THE GENTLEMEN'S CLUB
Abraham

Written by Lady Poetess
egiggles at moose-mail.com
/~bbp

Please do not reproduce on any website without permission. This
story has no resemblance to anyone dead or alive.




PROLOGUE

Hard muscular flesh glistened in the dim light as harsh
guttural sounds of pleasure soared over the discordant
sounds of the club outside the room. The violent creaks of
the table accompanied the violent moans of the two men
savagely moving their hips in an age-old dance of lust. The
man driving that impossibly thick cock into the abused anus
of the man under him was twice as large in size, his huge
corded muscles straining with the effort as his hips pumped
into the man under him in graceful and forceful rhythm that
contrasted starkly with the sounds of pleasure coming from
his well-formed and sensual lips. Each impact of his heavy
ball sac against the buttocks of his lover caused the lover
to cry out in pleasure-pain while the table creaked and the
sound of flesh slapping against wet and feverish flesh
filled the room.

As the man thrashing under this Herculean specimen felt his
control break, he opened his mouth wide. In the dim light,
his fangs seemed to take on an eerie luminance as he
prepared to sink them into the vulnerable length of the
muscular neck of his lover. "Et in spiritum sanctum, dominum
et vivificantem, qui ex patre filioque procedit," the man at
the top whispered as his right hand clamped around the
vampire's neck with breakneck strength. He pulled his cock
out of the vampire with a violent suddenness that caught the
vampire by surprise. The vampire could move faster than the
human eye could see but this lover of his was even stronger
than his physique suggested. This man had the vampire face
down, one hand pushing the vampire's face into the pillow as
that cock of his once more speared the vampire's ass. Being
taken from behind now, unable to see despite using his
inhuman strength to try and break free from that man's hold,
the vampire's snarl of fury was muted into the pillow. The
man continued fucking the vampire's ass and the vampire's
body couldn't resist succumbing to the pleasure that man was
giving him. His control break and his rising terror mingled
with pleasure he had never experienced this intense in the
short two centuries he had roamed the earth. As that man's
cock shafted him and hot molten cum flooded his violently
convulsing ass, the vampire howled in his powerful orgasm.
He couldn't feel the pain when the impact of lover's fist
against his chest tore through layers of muscle and bone. He
was already beyond feeling when his lover withdrew his
bloody fist from the carnage of the vampire's chest.

He was the slayer. Abraham Van Helsing flung the vampire's
cold heart down onto the torn body of his victim and coldly
studied the gory mess on the table. After centuries of
seducing and killing the vampires that walked the earth, he
no longer had any emotions to experience after each
successful hunt. He was the first vampire hunter and he
would never rest - or be allowed to rest - until he had
hunted down the father of the vampires. With Dracula's
death, only would the vampire line be extinct. New vampires
could be sired and Abraham would kill them but as long as
Dracula existed, the vampire bloodline would always
continue. Only with that foul demon's destruction would all
the vampires be destroyed for it was his unholy hunger and
demonic force that passed for soul that kept them walking
the earth hungering for blood. The vampire who had died
under him was just another one of the thousands of vampires
that he had killed. He had kept the blissfully ignorant
mortals safe from this one vampire but that deed was nothing
as long as Dracula continued to exist.

Reciting the prayers that he knew from memory, he rolled the
corpse of the vampire slowly fell prey to the decay that had
kept at bay from its long dead body by Dracula's life force
that had abandoned it the moment Abraham ripped the
vampire's heart out of its chest. Soon all that was left of
the vampire was a small stain on the table, the dust that
was left of its existence scattering across the room the
moment Abraham opened the door to make his exit.



ONE

Dr Robert Sean Leonard felt almost human that New Year eve
night when he was forced to forgo the celebrations he had
planned for that day (a good night's walk through the worst
crime-infested part of the city where he would hopefully get
to drain the blood completely from some crack dealer or two
before settling in for the rest of the night with a good
book, preferably that first edition of Chaucer that he had
purchased from Christien Anholt for a sum equivalent to two
months' pay). It was New Year eve, after all, a time for
celebration and also an unfortunate time when drunks drove
on the streets, desperate criminals struck, and the hospital
bustled with more activity than its staff could handle. When
2005 passed on and 2006 arrived, Robert was surrounded by
pain and misery with the scent of fresh blood giving him a
jolt of alertness better than adrenaline ever could, and he
was feeling damned good.

Sure, he was also hungry as hell due to the presence of
blood all around him, but he wasn't some fledgling vampire
who couldn't control his hunger. He had even gone without
blood for two weeks once just to test how far his body could
stand being deprived of nourishment, although he was so weak
at the end of the period that he could barely walk straight.
He wouldn't recommend that experiment on anyone. He had to
hunt two times at the end of the period and had the cops
suspecting that a serial killer was at loose when seven dead
bodies showed up in the space of one night drained
completely of blood. Robert had lost control that one time
in the sixty or so years he had existed in this world as a
vampire and he still felt a twinge of remorse at how much
unnecessary work he had put the cops and the FBI through.
They couldn't trace the bodies back to him, of course, and
that was a blow to their reputations that Robert didn't
wanted to fall on them.

