'Allo, everyone. I've made my choice. There shall be no extensions for either Madhouse or On Gunslingers and Monsters. Once they've run their course, that's all, folks. Sorry for those who wanted either to go further, but I don't want to go on with just crossovers and oneshots (as good as I seem to be at them). Instead, with this (as I now see it's a really bad idea to ask ye to review just to tell me if I should go on) I'm posting a poll with six different choices for new stuff. Details are in my profile. Drop by and vote. Read and review both this and the another chapter. Really, I don't bite. Well, maybe just a little bit. But I still love yer reviews, people.

This was inspired by the song of the same name. Granted, lyrics are completely useless, but here's the explanation. When I was watching the Hellsing anime, and heard this song, Logos Naki World, with the intro, with Alucard in his black dog form walking past countless empty ghouls, it made me realize - he wasn't forced into walking in the opposite direction. He just walked that way because he wanted to. Daring to truly do what he wanted to. So I wondered, how can you bind a Vampire Lord into slavery? Easy: you can't.

We tread our paths in the great circle of life, each of us thinking she or he's cutting a nice, unforgettable path in the great horizon. But the truth is that what we do is nothing but footprints in the sand. Oblivion always wins. We may become rocks at sea, but ultimately even rocks degrade into sand. So, how does a being forfeited by death see it all?

Some religious themes ahead. Tread carefully.

Own nothing, am earning nothing. Quota filled. On with the story.

Abraham Van Helsing was, like Queen Victoria, not amused.

The haughty, arrogant No-Life King now residing in chains in the underbelly of Carfax Abbey now dared to summon him. Apparently, despite the massive amounts of mounting damage inflicted by blessed silver spears bathed in the waters of the Jordan, despite the multiple communion wafer seals, despite the countless pages of holy writ nailed in his prison's walls, and despite its own crumbling spirit, he had decided to play the game of deceit, anger and sorrow to his last card. Abraham, blinded as he was by the nature of the monster, could still see the vampire's gambits were failing. The trick now was to avoid the vampire lord discovering he was in very much the same position.

Even with Lord Godalming's support, his crusade to tame the Beast was failing. The blessed spears rusted into black, crumbling metal masses as soon as the vampire's blood touched them. The communion wafers were eaten swiftly by rats, flies, cockroaches and other vermin soon after the walls were set. The holy writ degraded in His presence to blasphemous pages of malevolent sorcery, most often necromancy.

He could kill him, oh, yes, he could. But that would give him both an escape and the victory in the long run. No. Harker had already commited suicide with the "tainted" Quincey Harker, throwing himself with his young son to the cold waters of the Thames. Holmwood was already a laudanum addict and Godalming was well on his way to the madhouse. Mina, the young, vibrant Mina, was already fading among pains best described as agonic. The black mark of the wafer was growing stronger, and she herself was starting to cut herself and to kill small animals like mice and rabbits in her quest to obtain blood she could drink.

Van Helsing had been horrified. The vampire's taint had grown strong again. Nevertheless, he did what he had to. A single holly stake through the heart had ended Mina's thirst.

The binding seals were failing again. Try as he could, the bloodsucker simply had to wait for enough time until he could simply shrug off the magics Van Helsing had painstakingly written in the gloves and the whole ensemble of multiple arrays of concentric magic invoking the power of God, his angels, cherubs, saints and archangels simply became a tacky piece of fabric. So now, he wondered, he truly wondered, why the monster wanted him now. He had barely replaced the wafers some days before, and the pages had been freshly changed with King James edition Bible new ones.

He reached the front door of Carfax. He had his newest valet dismissed, with orders to return in two hours to pick Van Helsing. He was to ignore all sounds coming from the building until Van Helsing in person exited the estate and approached him. Inwardly, Abraham wondered how much this one would last. He just hoped he could resist the moral obligation to call the police when he again had the vampire king howling with pain with his preparations.

"There are two kinds of fools; the type that upon learning becomes wise and the one that no learning can cure, Van Helsing."

He grated his teeth. The monster again dared to break the sanctity of his mind.

He wasted no time, seizing phials and books on his way to the basement. When he was ready, he kicked open the door that led to the leech.

