Warning: Please take note of this now before you continue reading! This story contains SPOILERS for the movie Van Helsing. If you have not yet seen the movie and DO NOT want the ending to be revealed, I suggest you don't read this. But if you feel like you want the story ruined, than be my guest. Just don't take it out on me if you now know the ending of the movie.
Disclaimer: The characters and concepts in this story pertaining to the movie Van Helsing are the property of Stephen Sommers. This is an amateur effort with no intention of infringement of copyright policies. This story is for entertainment purposes only.
Additional Disclaimer: The character Morgan le Faye and all references involving the character are the property of the authors of all books about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. This is, once again, an amateur effort with no intention of infringing on copyright policies. This story is for entertainment purposes only.
Summary: Van Helsing's second mission leads him to London where he must match wits with one of the most powerful sorceresses in the world, Morgan le Faye.
Timeline: Directly after the movie Van Helsing. Also deals with flashbacks to before the movie, namely the past that Gabriel can't remember.
Van Helsing 2: Shards of Avalon
Chapter 1: Another Day In The Life Of
There was no time for pleasantries, but Gabriel Van Helsing could not recall a time when there was time for anything other than business between he and Cardinal Jinette. The man was a walking stone, completely void of any other thoughts besides God's will. As well, Van Helsing could probably not think of an enjoyable conversation between them while there was work to be done.
His recovery time was oddly fast, as it had always been for him. The bite marks on his chest from the werewolf healed into a large area of white scar tissue on his chest. The bruises on his back eventually stopped swelling and began to shrink back to their normal size. The scrapes and scratches that lined his body from his tumble through Dracula's tower were beginning to create tiny lines across his body, crisscrossed fine white lines where bloodied cuts had once been.
He and Carl arrived back in Rome without much delay following Anna's funeral pyre. Their horses were swift across the varying landscapes of Europe, through dark forests with paths that merged with the trees every now and then to confuse the riders and vast fields with nothing ahead, behind out to the sides of them. The open spaces felt free to him, the chains of the order unbinding him and dropping off his limbs and for hours he could have been a vampire himself and still felt blissfully free.
"You're mission was to protect the last of the Valerious's, not destroy the bloodline." Cardinal Jinette said, leading Van Helsing back down the stone staircase and into the underground of the Vatican. Gabriel maneuvered himself through the lines of Friars and Monks as he kept up with Jinette.
"It was not my intention."
"Well, it would be a first for you to have an intention to not kill something." Jinette said. Van Helsing found his words rather harsh. He closed his mouth. "I assume that Dracula has been destroyed?"
"Yes."
"And you are suffering no ill effects from your travels?"
"No. None that I'm aware of." He answered quickly, following behind Jinette as a hound would follow its master, nipping at the heels of its owner impatiently. He dismissed the analogy. It made him feel more bound to the place he was trapped in.
"Then the council has found a new mission for you." Jinette said quickly.
It would be fitting that they would have something else to keep him occupied. Gabriel could remember few times in the past four years where he had nothing to do. The council liked to keep him busy. It seemed to be a test they shared amongst their members: What can we possibly get Gabriel Van Helsing to do next?
They seemed to enjoy having him out of their hair for weeks and sometimes months (depending on travel and health conditions). It gave them the opportunity to relax again, knowing the monsters of the world were being destroyed and they didn't have a menace like Gabriel Van Helsing in their midst. He was out killing heathens and monsters alike, Satan's servants, and those who were true followers of evil.
They gave Van Helsing a sickening feeling in his stomach. To sense evil was to look into a creature's soul and feel their sins and the intent behind them. And he hated every second of being able to feel like he was under the control of a darker force.
The darkened confines of the councils' 'headquarters' surrounded him as he and the Cardinal walked down the steps, Carl bumbling behind them before taking off to his own little work station to continue working on new 'toys' for Gabriel. Jinette lead Van Helsing for briefing at the slide projector once again, immediately showing him a rough sketch of what seemed to Van Helsing to be a murder scene. Dark pencil sketched in the outlines of gashes and stab wounds on the victim's body, blood scribbled in pools over the floor.
"Seven people murdered in London over the past four days." Jinette began, arms crossed behind his back and head up in the air. His eyes glanced from the drawing to Van Helsing who moved to his side, looking over the picture before the slide was changed to a portrait of a broad sword. "Each of them collectors of ancient weapons, in particular Celtic weaponry, and each of them had one piece of their collection missing after they were killed."
"And I'm supposed to do what? Track down antiques?" He asked, slightly confused over his purpose in such a case. It didn't seem typical for him to get something so normal and straightforward. Usually the victims were drained of blood or mangled beyond compare before he was sent in to do his job. He was not hired as a public investigator for a common civilian crime.
"The murders are not random acts for antiques, Gabriel. They are consistent with the arrival of a ship carrying a sorceress named Morgan le Faye." The slide changed to a portrait of a woman, cold eyes staring from under a layer of darkened curls. Her face was frozen, timeless and expressionless, eyes locked with Gabriel Van Helsing's for the time being. "She arrived in England and was not heard of again after she left the ship she arrived on."
"She arrived by ship?"
"After traveling through France, also resulting in the deaths of several famous collectors."
"So she likes swords."
"A clue for your investigation, I hope, since you are going to England to stop her."
Gabriel had nothing more to say. Just another day in the life of…he thought to himself, taking one last glance at the picture before going to find Carl.
Author's Notes: I am not a perfectionist. I realize that there are going to be mistakes. I would appreciate some constructive criticism if anyone can help me to improve. Although I love good reviews, having something to work at in later chapters is always a blessing.
Flaming is never nice to get, but if you feel the need to berate me, do so in an e-mail. My address is shadowkitten150hotmail.com. Any comments will be read and treated with as much respect as I can muster for them. I don't condone flaming under any circumstances.
Thank you and please review with anything: Thoughts, ideas, opinions, and most definitely constructive criticism.
Also the following chapters will be longer. This was just to post to see if anyone can give me some pointers on how to improve. Thank you for reading!