Disclaimer:

These
aren’t my characters. Oh, but you should know that already! This is
fan-fiction, isn’t it? on ton the right site? :: pokes at the screen, looking
at her readers, if she has any ::

Opening Summary:

(Anna!smush ending = nonexistent in
this fic) Count Dracula has been defeated, and Gabriel Van Helsing restored to
his true self by Anna Valerious. Anna and Gabriel return to Vaseria for a
little while, and Carl leaves for Rome. Gabriel receives word from Rome of a pagan
sorceress who is threatening a country just northwest of Transylvania—Hungary,
because of a land dispute. Anna volunteers to investigate with him and he
reluctantly accepts, but is very wary of his decision, especially when just
before their travels, a devastating blizzard hits the lands. The sexual tension
grows immensely in their journey and arguments erupt, revealing the bitter side
of Anna Valerious. But Gabriel Van Helsing is still very much a man of mystery,
and ever searching for his past in what seems to be his eternal quest. Yet the
longing between Anna and Gabriel amounts to a torrid relationship full of
trials and discoveries, and maybe even eventual damnation in the end.

Rating:
NC-17 (for sexual content)

Chapter One: Anna’s Log

I have lost track of the days. Everything passed in such a
whir that it is difficult for me to see what has truly been happening.
Everything is all so confusing, but I will do my best to document us. It is of
Valerious nature to write things down. Maybe if I survive everything, someday
this book will be among the documents in my library at home.

My hopes of my brother’s survival have been demolished. The
day he had fallen off the cliff, which now seems so long ago, was the last I
would see of him before he would submit to darkness. And then in those last
fatal days of his werewolf form, he chased us down and Van Helsing finished the
job. I still remain torn over the matters. Dracula had a cure for his disease,
though we hadn’t known it at the time. This matter drives me to tears so I
shall continue onto other things.

Everything else just seemed so nightmarish that I was almost
willing to die, if only to be rid of them. It all passed in a whizzing blur
until I had fled Van Helsing in Dracula’s castle in his werewolf form. I had,
with some difficulty, managed to jab him with the antidote but he was not
sedated for several minutes and I struggled to hold him off until then. I
didn’t make out too badly. My arm got a little scratched up, but it has fast
been healing by now. Gabriel seems to have recovered rather quickly from the incident,
but I am guessing that the full moon may still have a strong effect on him.
Well, not to say it will make him change into a werewolf again, but I have
reason to believe he will not be himself when the moon turns full again.

From Dracula’s fortress, we returned to Vaseria where
se
sent himself off back to Rome, and Gabriel insisted upon staying with me. If
Rome called for him, he would return there with claims to looking for the
Frankenstein monster. It made me smile to think of Gabriel creating excuses to
stay in Vaseria with me. But something told me there was something else behind
this. He had mentioned something about Dracula knowing things about him. I
think maybe some of his history could have been here and he was still set on
finding it. I did notice he was spending a lot of time in the library, but I
was rather busy with city affairs. When everything seemed about ready to turn
back to something that could be called “normal,” Van Helsing got a letter from
Rome.

I will do my best to describe it here, for the entire thing
was in Italian and specifically for Gabriel, but I will summarize the
translation he gave me. The Vatican had apparently received word of a ‘pagan
sorceress’ dwelling in these lands that was potentially dangerous to the harmony
of the people. There had been rumors of her disruptions among towns surrounding
Budapest, and something about her cursing the Hungarian government with the
statement that she would plague them until they her her certain property
rights.

The letter was accompanied by a rather extensive account of
her family history. She was apparently a long-lost daughter of some relatives
of a long lost line of royalty by the name of Zapolya. She claimed that she had
property rights to a large section of nationally conserved land just outside of
Budapest. It was home to about three or four historical castles that had been
renovated for research purposes. All were built some time in the 1300s and
1400s. The value of her claims amounted to some ridiculous sum of money, and
now there were disputes occurring that suggested she was a fake. Zapolya Lehel,
she called herself (Hungarians put their surname before their first name). But
there was also some sketchy evidence presented against her.

She supposedly had a history in the scene of crime, and
strangely enough, seemed to have done some dealing with Vladislaus Dragulia.
But her claims had not been voiced until just after his death, and even so, it
was reported that it was done in a manner of panic. Come to find out, the estates
she claimed to have inherited, had long been owned by a family known as the
Lugosis, but the great scandal behind this was that no one was actually living
in the estates. The Lugosis had ‘generously’ donated the land and the houses to
Hungary, and then no one heard from them again. After some intensive research
at the Vatican, it was discovered that the Lugosi family was a complete
falsehood and the estates had actually been owned by Vladislaus Dracula. He
merely changed family names every six to eight decades to cover his tracks.

