Michael Belmont and the Heir of Van Helsing (The Adventures of Michael Belmont) (26 page)

Magda’s grunts rang out into the air, as did the snarls of her opponent.
 
In an odd way, the sounds of her struggling gave Michael comfort, it meant she was holding her own.
 
He stared at the tree where he’d last seen the ghoul.
 
Where was he?
 
Why wasn’t he coming out?
 
When he does, I’ll be ready for him, Michael told himself.
 
I need to take care of this freak so I can help Magda.

Before Michael knew what was happening his face had been smashed against the tree beside him.
 
He heard his arrow fly loose into nothingness as the force of the impact caused him to drop his bow.
 
He crumbled to the ground like a sack of potatoes, smacking his head against a tree stump on the way down.
 
Stars were swirling as he lay on his back with the rain drizzling down from the branches overhead.

And then the ghoul was on top of him.
 
The man was massive, and as Michael looked into his eyes he saw no signs of humanity, only madness and hunger.
 
The ghoul punched him hard in the face, and Michael heard something crack.
 
He fought back, kicking and punching furiously, but the man only laughed at him.

“I think I’m gonna have YOU for dinner,” the ghoul told him.
 
“And then my friend and I are going to have your little girlfriend for desert.”

Michael had never been so ignited with desperation and rage, and as he curled up his fist for another punch, he saw the ring of Anubis begin to glow, the blue mist swirled furiously inside the ring, and then shone so brightly that it was almost like looking into the sun.

“Hey, nice move, kid,” said Caleb, leaning over Michael and offering his hand.
 
“What was that anyway?
 
Where’d you learn how to do that?”
 
Caleb’s usual stern expression was gone, replaced by a look of confusion and wonder.
 
It made him seem younger somehow.

“MAGDA!” Michael yelled, suddenly remembering where he was.
 
He took Caleb’s hand and got to his feet as fast as he could.
 
A stream of blood spurted from his nose.

“It’s alright.
 
I’m right here,” she said, right beside him.
 
“Try and take it easy, you look like you’re a bit disoriented.”

“The werewolf?” he asked her.
 
Then he saw the thing’s body lying nearby.
 
“Oh good, you got him.”
 
His head was spinning.
 
He dropped to his knees, unable to keep his balance.

“Careful,” Magda gasped as she and Caleb helped him sit up against the large tree trunk.

Michael realized that he was soaking wet, and freezing.
 
The rain had transformed into a wet, heavy snow, and Michael looked down to see that a layer was beginning to stick on his clothes as well as the ground all around him.

“So tell me, kid,” Caleb said excitedly.
 
“Where’d you learn that move?”

“What move?” Michael asked.
 
The last thing he remembered was the ring glowing and then a bright light.
 
He hadn’t done any kind of move.

“WHAT MOVE?” Caleb frowned indignantly.
 
“The energy attack you used against that ghoul!
 
I’ve never seen anything like that before, not even from Grand Master Roshi.
 
I mean, that’s the stuff of legends.”

“Sorry, but I’m still not sure what you’re talking about.
 
What happened to the ghoul?”

Magda sat down beside him and gently touched the side of his face.
 
“Michael, you incinerated him with that blast; turned him right to ash.
 
It was…it was really incredible.
 
It looks like he broke your nose before you got him though.”

Caleb stooped down to examine him.
 
He looked a little guilty.
 
“Hey, I’m really sorry I didn’t step in earlier.
 
I thought you two could use the practice.
 
I realized a bit too late that there was something strange about that ghoul you were fighting.
 
I’ve never seen one that could move with the speed and strength that one had.”

“Neither have I,” Magda told them.
 
“And I’ve had to deal with quite a few of them.”

“So what’s that mean?” Michael asked them.
 
“YOOUUCH,” he screamed out as Caleb reset his nose.

“Mihnea is always experimenting with dark magic.
 
I’ve seen his henchmen possess some pretty frightening powers.
 
That ghoul was most likely possessed by demons, and a lot of them.
 
Who knows what other kinds of surprises Mihnea has in store for us.”

“Well, it looks like we have a secret weapon of our own,” Magda said, looking at Michael in fascination.
 
“Are you sure you don’t know how you used that blast?”

Michael looked at the ring.
 
“Well, I know it had something to do with my ring, but I’m not sure how it happened.
 
I know I was really mad, and all I could think about was destroying that creep for what he said about Magda.”

As they walked back toward the orphanage, he gave them a brief account of how he’d gotten the ring from Anubis.

“So there was another gateway like the one Mihnea’s been trying to get into?” Magda asked.

Michael put his fingers to his nose; it looked like the bleeding had stopped.
 
“Yeah, I mean I haven’t seen the one in Dracula’s Castle, but they both open up a portal to a place called Tartarus.
 
And I know that Zuriel, the guy that was trying to open up the one in the tomb is involved with this one somehow.”

“Evil minds think alike,” Caleb told them.
 
“It’s not unusual for people who want control to try and gain access to supernatural powers.
 
Hitler searched for holy relics, and even a gateway to hell to try to gain an edge over his enemies.
 
He also wanted to achieve immortality.”

“It’s a good thing
he
didn’t team up with Mihnea,” Michael said as they arrived at the edge of the forest near the playground.

“Your father and the Scotsman should be back tomorrow afternoon, until then, lay low.
 
It seems like our enemy has taken things up a notch.”

“Has there been any news from Alucard yet?” Michael asked him.

“Not yet.
 
It’s not like him either.
 
As long as I’ve worked with him he’s never missed a check-in.
 
I hope he’s all right; as strange as he is I’ve grown rather fond of him.”

