Author's Note : Finally, between Christmas preparations, late homework, and stupid Writer's Block, I have finally gotten time to write more to my story. My thanks for inspiration this time is from reading stories by

Lady Sirinial.

Her writings gave me inspiration as to what to write in this next chapter, so most thanks goes out to her. I get my inspiration from many places, and some of them from stories of my faithful reviewers. So thank you all. And now onto with the story.

Disclaimer : I own nothing.

Chapter Three- The Final Mission

Van Helsing and Anna made their way to the back of the church and entered the confessional. Both crossed themselves before Gabriel said

"Bless us Father for we have-"

"Sinned. Yes I know that, you are getting better though since you married." came the sharp reply. The confesstional window shot open, revealing an older man dressed in the bright red attire of a Cardinal. Van Helsing visibly winced at the words, and Anna squeezed her eye s shut in embarassment. It was amazing how some people could do that with you. Cardinal Jinette turned towards them and said

"I take the Banshee is taken care of?"

"Yes, and there wasn't much commotion in doing it-"Van Helsing started to reply, but Anna cut in saying

"Other than I was thrown through a wall in the process. But that only hurt me, and it really didn't get that much attention." she said shortly. Van Helsing continued,

"In fact I got a new name, the people in Dublin consider me a Guardian Angel of some sort-"

"And you are." Anna cut in again. Cardinal Jinette cleared his throat and said

"Well that's all well and good, but now to the matter at hand-" Anna again cut in, but this time there was a sort of sad tone in her voice.

"Cardinal Jinette, I have need to ask you of something." The Cardinal looked at her, before nodding and said

"Ask then." She sighed and said

"Van Helsing and I, as far back as either of us can remember, have been fighting some sort of monster. We are not like other married couples, and we realize that, but, we want to have a more normal lifestyle, and really is it so hard for me to ask this?" She paused and Cardinal Jinette replied gently,

"Ask what child?" She sighed and said

"Why can you not release Gabriel?" Cardinal Jinette pondered on these words and said

"I see. Well I suppose you have a point, though you are unlike other married couples, it is true you also should have a title to a normal life. However it may not be God's Will for you have to have a more, should we say, quiet lifestyle." Anna shook her head vigourously and said

"I realize that Cardinal Jinette, but neither of us has ever really experinced one, and so how are we to know if it is not God's Intention for us to have one. We never really had a chance to try and have a normal lifestyle, looking at our histories you can see that." The Cardinal seemed to ponder these words before replying.

"This is true." He paused for a long while, as if in deep thought and then said,

"Anna, both you and your husband are like family to me. And as a good father would know, I cannot protect you both forever. I must let you go." Anna face brightened visibly and she said exhuberantly

"You mean...?"

"I will set you free from your duties of the Knights of the Holy Order." Van Helsing who had been silent this whole time, suddenly let out a loud laugh, and Anna followed his suit and embraced him warmly. Cardinal Jinette smiled to himself and after a moment or so, he said a bit loudly,

"However, I require you to do one more favor to the Order before I release you both." Both broke the embrace and turned around. Van Helsing leaned forward and said

"What is it?" The Cardinal replied solemnly,

"It is for you Van Helsing." Anna lifted her head and said

"What?" Cardinal Jinette turned to her and said

"He has one final mission to do."

With that he pulled the lever that shut the door to the confessional outside, and lifted the gate that led them inside. The Cardinal rose and went down the stone staircase, Van Helsing and Anna following not far behind.

Cardinal Jinette led them to the projector where a map of Romania was showing. He turned to them both and said

"We need you both to go Romania. Rumors have been circulating about around there, and just to be safe, we need to send you there, just to solve the problem." Both nodded. Cardinal Jinette said

"You will need to bring Carl, of course, he is best in the making of weapons." He paused and turned back to them

"But don't tell him I said that." They smiled wanly and left him to find Carl.

Carl was wearing his special cap, with mutiple lenses, that he wore only when conducting 'sensitive', as he called them, experiments. He carefully loaded the rifle he holding with a clear bullet and shot it at the distant wall, creating a small explosion which resulted in leaving only a pile of rubble where the wall was.

