Van
"Vanessa? Vanessa!"
Van jolted as her father's voice blasted her eardrums. She stood in front of him, still screaming as she had before passing out. At least, she thought she'd passed out. Throat raw, she ceased her yelling and rubbed her temples to ease the thrumming pain that grew with every passing second.
"You look pale. You ought to sit," Abe said the perfect picture of fatherly concern as he guided her back to the pew.
She looked at the women bound on the floor, hoods covering their heads as they had been before everything went blank. In fact, the other guard stood in the same spot and position as before, as if no time at all had passed, which meant she still had time to save Livy.
And then the strangest thing happened. Her vision split so that everything had a ghostly echo clinging to it. One that raced ahead in time. The phantom Slayer at her side reacted to a sound she didn't hear, his hand going to the weapon on his hip as he spun toward the entrance. One door remained shut, while its pale twin swung open. A black panther ran inside. His white teeth were bared and his lips twisted in an angry snarl. Hailey, Luce, and Scott followed behind, drawing their weapons and shouting wordlessly.
"Vanessa?" Abe questioned as she rose on unsteady feet. Deja vu washed over her, and she knew who would come through that door next. Isaiah's twisted face filled with wicked glee as he pulled the trigger on his gun, the bullet whizzing through the air and striking Luca between the shoulder blades.
"No," Van wailed as the enormous cat stumbled, blood pooling beneath him as he fell.
Side burning, she broke free of her father's grasp just as the echoes merged with reality. One step- the Slayer spun. Two steps, the door burst open. Three steps- her friends entered. Five steps- Luca rushed toward her, but she pressed forward, ignoring his strangled growl as she dove at Isaiah.
His gun and the stoppered vial of elixir clattered to the floor, and Van and Isaiah hit the ground with a thump. She found her balance as she rolled to her knees, and she came up swinging, landing a hit on his jaw. His head snapped back, but he recovered quickly. Cackling, he wiped blood from his lip before he lashed out. With a still surprising spurt of speed, she dodged the punch, delivering a swift uppercut that sent him flying backward. Luca let out a roar of approval.
Van felt a little smug as the boy struggled to his feet, but it fled when he whipped his leg out, catching her off guard and bringing her to the ground. In a fluid movement, he had her pinned and his hands around her throat. She pressed her chin down as she tried to force her fingers beneath grip. Spittle sprayed across her face as he increased his effort until she worried she would die from damage before she died from lack of oxygen.
"I imagined us in this position so many times," Isaiah hissed, picking her up and slamming her head against the floor. "Of course, you were enjoying yourself more than you are now, but I think I prefer this."
She clawed until his skin stuck beneath her nails, and every time she bucked her hips, his grin grew wider and the fever in his eyes raged stronger.
"Where's that Blessing now, Helsing?" he said, easing up his hold. She drew in a shuddering breath of air, but he wasn't finished with her yet. He dragged her to her feet and turned her so she could see the fight. His arm slipped around her bruised neck, and from her training with Trixie, Van knew one shift in his stance would break her neck.
Chaos reigned in the chapel, and Van knew that outnumbering her father didn't ensure victory. The other Slayer was wounded, but he stood in front of his Supreme, prepared to die. Abe didn't look the least bit concerned as he held Livy in a hold similar to the one Isaiah had Van in. Luca twitched and took a step toward the entrance.
"Tut, tut, Mr. Brooks. It's my daughter or your cousin? Make a move toward either and the other dies," Abe said, snatching the hood from Livy's head. Her short black hair was matted and greasy, and bruises covered her skin.
"You're a monster," Hailey said, tears streaming down her face.
"Sometimes you have to become what you fight against to win," Van's father replied with a careless shrug.
"Or maybe it's because you were born one." Van's words were hoarse, but he heard them.
"Vanessa you wound me. Our little trip down here was about trust, and you're already blabbing the family secrets."
Fingers dug into the base of her spine, and Isaiah tightened the hold. It was a subtle movement, but it inflamed already tender skin to where Van couldn't suppress a cry of pain. She searched for the strength that had saved her in the river, but it remained absent.
