CHAPTER ONE
QUAKE

─────────

The life of a vampire hunter was one that demanded a lot of things and Josie van Helsing knew them all.

Most importantly, it required one to remain in their best shape, as it was not a job for those averse to an active lifestyle. It also required a degree of wits, the ability to think quickly on one's feet and knowing how to push aside fear so that you may get the job done. Facing down the scariest creatures that lurked in the dark and preyed on the innocent was definitely not the job for someone who was faint of heart.

One of the skills that Josie was most proud to have cultivated was the ability to control her breathing when on long chases. Her feet pounded against the cobblestone road, stake gripped tightly in one hand. Tendrils of her dark hair had slipped from pins keeping it not only up in an appropriate style for a young woman of Josie's standing, but out of her face as well. The hair stuck to the thin sheen of sweat that coated her body, making it stick to the sides of her face and the back of her neck. Her heart pounded away in her chest, pumping the adrenaline that was keeping her moving so late in the night.

Josie's dark eyes flicked rapidly between the street ahead of her and the rooftops above, following the silhouettes of two vampires as they leapt from roof to roof. She was not afraid of the creatures that stalked the shadows, secure in the knowledge that the backup she had with her would be more than enough to protect her, should she find herself outnumbered or endangered.

Her boots skidded across the stone as she stopped suddenly, the silhouettes that she had been following pausing in their chase and beginning to fight. She turned her eyes away for seconds at most to look for a way to reach the roofs from where she was before she heard a cry and looked up to see one of the figures throw the other from the roof of the four-storey building. She could only watch as the vampire landed heavily on the cobblestone and remained there, unmoving.

Swearing, Josie hurried over and knelt down next to the vampire, searching for signs of whether they were truly dead or had survived the fall. They were resilient creatures, vampires, but one could never be sure if—

A cry fell from her lips as the vampire's red eyes flew open and they launched themselves at her, tackling her and pinning her down to the cobblestone street, fangs on clear display as they hissed at her in warning.

"Nicholai!" Josie scolded, punching his arm. "You scared me half to death with that fall!"

"Sorry, Jo," Nicholai said, backing off and offering her a hand up. "That landing shocked me for a moment."

"Of course it did, you fell four storeys!" she exclaimed.

With a sigh, Josie turned away from her friend as he rubbed the back of his neck and what was likely a crick that had resulted from his heavy landing. As her eyes turned up to the rooftops, she realized they were empty. The other vampire had escaped.

"You let them get away!"

"Not on purpose!" Nicholai argued.

"I am tired of your excuses."

"I was thrown off a building!"

"And you have clearly recovered from the ordeal. Thus, it is an excuse."

"T'is not an excuse if that's what really happened!"

Josie rolled her eyes and cast her eyes around once more, wondering which way the vampire may have gone in. The street and the rooftops were still and quiet, only the distant sounds of the tavern they'd passed by about a block or so back. With no leads that she could see, Josie turned her eyes back to her friend. Nicholai met her expectant stare and immediately shook his head.

"Oh no, you cannot accuse me of letting the vampire get away by being thrown off of a building and then expect me to find him again for you."

"Do you wish for my dad to have to face our adversary alone?"

"Your father is one of the best vampire hunters in the world," Nicholai argued.

"He called us in on this one for a reason."

"I cannot believe you," Nicholai said with a sigh, looping an arm around her. "You are the worst friend in the world."

"Untrue, you love me," Josie said confidently.

"I know, that is my problem."

Nicholai took off at a run, the high speed causing Josie to turn her head into his shoulder as the winds whipped by them, causing more of her hair to fall from its pins. It was a good thing that her mother would be asleep when they returned, she would get an earful if she returned home and before her mother with her hair in the state it was in.

In no time at all, they arrived at Hyde Park and Nicholai stopped, letting go of Josie so that they could look around. The sound of fighting reached their ears and they turned towards it, looking around for the source of the commotion. Not seeing anything in their immediate vicinity, the two started running in the direction the sounds were coming from and it didn't take long for them to reach the center of the park where the magnificent fountain was.

Here is where they finally found Abraham van Helsing fighting against the vampire that they'd been chasing. He looked to be barely holding his own in the fight, trying desperately to pin the vampire down long enough to drive the stake in his hand through its heart.

Josie and Nicholai exchanged a look, a plan passing to an agreement between them without them having to say a word. Just as Abraham was sent flying backwards into the grass by the vampire, Nicholai charged forward at his enhanced speed, successfully distracting the vampire while Josie pulled out one of the stakes she kept in her boot.

When Josie reached the vampire, Nicholai had successfully managed to get a tight grip on him that held him in place and prevented him from getting away. It also left him open to easily being staked, which was exactly what Josie prepared to do when she was within reach. She would have to be careful to only drive the stake deep enough to pierce the vampire's heart, not wanting it to go all the way through him and get Nicholai as well.

