Disclaimer: I do not own Van Helsing or Law and Order SVU characters and such; only my OC's.

Rise to a New Sunrise!

I woke up inside a room, the sun barely showing through the moth bitten curtains. I was lying upright against the far wall, my feet lying dead across from me as I continued to stare out at the window. I could hardly recall how I got here, for I had been mental warring with myself all last night. Then… I remembered.

Flashback: Seven hours ago;

I had been walking for hours before the setting sun. The rooftop's concrete was cold under my bare feet as some clumps of snow still existed in the gutters. I was feeling tired and getting frustrated at myself at the events of the last few hours. I knew killing those men was wrong; especially when I had to remain hidden, but my other side just itched to be released. To taste blood and rip flesh again had brought a disturbing satisfaction to my very soul. It had to be my vampiric half! Though I couldn't blame it. Being in that fucking ocean did nothing to improve my split-personality.

After a while of conflicting with myself I finally spotted an old apartment complex. It was old and raddled with age and weather, but even more satisfying was I could only hear a few heartbeats coming from the place. Perfect! I spotted an open window and immediately dived in from the roof I was on. Landing with silence and as much dignity as I could manage; what with the beaten up white dress and jacket I still wore; I suck into the small apartment and looked around, dropping the back on the floor. The walls were a simple cream white and a raggedy bed lay across from me. Judging from the smell, it was only used for one purpose. Sex.

I groaned and rubbed my nose from the stench of human sweat and – whatever – while I passed the bathroom entrances a dresser with a broken glass frame. Scrunching my brows in confusion, I looked through the glass and saw a plain couple; cuddling and smiling as if nothing else in the world mattered in that captured moment. But why would it be broken? Something didn't smell right. Besides the bed smelling of 'old use' I walked out of the bedroom and found myself in the living room. Ya right! It was more like a wreck room now! A couch with torn and beaten cousins lay pushed up to the far end of the room. Pictures and empty bottles of alcohol lay scattered across the floor. The table had been turned over and left over chines food was rotting the carpet with its stench. A flat screen TV was broken by what looked to be somebody's fist as I detected fresh blood still lingering in the glass.

Hearing a heartbeat coming from a small kitchen I slowly made my way to find a blond; the same blond whose face was in the photograph that had been smashed into. She looked horrible and smelled of booze. No wander there, for she held a half empty bottle in her pale hand while a bunch of small orange and white bottles littered around her. She had overdosed; slowing killing herself with wine and prescription drugs to try and kill herself over what? A heartbreak? A fight with a guy who never loved her and/or perhaps cheated on her? This kind of act mad me angry. Although her heartbeat was faint and she looked sick, she was still conscious for her head rolled towards my direction. Dark blue eyes were glossy and puffy after crying while her blue jeans and white shirt was stained with her blood. Her other hand was cut badly after punching the TV screen and I could tell right away; she had gone through one hell of a breakup. One that she didn't want to live with.

"Are… are you a… angel?" She rasped with a barely controlled voice. She thought I was her savior? Someone to bring her to everlasting peace in Heaven? Boy is she dead wrong!

"No," I spat rather miff. "You think that killing yourself makes things any better?" I countered and rounded on her as my eyes turn red. "How dare you let yourself get this weak! How dare you let some man get the better of you!"

Her face only contorted into pain and agony as empty sobs wracked her chest. I know I was being cruel, but seeing this only reminded of my own pain of what I went through; and there was nothing more pathetic than letting somebody get the better of you just because they called you worthless or worse… a tool for only one use.

"I thought… I though he loved me!" She sniffed as the bottle rolled away from her hand. A growl rippled from my throat as I knelt down and grabbed the stupid woman by the collar of her shirt.

"IDIOT! He was USING you!" I hollered and shook her hard enough to make her head roll back and forth almost hitting the metal frame of the oven from behind. My body trembled with rage as my nails grew into claws, ripping some of the poor woman's shirt. "YOU'RE supposed to be stronger than this! Stronger than that BASTARD! This is your life, damn it! You're free from him now! FREE! DON'T LET HIM WIN BUY TAKING YOUR OWN LIFE!"