Also, there was mention of a royal heirloom scam, which
involved the larceny of items from all over Eastern Europe. Though there was no
evidence saying she had directly been involved, there was evidence that she had
been in the areas of the pilfered items at the time of their disappearance.
There were also transcripts of her dealings with Dracula. A lot of them
involved the transport of items, or e bae bank withdrawals and deposits. All of
it was very scandalous material. Regardless, we were to go investigate her
claims and stop her from causing any enormous problems. The Vatican seemed to
have it in mind that this woman was psychotic enough to seek the domination of
Eastern Europe, and maybe one day the entire world.

Enclosed in this package of a letter were also some
documents that incited some pagan rituals gone-wrong that this woman was
associated with. There were some nasty offences including grave robbery and
blood sacrifices. As the years grew later on the timelines, the offences grew
worse. But no one seemed to know exactly where this woman was, for she
contacted only through letters. This was going to be a difficult circumstance
indeed.

Surprisingly they did not ask why he had not returned to
Rome, but he packed up his bags immediately, readying to leave. That is when I
volunteered to travel with him. My excuse was that I would know this area
better than he did. Yet, he was terribly reluctant to take my offer. He kept
saying it wasn’t safe, and he didn’t wish to drag me into something that did
not involve me. I however, proceeded to remind him that it was better if people
traveled in pairs, and not solo. After a brief period of arguments, he decided
I could go with him, but he explained that he was going to be watching my every
move like a hawk.

So he didn’t trust me? Was this it? The thoughts festered
within me for quite some time, but I didn’t dare voice them just yet. I was
obviously hurt by the fact that he didn’t seem to understand I could fend for
myself. Perhaps after all that had happened, and the fact that he had killed my
brother, he felt that he was officially in charge of protecting me. I needed no
protection. I had long done so myself, and would continue to, as long as I
lived.

The day before we were supposed to leave, we received word
that a blizzard had settled over Hungary and was literally devastating the
country. We were forced to stay in Vaseria for a few more days, until the tail
end of the storm hit us. It left us with a wonderful (and I mean this sarcastically)
blanket of snow to look forward to tromping through. Gabriel seemed very
suspicious about the snowstorm, saying that the circumstances were all too coincidental.
I didn’t really understand what he meant by this, however. It was winter in these
lands, and blizzards were expecting. He seemed to think it had something to do
with the ‘pagan sorceress.’

When we did start out, the conditions were frigid. It was
obviously going to be a very harsh winter in Eastern Europe. Still Gabriel was
incredibly suspicious about all of this, and I saw him slipping charms into his
sweater. I had to roll my eyes a bit. The destruction of Dracula had somewhat
lessened my superstitions for some reason. Dracula had to me, represented all
the evil in the world. And now that he was gone, I felt almost invincible, even
though Gabriel had done the actual slaying.

The first day of our travel was spent in a somewhat morbid
silence. I think both of us were more concentrated on trying to plow through
the expanse of snow ahead of and and by evening, we were both feeling
exhausted. When we were ready to fall asleep, we couldn’t find a city and so it
ended up that we had to bring out the blankets and snuggle up together to keep
ourselves warm. Luckily, the horses were very used to the cold so it didn’t
seem to bother them.

The situation was most amusing in many respects. First of
all, it was a bit awkward when I started thinking about old Romanian beliefs
about couples and marriage and things of that nature. This, by all means,
looked like a completely sinful thing to passers-by. In fact, it was completely
innocent and practical in nature. However, even Gabriel felt the need to joke
about it.

“It’s good that we’re probably the only people crazy enough
to be traveling in these weather conditions,” said Gabriel, “If anyone saw us,
they might go off and ruin your reputation with rumors.” I laughed slightly,
nestling a little uncomfortably into the crook of his arms. The situation, like
I said, was just awkward.

“At least horses don’t talk,” I said, “Otherwise, we’d have
been doomed long a Gab Gabriel grinned and then all went silent for a moment as
he suddenly caught my eyes with his. The expression in his eyes was absolutely
heart wrenching, and I felt myself close up immediately. Any things like this
frightened me. Love in general, frightened me. “I want to talk about when I
kissed you, back at Dracula’s Fortress,” he suddenly said. I blushed. I could
feel it.

“What about it? “ I said quietly, my eyes going dark. I
never wanted to indulge in these matters, never mind discuss them afterwards.

“You were so…” His eyebrows appeared to knit together in
thought as he looked at me again, his expression completely intense.
“Beautifund pnd panicked…”

“Beautiful and panicked,” I repeated, my own expression
going blank on him. “Are these the only reasons you kissed me?” I tried not to
sound angry, but that was a little disappointing. He kissed me because I looked
beautiful and panicked.

“No, Anna,” he fumbled, staring at me still, “It felt so
good… it felt so right… I was scared too. I was scared that I was never going
to be myself again, and scared that I was going to lose you. We got lucky.”

