Chapter 5: Have you ever seen the rain?

Iscariot HQ, Rome, August 26th, 2016

Enrico could not help himself pacing up and down. He told himself he was being ridiculous for what felt like the fiftieth time. He had things to work on. The Pope wanted a detailed report, delivered in person. But Enrico was unsure of how to proceed if they could not trust anyone.

Millennium.

Old mistakes got back to you, that was common knowledge. Everybody with an average interest in history knew the Vatican helped the Nazis after the war. But not like this. Helping those abominations to flee and build a secret army. What a disgrace. Section Eight, John, was still suppressing the information, but for how long? Nobody knew who was an enemy agent. This was a whole new threat and everybody seemed to expect Iscariot to deal with it. Meaning him.

Ironically, the Iscariots, the apostles of the traitor, were the ones he trusted in most. They would never be seduced by the promise of eternal life. But he could not be sure. There was only a handful of people to exclude: Anderson, Renaldo, Heinkel, Yumie (and Yumiko) and Lisa. They would never betray him.

Nazi vampires. If it wasn't that serious, he would have laughed. Like out of a bad film.

And there was still this Hellsing thing to deal with. Caitlyn Hellsing had not tried to contact him yet, but rumor had it that she had actually two vampires. Fan-fucking-tastic, like Lisa liked to say. The more the merrier, he thought sarcastically. Damned heretics.

His eye twitched. Most of the time he didn't feel it, even tended to forget about it completely. Another thing he had tried to get rid of. Unlike with his accent, he hadn't been very successful in that case. He stopped for a moment, hands behind his back, staring out of the window without seeing anything. Somehow it all boiled down to one thing: Millennium.

All the attacks on both Catholic and Protestant institutions had one goal: Distract them. Information was leaking everywhere and the governments were getting in more trouble by the minute.

But maybe that was good. They could use it.

Still, the Vatican could not send official troops, as it officially had no troops, and Iscariot had not enough agents to deal with everything. The injury rate in their business was high, the death toll fortunately a bit lower by now. But there were only few he dared to send on a mission alone.

Of those, two were in Rome at the moment, and one had suddenly decided she needed a holiday. Enrico had known better than trying to stop her. The look in those eyes had told him enough. She also took her secret student with her. A good plan, he had to give her that. As long as Anderson didn't find out. Enrico just wished she had chosen a better time. After fifteen years, what difference did it make?

No, the reason why he was so restless was different. Its name was short, only four letters long.

Lisa.

She was on a mission in Romania, together with two paladins called Pablo and Jack, both of which Enrico had figured were not likely to be traitors. Obviously he was more nervous than she had been.

Enrico spun when the door fell shut. "Can't you knock?", he snapped. Anderson didn't react to the aggressive tone. "Ah did. Ye didnae answer."

"What is it?", Enrico growled.

"Jus' wanted tae ask ye something. After all the attacks, whit aboot yer family? Thay're in Canada, richt?"

"They're fine." Actually, he mused, there is no way they can't be. They know better than most people what is going on. That was no big surprise, with both of their children in an organization like Iscariot. He had never tried to hide what he was doing. They didn't need to know everything, but otherwise it would be ungrateful and unfair. He had actually talked to them over the phone just yesterday. Enrico didn't doubt they would be safe until this was over. Did they expect this when they adopted us? Probably not.

"Whit aboot Lisa?" That was another matter entirely. Lisa was a paladin, he had signed all the papers himself, knowing this would happen. She was skilled and clever. And still he couldn't stop worrying. Big-brother-syndrome, she called it. "I really would have preferred sending Heinkel with her, or you." Before Anderson could answer, Yumiko ran in without knocking. Well, she did knock. The door aside, frantically waving a sheet of paper. "CHIEF!"

She tripped over the carpet. Anderson caught her in mid-air. "C-Chief, it's horrible!", Yumiko whimpered. Anderson set her down, but she didn't move an inch. Enrico had to go round the desk to get the sheets from her. He didn't like that. He didn't like it at all.

Yumiko tended to exaggerate, of course. In some aspects, Yumie was far easier to deal with. But both were persons and ignoring that would not be fair. Suddenly, Yumiko wiped her eyes and pushed the papers against his chest. "We lost contact with the agents in Romania about two hours ago. They should-"

"- investigate a small terrorist group probably set up by Millennium. I know." Enrico read over the report. It was less than one page. Then he read it again and took a deep breath. It was shaking.

