Into The Shadows, page 74
"Van Helsing, what's going on?" Carl asked.
Snapping back into reality, the hunter grabbed his clothes from Carl's arms and pulled out the silver stake from among the array of his clothing.
"Van Helsing, what are you doing?" Anna shouted when he took three powerful strides across the room to Hera's bedside, raising the stake above his head. Both Anna and Carl had to seize his arm to keep him from stabbing the slumbering woman. "No! What are you doing? Van Helsing, stop it!"
"We have to kill it! We have to kill it before she gives birth!"
"Gives birth to what?" Anna yelled at him. "Are you insane?"
"She's carrying Dracula's child!"
Both Anna and Carl stopped dead in their tracks as time seemed to stand still for the three of them.
"She's pregnant," Van Helsing explained, whispering as if it made a difference.
"How- how is that possible?" the princess inquired, not willing to believe it. "Dracula can't father live children. All of his offspring are born dead – you and I saw them."
"What month was Dracula banished by your ancestor? Valerious the Elder?" Carl suddenly inquired.
"What? What does that have to do with anything? Carl, Hera is pregnant with Dracula's child! This isn't the time for…"
"What date, Anna? Surely you must know!" the friar interrupted.
"I… I don't know! The last week in October, maybe? I can't remember the exact date. But it was in the last week of…" her voice trailed off when she started to draw the connection.
"It's his anniversary," Carl replied.
"His what?" the hunter asked incredulously.
"The anniversary of his birth… Dracula's birth as a vampire. Or rather the completion of his transition. I remember reading something about its significance…"
"What's going on?" a small voice asked from behind and the three turned to see Hera had awakened. She rubbed her head and groaned as she sat up. "What happened?"
No one answered.
All they could do was stare at her, unsure of what to think. When her vision finally cleared up a bit, she turned her head to see the trio.
"What are you doing here? What's going on? Where am I?"
"You're safe," was Carl's answer. "For now anyway."
"What do you mean I'm safe? When was I in danger?"
"The moment you threw yourself into the clutches of Dracula," Van Helsing answered bitterly. "I see you've gotten what you wanted, Miss Garret."
"What are you talking about?" she asked, genuinely confused by his thinly veiled anger. "I… I don't understand."
"Tell me, what is it like to be the whore of the devil? Are you proud of the life that is growing inside of you?"
"Van Helsing," Anna chastised softly, but he ignored her, finally seeing where Hera's allegiances had always resided.
"Van Helsing, what are you talking about?" Hera asked, a new-found sense of dread tightening in her chest as she sat on the edge of the bed, watching as he paced madly across the floor, sending her some of the nastiest looks she had ever received.
The whore of the devil? Proud of the life growing inside her?What was that supposed to mean?
"You can't honestly look me in the face and tell me you don't know," he snapped at her.
"I'm being completely honest with you, Gabriel; I have no fucking clue what you're talking about!" Hera nearly shouted, starting to get angry with him.
But considering the strain the Roman had been under, he snapped, giving Hera the loudest and rudest wake-up call she'd ever be given.
"You're carrying Dracula's child!" the hunter suddenly shouted at her. "You slept with him, the son of the devil himself, and you let that demon seed germinate inside of you!"
Hera's eyes widened considerably, taken aback by the sudden piece of information.
"W-what?" she stammered. "That's… that's not p-possible."
"Oh really? Then explain why I can hear two heartbeats coming from you! Explain why you are saturated in his stench, why his bastard child thrives in your womb! You…" and he raised his hand to back-hand her, but Anna caught him before he could get too far.
"Van Helsing that is enough!" Anna shouted.
"That woman has lied to you, Anna," he replied, getting in Anna's face and pointing in Hera's direction, filled with self-righteous indignation and disgust. "She has deceived your family, used your brother. She got him killed! She is undoubtedly the reason why he had to work for Dracula in the first place. She probably even knew about your father's death and didn't bother tell you. I wouldn't be surprised if she's been sleeping with your family's enemy for months now! You cannot trust her!"
