Gabriel dropped his hands from my shoulders, his face turbulent.
“I know you made a promise to her, Gabriel. But I must do this. I’m doing this for our mother—for all of us. I’m finishing what she started. Please understand,” I said, my tone softening.
Gabriel’s eyes darkened and he took a step back from me.
“I have failed her,” he whispered, turning to leave the church.
“I will discuss this new plan with the others. Everyone will need to know their roles,” Radu said after Gabriel’s abrupt departure. Szabina nodded, giving me a long look before she and Radu filed out of the church.
Abe, Seward, and I were now alone. I sank back down into the pew, staring dully out of the windows which illuminated the interior of the church with the fading light of the sun. Abe and Seward were silent, but I could feel their gazes on my skin.
“If you’re going to try to change my mind—” I began, turning to face them.
“We know better,” Seward interjected, giving me a small smile. “I’m going to see what I can do to help the others. I’ll leave you alone.”
Abe lingered for a moment before following Seward, and I sat alone in the stillness of the church. I thought of my mother, Isabel Ghyslaine, the mysterious and shadowy figure from my early childhood, who had now taken on a fully formed image in my mind. She had been brave, strong, loyal, and loving. How had she managed to keep so many secrets? To know of the dark world of vampires that lurked unnoticed in the midst of humans, an invisible storm cloud that hovered above the entire world. How isolated she must have felt towards the end of her life, to bear such a secret alone. She had a brief taste of normalcy and happiness with her children and her husband, before it was snatched from her. The tragedy of her short life and death suddenly hit me with a force so strong that I keeled over in the pew, wrapping my arms around my body.
I closed my eyes against the tears that rose, sharply blinking them away. The time for tears had passed. My mother’s burden had become my own, and after years of ignorance, it was time for me to complete what Isabel Ghyslaine had set out to do with the other members of the Order of the Dragon. Destroy Vlad Alexandru Draculesti, and those that followed him.
5
Monsters And Darkness
I dashed through the thicket of trees, their branches whipping past as I hurtled by. Behind me, several vampires gave chase, rapidly closing in on me. I skidded to a stop as I reached a small clearing, where Szabina was waiting, crouched in the familiar stance of attack.
Trying to steady my breathing, I raised my kukri, but Szabina lunged forward before I could, pinning me down beneath her as she bared her elongated fangs. A strangled scream caught in my throat as she leaned in close, her fangs a mere inch from my throat.
She released me, springing back to her feet as she looked down at me with grave disappointment.
“You are dead,” she said wearily. “Mina, you are not using your instincts.”
I struggled to my feet, discouraged. Though this was just a training session, the chase had left me shaken. Szabina and the other vampires had been training me for hours now, and I could feel the heat of the midday sun penetrating the thick shade of trees, heating my flushed and sweating skin.
When I left the church the evening before, Radu and Szabina announced that training would continue the next day. I had eaten a dinner of mamaliga—a sort of porridge—and leftover vegetable stew in Szabina’s home with Abe and Seward, before Elisabeta led us to our quarters for the night. Abe and Seward stayed in one of the homes with Gabriel and two other male villagers while I stayed in Elisabeta’s home. She insisted that as the guest, I use the bedroom and waved away my protests as she left to sleep in the main room.
Despite my turbulent emotions, I managed to fall asleep quickly, with Jonathan’s photo clutched in my hand.
As I ate breakfast with the others the next morning, Radu informed us that the scouts had returned and it was time to continue preparing for the next day’s attack. He detailed the plan of penetrating the fortress, emphasizing my role as the first to approach. Multiple stunned gazes fell on me at the announcement, and I had to force myself to maintain a stoic countenance. Since I was so integral to the initial attack, Radu insisted that I train on my own and separately from the others.
I had now spent hours under Szabina’s tutelage, who trained me with several other vampires from the village. I had felt Anara’s eyes on me that morning, her expression indiscernible, but to my relief, I overheard Radu inform her that she was not to be included in my training after her actions the day before.
