Into The Shadows, page 73
Realizing that he hadn't been alone, as he had thought, he jumped in surprise, but quickly recovered himself, putting on a polite smile out of habit.
"Ah, Jane. I didn't know you were in here," he laughed nervously.
The servant's face was hard, as if she were enraged beyond what was decent for a woman of her station.
"No, I suppose you were too busy with the mistress to realize I've been standing here the entire time."
A flash of guilt etched across his features, but he feebly attempted to hide it as best he could, reaching for the handle of the door so he could escape her unforgiving scrutiny.
"Oh. Well, then… goodnight," and he made an attempt to retreat.
"Is it true?" Jane demanded of him.
Dracula stopped with a sigh before turning to face the servant.
He was caught - and he knew it. But he'd deny everything if he had to. Lying about Hera to his bride was one thing… but admitting to weakness was another.
"Is what true, Jane? I don't have time for guessing games."
"I am not some foolish and ignorant trollop, Vladislaus! Now stop acting like an impudent child and tell me if what you told Aleera is true!"
"Of course it's true!" he snapped without thinking about what he was saying.
Jane stepped back, a look of pain flashing over her features. He suddenly realized what he had just admitted to and he struggled to back-track.
"No, wait, Jane… I didn't mean that," but she interrupted him before he could even hope to explain.
"Yes you did!" she shouted at him. "How could you do this to her, master? How could you?"
"Jane, everything I just told Aleera isn't exactly all…"
"What? All true?" she challenged, a knowing look in her eyes. "I've known you long enough Vladislaus to know when you're up to something. I've known you long enough to know how conniving, vicious, self-centered, and unrepentantly evil you can be!" she screamed at him, eyes filled with disappointment. "And I allowed myself for a brief moment to believe that you had changed, that she had somehow changed you. But apparently you've gotten so good at lying that I didn't notice it when it was happening right beneath my own nose! How could you use Hera like that, master? She loves you. She loves you!"
Dracula started to lose his patience.
He hated being interrupted, and it had happened three times now in the past ten minutes! But even worse, he hated the accusations she was throwing at him. It was like being stabbed repeatedly with a hundred tiny daggers, not deep enough to kill, but enough for it hurt immensely.
"Jane," he tried again, his tone on edge, "I will speak, and you will listen…" but naturally his attempts at regaining control were pointless.
Jane was beside herself.
"How could you take advantage of her?" the housekeeper continued, so hysteric, she had forgotten her place. "How could you lie to her, misuse her trust and get her pregnant, of all things, and with that demon inside of her? You are more of a monster than I had ever imagined, Vladislaus Drăculea. I never thought I'd see the day where you'd sink as low as to seduce and take advantage of a young, impressionable human girl, a mere child who was honest in her affections and gave you everything she had! She loves you! She trusts you! And the fact that you made her believe you loved her back and then you have the… the audacity to lie to her face, to take advantage of her like some bloody, worthless…"
His eyes went black as he lost his temper and he began to advance toward the servant with promised punishment in his eyes. The room darkened considerably and the temperature dropped as consequence.
"Jane, you will be silent!" he shouted. "And you will let me explain without any more interruptions!"
But Jane wouldn't hear him.
She just pointed at the door, angry tears streaming down her face.
"You march back to her right now and tell her the truth, Vladislaus!" she demanded, overcome with the maternal instincts she had been suppressing for centuries now. "You tell Hera everything!"
Dracula towered over her now and he reached out to grab her by the throat, when…
"Tell me what?" came a voice and the two vampires turned to see Hera's rather groggy face peeking through the door from out in the hall. "What's going on?" she yawned.
She suddenly noticed the tears on Jane's face and the guilty expression in the Count's eyes and the human became concerned, sending a look over to Dracula who had calmed the instant she entered the room.
"Vlad? What's wrong?"
Dracula could do nothing but look back and forth between Hera and Jane, doing his best to ignore Jane's mental screaming in his head. He sent the servant a venomous look, promising later reprimand, before returning his attention to Hera, his countenance affectionate and serene.
"Jane wanted me to inform you," he began, but he stopped himself.
He looked deep into Hera's warm and loving eyes and felt his heart melt. He couldn't tell her. He loved her too much. Yes, a great deal of what he told Aleera had been the original plan, but it was a lie now.
Wasn't it?
But what if it wasn't?
What if his love for her was an illusion, a passing whim or fancy, his subconscious grappling with his guilt?
He knew deep down that it could not be so. He loved Hera with every fiber of his being; he just wasn't used to this, as sad as his excuse was.
Either way, he refused to be the reason for any of Hera's tears, not right now. He still had time to set things right... he would continue to bide his time. Dracula smiled and offered his hand to her, which she took without question, allowing him to lead her into his embrace as he kissed the top of her head, holding her close.
"I'm afraid I must be the bearer of some bad news," he began. "Aleera has returned with word that Verona and Velkan have been killed."
Hera didn't seem too surprised by this information, though it was clear she was still upset by it.
"Yes, I had a feeling," the woman confessed. "Though it was meant to happen, I am still sorry for your loss, Vlad. I know how much Verona meant to you."