"I – I CAN'T! I CAN'T LIVE – WITHOUT HIM!" She sobbed as tears stained her face. "I – I can't. I – I want to die! I want to die! Please! Just kill me! I want to die! I just want to die!"

A snarl ripped from my throat but I quickly swallowed it when she didn't flinch. She would have been dead already with all the pills she had popped into her system. She was stronger than she thought, but thanks to that no good piece of shit, her soul was haggard and her heart broken. Her mind wanted nothing more than to seek the peace that comes with death. And from that moment, I envied her. I had survived through countless attacks on my supernatural body. Not even the ocean could take my life. Unlike this broken woman, I was cursed. And… for a moment I thought she never looked more human.

Humans desire nothing more than to be wanted by others and to find happiness at the end of a long road of turmoil. But sometimes – that road ends up crumbled and full of painful truths in this world. There is no such thing as 'true love,' only pain, sorrow, and those strong enough to rise and walk away from it to try and make their own illusion of happiness.

"Is that what you really want?" I asked my voice strangely calm and quiet.

"Please," She wept in her despair, "I just want to die."

"Alright," I sight and took her injured wrist to my lips, "This might hurt some, but you won't feel anything latter on."

One moment she was sobbing, the next she gave me a soft smile that tore me apart. She was counting on me to end her misery the only way I knew how. She wanted me to be her angel of death. Clenching my jaws for only a moment, I released my fangs and bit into her wrist. A pleasant gasp escaped her lips as I started to drain her of blood. The presence of alcohol and drugs didn't bother me in the least. If anything, that only gave her blood an extra bonus of strength for my own needs. But I wasn't prepared for the painful emotions that seemed to be seeping from her and into me, for it only reawaken my own to face my horrible reality.

When her heartbeat finally faded into silence and her eyes closed as if to sleep, I sat there on my knees, staring at her with wishful thoughts. My body trembled after a few moments of silence and I stood up to look around me. Here I was, giving the peace of death to a complete stranger so that I can live on with their blood. Yet her smell of despair and the emotions of her sorrow made me shiver. I looked down when I found newly formed drops of blood staining onto the woman's jeans.

I raised my hands to my face and found that I was crying. Crying tears of blood for myself? For her? For all that has happened to me? For the pain that this woman gave off suddenly reminded me of my own and I couldn't help but let the tears flow free. My face contorted into despair as this woman's situation seemed so different yet so similar to mine.

Shot down and used by the only man I thought to hold my heart. Who I thought I could love and who would return my feelings only ended up shattering them in the end. Sure the guy I dealt with wasn't really a man, but a pure monster; a King! All the kind and considerate things he had said and done for me were really lies. LIES! He was only using me for the slave that I had become! I was no more than his bitch on his leash. But no more. NO MORE!

Before I knew it I was now sobbing hysterically and I clenched my head in my hands as his voice seemed to repeat over and over again.

"You are more worthy than you know."

SMASH!

My hands found the nearest thing to lash out and that was the cheap wooden table that stood next to me. My anger. My frustration. These horrible feelings that were once in the now dead woman was flowing through me, making me want to hit and scratch anything my claws could get on!

"She is a tool! Incompetent in the ways of a true vampire!"

"GAAAAAAGH!"

CRASH!

My screams of agony tore into the living room where I finished off the TV. Throwing it across the room as my claws scratched at the wall.

"You are beautiful." "Why not let your turn come?" "Come to me, and I shall heal you."

"AAAAAAHAAAA HAAAAAA!"

Oh, this pain of emotions! It was all too much for me to stand! His smooth voice that filled me with such hope, making me feel like I mattered till I overheard him spit at my life like it was nothing again! GOD DAMN HIM! GOD DAMN HIM FOREVER! WHY CANT I DIE? WHY CAN'T I DIE!?

With one final cry that I was sure could be heard for miles, and it sounded so inhuman; I fell to the floor of the living room where I sobbed till sleep took my battered mind and body.

