Michael Belmont and the Heir of Van Helsing (The Adventures of Michael Belmont) (23 page)

“Finnegan seems to be convinced that they are.
 
Try and befriend them, and when the time is right, explain what’s going on.
 
We need to get them out of here for their own good, but things will move along a lot easier if they decide to cooperate with us.
 
Be careful not to spook them, if they run off we might lose them again.”

Michael nodded, and so did Abigail.
 
“Aren’t you staying to help us?” she asked.

“Declan and I have lost contact with Alucard, we think something might be wrong, so we’re going to see what we can do to find him.
 
Caleb is going to continue to keep his eye on you, as is your mother.
 
In three days we’re going to pick you two up, and extract the Van Helsing children.
 
All the paperwork is being done, because the last thing we need is a kidnapping investigation.”

“Just remember,” Mr. MacDonald warned them, “the vampires can’t get at you as long as you stay inside at night and don’t invite them in.
 
Watch out for strangers though, Mihnea knows where you are, and he has servants that can walk unhindered in daylight.”

“You should be safe enough,” their father said, “just be cautious.
 
Mihnea doesn’t know what we’re up to.
 
Hopefully, Declan and I can divert his attention away from the orphanage and meet back up with Alucard.”

“I love you both,” Mrs. Belmont told her children.
 
“Remember, I won’t be far away.”
 
She hugged them, and Michael watched as she turned back into a hawk and hopped out the window.

A pigeon
, Michael thought to himself.
 
If it’s not a goldfish then I’ll probably be a lousy pigeon
.

Michael scanned the board games on the shelf before him.
 
He’d promised Abigail he would play something with her after they finished supper.
 
He wasn’t really in the mood, but at least it would take her mind off of things for a while.
 
Maybe it would work for him too.
 
He pulled out a game called
Zoocapades
and sat down at one of the free tables.
 
Abigail had always loved animals, so this game should be right up her alley.

“This looks pretty cool,” she said, returning from the bathroom and sitting down beside him.
 
She handed him a chocolate bar, and immediately began to unwrap her own.
 
“You can’t say they don’t feed you well in this place.”

“That’s for sure.
 
I’m still stuffed from dinner.”
 
Michael took the top off the box and set it aside.
 
He began pulling out pewter animal figurines and setting them on the table.
 
“I wonder when we’re going to develop our…you know, our traits- from Mom’s side of the family.”

Abigail got a funny look on her face.
 
She shrugged.

“I talked to Dad about it a while back,” Michael whispered.
 
“He said he’s almost positive that we’ll both have the ability, but he’s not sure exactly when it’ll happen.”

“I can’t wait,” she told him sheepishly.

“Do you ever worry about what sort of animal you might change into?
 
There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it.
 
Mom’s a hawk, Uncle Link’s a wolf, Mr. MacDonald’s an Osprey, Mom’s dad is a bear, and now Liam….”

“So what’s your point?” she asked in exasperation.

He was a little surprised by her attitude.
 
“Well, don’t you worry about what you might change into?
 
I mean, what if it’s a rabbit, or even a cockroach or a worm or something?
 
That would be horrible!”

She let out a little giggle.
 
“I think you’re worrying about it too much.
 
None of the people we know have changed into anything like that.”

“That doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen.
 
I mean, what is it that determines what we change into?
 
It can’t be anything genetic, that wouldn’t make any sense.
 
It must be something else.”

Abigail was filled with guilt for keeping her secret from Michael.
 
She wanted to tell him, but she didn’t want him to hate her for it.
 
Wouldn’t he be angry that she was younger than him and she could change, but he couldn’t?
 
She liked her animal form.
 
She’d always thought mountain lions were really cool; in fact it had probably always been her favorite animal.
 
But what if Michael didn’t like his form?
 
He’d hate her even worse, then.
 
Maybe she should just follow her dad’s advice and tell him.

“Abby, are you listening to me?
 
You look like you’re thinking about something else.”

“No,” she assured him.
 
“I’m listening.
 
It’s just that…look there’s something I need to tell you—”

“Hey, it’s Magda,” said Michael, pointing to the door.
 
The girl walked over to one of the bookshelves and began scanning through the books.
 
“I don’t see Olaf though.
 
We’ve been here for three days and this is the first time I’ve seen her alone.”

Abigail breathed a sigh of relief, glad she’d been saved from the conversation.
 
“Why don’t you go and talk to her?”

“Me?
 
Why don’t you?
 
She might respond better to another girl.”

“Because,” she taunted him, “you’re the one who loves her.
 
Now’s your chance to have her all to yourself.”

He shook his head at her.
 
“I don’t
love
her,” he said nervously.
 
“But…” he glanced at her once again.
 
“I’d better move fast before she takes off again.”

Abigail giggled as he got up and walked off to speak with her.

He came up behind her and took a long, deep breath.
 
“Hi Magda,” he said as cooly as he could manage.

“Good evening, Michael,” she said without turning around.
 
That was strange.
 
He’d been watching her since she came in and she hadn’t even seemed to notice he was in the room.

“So, um, what are you up to?
 
Just looking for something to read?”

“Yes,” she said, turning to look at him. “I just finished a pretty good book, but I’ve already gotten through most of these.”
 
She ran her fingers along the spines of the books, scanning the titles.

“Really?
 
So how long have you guys been staying here?”

She looked at him hesitantly.
 
It seemed like she wanted to say something, but was afraid to.

