Disclaimer: Still not mine
Chapter 1: The Hunchback and the Horseman
Many years had passed and Gabriel Van Helsing became the infamous monster hunter he was destined to be. He was a man with no past. He was called a murderer and a holy man. He was known as the Left Hand of God. And right now he was doing God's work.
Van Helsing was on a mission to stop an evil being. The cardinal had warned him that this task would be very dangerous, for this evil creature was said to be harder to kill than a vampire.
Vampires. How Van Helsing hated them. It had been 2 months since he had killed a vampire. And not just any vampire, but the king of vampires, Count Dracula.
Van Helsing remembered his time facing Dracula all too well. The cardinal had sent him and the friar Carl to protect Anna Valerious until Dracula was killed, for Anna's ancestor had made a deal with God that his family shall not enter Heaven until Dracula was defeated. Van Helsing's mission was to kill Dracula and keep Anna alive.
The mission had sounded simple enough to Van Helsing; unfortunately, things are not always what they seemed. Dracula and his 3 brides had been planning on bringing their undead children to life using the power of electricity along with the Frankenstein monster's life force. And they had succeeded.
But Van Helsing had stopped them. Carl had discovered the key to defeating Dracula. Only a werewolf had the power to kill him, for the curse of the vampire and the curse of the werewolf combined resulted in death.
Van Helsing had become a werewolf. He had thought that his life was over, for the only way to break the curse was death. Or so he thought. Dracula had a cure to remove the curse of the werewolf. All he had to do was kill Dracula and take the cure before the final stroke of midnight on the night of his first full moon. It was a long shot, but it was still a shot. And it was a success. Van Helsing had killed Dracula, and all things bitten and created by the vampire king died with him. Shortly after, Van Helsing was cured. Anna had given her life to deliver the cure to Van Helsing. While under the werewolf curse, Van Helsing had attacked and killed Anna.
Van Helsing flinched at the memory. He still had nightmares about killing the princess. Carl had assured him that it was not his fault, he had been unable to control his rage while in werewolf form. He had told him that Anna was now reunited with her family in Heaven and that he should be happy for her.
Van Helsing was happy for her. He was glad that Anna was finally reunited with her family. But at the same time it caused him great pain. Anna had spent her whole life fighting Dracula, only to be killed when he was finally vanquished. And it had been him that killed her.
The thought tore at the monster hunter's heart. He had deeply cared for Anna. He even dared to say that he loved her, even if he had only known her for a few short days. She had made him feel complete and at piece with himself. She took all his pain away and made him feel like a real person, not like a murderer or a monster hunter, but as a human being. He had loved her and he had killed her.
It was still very hard for him to accept this. It even affected his missions. Van Helsing was heart broken and it was making him sloppy in his work. And that was something he could not afford to let happen.
Like right now. Right now Van Helsing was on the hunt. He tried to put his feelings and memories for Anna aside and stay focused. He was hunting a very danger creature. A ghostly horseman. He was said to be headless and made a habit of collecting the heads of others. According to the information Van Helsing had received in Rome, the only way to kill the Headless Horseman was to lore him across the river onto holy ground.
"Easier said than done." Van Helsing thought. How was he going to get the horseman on holy ground? "Guess I'll improvise."
Suddenly Van Helsing heard something he had been hoping to hear, but also not to hear. The sound of horse hooves. The horseman was close; Van Helsing could sense it, and what he felt was evil.
Something leapt out from the shadows and Van Helsing saw the creature that he had come for. The Headless Horseman sat of his black steed, clad in black armor. As his name suggested, there was no head resting on the horseman's shoulders, the sight made Van Helsing sick. In the horseman's right hand he held an axe, the very axe that had claimed countless mortal's lives. In his other had he held a jack-o-lantern; the most hideous carved face in the pumpkin allowed the horseman to find his victims.
The horseman swung his mighty axe, ready to claim the monster hunter's head and add it to his collection. Van Helsing ducked the blow and moved away. In an instant he had his guns out and began firing at the horseman.
The bullets found their target, but they did nothing more that anger the horseman. His horse kicked out at the sound of the gun fire, causing the horse man to fall off since both his hands were occupied.
