CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Mori opened her icy eyes when she heard someone approaching the cell that she and Jen were in. Dracula came around the corner, and unconscious Bethany in his arms. The vampire opened the door and tossed the girl in, her body lifelessly hitting the ground with a sickening thud. He then locked the door once more with an evil smile.
"A visitor for you two." Dracula told them with the same smirk and then left them.
"Bethany. Bethany!" Mori said as she shook the girl's shoulders. She was worried that Beth was dead when she didn't respond. That couldn't be! Not Beth. She was too stubborn to die!
"What's wrong with her?" Jen asked crawling over to sit next to Mori on the cold stone floor. Mori sensed her fear. She was scared too. "Why is she wet?"
"I don't know, princess." Mori said and then pulled off one of her gloves with her teeth. She placed her pale hand on Beth's cheek. She was freezing cold! She almost felt as if she was dead. Mori could tell that Beth was alive, barely. The pulse of her blood beneath her skin was faint…very faint.
"Jen, help me get her coat off." Mori told her. "She's dangerously close to getting hypothermia."
Mori and Jen pulled off Beth's coat, all the weapons gone from it. No doubt they had Mori's father to thank for that. Beth was shivering like mad. They had to get her warm somehow. She wouldn't last much longer if they didn't.
"Give me your coat." Mori ordered Jen. The girl slipped her coat off her shoulders and handed it to her. Mori put the coat over Beth's form along with her own black cloak. That's when a warm, sweet, aroma reached Mori's nostrils. It was blood. Mori saw the fresh blood on the stone floor, even in the darkened cell. Being half vampire had very few perks, but this was one of them.
"Jen, do you have anything to stop bleeding?" Mori asked. Jen nodded and ripped off the fabric on her sleeves. In no time, the two had Beth bandaged up.
"What do we do now?" Jen asked looking at her dark haired friend.
"We wait."
---
Beth ran like crazy. She was pushing her way though the woods. She had to get somewhere, but where?
"Bethany!"
The girl hadn't heard that voice since she was young. It was her mother's voice. But how did she know that? Her mother died in child birth. She decided to go with her gut instinct on this one. The girl ran faster. She had to reach it. She had to reach her mother's voice.
Beth ran into a clearing and saw a stone statue in the center of it. The stature was at least ten feet high. The figure was an angel with hair to her shoulders. Her arms were outstretched to welcome any visitors and her wings were extended all the way out as if in flight.
"Let it loose, child." the voice said again.
"What?" Bethany called out. The voice hovered around her and imprinted itself in her memory.
"It is crucial to your survival. If you don't let go, you will die."
Beth sat up gasping for air and immediately regretted it because of the throbbing sensation that worked it's way through her skull. A hand placed itself on her shoulder and the girl turned to see Mori sitting next to her.
"Morning sunshine."
"What happened? Where am I?" Beth said looking around at her surroundings. Needless to say they didn't look good.
"Dracula's dungeon." Jen replied calmly.
"What!" Beth shouted. Mori had to fight not to shudder due to the ringing in her sensitive ears.
"Well, Verona picked me up off the ground and brought me here." Jen said.
"Dracula used a pressure point on me to get me unconscious." Mori grumbled angrily. Clearly, she wasn't happy about it at all.
"Ah." Beth said quietly.
"What happened to you?" Mori asked, eager to changed the subject.
"Well, Aleera chased me, picked me up, dropped me, and ran me off a cliff into the coldest water I've ever been in (where I almost drowned), was thrown against rocks (causing me to hit my head) and I collapsed on shore."
"You had it the worst out of the three of us." Jen said, a little shock in her voice. Obviously she didn't expect the answer to be that lengthy.
"Really?" Beth asked sarcastically as she pulled the makeshift bandage off her head in aggravation. It's no use getting angry. She told herself. We are stuck here and that is that. She sighed heavily and then handed her friends back their items. Jen quickly flung her coat on as Mori slipped on her cloak. Both were grateful to have the extra warmth back. It was freezing in here. Then again, no one really expected a castle in a frozen tundra to be warm.
