Night Warriors

For several seconds, Van Helsing was struck dumb. Finally, he managed to form a halfway decent sentence. "My new...partner? I'm sorry, Your Eminence, but there must be some sort of mistake. I work alone."

Jinette shook his head. "There is no mistake...this is your new partner. Her name is-"

"My dear cardinal," she interrupted. "Forgive me, but I do believe I'm more than capable of introducing myself to Mr. Van Helsing..."

She smiled politely at him. "My name is Catherine. Just Catherine."

Van Helsing, still unsure of what to say, continued to stare at Catherine in confusion until
Jinette gave him a little push towards the armory. "Carl will be prepared with your equipment. Good luck to you both."

---

"Ah, there you are, Van Helsing!" Carl greeted as soon as he saw the Vatican's special agent. "So...how was the assignment?"

Van Helsing gave a grunt, and Carl smirked. "Oh. That well, huh?" He then spotted Catherine, and his eyes grew huge as he stared at her. "And who is she?" he asked in awe.

"Carl, this is my...partner, Catherine." The word "partner" felt strange on his tongue; usually, there was no one for him to call "partner". Yet another downside to being the most wanted man in Europe.

"Pleasant to meet you, Carl," Catherine said politely.

"Catherine..." Carl murmured in awe, continuing to stare. It was almost as if this was his first time seeing a woman. Van Helsing gave the stunned friar a small nudge with his elbow, and Carl instantly snapped out of it. "Ah, yes...um, you came for equipment, right?"

Catherine nodded, and Carl grabbed a bag from the nearby table. "Cardinal Jinette filled me in a little...he said it's a werewolf...we're going to need lots of silver..."

Carl began packing the bag full of silver stakes and silver bullets. He also grabbed a silver crucifix and a bottle of holy water.

"Carl," Van Helsing said. "We're going after a werewolf. Holy water doesn't do anything to werewolves..."

"Yes, but this is Transylvania," Carl said as he shoved the bag into Van Helsing's arms. "You never know when you'll encounter a vampire in that forsaken place."

"The friar makes a valid point, Van Helsing," Catherine commented. She gave Carl a pat on the shoulder. "Smart thinking, Carl."

Carl's face flushed bright pink. "T-Thank you, C-Catherine." Then, he held out his hands. "Van Helsing, if I can have your crossbow...routine maintenance, you know..."
Van Helsing produced his crossbow and handed it over to Carl. When he brought it out, Catherine's blue eyes widened slightly. "Is that a crossbow?"

"Not just any crossbow," Carl boasted proudly. "My own state-of-the-art creation. Capable of catapulting arrows in rapid succession at tremendous velocity. Just-"

"Just pull the trigger and hold on," Van Helsing finished, smirking. He could understand why Carl was so proud. Carl's crossbow had served him well in Transylvania.

Catherine's eyes lit up. "Now, this I like."

"It's your lucky day, then," Carl said. "I may just have a spare..."

Carl led Catherine over to another table, and Van Helsing watched them go with a small smirk on his face. Catherine seemed nice enough...but it was so strange that she had been a part of his dreams for nearly eight years, and suddenly, she was real.

Van Helsing glanced over to find Carl handing Catherine a crossbow identical to his. Catherine gave him a warm smile, and Carl's face tinged bright pink again. Van Helsing gave a small chuckle under his breath. The way Carl was acting, he could tell Carl was fond of Catherine.

"Um...Catherine, be careful where you're aiming at!" he heard Carl warn.

"Carl, I've been handling bows and arrows since I was five," Catherine assured him. "This shouldn’t be too different..."

There was a whoosh, and suddenly, Van Helsing felt his hat fly off his head. In surprise, he looked to his right and found his hat on the floor, a single arrow all the way through it. Several nearby friars snickered until Van Helsing silenced them with a glare. He looked back at his skewered hat again. "What the-?"

He turned his attention to Carl and Catherine and found Catherine holding her crossbow in a firing position, the crossbow's sights aligned with Van Helsing's head. Carl was staring at him with wide eyes, wondering what he'd do next.

Catherine lowered her crossbow a little. "Sorry about that, Van Helsing. Well...at least I know it works!"

Van Helsing scowled at her, then grabbed his hat and yanked the arrow out, muttering vile curses under his breath. He tossed the arrow aside and joined Catherine and Carl.

"If you two are done over here," he said, taking his crossbow back from Carl, "we better be going. We've got a long way to go..."

"Ah, right...off to Transylvania," Carl remarked. He turned as if to go back to the hustle and bustle of the armory, but with a glare from both Van Helsing and Catherine, he grabbed the bag of supplies and started for the hidden staircase. "Right, I'll just be going first then, won't I?"

Another adventure is about to begin, Van Helsing thought to himself as he followed his partners out to their horses.