Present time:

When I woke up, it was still dark out, but my body had moved by itself to sit and lean into the wall.

We must go back! Whining and crying will solve nothing! My other half chide at me for my earlier display of weakness. So fucking what? I could care less what my despair has done to this place.

We must go back! Find a way back to Master!

"Never," I said in a hoarse tone.

WE MUST! We must return to our rightful owner! Do not deny our Master! He is ours! And we belong to –!

"NEVER!" I screamed which silenced my double. "I – we belong to no one. We – are – free. Free.

Free? Free from what?

"Free from – him. Free from control! Free from being a servant! FREE!" I said, my chest aching with new realization as my mind buzzed at the possibilities that it fed to my vampiric half. Even though I just went through a major melt down, a weight seemed to be lifted from my shoulders. "I am free." I gave a hollow giggle. "We are free! No more him. No more HIM!"

It would seem that the vampire was no longer worth mentioning his name. Never again will I bend over and be fucked with by anyone else. "Never again. We can do whatever the Hell we want! And not a single being here can stop me. Can stop us!"

Free. FREE! Free to feed! Free to run and rule! Free!

A grin full of malice spread across my face, rather it was me who as doing it or it was the 'other' me, I didn't care. All I knew was I was alive. Alive and free! I can finally live a life for myself! For me and nobody else! Hell! With my talents I could become an assassin! A hero? Fuck that! I'm nobody's fucking savior! Sure that woman wanted release from this world of pain, but that's all I gave her.

My memories from the past will now be buried within me. I really don't give a shit what people will think of me. From the example that this woman when through, I will be the stronger. My pain – it may take months even years to get over him, but I will. I will be stronger than this! I will find my purpose in this world even if I'm forever damned. For now though, I need to clean myself up.

The sun was rising at the same time I got to my feet and I wanted to laugh again at the poetic observation. I rise with a new day and a new life to look forward to. Remembering that there was a bathroom in this dump I walked to it and started to undress. Luckily there was a shower head and I immediately turned it on to steamy hot. The water felt great on my worn out skin and with each minute under the shower I felt better. It didn't really surprise me that a shower didn't remind me of the ocean. Now a bath might bring me to my knees, but I'll have to combat that fear later. Finding shampoo and soap on the side made me want to sing. The ocean had done a number on my black hair and to condition it back into its volume made me sigh in relief.

Yet there was still the question of what to do with the dead woman's body. Hmm… I'll have to bury her. Or I could just leave her. After all, death by overdose is nothing new in this country. I don't know if she has any family but I'll worry about that latter, right now a discovery had drawn my attention anew.

Both my wrists and right above my ankles showed deep marks of were the silver blessed wires had bound me to that cross. Why weren't they fading? From the back of my feet were fine but my hands were different. As the marks were almost around my wrists, the back of my palms looked like they had been burned by the wood. Wonder struck me as I quickly turned off the water and went to the mirror above the sink. Sure my reflection was like a ghost, but as I turned around I could clearly see the indentation of the cross on my back.

"Fuck," I cursed and frowned at my nearly visible refection of the scare on my back. It stretched from the nap of my neck and stopped just above my ass as my shoulder blades bare the rest of the unmistakable symbol. The ocean water had done its number on my body along with the cross. Now it looked like I had a fucking tattoo of the thing! A reminder of what Hell I had gone through. Terrific.

Hiding that wouldn't be a problem, it's just the marks on my wrists that will make people thing I was a Cutter. Well, if they saw the burnt makes on the back of my hands, that is. I'll have to find suitable gloves. Like those fingerless gloves! Those would be perfect enough that my claws will have free room to summon. But first, besides gloves, I have to find clothing for the rest of my naked body.

