(Chapter 4: An old friend)
Night had fallen, and Ruthven's caravan had arrived to the village which contained the castle of the now dead Valerious Family.
A smile crept upon the lips of Lord Ruthven as he noticed the large silhouette of Castle Valerious in the distance, surrounded by the small village. Strangely enough, the village seemed to be silent as the caravan made its approach.
My ears cannot be deceiving me… The ancient vampire thought to himself as his stagecoach entered the gates of the village first, his charcoal-colored eyes scanning the surroundings for signs of life. There wasn't a single human in the streets, not even a corpse. Some chickens and livestock roamed around, as he would notice a bull trotting across the street in the distance before disappearing around a corner.
"Has this place been abandoned?" He asked himself as he glanced towards some windows, the curtains were drawn inside of some of the buildings and homes, glows of lanterns and lights were seen illuminating the interiors, but there were still no signs of human activity.
"Halt!" The ancient one commanded with a raise of his hand, the caravan came to an abrupt halt as Lord Ruthven hopped down from his coach before turning to face the rest of the caravan. "I want every corner of this village searched through, let's go!"
Approaching the front door of a home, Lord Ruthven rapped on the door but receive no answer to his aggressive knocking.
"Hello!? Is anyone in there!?" He called but again there was no answer; growing impatient, he steps back and rams his foot next to the knob, bursting the door from its hinges with a loud bang!
He would enter a living room, everything still nicely intact with a candle lit on a table seated before a few couches. Furniture was still standing upright; the walls and ceiling were cleaned and intact with no signs of wear and tear or mold growth.
"There's no point in hiding!" Lord Ruthven called out, still no response. He rounded a corner and into a kitchen, and just like the living room, the kitchen was perfectly intact with no signs of a struggle or a sudden abandonment. The floor was nicely swept and clean, the table and chairs were still standing. The sink was in good condition despite having a few dishes sitting idle in soapy water.
A sudden fidgeting was heard within the kitchen, and his attention snapped to the source of the sound. In the corner of a kitchen seemed to be a doorway, however instead of a door, there was a large cloth with baroque designs taking its place. A cruel grin found its way to his lips as Lord Ruthven approached the entryway, his heartbeat escalating with anticipation as he reached for the cloth…
"Hiding won't do any of you poor cretins any good, I've come to liberate all of you from your burdens." He lied as he grabbed the cloth and ripped it from the entryway, just to be disappointed as he would watch two fat rats come scurrying out of a pantry and into a hole in the wall.
With a sigh, Lord Ruthven left the house and into the village square, watching as his non-transformed werewolf minions hunted for human life and Birsha stomping towards the back of a house. If calling out to those hiding wouldn't work, he figured his silver tongue would seduce them into a false sense of security.
"Ladies and gentlemen! I come in peace with offerings of hope!" Lord Ruthven began with his voice oozing with charisma and pride. "I understand that your Princess has sadly been lost to the world, but her demise was one of heroism and utmost bravery… I've seen it, I've experienced it. I know what it is like to lose a leader: The whole community falls into disarray, economies suffer, and the inevitable power struggle divides and ruins the trust of others until the whole community falls into shambles and cowers away from outsiders moving in."
Despite his speech, there was still no hesitant humans entering the square to hear what he had to say. A look of disappointment began to etch itself on his face, but he remained steadfast.
"That is where I…we, come into play! We offer hope, a solution to every single one of your burdens!" Lord Ruthven continued monologuing as he heard Birsha ripping the doors from a cellar entry from behind a house. "We offer coin! Companionship, stability, and security. We shall ensure that this great village reaches…former…glori—" Lord Ruthven's sentence slowed down as he looked up at the Valerious Castle, like the village, there was light giving shine to the interiors, but just now he witnessed a shadowy figure move past a window. The sight of the figure moving past the window brought a grin to his face.
"Ahhh, I should have known you fools would hide where your protector once resided…"
Meanwhile, within the interior of Castle Valerious, Friar Carl rushed down the hall of the upstairs portion of the castle. Having witnessed the caravan arrive, hoping to God that they weren't looking towards the castle.
"Van Helsing!" The monk called. "Van Helsing they're he—"
The candles, torches, and any other source of light had been killed following the sound of clapping hands.
