VAN HELSING 2: THE DEMON'S RISING

"Is this friend of yours a dirty and dangerous thug?" Carl asked Furie as they stopped in front of a house.

"Thug, no. Dirty and dangerous, yes." she answered with a smile.She walked straight up to the door and knocked loudly.

"Go away!" came a voice from the inside.

"Come on! You know me! It's just your favorite archdemon!" Furie answered.

"Oh. Who are the others?"

"They're from the Holy Order. They're Carl and Van Helsing." Furie said.

The door opened with a long creak. On the other side was a young teenage boy. He appeared to be taller than Furie by 6 inches. He had black hair and brown eyes that shined when the light hit them. "Hello Furie. It's been a while since you've been here." his voice was soft, but pleasing to hear.

Furie smiled. "Hello Antonio. You've grown about 3 inches since the last time I saw you. But we didn't come here to exchange pleasantries."

"Then why are you here?"

"Amelia and William." Furie whispered. Andrew's eyes went wide. He grabbed Furie's arm and dragged her inside, Van Helsing and Carl following. He shut the door and locked it.

"You're serious?"

"Yes,and you're the only person I know who'll help us. You have the best information that I know of!"

Antonio rolled his eyes. "Fine. Come on. I'll show you what I know." he motioned them to follow him as he walked off. The inside of his cabin was very small, consisting of a small couch with a fireplace in front of it. Antonio mounted a small set of stairs in the corner, which led to the attic. He returned with a large book in his arms. He set it down and opened it to a large page with a corpse drawn on it.

He read aloud, "Creatures who have died who've served the Devil are able to be resurrected by an ally. They need to be given a new life from their killer, who's heart must be used for the...." he trailed off, seeing Furie's face.

"What is it?" Van Helsing asked. Furie turned to him with fear in her eyes.

"That's why they want you. They need your heart to bring Dracula back!" she said, putting her hand to her head. "Is there anything else you know? Is there anyway to kill them?" she turned to Antonio.

"I'll keep looking." he turned the pages quickly, scanning for something. Van Helsing stopped him as he turned a page.

"What's this?" he turned back to see an illustration of a person in a large black mass.

"It's what Amelia and William use to protect themselves." Antonio replied.

"What is it?" Furie and Carl now peered in to see the picture.

"It's made of their blood, They used it to create archdemons. Except they must be careful using this. Too much of it, and one could become...something ugly. They'd become a very powerful demon with almost unlimited powers. Except they would have to feed almost immediately. The powers also don't stay well controlled for long either. The victim would either be consumed by their powers and stay in that state permanently or die." he said.

Furie backed up, feeling pieces of her past calling. She watched some of her past play in her mind. She saw a large black pool of water spread in front of her. She was in a cage that was being lowered in. Once in, she could only sense pain. She couldn't see or hear. She felt like death was crawling up her very arms and legs. She let out a bubbly scream and was pulled up to the surface. She saw her hands, which were covered in blood. The cuts were in intricate patterns all over her. She looked out to see two people standing in front of her. One was a man, the other a woman.

"For a child you are strong. You'll make a fine archdemon." said the woman.

Furie then returned to the present. Van Helsing turned to her. "What is it?"

"I was put into that stuff when I was a child. That's how I got my powers." she said. Thunder rolled in from outside.

"Stay here for the night. A storm's about to hit hard." Antonio said lit a small candle. His visitors looked outside and nodded to him.

Van Helsing soon found himself sitting on the couch, watching the crackling flame. He thought about what he learned that day. If he was needed to resurrect Dracula, he wasn't going down without a fight. He looked up to see Shadow perched upon an armrest, looking at him with clear brown eyes.

"There you are." he said. Shadow leaned forward and nibbled on a piece of his hair.

"She does that to people she likes." came a voice. Van Helsing whirled to see Antonio come down the stairs. "Sorry about sneaking up on you. I just came down here to grab a match."

"It's fine." Van Helsing turned back to the fire. Antonio sat down to join him.

"Can I ask you something?" Van Helsing turned to Antonio, who shrugged.

"Sure. What is it?"

"How does a teenage boy become a demon who lives by himself?"

Antonio slumped back. "Where do I start? Well, life was good for me where I used to live. I had a great family and an amazing place to live. I also met this one girl one day. She was probably the prettiest girl I ever saw. You could call it a childhood relationship because she liked me too. Then came the demons who raided our village. They took me and made me one of them. They took the rest as prisoners. After a few months, I ran away, sick of being what I was. Furie found me a few days later. She took me here, and ever since then I've stayed here."

"Who was the girl you met?" Van Helsing asked.

"Her name was Lilly. I've kept these emotions I feel about her still inside. I still like her."

"Don't get your hopes up about finding her."

"Did you ever love someone?"

Van Helsing was silent for a moment. "I did. Her name was Anna Valerious, and I was the one who ended her. Even after all this time I still love her."

Shadow chirped wildly as he said that. Both men turned to her, but they were then brought to the ground by an unknown force. Carl and Furie heard the racket and dashed downstairs to see the others pinned to the ground by two men.

"Hey!" Furie yelled as she dashed off and tackled a man off of Antonio, who grappled with the man on top of Van Helsing. Lightning cracked outside, and for a moment all was silent. Van Helsing used this to knock off the man on top of him. Her turned to see Furie, who was panting loudly. She wasn't hurt, but she looked like she was holding something back.

"Antonio, get them out of here!" Furie yelled.

"We're not leaving you!" Van Helsing shouted. Antonio grabbed his arm and yanked him out the door with Carl following.

"What's going on?"

"FEEDING FRENZY!" Antonio yelled. Inside the house, the two intruders were screaming. Growling was soon heard. The screams got louder and louder, until finally they stopped instantly.

Furie soon ran from inside the house, blood streaming down her chin. She ran to the side of the house and wept. Van Helsing walked over to her. "You just fed, didn't you?"

"Don't go in there." she said. She soon sat down and buried her face within her hands.

Despite Furie's warning, he went in. His eyes grew wide when he saw the havoc Furie caused. The two men were flat on their backs, their faces still in the form of screaming. Large cracks had been placed in the floor. The fire was now a pit of smoldering ashes. He went back outside, wishing her never looked. He saw Shadow perched herself upon Furie's shoulder, nibbling on a piece of her hair. The girl looked up at her and giggled.

"What's the next move?" Furie asked.

"Well, based on what I know, another book may hold some more answers for us." said Antonio. "It's kept in a place where Amelia and William host this party, which is actually this week."

Van Helsing, Furie, and Carl exchanged looks. "Let's go!" said Carl. Surprisingly, the other two agreed.

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