Disclaimer: The characters and concepts pertaining to the movie Van Helsing in this story are the property of Stephen Sommers. This is an amateur writing effort. This story is for entertainment purposes only.
Chapter 13: The Spirit of the Hunt
Darkness had settled over the forest by now, leaving only small patches of moonlight visible through the trees. Mina stared directly ahead of her, not wanting to look at Carl or anyone for that matter.
She felt weakened amidst this crowd of men. It was like she was screaming at the top of her lungs in a crowded room and no one was looking up at the sound of her voice. The feeling went beyond that of normal bloodlust and struck her in the heart, causing the air to come slowly from her chest.
"What is it that brings a woman and a friar into the forest late at night?" Dominick's older brother asked her, rousing her from her vigil on the trees. She had heard the men call him Vincent. Mina turned to look at him, unable to stare him straight in the eye. Her response was slow as she turned and looked back at the trail, unsure of what to say. What could she say? Lie again, like she had on the ship? Or tell the truth and be warranted for suspicion? Going to Cachtice was probably one of the last things one did in this land, regardless of whom or what had been taken there. She knew if she admitted the truth, someone would start to take a closer look at her neck.
"Vacation," she replied simply.
"You think I'm a fool don't you?" He asked her in response. "You think I'm a bloody idiot?"
"No," Mina recoiled, "I think you're interrogating someone who doesn't need to be."
"Well I think you need to be." Vincent stated quietly, not wanting to draw attention to them. Mina bit her bottom lip. "A young woman with a friar as a companion traveling into Transylvania, disguised as a man, no less, armed God knows how heavily? This sparks suspicion in me, Miss. Harker, a lot of suspicion, considering the problems we've had here before."
"You're suspicions are misplaced, sir," she said, staring straight ahead once more. She couldn't bear to look at his face any longer, the sight of his causing her to want his blood more and more. She knew it wasn't a sexual want, there was no possible way she would want Vincent Matyas like that. But the blood lust called to her, asking her to just take a sip, nothing more, nothing less.
And I forgot my serum.
"Enlighten me, please," he said, still glaring at her.
Mina finally faced him, raising her voice a little.
"We are searching for a friend," she said quickly. "That is all you need to know. Where, who and how is our business altogether and hardly something you need to be indulged in."
"I beg your pardon, madam, but I believe it is my business. I am granting you my mercy…"
"Of which I need none," she added, but Vincent wasn't listening.
"You are coming onto my land Miss Harker, and I want to make one thing perfectly clear: if you are to try anything out of the ordinary, my brother's affections will not spare you from my sword."
He thinks he's won.
She smiled at him, a cruel smile, one with nothing but contempt behind it. "I live to serve."
Mina kicked her horse sternly and veered away from Vincent, sliding up next to Carl's pony. She bent over and whispered in his ear.
"Keep an eye out for Vincent," she said, looking back to him. His hazel eyes narrowed as his brow creased, once again a look of his suspicion. He was not a terrible looking man with a well defined jaw and chiseled body visible with his open jacket. Mina turned back to Carl. "He doesn't trust us, and I don't trust him."
"What about Dominick?" Carl asked, just as quietly. Mina rolled her eyes.
"Dominick's the kind of boy any woman could wrap around her finger," she said, shooting a look to the obviously younger brother. He was a boy, much younger than she; probably seventeen or eighteen, driven to hunt by an ambitious older brother who would forever to cast a shadow over his life. Mina felt sorry for him, but then he would show her that boyish grin and she would be filled with happiness once more, knowing that somehow, he would be alright. "A breathing woman is a good woman for Dominick. He's not going to be a bother."
"What are we going to do?" He asked her, knowing they were attracting attention. Mina turned her head a little, trying to look as if they weren't having a private conversation.
"I don't know," she replied, "but whatever it is we'll have to do it quickly, and quietly; something that won't attract attention." Mina's eyes narrowed. Was Carl laughing? She shot him a confused look as he giggled childishly. "What?" The friar nearly fell off his pony from laughter. "Carl! I demand to know what is so funny!"
"Not attract attention?" he laughed again. Eyes were starting to look their way. Mina lowered her head behind her dirty hair, hiding her face. Carl continued. "Do you actually think we're going to manage that?"
