Hybrid

The sun had already performed its grand finale as it danced behind the impenetrable bell towers of the Catholic Church on the west square. The sky’s pink aura was rapidly giving way to blue and Venus could be seen shining steadily like the peephole of heaven as the people of Rome headed home after the long hours of the day. The musky smell of night grew stronger upon the cold stone roads and the growing lavender. As Gabriel Van Helsing and the good Friar Carl neared the majestic church, their bells rang the evening hour of nine o’clock.
They entered the sculpted chapel doors and knelt just inside the entrance, giving their modest yet respectful prayer to the holy place. The stain glass windows of saints and salvation glowed breathtakingly in the twilight of the sun’s departure, and the rest of the room was lit softly by a thousand candles, making the place shine gold. Save for a homeless woman asleep upon one of the benches, there was no one else in the church save themselves. Helsing entered the confessional, and in a moment he gestured for Carl to join him, and after the other they both walked through the secret entrance into the lair where study, invention and council all took place. In the dim candlelight, they could see there were still a good number of monks awake and working; some were sitting at the bubbling and simmering laboratories, others were working metal, and some were reading/translating text written in forgotten languages.
They were quickly greeted by a slim and younger monk who had placed Helsing on a pedestal of heroism ever since he first met him. Helsing thought him a little naïve and overly attentive at times, but he was on a whole a good lad and he tried to kindly tolerate the attention.
“Welcome back Senior Helsing, Brother Carl,” he greeted them politely. “Was your trip uneventful?”
“Indeed, and quite appreciatively so,” replied Carl.
“I am glad to here it. The Cardinal wishes to speak to Senior Helsing alone, Friar, but may I take your things to your room?” he offered.
“You may take this,” Helsing said as he handed him a brown leather sack of his clothes and other essentials, but kept his bag of weapons in hand. “Thank you, Brother Romeros.”
“My pleasure, Senior Helsing,” with that, Romeros took Carl and Helsing’s bag to the corridor of chambers where the monks slept and where Helsing’s room lay.
Helsing turned and walked toward the back where Cardinal Jinette could be found nine times out of ten, and this was no exception. There he sat, crouched over another dusty old book with small rimmed glassed upon his eyes and a lamp upon his desk. Before he could even speak, the Cardinal spoke first.
“I take it the German werewolf has been taken care of?” he said.
“It has.”
The Cardinal sat up straight and removed his glasses as he rose from his chair. His face cleanly shaven and his robes astoundingly clean, even though the place could get very messy very quickly. He looked over Van Helsing’s grubby attire and noticed his pugnant smell with a soft sniff, but said nothing on the subject.
“Was Carl much trouble?” the Cardinal asked.
Though he was tempted to say differently; “No, he was no trouble at all. His inventions were very helpful.”
“So the silver rifle was a success?”
“Yes.”
“Very well, I’ll have more of them made.” The Cardinal leaned on his desk and picked up the dusty book he had been reading. “Tell me, Helsing; have you ever heard of a man by the name of Doctor Armin Lorenz?”
Helsing thought for a moment then shook his head, “Not that I know of.”
“He was a little known scientist of the 17th century of Switzerland. He supposedly was studying the hereditary phase of genetics.”
“In the 1600’s?” Helsing was baffled. “But, the theory just came out on paper a few months ago.”
“Yes, a man by the name of Mendel, I know. Even though Lorenz didn’t actually figure out the system, he came very close in his lifetime in an age where such things were not looked into.”
“So, he failed to figure out how plants’ traits were passed down, what’s you’re point?”
“My point is, Gabriel,” Helsing’s ears twitched. Cardinal Jinette only used his first name when things were serious, “that Lorenz wasn’t investigating the hereditary traits of plants, but of werewolves.”
Helsing’s expression was the only response the Cardinal needed before moving on.
“There was a police report in Geneva in 1636 about a ‘large dog attack’ that killed a man in the streets on the night of the new moon. No one saw the attack, save that of Armin Lorenz. The animal was never caught, at least not that they found, but Lorenz became obsessed with werewolves ever since. All his colleagues thought him insane of course, and was soon ‘retired’ from the science council.”
“But that didn’t stop him,” interrupted Helsing, “did it?”