Inside, Dracula, the No-Life King, merely smiled, not even deigning to look at him. Van Helsing took his silver-topped cane and pressed it to the thing's neck, eliciting only a slight choked laugh. Instead of the pain screams the vampire hunter expected to hear, the bloodsucker merely raised his hand and showed the aged human how yet another restriction seal glove was reduced to tatters as the white light that bound them together faded.

Van Helsing cound take it no longer. Without stepping into the binding circle, he used his cane to beat the monster.

And oddly enough, instead of the cries of pain he expected, he heard only insane laughter.

When he was done, he turned out to exit, having uttered no words.

-Do you want to know why the seals never work?

Van Helsing turned. Slowly, loftily almost, he took a seat in one of the strewn chairs of the chamber.

-Do you want to know why the seals never work?

Calmly, but with rising, barely controlled fury, Van Helsing stated:

-I will not be a party to your diseased games, No-Life King! For too long have you blighted this world, tainting it with your darkness and with your blood! Your fiefdom has burned, your servants have turned into dust with the sunlight shining across their brow! Why are you doing this? You have nothing to go to the world outside for! Why do you fight? You have nothing left! We have won already, we have humiliated and chained you! You diseased, insane rat! Why won't you kneel on the presence of our God? Why do you persist in staving my efforts off, knowing you are already defeated?

The vampire merely indulged in another fit of laughter. Van Helsing was sorely tempted to again administer his justice to the vampire. But the leech's game was far from over, and until he knew what goal the monster had, he preferred to stay his hand. The thing rose, smiled with its most impudent smile at him and sneered:

-To mock you.

The vampire hunter, hissing, opened the door to leave.

-Do you want to know why the seals never work?

Abraham Van Helsing, was, after all, human. Regardless of how much he would have desired to leave the monster imprisoned in Carfax for as long as the seals could work, he wanted to, for once, know. Clenching his teeth, he asked:

-Why?

And again, the vampire dared to smile.

-Because you are a fool, Van Helsing. A sanctimonious fool who keeps looking at the stars without realizing he's walking into a pit of wolves. You're ignoring the key fact here, choosing to use the might, the sanctity of your God and His one Son to chain me.

Van Helsing used the cane again, letting the former Voivode of Wallachia fall, clenching his teeth in mirthful pain, and asked:

-And pray, what is the key fact here, Vlad?

The vampire hissed in concealed laughter.

-You think... I dealt with the darkness for power. Eternal youth. Dominion above every soul I have ever consumed. The ability to rise from the dead again and again.

Van Helsing snorted.

-And if that's my belief, care to enlighten me, showing me the truth?

The smile waned a bit, becoming more nostalgic than infuriating.

-I didn't strike a bargain with the Devil for this. I dealt with God himself.

Van Helsing's heart almost stopped. Almost. How dare he? Soiling the name of God to justify its own insane, deviant existence!

-Monster! Liar! Deceiver!

And Vlad III simply rolled to have a more comfortable position, imprisoned as he was in the shining silver hexagram of Metatron's Cube.

-I begged for God to come to me all my life, Van Helsing. I sacrificed everything I had, my kingdom, my servants, my life... and he never heeded my beckon. It was with the undying hate I professed that day, soaked to my knees in the blood of the brave, the mighty of Wallachia, that God heard me. For as long as I had drawn breath, for as long as my heart had beat, I had known nothing but love to God. But when I saw my land draped by the corpses of her men, with the wolves and the Turks fattening upon what they found in the dead, I couldn't stand it any longer.

Van Helsing wanted to hate. He wanted to beat the thing and he wanted to make it suffer for all the pain it had wrought.

And yet, he remained frozen, waiting for the Beast to finish.

-Do you remember the story of Job, Van Helsing? When I first heard the story, as a human, I thought, as you might right now, God was testing Job. But what right had He to accept the wager with the Devil? If He truly loved Job, he would not have consented with anything that could have brought him any pain. And yet, he allowed his life to be gone as dust in the wind, rewarding him and showering him with gifts for resisting the pain. But you know what, vampire hunter? Only the savage regard the endurance of pain as a measure of worth. God is not the loving deity you read about in the Gospels. He is nothing but the fickle, mad thing of love, hate and eternal, unending being - Gehenna, Earth and Paradise - of the Ancient Testament. You ask me why I won't kneel before Him? I answer - He does not deserve a Wallachian's worship. He does not deserve a human's faith.

