CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

Beth sensed immediately by Mori's composure that something was seriously wrong. If something was wrong and Mori was concerned about it, the girl knew that this couldn't be good for them at all. Mori opened the book toward the back of it. After flipping through a few pages, she pointed to a passage that took up the entire page and handed it to Bethany. The girl took the book in her hands and read the page that Mori had pointed out to her.

One half dark

The other half light

Once were allies

Finally fight

If light should win, oh so pale

Then the good shall avail

But if the dark should win the fight

The world will fall into eternal night

Beth kept reading and found that there were three words written underneath it in the margins in long, curvy hand writing.

Morianalynn and Bethany.

"What?" Beth asked looking up at Mori. The dark girl answered, her face as solid as stone.

"It's a prophecy. Basically, if you die before I do, the world is doomed."

Beth had no idea what to say to this new information, so Mori continued at her silence.

"It also means that one of us…" Mori paused for a moment. She still couldn't believe what she was about to say. There was just no way that it could possibly only end that way. "One of us…has to kill the other."

"What!" Beth shrieked. She couldn't kill Mori! Mori was like a sister to her! There was just no possible way! "Mori, there absolutely no way that I'm…"

"When the time comes, Bethany, you may have to." Mori cut her off. "You see now why we need you alive. No more stunts like the one you pulled with Jen ever again…I mean it."

"Did you know?" Beth asked, her mind still trying to grasp the fact that she was going to have to kill her best friend. Mori sighed and looked down. She knew that she wouldn't like the answer she was about to give. The dark girl then returned her gaze to Beth.

"The day after we got the book back."

"And you didn't tell me?" Beth asked shocked as she stood up.

"I didn't want to worry you." Mori answered calmly as she sat completely still in her chair.

"But Mori…"

"Before you scold me for protecting you, think about it for a moment." Mori interrupted her, her voice firm and leaving no room for negotiation. "You've changed since I found this out Bethany. We all have. Tell me, what would your reaction have been then?"

Beth remained silent.

"Exactly."

Bethany sighed in defeat and sunk to sit back on the edge of her bed. It just couldn't be. She couldn't kill Mori. It would be like killing her own father! She just couldn't do it. But if the world was relying on her, could she? If it was the only way, could she find the courage to kill someone that she would do anything to protect? She honestly couldn't answer that question.

"So…are we really going to…" she couldn't bring herself to say it.

"Not all prophecies come true." Mori answered her.

"Why not?"

"There are just too many of them." Mori stated calmly. "But, if it is true, you have to stay alive to beat me. It's either that, or the world is destroyed."

Beth remained silent for a moment, lost in the information that she had just learned. Finally, she sighed.

"Alright. I'll be more careful."

"You better." Mori told her and then turned to her friend and almost smiled. "I'd hate to have to rule the world."

- - -

For the next few days, things were a little on edge for obvious reasons. Beth and Mori were each doing their best to act as if nothing had chanced. Still, it wasn't all that easy to do. There was always that nagging knowledge in the back her their heads. Neither of them wanted to acknowledge it or give power to that notion, but it was always there shadowing their every thought. One of them was going to die.

Van Helsing had become even more overprotective of Bethany than he had ever been before. Mori, also, was looking out for her. She was still doing everything she could to make sure that Beth was the one who survived this mess. Therefore, Van Helsing and Mori had joined together for the same cause. Frankly, Beth didn't blame them one bit.

One evening, Van Helsing saw Beth walking towards the door of the library. They were alone and had been researching all day. Beth was a little stiff from all that sitting, but she fixed that by stretching a little as she walked to the door.

"Where you going midget?" Van Helsing asked his daughter.

"A training session with Mori." Beth replied calmly. She noticed that her father tensed up a little when the words 'training session' and 'Mori' were used in the same sentence.

"Mind if I come along?" he asked.

"It's fine with me." Beth answered, knowing exactly why he wanted to come. He wanted to make sure that Mori didn't kill her. "You'll just have to clear it with Mori too."

