The Moonless Night

We dragged Ian downstairs and threw him on the couch. Matthew Harker stared at us with big bulging bug eyes. When the Helsing members saw Davion, their bodies tensed. I noticed several of them reached for their gun holsters.

Maria stepped through the crowd of men and handed me some clothes. "You'll need battle gear. You can't fight monsters in a skirt."

I went into the hall bathroom to change. When I came out, Davion's eyes were as big as dinner plates. I was wearing a white tank top, dark green pants, and combat boots. Maria handed me my favorite gun. I shoved it into the holster at my hip. Davion was still staring.

What's wrong do I frighten you? I asked him inside my head. No, actually I'm turned on. He said back with smile. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud.

Everyone jumped when my father barreled out the basement, carrying about fifty heavy-duty weapons. "Let's move!" he shouted. We all filed out the house, to the armored cars outside. "Maria and the vampire will move on foot, everyone else get into the B.V.'s. Follow Maria." He ordered. I watched with a smile as they loaded Ian into the back of Matthew's van.

"Come on, Dawn. We've got to go!" William shouted, harshly. "I'm going with Davion and Maria!" I yelled back, eagerly leaping onto Davion's back.

The two monsters and I rushed through the trees. Maria was almost as fast as Davion…almost. We ran and ran for what felt like hours until we reached a hill overlooking a warehouse out in the middle of the forest. Maria stopped and Davion let me down. I stood beside Maria to look down at the building. From our position we could faintly hear the sound of deep strong voices all talking at once. "Is this it?" I asked. Maria's golden eyes seemed to burn as she stared at the place, "Yes, this is the Valintegera Clan's sanctuary. "Dawn you come with me, Davion, start circling the area, spread your scent around. Be on your guard; it will only take a few minutes for them to catch your scent."

Maria started her way down the hill, I began to follow but Davion caught my arm, stopping me dead in my tracks. He whirled me around and crushed me against his body. He pressed his lips to mine. My body went numb. The only thing I felt was his lips moving along with my own. In that one moment I realized what I had missed during that time we were apart. He was apart of me. When he wasn't there I was missing the other half of my soul. When we kissed it felt like those two halves were finally merging to become one whole person. I loved him. There was no way to change that, so why in the world was I fighting it so hard? In the ecstasy of that kiss, I didn't want to fight anymore. I wanted to surrender. Much too soon, he pulled his face away so he could speak, "Just in case I never see you again." He released me and bolted into the trees.

"Dawn!" shouted Marie from the bottom of the hill. "Coming" I replied, breathlessly. We ran down the hill to the opening at the side of the building. At the door were two men with golden eyes like Maria's. "Guards." I heard her whisper. "Follow my lead." I watched with amazement as she lowered her head and pulled her short wavy black hair over her left shoulder. The two men allowed her to enter and I followed Maria's example. They let me in too.

The enormous room was packed with werewolves, all with those same golden eyes. At the front of the room was a stage where seven older men, a beautiful woman, who looked suspiciously like Maria, and Anna were perched in thrones of some kind. I looked over at Maria, she was staring unblinking, at the people on the stage. The tendons in her neck tightened when the eldest male got up and came to stand at the front of the stage.

The elder threw back his head and began to howl, then all the others joined in until the room was filled with the sound. Finally they stopped and the man rolled his shoulders with an exited look on his face. This man was obviously the pack leader.

"My brethren!" he began, "I have called you all here tonight for a very special occasion! A Valintegra daughter has returned to us! My grand daughter, Anna!" He quickly reached down and hoisted the little girl up into his arms. "Her mother was a traitor but little Anna has proven herself to be trustworthy. Come! Let us welcome her into the pack!" The werewolves started to move towards her, their eyes wide with anticipation.

"Don't you touch her!" snarled Maria. At once everyone stopped and turned their attention towards us in the back. "Way to go Maria." I muttered beneath my breath. "Maria!" yelled the leader in disbelief. "Father" greeted Maria coldly. My jaw dropped when I heard this.

