Hey All..  Happy Halloween!  Here's the second to last part of Van
Helsing Von Furret!  Enjoy!!!
- Jules
 
Part Six
 
Recap: At the request of a young rat that showed up at his door, Van
Helsing has traveled to Transylvania to help rid the town of a mysterious
phantom that haunts the town.  Upon arriving Van and the rat, Ioan, are
attacked by the phantom.  They narrowly escape by the coming of the dawn
and spend the next few days figuring out what the exactly phantom might
be.  Van had suspected it was a vampire even before heading out and had
been outfitted with a potion to turn a blood-sucking vampire into a
vegetable juice drinking un-vampire by his inventor friend Carlos.  But
now that he had encountered the phantom, he wasn't convinced that it was
a true vampire.  After some research he discovered that the phantom must
be a vampire bat.  Now that he knew what he was after Van set a trap for
the vampire.  We rejoin them as they carry out their plans.
 
The trap was going as planned.  The first night, the vampire had indeed
fed on the beast, who was none the wiser or worse for ware the next
morning.  Ioan and Van had faithfully switched out the beasts for the
next night and now it was almost dusk on the final night.  Tonight they
would hide under the canvas and hope for a miracle.
 
"You ready, Ioan?" Van said giving the nervous looking rat a grin as they
walked towards the cemetery.
 
"I think so," Ioan voice tremmored as he spoke.  Van noted that his grip
was exceptionally tight on the lead rope to the third beast.
 
"You sure you want to come along with me?  You don't have to."  Van asked
in one last attempt to dissuade the lad from accompanying him.
 
"Yes, I'm sure.  Besides, you could use a second pair of eyes."
 
"You're right" Van admitted defeat with a sigh.
 
The pair kept walking in silence.  The sun was low behind the trees and
the sky was a burst of auburn, gold, and violet when they reached the
cemetery.  They tethered the beast and then checked their equipment.
After making sure everything was set to Van's satisfaction they crawled
under the canvas one last time.
 
The sun's last rays slipped beneath the horizon and the wait began.
For a while Van and Ioan laid there nervously, staring into the darkness
and jumping at little sounds, but as the hours dragged on they became
bored.  Not daring to talk they each drifted into their own thoughts.
Ioan thought of his journey with Van and wondered if he would ever be
satisfied with life here after Van had left.  On the other hand, would
Van leave at all?  He seemed quite at home here.  He had integrated
himself among the people quite well.  Even the old spinsters of the town
were fond of him, though they wouldn't admit to it.  Ioan supposed he
knew that Van would return to his home, but he couldn't help but hope
that perhaps something would make him stay in Transylvania.  Meanwhile
Van's thoughts drifted back to his home in England and then they drifted
to the people he had come to know here.  He had come to love this town
with all its abnormalities and odd townsfolk.  As Ioan, he wondered if he
would be satisfied with life when he returned, but how could he stay.
How could he ask Carlos to move here?  He wrestled with his thoughts for
what felt like hours.
 
Finally dawn drew close and they had not even seen any evidence of the
phantom.  Ioan scootched over to van as the sky started to lighten.
 
"Van" he whispered.  "Do you think it's safe to go out?"
 
"I don't know, Ioan.  The sun is not fully up yet."
 
"We haven't seen anything all night."
 
"I don't think we should"
 
"Look, the suns almost up, it should be safe.  It's so boring under
here!" Ioan rolled over to the edge of the canvas and peered out.
 
"Ioan, wait until the sun shines on your face to step out."
 
"Alright." Ioan said flopping his arms down with a sigh.  His arms landed
out from under the canvas and before he realized what happened they heard
a loud screech as something landed on top of their canvas tent and
grabbed Ioan's arms.
 
"VAN!" Ioan yelled in surprise.
 
Van rolled out from under the canvas and jumped to his feet.  Grabbing a
large branch laying on the ground he swung at the creature that had Ioan.
The branch collided with it's head and it was knocked to the ground.  It
was the phantom.  Screaming and letting go of Ioan, it flew at Van.  Van
swung again, slicing a hole in its wings.  Van kept swinging at it, but
his arms were tiring.  His paw pads dripped with sweat and his nose was
damp.
 
"Ioan!  Get the net!  Shoot it with the net!" he yelled
 
Ioan scrambled to get at the net launcher.  He dug through the canvas and
finally pulled it out.
 
"How do I shoot it?" Ioan cried in despair as he watched Van struggling
to fend off the vampire.
 
"Point it at him and pull the handle on the top!"
 
"Which one?"
 
"The one to the left of the capsule!"
 
"I'm going to shoot on the count of three!"
 
"Okay!  Start counting!  I'm getting tired!" Van took another swing at
the creature, but missed and it manage to claw his arm.
 
"ONE, TWO, THREE!"
 
Van ducked and Ioan fired.  The net shot towards the phantom and exploded
just as the bat saw it coming.  Screaming, it fell to the ground as the
net entangled it.  It writhed trying to free itself, it's screams
becoming more and more like cries.  Van stood up, resting his paws on
his knees panting.
 
"You okay, Ioan?" he gasped.
 
"Yes, I think so.  Are you?" Ioan replied shakily.
 
"Only a scratch and some pulled muscles." Van replied.  They walked over
to the bat, which had ceased its struggle, and laid there with chest
heaving as it pulled air into its lungs.  When is saw them approach it
began to screech at them and clawing at the net that contained it.  Van
stood over and stared in its eyes.  It hissed at him, fangs showing in
full.
 
"Ioan, bring me the syringes from my pack." Van said in a flat tone.
Ioan hurried to retrieve them.  When he returned, Van held one of the
vials that Carlos had given him.
 
Filling the syringe, he approached the vat in a way that only a ferret
could.  Dodging and jumping its attempts to claw him he drew closer to
it.  The bat calmed for a split second and Van seized his opportunity
and injected the potion in full.  The Bat gave one last scream and then
fell silently into unconsciousness.
 
Will Carlos' potion work?  Will the vampire be turned into a juice
drinking un-vampire?  What will happen to Van and Ioan?
 
            Find out in the last episode of:
Van Helsing Von Furret In: The Phantom of the 113th Cemetery
[Posted in FML issue 4682]