Night Warriors

The next two or three days passed rather uneventfully at Fore Manor. With Carl's help, Van Helsing managed to locate the library, as well as dig up a decent selection of books with information about werewolves.

Van Helsing also visited Catherine, whom had been confined to her bed so she could recover, often. He brought her a few of the werewolf books, and he also kept her company, usually just by staying and talking with her.

She brought the subject of Anna up a lot, however. Every time she asked Van Helsing what happened to Anna, he felt that strange, cold feeling of fear in his stomach. He'd usually end up changing the subject as quickly as he could.

During their stay, Edward played the role of the ever-courteous host. He gave both Van Helsing and Carl rooms to stay in-Carl received a room close to the library, to his delight- and was polite from the time Carl rose at five-thirty in the morning to pray until Van Helsing decided to retire for the night, which was often past midnight.

And yet...something about Edward wasn't right. He seemed strangely cold and distant with Van Helsing; he was never outright rude, though, only polite. In addition, he would often vanish for hours on end...but only after sunset, never during the day.

Van Helsing may not have been able to sense any evil from him...but he was beginning to get the feeling something wasn't right about Edward de Fore.

---

On the fourth morning of their stay at Fore Manor, Van Helsing and Carl were on their way to the library when they heard hurried footsteps behind them. Glancing over their shoulders, they saw, to their surprise, Catherine running towards them. Her long brown hair was messy and tousled, with some of it sticking up at odd angles. She had hastily thrown on a dressing-gown, but had forgotten to tie it, exposing the pristine white linen bandages wrapped around her chest and torso. She still had on her black leggings, but her feet were bare, and another white linen bandage was wrapped around her injured ankle. However, she effortlessly sprinted towards them, coming to a stop where they had stopped. Her deep azure eyes were alive with excitement.

"Catherine...what are you doing out of bed?" Van Helsing asked in a concerned tone.

Catherine completely ignored his question. "Van Helsing...Carl...I just found something...We've been going about this all wrong!"

"Going about what all wrong?" Carl asked, his face completely blank.

"Our entire plan of how we hunt the werewolves!" Catherine blurted out, waving her hands excitedly. Van Helsing saw she was clutching a battered, dog-eared book in her left hand. "I found it in this book I was reading...You said there's a library here, right?"

Carl nodded, then, they both led her to the library. As soon as she was in there, she slapped the book down in the middle of the table, scattering papers covered in Carl's untidy scrawl everywhere. Carl gathered up the papers, giving Catherine an insulted look, while she rifled through the pages of the book. Finally, she stopped and pointed to pointed to a passage.

"Right here..." she said. "You see, we've only been hunting werewolves during the full moon, right? Well...there's a flaw in that. The flaw is that very few werewolves are bound by the full moon anymore!"

"What does that mean?" Van Helsing asked as he glanced at the passage.

"It means that werewolves only have to change with the full moon the very first time they change," she explained. "It used to be that all werewolves were bound by the full moon. They would remain in their wolven state during the entire full moon cycle, then become human once the moon waned. However, according to this passage, many werewolves learned to tame the beast within, as it were. And thus, transforming strictly became an issue of mind of matter."

Carl stared blankly at Catherine, but Van Helsing nodded slowly in understanding. "I think I understand...this certainly explains murders worthy of werewolves that occur between full moons..."

"Precisely," Catherine said. "So, I propose we go out hunting again tonight...all of us."

Both Carl and Van Helsing understood that perfectly, and they both began trying to persuade Catherine not to go, not with her injuries. However, she ignored both of them, left the library, and returned moments later in her usual hunting clothes. She grabbed the book, shoved it into her pack, then left the library, beckoning for Van Helsing and Carl to follow her.

---

Hours later, at nightfall, the trio sat in a clearing, around a fire. They had spent most of the day scouring the forest, finding signs of the werewolves, but no actual werewolves.

For a long time, they all sat, rather silently, around the fire, staring at it as it crackled and burned. The day's events had left them tired, and the lack of werewolves had left them disappointed.

