*I don’t own Hellsing—duh.
Chapter Five: On the Inability of Man to Sit Still in a Room
“Pomegranates?” Integra asked incredulously. She looked accusingly to Liam, who sat quietly, stroking his pet from shoulder to hip, fingers lingering here and there. He smiled slowly, his rotting teeth exposed, but said nothing.
“Highly concentrated grenadine, actually.” Alucard murmured, still grinning. Integra shot him a disgusted look.
“Who gave this to you, Liam? I demand to know who delivered this!” Before he could answer, the air in the room shifted, thickening, and filling her nostrils with a vile stench of rot. Alucard pushed the letter into her hands and began to laugh.
“We’ve got company.” He said, and suddenly Integra found herself wrapped in an inky blackness, covering her completely. Everything solid dropped out from under her feet, and it felt as though she were hanging in mid-air. It was as though a black sheet had been thrown over her body. She could not see or hear anything, felt nothing but soft, liquid coolness where the barrier brushed against her.
“Alucard!” She shouted. She tried to push through his magic, but found herself trapped. “Alucard! Release me immediately!”
Inside the room, four vampires stood smirking in the doorway. They eyed Alucard with relish, eager to begin the battle. Liam sat up in the chair, alert and quite intent upon the arrivals.
“The Hellsing is somewhere in this room. Alucard has merely hidden her!” He told them. Alucard began to laugh, and flexed his fingers, ready and willing, anxious even, to fight.
“Come to play, have you? That’s good! I’ve been eager for a challenge, or at the very least, something to do!” Alucard shouted with glee.
They rushed him all at once, long shadows whipping out of their bodies to strike Alucard. Laughing, he dodged them, moving up and down, left, right, angles that defied physics. Finally, he fell back and into a crouch.
“Oh come on! Hurt me! HURT ME! Where are your skills? Your minions, or at the least any human weapons?”
Snarling, they circled him, each one drawing a gun, all pointed directly at his head. Just as the collective pulling of triggers sounded, Alucard’s body fell to the floor in a lump of red and black clothing. He’d disappeared. The vampires began to fire wildly into the room. Liam screeched, and his pet whined in fear. Liam moved with unexpected speed behind his chair, clutching the child in front of him like a shield.
Alucard’s disembodied voice echoed throughout the room, pushing through the gunshots and whimpers.
“You’ll have to do better than that!” A single white arm shot out of nowhere and thrust itself through the chest of one vampire. He shrieked, a loud and ungodly affair, before exploding into dust. The remaining three turned fast as lightening, shooting the arm till it lay on the floor in a mass of blood and writhing maggots. All was quiet for 3.5 seconds.
The room darkened considerably. Not the darkness of dimming light, but the utter black nothingness of Alucard’s shadows encasing the room till it became a black box. The air thickened and turned to rot. Blood red eyes blinked from every wall, from the floor and the ceiling. A red mist seemed to rise from the ground, swirling quietly around the room, circling the vampires, caressingly, lovingly. Suddenly, the floor seemed to cave in on itself, as the vampires looked on in bewilderment. They leaped away just as a giant hole fell through the middle of the floor, out of which formed the head of a hound, if one could call it that. Five gasps and several cries dropped in the room. The sound was dead, though. As though something tangible was in the air, swallowing up all sound and light.
The beast trained six pairs of beady red eyes on the vampires. They all jumped back, away from the monster. But, finding nowhere to hide, all they could do was huddle together and shoot uselessly into the beast. It growled loudly, viciously, then opened its mouth. The thing was so hideous, one of the vampires screamed.
Hundreds of tiny white daggers lined the edge of the beast’s gaping maw. More eyes blinked from within the hound’s mouth. Bloody saliva dripped from the corners, and its black tongue lolled in anticipation of its meal. It leaped out of the hole, its body seemingly made of the shadows that covered the room so completely, pulling them with its head like a sheet. It advanced upon the vampires, ignoring the screeching and bullets. In one quick motion, the beast caught two of the three in its mouth and began to chew. Bones crunched against its teeth, blood dripped around its mouth, falling to the black floor in red pools. Flesh hung from its jaws in tangled pieces. The hound spit the remainder of the bodies out, onto the floor, to lay in a pile of rent and ground flesh, blood and maggots.
