Anna Van Helsing meets Perez Morales and Enrique Manuel, members of the vampire hunters Rojas la Noche after engaging in a firefight with armed vampires in a motel that lies on the outskirts of a town along the U.S./Mexican border. Anna arrives at the border to find a group of bounty hunters known as The Road Dogs in hopes to solving the mystery of Mina Harker. Anna also hopes to uncover the true indentity of the Bride of Dracula and a young female vampire who walks with a sword and who is strong against silver nitrate.

Chapter 9

I'm riding through the streets of Ciudad Puebla, a town that lies along the U.S./Mexican border. I arrived at the border to find these bounty hunters who called themselves The Road Dogs. At my left there's Perez Morales and at my right there's Enrique Manuel, vampire hunters belonging to the group Rojas la Noche. I met these guys when I stepped in some real dog shit at that motel with the thoughts of getting some rest after traveling for so long to get to the border. I'm tellin' ya, I almost had my brains all over the fucking floor at that shit hole. I didn't know that vampires were using that motel to pick up new victims. Anyway, Morales, Manuel and I finally arrived at their home, a nine storey apartment building that lied within the heart of Ciudad Puebla. That area around that part of town was pretty noisy. I could hardly hear myself think. Morales and Manuel's apartment number was 265 on the sixth floor of the apartment building. They both gave me something to eat and we all agreed to talk about my journey right after a long night's rest.

At the break of day Morales, Manuel and I gathered in the living room where I was lectured about their group. Rojas la Noche first started in 2002 and membership grew to about 50. However, they had to disperse into several different cells after several arrest warrants were issued to some members after their activities were discovered by some Mexican government officials. Morales was certain that vampires were somehow pulling the strings within some branches of the Mexican government. I told them some things about my background being careful not to give away too much detail. I then started to tell them about the real reasons why I was in Mexico. "In my hometown of L.A. there's been some crazy shit going on," I said. "I was in this raid on a bar to take down six members of this vampire clan called Damien's Hand. All of them were dead already when I got there. One of them managed to survive. He gave me a name. He said some girl named Mina Harker did all that."

"Who's Mina Harker?" said Morales.

"That's what I'm trying to find out myself. Anyway, there was another time when some of my comrades found the body of this vampire. This guy's body was all dried up and there were tooth marks in his neck."

"Wait, wait, wait, did you say he was dried up and there were tooth marks in his neck?" said Morales.

"Yeah," I said. Morales and Manuel started talking to each other in Spanish for a few seconds. "Yeah that's the Bride of Dracula you're talking about," said Morales.

"What?" I said.

"The Bride of Dracula did that," said Manuel.

"How do you know that," I said taking keen interest.

"Two years ago we were coming across vampires looking all dried up with tooth marks in their necks just like that guy you're talking about," said Morales. "There was one vampire elder we tracked down, Jose Salinas. When we cornered him he was dying already looking the same way: all dried up, like somebody sucked him dry. The last thing he said was "El Novia de Dracula", The Bride of Dracula. We didn't know what to make of it back then but we were starting to round up vampires who saying that the Bride of Dracula was out to get them and that we'd better watch out for the Final Dawn."

"What's the Final Dawn?"

"I don't know. Some sword they say she carries."

A sword? The Bride of Dracula carries a sword too? I was just shell shocked. I then thought of Steve Hopkins' story of a female vampire who killed some of his comrades with a sword. I just couldn't believe that I was after another vampire chick carrying a sword. "Well, is there anything else you know about the Bride of Dracula?" I said.

"Well, all we know that the Bride of Dracula probably killed about 120 vampires in Mexico already," said Morales.

"She was in Mexico?" I asked.

"Well that's what those motherfuckers are saying," said Manuel. "Why?"

"Well I think she's been in L.A. for some time. I did some surveillance on this vampire elder and I found out that the Bride of Dracula was responsible for the death of another vampire elder. I went to this group of vampire hunters and they told me about the same thing you were talking about. They were picking up dead vampires that were all dried up with tooth marks in their necks. They then told me about this vampire girl they came across some years ago. The thing about it is they couldn't kill this girl."

"What do mean they couldn't kill her?"

"I don't know. It was like the girl was strong against silver nitrate. The bullets didn't kill her and she couldn't be killed by a stake."

"Aw, shit," said Manuel in Spanish.

"Have you guys ever came across something like that?" I said.

"Nope," said Morales. "I sure hope we don't. How could that be, huh? How can a vampire be strong against silver nitrate?"

"That's what I'd like to know," I said. "Anyway, I'm looking for a bunch of guys called The Road Dogs. Have you ever heard of them?"

"Well, we teamed up with them already," said Morales. "They're the best."

"Really? Do you know how I can reach them?"

"Well, go to the Arguello neighborhood just south of here. Get to Juarez Street and to go the last of five houses on the left side. You can't miss that one."

"Thanks," I said. "I really appreciate it. Adios. Muchas Gracias." With those words I left the apartment.