The Cardinal shook his head. “He made his way to France, stopping in Germany on the way. There he took up residence in a small village in Bretagne. He built a large manor there and hardly went to town; a servant would always so the shopping for him. In October, 1667, there was a fire at the manor that killed Lorenz and burned the house to the ground. The servant was arrested for the crime and most of his master’s work burned with the rest. Only bits and pieces were found intact.” He indicated the book in his hand. “That’s what this is: a collection of scraps of paper that contained his notes.” He handed the book to Helsing, who in turn gently took it and gingerly looked at each one. He could read Swiss and the man’s penmanship had been very good.
“Where were these found?” asked Helsing.
“In his manor. They were found while one of the Church’s agents was collectin data. But it was forgotten over time, until now.”
“What is this ‘specimen’ he keeps referring to?” Helsing asked.
“We think he had a werewolf captured in his home, and was studying it.” The Cardinal pointed to a passage in one of the papers. “This reads ‘…seems to be driven mad with hunger and for blood. The specimen is unaware of its actions later on, but has dreams later on. The moon…’ That’s where it ends.”
Helsing studied the paper with a frown. “Seems an odd thing to say about a werewolf. ‘unaware of its actions later on’ and ‘dreams’…even if he was studying it, how would he know such things?”
“All valid points. Now I want you to see something else that is even more important.” The Cardinal lifted another paper, this time from his desk, and gave it to Helsing.
It read ‘With the birth of this creature, against the very nature of being, I have challenged the will of God. I have created a life. An entity of the world of monsters and the world of man: a werechild. Sired of myself, the monster that possesses the mother, together we have a specimen of perfection that will reveal a true power of heredity, and parentage.’
“Do you mean to tell me,” said Helsing slowly, “that Lorenz sired a child from a werewolf?”
“That’s what we believe. And there were reports of howling and other strange noise coming from there if people were around, though not many were. Gossip rumored it was haunted or that Lorenzo was a werewolf.”
“But that can’t be possible. Beyond the…revolting image this brings to mind, how could such a thing take place? After the first full moon, the victim is forever more a werewolf. There is no way he could impregnate it; it’s an entirely different species. Are you sure there is any actual evidence of a child, and not just this man’s lunacy? Unless…” Helsing stopped, and the Cardinal nodded in agreement.
“You are thinking of the cure that saved your life. Yes, we figure Lorenzo must have had something similar for such an act to take place. Before the…” the Cardinal paused with a quick look at Helsing “ incident two years ago, we would not have believed such a thing possible. But now…
“The point is, if he truly succeeded in this, and no bodies besides that of Lorenzo himself were found after the fire, then the child could still be alive.”
“After two –hundred years? Isn’t it possible,” said Helsing, “that the child could have died? And what of the ‘mother’? For all we know, they could both be alive or dead.”
“We are uncertain of the mother, but we believe the child survived. There have been two reports of a werewolf, both of the same description. The first was in Persia, and the latest came in four days ago from Austria. Same story: large wolf attacks village and kills first four in Persia, then three people in Austria. They sent hunters, but they either couldn’t find it, or were killed. After both full moons, there was no sign of the wolf again in that area.”
“What makes you think that this werewolf is the same child?”
“One thing the hunters have found is that the werewolf is unaffected by silver. It doesn’t do any better than a regular bullet. We figure that if there is any werewolf that would have such immunity, it would have to be this creature.”
An immunity to silver. This wasn’t going to be an easy job. It was hard enough to kill one of those things with silver. He knew for a fact what it was like to be in such a frenzy, in such a destructive rage that nothing, not humanity, nor love or logic could interfere. He knew… “Where was it last seen?”
“The last hunter tracked it to about our border till he lost it. I believe it wouldn’t be too far off the mark to suggest that it is heading for Italy. Day after tomorrow you are to leave for the border and meet him there. Together you will track the beast and destroy it using whatever means necessary.”
Helsing nodded and turned to walk away.
“And Gabriel,” Helsing stopped at the Cardinal’s voice. “I’m sorry to send you away just after you arrived, but this is important.”
“I know,” he responded passively.
“Good night then.”
“Good night.”
The bells announced the quarter hour until the night drifted into silence once more.