave. "I can grab them if you still want to take a look, I know you love to read!" Lucy sat in contemplation for a second before requesting the books. The nurse returned in a few minutes while Lucy was considering the fact she may never learn about the monster, if it ever existed in the first place.
She began leafing through the pages as they announced the "horrors that lie in the world".
Maybe I did just imagine the whole thing, perhaps this is my punishment for not appreciating what I have. She thought to herself. Lucy never dwelled on that for more than that moment. The page she just turned to had a monster plastered across it. The words would forever be burned into her mind.
Throughout history it has slain countless victims and dragged them into the abyss. It is both young yet old, timeless yet out of time, monster yet appearing as man. It takes on many forms. It can appear as mist, vapor, and as the fog. It can vanish at will. The power of its evil desires has no end. It will stalk its prey until nothing remains but the husk of humanity that once was full of life.
Lucy's heart surely has stopped at this point. The sheer terror that slithered into her body upon reading that made her fall through the floor and crawl up and wish she had perished with her parents. She gripped the edges of the book and continued the passage, only her humanity willing her to read the rest.
This is an abomination against church and mankind, it is lost to God's light upon the initial hunt of humanity. Once taken and mutated, the former human is forever lost to the kingdom.
The mere thought of her parents being forced out of the gates of paradise was enough for her to lose hope, knowledge of their death oddly comforting her through the dark text.
This creature is created through blasphemy, so blasphemy is all it will bring. It lures its prey with promise of pleasures, whether of food, riches, sexual desires, or any magnitude of greed that attracts weak souls of sinners. It is versed in dark arts, such as alchemy, black magic, and other satanic rites. Due to its unholy appetites, Holiness is what is detests and is weak towards. Keeping your crucifix nearby will guarantee your safety from its detestable claws.
Lucy reached around her neck and clutched the crucifix Abraham left her with after they arranged her future in Amsterdam.
Perhaps uncle Abraham is keeping me safer than he even knew. Lucy pondered as she continued on.
The monster of the night can never tread on sacred ground, cannot pass over running water, or eat as humans do. They lost those rights when they chose darkness of evil over the light of God. Furthermore, these are not creatures you should seek, for your death would be imminent. Far worse, your immortal soul could be lost forever. Should the monster bite you and you ingest its blood, regardless of willingness you will be forever claimed by the night. The bite of the monster is paramount. Its jaws are full of razor sharp teeth akin to savage beasts.
Savage beast-like teeth. Ingesting blood. These phrases stuck to Lucy's soul like ice. Could this be the monster that attacked her, even worse… could she have been turned into one?
No, I Couldn't, or I wouldn't be able to hold uncle's crucifix… yes that must be it .I can't be one of those things. Not even at risk. Not even close. Even though Lucy repeated these thoughts, she remained uneasy for quite some time.
Sensitivity to light is the first way to prove of its sinful ways. It cannot survive in the light God gives to the living. The second is without drinking blood, it will die. If one can sequester it away from food long enough it most certainly shall perish. This process however, has no constant time. For some it could be as little as five days, for others it can be decades. After not feeding upon the living it must rest more inside its coffin with soil from its birthplace. It cannot die as humans do, but as monstrosities. Sever the head from torso to ensure it never raises from its coffin again.
Lucy's mental notes were getting more and more frightening. One thing she made certain of; this book was leaving the hospital with her. There was no way she wasn't taking this as proof she didn't imagine it all. Even if all she did was read it to convince herself.
This monster left unchecked will destroy all of the blessings on the earth. Go forth brave hunters, and rid the world of these. A stark image of a human with hollow eyes and sharp teeth, akin to the monster Lucy saw, adorned the bottom right page. Lucy stared at the book in her hands for a minute before reality hit her. Monsters, at least this one, are not folklore but they walk amongst humans. Threatening their lives without ever knowing it, or at least the general populace. The revelation Lucy uncovered normally would have made her want to hide away. To shy away in fear, but not now. Now Lucy was aware these beings have threatened others, killed throughout history, and most importantly it could be killed.
Is this the level to which I would sink to? A revenge artist and myth chaser just to find my sanity in this world? But even as she tried to persuade herself she knew in her heart she would attempt to take the creature's life to avoid another winding up like her. She slipped the book out of the binding and hid it inside her pillowcase and fell backwards onto it, attempting to gain some rest before heading to Amsterdam with her uncle. It must have been only midday, as she was awoken several times by nurses to eat and check upon her before her discharge in the morning. At nightfall, sleep avoided her completely, leaving Lucy to read her text on monsters and myths throughout the darkness aided only by a single gas lamp.
When morning finally broke, Lucy was settling in for rest but was promptly awoken by a nurse helping her up and handing her a bag of clothes her uncle sent up. Lucy pulled the curtain surrounding her bed over her and snuck the pages of the book into the bag as she changed into a simple blue dress that was inside the bag. She was in the process of tying her laces when the nurse informed her that the train she had to depart on was leaving within the hour. Lucy grabbed her bag and the nurse followed her down the stairs When she reached the lobby she was greeted with the tall and beaming form of her uncle.
"Ah, Lucy!" He gave her a tight embrace. "Ready to head home?" Lucy smiled at the statement. For so long she worried she'd never be able to set foot out of the hostpital.
"Yes. Home." She agreed, letting the word roll off her tongue. They departed the hospital and headed for the train station, but an odd sickness began to take root in Lucy's stomach, or perhaps her head? She wasn't sure, but she knew she was not doing well.
"Lucy? Are you alright? Perhaps I should have called for a carriage, you must forgive your terrible uncle. I figured you would be right as rain leaving a hospital." Abraham chuckled nervously, obviously worried about his niece's health. Lucy waved his concerns away.
"No worries. I'm sure it is just motion sickness from sitting around for a fortnight. Do not worry yourself uncle, we'll arrive at the station soon and I'll be seated for a good few hours until the ferry and tonight it'll all be a bad dream." Lucy assured him as the train station was coming into view. They handed their tickets to the conductor and boarded the train shuffling into their shared compartment. "I am quite excited to see aunt Mary. It's been quite a while since we last spoke." Lucy said trying to lift her uncle's worries. He responded with his typical vigor.
"Yes, she will be delighted to speak with you as well. In fact, she knows how much you care for history and well, we spoke on the telephone about procuring you a night job at the museum in Amsterdam. The hours have you away all night, but you always were such a night owl. What do you say?" Lucy was speechless. Her aunt and uncle not only were taking her in and giving her a place to stay but also giving her jobs she'd die to have back in Perth. She felt tears forming at her uncle's kindness once again.
"I think it's wonderful. You have always been so good to be uncle Abraham. I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you enough." She said, throat tightening at the sudden emotions. Abraham simply nodded and smiled.
"You don't have to. You're my niece, practically my daughter with how close we have been. I'd do anything for you." Abraham proclaimed as if dispersed all of Lucy's doubts and fears. Out of all the things Lucy was worried about, it had been whittled down to the contents of the pages that were stowed away in her clothing bag that rested above her caring relative's head.