Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Van Helsing. Sorry!
Painful Truth
A few miles from Transylvania, Van Helsing and Anna were coming back to Transylvania after their visit with Cardinal Jinette and the rest of the Holy Order. From the carriage they heard someone scream their daughter's name. Gabriel heard the cry immediately.
"Anna did you here that?" Gabriel asked her.
"Yes I did Gabriel. You don't think something has happened to Abby do you?" Anna questioned. Gabriel looked at Anna, his eyes full of fear. His heart was telling him that something was definitely wrong and his precious little girl needed him. Leaning out the carriage window, he could see the gates of Transylvania fast approaching. Within minutes the carriage roared into the quiet village. Not even waiting for the driver to completely stop, Gabriel opened the door and leapt out. He immediately headed for the manor in search of his daughter. Once Anna and Carl were out of the carriage, they followed Gabriel.
"I wonder who lit a fire under Van Helsing's pants." Carl stated as they reached the manor.
"Abby! Abby!" Gabriel called as he searched for his daughter. He went to the library, the sitting room, and the dinning room before rejoining Carl and Anna.
"She's not here." Gabriel said as he looked at Anna.
"Maybe she just went out for a walk and someone was calling her back." Anna suggested.
"It wasn't that kind of call. Something is terribly wrong here, I can feel it." Gabriel replied.
"Mistress is that you." A voice called from upstairs.
"Yes Beatrice." Anna called to her. Beatrice quickly appeared at the landing of the staircase.
"Oh thank the Lord you are here." Beatrice said hurrying down the stairs.
"Bea where's Abby?" Anna asked. The tears came to Beatrice as she looked her mistress in the eye.
"Did something happen to Abby? Please Bea, tell Gabriel and I what has happened." Anna demanded. Bea took the corner of her apron and dabbed the cloud of tears from her eyes.
"Abby has been kidnapped by a man in a black cape. He lured her out into the village and did something to her where she fell unconscious. The man then took Abby and disappeared into the night. There was this other young man who tried to save her, but the kidnapper overcame him. Trudy is upstairs attending to his wounds as we speak." Beatrice said trying her best to hold back the second round of tears gathering in her eyes. Anna fell into Gabriel's arms sobbing. He drew her closer to him. Whoever had taken their little girl was certainly going to pay for what he did.
"This young man who tried to save her..." Gabriel began. But before he could inquire any further, Michael had come to the top of the stairs.
"Hello Gabriel." Michael said. Gabriel turned.
"Michael." Gabriel replied as he slowly came down the stairs.
"Van Helsing, do you know this boy?" Carl asked.
"Yes unfortunately." Gabriel replied keeping his eyes on Michael and vice versa. Anna and Carl could sense the rivalry between the two men. Finally Michael and Gabriel were standing face to face, each looking like they wanted to kill each other. Neither of them moved. They simply continued staring the other down trying to see which one of them would break first.
"The two of us standing here is not helping Abby. She is in grave danger." Michael finally stated.
"The only danger that I see to my daughter is standing right here in front of me." Gabriel replied. Michael ignored the suggestion.
"We have to save Abby from him. There is no telling what he might do to her." Michael said looking at Anna. He pushed past Gabriel and headed for the library.
"If you follow me, I will tell you everything." Michael said turning his back from the group. Reluctantly, Gabriel and the others followed Michael to the library.
Abby slowly opened her eyes. She found that she was resting on a broken couch, her hands chained behind her back. Her eyes managed to roam looking at the room beautifully lit by huge torches that adorned the wall. Abby tried to sit up, but a sharp pain streaked through her head forcing her to sink back on the couch.
"The pain will subside in a moment. It's just an afterthought of my spell angel." Vincent cooed. Abby slowly remembered what had happened. She was pinned against the wall, crying for Michael to help her, and then everything went black.
"Where am I you monster?" Abby roared finally gathering enough strength to sit up once again. Another wave of pain streaked through her head, but Abby ignored it. She used every ounce of her will to fight off the lingering affects of his spell.
"You are in my grasp now. There is no way of escaping, so don't even try it." Vincent said calmly.
"What do plan on doing with me?" Abby asked.
"Kill you of course. This will be my revenge against your father for taking away everything away from me." Michael hissed.
"My father had to destroy Dracula. He would have killed everything and everyone if he was allowed to live." Abby explained. Vincent shook his head and laughed.
"I see that neither your father nor your mother ever told you the truth about the way they went about carrying out their sworn duties. They have succeeded in sixteen years to shelter you from the truth. Maybe you would like to know the truth before I kill you yes?" Vincent questioned. Abby glared at her captor. She had always wanted to know why she had been sheltered her whole life. As long as she was trapped here, why not hear what Vincent had to say.
"Alright, you've generated some curiosity in me." Abby said looking at Vincent.
"Well now, let's start form the beginning shall we. My father, Count Vladislous Dracula was born in 1422 to your mother's ancestor, Valerious the Elder. He was pure evil from the day he was born and the evil continued to age as did his body. Anyway, your mother's ancestor couldn't deal with the evil creature that he had sired, so he journeyed to the "land of repent and forgiveness" better known as Rome. He was told that in order to receive salvation, he was to kill his bastard child. Now there was no parent in the world who could ever murder their own son. So Valerious the Elder turned to his bravest knight and ordered him to carry out the task that had been bestowed upon him. This knight did away with my father that very day and then he disappeared never to be seen again. My father on the other hand had everything carefully sought out. He had made a pact with Lucifer and was granted a new life. However the only way to sustain that life was to drink the blood of living souls. And that's how Dracula was born." Vincent explained.
"Who was this knight that killed your father?" Abby asked.
"He was known as "The Left Hand of God" but to Valerious the Elder and fellow Transylvanian knights he was simply known as Gabriel." Vincent replied. Abby shot Vincent a confused glance.
"For four hundred years, my father continued to live his "second life," but the Valerious family swore they would do everything in their power to bring an end to my father's newly given life. Of course my father destroyed them slowly, one by one until the only one left was your mother. Destroying her would have been easy, but God once again interfered by sending his "Left Hand" to destroy my father once and for all." Vincent said.
"You mean the "Left Hand of God" is my...my." Abby began.
"Father, yes. The man who had killed my father those centuries ago was reborn as Gabriel Van Helsing. However, he had no memories of his past life. The monks of the Vatican found him crawling up the steps of the church one day and it was realized that God had sent his messenger from heaven to take care of the evil threatening human existence. So he came to Transylvania where he met your mother and I am sure that you can fill in what happened next. Love is such a foolish mortal invention. But all was not well for the foolish lovers. Your father was bitten by a werewolf and all hope seemed lost for the good side, until it was realized that the only thing that could ever kill my father was a werewolf if ever he had the will to turn on his master. He ordered your mother to destroy him if she and his little helper Carl could not get the antidote that my father created into him before the final stroke of midnight. Your father transformed and killed my father just like that. But that's not the best part. In that transformed state, your father could only think as the beast he had become remembering nothing from his human existence. When your mother arrived with the antidote, your father attacked her and killed her, but not before she cured him of the curse. When your father returned to himself and realized what he had done, he begged God to return him to her and He did. Then two years after my father's death, you were born to them. Your father and mother vowed to keep you save so neither of them would have to relive the nightmare of losing someone else they loved. And that's why they have sheltered you all of the years, to keep you safe from the hands of death." Vincent concluded.
Abby had now learned the truth about her life and the lives of her parents. How could they have kept a secret like that buried for so long? Abby sank back on the couch, the tears falling from her eyes. Her parents had become strangers to her, strangers that she no longer wanted to be near ever again.