Author's Note: Ok, so, my third FanFic work, and I wanna finish it! It's so frustrating to start on something you've really got a hold on, and then school to just BAM! I forgot what the other two were about. And this one... well, actually, I already started on a third one before this one, and my computer decided to implode. So I lost it. So, this is the second third one. And like all my other creations, I have some things to say. People complain; they say "No Original Characters", but I think that's bull. I mean, if it's gonna be YOUR brainchild, you might as well make it your own. I don't understand how a person who has never written anything complain about it so much. Now, I don't mean to harp on those critics out there who are fellow authors, and who are only trying to help. Those guys are great! But what I (and my fellow authors) don't appreciate is a person who can whine so much with out saying crap! Ok, complaints aside, I'm gonna do what I want, and to the best of my ability. I don't get too serious, getting people to preread it and things like that, I just love stories, and I hope that you enjoy mine. So, without further ad-ooo (or adieu), I am at least a little proud to present my unplanned, staight-from-brain-to-keyboard work.
Vampiric Lone Wolf Blues
Chapter 1: An Indomidable Will
Black crosses lined the hallway. Outlined by the faint moon outside, the windows cast little shadows, small replicas of the crucifix that vampires loathed so much. These caricatures, though, could do no harm, even to a fledgling demon such as Seras. Dashing through the dark and dank hall, she almost feel the moonlight flitting past her with every glass she passsed. It was a strange sort of beauty, the moonlight that she hunted by, intervaled by the shadows she lived in. Was such a life, the life of darkness, the life of the vampire, so unfathomable to that child she was, a lifetime ago? Monsters, horrors, nightmares; that's what they were. The day she laid eyes on her Master, Alucard, the last human fear she would ever feel gripped her gut, the fear of a child before the jaws of a beast. And now? She was the abomination that horror books were made from. The reborn.
Focus, Seras. Now is not the time for remeniscing. The objective is still alive. She quickened her pace, and powered through a sharp turn. What should have been a routine ambush had turned into a ridiculous pursuit. Hellsing had identified and confirmed another freak lurking in the dense jungle that was London. Hellsing troops had stormed in, and theoretically locked down the building. Seras had acted as point, being the ideal one to take a hit or two. She had entered the room in question, and kicked down the door. Waiting inside was not a blood-crazed hybrid, one turned by unatural means, but a calm, cold, sensual woman, not old by any means. She was a fair-skinned, well-endowed, red-eyed seductress, and for a second, the whole complement of Hellsing soldiers hesitated. Even Seras was stunned at the scene before her. The chestnut-haired woman stood up, her violet dress exposing shapely legs, observing the intruders as if they were nothing, merely a fly on the wall. Seras was ready to doubt the validity of the intel, when Seras caught a glimpse into her eyes. They were the deepest blood-red she had ever seen, and at that point, Seras knew that what they were facing was not some low-life freak, but a true-blooded vampire, experienced by the look of her. Seras almost caught a hint of Alucard's cockiness in her stance, but she didn't give herself the luxury of finding out. Leveling her cannon, Hallconnen, she loosed her initial shot. The demon moved aside with ease, and the hole in the wall created by the blast was a portal, an escape for the Siren. Seras flew after her, matching the twists and turns she was taking throught the alleys of back-street London. Seras had managed another shot off at her prey that forced it into another building. Seras kept up the chase, while the human soldiers were left behind, trying to re-organize the capture.