With Szabina and the others, I had practiced my flight on foot and on horseback, as well as warding off attacking vampires with my kukri, the stakes, and the wolfsbane. But I still felt desperately unprepared, and tears of frustration welled in my eyes as I dusted myself off.
“You do not have to do this,” Szabina said, assessing my distress. “We can find another way to enter the—””
“No,” I cut her off, wiping at my eyes. As terrified as I was, I knew that using me as bait was the best way to weaken their initial defense. “I can do it.”
“Then we need to keep training,” Szabina said. “There is no time for rest.”
She had barely completed the sentence when I was once again thrown back against a nearby tree, unable to move. She had placed me into a thrall. She crept towards me, her fangs bared and her eyes lethal, while the other hovering vampires watched in silence.
Though I knew Szabina would not harm me the way Anara had, fear stirred in me as the paralysis took hold. I concentrated on her eyes, as I had with Anara. And once again, I saw a flurry of images. It was like being an active part of a waking dream.
I was a young woman, encircled in the arms of a handsome male vampire. We were standing in a darkened forest clearing, and I felt a combination of both love and sorrow as his head dipped towards my throat, his fangs sinking into the soft flesh.
I was released from the hold, throwing out my arms to break my fall as I plummeted to the ground. Szabina stumbled back from me, her trembling hands pressed to the sides of her head. I took advantage of her disorientation to leap to my feet, my kukri outstretched, placing the blade against her neck as I evenly met her eyes. Szabina still looked out of sorts, but she gave me a small nod of approval.
“Nikolaus, Kudret,” she said, turning towards two of the hovering vampires. I recognized them as the vampires Radu had sent on the scout to the fortress. Though one was light and the other dark—Nikolaus with light brown hair and blue eyes, Kudret with dark hair and brown eyes—they could have almost been brothers, with their similar muscular builds and striking handsome features. “Please continue her training. I–I will return.”
“I would like to help,” Gabriel said quietly.
I whirled in surprise as Gabriel stepped from the cluster of trees behind us. He had not said a word to me since our row in the church yesterday, and his face was conciliatory as he approached.
“If . . . if it’s not a bother,” he added.
“No,” I said, giving him a small smile. “Not at all.”
Szabina gave him a nod as she left, and we remained in the clearing until the sun began its descent towards the horizon. Gabriel and the others trained me on how to evade attacks, practice offensive moves, and even how to disguise my scent with dirt. By the time Szabina returned to the clearing to end the training, my limbs were sore and screaming with protest.
“You have done well, Mina,” Szabina said as the other vampires began to file out of the clearing. “Sleep well tonight. You need to rest.”
I watched her file out of the clearing after the others, wondering about the images I had seen. Who was that male vampire? What was her connection to him?
“Mina,” Gabriel said, coming to stand at my side. “I want to apologize for—”
“There is no need,” I said, shaking my head. “You promised our mother you would keep me safe. I understand your concern.”
> “It is not just my promise to her. You are my only family. I worry for you as my sister. I will not try to dissuade you again, but please be careful tomorrow. Vlad, Ilona and his followers are vicious.”
“I know,” I said, though a chill swept through me at his words. “I’ll be careful. I promise.”
“Mother said you would be headstrong. I underestimated how much,” Gabriel said, his lips twitching with a wry smile as we headed back towards the village. “She said you weren’t like other little girls—you had an insatiable curiosity, an intelligence beyond your years. She seemed to know you would not have a common life.”
“Gabriel?” I asked, stopping as we reached the front gate of the village. He looked down at me with a raised brow. “How . . . how was she?”
I had been meaning to ask Gabriel about my mother, but my previous fear of him and shock at his very existence had prevented me from doing so. Even with all that Szabina had told me, I was still hungry for any knowledge about her.