"Joy." Van Helsing mumbled sarcastically, making Beth smile slightly. She was beginning to really take notice of the little things that she always missed, like her father's sarcasm. With the whole prophecy thing hanging over her, she knew that she possibly didn't have long left to live. She ended up asking herself, 'what do you do when you know your life is going to end?' Beth had begun taking notice of the things that always made her laugh, like Carl. She also looked back on her life and the good friends that she was fortunate enough to enter and effect her life. She wanted to say good-bye to them without really saying goodbye, which made things rather difficult. She wrote a letter to Will, who was back at the Order. It was really just filled with the things they usually talked about, like life, assignments, odd conspiracy theories and weaponry. Still, something about that letter didn't seem right to Beth. She felt like that she could've said more. She sent it anyway, whether she liked it or not. Will would be glad to get it and that's really what mattered.

Van Helsing and Beth found Mori already in the training room. She was sitting on one the side benches with her legs crossed and her nose in a book. Beth wasn't really surprised. This was Mori, after all. She looked up when she heard them enter. She seemed a little surprised to see Van Helsing as well as Beth.

"Yes?" she asked the monster hunter.

"Do you mind if I watch you and Beth train?" he asked her.

"Not at all." Mori answered as she closed her book and stood up. "You may even learn something."

Van Helsing nodded and moved to a chair in the corner of the room. He watched the girls as they talked. Mori set her book down on the bench and looked back at Bethany.

"How hard were you planning on going today?" the girl asked Mori.

"As hard as usual."

Beth nodded and slipped her coat off her shoulders. If they were going 'as hard as usual' then that meant that her coat would only slow her down. Mori reached up, unclasped her cloak, set it aside and a small smiled formed in her eyes.

"Maybe even harder."

Beth raised her eyebrows at her in surprise. They were usually going hard to begin with, but harder than that? The girl sighed heavily.

"I'll sleep well tonight." The girl mumbled.

"You can count on it, dear Bethany." Mori said as she passed Beth and moved to the other side of the room. Beth set her coat next to Mori's cloak and moved out onto the training mat that covered a large majority of the floor. Mori then turned back to the girl. "Ready Sunshine?"

"When you are."

"I'll start then." Mori said. Beth just nodded in response. Mori quickly dived forward and Beth dove to the side to avoid her. As she went by, Mori grabbed Beth's wrist. She threw the girl to the ground with incredible speed. Beth hit the floor with a painful thud. She quickly flung her leg out and hit Mori's ankles. The dark girl was swept off her feet and landed hard on the floor not too far away from where Beth had landed moments earlier.

"You're learning faster than I thought you would." Mori told her.

Van Helsing just raised an eyebrow. He was surprised at the intensity of their training. It was really like they were fighting each other. Neither of them was holding anything back. Why were they doing this? Why were they exhausting themselves when the outcome didn't matter? It was only training. Van Helsing had to think for a moment before it suddenly came to him. Mori had suggested a long while ago that the two train together. Beth, being Beth, really didn't question her motives and accepted. She had known about the prophecy long before he and the others did. Mori had known when she asked Bethany to train with her. Mori was doing everything in her power to make sure that Beth was the one who won. This caused Van Helsing to come to an almost shocking conclusion; he and Mori truly wanted the same thing.

After about twenty more minutes, both girls finally stopped. Beth was breathing hard and was pouring sweat. She looked exhausted and looked like she could fall over at any moment. Mori was breathing harder than usual herself. Van Helsing stood up, thinking their session was over. He was wrong. Beth and Mori moved outside and ended up doing more training. There was small difference this time though; they used their powers. Beth put up one heck of a fight, but Mori still won five out of five fights. This worried Van Helsing and Mori quite a bit. Beth would've been worried as well had she not been so tired. What happened if Beth couldn't beat Mori when the time came? Neither Mori nor Van Helsing wanted to even think about that.

Jen came out after a while and asked if they wanted to go for a ride.

"Sure, I could stand a break." Mori replied.

"Thank goodness." Beth said tiredly and fell back on the ground with her arms out wide. She closed her eyes, a small smirk on her face. "Wake me in three days."

"Oh, come now. It wasn't that bad." Mori said as she moved to stand over Bethany. Beth's eyes snapped open and looked up at her dark friend.

"Easy for you to say. You didn't have to fight you."

A smirk formed in Mori's eyes as she offered the girl on the ground a hand. Beth took it and Mori helped her to her feet.

"I think I'll come with you." Van Helsing said.