After a while, Van Helsing stood up, walked to the edge of the clearing, then sat down with his back against a tree. He leaned his head back to stare at the stars, his emotions in turmoil. Disappointment at the failure of the day's hunt mingled with sorrow and grief over
Anna.

Anna...he mused. I've been thinking about her more and more as of late. But...why? Is it that I'm holding on to her because she's the closest I've ever known to family, and because she gave me hope for a future? Or...or is it because of-?

He heard footsteps approaching him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Catherine approaching. She sat down next to him, drew her knees up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around her knees, staring at the stars like Van Helsing.

She sighed. "Van Helsing. I need to speak to you about something..."

"If it's about Anna...I don't wish to speak about it," he said rather curtly.

"But...why? You made it sound as though you loved her. Why do you refuse to even talk about her?"

Van Helsing didn't respond. Instead, he just stared at the stars, purposefully avoiding Catherine's curious gaze. A long moment of silence followed, then...

"Are you...hiding something, Van Helsing?"

He whipped his head around to stare at Catherine. Deep within him, he could feel the embers of rage beginning to burn.

God in Heaven, can't she let this be?! he thought viciously. "What?!"

"You have to be hiding something," Catherine said. Her voice had taken on a darker tone. "If you weren't hiding something, you have told me what happened to Anna, now wouldn't you?"

He quickly stood, anger beginning to overtake his emotions. "It's not like that," he snarled. "Did you ever stop to think that maybe I didn't wish to talk about it?"

Catherine stood to her feet, her face twisting into a scowl. "Do you ever want to talk about anything? Your emotions, your dreams, your fears? Do you ever talk about those? Or is killing in the name of the Church all your life is about?"

Something in Van Helsing snapped, and suddenly, his hand shot out and locked around Catherine's throat. She gasped loudly as he pushed her against a tree and she pulled at his hand, trying to pull it off her neck.

Carl hurried over, drawn by the sounds of raised voices and Catherine's surprised gasp. He himself gave a surprised squeak when he saw Van Helsing's hand around Catherine's
throat.

"Van Helsing, have you completely lost your mind?!!" Carl cried as he pulled at Van Helsing's arm. "She's your partner! Are you trying to kill her?!"

"And I'm the only one keeping secrets, right?!" Van Helsing growled, ignoring Carl completely. "I think not! You've got secrets, too! I know it!"

Without warning, he seized her right arm, pulled her sleeve up, and ripped the bandages off her arm. Instead of the long, healing gash that should've been there, there was nothing...her skin was smooth and unblemished, as if the wound had never been there.

Carl gasped in surprise, but Van Helsing had almost expected it, especially after what had happened earlier that day. "I knew it...there was no possible way that you could've sprinted down that hall, much less stand a full day of tracking, unless you were completely healed...but in only two days..?" he hissed. "Clearly, I'm not the only one with secrets..."

Catherine stared at him defiantly for a moment, then, she sighed and dropped her head in defeat.

"All right..." she said softly. "You're...you're right...I...I do have secrets..."

With that simple statement, Van Helsing's rage evaporated. The cold, hard fury that had been etched on his face moments earlier softened. "Will you...will you tell us?"

"Y-Yes..." she said. "But...before I do...would you be so kind as to remove your hand from around my neck?!"

Van Helsing quickly released Catherine. She gave him a grateful look, massaged her throat for a moment, then sighed deeply.

"All right...where do I start..?" she said, aloud, but really more to herself than to anyone else. "Well...I suppose I should start with something that's very important..."

Catherine lowered her gaze so she was staring at her feet instead of into Van Helsing and Carl's curious eyes.

"I haven't been very honest with you, Van Helsing. I suppose it's time to rectify that mistake..." She hesitated for a moment before continuing. "My...my name is...Catherine Elizabeth Van Helsing. And...Gabriel-I mean Van Helsing...I'm your younger sister..."