Chapter 2

Amelia was running blindly. Her mind was racing. She was trying to figure out if she was angry or sad about the sudden appearance and gruesome death of her father. In a way she was glad he was dead, for it was her goal to kill him since she was abandoned by him at the age of nine. But she was disappointed in herself for she had attempted to kill the werewolf, not him. She hadn't known it as him, she was trying to protect Michelle, her sister, from a hellish monster. And Van Helsing, she hadn't seen him for years, not since she had left the training of the monastery. He was older than her, but only by a few years. Van Helsing was 18 years old, preparing for the Roman war when Amelia had left, after receiving the news that her father had been living with the same Roman girl just south of the monastery, not 4 hours away by horse. She hadn't seen Van Helsing again until this night. She had heard his name often from the nomads. But that was all.

Amelia had slowed to a walk now. She was far from the town, on the dirt path the winded through the forest. The wheels from carts cut deep scars in the road. The forest wasn't safe, and

Amelia knew that. A monster could be hiding behind any tree. No one was ever prepared for a walk in the forest, many never return from their short stroll.

A patter of feet behind made her turn suddenly, holding out her still drawn sword, which was still spattered with werewolf's blood, and starting to stain. But the moonlight revealed a man with a broad rimmed hat.

"Van Helsing. What are you doing here?" Amelia never appreciated being followed, even when she knew it was for her own safety. She was stubborn that way.

"It's not like you to run away from a crowd." He loved to criticize people's decisions, but in good humour. He approached and held out his hand, palm down. Amelia went along with it and shook his hand. She kept her other hand in her pocket. It's good to make up for a missed greeting sooner or later.

"It's good to see you again, although your choice of entrance is a little questionable." Amelia had a stern face as she said this. And she was right. Chasing a friend's werewolf father into an empty town and murdering it in front of all its three daughters is not much of an appropriate greeting. "Did you know he was my father before you killed him? Is that why you came here Gabriel? To rid me of my father for me?" Not many people call Van Helsing by his first name. But when they do, it gets his attention. She already had his attention, but she wanted to get her point across.

"Well actually, the werewolf, which I did know was your father, was unexpected. I actually came here looking for you. Those at the monastery have a proposition for you. If you calm down perhaps you might be willing to listen." He spoke so calmly, Amelia wanted to hit him for it. Back then at the monastery, you would never know when he just got back from a successful hunt until he mentioned something. Many thought he was cold hearted this way, but Amelia knew it was just his job, and there was nothing he could do to change that. It was his curse. "I don't know if you remember, but you claimed that once you could, you would like to join back with the monastery. Well, they sent me seeking your help. There's a challenge facing us in the East. Transylvania to be precise. It's dangerous, but your skills would prove useful there. So, would you do me the pleasure of coming with me?" It was a lot to ask of someone. Amelia had actually planned on rejoining the monastery, but only when her sisters were able to fend for themselves, and that was yet to happen. But Transylvania was a place of monsters, werewolves and vampires were more popular there than anywhere else in the world. It was a monster hunter's dream to go there. And now she was being given the chance.

"Your request is tempting. But what of my sisters? It is clear that they are yet to defend themselves. I cannot just leave them here. So unless you have a solution for that I cannot accept your offer." she couldn't believe she was saying that. For years she had wanted to go to Transylvania, to prove herself capable of much more difficult tasks. And now she was being given the chance and she was refusing. She actually hoped that he did have a solution to this problem. But her face didn't show it. Never expose your weak spots, even to a friend.

"Actually I do have a solution. Bring your sisters with us. When we reach Rome we can leave them with the Monastery. They will be safe there, you know that. They can be further trained to defend themselves, for being the siblings of a monster hunter and put them at risk." He had a point, and a good one at that. If she were to accept the offer, her sisters wouldn't be safe here. The monastery would be the safest place no doubt about it.

