Chapter 7: Incuring the Wrath of The Avenger

Van Helsing walked angrily towards Miruna. Miruna noticed this and began to retreat over to Anna's direction. Van Helsing was too quick for her. He siezed her by the collar and glared at her.

"You are helping him! You have to be!", he shouted angrily. He shook her furiously as she began to cry. "The world is doomed and you're one of the ones sending it to hell!"

"He's not evil! We can stop this!", Miruna cried. Van growled and dropped her. She looked up at him. "He's the only person that's ever been forthcomming with with the truth to me! He doesn't order me around like a child or ignore me! He can't be evil!"

Van frowned and shook his head. He reached down and helped her stand, carefully. Anna finally made it over to them beside Carl. Van touched the side of her head and sighed.

"I had no idea you were bewitched. I should have thought of that, I'm sorry.", he said softly. Miruna pushed him away angrily.

"Either that venom is eating away your common sense or you are stupid!", she shouted. He took a step back in shock. "Since I have been young, no one wanted to tell me what had happened in my past. No one wanted to tell me what had happened to my mother. No one wanted me to ask questions. No one spoke to me past telling me one of two things; what a sweet little girl I was or what a nuissance I was! I prayed God would send me someone to be my friend and end my nightmares. I thought it would be Anna, but there are too many things for her to worry about to truly be what I asked for. Prince Draculea has saved my life twice and demands nothing in return! There cannot be anything evil about that!"

"His saving your life or not isn't the issue, princess! It's all of the lives he's cyphoned out of the numerous villages and cities he's preyed on. A random act of kindness cannot save the soul of a man.", Van countered.

"It already did, or haven't you read the holy scriptures?", Miruna spat back. Van snarled and raised his hands in frustration.

"How can you stand there and preach righteousness to me!? You stood here while minions of the devil took a necessary tool to bring forth a reign of terror over the world!", Van shouted. Anna put her arms around Miruna and held onto her. She glared at Van for a moment.

"Miruna is confused, Van Helsing. She has been too sheltered all of her life to understand what we face.", Anna explained. She found it impossible to think that anyone in her family would willingly aide the enemy, least of all Miruna who had already suffered so much. The only explanation had to be that Miruna was simply misguided and open to the suggestions of a handsome monster. "We need to get back to the fortress and find him before it is too late."

Miruna looked up at Van Helsing coldly. "I know where to find him and how to get there.", she stated. Van lowered his gaze at her and snarled slightly. The antics of this little brat were wearing on him like nothing else. She smiled wickedly. "I will yell you how to find Draculea if you promise not to kill him."

Van shouted in anger and grabbed a nearby headstone, flinging it madly accross the graveyard. Miruna stepped back, terriffied, as Carl defensively put a hand on Van's chest and did his best to hold him back. Carl reached up and whispered something to his counterpart. Miruna couldn't hear what was being said at all. Carl told Van Helsing to go through with the bargain not to kill the enemy. After all, he was already dead so there would be no killing, just sending him on to eternity. Van smiled a little at the wonderful loophole that had presented itself. Miruna might have been buligerant and able to spout off ancient wisdoms, but she was still a naive little girl on the whole. He sighed and looked down at her.

"Carl reminds me that every being deserves a chance just as I did when I began my work.", Van lied. "I promise not to kill the count if you will show us the way there. But I can't make any promises about Anna or about not destroying his lair itself. Deal?"

Miruna thought for a moment. Anna certainly wouldn't be able to kill Draculea, only Van Helsing could attempt to do so with lycanthropic venom in his system. Even so, Van was already out of control without being in full lycan form, so his being able to control himself long enough to carry out a well-organized plan of attack was out of the question. Besides, Draculea had a cure that had been able to remove the curse from Miruna so it only stood to reason that he could use it on Van Helsing if he needed protecting. If she went ahead with showing them to the castle, then perhaps Draculea would defend himself staunchly and be able to set the records straight with both Anna and Van. Miruna was incredibly intelligent without a doubt, but again still quite a naive little girl on the whole. She looked up at the three in front of her and nodded sharply.

"Then I will show you to Castle Draculea.", she replied quickly. "You must keep your promise."

"I haven't broken my word to you yet, little girl.", Van reasoned. Miruna frowned at him calling her this again. It only re-emphasized that Draculea was the only person that saw her as a mature young lady. She sighed and turned to face the entrance of the cemetary.

"We need to get back to the fortress, just as Anna said.", Miruna instructed. The three said nothing, but turned and left with Miruna beside Carl and Anna. Miruna looked over at Anna, who seemed very resoloute. "He doesn't want the Valerious dead, Anna. He never has."