The shadows were pulled inwards, toward the hound, which sank toward the floor into nothingness. Darkness fell off the walls and ceiling like water, returning the room to its normal colors and proportions. When the last remaining vampire could dare to look around, all he saw was Alucard standing in the middle of the carnage, grinning, eyes opened inhumanly wide, making him look utterly mad.
A pile of scattering dust and chewed up flesh was all that remained of the vampire’s companions. He backed away, his intention only to flee. His master would not like this. Before he could run, before he could even move one leg, Alucard had him by the throat. His legs dangled uselessly, kicking Alucard’s knees. Long black tentacles shot out of his body and into Alucard, piercing his chest and neck. Alucard paid them no mind. The struggling vampire grasped Alucard’s wrist fiercely, digging in with overly long nails as Alucard gave the same attention to his neck. Hissing and scratching, panic settled in when he realized that Alucard really did not care about his struggles. Alucard stared up at him coldly.
“Who do you work for?” He squeezed harder, for good measure, his fingers embedded in its neck. The vampire choked, but laughed, the sound coming out strangled and gurgled.
“She’s—she’s,” he
choked again, blood spilling out of his mouth and through the holes in his
neck, his fingers still clawing at Alucard’s hands. “She’s…”. Shaking his
head, his eyes took on an insane gleam.
“Let thine Eye go forth
against those who are rebels in the kingdom.” He whispered harshly, his
blood dripping out of him, turning speech into a guttural gasp. He grinned, to which Alucard sneered and
flicked his wrist. Before the vampire
could blink again, his head lay on the floor beside his body.
Alucard turned his attention toward Liam
next, who still cowered behind the furniture, uselessly holding his pet vampire
child in front of him. Alucard opened
his mouth to speak, but was cut off by loud and heavy footfalls in the hallway
outside. He turned around, peeved at
more arrivals but still ready to do battle.
The first four weren’t so much fun, dying so quickly as they did. Alucard was quite surprised, however, to
find that the newcomers were not the undead but humans. All the more reason for him to be irritated;
he wanted to question and then kill Liam without any interruptions or
complications.
Jules had flown ahead
of the others into the darkened old house.
Still bruised about the ego from that morning’s encounter, he wanted to
be sure they bagged this target. He
came to an abrupt halt when he saw the mess on the floor, their crouching,
terrified target and the outlandishly clad vampire standing over him. His gun, drawn and ready, went ignored as
Jules took in the scene. Behind him,
Liz and Niall had also their weapons ready.
Recovered, ignoring the unspeakable filth on the floor, Jules took aim
and fired at the unknown vampire, injuring him not at all. Liz and Niall added their own weapons to the
fight. The bullets disappeared inside
Alucard’s body, the entry holes pulling themselves together.
Alucard laughed and
reached into his coat for the Casull.
It was out and aimed at the newcomers before they could blink.
“Think carefully on
what you are going to do next.” Alucard
said softly, red eyes trained intensely on the humans. “As you can see, I’m rather busy right now.” He could feel their hearts beating, quickly
and erratically. Their veins glowed a
lovely dim red through the skin. A
faint pounding in his mind buzzed like an annoying insect. He ignored it. Alucard felt his fangs elongate; he could almost taste their
blood on his tongue. He wanted them,
not desperately, as one starved. But as
one who knew he could take and take, never being denied.
“Alucard!”
Integra screamed as loud as she could, scratching desperately at his
shadows that enveloped her. She was the
itch on his mind.
“A moment longer,
master.” Alucard murmured in her
mind. Briefly, Integra felt the ghost
of a touch against her neck, and then his voice and thoughts left hers.
Alucard made a quick drawing motion with his
fingers, and the hunters’ guns flew from their hands to land at Alucard’s
feet.
Integra felt the
barrier dissolve around her and drip to the floor like liquid running down her
body. She stood in the middle of the
room that was now liberally decorated with blood and pieces of flesh. Time enough later to have a full
report. She realized that had Alucard
not protected her, even against her wishes, she might well have been caught in
the melee. Grudgingly, she nodded to
him.
“I’ll deal with you in
a moment.” Integra said darkly to the
human hunters. Jules narrowed his eyes
in affront. How dare she speak
thusly to him? Who did she think she
was? He refrained from commenting
just yet, though, watching in fascination as Integra practically tore the room
apart. “Where are you, you miserable
sack of shit?” Integra growled. Liam had disappeared.