Seras knew that she was gaining, slightly. She could smell her enemy, the scent growing with each moment. With her hightened senses, she could hear the footsteps, light and sure, faintly around each corner. And somewhere, in the back of her mind, she could almost see, the sheath dress flowing around, the female vampire simply cutting through the air. As the next turn approached quickly, Seras got ready for the shot. She loaded a wide-area shrapnel shot into her weapon, and braced the cannon on her right arm. She changed her step, rotating slightly to the right, and leapt into a world-class baseball slide. Her left leg extened out, and her right elbow ready to land, she planned to take a shot upon contact with the wall. As the corrider to the right of her came into view, her leg hit the opposing wall, and cushioned her impact. The instant she stopped moving, she pressed the trigger, and fired from her hip towards the target. The purple streak whisked left around the next corner, but Seras had no intention of catching her with a direct hit. The resulting blast contained many pieces of frozen mercury, which would spread like BB's with the shockwave. Seras heard a shriek of pain, and knew she had been successfull. The mercury shards, when they made contact with even cold vampire flesh, would melt, and enter the bloodstream. For a human, that small amount of mercury would warrent a trip to the hospital. For a vampire, even the smallest bit of it would sear the insides, and a large enough dose would be fatal. In this case, it was enough to slow her prey down even further, and maybe create a chance for a decisive blow.
Seras catapulted herself down the passageway, and the chase continued. As she ran, Seras fumbled around her belt for the right shell. A small debate went on in her mind, between a fast-moving, piercing shell, or another large-blast shell. She decided on the latter, wanting to stun her once more before she delivered a final blow. The next shot was a high-pressure, silver dust shot, which released a dense cloud that expanded with the initial explosion. She loaded the round into the chamber, and cocked the gun. This pursuit would end soon. Seras was interested in the situation this would create. A natural, and possibly old, vampire that had been silent and hidden for so long would be accidentaly discovered and taken care of by a young, upstart vampire, one that was still reluctant to drink blood. Her Master would be very amused. No, Seras, don't count your change just yet. The mission isn't complete yet. Finish the mission. Silence the target.
As Seras rounded the next left, she spotted her adversary, only halfway down the hall. Seras made the decision to take the shot now. She spread her legs, leveled the Hallconnen, and let loose another screaming shot. It whizzed by the pursuee, who almost laughed at the inaccuracy, when the bullet impacted, and let loose the millions of tiny silver shards into the air. She screamed, as that element which she so hated seared her skin, burning at her eyes and mouth. Stumbling blindly though the haze, she spotted the gaping hole the cannon blast had left in the wall. The red-eyed vixen pierced through the veil, and found herself outside, standing in one of the many back-streets of London. Seras tried to follow, but the toxic shards in the air were too much for such a young vampire. She reloaded in desperation, pulling out her piercing round and slamming it into the barrel. She brought the sights up to her eye, but could see nothing through the fog. She let her sense of sight go, and practiced what her Master had taught her. See with the third eye. Feel, Sense, Know the world around you. You are connected with all that is around you. Know where it is you want to hit, and Know how you must fire. Seras let out a sigh, and prayed with all of her heart that this shot would hit. As the gun kicked back, tha feeling of success grew back, and she could feel, she could know that she had done it.
That feeling was sucked away, as she heard a loud bang, and fire erupted from past the cloud of silver dust.
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The violet vampire stood there, after resisting the blast resulting from the bullet's impact with the vehicle, and watched as pieces of demolished car fell from the sky, like flaming snowflakes. To her, it was a beautiful sight, the destruction, the smell of death. She knew that that kind of luck wouldn't last, and probably wouldn't hold up even once more. To have someone, a human no less, be the unwilling shield against that Hellsing brat's blade was ridiculous, but the truth was forced upon her, when she looked down and saw his torn body lying against a streetlight. Blood was slathered all over, and it invaded his nostrils and mouth like water, threating to drown him. It was not as if he wouldn't perish without the blood cutting off his air. He was missing a chunk of flesh from both the right side of his stomach, and from his left arm. A large piece of twisted metal impaled him onto the pole, right through the center of the chest. His legs were mangled, burned to a crisp, and leaking his precious blood all over the sidewalk. It was an intoxicating sight for the bloodsucker, and she could not resist one final drink.