Grabbing a towel, I dried my hair and went through the drawers for anything that would fit me. Socks, I'll happily take, for I was getting tired of walking in my bare feet. A black sweater, that looked to be for a guy, I'll take anyway. A sports bra that seemed a few sizes smaller than me, well that's a no, so I'll have to go bra-less till I buy my own size. That feeling is uncomfortable but I'll deal with it. I noticed several pairs of jeans and found that they could fit me. Taking a pair of dark blue underwear and some light blue jeans, I felt a little better. Now it was time to find some shoes. Luckily, this woman was like every other shopping girl; she had a dozen of shoes to wear each day. Some were fancy wear and others were so high on the heels you would think she was trying to be a giant! But I found a pair of sneakers that fit me just right.

Now that I was clean and clothed I believed it was time to move on. Who knows when the owner of this place, or whoever, will come up here and find the dead girl? Not my problem! Not anymore. I granted her wish to escape this world of pain and she returned my help in payment of blood. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not her keeper. She chose the cowardly way out instead of fighting to move on with her life. And I won't fall down like that! I won't be like her! I refuse to surrender to my sorrows no matter how much Hell this world gives me! I'll return it tenfold!

Men who think they could get away with taking advantage of others and hurting them are BASTARDS! And if one should ever cross my path in this city; may Lord have mercy on their soul, for I shall show none!

Free! Free to teach all who think to control and take advantage of us shall suffer!

"Damn straight!" I returned the smirk in my mirror image on the dresser. "I'm no hero. But – I won't be a villain either. Hu, I wonder if I could get away with just bringing down criminals. This city is practically crawling with them."

Like rats!

"Right," I smirked and picked up the bag of goodies and walked over to the window. "Like rats. Besides, I can't go on without blood." I just hope that any scumbag I take down doesn't taste as fowl as the last guy I bit. Course they were nothing but a cowardly gang, I can no longer fear these streets at night. It's the bad guys that have to fear me! Oh man! My heart just jumps into anticipation at the thought of hunting down even a few of those bastards! For too long I've read sooo many bull shit crimes in the newspapers to make me sick and wanting to do something about it. Police and justice in a courtroom is all fine and dandy, but what about those who haven't found justice? Or revenge.

Ah, yes. Revenge! I want my revenge against that undead son of an bitch who thought he could kill me! And as for that King of Vampires; if I should ever see that two faced piece of shit again, he's gonna wish he stayed in Hell!

With hopeful thoughts of my future bearing promises, I leaped from the window I had landed in and threw the bag over my shoulders. There's gonna be a few changes in this city, and I can't wait to begin! But first, I have to find a place to camp in for solitude. This place should have plenty of abandoned buildings. What with the economy already going down Up-shit-creek, it wouldn't bother me one bit. After all, I'm half-vampire! What good or bad will I do now that I'm no longer apart of the human food chain? But rather above it. Maybe. Well, I'll just work out that little detail later. Right now, I got a place to find and call home. Well, not home per say, but more like a nest. A place I can always come back and rest. Oooooo! That place looks homely!

A building that looked like it was once made to be a hospital lay open across an empty parking lot not several blocks from the hotel. It was standing there with a sign saying; "Danger. DO NOT ENTER! DE-Construction is soon to take place in June!" Like that will scare me off! And June was quite a ways away. It'll be plenty of time to collect enough to earn a decent living. I quickly raced towards it and found that all the entrances had been sealed. Like that will bother me! Plus it was an added bonus if someone should try and enter here while I'm resting. Looking at the top, I spotted an open window and quickly walked up the wall towards it.

It was empty inside and drafty, but plenty of room for me to do whatever the Hell I wanted. Looking around I spotted several empty rooms filled with beds and graffiti on the walls. Some so obscure that I dare not repeat them! But, it will do. After all, I have cash to buy myself a hammock and some decent clothes. I have weapons, along with my claws, should any trouble cross my path. And as for ever getting in trouble with the law? I mean; really? Is anybody gonna believe they have the power to stop me, let alone arrest me? I bet I have the strength to break handcuffs without breaking a sweat! Picking up a brick, just to check, I smashed it until it was dust in my hands. Well that settles that!