"So, any idea why we aren't dead yet?" Beth asked as she pulled on her now dry coat. She too was glad for her extra layer of clothing. Her mind unwillingly drifted back to her dream. Let loose? Let loose what?
"No idea." Jen replied. Her voice broke the young huntress out of her thoughts.
"I was asking myself that very thing." Mori said. "It's not like Dracula to keep three people he's been trying to kill alive and locked up in his dungeon."
"Does he want anything from any of us?" Jen asked.
"Who knows, princess." Mori replied. Beth looked at her and she could tell that Mori was thinking the same thing she was. He wanted Mori. But then why leave Jen and Beth alive? Leverage? Or was it something else?
The girls sat there a while, thinking about what was going to happen to them. Beth's mind wandered back to her dream once more. What the heck did she have to let loose? Was it the anger and power she had been feeling in those past battles? Or was it something else? Did this have anything to do with her past? Why was she hearing her mother's voice? Was that voice really her mother's? And that angel in the middle of the clearing seemed so familiar to her. Was her mother the angel? If not, then who was?
Beth's train of thought was interrupted by the sound of feet coming toward them. Dracula and his two brides then appeared around the corner. Beth and Mori glared at them evilly. What the two wouldn't give to kill them all.
The cell door opened and Dracula grabbed onto Mori's arms. Beth was about to stop him when Aleera held her captive. Jen was being held back by Verona. All three girls were yanked to their feet and then lead (more like shoved) into what looked like a ball room. Once the last of them was through the gigantic oak doors, they swung shut and were locked.
Beth surveyed her surroundings. The door was the only opening to the room with a three story tall ceiling above them. There were no windows and no other doors. The girls were trapped. The main door was their only way out. Columns lined the walls every ten or so feet to support the massive ceiling. A good place to hide or hold your ground, but they could serve as nothing permanent.
"Well girls, welcome to my humble abode." Dracula said.
"Humble?" Mori asked as she raised an eyebrow.
"My dear Morianalynn," Dracula said shaking his head at the girl he held in his grasp. "you know full well your own heritage. Why are you not at my side?"
"Because she's not a deranged psychopath." Beth mumbled under her breath. She then looked over to Jen. She didn't know about Mori. Beth swore in her mind. This would not end well. Mori remained silent as an answer to her father's question.
"This is a one time offer, my dear." Dracula told the girl. "If you refuse, I shall be forced to terminate your little friends."
"I can't wait till I get to murder you." Mori hissed at him, her ice blue eyes flashing dangerously at her father.
"Very well. Verona, if you please." Dracula then shoved Mori at Verona and Verona pushed Jen toward him. Verona held onto Mori, who was now struggling against the vampire that held her. Beth, realizing what Dracula was going to do, began fighting against Aleera with all her might. Pain flowed through her shoulders and skull, but she ignored it. She had to get to Jen.
Dracula took Jen in his arms and began brushing the girl's hair away from her neck. He looked down at the young Valerious.
"A shame, really, and so young as well." he said.
"Don't you dare touch her!" Beth roared at him. She didn't care what happened to her, just as long as he left Jen and Mori alone.
"Feeling brave, are we? Maybe I should kill you first." Dracula said, his icy gaze falling on Bethany. " Oh well, say good-bye."
"No!" Mori shouted, but it was to late.
Jen gasped in pain as Dracula dug his fangs into the girl's neck. Beth's heart throbbed with pain, rage and fury. No, she told herself. don't let your emotions get the better of you. Beth then remembered her dream. Let loose. Beth let loose her emotions and the raw energy that was flowing through every fiber of her being. She closed her eyes and then opened them again, the green crystal flaming.
"Let go of her!" Beth roared. Suddenly, Dracula was pulled off Jen by an invisible force and landed ten feet away on the floor. Jen collapsed in a heap on the ground like a rag doll.
"Jen!" Mori screamed and tried to get to her with no success.
Dracula stood up. He was obviously angry by the look in his eyes. He stalked toward the two remaining girls, but stopped a few yards away.
"Come here!" he ordered Bethany. All of a sudden, Beth felt herself being flown toward Dracula and soon, he had her in his grasp.