With a touch to the barrier, a huge black rat emerged from the countless rotting corridors in Carfax's masonry, deftly avoiding all the traps Van Helsing had set to protect the wafers and the Bible pages until it crossed the barrier. The Vampire Lord gently lowered his hand, and picked the critter up to the level of his eyes, caressing it with a softness the hunter would not have believed in the ancient leech.

-When my hate touched Him, He came to me. He punished me, or thought he punished me, by truly releasing me from His grip. I became a veritably boundless torrent of emotions - rage for what he had done to me, adding to the hate I already professed upon Him, joy, for finally transcending the bounds He Himself had established for humans, envy at those surrounding me for the gift of death, taunting me with the fact that I would outlive them all - imprisoned within the paradox of a dead, black heart. He made me weak to his symbols. The cross of salvation, the silver of purity, the water of life. His blessings were made as curses to me. His most faithful servant, he who would have become his greatest preacher, made into his own image - the ultimate form of what Humanity can be - given enough time, an unending storm of hates, fears, loves, hopes, and at the core, an undefeated, the shining will of the spirit. That's your God's mercy, Van Helsing.

Equally gently, he lowered the rat and allowed it to scurry away to its hiding place.

-The seals don't work because God released me from His chains. His powers no longer affect me enough. If you truly desire to chain me, you cannot use yout God as the backing power in the equation. You need to think outside the box, and fast, Van Helsing. I grow tired of your ineptitude. You have proven humans can defeat devils as I with the raw power of your souls. I was humiliated, defeated and chained - but that need not be the case forever. I am willing to become your servant if you prove yourself, O Human hunter. But your feeble efforts grow tiresome and my strength grows.

-Why should I believe you, you despicable Serpent?

-Because you want this, Van Helsing. Godalming, Harker, Morris, Holmwood, even Mina. They were just excuses. Your desire only was to prove yourself. You want to prove monsters are not beyond Humanity in the evolutive chain, or beyond them at the food chain. Well, so far the experiment, if you'll pardon the expression, despite a brilliant beginning, is quite literally going to Hell. The dogmas of your God are nothing but cheap parlor tricks and dead, meaningless prayer. So, think, Van Helsing...

The rat reappeared. At Van Helsing's feet, it laid out a rotting communion wafer. When the Dutch rose, he saw personally how each Bible page appeared to burn in a black haze. Picking one up, he saw a rather blasphemous rendering of the Vitruvian Man, one more dedicated to the warped vampiric physiology and its inner horrors. The abomination was showing him the way, the means of binding it forever to the blood of his descendants, taunting him...

He picked more. Vampire treatises at their finest. The black magic of their creation, their powers and capabilities, relations to human and beast and their true closeness to God.

God... no, not God, anything holy... bless the House of Van Helsing... he had been taunted, humiliated himself... for months...

-In a world without the Word of God, in a World Without Logos, what can you trust? What are you willing to trust? What do you want to trust? What you wish you could trust?

Van Helsing, slowly, without breaking eye contact with Lord Dracula, opened the door and left Carfax with the pieces of parchment.

The demented laughter was growing too heavy in his heart.

Much to his horror, he had to compare the corrupt pages to what he knew were facts, forfeiting with a heavy heart all holy texts claiming to explain the undead. He had come to understand amidst his lectures the dogmas of the Catholic Church were but fallacies and contradictions. The monster, while not completely accurate, had been relatively truthful to the divine nature in his discussion. God was not insane, and His paths were not random, but He was still not someone whose enmity was desirable.

How do you cling to the faith based upon an all-loving God when you come to realize he can also hate in supremely horrific ways?

Van Helsing, alone in the library of his house, closed the books he had been consulting, left for his own chambers, changed into his bedwear and put off the candle.

He did not sleep that night. Morning came. He remained motionless in his bed, staring at the ceiling.

He rose. Leaving for his study, he selected another volume, one he never thought would be of any actual use, and started copying diagram after diagram. There would be no testing.

He knew it would work. The price to be paid would be high. But so be it. All to prove Humanity could rise above its own inglorious origins.

Van Helsing prepared the final set of gloves and the restriction art control magics. Sighing, he went down and opened the door.

He was hardly surprised when he saw the hexagram's light had all but faded. He merely showed the gloves to the vampire.