I looked out the window when I heard sirens coming my way and I quickly ducked behind the wall. I spotted a police car following an ambulance towards the hotel that I was at. They probably got the call from whoever that discovered that woman's body. I smacked my hand to my face when I realized I had left the torn dress and coat I had arrived in. Oh well. It's not like they can find me on record anymore. If I can remember correctly I overheard Ranfield tell the Count that all of my history in America had been erased. Shaking my head I focused on my current problems. I didn't want to remember the past and I had no intention of having any law or investigator get the better of me just because I took the life from someone who 'asked' to die. Not counting the men I killed earlier. From the evidence that I left they'll probably think a wild animal had attacked them. Te he. A wild animal indeed. If only this city knew of what I was capable of.

At four in the afternoon, Detective Olivia Benson was craving a cup of strong coffee as her partner, Detective Elliot Stabler, drove to the SVU Crime Lab to investigate on nine bodies that were found and shipped to them. Five were discovered near Long Island Beach while four more were discovered in an alleyway in down town of New York. It didn't seem to add up when the local police told them that the bodies appeared to be mangled and ripped apart by some wild animal. So, why where they on the case?

"So, any theories on how nine guys ended up dead all in one night?" Elliot asked as he turned a corner. "Terrorists? People who just ended up on the wrong side of the track? Or was it a bear that escaped from the circus that happened to –."

"Just shut up and drive!" She snapped, for she was in no mood to deal with his smart ass remarks. He regarded her with a curious gaze, when he didn't say more she sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just been a long day."

"Trouble with a boyfriend?" He asked and she rolled her eyes. It was just like him to ask about her personal life.

"You know I don't have a boyfriend. Do you see me asking you about things going on with your wife?" She shot back and he shrugged.

"You usually do," He said as he turned into the parking lot of the lab. "And I would say 'fine.' Come on, Olivia. This isn't your usual attitude. What's going on?"

"It's nothing I can handle on my own," She said and unbuckled from her set to get out of the car. Truth be told, it was an old friend of hers having boyfriend problems, but she wasn't going to let him in on it unless it was absolutely necessary. They have been partners for over three years now, and she trusted him. Maybe she should cut the guy a break and tell him latter. For now she said; "Elliot. I'll tell you latter when I'm ready."

"Okay," He nodded and let her have her way, for he knew better than anyone on the force that it was best to leave Benson alone on personal matters, until she was ready to talk about it. They casually entered the building to the back room. Using their card keys to gain clearance from the security doors, they entered the room which contained nine tables. Nine tables with dead bodies displayed and covered over by a light blue medical blanket.

"Welcome to the freak show," Doctor Melinda Warner greeted them in her cool yet sarcastic attitude. She was the best in her field when it came to looking over corpses for causes of deaths, but that still didn't mean she could joke about it. "You two already know that the news reporters are having a field day with this. Their calling it the Darkest Day in New York History."

"Hardly seems fitting," Elliot eyed each table and gave a silent shiver. It seemed no matter how long he's been in the field of crime and death; to find this many had died in one day left him uneasy. "Over the phone you said their deaths were caused by a wild animal. Something changed?"

"To be completely honest; I don't know." She said and snapped on a pair of gloves. The two detectives exchanged worried looks before turning back to the medical examiner. She was never known to 'not know' a cause of death in her entire career! "These five young men were brought all the way from Long Island. Police there told me that they were the same men who robbed a drug store not too long ago and the owner of that store identified them, but – they couldn't find the money or the goods that they stole from the store."

"So, they were killed for the sake of being robbed themselves?" Elliot eyed her curiously, "That hardly seems new in this town. Perhaps they were doubled crossed by a contact and were killed in the most brutal way to throw off the killer's scent."

"I thought of that too, but look here," She revealed the face of one of the robbers and leaned his head back ever so slightly to show the detectives what she had found. "What stumped me was these men weren't just killed, at least seven were drained completely of blood."

Olivia just stared at the pale skin of the young man's throat and wanted to pinch herself awake. Two holes, as clear as day, showed on the battered skin. "Not only that," Melinda said and led them over to another body, "This guy here had his head turned all the way around, most of the bones in his spinal cord broken by sear force. I also discovered other wounds on the robbers that looked like they were ripped open by claws. Not knives. Whoever or whatever did this is very strong and very dangerous."