"Here…" Carl whimpered as he began to creep through the shadows, using the faint light of the partially blocked moon shining through the windows to traverse through the rooms and halls of the castle.
Once Carl found his way to the top of the stairs, a large door creaked open, lunar light shone into the entrance hall of the castle as a shadow entered. The heart of the monk raced within his chest as he started to take a few steps back from the stairs, his breathing shaky as he watched the light fade away with the door clicking shut.
Carl moved for the hallway he just ran from, and he would be halted in his tracks as he gazed down the corridor to see mist materializing at the end of the hall, mist that started to rapidly move towards him. The monk gasped and turned cheek, darting down the stairs. He would look over his shoulders to see that the mist hadn't followed him, but he wasn't going to be letting his guard down anytime soon.
The friar hurried towards a living space, approaching a window, hoping to wrap himself with the crimson curtains that aligned the window. Wrapping himself allowed him to see down to the village, and mouth dropped open in horror as he witnessed several men standing idle, all of them gathered in the square as they were facing up the hill directly at the castle, non-moving…like statues. Birsha stood at the front of them, just as still as the rest of them.
The monk was then pulled from his intimidated trance by a noise shifting behind him, he looked out from the curtain he had wrapped himself in just to see a dark room.
"Va-Van Helsing…?" Carl asked, voice trembling as he slowly emerged from cover, his eyes still peering around the dark room, his heart still raging within his chest. He rubbed between his breasts and forced a swallow as he felt a knot curling up within his throat.
As he made his way for the doorway leading into the entry hall, he would stare across the way into another doorway where a dark figure was standing. His eyes had to adjust to the dimmer lighting as he tried to figure out the person in the room across from him.
"Van Hel-si—" Carl broke into a run once he saw that this person wasn't either of his allies, sprinting for the stairs with a cry of terror, he could hear pounding feet behind him as he darted up the stairs and made his way for a window that was open.
He tried to vault over the edge, but his feet couldn't find any ledge for purchase and he slipped, crashing to the floor and turning around to see his assailant right on his heels. Carl let out a scream as the enemy lunged towards him, but in a flash, one helluva monster-slayer slammed into the attacker, his boot driving him into a wall which would crumble under the sudden impact!
Carl peered through the hole in the wall to see Van Helsing and Lord Ruthven flying towards the ground.
Van Helsing wound up landing on top of his enemy, his riding boots driving hard into the chest of the ancient vampire who threw him off. Lord Ruthven was swift as he got up within seconds, Gabriel drew his dual revolvers, aiming down sights towards his foe.
"It's over, Ruthven! You have committed great crimes to the Holy See and are wanted by the Knights of the Holy Ord—"
"Go ahead, Gabe, shoot me." The vampire taunted, stretching his arms to his sides with a smug grin. Watching as the monster-slayer's fingers slowly curled around the respective triggers of the revolvers.
Van Helsing was more than happy to oblige, but of course, the bullets did no harm to Lord Ruthven, the only thing they damaged being the clothing he wore. The wounds on his torso regenerated within seconds and the vampire snickered as he wiped away his black blood which resembled petroleum.
"Well, I'll have to patch this up." He said as he examined the holes in his clothing, when he looked back up, his entire frame would vanish into thin air.
Van Helsing turned around, and even though he anticipated what was coming…
WAP! The back of Lord Ruthven's hand would meet the mouth of the monster-slayer, launching him back and having him roll on the ground. Gabriel managed to get himself standing, wiping some blood off his chin that trickled down from his mouth.
"You…know me?" Van Helsing asked, Lord Ruthven reared his head back and laughed.
"Why wouldn't I know the Left Hand of God? The Order and I used to revere you, you and your angelic brethren. We called upon God, Michael, you, all the other archangels when we needed help the most."
"So, what's your problem with me, then?" Van Helsing asked, eyes narrowed, and brows furrowed, reaching down to ready a Tojo blade.
"When we were in peril against Empress Thalaba, we prayed for help, begged to the Heavens for a blessing, a miracle, but you and your brothers just sat back and watched as we were forced to retreat. Worst of all…you watched my brother die, and when I prayed for an answer, I received temptation, and I fell into darkness."
