Hey all!  I hope you're enjoying my story!  I am sorry that this did not
appear in yesterdays FML, I missed the deadline for posting!!  Oops...
perhaps I should not write so long into the night =) anyway..  My
apologies for keeping you waiting!  Here's part four!  The story will
still be 7 parts, the story will just run until Nov. 1st instead of
until Oct 31st.  Again!  My apologies for missing yesterdays deadline!
 
-          Jules
 
[Moderator's note: The FML went out earlier than usual yesterday.  I
*really* needed to catch up on some sleep!  BIG]
 
Part Four
 
Recap: On a stormy night a young rat showed up on Van Helsing Von
Furret's with a message.  A message from his father, requesting that Van
return with Ioan to Transylvania to help rid them of the phantom that
had taken residence in their cemetery and was terrorizing the town.  Van
accepted the mission and upon deciding that the phantom was probably a
vampire, he asked his badger friend, Carlos, for some weapons to take
along.  Much to his dismay it was not weapons that Carlos fitted him with
but everything he could need to capture the vampire.  Carlos and his
intern Samuel have concocted a potion that they say will turn the vampire
into a harmless vegetable-juice drinking un-vampire.  And they plan to
have Van Helsing test their theory.  We rejoin the story with Ioan and
Van well into their journey back to Ioan's hometown of Transylvania.
 
It had been three weeks since that foggy morning that Ioan and Van had
set off on their journey.  Ioan remembered everything as if it had been
yesterday.  Carlos had made scrambled eggs for breakfast, but as soon
as the last bite was swallowed they packed their gear and were out on
the road.  They took no more than they could carry.  Ioan had wondered
at Van Helsing's oddly shaped pack.  It had bumps in odd places and from
what he could tell they were not caused by pots and pans.  Van also wore
a pouch under his shirt, Ioan had caught a glimpse of it when Van pulled
off his cloak one day, but he dared not ask what it contained.  Van still
intimidated him, even after spending two weeks with no other company.
They shared everything, yet Ioan still trembled when Van looked at him
with that penetrating stare.  At first he had tried to make conversation
with the ferret, but Van's answers were short and gruff, so he had
given up.
 
Van Helsing not only intimidated Ioan, but amazed him as well.  Van knew
everything, or so it seemed.  Not only did he go on great adventures and
rescue whole towns from monsters that terrorized them, but he knew how
to build a fire any place and in any condition.  He could put a meal
together with plants and roots he found along their way and could always
manage to bring something back from a hunting excursion.  Even when they
stayed at an Inn along the way, Van managed to get them a room and two
meals in exchange for a reasonable amount of work or some story telling.
Van's stories were always worth a week's room and board, any Inn who knew
of him leapt at the chance to have him tell of his adventures.  Creatures
flocked to wherever he was, bringing business to the lucky inn or tavern.
Ioan always sat as captivated as the rest.  When Van told his stories, he
was like a whole different ferret.  The gruff exterior melted away and he
seemed to come to life.  He thrived on his audience's response and loved
to evoke a different emotion every minute.
 
Ioan momentarily returned his thoughts to the present when they came to
a fork in the road, a weatherworn sign stood in the middle.  Traveling a
mile on the left fork would bring you to the town of Toadstool, but to
the right there was no town for the next 20 miles.  Ioan hoped that they
would head for Toadstool and would not travel all night again.
 
"Sir?  Shall we head for Toadstool?" he questioned timidly.
 
Van chuckled; it was the first friendly sounding response he had given
the rat.  He knew he intimidated and frightened Ioan, but the lad was
still awestruck by him.  He'd dealt with awestruck fans before and did
not enjoy it, but perhaps his aloofness was only encouraging Ioan to
think of him that way.  He'd been struggling over that question since
their journey began.  At first he'd thought that if he remained distanced
from the lad, he would give up on his hero-worship and get bored, but
that had not happened.  Perhaps it was time to open up to him a little,
and show he was as mortal as the next critter.
 
"Sir?" Ioan again questioned.
 