He wasn't a good guy. He didn't see himself as some cool
vampire like some Anne Rice hero either. The humans around
him would be surprised to know that he could walk in
sunlight, he could tan like the rest of them, he loved
garlic, he hadn't prayed in a long time but he didn't mind
walking into a shrine or temple of any religion, and he was
wearing a crucifix right now because he liked how it looked
on a chain against his neck. Robert didn't like killing
people but he didn't want to die either so he fed on people
that nobody would miss, like criminals, killers, and other
kinds of victims that no one would miss too much. That was a
safety measure for him instead of a moral one. He didn't
want his life to be disrupted by people trying to hunt him
down.

He was a doctor when he was attacked and turned by a vampire
who sneaked into the hospital in 1948. He still looked like
that brilliant and handsome young doctor that he was back in
1948 although he had many identities since then. One thing
constant about him was that he was always a doctor. He loved
his job, although the irony of his situation was not lost on
him. He was, after all, man's biggest predator in a work
dedicated to saving man's life. He was the wolf in the sheep
pen. He secretly enjoyed smelling and seeing the agony and
diseases around him even as he worked his ass and brain off
eliminating them.

"Happy fucking New Year, everybody," Dr Linden Ashby said as
he threw his head back and gulped down the apple juice
bought from the cafeteria. "It's nice spending ten seconds
of partying with you guys but I have to get back to work."

"It's been a pleasure," said Dr Alexis Denisof dryly as he
ran his hands wearily through his hair.

As three doctors who also happened to be openly gay, Robert
instinctively bonded better with them the moment he stepped
foot in here as a new doctor who supposedly had just
graduated from medical school. Linden looked more like a
rugged action hero than a doctor and he had charm and
patience to make him a popular resident while Alex was dry,
sarcastic, arrogant, and tolerated by the others only
because he was so fucking smart that he was studying to be a
neurosurgeon, working in this hospital, and lecturing at
John Hopkins where he was also studying. Robert had never
seen someone who was a better medical prodigy than Alex.
Alex, unfortunately, was aware of how smart he was and he
rarely let people forget that. It was Linden's easy-going
way with people that allowed that man to overlook aspects of
Alex that offended people and became Alex's best friend and
supporter in the hospital.

But it wasn't Alex that bothered Robert. It was Alex's
boyfriend Luke. Luke Wilson, in fact, was walking towards
them right now. Alex smiled, a genuine smile, as he stood up
to kiss Luke welcome. Luke brought some dinner - or what
would have been dinner since it was now past midnight -
which he often did whenever Alex called home and told the
man that he was caught up with work in the hospital. Luke
was nice enough to bring enough food for Alex to share with
others, which was why he was allowed more access to Alex
than any ordinary person would be given, but Luke was no
ordinary person.

The first time Robert and Luke encountered each other, they
both knew what the other person was. When Alex unfortunately
left them alone, Luke nearly ripped Robert's heart out of
his chest. Robert, as a vampire, could never hope to stand
against the holy powers of an angel, and Luke, even as a
fallen angel who had lost all of his powers, had enough
residual strength to pin Robert to the floor before Robert
could even react. Alex's return forced them to pull apart
before Luke succeeded in destroying Robert completely, but
Luke had warned Robert that should any harm befall Alex, he
would finish the job. Luke would have destroyed him anyway,
Robert suspected, if Luke hadn't seen Robert working his ass
off here and reluctantly believed Robert's assertions that
he wasn't going to harm the people who came to him for help.
But even now, there was animosity between them. The scars of
Luke's fingers of the wound that ran three inches deep into
Robert's chest itched as Luke turned his wary eyes on
Robert. Robert fought the urge to scratch at his chest scars
as he smiled at Luke. He didn't mind Luke but he couldn't
help being intimidated by someone who could destroy him. It
wouldn't even a fair fight, damn it, because his own
strengths as a vampire could never come close to being equal
to Luke's severely diminished strengths.

