Acquainted With the Night

"Incubus"

By Shawna

A/N: Unfortunately, I don't own Van Helsing and even more unfortunately, I don't own Hugh Jackman. Oh the things I would do if I did… but so yeah, now you all know this fic is based on the new movie starring Hugh Jackman. Of course. I'm a rabid fan-girl after all. My thanks to  evilspoofauthor1Sven for informing me of an apparent interview in which Stephen Sommers said that the character in the movie is in fact Abraham Van Helsing's younger brother, Gabriel. While one part of me screams "What nonsense!" another part goes with it, because I like the name Gabriel better. X3

      Another day, another night, another hunt.  Gabriel Van Helsing sighed and pushed his hat further down onto his head as he strode through the darkened streets of the sleeping city.  Fog curled around his ankles, his steps echoed on the cobbled road.  Assignments from the Vatican had been coming in greater and greater numbers over the past few months, as if the world was slipping ever deeper into darkness and evil.  He wondered if the slow deterioration of morality could really be stopped by his efforts to destroy those creatures which resulted from the ultimate evil of mankind.  Somehow he did not believe this to be true.  What could one man do to save a depraved world?

      His quick, deliberate steps brought him shortly to the monastery, where he was greeted with blank looks and non-recognition.  Not until he was well inside and had entered a confessional was any special attention granted to his presence. 

      "Another monster to kill, Father?" He asked with his usual nonchalance towards the prospect.

     "Indeed," the Father responded solemnly.  "This may be a particularly difficult task, Van Helsing.  Reports indicate that it is a succubus-"

      "You think one little she-demon will be a difficult task?" Van Helsing cut in.  "I can handle a little girl."

      "Working in conjunction with an Incubus," the Father finished, as though his sentence had not been so rudely interrupted.  Following this statement, there was a brief silence from both men.

      "In conjunction?" Van Helsing's voice was incredulous.  "The Incubi and Succubae hate each other.  Both believe themselves to be the true representation of their kind and would gladly see the others die out."

      "So the case has been for as long as we have known of their existence," the Father said.  "But they are a dying race and perhaps, in their desperation to survive, are realizing that they need one another.  The Succubae's mental faculties and the Incubi's brute strength together could, and reportedly have, made them quite a formidable team.  Even if these reports of them working together prove to be false, you still have to go and contend with both demons."

      "Of course," Van Helsing said, with a touch of bitter sarcasm.  "I absolutely have to."

      The Father gave him a look like one gives to a child who has just proclaimed 'you're not the boss of me,' before continuing with the assignment.

      "You will go to the southern coast of France, to a village called Convoitise and there… find the demons."

      "I can't wait," Van Helsing said in his same embittered tone, as he rose from his seat and exited the confessional.  The clergypersons in the church eyed him briefly but again, gave no sign of recognition.  They could not do so and he did not expect it.  No one ever bade him farewell or expressed concern for his safety.  It was no matter; he had no concern for his safety, and so did not expect or even want anyone else to.

      It was already nearing midnight, but Van Helsing desired no sleep tonight, as was the case of most nights, even those on which he did not have to hunt.  Sleeping during the night made him feel vulnerable and very near afraid, as though all of the creatures he had killed before might manifest themselves in his dreams and so press themselves into his sleeping conscious that he might never awaken.  Of course this thought was ludicrous, and he cursed himself for every kind of a fool for lying awake at night, sweating and sleepless.  But he could not stop it.

      The following day found him in Convoitise, a medium-sized town not far from a main traveling road and right beside the ocean.  The sun was out, though its shine was muted by a fog that was unusual for the time of day it was, but was likely just the result of the nearby sea.  The townspeople were milling about, doing their everyday activities, but he saw the hollowness in their eyes that indicated they had not slept; he could almost smell the heavy fear in the air.  This was a town haunted by demons.

      "Monsieur Van Helsing?  Gabriel Van Helsing?"

      He turned his head towards the sound of his name, and saw an elderly priest nearly tripping over his dull brown robe in his hurry to get to him.  Several people turned to look, though they were trying to hide this fact and act as though they were still working.