Riding on my bike through the streets of the border town of Ciudad Puebla I began to think about the info I got from Perez Morales and Enrique Manuel. It seems that the Bride of Dracula was in Mexico for some time. It's also apparent that she carries a sword as well. What a fancy name for a sword: Final Dawn. It has to be really important to this girl. What I really wanna know is how she got this sword? What kind of sword is it? Who made the sword? I don't know anything about vampires carrying around swords. Maybe I should ask Danny. Yeah. He really digs that ninja shit.

Right now I was approaching a sign that read Spanish. I could read it. It says "You are now approaching Arguello." Yes, I've made it. As I'm riding through this lonely town I could see that were some people looking at me. Oh, God, not again. I approached a corner and turned in riding down the long road. As I ride down this road there's one or two people staring me down. Now that was very uncomfortable. The way how they were staring at me just made me wanna walk over and pump a few shots in their asses. Just because it's day doesn't mean I don't know who you really are, shit face. Even at day you can't shake off the fact that there's a vampire on your ass. Anyway, I can't let that bother me. I've got more important things to worry about.

The heat was starting to kick in as I approach a neighborhood. There's a street sign that reads "Juarez Street". I'm here. This neighborhood seemed pretty lonely except for a few kids playing soccer in streets, a few passing cars, some folks talking on the porches of their houses and a guying waving to me saying "Buenos Tardes". Go fuck yourself, pal. Like I said, they're everywhere. I turn to my left and these words pop up in my head "Go to the last of five houses on the left. You can't miss that one." I stopped my bike in front of the last of a row of five houses. I walked up a flight of three stairs, took seven steps across the wooden porch and knocked on the door. The first time I knocked there was no answer. I knocked a second time, still no answer. I stood there for a few seconds thinking I rode through that town in this hot-ass weather for nothing. Let me try again. I began pounding on the door, then I stopped. Few seconds later the door knob clicked and the door cracked open. Before you know it I was staring down the barrel of a twelve gauge shotgun and there was a man standing behind it with his finger on the trigger. "What the fuck are you doing here?" the tall, bald-headed, green eyed man said in an American accent.

"I'm…I'm Anna Van Helsing…" I said with my voice shaking. "I'm…"

"I didn't ask you that!" the man said cutting me off. "What're you doing on our fucking property?"

"Um…I was told by these guys who belonged to Rojas la Noche that you would be here."

"What? How'd you know about them?"

"Well…I …uh…"

"Get your ass in here!"

The man grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me in the house. He then ordered me to walk ahead of him and I obeyed with my hands up. He had his gun pointed in my back as he led me to what appeared to be a kitchen. In the middle of the kitchen there were about four guys seated at a table, three were white and one was Hispanic. They looked like they were loading weapons until they all stopped and focused their attention on me. "Hey guys, look at the pile of shit I shoveled up," said the man who had his shotgun pointed at me.

"Who the fuck are you?" said one of the men.

"Anna Van Helsing," I said. The blue eyed, browed haired, unshaven man stood up and walked up to me. "You with the Feds?" he asked looking down at me.

"No," I said.

"Let's search her." The two men started passing their hands all over my body, all under my arms, between my legs, across my chest and across my buttocks. The man who fixed his shotgun on me smiled as he past his hands across my breasts. At that moment I wanted to grab that gun of his and paint the walls with his fucking brains. They stopped as one of the men felt something hard in the back of my pants. The other man with the shotgun felt something hard in my pockets. The two men then pulled out all the hard objects from my clothes and placed them on the table. What they found were my H&K USP pistols and seven magazine clips. "That's big arsenal for somebody who's not a Fed," said the unshaven man. "You sure you're not lying to me?"

"I told you already I'm not working for anybody," I said.

"Let's search her again, Dale. I think she's wired," said the man with the shotgun.

"No, that's enough," Dale said. "Care to tell me why you're here?"

"Well, there have been some things going on in L.A. where I came from," I said. I pause for a few seconds thinking if I should tell them about the Bride of Dracula because first of all, I wasn't sure if I had found the right people. I took a deep breath and said "I'm…I'm after the Bride of Dracula."

"The what?" said Dale.

"The…The Bride of Dracula. You see…I'm …I'm a vampire hunter. In L.A. I came across the leader of these vampire hunters who told me about these guys who call themselves The Road Dogs. They told me that The Road Dogs were bounty hunters who also hunted vampires. I also came across these guys who were part of these vampire hunters called Rojas la Noche who were with The Road Dogs once and they told me I would find The Road Dogs here."

"Well you're in luck. We happen to be members of The Road Dogs. I'm Dale Harris. You've met Alex Ventura. These guys here are Joe Richards, Ed Norris and Marc Mendez."

"Um, do you have a leader?"

"Yeah, but he ain't here. I'm in charge while he's gone."

"Okay, well, um, do you think you wanna talk about the Bride of Dracula right now?"

"Aw, shit. I'd really like to talk about that right now but we're getting ready for a raid. You'll have to wait 'til later. Ed, let's roll. Joe, Marc, Alex, you stay with her while we're gone."

