Chapter 36: Hunting For A Vampire's Whereabouts

"You sure you want to do this?" Mcgee, wearing a suit and a fedora, asked an elderly black man who was gnashing his teeth behind his store's counter.

"This is Luciano-" 

"Oh please you coon, the Luciano family don't care bout you." McGee leaned on the counter, flicking the toothpick from his mouth as the shop keeper ducked his gaze.

"The jewish mob, on the other hand, will protect you regardless of who you are." McGee smiled as he saw the shopkeeper's daughter walk in.

"We can also make an arrangement-" A sleazy smile formed on Mcgee's face, his eyes tracing all over her body.

*BAM*

The door was suddenly kicked open, bursting off its latch and swinging all the way until it collided with the wall it was connected to, revealing Ricky and Jake standing in the doorway.

"Oh sh*t." McGee's arrogant smirk morphed into a pale expression as if he'd seen a ghost.

"You McGee?" Ricky looked around and pointed at McGee who froze in place.

"That's him Mr. Slick!" The black shopkeeper quickly ratted McGee out as he received a glare.

"Damn." McGee whispered, his smile morphing into a frown, while Ricky's grin spread across his face as he cracked his knuckles.

"Alright there are two ways this can go-and he's running." Ricky didn't even get to say his warning, watching McGee literally turn tail almost immediately. 

"Ah!" The shop keeper's daughter yelped as McGee pushed her to the side before rushing towards the back.

"Jake cut him off while I go after him!" Ricky yelled, rushing after McGee, while Jake immediately turned to follow Ricky's commands.

McGee burst out a door that led into the back alley, quickly scanning both ways before decisively heading to the right. 

The sound of his dress shoes clicking on the pavement filled the air, his breathing ragged, and sweat dripping down his face as he knew the consequences if he were caught by Ricky.

Ricky, now fully connected to the underworld, had been slowly integrating into the culture, and was still unaware of his own growing reputation. 

To the Luciano family, he was the prodigal son, consistently delivering immense benefits to their organization. 

However, to others, he was seen as ruthless and bloodthirsty borderline psychopath.

The infamous 'Great Irish Massacre' had already raised eyebrows in the underworld, but as secondhand whispers spread, so did the obscenity of the story. 

The original tale, depicting Ricky as impatient, had evolved into a calculated and ruthless version where he had meticulously planned to eradicate the parasite that was draining their profits.

Ricky's presence went from being occasionally recognized outside his territory to the point where gang leaders issued notices to their members to be vigilant of his exact description. 

They were warned to spot and notify them if Ricky crossed into their territory, ensuring they didn't meet the same fate as the Irish mob.

"Oh McGee~" Ricky hummed, pulling out the rusted axe from his inventory right before he turned the corner to see McGee's slow figure running away.

McGee's worried eyes darted slightly backward, then widened in sheer terror, shaking in such a horrifying manner as they became fixated on the rusted axe in Ricky's hand.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME YOU MONSTER!" McGee screeched as his mind had concluded that Ricky was here to chop him up into little pieces and feed him to the fishes.

"Monster?" Ricky tilted his head while running after McGee, then understood as he remembered the axe.

"Ohhhhhhhhh, I think you're confused Mcgee, I only want to break your legs!" Ricky shouted clarifying words as he started to gain ground on McGee's trial.

"THAT ISN'T ANY BETTER!" McGee screeched, jerking his head to reprimand Ricky, but his tone faltered as he realized how close Ricky was getting. 

Almost immediately, McGee turned his gaze forward, his whole body flinching as he noticed Jake waiting at the end of the alley as his pace instinctively slowed down.

Ricky noticed McGee's hesitation and smiled enthusiastically, wounding up the axe in his hand, quickly turning it to its blunt side mid-air before lunging forward.

*CRACK*

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" McGee let out a piercing wail as the butt of the axe collided with his knee, shattering it upon impact.

*BAM*

However, Ricky greatly underestimated his own strength since the wood holding the axe broke, and along with it, McGee's knee gave way, unable to bear the force.

"MY KNEE, MY F*CKING KNEE~" McGee gazed down, his hands shaking as they hovered above his amalgamation of what was supposed to be his knee.

"Dammit McGee, you broke my axe." Ricky frowned as he picked up the axe head and tried to reconnect it with the broken handle to no avail.

"Y-YOU'RE CRAZY, THE RUMORS WERE TRUE ABOUT YOU BEING A PSYCHOPATH!" McGee wailed, gripping his knee in slight tears as he directed all of his hate and pain at Ricky.

