With the help of Bill Conner, the leader of the bounty/vampire hunters The Road Dogs, Anna Van Helsing has finally uncovered the true identity of the Bride of Dracula: Mina Harker. Anna learns that Mina Harker is the one who possess a Japanese katana sword called The Final Dawn and that she has an unusual habit of drinking the blood of other vampires. Anna also discovers that Mina was immune to silver nitrate, that she worked as a contract killer in the past and often killed any vampire hunter who confronted her. Yet, with all this info, Anna is still not satisfied.
Chapter 14
Yes, I've finally solved the mystery! The famous Bride of Dracula is Mina Harker. The first time I heard that name was in the deaths of six members of Damien's Hand, the second time was in the death of the leader of The Kin of Ekimmu, Donavon Bradley. Back then I didn't know what to make of it; I just thought it was another vampire hunter who was better than I was. It was when I decided to find out whatever I could about this girl, I realized I was now after two people. Doing surveillance I discovered that the one responsible for the death of vampire elder, Gabriel Heinrich, was commonly referred to as the Bride of Dracula. I also found out that the Bride of Dracula would often drink the blood of vampires in order to kill them. This was the same thing that happened to Heinrich which left his body dried up like a raisin. Looking further I found out from the vampire hunters The Golden Rifles Association, that there were several cases where they found the bodies of vampires that had their blood drained out of their bodies which left them shriveled up. I also learned from the group's senior member, John Hopkins, that he and couple others once came across this girl wielding a sword and who was immune to the attack of silver nitrate. I rode across the U.S./Mexican border in search for The Road Dogs, but instead came across these two vampire hunters who belonged to Rojas la Noche, who indicated to me that the Bride of Dracula was in Mexico for some time and she carries around this sword called The Final Dawn. I eventually found The Road Dogs mere moments before they were initiating a raid on the estate of vampire elder, Benito Valdez. I offered assistance in order to find out more about the Bride of Dracula. The raid resulted in the deaths of Benito Valdez and nine members of The Road Dogs. Sitting down with the group's leader, Bill Conner, I found out that the Bride of Dracula first surfaced in 1983 when the corpses of her vampire victims were being picked up and that she was hired as a contract killer for two vampire groups. Conner told me that the Bride of Dracula finally revealed her name when she cornered him after killing six of his men during a raid on her employer's house. Her name is Mina Harker. I also learned that Mina Harker was the one who possessed The Final Dawn, which was a Japanese katana sword. All of this some good stuff, I wanted more. Before I could stop to think about it I'm on the road to the U.S. border.
It takes me 3hrs to reach the border and by sundown I'm back in Los Angeles. I ride through many streets on my bike which takes me to an apartment building. I park my bike in the alley and then I enter the building. I climbed up a flight of stairs which leads to the third floor. I walk down the hall where I find a door with the numbers 308. I pulled out a key from the pocket of my trench coat, slipped it in the key hole and unlocked the door. I opened the door and discovered a familiar place: my apartment. I'm home. I take off my trench coat and boots and dived in bed, totally drained. I'll never leave this bed again. Ah, shit! My arm! I forgot about that fucking bite. Before I could close my eyes and let sleep take over, my mind is suddenly plagued with thoughts. I begin to think about the info I collected so far on the Bride of Dracula. The Bride of Dracula's name is Mina Harker, she carries around a Japanese katana sword called The Final Dawn, she often kills her own kind by drinking their blood, she has the deaths of 2,000 vampires to her credit and she is immune to silver nitrate. In my view this is not enough. I wanted to know more. How is a vampire able to stay undetected for so many years? Where did Mina Harker come from? How exactly did she turn against her own kind? Who are the vampires who worship her? How is she able to feed on other vampires? Is she working for anybody else? I thought I had a personal obligation to find the answer to these questions. Come think of it, I started this whole thing without a clear purpose or objective. I was doing this out of sheer curiosity. I hoped to discover that purpose as I went along with the game. Before I could ponder any further, my eyes close shut and I fall fast asleep.