There was a beat. The friar grew silent as Mina didn't answer him. She looked off at Dominick and allowed her eyes to close as she realized that Carl was right.
"What was that?" He asked. "Repeat that please?"
"You're right," she said at last, turning back to him.
"Finally, someone admits it!"
Gabriel stared into the man's face. It was still the same face, the same face that had haunted his dreams since he had fallen to the Vatican's steps. The man was Michael, he had to be. Where that name came from Gabriel had no idea. Maybe it was triggered from Morgan le Fey's last words, or, quite possibly, just a name he had picked out of nowhere and hoped was right. But it wasn't either of those and he knew that, he understood that. He knew the man's name was Michael, he just didn't know why he knew.
"You still dream, don't you Gabriel? You still dream of the battles and the killings? The hunts with your friend Vladislaus? The times you spent watching your humans?" He spoke smoothly, as if he had memorized the words. Gabriel had an answer for that too. He knew Michael was always a good speaker.
"What do you want with me?" The words came once again without his consent, as if he had practiced this speech hundreds of times to himself and could recite it without thinking. "You already took what you needed. Leave me be and stop toying with me!"
Was that actually me speaking?
"Needed?" Michael asked, pacing down the length of the roof. "I never said I needed anything from you Gabriel. You already know why it happened, don't you? Can you understand that?"
"Who are you? WHO THE HELL AM I?" He demanded, shouting at the top of his lungs now. The wind picked up, carrying Michael's robes upon it, drawing the two closer together as it spiraled around them. Inevitably they would meet in its center, but both liked the distance they maintained from the other. It gave them a certain degree of power over the other.
"I've run from myself long enough, Michael. Stop all these games!"
The gale howled. Michael stepped off the roof and in a flash he was directly in front of Gabriel, standing just as calmly as he had been on the roof.
"We have taken an oath, Gabriel. We are not to interfere."
"Like hell!" He shouted. "You interfered with Dorotta and probably countless other times during your sick game of cat and mouse."
"It's not interfering when you are order to do something," Michael was still as calm as he ever was. The growing wind could not stop him from that. The whistling grew louder as the situation grew more intense.
"Who am I?" He asked again. "Who are you? Whose orders are you fulfilling?"
Michael was silent. Gabriel was growing fed up with the man's silence. He threw the sheath of the dagger to the ground and gritted his teeth. The man in front of had only to hold out his hand to freeze Gabriel mid-stance, preventing him from doing any harm.
"Does that dagger of yours wish to stab me?"
"Why don't you find out?"
Michael smiled lightly, throwing Gabriel's arm out of the way. "Some other time, perhaps. Right now, I have a proposition for you."
"PROPOSITION?" Gabriel shouted. Michael held up his hand before Gabriel could continue with his rant.
"One that you will find very beneficial, if you want your memory back."
Vaseria had grown considerably over the year since Dracula's demise, and while it had been slow and gradual to its citizens, Carl felt as if it happened over night. It frightened him to think, as his pony stepped into the still square, that he never really left Vaseria and the growth had happened over night.
What was once a tiny, lonesome ghost village had become a town of wooden homes, each filled with people. The square itself still housed plenty of people, each placing wood upon a bon fire to keep it blazing into the early hours of morning. Men, women and children alike all stood and clapped as the hunters returned, bearing the large wolf along with them as a trophy. Mina and Carl soon sank into the background, ignored through all the commotion.
"DADDY!" A small child, possibly eight or nine, ran from the crowd, lifting her heavy skirt high above her knobby knees. Her dark brown hair flew wildly behind her as she came to Vincent's horse and jumped up to hug him about the waist awkwardly. Vincent scooped her up and laughed, carrying her closer to the fire with him. Mina pulled on the halter of Gabriel's horse and watched him nuzzle his daughter's face, kissing her tiny nose and rosy cheeks lovingly. The fire light danced over their faces, causing golden light to move over their slightly tanned bodies and bore their way into Mina's mind. She never forgot that image of father and daughter, the lump it caused to rise in her throat and feeling like her chest was collapsing.
And to think…she began, but she couldn't finish. Vincent had looked up and caught sight of her. Mina turned away, pretending she wasn't interested. But she was, and she couldn't admit that the feelings she had were jealousy.