"Are you sure it's wise to yell at the guy who made your left knee into spaghetti?" Jake questioned, and as soon as he did, McGee shut his mouth tight, the pain causing his reasoning to skew in the heat of the moment.

"Well, usually I'd disagree but up until recently I will admit, I've been off my rocker lately." Ricky surprisingly agreed with McGee as he bent down to gaze at him.

"I mean, would you act crazy when you come back from a date only to find out that one of your closest friends is in a body bag and the other is a crippled?" Ricky grabbed McGee's collar, his usually calm eyes rippling with unquenched fury.

"Now, who killed Rocco?" Ricky venomously asked McGee who shook his head back and forth.

"I swear, I don't know I-AHHHHHHHHHHH!" McGee tried to deny his words only to have Ricky grab his crushed knee and squeeze.

McGee let out a tear-jerking screech, his eyes straining under the pain as Ricky's newfound strength gripped his mangled knee.

"DON'T YOU F*CKING LIE TO ME MCGEE, I WANT TO KNOW!" Ricky yelled, his lie detection skill paying off as tears started to stream down McGee's cheek.

However McGee didn't have thoughts of confessing even with the immense amount of pain shooting throughout his nervous system.

*SNIFF*

*SNIFF*

Ricky let go as McGee started sniffing and clutching his knee, curled up in defeat while Ricky looked around and spotted a nearby four-story building.

However as Ricky smiled, he was completely oblivious to a shadowy figure constantly observing his actions.

"Ricky?" Jake asked after seeing Ricky grabbing McGee's collar as he started to drag him in a random direction.

"I think he needs a little more incentive."

15 minutes later,

"Please, PLEASE I DON'T KNOW NOTHING!" McGee whined as Ricky and Jake dangled him off the edge of the four-story building Ricky had spotted moments ago.

"Jake let go." Ricky ordered, and Jake obeyed, letting go so that the only thing holding McGee was Ricky.

"W-WAIT I-WAIT!" McGee pleaded, dangling farther down towards the distant ground while trying to grab onto Ricky before wincing in pain.

"If the next words aren't the ones I want to hear, then I'm letting go, got it?!" Ricky gave McGee an ultimatum forcing McGee to bite his lip until it bled.

"Alright I'll talk I'll-"

"Those aren't the ones I wanted to hear-"

"PEP IS MESSING WITH DRACULA!" McGee yelled out incredulous words as they both scoffed simultaneously.

McGee wasn't a captain in the Jewish mob like Dutch, but he was Dutch's closest aide.

Since he had been working with Dracual's Ghouls, he obviously knew about Dracula's existence within the mob.

"Dracula? The vampire from Transylvania Dracula?" Jake asked with a weird expression however Ricky's face contorted.

"He's telling the truth." Ricky said in a somewhat baffled tone as Jake gazed incredulously at him.

"Slick you can't actually believe this garbanzo can you-"

"I swear upon my mothers soul what I'm telling you is the truth, he even sent Dutch his minions which he calls 'Ghouls' to assist in collections and the mining- '' McGee was about to finish the sentence until his body started to convulse.

Then without warning, blood immediately burst from McGee's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth until his whole body started to swell up.

Ricky, sensing the imminent danger from his new skill, instinctively let go and released McGee. 

McGee's body began to fall, but instead of a normal descent, it swelled up like a balloon, his once-white skin reddening under the strain.

The swelling was grotesque, with McGee's skin stretching unnaturally as the pressure inside built up, his eyes looking as if they would pop out of his head at any moment.

*BOOM*

*SPLAT*

In the next second, McGee's body erupted into an ear curdling explosion of blood and flesh. 

The force of the blast sent chunks of his mangled remains hurtling across the four-story building and onto the nearby street. 

The air was filled with a pungent sickening spray of crimson and flesh, as McGee's blood coated the building's facade and the pavement below in a grim, viscous layer. 

Shreds of his skin, muscle, and bone rained down like macabre confetti, splattering the surroundings with a nauseating, splattered pattern. 

The once-pristine street was now a grisly canvas, smeared with the remnants of McGee's violent end, leaving a horrific scene that made the very air seem to tremble in the aftermath.

"..."

"..."

Both Ricky and Jake gazed down with blank expressions at the mind-boggling scene that had unfolded mere seconds ago.

*COUGH*

*COUGH*

"BLERGH!" Jake immediately vomited over the side of the building, while Ricky began to dry heave beside him.

