Michael Belmont and the Heir of Van Helsing (The Adventures of Michael Belmont) (19 page)

Finnegan had come up with a strong lead on the location of Olaf Van Helsing.
 
In a rural area south of the city of Eindhoven stood a small orphanage where a boy by the name of Olaf Van den Berg and his sister Magda were staying.
 
Finnegan said that they matched the description of the Van Helsing children, and he was reasonably convinced that this was where the trail led.
 
Rachel wondered where the old butler had been able to get that kind of information, especially when someone as rich and powerful as Mihnea was searching for the children and was coming up cold.
 
The Nodens Guild must have some pretty resourceful members
, she thought.

Now they were flying over the Netherlands en route to the orphanage, racing to get to the children before Mihnea learned of their location.
 
Alucard had returned to Dracula’s Castle to distract his brother, and to investigate the whereabouts of Elizabeth.
 
He insisted on going alone, as taking anyone else along would only distract and slow him down.

Rachel kissed her husband on the forehead and went back to her seat.
 
Despite everything that had happened over the last few days, in a strange way she was feeling better now than she had in weeks, months maybe.
 
The funny thing was, she wasn’t sure why.
 
Maybe she was excited about starting a new adventure.
 
She’d always enjoyed exploring the world with the man she loved, and going from one great adventure to the next.

However, the thought of putting her children in danger was out of the question.
 
Fear was something she’d overcome years ago, something she hadn’t felt in a long time- but that was before Michael and Abby had gotten involved.
 
They’d be safe at McGinty Castle, and as soon as this business at the orphanage was done the kids would be dropped off to stay with Finnegan and Dorothy Stoker.
 
Michael wasn’t particularly happy about being left behind, but he’d just have to live with it.

Had they ever been on a job this dangerous before?
 
She didn’t think so.
 
Dozens of images flashed through her mind as she thought of all the places she and Mark had visited together, all the wonderful things they’d seen.
 
She’d never expected to have her family get involved in anything like this.

Leaning back in her chair she took a deep breath and forced her lips into a grin.
 
Everything was going to be all right, she told herself.
 
But then she suddenly thought of Elizabeth, and her stomach hurt.
 
She felt guilty for even trying to feel happiness.
 
How could she when her best friend’s life was in danger?

 
Rolling her head to the window, Rachel noticed that the clouds outside were growing darker.
 
They’d been white and fluffy just a few moments ago.
 
A black swirling mist took form around the wing, and then a loud bang resounded outside, followed by the sound of an engine stalling.

Liam forced his eyes open.
 
“What was that?”

Rachel hurried back to the cockpit.
 
“Uh, was that what I think it was?”

Mark frowned at her.
 
“Looks like our port engine just went out.”

“Great!
 
Something really weird is going on out there.
 
I saw a black mist hovering over the wing.”

“A black mist?” Declan asked her.
 
“I don’t know anything about that.
 
I checked everything out myself before we left, everything looked great.”

“We’ll be fine, we can still bring her in on one engine,” Mark assured her.
 
“But you’d better get back there and make sure everyone is buckled up.”

Just as she turned to go, another bang rang out, followed by the sound of an engine stalling.
 
Rachel gasped and turned to her husband with wide eyes.

Mark growled.
 
“Honey, get back there and start getting parachutes on everyone.
 
We’re going to have to jump for it.”

She went back to see that everyone already had this figured out.
 
Michael and Liam had their chutes on and were tightening the straps, and Caleb was helping Abigail.

“MOMMY,” she screeched in terror.

“Well, you guys have always wanted to try skydiving,” Rachel stooped down and held her daughter’s face between her hands.

“THAT WAS MICHAEL, NOT ME.
 
WHAT DO YOU THINK I AM, CRAZY?”

Rachel grabbed her and squeezed tightly.
 
“Just remember the things we showed you, you’ll be fine.”

When all three of the children had their packs fastened securely, Caleb opened up the door.

“Keep everyone together,” Mrs. Belmont told him.
 
I won’t be far behind you.

He nodded at her solemnly.

Abigail opened her mouth to protest when Michael grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the plane along with him.
 
Rachel shuddered at her daughter’s scream, which faded quickly as they fell away.

“CHEERS!” yelled Liam as he hopped out behind them.

Finally, Caleb nodded and dropped out as well.

Rachel rushed back up to Mark and Declan.

“So what’s the plan?” she asked them.

“The plan is for
you
to get off this plane,” he told her.
 
“Declan and I will try and bring it down someplace safe.”
 
He saw her fear and hesitation.
 
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure I get out in time.
 
Declan will be the last out, since he doesn’t have to worry about a parachute.”

Mark was right; Declan would be fine as long as he got out before the plane hit the ground.
 
He had the ability to change into an Osprey, and could fly himself to safety.

Mark marched her back over to the door.
 
She began to shake, and tears were starting to run down her cheeks.

“I wish you’d come now.”

He shook his head.
 
“Not yet, Declan needs me, we wouldn’t want this plane dropping through the roof of somebody’s house.
 
We’ll try to find a place to land it, but if not then we’ll bring it down in the wilderness somewhere.
 
I promise we’ll be careful.”

He pulled her in close, placing his hand behind her head and kissing her gently on the lips.
 
He breathed in the smell of her hair and perfume, and held her tightly for as long as he dared.
 
“I love you,” he told her.
 
She went limp in his arms, and he placed a final kiss on her forehead before letting her drop from the side of the plane.

