Chapter 54: Van Helsing
"Another ghoul attack." Iris said as she read another report, which gave her headache. She took a sip of her coffee to help with sleepiness as it is getting dark and she has worked since morning.
"Hm? Corpses of ghouls found on the streets. Is this good news? Or…" Iris muttered as she suspected that Shadow Garden are the ones slaying these ghouls because she received no reports from the Knight Order nor the mercenaries the kingdom hired about these particular ghouls, which means they were slain by an unknown third party.
While she is grateful for them helping the kingdom much with fighting the zombies during the day her father was killed and now helping with the ghouls, she still didn't trust such shadowy organization that operates independently and outside the kingdom's influence.
To her, Shadow Garden, the Cult and the Reaper Squad are the same, dangers to her kingdom.
"But I shouldn't act rashly. I've made that blunder before…" Muttered Iris as she recall the time she fought against that Shadow Garden member who didn't even retaliate but instead tried to calm her down and even minimized some of the damages that Iris would've caused to the city.
"Haaah… Is this how you feel, father? Is this why you're indecisive about how to deal with these powerful entities?" She muttered again as she rested her head on the desk.
"Ohh… father… What should I… we do?"
"Haahh.. That idiot brother of mine! I told him to wait in his dorm and I'll pick him up by nightfall yesterday but he already went elsewhere! Where the hell is he!?" Exclaimed Claire as she run around the dark abandoned streets of the capital searching for her brother.
The recent vampire and ghoul attacks made the streets become completely deserted at night. Only some Knight Order members and Bushin Festival participants who were hired as mercenaries were dispatched to patrol the streets at night in order to reduce the number of ghouls in the streets.
Claire one-sidedly promised to meet up with her brother yesterday to go on a vampire hunt in order to increase his battle experience, but as usual he avoided her. She is once again running across the streets looking for him.
She entered a dark alley and saw a scantily dressed woman standing in the street as if waiting for someone.
"Ughh… Did I accidentally enter the Red Light District?" Muttered Claire in disgust as she went to another direction. But before she can leave the street, she was blocked by the scantily dressed woman from earlier.
"Leaving so soon, my dear?" Said the woman wearing seductive dress.
"Move it, you whore! I'm looking for my brother and I have no time for you!" Exclaimed Claire.
"How rude. Though perhaps I could help you find him?" The woman said ominously.
"Hmm… Then have you seen a boy with black hair and black eyes with innocent looking face?"
"Can't say I have. I've… devoured plenty of boys matching that description. Maybe part of him is in here somewhere?" The woman said as she pointed to her stomach, which Claire mistook as her pointing at her womb.
"Y-You slut! Impossible! My brother will not be seduced by a whore like you!" Shouted Claire in disbelief.
"Ah… It seems that we're not at the same page here. But that's fine. To be honest, I prefer preying on young girls rather than young boys. Especially ones as cute as you." The woman said while licking her lips seductively while taking a step forward.
"Ughh…! I'm not interested!" Exclaimed Claire as she took a step back, feeling as if the woman in front of her is a threat to her purity.
"That's a shame. Because you don't have a say in the matter, young miss." The woman said as she bared her fangs, which made Claire realized that the woman is a vampire.
"A Vampire!?" Exclaimed Claire but realization hits her too late as the woman is already behind her, grabbing her shoulders and sunk her fangs on her neck before Claire could react.
"No…! Cid…!" Muttered Claire as she slowly lost her consciousness.
"Such a cute little specimen. Your blood is so sweet too. Don't worry. I shall share with you my blood, my dear." Whispered the vampire, Carmilla, as she cut her own wrist and forced Claire to drink her blood.
"Drink, my dear. And become my thrall."
"This is bad! I'm too late for the appointment with my sis! But I guess that's fine. She can wait for a few minutes." I said while leisurely walking back to my dorm after purchasing some stuff for my next Shadowbroker act.
"Though… this has really put some dent to my wallet. If only there are more bandits to rob… Is there a city full of bandits where I can rob anyone in broad daylight and no one bats an eye?" I muttered as I arrived at my dorm, expecting to see a very angry sister… only to find no one around.
I asked around the dorm and Po (Skel is currently working off his debt somewhere so he's not here) said that she had been looking for me and left after learning that I wasn't home. Oopsie?
"Oh well. I suppose I should go look for her."
"C-Cid! Do y-you think you could arrange-"
"Nope." I rejected Po immediately. Sorry my mob friend but I did that for your sake.
I walked the streets leisurely before I started smelling blood. How exciting! I immediately put on my new outfit and went to the direction of the blood smelling street.
"Heh heh heh. That's a good girl. Oh how greedy you are drinking my blood like that." I whispered to the sweet black haired girl as I kept feeding her my blood… though I noticed that her transformation into a Nosferatu is slow, hence I kept feeding her more blood. She's gonna owe me a lot for this.
Now, what was her name again? No. She never introduced herself. It doesn't matter now though. Her old name and life doesn't matter anymore. From now on, her name is Laura. Yes. That's a nice name for my thrall. Though… why is that name so familiar?
I kept feeding her blood until suddenly…
"Urgh… why does it smell like garlic all of a sudden!?" I dropped the girl to the ground as I covered my nose with my hand.
"Huh!?" I suddenly felt goosebumps. A terrible presence emerged out of thin air behind me.
"Who's there!?" I turned back and saw the figure of a white haired and moustached middle aged man wearing a monocle, a brown coat, a necklace with silver cross hanging on it and a fedora hat.