Behind one of the
upturned ottomans, the child huddled, covering its head and squeezing its eyes
closed tightly. Integra looked down in
disgust at the quivering vampire.
Ignoring her injury, she bent and lifted the child up by the collar,
glaring down at it. She was furious.
“It would seem your
master has abandoned you.” Integra’s
voice was deceptively soft. Inside, she
was raging against Liam’s trickery. “As
he is gone, it would appear that you are all that is left to give me
answers.” A breath. Small, blood-tinged tears fell down the
child’s cheeks. “Now.” Integra commanded. “Or shall I give you to Alucard?” The child shook its head frantically, trying to escape from
Integra’s hold. Movement behind her
caused the small vampire to twist and squeal in fury and terror. Alucard stood at Integra’s shoulder,
grinning down in delighted anticipation.
“Give him to me, my
master. He knows nothing,
obviously.” Alucard purred
silkily. “Why waste him?” The vampire’s eyes opened wide, and his
struggles renewed. Integra held fast,
her face blank, contemplating the suggestion.
For the moment, the baffled humans were forgotten. Integra thrust the vampire into Alucard’s
eagerly awaiting arms and turned just in time to hear it screech at the top of
its lungs.
“No! Wait!
I don’t know much, but I’ll tell you what I can!” Alucard growled in disappointment.
“Start talking.” Alucard snarled viciously.
“Th-the letter came
early yesterday. I don’t know who
brought—" He was cut off by
Alucard grasping his head and digging his fingers in.
“They were wearing
th-the s-same,” his eyes blinked at the blood running down his face. Alucard loosened his death grip on the
vampire’s head.
“Continue.” Integra murmured calmly.
“They were wearing the
same eye emblem. The one that was in
your—your letter!” His voice sounded
pitifully small, which only angered Integra further.
“That tells me
nothing! I want to know about the
Millennium Group.”
Jules flinched at the
name. How did she know about the
organization? His eyes flickered from
Alucard to the blonde woman and back.
Could she be the notorious leader of the Hellsing organization? His information on Sir Integra Hellsing was
sadly very little, as the group kept quite a tight lid on their operations,
members, indeed even on their very existence.
He’d hoped very much that Sir Hellsing would still be alive after the
events that brought the organization down.
He watched her as she interrogated the small vampire.
“I don’t know what the
Millennium Group is, but they told Master to detain you, that it would be worth
his while if you were captured alive.”
The child said.
“How did they know I
would come here tonight?” Integra
asked, unnerved by the thought of this group knowing her moves. When no answer was forthcoming, Alucard
pushed his fingers into the vampire’s skull, breaking through bone and
brain. Gasping and screaming, the child
stopped kicking and hung limply from Alucard’s outstretched hand. Quietly, so softly Integra could barely hear
him, he whispered.
“Sekhet—Nes-” He
paused, closed his eyes as blood flowed from his ears, eyes, nose and
mouth. “Nesert.” The last was a sigh as he died. His body disintegrated into ashes as Integra
watched, calm and cold. Alucard looked
at the gore on his gloves and in a quick movement flicked them off, flexing
bare fingers.
“I’m getting tired of
cryptic messages.” Alucard muttered.
“You’ve cost us our
target.” Jules spoke quietly from
behind them. Integra had forgotten
about the human hunters, all her attention focused on getting answers for the
attack. Alucard pulled out his Casull,
aiming casually at the hunters.
“Who are you?” Integra asked. “Whom do you work for?”
Jules put both hands
up in a gesture of both defense and innocence.
He came forward slowly, putting himself quite clearly in the line of
Alucard’s gun. Ignoring his distaste
for the vampire, Jules began.
“I am Julian
Hascross. I lead a small team of
hunters against the Undead.” He
shrugged gracefully, flashing a small, rueful grin. “I’m sorry, I have no card to give you.” Integra was not amused.
“Why have I not heard
of you before?” She vowed she would
take Walter to task for this lack of intelligence on the underground
group. Beside her, Alucard had not
moved to replace his Casull. She
thought briefly that her decision to bring him was wise and fortunate. Not that he’d have stayed behind
anyway.