"The One Over Heaven tests his faith of his most loyal followers, the temptation was your test, and I guess we both know the result of it."
Van Helsing's response was given a laugh of disbelief from Lord Ruthven, who took a step forward.
"A loving god wouldn't abandon those or test them to prove their loyalty…" The vampire said, his fangs bared and gleaming in the faint lunar light as an inhuman growl rumbled from behind his clenched teeth. "The Church has failed me, Gabriel…and I'll burn it to the ground!"
"The Church will never fall, Ruthven…but I'll tell you what!" Van Helsing announced, Carl, Aidan, and Valentino stood at attention, with confusion and slight anger emerging on the face of the priest, which caught the attention of Aidan and Carl.
"What is he doing…?" Father Valentino asked, glancing towards Carl who held that spherical weapon in his hands, which were trembling.
"If you return from whence you came, and kiss the ring of the Pope, we can end this on a peaceful note." The monster-slayer offered after a brief pause, causing Lord Ruthven to laugh aloud.
"Do not make peace with evil, Van Helsing! Destroy it!" Father Valentino cried from the hole in the wall on the second floor of Castle Valerious.
"I've made my choice, Gabe…" Lord Ruthven grumbled, taking another step forward, watching as Van Helsing pressed down on the trigger of the Tojo blade he held, the blades spinning around with a loud mechanical whirr! "I can't believe in someone that doesn't believe in me…"
Unexpectedly, a grin came to the face of Van Helsing who nodded his head.
"Very well…" He said as he glanced down towards his Tojo blade, watching the razors spin with such speed that it looked like it was spinning in an opposite direction of which it really was. "I prefer it this way!"
With a defiant shout, the monster-slayer launched the Tojo blade towards Lord Ruthven, who casually dodged it while closing a twenty-yard distance in a second's worth of time. The speed caught Gabriel off guard, allowing the vampire to slash his nemesis across the face with his claws. Van Helsing staggered backwards with a groan of searing pain as blood splattered from the three bloody scars on the right side of his face right above the jawline. Lord Ruthven wasn't finished though, as he snagged the collar of Van Helsing's shirt with an unyielding grip, a grip as strong as the vengeful hatred that flowed through his dark veins.
Lord Ruthven hoisted the monster-slayer off the ground with one hand, taking the time to relish in the moment of having God's strongest warrior in his grasp. His lips spread into a sinister toothy smile, having psychotic satisfaction of seeing the look of agony on the face of his foe.
"You are not an angel anymore, Gabriel…" The ancient enemy of the Vatican taunted before strengthening his grip on Van Helsing's collar, causing him to groan. The monster-slayer grabbed onto the arm that was holding him up, but he would be deceived in the hopes of prying the hand away.
"You made your choice to come to Earth in the flesh, and I'm going to make sure that it will be the worst mistake you'll ever make while you're still with us…"
With a sudden movement, Van Helsing slammed his fist into the crook of the vampire's elbow, forcing him to drop him. In a fit of rage, the monster-hunter cocked his right arm back to ready for a massive blow, but Lord Ruthven was just one heartbeat quicker, and would answer with a push kick that would send Gabriel flying into the Valerious Castle with a monstrous thud.
The velocity had Van Helsing on his knees, gasping for air like a fish out of water, saliva dribbled down from his open mouth, and he could only listen as Lord Ruthven's footsteps drew closer, and watch as his shadow got larger before his eyes.
"Enough of this…" Aidan said to himself as Father Valentino and Carl turned their heads towards him to discover that he had materialized a silver stake in his left hand.
"How in the world did you get that?" Father Valentino asked.
"Benefits of having a pagan on your team." Aidan answered before he snapped his fingers, vanishing into thin air.
Back on the ground, Lord Ruthven reached down and snagged a handful of Van Helsing's long layered hair into his hand before jerking him up and slamming him against the wall again, forcing a loud yell of agony from the monster-killer, a yell that would almost instantly be silenced into gags and coughs as Lord Ruthven slammed his hand into his jugular, pressing it down with obscene strength.
Then the whirring of the Tojo blade was heard as Ruthven examined it with a smile, holding the lever down before staring into Gabriel's soul.
