I do not own Van Helsing. I only own Tiffani and Lexi.

Story Start

"So how are we traveling to Budapest?" Lexi asked tiredly after she and the others had finished dragging the Frankenstein monster to the basement of the church. Dirt smudges were all over her clothes, arms, hands, and face. Carl's nervous questions and shuffling were providing some noise in the dark and quiet basement.

"Carriage, but it will be dangerous because Dracula might have Verona or the werewolf attack us during the journey," Van Helsing said thoughtfully while he dusted off some cobwebs from his hat. The basement had not been used much in a long time. Thankfully, Lexi had not found any spiders yet or she would grabbed a gun and shot the arachnids.

"Well let's go back to Anna's home, grab more weapons, prepare a carriage, and go. I'm worried about Tiffani," Lexi said and started making her way to the stairs leading to the main floor of the church.

"What if Verona killed her?" Anna said and Lexi froze in the middle of her ascension to the church's main floor.

"Why are you always so negative? If anything, she killed Verona and now Dracula wants to kill her or worse," Lexi said as her hand tightened on the stair railing, which was falling apart from age.

"She couldn't have killed Verona. She is the smartest of all the brides," Anna said trying to defend her statement about Tiffani's supposed death.

"Verona will not stand a chance against Tiffani, who is one of the most unpredictable people that I know," Lexi said annoyed and wished she could tie up Anna and leave her with the Frankenstein monster as well. "I'm just worried about what Dracula has done with her," she muttered to herself before leaving the basement and rushing to Anna's home. She was happy that the sun was rising into the sky. "Please let Tiffani still be alive, fully alive," she thought while shoving her way past the men that guarded Anna's home.

"What are waffles? More weapons to kill vampires," Dracula said curiously while he slid his cold hands up Tiffani's arms. She tensed and tried not to let his coldness affect her.

"I have never heard of them being weapons. I've only known them as wonderful things to eat once smothered in butter and maple syrup," she said with a shrug before dissolving into giggles. His cold breath had moved from her ear to her neck. "Tickles," she said before she was spun around to face him. He still had his hands on her arms.

She looked at him curious to see what he would do now. She hoped it would not be something to end her life, but at least she knew she would have fun as a ghost. The hands on her arms moved up until he was gently holding her neck.

"Where are you from, my dear?" he asked and his curious look made her want to poke his forehead for no reason whatsoever.

"Somewhere completely different from here," she said simply with an innocent smile. Her heart rate sped up when his face was now just an inch away from her own. He was looking over her facial features before staring deeply into her eyes.

An awkward pause filled the air and Dracula narrowed his eyes a bit. However, he kept staring into her eyes. Tiffani felt like whistling to break the weird moment, but she could not whistle.

"Are you trying to put me in a trance or something? Sorry, but it's not working," she finally said and gave a cough. The chill of the castle and being in the presence of the vampire king was making her body become too cold. "Can I at least have a blanket if we are going to have a staring content?" she asked looking around the room. She was tempted to tear down a tapestry and wrap it around her.

The vampire king gave a hiss before moving away from her. Tiffani just backed away to a wall where a tapestry was hanging. She almost had her hands on it when she heard a dark chuckle. She froze her hands in midair and looked at Dracula. He was staring at her with a smirk gracing his features.

"You will be traveling to Budapest with me. Your friends will be there to trade the Frankenstein monster for you, but I do not think I will give you to them. I find you different, a new interest to pass the time," he said and she glared at him.

"A new interest to pass the time, I'll show him pass the time, more like make his undead life a living hell," she thought angrily before pulling the tapestry from its hanging place on the wall. "Well then I wonder if you will regret passing the time while keeping me hostage, I'm not the best in hostage situations," she said before wrapping the tapestry around her. She held out one arm with the cloth on it to cover part of her face. "However, I will not let you suck my blood," she said mimicking his accent and a deep laugh.

"Tiffani, I do not think you have a choice in the matter," he said and his eyes flashed as his fangs shined in the moonlight from the windows.

"It's my blood, I have a choice in who drinks my blood or what happens to it," she said holding the tapestry tighter around her.

"But you are mortal," he said with a dark edge to his voice. She just rolled her eyes before she began moving towards the door of the castle. She was curious to see if the Dwergi were still there. She wanted to kick something.

"Being mortal doesn't stop me from keeping people from drinking my blood," she said before kicking the front doors open. All of her years of working out her legs paid off well. She chuckled when some Dwergi fell backwards away from the door.

"You will not escape me," Dracula hissed behind her after he had used his vampire speed to appear behind her.

"I wasn't trying to escape. I'm spontaneous, not stupid. I just wanted to kick something," she said before trying to kick one of the Dwergi, who were making growling noises at her. However, two cold arms wrapped around her and she felt herself lift into the air before she could hit her target. "Put me down, you big bat, Batman is cooler than you anyways," she yelled annoyed that she was not able to take out her frustration about being a hostage. "I'm singing as many songs as possible that will annoy this man," she thought while crossing her arms over her chest.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Lexi asked Van Helsing, who was throwing some extra weapons into the carriage, which will take them to Budapest.

"It has to," Van Helsing answered before seeing Carl and Anna walking towards them. "Carl, change of plans, you're coming with us and Anna needs to stay here with the monster," he said and Lexi, Carl, and Anna gave the monster hunter curious looks.

"Why do I have to stay with the monster?" Anna practically shouted in her shock. She was about to go on another tirade about how she had to kill Dracula, but Carl's outburst kept her from speaking.

"Van Helsing, why do you need me?" Carl yelled while fretting with a bottle of holy water that he was carrying with him.

"You will be better for this than Anna," Van Helsing said simply.

"Why can Lexi not stay and I will go?" Anna asked while Lexi was actually entering the carriage. Carl followed her, but he was nervously muttering to himself about what could happen during the carriage ride to Budapest.

"Her friend is the one that is being held hostage, and you can keep control of the townspeople better so you can protect the monster more than Carl or Lexi," Van Helsing explained before gently shutting the door after Lexi and Carl were in the carriage. Anna let out a huff of frustration before storming away to her home.

"Don't worry Carl, this will be fun," Lexi said trying to comfort the shaking man beside her. She felt the carriage move and she knew that Van Helsing was sitting at the front of the carriage. Soon they were heading down the road to make the long journey to Budapest.

"I think we have different meanings of fun," Carl said and tried to give a small smile.