"Let go!" Beth said pushing against him. The vampire wasted no time in brushing her hair away from her neck.
"Any last words, Bethany?" he asked.
Beth looked him square in the eye. She didn't flinch or shudder, she just glared at him defiantly. She would not give him the pleasure of seeing her scared.
"Give him hell, Mori."
Dracula then bent down and plunged his fangs in the girl's neck mercilessly. Bethany moaned in pain and agony. Her life was quickly draining from her as she released every emotion inside her. Then, she slipped slowly and calmly into the darkness that consumed her.
"You bastard!" Mori roared at her father as he threw Beth's lifeless body to the ground.
"Thank you dear." he said as he wiped away the last bit of blood he had left on his mouth. "You see Morianalynn, you try to resist your vampire nature. You can't do it forever. Soon, you will give in to the urge for their blood and take an innocent mortal's life. They are nothing more than livestock to us. We are superior and mortals should bow to us. Compared to them, we are gods. We rule them."
"Not as long as I draw breath!" Mori roared, her canines quickly turning into large fangs. Her usually ice blue eyes flashed blood red. Mori was loosing her control. She wanted nothing more than to tear his throat out and wipe that mocking smirk off his face. She craved his blood to be spilled. He had stolen her life and now she would take his as payment. She wanted revenge!
"Now, would Bethany or dear Jennifer want you to be so irrational?" Dracula asked, the smirk still plastered over his features. "Would they want you to die so foolishly?"
"As long as I kill you first!"
Mori was struggling as hard as she could with both brides holding the teen down. Dracula had no idea what he had unleashed. He never expected her reaction to be this wonderful. Once her guard was fully down, he would be able to take her. Everyone was so focused on Mori no one noticed Beth's body glowing with a white light.
Beth's eyes darted open as she gasped for air, which quickly caught everyone's attention. The girl's stomach lurched in pain as she rolled over on all fours. Bethany began to cough violently till a river of blood came streaming out of her mouth. Her stomach protested a second time and more blood spilled out onto the floor. The girl coughed a few more times before her breathing became heavy and labored. She reached up to feel her neck. The bite wounds were gone!
"Bethany?" Mori asked, hoping to see the girl's eyes. She just prayed that they wouldn't be ice blue. She prayed she wouldn't be turned.
"I'm fine." Beth replied looking up, her emerald eyes sunken back in her head. She was exhausted, mentally and physically. "I'm fine."
Beth felt extremely dizzy, but knew she had to get up. The teen used one of the pillars to support herself. When she was finally standing, she had to lean against it to stay upright. Otherwise, her weak knees would have given out. Suddenly, Dracula had her by the neck and was holding her a foot off the floor. Beth gasped for air as the vampire's nails dug into her flesh.
"How did you do that?" he demanded angrily.
Beth tried to kick him, but he just squeezed down tighter on her throat. The young hunter couldn't breathe at all. She needed air!
"Let go of her!" Mori hissed. With speed that no one knew she possessed, Mori used her vampiric strength to throw the two unaware brides into each other. The girl then ran forward and knocked her father down to the ground and caught Bethany before she fell to the ground.
Beth inhaled deeply to refill her deflated lungs as Mori set her on her feet. Beth couldn't believe what Mori had just done. That was amazing! However, now was no time to reflect on her skills. They had to get out of here.
"Are you alright?" Mori asked her friend, concern washing over her face.
"Yeah, get Jen and let's get out of here." Beth said with the adrenaline coursing through her veins giving her the strength to stand. She just didn't know how long it would last.
Mori ran over to scoop up Jen's body when Dracula got up and tried to go after her. Beth flung out her hand and Dracula went flying across the room. The girl then looked at her hand in amazement. How did she do that? As a matter of fact, how did she survive the bite? But now was not the time for questions.
"C'mon Bethany!" Mori said as she kicked open the doors to the ball room. Beth nodded and bolted out the door with Mori carrying Jen's body next to her.