Robert took his leave of those two so that Luke could enjoy
being with Alex in peace. In a way, he envied those two.
Since meeting Luke, he began to wonder whether the divine
authorities, which he now knew to exist, would somehow
listen to him if he wanted to ask them to see how he wasn't
a typical vampire like his bloodthirsty kin and allow him to
find a companion to spend the rest of eternity with. Anne
Rice was right about one thing when it came to vampires:
being one meant living a bloody lonely existence, especially
when he was not like the other vampires. He didn't believe
that it was his place to rule the humans. Hell, he didn't
want to rule over anything at all! All his life he wanted to
be a doctor and save lives so that he would prevent the
unnecessary deaths of his parents and sister from happening
again and being turned into a vampire never dampened his
ambitions. He would never be someone destined for great
things like Alexis even if he might be almost as brilliant
as that man, but he was okay with that because he didn't
want fame or recognition, just a chance to save a life that
might be lost otherwise. He had learned in the following
years to be a surgeon and he planned to get formal training
to be one in his next identity. He had forever. He could
even be a pathologist or a neurosurgeon if he chose. In a
way, he was excited as hell at the opportunities to learn
that forever afforded him. But yeah, he was lonely. He
hadn't had a lover for nearly three years now because the
allure of sex without emotional attachment wore thin after
his eighty-seventh birthday.

His thoughts were interrupted when this sensation of
disquieting tingling seized his brain and caused him to reel
slightly. Leaning his body against the wall as he tried to
catch his breath, Robert realized that his vampire sixth
sense was warning him that one of his kin was close by. That
could only mean trouble, he decided. Well, if that vampire
thought that the patients and the staff of this place were
easy prey, Robert would prove that vampire wrong. His fangs
lengthening in anticipation, Robert tried to tell himself
that he could be wrong or it was probably a vampire needing
genuine medical aid. Oh well, he would find out soon as he
increased his pace in the direction of this other vampire.






TWO

That woman was no doubt a prostitute, a perfect victim for a
vampire because no one would miss that woman or investigate
seriously into her death. There was a good reason why no one
ever found Jack the Ripper, or learned that Jack wasn't a
murderer of human beings as much as a murderer of vampires.
Robert sighed for the woman when he saw the puncture marks
on the woman's neck, barely visible among the blood soaking
the woman's body unless one knew how to look for them. Apart
from the blood soaking her clothes and drenching her skin,
there was hardly any drop left in her rail-thin body. Yet
there was enough blood in her to allow her to turn into a
vampire. Either the vampire that feasted on her was careless
or the vampire deliberately wanted her to turn. Robert
wondered what he should do. He could use a scalpel and cut
out her heart but he didn't know how to respond should the
other hospital staff saw him and asked him what he was
doing. "I'm just cutting out her heart before she turn into
a vampire and kill all of you," he could say but he didn't
think that would be an answer that they'd like to hear.

Oh well, it was now or never. Robert opted for a less
troublesome manner of disposing the vampire-to-be. It was a
riskier method but Robert was a doctor and his vampire
senses allowed him to hear her faint heartbeat. He knew just
by listening to her heartbeat throbbing in his ears where
her heart was. He could even picture it beating through her
chest. Fingers tightening around the scalpel in his hand, he
lifted the blade and quickly plunge it with all his might
through bones and skin right into the dead center of woman's
heart. Another quick plunge of the blade severed the woman's
aorta. In five minutes, Robert had cut off the heart from
the rest of her body without removing it from her body.
"Rest in peace, madam," he whispered to her as he calmly
wiped some blood that managed to hit his face with his hands
before licking them clean.

As his bloodlust ebbed to a more controllable level, he
realized that his sixth sense was still tingling. There was
someone else here, someone watching him. Robert couldn't
detect where this person was, however, which worried him
because he normally could detect humans with just a sniff of
the air, being that he was their predator evolved to hunt
them down for food. Could this creature be another vampire?
Still, Robert detected no hostility from this creature and
he decided that it was okay for him to leave the room. He
had enough adventures for tonight and there were still many
hours to go and the sick and the injured to tend to before
he could sleep for a few hours. But try as he might, he
couldn't shake off the unease he felt at being watched by an
unseen creature. The unease. and the thrill he tried not to
acknowledge.




Robert didn't know why he tracked down the vampire but it
was something that he felt he had to do after he had killed
the vampire's victim in the hospital. It was one thing to
turn someone like him into a vampire, he thought, because
Robert was a pretty nice guy considering everything, but he
didn't like the idea of some upstart contaminating his
territory and risking Robert being dragged into the mess
should this vampire made a wrong move and targeted the wrong
victim. He still had some ten years more before his
agelessness forced him to move on and assume another
identity and he intended to enjoy this current identity of
his as much as possible.

But while he didn't know what he would do when he met this
vampire, he was aware of how his sense of unease intensified
with each step he took into the darkened apartment block.
The same sense of unease that he felt when he was being
watched earlier mixed with the same of disquiet he felt at
the proximity of another vampire to him and the resulting
chaotic emotional disturbance in his head was causing him to
struggle just to clear his head. He was unused to such
mental disturbances because he tried to stay out of the way
of his kin and if this was how it was going to be when he
went up against another vampire, he resolved not to repeat
the experience in the future.

