Disclaimer: I own nothing except what I made up. Fair enough.
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"Home sweet home." Friar Carl dropped his heavy leather bags to the floor loudly, looking happily about the hall.
Gabriel Van Helsing snorted under his hat. "Yes, my friend, if you say so. I'll see you later."
Van Helsing walked off, his heavy boots clicking loudly against the polished floors of the Vatican church. He was tired and worn from his adventures with Carl out in Paris, and it was good to be back here, no matter what he might say. Finally, he reached the confessional, and, removing his hat, stepped in and sat down comfortably.
"Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned-" he murmured.
"What did you destroy this time?" Cardinal Jinette's irritable snarl brought a small smile to Gabriel's lips.
"Well, a couple of houses... a church... half a train.... The usual."
Jinette growled. "I do not know what I did to deserve you."
"Saved a couple of schoolboys?"
"More like murdered them brutally with a Bible," Jinette rumbled. "Did you kill her?"
Gabriel sighed, all signs of amusement leaving his face. "She left me with no choice, Cardinal. I very nearly lost an eye, and Carl... well, I'm not sure you want to know what he nearly lost. He's lucky for that chastity thing."
"Any problems from the locals?"
"Well, yes, of course. A beautiful woman falls from the sky, impaled with an emerald sword... of course they noticed."
"Not that you do things quietly, Gabriel. I bet half the town knew you were there."
Gabriel was silent. He did not care much for his reputation as a murderer, but he knew that he was acting for the good of mankind, and that eventually he would discover the rest of his past. Jinette's nagging seemed to have ended, and he opened the door that hid the stairs down to the Order's headquarters.
Several monks and friars called out to Gabriel as he passed with the Cardinal, but Jinette did not allow him time to stop, and finally they were in a small room with a bench facing a white screen, and a projector pointing at the screen. Jinette gestured to him to sit, and as he complied, the lights were dimmed and Jinette turned the projector on. A photograph appeared on the screen.
It was a close-up of a beautiful young woman. She was strikingly pale, with dark brown hair piled up on her head and deep sapphire coloured eyes. She was dressed in a simple red dress. The photograph had been taken outside in the main square of the Vatican.
Gabriel did not recognise her, but then there was something familiar and comforting in those eyes, and he knew he had seen her before.
"Do you recognise her?" Jinette asked.
Gabriel shook his head. "I don't think so."
Jinette nodded, and pressed a button on the projector. The photograph changed. "I did not think so. You may recognise her better like this."
Gabriel stared. He was looking at a rather scruffy-looking woman with dark hair plaited behind her, dressed in tight trousers and a baggy shirt, clutching a pistol in her hand and standing on the steps where Gabriel had originally been found by the friars. It was only her sparkling eyes that revealed her as the girl of the previous photo.
"That's.... my shirt!" he exclaimed.
"Yes. What does that mean to you, Gabriel?"
"She's... the woman you gave my shirt to. The only female Hunter. Wasn't she called Lucy?"
"Lucia Craft, yes," Jinette replied. "Fast becoming one of our very best, Gabriel. She will one day rival you, I have no doubt of that."
"Why are you telling me this?" Gabriel murmured, mesmerised by the woman on the screen.
"She has been kidnapped by Dracula."
Gabriel turned to look at Jinette so quickly his neck cracked. "I... what? Dracula?"
"Yes."
Gabriel shook his head. "It... can't be. I killed Dracula. And why would he take Miss Craft?"
"Dracula is back from Hell. It seems the Devil has made another pact with him, though quite what, I do not know. And... he would take Lucia Craft... because she is your soulmate."
Gabriel raised his eyebrows, not quite sure he had heard correctly. "What did you say?"
Jinette said nothing, merely pressed the projector button again. The image changed to an old-looking painting. Gabriel sighed in confusion as he recognised the three figures. There was himself, holding Lucia Craft. And beside her, holding her hip, was Vladislaus Dragulia.
"That was four hundred years ago," Jinette said. "Do you understand more now?" Gabriel nodded, and Jinette continued. "You and Carl are to go to the old castle on the outskirts on Transylvania and save her."
"And destroy Dracula?"
"Of course."
Gabriel nodded. "Well, I'd better be off then. Wish me luck."
"Here's hoping you don't need it," Jinette muttered as Gabriel walked off.
TBC.
