"Forgive me, Father," he began with a weary sigh.
"Etcetera, etcetera and all of the usual," interrupted another man's voice from the other side of the wall. "How many times must we go through this routine, Gabriel? You were doing so well for such a long time."
Gabriel knew there was no point in arguing with Cardinal Jinette. The Cardinal was an old man, but age had only shortened his temper. And, anyway, it did not matter that the demon Gabriel had been sent to capture had forced its host to shoot himself. Gabriel had been slow to act. He could not deny this.
"I don't know," he said quietly. "I... have no answer."
He heard the Cardinal's sigh of disapproval and felt it in his heart.
"How have you been sleeping these nights, Gabriel?" the Cardinal asked.
Gabriel swallowed audibly and paused for a long time.
A moth fluttered in the stall, making tiny thumps against a wooden panel.
"The dreams have uh..." Gabriel exhaled heavily. "I'm having the dreams again."
The other man did not respond.
"I see the old faces," he continued. "The torture and the death... the wars. No, I'm not sleeping well, these nights."
Through the lattice of the divider, he could see the Cardinal's frame straighten.
"So, it is true," said the Cardinal.
"What do you mean? What's true?"
Gabriel heard a deep, undoubtedly painful cough, followed by a faint wheeze. Age had weakened more than the old man's patience.
"What's true?" he persisted.
"It is vital that you tell NO ONE what I am about to tell you now," answered the Cardinal with another raucous cough. He allowed himself to recover before continuing. "We believe... I believe that Count Dracula is alive."
Gabriel shook his head.
"That's not possible," he argued. "Dracula was nothing but a pile of bones and dust when I left Transylvania. And we buried the bones. How could he possibly be alive?"
"Even a soul in the bowels of Hell can be brought back while the Devil maintains power over darkness," said the Cardinal in a voice barely above a whisper. "And the Devil has many earthly servants."
"How do you know he has been brought back?" Gabriel asked. "How do you know this isn't just some story spread among the villagers for mischief?"
"Can you not feel it?"
There was a strange sort of silence, almost sickening.
The Cardinal went on.
"There have been several accounts of a man fitting Dracula's description haunting the village by night," he said gravely. "Accounts by small children whose parents vowed never to speak of that horror again in their lifetimes. And there have been deaths."
Gabriel laughed bitterly.
"There have always been deaths. There will always BE deaths," he said. "If Dracula really is alive, it means I didn't kill him ten years ago. And it means I can't kill him now. I'm of no help to you, Cardinal. Find another man."
He stood to leave and was surprised to find his way unbarred.
"May you sleep well tonight, Gabriel," the Cardinal called after him. "Knowing that you keep the Valerius family from Heaven."
"What?" Gabriel stopped but did not turn around.
The Cardinal remained in his place.
"Bring Dracula back to me alive, Gabriel. ALIVE," he ordered. "Then we may deal with him with all the power of God, and perhaps then we can destroy the monster for eternity."
Gabriel clenched his fists and unclenched them again. The very mention of the Count's name brought a swell of painful memories.
"Who will assist me?" he asked wearily.
"No one," came the answer. "I have told you that the Devil has many servants. It is my fear that one of our own may be such a servant. It is for this reason that I insist upon the secrecy of this mission. You are the only one I can trust, Gabriel Van Helsing. I know you will find a way."
A jarring mechanical whir signaled the end of the meeting as the Cardinal disappeared back into the cathedral's secret depths.
Outside the massive cathedral, Gabriel's horse waited. Ominous clouds were gathering on the horizon and, for a moment, Gabriel found himself searching them for her face. But he knew she would not be there.