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Chapter 20

"Is that it?" Catherine asked. The three of them had just crested a hill and saw a castle shadowing the valley below in shadows.
"Ya. That's the Castle of Dracula." answered Van Helsing. He kicked his horse and they descended the hill. The castle was situated on the ledge of a cliff, so they had to follow it's base where a wide river flowed through, until they found a path that was manageable for their bays to climb.
They had bought the bays in Split, after Amelia was released from the cold brig in the ship. They were returned their weapons and belongings when they were set on the docks. Megan had made them pay extra for the damage to her ship and the fright that Amelia set upon them.
So they wandered Split with their pockets lighter than before, and scoped for a form of transportation. They found a merchant selling horses and bought three noble bays off him. They proved useful and fast. They reached their destination only four days after making port.
They were surrounded by mountains with white caps on them, unusual for late summer. The skies were specked with patches of blue that managed to peak through the grey tumbling clouds.
They reached the top of the cliff and they stayed there, staring up at the entrance. The door was about one hundred feet high, and appeared quite heavy. Catherine wondered how they would open it, but Van Helsing and Amelia headed away from it towards the eastern side. There, a stream was flowing out from the castle. Cast iron bars were blocking the entrance.
Amelia waded into the water, up to the bars where it was waist deep. Van Helsing followed, and a reluctant Catherine did too. Van Helsing grabbed the bars and shook them, but they didn't shake or even vibrate.
"Now what?" asked Catherine. She put her hands on her hips that were now below the water.
Amelia placed her hands on two bars side by side and strained to pull them apart. Amazingly it worked, like a piece of plastic. She bent the bars wide enough that a person could fit through, and then let go, gasping for breath. Her eyes looked wild, untamed. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes.
"Ok, that is definitely not good." said Catherine. Van Helsing nodded his head in agreement and them climbed his way through the bent bars to the other side. He reached out his hand from the inside to help Catherine in. Amelia came in last. As they made their way down the flooded tunnel, Amelia looked back to see the sun resting on one of the snow capped mountains in the east behind them.

Michelle sat up and went to the tall window at the eastern side of the room. She looked out to see the sun resting atop one of the snow capped mountains. She sighed and sat back down on her sofa. She sat there in silence, watching the other older girls sleeping on the double couch not far from her. She rested her chin on her knuckle as she waited. For what, she didn't know. But she had the strangest feeling something was going to happen.
She heard a cry of sorrow from above, that turned into a muffled series of whimpers that refused to lighten. It was a man, probably Chipeº. Michelle wondered if he had found his lover Dragoste. Dracula said seeing her would pain him. And it was obvious he was right.
Chelsea and Narumi woke from the sudden noise. They stared at the ceiling above them from which the sound was penetrating from. There was such sorrow in the cries, like he had lost her to something worse than death itself. He was screaming for Dracula to make her normal again, but Dracula was only heard laughing, but not loudly enough to drown out the cries of loss. The three girls were transfixed by the noise. They had never heard anything like it before. Chelsea had to clamp her hands over her ears to stop the noise from affecting her further when she began to cry. Narumi noticed and held her whimpering sister. The cries from above finally ended, and Chelsea's finally ended too. Narumi and Michelle looked at each other, blinking back tears.

"Do you hear that?" asked Catherine. She had stopped wading through the water to stop and listen. Van Helsing and Amelia stopped too to hear muffled shouts and cries of pleading from above. Even though the sound was dimmed by the sound of the rushing water and the blockade from the walls, the ferocity of the cries and their meaning did not go unheeded.
"Somebody lost someone." exclaimed Amelia. She looked at her companions and they looked back at her. Van Helsing nodded.
"How can you tell?" asked Catherine.
"Past experience." said Amelia, and pushed past her sister and Van Helsing and continued her way down the dark tunnel.