"Oh, Toadstool, yes we shall head there." Van said suddenly, realizing
that he had gotten so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't answered
Ioan's question.  He clapped the rat on the shoulder and adjusted his
pack.  "Guess I got caught up in my thoughts there.  Let's get moving
again.  We've only got a few hours until dusk and I should find us a
place to stay before the evening event callers go out."
 
Ioan nearly fainted when Van had clapped him on the shoulder.  In the
past two minutes Van had probably spoken more to Ioan than he had in
the past two days!
 
"You know, Carlos taught me all I know about how to survive on the land
while on a journey." Van said, again catching him off guard.  "It is a
learned skill, not a gift.  You could benefit from knowing.  Would you
like to learn, Ioan?"
 
Ioan managed to squeak out an indiscernible, yet most definitely
affirmative answer.  "What has gotten into him?" Ioan wondered to
himself.  "Why is he becoming so friendly now?"
 
Toadstool was a very small town, with only one tavern and one inn.  It
was the tavern that Van chose to grace with his presence.  The poor
villagers were dying for some entertainment, not many musicians or
storytellers passed through here often and the whole town seemingly
turned out to hear Van.  The tavern was packed.  There was hardly room
for the servers to move through the customers.  Van sat on a stool and
began his story.  Tonight he told of his recent adventures in Africa.
Soon he had the whole in the palm of his hand.  He could make them cry,
laugh, gasp, or be consumed with anger on a whim.
 
"I knew he was around, but I didn't know where.  It was pitch dark.  You
couldn't see your paw 3 inches in front of your face.  I could hear the
night birds calling alarm to their mates as someone moved through the
underbrush"  Van led his audience into fear and suspense and then relief
when he caught his target.  The usually frenzy of questions came and went
and then Van and Ioan turned in for the night.
 
They spent two more nights in Toadstool out of compassion for the
villagers.  They had been begged for more stories and Van had gladly
obliged, but they couldn't stay forever and all too soon for the
residents, they were on their way.  They traveled for 5 more weeks,
camping on the road or staying in Inns or Taverns when they passed
through towns.  Van had become much more friendly to Ioan.  He told the
stories he told at the Inns in a whole new light.  He told all the
unglamorous boring details of days spent where nothing happened, or how
there'd almost always been someone else who had greatly aided in the
completion of his goal, who's roll had been downplayed.  He taught Ioan
many things and Ioan had finally accepted Van as a friend and not a hero
to be idolized.  Van had taken to thinking of Ioan as a nephew and found
himself becoming very protective of him.  He listened to Ioan's stories
of home and the closer they got to Transylvania, the more Van felt a part
of the town.  Finally they were 6 hours out of Transylvania.  Ioan was so
excited that he begged they keep walking, even though it was already late
at night.  They continued on, but as they neared his home, Ioan became
more nervous about what they would find than excited about being home.
 
When they came to the main road through the town, Ioan knew something
was definitely changed.  The town was completely dark, only the full moon
lit their path.  There were no night sounds, not even noise from the
beast farms, only the sound of their footsteps as they continued walking
through town.  It was eerie.  Ioan though of calling out but resisted.
He looked around at the buildings as best he could in the dim light.
Everything looked exactly like when he'd left.  Nothing was closed up or
ruined, but something was wrong.  He could just tell.  As he stared at
the bakery a strong gust of wind blew them off balance.  Then everything
went black and the air stilled.
 
"Ioan, Run!" Van shouted, not a moment too soon for suddenly it was as
if the night had exploded.  High pitched chirps, screams, and clicks
overwhelmed their ears as gusts of wind blew their cloaks every which
way.  Something was diving at them, but they couldn't see it.  They ran,
but Ioan couldn't see Van behind him.
 
"Van!  Where are you?  Run this way!" Ioan screamed, stopping to look
around.
 
"I'm here!  Ahhhh!" Van crashed into the rat and they both toppled to the
ground.  Looking up they saw a black shadow speeding towards them.  They
tried to get up, but their packs were tangled together.  The thing drew
closer by the second, but it was no use, they were caught.
 
What will happen to Ioan and Van?  What is attacking them?  Will they
survive?
 
Find out tomorrow in:
Van Helsing Von Furret in: The Phantom of The 113th Street Cemetery
[Posted in FML issue 4680]