"How much do you know about the Fallen ones, Gabriel?" Michael asked, stepping away from his enraged subordinate. The hunter had nothing to say except growl slightly, his lips pursed in anger. Here he was in the presence of the man who knew everything about him, and he wasn't saying anything except that he had a proposition to make. Michael cocked a brow and turned his head. "Surely your mind can comprehend that."
"Fallen angels aren't exactly what's on my mind right now," he said with clenched teeth.
"What is on your mind? Your own shame to the kingdom of Heaven?"
"I would say that I deserved that but, here's something funny, I DON'T EVEN REMEMBER WHAT I DID."
"I remember Gabriel. I remember everything."
"How lucky for you…" Gabriel said lowly, "Care to indulge the less fortunate?"
"Not yet," Michael said. "Not until I've said what I need to say."
"Get out of here Michael," he snapped. Gabriel pushed past him and walked towards the house, lifting up his potential skirt to walk less awkwardly. He knew this from experience, although he wouldn't want to indulge anyone with the details of his cross-dressing experience.
"It's about Mina."
Gabriel stopped short. Suddenly he was interested.
"Home sweet home," Dominick said, dismounting in front of the old Valerious Manor. Carl's eyes narrowed.
"You live here?" he asked, still in shock. Dominick smiled and nodded.
"Yes," he said. "When the Valerious bloodline ended Matyas took over the town. We have lived here for about a year now."
"Cozy," Mina said, under her breath. The castle looked the exact opposite in fact, drafty with wide windows and small cracks in the stones that built it. She shivered from the sight of the cast iron crosses that bore down upon her from the roof, leaving her wide eyed and staring.
"You must have been related to the Valerious," Carl said as he dismounted.
"By marriage," Dominick replied, taking Carl's horse and handing it to a stable boy. "Boris Valerious was my brother and law, a fine match for our sister Katrina." He offered his hand to Mina, who already found herself halfway off the huge stallion. Unable to take it (and not wanting to give him any ideas) she dropped the rest of the way to the ground and dusted herself off. Dominick reached up to move the horse but the stallion wouldn't budge, holding his ground. "You've a stubborn horse."
Mina patted it on the neck. "Not half as stubborn as the man who owns it. He'll be fine. Just let him come in when he wants." She nuzzled the fur once more, closing her eyes, trying to find a piece of Gabriel in his horse if she could. There wasn't one. She was left more alone than ever now that she realized there wasn't any shred of her lover at her fingertips. The stallion stomped its hooves a little before pacing about the front of the castle. Mina allowed her hand to slip from its body back to her side.
"Consider yourselves at home," Dominick said. "There's several guest rooms in the west end of the castle. Anything you need just ask the servants and they'll get it for you."
Mina looked at the moon in the sky. They can't get me a miracle can they?
"What about her?" Gabriel demanded, marching back to Michael. "What the hell does he want with her?"
But Gabriel didn't have to ask. He already knew. He was enough of a Catholic to know about God's omniscience. The fact that Mina was a vampire was not likely to be overlooked by the supreme deity who seemed convicted with making Gabriel's life a living hell. The hunter shook his head, tightening his lips into a thin line once more before pointing the knife towards Michael. "No," he said sternly, "I won't do it."
He started towards the house again.
"She's not what you think, Gabriel."
The hunter whipped around, livid, throwing the knife through the air towards Michael. His superior caught the dagger, throwing it to the ground, but Gabriel was already advancing.
"NEITHER WAS ANNA!" He shouted. "NEITHER WAS ALICE! YOU ALWAYS POINTED YOUR FINGER AT EVERY PERSON I EVER CARED ABOUT AND DEEMED THEM UNFIT FOR YOUR KINGDOM! AM I NOT SUPPOSED TO HAVE WHAT I WANT! AM I NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HAPPY!"
There was silence again, just for a moment, but it allowed the words to sink in, Gabriel hoped. Michael's eyes had softened a moment, but there wasn't real sympathy behind them. There was understanding, but Michael couldn't grasp sympathy.
"Why is it that you have to destroy everything?"
"Because this is your prison, Gabriel. This is your Hell." Michael stated quite calmly. "This wasn't supposed to be bliss for you Gabriel, this was supposed to be Hell."
"YOU HAVE BETRAYED!"
