A/N-- I. Hate. That. Last. Chapter. With. A. Passion. But apparently you people don't... Oh well!
well, here it is. The last chapter. A sequel is up in the air, JSYK. Well, I'm not going to say much.... just do my review responses and leave it at that.
marrokinhas- The best? Wow. That's lofty praise! Thank you!
Oh don't worry, there's plenty o' romance in this chappie! And a sequel has a high chance of being written!
Cryptkeeper()- Ya know, that's probably what I'll do. The first chapter is pretty much written in my head along with the basic plot. I'll just bug you people... LOL.
hollyberries230- Yea, that's what Cryptkeeper meant, i think. I kept trying to get Anna hurt, but I end up hurting Van Helsing! Maybe I'm afraid of killing Anna again... LOL.
sweetdeath04- Heh, I was shocked too when I read my own chapter... that ending was completely unexpected, even for me!!!! You'll see about Carl after this.
Anthem82()- How could you stand reading that chapter, yet alone like it?! I hope Van Helsing doesn't die either... I thought I had this planned out, but it appears I am still at the mercy of my muses.... --sigh--
HyperCaz- LOL, I'd heard your new word before... on your VH fic... WHICH YOU NEED TO UPDATE!! LOL, sorry, I miss reading it...
Yea, you Aussies are so damn lucky! All the good actors are either from there or from England! All America's got is Brendan Fraser... BUT HA! YOU GUYS STILL HAVE TO GO TO HISTORY!!! And I don't anymore, cuz I'm outta school! BWA HA HA HA HA!
HealerAriel- WOOH! Martial Artists rock! I do Kung Fu....
Heh, he might be okay...... on some level.... LOL.....
Ragweed- Yes, I hate it when my muses go on a hostile take over!!! It was Carl the Stuffed Purple Dog this time. Grrr...
O-o you read my story in two days? Wow. LOL! Poor Dracula.... I had one reviewer incessantly snuggling Gabriel-
Gabriel: Don't even bring it up!! if you do, she might start doing it again!
Verona: Hey, you're busy falling off a cliff right now!! Go back to your job!
Gabriel: --mumble, mumble--
Verona: ANYWAYS! And now I have another reviewer treating Dracula badly!! Oh well, it's a great story, so I'm gonna have to let her get away with it.
Everything gets wrapped up in this chapter... Carl, the Gabriel/Anna... and the mystery voice Van Helsing has been hearing all this time is revealed... So sit beack, relax, and enjoy it.
Chapter 23:
The Banishing of Demons
Strangely, he felt nothing. He was nothing, it seemed. Nothing but that black and those hideous things that crept around him with gleaming eyes and snarling smiles. They were mistakes and faults, crimes even, he could see. And mixed in were huge fears and suffocating guilt. But were all these his? Could one man have that many demons haunting him? Memories of murdering both his best friends, not having a past, losing both loves of his life? Lies that still chased him? And could one man change time...? He did not know. He tried for some time to figure it out, then gave in. It didn't matter all that much, at the end. He had been tried and weighed and he was nothing. He was just going to float now, down the lazy river of blackness, and wander....
But this wasn't the end, the fresh wave of agony reminded him.
Van Helsing sat bolt upright, or tried too. His stomach screamed at him and sent him flying back down onto his back, which wasn't a much better position. He almost cried out at the wretched pain all across his front and flirted with unconsciousness for a moment.
"I'm so sorry!" cried a familiar voice. He turned his head and managed to pry his eyes open, seeing that the speaker was a woman with curly brown hair, pale skin and a thick accent. He knew that face...
"Anna?" He asked through labored breaths.
"Yes, yes its me." She smiled sadly, her hand brushing his hair off his sweaty forehead. "I'm so sorry I hurt you, I'm no good for changing the bandages the doctor put on."
"Wh-what?" He asked slowly.