This can mean anything. Don't freak out, Maxwell. Losing your head doesn't help you. Yumie and Anderson would have no problem dealing with this. He would probably accompany them this time.

He read the second sheet. It was a letter giving the orders of the Holy Father. Enrico read it again. And again. And once again. That's got to be a mistake.

He laid the sheets on his desk, trying to hide his shaking hands. "Thank you. I'll take care of it. While you two are here just now, I have new orders. Anderson, there's a situation in the south of Ireland. Marco will tell you the details. As to you, Yumiko, you and Yumie will go to France. At the north coast there lives a retired archbishop. We need to arrange his grounds as a temporary base to use at some point in the future." He handed her a letter sealed with the signet of the Pope and wrote down the address. "Just give him that."

"Where's Heinkel?", Yumiko asked.

"She said she needed a few days off."

"WHAT?!" Anderson and Yumiko gaped at him. "Now?!"

Enrico turned to his desk and waved his hand impatiently. "Something about her family, I think. I was in a hurry. Besides, she's our best agent in Germany. Ask her when she comes back." He could actually feel the confused and worried glances on his back. He straightened up and more or less shooed them outside. "I've got to work." He shut the door behind them and leaned against it, then slid down to the floor. He felt a slight twitch of his eye. As if that made a difference. He was trembling and so was his voice. Now that he was alone he couldn't help it.

"Damn it," he whispered. "I never should have let her go."

Outside of Richmond, Canada, 1999

"You...", he snarled. "You brats!" He tried to grab her foot, but Lisa crawled away, sobbing in panic. Why was nobody here? They should never have come here in the first place. But Lisa had wanted to see the small waterfall the rain had made. Here, the river flowed over a semicircle of concrete that divided the lake and a storm drain. It was at least nine feet deep.

The man had fallen on exactly that semicircle. He hadn't moved anymore. There had been so much blood, Lisa didn't want to look. They had thought he was dead. But he wasn't.

"LISA!" Her head jerked around. Enrico grabbed her and pulled her to her feet. He looked just as frightened as she was. There were streaks of dirt on his cheeks.

"Stay away!", Enrico ordered, his voice wavering, but loud. The man just laughed. Or rather howled the laughter, as he had slipped on the wet leaves covering the slope and fell on his bad leg. The fall before had broken it. Blood soaked his jeans.

"You brats! You dare oppose the Great Joseph Drake, the Highway Killer?" He stumbled forward. Lisa clung on to her brother, not able to move. They both just stared at the bloody and broken, but still frightening man. Enrico was tall for his age, but what could he do against a grown man?

He shoved Lisa away. "Vieni!" Lisa shook her head violently. He was too scared to pay attention to his words. Lisa could barely understand him through the thick accent, English mixed with Italian.

Please God, if you are like Enrico always says, then help us!

A cold wind brushed over them. It hit Drake square in the face, putting him off balance. "We have to kill him," Enrico said. His voice was flat. All he could think about was protecting his sister. God had given her to him after he had been alone all his life. His parents had abandoned him three years ago. But God had granted a miracle, had given him a family, a home and Lisa. Nobody would take that from him.

I am strong. Nobody will ever look down on me again. Especially not that lowlife scum.

Lisa looked at him with wide eyes. She nodded. Enrico made a step forward. His foot slipped on the leaves and he tumbled down the slope, right into the arms of the madman trying to kill them. Drake laughed triumphantly. His hands closed like steel around Enrico's throat. Suddenly, the boy couldn't breathe anymore. Pain was pulsing in his throat. He struggled, tried to pull them away, but the hands were too tight.

He won't defeat me! Not me! He's nothing but a thing! I will look down on such people!

"Enrico!" Lisa dragged him away. He almost hit her, struggling blindly, until he realized it was her. Somehow, he had freed himself. He was breathing.

Drake was lying on the ground, unconscious. He was bleeding from his already injured leg and there was fresh blood on his face. Lisa was trembling, clinging to her brother's arm like for dear life. Numbly, Enrico looked down at his hands. The knuckles were bloody. Now the pain began, too. He faintly remembered hitting the man, but an eleven-year-old couldn't possibly be that strong.