It was suddenly so clear to him, why the Vatican tested him so. Cardinal Jinette's words made sense as they echoed through his mind. All this time they were testing his allegiance to Christ. It really was just a test of faith for him, one that would last until his death or he finally repented for past sins.
So why hadn't he been forgiven yet?
"I've slain werewolves, I've killed vampires, witches, warlocks, demons…haven't I proven my faith yet?"
"God only demands that you believe in Him unconditionally, that you have faith in his plan."
"I'm in the middle of Transylvania in his name. How can He still question my belief?"
"Not belief, Gabriel, you know. There is a difference."
"I never asked for this." Gabriel hissed. "I never once asked to know."
"But you did," Michael said, once again getting the look of understanding back on his face. Gabriel wanted to slap it from it. "You cannot stop knowing, not even without your memory. Deep down you understand something that only you can understand."
"And what's that?"
"That you are a hunter," Michael stopped, allowing his words to have a full effect on Gabriel. "And you are a hunter in his name. You know it because you feel it. You only feel solace when you destroy. And what's more is that you can only feel this peace when you destroy in his name."
"So what?" Gabriel asked, wanting the conversation to end. With or without answers, Michael was irritating him royally. "So I have to destroy Mina because it will bring me peace?"
"You're putting words in my mouth," Michael said. "I never said it would bring you peace."
"But I still have to kill her." Gabriel crossed his arms and turned away. "And I won't do it."
"There are bigger problems here, Gabriel, than just you."
"Than why don't you do it?" He snapped accusingly. "Or is it just easier to get the Vatican's hunter to do it for you?"
Michael was quiet for a moment, relenting, unsure of how to say what he was inevitably going to. Gabriel's eyes narrowed, watching Michael with a contemptuous glare. Finally, his superior opened his mouth and spoke.
"The vampire hierarchy is in danger of being overthrown," he said quickly.
"Let me take a shot in the dark: Elizabeth is behind this?"
"One of them," Michael said, lifting his face so Gabriel could see it better from behind his veil of hair. "But the one I would be more worried about is Grigori."
Grigori...the name sounded familiar. He had heard it before, somewhere farther back. Gabriel finally sighed deeply, eyes narrowed.
"Azrael," he said, "The Angel of Death."
Author's Notes: I realize that there are many names for the Angel of Death. Personally, I like Azrael the best, and am most familiar with that name. I believe it was J's idea to plop him in the story, so I have. There will be an explanation in the following chapters. TTYL!
There have been a lot of problems in my life right now, and e-mail is rising up the list. I haven't had the ability to send attachments (makes sending my work to a beta impossible) plus the Internet seems to not like to send e-mails (hotmail should die!). I'm going to stop complaining. I've been a terrible person for not responding to my readers' reviews. I usually live by the motto that if someone takes the time to respond to my writing, I should respond to them. It's only fair. So, without further adieu, let's get to these review response.
Reviews
Fanfiction Fanatic: Hopefully it's been keeping you on the edge of your seat! Nice to know you're still reading. Thank you so much for leaving a review every time!
xImmortalx: No, he still doesn't have any clothes on. Feel free to pounce and or maul and or ravage Gabriel Van Helsing in any way you wish! Thank you for reading and keeping up with my sporadic updates!
Fenestrae: I would have enjoyed a little more violence between Michael and Gabriel as well, but I have to stay within the bounds of reality. I don't think the archangel Michael is about to take Gabriel hitting him, although, let's face it, Gabriel and Michael fighting with pillows and bed sheets?
I see a sequel coming on.
Star Magel: I thought Lillith was spelt with two l's? Ah well, I didn't spell Morgan's name with the right amount of Y's and E's either. Hopefully I'm not offending anyone! It was an honest mistake. I'll spell it with only one from now on to maintain the symbolic value of the name.
Oh, and don't worry. I fully intend to have Gabriel change forms. I didn't spend half the book getting my readers psyched about that only to pull it from them at the last minute. I was doing some conceptual drawings last night and I can't wait till the climax!
VampRequim: Once again, I apologize for the review responses I've been failing to leave for the last several chapters. It's been pretty crazy right now in my life all things considering and I just got lazy. I promise it won't happen again!
Thank you so much for keeping up! I lost a lot of my audience because of my stunted updates, but I really do appreciate the feedback! THANKS EVERYONE! DRINKS ALL AROUND!
