Chapter 3: Dark Moon Rising

"I look ridiculous…you expect me to walk in there wearing this?" Brooke emerged from the bed area wearing a worn out gown with sowed on patches…it smelled like its former owner died wearing it.

"You're right…let me fix it," Van Helsing grabbed the sleeve and tore it, and grabbed the bottom hem and tore it up to her thigh.

"Thanks…I think," she looked at herself in the mirror.

"Now...tangle your hair a bit and you'll fit in fine. We need you to look like you've been on the road a while. They only meet at night, so during the day you can meet me at the cabin."

Brooke raised a brow, "What do you think they do during the day?"

"They work...Most don't marry, so they have to work for income. You won't be missing anything."

"And what are you going to do at night while I'm with them?" She started to toss her hair to make it look messy.

"Go into town…see if they've noticed anything strange happening. Perhaps the town hates them just as much as the Holy Order does." Van Helsing wrapped his arms around her waist and turned her around, "you know enough Latin to get by, but remember…if you think they're having doubts- get out of there as quickly as you can. If your cover is blown then we stand no chance against them."

She held his cheeks and kissed his lips, "what would I do without you? And don't you dare answer that," Brooke smiled.

The train came to a stop and together they loaded their bags on a carriage that then transported them to the docks. They needed to take a cargo ship to England.

"I'm already getting strange looks from some of the other passengers. If I didn't know better- I'd say they think I'm your slave," a laugh escaped her.

Van Helsing wasn't amused. "Stay close to me. Once we get to England I'll take you as close as I can, and then you'll be on your own to the village. I'll take the horses and all our things to the cabin."

Brooke silently agreed. This was his part of the plan and once she was inside it was her rules. That's what she liked about this mission. Sometimes Van Helsing was controlling, but with this plan he didn't have a say. All of this made her wonder why the Holy Order would put them together. Van Helsing was not someone who worked well with others- especially if they had a leadership bone in their body. The monster hunter took orders from no one, so it was no wonder he worked so well with the Friar. Likewise, Brooke never had a partner. The last time she did it was with Van Helsing and they nearly failed.

He helped her off the horse once they had arrived in the little town of Alster.

"Remember, come find me at daybreak and be certain you're not followed. If they suspect...get the hell out of there. Carry just your knife, anything else would be too suspicious," he lectured.

"I know, I know, you're not my father on the first day of school, Van Helsing…I think you're forgetting I've done this sort of thing before."

She hid the knife between her breasts in the corset of her attire. Quickly she started to walk away from Gabriel and the two horses. She checked behind her to see he was already gone. Despite her big talk, Brooke was nervous as any. Posing as a witch could have a lot of consequences given the people around her. If anything strange started to happen once she got town- it would be her fault and they would hang her without a trial.

Brooke went to the barkeep and asked for a room. Reluctantly he gave her one and warned her of any funny business- in other words, don't practice your magick under my roof.

When she sat down at the bar she noticed a woman was looking at her from behind a support beam. The moment she turned around the young woman took off outside.

Lila ran outside and right into Jezebel.

"She's here! Just like you said she would be. Jezebel, she looks fierce and it's obvious she's trying to pass off as one of us," the young witch admitted.

"Good work. Now run along…Sarah, check to see if her hunter friend is anywhere nearby," the priestess ordered before entering the tavern.

When an older witch walked in, the huntress knew exactly who she was. This was the woman behind it all, they called her high priestess, but Brooke called her the alpha bitch. Already she could tell this woman had her eyes on her.

Jezebel took a seat next to the huntress, "you look new in town. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Jezebel."

Brooke gave her a smile, "I'm Catherine. You can call me Cat for short, but not Kathy. I came here looking for a new start…my hobbies got me into trouble and I was chased out. I heard from a friend that this is a safe place."

"It sure is Catherine. I'd like you to visit some friends of mine, some of them have stories similar to yours. You see our numbers decrease as the panic spreads west." She put a hand on Brooke's shoulder and led them outside the tavern.

"I understand. But I hope you understand that I'm not a kitchen witch Jezebel…" Brooke warned the priestess. "I've done things that would scare most witches my age."

"I bet you have," she grinned at how elaborate the huntress was willing to go on her story. "I suspect you carry a book of shadows? A grimoire?"

Brooke reached into her bag and pulled out a book. It was given to her by the Holy Order as part of their information packet.

"Ah ha, very interesting…" the witch held the book and flipped through it and handed it back to her. Jezebel could tell it wasn't hers.

"I'd love to meet your friends."

"Of course! We're on our way to them right now. I hope you don't mind enclosed tight spaces. You see, in order for us to meet in safety…we had to make a place of our own that would remain unseen. It also bounds us to the earth, making our spells that much more powerful."

Brooke followed the witch out to the location she remembered from the map. She couldn't see Van Helsing, but she had a feeling he was watching her closely.

When the huntress was preoccupied by meeting the others, Jezebel took a sample of her hair she would be using later on.

There were more witches there than Brooke previously thought. This was going to make things even more dangerous…more eyes meant more potential problems. As she looked around she noticed a vampire was lying dead on a stone table.

"What's this?" she questioned with curiosity.

"Ah, you're in for a great surprise Cat. You see we caught this vampire lurking around our town the other night…looking for prey. Using our charms we lured him away and restrained him before killing him with a stake. Now the real magick begins." Jezebel turned to the others, "Everyone, gather in a circle around the table."

She asked them to focus their energy on the dead vampire. Jezebel spoke a really long incantation. Brooke could understand bits and pieces of it, but her mind was so busy translating that she couldn't gather the meaning…until the dead vampire started to twitch.

Once Jezebel stopped speaking, the dead vampire rose from the table. He felt his chest where the stake had gone through…he was healed. The creature felt his teeth….there were no fangs.

"I'm alive. I'm...human?" He spoke as he looked around at the witches.

Brooke's mouth dropped in shock as the former vampire stood confused and distraught.

So this was what the Holy Order was afraid of? It made no sense to her.