Michael Belmont and the Heir of Van Helsing (The Adventures of Michael Belmont) (22 page)

Michael jumped at the voice, but recognized it instantly as Caleb’s.
 
“Oh,” he said, and took a deep breath.
 
“I was just, um…chasing the ball.”
 
He held it up as though he needed to prove it.

“I know.
 
You need to work on your jump shot.
 
You keep flicking the ball with the thumb on your guide hand.”

Michael frowned at him.

“But that’s beside the point right now.
 
I’ve searched the entire area where we landed, and I found your mother’s backpack.
 
There were no signs of an attack or struggle, and I was able to follow her trail.
 
It led to a small lake not far from the landing sight before disappearing.
 
But there was too much foot traffic around the area to pick up the trail again.”

Michael sighed in frustration.
 
“So what exactly does all that mean?
 
She just vanished?”

“I’m sorry I don’t have a better answer for you.
 
It’s a strange situation.
 
Your mother should have known the general direction of the orphanage, but she took off in the direction of that lake instead.
 
She must have had some reason for it.”

“And there were no signs at all of Liam?
 
Nothing?”

“I’m afraid not.
 
Look, I’m sure someone will be in contact with us soon.
 
Keep your chin up, sometimes no news is good news.”

Michael nodded.
 
Maybe Caleb was right.
 
If Liam or his mother had been attacked, there would have been signs.
 
That much was a relief, but it didn’t make not knowing any easier.

“You’d better get back before you have people looking for you.
 
And remember, it’s not safe to wander off alone like this.”

“Even in the middle of the day?
 
Vampires can’t expose themselves to sunlight.”

“Actually they can.
 
But their powers are greatly weakened in sunlight, so they usually don’t risk it.
 
And remember, they’ve got a lot of servants.
 
Werewolves, ghouls and zombies to name just a few.
 
We’re dealing with the undead here, so hanging out alone in a graveyard’s probably not the best idea.
 
Besides, your sister didn’t make Mihnea very happy by throwing holy water in his face.
 
He’s going to want to get at her real bad now; remember that.”

“What about you?
 
You
shoved a sword through his shoulder,” Michael reminded him.

Caleb laughed.
 
It was the first time Michael had even seen him crack a smile.
 
“I’m not worried about that.
 
He’s hated
me
for a long time now.
 
Just help me keep an eye on your sister, okay.”

Caleb disappeared back into the woods, and Michael returned to the playground to find Abigail and Ms. Voss waiting for him.

“Michael, we’ve been looking everywhere for you,” she told him in a concerned voice.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” he told her.
 
“The basketball got away from me.
 
I had to chase it all the way down to that old graveyard.”

“Oh,” she said with a smile and a nod.

“Did you get any news about our parents?” Michael asked her quickly.

“No, I’m afraid not, however there are some men here from the American Embassy who’d like to talk to you.
 
Would that be alright?”

Michael’s heart sank.
 
He shrugged.
 
“Sure, that’d be okay.”
 
He’d really hoped to hear some news about his mom and dad.
 
It seemed really odd that they hadn’t been in touch yet.
 
They had to know how worried he and Abigail would be.
 
He just hoped they were all right.

They went back inside and followed Ms. Voss to the reception area.

She opened the door to the room where the men were waiting.
 
“I’ll be right here in my office if you need me,” she said, and nodded to the men inside the room.
 
She ushered the children inside and shut the door behind them.
 
Two men in business suits sat waiting for them at a table near the center of the room.
 
Michael’s heart leapt as he recognized his father and Declan MacDonald.

Abigail opened her mouth to shout, but her father placed his index finger over his lips to shush her just in time.

“Dad, you’re okay!” whispered Michael.
 
“Where’ve you been for the last two days, we’ve been worried sick.”

Abigail jumped up and down and embraced them, her father in one arm and Mr. MacDonald in the other.

“Come on and sit down,” their father told them.
 
“We’ve got some things to hash out.”

“What about Mom and Liam, are they okay?” Michael asked while taking a seat.
 
“Were they attacked after jumping from the plane?”

“No, they weren’t,” Mr. MacDonald assured him.
 
In fact, they’re both doing fine.”

“Then what happened, why couldn’t we find them after we landed?” Abigail pressed him.

“Well, it’s a long story,” her father said.
 
“You might as well hear it straight from your mom.”
 
He walked to the window and waved; a few moments later a red-tailed hawk flew in and landed on the floor, and changed into the beautiful, smiling form of their mother.

Abigail squealed in delight and jumped up to grab her around the waist.
 
“MOM!” she yelled a bit too loudly.

They saw the shadow of Sally Voss through the frosted door as she got up from her desk and opened the door.
 
Mrs. Belmont quickly scooted behind it as Abigail rushed back to the table.
 
“Is everything all right in here?” she inquired.

Mr. MacDonald nodded.
 
“Everything’s fine, dear.
 
The girl’s just excited.
 
We may have some good news for them about their parents.
 
I’ll fill you in after we’re done here, alright?”

Michael grinned to hear Mr. MacDonald speak with an American accent, but it seemed to convince Ms. Voss.
 
She grinned and went back to her business, closing the door behind her.

“Mom,” Michael reprimanded her, “what the heck happened?
 
We’ve been worried sick.”

“I know, sweetheart, and I’m really sorry,” she was smiling, but sounded like she was on the verge of tears.
 
“I wanted to come to you, but I didn’t think it would be safe.
 
I didn’t want to lead Mihnea to you by coming to the orphanage.”

Michael shook his head.
 
“But, Mom, Mihnea has known where we were all along, he attacked Abigail on the first night we were here.”