"WHAT THE-BLERGH!" Jake tried to curse, only to vomit again, while Ricky struggled to keep his breakfast down.

The only saving grace that sickened Ricky to his core was that he had experienced something even worse in his youth, which helped him process the grotesque affair before him unlike Jake.

"Oh god, I'm gonna be sick." Ricky bent over, placing his hands on his knees as he tried to steady himself, seeking any semblance of support.

It took the both of them a couple minutes to recover after witnessing a man explode into mush before finally regaining their breath.

"Self destruction spell." A rugged voice called out from a distance, and Ricky turned to see an old man shaking his head while leaning on the door frame.

Ricky didn't hesitate to pull out his gun and point it at the mysterious man who raised both hands nonchalantly.

"Did you do that!" Jake yelled, wiping his mouth while still unable to recover mentally from the horrid events.

"Do I look like a vampire to you?" The man pointed to himself though Ricky gave him a dumb look.

"How are we supposed to know what a vampire looks like if we've never seen one before?" Ricky asked, his tone implying that the old man might be going senile.

"I-" The man raised a finger only to rub his chin since Ricky's words made a little sense.

"Do you know this numbskull, Slick?" Jake wiped his mouth, pointing at this weird old man.

"Maybe it's some senile old man who's lost or something." Ricky turned to Jake who widened his eyes in realization.

Although Jake wasn't Italian, his culture still heavily respected the elderly meaning he felt a little guilty.

"I'm sorry sir, do you need help finding your family-" Jake flipped his expression into a kind smile while walking to the old man who's eyebrow was constantly twitching.

"I'M NOT-"

*SIGH*

The old man with lamb chops grabbed his head, shaking it in exasperation before taking a deep breath.

"Listen. My name is Abrham Van Helsing, vampire hunter extraordinaire and this isn't something gangsters like you two can handle so I'm here to give you a warning." Abraham walked forward as Jake turned to Ricky who lightly nodded his head.

"He's telling the truth." Ricky whispered to Jake who became even more baffled at the name.

"By the way, have we ever met before?" Abraham asked Ricky who raised an eyebrow though shook his head.

"I don't think so-"

"Wait, wait, wait, Van Helsing? Like the family cursed to hunt down Dracula?" Jake waved his hand dismissively, prompting Ricky to raise an eyebrow in curiosity.

"How do you know so much about Dracula?" Ricky frowned as Jake scoffed, crossing his arms while showing a disgruntled expression.

"A guy can't read classic literature?" Jake turned back to Abraham who had a huge scowl on his face.

"So is the story real?" Ricky turned to a clearly angered Abraham who scratched his lamb chops.

"Parts of it, the part about my family hunting Dracula and being trapped in purgatory is true, along with the existence of vampires however the ending about him being dead hasn't come true yet." Abraham shook his head with a light sigh.

"I swear, one hunting trip to Ireland, I got so drunk that I only found out a month later I'd spilled my entire backstory to some random author." Abraham was clearly upset by this anomaly, while Ricky regarded him with a look of understanding, having done the same before and finding some sympathy with another drunkard..

"Anyways, both of you need to just do what you gangsters do here and scram, this world ain't meant for normies like you." Abraham waved his hand until a hand grabbed his shoulder.

"Honestly, if this didn't involve us then I'd let it be, but it's personal." Ricky grabbed Abraham's shoulder as the old man let out a disgruntled sigh.

"Fine I'll let you help-" Abraham seemed to agree readily until he reached into his trench coat.

'!' Time seemed to slow down as Ricky saw Abraham's nonchalant expression, though his mind was blaring warning signals.

*Crack*

Abraham cracked a mysterious blue vial in his hands, waving the smoke into the air as his hands began to shine.

"Υπνος!" Abraham's tongue uttered words of a dead language, his hand aglow with a pale green light, causing Ricky's eyes to widen in astonishment.

'Full counter!' Ricky didn't even hesitate as his senses drove him to counter the spell as a green light was shot at him, waving his gun at it instinctively.

Then to the horror of Abraham, the green spell bounced off an invisible force field before doubling in power in the next second.

*Thump*

A green light shot into Abraham's body, instantly causing his consciousness to blacken as his body crumpled limply to the pavement.

"....." For the second time today, Ricky and Jake stood in stunned silence as they slowly looked at each other, then back at Abraham's unconscious body.

"Is he-.....is he dead?" Jake asked tentatively and Ricky bent down, checking his old pulse. 

