CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

Upon Van Helsing and Beth's return, Mori informed them that Anna and Jen had made up. This relieved both of them greatly. This was just one less thing that they had to deal with. Mori also told them that Carl had succeeded in blowing something up…again. No one was really surprised at this. That was just Carl being Carl.

A few days passed and finally, things had gone back to normal or as normal as things ever got for them. Beth and Mori relished in the calmness of the days. They were wise enough to know that it wouldn't last very long. Since the days were calmer, Beth and Mori would go riding when they got tired of being in the manor, which was often. However, they each did it for different reasons. Beth did it for the fresh air and the chance to clear her head out a little. Mori went riding to make sure that Beth returned unharmed. The dark girl knew that her friend's survival was the most important thing even though Beth herself didn't even know it. Mori also knew one more thing…this was her last mission. She wasn't surviving this.

One evening, Beth and Mori went on their usual ride. Beth had invited Jen and the young Valerious had taken them up on that offer. The night was nice and cool with a slight breeze coming from the north, making it even cooler. Mori and Jen didn't notice the temperature change at all, but Bethany did. She had to button her coat to keep from getting chilly.

"Well, this is nice." Jen said during their ride. Jen was riding even with Bethany, whose green eyes were a little distant. She must have been thinking. Mori was slightly behind them, silently and unknown to her friends, keeping watch. Upon hearing Jen speak, Beth smiled slightly and turned to her.

"Now you know why I do it." Beth said. Jen smiled back at her.

"So princess," Mori sighed, sounding rather bored with the small talk. "How's life treating you?"

"Not bad." Jen replied as she turned around slightly to look at Mori. "Thanks to that talk you had with Anna."

"Who told you that?"

Jen quickly looked down at her lap and Beth's green eyes just traveled up to look at the stars.

"Bethany." Mori said.

"Hum?" Beth asked as she looked at Mori as innocently as she could. Mori just glared at her.

"It slipped! I swear!" the young huntress defended herself. Jen smiled slightly when Mori just shook her head at Beth.

"Seriously Mori, thank you. It really helped, whatever you did." Jen told her.

Mori just shrugged. "I do what I can."

Suddenly, Eclipse whined and began to fidget, making it hard to Bethany to control her horse. The girl did her best to steady her, but nothing worked. She also hadn't noticed that Mori and Jen's own steeds had also become jumpy.

"Eclipse, stop it!" Bethany ordered. Mori, finally getting control of her horse, looked up and instantly understood why the horses were scared.

"She has reason to be worried." Mori said merely seconds after Eclipse and Jen's horse were finally brought under control.

"What do you mean?" Jen asked her. A low growl then cut through the cold night air. Beth and Jen tensed up instantly.

"Werewolf." Mori stated only moments before the creature jumped from the brush. The three girls spurred their horses along down the path at full gallop. The wolf was close on their tail, worrying Bethany quite a bit.

"Mori?" Beth asked.

"I can't." Mori replied, already knowing what the girl was going to ask. "That would involve eye contact and I really don't think it would be a good idea to attempt to turn this horse around."

"Then we should split up." Jen suggested.

"I don't like the idea," Mori stated, but then glanced behind her to see that the werewolf was slowly gaining on them. "but it seems we have no other choice."

"When and where?" Beth asked them.

"The stables in one hour and if you die, I will bring you back to life and kill you myself." Mori answered.

"Fair enough." The young Van Helsing replied. Mori turned off the path. Jen was about to guide her horse into the woods when the wolf pounced and dug it's claws into the backside of her steed. Jen screamed slightly in fear and surprise. Upon hearing Jen scream and without any hesitation, Beth pulled the young Valerious onto Eclipse without ever stopping. Jen's horse was brought down with a neigh of fright. Jen lost sight of it as Eclipse galloped of the path.

"Think we lost it?" Jen asked. Beth glanced back to see the werewolf burst out from the brush, it's nose covered in the blood of Jen's late horse.

"No." Beth answered quickly and dug her heels into her steed's side to make her go faster. The creature chased after them and kept getting closer and closer. Every time that the young Van Helsing thought that it got too close, she would spur her horse ahead. They couldn't keep this chase up much longer and both girls knew it. Eclipse would eventually tire out and what then? The girls would be sunk, that's what. The wolf grabbed the horse's tail and pulled. Eclipse whined in pain as Beth and Jen were flung from the saddle. Both of them hit the ground with a painful thud, but Beth wasted no time in pulling out her revolver. Upon looking back at the werewolf, the girl was shocked to see that it had backed off. It was almost as if someone had told it to do so. A low growl emitted from the wolf's throat before it vanished back through the brush.

After a moment of waiting and being frozen in place, Beth pushed herself to her feet. Her right side protested, but she ignored it. She would definitely be bruised in the morning. The girl was still on alert with her revolver out and ready. In her three years as a field agent, Beth knew that werewolves never backed off without a reason. The huntress went over to Jen and helped her to her feet.

"Are you alright?" Beth asked her friend.

"Yeah, you?"

"We'll have to see." Beth answered. "For the moment, I'm fine."

