Author note: hi, so yeah the other day I decided to do something about this idea I had regarding a Twilight and Van Helsing cross over and here now is the end product, a one shot as a sort of opening to the story set before I would start mine off. This is me just testing the waters, I have a vague idea of where I would take this and I'm eager to write it even if I would be taking on WAY more than I can handle but I don't want to write it if it's something no one wants to read, so if I thought I'd write this and see what response I got, if its liked I'll carry it on in a full on fic. So here's my one shot, please enjoy. :)

The test

Somewhere in near distance I heard a twig snap, finding the source of the noise instantly my head snapped to the right and my grip on my crossbow tightened. Instincts whirling at a mile a minute I spotted the source of the disturbance, it was only a deer and nothing to worry about, though right now I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. Turning away when the now startled deer darted away from me and my weapon I returned to scanning the trees around me, the deer wasn't my target, I was hunting larger more dangerous prey right now. Stepping through the undergrowth, narrowly avoiding the twigs and fallen leaves that would alert my quarry to my presence I moved forward noiselessly, my gaze flicking around the green canopy before retuning to the forest floor, I couldn't see him yet but he was out there.

Adjusting the scarf that hid my face from view and pulling my hood up over my head I waited until only my eyes were showing and I carried on moving, I had been out here tracking my prey across this large forest somewhere in Germany for almost three days now and I was getting close. This was a test, a sort of right of passage that would allow me, legally, to do what I was born to do. My name is Isabella Marie Van Helsing and I am (or will be) a monster hunter, employed by the Holy Order to take care of the deadly creatures threatening to destroy humanity. It all seems rather grand and uppity when you say it like that, as though I'm some self righteous murder that thinks she's something special, but it isn't like that, I'm not like that, not really, I'm just doing what my entire family and hundreds of others have done before me. My whole family is and was part of the Holy Order and I would be no different, I had to get in, I could not and would not fail.

Another twig snapped and I jumped, spinning and pointing my weapon behind me I narrowed my eyes as I scanned the trees for the disturbance, this time I spotted nothing and that unnerved me more than finding a deer or a bloodthirsty monster standing there. Adrenalin thundering through me I felt my chest rise and fall with mild exertion, making doubly sure that I couldn't see anything hiding in the forestry behind me I turned to face forward, not lowering my weapon for even a second. Keep it together Bella, I instructed myself, you've worked too hard for too long to mess this up now, you have to get into the Order or else they'll never let you go on that mission. That was easier said than done of course, and so trying to calm down a little and pretend that it didn't feel like someone was following me, I continued sneaking through the trees in search of my mark; surely I would find him soon as he couldn't have gone that far. Anticipation was rising inside me, leading me to believe that it wouldn't be too long now, I switched my pace up a gear, speeding up until the plants around me started the rustle in my wake and even then I didn't slow, I was about to snag my first monster, a New Generation Vampire, and earn my place as a soldier in the Holy Order I wanted to get this over with quickly. Thump, losing my balance as my toe collided with an above ground tree root I grabbed hold of a near by tree to keep from falling over, cursing my clumsiness as I did so. Years and years of training, sensory abilities above and beyond that of my peers and the blood of the Van Helsings running through my veins and I was still a klutz! Pushing myself off from the tree and supporting myself I paused to listen to the eerily silent forest as the thump of my army boots hitting the root echoed, well, I thought as I rested on my uninjured foot, protected by my thick shoe, nothing was rushing out from behind a tree to attack me so my mark must not have heard. Thank God.

Angry at myself and my clumsiness I pressed onwards, my finger never leaving the trigger for my crossbow, attached to which was a single arrow the head of which was carved from the tooth of a werewolf, something that never sat well with me and made me shudder just contemplating it. The arrow was necessary though, even if it wouldn't kill the New Generation Vampire I was hunting it would still wound it and it was the only thing that could penetrate the granite hard flesh of the vampire, other than the teeth of its own kind and those of Old Generation Vampires of course. There were two types of vampires in existence today, one only a few hundred years old in its existence having evolved from the rarer Old Generation Vampires, both were deadly and kept to the same basic principles, blood sucking, immortal, almost indestructible, but there were differences between them, like what happened to them when they came into direct contact with sun light for example. But that didn't matter right now too much, the only difference I should be worrying about was difference in how you handled one, but fortunately in order to pass this test I only had to capture a vampire, I didn't have to kill one though many others like me chose to, my dad and brother being two such people. Thinking of my small and brutalized family I focused on my task with a new determination, if I wanted to join my dad and my brother on their mission I had to first get through this and nothing was going to stop me from going with them both, I needed my revenge as well.

Fury rising up inside me as thoughts of what vampires, or rather one in particular, had done to my family I almost forgot myself and my usual compassion and innocent until proven guilty ideals, I had long ago vowed to bring in my marks rather than kill them since I didn't want to turn into the murders I was sent to capture and I found that I could live with my job easier this way. However, I was prepared to make an exception for one very special vamp. The rustling of leaves and a flash of white ahead of me pulled me to a stop, something was moving there and I would bet my life that it was my mark. Crouching down low I snuck forwards, my feet moving soundlessly and my mind working furiously to keep it that way, the last thing I needed right now was to mess this up with my awkwardness. As I crept forwards I spotted a clearing ahead of me and watched as a flash of white zipped back into the centre of it, apparently having just gone to check on the surroundings though obviously missing me. My mark was a male New Generation Vampire, I could tell that he was the one I had been sent here to get not only by the description the Order had given me, tall, longish brown hair and soft almost feminine features (though I couldn't be sure of the last one from my distance) but also because of his tell tale pale skin, which was now glistening in the midday sun throwing sparkles around the clearing where he stood and creating the illusion of beauty. I knew that this creature was anything but in reality.