Maria stepped forward, holding her head up high. "I want my daughter back." Her father tightened his hold on the child. "She is ours now. This is where she belongs." He said in a deep, rich voice. "She belongs with her family." Retorted the werewolf princess. "This is her family!" he shouted back. Father and daughter glared at each other in silence.

The other werewolves took this opportunity to notice me. One of them, a male with cropped brown hair and one golden eye and a blue one, grabbed me from behind and carried me towards the stage. "Master Solomon, she's brought a Helsing bitch with her!"

I couldn't believe his strength! I couldn't break free no matter how hard I tried.

"Let her go Leo!" Maria ordered, baring her teeth. He chuckled, "gladly." He threw me roughly to the ground. "She reeks." The head family all gathered around me sniffing at the air around me, their eyes narrowing as they took in my scent.

A male with slicked back black hair rushed at Maria suddenly, shoving her to the ground. "Traitor! You brought a vampire here!" He snarled, his back muscles began to quiver in fury. He plowed his bare foot into her stomach making her cry out. He continued beating her until Anna stepped through the group. "That's enough Anthony." She said with authority. He gave her a slight bow and stepped out of the way.

Maria pulled herself into a sitting position, blood was trickling out of the corner of mouth. "Anna!" she moaned, throwing her arms around her child. Anna did not return the embrace. She stood there like a little statue. Her facial expression cold and unfeeling, just like the werewolves surrounding her. "I'm not going back with you mother." Said little Anna. "Maria stared blankly at her daughter. "I won't leave you here. You're coming home." Maria got to her feet and began to tug Anna towards the door, but Anna's feet stayed firmly planted on the floor. "I said I'm not going. This is where I belong." Maria glared at her in anger, "You're coming home!"

Anna's big eyes narrowed. "This is my choice." She said ripping her arm away from her mother's grasp. She turned away and walked back to her grandfather. Maria fell to her knees in shock. "Anthony make sure my daughter gets back to her precious humans. She's been punished enough." Anthony plowed his elbow into the back of Maria's head and she slumped unconsciously to the floor. I watched helplessly as he carried her off somewhere.

"Now what shall we do with the Helsing girl?" Solomon asked aloud. A wicked smile formed on Anna's lips, "She and the vampire are lovers. We can use her as bait." Everything suddenly became perfectly clear. She had been lying to us all this entire time! She was the one who had been sending the wolves!

Solomon chuckled, petting Anna affectionately on the head, "Splendid idea my child. This moonless night is perfect for the hunt."

The young ones in the crowd were restless, sniffing about and making growling noises. One of them approached the leaders, "We can smell vampire blood. The blood sucker is near." Solomon motioned towards the entrance. "Go after the vampire, herd him into our trap." Painful groans erupted from the crowd their bodies were contorting, the sound of snapping bones rang through the air. Within seconds every member of the clan had become a huge hulking, wolf.

They all swarmed out of the building leaving only the leader and his children with me.

Leo, the one with the strange colored eyes, grabbed me and carried me outside to the forests' edge, three of the others following in toe. With a snarl of pain his hand turned into a wolf's claw and he ripped at my shoulder. I screamed at the searing pain that shot through my arm. "Run little rabbit, the wolves are at your heels," He whispered in a sinister voice that made goose bumps rise on the back of my neck. He shoved me foreword, making me stagger, but then I heard them begin to change and I quickened my pace as I ran for my life.

Helsing Party- Quince Morris's point of view:

The werewolves began to attack in great numbers. William van Helsing was focused on his goal, and nothing was going to keep him from getting his little girl back. A dark brown wolf pounced at him, but he had seen it coming. He pointed his silver-bulleted gun at it and fired. The wolf screamed as the bullet dug into its' chest cavity. Upon hitting the ground it began to take its human form. He was no more than a boy, couldn't have been more than thirteen years old. This is a dirty business but someone's got to do it.

We plowed through their numbers but the wolves still came. I had never seen Helsing so focused in all my years as a member of Helsing. It was astonishing to watch him fight when his whole heart was in the cause. The onslaught began to weaken, fewer wolves began to come and we thought we had them beat, until Prince Anthony showed up.