Luca looked between his cousin and Van. Even without human features, she could read the indecision and pain in his expression. She wanted to tell him it was okay to save Livy, but every time she opened her mouth, her captor pressed down until the room blurred.
"What's it gonna be, Mr. Brooks?"
"It's okay, Luca," Livy said what Van could not.
He kept his gaze on Van, and she nodded, uncertain of whether she'd agreed to her salvation or her doom. Either way, she trusted him.
Luca spun around, charging Abe and his cousin. Isaiah's breath was hot on her ear, and she felt the rumbling in his chest as he laughed. The pressure on her throat increased.
"Looks like you chose the wrong guy," he said.
There was a scream. Bones ground together, then twisted to the snapping point. It was the loudest sound Van had ever heard, but perhaps it was because all sound disappeared afterwards. Everything rushed into focus, then faded out. Gunshots ricocheted around the room, and someone caught Van gently around her middle before she collapsed.
"Baby, are you okay?"
She blinked up and found her mother staring at her in horror. "Mama, are you dead too?"
Xandra exhaled and pulled Van to her full height. She crushed her in a hug, somehow avoiding all the sore places.
"If I wasn't immortal, you would have just scared me to death."
Van returned the embrace, breathing in deeply the way she'd wanted to for months. Beneath the sweat and blood, Xandra still smelled like home. Then, she looked over her shoulder, thrilled to see Livy and the other captive safe behind Luce and Scott while Hailey and Luca advanced on Abe.
But Abe's attention wasn't on the near rabid panther and gun toting teenager. It was on Van's mother. His jaw slack, his eyes wide, and one hand shaking as he reached for her.
"Xandra? You're the Protean," he breathed, quickly understanding Xandra's comment.
"Cuff him," Xandra said, ignoring her former lover's question.
Nancy and several others Van hadn't noticed fanned out around the room. Even outnumbered and without a visible weapon, they approached him as though he posed a significant threat. Knowing what she did about the Helsing's powers, Van thought they could afford to be more cautious.
"You can't," he said. "You don't know what you're doing. What you'll unleash."
"It can't be worse than you," she said.
"Um, about that, Mom," Van whispered.
Xandra looked at her daughter, and the moment cost them all. One moment, Abe was on the altar, and in the space of a blink, he was in front of Xandra, lifting her off the ground with one hand.
"This is my punishment," he said. "For loving an unnatural creature."
"Put her down," Van screamed, her skin igniting as the powers she'd searched for finally came, but Abe was prepared. His free hand jutted out, contacting her chest. She flew back, slamming into the doorframe so hard the wood splintered around her.
"Van," Luca screamed, shifting into his human form as he ran to her side. His hands were tender as they moved over searching for injury.
"Stop him," she coughed. "Then kill what's going to come out of that box."
He brushed her hair back. "What are you talking about?"
Abe carried the struggling Xandra to the altar, careful to use her body as a shield. Van's mom kicked and clawed, but she didn't shift. Nancy gave a signal to hold steady, her mouth drawn into a tight line as she watched the Supreme lift a blade to Xandra's neck.
"Van, you can bring me the elixir by the door, or I can kill your mom for no reason."
She crawled to the bottle. A hair-line fracture ran through the glass, but it remained half full. Picking it up, she rose with Luca's help, but she shook off his hands as she walked toward Abe.
"Van," Luca pleaded, his gaze darting between the bottle in her hand and her face. She refused to make eye contact, terrified he knew her well enough by now to read her thoughts.
"So glad to see you've learned to listen," Abe crooned, sliding the silver-edged blade along Xandra's cheeks. "Perhaps you can carry on the Helsing legacy after all."
"With pleasure," Van said, unstopping the vial. She tossed back the contents. "This is what you do with the daughters in the Helsing line anyway?"
"You little-" Abe shouted.
"Tut, tut," she mocked, grabbing his hand before he could cut Xandra. "You harm a hair on her head, and I'm out of here. I don't think you'll catch us off guard again. You'll lose your chance, and all the years of sacrifice will be worthless."
Something moved behind Abe's expression. Something that hinted at hurt and sadness and guilt- things Van refused to dwell on. Once, she might have believed her father capable of such emotion, but now she believed insanity had robbed him of his humanity.
"What do you say, Dad? Is it a deal?"