Chapter 17: Beyond the Reflection

He wished that what he had heard was just a lie or a istake. Van Helsing stared at Anna with disbelief, Carl's face was as pale as a ghost. "No." was all that escaped his mouth. He shook his head. Anna didn't look at him, afraid of what she would see in his face. Would this be a good reason for the hunter to kill Nathalia? Would he really do it this time?

"She can't be." he whispered to himself. He couldn't understand his attachment to her yet. It was as though he knew her morethan Anna or her family or anyone else. But why thie dread and sense of.. of familiarity? did he really know and was only hoping,-no- praying that it wasn't true.

He looked at Carl. "Carl," he began. Carl looked up at him. "Where is that door?" the hunter asked through clenched teeth. He would no longer that this dreaded misery and agonizing burden.

"I-I don't know." Carl responded. Van Helsing sighed. He had to keep calm or else the beast within would pound Carl to a pulp. "But when Anna's ancestor couldn't kill his son," Carl said, moving to a section of a desolate wall. He pushed the torch holder down and a rectangular part of the whole wall flipped, revealing a painting, "he left clues so that future generations might do it for him."

Van Helsing stared at the picture. A castle on a hill, the clouds dark and ominous and two knights standing before each other, their swords ready.

He heard a sniff behind him and turned to see Anna wiping her eyes with the back of her palm. "It must be what my father was looking for in here. Clues to the door's location.

For a moment, the map that Anna had showed them when they had first arrived flashed before his eyes. "The door." he thought aloud. "The door." he said the word as though they'd help him think more clearly. Then, it hit him. "Of course." he said as he ran out the room and down a hall to the armory room, Anna and Carl hot on his trail. Anna sped up beside him, ready to say something.

"You said your father spent hours staring at this painting," he said, stopping to point to the map. "I think you were right, quite literally, I think this," he said, extending his arms to the painting's length and size, "is the door. He just didn't know how to open it."

Carl pointed to something on the painting. "Look, a Latin inscription. Maybe it works like that painting in the tower."

Anna shook her head as Carl approached the painting to examine it closely. "If this were a door, my father would've opened it long a go."

Carl moved the chair that covered the Latin partially and stopped. "I can't finish the inscription." he said. He looked up at the hunter with a frown. "There's a piece missing."

The hunter's expression fell and his hopes sank. Now what?, he thought. Then he smiled at his poor management and observing. He dug into one of the pockets of his coat and smiled when he felt relief in his hand. He took out a small scroll that contained a piece of cloth with a Latin inscription. "Your father didn't have this." he said, showing the missing piece to Anna.

She looked at him, both confused and accusingly. "Where did you get that?" she asked.

"Carl," he said, giving the friar the vital piece of the puzzle, "finish it." They had very little time and none to waste on an interrogation.

Carl tore the cloth from the scroll and placed it on the empty spot. A perfect fit. He read the passage out loud in Latin for everyone to hear. Now, hearing it for the second time, Van Helsing could not help but think of the passage as ironic. " "In the name of God, open this door." " he said, translating the passage.

There was a crackling sound as the painting was crystalizing. Carl stepped back as well as Anna and Van helsing. Once the crystalization was done, the trio were facing their own reflections.

"A mirror." Carl said.

"Dracula had no reflection in the mirror." Anna said.

"But why?" the hunter asked.

"Maybe-" Carl pondered, "Maybe to Dracula it's not a mirror at all."

Van Helsing continued to stare at his own reflection. He could visibly see curiosity in his face. A hint of doubt, but Maybe Carl's clue was right. Maybe what he had thought was right. He stepped forward and touched the mirror. Under his touch, it began to crack. He pushed his hand forward, urging it onward. He pushed until his whole had was beyond the mirror and smiled at the feeling of frigid winds.

"It's cold," he said. He pulled his hand out and saw some snow had settled on his hand. "And it's snowing."

Anna's doubtful looked disappeared as a small smile appeared in her face. He retrieved a lit torch from its holder and stared at the mirror, readying himself. "See you on the other side." he said. Before he could make a move, a hand gently grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back a bit. "Whatever happens, don't kill her." Anna whispered to him.

He sighed. "And if she asks me to do so?" he asked. Something told him that this is what Nathalia ha always wanted. This what she knew was going to happen. And he would have to do so so that she could rest in peace and leave that... dead feeling behind. A new life,he had thought to himself. He didn't notice that Anna had not replied to his inquiry and had let him go. "Be careful." was all she said.

The question that bothered him the most was, would Nathalia die when Dracula was destroyed? Or would he have to kill another innocent person who was seduced by the Devil's power like those many people he killed before? He was afraid to find out. Afraid to see what lay beyond his reflection, that question that made his mind stir. Was he a murderer?

Author's Note: Didn't have the chance to say hello. I guessed you all just wanted to get to the chapter. Well, to be honest, Gabriel does want to slay Nathalia only because he knowsthat that's what she really wants. She's suffered so much and just because he knows she deserves more then the life of a damned demon, he wants to give her a chance of a new and pure life. Basically, reincarnation. Will post sooner or later, so just keep your eyes open because the showdown is about to begin!

Love,

Luna