The door was unlocked. Robert stealthily walked into the
room, his night sight allowing him to see the room clearly
without the aid of illumination. His ears however detected
the unmistakable sounds of violent fucking. Vampires were
seductive creatures so Robert wasn't surprised by the
sounds. While he usually would remove himself to grant the
couple privacy, he didn't think the vampire would let his
lover live after the grand finale so Robert might as well
break up the happy couple. He steeled himself for the
awkward embarrassment that he knew would arise and walked
into the other room.

He stopped dead in his tracks.

A vampire was in the room. Robert instinctively sensed at
once that the vampire riding his lover on the bed was one of
his people - an angelic young man with slim and muscular
physique who had his head thrown back and his mouth wide
open to reveal the man's fangs. The man the vampire was
riding was what caught Robert's eyes and took his breath
away. From the thick and seductive pelt of dark fur covering
the man's incredibly muscled torso to the glistening dark
cock that was visible every time the vampire glided upwards
on that powerful fleshy shaft, that man was, to Robert, the
perfect specimen of masculine beauty and virility that he
had seen. Immense strength radiated from this man's powerful
biceps and triceps as well as this corded thighs. The man
was pure raw sexuality in his muscular yet slim physique.
Robert's fangs lengthened instinctively as he felt this
powerful urge to destroy the vampire and claim this man as
his own. He wanted to turn the man into a vampire so that
the man would be his for all eternity.

Before he could react, the man calmly snapped the vampire's
neck and at the same time with deadly grace buried his hand
into the vampire's chest. The vampire couldn't even scream
due to his broken vocal cord when the man tore the heart out
of his chest. Robert knew then who that man was: the
vampire's tormentor, the incubus, the seducer of the seducer
of mortals - Abraham Van Helsing, the destined destroyer of
the vampires as foretold by the legends. Sheer terror
mingled with awe as he recalled when he had learned when he
first became a vampire and traveled the world looking for
knowledge about his kin. Abraham was the first vampire
slayer just as Dracula was the first vampire. Abraham had
sworn vengeance of all vampires after Dracula killed his
wife and he still walked the earth after all these centuries
to carry out his sworn vengeance. Robert heard and learned
from those ancient monastic vampires that preferred to seek
refuge from the world in remote monasteries that Abraham was
considered one of the most perfect ideals of human male
created by God and it was only he who could seduce a vampire
into losing his or her senses. In short, Abraham was
irresistible to vampires and therefore a very deadly killer
because of that. Thousands of powerful vampires died at his
hands and more minor vampires met their doom by literally
losing their hearts to Abraham. Robert knew now that it was
Abraham Van Helsing who watched him kill that woman in the
hospital.

What could he do? Apologize for intruding and take his
leave? Robert couldn't even take his leave silently when
Abraham turned to stare straight in his eyes. He wanted to
flee but his feet were rooted to the ground as his brain
seemed to have become paralyzed in the presence of the
legendary vampire slayer. He could only watch and gulped as
Abraham casually tossed the destroyed vampire off the
vampire slayer's body and walked towards Robert. Robert's
knees trembled as his eyes feasted on that hirsute and
impossibly perfect muscular torso that tapers into a slim
waist before flaring out into muscular thighs. From those
deliciously large erect nipples to the still tumescent cock
throbbing at Robert in invitation as it glistened with
residues of semen and blood, Abraham Van Helsing was more
perfect in Robert's eyes than Hercules and Atlas, legendary
examples of the perfect men, were supposed to be.

"You killed your own kin," Abraham said in a sensual
baritone. "I saw you beat me to the task the other day." The
man sounded amused. "And I watched you work subsequently to
save the lives of the people you are supposed to feed on.
What are you, vampire? I can't figure you out."

"Don't kill me. I need to keep supervising a couple of post-
surgery diabetics for the next few days," Robert managed to
say although his voice was raw from desire battling with
fear to take over his senses.

Abraham only kissed him as an answer. Robert opened his
mouth and let the other man's tongue possess and conquer
him. He groaned into the man's mouth and was startled to
hear an answering groan of equal intensity. When Abraham's
arms tightened around his waist, it was the grip of a man
fast losing control as Abraham drowned in Robert's kiss.
Robert was drowning too from the delicious sensation of
Abraham's tongue exploring his mouth and tasting him. He
felt hands roughly pulling at his belt and he helped Abraham
unfastened his belt and push his trousers down. He then
screamed when Abraham lifted Robert with his arms and Robert
wrapped his thighs against Abraham's powerful torso while
Abraham urgently thrust his hips up while pulling Robert
down on his powerful erection.