The girls made it safely back to the manor, which was empty. Another blessing. They couldn't have dealt with the others now anyway. They had to revive Jen. It was good to be back though. They were finally safe. The girls could finally relax.
"How's Jen?" Beth asked as Mori laid the young Valerious on her bed.
"She's alive, which is what worries me." Mori replied turning to Beth.
"You mean…"
Mori nodded grimly in response.
"She's been turned."
"Great." Beth mumbled, aggravation dripping from her voice. Jen being a vampire was not good.
Suddenly, Beth was pinned against the wall. Jen had woken up, and was holding the weakened girl hostage.
"Jen, don't!" Mori said but it was to late. Jen bit down in Beth's neck. This time, Beth only bit her own lip instead of showing any signs of pain. Thankfully, Mori quickly pulled the girl off Beth. Jen began to scream and hold her head in pain as Beth collapsed to the floor on all fours once again.
Jen closed her eyes and continued to scream in pain. When she opened them again, her eyes had changed. They were back to being hazel instead of the vampire blue they had been only moments before.
"What happened?" Jen asked holding her head. "How did we get back?"
Beth's stomach heaved in pain again seconds before blood rolled out of her mouth. It was much less blood than before, seeing as only a little was taken. Mori let go of Jen and then bent down to Beth. The girl was in terrible shape. She was almost paler than Mori. She looked like she was about ready to collapse.
"Do you need some help?" the girl asked the huntress who was breathing heavily once again. Beth only nodded in response, her eyes closed against the pain in her head, shoulders and her gut. Mori grabbed her hand and pulled her up.
"I'll get you to your room and then fill Jen in on the rest." Mori said and then turned to Jen. "Stay here."
Mori helped Beth out of the room and into the hall way. Beth leaned heavily on the girl to keep from falling. In all honesty, she could barely remain conscious for much longer. The trip to her room seemed much longer than usual, but they made it nonetheless. Mori helped the girl to sit on her bed and then left the room, shutting the door softly behind her. Beth laid down on her bed and closed her eyes. She was asleep in seconds.
"Mori, what happened to me?" Jen asked the dark girl who had just entered her room.
"You might want to sit down princess." Mori suggested. Jen crawled to the center of her bed and sat cross-legged. She looked up at Mori expectedly with large hazel eyes. Hazel and not ice blue? What had happened when she bit Bethany? Mori had never seen anything like this before in her entire life.
"Jen, back at Dracula's castle, he did something to you." Mori began and mentally prepared herself for when Jen began to freak out. "He bit you."
"What!" the girl screamed as she scrambled back on her bed. Both girls shuddered at the loudness of her voice.
"Ouch." Jen said quietly as she rubbed her ringing ears.
"Vampires have sensitive hearing, remember?" Mori pointed out.
"Oh gosh, what am I going to do? Anna and Van Helsing can't find out! They'd kill me! How do I survive? How did I get out of Dracula's control? Why do I still have my soul? Oh God, no one can help me now!" Jen said frantically and then collapsed on her bed. Violent sobs shook her body as she cried into the sheets below her.
Mori felt terrible for her. She had fought vampires her entire life and now she was one of the monsters she fought. Poor thing. Mori thought to herself. She must be petrified. Vampires don't hunt down and kill their own kind. I just happen to be the exception to that rule.
"Jen, I can help you." Mori said moving to stand by the bed.
"How? How can you help me?" Jen demanded as she looked up at Mori, tears still falling from her eyes. Mori took a deep breath and forced herself to say it.
"I'm half."
"What?" Jen asked softly as she sat up. Clearly she didn't fully understand the impact of those two little words.
"I'm half vampire Jen. I was born that way."
"Stop it Mori." Jen said as she collapsed again on the bed. "Stop it."
"What?" Mori had no idea why the girl was acting this way. Did she truly not believe her? Why would she lie about something like this?
"You're just trying to make me feel better." Jen mumbled.
"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Mori asked her. Jen looked up at her and saw her icy eyes were as hard as stone.
"Oh my…why didn't you tell us?" Jen asked sitting straight up immediately. How could one of her could friends be a vampire without her knowing it? How could she not have known?
