I just wanted to get this out of the way since I hadn't posted more chapters for quite a long while, especially after a couple rude people tried to bash me before. And hey, where there's a vampire character, there's bound to be a Van Helsing character as well.

Now, just to let anyone who reads this know, I am very open to polite constructive reviews, or even compliments should you enjoy this a whole lot. I will NOT take rude comments; if you can't say something nice, don't say it at all, keep it in your head and turn away from this story now.

Now that that's said, hope what few good readers I have will enjoy this.

I own nothing except my OCs.

Read, review, but no flames allowed.

Chapter 10: Professor Eraqus

It was a clear and serene morning when a lone carriage drove along the road heading off towards the intended destination. In the passenger seats were three individuals – one elder man, one young boy around his teen years, and one young woman - dressed as though they were travelling professional doctors waiting to arrive at the place they were due to be.

The elder man had gray eyes and dark hair with streaks of gray in several places held in a ponytail, and a slightly shallow face with two scars (one over his right eye and one on his left facial cheek) with a few wrinkles from age; he was dressed in a dark blue waistcoat over a cold-gray shirt and slightly loose gray pants with black leather boots, and a white-and warm gray coat over the clothes he's wearing. The impression he gave off was a man with much more experience on the field, and has been doing his business for decades.

The boy seated across from the elder man had ruffled, gold-blonde hair and blue eyes, with a face that appears to border between a youth and a young adult; he was dressed in a pine green vest over a white loose-collared shirt, complete with dark green pants and brown leather boots held by buckles, and is protected by a short dark-green jacket left open. As he appears to be the youngest of the travelers, he would occasionally move his head just enough to look at the unsettling forest surrounding the road they're traversing on out of curiosity (which quickly fades away as he hears a few animal cries echoing against the twisted branches).

The young woman seated next to the elder man had short blue hair and blue eyes to match, with the face of a lady who is wise and smart beyond her years; she was dressed in a high-waisted, long-sleeved dark-blue dress with a few light-blue trimmings on the sleeves and the hem of her skirt, protected by a blue-green hooded cloak tied around her neck, and wearing short black boots held together by buckles. Being the studious-looking woman that she is, she kept herself preoccupied by reading over a medical book in her possession at the moment, waiting for any news of their arrival.

However, their ride was interrupted when the carriage came into a forced halt and jolted the entire vehicle along with the passengers. Not wasting any time questioning about it, the elder man immediately got up and stepped out of the carriage to ask the driver what was the matter.

"Is there something wrong, sir? Was there an accident?" he asked.

"Ah, no, sir, there's nothin' faulty, sir. The horses got spooked a bit, so I had t' stop 'em and see what's the matter," the driver explained, "An' I see before me four bodies a few yards from us, just near the road. I ne'er in my life have ever seen a scene like that."

The elder man turned his attention towards where the driver was looking, and quickly spotted what was said to be 'four bodies' that appeared to be female; one was dressed in black clothes, while the second was wearing a purple dress, the third wore a green dress, and the last was dressed in dark blue. Intrigued at this, he immediately approached the scene and inspected them to find that the four women were not dead, but unconscious.

In the process, this caught the attention of the other passengers and they climbed out of the carriage to find out what caused their ride to stop so suddenly.

"Professor, what happened?" the boy asked in confusion.

"Is there something out there, Professor Eraqus?" the woman asked, unsure of what was up.

Immediately upon hearing his name, Eraqus turned toward his companions to inform them on the situation.

"It appears we have four lost souls out here, my students. They're alive, but unconscious," he answered them, "Aqua, will you search my medical bag and bring out the smelling salts? Ventus, I need you and the driver to come and help me out on this."

As Aqua turned back to the carriage to search for the smelling salts, Ventus quickly hurried over to his mentor to lend a hand (and the driver joined to see what he could do to help). As the puzzled blond looked at each of the women lying on the ground, he couldn't help but notice that all of them looked rather tired…but why?

"What do you suppose happened to them, Professor?" Ventus asked.