Her eyes grew wide and began to well up.

“Oh no, tell me what happened.”

Abigail reported the story, and by the end their mother was smiling through her tears.
 
“Oh, Abby, I’m so sorry you had to go through that, I really thought I was keeping you safer by staying away.
 
But I’m so proud of the way that you took care of yourself.”

“Yeah,” Abigail said with a sigh.
 
“I guess I’m getting pretty good at that.
 
But why didn’t you come with us to the orphanage?
 
Where were you after we jumped from the plane?”

“Right,” put in Michael, “and where’s Liam?”

“Well, that’s where it all began to get interesting,” she told them, drying her eyes.
 
“I guess I’ll just start from the beginning.
 
Soon after Caleb jumped, your father pushed me from the plane.”

“Pushed you?”
 
Michael eyed his father suspiciously, who just smiled back and winked.

His mother continued.
 
“After he pushed me off the plane, I flew back toward all of you.
 
I was flying for Caleb when I saw the dark mist that had been around the plane heading toward him.
 
It surrounded him and materialized into a man- well, a man-like thing.
 
It was Mihnea.”

“I knew it,” growled Michael under his breath.

“Caleb fought him as they fell.
 
It was absolutely terrifying.
 
I recognized Mihnea, but the form he took…it was very bat-like, sort of like the paintings of demons you see in medieval art.
 
Anyway, they fought each other like a couple of junkyard dogs- Mihnea ripping and clawing at Caleb who was defending himself and fighting back with his sword.
 
I’ve never seen anything like it.
 
Mihnea managed to get both his hands around Caleb’s neck, and just when I thought it was over, Caleb managed to bring his sword around and lob off both of Mihnea’s hands.
 
After that he turned back into the dark mist and shot out of sight.
 
Caleb put his sword in its sheath and went into a dive to catch up with the two of you, I don’t think he even noticed me, but I was still pretty far above him.
 
I don’t think he could have seen me, even if he was looking.
 
I sometimes forget that others don’t see as well as I do when I’m a hawk.”

“What happened then,” Michael asked impatiently.

“Well, I shot down toward the three of you, but then I noticed that I didn’t see Liam.
 
I looked around for a few moments before finding him.
 
Somehow he’d gotten way off course.
 
I think he probably pulled his chute too early and it just got taken with the wind.”

“That sounds like my son, alright,” Mr. MacDonald chuckled.

“Anyway, I knew that Caleb would be landing with the two of you, so I took off after Liam.
 
He was headed toward a group of small lakes, and although I flew as fast as I could, I wasn’t able to make it to him in time.
 
He splashed down right in the middle of one of the lakes.
 
I knew if he got tangled up in the lines or the parachute he might drown, so I got there as quick as I could to help him, but all I found was the parachute.
 
He’d managed to get out of it by himself.
 
After that, I searched for him a long time, but there didn’t seem to be any sign of him.
 
I didn’t know what to do, and I was terrified that he’d drowned.
 
I was just about to give up the search and go for help when I saw something really strange- an orca whale swimming around the lake.
 
I knew immediately that it had to be Liam.”

Michael and Abigail’s jaws dropped, they looked at each other in stunned silence.

“An ORCA?
 
You mean Liam can change into a killer whale?”
 
Michael hadn’t considered the possibility of changing into a fish!
 
With his luck, he’d turn out to be a gold fish or a sea horse.

“Well, as you can guess this complicated things.
 
Especially since Liam couldn’t figure out how to change back to a human.
 
The same thing happened to me after I changed for the first time.
 
It takes practice to learn to change at will, and being scared only makes things worse.”

Abigail looked tickled.
 
“What did you do?
 
Is Liam still in that lake?”

“Goodness no, I knew I’d better get him to salt water as soon as I could, so I called Finnegan and let him know what was happening.
 
Then I flew back to see you two and Caleb heading toward the orphanage.
 
You were being followed though, so I flew down and distracted the two men that were tracking you.
 
I’m pretty sure they were ghouls.”

“What’s a ghoul?” Abigail asked.

The woman looked to her husband with a disgusted scowl, hoping he’d answer the question for her.

He conceded.
 
“Well, I’d rather not have to tell you, but I suppose you’d better know the truth.
 
A ghoul is usually a vampire’s servant.
 
They’re human, but they have the desire to become a vampire, so they dedicate themselves to eating nothing but human flesh- both of the living and of the dead- in order to prove their loyalty.
 
If they serve their master faithfully, then after a while they’re granted the
honor
of becoming one of the undead.”

Abigail looked as though she might be sick.
 
“I’m sorry I asked,” she said wearily.
 
“I almost wish they’d caught up with us though.
 
I bet Caleb would have made short work of those freaks!”

“Probably so,” agreed her father, “just remember that the only fight you’re guaranteed to win is the one you can avoid.”

“So what happened to the ghouls?” Michael asked.
 
“Are they still out there somewhere?”

“Probably,” their mother told them.
 
“I distracted them long enough for the three of you to escape.
 
Once I was convinced they’d lost your trail, I headed off to find your father and Declan.
 
I was relieved to see that they’d made it through the crash in one piece, but I didn’t have time to find them, so I headed back to help Liam.
 
Finnegan arranged to have him air lifted off to the ocean, and now he’s swimming around off the coast of Scotland.

Michael was relieved.
 
“Alright, so what do we do now?”

“Have you made contact with the Van den Berg children yet?” his father asked.

“Yes, but they really keep to themselves.
 
We haven’t been able to find out if they’re really descendants of Van Helsing or not.”