“Kind. Loving. She had great humor. I remember once when I was still a boy, she came to the house to take me into town. She bought me a sweet ice and found a group of children for me to play street football with. I wasn’t often around other children. They didn’t seem to care that I looked different, and it was the most fun I’d had in quite some time. I won the first round, and when I looked over to see if Mother saw . . . there were tears in her eyes. I thought I’d done something to upset her. But when I asked her what was the matter, she assured me she was all right,” Gabriel said, looking haunted by the memory. “There were many times when she was like that. Distant. Sad. I still wonder what she was thinking about when she seemed to lose herself.”
His voice trailed off on the last word, and he turned from me to enter the gate, his body taut with renewed grief. As I watched him go, a powerful thought swept through my mind. I will avenge her for you. I will avenge her for us both.
During dinner in Szabina’s home, I ate in tense silence with Abe, Seward, and Gabriel. I had no doubt they were as nervous about the next day’s attack as I was. Radu stepped in to urge us to get as much rest as possible; we would be awoken to leave when it was still dark. Before he left, his gaze found mine and held it, as if searching for any hesitation, but I steadily returned his look.
When we were alone, Seward solemnly lifted his cup of water, looking at each one of us.
“A drink,” he said. “To killing vampires. Ah, I mean—” he faltered, his eyes straying to Gabriel, his cheeks filling with color.
“It is no bother,” Gabriel said, amused.
“To defeating evil vampires,” Abe corrected, giving Seward a rueful smile.
We lifted our cups to meet his own. As everyone drank, I set mine down.
“I wanted to thank you all,” I said. “For taking this journey with me. I was mad to think I could do this on my own.”
“You and I started this journey together, before we were even aware,” Abe replied. “Years ago, in that forest where your father was murdered. It is apropos that we shall finish it together.”
“Let’s pray we can kill those bloody things,” Seward said. “God help us if we fail.”
We headed to our quarters, Abe lingering behind to fall into step beside me as Seward and Gabriel went ahead.
“Are you well enough to fight tomorrow?” I asked, my eyes flickering down to his side with concern.
“Yes. I was quite all right during the training, the wound has healed well and I no longer feel any pain. You fret too much, Mina,” Abe replied, giving me a wry look. “I should be the one worried about you.”
“I’ll be all right,” I said hastily, looking up at the night sky that was blanketed with stars. I stopped walking, taking it in as a sudden memory assailed me.
“Remember the night rides we took with Father?” I asked. “To try and locate what specimens we could find in the dark?”
“Yes,” he replied, with a fleeting smile.
“The stars on those nights in the countryside, it was such a beautiful sight,” I mused, feeling an ache at the memory. We had not yet heard rumors of wolf attacks in the Transylvanian countryside, the tales of strigoi had seemed like superstitious nonsense, and the future was still rife with wonder and possibility. I had no idea of the monsters in our midst—the monsters I would be forced to confront.
“Many could die tomorrow, Mina,” Abe said bluntly. His words sent me careening back to the present, and I whirled to face him, taken aback by his grim words. “I could die.”
“No, Abe,” I whispered. “Do not say such things. We have a plan. It will mitigate loss of life. You are certainly not going to die tomorrow. I won’t hear of it.”
“This whole journey we have been perilously close to death—Arthur’s demise proves it. Tomorrow we will be closer to it than we ever have before. If I do die tomorrow,” he continued gravely, taking a step closer to me, his voice dropping to an intimate whisper. “Rescue your fiancé. Take him home to London, marry him, and live the life your mother wanted you to live. Away from monsters and darkness. Live in the light of the sun. After all that you have been through, I want you to be happy, Mina. Your happiness is all that I have ever wanted.”
I could tell there was something he wasn’t telling me, something that he dare not say aloud, and I suspected I knew what it was. He was studying me intently, waiting for my response—needing my promise, as Arthur had on that boat in the North Sea.
