"Quick, Gabriel. We've got to be going," he interjected pleasantly to his friend. "They're sending us to Transylvania, mate." As he was packing up for his new mission, his mission from God, he thought of how he was going to tell Gabriel of his departure form their faith. He wasn't fighting for God anymore. They couldn't stop him! They couldn't! But what would Gabriel think? "Oh. Gabriel. They've told me you need to go and get your instructions too, so go on up."
"Right. See you mate," Gabriel Van Helsing said to his only friend. "I'll be right back." And off he went, since his stuff was already packed.
As he arrived in the office of the cardinal, he saw the man already seated at the desk. "Please sit, Van Helsing. There is much to tell. This part of your briefing is secret, for you only." And so the interview commenced.
As Gabriel walked down the stairs he tried to hide his expression of disbelief and horror. How could he have done that? Gone against the church? He arrived back in the hall to see his friend. His former friend, he thought. "Hello Vladislaus."
"Vladislaus? That's new, Gabriel, what has happened to Vlad?"
Gabriel shrugged, not answering. He turned away, preparing to depart.
"Right," Vladislaus muttered. He was returning to Transylvania, to his family's lands. To home, he thought unemotionally.
"Are you sure you know where you're going, Gabriel? I know this country and there isn't anything there. I'm pretty sure that we're lost, mate."
How can you be so cheerful, Vladislaus? Gabriel thought to himself. How? How? I don't want to do this to you Vlad, but you've betrayed everything we've believed in. You're evil now. I can't let you live. Then I too would be betraying what I believe in.
"We are in the right place, Vladislaus, I know it. I'm following the map perfectly."
"Well, remember that time in Istanbul, Gabriel. If you knew the difference between left and right, maybe I could believe you now. But at this point, doubtful, Gabriel, very doubtful."
Must act normal. Don't react differently than you would before this. What would I say? "Shut up, Vladislaus."
"Righto." And after a moment's pause: "You are sure though?"
"YES!" We're nearly there…Can I do it? Can I? He's my friend—no, he was my friend. He must be killed, or else he will kill. He's evil now.
"This is it, Vladislaus. The end."
His friend looked over quickly, his smile frozen. "The end of what, Gabriel?"
His smile was forced, but he said the words anyways. He could not, however, meet his friend's eyes, for he did not want to see the pain in them. He is evil now. "The end of you, Vladislaus. The end of your evil." He pushed his friend up against a tree by the neck, pinning him, then drawing his knife.
"Gabriel? Gabriel? Why?" The two struggled about the clearing as Vladislaus fought to keep his friend at bay. Suddenly, he felt the pressure of his opponent's knife on his ring finger and then it was gone. His finger was gone. Gabriel's eyes flashed to the ground as he felt the resistance disappear. Vladislaus watched his eyes widen, and followed his opponent's gaze for a brief moment. Spots of blood had splattered the dry leaves underfoot. Amongst the red splotches lay a long finger. Unlike the rest of his fingers, this one sported a dull, silver ring.
When he looked up, he found that Gabriel had taken advantage of his inattention. A second knife had appeared in his friend's hand, and everything seemed to be in slow motion as Gabriel buried the knife in his chest.
"You could have joined me Gabriel," Vladislaus whispered as his old friend turned away. He tried to reach out to him, but found his limbs weakening rapidly. "Stop! Please Gabriel, don't do this."
"Aaaah…" Vladislaus sunk to his knees, death taking him in its icy grip.
"Nomine, Pactrus, Fili, Spiritus Sancti…Amen," Gabriel said, as he made the sign of the Cross and turned away.
As he began to mount his horse, Gabriel Van Helsing saw the slight glint of the ring on the ground. Bending over, he slid it off the finger and slipped it onto his own. He wanted to keep something, to remind himself that he had needed to kill Vladislaus—that he had killed evil, and only evil. There had been no trace of his friend left in the man. There wasn't! Then he turned back to his horse, mounted, and galloped away, running from his former friend. There was still regret in him that he had killed Vladislaus, evil or not.
He heard the cry from the forest, still human. "GABRIEL! Gabriel…"
This he couldn't hear, but it was there all the same. Vladislaus begged Heaven for salvation, for absolution, but he got nothing. He was forsaken by God, for he had turned away from the church. Desperate, in his last moments, he begged the Devil for hope and life, and the Devil answered, giving him his life, his self.
But also he was given the chains of Hell.
And the last thing Gabriel Van Helsing heard before it all went black was the hellish, inhuman cry rising through the trees of Transylvania, the cry of the Count Dracula, the vampire.