"I'll think about it. I don't know if they'll agree. But we probably have a better chance of convincing them after what happened tonight." she was right. Catherine may be a difficult one to convince, for she probably didn't want to travel with the man who murdered her father, But if her father was still alive, she would never want to leave, for she had secret hopes that he would return. Michelle might be easier to convince though. The little girl had never really liked living in the small town, even though it was her home for all her life. She was adventurous though, so she probably wouldn't turn down an offer to go to Rome, even if it was only a few hours away.

They were done talking for now. It was time to get back to town, the forest was not the safest place to stand around talking. So they walked alongside each other, in silence, back to the town.

When they reached the centre square it was empty, but there was a great deal of commotion in the bar. All the residences that were awakened from the screams and gunshots from the street earlier that night had now gathered in the bar with the drunks. When Amelia and Van Helsing entered the bar, nobody noticed. They were all surrounding the end of the bar table, where a little girl and her older sister sat, talking frantically to the audience. Michelle's voice was loudest. She was describing the incident a bit dramatically, clearly satisfied with all the attention that was given to her. Catherine just sat there beside her sister with her head down low, sad, but she would occasionally lift her head and add something in that her sister forgot to mention. You could easily tell from the twiddling of her thumbs that she was waiting patiently for something, or someone.

Then Michelle caught sight of Amelia, and Van Helsing. She stood on the bar table and pointed, exclaiming, "That's him, that's the man who saved me!" Everyone turned to look at them. Catherine looked up too. Her expression was different when she looked at Van Helsing now. When it had been anger and hatred, it was now that of embarrassment and shame.

Catherine had changed her thoughts of the kind of man Van Helsing was when she was listening to her sister tell the story of how he had saved her. He had risked himself for her, and oddly he had appeared to know Amelia, and she doesn't make her friends easily. If she trusts him, then apparently he was a good man.

A man on the outside of the ring surrounding the girls was the first to speak.

"You! You're Van Helsing aren't you? Yes... I've heard of you." The man was a drunk, a common face in the bar every night. His hygiene was horrible, and you could smell the alcohol on his breath from the other side of the room. Van Helsing was looking at the people in the bar, who apparently knew who he was, according to the expressions on their faces. "You're a monster hunter, you are. I've heard you've killed every monster from the Minotaurs of Spain to the gold hoarding Dragons of China." the man apparently believed everything he was told, and same with some of the people in the bar. They opened their eyes in amazement. But all those men were drunks.

"I wouldn't believe everything you're told. It's true I've done my share of hunting monsters, but only a pinprick of the stories you have heard are true." Van Helsing walked up to the man and put his hand on his shoulder. He sat the man down on a nearby bar stool and there the drunk stayed, beginning to doze off into his very expected hangover.

The people in the bar stared at Van Helsing as he walked through the crowd toward the two girls in the centre of it. Michelle was seating herself back down on the bar table, as Catherine stood up. Van Helsing came up to Michelle and put his hand on the table.

"Now don't you go telling stories. These drunks have more to worry about than listening to a little girl tell how she was saved from a werewolf." He was smiling. The people around them began to back away, as the show was now over. It was time for them to get back to their homes and catch up on their sleep, except for the drunk who was snoring, still on the barstool.

Amelia came up beside him and kneeled down in front of Michelle, who was seated on the bar table still. She grabbed her sister's hand with her right hand. "Are you okay?" She examined her sister's limbs, but all she found was a scrape on her left knee from when she was pulled down to the ground earlier that night. Michelle was fine, on the outside at least, on the inside she could be scarred for life, but Amelia had no way of finding out.

Amelia got up, still holding Michelle's hand. She pulled her down from the bar table and lead her through the now almost empty bar to the wide open door. She stopped at the door and turned back. "Van Helsing. I accept your request. We'll be ready to leave tomorrow." Michelle was confused, but she didn't let go of Amelia's hand. Where were they going? "Catherine, come on. We have things to discuss back at the house." With that Amelia pulled Michelle through the door and into the dimly lit street, with Catherine following close at their heels. They walked past the corpse of their dead father, Michelle wondering how long he was going to lay there until someone finally removed him from the cold, cobblestone road.