"I am Van Helsing, slayer of vampires and hunter of the night." The man said ominously. That annoying attitude reminds me so much of Mary back when I was her prey. But I am no longer the prey!
"A vampire hunter, eh? How arrogant. You mortals claim to be a hunter without realizing that you are the prey here!" I said while brandishing my blood sword and moved to attack him.
He blocked my blade effortlessly with a… silver sword!? He thinks he can stop me with mere silver? But his strength… Is he even human!?
While my blade is locked with his (I should add that I'm holding my blade with two hands and he's using only one hand!), he brandished a second silver sword with his other hand. I let him slash me with the silver sword, which shouldn't—
"HYAAAAAAHHHH!" It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!
"What the hell!? What is that magic!? Why does it hurt so much!?" I shouted, feeling the burns from his magic coated silver blade. The wound refuse to heal even though normally such a shallow cut should be healed in an instant.
"Ughh!" This man is dangerous! I must retreat! I sent several blood spears after him, which he sliced apart easily but that is enough distraction for me to escape with mist form.
"Hmm… She escaped again. I'd chase her but…" I looked at my sister. Her neck has been bitten. And before I arrived I saw her being forced to drink that vampire's blood. This is the scenario in which my sister falls prey to a vampire and I, as the vampire hunter, will save her! After that I'll say some cryptic lines and disappear! Leaving her with more questions than answer!
"But first. Let's see if I can do anything about the invasive vampire blood in her. Hmm…" I muttered as I imbue my eyes with magic to see the foreign blood invading her body.
"Hmm…" Interesting reaction. Her own blood is actively rejecting the vampiric blood, more than I thought possible. I suppose I could let sis do her own thing for now.
I lifted her in a princess carry and brought her to her dorm room (through the window of course). I set her up on the bed before I felt two familiar presences entering the room through the window as well.
"Who are you!?" Said Beta as she brandished her sword and pointed it against me.
"I am Van Helsing. Slayer of vampires and hunter of the night."
"A vampire hunter? But I've never heard of you before!" Said Mary, the vampire hunter who inspired me to wear this outfit and create this alter ego.
"What's happening with Miss Claire?" Beta asked warily.
"That vampire woman gave this girl her blood, which would eventually transform her into a vampire." I answered.
"What…? I've never heard of… anything like that!" Exclaimed Mary.
"That… vampire woman was different from any vampires you've faced before. She was a true undead, a Nosferatu, a creature who has overcame death and was reborn a true immortal." I gave her some bogus explanations based off my knowledge of fictional vampires from my old world.
"That's… true…!" Despite being a real professional vampire hunter, she believed me just like that?
"Then what should we do to prevent Miss Claire from being turned into a vampire permanently!?" Asked Beta with concern. She seemed to believe me too. As expected of Beta's acting skills.
"I sensed her blood fighting against the vampiric blood currently infecting her body. It will take some time before the transformation becomes permanent. For now we must give her blood transfusion and place a lot of garlic around her to help her fight off the vampiric blood." I said as I pulled out a garlic necklace and put them on Claire's neck.
"Why garlic?" Asked Mary. Seriously? You're a professional vampire hunter and you didn't know vampires are repulsed by garlic? Maybe vampires of this world are not affected by garlic? I must improvise!
"For vampires… or at least the breed of vampires I hunt, garlic is a poison. It should ward off not only the vampire woman who preyed on her but also the vampiric blood inside her." I said bogus things based off my knowledge of the Dracula novel, which I never told Beta because she wasn't a fan of horror.
"Will that… stop the vampiric blood?" Asked Beta.
"No. The only permanent way to stop the transformation is to kill the vampire who sired her. And we must do it before she fully transforms."
"Which means… we must kill that vampire woman!" Exclaimed Beta.
"Correct." I confirmed. Whether it's true or not… well, I'll just cure her like I did her Possession if things go wrong. From what I've seen, it shouldn't be that hard.
"Mr. Van Helsing. It seems that your knowledge is indispensable in fighting these vampires. I even saw you effortlessly drove that vampire away. I am Beta of Shadow Garden."
"And I'm Mary, the Ancient Vampire Hunter."
"I know who you both are." I said while grinning mysteriously. That got Beta to react a bit.
"H-How well informed you are Mr. Van Helsing… even though we have no idea who you are until today. A-Anyway… I'm extending you an invitation to join our alliance." Beta said.
"An alliance?"
"Yes. We need to cooperate to fight all these vampires. My master predicted the Red Moon approaching and Miss Mary confirmed it to be true. This is no longer a problem that a single man can handle. Will you join us?" She said as she extended her hand.
"Very well. Let us fight the night creatures together." I shook her hand in agreement. Heh heh heh. Excellent. Now I can do my Shadowbroker thing without the Shades scolding me or telling me to rest. But what's with that red moon she talked about? Is it somehow important to the plot?
Author's Note:
Gonna make some classic vampire novel scenarios before we get to the main event, which is the Red Moon.
Also, Iris is getting wiser, learning from her mistakes.
Cid hasn't learned of the existence of Lawless City just yet.
Rhaveno: im wondering what necromancer was playing in the pipe organ. anyways im guessing claude is going to have a slight breakdown when he realizes hes not as apathetic as he believed himself to be
Answer: He was playing Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.
Well, he sort of realized it back during his second fight against Shadow.
Wholesome07: Bruh, is that organ reference to season 2 ep. 11? The one Shadow playing Boss Music OST?
Answer: No. He was playing Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. I always intended for him to play pipe organ like a classic horror villain.