Disclaimer: Nope, not mine

Chapter 2: The New Mission

Van Helsing returned to Rome. He wondered weather the cardinal would be happy with the way his mission went. Van Helsing certainly wasn't. It had cost another's life because he had once again failed in his duty.

"Just like with Anna." Van Helsing thought sadly. No, with Anna it was worse. With Anna he had been the one to kill her. He had been called a murderer for so long, and now it was finally true.

Van Helsing entered the confession booth. "Bless me Father, for I have sinned." he said quietly.

"Not this time." came the voice of Cardinal Jinette. He opened the window and looked in at Van Helsing. "For once you did your job correctly."

Van Helsing hung his head. "Not completely."

"You do not give yourself enough created." said the cardinal. "Not only did you defeat the Headless Horseman, but you allowed peace to come to the one possessed by the Devil."

Van Helsing felt his anger rising. "Quasimodo was a good man!" he said loudly. "He was not possessed by the Devil! He saved my life and paid for it with his!"

The cardinal sighed. "Gabriel, you are not seeing the bigger picture. You managed to vanquish a great evil that could have taken more lives than what it did. Yes, there were innocents lost, but there are even more saved."

Van Helsing looked away, unable to meet the cardinal's eyes. "I was right there when he died. He died because I failed to complete the mission properly."

The cardinal didn't respond. He knew Van Helsing was still suffering from Anna's death, and it made it even worse since he was the one who killed her.

Laying a comforting hand on Van Helsing's shoulder, the cardinal said, "You have to get past her death. It was not your fault."

But Van Helsing wouldn't hear it. "I killed her."

"People die. It is a natural part of life."

"BUT I KILLED HER!" Van Helsing shouted. He glared at the cardinal, tears forming in his eyes. "She didn't just die. She was murdered. By me. Her blood is on my hands."

The cardinal didn't argue further. It would be awhile before Van Helsing could come to terms with what happened, but it would pass. The problem was that Van Helsing's next mission wouldn't be easy for the monster hunter; both physically and emotionally.

"Come, I will show you your next assignment." said the cardinal.

Van Helsing wiped the tears from his eyes and followed the cardinal through the secret door. The cardinal explained Van Helsing's mission as they walked. "Your next assignment will not be an easy one."

Van Helsing rolled his eyes. "Are they ever?"

"If you do them correctly, they can be." said the cardinal hotly. "But this one may be your most difficult mission. We have another vampire for you to slay."

Van Helsing stopped walking. "Another vampire? How can there be another vampire? I thought that once Dracula was killed all things bitten and created by him would also die."

The cardinal nodded impatiently. "Yes, yes, that's true. But this vampire was not bit or created by Dracula. In fact, this vampire was around long before him. While Dracula may have been the strongest of all vampires, this one was the first."

The cardinal turned on the slide projector to reveal a picture of the vampire Van Helsing was to kill. Unlike the other vampires that Van Helsing had faced, this one was hideous and demonic.

"Count Graf Orlok." the cardinal explained. "The first one to be exposed to the curse of Nosferatu."

"How could he have been the first one exposed to the curse if he was the first?" Van Helsing asked.

"We do not know." said the cardinal. "It is the same with the way the werewolf first came to be. How did the first man become exposed to the Lupine Curse? We do not know. Perhaps it is one of Satan's many evil plans. All we know is that Count Orlok was never human, always a vampire. And we need you to return to Transylvania to destroy him."

"WHAT?" Van Helsing shouted. "He's in Transylvania! Why did you not have me go after him when I did Dracula?"

"It is… complicated."

Complicated? What does that mean? You send me to defeat Dracula and then decide to send me back to Transylvania after I return. Why didn't you just-"

Van Helsing stopped talking as the cardinal raised his hand to silence him. "Count Orlok was not in Transylvania at the time you were." he explained. "He was forced to leave over 400 years ago when Dracula first arrived. The castle Dracula lived in was once owned by Count Orlok. When the Devil gave Dracula a new life, Dracula banished Orlok from Transylvania to avoid competition. Dracula was stronger than Orlok and the older vampire was forced to leave. But now that Dracula is dead, Orlok has returned, and you must stop him."

