Chapter 6

Catherine saw Amelia descend the staircase and rose from her seat in a chair next to the front door. Catherine was dressed, no longer in her maroon nightgown. She had a long sleeve red tunic on. A chain mail shirt was underneath. She had a short sword at her side and a wood frame pack on her back. Her black pants silhouetted against the sunlight coming in through the front door behind her.
Amelia's expression when she saw Catherine was that of surprise. Apparently Amelia had not planned on Catherine being ready for... Well she didn't really know what they were getting ready for, actually. But if they were going to go look for Michelle, then Catherine was determined to come.
Van Helsing was nowhere in sight. He had gone down to the town stables to get some horses for the trip. He told Catherine he would be back in thirty minutes, and that she should pack some supplies and belongings. She had done that and now he had been gone for about twenty-five minutes. He should be back any time now.
Amelia reached the bottom of the stairs and looked left and right down the hallways.
"Where's Van Helsing?" she asked. She had a pack on her back. It was clearly heavy.
"He went to go get some horses for the trip, he should be back anytime now." Catherine answered. She sat back down on her wooden chair by the door. She waited patiently.
Amelia eyed Catherine's wood frame pack. Catherine had never used it other than bringing books to and from the town library. It seemed unlikely that it would be full of books now. "What's in the pack?" she asked.
"A few things, mostly clothes, but I got some long lasting food in here too." she didn't mention the silver stake, which was tucked safely away at the bottom, along with a book of monsters. It could prove handy, as Transylvania was swarming with them.
Amelia wanted to tell her she knew she had the stake, but she decided to let Catherine have her way with it. They're conversation was broken off, for the thudding of hooves on dirt could be heard coming up the road.
Catherine held the swaying front door still and poked her head outside into the sunlight. She could see Van Helsing leading three horses up the road. One was black, and exhausted looking, clearly it had been recently spooked about something. The other two were blood bays. They stood tall, their red coats glistening in the sunlight. All horses were saddled, the black one even had supplies already latched to the saddles.
Van Helsing stopped at the beginning of the walkway and tied the horses to a nearby tree. He came up the walkway and opened the door widely as Catherine pulled her head back into the house. He let out a deep breath and clamped his hands together.
"We already to go?" he asked.
Amelia raised and eyebrow. " Apparently your horse is. Is that the one that you made run last night? I'm amazed you found it. And yes, we are ready to go. I just need to get more food from the kitchen because I don't think the food Catherine packed is going to last us all the way to Transylvania." Amelia said this with a smile on her face, she looked down at Catherine, who was putting two and two together.
"So I get to come? To Transylvania? You're not going to drop me off at the monastery?" she said this excitedly. Amelia looked up at Van Helsing, who was smiling down at Catherine.
"You told her?" she asked. He looked into Amelia's face and answered.
"Yes, and she seemed quite unhappy about it. But the decision was up to you whether she comes with us all the way. And hopefully she won't cause any problems."
"She won't hopefully." Amelia looked down at Catherine as she said this. "But Catherine would not stay at the monastery alone if Michelle was still not in safe hands. So we are saved of that hassle of argument." with that Amelia turned toward the kitchen, the first door down the right hall.

When Amelia came back from the kitchen pantry, she had a pack in her arms full of bread, dried meat, a casket of flour, and with risk she packed a few eggs into a container with pieces of cloth wrapped around each one. The foyer was empty. She opened the front door and saw Catherine, atop her horse, Van Helsing was beside her atop his horse too. The reins of Amelia's horse were still tied to the tree. She approached and reached out a hand, not her injured hand though, she kept that underneath the pack full of food.
When her hand reached out to the horse, it whinnied frightfully and backed away, but was stopped abruptly for the horse had reached it's limits, the reins wouldn't stretch any farther.
Amelia lowered her hand. She looked like she was ill, as if in a trance, but her face showed understanding, like she had been expecting this to happen. She suddenly shook her head and looked up at Van Helsing, who had a look concern on his face.
Amelia faked a cough to break the silence. She reached out a hand again to the horse, this time speaking comfortingly to it. The horse didn't struggle back this time. She was able to walk to it's side and mount it. She latched the pack full of food to the left side of her saddle. She looked back at Van Helsing again, his expression hadn't changed. She smiled, as if nothing unusual had happened. She hoped he didn't think highly of what had happened. It's common for horses to get spooked by people. This is what she hoped he thought.

They had been travelling for only an hour, in complete silence. Catherine was getting restless. She was smart, but very impatient. She was hoping that their journey would be more exciting than this. At the moment they were traveling through the forest. Most of the sun was blocked out by the dense foliage above. Her two companions rode just ahead of her. They rode in silence also. She wondered how they learnt to be so patient, for they showed none of the restlessness that Catherine felt.
"How long do you suppose it'll take to get to Transylvania?" Catherine had to break the silence. Her rear was getting sore and she was boring herself with simple mind games she had been playing to pass the time away.
"Depends on if the weather holds up. It should only take perhaps a week to get to Bran-Brasov. That's the closest town to Dracula's castle." Van Helsing spoke in a way that signalled he wasn't in the mood to talk. He kept his gaze straight ahead, as if intently focused. Amelia didn't respond. This made Catherine more annoyed. Apparently neither Amelia or Van Helsing were in the mood to talk. She was going to be stuck like this for a week, if not more. But Michelle's life was at stake here so Catherine would be able to hold up till then. She rolled her eyes and leaned to the side to her pack, which was dangling over the side of the horse. She untied the opening and placed her hand inside, rummaging around. Her hand came to a stop along the smooth leather cover of a book. She grasped the side of it and pulled it out.
A Nomads Guide to Monsters was labelled across the top of the book in gold letters. She had bought it off a nomad, of course, for a cheap price. It was very detailed in the knowledge of where any type of monster or uncommon creature could be found. It also gave the information of what it's diet was, how long it could live, what weaknesses it had and what distinctive features it had. The monsters could be found alphabetically. She flipped to the back of the book under the letter V. Vampires was the first listed in this category. This is what it read.

Vampires
Found- throughout Romania, most are found in and around it's province of Transylvania
Diet- Human blood is a vampire's necessity to survive. One of two humans can sustain it's hunger for a month.
Life span- Vampires have an immortal life. They live forever until murdered
Weaknesses- Vampires can be killed in several different ways. The most common is a stake through the heart (This also works on werewolves). Any weapon with a splash of holy water on it can prove fatal to a vampire. A cross is also used as a weapon.
Enemies- Humans with the right weaponry are a vampires' greatest enemy. An uncommon but deadly opponent of the vampire is a werewolf. A bite to the neck from a werewolf will lead to a vampire's instant death. No incident has ever been recorded, but a mix between vampire blood and werewolf venom is deadly, to both creatures. This theory has been tested.
Distinctive Features- a vampire in it's human form can be unrecognizable to what it truly is. But a vampire's skin is often more paler then usual. In it's true form a vampire is clearly recognizable. Female vampires are very pale coloured, almost blue. Their wing length can vary between eight and sixteen feet.
Most famous- Count Dracula is the most famous of Vampires. He was killed but reawakened a couple centuries ago. He has been stabbed through the heart with silver stakes, attacked by holy water and crosses, but none have brought him once more to his downfall, or caused him any such harm. None know how to kill Dracula.

Catherine stopped reading. She had been told it was highly likely that Dracula, or one of his brides, had taken her sister. But if he had no weaknesses, then how were they going to get Michelle back, if she was still alive. She pondered this question as they rode deeper into the forest.