“Hilfe!! Hilfe!” Gunter screamed into his walkie talkie. “Helfen Sie mir gleich jetzt!” Gunter felt sick and dropped to his knees. He vomited. Never had he seen, in all his years as Porter, such a terrible sight.
Unexpectedly, the train came to a metal grinding stop and it nearly caused Gunter to fall from the platform. Fortunately, he was able to grasp hold of the railing in time.
Gunter heard the sirens of the approaching police cars. He was greatly relieved, and knew that now everything would be alright.
Captain Brewster of the Zwickau police department boarded the train. His officers had already secured the passengers and crew. Minutes earlier, they had received an emergency call from the Conductor that one of his Porters had discovered the bloody bodies of a man and woman in the baggage car. Captain Brewster disliked the thought of those suspicious deaths occurring within his jurisdiction. There hadn’t been anything like this in Zwickau for quite some time.
Some of the passengers wore angry faces at being inconvenienced by the whole mess. Captain Brewster strode with an air of authority through the passenger cars. Others looked concerned or frightened from not knowing exactly what was going on. One woman in particular struck an odd chord with him by her nervous behavior. She was seated alone and kept staring back in the direction of the baggage car. Did she know something? Was she still waiting for someone? Captain Brewster signaled one of his officers to stand guard over her. He continued towards the baggage car.
A young man with short cropped blonde hair was sitting down on the platform drinking some water. Captain Brewster wasn’t much for small talk or pleasantries.
“Captain Yuri Brewster” Captain Brewster announced. “What happened here?”
“I was supposed to check the baggage car before arriving in Zwickau,” Gunter explained. “I saw that the lock was broken and went to investigate. And that’s when I saw the two people dead in the baggage car.”
“I’ll be right back,” Yuri informed him. He opened the door to the baggage car and stepped boldly inside.
Chapter 14
There were indeed two people dead on the floor of the baggage car. One was an older man, the other a young woman. There were two blood stained swords along with a shredded duffle bag.
Yuri knelt beside the woman first. She was dressed entirely in black from head to toe. Yuri opened the long black leather coat to reveal a leather belt with a crossbow clipped to it along with a scabbard full of arrows. There was also a leather sheath with a dagger still in it. Yuri patted her down and felt something underneath her blouse. He opened a few buttons to discover that she was wearing body armor, and had been stabbed just below where it ended. Yuri took his walkie talkie and ordered to have a crime scene team come to the baggage car. He rose to his feet and walked over to the man.
The man was dressed professionally in a suit and overcoat. Yuri knelt down and rolled the man to his side. He patted the man down and removed what appeared to be a leather wallet from the man’s overcoat pocket. But instead, when Captain Brewster opened it and inside there was a police badge. It identified him as Lieutenant Gunderson of the Berlin police department. This was the same Lieutenant Gunderson that had contacted him about the operation to go to Gothica and the Knights of VanHelsing. Captain Brewster glanced back at the woman. He realized now, that the way she was dressed, matched the description Lieutenant Gunderson had given him of a Knight of VanHelsing. Yuri also noticed that Lieutenant Gunderson’s service piece was missing. So he instantly surmised that a third person was involved in this whole mess. Captain Brewster spoke again into his walkie to secure all passengers, including the ones in the sleeping cars. Captain Brewster jumped up and exited the baggage car. He ordered Gunter to come with him.
Yuri and Gunter entered the sleeping car and had just started down the hallway when a man burst out of one of the sleeping compartments.
“That man tried to attack me!” he blurted out with the door open.
“Step aside,” Yuri ordered. He entered the sleeping compartment.
The man on the floor was unconscious and beside him was Lieutenant Gunderson’s missing gun. Yuri knelt down and retrieved the man’s passport. The photo and information identified him as Andrew Knight. This was the man being sought in the death of the police sergeant from the Berlin police.
“May I see your papers please?” Yuri rose and walked over to the man. He gave up the passport. Yuri opened it.
“Exactly what happened here Mister Schultz,” Yuri asked referring to the passport. “Mister Eric Schultz.”
“There was a knock at the door,” he explained. “When I opened it, that man there forced me back inside.”
“How did you subdue him?” Yuri curiously asked.
“He was watching out the window and I hit him over the head,” Eric replied. “I had taken some self-defense classes and, well, used it to knock him out.
“Well,” Yuri said handing him back his passport. “This man is suspected of killing a police officer in Berlin. It was very brave of you, but stupid to take this man on.”
“I never realized that,” Eric answered, wide-eyed.
“We will take him into custody,” Yuri further said. “You are to remain on the train until after everyone is questioned.”
“What happened?” Eric asked.
“Two people were found dead in the baggage car by a Porter,” Yuri explained. He looked down at Andrew. “I suspect that this man was also involved somehow.”
“I need to let my boss know that I will be delayed,” Eric said. “May I text her?”
“By all means,” Yuri answered. “Then I would ask you to move to the passenger cars so that we may question you and the others further.”
“Alright,” Eric replied. He took out his phone as Yuri radioed for assistance.
Blackness. There was nothing but the sound of her breathing. Was there anyone there beyond the dark? Was she all alone? No way to measure time.
Darkness. There was nothing but the sound of her gentle breathing. The last images burned in her mind were of Andrew lying on the ground. Was he still alive?
Abyss. The sound of her breathing grew more labored. Panic had taken over and she felt wetness in the corner of her eyes. Where was she?
Nightshade. Her breathing was grew faster and faster. She couldn’t catch her breath. Her arms and legs were bound with rope. Was any one there?
Ebony. This time there were new sounds. A key being turned in a lock and a heavy sounding door opening. Footsteps drew near with an air of purpose. The door closed. The footsteps stopped. She was not alone.
Nothingness. Her breathing had slowed down. She listened to see what the other person was doing. They were not moving. Were they looking her over? Were they toying with her by remaining silent? She tried to speak but her mouth was bound with tape. Why were they not speaking?
Bleakness. Her breathing was calmer now. She strained to hear what was going on.
“Welcome home, Raven Blade,” an all too familiar woman’s voice spoke from the dark. Suddenly, the darkness had withdrawn and firelight strained her eyes. The tape was stripped from her mouth and the tingling felt like a thousand needles striking at once.
“I no longer go by that name,” Talia replied.
“To me you will always be Raven Blade,” the woman answered. Her hair was black and streaked with stokes of silver gray. The black dress she wore was long and flowing. Flesh, the color of alabaster, peaked out from beneath the accentuated v-neck. “But you have betrayed us to the outsiders.”
“What I did in the name of good was wrong, Anastasia,” Talia answered.
“We purge the world of evil,” Anastasia calmly replied. “As you recall it all started with my great-great grandfather, Abraham VanHelsing.”
“Andrew will come,” Talia suddenly announced defiantly.
“We know,” Anastasia replied. “He won’t last much longer. He is no match for us.”