Van Hell v2.0 Prologue

Van Hell v2.0 Prologue

Prologue – Beginning and End

December 21, 1999

Gabriel could feel his feet were growing heavy from the water on the legs of his pants, but, in all honesty, he wasn’t even registering the thought that he was running through the deep puddles.

He knew mud had splashed onto his face and his eyes. He had wiped some of it off as he ran, but he wasn’t bothered about looking pretty tonight. The damp, thick mud was cold on him where it stuck in his two weeks worth of new beard.

He hadn’t bothered with shaving, there was too much to worry about right now. He was lucky he had bothered even to shower in the last few days.

All that his mind was concerned with was Chloe.

She had gone missing nearly two weeks before tonight, taken from her apartment where Gabriel had hoped she would be safe.

He was wrong though.

Cursing himself as he pushed himself to run faster through the rain, he tried to shove the thoughts of guilt from his mind. Perhaps it was his fault for not being there to watch her.

Perhaps if he had just stayed close and kept a closer eye on her then she wouldn’t be in such a dangerous situation right now. Not a prisoner to these demons alone in the darkness.

And it was not just she who was in danger, but the unborn child in her womb.

If they had harmed her or their son, there would be hell to pay.

Narrowing his gaze on the dark house as it came closer through the heavy rain, Gabriel urged himself on. It was getting closer to midnight.

“We have to get there in time!” He called behind him to the five men who ran a few paces behind, trying to keep up with their team leader.

Even under the cover of their helmets, he knew they were just as worried, just as eager for the coming fight as he was. Within the house there were sure to be numerous demons and vampires. Creatures sent to stop them at any cost from hindering the ritual at hand.

With silent nods to his men, Gabriel turned back to the house and went up the porch steps. His sawed off shotgun at the ready as he came to the battered door of the estate.

Without so much as a hint of hesitation, he knocked down the door with one swift kick to the rotted wood.

The six men flooded the entryway to the manor, guns drawn as they fanned out, watching from all sides, but inside the manor all was dead. Nothing moved save a few scurrying rats and roaches and the only sound was the scratching they made as they left and the dripping of the water as it leaked from the cracks in the ceiling.

“Emery.” Gabriel called to one of the men who shot his glance to his leader instantly, though he stayed on guard, his micro Uzi at the ready.

“Sir?”

“We need to find her…quickly. Can you…sense anything…?”

The smaller man slowly nodded and moved his eyes towards a door at the end of the hall, just at the back of the stairs. “Her scent is faint, but it’s still here…they’ve taken her down to the basement, into the ground…”

“Lets go then.” Gabriel took a step down the hall, but on of his men stopped him, a hand on his arm.

“Gabriel, this could be a trap…We must be careful and keep our heads clear about this.” The man urged him, but Gabriel pulled his arm free of his grip and gave him a dangerous look.

“Samuel, my head is as clear as it can get when my wife and child are on the line…tell me you would not risk it all for your family…”

Samuel shut his mouth at that and let Gabriel go. He exchanged a look with Emery, one of helplessness, but in the end, they both followed their leader toward the basement door.

One by one, they filed down into the darkness of the basement until they stood at the foot of the stairs.

“Light, Carver.” Gabriel ordered and instantly, a spark from a flare filled the air then grew brighter to illuminate the dark, damp basement.

Around the uniformed men were cold, wet stonewalls lined with old metal shackles. A few women hung from these restraints, some lifeless, some looking to be sleeping, but all were dead.

The group made a few steps into the room before they halted once more, this time by a sight before them. As the light from the flare aimed on a corner of the room, a body came into view.

Naked and covered in blood was the body of a young woman. Her blonde hair hung wet around her, sticking to her face and breasts. Her wrists were raw and bloody where she hung limp from the ceiling in her metal restraints.

Gabriel stood motionless as he took in the sight of the dead woman, his jaw clenching in anger, his hands shaking at his side. The shotgun nearly sliding from his shaky grip.

Along the woman’s skin were numerous bite marks. They were heavy around her inner thighs and wrists and neck. She had been drained countless times it seemed. Bitten many times over the days.