"The Vatican never ceased to amaze me with their inventions…" He said before his smug grin turned into a look of cold-hearted hatred. "A wretch like you shouldn't have them!"
Van Helsing let out a scream as he felt the blade of his own weapon dig deep into the flesh of his chest, blood splattered as his clothes were torn. His heart rate spiked and began to pound like never before as the blade met him again on another spot on the chest, blood spattered to the ground once more as he let out another cry of pain.
Gabriel's arms scrambled as he tried to swat away the blade, but his attempts at defending himself were useless as it only sliced into his hands and forearms. Lord Ruthven did not slow down in his unholy assault, slicing the Tojo blade in various patterns and angles all over the chest of the monster-killer, cutting deep into his flesh for a total of five lacerations, each strike sent blood and dark cloth flying to the ground at their feet.
Father Valentino and Friar Carl were locked in place, fear having an unbreakable grip on them as they witnessed the Left hand of God in the flesh being mauled by this adversary. The Friar clutched his chest with a groan, doing whatever he could to stop the weight of his pounding heart from dragging him to the floor, his body made an attempt at a gulp but he couldn't find the ability to even swallow. The monk could feel warm tears welling up in his eyes as he shook his head.
"H-holy shit…" Carl whimpered.
"Deus omnipotens…" Father Valentino gasped.
Van Helsing collapsed forward, but his dead weight would slump against Lord Ruthven, who held him upright with ease.
"I'm not done with you, Gabe." Lord Ruthven chuckled as he thrown him against the wall, pressing his hand against the throat of his wounded foe. The cruel gaze of the ancient vampire lingered terribly long over the mess of gore that was now Van Helsing's barrel chest. All that came out of Gabriel's mouth now was weak groans and croaks.
"Tell that Cardinal friend of yours that I send my regards…" Lord Ruthven taunted as he dug into his pocket to pull out an ornate dagger, the blade of which had been molded out of a meteorite, the blade was serrated and rough looking, and yet it was sharper than any sword crafted on Earth, even the most skilled bladesmith would be put to shame.
The vampire cocked his arm back, aiming for his enemy's heart and then…
Lord Ruthven dropped the dagger as a silver stake punched through his chest from behind. The vampire gasped as he watched as his own oily blood slowly dripped from the slickened weapon. Both of his hands grasped the stake as he took a step back with a gasp, powerless as Aidan rushed past him and grabbed Van Helsing as the monster-slayer collapsed into a seated position. By the time the vampire dislodged the blade with a sickening sound of tearing flesh and organic matter, his foes were already gone.
"Aidan…YOU TRAITOR!"
(Location: Vaseria)
Van Helsing groaned as his eyes were harassed by the blinding light of the sun's rays peeking in through the curtains, his arms reached up as he rubbed his rapidly blinking eyes, trying to turn over to face away from the light.
"Hold still for just a moment, would you?" Aidan asked as his image came into view, his hands were placed on the chest of his holy ally with a gentle touch. A blue glow shimmered around the warlock's hands with a nice aquamarine aura as a pulsating thrumming was heard.
Van Helsing watched through his half-lidded eyes as his wounded chest was slowly healed, it had no longer appeared as brutal as it did the night before, but it didn't look pleasant to see regardless. The red scars that still had some dried blood left on them quickly faded into itchy scabs with a blue glow to them, the monster-hunter went to scratch them, but Aidan batted his hands away.
"Don't touch, you'll reopen the wounds you idiot."
"Keep your filthy pagan hands off me…" Gabriel groaned as he inched backwards in the bed.
"It is pagan magic that is healing you, that friar friend of yours damn near had a panic attack once we got you to safety, so I'm doing him a favor." Aidan replied, continuing to use his healing abilities to nurse the battle scars on the chest of his friend.
The scabs turned into simple white lines on Van Helsing's tanned skin, just like the three white lines that ran diagonally down on the left side of his face, creating three fleshy marks through his stubble beard.
"So, you are trustworthy…I personally thought you would have left me for dead." Van Helsing taunted, shifting into a seated position on the edge of the bed, wincing as his bare feet touched an ice-cold floor.