Anna looked between Hera and the hunter, genuinely torn as her emotions started to get the better of her.
It was clear that the present evidence was not in Hera's favor and although Anna wanted desperately to believe that this was all a misunderstanding, Van Helsing's argument was compelling. But she would not condemn her friend when they didn't have all the details – not after everything they had been through.
"Van Helsing, there must be a reason," she began, but the hunter interrupted her, throwing his hands up into the air.
"I can't believe this! You actuallybelieve all that rubbish she's thrown at you? Anna, she could have been hand-feeding Dracula information about you for months!"
"That's not true, I never did that!" Hera exclaimed, tears streaming down her face. "And I didn't use Velkan, he used me! Dracula told me the truth from the beginning! He has always told me nothing but the truth!"
The Roman fell silent as he glanced over at Hera as if he had just had an epiphany.
The expression on her countenance softened him and with a deep breath, he got control over his temper.
"Velkan wasn't using you, Hera," he suddenly explained. "The Count was."
Hera shook her head, refusing to believe.
"No… no that's not true. He wouldn't. I know he was taking advantage of me in the beginning because he told me he was, but things changed. He loves me, Gabriel. He's not the same as he was before…"
But Van Helsing just shook his head once more.
"He lied to you, Hera," he answered solemnly. "He's been taking advantage of you the entire time. He made you believe Velkan was using you and now you're carrying his bastard child, which – knowing how monstrous he is – was probably part of the plan the entire time. It was all a lie, Hera. He's a villain. He never meant any of it."
Hera's vision blurred as her eyes prickled.
She didn't want to believe it, but how could she do otherwise? Dracula was gone and without a word of explanation or any indication that he had plans to return. He had left her here in Budapest – unguarded and alone. He had his monster and it was like she didn't matter anymore. But she couldn't believe it – for if it was indeed true… she couldn't even finish the thought.
"No, that's not true."
"Actually, it could very well be," Carl chimed in. "If history and legend proves to be right, this last week, Dracula has been experiencing… well, fertility. It's part of his curse. I remember reading about it in one of your ancestor's journals," he replied, glancing over at Anna. "Every hundred years during the week of his anniversary, one day of that week he experiences a very powerful needing… like a female in heat, only he's a man and he needs a woman, and…"
"Carl…" Anna and Van Helsing said at once.
"Right. Well, during that specific time, he lets out a very potent scent, like animals do when trying to attract a mate. Only this is a scent that entices human women instead of vampires. He must have intercourse with a physically and emotionally willing mortal woman – there must be no use of force or coercion on his part, and if he does this and if the conditions are right, he can get her pregnant. Although the child the woman will carry is no ordinary human child. It's a special breed of vampire, a vampire immune to sunlight, silver… everything. Some of your ancestors, Anna, even believed it to be the anti-Christ, the spawn of the devil, far worse than the likes of Dracula. Even if we somehow killed the Count, this offspring would continue to flourish unless physically destroyed in its early hours of life," he explained before glancing over at Hera who looked three shades paler.
"Hera, I know this is a very sensitive and personal question, but have you been… intimate with Dracula during the past week? Even before he brought you here?"
Her silence and the expression on her face told them everything.
She was positively ashen with guilt.
"Yes…" she whispered inaudibly, shame in her eyes. "Yes I did. But it was after he brought me here."
"Do you remember smelling anything during any of your encounters with him?" Carl then inquired, grabbing her hands which felt so much colder than he ever remembered them being.
Pitiful tears tumbled down her face as the realization came to her.
She felt disgusted with herself, humiliated, jaded, filthy… used.