"No, wait. I'm coming with you."

"Sorry, that ain't gonna happen."

"I wanna met your leader."

"Look, Annie. You don't mind if I call you Annie do you?"

"You can call anything you want as long as you take me with you."

"Hear me out, all right. I've been through a lot of shit through the week already. I just met you. Do you know who we're going after? A well known vampire leader who practically has an army to back him up. Your death is the last thing I want on my conscience right now."

"Well, if you're gonna leave me here it's best you put one in my head right now."

Dale sighed and placed his hands over his face. "Alright, you can come along," he said. "I just wanna get you off my ass while I'm still young." Dale, together with Ed, a blonde cutie, strapped on some clothes and boots and later armed themselves with SIG Sauer P2340 pistols and H&K MP 5K and UMP submachine guns. I retrieved my H&K USP pistols and my magazine clips. "Anything else you wanna carry?" said Dale. I was given the choice between an H&K MP5, an H&K MP 5K and an H&K UMP. I took the H&K UMP. I was led to the back of the house to Dale's car. Dale, Ed and I boarded the car and we all drove off down the long road.

In the car I just sat there. I was told that we were gonna met up with The Road Dogs' leader and about fifteen others in the town of Rio de Leon. Their mission was to take down this vampire leader named Benito Valdez. They said he was 425 years old and ran this vampire clan called The Rivers of Eternity. The leader of The Road Dogs and the others kept a stakeout on Valdez's estate earlier in the day and they told me he just called them to grab their gear and get ready. Dale then lectured me about the history of the Road Dogs. He said that they started way back in 1976 when they offered assistance to the federal government in tracking down notorious criminals that were crossing the border. That job soon changed when one of their comrades was killed by a vampire. It so happened that a few Mexican vampire hunters discovered their situation and offered assistance to The Road Dogs. The Road Dogs were trained and given equipment to handle vampires and from that moment on they were doing the jobs of catching wanted criminals and hunting vampires. "What about you?" Dale said. "Where do you come up in all this?"

"I'd rather not talk about it," I said. "All I could tell you is that I was doing this since I was fifteen."

"Really?" said Ed. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen," I said.

"God, you look like you're twelve or something!"

"So what is it about this Bride of Dracula you wanna talk about?" Dale said with his eyes focused on the road.

"Well…,all I can tell you is that I think that the Bride of Dracula's responsible for the deaths of three vampire elders," I said. "I just wanna know if you happen to know anything at all about that woman?"

"I gotta be honest with you; I don't know shit about that. You'll have to ask the big man."

"Okay, if you say so." Well that was helpful!

We finally arrived in Rio de Leon and after a thirty minute drive we arrived in this neighborhood called Cortes Cruz. By the time we arrived it was already nightfall. When we arrived we met two black vans. I was led to the last van. Dale and Ed opened the doors and led me inside. There were computer monitors and monitors showing what appeared to be surveillance footage of at least five areas of a house. There was a man bending down to look at one of the monitors. "Hey, Bill we've made it," Dale said to the man. The man, dressed all in black combat gear turned and looked at Dale, Ed and I. "Who's her?" he said.

"Oh, uh, this is Anna Van Helsing. She's a vampire hunter. She'll be joining us tonight," Dale said. "Anna this is Bill Conner, our leader."

"Nice to meet you Anna," said Conner.

"Oh, you can call me Annie," I said. Dale then pointed to a girl in the corner who was loading bullets in a magazine clip. "That's Paulina Velez," Dale said "She can't speak English so…"

" It's okay. I've got no problem with that," I said. I walked over and shook the girl's hand. "Hola, Soy Anna Van Helsing," I said to her. Dale then introduced me to Paulina in Spanish. "You guys have any idea what you're bringing this girl into?" said Conner.

"I tried to tell her to stay but she won't get off my ass," Dale said. "She wants to talk to you about somebody called the Bride of Dracula or something like that." Bill just froze with a shocked stare. Great I think I'm getting somewhere. "Do you think you wanna talk about it?" Dale said.

"Later," Conner said. "We gotta join the others." Motherfucker. Conner and Paulina armed themselves with H&K UMP and H&K MP5K submachine guns and stepped out of the van. Dale, Ed and I soon followed. We then met thirteen other men dressed in black combat gear armed with H&K MP5, H&K MP5K and H&K UMP submachine guns. Eight were white and five were Latinos. We all then formed a circle and Conner told us to bow our heads in prayer before we set out on our mission. After a two minute prayer we were ordered to move out and we all started running. We were running for about two minutes until we reached this estate. Apparently we parked just a few blocks from this area. This estate was beautiful. The house was probably three stories high and there were palm trees everywhere which would give you the impression that it was a beach resort. Dale told me that this was the estate of Benito Valdez, their chosen target. My heart just started pounding. I didn't realize this was serious shit I was getting myself into. At that moment I was thinking if I'll ever make it through the night or die alongside people who I don't even know. If I'm to die at least let it not be in vain. Goodbye, Danny. I'm coming to join you, Dad.