CHAPTER TWO
AT YOUR SERVICE

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Every step that Josie and Nicholai took down the bizarre new streets revealed more of their neighbours curiously poking their heads out of their doors to see what had happened. And between those she recognized were those she did not, the residents of the new houses sandwiched between the familiar ones, also curious about what had happened, what had caused the quake.

A few of the neighbours that she was more familiar with called out to her, asking her what was going on and if they were safe. Josie assured them as best she could that they would figure out what had happened and everything would be fine.

At the end of the block, they came to the house of Mrs Jones, an older woman that her mother was friends with. She had lost her husband a few years back to an attack on a blood moon and had gone to Josie and her family for help. Now, Mrs Jones went to the local market and had tea often with Luella. Mrs Jones was currently standing on her small front porch, looking around confused.

"Oh, Josie, dear, thank goodness. What has happened?" she asked.

"That's what we are endeavouring to find out," Josie told her as the two detoured to her porch.

"But, my dears, where are we? I'm so confused," Mrs Jones said.

"I know. We all are, but everything is going to be fine," Josie assured her, giving the older woman an assuring smile despite clutching her crossbow tightly in her hand.

"Where's your father, darling?" Mrs Jones asked.

Josie immediately froze. That was the question she wanted more than any other. She could care less about where she was if she had her father by her side. Before Mrs Jones could see Josie's internal conflict, Nicholai spoke up.

"We split up to cover more ground," he explained. "You know Mr van Helsing, always thinking of the wisest strategies."

"Oh yes, you're quite right. He's a clever one, that Abraham," Mrs Jones agreed.

"We better be off now, Mrs Jones," Nicholai said, guiding Josie to take a step back down the stairs. "We have lots of ground to cover and many mysteries to solve."

Mrs Jones agreed, waving them off to keep to their search. They continued down the strange roads for some time and a block or so away from Mrs Jones' house, Nicholai stopped Josie and turned her towards him. He had a concerned look on his face that made her sigh. She knew that look all too well and was dreading what he was going to say to her.

"You are okay, right?" he asked.

"Why would I not be?" she questioned.

"Your father is missing, we have no idea where we are and because of who your father is, you believe it is your responsibility to figure it out. That is all a lot to deal with so I ask again, are you okay?"

"I am fine, Nicholai," she assured him.

"That was not the impression I got when you froze up in front of Mrs Jones."

"I do not fre—"

"You did, so please, Josie. If you are not okay, you can tell me."

She sighed and looked away from him, looked around at the mismatched streets of the home she was so familiar with. After a moment, Nicholai grabbed her arm again and she looked up at him.

"No," she admitted. "I am not fine. I have no idea where my father is or who lured him out of the house. And that worries me not only because he is my father, but for my mother and sister as well. If he's gone, I have to figure this all out on my own."

"No, you do not. I am here for you as I always am. Once you tell Luella and Tori, they'll be here for you too," he explained. "You are not alone."

Feeling a surge of love for her best friend, Josie lowered her crossbow to one hand and used her free arm to hug Nicholai tightly. Laughing a little, he hugged her back just as tightly. They held each other for a moment, Josie beginning to feel better about the whole situation. He was right, of course, she wasn't alone and it wasn't all on her. She had her best friend, her mother and sister and even the other employees in the van Helsing business.

Continuing forward, the two of them came to another intersection and had just rounded the corner when they came face to face with another familiar man, carrying a crossbow not too dissimilar to the one that Josie herself carried. She recognized the man as James Evans, the employee her father had employed for the longest time, and the oldest of the three men.

"James, thank goodness you are alright," Josie said.

"Oh, Josie," James said. "Where is your father?"

"I—" she began, the words catching in her throat.

"We don't know," Nicholai said. "He left his home just before the first quake hit and we haven't seen him since."

"Where are Oliver and Eugene?" Josie asked before James could say anything when she saw his eyes widen.

"I sent them to patrol the opposite way I did before we regrouped at the office," James explained. "Is Abraham really—"

"Excellent idea, James. When you meet back up with them, please instruct them to go back to my home with you and remain there with my mother and sister. This is where we will be able to meet back up with you."