      "You are Gabriel Van Helsing, aren't you?" The priest asked frantically, stopping astride Van Helsing's horse and staring up at him with impassioned eyes.

      "I am he," Van Helsing said simply.

      "Oh, praise God!" Relief flooded over the priest's face.  "Praise God!  Gabriel Van Helsing has come to deliver us!"  He was shouting now and the townsfolk were eyeing Van Helsing warily.  He could hear the mutters running through the crowd.

      "-heard he was nothing more than a murderer."

      "-kills innocent people…"

      "I'd rather have the Incubus."

      Mixed reactions of praise and scorn were what he commonly received, so the jeers fazed him little, though they seemed to horrify the priest.

      "No!  No!  He'll save us!  He won't let the demons defile any of our young people!"

      "If you say so, Father Mounette," seemed to be the common attitude of the villagers.  Van Helsing had to be thankful though that they seemed not to care as much as others about his presence; they were not pleased to see him but they were not going to try to drive him out, either.  Instead, most of the townspeople were already turning back to their tasks and he thought perhaps that though they would not say it, they were secretly hopeful that he would save them.  And of course he would do just that, though he was already sure it would somehow turn around and make him look bad.  Situations had a way of turning out in that manner for him.  He had learned to accept it as his fate.

      "Monsieur Van Helsing?"

      The voice that addressed him now was soft and unmistakably female.  Seemingly out of nowhere, a woman had appeared beside old Father Mounette and was looking up at Van Helsing with hopeful eyes.  The woman herself was a pathetic sight.  She was fairly tall, but bony and thin, and her pallor was positively deathly.  She was pale as the moon with sunken cheeks, her hair was so light as to be nearly white, and her only color came in the unhealthy presence of dark circles beneath her eyes.  Her simple brown dress hung on her thin frame.  The poor thing looked as though she had not slept in a week and had spent that week not only awake but under extreme duress.

      "Oh, Monsieur Van Helsing," Father Mounette put an arm around the sickly-looking girl.  "This is Elisabeth Defarge, the daughter of one of the founder's of our fine village.  Her family has lived here for generations-"
      "That's very fascinating," Van Helsing interrupted.  "But why do I care?"

      The priest was obviously taken aback by his attitude and for a moment seemed flustered, unable to find words.  "Well, I, she-"

      "I'm one of the Incubus's targets," the girl finished the Father's sentence.  "There are very few young women in this town and two of them are barren.  I and the other two fertile girls have been hiding out in the church at night, with the young men guarding us, but I fear the Succubus will eventually wile them away and then we will be defenseless.  Please, Monsieur Van Helsing, the other girls and myself, we need you to guard us."

      "I'm not a guard," Van Helsing said quickly, irritated by a request that he stand watch instead of actively hunting.  "I came here to kill these creatures as fast as possible, not to stand around and wait to scare them off."

      Elisabeth dropped her head and sniffled.  "But while you are out hunting, the Incubus could come into the church and defile all of us."  A slight sob wracked her shoulders.

      Van Helsing rolled his eyes and heaved a sigh of frustration.  As much as he would hate to stand watch, it was true that the Incubus was likely to be wherever the girls were, not out away from town waiting to be hunted down. 

      "Stop your sniveling, woman," Van Helsing said.  "An Incubus can only defile you if you let him.  Surely you girls are not all so willing to be bedded that you'd spread your legs for the demon?"

      Elisabeth visibly bristled.  "Monsieur, surely you know that the Incubi have powers over the mind that make them more… persuasive than any human male could be.  Resisting them is not simply a matter of mental faculties."

       "Yes, yes, of course not," Van Helsing waved his hand dismissively.  "Nevertheless, I'll stand guard, but not in front of the church.  It's too large a building, with too many places it could hide.  We'll move into a small house tonight and wait until it comes for you."

      "'It,' Monsieur?"

      "The Incubus, what else?" Van Helsing said irritably.  It should have been quite obvious what he was talking about, even to this woman who seemed ready to collapse and die at any second.