She straddled the young man, who appeared to be quite handsome. Although much of his face was covered with the scarlet life, a few licks reavealed a relatively unscathed face, with strong features, contorted into a scowl from the immense pain he must be feeling. Absolutely beautiful. She could not have an envisioned a more savory situation, aside from the fact that it would be her final feast. It was almost erotic, the smell of death, the face before her, the exhiliration of the moment. She lapped up ounce after ounce of his lifeblood, and with each taste, her appetite grew. Such sweet blood. It was pure, almost virgin... Virgin? With that thought, she could not help but allow that sensual smile to appear. He would have made an excellent subordinate. A choice pick. But with her own end drawing near, and his own life slowly fading, it seemed irrelevant whether or not he would be suitable to serve under her. After all, he was dead...
Only near death. With a cough, and a convulsion, he miraculously opened one eye, and found that demonic beauty staring him in the face, his own blood dripping from her mouth. She could not believe he had the strength to do even that small act. Humans are more resilient than they seem. She continued to drink from the wounds that were spewing his blood all over the ground. Groggily, he saw and felt the heat of the flames so near to him. Through his right eye, he saw a wavering world around him, and he knew that this was no dream. This was real. It felt like a slide. Like a mudslide. A waterslide. Bloodslide. He was just leaving, just falling away from the familiarity of the world. And he realized it.
"I'm... dead."
The violet-clad mistress worked her way up to his ear, and whispered into it. "Dying, boy, but I'm surprised you aren't just a pile of ash now. Boy, you are one lucky son of a gun."
"..."
She grinned again, ever so slightly. "Dissappointed? Ha, you humans, you think you are eternal? You think there wouldn't be an end? Well, the evidence is here." She ran her finger across his arm, and she showed him a finger coated in blood. "This is yours, and it's spilling all over the place. You know what happens when it all goes, don't you? You fade. You leave. You die."
He gritted his teeth. "... I won't."
"Ha! And just how do you plan on stopping it? You can't even move!"
The boy raised his eye, like a cyclops, into the woman's dark-red stare. The woman was amazed. It wasn't going away. She expected to find a broken spirit, a mind that would fade with the body, but the flame inside him wouldn't go away. It stayed there, violent and unmoving. That will, that drive to survive. Truly, he would have made a great vampire.
"Help...me."
"Ha!" She pulled his rag doll body up to her face, by the hair, and bored her gaze into his. "You want to live the life of a ghoul? Wandering aimlessly, a servant without a master? Eternal nothingness? You'd be much better off dead. I can't help you. I can only turn the innocent, the pure, you understand?"
"...Help..."
She grew frustrated with him. A soul that refused to yield under the impossible was just a foolish one. Not brave. "You don't get it! You cannot have had a woman! You are not virgin, you are not worthy!" But that small thought crossed her mind again, and her voice shrunk. "You aren't... a virgin, are you?"
"..."
She carresed his face, toying with the hope that he might not be lost after all. She might be able to pass on her blood after all. But she needed an answer. "I need an answer."
"...Y...Ye-" His confirmation was interrupted by his hacking cough, but it was enough. In her purple garments, the woman, no, the devil astride him, took his head into her hands. In her countless years of second life, she had only turned a few, and those were only the most worthy. She was a matriarch of her own family, but her children had perished so many years ago. Now, it was her turn, and her bloodline was destined to end, but with this strange turn of events, she finds that same strength, that same worth that she saw in her brood, and more. Even in death, this man refused to yield. If there was a human with which she would lay down her blood, it would be one like him. She could only pray, as she sunk her teeth into his scarred and singed neck, that he would not squander this gift. As her parting gift to the world, she would live on in him, and make him her own. As she tasted the nectar ebbing away inside him, she gave him that gift, that precious gift that so few possesed. The blood of a demon, the blood of tainted life, that would carry him away from this death and hold him bound to the world once more.
