Confusion and Hunting.

" Van Helsing!" Carl shuffled out of his newfound study, calling his friends name to the heavens.

" You found something?" Gabriel asked, striding up the corridor like a man with purpose. In fact he was a man with purpose – to find the woman he loved.

"I think so." Carl smiled.

"Well tell me! We have to find Anna, we're running out of time." With that he checked the clock again, 12 hours left to find Anna and have her come back to him.

"The Valerious had many castles. More then most Romany leaders every had…" Carl babbled on, showing the occasional portrait of what he assumed were Valerious manors. "It seems the Valerious family had one castle they rarely visited.

"Whys that, Carl?"

"They claimed that demons harbored there, and that no amount of holy prayer or action could release it. There's mention of a Valerious family member being an unholy man, dealing with the devil, and raising the demons for him. It says that in exchange for doing the devils handiwork, he was granted eternal life."

"And you think this may be the member who took Anna?"

"Yes, there are traces of information suggesting he could change his shape into anything or…anyone he chose."

Van Helsing pondered this for a moment. "And he chose Velkan. The one person in the world Anna would trust over-" over me. He thought. "Anyone else" he finished.

"It seems so." Carl looked up from his book. " What are you going to do?"

"Where is the manor located?" Van Helsing asked, looking over the book.

"It's a vague description but it hints that it's east of Huniazi Castle (A/N the Huniazi Castle was inhabited by Vlad tepes in the 15th century. Its located in Hunedoara)

" How far is that from here?"

" On horseback? You could be there in a few hours. The Valerious family was large and when there were more of them, they all lived close to one another in their own castles. Security… in case one family needed help, family could be with them in hours."

Gabriel nodded. " Get the horses we're going to find Anna."

Anna awoke hours later, turning her head on her pillow she seen dawn start to crack on the horizon and faintly could see the out line of another one of her family's homes. A fire blazed in her fireplace as a maid came into the room quietly to check on everything.

Seeing the princess awake the young maid smiled. "Good morning my lady."

Anna nodded and greeted the same, sitting up a little and touching the back of her head. She winced a little and pulled her hand away. On her fingers were traces of clotted blood.

"Breakfast isn't quite ready yet princess. Master Velkan said you would not awaken for some time…is there anything I can get you?"

She shook her head "No, thank you."

The maid bowed and left as Anna stood up and checked the wounds on her rib cage. Oddly enough they hardly hurt. Maybe they gave me something while I was sleeping to stop the pain.

She slipped on some day clothes with a warmer quality. This manor didn't hold the heat like her own home. Walking down the hallway she went the opposite way of last night.

The hallways were decorated with old paintings that depicted the struggles of her ancestors. The floor was made of stone and lit by various torches. She came upon a stairwell and chose to go down. The torches were fewer and far between and she used the wall to feel her way down. It spiralled down for quite sometime before she hit the bottom. Here in this cavern of stone, she realized that she could hear a voice through one of the thick wooden doors. Her eyes widened as she realized the deep voice was speaking.

"It won't be much longer my lord…and the gypsy princess will be on our side!"

"You better make haste, Van Helsing is on his way to find her. They cannot be allowed to reunite, or your fate will be that of Count Dracula. Do not blow your cover!"

"Yes. My lord."

Anna gasped. She knew that voice! "Velkan?" she whispered to herself, in shock. What was going on here? What did Van Helsing have to do with anything? What cover?

AHAHA! Cliffhanger!

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