Van Helsing paused squinted to see in the dark tunnel. The water was rising and was now almost to his chest. Catherine, who was shorter than he, had the water already at her chest.
"Can you see anything?" called Catherine from the back of the line.
"No, but we'll keep going this way until we find a way through, or we'll turn back when this way get inaccessible." replied Van Helsing. It was now pitch black.
"Come on." said Amelia. She pushed past Van Helsing and disappeared into the overwhelming blackness. "There's a platform right there." she continued. Van Helsing and Catherine hurried forwards after her.
"How did she know that?" asked Catherine.
"Werewolves have brilliant sight in the dark." replied Van Helsing. Ahead of them they heard splashing and the sound of metal on stone. They hurried forwards and found Amelia looking down on them from a small outcropping of stone. She had a torch in one hand and a torch-lit hall behind her. The metal on stone was her sword scraping against the stone as she heaved herself out of the rushing water.
"Careful, there's a crevice there." pointed out Amelia. She pointed her hand in the water just ahead of Van Helsing. Van Helsing stepped over it and pulled himself out of the water as well.
When Catherine came up she lost sight of where the crevice was and stepped right into it. Her head went below the water and disappeared. It came back up further down the tunnel from which they came from.
Amelia handed Van Helsing the torch and jumped into the water and swam towards Catherine. She reached her sister and grabbed hold of her arm and lifted her high enough out of the water that she couldn't be carried down by the current again. When they reached the platform, Amelia, with inhuman strength, threw Catherine onto the platform, where she landed behind Van Helsing with a thump. Amelia pulled herself out of the water once again and headed down the stone hall.

Michelle, Narumi, and Chelsea stood fast when they saw the door slowly creak open. Dracula came in.
"My guests." he said with open arms and a smile on his face. Michelle wondered how this man, no, monster, could act so calmly when he was such an evil being.
"Count. Why are we here?" asked Narumi. Dracula smiled further and came closer.
"Because, your dear Keeper made a mistake that has sealed your fate. Starting with yours, Chelsea." Dracula came forwards and grabbed Chelsea by the neck with one hand. Narumi came forwards, crying and yelling for him to let her go, but with the other hand he pushed her back so hard that Narumi flew across the room and tipped the red velvet couch where she landed with a thud.
Michelle screamed in fear and so did Chelsea when Dracula opened his mouth wide, where needle long and sharp teeth grew unrealistically. He lunged his head down onto Chelsea's exposed throat and she screamed in pain even louder. A few moments later her body went limp and blood was pouring down her throat. Dracula released Chelsea from his grip and she fell down, dead, to the red carpeted floor. The blood that was staining it was hardly visible.
Michelle was weeping, she was in too much fear to cry. Her heart was beating fast. Narumi got up from the other side of the tipped couch and ran over to her dead sister.
"Chelsea!" she screamed. Tears flooded her green eyes. "Chelsea! No... no! Chelsea!" Narumi was screaming in vain, shaking her dead sister in hopes she would awaken from a sleep. But this had no affect.
Dracula stood above the crying sister and smiled, wiping blood from his now humanly mouth. He left the room lightly, he left the two crying girls and the dead one at their knees.

"Shhh..." whispered Amelia. She had her ear pressed up against a door.
"Ok, lets go." she said. She opened the door, revealing a staircase that led upwards to the main floor of the castle. They climbed it, hoping for a door to appear ahead of them.
The stairs began to spiral and Catherine was tiring out fast. She leaned against the banister and looked up, to see that the ceiling wasn't too far away. Amelia and Van Helsing stopped when they noticed Catherine's refusal to climb. They went over to her and leaned out over the banister as well. When Amelia saw what short distance they still had to go, she grabbed Van Helsing and Catherine by the arm and jumped up onto the banister, where she stayed balance.
"Whoa." said Catherine. She was suspended in the air, and is she was dropped she would fall over a hundred feet onto the hard, cold stone floor below. Amelia bent her knees and looked up. She jumped an amazing height, Van Helsing and Catherine still being carried by her. She landed surely onto the top stair, where a tall wooden door greeted them. Amelia let go of them and opened the door.
"This cannot be good." said Catherine. Van Helsing nodded. It was tonight that Amelia would have her transformation from human to monster. And to their surprise, Amelia was taking it quite well.