      "Forgive me, Monsieur," the girl said, but her voice and her face were hard and she looked as though, had she been possessed of the strength, she would have gladly pulled him off his horse and beaten him.  The image of this in his mind caused him to laugh, and Father Mounette and Elisabeth could both only stare at him quizzically, as he was certainly not going to tell them what he found so amusing.

      "You'll excuse me, Monsieur," Elisabeth said, curtsying a bit.

      "I certainly will."

      She gave him a look like poisoned daggers and then turned on her heel and disappeared back into where it would seem she had come from, the church.  Father Mounette looked worriedly at Van Helsing and threw himself into a deep bow.

      "You'll have to forgive the girl's behavior, indeed the behavior of all the townspeople.  Everyone has undoubtedly lain awake in fear these past nights…"

      "Undoubtedly," Van Helsing said, finally dismounting his horse.  "Where will I be accommodated?"

      "Oh, accommodations, of course, right this way," the Father bowed deeply again and motioned for Van Helsing to follow as he moved away, towards the church. 

      "Relena!" Father Mounette called into the church.  "Relena!" 

      Another pale young woman emerged from the shadows of the church, blinking in the sunlight, dim as it was.  Her dress was that of a nun, a woman of God.  She ultimately had more color to her skin and hair than the previous girl, but was no less homely. 

      "Relena," the Father spoke gently to her.  "This is Monsieur Van Helsing, come to aid us in vanquishing the demons."  The girl's face lit up at hearing this, and she beamed at Van Helsing even as Father Mounette continued, "Please take Monsieur Van Helsing's horse to the stable."

      "Of course, Father," she said pleasantly, turning her attention to Van Helsing and curtsying to him somewhat shyly before taking the reigns of his horse from his hands.  The horse shied away from her, whinnying nervously, but the girl clicked her tongue soothingly and the animal settled down and allowed itself to be led away as the Father beckoned Van Helsing up the stairs of the church.

      Inside the rundown church it was unusually dim, and Van Helsing squinted to be able to see in the gloom.  Soft organ music was playing, an eerie tune, and the stained glass windows were very much stained, allowing in very little light, and only a few scattered candles were lit.  Elisabeth was seated in one of the pews, and she shot a dark glance at Van Helsing and then turned her back to him.  Moving farther into the church, Van Helsing began to be able to make out the figure seated at the organ, playing the mournful song.  It was obviously a woman, clothed in a richly red dress with curly dark brown hair cascading down her back.  Father Mounette loudly cleared his throat.

      "Emilie?  I'd like you to meet Monsieur Van Helsing, the one who has come to aid us in fighting the demons."

      The woman at the organ struck a discordant note when the Father said this, and then she whirled around on the bench.  "Monsieur Van Helsing?" She scoffed.  Her deep brown eyes, luminous even in the dim light, regarded Van Helsing with exaggerated disdain.  Her lips were dark red like her dress, and she was wickedly beautiful.  "Van Helsing?" She repeated.  "I've heard you're nothing but a murderer."

      "You've heard correctly," Van Helsing said with a smirk.  "I am known for killing."

      Father Mounette looked horrified at this, but Emilie merely stared Van Helsing down for several seconds before rising from the organ with one sweeping step.  Her dress whirled around her ankles as she approached him.

      "So you think you can kill the demons?" She asked, stopping less than a foot away from him.  "You think you have the will to resist the Succubus's power?"

      "No she-demon is going to get me to bed her," he said confidently, still smirking down at the rather short Emilie, even as he breathed in her smell, a definite musk perfume.  "Are you afraid I'll choose her over you?"

      Emilie laughed, a sharp, hard sound like a silver knife.  "Oh, I'm trembling at the thought," she said.

      "Trembling about which thought?" He asked suggestively.

      "Well, actually-"

      "Ahem," Father Mounette interrupted.  "Let me show you to your room, Monsieur."

      Emilie smiled warmly, seductively at Van Helsing and turned slowly on her heel and returned to the organ.  Father Mounette stepped in front of Van Helsing, blocking his obvious line of sight.

      "Right this way," the Father said merrily, obviously aware of what he was doing but pretending to not be.  Van Helsing grinned humorlessly and followed Father Mounette into the back of the church and through a small door. 