Hera's sincerity moved him and he caressed the side of her face.
"I confess, I had felt her passing in the night, but did not wish to disturb you with the news, though I suppose it cannot be helped, now that it has indeed been confirmed. Verona will be missed, but I am grateful to have you to ease the pain of her passing, my love," he said, trying to ignore the look of complete and utter disgust that marred Jane's expression. "But I'm afraid that's not all. I fear you will not be able to attend the ball tomorrow evening."
"Why ever not?"
It was a wonder the guilt hadn't eaten him alive yet.
"Aleera has just arrived here with Anna," he explained, "and knowing Van Helsing as well as I do, he won't make the trade I have proposed: the monster for the princess. Since I must keep an eye on Anna for the duration of the evening, I won't be able to keep an eye on you – at least as well as I'd prefer. I would feel much better if you were safe in my chambers for the night, away from the rest of my kind. I don't want any of them trying to steal you away from me," he added with a slight chuckle, neither of them noticing Jane's eye-roll.
"I understand," Hera replied. "Very well, I will stay out of sight, if that is what you wish. Thank you for caring. You are too good to me, Vlad."
He kissed her tenderly in response.
"Very good. Now then, back to bed my dear. I will be with you in a moment."
Hera nodded and retreated out into the hall, offering a goodnight to Jane before disappearing.
When Hera was gone, Dracula finally found the strength to look over at his housekeeper, the woman who had known him for almost as long as he could remember. Her expression was one of utter revulsion, but she remained silent.
"You will not tell her anything, Jane," he ordered her, a pointed finger in her direction. "If anyone tells her, it shall be me. This is my mess and I will fix it when the time is right. Understand?"
Jane took a step forward and slapped him as hard as she could across the face before spitting out the words, "Yes, master," and she marched into the hall, disappearing around the corner, leaving Dracula with a physical reminder of how much he had just fucked things up pulsating on his left cheek.
The Count was getting far too tangled up in all of these lies, and it wouldn't be long before hell would break loose. He felt physically ill when he reentered his bedchambers to find Hera dozing off on his bed, the half-baked truths he had told Aleera and Jane's following reprimand still ringing in his ears.
He crawled into bed with the human, instinctively wrapping his arms around her in a semi-possessive manner as if in fear that she'd leave him. Dracula allowed her to snuggle into his chest, but when he sensed the life growing inside of her, his guilt speared and he suddenly felt ill.
What had he done?
XLVIII
Used Again
"Now that everything is… as it should be," the Count drawled, a twisted smirk of triumph on his face, "Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you… VAN HELSING!" and he raised his hands above him in the air, gesturing to the hunter and the princess standing on the balcony.
The entire crowd rushed forward, shrieking like banshees.
Anna was already moving. Turning to a nearby decorative suit of armor, she ripped the arm off, sticking her hand down the sleeve and into its metal glove, which was attached to a steel mace bristling with spikes. Van Helsing didn't know how much good the weapon would do them, but the princess had a pleased look on her face.
Apparently, she was more than willing to die, just as long as she could break the Count's face in the process. He rolled his eyes and yanked her into the hallway.
"Come on!" he yelled impatiently, pulling her into a run.
"Where are we going?" Anna asked, following him.
The hunter pointed to a huge stained-glass window depicting angels, cherubs, and saints.
"Through that window!"
"Are you out of your mind?" she shrieked. "We'll be cut to ribbons!"
"Not if you relax when you're going through it," he replied, starting to race towards the glass. At the last second, he saw something strange about one of the images: a saint who held his hand up as if to say, "Stop!"
Van Helsing's instincts were screaming and he suddenly grabbed Anna and skidded to a halt.
"My mistake: wrong window."
"How do you know?" she asked incredulously.
"Just a hunch," he replied, smelling something rank and corrupt nearby.
He pulled Anna forward, sensing that the vampires were behind them.
Soon he could hear Dracula's laugh echoing through the palace. He made a series of turns, hoping to lose the mob of vampires behind them. On instinct again, he led the princess up a set of stairs and through large double doors, the vampires still hot on their trail.
Something was off; the hunter could feel it coursing through his veins.
They weren't the only mortals in this palace. He focused his senses and could feel Anna's heartbeat beside him, Carl's was up ahead… but there were two others. Deciding not to give it any more thought for now, he motioned for the door ahead of them.
"Hurry!" he shouted as they made it through the doors.
He and Anna quickly closed and bolted it shut behind them, praying the doors would hold for at least a few seconds. Loud pounding fell upon it, and the two rushed down the corridor. A moment later, Carl raced around a corner to meet them. The friar saw Van Helsing and Anna running toward him and he held up the lava contraption from the Vatican's underground armory.
"Now I know what it's for!" Carl shouted excitedly. Then he looked to the Roman and asked, "Where are we going?"
"Through that window!" the princess and hunter shouted together.
Carl shrugged and pulled the pin on his device, placing it carefully on the floor just as his two companions grabbed hold of his arms on the run and took him through the ancient stained glass. They fell two stories and landed in something chilly… and wet.