Anna turned and looked at her cousin with a twinge of anger. It couldn't have been Miruna's fault that she was thinking and feeling such nonsense for the monster. After all, Anna herself had recently been bewitched into kissing him passionately! If she, a hardened warrior, found it difficult to resist the cad, then Miruna would be far less likely to resist his advances on her mind. She sighed and put a hand comfortingly on Miruna's shoulder. Miruna had been somewhat of an outcast with little friendly contact among her family or people as a young child. Anna thought it cruel, but the dark times in which Miruna was born saw a great need to be tremendously cautious about anyone aiding the evil of the count. She wished that she could have gone back in time and had a closer friendship with her cousin, Miruna seemed to be the epitome of a 'good hearted' person. Van led the way back to some waiting horses and then started back towards Vaseria. Miruna breathed heavily, feeling something heavy over her chest. She was coughing and sneezing more and more as they traveled into the harsh Romanian autumn. Anna looked back at her in concern every now and then, so did Van. As mean and solitary as Van was, he felt concern and pity for Miruna. She really felt connected to this evil and would probably mourn him. She also seemed to be enduring quite a bit physically from this ordeal. The group arrived in the small village much faster than the carraige had arrived in Budapest. They hurried into the fortress. Van had ordered Carl to calculate how long it would take Draculea to reach Transylvania after traveling by boat, which is where they had lost him and Adam. Carl told the group that by his calculations, they could afford one day to rest and make plans before going after him. He told Anna and Van that he would need to relate the story of Draculea's origin to them in private that afternoon. As he was whispering this to them, Miruna burst into another coughing fit. She had been seated on one of the comfortable arm chairs several feet away from them. She seemed to be terribly exhausted from the journey and wasn't even fussing about hearing what they were saying. Van looked at her sadly. He silently said a bittersweet prayer of thanks for not being plagued by memories of a loved one's death. Was that really worse than being void of all precious memories whatsoever? He watched Miruna shudder, coughing as she read through a tattered old book. Anna stood to walk over to her and take her up to her room. Van put a hand on Anna's arm and motioned for her to stay put. She looked at him inquisitively as he approached Miruna. Miruna finished wheezing and composed herself before even noticing him.

"Did you get sick while you were with the vampires the first night you were here?", he asked leaning down to look at her more closely. Miruna stared back at him and shifted defensively.

"I've got a chill from being out in that cemetary with no protection.", she shot back. He frowned and looked deeply at her. She gasped and began to cough loudly again, interrupted by one forceful sneeze. "Carl says we have a day to gather our strength. I'm going to find out how to undo Draculea's evil. Tata's journal says that he must be redeemed, but it doesn't say how to do it. Since he's not a normal soul, I suppose it will take some kind of incantation to do so."

"Is that his journal?", Van asked. Miruna glared up at him. She knew all too well that Van had a keen memory and would have remembered Miruna commenting on the journal holding the secrets to destroying Draculea. He smiled a little. "Because if it is, the no one else aside from him should be reading it. You can return it when we take you home."

"Until then, he is my tata and I have privelege to read it.", Miruna stated proudly and began to read once more. Van sighed heavily and took hold of both of her hands. He moved them together so that she closed the book herself. She looked back at him angrily. Her anger was put aside for a moment as she sneezed loudly and then began to shake slightly.

"Come on, I know quite a bit about healing. We can get rid of that chill in a matter of hours. Then you can show us the way into his castle.", Van offered. Miruna stared at him suspiciously. He frowned. "I'm sorry for being cruel to you. I'm not used to dealing with innocents who feel pity for the monsters I hunt instead of wanting to worship them or give birth to their demon progeny. You're unusual. That's somewhat of a good thing."

"What would you do for me, then, if you know so much about medicine?", Miruna demanded as she shifted the conversation from him trying to smoothe over the mistake he had made in attacking her like that. He gave a half-smile in realizing that as innocent as she was, she wasn't going to be swayed by his impromptu kindness. He would simply have to deal with her as he had been forced to deal with so many other human obstacles.

"There's a hot infusion that was given to me by some eastern holy men. It contains roots like ginger, ginko, and valerian; as well as other leaves and flowers. It isn't the most pleasant thing to swallow, but it cures even the most severe chills in a matter of hours.", he explained. "A few hours is all we have, so I suggest you take it and lie down until the rest of us have our planning done."

"Remember your promise, Van Helsing.", Miruna warned. He chuckled and took the book carefully out of her hands and set it to the side. He lifted her off of the couch and led her towards the door. He turned back to Carl.

"Get me some hot water and a pouch of the xiang-cha.", Van ordered. Carl nodded quickly and went to see about the water first and foremost. Van looked at Anna for a moment and then nodded towards the couch. Anna stared back at him in confusion for a moment, then walked over to where Miruna had been seated. She picked up the journal carefully as the two left the room. Anna flipped through the pages in astonishment. There were several facts about the Valerious that she had yet to discover, but those took second place to what she was sure Van Helsing needed to know. She came to the passage that would be most helpful and smiled brightly.

"Today is the four-hundred and tenth year after the murder of Prince Draculea. ...I have found a way to destroy him!"

While Van Helsing soothed Miruna into a sound, drug induced sleep, Anna gathered all the facts they would need to enter the mirror in the armoury and destroy Draculea once and for all!