Chapter 12.

The sound of a loud voice screaming was what awoke Henry. He opened his eyes and saw a figure with hands and feet bound laying several feet away from him. Both of them lay on the cold stone floor of a small chamber with rows of coffins stacked one on top of the other. They were in some kind of crypt. Henry felt that his hands and feet were also tied together and so he was unable to move very much. The figure beside him stopped screaming but seemed to be trembling. He seemed to be dressed in hairy animal skins. Underneath those were the remains of what use to be a dark blue shirt and black slacks. He was bare foot and had a shackle around his left ankle. The white hair on his head left no doubt in Henry's mind as to the identity of his companion.

"Cornell?"

The figure suddenly stopped trembling and rolled over to face him. To Henry's surprise, the face which greeted him looked exactly as he remembered it when he saw it last, almost thirty years ago.

"You haven't changed a bit."

"Henry?"

A slight smile crept across his face, but it quickly vanished. "Where have you been all these years?"

He did not seem to be himself. Henry could see in Cornell's face confusion and anxiety. Cornell seemed to be grasping at reality. Finally Cornell looked Henry in the eye and said, "All over the world. I think."

"Did you kill those people?"

"The man-wolves live within me Henry. Their sins are my own. I am the man- wolf. That is why I am here. I sensed that another was using their power. I could not allow it."

"You could sense the deaths?"

"I witnessed them. Whoever was tapping into the man-wolf power was forcing me to see the murders be committed." Cornell remained silent. "Horrible sights. I lost control. Sometimes I believed I was the one doing the killing. But then, I saw it."

"I never believed that you did it. I know you are better than that."

Cornell looked at Henry. In his eyes he could still see that young boy who trusted him with his life. Cornell felt encouraged and at the same time reticent to accept such trust from him again. Suddenly the door to the chamber they were in swung open and two figures stood silhouetted at the doorway. The time had come, for what, neither Cornell nor Henry knew.

Reinhardt approached the town of Walthemstuw after having ridden a full day non-stop. The small town unknowingly sat in the southwest corner of a large henge. Apparently the thinly dug out border circling the general perimeter of the town had escaped the eyes of the common man. Still a somewhat backward town, the principle path leading to its entrance was still a dirt road. Instead of following the dirt road, Reinhardt followed the dugout border of the henge. By following it, Reinhardt was circling the town and then slowly riding away from it. As he followed the line the town became smaller. Finally something else grabbed his attention. In the distance, a campfire seemed to have been laid. Reinhardt turned away from the henge border and headed for the light. Like many henges, the area within the dugout circle was a plain field with no trees. This meant that whoever was around the fire would see Reinhardt's approach. As the distance between the light and Reinhardt became shorter, he decreased his speed. The glare of the campfire turned into a mysterious aura emanating from what appeared to be a stone circle. Reinhardt disembarked off his horse and left it about a yard away from the circle. The stones were nothing like those of the famed stone henge. They were much smaller in size and most seemed to have fallen and be partially buried underground. In total, the stone circle covered about a twenty-meter area. Standing tall in the direction of the north was a single large tree. Looking from behind one of the taller stones, Reinhardt observed a group of about ten gathered within the circle. The ground around the circle was damp, as though something had been dropped over it. Reinhardt saw that it was water and that a trail of salt had been laid over it. From where Reinhardt stood he could smell incense. Slowly, and as quietly as possible, Reinhardt darted behind another stone that was closer to the group. Now he could see that an altar had been placed before the large tree. Two candles sat atop the altar. Behind the altar stood a hooded man dressed in black. Kneeling before the altar were two more hooded figures. Behind the altar were two of the larger stones. Tied to those stones were Henry and another man. Reinhardt was now close enough to hear what the hooded man behind the altar was saying.

"By the power of the Goddess and her horned consort, I know pronounce ye." The High priest had his hand raised and stared upwards toward the sky.

"Stop!" Reinhardt yelled loudly so that it might echo in the night air. The large group of hooded figures turned to face him. "I thought it was tradition to ask if anyone had a reason that these two should not be wed?" Reinhardt unwrapped his chain whip from around his waist. Doing so filled him with a sense of déjà vu. He now felt as though the past twenty years had never happened. He was a man of thirty-five once more.

At the front of the altar, the couple stood up from the ground and removed their hoods. Although many years had passed, and he looked slightly older, the face was unmistakable. The pale skin and the oddly colored hair that once belonged to a young boy, Malus, was still present in the adult man who stood before him. Looking at him now, Reinhardt could scarcely believe he had not recognized him before when he was masquerading as Matthew Golden. Perhaps he used a spell? Or perhaps Reinhardt was simply getting old. He felt ashamed that the physical embodiment of Vlad Dracula had escaped his detection. Beside him, in a trance-like state, stood Carrie.

"How can you be here?"

"True love would you believe?" His hand brushed Carrie's face. "She promised to marry me, once, a long time ago. Did you know that? I'll wager she never told you." Dracula laughed. "This small band of followers of the horned goddess were kind enough to bring me back for the month of Mortecon. But to stay, Carrie must make good on her word to me."