Then, Abraham let out the loudest snore, causing Ricky to instinctively cock his fist back and deliver a punch to his jaw.

*BAM*

The unconscious Abraham absorbed the punch, while Jake flinched at the sudden brutality and Ricky froze in place.

"Did you just-" Jake showed a weird expression, looking at Ricky who acted on instinct once again.

"He started it." Ricky pointed to the side, blaming the entire thing on the unconscious Abraham before Jake pinched the bridge of his nose while shaking his head.

"What do we do now?" Jake asked, walking over to the snoring Abraham as Ricky started patting him down.

"I guess tie him with this?" Ricky raised the rope that Abraham so conveniently had on his person.

1 hour later,

"Urgh." Abraham let out an elderly grunt, smacking his dry lips before his eyelids eventually flickered open.

"Dammit Slick, I know you're cheating!" Jake slammed the cards from Ricky's system onto the floor as the latter snickered after becoming twenty dollars richer.

"Prove it." Ricky's cheesy excuse, one he had been using ever since he got the cards all those years ago, slipped out again making Jake scoff at the deja vu, watching as a confused Abraham curiously looked at Ricky.

"What are you-WHAT!" Abraham didn't understand what had happened until the events replayed in his head before realizing he was tied up by his own whims.

"If you're about to reach for all your knick knacks, know that we already patted you down and took all your stuff." Ricky pointed to the side as Abraham's angered eyes became furious at the countless items he stashed all around his body being laid out before him on the roof.

"You!"

"Me?"

"Yes you, how did you do that!" Abraham first needed to quench his curiosity as Ricky looked at Jake.

"Does he not realize that he's the one tied up and defenseless right now?" Ricky asked Jake who rubbed his chin in contemplation.

"I think he's still reeling himself back from the past excitement." Jake concluded as Abraham's expression became plain.

"Untie me." Abraham grunted though Ricky immediately shook his head before picking up a weird religious vial of water.

"How long have you been watching us?" Ricky asked a question while inspecting the water vial.

"H-Hey be careful with that!" Abraham anxiously reprimanded Ricky, the latter showing a sly smile.

Grabbing the five vials that were almost identical to it, Ricky walked over to the edge as Abraham's eyes widened.

"DON'T YOU-"

"How long have you been watching us?" Ricky asked again, this time adding a little more motivation by holding the vials precariously above the pavement. 

Abraham gritted his teeth, his nervous eyes trailing over to the vials he had obtained specifically to kill that bastard Dracula.

These vials were filled with holy water, but not just any holy water, special holy water blessed on a full moon for the last hundred years by thirteen different popes over the course of decades. 

Only thirteen vials had ever been made, and Abraham had managed to get his hands on five of them, the five explicit ones in his hand.

Due to their purity, these vials were nicknamed the 'Tears of Mother Mary,' granting anyone who used them the power of her divine purity for a certain period of time.

"Be careful-dammit, fine!" Abraham's usual gruff poker face was nowhere to be seen; those vials were more important than his dignity.

"How long."

"When both of you ruffan's started beating on that scum in the alley." Abraham confessed with a slight sigh, proning Ricky to nod his head.

"Do you know who made McGee pop like a balloon?" Ricky asked and once again, Abraham nodded to his words.

"It was obviously a vampire who had used a type of blood magic that makes a human's blood akin to a bomb and self-destructs the body." Abraham easily said as Jake looked like he was going to be sick again.

"And this Dracula is capable of doing whatever that was?" Ricky asked which Abraham scoffed as if it was obvious.

"Dracula is a monster that has been practicing the arcane for centuries, of course he can do something as simple as this to a mortal human with no magical defenses." Abraham nonchalantly leaned back on the wall though started to slowly dislocate his wrist.

"So why did Dracula explode McGee." Ricky frowned, unknowingly beginning to unravel the secret powers that would plunge him into the vast ocean of the abyss of power, far beyond the tiny, secluded pond he had been confined to as of now.

Ricky understood that if people like him with powers existed, the confirmation of the supernatural's existence meant his life was about to get ten times more annoying.

"He didn't." Abraham suddenly denied, causing Ricky to frown since he wasn't lying.

"But you said-" 

"The vamp that's in new york is a fraud and wasted my f*cking time." Abraham scoffed while Jake crossed his arms.

"But McGee said-" Jake tried to chim in only to recieve a scowl from Abraham.

