As usual, everything was on fire. Not that that was surprising. Most days usually consisted of everything being on fire. That's kind of how it works when you're a mercenary. I tucked and rolled as a grenade whizzed past my ear. I felt the vibrations of the explosion throughout my body.

"Tell those assholes we're supposed to bomb the other guys!" One of my comrades yelled out to my right. I looked up to see him firing at the enemy from behind some rubble.

"Inbred motherfuckers don't give a shit," one of the others responded. "They got a dozen sisters at home to knock up." I rolled my eyes at their profane language. Every time things got a little heated, the Wild Geese would react the same way: with a lot of guns and even more cussing.

"That's not bad," another argued. "It works out to like two a day if you don't count Sundays." He would have continued but he was abruptly cut off.

"Shut up, shape up, and put your head back in the game!" Captain Bernadotte yelled at them. I turned to my left to see the captain firing at some unseen enemies behind another wall of rubble. He shot off a few rounds before turning back to us. "They dropped the bombs on us because we don't matter. We mean nothing. They blow us up and buy new ones."

I rolled my eyes and moved to stand next to him. "I think we can all agree there's no shortage of idiots willing to shoot guns for money," I told him over the sound of gunfire, earning a smile from my captain.

"This is no place for a young girl like you, ma chérie," he told me with mock concern, his face suddenly turning satirical. "You should leave before you get yourself killed. "Same old Pip, I thought fondly. Always worrying about everyone but himself.

"If I did that, who would keep you from getting yourself killed?" I asked him with fake sweetness. The captain glared at me, but I could tell from the smile playing on his lips that he was trying not to laugh. "Besides, I doubt any of these men could patch you up if you get hurt."

He laughed, a deep rumbling sound similar to that of the explosion. "Ma chérie," the captain chuckled, "all I need to heal myself is a kiss from you."

I returned his laugh with one of my own and leaned close to his ear so he could hear me. "I'll make you a deal, captain. Get out of this alive, then I'll give you that kiss."

Captain Bernadotte leaned back and laughed once more. "That's what you always say, ma chérie. Will you actually do it this time?"

I shrugged and turned to fire at some hostile attackers who were nearby. "Guess you'll just have to survive and find out."

The captain was about to reply when another one of the Wild Geese came up to us. "Captain, we've just got word that the palace has surrendered."

I groaned and Pip sighed. "That's just pathetic," I yelled. "Couldn't they at least try and put up a fight?"

"I guess this civil war is over," Pip said. "And we're out of a job."

I smiled mischievously and shot at another one of the attackers. "I've been working on something."

Pip groaned and threw a grenade. "Please tell me it's not another sand trap." At the same time, I threw one of my daggers. Bulls-eye, I smiled as the dagger lodged itself in an attacker's throat. A few seconds later, I heard the grenade go off followed by the silence that said we had won our battle.

I smiled and grabbed the captain's cowboy hat, putting it on over my long black hair. "There'll be no sand where we're going," I told him. "The next job." I paused for dramatic effect. Tilting it so that it covered my face, I looked up at the captain under the brim of the hat, my blue eyes twinkling with mischief. "Is in a city of fog…"

"Cara? Cara!" I pulled out my earbuds as I heard Captain Bernadotte calling my name. When I looked up, he and the rest of the Wild Geese were watching me in amusement. I glared at him from my spot in the corner as I raised an eyebrow questioningly. "So... what? Are we going to be fighting in London? I mean, since when do we work security jobs? Because, no offence ma chérie, but I didn't sign up to shadow some rich asshole." The others muttered their agreement and started shouting out their opinions.

I rolled my eyes at him. "And you think I did?" I retorted with a scoff. "My God, you people, you should know me well enough by now to know that I would never agree to such a job." This response, of course, was met with plenty cries of "Oooh" and "Looks like the captain's gonna get it now."

Pip ignored them as usual. "Then what is the job, ma chérie?" He looked up at me from under the brim of his hat.

I smirked and stepped forward slyly. "I really can't think of any other way to put this, so here it is." The Wild Geese hooted and cheered as I leaned forward as if to kiss the captain. He tilted his face up, a mischievous grin on his face. "We," I said as I leaned closer to whisper in his ear, "are going monster hunting." Disappointed groans emitted from the men as I grabbed the captain's hat and pulled away before he could take it back.

I put the hat on my own head and smirked. Men, I thought as I looked around at my crew members. So predictable. My eyes landed on the captain once more and I felt my smirk turn into a genuine grin. Especially you, my dear captain.

"Wait, what?" Captain Bernadotte asked, my words registering in his head.

"They are going to be paying us to kill monsters," I repeated.

"They're gonna be paying us to do what?" One of the men called out. Hanson, I guessed by his voice. He was always questioning the jobs I chose. The rest of the men chuckled in agreement.

"It's true." We all looked up to see a woman standing in the doorway watching us. She had long blonde hair and wore glasses round glasses over her blue eyes. Her blue suit was impeccable, and she looked like the sort of woman you only messed with if you had a death wish. This must be Sir Integra, I thought. She's a bit scarier than I imagined.

"The enemies are immortal creatures who sustain themselves by drinking human blood," she continued, a hint of a smile playing on her lips. "Your job, gentlemen, is to fight these monsters with bullets, garlic, and holy water. Put a stake through its heart, cut off its head, burn the corpse, scatter the ashes at a crossroads. For further instructions," Sir Integra added, her smile growing fractionally. "Consult Bram Stoker."

I smirked. I like her. "That's just ridiculous," Hanson called out. "Everybody knows there's no such thing as vampires."

