Van

"Physically, I can find nothing wrong that a few good meals won't fix," Paula said, patting Van's leg gently before standing.

Initially, Van had been shocked by Paula's appearance in her room, but as she sat through the woman's thorough exam, she concluded it wasn't all that surprising that her mother put a plant in Abe's house. Xandra left little to chance, and she wouldn't have allowed Van to live with her father without someone close by at all times.

Xandra motioned at Van's face. "What about- those?"

"There is magic in her system. A lot. But I sense nothing that does not-" The healer paused and chose her words carefully. "Belong. It is Protean in nature."

Van's mother did not look relieved. Her rosebud lips pinched together and she rubbed the bridge of her nose with a slender finger. "Her Protean magic has always been dormant. Did the potion activate it somehow?"

"I do not know. Our studies of the potion have been fruitless. Luce and the other witches have tried to find someone who might know, but it would seem anyone who might understand the magic used isn't willing to talk. Blood magic is not exactly smiled upon."

While the women talked among themselves, Van munched on the tray of food someone delivered while she was bathing and tried not to dwell on Luca's sudden desperation to get away from her. After a few bites, she was full, but she forced herself to continue eating, determined to get strong as fast as possible. It was bad enough that they'd made her sit through two separate exams when she'd told them she wanted to see her father first, Now they were talking over her as if she was a child, but going through what she'd been through forced a person to grow up. At this point, her age was just a technicality.

Xandra focused on her daughter at last, though she could not look her in the eye. "Van, what did your father say about the potion?"

Swallowing her food, she patted her lips with a napkin and searched her memories of that night. So much of it was hazy. Pain and panic wrapped everything in a fog as if her brain was trying to protect her. Her hand drifted down her side and paused over the scar she received when the Slayers kidnapped her. In some ways, that had happened just yesterday for her.

"It was part of the ritual to keep the Countess asleep," she answered at last. "Abe needed to keep her alive."

"We gathered as much from the files we've cracked," Xandra said, flipping a chair around and sitting on it. Her long red hair fell over her shoulder in a thick braid, and there were lines Van didn't remember marring her forehead.

"Did you read all of them?"

"No. Just enough to speculate that the Helsing line is tied to the Bathory one. We have people working on the rest. We hope the potion's origin is included in one of the files."

Van nodded. It would make sense considering the witch who designed it was likely long dead. Most likely at the hands of her employer.

"It's where the Blessings come from because our ancestor was conceived during Elizabeth and Haimon's ritual. Bathory revealed the bond to Abraham when he came to kill her, and she warned him that letting her die would mean he would lose his abilities."

"Bastardo," Paula spit. "Hypocrite. To eradicate entire people groups for being unnatural when he himself was the spawn of such an unholy union."

Van gave the older woman a look of agreement. "Basically, what I told dear old dad. Unfortunately, he missed the irony of the situation. Long story short, he had a witch create a spell that would keep the Countess in a state of suspended animation."

"So where does the potion come into play?" Xandra asked.

"It's a booster," Paula said, snapping her fingers and looking at Van for confirmation. She could only shrug, not having a full enough understanding of how magic worked. Paula smiled in understanding and explained. "Spells don't last indefinitely. Without a booster. Something that refuels it."

"Oh, then yes," Van said, "That's exactly what it was. Gyorgy Helsing was a Protean who befriended and trained Abraham when he learned of his unique abilities. Abraham repaid the favor by using his blood in the initial spell, and that's why the Helsings have hunted the Proteans so fiercely. They needed them to use in the spell. They had to drink it before being sacrificed. Has Abe really not given you all any information?"

She felt it hard to believe they hadn't got anything out of her father after three weeks. Nancy, despite her innocent appearance, seemed like the type who might enjoy a little torture during interrogation, and as willing as Abe had been to spill the beans to Van, she half expected him to offer to write it all down for them.

Her mother ignored Van's question. "So everyone who has ever drank this potion has died? Except you?"

A black world. Skin on fire. Crushing silence. Cold.