"So it's someone who's into blood donating and who shoots themselves with steroids with a Halloween mixed theme?" Elliot asked and both women gave him a withering look. "What? I don't see you coming up with any theories."

"Are you saying that we are dealing with something – supernatural?" Olivia asked in confusion and slight irritation, for this was not something that she wanted to accept. Such skepticism was always dismissed in their line of work and to come up with the 'ridiculous' earned a healthy pink slip and a trip to the Loony House.

"What? As in a vampire?" Elliot asked, finally catching on. "That whole superstition of super strength and blood draining monsters are now the cause of death of possibly nine people here? Come on, Doc! I think you've been hanging around with too many dead bodies lately. Or being exposed to these UV lights has finally made you hallucinate."

"I don't want to believe it either, but the police from Long Island took these photographs from the scene." She said and they all walked over to her desk. They bent down to see a few photos baring pictures of a wooden beam shaped into a cross and wires lying next to one of the victims. "These are the wires that were given to me for analysis." She pulled out a big plastic bag from her dresser and dropped it on the table, like it would burn her. "There made of silver."

Both detectives turned to each other to exchange looks. In silent agreement they all believed this to be impossibly insane and tried to come up with more concrete solutions.

"Maybe their apart of some Black Mass Ritual that went horribly wrong," Elliot put out as the two women stared at him blankly and he quickly explained. "There are people out there that still worship the Devil and all his evil deeds. Maybe this is their way of putting 'Fear the Devil' out there on the streets. And they took the money as compensation for their work."

"It's a good theory, I'll give you that," The medical sighed and looked at the tables lined with the corpses. "And I would love to see you right for once, Stabler." He gave her a glare but she ignored him.

"Didn't you get any DNA off the silver wires to point out any possible suspects?" Olivia asked the more important question.

"I did, but my computer didn't come up with anyone to match up," She said and showed them the results on her desktop screen when it read: 'Unknown.' "I sent the DNA to other labs to get a match. So far, they haven't called me back."

Elliot rubbed his face while Olivia just rocked on her heels impatiently. Neither of them liked going on false leads, nor leaving the case cold. But they couldn't go on skepticism about fairytale monsters running around New York City.

"Call us if the other crime labs come up with a possible match on the DNA," Olivia finally said and headed towards the door, ignoring all the dead bodies as she passed by. A headache was brewing in her brain and this case certainly wasn't helping it.

"That was weird," Elliot finally said as they made it outside and went to unlock the car. "I mean, up till now we thought we've seen it all. Now somebody portraying as a blood thirsty creature of the night killing robbers and gang members running around the city? That's new in my book!"

"That's nice you have a book written about all the crazies you've come in contact with, Elliot," Benson growled at him as he started the vehicle and drove out of the parking lot, for their next destination would be HQ. "BUT, that still doesn't explain how all those guys were killed. Maybe it was an animal. Maybe it's some wacko mimicking a horror movie. All I know is nine guys were killed early this morning and I still haven't had my damn cup of coffee!"

Elliot smiled and turned a corner for the nearest café. For them; if all else failed to piece together a crime, it was a good idea to discuss it over a cup of strong coffee. Yet for some reason, Elliot couldn't shake off the feeling that something or someone creepy was now roaming the streets of their beloved city.

BOOM! BOOM! Sorry, I just love that sound! But I'm happy to be back and typing again! What took me so long was how terrible this damn winter has been! And I'm sure I'm not the only one experiencing it too!

But now I've shoveled myself free, and feeling better that my car can go onto the roads again, I have the energy to type out this story again! Hope all of you survived this harsh winter without too much trouble! Anyway, I'll see you all later and I thank you for all the awesome REVIEWS!

REVIEW AND REVIEW to tell me how good it is and if I made any mistakes (because I type too fast and I miss some, sry) do let me know! : D

Sincerely; BR2