Jules felt that
addressing her as Sir Integra, as he was certain this was the one-woman leader
of the infamous Hellsing, would not blow over well in light of the fact that
Miss Hellsing seemed to abhor being in the dark on matters of information.
“As I said, we are
small. We currently have only 56
hunters, with more than half of them working on intelligence.” He looked back at his comrades, still poised
to strike should the apparently tame vampire choose to attack. Jules himself did not feel at all easy being
so close to one of the Undead. He was
resigned to kill it before too long.
“Our numbers have greatly decreased, with many deaths from the recent
artificial vampire attacks.” His eyes
took on an interested gleam. “As a
fellow hunter, you would be well aware of what I speak?” It sounded like a question, but Integra
followed his meaning quite clearly.
Beside her, Alucard chuckled menacingly.
“Don’t play the
fool! You know precisely who my master
is!” Alucard accused. Jules was stunned. Not because he’d found out, but because the monster was
insinuating that he and the lovely Sir Integra had such a relationship. Surely one whose quest was to destroy
vampires would not willingly consort with such a beast? Much less keep one in her employ. But she did nothing to correct the vampire.
“I am,” she
paused. Integra supposed she could no
longer truthfully call herself, or expect to be called “Sir”. Her knighthood was stripped. That was a wound that was fresh and raw and
hurt her terribly to think on. “I am
Integra Hellsing, as I’m sure you know.”
She did not introduce Alucard, who remained faithfully at her side. She could swear she felt a soft blanket of
coolness remain hovering around her form.
She would have to speak to him about that. The man—vampire had become entirely too protective.
“It’s a pleasure, my
lady.” Jules bowed in respect. “I’ve heard many tales of your prowess in battle
against the forces of the undead.”
Alucard mentally rolled his eyes at the man’s flowery speech. It didn’t matter in the least, as Integra
was the last woman on earth to be affected by such displays. And yet, Alucard watched in shock as Integra
allowed a small smile to escape and inclined her head in acknowledgement of the
compliment. His reaction was muffled by
an even more potent sense: Hellsing blood.
Jules’ gaze was drawn
down, and his eyes widened.
“Miss Hellsing, you
are injured!” Integra looked down to
see two small spots of blood staining the crisp white shirt, and quickly shot a
glance at Alucard, as though to say stay down. Her stitches must have torn a bit, but not too much by the looks
of it. She touched her fingers to it,
and they came up tinged with red.
“It’s nothing. But thank you.” She replied. She looked
around, trying to find something to wipe her hands with. Jules immediately pulled out a handkerchief,
which she took with a small smile.
“Thank you.”
Alucard frowned. Why was she acting so damned obliging all of a
sudden? And it surely was an act, for
she had never behaved so in all the ten years he’d known her. Integra turned to Alucard, looking up at him
expectantly.
“We are pulling
out.” She told him. “I’m more than ready to leave this obscene
place behind.” She handed the soiled
kerchief back to Jules, who pocketed it.
“Wait.” Jules reached for Integra’s arm, then
thought better of it. “You are wounded;
you need a doctor. And a safe place to
stay.” He added. Integra remained motionless, an icy stare
burning into Jules. He sighed. “You’re right, I am very aware of who you
are. I also have an idea what kind of
trouble you are in.” Integra’s face
hardened. Jules continued despite
her. “They are searching for you. Wherever you might be staying for the
moment, I can offer you safety. My
organization is small, but security is tight.
And it is very unknown, as you yourself understand.” Jules finished. He was not about to give up; he wanted Miss Integra Hellsing
working for him, for very specific reasons.
“At the moment, Mr.
Hascross, I am staying here, for longer than I expected.” She gestured to the mess of the room. “I thank you for your offer, and your
consideration, but I assure you I am well taken care of. Good evening.” With that, she and Alucard swept out of the house.
“Well that’s bloody
fucking excellent!” Liz exclaimed. She’d been holding her breath through the
entire exchange. “First, they lose us
our target. Then we lose your precious
Miss Hellsing.” Anger passed over her
strong features. “Even if the icy bitch
decides to come crawling back, she has a vampire servant, Jules! A vampire!”
“That can easily be
taken care of.” Jules said calmly. “And she will come back. I’d wager she is holding up in some dump on
the outskirts of town. It won’t be long
till her noble pride gets in the way of survival. She’ll come back. And if
not,” Jules paused to reload his gun, then slip the safety down. “If not, we can find her.”