Van Helsing turned away from the cardinal. "Find someone else for this mission; I can't do it."

The cardinal had expected this and already had an argument ready. "You are the best we have. While Orlok may not be as strong as Dracula, he is older, and the older a vampire gets, the harder it is to kill them."

Van Helsing angrily punched the wall. "Don't you get it? I can't go back there. It's too painful. To return to the place I killed her will be like going into Hell itself."

It was time for the cardinal to play his trump card. "So you're going to leave these people to their fate? Anna and her family gave their lives fighting off the king of vampires, and you're just going to let another one take Dracula's place and let him kill all the people the entire Valerious family died to protect."

Those words hurt Van Helsing more than the cardinal knew. He knew it was true though. He had to go back to Transylvania. For all the poor people. For Anna.

"No." said Van Helsing. "I won't let that happen. I'll go back to Transylvania if I must."

The cardinal smiled, glad that Van Helsing was finally seeing the light. "Good, you can leave immediately. And be happy with the knowledge that with Orlok's death, all vampires will die with him."

"That's the only good thing that will come out of this." he said, turning his back on the cardinal to go prepare for his journey.

"And take Carl with you again." the cardinal called after Van Helsing. "From what I've heard, he was very useful last time."

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

"Carl! Carl! Where are you?" Van Helsing called, looking for the friar.

There was a bang and a cry of pain as Carl popped his head up from under a desk. "Ah, Van Helsing! I see you were successful in defeating the Headless Horseman."

Van Helsing smiled at his friend. "You sound surprised."

Carl shook his head. "No not surprised, relived. I can't say that I don't worry about you sometimes."

"Well with your inventions is there any doubt that I'll fail?" Van Helsing asked.

Carl smiled nervously. "Only if they work properly."

Van Helsing hoped that didn't mean that some of those inventions were untested. He pushed the thought aside. He trusted Carl with his life… most of the time.

"So have you heard of my next assignment?" he asked. "I've got another vampire to hunt."

Carl made a face. "Oh bloody hell."

Van Helsing pointed an accusing finger at Carl. "You see, that kind of language is exactly why you're still a friar."

Carl folded his arms. "If you're going to be like that, I won't share my new inventions with you."

Van Helsing began scanning the table covered with Carl's inventions. "Do you another one of those lava things that creates sunlight?"

Carl looked at Van Helsing like he was crazy. "Goodness no! I told you that was one of a kind, and it took me 12 years to make just one. But I do have this."

He handed Van Helsing the gas propelled crossbow Van Helsing had used on his last trip to Transylvania.

"Already seen it." said Van Helsing, sounding disappointed.

Carl shook his finger. "Ah, but I have made an improvement. I've added a special chamber that contains holy water. After seeing how well that worked on Marishka, I thought this would be more affective. Just pull the trigger. When you do, an open will open allowing the holy water to cover the arrows."

Van Helsing nodded in approval. "Not bad. What else do you have for me."

"Oh right." Carl began looking through his inventions. "Ah ha, here's something."

He handed Van Helsing a shiny new sword. "I thought you said any idiot can make a sword." the monster hunter remarked.

Carl looked insulted. "Any idiot can make a sword. But this is not any sword. It's effective against both werewolves and vampires. It's made of pure silver, and just take a look at the handle."

Van Helsing observed the sword. The handle was actually a crucifix. "Very impressive."

"Speaking of impressive, I believe I'm close to making a break through in finding out what the cure is for a werewolf." Carl reported. He realized his mistake a moment too soon. A look of pain came across Van Helsing's face. "Oh, Van Helsing I… I'm sorry. I know that it's still hard for you."

Van Helsing waved it off, trying to hide his pain. "It's alright Carl. I'm going to have to get over it. Especially for our next mission."

Carl's face scrunched up in confusion. "What do you mean, our next mission?"

Van Helsing decided to just break the news to the friar. "We're going back to Transylvania."

(A/N: Hope you like it so far. And for those of you that don't know, Count Graf Orlok is the vampire from 'Nosferatu'. I like reviews, so please review.)