But I would not give him the promise he wanted to hear. His words stirred up dormant emotions that once again rose to the surface, only this time I did not try to suppress them. I had realized something I long suspected to be true; something I’d tried to deny for three long years. Though I loved Jonathan with all of my heart, I also loved Abe, and I could not bear the thought of losing either of them. I would ride to the ends of the earth to rescue him, just as I had with Jonathan.
“I can’t promise you that,” I said, my eyes locking with his. He paled at my response, and I continued. “Yes, I will rescue Jonathan and take him home. But if you die tomorrow… I will never be happy again. You stay alive, Abraham Van Helsing.”
6
Fortress Of Blood
The fortress was perched on a low peak of the Carpathians, the spires of its towers winding out of the fog and towards the early morning sky like a fallen angel beseeching the heavens. My hands quivered as I gripped the reins of my horse, guiding it up the precariously steep mountain path that led to the fortress’ gatehouse. I could almost feel the hesitation in the tightly coiled muscles of my horse as he clamored up the path; it was as if he somehow knew we were entering the realm of monsters.
I cast a glance back down the mountain path, towards the cluster of trees at the base where Radu, Szabina, Anara, Gabriel and the others were lying in wait.
Before we had left the fortified village, hours earlier when night still warded off the dawn, Radu had briefly ran through the plan once more. Human volunteers would willingly let Vlad’s scouts capture them, whom Nikolaus and Kudret had witnessed patrolling the outskirts of the fortress. Abe, Seward, Elisabeta, and several of the human villagers had bravely volunteered for the task. Soon after their capture, I would approach the fortress on my horse, making sure to be in full view of the watchtowers. When the gatehouse doors lifted and Vlad’s vampires inevitably came towards me, I was to turn around and ride back down the path and into the surrounding forest, where Radu and the other vampires would be waiting. Together, they would surround the attacking force and slaughter them, and we would all enter the fortress through the open gates.
Abe, Seward and the other human volunteers had left ahead of us, their clothes dirty and torn, disguised as roaming peasants. Seward had given me a warm embrace of farewell, but Abe had tactfully avoided me, not even meeting my eyes as he climbed onto his horse. When I’d hurried forward to bid him farewell, his eyes only briefly met mine and he’d given me a curt nod before he galloped away. I watched him go with a searing aguish in my chest
, silently praying that I would see him again. But I had set it aside, forcing myself to focus on the battle that lay ahead as I made my way out of the village and towards the fortress.
Our journey had been silent with foreboding. The forests had seemed to deepen and grow thicker as we drew closer to the fortress, and it truly felt as if we were leaving civilization behind and entering a dark world where nightmares were a reality.
We finally arrived at the base of the fortress as the sun began its ascent into the sky, hiding ourselves in a cluster of trees. Gabriel had dismounted and, without a word, pulled me into his arms. Though his skin bore the cold of a vampire, I felt a surprising warmth at his touch, and I leaned into his embrace. When he stepped back, his face was shadowed with worry. I suspected there was much more he wanted to say, but his words were brief.
“Be safe, sister,” he whispered.
Radu and Szabina gave me assuring nods, while Anara met my eyes with a look of detached impassiveness. I mounted my horse, leading him on a slow trot out of the forest and up the mountain path.
Now, as I made my way closer to the fortress, I could see the barbican leading towards the imposing iron gatehouse, and my pulse increased, battering away at my skin. I had no doubt that I had been seen from one of the towers, and it was only a matter of time before I was pursued. I brushed my fingers against the kukri that was tucked beneath the left sleeve of my dress, and the second one that was tucked beneath my right sleeve. There was a stake and a knife stowed in my bodice, along with a pouch of wolfsbane, which was also wound into my tight bun.
Despite my weapons, I felt great trepidation at the thought of what I would soon face, and my hands trembled even more as I gripped the reins. I forced myself to think of Jonathan, trapped somewhere inside the imposing fortress, and the thought was all I needed to urge my horse forward until we were moving in a full gallop towards the gatehouse.
The Mina Murray Series Bundle, A Dracula Retelling: Books 1-3 Page 22