The following day I pulled out my flashcard which was downloaded with info on the vampire hunters and vampires of Los Angeles. The file opened with the two columns of vampire hunters and vampires. I stared at the vampire hunters' column for a few seconds and then decided "Nah, they've helped enough." I began to look at the long column of probably thousands of vampire groups. Just looking at the names got me close to pissing my pants. I then started to think. Why should I turn to them, the very pricks that are hell bent on wiping out the human race? They are the reason why I am who I am. They are the ones who took my life away. They are the reason why I can't live a normal life. Why the fuck should I turn to these fuckers? It'll be like selling my soul to the fucking devil. There's no telling what they'll do to me, what kind of mind fuck they'll try. Suddenly I had another thought. How many vampire hunters have to die before they realize that they're dealing with probably a perfect species? What about Danny? What if he meets Mina Harker eyeball to eyeball? He'd start throwing everything he got at her but it wouldn't worth shit and then he'll fall victim to The Final Dawn. Oh, God, please don't let that happen! If that happens how would I feel? I'd go fucking crazy. I can't imagine what Conner's probably going through right now with fact that he lost his brother to this woman. Since Mina Harker is a thorn in the vampires' asses only they would know about her and since she teamed up with them on some occasions they could dish out some good info. Maybe this Harker girl's not all that perfect. Maybe I could find some flaw in her and warn other vampire hunters in advance. Fine, I'll go to them.
I began to search through layers and layers of files on these piles of dog shit. There were some vampires that I was familiar with and who I've hunted before, but they've always managed to get away. However, there were many other vampires and vampire groups who I've never heard of or hunted in my life. Some were low level groups and others were more powerful organizations. There were so many of them I couldn't decide where to start. I could just say heads and tails and get it over with. It was then I stumbled upon this character. Hmmm, this looks interesting. His name was Grendel Mohr. He was a 415 Republican member of the California State Senate. He served three terms already. At nights he overlooks the work of his own group called Dark Coven. The fact that he was holding such an office just gave me the creeps. In that post he's untouchable. I decided that he was my first target. I began to look up Mohr's website and I found a chat room. This was where Mohr had online chats with his supporters. His pen name was Deliverer. My pen name would be Sherlock. I started to communicate.
DELIVERER: What would you like to know about, dear Sherlock?
SHERLOCK: Don't freak out, but I'm a vampire hunter and I know you're a vampire.
DELIVERER: You're crazy.
SHERLOCK: I'm crazy? There's a police report about the murders of four teenage girls back in 1992. All the victims had tooth marks in their necks and there were witnesses saying that those girls were seen visiting your home on several occasions. You were under federal investigation but you got off the hook due to insufficient evidence of your involvement in those girls' deaths. What about this woman, Stacy Phillips, age 21, law student at Stanford University? She disappeared in 1995 and her body was found floating near a beach in Malibu three days later. There were witnesses saying that you two were seeing each other for quite a while and you were questioned about possible involvement in her death. You were never charged for a crime again due to insufficient evidence. Both cases remain open to this day. You've got many friends that say that they've seen you go out many nights and that many of those times you weren't in you're office. I've got info that you've got an underground organisation that was responsible for 35 deaths over the past decade. What say you to all this? From the way I see it there's more than enough evidence that proves that you've got a thing for blood.
DELIVERER: What can I say? You got me. You're really a vampire hunter, huh?
SHERLOCK: Yup.
DELIVERER: Which group?
SHERLOCK: That's not important right now. There's been some really strange killing lately that I'm not sure you know about. I got some info on this girl named Mina Harker and I'm sure guys like you know about her. I was wondering if you would happen to have some info on this chick.
DELIVERER: Well I don't like to give out info like that. What's in it for me?
SHERLOCK: Well don't you think she's been sticking her nose your business too much?