      A small stairway and a dank hall led to the room where he would be put up.  The room was barren and somehow extremely depressing.  It was even darker than the main church, lit only be two candles seated next to a Bible on a tiny square table beside the small, visibly uncomfortable bed.  Van Helsing sighed inwardly; he would not get any decent sleep on this bed and this room, empty but for the bed and table, with its stone walls and no window would haunt him. 

      "Thank you, Father," he said with as most sincerity as he could muster, which obviously was not quite enough from him to sound genuine.

      "I'll leave you to get settled," Father Mounette said with another deep bow.  "I'll alert you when supper is to be served, and you can explain your, eh, plan?  At that time."

      "Absolutely, Father," Van Helsing said, nodding his head as the priest left the room, shutting the door softly behind him.  He cast his eyes around the room, already beginning to feel his emotional status sinking to match the status of the church's atmosphere.  He dropped the bag that had been slung over his shoulder onto the floor by the bed, and it thudded heavily, being laden with the tools of his trade: weapons.  A few guns, a bow, crossbow, plenty of arrows, knives, and even a sword were in the bag.  A kind of weapon for every situation that could arise. 

      Sinking onto the bed, Van Helsing pressed his hands over his face.  Another hunt, just another assignment.  All assignments affected him this way, for he was not entirely sure why he even did this, why it was his job and his talent to slay evil creatures.  It was not the sort of job one would normally just fall into.  But he had, and he still did not know why or how.  Finding out was what drove him, but at times he wondered how killing monsters was going to bring him any closer to knowing who he was.

      At some point, he must have laid down and slept, and vague, incomprehensible dreams flitted through his sleep, as they always did.  Hours must have passed, and then a soft rap on the door roused him from his sleep.  For a moment, he looked around, bewildered, not recognizing his surroundings.  Remembrance washed over him slowly, like cool water and he relaxed back onto the bed.  The knock sounded again.  He rose slowly, arching his back to stretch as he moved towards the door.  Expecting to see Father Mounette, he was surprised to be greeted by the dark eyes and full lips of Emilie.

      "Supper is being served, Monsieur," she said softly, licking her lips slowly.  He grinned licentiously down at her.

      "Right now?"

      "Not quite yet," she said suggestively, leaning against the doorframe and arching her back.  "We have time to…"

      "Emilie!" Elisabeth had come around the dark corner of the hallway that led to the small room, and now she was looking at Emilie with mild disgust but no surprise.

      "There you are, Emilie," she said, tight-lipped.  "Father Mounette wants you to set the table, supper is almost on."

      Emilie heaved a sigh.  "Oh, fine," she said, waving Elisabeth off.  "I'll be up in a minute."

      "Now, Emilie," Elisabeth said, turning on her heel and disappearing back up the stairs.  Emilie rolled her eyes and turned back to Van Helsing.

      "I hate staying here," she said.  "I have to work like an orphan or something.  I'm not Relena."  She pressed a hand to Van Helsing's chest and he reached up and gripped her wrist, enjoying her physical closeness despite the fact that she was about to leave.

      "Some other time, I suppose," she said with a smile.  "When I can get away from the Father and the annoying Sisters." 

      "The best time would be when I finish this job."

      "Well then," she smiled.  "It will be your reward."

      Van Helsing chose to say nothing else as Emilie slowly turned and strode back down the hallway and up the stairs.  He looked after her for awhile, before turning back into his room, pressing his back against the door to close it.  He pressed his hands back against his face and sighed.

      What am I doing?  Am I so desperate?  It had been some time since he had had a woman.  Emilie was certainly the best looking thing here, and seemed eager enough.  Still, he did not want to stay in this town long, and did not need any connections.  It would be best to just let Emilie throw herself at him without catching her.

      Supper was a joyless affair.  No one spoke much, though Emilie kept giving him eyes over her food.  He chose to ignore her.  Elisabeth kept her eyes down and picked at her food, excusing herself a few minutes into the meal.  Relena watched him with the eyes of a child, interested in him as something new, not something sexual.  Father Mounette offered a prayer at the beginning of the meal, but then fell to silently eating.

