Michael Belmont and the Heir of Van Helsing (The Adventures of Michael Belmont) (24 page)

Magda struggled with her for a moment before kicking her away, then she quickly grabbed the girl by the leg and collar, body-slamming her into the snowy sand beneath the monkey bars.
 
She back flipped away to create some distance between them and raised her fists up for defense.
 
“THAT’S ENOUGH,” Magda yelled.
 
“YOU KNOCK IT OFF NOW!”

Abigail angrily pulled herself up and glared back.
 
“You’re pretty good,” she said.
 
“But now it’s
my
turn!
 
FLYING COUGER FIST BARRAGE!” she growled while hurdling herself at Magda, bombarding her repeatedly across the face with a series of wild punches.

Michael had seen an occasional cat-fight, but he’d never seen two girls fight like this before, and it scared him- these two might actually do some serious damage to each other.
 
It was like something out of a Bruce Lee movie, only this was more fierce.

He lunged between them, trying to break up the fight while dodging their strikes.
 
Abigail got him with a roundhouse kick to the chest that knocked the wind out of him, and one of Magda’s punches landed square on his right cheek, making him see stars for a few seconds.

“STOP IT YOU TWO! He screamed at them, finally succeeding in pulling the girls apart.
 
All three of them were bruised and bloody, and both girls were leaning over with their hands on their knees, struggling to catch their breath.

“What the heck’s wrong with you?
 
Y-you…you little
psychopath
!” Magda huffed.

“You started it!
 
I saw you holding that dagger to my brother’s neck, and then you stabbed him.
 
You’re
the psycho!”
 
Abigail pushed Michael out of the way and lunged at Magda again, who caught her in midair and tossed her to the ground, jumping on top.

“The first time you caught me off guard,” Magda warned her.
 
“You won’t be so lucky this time.”
 
She pinned Abigail’s arms behind her back, and began to hog-tie her hands together when Caleb Boone appeared out of nowhere and pulled Magda up by the scruff of her shirt.
 
He did the same to Abigail, and held them both at arms length as if they were two baby kittens.

“Like Michael said, that’s quite enough of that.
 
You two are on the same side,
remember
?” he said, giving Abigail a dirty look.
 
She scowled back at him with the eyes of a whipped puppy.

“Thanks for the help,” Michael breathed, wiping his face to check for blood.
 
“I just wish you’d have gotten here a little sooner.”

“What do you mean?” Caleb asked.
 
“I’ve been here all along.”

“Well WHY didn’t you step in sooner?” Michael demanded.

“Are you kidding me?
 
That was the best show I’ve seen in a while, I wasn’t about to ruin it.
 
Besides…” he said with a shrug, “these pretty little things shouldn’t be allowed to beat each other to a pulp.”

Both girls began to struggle and kick, but Caleb held them firmly.

“Anyway, it looked like
you
were the one who really needed a hand.”

Michael grinned at the girls and began to laugh nervously.
 
Hanging there helplessly, they both looked as though they wanted to kill
him
.
 
Maybe he’d never understand girls, he told himself.

Ms. Voss was not pleased at all when Michael, Abigail, and Magda came dragging themselves into the common room.

“What in the world happened to the three of you?” she demanded, on the verge of panic.

“We were just, ah, practicing our martial arts together,” Michael told her.

She looked at them in horror.
 
He could only imagine what was going through her head.
 
She was probably wondering what kind of a boy would beat on two girls like this, and it didn’t matter that he looked even worse than they did.

She marched all three down to the infirmary, lecturing them all the way about how they needed to keep their hands off of each other, and this sort of thing would by no means be tolerated.
 
She told them how she’d thought all three of them were kind, well mannered children and that their behavior had shocked and disappointed her.
 
By the time they’d gotten all patched up Michael felt as though he’d been beaten up all over again.
 
He did feel guilty about making Ms. Voss so upset though, she was a great lady and he liked her very much.

Just before being sent off to bed, Michael managed to write Magda a note.
 
It said:

Magda, I’d really like to talk to you later tonight so we can work things out.
 
If you’re willing, please meet me in the pantry at 11:30.

P.S.
 
I’m really sorry for Abigail’s behavior.
 
She is great once you get to know her, but you’re right, she has been acting like a psycho lately.
 
I think it’s because she was nearly eaten as a werewolf sacrifice last summer, so please don’t hold it against her.

P.S.S.
 
Don’t forget- you still owe me a kiss!

Best Regards, Michael

He slipped her the note and she looked at him suspiciously, but took and hid it in her pocket, which made him feel hopeful.
 

After that he went to his bedroom to rest for a while.
 
It was only eight thirty and he was really tired, so he set his alarm for 11:15 and went to sleep.

When the alarm went off he shot out of bed and shut it back off before it could wake the other two boys in the room.
 
Now he was even more tired than he had been before, and he wished that he hadn’t gone to sleep at all.
 
He let out a big yawn, went to the bathroom to make sure he looked presentable, and then quietly headed off for the pantry.

When he got there, someone was waiting for him, but it wasn’t Magda.

“Have you come to claim your kiss?” Olaf said with a snarl.
 
He grabbed Michael by the collar, pulled him in close, and looked at him like he’d just been caught picking pockets.
 
“I found my sister reading your note.
 
She tried to hide it from me, and you can imagine how happy I was when I read it, and when I saw the bruises all over her arms and face.
 
I’m in a really good mood today, so I decided to give you one warning- stay away from my sister or I’ll beat you so hard that your dog will feel it.
 