"Perhaps best, I locked up the office tight when I left earlier this evening," Nicholai said.

"As you say, Miss Josie," James said.

They parted ways with James and the pair continued forward until they found themselves at another intersection in front of an unfamiliar clocktower. They stopped here and examined their surroundings, Josie finding that this looked more unfamiliar than the street that they'd come from, probably more of wherever Nightmoor had been pushed into.

There were a few unfamiliar people milling about, though when they caught sight of the crossbow in Josie's hands, they didn't approach the pair. Another reason for Josie to be thankful that she'd brought it. None of the people looked hostile, but they were strangers nonetheless and Josie didn't trust strangers. Especially so after what had just happened.

When Nicholai stiffened next to her, she turned to look at him, confused and a little concerned. He was sensing something, smelling something. Something that he didn't recognize and it was making him uneasy. None of which boded well.

"What is it?" she asked him.

"Three people," he said, turning around to point down the main street away from the clocktower. "That way."

"Are they friend or foe?"

"I cannot tell."

Josie turned and looked in the direction that her best friend had indicated and didn't see these three strangers yet or anything else out of the ordinary. Before she could look further, Nicholai pulled her back in the direction of the clocktower, behind a large stack of boxes that Josie recognized from their chase through the streets the night prior. The pair ducked behind the boxes and found a small opening between boxes that allowed her to view a small area of the street without giving herself away.

Within a moment of them ducking out of sight, the trio of strangers that Nicholai had sensed appeared where they'd been standing. They must have only just gotten out of sight before these people turned onto the street.

Among them were two women and one man. One of the women had long blonde hair and wore a strange sort of jacket that appeared to be made out of red leather and a bizarre pair of stiff trousers that clung tightly to her legs and were light blue in colour. The other women's hair was shorter and darker, and she wore a black blazer over black trousers, a look that was more familiar to Josie but still somewhat wrong to her eyes. The man had short black hair and also wore some kind of bizarre leather jacket, though his was black in colour. Most notably about him though, Josie noticed, was that one of his hands was gone and there was a hook in its place.

None of them held weapons, but Josie had been a hunter long enough to know that a person didn't need a weapon to be a threat.

Josie signalled silently to Nicholai, the two of them crept out from behind the boxes once the the three strangers had passed them by. Once in a good position, the young hunter raised her crossbow and took careful aim before she fired. The bolt shot forward, skimming over the man's arm, ripping the sleeve of his jacket but otherwise not harming him. As the man recoiled in surprise, all three of them turned in alarm to see where the shot had come from.

"Who are you?" the blonde demanded.

"I ask the same of you! And I suggest you answer my questions with haste or my next arrow will do more than simply rip a jacket," Josie threatened, quickly loading another bolt into her crossbow to prove her point.

The dark haired woman waved her hand in an almost familiar motion before her brow furrowed as if she'd been expecting something to happen.

"Trying to take my weapon from me will be ineffectual, witch," Josie accused, turning the bow towards her. "But try it again, we shall see what happens."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," the blonde said, drawing Joise's attention. "There's no need for that. We'll answer your question. My name is Emma, and this is Killian and Regina. We live here in Storybrooke."

"Storybrooke?" Nicholai questioned. "We are in no such place. This is Transylvania."

"Transylvania?" Regina questioned. "Kid, you're not on the right continent."

"I am exactly where I state, for if I was wrong, you would not be able to see the castle of Count Dracula on the hill in the forest behind me," Nicholai stated.

"Three pairs of eyes turned away from them, focusing in the distance behind them. When their expressions all turned to one of surprise before turning to each other, Josie knew that they had seen Dracula's Castle.

"What the bloody hell is going on here?" Killin asked, sounding fed up.

"We could as the same of you," Josie stated.

"Okay, something really strange is going on here," Emma said as if that wasn't an obvious statement. "But we didn't do this and we want to figure out what's going on here as much as you do, I'm sure. So why don't you put down your weapon and we work together?"

