Author's Note: Well,I did promise that I would post another chapter this afternoon and so here it is. this scene will play an important part in the whole story. The scene where Carl explains Dracula's history and origin and, of course, Van Helsing and Carl discover the truth about Nathalia. Here we go!
Chapter 16: Family Secrets
After finding Castle Frankenstein empty, Anna was losing hope. And her fear for Van Helsing's sanity was also growing. He was so mad that with one giant swing, he managed to grab hold a generator and throw it against the castle's walls. We have very little time, she thought. Carl had offered to share what he had learned and she had so badly hoped he knew the location to the Door.
So here they were, in the tower back in Manor Valerious.
"All right, Carl," Van Helsing said, looking around the messy room, not understanding how could Carl find any information with this mess. "What have you learned?" he asked.
Carl began his lesson, pointing to a portrait of Anna's ancestor. "That Count Dracula," he began, moving next to the portrait, "was actually the son of Valerious the Elder-" he pointed to Anna and she looked at him, "-your ancestor." he added. She sighed, a tad annoyed at this old fact she knew for so long.
"Everybody knows that." she said, looking from the portrait to Carl, "What else?" she asked.
"Oh, all right." Carl said as he hurried to a stained glass window. the stained window showed two angels and a sword in the middle of them, the lower middle empty. "According to this rubbing," he said as she rolled a piece of parchment where a warrior had been illustrated. Now, the warrior was in between the two angels and below the sword, "it all started when Dracula was murdered.
"Do you know who murdered him?" the hunter asked.
"No, no, no." Carl said. "This," he rubbed on the picture, "has some vague reference to the 'left hand of God'." He quickly walked to a table littered with books and illustrations. He grabbed on particularly on top of the stack of books. "And in 1462, when Dracula died," he folded the paper, revealing a different one. A man kneeling before the Devil, their fingers connected. Above, the year 1462 written on it, "he made a covenant with the Devil."
Van Helsing took the paper and examined it closely. "Could this covenant have more than just two people?" the hunter asked. "I haven't really studied it closely." Carl said as he looked for something else. Anna stood beside Van Helsing and stared at the picture as well. "The only way he could sustain that life-"
"-Was by drinking the blood of others." the hunter finished.
"Excuse me," Carl said from behind them. "Are you going to let me tell the story?" he asked.
"Sorry." Anna and Van Helsing said in unison and they placed the paper on top of a stack of books and diverted their attention to Carl.
"Your ancestor, having sired this evil creature, went to Rome to seek forgiveness." Carl explained, bringing up a portrait of a kneeling man inside the Cathedral. "That's when the bargain is made." he said, putting the picture down. "He was to kill Dracula in return for eternal salvation."
He walked to another corner and retrieved the scroll. Anna recognized it as the family tree. "Right down the line, all the way to you." he explained as he pointed from her ancestor, down the tree to her.
She grabbed the scroll and examined it, not having looked at it for a long time. "But he couldn't do it." she said. She looked at the hunter to see his expression. "As evil as Dracula was, my ancestor couldn't kill his own son."
Carl grabbed a book from a wooden pedestal as he looked through the pages. "So he banished him to an icy fortress," he said, finally locating his page, "sending him threw a door from which there was no return."
"And the Devil gave him wings."
"Yes."
Anna looked at Carl. "Carl, did you find any.. personal information on Dracula?" she asked him. Both men looked at her confused, but she was determined to seek the truth. "Did he have any family?" she asked.Carl thought about it for a moment. "I did read something about him possibly having a child, but then again it could be a lie."
She sighed. A child? A lie? "I did, as a matter of fact," he said,looking for something in his robes, "find this." He pulled out a worn journal, but it seemed to have perished in a fire. Somehow, it was not all destroyed. "Some of these pages are burned completely,almost impossible to read." he explained, handing her he book. "I haven't had the time to read it."
She looked through the pages and when she found a page that was no completely destroyed, she gasped. The journal slipped from her fingers and she couldn't hold back her disappointment. "What's wrong?" Van Helsing asked. Anna pointed to the open journal on the floor. "The handwriting," she looked at the hunter, "it's Nathalia's."
Van Helsing quickly picked up the journal and read a few pages. I first started about her happiness and life filled with opportunities. Then, it seemed, everything had gone horribly wrong.
My father? He couldn't possibly have been my father. The way he looked at me, they way he treated me. He acted as though I was nothing more but a woman in his eyes. It doesn't matter anymore. He's dead. I only regret that it wasn't me who killed him.
Who was her father? Who was she referring to? He turned a few pages that were burned and mistreated. Then, he found a page with bloodstains. He started to read.
The thirst. Oh, the thirst. I feel so... numb and cold. My husband is dead. My son is dead. And so am I. I can't remember anything else, but a mad clad in black promised me protection. I would no longer be prey. I killed them. Friends and families. my village is on fire and I'm covered.I'm covered in their blood. Oh, God I was so thirsty and I only acted by instinct. They're all dead and my soul is forevermore in the depths of Hell.
I'm so cold. So cold...
He couldn't read anymore. Nathalia had suffered and she didin't deserve it. He gripped the journal, anger raging from within. He was losing his patience and temper and if did get to Dracula, he was going to make sure he ripped his throat out.
"There's something I haven't told you." Anna said solemnly. He looked at her and she stared at him, her eyes wet with tears. "I never knew this until now." she whispered. "Nathalia," she began, "Dracula's daughter."
A/N: So, how will out hero react? Will he despise Nathalia more now that the truth is out? Or will he save this maiden's life from being swallowed by the flames of Hell? find out next time when I post the next chapter. Bye Bye.
Luna