"And the three men murdered?"

"Ah, that you must deduce yourself. I will say only that the elder Golden knew too much from his ancient books."

Reinhardt addressed the hooded witnesses. "What has he promised you? Power? A share when he rules the world? You are all fools!" Reinhardt yelled at them. Then he pointed back to Dracula, "and you. Tired of damning Christianity, now you resort to perverting old Celtic. You are an abomination."

Dracula laughed louder than before. "And you have interfered with me for the last time!" A howl emerged from behind the altar. The high priest screamed and he was suddenly torn in two. The enormous wolf leapt from the shadows beneath the tree and into the center of the circle. The hooded followers dispersed quickly, fearing for their lives. Reinhardt noticed that one of them stood still beside Dracula. Reinhardt was face to face with the wolf. Saliva dripped from its jaws. Its red eyes glowed in the gloom of night. All of them were draped in the unusual aura of the circle. The wolf charged at Reinhardt but he managed to leap out of its way. Instead of striking him, he hit one of the larger stones. The wolf wailed in pain. It spun around quickly and faced Reinhardt once more. Reinhardt lashed out his whip and struck the wolf across the face. The ball of Reinhardt's whip returned to him stained in blood and holding small pieces of flesh. The whip swung around above Reinhardt's head. Blood dripped over the lycanthrope's eyes as the wound across its face throbbed in tune with its heartbeat. As suddenly and as quickly as he could, Reinhardt brought his whip down on the creature's head. He heard the crack of the skull and a howl of pain come from behind him. Cornell was yelling as though experiencing the pain as well. He looked and saw that Dracula too seemed to stumble as though some of the life had been drained from him. The wolf's body went limp after two more blows from the morning star of Reinhardt's whip. He turned to find Dracula on his knees while holding his head in his hands.

"Pain. The pain you have made me feel! Now I shall make you feel pain." Dracula turned and faced the single hooded figure from the followers that had remained. Its hood went down to reveal blonde hair and its cloak opened to reveal a red dress.

"Rosa!" Reinhardt looked in horror as his wife stood before him, pale as death, hissing at him with her mouth open showing a full set of fangs. His whip dropped from his blood stained hands and he suddenly felt numb all over. Rosa threw herself onto him in her vampyric state. On instinct alone, Reinhardt managed to defend himself from her constant attempts to connect her fangs to his neck. After several moments of rolling on the ground, he managed to get on top of her. He held her hands to the ground as tightly as he could. He felt as though her strength had doubled. Reinhardt stared upwards, "Lord, forgive me." He then released her and jammed his fist hard against the right side of her face. He felt her body go limp between his legs. Immediately he crouched down to her belly and pressed his ear against it. Of course it was too soon to hear anything, Rosa had not even gained weight yet. His fatherly instincts nevertheless compelled him to listen to the womb for some sign of life.

"A great irony, is it not? That one who has spent his life fighting vampires should fall in love with one."

"What have you done to her? If you have turned her again, I swear I will…"

"Did you not ever wonder why it is that you feel so compelled to love her?"

Reinhardt stood up and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"It was the alluring power of the vampire that attracted you to her. The blood of the vampire flows through her veins thanks to my power. So long as I live, she will always be mine."

Reinhardt could contain his rage no longer. He spun around and charged at Dracula, grabbing him by the collar of his cloak with one hand and holding his sword to his neck with the other. "All the more reason to kill you and be done with it!"

Dracula grinned. "Yours will not be a victory this time, scion of the Belmont. I will not disappear into ashes or go to sleep for a hundred years so easily. I give you a choice. One, give me your wife's unborn child."

"Never!" The point of Reinhardt's sword pricked the skin of Dracula's neck.

"Two, give me your adopted daughter Carrie."

Reinhardt's grip on the collar of his cloak tightened. "And what if I just kill you as I did before?"

"Be prepared to suffer the consequences."

"I would see my family safe from you even if I have to deliver you through the gates of hell myself!" Reinhardt then thrust his sword through Dracula's heart and twisted it while still inside. Dracula fell to his knees taking Reinhardt, who could no longer release the sword, with him. The aura of the stone circle became a brilliant red light. To Reinhardt it felt all too familiar. A vortex opened up beneath Dracula and slowly he began to sink into it. Reinhardt tried to let go of his sword but could not combat the force that was dragging him into the vortex as well. Dracula began to laugh, "You just might have to keep your word." Dracula was down to his waist and his arms reached out to grab Reinhardt. Reinhardt struggled and found himself dangerously close to the center of the vortex. Until now, Reinhardt had been staring into Dracula's eyes or away from the vortex, but this time, he stared directly into it. He suddenly felt himself become weaker and his hands seemed to finally slip off of the hilt of his sword.