"You kicked his injured leg. And when he fell, you hit him again," Lisa said quietly. "Is... is he dead?"

Enrico shook his head. "Deviamo ucciderlo."

Lisa didn't know the words, but she knew what he meant. "No! Let's just go! Mum will be angry if we're not home!" She plucked at his sleeve desperately. "Please! Let's go!", she begged.

Enrico spun and grabbed her shoulders. His emerald eyes were wild. Lisa flinched. "We have to! Or he will go after us forever. Or he'll just tell the police."

"But... But he's a murderer!", Lisa whimpered. The thought didn't want to make sense to her.

Enrico laughed hoarsely. Puberty vocal change was setting in early with him. It made him sound like an adult. A mean and sad adult, Lisa thought. "Who will they believe? An adult or two kids?" The man moaned and tried to get up. Enrico let go and gently pushed Lisa behind him. "A heathen... a murderer like him doesn't deserve to live! We are doing the world a favour!"

Drake got up, limping, his face twisted with rage. "I'm going to kill you. I'll fuck you both and kill you while you scream for mercy!", he roared, trying to reach them.

The two children ran at him. Drake was taken by surprise. He lost his balance and leaned on his injured leg. It gave way under him. They all fell, Drake howling in pain. There was a sickening thud when his head hit the ground.

Enrico and Lisa got up, shaking. Blood was spreading on the leaves. "Is he dead?", Lisa whispered, like she feared he would spring back to life any moment.

"I- I think so." Enrico was shivering all over, his throat almost too tight to speak. Lisa was the only thing he could hold onto now, so he hugged her as hard as he could. God, forgive me. A sudden thought hit him: Would he go to hell now? Killing meant violating the Ten Commandments.

Then, suddenly, he heard Father Anderson's voice. It was almost as if he was standing right behind him. Enrico was so startled he turned around. There was no one of course. Just him and Lisa and this corpse in the small part of forest. Violence is ne'er the answer. The only yins ye should ever get rough wi' are heathens and monsters. Enrico had simply defended himself against the other boys mocking him. They were stupid and didn't deserve what they had. He had gotten in plenty of fights back then, so Anderson had told him this. Heathens and monsters. He managed a shaky smile. God wouldn't punish him for ridding the world of a heathen and monster like this scum.

"We need to hide him," he said.

Lisa nodded solemnly. "What about the evidence?" She had seen this – secretly – in a TV show when their parents hadn't been home. After that she had slept in her brother's bed for three nights, too afraid to lie in the dark alone. Even if it was only a few meters between their beds.

"We... We can push him into the drain. If they don't find him per pochi giorni..." Enrico was slipping into his own thoughts again, trying to come up with an idea to hide the red spots scattered everywhere. "The water will wash most of it away. There's another storm coming." Lisa nodded again. The children stared at the corpse. "We have to," Enrico said.

They pushed. The man was not tall and not really fat... but to them it was like a block of lead. The still warm flesh under the dirty clothes seemed to be pulsing. There was blood... so much blood. And the broken leg was moving with a smacking noise. Lisa was close to vomiting. Enrico just clenched his teeth and laid all his strength in moving the body. He was so pale his skin resembled his blond hair.

Suddenly, the body started rolling. It picked up speed as it rolled down the slope, then flew through the air. He smashed on the concrete circle and fell into the funnel, landing with a splash. Enrico turned around and threw up. He felt like an idiot, but afterwards the sickness had passed. There was an awful taste in his mouth. He would love a glass of water now. He spat out again to get rid of the worst taste. "And now?", Lisa asked, her voice dreamy.

"We have to hide all... this." Where Drake had lain there was a cobblestone, most of it buried in the earth. Now it was smeared with blood. "Get... Get a few leaves or something." He couldn't help staring at all this blood. This morning he had sat in school and stared out of the window, wondering what his Mamma would make for dinner.

Lisa had gathered leaves and started erasing the marks of their struggle. Enrico could drag himself away from the bloody stone and helped her. After they were finished they looked around again. Would anyone find this and get suspicious?

"Can we go back now?", Lisa asked quietly. What would they tell their mother? Enrico's knuckles were bloody and they were dirty and scared.