I was desperate for this to be over with and my place on the mission to be secured but I wasn't yet in range, confident though I was in my shooting abilities I didn't want to hit a intercepting tree and give my mark the chance to run so I continued creeping forward. As I did the male vampires features became clear and I watched as he looked around the tree tops above him, searching for something that I couldn't see, I was only glad that he wasn't looking this way or else his superior eyesight would pick me out from the forestry and that would be it, I'd go the way of countless other overly enthusiastic trainees. I wasn't overly enthusiastic though, I just had a job to do. the clock was ticking, I was almost in range and who knew how long I would have before the vampire took off again, I had to ignore the uncomfortable feeling of being watched, that was still niggling at me, and take this change before I lost it. Now wasn't the time for second guessing and consciences, I wasn't going to kill him and I had to do this. Feeling with my free hand for the quiver on my back I felt somewhat reassured at its presence, then taking aim at the vampire in the clearing I gathered all my questionable courage and hoped that my conscience would forgive me this before pulling the trigger and letting the arrow fly. The vampire turned about half a second too late, hearing the whoosh of the arrow cutting through the air and sensing the danger, he wouldn't move in time though and although the arrow wouldn't kill him it sure would hurt. Reacting fast I pulled another arrow from my quiver and was just about to fit it in my crossbow when a second white flash shot across the clearing.

"No," I gasped seeing what was going to happen milliseconds before it did, the second vampire managed to pull my mark out of the way before the arrow hit him, instead it sunk into a tree directly behind where the first vampire had been standing. As the two vampires vanished from sight I felt myself fill with righteous anger, fitting another arrow in my crossbow and not about to let this chance be taken away from me I dashed into the clearing, all common sense forgotten. I didn't care how dangerous it was the be chasing after vampires, especially when you had just tried to kill one of them, I didn't care that they could kill me I could only think about how I couldn't let them get away, I had to go back to the Vatican with a captured vampire or I couldn't go with my father and brother.

"No," I repeated loudly as I skidded to a stop in the clearing, spinning I faced the direction the vampires had sped off in only to find that no one was there any more. I shouldn't have been surprised but I was still furious and it only made things worse. Refusing to give up I raised my crossbow and stalked forwards, panicking as my one chance slipped through my fingers courtesy of one interfering vampire.

There was yet another flash and I felt a rush of wind jet past me as a vampire shot by my right hand side, following it with my crossbow barely conscious that there was another one out there somewhere I tightened my grip on my weapon. It stopped halfway across the clearing and veered off to the right, I had my crossbow trained on the vampire when it came to a stop on the lower branches of a tree looking over the clearing and me. Don't ask me why I hesitated but I did, only for the briefest second, the vampire in the tree was not my mark but he was a New Generation Vampire again I could tell by the way his skin sparkled in the sunlight. The vampire was watching me, confusion hard in his strangely golden eyes (the like of which I had never seen on a vampire or anyone ever before) and a frown in his brow, unlike the first now forgotten vampire this one had a shock of copper hair arranged messily around his head. My breath caught as I took him in, resting delicately on the tree branch the vamp, dressed in dark blue jeans and a light blue shirt, was breathtaking even for what he was. Regarding me with a pensive look the vampire took me in, eyes going from my boot clad feet to my hood covered head and every inch of camouflage in-between in the time it took me to take a breath, from the look on his face it seemed that he didn't know what to make of me.

Snapping out of whatever trance I had just been in, even if it had been for only a short second, I curled my finger around the trigger and let another werewolf arrow fly, this vampire would do just as well as the one that I had been sent here to get.

The arrow never hit target though, the vampire shot out of the tree at a speed that was incredible even by vampire standards, I hadn't stood a chance. Spinning hastily I tracked the vampire to the end of the clearing but he didn't stop again he just carried on running at a speed that I couldn't hope to follow. Anger and disappointment prickled painfully and I flexed my fingers on the handle of my weapon, barely restraining the fury I felt as the reality of my failure sunk in, I would be heading back empty handed, no vampire meant I wasn't going to be accepted into the Holy Order and not being in the Order meant I couldn't go on this important mission. Furious I felt tears stinging in my eyes, I wasn't going, I had failed and my vampire had gotten away, everything I had been working towards all my of life had just been wrecked by that meddling vampire. Who the hell was he to get involved? I wasn't going to kill that vampire and since when did vampires care about anyone but themselves? Maddened I threw my crossbow to the floor, knowing in my bones that neither vampire was coming back to finish me off, whether that was because they saw me as too big a threat or nothing to be bothered about, I didn't know. Bending down the retie my shoelaces just to make sure that I didn't trip on the walk of shame that would be my walk home, all I could think was that if I ever saw that bronze haired vamp again I might have to rethink my morals.

Author note: so what do you think, was it at all interesting, would you like to see more or make a comment? I'd love to hear what anyone thought, thanks for reading :) x