"As far as I can tell, they must have passed out from exhaustion," Professor Eraqus replied as he looked over the woman in the black dress, "Their muscles indicate much physical pressure on them, probably from running too hard and for too long. However, we should consider ourselves fortunate that they are still alive. If we can wake them from their dreamless sleep, we might be able to learn more about them."

At that moment, Aqua came back with four phials of smelling salts on handed, and distributed each one to them for each woman to be tended to.

"Now what must be done, Professor?" Aqua asked as she awaited further instructions.

"Now, each of you open the phial and use the salts for one of the girls," Eraqus instructed sternly, "But be careful with it, for we don't want to irritate their noses too much, now don't we?"

While everyone took their places handling the other women sprawled on the ground, Eraqus carefully heaved up the young woman in the black dress, opened the phial, and slowly waved it near her nose until a faint twitching reaction could be noticed. Then, all of a sudden, she let out a gasp for breath as her eyes rapidly opened from shock; she looked around in confusion, not sure what was going on and who the new faces were.

"What…? Where…?" she asked, trying to understand what's going on.

"It's alright now, madam. You're safe," the professor reassured her.

"My sisters…Are they alright?" she asked out of concern.

Fortunately, moments after she regained consciousness, each of the other women being tended to woke up through the aid of the smelling salts and all of them having different reactions to the situation; the youngest lady and the second eldest merely looked around with confusion on their faces while trying to understand who the new faces are, while the eldest instantly smacked the driver as though she didn't want to be touched.

The lady in the black dress turned to them and asked, "Jane, Caroline, Mina…are you both alright?"

"Oh, heavens, how did we end up here?" Jane questioned as she rubbed her head.

"What happened…?" Mina wondered.

"What's going on here? Where are we? Who are you people?" Caroline questioned, agitation growing in her voice.

"I'd slow down on the questions. You just woke up," Aqua said as she tried to keep them calm, "I'm sure all of you are confused, but it would be in your best interest to take things slowly. We would want to know about all of you just as much as you want to know about us."

"She's right on that part," Ventus agreed, "For the moment, we're just strangers."

Taking in that knowledge was more than enough to convince the sisters to think over their current situation; and given how these individuals had just discovered and do not know anything about them, it would be best if they learned about their rescuers first before making any verdicts on them.

The woman in the black dress took the initiative and introduced herself. "Well…since you don't know us, allow me to start introductions: I am Mary Chastain. My eldest sister is Caroline, my second sister is Jane, and my youngest sister is Mina."

"I see…sisters…In that case, allow me to introduce myself: I am Professor Eraqus. I am a doctor," Eraqus explained, "These young companions of mine are my students, Ventus and Aqua."

"An' I'm just the driver, madams," the driver added humorously.

As the sisters were giggling at the comical response, Aqua took note of the scattered bags alongside the sisters, making her wonder whether they were travelling.

"I might sound rude for asking, but were you girls travelling somewhere? You have your own packing bags with you," Aqua questioned.

The sisters looked at each other with wide eyes, initially uncertain as to how to respond to such a question. Eraqus noticed this, and wondered if something happened that caused them to end up in the middle of the road out cold.

"Perhaps you could tell us where you were going?" he asked them.

Now it was Mina's turn to answer the question. "We were riding a stagecoach to Twilight Town, to meet up with our cousin Terra. At least, until we ended up stranded in the middle of the forest…"

"No, no, I do not want to talk about all the things we went through! I don't want anyone talking about it, you hear me?" Caroline demanded, interrupting Mina's answer.

Mary frowned at her sister's rudeness. "Caroline, you know that was very rude of you." She turned to Eraqus and shook her head apologetically. "I'm sorry about this. It's just that we've been through so much that it's rather difficult to put down in words."

The professor calmly dismissed it before prying further into the matter. "If it's too difficult to explain right now, we can discuss about it after we help all of you. Now, just to shift the topic for the moment; is it right that the four of you know of Terra? And for that matter, you were heading to Twilight Town to meet him?"

"Yes, we were meant to rendezvous with him in town," Mary replied.