There were feet running over the small walkway. "Dude, hurry up!"

Enrico and Lisa dashed behind a fallen tree. Lisa squeaked in panic, so he put his hand over her mouth, barely able to think straight himself. It was two male voices, adults, but not very old.

"Calm down, no one's following us. They're still freaking out." There was a smacking sound and a pained howl. "Fuck, why did you do that?", the other voice snapped.

"You idiot! Why did you have to shoot him! It was take everything and run for the hills! Now were wanted for murder. Do you get that, Jan? Murderers have a way higher priority than common thieves!"

"Absolutamento, Bro. Don't worry. Fuckers can't even organize a hunt. We'll just get rid of that stuff and skip town. I wanna go back to the US anyway."

"Do you want to get shot again?"

"Ah, for fuck's sake, big brother! Can't I have a little fucking bit of fun? We're the fucking Valentines! Nobody ever caught us!"

The older one sighed. "Let's just get out of here. These woods are freaking me out." The steps continued, then went away slowly. They were gone.

Enrico and Lisa stayed where they are, huddled together, frozen in place. Enrico was suddenly aware he had held his breath for so long his head began to swim. He carefully let it out and inhaled again. Lisa looked at him with huge dark eyes in the twilight. They should have been home long ago. Mamma would be so mad with them. "Are they gone?", she mouthed.

Enrico gathered all his courage to look around the tree. There was nobody. "Let's go!"

He took her hand and they ran in the direction from where the two men had come. Half the way back to their home they stopped, both panting. "What do we tell Mum?", Lisa asked.

Enrico had tried to think of a plausible story all the time, but everything was just ridiculous lies. But maybe... They didn't have to lie. Not immediately. "We tell Mamma we were here."

"But- If anyone finds him..."

"We fell. Both of us. Mamma won't believe it. And after a while we confess we were somewhere else. Like..." Come on, think! "The old train tracks."

"But we're not allowed to go there... Oh."

Enrico smiled. It was almost painful. "Exactly."

Lisa looked him dead in the eyes without saying anything for several seconds. Then she hugged him. "Thank you."

Nobody will look down on me. They will... love me.

"I'm... I'm your older brother, right?" The kids in school didn't believe him. He was adopted, so his parents weren't really his parents. And Lisa was not his sister. They don't know anything.

"Always and forever," Lisa said.

Enrico looked at the sky just to see a shooting star pass over the darkening space. Then he looked at Lisa again. He took her hands. "God can hear us now." Lisa smiled. Seeing that made him happy. God granted him something special. The rest was up to him. Serving God was his destiny.

"I promise I will always be there to protect you."

Iscariot HQ, Rome, August 30th, 2016

Heinkel entered the head quarters and almost ran into Fernandez, one of the paladins that had been taken from active duty because of old age. There were few of them. Heinkel wondered if she'd ever make it and what she would do then. Hopefully, that was far in the future. She was only twenty-five. What the hell was she thinking all day? She greeted Fernandez and they passed each other. Just a regular day.

Time to report back to the chief. He was probably glad to have her back. There was so much to do, everybody felt there was more to it than usual vampires. Heinkel had been there – had heard pretty much everything about Millennium. Still, it was hard to grasp.

Anderson and Yumiko were waiting on the corridor in front of Maxwell's office. They were still in traveling clothes. "Oh, hey," Heinkel said and smiled. "Are we making a tea party or anything?"

"Did ye enjoy yer vacation?", Anderson asked. Heinkel ignored his sour tone. Obviously, he had no idea what she had been doing or that Vicky had been with her.

"Oh, yes. I did very much." When she smiled again, Yumiko winced. Heinkel was efficient and sometimes a bit overdoing it, just like Yumie. But she had never thought her friend could be actually cruel. But this smile was just evil. Yumiko shuddered. Then, all of a sudden, everything was back to normal. "Alessia invited us to her concerts this fall, by the way."

Yumiko blinked. "Concerts?"

Heinkel nodded with the enthusiasm only an older sister could manage. "She got a recording contract. Isn't that awesome? My little sis is going to be a rock star!"

"Congratulations," Anderson said warmly. "I look forward to hearing her songs."