"Then everyone is quite mistaken." Sir Integra stopped the interruption immediately. "Or, more accurately, we've helped them maintain a state of blissful ignorance. For over a century, the Hellsing Organization has served the British Empire, fighting a secret war against the forces of darkness. The vampire in particular. For those of you who still need convincing." She pointed at a figure in the corner of the room. "I present to you, a genuine vampire."

We all turned to see a young woman about my age standing in the corner smiling at us shyly. I was surprised that I hadn't noticed her before. She was short and innocent looking, with blue eyes and spiky blonde hair. She wore a yellow police uniform which accentuated her figure. Part of me was convinced there was no way this girl could be a real vampire, but another, larger part of me told me that there was more to her than meets the eye.

Apparently, Pip thought the same thing. "Eh? Oh no," he said. Before I could react, he stood and shoved the other men out of the way. "Just hold on. You're really a vampire?" He looked like he was holding back laughter. I considered going over there to stop him from being an idiot but thought better of it. He could use a beating, I thought. It'll put him in his place. And if it gets me some entertainment for the night, who am I to complain?

"Yes," the girl answered. "I am. Hello!" She smiled at him, unaware of his disbelief. I sighed and rolled my eyes as the men started laughing at her. I partly felt bad for the poor girl, but I was also curious to see her reaction. She looked at Sir Integra and pointed at the captain. "I get the feeling they're laughing at me, Sir."

I glanced at Sir Integra to see her watching me with faint amusement in her eyes. "Then show them something to make them stop, police girl," Integra answered without taking her eyes off me. I looked away quickly, a little embarrassed now."

"Right, of course Sir!" The vampire woman said, instantly serious. She snapped her fingers and looked at Captain Bernadotte. "Come on." She motioned as if to fight him, which only made him laugh more.

"Hahahaha!" The captain laughed. "If this is supposed to be a vampire, then I'm Frankenstein's monster!" I rolled my eyes once more when Captain Bernadotte hunched his shoulders and held out his arms. He started walking like a zombie.

Before I could call him back, the woman flicked him, - yes, flicked him- causing him to fly back. She did it a few times, drawing blood from his forehead, until he fell to the ground at my feet.

"Captain!" I exclaimed, dropping to my knees to examine him.

"She's some kind of monster," he told me. No shit, Sherlock. "She just kept poking me and poking me. It happened so fast and my head... I don't believe it, you're really telling me that that girl is a vampire?"

"Damn right she is," a deep voice echoed throughout the room. "The police girl may be the lowest of the low, but a vampire is still a vampire." We all looked up to see a man clothed in red come through the wall. And no, I don't mean he broke through the wall; I mean he literally passed through the wall as if he were walking through another doorway. Some of the men yelled, others jumped back. I remained still and pretended to be unfazed. One of us had to make a good impression, right?

"What a pathetic bunch of sniveling cowards," the man commented as he finished passing through the wall. He was tall, really tall, with broad shoulders. He wore orange-tinted goggles and wide-brimmed red hat so that all I could see was his arrogant smirk. "Do you really think they'll be of any use to us?" I stiffened. He didn't even know us, how dare he insult us like that?

Suddenly, an older man in a butler uniform ran in looking disheveled. "My deepest apologies, ma'am," he apologized to Sir Integra quickly. "I did try to stop him."

"These men are going to be guarding me while I sleep," the man in red said, stealing my attention once more. "I wanted to take their measure." I glared at him while he continued to smirk at Captain Bernadotte.

"Now that introductions are over," the butler said, handing Sir Integra a letter. "A most unusual letter arrived in the post today."

"What sort of letter?" Sir Integra took the envelope and read it over. "From Vatican Special Operations Division XIII." The woman's expression grew angrier and angrier as she read the return address. If the envelope pisses her off that much, I'd hate to see how she reacts to the contents. "The Iscariot Organization, Enrico Maxwell." Suddenly, she turned to leave. "I'm going to bed. Alucard, show our guests to their rooms. Seras, make sure he behaves."

"Yes master!" Both vampires said, although Alucard's answer seemed a bit more sarcastic in tone. With that, Sir Integra stalked off, her butler following closely behind.

"Now then," Alucard turned to look at us with an evil grin. "Let's get you cowards off to bed now."

Okay, that's enough. I stood up and stepped forward so that I was directly in front of Alucard. "What the hell is with you?" I called him out. "You don't know us, so stop treating us like we're beneath you or something. We were hired to protect you, so show us some respect."

Alucard stepped back as if slapped. For a moment, he was silent, as if shocked by my outburst. Finally, he seemed to recover, his anger in full force. "How dare you?" He growled at me. "I will not allow you to speak to me like that, girl."

"And I will not allow you to insult my captain or my comrades, vampire," I retorted, equally as angry. Go Cara! I thought, shocked at my own bravery. Who would've thought I'd be facing down a vampire?

Alucard chuckled. "It seems we've got a few brave ones around here. Would you care to put your money where your mouth is, girl?"

I was about to give an angry retort when I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Cara," I turned to see Pip looking down at me with wary concern. "That's enough. It's okay."

"Cara," Alucard said as if he were testing the word out. "That's interesting. I would have pegged you for a different name. Something like... Mina, maybe." I glanced at him, surprised.

"That's my first name," I told him. "It's Mina Cara Harker. I was named after my grandmother, I just go by my middle name because I prefer it." I shook my head. Why am I telling him all this?

But Alucard just nodded. "Interesting," he said. "Well then, Mina Cara Harker, I leave you and your men in the idiotic hands of my servant, Seras Victoria." With that he departed and the female vampire, Seras, raised her hand in a welcoming, cheerful salute. I was left staring at the wall in mute amazement. What the hell was that?