"Carl!" came several shouts.

"Sorry." he called back, and turned back to the rifle he was perfecting. It contained Glycerin 48 bullets, capable of creating extreme heat when making contact with the intended target, to the point where it completely exterminated it. Looking up, he saw Van Helsing and Anna approaching his workbench. He immediately scurried over to them and in an excited voice he said

"Did you bring back any of the Banshee's blood?" Van Helsing grunted, but Anna handed him her jacket, which was soaked with silver blood.

"Help yourself." she muttered grumpily. He nodded and said

"Oh I shall." Then noticing their grouchy faces, he said

"Oh I see you spoke with the Cardinal? He told you about the mission in Romania then?" They both narrowed their eyes at him. Carl shuddered, it was so scary when they acted almost exactly alike. Scary, and interesting. He shook his head

"Alright so you're both in a mood as I can see, well let's get you equipped then." He led them over to where a long line of things were assembled. He handed Van Helsing a sack, which he promptly began to fill with various items, naming them off as he did so.

"Silver stakes, the light bomb, crucifixes, rifles, silver bullets, garlic, crossbow, Holy water." He turned to his workbench, and said, with a smile on his face, handing them the new rifle.

"This is a new weapon I've been working on. It made of Titanium, very light, and it contains Glycerin 48 bullets, which have the ability when coming in contact with its target, it generates enough heat to totally disentegrate it." He placed it into the bag. Anna looked at the bag and said

"What would we use that for? Most enemies it wouldn't work on them."

Carl shrugged and said

"I don't know, you could destroy a barrier, kill a charging wilabeast, use your imaginations." Van Helsing tossed the bag back towards Carl and said

"Actually Carl, we intend to use yours, seeing as how you've been charged with keeping us alive as long as possible."

Carl stuttered before shouting

"Oh like Hell I will."

Anna gave a mock gasp and said

"Carl you swore." He straightened himself boldly and said

"Well I'm also just a friar so I can swear all I want. Dammit." Van Helsing shook his head and said

"Face it Carl, its the Cardinal's orders."

"Orders which you have to obey." Anna added. As they both walked off, Carl cried

"But I don't want to go back there! Van Helsing! Anna!"

Author's Note : I had so much fun writing this chapter. Carl is sooo cute! Sorry, momentary loss of control there for a second. Besides, Dracula always somehow pulls my heart strings so to speak. Anyway, I think Dracula will be in the next chapter, at I hope he will. It might still be a while yet. But nevertheless, I am liking how this story is turning out so far. And as for the line about Carl being a friar and being allowed to swear, sorry, I couldn't resist. That was one of my favorite lines in the film. Anyway, I think it is time for me to give thanks for the reviewers of my last edition.

Roccovende : Thank you, but to put it politely, since I don't like to use swear words as much as I used to, I don't care if it fit, I don't think they should have killed Anna. It made me really sad that they did that. Thank you for your faithful reviews, and I hope I haven't offended you in anyway with me reply.

Christine Marquez : Thank you kindly, I will try to update as much as possible, but like I said earilier, it is not guaranteed. Take comfort in the fact that the longer I take, usually the better the outcome.

island-surfer : Thank you for your support, and maybe I will start that other story about Dracula and his Brides. Well actually I've already started, but I kinda got stuck. Anyway, thank you for your support.

Cali : Weird though it may seem, it is true. And thank you for the website address and the information on the Brides. It will make my life a little easier. Anyway, thank you so much for your help and support.

Rhea : Actually, that is my life's ambition to become a writer. Hopefully I will have as nice reviews as I am getting here. I'm glad you like the way I describe the characters, though I still think my take on Dracula is still cheesy. Thank you so much for you support.

Lady Nessa : I'm glad I have pleased you. Last time I tried writing a story, which has long since been deleted, it got very little praise. Which is why I've come to treasure every small review that comes my way. And I will update as soon as I can, but remember, it may take a while, and also, the longer I take the better the outcome. Thank you for your support.

Though I know it must be getting repetative at this point, I want to thank everyone for their support and to wish them a Merry Christmas. SO without further ado, goodbye and happy reading!

Signed,

Fortune Zyne.