"Yes," she cried softly. "I remember. That night Jane, the housekeeper, had told me that he had insisted I not disturb him while he worked… and then… then he came. I didn't know what I was doing, Carl! I didn't know!" she sobbed, covering her mouth with one of her hands as she cried. "He must not have known! He wouldn't do that to me… he wouldn't…"
Van Helsing grabbed Hera's hands, which were now shielding her face, and he forced them down, pulling her to stand so she'd look into his eyes.
"He knew what he was doing, Hera," he said firmly. "He knew the entire time."
"But he ordered for me to stay away from him earlier that evening! He didn't want to do it to me! It's not his fault! He just wasn't strong enough! I should have pushed him away… but I didn't know! I couldn't help it! This isn't his fault!"
"Yes it is, Hera!" he said a bit louder, shaking her slightly as she continued to sob. "He used you. He used you, Hera. He knew what he was doing the whole time."
"No."
"He knew you would trust him."
"Please, stop!"
"He knew he could use your good impression of him and twist it. He took advantage of you, Hera!"
"Stop it, please! No more! NO MORE!" she bawled, her heart breaking with every harsh truth. "No, no, no… It's not true! It's not true! Oh God, why…" and she fell into Van Helsing's arms, sobbing, not willing to believe.
But it all made sense.
And the sudden movement she felt within her womb made the reality harsher.
"Yes it is true," a weak voice whispered from the doorway.
The company turned to see Jane, badly burned on the floor in the doorway, her body slowly turning to ash as she crawled into the room.
Carl's device apparently got to everyone; even the servants Hera had grown to love.
The young woman pushed herself out of the hunter's arms and quickly moved over to the disintegrating vampire, falling to her knees beside the woman and cradling her head on her lap.
"The hunter is telling the truth. The master did use you. He admitted to it last night," Jane explained weakly. Hera's tears continued to fall down her face in despair. "He told Aleera. He forbade me to tell you, but you… you have the right to know, to see…" and she held up her hand.
Clasped in her palm was a small vial filled with a liquid that looked like blood. Jane held it up for Hera, and the mortal took it hesitantly.
"Drink it, child," Jane rasped. "Drink it and know the truth. I thought the master truly did love you. I thought you had changed him, I really did. But it would appear his hatred runs too deep. Ilona did that to him. There was nothing you could have done to help him, to save him."
"Why did he do it, Jane? Why?"
Jane touched the human's face tenderly, brushing away a tear as the lower half of her body turned to ash, the rest of her burns eating away at her flesh.
"Ilona created an ugly black in his soul. He's been at war with the world and has loathed and mistreated our sex ever since. But it's not your fault, Miss Garret," she whispered as the rest of her body disintegrated. "It's not your fault… He used us all," and with those last words, Jane's soul slipped away as the rest of her body was consumed and then she was gone.
Hera could hardly see through her tears as she stood up eventually, brushing the ash off her dress. Her hands then ran slowly over her slightly protruding stomach, a twinge of pain and revulsion furrowing her brow at the mere sight of it. She started to move towards the door when Van Helsing called out to her.
"Where are you going?"
"I need to make a decision," she answered quietly, turning to look back at him. She then glanced down at the small vial of blood.
"What decision?"
"Of whether or not I should help you," she whispered. "I'll be back; I promise," and she exited from the room.
XLIX
Retribution, the Villain, & Self-Sacrifice
Part I
The trio were seated at the foot of the stairs in the foyer, waiting for what felt like an age for Hera to come down. She had been locked away in one of the bedrooms for at least an hour, the rest of the Vilkova palace as dead as a doornail – in a literal and figurative sense.
Everyone was dressed and dry; they had a carriage out front that was ready to go.
All they needed was Hera.
Anna leaned forward, her elbows resting on her knees as she counted the tiles on the floor for the third time. There was a very awkward silence between them all, everyone lost in their own thoughts.
"Perhaps one of us should go up and look for her, make sure she's alright?" Carl offered, not exactly enjoying the tension.
"There's no need Carl," came Hera's voice from the top of the stairs. "I'm right here… and I'll be fine."