Heinkel abruptly changed the topic. "What are we waiting for, anyway?"

"For Enrico to let us through," Yumiko said quietly.

"Does he have a visitor?"

"No idea. But we only returned this morning." Heinkel looked at her phone. Eleven in the morning. Enrico was not exactly a late riser and obviously he was in his office. They all turned when the door opened. It was Marco Renaldo. He looked unusually grim.

Anderson got up. Something was wrong. They all felt it. "Marco. Whit in the world are ye doin' here?"

Renaldo pushed up his spectacles. "The chief is not here."

"Whit do ye say o' me?" Anderson frowned. Yumiko on the other hand didn't look too surprised. Heinkel wanted to ask why she was that depressed, but Renaldo went on. "He took a few days off."

Days off, Heinkel thought with an ironic notion. We know where that leads with the lot of us.

There was silence for several seconds, until Yumiko whispered: "He can't be that stupid. He can't."

Anderson growled. "Ah wouldnae underestimate him. Marco?" What in the world was going on? Anderson didn't like this a bit. Something had been wrong for days. He had felt it the moment Enrico had kicked them out of his office. He really should have asked immediately. It was Yumiko, who answered. "The group we lost contact to... that was Lisa."

Oh, Laird. "Where?"

"Bucharest, Romania. A standard mission, actually," Renaldo said. "We can assume the chief is already there, right?"

"Wait a sec," Heinkel interrupted. "Can you say that again for the slowpokes like me? Are you telling me he went there ALONE? He'd do everything for Lisa, but he would not... Oh God, he would. But why didn't he take us with him?"

Renaldo gave Anderson a letter with the signet of the Holy Father. Anderson only needed one glance at it. "Iscariot was ordered not to step in."

"That's got to be a joke!", Heinkel protested, her hands tightening around the halts of her guns. "They are our people! And we-" She went silent. Anderson watched as she slightly tilted her head and blinked. He knew that pose. She just had had an idea. "We can't trust anyone," she suddenly said. All anger was gone. The others could literally see her planning and overthrowing those plans.

The Chaos Girls looked at each other. Yumiko had her lips pressed tightly together. "We're going to kill again," she said, her voice strained. But in her eyes was a fire even Heinkel had not seen in a long time. "They dare hurt our friends. They oppose the kingdom of God and take our chief prisoner." Her voice was trembling. "Let's go!"

Anderson exchanged a glance with Marco. There was no doubt the Chaos Girls were partners "till death do us part". He wondered if this was simply the spirit of the time. When he became a paladin, he had never found a partner like that. But he was glad for them. All of them.

Family was all you had after all.

Outskirts of Bucharest, Romania, August 27th, 2016

The street was empty despite it being just past noon. This part of the city belonged to the homeless, the hopeless, the criminals. Many of them were all of this at once. The houses were in ruins and even in bright daylight Enrico hadn't been able to find a taxi to bring him in this part of town. So he had walked all the way, through dirty streets and abandoned houses left to rot. The building he stood in front of now had been a small factory once. The gate was rusted and looked like it would fall apart any moment. It stood open wide enough for a person to fit through. There was a small yard and behind that the factory itself, crumbling slowly to dust in the course of time.

It had been ridiculously easy tracking them down. Lisa's work phone had GPS and the kidnappers hadn't bothered to turn it off. It was a trap, of course it was.

He just had to ignore that. If Iscariot couldn't step in, he had to do this in private. Protecting her was his duty as an older brother. Even though he knew this was endangering his position, he had ignored every call from the main quarters. With a bit of luck, this would be over soon, without any fuss. If not, he still had a self-made GPS transmitter. He had sent the code to Renaldo, together with the location he expected Lisa to be. If he was caught, he just had to hope nobody would suspect anything. Not very likely, he had to admit. Pushing his doubts away, he started for the gate. He wasn't a paladin, but he was not helpless.

The yard was empty. No one to be seen anywhere. There were plenty of shadows to hide in. Enrico went around the building, searching for an entrance. The north door was unlocked. He walked inside, as if he had every right to be there. He was wearing an old hoodie with the hood up, trainers and jeans. Except for a few loose strands his blond hair had vanished under the black fabric.

The hallway was short and dimly lit from light shining through holes in the wall. It bent off to the right. There were a few doors, but the rooms were empty. It was eerily silent in here. Had he made a mistake after all?