"Emma, you can't be serious," Regina said.

Josie looked over at Nicholai and the two of them had a silent conversation, an art they'd perfected over their friendship and partnership as hunters. In but a moment, the two looked back at the three strangers and Josie lowered her bow.

"We will work together to figure this out," Josie agreed. "And I will lower my weapon, but I will not put it away."

Doing as asked, Josie lowered her crossbow, easing some of the tension between the two groups. It was suggested that they journey toward what both Josie and Nicholai could only assume was the headquarters of the Storybrooke residents.

The two hunters followed the three strangers down the streets away from the clock tower. Josie kept a tight grip on her crossbow the whole while they walked, still not entirely sure of her safety and never being one to trust strangers. She had no reason to trust these three strangers, Emma, Killian and Regina, for they had given her no sign that they were worthy of her trust. In fact, Regina had even tried to use magic against her, which staunchly put them in the list of people that were not to be trusted.

But, in their defense, they did at least appear to be as confused as both she and Nicholai were. She could at least believe that they had nothing to do with it, which was definitely a point in their favour. So, really, that evened out their score to neutral. They had done nothing to prove they were trustworthy, but they had done nothing to prove they were the enemy. Not helpful in the slightest.

As they walked, Josie couldn't help but notice a sadness in Emma. One she recognized to a much lesser extent in herself. The blonde had very recently lost someone that was dear to her. And, unlike Josie, Emma had no chance of getting this dear person back. Next to Killian and Regina, this was especially obvious, for neither of them carried this weight with them as prominently. No, their losses were in their pasts. Emma's was front and center. Recent. If it was obvious to Josie, it had to be obvious to anyone else that looked at her.

"What the hell happened to Granny's?" Killian questioned all of a sudden.

Turning their attention to where Killian was looking, Josie noticed an unfamiliar light coloured building with a small outdoor seating area. Like the streets, it had been pushed together with something that Josie did recognize, a dark wood building, three stories high, golden candlelight coming from the small windows.

"Is that the White Lion?" Nicholai questioned.

"What the hell is the White Lion?" Killian asked.

"What is Granny's?" Nicholai asked back.

"A bed and breakfast," Emma said with a pointed look at Killian.

"What is a bed and breakfast?" Josie asked.

"You don't know what a bed and breakfast is?" Regina questioned. "Where did you even come from?"

"I would have more care with your words, witch," Josie threatened, "I will not hesitate to use this crossbow on you."

Regina looked offended, but Emma spoke before the brunette could. "A bed and breakfast is a place you go and rent a room or get a meal."

"So it is a tavern," Josie said.

"In a way, yes," Killian said.

"That is what the White Lion is," Nicholai said. "It is the local tavern."

"We don't have time to argue about this, we need to get back to the house and the others to figure out what is going on," Emma said.

"Yes, figuring out what happened should be our top priority," Josie agreed with a nod.

They set out again, walking down the mismatched streets, passing both the familiar and the unfamiliar. The sight of Josie and Nicholai walking with Emma, Killian and Regina seemed to both confuse and reassure those that saw them. Familiar faces looked upon the young van Helsing, her friend and their three strange companions and were at first confused, not understanding what they were doing. But then they felt a little ease, for if they had befriended — a word they used without knowing the truth, Josie was sure — three of these strangers, everything must be okay, they must already be halfway to a solution.

Sometimes, she wished her family didn't have such a good reputation.

They weren't halfway to a solution, they were nowhere near it, they had barely even begun. Josie had no answers, no idea where her father was or even where he could be. Where they had gone or who or what had caused the quakes. What could she do if she couldn't find him? What would she be?

Josie took a deep breath, remembering what Nicholai had told her. Things would be okay, they would figure this out. They had allies now, people who know the strange world they seemed to have collided with. It would work out alright, it had to. With this help they could figure out how they had even found themselves in this situation, they could find her father, they could put things right. It would be okay, it would all work out.

