A/N: Howdy :D
I haven't written about Alucard in a long time, and I'm carrying on one of my other fics, and needed some practice, so here, have this.
He's probably out of character, but like I say, it was more practice. That and I've been dying (haw haw, geddit, cuz Alucard) to write something withh Alucard meeting my own characters.
I may or may not continue this, so if you could review and give me your thoughts, I'll decide from that :'D
Also, I know it's a short chapter, but deal with it yo.
Rated T for language.
Alucard had always wanted someone to say no. As a ruler, he had no one to tell him of how much of a monster he was being, killing hundreds of thousands of men, women and children in horrific ways. As a free vampire, the only people who came close to denying him his wishes, Abraham Van Helsing, Jack Seward, Quincey Morris, Jonathan Harker and Arthur Godalming, wouldn't kill him, Abraham choosing instead to enslave him, and allow him to be a monster to the OTHER monsters. Arthur, Integra's father, couldn't bring himself to say no, and instead locked Alucard in the dungeon, ignoring the problem. And Integra, though she would never say it, often had fleeting whims of ditching her humanity, and becoming one of the monsters herself. In fits of anger she would only encourage him to go through with his evil.
Tired, he had spent far too long on earth being allowed to butcher and destroy all that he wanted to. He wanted to be told no. He wanted to change, but wasn't capable on his own. As long as he could remember, he had been in charge, in some way or another.
Integra knew, and she also knew she couldn't change him by herself. So, calling some contacts, she set out to help him.
Alucard was stood on the third floor of the block of flats. The flats were a bit shoddy, but that could not be helped. Standing on the edge of a rather rough council estate, the flat itself was full of druggies and alcoholics, as well as a humdrum for domestic abuse within their little confines.
Knocking on the door, he heard a little rustling inside before the girl who he had been sent to live with opened up.
"Natasha, yes?" He confirmed, looking down at her through his glasses.
"Yeah. You're Alucard then?"
Alucard nodded.
"Well, though I guess this is just a formality, I invite you into my home," she sighed, stepping back and allowing Alucard to enter. "Oh, and take off your shoes."
Alucard smirked. It had been a long, long time since he had needed to be invited before entering a house. She noticed his smirk and rolled her eyes. Alucard phased off his boots, not needing to even touch the.
"Bloody vampires," she muttered under her breath.
Alucard heard it, and his grin widened. Striding into the flat, he gazed around quickly, instantly locating all the things he needed to know the whereabouts of.
It was small. Very small. There was a main room with a kitchenette, with cheap linoleum covering the counters, and dull tiles on the walls. The living area had been decorated; white walls one three sides, with the back wall covering in a black and white swirling wallpaper; the carpet, new and squishy, let your feet sink in as you stood, cuddling your toes; a large flat screen TV hung on the back wall, in between the windows; and a squishy black sofa was opposite it, with a matching armchair adjacent to that.
There was one bedroom, though just peeping in, Alucard could see that it was spotless, not a shred of mess anywhere, despite all of the posters on the walls, and one bathroom, a small, green colour-schemed excuse of a bathroom, only just housing enough room for the bath, toilet and sink.
Natasha King was glaring at him from the kitchenette, having just put kettle on the stove, and waiting for it to heat up. Even for someone so young, she was already getting frown lines. She had her thick brown curls pulled back into a pony tail, a few locks just falling from the crown of her head, framing her face. Her eyes were sharp, grey, and narrowed. Rounded jaw, and pouting lips, Alucard mused about just killing her now. This entire situation was not one he liked.
"Alucard," Integra had spoke sharply, a week before, "I called a friend of mine, and then she called her niece. I want you to mix with other creatures like yourself."
Alucard narrowed his eyes, teasing her with his smirk.
"You've done what, Integra? You want ME to socialise with OTHER vampires? Surely you do not think that I shall j-""Not ALL vampires, Alucard, some other supernatural creatures as well. Not all of them are as twisted and… Well, broken as you are. The contact I mentioned owns a bar which caters exclusively to people like you. They have their own little community, and are seeming to manage quite well meeting us half way with maintaining a good relationship with the innocent civilians nearby."
Alucard scoffed. Tamed vampires and such? Preposterous.
"Integra, I don't know why you are suddenly doing this. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were going through a midlife crisis," he purred, leaning across the desk towards her.
Integra pushed her glasses up.
"Don't suppose for an instant that I'm out of my prime yet, Alucard. I am sending you there because once I'm gone, if I have no successor, I'm leaving you under the watch of these people."