Abraham had his feet planted wide on the floor for balance
while every muscle in his body tensed with the effort as his
hips began pumping in rhythm to the lust throbbing in every
inch of his thickly-veined cock. As that cock drove in and
out of his velvet heated ass, Robert wrapped his arms around
Abraham's neck and shoulders as leverage for him to move his
crotch up the moment Abraham withdrew and down the moment
Abraham plunged back deep. They soon found a comfortable
rhythm and they resumed kissing so that their tongues mated
with the same rhythm as Abraham's cock steaming in and out
of Robert's widely stretched asshole. Robert was hurting as
his ass was stretched to its limit but the pleasure was
equally overwhelming as Abraham's cock was hitting sensitive
spots so high up inside him like no cock ever did while
stimulating his prostate to overdrive. He sobbed with the
effort of trying not to sink his fangs into Abraham as he
rode that man even as Abraham rode him. Their pleasure
erupted in a powerful maelstrom that had Robert drenching
both their chests and even Abraham's face with his ejaculate
while Abraham poured himself into Robert completely with
abandon.

Abraham took Robert from behind next, with Robert lying face-
down on the bed and begging that man to fuck him wilder
until Abraham drove them both to another powerful orgasm.
Only then did their insane lust ebb slightly and Robert now
slowly rode Abraham as they fucked in a slower pace to cool
their feverish skins. Robert thought he'd go crazy fighting
the urge to feed on Abraham but it was easier to control the
bloodlust than he expected when Abraham feed his other
hunger so well. He couldn't help feeling some genuine fear
whenever Abraham roughly pinched his nipples and squeezed
his pectorals in a bruising urgency, for he couldn't stop
those fingers from tearing through into his chest to rip out
his heart. But he didn't sink his fangs into Abraham's
exposed naked flesh and Abraham repaid the favor by letting
Robert keep his heart.

"How many vampires have you fucked today?" asked Robert as
they tried to catch their breath, having lost count of how
many times they have wrestled and fucked in the room in
every conceivable position.

"Two, counting that one you saw me with," Abraham answered.
They both knew that none of those vampires survived the
encounter.

"I would have never known that you've fucked twice before
meeting me," said Robert simply, feeling no remorse at all
at fucking the killer of his own kind. He was such a bad
vampire, he thought in bemusement. "You're a horse, Abraham
Van Helsing, especially for such an ancient bastard."

"Ancient?" said Abraham with a laugh that surprised Robert.
"I'll show you how ancient I am."

As Abraham slowly fed his relentless erection into Robert
once more, Robert couldn't help wondering how they arrived
at this spontaneous chemistry where they were easily teasing
and laughing with each other, especially so soon into their
meeting. But all thoughts were shattered when Abraham once
more drew pleasure so easily from both their bodies. Robert
made Abraham groan with surrender when he decided to play as
dirty as the other man was doing and tightened his ass to
milk that man for all he had to give. They were both so well-
matched in lust and stamina that it was way past dawn when
Abraham laughed and told Robert that Robert had won their
first battle.


THREE

"Why didn't you kill me?" asked Robert in curiosity when he
looked into Abraham's eyes. Abraham's cock rarely left
Robert's body in the hours they had together since the first
coupling. Robert was too dazed in those moments to do
anything but to enjoy the ride. Now, however, they were both
having dinner and Robert wasn't distracted by Abraham's
fingers, mouth, and cock to think.

"So many questions," said Abraham as he watched Robert eat.
It unnerved Robert at how Abraham seemed genuinely delighted
to see Robert do mundane things like eat and drink even as
it thrilled Robert. "I like Abraham. You can call me
whatever you wish, though." He flashed Robert an
irresistible smile that made his ruggedly handsome face even
more devastating on the eyes. "I didn't kill you because I
can't figure you out. I should kill you. You're a vampire,"
he said. "But you're. not."

Robert felt genuinely sorry for the conflicted emotions he
was causing in Abraham. "I'm sorry," he said.

"Why are you sorry?" asked Abraham quietly. His voice was
free from accent but he spoke like a cultured gentleman in
Robert's ears.

"About what I am and about your wife," Robert said. "And
also, about how hard it is for you to enjoy being in my
company."

"I enjoy being in your company."

"Really?" Robert took a moment to enjoy the pleasant delight
that statement aroused in his undead heart. "But."

"Yes, I also hate myself sometimes for that," Abraham said,
"but it's hard to remember what you are when I'm with you.
Just watching you care for your patients, seeing you taking
delight in living when you're supposed to be undead." He
shook his head in confusion. "I've never seen someone more
alive than you and I don't understand how that can be."

"You've known me for a week now," Robert told him. "You
should see by now that I'm not the typical vampires that you
kill. Why don't we just go separate ways and forget we ever
meet each other? Let me enjoy what time I have left until
you kill Dracula."

"You still kill humans."