Don't you think she's killing too many of your people? I was thinking maybe we could work something out.
DELIVERER: Can I trust you?
SHERLOCK: You bet your ass.
DELIVERER: Alright. If you wanna talk about this its best we meet somewhere private. I know this café at the side of West Avenue. We can talk there first thing tomorrow morning. Deal?
SHERLOCK: Deal. What time should we meet?
DELIVERER: Around eight.
SHERLOCK: I got it. Thanks. See you tomorrow!
I left the chat room and closed my laptop. Oh, God, what the fuck am I doing? If anybody found out that I was making a deal with a vampire they would say that I was a traitor. A vampire hunter objective is to just kill a vampire, not start up some conversation. I was scared shitless over the fact that I was going to meet face to face with a thing that kills without hesitation, but I took comfort in the fact that he would be meeting in a public place so the chances of him killing me were a million to nothing. I also took pride that when it came to killing a vampire I was thinking outside of the box. I needed to find one flaw, just one flaw in Mina Harker and I would bring her ass down. God be with me.
Next day; I'm at Wendy's Café waiting for State Senator Grendel Mohr. I didn't know how he looked like and I didn't know what in store for me. I had a chance to speak with him before I left that morning. He told me to wait at the last table that was found in the back of the café. I looked around the café nervously waiting for this guy to show up, tapping my finger on the table impatiently. There are people coming in through the door ringing the bell above it, people buying coffee and drinking it alone or with company. I look at my watch which reads 8:15 a.m. This guy was supposed to show up fifteen minutes earlier. I started to look at the tables in front of me. There's one guy dressed in a suit and tie sipping his coffee and reading USA Today. There are some women sitting around another table talking away and laughing with their coffee on the table not caring if it's gonna get cold. I then see a man and a woman talking to each other and holding hands with their coffee at the side of them. Suddenly I hear the dig of the bell and I look up to see a man with brown hair and patches of grey in it, dressed in a black trench coat, dark brown suit and crimson tie. He walked down the aisle with his hands in his pockets, stopped next to the table where I was sitting and sat down. I just stared at him not knowing what to say, because he had this hard look as if he was ready to take me. He had these bushy eyebrows which hung over two brown eyes. However, he had this handsome face with a few wrinkles here and there. I swallowed and finally said "Senator Grendel Mohr?"
"Yes," he said.
"We've spoke to each other on line last night and this morning and you told me to meet you here."
"You were the one chatting with me on line?"
"Yup,"
"And you say you're a vampire hunter."
"Shh. That's right. Keep it down a little, will ya?
"Alright, I'm sorry. What's your name?" I hesitated for a few seconds. "Rebecca Thorpe," I said. Rebecca Thorpe was my alias for that day.
"Rebecca Thorpe?" He said. "You mean you're a girl?"
"Mm hmm."
"When I was walking up to you I thought you were a boy. You look like you're twelve or something." Senator Mohr wasn't the first one saying I looked like a boy. I had many people, especially vampire hunters saying I was acting like a boy. Yes, you can say I'm a tomboy. Maybe it's because I hung around guys a lot. Vampire hunting is mostly a man's job.
We talked for a few minutes about his job as a member of California's State Senate. He also stated that he had close associates in the U.S. Congress and that they assisted him in both his campaign and in the activities in his night organisation. "So what would you like to talk about, Rebecca?" said Mohr.
"Well, have you heard of the name Mina Harker?" I said.
"Yes, I've heard all about her."
"Did you know that she's also known as the Bride of Dracula?"
"Yes."
"Okay. Have you ever had an encounter with her?"