"Eh, what can I say? Working for Lord Ruthven was fun, didn't pay me worth a shit though." Aidan said as he left the room, heading downstairs.
Van Helsing took some time to adjust to the abrupt change in his surroundings before heading downstairs back in his dark clothing including his famous black wide-brimmed fedora-like hat. To his dismay, all three of his allies were sharing a drink at the bar of this tavern and inn.
"Do you drunkards seriously think it's the time for a drink?" Van Helsing asked as he took a seat between Friar Carl and Father Valentino.
"Perfecto." Father Valentino said with a wink before taking another sip of red wine from his glass.
"Can you blame us, Van Helsing? We almost lost you for Pete's sake!" Carl chimed in.
"If we don't get that Blood Whistle in time, we're going to be standing tall before the Pope, only God knows what would happen afterwards." Father Valentino said, a hint of worry in his voice.
"He'll kick our fucking asses." Carl muttered, causing Van Helsing and Father Valentino to snap their attention to the swearing monk.
"HEY!" The two of them admonished their cussing friend in unison.
"Oh goodness gracious! Sorry…"
"Well, what are we going to do?" Aidan asked from the left of Carl, putting his drink down, the glass of wine connecting with the bar with a clink. "I never seen a man get so savagely beaten like you did, Gabe." The warlock teased.
"Well, I've got all three of you to help me, but you just sat and watched me get beaten down. You should have kicked your feet in the air and gave Ruthven the thumbs down while you were at it."
"Well, I've got this thing here, but you would have told me not to use it." Carl said as he pulled out the spherical device which shimmered with a strange light within the glass.
"I say we have this man use his unholy magic to teleport us to wherever the blazes Ruthven is, and we all stomp him down." Father Valentino suggested, nodding his head towards Aidan who rolled his eyes in response.
"Are you out of your mind? He's got an army of werewolves on his side and a golem!" Carl protested the priest's decision.
"Who's to say we can't have an army of our own?" Van Helsing asked, all three men looked towards him with puzzled expressions.
"Wha-what are you suggesting?" Carl chuckled nervously.
"Are you saying that we rally these villagers to fight with us? These guys shit their pants at the drop of a top hat." Aidan groaned.
"How about you teleport us back to the Vatican and we get the rest of the Knights of the Holy Order?" Father Valentino asked with a raised brow and a smug grin.
"If they see us with a warlock, we'll all be in trouble…" Carl sighed.
"I've got it." Van Helsing announced, once more all attention was on him. "Ruthven has an army of werewolves under his control…you know who else had an army of werewolves under their control?"
"Van Helsing…?" Carl whimpered, his intuition telling him that he wouldn't like the answer.
"Count Vladislaus Dracula." The monster-killer revealed with a grin, almost breaking out into a laugh, finding his own idea ridiculous, and he knew damn well how the others would react.
"ARE YOU CRAZY!?" Carl hollered.
"You…have lost your mind!" Father Valentino coughed after spitting his drink out.
"So let me get this straight, you're planning on resurrecting Dracula to start some sort of werewolf wa—"
"Oh I plan on resurrecting his brides too."
"I don't believe it!" Father Valentino exclaimed, standing up from his chair. "The Vatican's most loyal soldier, wants to resurrect a man who sold his soul to Satan in exchange for a chance of living again!"
"If they find out about this, Van Helsing…"
"They won't find out, Carl." The monster-hunter reassured his monk friend.
"So, what are you going to do when we defeat Ruthven, kill 'em a second time!?" Aidan asked aloud.
"Well, it would actually be the third time I've killed him if I do that…" Van Helsing laughed.
"We just can't let that monster and his sensuous women walk around scot-free!" Father Valentino boomed.
"If you think I'm going to let them run wild, you're sadly mistaken." Van Helsing said as he stood up, hands on the bar. "Look, I'm hesitant on doing this too, but the more people we have on our side, the more of a chance we have at ending this conflict with Ruthven quickly."
"Of course, Van Helsing. Let's just bring him and his brides in for some wine after you murdered them and their children!" Father Valentino continued to protest this zany idea.
"Dracula was once a brother in arms to me, he's fought alongside me before, and he'll do it again. I'll make sure of it."