That’s a bit like the pot calling the kettle black, thought Michael.
 
Yet, if the truth be told, he’d grown to like both of them.
 
Beyond that, they’d each saved his skin, and he owed them.

“Thanks for everything,” Michael said to Caleb, sticking out his hand.
 
“You’re a good friend.
 
I appreciate you keeping an eye out for us.”

Caleb looked a little surprised, but he shook Michael’s hand.
 
“It’s the least I can do.
 
Just remember to be careful.
 
That bloodsucker Mihnea might have more tricks up his sleeve.”
 
Caleb bid them goodbye and disappeared back into the forest.

“Well, that was quite a first date,” Michael said, smiling sheepishly at Magda.

“Don’t think it was a date just because I kissed you,” she told him.
 
He tried his best to read her, but wasn’t sure if she was teasing him or trying to shoot him down.
 
He decided not to say anything, but just stood there looking at her.
 
It was a tactic his father had taught him for getting more information out of someone.

“I mean, how old are you anyway? Thirteen?” she asked him.

“Twelve actually, but I’ll be thirteen in about a month.
 
Why, how old are you?” he asked her.

“I just turned fourteen.”

“Well I don’t usually go out with older women but I may be willing to make an exception in your case.”

She smirked at him.
 
“We’d better be getting back.
 
How do you plan on hiding that bow of yours from Ms. Voss and the other teachers?”

“I hadn’t really thought about that.”
 
Everything had happened so fast that Michael hadn’t given it any thought.
 
“I guess I’ll just hurry back to my room with it.”

When they got back, Michael went straight to his room to look for a good hiding place for the bow.
 
Luckily he was able to make it there without being spotted.
 
He wanted to keep it close by in case there was trouble, so he ended up putting it on his bed and pulling up the covers.

He glanced at the clock.
 
It was time for dinner, and although he was hungry, he didn’t want Ms. Voss questioning him about his nose or other new scars.
 
Turning in early sounded like a great idea, so he took a shower and got into bed.
 
Staring up at the ceiling with his hands behind his head, he thought of Magda.
 
He wanted to see her again already, and couldn’t remember ever feeling about another girl the way he did about her.
 
He’d had a few crushes on some of the pretty girls he’d known, but this felt different somehow.
 
He thought of Magda as he fell asleep, and then he dreamed about her.

The bedroom door slammed shut, rousing Michael from his sleep.
 
Dane and Jaap, who shared the room with him, burst in jabbering excitedly about something, but Michael couldn’t tell what, as they were speaking Dutch.

He rolled over and looked at them.
 
“You two wouldn’t want to keep it down a bit, would you?” he asked.

“Oh hey, Michael,” Dane laughed.
 
“It’s a little early for bed isn’t it?”

“What are you two going on about, anyway?”

“You mean you haven’t heard yet?
 
That’s what you get for turning in early.
 
You know that Olaf Van den Berg guy- really big, kind of a jerk?”

Michael nodded.

“Well, he stole Ms. Van Dyck’s car and crashed it through the wall of a coffee shop down the road.”

Michael shot up so fast that both boys took a step back.
 
“You’re kidding me.
 
Is he okay?
 
Was his sister with him?”

Dane said something to Jaap, who didn’t speak English, and the boy shrugged and answered back

“We haven’t heard that anyone was with him, but I haven’t seen his sister since I heard about it.
 
Anyway, they took him to the hospital, I don’t really know any more than that.”

Michael had already jumped out of bed and began to pull his shirt on.
 
“I’m going to go see if I can find out more,” he told them.

“Is Olaf your friend or something?” Dane asked him.

“Uh, kind of.
 
Thanks for the information.”
 
He slapped Dane on the back before jetting out of the room and running toward the stairs, dodging past other boys who were heading to their rooms for the night.
 
He really hoped Magda wasn’t hurt, or Olaf for that matter.
 
But why would he do something so stupid and reckless.
 
If he’d gotten his sister hurt, Michael really was going to make him sorry for it.

He looked around for anyone who might give him some news before running into Ms. Voss in the front lobby.
 
She was speaking with a police officer, but grinned at him and pointed to her office.
 
Michael entered the room and his heart nearly leapt from his chest to see Magda on the couch unharmed.
 
Abigail was seated beside her, holding her tightly while she wept.
 
That was textbook Abigail.
 
She could be trying to kill you one minute and comforting you the next.
 
He was glad to see them getting along though.

“Where’ve you been?” his sister reprimanded him.
 
“I looked all over for you earlier.”
 
Then her tone softened.
 
“Have you heard the news then?”

“I heard Olaf was hurt in a car accident.” Michael said, sitting down beside Magda.
 
“Has there been any news on him?”

“He…he was taken to the hospital,” she wept.
 
“Ms. Voss just got off the phone with the doctor.
 
He’s…he’s….”
 
She began sobbing too hard to finish.

“He’s slipped into a coma,” Abigail told him.
 
“The doctor said it looks pretty bad.
 
He wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the car.
 
He’s got pretty serious neck and head injuries.”

“It was my fault,” Magda cried, wiping her eyes.
 
“When I told him we were leaving tomorrow with your family he became furious.
 
He wanted to run again.
 
I tried my best to plead with him, but….”

“He wouldn’t listen,” Michael finished for her.
 
He had a little experience trying to reason with Olaf.
 
“Look, it
wasn’t
your fault.
 
You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“No,” she sobbed.
 
“I, I shouldn’t have told him.
 
I should have known how he would react.”

“Everyone is responsible for their own actions.
 
He didn’t
have
to react like that.
 
He should have trusted us.
 
He should have trusted
you
.”