Alucard stood up straight, frowning.
"You're what?"
"Don't pretend you didn't hear. I shan't have you running amok simply because this bloodline has died out," she snapped, glowering up at him.
"Master…" Alucard muttered despondently, his shoulders sagging.
So here he was, in the apartment of a young woman, in a council estate, in a small town just next to Wales.
"Do you want a brew?" She asked, not hiding the distaste in her voice.
Alucard nodded, carefully minding his own manners.
"So, my dear," Alucard cooed, making Natasha shook him a glare, "Just what were you offered in return for housing me in your… Ah… Ever so luxurious home?"
"Money," she stated simply, leaning against the counter, "There's not much I won't do for the right amount of money," she admitted, not a shred of shame in her voice.
"Oh really…?" Alucard purred, slinking onto the sofa, tilting his head backwards to get a better look at her.
"Yes. But before you get any nasty ideas," she warned, picking up a wooden spoon off the counter and pointing it at him, shoulders hunched and eyes dangerously narrowed, "I'm not going to sell myself, or sell my blood, so lets nip that idea in the bud."
Alucard rushed over to her, faster than the ordinary eye could follow, towering over her. To his own shock, she didn't seem at all surprised.
"Little girl," Alucard growled, his fangs now jagged points and his eyes glowing, "If I wanted your body or your blood, I could easily take them from you."
The girl just looked up at him with an unimpressed expression.
"See. This is exactly why I'm sick of you people. You and your 'intimidation' and your 'I'm so magical, everyone just suck my dick'. Honest to god, vampires are just the biggest pain in my ass."
The kettle began to boil as Alucard peered down at her with interest. Though her heart was pounding insanely quickly on the inside, she didn't seem scared at all. Merely irritated. Thinking back, her heart had been like that since he had arrived.
"So, you've met other vampires…?" Alucard asked, not moving as she scuttled stiffly around him, pulling the kettle off the stove, fetching mugs and tea bags, and making the drinks.
"Yeah, a couple. One's a lot like you, with an ego the size of the earth, and the other, well…He's called Quentin… He's kind of… I don't know how to word it," She admitted, her voice softening slightly. "Sugar?"
"No thank you, little girl."
Natasha ignored his remark and scooped some sugar in anyway, stirring it angrily, and shooing him over to the sofa. Alucard complied, thoughtful, and rather interested in the girl.
"So. You're cool with drinking from blood packs, right?" She confirmed, setting her drink down on the end table next to her.
Alucard nodded, holding his drink, the hot cup not even burning his skin. Natasha sighed thankfully, getting up and shuffling over to the mini fridge in her kitchen. As she put the bottle of milk away, she pulled out a blood pack, one of many, out of the fridge. Alucard watched keenly as she fetched a glass and, not even phased, tore open the bag and poured it in, not spilling a drop.
She set the glass down next to his tea.
"I don't know if you want to put that IN your tea. I've never met one who did, but hell, each to their own," she grinned. She curled her legs up on the armchair, and flicked on the telly. "And I hope you don't mind, but there's this program I really want to watch. You're free to go for a wander, of course, but I am not changing channels for anything."
Alucard grinned back at her.
"I've never found myself watching television. I suppose it could be a rather interesting experience to watch it, and see what the fascination is."
Alucard ended up watching an entire our of the soap opera, with a half an hour break in between to build up tension as a big drama bomb had been dropped during the first half. Natasha was whining at the television, telling the characters they were all idiots, and the problem could have been avoided if they were all so much less self involved. Alucard smiled at her darkly. As she got more furious, a vein on her neck began to show up, pulsing at an incredible rate. He inhaled deeply. Scowling, he realised that her blood smelt different. Not entirely non-human, but there was certainly an element.
"What are you?" He cut in, as she was ranting.
"You took your time," she sighed, not bothering to turn away from the TV. "Well, I'm not exactly non-human, but I do have a little bit extra," she explained. She took a sip of her tea slowly, then munched a bit of a biscuit which she had taken from the cupboard during the break. "But I won't say what. The element of surprise is all I have to defend myself if you, oh you know, try and eat me."
Alucard smirked, picking up the now empty wine glass and flicking his tongue to catch any run away drops.
"My dear, if I want to eat you, there is nothing on this earth that can stop me. If you've got a little bit extra, that just adds to the fun of the chase," he corrected her eventually, leaning over to her chair.
Natasha just glowered at him.
"The program is still on, so shut your mouth."