"You fell on the mountain, remember?" She asked. "You were walking and the snow slid out from under you, carrying you over the side of the cliff. Your grappling gun saved your life, but sent you slamming into the cliffside. It left you all but unconscious and by the time I managed to get you back up I saw you had several broken ribs and cuts all over your front. I got you down as fast as I could and found a roving band of gypsies... we're staying with them. They sent to the nearest village for a doctor, who has been with you for a couple days now. He just left. I can send for him again if-"
"No, it's alright." Van Helsing reassured her hoarsely.
"Do you want something for the pain?" Anna asked, her head tipped to one side.
"No." He responded in a voice barely audible. They sat there, silent, for minutes uncounted, until Van Helsing spoke again. "Where does it go from here, Anna?" He asked in a voice soft as new fallen snow, his eyes not meeting hers. "Where do we go from here?"
"Wherever we will, I guess." She sighed, folding her hands and resting her chin on them.
"But don't you hate me?" He asked fearfully. Now their eyes met, and to Anna he looked like a scared little child who knows he's done something wrong and is afraid of his punishment. She smiled.
"I tried to make myself hate you in those first few hours when you were feverish and delusional and we were waiting for the doctor to arrive. I thought that if I could make myself hate you it wouldn't hurt if you left this world or just left me. I thought that I would stop worrying and your lies wouldn't matter. But..." She laughed quietly. "It just didn't work. I... couldn't hate you. I love you too much, in spite of everything. I love you, Gabriel." She repeated, simply relishing the feel of the words on her tongue. It didn't matter if he didn't repeat them. She just loved to say those words... they made the world feel right.
"I love you too." Van Helsing responded gently, with a smile. If his chest hadn't hurt so horribly, it probably would've swelled up with joy. Anna smiled back and took his hand gently, bringing it up to her face to kiss the palm. "God, it's a weight off my chest now, knowing that you know." He said in a voice rough with pain but full of relief.
"Well that's good. God also knows you don't need anymore weight on it." She laughed. "I should let you sleep. I want you to get one more day of rest before I take you back to the Valerious manor." Her eyes dropped to the floor and she shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "That is... if you still want to go....?" He tipped her face up to meet his gaze.
"Of course I do." He replied. She smiled and gave his hand a squeeze before standing to leave the caravan they were in.
"But Gabriel... promise me something." She said quietly, turning back.
"What?" He asked. He had wanted to say 'anything' but it seemed to far beyond him at the moment.
"Promise me we give this... mission to save Carl up and go somewhere, anywhere, in the morning." She said in the same tone. The look in her eyes, one of softness and pleading, broke him then and there.
"I promise." He whispered back. "Now we should both get some rest... we'll have a long journey to 'anywhere' tomorrow." He finished numbly, closing his eyes to sleep.
He had given up at last. Carl was dead. And there was nothing he could do about it.
He wanted sleep to overcome him along with his hollowness, and crush him as the fall might have. Should have... He had been in bed a scarce two minutes when he felt her crawl under the blanket beside him.
"Anna-" He began, rolling over.
"Shhh...." She whispered back, kissing him softly before moving closer to him.
Her warm body curled into the curve of his was not unwelcome. It reminded him of what he had crossed time itself to feel again: love. But in the end, the real sacrifice for his happiness hadn't been his. It had been Carl's. And that unfairness, that inadvertent selfishness on his part, consumed him as quickly as Anna could make him whole again.
At last he managed to sleep, but it was deep and tortured. He was wallowing in a dreamless slumber, hating himself for giving up on Carl. While dreamless, it somehow managed to be utterly terrifying, but he was so deep in it he couldn't wake up. Gradually, he began to hear his name being called. At first it was very quiet, but gradually it grew louder and more frantic.
That must be Anna calling me. Van Helsing thought drearily. I must be thrashing around. I hope I haven't hurt her. He could not escape his bitterness, even in his dreams.