"For nourishment," Robert said. "Come on, human beings eat
chicken, does that make them evil for killing and eating
those harmless fowls? Of course, I understand your vengeance
as I would no doubt feel the same way if someone harms the
person I love. But you've seen me hunt, Abraham. Can you
honestly say that I take more pleasure in my feeding than
the basic relief of having sustenance?"

He took a lunch break from work the other day - "lunch
break" meaning that he had lunch at around six in the
evening - and was enjoying his victim, a man who offered
Robert two pints of blood a week in exchange for a monthly
payment of six thousand dollars, when he saw Abraham
watching him feed. He still couldn't get his predatory
instincts to detect Abraham's movements, much to his mild
annoyance, and he was therefore not surprised to find that
Abraham had followed him all the man to his food's place.
Abraham's face was devoid of expression. Robert didn't want
to push the matter further at that point and just told
Abraham, "It's easier to have a steady source of food when
I'm busy at the hospital. I don't have time to hunt."

Now, Abraham told him, "You make everything sound so simple
and logical."

Robert couldn't see any possible direction of his current
affair with Abraham that could end up at a happy ending. "It
is also simple to walk away from me, Abraham. I don't want
to be the Delilah to your Samson. You have a mission and
that is to destroy creatures like me. I just want to be a
doctor, the best doctor I can be. I didn't want to be made a
vampire and I refused to let my being a vampire stop me from
living the life I want to have. My only regret is that I
cannot have permanent friends and lovers I can call my own.
I always have to keep moving." He smiled humorlessly.
"Sometimes I wish I'm not a vampire so that I can keep the
life I am so happy with." He looked wistfully at Abraham.
"Sometimes I wish that we are normal human beings so that we
can actually figure out whether we have any chance at making
it outside the bedroom."



"I never expected to see someone like you in a place like
this."

Abraham Van Helsing looked up at the man who had walked into
the chapel of the hospital. He saw a mild-mannered ordinary-
looking tall man who wouldn't stand out in a crowd. The man
was human now but Abraham's trained eyes could see the
residual aura of divinity that still emanated from the man's
very being. Once an angel. always an angel. "Greetings,
seraphim," he said, rising to his feet out of respect of
that former divine being.

The other creature smiled. "I was not a seraphim, definitely
not, oh no. I was actually a lowly minion of an archangel
whose name I can't reveal to mortals. If you do meet my
superior, she has a long list of my flaws to show you,
foremost being that I am mortal enough to fall for a human
being. I gave up my divinity and am now living as a human
being. One day, I will die and be judged like all human
beings. Is that what you want to ask me?"

Abraham nodded.

Luke Wilson kept his smile in place although inside he was
in awe of actually meeting the infamous Abraham Van Helsing.
He was telling the truth when he told Abraham that he was
once a lowly divine being who was the equivalent of an
office boy in a giant corporation, but even lowly divine
beings had heard of the dark and tormented human who lost
his soul and mortality to pursue his quest of vengeance.
Luke was seeing that man for the first time and he was
impressed. Abraham was tall and bore power like a dark
fallen angel who still held some spark of divinity despite
being corrupted by darker desires. When he heard from his
old colleagues who still kept in touch for old times' sake
that the vampire friend of Alex was having a sexual
relationship with Abraham Van Helsing - the heavenly
grapevine was abuzz with this scandal - Luke felt a curious
need to see what this man was like himself. Now he had a
hunch that Abraham was all he heard of and more.

"I can't find any answers. Have they abandoned me?" asked
Abraham.

Luke shook his head. "I don't think they ever did. I don't
have inside information and even if I do, I am forbidden to
use what I know to meddle, being that I am human now. But I
can tell you that I don't think they ever wanted you to
pursue Dracula. You mistake your own vengeance for divine
calling." It was typical human folly, he thought wryly to
himself, to assume that they had divine authority backing
them in an action that they placed huge significance too.

"Are you saying that I live this long because of my
vengeance?" Abraham asked. He was calm in all outward
appearances, but there was no mistaking the tormented
anguish and confusion in his eyes.

"Perhaps, I don't know. Life is mysterious, even more so
when I view it through mortal eyes." Luke chuckled. "I learn
to appreciate life and my former employers' ways of handling
things more now that I am at the other side of things. I
believe you are experiencing the same thing, although it's
strange that you are doing this with a vampire while I did
it for the love for a human being."

"Who says I am in love?" Abraham protested.

"I'm in love," Luke told him gently. "I've been in love for
a long time now with Alex. I know another kindred spirit
when I see one. Hate can fell an angel like Lucifer, but
love can also fell an angel. or a slayer."

"He's a vampire," said Abraham, but to Luke's ears it was a
soft anguished protest of a man whose confidence was rocked
to the core. Luke wouldn't pretend to know what it felt like
to have one's entire belief system shaken and uprooted
because of the foibles of the heart but he was willing to
lend Abraham an ear and a helping hand in his best capacity.
"He is evil."