"Oh joy, now it's a family outing." Mori mumbled. Beth just looked at her and had to smile.

"C'mon, Mori. We can't be that bad." Van Helsing said. Mori just shook her head, so Beth answered for her.

"You haven't seen Jen on caffeine."

The ride through the woods was calm, much to everyone's relief. They were only gone for about an hour and a half or so. Beth started dozing off, so they decided to head back so she wouldn't fall asleep at the reins and fall off. Beth full-heartedly agreed.

"Anna! Carl! We're back!" Jen called as they walked through the doors of Valerious Manor. Beth leaned on the wall as her father shut the door behind them. It was warmer inside the hall than it had been outside. Then again, that was to be expected. This was Transylvania after all. It was going to be cold. After a few long moments, nothing but silence reached their ears.

"I'll go find them." Beth sighed as she stood up, knowing that she'd probably fall asleep soon if she didn't keep moving. "I'll meet you guys in the library later."

"Don't be long Bethany." Mori told her and they went their separate ways.

About an hour later, Beth suddenly appeared in the library. Van Helsing, Mori and Jen were all surprised by this. They all thought that Beth had fallen asleep by now. What really worried them more than her sudden appearance was the look on her face. She had been running and was out of breath. That was evident by her chest, which was heaving up and down and the loudness of her gasps. She looked horrified.

"What's wrong, midget?" Van Helsing asked her worriedly.

"They're gone." Beth said frantically. "Both of them. Anna and Carl, they're gone!"

Bethany held out a piece of parchment. Van Helsing lurched forward and plucked it from her hand. After a moment of him reading it in silence, he decided that it was something they all needed to hear.

"Don't worry, your friends are in my company. You shall see them soon. Until then, Count Vladislaus Dragulia."

"He's taken them!" Jen exclaimed. "This can't be!"

"But it is." Beth answered sadly. "I can't find them anywhere."

"But…their rooms," Van Helsing started, half hoping that he'd get something more and half hoping that what she said wasn't true.

"They've been trashed." Beth cut him off.

"But…why? Why would Dracula want Anna and Carl?" Jen asked.

"Does he need a reason?" Mori asked calmly even though anger shown in her eyes. Why did her father always have to ruin everything! She took a deep breath to think for a moment. Why would her father want Carl and Anna and not come after them? It didn't really make much sense. Could he be going after her friends and allies to get to her, indirectly? Or was he trying to set something in motion?

"He's picking us off." Mori finally said. "He's getting us alone at one time and kidnapping us. It's easier that way to get all of us in his grasp. Once we are, he can get rid of us all in one swift move."

"Then we have to find them." Jen said. Beth and Mori just looked at each other, both knowing what the other was thinking. Van Helsing caught the look and just couldn't help but ask.

"What?"

Mori just looked at him. "The last million times Dracula has kidnapped us, where were we kept?"

It took Van Helsing and Jen a moment to process what Mori had just said. The instant they got it, the four of them dashed to the mirror.

---

Bethany was the last one to step into the castle behind her father. Something was different about it. It looked uninhabited. The torches were out and now fires burned in the windows of the castle.

"Be careful." Van Helsing warned his daughter. "It could be a trap."

"Don't worry." Beth replied pulling her trusty revolver out of her coat.

"I've heard that before." Mori commented. Beth just glared at her for a few moments. Mori took no notice or didn't show it if she did. The small group searched the castle from top to bottom, which took quite a long time since the castle was gigantic. It took them three hours to search the castle. They came up with nothing. No one was there.

"They aren't here." Jen said sounding defeated. Mori sighed irately. The one time he gets smart and it had to be now.

"It seems my father finally realized that he needed a new hiding place to keep his prisoners." Mori said and looked at Beth. She looked tired and even more worried than she was tired. Van Helsing put and arm around her shoulders and Beth leaned into him. She looked like that she would either fall asleep at any moment or collapse. Beth really didn't want anyone to know, but she was scared. Why pick them off like this? What was he panning to do or doing to Carl and Anna? Would she see them again? She honestly didn't know and almost didn't want to answer that question.

"What do we do now?" Jen asked. She sounded like she was holding back tears.

"We go back and think of another plan." Van Helsing answered. Beth then spoke, her voice soft and sounded more mature than Jen ever thought it could sound.

"That's all we can do."