Author's note: Hello everyone! I hope you are in mood for a fic that's a cross-over between Van Helsing and The Phantom of the Opera, because this is what this story is gonna be! We're gonna have most of the basic characters from both movies in it, and I promise the plot will be interesting! I'll probably change a few things from the movies to make them fit together. For example, the plot is set in 1888, despite the fact that the PotO was in 1870… Not such a big nuisance, this time transition, is it? Anyway, I'm gonna tell you when things change, so don't worry! Now read and enjoy, and please be as kind as to review!

Disclaimer: Painful to say, but I own neither Van Helsing nor the Phantom of the Opera… That's why I try to comfort myself by writing this story…

Summary: Erik, the Phantom of the Opera, is considered evil, and the Holy Order sends Van Helsing after him. But things turn weird when secrets come to surface and true Evil enters…

Rating: Rated T for the time being. Maybe later the rating will go up. Maybe.

Under The Veils Of The Night

Chapter 1

Rome, the Vatican City, 1888 A.D.

It was dawn when Van Helsing returned to Rome, and the sky was painted reddish and golden with the first glorious rays of the sun when he entered the Vatican City, and St. Peter's Cathedral. His mission in Paris was successful, at least in his eyes. Mr. Hyde was no more, even if that meant that he was dead. However, the hunter knew that Cardinal Jinette would not be entirely pleased, and it would not be the first time. He requested that Van Helsing brought back his targets alive, so that the Order could extricate their better half. But this could not be achieved most of the times, as it was impossible to reason with evil creatures. As a result, they ended up slaughtered by Van Helsing's hand. Still, the Cardinal would not seem to understand that.

Upon entering the confessional, he already knew what awaited him after he would have uttered his first words. He inhaled deeply and spoke.

"Bless me father for I…"

"Sinned, yes, I know. You are very good at that", came the Cardinal's expected comment. "You shattered the Rose window!"

"Well, not to split hairs here, but it was Mr. Hyde who did the shattering", Van Helsing protested with a humorous hint in his voice. The Cardinal ignored him.

"Thirteenth century. Over three hundred years old!", he lamented. "I wish you a week in Hell for that", he turned viciously to him.

"It would be a nice reprieve", the hunter snapped back, his eyes hard.

"Don't get me wrong… Your results are unquestionable, but your methods attract far too much attention. "Wanted" posters? We are not pleased!", he reprimanded the hunter.

"Do you think I like being the most wanted man in Europe? Why don't you and the Order do something about it?", he complained.

"Because we do not exist!", the Cardinal replied abruptly and opened the window that separated them.

"Well then neither do I!", Van Helsing snapped back and moved to exit the confessional, but right then Jinette pulled a lever and the exit was blocked by a metallic barrier.

"When we found you crawling up the steps of this church, half-dead, it was clear to all of us that you had been sent to do God's work", the Cardinal said and did the sign of the cross.

"Why can't He do it Himself?"

"Don't blaspheme!", he scolded Van Helsing, and, by pulling another lever, a secret door opened in the back of the confessional. "You already lost your memory as a penance for past sins. If you wish to recover it, I suggest you continue to heed the call", he told Van Helsing as he descended the stairs revealed behind the secret door. The hunter followed him. "Without us, the world would be in darkness. Governments and empires come and go... but we have kept mankind safe since time immemorial. We are the last defence against evil. An evil that the rest of mankind has no idea even exists", he continued his monologue as both of them walked inside a large room that looked like a chemical laboratory and was crowded with men of all kinds of religions.

"To you these monsters are just evil beings to be vanquished, but... I'm the one standing there when they die, and become the men they once were", Van Helsing said in a voice that sounded hard, but there was truly some pain hidden in it.

"For you, my good son, this is all a test of faith", the Cardinal tried to reassure Van Helsing, who looked at him rather wearily. "And now we need you to go to Paris", Jinette announced.

"What? Paris? I just came from there! You could have told me earlier!", the hunter protested.

"Yes, I know. But word came to us, while you were returning to Rome, that a strange creature has been plaguing the Opera House of Paris lately. It is believed to be a man, but we cannot be sure; no one has ever seen him, or at least no one has confessed to have seen him. Tales and legends go around about him, but the truth is that he has sent threatening notes to the managers of the theater and to their patron, as well as to Carlotta, the Prima Donna, signing them as "Opera Ghost"… People call him "The Phantom of the Opera"… He is believed to have sabotaged the Prima Donna's performances, and also said to have committed murder… Also the patron, the Viscount de Chagny, has complained that this creature poses a threat to Christine Daae…"

"Christine Daae?"

"The only daughter of the famous Violin player, Gustav Daae, who passed away years ago," the Cardinal explained as Christine's picture was projected on the wall. "Now she lives in the dormitories of the Opera House and is a ballerina. A ballerina with a singing voice that equals that of a talented soprano. The Phantom seems to be after her, but the police have been unable to track him. You understand that we must do something before things get out of control. He is believed to be evil, a creature of the darkness…"

"How can you be sure that he's evil?"

"He has committed murder, he does not appear under the light of the day, he threatens innocent people. Need more proof? Yes, we believe he is evil. However mysterious he might sound, he doesn't seem to be such a difficult target for you. You have… killed more dangerous creatures than the Phantom", the Cardinal said, stressing the word "killed". "We want the Phantom alive", he concluded and glared at Van Helsing, who simply narrowed his eyes and stared at the picture of Christine Daae. He disliked Jinette's reprimands. Wouldn't he ever be pleased? "So we decided that you should carry out this mission, before going after Dracula…"

"Dracula?", Van Helsing wondered and his attention was now back to the Cardinal.

"Yes, Dracula. Lording over Transylvania, an accursed land, terrorized by all sorts of nightmarish creatures… But we will talk about that when you return from Paris."

Having spoken thus, the Cardinal walked away, leaving Van Helsing to stare back at Christine's picture. Who was this so-called Phantom? And why did he plague the Opera House only and not the whole of Paris? Why did he act like that only lately? Wasn't he known before? And what did this have to do with this Christine Daae? Why was the Phantom after her? The hunter was sure that there was very much hiding behind the information the Cardinal gave him, and he was determined to find out all secrets…

Author's note: Ah, it's great to have two muses at a time! And my muses are Van Helsing and the Phantom, of course… I'm in love with both of them, lol! Okay to get serious now, Van Helsing is sent to "kill" the Phantom! Oh, I hate Jinette! How can he consider Erik evil??? I wanna see what will happen when Van Helsing gets to Paris and meets the Phantom! Do you not? If you do, review and the second chapter will come up soon!