UNDERSTAND?”

“I don’t have a dog.
 
Besides, I’m not afraid of you,” Michael squeaked unconvincingly.

“Oh no?
 
Well then maybe I should give you something to be afraid of.”
 
He curled his hand into a fist and pulled it back really slowly.

“I know who you are,
Olaf Van Helsing
!”

It was almost as if he’d just lit a fire in Olaf’s eyes.
 
Michael could see the rage begin to burn within them.

“Where did you hear that name?
 
From my sister?”
 
His voice was calculated and dangerous.

“No.
 
She didn’t say anything.
 
I
came
here looking for you.”

“Is that so?
 
All right kid, you have my attention.
 
Start talking.”

“I know all about your family’s history, how you’ve been hunted because of your bloodline.
 
If you really want to defeat Mihnea once and for all, I know of a way to help you do it, but you’re going to have to trust me.”

“Mihnea?
 
I don’t know who that is.
 
All I know is that vampires have been trying to kill my sister and I for as long as I can remember.
 
When I was ten years old, our father was murdered right in front of us.
 
Our mother brought us back here.
 
She thought she could keep us safer with her own family around.
 
Well that didn’t turn out so well for her or for them.
 
Just before she was killed, she knew we’d been discovered, so she set us up with fake identities and led the vampires to believe we were living in Australia.
 
Little did they know we’d been brought here, but it looks like you’ve led them right to us,” he said angrily.

Michael felt sick.
 
Olaf was probably right, but they really hadn’t had any other choice.

Olaf saw the remorseful look on Michael’s face.
 
“Don’t lose any sleep over it, kid.
 
They would have found us on their own eventually.
 
They always have.
 
To tell you the truth I’m getting really sick of running.”
 
He took a deep breath and let go of Michael’s collar.
 
“So who’s this Mihnea guy?”

“Well, you’ve heard of Dracula?”

“Of course.
 
My great grandfather Abraham Van Helsing helped kill him.
 
Since then my family’s been hunted by his followers, wanting revenge for his death.”

“Mihnea is his son.
 
He’s the one who’s been after your family the whole time.
 
He’s the one we need to defeat before he becomes even more powerful than his father was.
 
We have a relic, a sword that can be used to destroy the source of Dracula’s power once and for all, but only the true heir of Abraham Van Helsing can do it.
 
We need to get you and the sword to Dracula’s castle as soon as possible.”

Olaf looked at him stupidly for a few moments, and then began to laugh, almost maniacally.
 
“So you expect me to go up against the son of Dracula, whose been knocking off members of my family for the last hundred and twenty years, and use some magic sword to defeat him?
 
That’s pretty rich, kid.
 
You might not be too bright, but you sure are good for a laugh.”
 
He turned and strode toward the pantry door, turning to glare at Michael one last time.
 
“Just remember, you’ll stay away from my sister if you know what’s good for you.”

Olaf turned and strode away, chuckling as he went.
 
Well that went well
, Michael thought to himself.
 
This might be harder than I thought
.

It was 5:10 in the morning.
 
Michael had woken early and couldn’t seem to go back to sleep, so he got up and went to the dining hall, where he waited for breakfast to begin.
 
He didn’t mind sitting there alone; it allowed him time to think.
 
His parents were due to return tomorrow to pick them up.
 
If everything went according to plan, the Van Helsing children would be going with them- whether they chose to or not.
 
Since his run-in with Olaf, he’d tried several times to speak with him and his sister, but every time they saw him coming, Olaf evaded him and dragged Magda off too.
 
To say he was acting unfriendly and uninterested in talking would be an understatement.
 
He’d try again today, Michael told himself.
 
Even if Olaf beats the tar out of me, I still need to give it my best shot.
 
I owe that much to Magda
, he thought.

Michael had no sooner started to think of Magda when she walked through the door.
 
It took her a moment to see him, and when she did she turned her head away quickly and rushed back toward the door.

“You’re not getting away from me this time,” he said under his breath and took off after her.
 
By the time he caught up she was nearly to the stairway that led up to the girls floor.
 
“Magda, wait, please.
 
I really need to talk to you.”

He jumped in front of her so she couldn’t go up the stairs, and expected her to yell in protest, but instead she just kept her head down so that her hair hung over her face, and held her arms crossed tightly in front of her.
 
“Michael, please just let me go,” she said softly.

He hadn’t expected that, and for a moment didn’t know what to say.
 
Why was she acting like this?
 
He stepped out of her way, and she started walking up the stairs.

“I just want you to know,” he called after her, “I’m here if you need me.”

She hesitated for a moment before continuing up the stairs and disappearing from his sight.

After that, the day was pretty uneventful.
 
Michael met his sister for breakfast, then they ran around outside, and after sweeping the snow off the basketball court, he beat her and several other kids in a game of horse, then they had lunch, and then they were back outside again.
 
Eating and playing seemed to be the routine around the place.
 
The children who lived at the orphanage had classes throughout the day, but Michael and Abigail had been excused from those.
 
There were worse ways to live, Michael thought, but this sure would get boring after a while.
 
This is what it must feel like to be a house cat.
 
Eating and playing and sleeping, eating and playing and sleeping, all day, every day.

That afternoon, Michael found himself on the basketball court shooting hoops by himself again.
 
He dribbled the ball in a circle and turned to make a jump shot, yipping in surprise to see Caleb Boone standing just a few feet away.
 
“How do you do that?” Michael barked at him.
 
“You’re like a white, grumpy ninja.”