CHAPTER 10
The sound of her heels clicking on the cold stone floor reverberated throughout the hallway as she stormed down it in search of one rather exasperating man. The candles that were lined up in the hall, the only sources of light in the darkness, flickered as she passed by. Hearing a noise, she stopped short and then made a quick right turn down another hall. She walked all the way down it, but didn't stop when she reached the double doors at the end. Instead, she pulled them open and stepped inside, looking around.
"Van Helsing?" There was no answer so she grabbed the nearby lantern before venturing farther into the room. Her steps were slow, careful and her eyes moved about warily as if expecting something to jump out at her. And that's when she heard it.
It was a strange noise, something she couldn't quite identify, and it was coming from up ahead of her. She grabbed a spiked mace from the table next to her and clutched it tightly within her grasp. She continued forward cautiously in search of the source of the noise.
She heard squeaking that was followed by tapping sounds. She stopped and stood poised just behind on of the weapon displays. Her heart quickened along with her breathing. She had to wait for the right moment…and then…
She jumped around the display, mace ready, but saw nothing but an open window clattering against the sill as the wind from the storm raging outside blew. With a sigh of relief, she placed the mace down on another table and walked forward, setting the lantern on the sill before reaching over and pulled the window shut.
Then she saw them. Wet werewolf paw prints on the stone floor ahead of her, the dim light in the room reflecting off the watery surfaces of them. She lifted her eyes and looked around. She didn't even notice the creature looming above her until she heard something drop down behind her.
She quickly turned around, but saw nothing there. Her pulse was racing wildly and fear began to course through her veins. Slowly, she began backing up, grabbing a gun off of a table display and cocking it as she did.
She continued moving backwards, searching for the beast, when she suddenly felt water drip down on her. She froze for a moment before turning her head to the side and looking up the pillar next to her. The werewolf was there! She barely had time to squeeze of a round as it opened its massive jaws in order to rip her head off.
After firing, she swiftly turned on her heel and took off, taking no time to actually see if she had hit the beast. She dashed past a few more weapon displays before ducking behind another pillar. Panting, she eased to the left, keeping an eye out for the beast when she suddenly bumped into…
"Velkan…" she breathed out, the sudden joy of seeing her brother overcoming the fear of being killed by the werewolf that still lurked. "Oh my God, you're alive."
He paused a moment, seemingly relishing the touch of her hand on his face, but suddenly pulled away. "Anna–" he started urgently, trying to tell her something.
Speaking at the same time as him, she tried to warn him of the werewolf when before her eyes, he began to change. He began backing away from her, gasping in pain.
"Velkan?" She watched as his skin began to stretch and bubble up. "No…No," she sobbed, shaking her head.
He twisted and turned, his bones cracking as he began to take a different form.
And then suddenly it was no longer Velkan. Her brother suddenly changed into…
Van Helsing.
Anna shot up with a gasp, so disoriented that her brain didn't even note that sharp pains that radiated up from her stomach wounds as she did so. Panting, she looked around wildly for a few moments before it finally registered where she was.
The woods.
She looked over to her right to see Carl, his blanket pulled so far up that it almost covered his face, curled up in a ball, sound asleep. She remained still for second, watching his blanket rise and fall as the friar breathed. In a strange way, it was kind of a comforting sight.
She sighed softly in relief. She was all right. It had only been a dream…just a dream.
"Bad dream?" a deep, soothing voice asked from behind her.
Anna whipped her head around to see Van Helsing standing there with a bundle of firewood in his arms. She just stared at him, watching as he moved over to the fire and placed a few logs on it before he turned back to her. He gave her a questioning look upon getting nothing but silence from her.
She shook her head quickly and released a soft breath, whispering, "It was nothing."
Gabriel moved over to her and knelt before her on the edge of her blanket. "It didn't look like nothing," he replied, his tone calming. He reached forward and caressed her cheek tenderly, pulling his hand back to show her the tears he hand wiped away with his gentle touch.
Anna sighed and looked down at her hands. "I prefer not to talk about it," she told him simply. And she didn't want to. "It was a dream; nothing more." Or so she was trying to convince herself.
Anna had always been the strong one. Even as a child, she rarely ever told her brother or her parents about the nightmares she had. She kept them to herself and just as she was doing now, continually told herself that they were nothing until the nightmares lost their element of terror. She only hoped she could convince herself that there was nothing to be afraid of this time. It had been SO real…
Gabriel nodded. "If you wish not to, I won't force the issue," he replied. He wasn't going to make her talk about it if she didn't want to. It was her choice and he knew that if she really did need to talk about it, she would.
