Marriage Saves Anna

3. Losing Anna

They stop at the manor in a couple of hours and hop off the front of the carriages. Anna walked over to Gabriel and waited for him to speak. "The plan is to have you drive the carriage with the Frankenstein monster and Carl on the left path. I will drive the one filled with stakes and a bomb on the right path and meet you in two days. Hopefully, the vampires will follow me with the decoy and you can safely keep the monster."

"Of course. Be careful." She said caressing his cheek.

He nodded and ran inside to get Carl.

Ten minutes later, he came back out with Carl next to him. "Now, whatever you do, Carl, don't stare at him." He said opening the carriage door.

Carl's eyes got wide and turned around quickly. "I'm staring at him. Is that a man?!?"

Gabriel shoved him in the carriage. "Actually, it's seven men. Parts of them anyway."

"By exposing me, you have condemned me! ME and all of HUMANITY!" Frankenstein's monster shouted as Gabriel shut the door.

Anna stood in front of him. "Nothing is faster than Transylvanian horses. Not even a warewolf." She said. "Anything else, you're on your own." She continued playfully hitting his left arm. She got on in the front and Gabriel stared after her for a minute before half smiling and getting on the decoy carriage.

It's been a day and Anna is getting worried as they have not been attacked yet. *This isn't like Dracula. Where are Aleera and Verona?* She thought.

On the other path, Gabriel was thinking along the same lines. *Maybe he's just waiting to strike at the right time? Or did the brides not fall for the decoy?*

The next day, as the sun starts to set, Gabriel hears some noises from above. A minute later, a bride attacks him sending him flying off the carriage backwards to the front row of horses. He quickly gets up, climbs on the horses and jumps until he reaches the front of the carriage again. A second later, he's knocked off by another attacking bride and lands stretched out between the horses in the back row close to the ground. Gabriel then looks back to see the bridge they were approaching was broken half way through. The brides above him noticed too and gasped. The horses got to the edge and jumped. The carriage fell off as the horses made it, but not the carriage itself. Sending Gabriel in the air. He turned around midair and as he fell, he landed on the back of a horse.

Anna noticed they were close to meeting again and hurried to catch up. The brides went after the falling decoy carriage as Gabriel jumped from the horse to the front of Anna's carriage next to her. They looked at each other and smiled. Anna then pulled him down for a quick kiss. "What was that for?" Gabriel asked after she pulled away.

"I was worried. But I'm glad you're alright."

Then as they faced forward, they saw Velken in warewolf form jumping at them. The two jumped to the sides of the carriage and grabbed hold of something attached. Velken broke the lamp on the top of the carriage roof setting it on fire. Anna, hanging on for dear life, rapped on the carriage window with her free hand yelling for Carl. Carl opened the door and looked down. "Anna, what on earth are you doing down there?"

"CARL!"

"Right. Hold on." He said and sat down again for a minute when Gabriel suddenly did the same from the other side.

Frankenstein's monster and Carl looked at both sides a couple of times. "I can help." Frankenstein's monster said.

"You won't kill me?" He asked terrified.

"Only if you don't hurry!" He whisper yelled pulling on the chain.

Carl quickly unchained him and he went to help Anna as Frankenstein's monster helped Gabriel. They threw them up to the front of the carriage and sat down. Carl nodded in thanks. "We can't keep calling you the Frankenstein monster. Is there something you wish for us to call you?"

Frankenstein's monster thought for a minute. "Call me Frankenstein or Frankie in honor of the man that created me."

"Frankie it is then." Carl replied then gasped as he saw Velken and a hole was ripped in the fabricated roof.

Frankie ducked down screaming, scared of the fire. Velken jumped up to the flaming roof then stood up to attack his sister and Gabriel. "JUMP!" Gabriel yelled and Carl with Frankie jumped out of the carriage as Anna jumped off to the right.

Gabriel turned around cocking his guns and jumped backwards with Velken over him, shooting him as they landed and fumbled down the hill.

It was the next morning when everyone awoke from their knocked out jump. Anna walked through the woods trying to find Gabriel "Van Helsing?" She asked aloud turning into a clearing. Velken was in human form laying by a rock dying of his last breath. "Velken." Anna breathed and knelt down in front of him, cradling his head.

Velken looked up at his teary-eyed sister. "Anna, forgive me." He said with his very last breath and closed his eyes as his body slumped back.

A tear ran down Anna's cheek. "I will see you again." She whispered and kissed his forehead. She turned around standing up as Gabriel came into the clearing in pain. "You killed him! You KILLED him!" She shouted shoving him against a tree.

"Now you know why they call me murderer." He said before squinting his eyes in pain again while trying to hold his coat closed.

Anna just cried for a minute, clinging to him when she felt something warm and sticky. She stepped back and opened his coat to reveal a bloody bite. In horror, she stepped back slowly. "Oh, my, God. You've been bitten." She said as she turned backwards behind a tree.

Aleera stood there and hit Anna who's head hit a rock knocking her out. Aleera scooped her up and flew off. Gabriel heard. "Anna!" He shouted as he tried to follow them. He stopped at the edge of a cliff as Frankie and Carl met up with him. *Damn it!* He thought watching the bride take off with her. They looked down and saw a city. "Lets head there. That's where they're going." He said and the three took a clear path down to the city.