Alucard was on her and gripping her head back so forcefully within a fraction of a second. And still Natasha did not flinch or scream. He was sat on her legs to stop her from moving, and let his fangs graze her neck, a deep growl echoing through his throat.
"Tell me little girl, just who do you think you are, talking to me like that?" He seethed, his voice shaking with anger.
He would not be talked down to by a silly human girl.
"I'm whoever I wish to be," she replied drearily, though she trembling ever so slightly.
"Hey now you better get your silly lil' hands off my 'Tasha," a male voice gurgled in an odd display of anger from behind them.
Reeling around, but still trapping Natasha, Alucard spotted a man, who could easily be six foot five, stood with a pouting, childlike expression as he watched Alucard, and then proceeded to wave cheerfully at Natasha. His hair was straight, chestnut brown and jaw length. He had a strong jaw, with a little goatee, soft, blood red eyes, a bold nose, and a beaming, fang filled smile.
"Oh great, you're here," Natasha sighed from underneath Alucard. "I thought you were going to leave me alone, at least for tonight, Quentin."
Quentin laughed a sincere, booming laugh, which rumbled around his chest, before jumping up on the counter of the kitchenette and settling himself there.
"You know I can't do that," he beamed cheerfully, "Leave Eli's next 'conquest' alone with some other vampire? Nope, can't do it. Eli would have my head on a stick. And anyway," he wrapped his arms around himself, as if giving himself a hug, "Alana's shut the pub, and I'm all aloooone," he coddled with mock sadness.
"Shut the pub? What happened now?" Natasha asked, now almost forgetting that Alucard was snarling and glaring at Quentin from on top of her.
"Some young demon sneezed and half the place got set on fire," he chuckled. "I was there, and I have to say, it was HEE-LARIOUS. And you should have seen Marmaduke's face. He was ranting for ages. 'WHY LEAVE WHEN YOU HAVE NO CONTROL, BAW BAW I AM ASHAMED FAW FAW', yes. Yes, that is exactly what he said," Quentin joked, but in a completely deadpan voice.
"Yeah, but he's a creep. Here's hoping he gets set on fire himself," Natasha murmured darkly, turning away with a wishful grin.
Alucard got up, and, sick of being ignored, pulled his guns out, pointing one at Natasha and one at Quentin.
"Please stop talking. The both of you," he commanded.
"How antisocial," Quentin stated, his eyebrows shooting upwards, and his mouth thinning to a straight line. "This is the vampire you're looking after then?"
"Tell me about it," Natasha sighed, smacking her face with her palm. "And yes, it is. This is Alucard."
"You. Leave," he ordered at Quentin, cutting off Natasha before she started ranting.
Quentin frowned, crossing his huge arms and scrunching up.
"I shouldn't really leave, I done got me some orders," he muttered mostly to himself, faking a childlike voice.
He hesitated, but behind Alucard, Natasha made a gesture, shooing him away. Quentin sighed.
"Very well, I'll leave," he spoke in a more serious tone. "Natasha, take care of yourself. And should you need assistance, just shout, okay?"
Natasha nodded, and Quentin strode towards the windows, and phased out of the room.
There was a deadly silence, as Alucard stood still for a moment, and Natasha sat with her chin rested on her knees. The crunch of Natasha's biscuit however, quickly ended that.
"You're a strange girl," Alucard decided after another moment of silence.
Shrugging in reply, Natasha was too preoccupied with the part of the biscuit which had crumbled into her tea.
"You get estranged after spending so much time around people who aren't quite people," she eventually replied, after giving up on the soggy mush which had sunk to the bottom of the mug. "Oh, I forgot to ask… Do you have your coffin with you?"
Alucard shook his head.
"It should arrive tomorrow. Your human delivery services are not quite up to my standards, however there is very little I can do about it. For now, is there somewhere I may sleep?"
"There's always the sofa, though this room is far from lightproof. The bathroom might be your best bet; there's no windows."
"You would have me sleep in a bathtub?" Alucard asked, not quite believing the audacity of the girl.
"Or on the toilet. Or in my wardrobe. Though, we'd have to move all of my clothes out of the way."
Natasha was deadly serious.
"And what about your bed?" Alucard suggested, his voice dropping in pitch and now liquid smooth.
Natasha eye rolled for what must've been the hundredth time.
"No, I would rather stick nails into my own eye and then end up pregnant with a sword. You're not sleeping in my bed, with me in it or not."
Alucard slid back on top of her, and with one quick graceful movement, pried the cup of tea out of her hand, and grasped her neck, grinning manically at her irritated face.
"I told you before; I DON'T like being talked to in such a manner," he warned.
