Night Warriors

It can't be... Van Helsing told himself as he stared at the girl. She can't be...real..?

She looked real enough, though. She stopped clapping and took a few slow steps forward. However, she stopped about ten feet from Van Helsing and frowned.

It was only then he realized he was covered in dirt, mud, and vampire blood. He also realized he probably smelled like a vampire...that or garlic...

"Nearly eight years, Gabriel," she said, a grin spreading across her face. "And you haven't changed a bit..."

Van Helsing was confused. Who was she? And why was she calling him Gabriel? The only other person who ever called him Gabriel was...Dracula. Was she somehow connected to the late Count Dracula?

"I apologize, but...I don't think we've met before," Van Helsing said in a polite yet confused way. "Do...do I know you?"

Her smile instantly vanished. Now it was her turn to look confused. She turned away and began muttering to herself too softly for him to hear.

"So...have we met before?"

The girl glanced back over her shoulder at Van Helsing. Then, in the blink of an eye, she had completely vanished. Van Helsing stared around, but she was nowhere to be found.

"Wait! Come back! I-" he called out to the empty air before realizing she had vanished without a trace. He sighed...had she really even been there?

Something on the ground caught his eye. He bent down, plucked it out of the dirt, and held it up to examine it. It turned out to be a pendant...a silver circle of metal, engraved with an insignia, on a black cord. Van Helsing rubbed a small bit of dirt off of it, then brought it closer to see the insignia.

To his surprise, the insignia was a dragon. The same dragon as the one that was on the ring on his right hand. The ring that Dracula claimed belonged to him...

"All right, this is starting to get a little strange..." he muttered to no one in particular. He slipped the pendant into one of his trench coat pockets, then turned back towards town to get his horse and return to Rome.

---

A Day Later

Van Helsing rode into Vatican City just as the sun was rising. He came to a stop right in front of the stairs to St Peter's Basilica, the same stairs he been left on, unconscious, broken, and half-dead, about eight years ago.

He noticed another stallion tied to a post near his own stallion. Unlike his, however, this stallion had a younger, more powerful look to it. Van Helsing wondered who it belonged to as he entered the church and made his way to the confessional in the back. He entered the confessional, shutting the door behind him, kneeled, crossed himself, and said the usual "bless me Father for I have sinned", waiting for Jinette's reprimand.

"We all know you have sinned," Jinette said as he snapped the partition door open.

"And I have yet to figure out why you make a big deal out of it..." Van Helsing muttered under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing..."

"Did you bring him back?" Jinette asked. Van Helsing simply cocked an eyebrow at him. Jinette sighed and shook his head. "I don't even know why I ask..."

"I did the best I could," Van Helsing said through clenched teeth. These ungrateful church people-in fact, all the ungrateful people in general-were taking a toll on his nerves. "But he refused to come quietly..."

The hidden door in the back of the confessional slid open, and Van Helsing followed Cardinal Jinette down the stairs. The irate cardinal launched into his usual lecture on how this was "how Van Helsing was answering God's call, how this would help him make up for past sins, but if he kept killing everything they sent him after, it wouldn't really help". Van Helsing rolled his eyes but he held his tongue. Jinette was already annoyed enough.
They came to a stop at a table, and Jinette turned to face him. "We have another...rather important assignment for you."

Behind him, the projector came to life, flashing an image of an unknown man. He had dark, tangled hair, a lanky but muscular body, and a fierce gleam in his eyes.

"Six months ago," Jinette said. "This man, known only as 'Sirius', turned up in a small Transylvanian town. He only stayed for a night, but come morning, five villagers had been brutally slaughtered."

Interesting first impression, Van Helsing thought to himself. But this man sounded like a run-of-the-mill murderer, nothing special, really...

"I know he sounds quite ordinary," Cardinal Jinette commented. "However, he was later seen, by an unknown villager, transforming into a werewolf. We believe him to be Sirius de Autechane, the long-lost leader of a vicious pack of werewolves. The existence of him and his pack could put all of Transylvania in danger!"

Van Helsing nodded, but inside, he was cringing. He wasn't exactly fond of werewolves, and the whole Dracula affair hadn't done anything to change his mind.

Cardinal Jinette led Van Helsing over to another part of the room, up to two people who were talking. One was simply an assistant of the Order, but the other person looked familiar, yet unfamiliar, at the same time. The person, a girl, had long, dark-brown hair cascading down to her shoulder blades and was dressed in a black riding outfit. A revolver was holstered at her waist. Jinette tapped her on the shoulder, and she whirled to face him. Her deep blue eyes lit up when she saw him.

"Ah, Cardinal Jinette!" she said. As she spoke, Van Helsing recognized her...she was the girl from the cliffs! And the girl from his dreams! She turned to him and smiled. "Ah...hello, Mr. Van Helsing..."

He didn't know what to say to her, so he just looked over at Jinette questioningly.

"Van Helsing," he said. "I'd like to introduce you to your new partner."