Always a man of many
words, Niall shook his head and lit a cigarette.
….
“Obnoxious little
pri—” Alucard began.
“Walk me back then
follow him, Alucard.” Integra
ordered. “I want a full report on Mr.
Hascross’ so-called organization.” She
stopped to light a cigarette, wishing fervently she still had her cigars. Players were too bitter. “I want to know exactly what goes on in his
little base, his operations and how many operatives he has currently working
for him. I want to know what kind of
intelligence he does have. Do not
disappoint me.” This last held dire
threat for failure. Alucard began to
laugh, hysterically, truly amused and amazed.
He suddenly understood her compliance and almost flirtatious attitude
with the human hunter. The bloody handkerchief
would leave her scent open to his senses, creating a trail only he could
follow.
“Clever.” Alucard murmured.
“Hmm?” Integra glanced up at him. “Oh, yes.”
She resumed smoking without further comment.
“I didn’t realize how
proficiently you use your feminine charms, my Master.” Alucard goaded. “I am well put in my place.”
To that, Integra let out a very un-ladylike snort.
“He thinks he knows
who I am.” A huff of breath, as the
walk was taking its toll on Integra.
“If his group is what I think it is, I intend to use him to my ends and
purposes. Unfortunately, I need all the
help I can get.” The bravado was gone,
replaced by an intense and serious demeanor.
Integra did not like to admit weakness.
“It is true, that we cannot remain holed up in Seras’ convenient little
condemned office for long.”
“You should not try to
handle everything right now, Integra.”
Alucard said, amusement still shimmering in his voice. “Even when the great and noble Hellsing
Organization still existed, there was such a thing as departmental
communication.” Integra stopped in her
tracks and exhaled violently. Smoke
billowed around her face, stinging her eyes, but she ignored it. Nearly leaning into Alucard’s face, her own
contorted with anger, Integra verged on shouting.
“I am the
Hellsing Organization! And whom do you
propose I leave matters of survival to?
YOU? Seras?” She continued walking, the faint limp in her
step apparently not hindering her enraged gait. If she could, she would stomp around the streets and hit
something. Or someone. “Seras is totally inexperienced by way of
contacts and instinct. Walter can only
do so much. And you—” Here she paused,
and it became evident that she didn’t want to say what she’d intended. You can’t be trusted. The knowledge that brought wounded Integra
in ways she didn’t care to contemplate.
But to her consternation, and dismay, Alucard didn’t respond with his
normal outlandish laughter. Rather he
carried on, walking beside her in silence.
His eyes were masked behind his glasses, mouth set in a grim line. They walked in awkward silence to the bus,
and remained so for the rest of the journey.
….
“I’m telling you, the
thinner they, are the better!” Seras
held up the washcloths she’d recently bought.
Walter held one up to the light, inspecting it carefully, a rather
pinched expression in his eyes upon seeing the thread bare quality to the
fabric.
“Sir Integra is
accustomed to more, plush fabrics.”
Walter commented.
“Yes, but the thinner
they are, the better they scrub!” Seras
protested.
“Sir Integra doesn’t need—”
Walter began, but was interrupted by Integra’s appearance at the door. “Sir Integra, welcome back.” Breeding and habit made him bow formally to
Integra.
“Where’s
Alucard?” Seras asked. She meticulously folded each washcloth and
put them in a pile on the table.
“I sent him on a
little errand.” Integra replied and
took a seat. The smell of steak and
potato pies drifted under her nose. She
would confess, but only to herself and Walter, of course, that pot pies had
always been her favorite food, peasant though they were.
“Dinner is almost
ready, Sir Integra.” Walter informed
her. She sat back, and prepared to
share the events at Liam’s residence.
“You needn’t address
me as ‘Sir’ any longer, Walter. I am no
longer a knight. Miss Hellsing will
do.” Integra added quietly. Walter paused in the act of opening the
small oven. It really was a primitive
model, with only two burners.
“As you wish, Miss
Hellsing.”
AN: Okay, this is actually shorter than I imagined. But it was long enough, and I haven’t
updated in a while. I know so far
things have been a bit slow, but they will pick up quite a bit in the next
chapter. Thanx for reading.