Hellsing and all its characters belong to Kohta Hirano.

The narrator is my own character but that's it.

I coughed, and another patch of blood appeared on the cobbles beside me. The bullet wound in my stomach was burning and freezing at the same time.I heard more gunfire, but it seemed to come from the other end of a long tunnel. This hurts, but not nearly as badly as I thought it would, I mused silently. The sounds of combat gradually tapered off and through my blurry vision I saw the form of the woman I had met not one hour ago. She bent low, and as the darkness overtook me I heard the line of a song come over the speakersof the square.

"Come on baby, don't fear the reaper. . ."

I love the irony, I thought with a silent, mirthless chuckle. The day started out so well, how did it end up like this?

I was a 21-year-old with short blonde hair, bespectacled silvery blue eyes, a solid just-over-six-feet-frame, and an existence without a definite course. I decided to search the world to find it. My somewhat meager funds took me as far as London, so I hopped on the first plane out and started my new life. I was lucky enough to find an apartment and a job the first day.

After a few short weeks I settled into a comfortable routine. One night while I was out shopping, I collided with someone. I was about to launch into a series of disparaging comments on their parentage, but the words caught in my throat.

Standing before me was a buxom woman slightly shorter than me with shortish strawberry-blonde hair, a red miniskirt and a sleeveless red top. As I swallowed my verbal assault, something odd struck me. Her eyes are blood red! Odd, but attractive.

"I'm sorry about that," I stammered, "I should have been watching where I was going. Let me help you with that." I bent down and handed her bags back to her.

"No, it was my fault, you needn't apologize," she replied in a moderate British accent, "I can be a bit spacey sometimes."

Never one to let an opportunity slip by I asked, "I'm still sorry, so how about I buy you dinner?"

"No thanks," was her immediate reply.

Denied. Crud.

"I could go for a drink though," she offered.

"All right, I know a place right close to here!" I volunteered cheerily. "Can I help you with your bags?" She nodded and handed me two of the bags she had been carrying. I grasped the handles and was surprised at their weight. She wasn't even struggling to carry these things, is she an athlete or something?

We sat down at the pub, I ordered a club soda and she a tomato juice. We made small talk for a while before I even remembered to ask her name.

"Oh, my name is Victoria, Seras Victoria. What's yours?" she inquired sweetly.

"I'm Nathan, but please call me Nate," I told her.

"So what brings you to London, Nate?" Seras asked.

"Wanderlust, I suppose. I'll probably stay here for a while, though."

She stole a glance at her watch.

"Oh, bugger. I've got to get back. Maybe I'll see y. . ." I never heard the end of her next sentence, because of the screams and gunfire that suddenly erupted from outside.

I rushed outside to see what the heck was going on. The sight which greeted me was horrifying. Twisted corpses littered the roundabout, some so mutilated it was hard to tell where one ended and the next began. To my left, a phalanx of armed soldiers advanced on a spooked crowd, firing indiscriminately. People were cut down like stalks of corn. The soldiers' flesh was a revolting grey, the shade of death. Must be some kind of camouflage, I guessed.

I don't know how long I stood, horrified, all I know was that the next thing I saw was Seras rushing at the attackers, a pistol in her hands spitting lead into the seething mass of grey-skinned murderers.

After exhausting clip after clip of ammunition, she hurled her gun aside and began to pulverize every man within reach. Amazing. She's gotta be a martial artist or something. But those guys have guns, what's she thinking?

I advanced cautiously, knowing that I wouldn't be much good in hand-to-hand combat, but not wanting to just sit there, doing nothing. I saw a flicker of motion out of the corner of my eye. A grey-fleshed soldier, with a gaping mouth and empty eyes raised a rifle and took aim. I followed the line of sight and realized that he was aiming at Seras!

All rational thought fled at that point. I dashed towards the frantic fight that, despite incredible odds, Seras was dominating. I let loose a howl and jumped right as the rifle's muzzle barked and sent leaden doom zipping forward.

I was still in midair when the bullet hit me. I took it in the stomach just below my diaphragm. Seras saw what happened and grabbed an SMG from the ground and took out her would-be assassin.

I fell to the street with a slap like a chunk of meat. I can't feel my legs. Not good. I saw the pool of my blood expanding rapidly beneath me. I coughed and looked at my ruined stomach. I was laying on my side and, thanks to that, saw that there was a sizable hole through my entire midsection. Heh, I can take a shortcut to scratch my back now, not that it matters.

I saw Seras rushing back, her face horror-struck. She knelt down and grasped my hand. I couldn't make out what she was saying, but I tried to focus.

"What were you thinking? That was absolutely crazy!" she babbled.

"I can't stand to see a pretty girl get hurt," I joked grimly.

My hearing faded out, as she leaned in close, and the last thing I remembered before my vision went completely black was her mouth opening, revealing oddly long canine teeth. I felt four pinpricks on my neck and an odd sensation like all the heat in my body was rushing to my neck and out. The world ceased to exist in the next instant.