The vampire spoke once more, "for everything you must pay a price!" Dracula's laugh could be heard, but it was not the laughter of a man, but of an animal. In seconds, he was totally engulfed in the vortex and Reinhardt lay on the ground beside it as it closed.

When Carrie awoke from her trance it was as though she had been asleep with her eyes open. Her hands covered her face as tears began to run down her cheeks. Her sobs did not go unheard for she suddenly heard the soft moan of Henry regaining consciousness.

"Carrie?"

Carrie looked around and saw that Henry was tied up to a stone along with someone else beside him. She then looked to the ground several feet away from her and saw the body of Reinhardt lying motionless. She ran to his side and turned him to face upwards. She placed her cheek over his mouth and felt his very faint breath. His pulse was slacking.

"Carrie, cut me loose!"

The young girl ran behind the stone and focused her mind on the knot of the ropes that held Henry bound. Her hands poised themselves in a position to summon up magical energies for her to command. In a split second a bright glowing orb encased her hands and fired into the ropes. The ropes disintegrated to ashes and Henry was free. Per his instructions, Carrie did the same for the other bound man whom Henry explained was Cornell. Carrie then proceeded to attend to Rosa whom she also found lying on the ground. When she first looked at her, her skin was pale, but slowly and surely it returned to its normal color right before her eyes.

Cornell, ran to the nearby town of Walthemstuw, and returned with a wagon. He and Henry loaded Reinhardt and Rosa into the wagon and drove them to the town's doctor. The group had difficulty explaining to the doctor the circumstances or even the cause of his condition. But the physician persevered in trying to care for them both. Though he prioritized Rosa upon learning she was with child. When the question of Reinhardt's age came up, the doctor raised an eyebrow. Henry had answered truthfully, but the doctor found the deep set wrinkles, thinning white hair, and frail body gave a complete different answer. He looked like a man well into his seventies.

It was a full day before Rosa awoke. After asking after her baby, she immediately rose (against the doctor's advice) to see her husband. When she finally sat beside him, she began to weep. The doctor forced her, for the sake of her baby, to return to bed. Reinhardt remained asleep for another day before he began to mumble some words. When Henry entered the room where Reinhardt had been put up, he found the doctor assuring Reinhardt that the cost of his help would be modest. After the doctor left, Henry put his ear to Reinhardt's lips. He was still repeating the same phrase that the doctor had hard.

"Always a price. Always a price to be paid."

On the third day, the doctor enter the bedroom and found Reinhardt sitting up. He barely spoke, and when he did it was in a raspy whisper. The doctor prescribed some medication for his throat. On the fourth day, Reinhardt was able to walk, though with the assistance of a cane. Finally on the fifth day, they paid the doctor for services rendered and returned home via carriage.

Reinhardt continued to remain quiet. Henry noted he was especially silent towards Rosa, though he would ask after the baby frequently. He did overhear Rosa say to Reinhardt, "I have always loved you, and always will." Reinhardt squeezed her hand tightly and nodded. His eyes told her, "and I you," but the words were not there.

When he and Reinhardt were alone, he felt his hand grasp his shoulder. The grip was weak. "I am finished, Henry. Go back to the Order. Take CornelI with you. Ecclesia must prepare for the day when Dracula returns."

"But…" Henry began, but Reinhardt cut him off.

"I am going to be a father to my children and a husband to my wife. That is all that is left for me. And even that…" his voice trailed off as he lifted his hand from Henry's shoulder and looked at his own shriveled hand.

When night fell, Carrie found herself sitting on the roof of the house, staring up at the stars. The skylight in her room was easily repaired, a little magic was all it took. She was however, in no hurry. For several hours through the night, everything was quiet. It was only until the sound of someone's heavy panting that she looked backwards again. Carrie rushed to help Reinhardt up.

"Watch out for the broken glass!"

"I know," whispered.

"You shouldn't be up here in…" she began to say, but stopped. She met his gaze. He looked so old and grandfatherly now. It was like he was someone who needed to be cared for, instead of the other way around. He could sense that she was thinking this when he spoke, "I can still care for myself."

Carrie helped him sit down beside where she had been seated before.

"I understand how you must feel." He finally said.

"He took advantage over my feelings. He remembered. He knew that I had some lingering feelings for Malus. He used me!"

"He uses everyone. One of his most evil traits is his ability to find the weakness in a person and exploit it. What makes us different from him is that we learn to accept our weaknesses. He wants to erase his. That is why one day he will have nothing human left in him." The silence between them returned and Reinhardt placed his arm around her.

"It's getting cold. We should get back inside. Rosa will never forgive me if I let you catch a cold."

"Malus is out there you know. His soul is lost somewhere. He's waiting for a chance to find a body. But for now he is trapped." Carrie looked to Reinhardt. "I will free him one day."

Reinhardt nodded.

Carrie placed her hand on his chest. From it came a gentle radiance colored in a brilliant green. There was a sudden flash and then it was gone.

"Do you want to know how long?"

Reinhardt placed his arm around Carrie, "I don't need to."

"I don't need to."