"You'll never stop them," the vampire hissed, causing Josie to stop.

"What are you on about?" she asked.

"They'll get their revenge," he continued. "And this world will be unrecognizable."

"Who will?" Nicholai asked, tightening his grip and causing the vampire's expression to flicker with pain.

"The witch and the ghost, of course."

Josie and Nicholai exchanged a glance and she resisted rolling her eyes. A meaningless statement if ever she had heard one.

"Oh, do stop prattling on to save yourself," Josie said, driving the stake down.

The body went limp and so Nicholai tossed it aside, turning to Josie so they could share a victorious smile. A groan from a little ways away caused them to turn towards where Abraham was beginning to sit up. Josie hurried over to her father and offered him a hand up. When he was on his feet again, they crossed back to where Nicholai was examining the body.

"No identification," Nicholai said, looking up at the two van Helsing's.

"Not even a wallet?" Abraham questioned.

"His pockets are completely empty," Nicholai confirmed. "No money, no keys, not even a scrap of paper."

"Odd. Very odd."

"He doesn't seem like the run-of-the-mill vampire," Nicholai said. "He was young, very young. A week old at the most."

"How can you tell?" Abraham asked, not doubting how Nicholai knew but always wanting them to explain their thought process when making deductions.

"He was weak," Nicholai explained. "As vampires, we are stronger than humans. Josie could have held him down easily. It takes time for us to not just come into our strength, but realize how to utilize it. He was not old enough to have learned that."

"And yet he led us on quite the chase," Josie said. "Perhaps there was something to what he said..."

"He spoke to you?" Abraham questioned.

Josie nodded. "Just before I staked him. He said someone will get their revenge, the world will not be the same and... and named them as the witch and the ghost. We thought it was all lies."

"A distraction to buy itself time," Abraham guessed. Josie nodded once again. "The witch and the ghost... If only that narrowed down our search."

Nicholai stood up and Abraham surveyed the vampire for a moment before shaking his head and looking up at his daughter and surrogate son. A smile pulled on his lips, his expression one of pride as he clapped them both on the shoulder.

"Good job, the both of you," he told them.

"Thank you, Dad," Josie said, smiling.

"Thanks, Mister van Helsing," Nicholai said, also smiling.

"Now, let's get us all home and some rest," Abraham said. "We will still have to be back at the office at the regular time."

─────────

After a long day at the van Helsing office, Josie was ready to go home, see her mother and little sister and have dinner. It had been a long day of talking to current and potential clients, tracking down leads that went nowhere and research that didn't help them with any of their current cases. And still no clues as to who the witch and the ghost were and why there were turning people into vampires and letting them get killed before coming into their strength.

When it was time for Josie and Abraham to return home, they said goodbye to their other employees and Nicholai retired to the back room of the office where he lived, promising that he'd be by later to have dinner with them. He was just going to remain there for a little while longer, waiting out the sun some more. Nicholai may have been immune to much of the sun's typical damage to his kind, but he still didn't like it.

Once at the van Helsing home, father and daughter were ambushed at the door. It made a smile spread across Josie's face as she hugged her younger sister Victoria back. As Abraham hung up his coat on the rack near the door, the sound of the whistling kettle came from the kitchen and a moment later, the figure of Luella van Helsing appeared, wearing a smile on her face as she saw her husband and eldest daughter.

The small family resembled each other much, with their dark hair and dark eyes. But it was Victoria who took after Luella with her optimistic, happy and kind personality. Josie had always been more like her father, seeing the world as a much darker and more dangerous place, always being more cautious of the strangers that they met. Just like Abraham had found a permanent source of light in his love for his wife, Josie found it in her little sister, who was her favourite person in the world. Victoria may have been only six years old but there was no one else that Josie would go to when she needed cheering up. Not even Nicholai, who was her best friend.

"Oh, hello to you too, Tori," Josie said with a smile.

"Josie, Josie! You'll never believe what we did today!" she said excitedly.

"What did you do?"

"Momma and I baked biscuits for tea! Chocolate ones!"

"Chocolate tea biscuits?" Josie exclaimed, feigning surprise as her father helped her ease off her coat. "I'll bet they are the most delicious biscuits ever made. Right, Dad?"

"Without a shadow of a doubt," Abraham agreed.

"I've got the tea almost ready. Just the water left," Luella explained. "We're gonna test out those biscuits."

"From the sound of it, there will only be one proper judgement," Abraham said, striding forward to embrace Luella and kiss her.

Josie hung her coat next to her father's on the rack, turning back to see her mother's eyes searching for something behind her. Even as she opened her mouth to ask, Josie already knew the question her mother was going to ask.

"Where's Nicholai?"

"He's coming by later," she explained. "He'll be here for dinner, don't worry. He promised he'd come so he'll be here."

"Good, good," Luella said. "And you've got muck all over the bottom of your skirt. Where have you been traipsing all day?"

