Van Helsing's Sister, Dracula's Bride

Muffled voices reach my ears, sounding so far away yet so close. I want to groan, to give some sign I'm still alive but my body feels as if it is made of stone. The voices swirl around me, reminding me of dancers. Dancing….A masquerade ball….Vampires….Am I still there, in Dracula's summer palace? No, my brother's voice is among the others; where am I then? Was everything that had happened just a dream? Will I wake up and find my brother holding a plate of bacon under my nose and laugh when I take it from him? A sudden pain starts in my head and the voices get louder, closer.

My eyes open as I cough up water. "I told you that would work," a woman shouts. I groan, realizing that everything had indeed happened; the woman is Princess Anna and I bet I won't get any bacon for a while still. "Are you alright, Mari?" I just nod, closing my eyes again.

This is awful! I just want to go home! Isaiah sits beside me on a lavish bed, gently rubbing his thumb across my cheek. I smile at him, enjoying his warmth. Carl rushes into the room with blankets piled in his arms, breathing hard. Van takes the blankets from him and covers me up with them. "I'm sorry, Mari, I didn't mean to hurt you," he says quietly.

"I know, Van, it is fine." He looks ready to protest, but smack the back of his head. "Now we're even, so shut up about it." He chuckles, kissing my forehead and forcing Isaiah off the bed all in one move.

Carl smirks, his arms crossed as he looks at Isaiah, who's picking himself up from the floor. "Did anyone find out how to kill Count Chocula while I was sleeping?" They all give me a look as if to say 'Are you stupid or something?' "Uh, I'll take the silence as a 'no.'"

"Of course we didn't," Carl says incredulously," we were too busy trying to get you to wake up….Well, I found out how to stop Anna and Van Helsing's arguing for a bit," he adds smugly. Van raises an eyebrow at his friend and Carl just shrugs.

"What'd you do?"

"I pointed out the window and yelled 'the flying monkeys are attacking again!'" I laugh, nearly falling off the bed.

"I gotta remember that one, especially when these two get married." Van Helsing and Anna give me identical looks of disbelief. "What, it always happens in books! The handsome hero falls in love with the pretty woman he's supposed to protect."

I get more disbelieving looks from the two of them. "Really guys, you've got to start reading; that even happens in children's stories!"

"It may happen in books," Van starts.

"But it will NEVER happen in real life," Anna finishes.

"You see," I shout, waving my hand in their direction," you guys even finish each other's sentences! You were made for each other!" Carl puts a hand over my mouth.

"Don't dig yourself any deeper, let's go to the library." I pull back the covers to find I'm in one of my normal dresses, thank you whoever changed me! We walk out of the cramped room and to the Valerious' extensive library. "I knew you'd like this room very much." I kiss his cheek, not noticing his blush, and begin to explore, taking book after book off the shelves and settling in a comfortable armchair to read. I guess I'd fallen asleep because the next thing I know, Carl's excited shouts force me to come back to reality.

"….he left clues, so that future generations might do it for him!"

"That must be what my father was looking for," Anna says," clues to the doors location!" I stand up, placing the book I was reading on a small side table and walk over where Van Helsing was standing in front of a large painting of Transylvania. I should talk Carl into making me one of these! Carl looks over at me, as if sensing what I was thinking and says," No, make one yourself."

"You said your father spent hours staring at this painting," my brother interrupts," trying to find Dracula's lair; I think he was right. Quite literally, I think this is the door, he just didn't know how to open it!"

"Of course, what better place to hide something than the place no one thinks to look at and even if they did look, how would you open a painting," I smile.

"Look," Carl points," it's a Latin inscription, maybe it works like that painting in the tower." Painting in the tower? Isaiah and I look at each other, shrug, and turn back to the large painting of a map that takes up most of a wall.

"If this were a door my father would have opened it long ago," Anna says impatiently, wanting to get moving again.

"Sorry, Princess," I say smugly," your old man was missing a very important piece of the puzzle that Van here just so happens to have." My brother takes out the roll of torn script and hands it to Carl, who continues to read.

"In the name of God," Van Helsing half mumbles," open this door." The painting melts away to reveal a mirror; why is there a mirror, I mean, honestly, who comes up with this crap?