Michael Belmont soared through the clouds, scanning the dense green and white forest spread out far below.
 
He'd often dreamed of flying, but being forced to jump from an airplane wasn’t exactly how he’d envisioned giving it a try.
 
He felt energized and thrilled, but was also worried about crashing into one of those tall trees.
 
What if his parachute got hung up in the branches and nobody found him?
 
He’d just hang there until he died and someday a hiker or hunter would find him hanging there like a Halloween skeleton.
 
He knew it could happen, he’d seen it in a World War II movie once.

You always think of the stupidest things at the stupidest moments
, he told himself inside and then laughed out loud.
 
He couldn’t stop himself from laughing, from yelling out in joy at what he was experiencing.
 
It was even better than he’d always hoped.
 
If only he had the ability to control his descent, to fly around wherever he wanted to like his mother and Mr. MacDonald did.
 

Abigail, who was only a short distance below him, was screaming out as well.
 
Her screams however, did not tell Michael she was enjoying herself.
 
He felt sorry for her, but at the same time it was a bit satisfying because she’d been such a brat lately.

Michael dove down through the air to his flailing sister.

“PULL THE CORD,” he shouted at her.
 
He wasn’t about to do it before she did so he could watch her plummet to the earth and break like an egg.
 
Luckily, she stopped screaming and did as she was told.
 
Michael shot down past her and waited a few moments before he deployed his own chute.

He tried as hard as he could to steer himself away from the tree line and toward one of the small open valleys for the best possible landing.
 
He pulled it off, but barely.
 
He landed a bit harder than he would have liked, but luckily a thick layer of snow broke his fall.

Michael got to his feet and looked up to see his sister come down into the forest a few hundred yards behind him.
 
He unstrapped his parachute and headed into the woods.
 
It was already starting to get dark, and the canopy of the trees made things even worse.
 
Pulling out a small flashlight from his emergency kit, Michael beelined for the spot where he’d seen Abigail come down.

It didn’t take long for him to find her.
 
Abigail’s parachute had gotten tangled in a tree, but her toes appeared to be touching the ground.
 
The lines were tight, and she screeched in frustration while squirming to get loose.

“Hold on,” Michael commanded her sharply.
 
“Just calm down and I’ll help you.”
 
He had to wrestle with her a bit to get her to hold still, but a few moments later she was free.
 
She glared at him while gathering her messy blonde hair and pulling it back into a ponytail.

“Don’t give me that look, it’s not my fault the plane broke down.”

“Oh, SHUT UP,” she yelled back.
 
“You’re the one who’s always going on about sky-diving and hang-gliding and learning to fly a plane.
 
I bet you really enjoyed that, DIDN’T YOU?”

“Well actually, yeah, I did.
 
And I was glad to see you enjoyed it too.”
 
He threw his arms up and began to scream and flail around, mocking the way she’d looked while falling through the air.
 
He saw her punch coming out of the corner of his eye and barely managed to duck out of the way.

“Hey,
knock
it off you two,” someone whispered angrily from behind them.
 
“You’re making way too much noise, and we’re not the only ones out here.”

They turned to see that Caleb had snuck up on them.
 
His sword was drawn and his left index finger was placed over his lips.
 
Abigail gazed up at him and smiled innocently.
 
Michael had noticed on the plane that his sister seemed to have a crush on Caleb.
 
He rolled his eyes at her.
 
At least she would behave herself better when he was around.

“Did either of you see where Liam landed?” he whispered to them.
 
They shook their heads.

“Weren’t you above him?” Michael responded.
 
“You didn’t see what direction he went?”

Caleb shook his head.
 
“I was attacked.
 
I was too distracted to notice.”

“Attacked?”
 
Michael was shocked.
 
“You mean in the air?
 
While you were falling?”

“Yeah, now come on.
 
We need to find your friend and your mother and make our way to that orphanage.
 
It’s only about six miles from here.”

A six-mile hike through the night, that ought to be fun
, Michael thought to himself.
 
Especially if they were being chased by vampires.

“How are we going to find our mom and Liam?” Abigail asked.

“Mom shouldn’t have any trouble finding us,” Michael reminded her.
 
After all, she literally had the vision of a hawk.

“Is she a good tracker or something?” Caleb asked him.

“Uh, yeah, something like that.
 
Anyway, if Liam were nearby, I’m sure we’d have heard him yelling by now,” Michael told them.
 
Then a pang of fear shot through him.
 
“I wonder if they were attacked too?”

“Follow me, but remember- be quiet and keep your ears open.”
 
Caleb led them in a short search of the area; the remnants of twilight were gone now, and although the moon was large and fairly bright, the forest was painfully dark.
 
Caleb wouldn’t let them use their flashlights.
 
“If there are vampires out here they’ll be able to smell us,” he told them.
 
“But I don’t want the light to disorient me if we’re attacked.
 
Let your eyes adjust to the night.
 
You’ll be surprised at how well you can see.”

 
He led them around the area for quite some time, but they turned up no sign of Liam or their mother.

“What are we going to do now?” Michael asked.

Caleb thought for a moment.
 
“I need to get you two to safety, then I can go out looking again.
 
Hopefully we’ll run into them along the way, though.
 
If they have any sense of where they are I’m sure they’ll be heading for that orphanage.”

Despite Michael’s protests, Caleb insisted that they move on swiftly toward their destination.

“Be quiet and listen,” he reminded them.
 
“The less noise we make the more likely we are to hear our friends…or our enemies.”