He took a hesitant step forward and stopped when he saw Chloe’s eyes snap open. Her full chest heaving as a shaky hiss rattled out of her throat. She lifted her head and her eyes were lost, the pupils dilated as they filled the blood red irises that had once shone the most beautiful green.

Her lips parted to reveal sharp fangs, saliva dripping from them and clinging to her bloody tongue.

Gabriel could only stare at her silently as she hissed, his mind running rampant as he tried to find some answer in those eyes. Some spark of sanity…

Chloe…please…not you…

A pair of guns rose behind him, the soft sound of bullets being chambered reached his ears and he raised his hand to stop the two men before they would fire on his wife.

“Gabriel, she’s gone! There’s nothing you can do now! We’ve got to destroy her…”

He set his jaw as he heard them speak. They were right…his wife was lost. She was dead…

His eyes went to meet with those of his beloved once more and he mouthed a soft apology to whatever might have remained of her.

“Wait!”

Gabriel’s eyes shot to Emery as the young man yelled to them from the back of the group.

“Gabriel…there’s still life in here…the child. It’s still alive…”

“What?” Hushed whispers ran through the men in the basement. “But that’s impossible.”

Gabriel turned his attention back to the woman, his eyes going to her swollen belly. “Are you sure, Emery?”

The man nodded as he stepped forward to his leader’s side. “There’s a faint heartbeat still, Gabriel…it can still be saved.”

Without a word, Gabriel gave the younger man his weapon and reached for the hunting knife in the sheath on his belt. He stepped forward to his thrashing wife and sank the blade into her side.

Another whispered apology escaped his lips and he thrust his hands into the bloody cavity he had made with his knife. The newly made vampire screamed in agony as it fought against him, trying to strike at him with her fangs, but her chains kept her just at bay as he worked.

Within only a minute, he had pulled from her body a limp, lifeless form. He struggled with the bloody mess as he tied off its cord and severed it completely from his dead wife. She continued screaming, but he backed away, the blue child in his arms.

“Give it to me, Gabriel…” Emery came to his side and quickly took the child into his arms. Before Gabriel could protest, he slipped off into the group with the infant, swiftly wrapping it in a clean shirt as he went.

“Will it live, Emery…?” Gabriel mustered the words after a moment, but when he got no response, he turned back to where the man knelt on the basement floor, his lips gently over the child’s as he attempted CPR. His fingers gently pressing on the small chest of the baby.

“He’s doing his best, Gabriel…what about Chloe?” Samuel kept his voice soft, sympathetic as he spoke to his commander. “What would you like us to do, Sir?”

Gabriel looked between them all before taking a deep breath. “Leave us…I will handle my wife…”

“Are you sure, Gabriel?” One of the other men asked slowly, but when Gabriel picked up his sawed off shotgun once more, they knew their answer. Nodding to him, they retreated back up the basement stairs, leaving Gabriel and Emery.

A few moments later, two shots rang through the basement and the hissing and snarling of the vampiress was silenced.

Gabriel released the woman slowly from her restraints and laid her down on the basement floor, holding her to him for a moment before he felt her tissue give way and turn to dust and ash.

“I’m sorry, Chloe…I didn’t get to you soon enough…”

As he sat in silence on the floor, long moments passed before he heard another scream in the darkness of the basement, this time though, it was the wailing and coughing of an infant.

Moments later, Emery appeared by his side, the screaming child in his arms.

“Is it a vampire…?” Gabriel softly asked, not even looking at the child as his eyes went to the ashes that covered his hands.

“It’s too early to tell…” Emery looked down to the babe and then back to its father. “What will you call it?”

“Nikolai…” Gabriel said without hesitation as he stood to his feet.

“But, Gabriel…it’s a girl…” Emery stood to follow him, and Gabriel paused as he took the first step on the stairs, but then began taking them again without so much as a word.

“Gabriel, don’t you even want to see your child!?” Emery followed him to the foot of the staircase, but the hunter ignored him, disappearing upstairs and out of sight.

Sighing, Emery looked down to the crying child and shook his head. “He will love you, child…just give him time…your father has been through a great deal these past few days. You will bring joy back to him…you will bring him light in this coming darkness...” He softly smiled as the baby began to quiet down, exhausted already from its fight for life. “Sleep well, little Helsing…a great journey called life awaits you…”