“It’s your brother, isn’t it?
 
He doesn’t want you to talk to anyone, to make friends.”

She looked embarrassed, so he quickly changed the subject.
 
“So what kind of books do you like to read?”

She shrugged.
 
“Just about anything.
 
Romance, adventure, historical, I’m not too picky, as long as it’s a good story.”

Michael pulled a book from the shelf.
 
“Here’s a good one, have you ever read this?”

“The
Lord of the Rings
?
 
Sure, a couple of times.”

“I think you look like Arwen,” he told her.
 
“I mean, you look something like the way I’ve always pictured her.
 
You’re really beautiful, just like she is.”
 

What was he saying?
 
He was going to scare her off if he kept this up.
 
On top of that, his stomach suddenly felt very odd.
 
Oh please God, don’t let me throw up on her
, Michael prayed silently.

The girl just stood there staring at him.
 
It was hard to read her expression.
 
She was probably good at masking her emotions, Michael thought.
 
He’d probably gone to far, he shouldn’t have said what he did, but for some reason he was feeling bold, and he hadn’t really known what else to say.

“So, what you’re saying is,” she said slowly, “that I look like an elf?”
 
Her eyes bore into him, slightly inquisitive, but otherwise devoid of emotion.

Michael felt himself turn a little red.
 
“Uh, yeah, I suppose I am.”

She shrugged.
 
“Okay, I can live with that.
 
Do you want to go take a walk with me?”

Michael laughed in relief, and felt a surge of excitement.
 
“I’d love to,” he told her.

Michael wasn’t sure if he should take Magda’s hand, so he offered her his arm instead.
 
Much to his relief she took it.
 
Together they walked through the front grounds of the building, speaking about the weather and making other kinds of small talk before heading into the back near the playground.
 
A few inches of snow had fallen a few hours earlier, but it was surprisingly warm outside, and a beautiful night for a walk.

Things were going pretty well, Michael decided.
 
His stomach was still doing flips, but he knew he needed to speak things over with Magda while he had the chance.

“I have something to talk to you about,” he told her.
 
“Something really important.
 
It’s about why I’m here.”

“What are you talking about?” she asked, suddenly looking worried.
 
He could sense her tensing up.

“It’s nothing bad,” he said quickly.
 
“In fact, I’m sure you’ll be glad about what I have to tell you.”

“Okay,” she said apprehensively, “what is it then?”

“Well, I
am
who you think I am, but there’s more to the story.
 
My family was actually on our way to look for you and your brother when our plane went down.”

“You were looking for us?
 
Why, what do you mean?”
 
He’d definitely spooked her, and now he needed to fix it.

“Look, we have the same enemies you do.
 
They’re the ones that crashed our plane.
 
They burned my house down, and even tried to turn my mother and I into monsters like them.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she snapped, jerking her hand away from him.

“Yes, you do.
 
And you can trust me.
 
I’m a friend.
 
You just need to hear me out,
Magda Van Helsing
.”

She suddenly looked enraged.
 
“BE QUIET,” she yelled at him.
 
“DON’T SAY THAT NAME AGAIN.”

“It’s alright,” he assured her.
 
“You’re safe with me.”

“But who says that
you’re
safe with
me
,” she sneered at him, twirling around and catching the side of his head with a spin kick.
 
He stumbled backwards and fell over the teeter-totter, landing hard upon his back in the snow.
 
A second later she was on top of him, squeezing his ribcage tightly with her knees, holding a dagger to his throat.

“What
are
you?
 
A werewolf?
 
You don’t look like a ghoul!
 
Tell me the truth and I’ll end your life quickly!”

Michael struggled to draw breath.
 
“Neither.
 
I’m just a normal human being, I swear!”
 
Well, mostly normal
, he thought.
 
Liam was so much better with girls than he was, he didn’t seem to get as nervous around them as he did.
 
What would Liam do in a situation like this?

He gave her a toothy smile.
 
“Don’t kill me, kiss me instead.”

“What?
 
WHAT did you say?
 
You think this is some kind of a joke?”
 
Her piercing brown eyes glared down at him.

Michael grimaced.
 
“Cut me then.
 
My arm I mean, not my throat.
 
That’s a silver dagger isn’t it?
 
You can cut me…but you’ll um, have to pay for it with a kiss.”
 
Was he trying to get himself killed?
 
He cringed at the words coming out of his own mouth.

She glared at him.
 
“You don’t think I’ll do it, do you?”
 
She huffed at him, and then plunged the tip of the dagger into the meat of his forearm.

“YOUCH,” he shouted.

She held the blade there for a moment to see what would happen.

“All right, you’re not a werewolf, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t working with them.”

“I’m not, I swear it.
 
Just give me a chance to explain.
 
I’m here to help you and Olaf.”

Magda pulled the dagger out.
 
She looked into his eyes, and he saw a glint of confusion amidst the worry and anger.
 
He knew she’d been hunted all her life, and he couldn’t blame her for being distrustful.
 
She lowered the dagger.
 
“Alright, I’ll listen, but if you try anything I’ll—”

Out of nowhere came a yellow and blue missile that knocked Magda off of him- it was Abigail.
 
Together, they went tumbling through the snow like a derailed train.
 
Kicks and fists began to fly everywhere.

“Nobody beats up my brother but ME!” Abigail shouted as they fought.

“Get OFF of me you little blonde nutter!”