"That's what I said when I first met him. I nearly killed
him until my instinct cut through my initial rage and told
me that Robert wasn't entirely devoid of humanity. I can't
say I really like him at this point since he is, after all,
a vampire and I will need some time to get used to that
fact, but I do know that he never deliberately sets out to
harm people. He feeds on human blood but he also saves lives
voluntarily. He loves being a doctor, I can see that, and he
sometimes works until he can't stand straight." Luke placed
his arm around Abraham's shoulder and nodded at the altar.
"Those people up there don't see things entirely in cruel
black and white, Abraham. Everything is created for a
reason. There is a reason why Robert is a vampire just as
there is a reason why he is unlike anyone you've ever
known."

"I find myself thinking that he's a good man when he's a
vampire," Abraham whispered. He shuddered as his memories
hurt him. "They killed my wife and my unborn child. I can't
love Robert. he's one of them. but I find that the more I'm
with him, the more I forget what he is."

"Maybe your fight is with Dracula, not Robert. He never
asked to be made into a vampire, he once told me."

"He told me that too," Abraham said, anguish tangible in his
voice.

"So your battle is not with Robert then," suggested Luke.
"If loving him is eating you up like this and you want to
keep fighting with the vampires, you should seriously
consider leaving him before you weaken and get killed as a
result. Every vampire must be on alert by now because if the
people upstairs are aware that you're seeing Robert, so will
Dracula."

"What?" asked Abraham in surprise.

"Don't you know?" Luke asked Abraham, surprised himself.
"Dracula himself turned Robert into a vampire. Robert is the
only direct descendent of Dracula in this world at the
moment so Dracula has a closer bond to Robert than Robert
suspected. Oh, he knows that you are with his son, I can bet
you that."

"He didn't. of course he wouldn't know how to tell me,"
Abraham said. He raked his fingers wearily through his hair.
"He kept telling me that I should leave him but I keep
hesitating. He was warning me to leave before his sire found
him and me."

Luke smiled sadly at Abraham. "You aren't the only one who's
suffering from love then," he guesses. "I think the vampire
is, too."




His father was a magnetic and handsome man, almost a match
for Abraham's magnetism, Robert reflected as he watched his
sire pace the room. "I know you are disappointed in me not
changing Van Helsing into our own, but we both know that I'm
not a good son," he said glibly. He was rewarded with a
backhanded blow on his face that sent his crashing against
the wall.

"I won't be used as a bait to lure Abraham to you," said
Robert as his wounds began to heal as quickly as they
appeared.

"I'll just have to kill you then," Vladimir Drakul, known
more popularly as Count Dracula, said with deceptively
pleasant demeanor. "I wouldn't have made a sniveling coward
like you one of my kind if I wasn't so careless back then.
Maybe I should right my mistake."

"Maybe. He'll kill you now that you're here and I will die
anyway as a result," said Robert.

He had to think of something. Dracula was so confident of
his strength that he didn't bother to incapacitate Robert in
any manner. That was foolish of his sire, Robert supposed,
because underneath Robert's normally easy-going nature was
the hunger and the predatory tendencies of a vampire that he
kept suppressed under the veneer of humanity. Now, his fear
that Abraham would get killed was causing his veneer to be
slowly ripped off his bestial nature. His fangs had already
lengthened the moment his sire showed up in his apartment.

Both of them sensed the approach of Abraham at the same
time. Dracula grinned with anticipation. Robert sensed the
gathering strength in his sire's form and staggered in shock
when he realized that his sire's powers far outmatch
Abraham's. Abraham's strength was fuelled by vengeance and
hatred while Dracula's powers came from pure darkness that
Abraham could never begin to fathom. This would be worse
than Robert trying to fight off Luke. While light always
extinguish darkness like the way the world intended, pure
darkness will obliterate any flickering light in Abraham's
soul. Abraham would never survive a confrontation with
Dracula. This Robert knew now.

"Dracula! Face me, damn you, let Robert go," Abraham Van
Helsing shouted as he opened the door. As Dracula pounced,
Abraham held a crossbow aimed at Dracula's heart and fired.

Robert shrieked in agony as the silver tip of the arrow,
blessed by a true and holy priest, pierced his sire's heart.
He could feel his sire's callous disdain for him and
realized that Dracula's agony was deliberately channeled to
Robert so that his sire wouldn't feel anything. Abraham
realized this too and he was mortal and therefore foolish
enough to hesitate, not wanting to hurt Robert. Dracula
struck then. But Robert wouldn't allow his sire to destroy
Abraham. With all his strength that he never knew he had, he
morphed his human fingers into bestial claws and tore into
his sire's chest. His fingers bled at the impact against
Dracula's ribcage and Robert screamed as pain he never could
imagine existed tore through his body. But he had to save
Abraham and this one determined resolve kept his strength
steady as his fingers finally closed around the pulsing
heart of his sire. He ripped out Dracula's heart and finally
died with his sire. His last sight and sound were Abraham's
anguished face as the man screamed Robert's name as he
cradled Robert in his arms. He wanted to tell Abraham that
Abraham should be fine now as there would be no more
creatures that he hated in this world and that he loved
Abraham but he was already slipping into the darkness.