Anna was grateful that he was going to give her some space. She needed it. She needed to figure everything out on her own before she even tried to share anything with him.
A hissing noise catching his attention, Van Helsing turned and looked back toward the fire to see that the contents of the pot he had put there were beginning to bubble over. He cursed under his breath and then moved over to it, pulling it off of the fire. With another curse, he quickly placed the hot object down when it began burning his hand.
Anna watched him, a smirk on her face. "You are able to fight vampires and demons and God knows what else, but you cannot remove a pot from a fire without burning yourself?" she quipped.
Sucking on the burned flesh of his hand, Gabriel looked up at her and narrowed an eye, but then dropped his hand and smiled at her. It was good to see that she had least still had a sense of humor. "And I suppose Your Highness could do better?" he asked, gesturing toward the pot.
"I am a woman," she told him smugly, "OF COURSE I can do better."
"By all means..."
Anna smiled and shook her head, slowly, in an effort not to pull the stitches in her stomach, climbing out of her blanket and to her feet. She felt stiff from lying on the ground, but said nothing. Instead, she walked right over to Van Helsing and crouched beside him. "And what exactly am I meant to be doing?"
Gabriel gestured toward a metal mug. "What's in the pot has to go in that," he replied, smirking. "Our dear little friar can't function in the morning without it."
Rolling her eyes and shaking her head, she mumbled something about "pathetic men" and then reached for the pot, but just before she reached it, Gabriel put his hand on her arm, stilling her. "I assure you, Gabriel, I won't hurt myse–" She stopped when she suddenly noticed that Van Helsing wasn't even looking at her. He was staring off into the woods.
"Stand up," he said quickly, pulling Anna up as he stood.
"What is it?" she asked, following his gaze. She saw nothing but trees.
"Remember when I told you that I could sense evil?" he said, still not looking at her.
Anna paused and then nodded slowly. "Yes, I believe so," she replied. Her memories were still a little fuzzy.
"Well, I'm sensing it."
"Evil?"
He nodded. "Yes," he replied, his tone was all business now. "Quickly–" he started, grabbing his crossbow, "gather your things and wake Carl. We must leave here." And then he took off into the bushes.
Anna didn't question argue. Instead, she immediately moved over to Carl and shook him, trying to rouse the friar.
"I don't want to go, Mummy," Carl mumbled in his sleep, trying to pull the blanket up further over his head. "The other children tease me."
"Carl!" she hissed in his ear. "Get up NOW!" She shook him again, this time roughly. They didn't have time to waste.
"AH! What?!" the friar gasped, sitting straight up. He looked around crazily before his eyes finally settled on Anna.
"Get up," she said again as she shoved her belongings back in her saddle bag.
"But wh–"
"Just do it!" she snapped. "We must leave right now!" She stood again and looked around, trying to see if she had forgotten anything.
"Where's Van Helsing?" Carl asked as he began to follow Anna's example by shoving all his things in his satchel.
Anna pointed at the trees Gabriel had disappeared into before she quickly grabbed the pot, not even noticing how hot it still was, and emptied the contents onto the ground, intending on packing it as well, but before she could, Van Helsing came bursting through the trees.
"Leave it!" he yelled, grabbing her arm, causing her to drop the pot, and pulled her toward the horses. "Carl, we must leave NOW!!" He quickly helped Anna up onto her horse before he grabbed her stuff, handed it to her, and then rushed over to the friar.
"Now, Carl! NOW!" Gabriel pulled the satchel from the friar's hands and then grabbed him by his collar, pulling him up. He quickly rushed him over to his horse and practically threw him up onto it, handing him his bag back. Then he turned on his heel and quickly pulled himself up onto his own horse.
"Come on!" he shouted before he dugs his heels into the sides of his horse, spurring the beast into action. The horse took off into the trees.
Anna glanced over at Carl for a moment before doing the same. She urged her horse into a gallop and began to closely follow behind Van Helsing.
And Carl, well he didn't need an invitation. He quickly followed their example, not wanting to be left behind. He knew that if Van Helsing was running away from something, that something had to be bad and there was no way he wanted to stick around for introductions.
TBC…
(A/N: All righty, there's chpt 10! I didn't really like this one myself, but who cares?! WOO! Hehehe! I have some interesting stuff in store for the next chapters so be ready! G Anywho, Lady Sirinial, well done with the kicking, but heed my warning. I WILL start kicking you back if you don't hurry with yours! Hehe! Everyone, thank you SO much for the reviews! I really appreciate it! Sarah, you rock! And Computer Guy, shhhh! That is OUR secret! Ok, going now! REVIEW! WOO! –hugs– Emily)