"Yes, and that was way back in 1998. It all started when five of my men wound up dead at an assignment. I overlooked the situation thinking it was the shit work of you hunters. But there was another time when my spokesperson was found dead at his home with tooth marks in his neck and his body was shriveled up. I thought it was scary. I didn't know of any member of my race who was capable of doing that, drinking vampire blood. One day while I was meeting with some close friends at my home when all of a sudden this girl broke into my house and started killing everybody in sight. I thought it was one of you guys, but then some of my bodyguards shot up this girl. She didn't fall back and I thought she was wearing a bullet proof vest. But then she turned around and I saw she had sustained seven gunshot wounds and she was bleeding. She just stood there and her wounds started to disappear, like they were healing up. She took out my bodyguards and then tried to kill me, but before she could, my house was crawling with cops.
Months would pass when I started to think about this girl who invaded my property. I thought how could 45 caliber bullets have no effect on a vampire hunter, who's perfectly human and weak? Then I thought of the weapon she used, a Japanese katana sword. I thought that was new arsenal that you guys bought. I then came to the conclusion that this girl was one of us. Only we could move that fast and only we who are strong against ordinary bullets. The thing about it is that she moved at a speed that my bodyguards couldn't match and this girl had skill with this blade of hers. Why would a vampire turn on her own kind? One night there was a second attempt on my life. I was driving in my limo with three of my colleagues when we were attacked by this girl wielding a Japanese katana sword. She ripped apart my vehicle killed two of them and killed the last one in a very peculiar way. She sunk her teeth into his neck and started sucking his blood. As she was doing so his body started to dry up and he died in her arms. Seeing her doing that haunts me to this day. But then I realized this girl looked familiar. She was the same girl who tried to kill me the last time. I barely escaped with my life after she cut off my ear." Mohr turned to his left to show me a gapping hole at the right side of his head to indicate that he lost his right ear. "It was then when I decided to mount an operation to find out the whereabouts of this girl" he continued. "After interrogating members of certain groups me and my men closed in on this group called Neo Elysium where we discovered the girl's name and the fact that she worked for the group's leader Nathaniel Abrams. I was on Abrams' hit list. Mina Harker was a killer for hire and the groups we investigated called her the Bride of Dracula. Her weapon was called The Final Dawn."
"Why exactly guys like you call her the Bride of Dracula?" I said.
"Dracula was said to be the first of our kind and any hunter who tried to kill him failed," he said. "Mina Harker's veins supposedly have the Dracula's blood running through them. But, hey, to me that's just hearsay. Anyway, I sent about fifteen of my men to take down Mina's ass when we discovered that she was meeting with some of the members of Neo Elysium at this warehouse. The mission failed. The thing about it is, my men were armed with flamethrowers and the reason why the mission failed was because fire had no effect on Mina Harker. All but one of the members of the team was wiped out by Harker. The one who survived was my son and he lost all his limbs, now all that's left of him is his head and torso. From that moment on I've lost all trace of Mina Harker. That bitch!"
"Do you know the whereabouts of Nathaniel Abrams?"
"Well, all I could tell you is that they would often meet at this bar in downtown. You can go at your own risk."
"Believe me, I'm risking everything."
"How exactly are you going to take out Mina Harker?"
"I might need some careful planning on that one. Thanks for your help."
"You're welcome. By the way, if you need anyone to make your beautiful state better, you know who to vote for."
"I'm not old enough to vote. When that time comes I think I'll become an independent."
With those words I shook Mohr's cold hand and walked out the café. I was a bit shaky as I walked down the sidewalk. I was nervous the whole time as I sat face to face with the undead. Grendel Mohr's voice is so sweet, seductive and very commanding. I could see why he's been in the State Senate for three terms. He even told me he planned on running for Governor of the state. I hope somebody could take his ass down before that happens. I've been hearing him for thirty minutes. Through those thirty minutes he didn't give me an answer as to why Mina Harker drinks vampire blood. I was, however, fascinated by the fact that there was a kind of super vampire with no possible kryptonite. Just imagine, fire, which is the fastest way to kill a vampire had no effect on Mina Harker. I had to move on for some more info. Next stop: Nathaniel Abrams of Neo Elysium. This guy must've had sex with this girl.