“You have too many duties to tend to, Gabriel,” I said,
“Forget about the kiss. It is in the past. You have many things to look for in
life, and I am not one of them.” He looked immeasurably hurt, and I think I
even hurt myself with those words. He bit his lip, holding it in apparently. I
held it in too.

“Good night, Anna,” he said through a voice that broke my
heart in two. I didn’t even respond. I was terrified and angry… even
disappointed in myself. I was seriously lacking communication skills. But I was
far too exhausted to defend my points, and I dozed off soundly in his arms.
However, the events still lingered on the edges of my dreams and this put me in
a terrible mood the next day.

He didn’t say a word to me when I woke up, but hd bed been
polite enough to await my awakening before getting up. We each consumed
something small for breakfast, giving each other rather pained glances as we
did so, before we mounted our horses and started off again.

After a while, we were quite accustomed to riding in the
snow, so Gabriel quietly inquired, “Anna, do you still hate me for killing your
brother?”

“Yes,” I answered, not looking at him, and not even
hesitating to think about it. Of course I was still angry about that. Velkan
had been my last family member and we had discovered shortly after that there
was a cure.

“Anna…”

“It’s Miss Valerious,” I retorted, staring straight ahead. I
then felt that slowly seeping sensation that you feel after you’ve said
something you didn’t really mean. Guilt. “Anu wou would do well to remember,
Mister Van Helsing, that I am Princess Anna Valerious of Vaseria. I am royalty,
and I expect to be treated as such.” I could practically hear my defiance
ringing in the air, and I think Van Helsing was staring at me rather
incredulously. Still, he was biting back his comments.

“Very well, Miss Valerious,” he answered with a bit of
restraint, “Then you best remember that I am Mister Gabriel Van Helsing, and
while I may not be royalty, I deal death in spades.”

“Is that a threat?” I asked pointedly, turning to glare at
him. The expression on his face was completely serious. He had to be mocking
me. “I know this country better than you do. Don’t make me ride off withouu
tu
to leave you here in the midst of the woods!”

“I have a good sense of direction, that wouldn’t bother me,”
Answered Van Helsing with a bit of contempt playing on his voice. His eyes
glinted with a cold fire in the dim winter sun. I was frustrated and fast
running out of clever comebacks.

“How could you have a good sense of direction? You don’t
even know who you are!” I retorted, my eyes grazing the path ahead. He was
silent and out of the corner of my eye, I saw his head bow slightly as he bit
his lip. I had just crossed the line. I coueel eel the tension.

s Vas Valerious… that was a bit uncalled for,” he said
quietly.

“You asked for it,” I said coldly. I heard him take a deep
breath.

“I thought I loved you, Anna,” he almost whispered, “Now I’m
not so sure.”

“There’s nothing to love,” I responded, “And I t bet believe
in the word. I’ve seen too many horrible things in the world to believe in
something so wonderful. I can only trust what my family has left me, and the
possibility that my duties still lie somewhere on this earth.”

“Anna—“ I glared at him and he quickly corrected himself,
trying not to choke, “Miss Valerious… I can hardly believe what you are now
saying.”

“Well I believe every damn word I say, Mister Van Helsing,”
I answered defiantly. I was hopeless, I thought miserably. I just kept sinking
myself into deeper water, and it was starting to freeze at the surface…

“Imagine, Miss Valerious, if you were lying to yourself.
Every day you were living was a lie. Where then, would you stand?” He asked in
a dead voice. God I was so selfish. I would have apologized for everything
right then and there, but I refused to admit that I was wrong to him. Not after
some of the things he was saying in response. “So you’ve believed in lies, all
of your life?” His voice sliced through my thoughts.

“No,” I responded bluntly, “I’ve believed in facts. Things I
could prove. Things I could trust. Basing one’s life on feelings is folly. I
refuse to become so weak that I rely on my bare emotions to support me.”

“You are starting to sound like Dracula,” Van Helsing
pointed out.

“Well, he’s a long distance relative of mine so perhaps it’s
an awakened recessive gene,” I said sarcastically. I was fast collapsing in on
myself. This was so me, and so not me. It was me in the respect that I needed a
defensive way to hide myself, but the coldness of my remarks was almost
sickening.

“Fine, be that way,” Van Helsing growled. He was completely
frustrated with me. I could tell by the tone of his voice. I almost wanted to
shoot myself. I had just hurt him immeasurably, and there was no telling what
the future impact of my remarks would be on our ‘relationship.’

The rest of the day, we traveled in a tense silence. I was
caught on some type of edge in which I wanted to apologize or I wanted to
continue the argument until I had completely ripped apart my chances of being
with him. He was being almost too patient with me, and I found this annoying to
a certain extent. My wild side had taken me over, and now I was locked behind
steel walls that could not be forced away. By evening, Budapest was in sight.
And the privacy of a room to myself never looked more comforting.