Kana: I have this migraine…right above my left eye. Somebody shoot me.
Summary: SlightlyAU. A young Integra wanders the halls at night, searching for the shadow that haunts her dreams. Enter Alucard, the poltergeist.
Notes on the Holy Scripture: See the little AU sign? You'll understand that soon, if you didn't get it from the summary. I'll help – Integra is only eight in this fic. Get it now? If in the original, Alucard is still locked in the dungeon, how can he be here? Hence the AU sign. Perhaps there is a hint of Alucard x Young Integra, maybe not. Alucard's always been a bit of perv. But that's the way we LIKE IT. :3
Disclaimer:If I owned Hellsing, I wouldn't need to worry about extra curricular activities for colleges. Publishing a hit manga series while impersonating a Japanese man, all at the age of five, is pretty effing amazing.
It's amazing that I've only done four stories since last year. I usually churn out a ridiculous amount of one-shots during the summer :O
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Catch the Ghost
One-Shot
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Integra had just bitten the inside of her cheek. It was now slightly swollen and hot, leading her to probe it with her tongue to feel it. She knows that later, once she has forgotten about the slight swelling, she will accidentally bite it again, and it will hurt twice as much.
She had bitten her cheek in the first place because her teeth were chattering, as it was cold in the mansion. Her feet were bare on the thin carpet, which had once been fluffy and lush. Decades of feet trampling it in the rush to get to and from her father's office was enough to stomp the life out of anything, especially crimson carpet. Now, in the darkness of the heart of winter, it no longer held onto warmth to release into pattering feet, but turned them as cold and as hard as ice.
It may seem as if the little girl, merely eight years old, was aimlessly wondering the halls at night out of pure boredom, having gone to sleep too early. But Integra was not that kind of child, and she had a purpose. She was making a steady beeline towards her father's library, which was a floor below her bedroom.
For an entire week – which seemed longer than a lifetime to a child – strange things had been happening to Integra Hellsing. It seemed as if someone was following her, their breath always on the back of her neck. Sometimes she shivered a little, or jerked, because the room had suddenly gone cold or her skin had begun to feel clammy. Like a poltergeist was always on her heels, pieces of paper floated off desks around her, utensils or pens were an inch from where she had originally set them.
Almost as though something knew how precise the little girl liked things and wanted to annoy her to no end.
And then tonight something extremely odd had happened. One of the darker shadows in the corner of her room had suddenly got up and moved, slinking across her cream-colored carpet (still soft and fluffy) and out through the crack under her door. Any normal child would have burst into tears and frantically stumbled for her parent's room, but Integra was not normal. She had launched out of bed and chased the shadow, flinging open her door and running after it down the fathomless hallway.
She knew it was her poltergeist.
But after a minute or so, Integra had lost track of the fleeing shadow. Shivering violently in her dull yellow nightgown, the small Hellsing padded down towards her father's library, where she hoped either Arthur or Walter would be, though it was late. Everyone in the mansion stayed up late, with the exception of the eight year old who 'needed her sleep'. Integra wanted someone to know of the strange ghost who had been tormenting her.
But Integra's father was not in the library, and neither was Walter. The golden light from the lamps had been turned off hours before, and the only light came from the silver light of the winter moon outside the large windows. Snow was drifting down in large flakes, coating the estate in a thick blanket that she would run through tomorrow in reckless abandon. Integra might even make a snowman.
The library was not empty, however. A tall, dark figure stood in front of the window, outlined by the moonlight. Seemingly made of shadow itself, it stood over two meters tall, ramrod straight and immense. Integra seemed overwhelmed just to be in the same room with it, but she did not cower or recoil back down the hallway.
Integra knew that this creature was her poltergeist. So she brought herself up to her full height (which was only an inch or two shy of five feet, though she liked to think of herself as a few inches over five feet) and walked calmly over to the creature.
Up close, it wasn't so much a monster, but rather a very tall, very thin man. And to the young Integra, he was very, very tall, making her crane her head to see his face instead of his suit-covered belly. He looked down at her with a wide smile, the corners of his mouth curling in an attempt to frighten her. His red eyes glowed on his face, made all the brighter by the full white moon behind his head.