Water, Van Helsing's mind immediately told him. It's just water.
His entire body had disappeared beneath the surface and when he came up again, he saw that Carl and Anna were nearby. The smell of the place was almost overpowering: It reeked of mold and decay.
They were in some sort of old, rotting catacomb, a dozen or so feet below ground level and surrounded by tunnels connected by paths and putrid streams. A sudden explosion of light came from the palace above them and a moment later, gouts of flesh and gore dropped all around them. The stench was terrible –and Van Helsing had thought vampires smelled bad when they were all in one piece.
"Carl, you're a genius!" he shouted happily.
The friar was looking a little worried about what he had just witnessed.
"A genius with access to very unstable chemicals."
There was more noise behind them and he realized that both his hearing and sense of smell felt as if they had intensified in power.
Strange, he thought absentmindedly.
He turned to see a long boat with Dracula's assistant, Igor, yelling commands to a dozen or so of those terrible Dwergi… and Frankenstein's monster was chained to the mast of the boat.
Despite their best efforts, they couldn't reach the monster in time and Dracula and his final bride had escaped without so much as a scratch, taking off into the night air. The anger and sense of failure ate wildly at the Roman to the point that he could hear his own voice deepening, his own skin flushing as his hand began to bear down on Carl's throat after hearing the news the friar had received from the Vatican.
As Anna tried to pry the two men apart, something screamed in Van Helsing's head.
No. No, Carl was his friend. Carl would try to help him… not betray him…
His rage ebbed, leaving him feeling ashamed as he released the friar and stared at his trembling hands. Through force of will, he got hold of himself, balling his hands into fists and exhaling deeply. The werewolf venom was giving him more than heightened senses.
The rage… the madness…
Van Helsing looked at Anna, trying to hide the fear he felt, but she could see it in him.
"It's starting," he said, but from the expression on the princess' face, he could see that she already knew. A thick tension lingered between the three of them until he decided to break it, not caring for the looks he was receiving. "We should get changed before we head back to Visceria," he muttered, moving to climb out of the rising water.
He helped pull Anna and Carl to the surface and they moved around the walls of the palace until they were able to find an entrance. With a nice kick to the door, it came crashing open and the smell that overpowered them was revolting. They had entered what looked like a kitchen, and the sight they were now witnessing as they made their way through the palace reminded Van Helsing of the catacombs of Paris, although less bones and more ash and gore.
The remains of the vampires who had met the light of Carl's contraption were scattered everywhere. It looked like a massacre and the smell was nauseating.
Anna had removed one of her gloves to cover her mouth and nose as they moved up the main flight of stairs following after the princess who led them to a room. After the chamber was secured, Carl was sent out to get their clothes that had been hidden in the cemetery as Van Helsing decided to check out the rest of the house.
He had sensed another heartbeat earlier… two to be precise…
It took him a moment to find it again, but when he did, he honed in on it, following the sound as he made his way through the dark, winding halls. Sniffing the air instinctively, he caught wind of something. A woman, and a familiar woman at that. He moved over to the wall and inhaled deeply, catching more of the scent.
"Hera," he whispered, recognizing it. He started to run through the halls, calling out the woman's name. "Hera? Hera! Hera, where are you?" he shouted, soon recalling Carl's tale of how the Count had kidnapped her - again.
The scent grew stronger and the two heartbeats grew louder as he made his way through the east wing of the palace.
"Hera!"
Finding a door at the end of a hall, he kicked it open and stopped in his tracks when he found her. She was lying in the center of an enormous bed in a loose-fitting dress, the room dark. The space reeked of a familiar man.
"Dracula," the hunter hissed as he made his way over to the bed. "Hera? Hera… wake up!"
When she wouldn't awaken, he shook her slightly.
"Hera!"
But she was still – still and silent.
He threw the covers off of her and his eyes fell upon her stomach. I don't remember her having much of a belly he thought to himself. Not thinking anything of it for the time being, he scooped her up into his arms and started to run towards the room he had left Anna in.
"Anna! Carl!"
Carl had made it back to Anna's room with their clothes by the time Van Helsing could be seen, running down the hall with an unconscious Hera in his arms.
"Van Helsing, what's going on?" Anna asked, her eyes widening when she recognized the woman he was carrying. "Hera? Oh my God, HERA! What happened to her?" she shouted.
"She's unconscious. I think I found her in Dracula's bedchambers," he explained.
"You think?"
"I don't know, Anna! Just… help me!" and he pushed his way into the bedroom, followed closely by Carl and the princess who watched as the hunter put the woman down on the bed.
"Is she breathing?" Anna asked.
Van Helsing turned Hera's head to check her neck and he grimaced.
"He bit her again… but she's still alive. I can hear her heart bea-" but then he stopped abruptly.
Both the friar and the princess watched as Van Helsing's eyes widened considerably, the man taking several steps back from the bed, shaking his head in disbelief.
"It's not possible," he whispered.
But his senses were picking up two.
Not one heartbeat, but two!
And both of them were coming from Hera.
He stared at her gently protruding stomach and crossed himself, muttering a prayer in Latin.