Suddenly, he was awake. He sat up slightly and looked over at Anna. She was curled up contently, her waterfall of curly hair pooling around her fine-featured face. He reached over and stroked her face lovingly; she murmured sleepily and moved closer to his warmth. Van Helsing frowned, laying back down beside her and cradling her against his chest even though its only covering were the doctor's bandages. He was in a mood for pain and didn't mind the extra weight of her body nearly on top of his. She was obviously asleep. Who had been calling his name?
He felt like pacing back and forth across the moonlit caravan. Even the gypsies, who he was sure had been merrymaking long into the night, were asleep, and the stillness irked him. He wanted to hear and to feel, for Carl's sake. Because Carl would never do those things again...
Why, why can't I save him? He begged to the stars he could not see. Why...? In his head, he imagined himself leaving for the circle of trees he would find the Wavewriter in before Anna awoke and bringing Carl back down with him before lunch. How shocked they'd all be, and how they'd laugh... He almost considered doing it too, but sleep dragged at his eyelids and he began to drift off once more. But before he could slip into slumber, the phantom voice called again, more insistently this time.
"Van Helsing!"
The man in question jerked awake again, his heart pounding.
"Who's there?" He called hoarsely.
"It's about time you woke up! I knew you were thick-headed, but I didn't know you were that thick-headed! I've been calling your name for ages and ages!" quipped a familiar voice. Van Helsing froze. "Oh, that's right, you can't see me. Come outside, will you?" Trembling, Van Helsing could do nothing but retrieve his coat and obey.
The gypsy caravans had parked themselves in a semi-circle right in the mountain's shadow. Van Helsing found himself wandering through the snoring bodies and towards a small copse of nearby trees where the moonlight dripped in garlands of silver through the leaves and painted the snow with light. He could see a slight figure waiting there... he rushed forward and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw who it was.
"C-Carl?" He whispered thickly, hardly daring to say the name.
"Well, I suppose you do deserve points for recognizing me." Carl sighed, stepping out of the gloom and into the fullness of the moonlight. His form was very silvery, but almost whole, like it was made of moonbeams meshed together. There was that little smirk that had gotten him in trouble since childhood on his face, that divine spark that death had not been able to wipe away. "You never were known for being the brains. Not to mention that it's early. And I'm dead. All in all, I think you are getting a lot of extra credit for knowing who I am." He nodded to himself, as though thinking.
"Carl...? What... what are you doing here?" Van Helsing murmured, taking a faltering step forward.
"Making sure you don't do something stupid, like I've been trying to do since you left for Romania again." The Friar said dryly. "I don't want you to try and save me, Gabriel."
"Van Helsing?" asked a groggy voice. Gabriel turned slightly to see Anna standing behind him, her hair falling all about her sleepy face. She then saw the ghost. "Carl...?"
"Hullo Anna." Carl grinned cheerily.
"Why don't you want me to try and save you..?" Van Helsing asked, confused.
"Two reasons: 1, you can't. The portal the Wavewriter was leading you to was a portal to Hell itself. If you and Anna had walked into it, no one would've been able to save you. 2, because I'm happy, Van Helsing. I'm in heaven. There's so much for me to discover and invent, and I have all the time in the world and all the resources I could ask for!" He said excitedly. He leaned closer, conspiratorially whispering "And best of all, God doesn't really care that I curse or... well, you know. He said he just wanted me to be happy." Carl's expression grew more soft.
"But it wouldn't have mattered to me if I did go to Hell, because you'd be happy, with Anna. I saw you at the depths of human emotion when she died, at the bottommost pitof ultimate despair. I wanted nothing more than to see you smiling again. And when I found out that you weren't happy, that you were tormented and sickened by your actions, I tried to come to you and tell you this sooner. But the Wavewriter already had a hold on you and wouldn't let me. Now it's given up on luring you to your doom and left you to your own devices. The only people who can utilize the Wavewriter's powers are creatures from Hell like Dracula, since they can walk through its flames unharmed, and now that it knows you've been yanked from its grasp it has allowed me into your mind." He laughed. "And believe me, now I'm happy to be dead! I don't have to stick around with you lovebirds!"