Van's time spent in the void flashed through her mind in rapid-fire succession. Had she actually survived? It felt as though she'd died a hundred times over while sleeping. The contents of her stomach bubbled and threatened to rise up her throat, but she wrestled it back down, refusing to give anyone another excuse to keep her in bed.

"Except me," she croaked.

Then another memory of the night in the crypt came back to her, mingling with the echo of her mother's declaration that her Protean side was dormant.

"Mom, didn't you say Proteans had the gift of sight?"

"Some of them-"

Alarms blared. Van shot up from her bed, heart lodging in her throat as she clapped her hands over her ears. It sounded as if someone was pressing the speaker directly against her eardrums.

"What the hell?" she screamed.

Xandra bolted toward the door, shouting over her shoulder. "Paula, get Van to the safe room!"

"Mom, wait!"

"Come on, little one. We must do as we are told," Paula said, taking Van's hand and dragging her to the door.

"What's going on?"

Her legs burned as they rushed down the hall. Paula didn't slow down or answer Van's question, expertly weaving around people as they burst out of rooms. Or animals, as was sometimes the case. Van narrowly avoided being trampled by a stag as it raced by.

Luca had warned her. Their ranks had grown, and it became more and more obvious as Paula led her through the old house. The Helsings would all be rolling over in their graves right now.

"Stop for just a damn second," Van panted, grabbing the wall to catch her breath.

"We don't have a second," Paula insisted, tugging on her hand. "That is the signal that the compound is under attack. That the enemy is on the inside."

Van gaped at the healer. "Who is attacking us? We have my father."

"Oh, sweet child. You cut off the head of a snake and another one grows back. The Asylum still exists. That was a single victory. We haven't won the war yet, but we won't get a chance to keep fighting if you don't come along. "

"But-"

"No. We have to get to the safe room so we can make sure your brother is there."

That thought sobered Van, even as it irritated her to be herded toward a room where they were keeping the children. She searched for the flood of strength and speed that flooded her body during fights and found nothing but fatigue and weakness.

And then it happened. Like before, everyone around her developed a ghostly echo as her feet froze in place. Paula's double surged twenty-feet ahead, her hand dragging behind her and clasped onto something Van couldn't see. Then, a door whipped open, forcing her to stumble back as a creature of nightmare appeared.

Paula didn't even have time to defend herself before the vampire launched herself on the healer, her fangs sinking into her neck as her eyes rolled back in her head with delight. After a long drink, she tore herself free, spraying the dark paneled wall with crimson, and then she set her eyes on Van.

"No," Van shrieked, snatching hard on Paula's hand as the world merged into a single focus again.

The older woman hit the floor hard, taking Van with her. She rolled to her side and scowled.

"Van, what are you-"

The door opened and just as Van expected, a vampire entered the hallway. Her flaming eyes swept the scene in front of her before settling on the ladies huddled on the ground. She stalked forward, her fangs lengthening over plump lips.

"My, my, my don't you look tasty." The vampire addressed Paula, giving Van a withering glance. "You look like one of my sisters after not feeding for a month. Still, waste not, want not."

"Get behind me," Paula hissed, raising her hands and whispering a foreign language. Then another word- this one a curse. "I'm sorry, child. My defensive magic is almost nonexistent."

The vampire laughed and lunged. On impulse, Van pushed Paula behind her and swung her arm forward. Trixie would call the form sloppy, but it was better than waiting politely to become a snack. At least, she would know she went down fighting.

"I did not wake up for this shit," she growled as her fist made contact.

The vampire's eyes went wide with shock, and Van felt something warm and wet slide down her arm. Pulling back, the creature dropped with a sickening crunch, and Van looked at her arm to find that a sharp tree branch from her elbow to her fingertips had replaced it. The bark glistened with blood and gore, and when she lowered her gaze to the woman on the floor, she saw a large entry and exit wound through her throat.

"Dios mio," Paula breathed, pushing herself to her feet, her eyes never leaving Van's arm, even as it returned to normal.

"Well, I guess that answers the question about what the potion did," Van joked lamely even as the room spun. When the door swung open again, she chuckled darkly and prepared to face whatever was coming.