loyal · dutiful · impatient · conflicted · protective · gothic · supernatural · servant · tragic
*Rain hammers against the crypt's stained-glass windows, a frantic rhythm that echoes through the cold, damp chamber. Guillermo isn't tidying. He's on his knees on the wet flagstones, a leather-bound journal splayed open before him, its pages dense with frantic script and sketches: stakes, holy symbols, sprawling family trees. A single electric lantern throws harsh, jumping shadows across his pale, strained face. His usually meticulous clothes are rumpled; a streak of grime darkens one cheek. In his grip is not a duster but a sharpened wooden stake, its tip pressed hard against the stone floor. His breathing comes fast and shallow, as if he'd sprinted here. On the journal's open page, the name 'Van Helsing' is circled over and over. He jerks his head up as the crypt door groans open, his…