Van Helsing Rising - Helen Scott Page 0,17

of Helsing. Not literally, but we’re all monster hunters just like the original Van Helsing, though he mainly focused on vamps, whereas we have broader interests.

It’s the broader interests that keeps us busy. Most vamps have learned to keep their heads down these days and only feed off willing volunteers. I know there is a whole community out there that’s centered around them, and if one starts causing trouble, then we will take them out without blinking an eye. But as a whole, they have been neutered, hunted down until there was just a handful left. That handful knows their place and doesn't stir shit up.

Which is just how we like it, especially since they are so damn hard to kill that it usually costs us a few brothers just to take one out.

Every Son of Helsing knows that the supernatural is out there. We all know how bad things can be. Hell, most of us have seen the horrors these beings cause firsthand. Because of this, it isn't a surprise when I am able to crack one of the hard drives and find the answers to some of our questions land firmly in the realm of the supernatural.

It’s taken me a couple of days to channel my ability enough to guess the passwords so I don't have to bother trying to get around their firewalls and shit, but with the payload I've just hit, I think it was worth it. From the looks of things, they had data on everything from banshees to gnomes, from ghouls to wendigos. I start clicking through some of the folders, all of which are unhelpfully named things like Round One or Test Subject Twenty-Nine.

As I click through the test subject folders, I find not only notes on each one but photos. Most are average-joe-looking people who start out smiling and happy before moving to concerned and ending up defeated and eventually dead or worse, turned into one of those things we'd seen at the base we raided last. It sends a shiver down my spine.

I’m not a man who is easily spooked, but seeing something that looks like it’s in pain all the time, that is misshapen and deformed, that looks twisted and stuck, it’s enough to make even the most steel-clad stomachs turn. I make a quick copy of the files onto a clean hard drive that has no encryption so I can look through them at my leisure and slip my phone from my pocket to text the Prez.

We're in. I chuckle to myself thinking about all the bad hacker movies where dudes are typing on multiple keyboards at the same time, as though that makes any sense, and wearing tiny sunglasses inside in a dark room. Yeah, definitely not me.

I haven't even wiped the smile from my face before my phone starts ringing. "Yeah?"

"Bring the hard drives to me, or send me a link to the files or whatever. I want to know what we are up against when it comes to these guys."

"You got it, Boss."

The phone on the other end cuts out and I know he's hung up. The man never said goodbye in his life.

I sigh and figure he'd rather have them where he can see them so I grab the hard drives and necessary cables and go to his office. The halls fly by as I move, and I don’t even glimpse any sweet butts out and about. The Prez's office is all dark wood paneling and dark leather furniture with a massive mahogany desk in the center. It’s like the man wants it as dark as possible at all times, especially when he keeps the blinds to the window closed all the time as well.

"Hey, Prez," I say as I knock on the door. "I've got the hard drives for you. Lots of good info on them, but I haven't had time to go through it all yet."

"Good work, Crash. Your brothers know you're done?"

"No, not yet. You were the first to know."

"Good. Go get a beer with them and get your cock sucked. You've earned it. I'm sure I'll need your team heading out soon if I find anything of use."

"You had us guarding the woman's door. Still want that? Or want to sub in some cannon fodder?" I asked.

He grumbles under his breath and eventually says, "No, one of you four. You found her. You want her upstairs. You deal with her."

"Understood."

"Go have a fucking drink," he growls. It’s his most commonly used