"Bethany knows. I used my powers one night in front of her. The brides were attacking and I forgot that she was there." Mori explained calmly. "Can you imagine what Van Helsing or Anna would do to me if they found out?"
"Surely they'd understand. You can't help who your parents are." Jen said, now attempting to make Mori feel better.
"Even when your father is Dracula?"
"He's your father!" Jen exclaimed and then winced because of the damage she had done to her ears.
"Now you see why I always wanted you quiet?" Mori asked the girl. Jen nodded.
"Well, don't worry. You get used to it."
Van Helsing walked into Valerious Manor with Anna and Carl at his side. All of their spirits were low. The girls still were nowhere to be found. After three nights of endless searching there was still nothing to be found.
"What do we do now?" Carl asked.
"We try again tomorrow." Anna replied.
"What are we going to do if we can't find them?" Carl asked.
"Well, let me save you the trouble."
The group looked up to see Mori walking toward them. She had a smirk on her face. She would never admit it to anyone, including herself, but it was good to see them again.
"Mori!" Van Helsing said shocked. "Are you alright? Where is Beth and Jen?"
"I'm fine. Jen is in her room asleep. She's alright too. Bethany is also asleep in her own room. She's the one who needs medical attention." Mori replied glancing at the friar behind the hunter.
"Got it." Carl said and he raced off to Beth's room. Anna then ran off after him and was on her way to Jen's room.
"Where were you three?" Van Helsing asked Mori.
"In the depths of Hell."
Beth slowly opened her eyes and saw that her room was dark. It was still night. She sat up slowly and saw that her head and shoulders had been bandaged. The girl ripped off the head bandages and felt her head. She had completely healed.
"Morning sunshine."
"Hi Mori."
Mori smiled slightly as she stepped out of the shadows. Beth had gotten used to that. After being partners for three years, you learn to expect the unexpected with Mori. However, wouldn't that make the unexpected expected? Oh well, no use in confusing herself just yet.
"How's Jen?" Beth asked.
"Better. She's still a little freaked out, but she's calm enough to listen to what I tell her." Mori replied.
"Well, that's good." Beth replied.
"How are you feeling? You've been out for about two days." Mori asked.
"I feel much better than I did."
"Now, would you mind telling me how you survived that bite? Also, how did Dracula get pulled off of Jen? How come he was thrown away from me and Jen? And also, why did Jen get her soul back after she bit you?"
"You don't waste any time, do you?" Beth said smiling softly at her friend.
"Never do." Mori replied as she crossed her arms and sank into a chair in the corner of a room.
"To be honest Mori, I have absolutely no idea. I do know that I threw Dracula back, somehow. I don't know how I did it, I just did." Beth said.
Mori searched Beth's eyes to see if she was lying or holding anything back. Nothing. She was telling her all she knew.
"Fine. By the way, a package came for you yesterday." Mori said and revealed a small brown box from under her cloak. She tossed it to the young hunter, who caught it. Even in her weakened state, her reflexes were still good. That made her feel a littler better. She wasn't completely useless.
Beth opened the package and pulled out a necklace. The charm on the silver chain was beautiful. It was a sapphire with the profile of an angel in flight embedded in the smooth blue stone. The angel was in diamond. Beth recognized this jewel. But from where?
"Who is that from?" Mori asked. "I don't know anyone who would send you jewelry."
Beth pulled out the letter that came with the jewel.
Dear Bethany,
We found this recently among the few belongings we have of your mother's. We believed that you should have this. Also, we need you to return to the Order as soon as possible. We have something for you.
Sincerely,
Cardinal Jinette
"It's from the Cardinal. He said it used to be my mom's." Beth said as she shifted to sit on the edge of the bed. She put the jewel on and tucked it under her shirt. Something for me to do? Beth thought to herself. That usually means another mission. Great. Just what I need at the moment.
"Your mom's? But she died…"
"A long time ago." Beth said and put her face in her hands. Oh, mom…
Mori, sensing the distress Beth was in, quietly left the room to leave the girl to her thoughts. Beth sighed as she looked back down at her hands.
"What is the world coming too?"