The wind picked up suddenly, blowing leaves and dust around. Jen closed her eyes while Beth just squinted and raised her arm over her eyes. She tried to see, but couldn't so she strained her ears for any noise. What she heard was flapping. The wind died down and Beth lowered her arm while Jen opened her eyes.

"We better go." Beth half suggested, half ordered. Of course, they also had to find Eclipse, who ran off after her little incident. Jen just nodded vigorously in agreement with her friend. The two turned to go, but froze when they saw that their way was blocked by Dracula and Aleera.

"Too late." Beth mumbled unhappily at their misfortune.

"Hello girls." Aleera hissed at them, clearly thirsty for blood. Beth backed up a step and put an arm in front of Jen, making the young Valerious step back as well.

"Well, well," Dracula began as he inspected them. "One of your party seems to be missing. Tell me, where is Morianalynn?"

His only answer was complete silence and an angry glare from Bethany. Calmly, the vampire turned to his bride.

"Aleera, my dear, please go find her. I'd hate for her to miss this."

"I'd love to." Aleera laughed and then vanished into the sky. Dracula wasted no time in attacking the girls the instant the red head was gone. He shoved Bethany, sending her flying back. Her gun flew from her hand and the girl hit the ground on her injured right side. A moan of pain escaped her lips when she hit it.

"Leave her alone!" Jen screamed at him as she flew toward him. The vampire grabbed her by the throat and threw her into a tree. Jen hit it head on and collapsed to the ground.

"Jen!" Beth screamed and tried to get to her fallen friend, but Dracula blocked her way. He swung and caught Beth in the jaw. The girl flew back with blood gushing from the open cut in her lower lip. She just had to find her revolver. It wouldn't do much against the vampire, but it was at least a weapon! Her eyes frantically searched the leaf-covered ground around the clearing. No weapon met her eyes. Suddenly, the girl was jerked back so she was face to face with the Count.

"You are far too stubborn." He hissed at her.

"Then go ahead and kill me, why don't you?" Bethany growled at him defiantly. This clearly angered him and Beth had to hold back a smirk. She loved to annoy him! The vampire threw the girl into a tree and she collapsed on the ground. Jen, obviously worried by her expression, rushed to aid her friend. Her plans were foiled, however, when Dracula stopped her. He held the girl up by the throat so her feet were dangling in the air. Jen had grabbed onto his wrist with both her hands to try and free herself, but had no such luck.

"If there is one thing that I don't understand about you, Jennifer, is how you managed to keep your soul after I almost killed you." Dracula told her.

"Only Beth and Mori know that." Jen replied as she continued to try to free herself. Again, her attempts were in vain.

"Well, I won't make that mistake twice." The vampire hissed at her.

His fangs grew larger at the prospect of blood, but roared in pain when a dagger hit him square in the back. He pulled it out and calmly inspected it, ignoring his own blood on the blade. From the design, he knew that it was Bethany's. The vampire turned to see the young huntress glaring at him with her green eyes flaming in rage.

"Thank you for assisting in Jennifer's murder." He said with a terrible smile. Before Beth could move or even think about it, Dracula plunged the dagger in Jen's heart.

"No!" Beth screamed in protest, taking a step forward. She froze when she heard a loud bang. Dracula was forced to step back from the impact of the blow. Three more shouts sounded and Beth saw that the marksman was none other than Mori. Dracula, his damage done, quickly transformed and flew away in a hail of bullets. Mori kept shooting at him till the revolver clicked empty.

"Jen!" Mori said in concern as she quickly turned to the fallen girl. Beth was already at the young Valerious' side and kneeling next to her on the ground. Worry was written all over her features. Mori's expression wasn't much better. After seeing the condition of their friend, her face was very grim. Beth, desperate to do something about this, freed the blade from Jen's chest. It was covered in blood, as were the huntress' hands. The girl watched hopefully, but nothing happened.

"Why isn't she healing?" Beth asked and turned to Mori, hoping for an answer.

"She's lost too much blood." Mori answered. Beth bit her lower lip, thinking. She looked at the blade in her hand sadly. It was her fault. If she could've done something, if she can still do something…An idea then came to her. Beth stuck the dagger in the ground at her side and turned to Mori.

"Hold her up." The girl instructed, her face set and determined.

"What are you doing?" Mori demanded, worried that whatever was in Beth's head wasn't exactly a good idea.

"Just hold her up." Beth almost growled at her. Mori, not liking it one bit, did so.

Beth closed her eyes and put one hand over Jen's wound and then placed her other hand over her hand that was already there. The girl's hands began glowing with white light and Beth kept pooling her energy so she could use it on Jen's wound. The girl's deep gash slowly began healing. Bethany kept pouring her energy and her concentration into what she was doing. Healing took a lot of energy. It usually took so much that the girl usually didn't have any left to spare. Not to mention that healing was also very complicated. When Beth healed herself, she really didn't have to think about it because it was natural. Healing other people was an entirely different story. It used a large amount of power, energy and concentration, leaving the person who did the healing exhausted and weak for a good length of time. Beth felt herself growing weaker and weaker. She finally had to stop to keep from blacking out.