Long, inky black hair fluttered down his back and spilled over his shoulders. Tendrils tickled her face in another effort to scare her, but Integra endured it. This ghost was testing her, and she knew it. And the ghost knew that she knew, which made him lean closer. His arms at his sides, the poltergeist bent sharply at the waist until his face was an inch from hers.
"Hello," Integra said, her voice unwavering.
The ghost let out a bark of laughter, his horrid breath washing over her face. Integra wanted to gag, but held it back. "Hello," he said.
Knowing that it was now or never, Integra confronted the beast. "Why were you hiding in my room?"
"I was merely watching out for you," the ghost said, his hands leaving his sides. They were covered in pure white gloves, which brushed over her face and fingered her hair.
"Stop that," Integra demanded, and the hands jerked away as if burned. The ghost was pleased at her command, even leaning closer, until his long nose nearly touched hers. She was staring deeply into his red eyes, feeling as if they were trying to look through her blue ones and into her brain. "Back up."
The poltergeist did so, straightening to his full height once more. Integra experienced slight vertigo as her vision filled with stark moonlight and blackness.
"Are you going to be watching me again tomorrow night?" Integra asked, rubbing her eyes to clear them of spots. The moonlight had been unforgiving and bright after those moments of dark red.
"I always watch you," said the ghost. "Your father commands it."
"Always?"
"Constantly."
"Oh," Integra bit her lip, thinking of the misplaced pens. "How come I never noticed before?"
The ghost considered this question, letting his body slump a bit. "Perhaps I have gotten sloppy," he said thoughtfully.
"Well then…"
There they stood, Integra with her poltergeist in her father's library, surrounded by papers. Arthur was not nearly as organized as Integra was, even at eight. The ghost was looking down at her expectantly, waiting for an answer.
Finally, after choosing her words correctly, Integra said, "Don't do it again."
The ghost smirked. "Of course, young master."
At the time, Integra thought nothing of that title. Walter called her that sometimes, just like he called her father Sir Hellsing. One day she would become Sir Hellsing, and everyone would stop calling her 'master Integra'.
At least, that was what she thought.
"Shall I take you back to your room, young master?" the ghost asked, holding out a hand.
Integra ignored the offered hand, but she said 'okay' nonetheless.
"Father, last night I came upon a strange shadow in my room."
Walking down the hallway, Integra looked up at the ghost out of the corner of her eye. His hair was wild, moving freely and randomly. In some places, such as near the roots, it was normal hair, but near the edges it seemed to become nothing more than shadow, malleable and shaped by the ghost. His eyes were strange too. Did he have them when he was alive, or did all ghosts have them? Did only tricky poltergeists like him have red eyes?
"You did? Were you dreaming?"
"No. I followed it and it became a ghost. He was very peaceable for a poltergeist."
Once in her room, the ghost waited until she was safely in bed before backing away. He regarded her with curious red eyes, as if up until now watching her had been dreadfully boring.
"Do you follow me everywhere?" Integra suddenly asked, sinking back into her pillows.
"Not everywhere, young master," answered the ghost. "Sometimes I wait outside and give you privacy. I leave you when you are with your father. Or when you cry – I leave you then, because you probably do not want someone watching you cry."
"Oh, was he scary?"
"Not really. He looked funny though. He said you told him to watch me. Why?"
"For your safety. With your 'ghost' following you, you are safer than the Queen."
"Okay," Integra buried herself under the sheets. "You don't have to be a shadow anymore. You can use my chair." She had the little, decorative white wooden chair in front of her vanity in mind.
The ghost looked at the chair and snorted in amusement. If he sat in it, he would be half off it, as it was made for a small child. "I will consider it."
Integra turned on her side, staring at her closet doors. The bedroom was dark, save for a few slivers of moonlight sneaking in between the curtains. She could hear the ghost moving around a little, making himself comfortable like a dog on a cushion.
"One day, Integra, he will not be your ghost."
"What will he be?"
"He will be your vampire."
A moment passed and the ghost settled down with a big sigh.
"Goodnight, ghost," Integra said, still staring at her closet and waiting for an answer.
"Goodnight, young master."
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Kana: I'm not entirely pleased with the way this came out, as if I can't quite grasp the words that I want to use in my dialogue, but it's late and I have school tomorrow. And I want to get an hour of reading in before I conk out for the night.
Alucard was never sloppy. He was bored. :o
Review because its late and you wanted to get an hour of reading in before bed.