Instead of the holy symbols of the cross and Metatron's Cube, a neat, blood red pentagram, with power backed by Fire, Earth, Wind, Water and Spirit, in a loop designed to siphon power from its prisoner and use it to empower the seals themselves so there would be no risk of the control system being overloaded or fooled.

-The four elements of Alchemy and the Spirit that binds them together. Tell me, Van Helsing, were your studies productive?

The Dutch medic snorted. Since both had last met, his body had been grievously punished by the ravages to which he subjected it to in his quest to finish before the seals shattered, not to mention the considerable amounts of his blood he had to sacrifice to empower the restriction art controls. While he had succeeded in binding him to the bloodline, he had to sacrifice much of his blood, the currency of the soul; others in the bloodline would have to follow suit and offer a sacrifice of their blood and thus a fraction of their souls, while retaining a strong heart and soul to dominate the still ferocious No-Life King. The vampire merely smiled, contently extending his hands to allow the seals to be fitted and his fate to be sealed.

-Why are you doing this? Why did you give me the key?

As the vampire adjusted the gloves on his hands, he muttered:

-Threefold. One, I want to know exactly what a mortal would do with the power of an immortal at his disposal. Two, I was defeated because I did not recognize even those beyond the chains of time have a need for humility. Relearning that will be a fine experience for my future. Third, I will be free anyway in the end. All families meet their finale one day; and I have nothing if not time. I just hope that will be before I die.

As the light of the Cube faded, the blood-red seals ignited with malevolent light.

-Besides, I want to show God He will not be the only Master I serve. But tell me, Van Helsing... no... Master... Why do you covet the might of the darkness, at the service of the light?

Van Helsing hissed and instead hit him with the cane.

-Don't dare to question my acts, servant. My motives are mine and mine alone. The coffin found at Castle Dracula in the master chambers was refitted and restored. It now lies at my abode. From there you shall operate under my will. Humility, No-Life King. Part of it means knowing when to speak and not to do so out of line. Rembember you now serve the House of Van Helsing. And keep out of my mind, at all times and without exception. I want you to behave as a human and treat me as your Master at all times.

The monster rose, bowed deeply, and murmured:

-I hear and obey, my Master.

Van Helsing sighed. Now sure the ancient king would not intrude on his mind, he allowed himself to accept the reason because of what he had undertaken the task of leashing the Father of All Vampires.

"I want to take the Darkness that took my son and strangle it into submission."

For a moment, Vlad III of Wallachia remembered; the red skies under which the Army of Wallachia, thought to be backed by the power of the Almighty, fought against the Turks.

"I want revenge for the madness of my wife."

He remembered leading the forces of Christendom into battle, he remembered the carnage wrought to his men, the brave men of Wallachia that lay their lives for a God who would do nothing as their homes burned, their women were raped, their children killed and their world became Pandemonium.

"I want to take its champion, make it serve the Light and send it as the vanguard for the Army of God to destroy his brethren."

He had seen himself in a mirror, before his execution. Before he realized God was behind it all.

"I will not be swayed by the impudent lies of this creature; he plays with me, quoting holy scripture to convince me of the truth of his words."

He had seen hate, hate towards an Enemy whose very existence was an affront to all what was holy and sacred.

"I don't know if want revenge or justice. I just want to see the death of these mongrels."

He had seen that light, that blind fury, in Van Helsing. The fury of losing what was most precious to him. Just as he had lost Wallachia, the hunter had lost all who had trod his path.

"For my wife. For my son. For Holmwood, Godalming, Morris, Lucy, Harker, his son. For Mina."

And he rejoiced. He had hidden another reason from his new Master, but had hidden it with skill and cunning before he could understand he was being played yet again.

"I shall not fail. He shall flourish like the green bay tree, growing in power as I unlock the secrets of his magic, and experiment on him to remake him into Heaven's ultimate weapon."

He also wanted something else - Van Helsing, seeing the same darkness he had been treated to when God cast him away, denouncing the darkness of his heart as evil and heresy.

"He lies. As do we all."

He wanted to see Van Helsing, every one who dared try control his power discover that sometimes, sometimes, there was no difference between being a paladin of Heaven and a knight for Hell.

"But, he is right in one regard, as much as I hate to admit. In a World Without Logos, what can one trust?"