The main hall was divided by a pile of old pallets. Something cracked loudly. Enrico spun. That came from further down the corridor. He left the main hall and carefully opened the next door. It creaked slightly. The sound sent a shiver down his back. This looked like a ghost house. Don't be silly! You're too old for this. Stop acting like a coward.

Still, it was getting increasingly hard to hold his panic at bay. Why had he come here alone? Sitting in his office, there had been no doubt about what he would do. Theories were such a nice thing. Such a safe thing.

The next room was completely dark. Feeling like a character in a horror movie, Enrico pulled out a tiny flashlight and examined the room without entering it. The beam washed over unmoving faces and staring eyes. Enrico staggered back, gasping. Pull yourself together! What kind of Catholic are you? His heart beating rapidly, he stepped forward again and looked closer. The bodies were in bad shape. They had been beaten to death, dying too fast to develop bruises. The blood had already dried, so it had happened quite a while ago. Yesterday, at least. The man with the blond hair was Jack Gaudy. The other one had been called Pablo Hernandez, a youngster like Lisa. The two paladins meant to keep her safe.

The beam was trembling so much it didn't reveal much more. Enrico put the flashlight away and pulled out the knife he had brought. It wasn't much, but it was all he had. A gun was far more difficult to transport to a foreign country just like that. Especially since he couldn't rely on Vatican channels now.

I'm quite a sorry excuse for an Iscariot. He rarely wanted to admit that, but it was true. Only in lonely moments like this he allowed himself to feel sorry for his weakness. A weakness he shouldn't have at all. A leader like him had to be feared rather than fear. It was his destiny to become a great man. God had chosen this path for him.

Enrico slowly followed the way the corridor was leading. He was scared to death and hadn't even met anyone yet. He just wasn't made for fighting. If it wasn't for Lisa, he wouldn't be here at all.

The next room's door was closed. Enrico ordered himself to calm down. Like that, he'd never reach anything. Nobody would make someone Pope that couldn't lead. He opened the door. It was just as dim as everywhere inside, but there was a figure sitting on the floor with her face down. She seemed to be tied to a pipe in the wall. Dark hair hung in her face.

Enrico quickly looked around. No one there. He stepped into the room and hurried to her. "Lisa?" She raised her head, groaning. "Who? Huh?" When she recognized him her face changed from confusion to anger. "What the fuck are you doing here alone?", she hissed.

He blinked. That was not exactly the reaction he had expected. "Rescuing you. What else?"

"Heinkel and Yumie are probably securing the area then. Did you bring Anderson, too?" He didn't respond. She talked about this like it was natural. As if he was defenseless.

Lisa gaped at him. "No," she said slowly. "No way. Enrico, please don't tell me..." She trailed off. Her eyes flashed in the twilight. "You. Fucking. Idiot."

"I had to go alone!", he defended himself . "The Pope ordered us not to intervene."

"Then you should have obeyed!", Lisa snapped.

He was close to doing something he would dearly regret afterwards. It was just his fear irritating him. "And just leave you? You know I can't do that." Why did she have to be so stubborn? Just like everyone. Nobody ever seemed to listen to him properly. "It's the Camerlengo. He's probably a double agent." He tried to cut the ropes holding her, but they were thick and he didn't want to cut her on accident. That could take a while. Lisa was going on chiding him. He suppressed an annoyed answer. She could really be a bit more thankful!

At some point, he had heard enough. "They killed two of our paladins!", he interrupted her harshly.

Lisa fell silent. "I know," she said quietly. Then, with more force: "You can't tell me you would be here just because of that." He could have contradicted her, but where was the point in lying if both knew it was true? He tried to keep his anger at bay. After all that he wasn't appreciated at all?

Finally, the rope holding her snapped. Lisa was a bit shaky, so he pulled her to her feet. She leaned on him, until she could feel her legs again. "Never thought you'd find an opportunity to wear that old stuff again," she joked nervously. Then she froze, looking at something behind him.

The same instant, a hard rectangle pressed into his neck. "Look who we found today," a somewhat grimy-sounding voice with a Romanian accent said. "A real-life bishop. Welcome to Romania, Monsignore Maxwell."