He opened his eyes. With a shock, he realized that he was
alive. and the beating he heard in his head was that of his
heart. His heart hadn't beaten like this in a long time now.
Robert Sean Leonard realized that he was in a hospital and.
he was alive. He knew deep in his bones that he was human.
Was his entire life a dream? He touched his face in
disbelief and laughed when he felt stubble growing on his
chin. His hair had never grown in length since he was a
vampire but now, he was growing stubble. He had to buy a
razor and shave. hysterical laughter welled inside him as he
tried to get up only to realize as he winced with pain that
he was still unsteady.

The door opened. Robert finally laughed when he saw Abraham
Van Helsing standing at the door with a giddy expression of
relief on the man's handsome face. "You're awake," the man
said. Like Robert, Abraham had stubble on his chin. Like
Robert, Abraham's hair hadn't lengthened for a long time
now. They had both become humans. What happened? "Robert,
fucking hell, I'm so worried. I thought you have. and I
can't." Abraham tried to control the sob rising in his voice
as he ran forward to take Robert in his arms. Robert closed
his eyes and thought he was in heaven that was Abraham's
comforting muscular embrace. Wetness soaked the fabric of
his shirt at the shoulders and Robert realized that Abraham
was crying in relief.

"I love you, Abraham," he whispered into the man's ear. "We
won't have forever now but I love you and I hope you'll love
me back."

"Oh, Robert, you know I love you," Abraham told him as he
held the man's face in his hands to look into the man's
eyes. "I have loved you the moment I saw you working at the
hospital and couldn't figure out why a vampire would care so
much about the people around him, I know that now. You
taught me what it meant to be human again when I've
forgotten. I love you so much, Robert. Please forgive me for
not being there to save you from Dracula."

Robert chuckled weakly as his sides still hurt from the pain
of having his heart - or rather, Dracula's - ripped out of
his chest. "You silly man, I saved you, remember?"

"Yeah," Abraham said with a smile. His eyes still were
bright and his tears still fell unchecked down his cheeks.
"You saved me, Robert, from myself as well as from Dracula.
I will never forgive myself for the hurt I caused you."

"There's no hurt," Robert said as he placed Abraham's hand
over his beating heart. "Not in my head anyway," he
confessed with a weak laugh. More solemnly, he told Abraham,
"So we're now officially in love?"

Abraham smiled and leaned forward to kiss Robert.



EPILOGUE

"Happy New Year! Thank fucking God that we get a few minutes
of peace this year," Dr Linden Ashby said as he sat down at
the table in that narrow staff room and helped himself to a
box of crackers. He cursed when he choked on his first bite.
He scrutinized the box and cursed again when he realized
that the crackers had bypassed the expiry date printed on
the box.

Dr Alexis Denisof laughed and passed Linden a packet of
nuts. "These are nice. I've tasted them myself."

Dr Robert Sean Leonard smiled in contentment as he watched
his two friends joke and argue while sorting over the sorry
selection of snacks in the fridge. They perked up when Sean
Patrick Flanery, Linden's lover who also helped manage the
hospital cafeteria, showed up with some hot pies. "Am I
late?" said Luke Wilson when he joined them a few minutes
later with a cake that he had baked. And walking in behind
him was Abraham Van Helsing, who now was in partnership with
Luke at starting their carpentry firm. Together with a young
man named Bruce Michael Hall they had already sold several
pieces of furniture to stores that requested for more.
Sometimes Abraham grew restless with unaccustomed peace and
quiet in his new life but he found enjoyable ways to
exorcise his restlessness in bed with Robert.

Abraham bent over to brush his lips over the tip of Robert's
right ear, causing Robert to shiver involuntarily with
delight. "I want to see you alone," he whispered into
Robert's ear.

Ten minutes later, Robert pressed his palms against the wall
in the narrow broom closet and muffled his cries by pressing
his lips against the wall as Abraham's powerful hips
pummeled his taut butt cheeks, his lover's thick cock
spearing in and out of Robert's hungry asshole. Abraham
whispered urgently how much he wanted Robert and how he
missed that man in the seven hours since they last had time
for each other. When the new year arrived, Robert was having
a powerful climax while Abraham was spurting a huge load up
his ass. He couldn't imagine a better way to celebrate
fucking New Year's Day.