"After sorting out what our parents originally owned and selling all we could, including the house, we made an agreement to meet Terra at his home and he would help us settle down in Twilight Town," Jane explained, "But it appears that we are quite horribly late for our meeting. He must be awfully worried for us, considering we were trapped in the middle of nowhere for…how many days…two or three days? I can barely remember."

"Say, Professor, we were heading to Twilight Town ourselves, weren't we?" Ventus asked, "Maybe if we can get them together with their cousin, that might help us do our job in the long run."

Eraqus contemplated it for a moment before agreeing to the idea. "Perhaps a visit with him wouldn't hurt for a moment. Though, we will have to figure out how to explain the situation of his relatives." He turned to Mary. "Miss Chastain, if it's alright with all of you, would you be comfortable riding with us to town? I have business there myself, and since it is on the way, we would be more than willing to drop you off at your cousin's residence."

This managed to catch the attention of the four sisters, but there was also a sense of skepticism on their faces. However, on Mary's part, she showed some contemplation on the offer before making a decision.

"I suppose it'd be alright, but how are we going to explain to cousin Terra about our late arrival?" Mary questioned.

"Well, I'm sure we can think of an explanation along the way," Eraqus reassured her, "But first, we should see to you and your sisters, and the sooner the better."

Thankfully for them, the professor and his pupils were very helpful and supportive of them as the Chastain sisters were led to the carriage while the driver helped make room inside for the extra passengers they're about to take along with them. As soon as all four of them were made comfortable and everyone was on board, the driver returned to his post and ushered the horses on and they were on their way to Twilight Town.

From the shadows of the forest, Saix could see from under the thick hood of his cloak that their escaped targets had been found, and by a group of travelers that he knows are not from around their region. He could tell that the eldest of the new travelers was much wiser and more intelligent, especially with how he was able to coordinate managing the four sisters the moment they were found; as for the two youths who are alongside him, he wasn't sure what their business is unless they're with the elder man. What he did understand, though, was the fact that they have located the Chastain family and are taking them to Twilight Town.

But as he followed the carriage from within the shades, he was able to pick up their conversation with his inhuman senses, and listened carefully with the anticipation for more information that can be used.

"I know it may be difficult for all of you, but I was wondering if you could provide me with any knowledge as to what you all experienced from start to finish," Eraqus said, obviously curious about the situation of the women.

"Why should we tell you anything? You don't know anything about us, and you have no right to poke your nose into our business," Caroline protested.

"Caroline, stop it! You're being very rude," Jane scolded. "The professor only wants to help us, I am sure."

"So, which one of us should tell them about what happened?" Mina asked, unsure if she'd be willing to speak.

Mary let out a deep sigh before she spoke. "Okay…how much do you want to know?"

"For now, let's just start at the beginning. Where did your distress begin?" Eraqus questioned as he pulled out a journal and a writing tool.

"It was several days ago when our trouble started. We needed transport to Twilight Town, but we could only find one person who was willing to help us," Mary explained, "However, since the main road towards the outpost was undergoing repairs, we had to ride through the woods in order to reach Twilight Town. Unfortunately, the coach we were riding took a stumble and the wheel nearly broke apart, and then the horses killed the driver and fled from the place afterwards. Because of that happening so quickly, we were so certain that we would be stranded in the middle of nowhere."

"So…let's get this straight: you and your sisters were making a journey to Twilight Town after your parents died, but then you had an accident and it caused all of you to be trapped without outside help?" Aqua asked, trying to comprehend the situation.

"That is quite correct, Miss Aqua. Though, I will admit that we didn't expect all of that because it happened so quickly," Jane replied, "If you were in our shoes, you'd probably understand what it's like to have problems come to you one after another."

After that, the passengers and the carriage were too far off to allow him to overhear the conversation; but on the flipside, what he was able to hear was more than enough for Saix to know that they have much greater problems on their hands than just the four sisters now. At least he is aware that other people, especially that nosy doctor, are now involved with the four and might become threats if not kept under observation and are unchecked for potential threats.

However, since he got all the information he needed right now, he believed it best if he returned to Hollow Bastion at once and wait until sunset for his master to wake from his slumber; once he wakes, then Saix will let him know what he had found and let him know who they'll be going against in the near future.