"But Carl... I miss you being around, helping me out. Hell, I even miss you just... being you and driving me utterly insane. Is there another way? What kind of friend am I to have killed you and not try and undo it?" Van Helsing asked sadly.
"You've already proven yourself a good friend by even thinking to save me. Now be a great friend and let me go." Carl smiled with surprising wisdom and seriousness. But soon that familiar glint was back in his eye. "And don't worry about not seeing me often... I'll chaperone the first night out. And come to the wedding. And the baby shower Oh, and the baptism too! Fist communion-"
"Don't push it Carl!" Anna and Gabriel said in unison, blushing fiercely.
"You know, you're right. I don't have to try and save you. Within two months God will be so sick of you he'll just send you back to us." Van Helsing laughed afterwards.
They fell silent and stood there, watching each other across life and death, a trio of friends severed by the inevitable but bound by love and laughter. Gradually, morning began to come. The air grew a little warmer and night's oppressive black began to lessen. Still they said nothing, but stood there. There must've been some silent exchange of their souls, so private that even they didn't know what was being said. But it's effects were inescapable; it was like some form of a balm, suturing wounds both old and new, cleaning away the stains of tears and blood. It was making again whole things that had remained broken for so long, reweaving shattered souls. It was making happiness out of the dark that had, of late, consumed them wholly. Now, they all were bathed in the dawn of a new beginning.
And then, Van Helsing knew it by the odd sense of closure and the rising bittersweetness in him that it was time to let go. Time to see if this newfound feeling could connect them across life and death.
"See you Carl." Van Helsing smiled, feeling more like laughing at those words than crying at them. It was so ridiculous to be saying any form of a goodbye to Friar Carl. Friends never say goodbye.
"See you." Anna smiled too.
"See you Anna, Gabriel." Carl smiled back.
And then... he was gone. Morning had come and the moon had faded. But there was no vacuum left behind, no aching emptiness anymore; as tendrils of light touched their faces and lit up their eyes, Anna Valerious and Gabriel Van Helsing found themselves feeling very full.
"It's dawn. We have whiled away the whole night." Anna remarked.
"Yes... enough time wasted." Van Helsing smiled. Anna came to stand in front of him; he rested his hands on her shoulders and let one trail up to touch her cheek. "We'll go get the horses. Leave this place." He smiled, cupping her face in his hands. Her return smile made the morning seem all the brighter. "Let's find us an adventure." He smiled more broadly. With that, they kissed, bathed richly in the incandescent light of dawn. A warm breeze lapped around them, and they knew that somewhere, against his will, Carl was letting out a big 'Awwwwwwww....'
"Ah, damn!" Van Helsing swore, pulling back. "My face... it's all smashed up from the fall." He rubbed the cuts and bruises gingerly. Apparently, they hadn't like the intensity of the kiss.
"Are you sure you're ready for this adventure, Mr. Van Helsing?" Anna purred playfully as she watched him nurse his injuries. Her hands ran up and down his strong arms, leaving fiery tremors in their wake.
"Yes," Gabriel Van Helsing smiled, looking around the glade. There were no dark corners anymore, only light. Most all his demons were banished somehow, by one man. "I'm ready."
--THE END--
A/N-- Well... it's over. I hope it wasn't TOO over the top at the end.... I feel I may have overdone or over-dramatized it. And it might seem kinda absurd that just one meeting with Carl would banish all his demons, but... in my book, friends can do that. And I said most all anyways.
Wow. That's the first fic I've ever finished...... first large fic, that is. I did finish one of my (better) LOTR fics.
I hope yall didn't mind the ending... it was meant to be bittersweet.
Thank you to everyone who journeyed with me on this. Words cannot express how good you've made me feel about myself as an authoress. I hope that, someday, if there's a sequel, I'll see your reviews again. In the mean time... thank you.
Heh. Look at me. I'm still rambling... and being sentimental.... guess I just don't want it to end... someone take the mike from me....