"Listen dumbass, you think that I, Abraham van Helsing, a man who has been chained to the fate of hunting Draucla wouldn't know what his patterns are?" Abraham's tone was vicious, and it seemed he was targeting Jake on purpose while Jake's brows suddenly scrunched in confusion and concern.

"Hell, I even know what his favorite blood preference is. I know everything about that monster and because of that, I know for certain that this vampire is impersonating him." Abraham snarled at Jake who squinted his eyes while Ricky chuckled.

"Well, could you humor us on your reasoning then?" Ricky asked curiously as Abraham sighed.

"It's simple, really. Dracula is a very narcissistic and arrogant individual. He's spent his extensive life at the top of his species, and that arrogance extends to how he manages his underlings." Abraham rolled his eyes at Jake before looking at Ricky who stopped hanging the vials off the ledge much to his relief.

"Not once have I ever heard of Dracula having an underling or subordinate that wasn't considered a 'noble' vampire, meaning, he wouldn't personally send out Ghouls to do his dirty work but order a high ranking vampire to order ghouls for him, he's pretentious like that." Abraham's words were a little nonsensical but from Abraham's observations it was the complete truth.

"So when that Mcgee guy or whatever his name is, said that Dracula himself ordered his ghouls to help him, I knew he was a fraud" Abraham sighed, gazing up at the sky, realizing he had wasted his time here.

For Ricky and Jake, the reasoning seemed outlandish and hard to grasp, but for Abraham, it made complete and perfect sense.

Dracula was a being who thrived on the lavish feast of superiority; everything he did was for his own betterment. 

The way he spoke, presented himself, and executed his role as the king of vampires was all driven by his inner need to be the best and the most powerful of them all.

Consequently, Dracula would never allow a mere ghoul, a barbaric creature that preyed on flesh, to be one of his direct pawns as it would stain his well maintained image. 

Instead, such creatures were relegated to serving as pawns for his direct subordinates, who were the true pieces in his game.

"This Dracula seems like a mighty foe." Alexander commented from Ricky's shirt pocket as Abraham raised his eyebrow at the random Gerbil popping up from nowhere.

"But what if he had other vampires come here-" Jake was about to chim in only to be interrupted by a single scoff.

"There aren't any other vampires here jackass, I've checked, that's why I'm so sure that this vamp isn't Dracula!!" Abraham snarled at Jake who frowned at this old man's hatefulness seemingly directed at him.

"Then do you have any ideas on where this fake might be?" Ricky asked, and Abraham burst into laughter at the ridiculousness of the question, which finally made Jake lose his patience.

"Listen bub, I don't think you understand-ARCK!" Jake stomped his way over to Abraham, who suddenly broke free from his restraints and used his whip that was hidden in his underpants to wrap around Jake's neck.

The whole time, Abraham hadn't been targeting Jake without reason as he knew that the other one, Ricky, had a mysterious power that reflected his magic which is why he relentlessly barraged Jake, aiming to draw Jake closer to assess the situation more clearly with Ricky.

"Jake!" Ricky yelled out, but Abraham had already pulled Jake towards him, using him as a human shield just as Ricky drew his gun.

Plucking out one of his teeth, it revealed a fake tooth as he undid the upper cap to reveal it to be a prickly needle.

"One move and I cut his jugular." Abraham warned, placing the needle directly at the center of Jake's jugular as he undid the whip's bindings from his neck.

"Slick, don't worry I can take it, shoot him!" Jake yelled as Abraham scoffed at this while Ricky squinted his eyes.

*Click*

Ricky clicked the revolver and aimed, while Jake braced himself for the pain as Abraham let out a small laugh, thinking it was all just an act.

"Listen Slick is it? Do you think I wouldn't know how to kill a man-" Abraham didn't think Ricky had the balls, but Ricky nodded to Jake, who subtly nodded back.

*BANG*

"ARGH!" Jake and Abraham both let out pained wails, causing Abraham to release his hold on Jake.

'Thank you Marksmanship.' Ricky internally thanked his own skill as he walked over to Abraham gripping his shoulder.

"You psychopath, you actually shot your friend to shoot me!" Abraham yelled out in pain, his voice filled with frustration, as Ricky and Jake erupted in laughter.

"Damn right you f*cking foggy!" Jake laughed out before wincing in pain as he held his shoulder.

*Click*

Strolling up to Abraham, Ricky pressed the barrel of his gun firmly against the old man's temple while Abraham clutched his continuously bleeding shoulder.

"Now, where is that imposter?"