Josie looked down at the aforementioned muck on the bottom of her skirt and then looked back up at her mother sheepishly.

"That might be from last night..."

"I told you to be careful, it'll be a pain to get that stain out," Luella said with a sigh, turning on her husband. "And I told you not to let her ruin her skirts if she was going to be a hunter. I told you she was to wear pants if—"

"Come, darling, while the tea is still hot. You can yell at me later," Abraham said.

─────────

A few hours later, after dinner had been eaten and great company enjoyed, Luella and Victoria cleared the dishes from the table and began preparing dessert in the kitchen. Laughter rang out from the dining room as Abraham, Josie and Nicholai remained there, enjoying each other's company and reminiscing on old memories.

"I swear," Nicholai said, laughing. "The look on Oliver's face when he found the coffin in the back room."

"He looked like he was going to drop dead," Josie agreed, laughing.

"Poor kid probably thought he'd been led into a trap."

"Oh, can you imagine? We go through all the effort of making sure he's got potential, vetting him, giving him a desk and training and it's all a trap."

"The carefully cultivated van Helsing name, all lies," Nicholai joked. "Instead of prestigious vampire hunters, they are really vampires."

"It's a great cover for all the blood," Josie added.

They both dissolved into laughter, Abraham smiling in amusement as he watched the two of them. After a few moments, they sobered up and a comfortable silence settled around them. When there was a knock at the door, Abraham excused himself to answer it, leaving Josie and Nicholai alone at the table.

"You know, Tori was very upset that you weren't here to try her fantastic chocolate tea biscuits," Josie reminded him.

"Yes, and I feel quite terrible about it," he said. "Next time she makes these chocolate tea biscuits, I will do my utmost to ensure that I am here to try them."

"Well, I am sure she will be overjoyed to hear that."

The sound of the front door shutting reached their ears from down the hall and Josie turned towards the doorway into the dining room, waiting for her father to appear so that she could ask him who had been at the door at this hour. After a moment, when he didn't appear, her brow furrowed.

"Dad?" she called out, leaning forward. "Who was at the door?"

There was no answer and so with a confused look exchanged with Nicholai, she stood up and took the few steps necessary to get to the hallway, looking towards the front door. Her father wasn't there, in fact the entire hallway was empty. Her brow furrowed and she stepped further into the hallway, looking around. The coat that her father had hung up when they had arrived back home was nowhere to be seen.

"Dad? Where are you?" she called out again.

"Josie?" Nicholai asked, appearing in the hallway. "What's wrong?"

"It's my dad," she said. "I can't find him."

"Can't find—"

Before he could finish, the whole house began to shake. Josie grabbed Nicholai's arm as they both reached out to balance themselves against the wall as well. The quake stopped almost as quickly as it had started and Josie looked at her friend with a concerned expression.

"What in seven hells was that?" she asked.

"I don't know."

"Mom!" Josie called out. "Tori!"

No answer had time to come before the quake began again, more intense and more violent than the previous one. Josie gripped onto Nicholai desperately, her heart hammering away as fear began to creep up on her. A vase fell and shattered somewhere in the house, a painting fell from the wall and the frame broke just a little ways away from them in the hallway and something heavy and wooden fell over, the heavy thud sounding through the house.

By the time the tremors stopped several moments later, the house was a mess and Josie was feeling thoroughly shaken. She stood up and straightened herself out, looking around at the mess. Without thinking, Josie reached out for Nicholai's arm, pulling him towards the front door where they quickly pulled on their coats. Just as Josie had grabbed the crossbow they kept near the door and began loading a stake into it, Luella and Victoria appeared in the hallway, looking scared.

"What's going on?" Luella asked. "Where's your father?"

Words to explain escaped Josie so she simply hurried over to her mother and sister and wrapped them in a quick hug, then placed a hand on her mother's shoulder and her sister's cheek as she pulled back.

"It's gonna be alright," she promised, even though she wasn't sure herself. "Nicholai and I are going to go figure out what happened. Stay here. Lock the doors. Jus— just to be safe."

She didn't say anything else, turning away from them quickly before they could see her fear. Nicholai pulled to door open and she hurried after him, crossbow held tightly in her hand. As they stepped out onto the streets, nothing that she saw calmed her fears.

Houses, unfamiliar and strange looking were sandwiched between the familiar homes of Josie's neighbours. The uneven cobblestone streets had changed, patches of some strange, flat and black road replacing it for stretches before it would return to cobblestone. There was a clocktower she didn't recognize in the distance and at the end of the street, to her horror, it seemed that whatever had happened had caused two houses to be merged together in some bizarre amalgamation that stretched high above the other houses.

Worse of all, Josie's father was nowhere in sight. Abraham van Helsing was not comforting his neighbours as Josie had hoped he would be.

Josie turned to Nicholai. "What just happened?"

─────────

an. the best vampire hunters in storybrooke are back and I couldn't be happier with the rewrite and that I get to bring Josie back for this spooky season.