Rose of Blood
By: Danimoon
Chapter One.
Van Helsing went back to the Vatican after his bout with Dracula in Transylvania. As he walked into the cathedral, he took off his hat and lowered his face mask. There in the cathedral, he entered the confession booth as always to confess, the cardinal looked him straight in the eye and frowned. The lines in the forehead on Cardinal Jinette creased together as his frown deepened.
As Jinette's mouth opened, his voice was angry and disappointed. "You missed one." Then Cardinal Jinette pushed the button to open the secret doorway. He walked down the stairs and looked behind him as to signal Van Helsing to follow him.
Van Helsing had a confused look upon his face, but followed the cardinal with out a sound. He was positive that all would become clear in good time. He almost trusted the Vatican with his life. As he entered the cavern below, he heard the sound of a woman screaming.
"No! Stop it! I am not a vampire!" Whimpers and moans came after the repeated screams. "Let me gooo! No! Stop, please! Ahhhhh!" The sound of steam hissed into the air.
Van Helsing deserted Jinette, who was yelling his name to come back and leave the 'voice' alone. Gabriel ran around trying to find the girl whose heartrending screams filled the cavern. Finally he found her, tied to an old rack, getting boiling holy water splashed in her face and crosses stabbed into her legs and arms. A man with a bottle of blood held it over her face as he tried to get her to drink it. Van Helsing ran over and yelled at the attendants.
From behind an experiment table, Carl ran up behind him and tugged on his arm. "Van Helsing, leave her alone. She is a vampire's servant; she is evil, Van Helsing! We are testing her for vampire poison. We need to know…"
He was cut off as Gabriel grabbed his throat and hissed into his ear. "You need to know if she is a vampire, right?" Van Helsing's eyes blazed with anger and disgust at the brutality of the men.
As Carl nodded, the cardinal arrived and watched as Van Helsing let go of Carl. As Carl crawled away on his back, gasping for air, Van Helsing walked over to the tied up girl. She looked up, met his gaze and slowly she sighed and passed out. Her face that had been tight with pain, was now soft and her lips formed a slight smile at her thought of being saved. Van Helsing was caught with a desire to kiss her lips, but instead he cupped her face in his hands and gently kissed her forehead in a sign of sympathy.
Cardinal Jinette walked up to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. He sighed and regretfully voiced his opinion on the girl's suffering. "We have done everything to prove that she is a vampire. Silver, Garlic, Crosses. We even tried to get her to drink blood, but it did not work. None of it." The cardinal's voice sounded sorrowful.
Van Helsing turned his head slightly and his eyes flashed in contempt. He deftly untied the ropes. "Bastards, that would prove that she's not a vampire. How long has this being going on! Tell me!" Swinging his cloak around his shoulder, he undid it from his neck and gently wrapped it around the flaccid body of the unconscious girl.
Dead silence followed his yell and actions. Van Helsing turned around to look at the men and the followers. The forgers and the attendants, who had just in his view tortured the bundle in his arms, had picked up weapons. Dozens of swords and miscellaneous weapons were pointed in his general direction. The faces of the men were stone cold and Cardinal Jinette seemed to be smirking in the background of the circle. Van Helsing was about to drop the girl on to her feet and drawn his sword, when a vampire came crashing through the wall of solid rock.
He flew to the top of the cavern, and then the vampire swiftly scanned the cave seeming to find something. As he found his target, he dived down to grab it. The girl was swooped up into his arms and he flew away. Van Helsing stared down at the empty space in his arms for two seconds and instantly reacted with force. Van Helsing grabbed for Carl's automatic cross-bow and managed to shoot the vampire through the wing. As the vampire's shadow vanished into the night, Van Helsing cursed into the wind. Van Helsing then turned slowly to face his opponents, but all he saw was the face of the cardinal.
Cardinal Jinette looked seriously at Van Helsing. "Van Helsing, you must go back to Transylvania and kill the evil that lives there now. Everything is set for your journey. You must go."
Van Helsing traveled back to the country that he had just left. The Journey took many days. Over mountains and sea, he traveled.
While Van Helsing did this, the vampire had returned home to his castle. Magnus's castle was on the highest peak in Transylvania; it was surrounded by skeletons and villages of human that lived in total terror of the vampires that lived there.
In the castle's lavish quarters, Magnus Ladislav, was enjoying himself. His bride was so happy that he was home and with their servant. Magnus laughed quietly to himself, he was about to have the night of his life. On this night his human servant would be his for eternity, she would never be able to escape the path of death.