Anna stood up from her spot on the stairs and the company all turned to look up at the woman descending. Hera had changed out of the dress she had been put in, into a pair of stretchy black trousers, similar to the ones Anna was wearing, coupled with a loose blouse, and a heavy coat that fell to the back of her knees.
Van Helsing cleared his throat.
"So, have you made your decision?" he inquired, deciding they had wasted enough time.
Hera managed a smile.
"Thank you for your concern, Mr. Van Helsing. I'm fabulous," she replied sarcastically. The hunter rolled his eyes and sent her a look. "You truly are an impatient one."
"Surprisingly enough, I'm only impatient when I'm around you," he smirked.
Hera managed a chuckle, though her eyes were utterly lifeless.
"Yes, I'm sure." She then glanced over at Anna. "I'll help you," she said softly. "And I'm sorry it took me so long to choose a side. I realize now that it was inevitable, and I'm sorry for what I've put you through. I hope you can forgive me."
Then her attention returned to Van Helsing.
"I am willing to make up for what I have done, however. Jane was telling the truth. Dracula was using me. After the things I heard and saw from Jane's memory, I realize now that despite what my heart pleads, this must be done. He needs to be stopped, and only you, Gabriel, can destroy him," and she reached out and pressed her two fingers against his werewolf bite, which she shouldn't have known about, but she did all the same.
"It's in your blood," she said, hoping he would get the hint.
Naturally, he didn't and she decided not to push it. She'd have time to shove all the answers into his face later. But in the meantime, she had a score to settle with a certain backstabbing vampire.
She had shed enough tears on his behalf.
Hera would have her revenge… even if it killed her.
"So you'll tell us where Castle Dracula is?" Anna asked.
Hera's expression turned hard and cold.
"Oh, I'll do better than that," she replied. "I'll show you."
The next few days grew darker and colder as the carriage made its way through the Transylvanian countryside, winding down forest paths and over the untamed Carpathian Mountains. The sky was always overcast, as if even the earth itself was aware of what was to transpire.
Locks of Hera's hair hung idly in her face as she stared intently at the passing landscape. She sensed the friar's gaze upon her, but said nothing.
She hardly ate.
She rarely slept.
All she could do was stare at the thick, ominous forest with despair.
Dracula was all over these woods – his presence, his mark. He ruled these lands, had for centuries and try as she might, Hera was incapable of thinking about anything else. Every time she closed her eyes she saw him—the memory Jane had given her after she passed away.
The things he had said, the way he had touched Aleera, the truth and conviction in his voice. It stung bitterly, more so than any other betrayal she had experienced before. She had given her soul to him, and in return for her love and devotion, he lied to her.
He used her.
And as far as she knew, he had left her to die.
If it hadn't been for Van Helsing, she still would have been in the Vilkova Palace, unconscious and alone, left under his spell until he would return to retrieve the bastard child in her womb.
Hera's heart shattered to pieces at the thought of the Count holding some demon infant in his arms as his final bride closed in, fangs barred, claws ready. She brushed a stray tear roughly from her cheek as she continued to stare out the window.
"Hera?"
The woman never turned her head to acknowledge Carl's call. She only continued to stare bitterly in front of her.
"Hera, are you sure you're going to be alright?"
"I'm fine, Carl," Hera answered stoically.
"You should eat something," he insisted. "Or at least try and get some rest. You've hardly slept since…"
"I don't need your sympathies, monk! Just leave me alone!" Hera snapped icily at him, her outburst taking him by surprise.
"Friar," he corrected under his breath after a moment, breaking the tense silence.
Hera rolled her eyes and hugged her arms more fiercely around her body, trying to ward off the cold.
Lucky Anna was out steering the carriage with Van Helsing, which left Carl to sit with the hormonal pregnant woman who had a short fuse and a melancholy droop in her eyes. He sighed heavily as he leaned back into his seat, his attention diverting to Hera after a moment or two of silence.