Natasha head butted him, and though it didn't hurt, Alucard got knocked backwards from the surprise, landing on the carpet awkwardly.
"I don't care what you want. While you're in my house, you'll learn to live with it, you self-righteous prick," she hissed, standing over him. "Just because you can kill me easily, doesn't give you the right to be a pretentious son of a bitch. So just watch it."
Her voice was low, and as sharp as a knife, as she spat each letter. Realising she was pointing at him, she pulled her hand back and shoved it in her jean's pocket.
"I'm going to bed. You can sleep where you like, just stay out of my room," she muttered, spinning on her heel and making her way to her room.
Alucard's eyes followed her carefully. Though he was tempted, he held back from tearing her into nothing more than a rag. Integra would be irritated, and plus it would be a shame to kill her before he'd had a chance to discover what exactly it was that made her blood smell so different. He settled himself on the sofa, and the No-Life King fell asleep with a smirk on his face, actually interested in what was going to happen the next day.
Natasha woke up the next day with Alucard looming over her, and she flapped her hand at him feebly to shoo him away. Curling up in her thick duvet and burying her face in the pillow, she willed for him to, using only the basest of terms, fuck chuckled, reading her mind. "Language, language, girl," he warned, sitting on the bed with his feet on the floor."Fuck you and your manners, I'm tired," she groaned, grabbing another pillow and shoving it at him. "Go and suffocate yourself and do me a favour."Alucard shook his head, his hair swishing softly, and threw the pillow on the floor."That would be redundant, little girl," he purred."Oh yeah, you don't breathe, you giant freak of nature," she recalled, the pillow muffling her frowned."Yes, I am a freak. And what, pray tell, are you...?" A man? A dog, or a-"She threw her pillow at him, though he caught it."I'm no werewolf, if that's what you were thinking," she huffed. My 'Aunt' might be one, but I'm not, in any shape or form.""Your aunt is a werewolf?" Alucard asked, his voice slightly higher, intrigued."A bloody miserable one at that," she sighed, realising Alucard wasn't going to leave her alone and therefore pulling herself upright. "Have you eaten?"Alucard shook his head."Is that an offer...?" He muttered darkly, touching her neck with two gloved fingers. Natasha shrugged nonchalantly."I'm feeling a bit guilty for being a bitch yesterday. If you want a LITTLE," she pressed the word, "bit, I don't see what the harm should be. I heal pretty fast, as it goes."Alucard looked at her, surprised, though his face didn't show it. His two fingers moved upwards, tilting her head back slowly. She seemed to be rather bored by the process.
"Hmph. Most girls, even if they were terrified, would be somewhat stimulated by this," he mused, as he moved his head in to her neck."I'm not most girls."
Alucard chuckled, before letting his upper fangs pierce her neck, not too deeply. Blood spurted out quick quickly, and his tongue lapped away, picking up every last drop. Wrapping his arms around her, Alucard began to suck at the wounds as the blood flow slowed down. Once the blood stopped, he healed her neck.
Natasha reached up to feel her neck once Alucard had pulled away. "And not a scar to speak of. Your healing powers are actually pretty impressive, I've gotta admit," she smiled, the first sincere smile since Alucard had been there. "And really, I am sorry for being a prick yesterday. I really do get quite pissy when I'm tired."
Alucard waved his hand.
"I suppose it's to be expected. You ARE still young, and a human none-the-less. Some of the most idiotic decisions of earth have been the result of tiredness," he speculated, feeling the little happy bubble inside of him, that he always got when he fed on fresh blood, filling him up with euphoria.
"Yeah, well, it was uncalled for. I'm sorry," she sighed. "So!" She jumped off the bed, fully clad in black and white flannel pyjamas, and clapped her hands together. "How about I show you the town? Then I can take you to Alana's pub, and you can meet everyone. Well," she slouched, and her voice dropped, "You've already met Quentin. I told you he was pretty… Well. I can't really explain him. He's just excitable really. And childish. But definitely unlike any vampire I've ever met," she rambled, as she flittered around the room picking out clothes.
Alucard watched her, and listened to her rambling. 'Is this what it's like to have a lover?' He thought, his mind flickering to snippets of ordinary life that he had, rarely, been given glimpses of. Men and women nowadays shared even the smallest of thoughts with each other. Their hopes, their fears, trivial and important things. They would apologise if they did something wrong, and knew when to avoid their bad moods.
Chuckling, he shook his head. He was not destined for a normal life. Simply thinking about it was pointless. He was, always had been, and always would be a monster.