Van Helsing tossed his guns aside, knowing they would do nothing in this battle. Instead he pulled out his sword. The horseman threw his axe at Van Helsing. He ducked, nearly getting a new hair style as the axe flew by his head. The horseman pulled out his own sword and approached Van Helsing, ready for battle.
The horseman swung at Van Helsing. The monster hunter ducked and swung his own sword. The horseman blocked the blow and kicked out. Van Helsing backed away from the kick and then stabbed forward. His sword went right into the horseman's gut, catching him in the space between his upper armor and lower armor.
Van Helsing pushed the horseman back. The church was only several feet away. If he could get the horseman near enough to it, he could kill him. But the horseman was tougher than he looked, and he looked tough to begin with. He pushed back against Van Helsing, impaling himself deeper into Van Helsing's sword, and began pushing Van Helsing back.
"No!" Van Helsing growled, using all his strength to stop the horseman.
The horseman swung his sword downward. Van Helsing pulled his own sword from the horseman's rotten flesh and blocked the mighty blow. He was startled by the horseman's strength. He had to use both hands and put all his strength into keeping his enemy at bay, while the horseman was using only one hand and still over powering Van Helsing with ease.
Flames shot out of the jack-o-lantern's mouth, coming to close for comfort to Van Helsing's face. He jumped away from the flames and fell backwards. The horseman took advantage of Van Helsing's vulnerable position. He stopped down on Van Helsing's sword with his metal shoe and stabbed towards Van Helsing's heart.
Van Helsing was forced to abandon his sword and roll away. The horseman's sword slammed into the cold hard ground. Van Helsing sat up and kicked the horseman in the side. Big mistake. The horseman responded by slamming his elbow into Van Helsing's face.
Seeing stars, Van Helsing fell back to the ground. A moment later, the horseman's foot stomped on Van Helsing's chest, trapping him. He stood over the legendary monster hunter, sword in hand.
"Is this how I'm going down?" thought Van Helsing. "I'm going to be killed by a guy with no head."
Van Helsing tried to struggle, but the horseman was too strong. His foot didn't even budge. He raised his sword high in the air, ready to strike. Van Helsing closed his eyes, ready for the inevitable. At least he would see Anna again. There's always a brighter side to death, it's just harder to see.
Van Helsing heard the unmistakable sound of metal hitting metal. Hs eyes snapped open. The horseman was still standing over him, but there was someone else there too. A man was standing behind the horseman, holding the axe the horseman had thrown, which was now buried in the horseman's back.
The horseman stumbled forward, his foot coming off Van Helsing's chest. The horseman turned to face the one that had struck him with his own axe. Van Helsing's rescuer was severally deformed and had a very bad hunch. The horseman struck quickly, stabbing the hunchback with his sword.
Van Helsing quickly got to hiss feet and reached into his coat. He pulled out his grapple gun, the very one used on Mr. Hyde, and fired. It struck the horseman in the back. Van Helsing ran over to the horseman's horse and secured the grapple gun to its saddle.
"Go on boy!" Van Helsing shouted, smacking the horse's rear.
The horse began running. The grapple pulled the horseman with it. He dropped the jack-o-lantern head; it broke to pieces as it hit the ground. The horse ran, dragging the horseman with it, right by the church. As the horseman was dragged across the holy ground, his body burst into flames. Beams of light erupted from his body and suddenly, he was gone. All that was left was the grapple gun laying on the ground.
Van Helsing did the sign of the cross and ran over to the one who had saved him. The hunchback was laying on the ground in a pool of blood. It was too late for Van Helsing to save him.
The hunchback looked up at Van Helsing with sad eyes. "Are you alright?" he asked. By the way he spoke, it indicated that he was deaf.
Van Helsing nodded. He had heard of this man. His name was Quasimodo. People believed he was possessed by the Devil. Van Helsing could tell this was not true in anyway.
"Thank you, my friend." said Van Helsing very clearly and slowly, making sure the hunchback could read his lips. "You are a good man."
The hunchback's eyes lit up in happiness at Van Helsing's words; then slowly they closed as death took him. Van Helsing bowed his head. Another innocent victim, dead, all because he had failed again.
Van Helsing did the sign of the cross over the hunchback's body. "God rest your soul." hesaid in Latin.