The problem was that Josie just was not that optimistic of a person at heart. She didn't fully believe that everything would be okay, no matter what she kept telling herself or what Nicholai kept telling her. She had seen too much darkness in the world, too many bad things happen to good people to truly believe that everything would always be okay.

When they reached a large blue house, Emma lead the group towards the front door. Josie looked around as she made her way up the walkway towards the door, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. For a second, she thought she saw a female figure lurking around a building, trying to hide from sight. Before she could look closer, Nicholai stiffened beside her and her attention was pulled to him. He had a distressed look on his face, nose flaring like he smelled something he didn't like and brow furrowing in distress.

"Nicholai, what's the matter?" she asked in a low voice.

"I... I can smell him. He's close."

"How close?"

"I don't know... Close enough that I can smell him but I can't see him anywhere," he answered, eyes flaring red.

"He never leaves the—"

"I know!"

"Then why is he here?"

"Well, if he actually deigns to come up to us, I will be sure to ask," he snarked.

"Alright, alright," Josie conceded.

"Sorry," he apologized suddenly. "That was unnecessary."

"No, Nicholai, it is fine. I know how you get when he is brought up," Josie apologized.

He gave her a smile and she returned it, but before they could say anything more, Emma got their attention from the doorway. Without explaining why they were just standing in the walkway, the pair quickly climbed the stairs and headed inside the home.

It was nice, Josie supposed, a little odd in the furnishings and layout and, well, all of it, really, but it was still a nice home. Gathered in the sitting room was a group of people that were, not surprisingly, unfamiliar to Josie.

"Oh, Emma, thank goodness," a brunette with very short hair said, taking a few steps towards Emma. "Did you figure out what happened?"

"Well, Mom, we actually—"

"This is your mother?" Josie asked, surprised. "She looks the same age as you, how is this possible? Are you vampires?"

"Vampires?" the woman questioned, looking very confused. "What a strange question."

"We're not vampires," Emma said.

"Then how is this possible?" Nicholai asked.

"That's... complicated," Emma explained.

"Emma," a man from beside the short-haired woman. "Who are your friends?"

"Maybe we should introduce ourselves," Nicholai said, putting on a winning smile but giving Josie a pointed look.

"Yes, we never did get your names," Regina said, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"My name is Josephine van Helsing," she introduced with a small curtsey.

"Viscount Nicholai Dracula, at your service," he introduced with a flourishing bow.

Josie rolled her eyes. "Must you break out that title at any opportunity? You technically do not even have it anymore."

"I do not remember seeing any written documents saying it was taken from me," Nicholai countered, maintaining his smile.

"Well, you do not exactly have the best relationship with—"

"He has not taken it from me, so I will continue to use it," he replied easily, though now his smile was a little forced.

"Well, Josephine and Nicholai, it is very nice to meet you," the short-haired woman said. "My name is Snow, and this is my husband, David, and grandson, Henry."

With surprise, Josie turned her eyes to the other person in the room she hadn't noticed at first. He was younger than the others, closer to Josie's own age, in fact. His hair was getting to be a bit long and brown in colour and his face was kind, complimented by the warm brown of his eyes. He gave her a smile as if it was the most natural and easiest thing in the world.

"Hello," she said to them all, quickly turning her eyes away from Henry. "You may call me Josie."

"So, Josie," Henry said, "did you say your last names were van Helsing and Dracula? Like from Bram Stoker's book?"

"I know of no such man nor any book he may have written," Josie answered.

"Then, are you a vampire hunter?" he asked.

"Yes, I primarily hunt vampires, but I do hunt all manner of dark creatures," Josie said slowly. "How did you know that?"

"The same way I know that your friend is a vampire," Henry said.

Nicholai stiffened. This was not a fact he liked people to know. In fact, if it were entirely up to him, he would never tell anyone at all of his condition. The fact that a stranger could have accurately guessed this was deeply unsettling to them both. How could Henry have possibly known this? Josie's grip tightened on her crossbow, feeling threatened.

"How do you know that?" Josie said, knowing how threatening her voice sounded.

"Things around here are... more complicated than they seem."

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an. well, I bet you didn't expect chapter two so soon!