      "So," Van Helsing felt awkward breaking the silence.  "We need to find another place to house the girls tonight."

      Relena and Emilie said nothing and Father Mounette pressed a hand to his chin in contemplation. 

      "I suppose I could convince one of the girl's fathers to lend us his house for a few nights.  Emilie?"

      "No," she said quickly.  "My father will not allow his house to be the sight of a possible battle."

      "Oh," the Father said, taken aback by her harsh tone.  "Well, uh, I suppose I'll ask Elisabeth's father then."

      "Do that," Emilie said, returning to eating. 

      "So, uh, Monsieur Van Helsing, beyond putting the girls in a smaller dwelling, what is the next part of your plan?"

      "Wait," he said simply.

      "Oh."

      Van Helsing finished off his food.  "Thank you for the meal, Father," he said.  "Let me know when we've secured a new place for the girls."

      "Oh, yes, of course.  Thank you, Monsieur."

      He returned to his dispiriting room and lay back down to wait.  Waiting was something he absolutely hated to do, and that was why he much preferred an assignment where he could actively hunt.  Using bait and lure techniques was not his style, he needed to hunt.

      Just like an animal, he thought.

      Just like an animal indeed.  No animals laid out traps and waited, they hunted.  Tonight, he would not be hunting.  He would be waiting.  He wondered if perhaps the Incubus would not even show, and then perhaps he would have his chance to hunt.  Where he would start looking, he did not know.  But it would be better than this whole waiting idea.

      He was not sure if he fell asleep again, or perhaps just dozed or let his mind wander, but he could sense dusk approaching, though of course he could not see it in his windowless cell.  Some other sense told him of the coming of the night, and he rose slowly, hoping that Father Mounette had not forgotten to secure Elisabeth's house for the night, and that the girls had already gotten themselves ready to move.  He began to gather his things.

      A few more candles had been lit in the main hall of the church, but it still managed to maintain its gloomy atmosphere.  The girls were all sitting in the front pews, and Father Mounette was heading towards the stairs just as Van Helsing was coming up them.

      "Oh, Monsieur, I was just about to fetch you.  The girls' things have been moved to Elisabeth's house and the young men who have been guarding the girls are ready to give their assistance."

      "Yeah, great, great," Van Helsing said with a wave of his hand.  "Tell them to all go home and go to bed; they'll only be in my way."

       The Father was obviously flustered, as he seemed to often be when confronted with Van Helsing's behavior.  "But surely you need their help?"

      "I don't need any hindrances."

      "Well, I doubt they would be-"

      "Do what Monsieur Van Helsing wants," Emilie interrupted loudly, obviously exasperated.  "He is the master monster slayer after all."

      "Well, I, I suppose that's true… I'll just go, uh, give the message then.  You all get moved."  Father Mounette shuffled out of the church, still mumbling to himself about something. 

      "So you're going to put us all in Elisabeth's house and use us as bait for the Incubus, then?" Emilie asked, smirking.  "And all by yourself?  You seem almost too confident."

      "I think he's very brave," Relena said softly, sending an abashed smile at Van Helsing.  Somehow, he could not help but grin back, for hers was the smile of a child.  Emilie heaved an exaggerated sigh.

       "Well?  Shall we go then?  It certainly isn't getting any brighter outside."

      Wordless, Van Helsing shouldered his crossbow and strode down the aisle towards the church's door, the girls scurrying after him, obviously afraid to be left alone.  Elisabeth's house was small and plain, and it would work well, as it had no eaves that would serve to conceal hunting demons.  He herded the girls inside.

      "Now we just wait," he said, grinning humorlessly at the assembled women.  "Rest if you wish, whatever you want, I don't care as long as you don't leave this room."

      Relena bobbed her head in eager agreement to his words, Elisabeth nodded in acknowledgement, and Emilie gave another deep, fake sigh.  Van Helsing shut the door.

      Outside, the sun was still barely showing in the sky, but as soon as the fiery red orb dipped fully below the horizon, darkness would quickly spread and claim the world.  Darkness was his time; it was the demon's time and so it was also his.

      Van Helsing settled down to wait.

To be continued…