The werewolf prince was still in human form, his chest and feet were bare but upon his shoulders he carried Helsing's wife. He tossed his sister to William's feet. "Lose something." He mocked with a cruel smile on his face. "Son of a---!" cried William aiming his automatic assault riffle at the prince, he began to fire rapidly. The prince moved with agility and unbelievable speed, dodging every bullet. He cut down three men single handedly. He was good, but could he take William van Helsing?

In one split instant, Anthony's body contorted and reshaped itself into the shape of a wolf. He looked just like Maria did when she transformed, black as night with golden eyes that pierced through the darkness.

The wolf prince began his rampage, tearing through the men, ripping them to shreds. We all fired repeatedly at the beast repeatedly but he wouldn't go down. Could it be that he was immune to silver.

"Enough of this shit!" I heard William cry. He pulled his missile launcher off his back and lined it up with the beast. "Die!" he roared. The dog took a direct hit from the missile. His body went up in a fireball. When the smoke had cleared away, we went to investigate. Anthony was fried to a crisp. The heir to the Valintegra clan was dead but we knew that there were other more powerful beasts to take his place. Our victory was not yet won.

Dawn:

I ran as fast as I could, grasping at the bleeding wound on my shoulder. Every time I caught sight of one of the wolves that followed me, I'd try to shoot at them but they simply dodged the bullets. Eventually I ran out of ammo and threw the gun away. Blood poured down my arm and trailed the ground. I felt weak and disoriented, on the verge of passing out. All around me I could hear the movements of the wolves. Their eyes shone brightly from the shadows of the forest. Even in beast form they were intelligent. This was the ultimate trap for Davion. Once he caught the scent of my blood he would automatically think the worst and come running to my rescue. Though I was scared out of my mind my heart prayed that Davion wouldn't come.

My legs finally lost their strength and I fell to the ground. Leo the wolf came over to my still form to make sure I was still alive. I lay perfectly still, my breath coming out in wild gasps. I was beginning to have an asthma attack, something I hadn't had since Davion brought me back from the dead. Wonderful timing. The strange-eyed wolf, sniffed at my hair, then jolted his head up in surprise, just in time to see Davion lunge at him.

Davion roared loudly as his long sharp claws slashed at the dog. Leo's leg was separated from his body. He staggered backward on his three good legs, still growling at my hero. Blood oozed from his horrendous wound.

I looked back at Davion and nearly screamed out loud when I saw the look on his face. The only word I can use to describe it is …sadistic. He began to laugh in the creepy voice he used when the monster side of him took over. He was blood drunk.

As if to silence Davion's laughter, Leo leapt at him and bit his long canine teeth into his arm, tearing it from his body. My hand shot to my mouth, as I tried not to throw up. But instead of screaming in pain, as he should have, he continued to laugh, even as Leo devoured his arm.

I watched in awed horror as blood, flesh, and bone began to regenerate out of thin air, reforming Davion's arm. Within seconds, he was fully healed. "Stupid Dog," he chuckled.

He flexed his new appendage with a wicked smirk on his face.

Then in a blur, he rushed at Leo, with his claws drawn. In one quick eerily graceful movement he tore the wolf apart. The blood poured down on him like a torrent of rainwater. His red eyes glowed like flames in the darkness. He appeared to a calm himself and his eyes went from red to green as he approached me.

Finding new strength in my fear, I got to my feet. Seeing the look in my eyes, he kept his distance. He held out his blood soaked hands, his eyes darting from one to the other then back to my face. "Can you truly love me for who I really am?" he asked his eyes big with innocence. My fear disappeared in an instant, replaced instead with remorse for letting such a fear grip me. I quickly closed the distance between us and reached out a hand to touch his face. He smiled lovingly at me, my hand caressing his cheek.

Suddenly his smile turned into a grimace of pain! I took a step back and realized that Davion had just been staked through the heart! Davion moaned my name then fell to the ground.

I fell to my knees, taking his head into my lap. "Davion!"I cried, tears falling from my eyes onto his bare chest. "Please god! Don't take him from me!" I shouted in heartbroken sobs. As if answering my plea, Ian walked out of forest. In his hand he held a freshly fired crossbow.