"Did it work?" Beth asked leaning back and closing her eyes. Mori looked at Jen's wound. It wasn't getting any smaller.

"No."

Bethany opened her eyes and saw what Mori said was true. She sighed sadly and ran her fingers through her hair. She had feared that it would come down to this.

"Desperate times…" Beth mumbled. She exhaled as she raised her right wrist and closed her eyes. Mori, realizing what Bethany was going to do, quickly grabbed it firmly. The young huntress opened her eyes and turned to see Mori glaring at her unhappily.

"Don't you even dare, Bethany."

"We have to at least try, Mori." Beth argued.

"Then let me do it."

"Mori, you and I both know that your blood won't work. It has to be mine."

The seconds ticked by as Mori thought. Beth wished that she would hurry up and decide to let her do this. Precious seconds that they couldn't get back were gone, maybe even wasted. Bethany knew very well that time was against them now. Mori looked at Beth and then at Jen. Oh, why did Bethany have to be right!

"Fine." Mori grumbled, obviously not liking her decision very much. Slowly, she let go of Beth's wrist. Beth looked down At Jen and pulled the sleeve of her coat and shirt back.

"C'mon Jen." Beth half urged and half prayed. "Don't give in on us now."

Beth's head was throbbing with pain that was almost blinding and the world was beginning to get fuzzy, but she was far too stubborn to give up just yet. If she did, Jen was a goner. The girl lowered her wrist over Jen's mouth. She flinched in pain when she pushed her wrist into Jen's teeth, which cut into her flesh and Bethany began bleeding. After a few moments of nothing, Beth then felt it. Jen began pulling the life blood from her veins. Beth felt herself growing weaker as more and more precious blood was drained from her. It was becoming hard to even stay conscious. Still, she couldn't stop till Jen's wound was healed. She and Mori were keeping a close eye on it as it did so. Finally, the gash was healed completely and Beth tried to pull away. However, she found that she didn't have the strength to do so.

"Jen…" Bethany tried to speak, but it only came out in a whisper.

"Jen!" Mori growled angrily and pulled Jen away from Beth, who quickly pulled her wrist into her chest and closed her eyes to focus them. Jen's eyes flashed open and they instantly landed on Bethany. Jen was shocked to see how weak she looked.

"What happened?" Jen asked worriedly and tasted the blood in her mouth.

"You." Mori said with a hint of anger and annoyance in her voice. Her face was set sternly as well. With only look at her eyes, you could tell that Mori was furious. "You almost killed her."

"I…but…I couldn't have!" Jen said in horror.

"Mori, I'm fine." Beth told her softly. She pushed herself up to stand, fighting off was wave of dizziness and nausea as she did so. Her knees were shaking, so she leaned on a tree for support. It was obvious that this took a lot of effort on her part even though she was trying not to show it. Jen and Mori were immediately at her side, both of them concerned.

"I'm fine." Beth told them both with a small smile. "Really, I am."

"I don't believe you." Mori told her quickly in response. Beth smiled slightly at this. Mori never believed her when it came to things like this.

"Then that's your problem, isn't it?" the young huntress told the dark girl teasingly. "Cover your ears, both of you."

Mori and Jen did so questioningly. Bethany put her fingers to her lips and a loud, high-pitched whistle rang through the air. She knew that with a vampire's sensitive hearing and at their close range, the noise would've hurt the ears of her friends. After a moment of waiting, Eclipse galloped into the clearing as the two vampires uncovered their ears. The black horse trotted over to its master, she petted her nose.

"Good girl." Beth whispered to her.

"We better get going." Mori said sternly and then glanced at Jen through the side of her eyes.

"We don't want anymore life-threatening incidents tonight."

- - -

Back at the manor, after a long nap, Beth was feeling worlds better. She had learned the art of power napping at a young age. Even a few hours were enough to get her through almost anything. Also, naps were a good way to recharge her energy, which was the source of her powers. Therefore, she knew it was best not to have those in short supply. There was sitting on the edge of her bed reading a book when Mori came in the room. Beth looked up when she entered. Mori, without saying a word, moved to sit in the chair next to Beth's bed.

"What's wrong?" Beth asked, sensing the bad aurora around the dark girl. She was upset about something. Mori turned to her, not looking very happy.

"What you did with Jen, it was reckless and it could have cost you your life."

"I was just trying to…"

"I know." Mori cut the girl off. "But we need you alive, Bethany."

"Why should it matter?" Beth asked. "Why should I be the only one to survive this? I'm a big girl, Mori. I can take care of myself and you certainly don't have to be so overprotective of me."

Mori sighed in exasperation. She knew that she'd be the one to have to tell her this, no matter how much she didn't want to believe it. Mori spoke, her tone soft and calm.

"I have by reasons."

Calmly, Mori pulled out the Immortalis Chronicles from under her cloak. Beth just looked up at her questioningly. What could that book have anything to do with this?

"The others found it while you were asleep, so they know." Mori began.

"Bethany…it's time you know my reasons.