The transfer complete, the nightwalker craned her head in victory. She could feel the eyes of the hunter on her head, and she did not flinch. It was the end, and there was no escaping it. She could only hope that, when the world and life had faded, there would be more for her than the endless darkness. She hoped that she could find substance outside of time and space. She hoped, prayed, and knew that there would be more. She just... She just knew it.
And Seras let fly her final warhead, and the vampiric beauty, dust to dust, dissappeared from the earth, leaving behind her violet garb.
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When Hellsing arrived, they hit the scene as a tornado would touch down upon the ground. Humvees blocked of the fire from both sides, and experts arrived with them to douse the fire. Helicopters covered the airspace above, patrolling the rooftops and the rest of the sky for spies or reporters. Footsoldiers filled up the buildings adjacent to the crime scene, allowing no one to enter that back street. The familiar yellow tape formed a large perimiter, lined with many Hellsing guards. And Sir Integra Wingates Hellsing stepped off of the copter that had whisked her here, and entered the area, accompanied by Alucard, who followed nonchalantly, not even bothering to use the door. He simply touched the building, and became it, the walls acting as his eyes. He saw the destruction caused by Seras' pursuit, and he was pleased with the tenacity he saw, as she left nothing but dust in her wake.
Integra entered the final ring of Hellsing soldiers, who were keeping a close eye on the man sitting there, metal embedded in his body, eyes wide open, staring down the barrel of Seras' Hallconnen. She had not left him unattended for a second. Hesitant about executing him, as her Master probably would have done, but uneasy with his existence all the same, she kept a steady hand on the trigger, ready to quell any sudden moves.
Integra placed a hand on Seras' shoulder, and Seras acknowledged her prescence, but did not let up her aim. Integra continued to where the man sat, hands relaxed at his sides, dried blood streaked all over his body. A docile vampire was a tricky situation, especially one born so recently from such a sticky situation. Integra had pondered over various courses of action, but had ultimately rested upon one. She could not allow him freedom, however innocent a victim he might be.
Integra approached him, and kneeled down so she could face him. She saw that he was a fine looking young man, with a tough face, suited for a frown, but not altogether unpleasant. His eyes were already that piercing scarlet-red that signified his vampirism. His hair was a tangled mess, curls circling around and around, jet black curls that fell across his forehead.
Integra spoke first. "I presume you know what you are now?"
He squinted at her, as if she had spoken some bitter sarcasm. "Dead at least once."
She glanced at the spike impaling him. "That's rather obvious. Would you like to remove it?"
"I would have, but the trooper here told me I couldn't move, not even an inch. Pretty cold, if you ask me."
Integra gestured to Seras without looking, and she lowered the cannon away from his head. "There, better?" Seras spoke in a bitter tone.
"Yeah, thanks." The boy grasped the metal, and without significant effort, he slid it out from his chest. "Man, that feels weird." He tossed away the piece like a toy, then looked back up to Integra. "I should be dead."
Integra smirked. "You are dead, technically. You do not posess the human description of life, which would be pulse, hunger, warmth, that sort of thing. You are a walking dead."
"You mean like a zombie?"
"No, not a zombies are mindless ghouls, that walk and eat either without direction or under the commmand of some master. You are still your own man... in a manner of speaking."
The boy turned his head and spat. "Hmph. Don't talk in riddles." He ran his hand across the two holes in his neck, which were now scabbing over. "I know what this is. Vampire." He glared at Integra, with his newly colored eyes. "I am a vampire. I'm not some child that you have to play word games with me. It's hard to believe, but it's here." He took his hand off of his neck and pointed to Seras. "And she's the same as me. I can see it, I can smell it in the air. There's a feeling in my gut that tells me she's like me."
Integra nodded. "Yes, it's true. You are vampire, now. A nearly extinct race of creatures that walk the night, that drink human blood, and that hide in the shadows of civilization. Don't be fooled though. It's not like the movies. You are more than some ridiculous portrayal of a bat-man."
The man looked doubtful, but he nodded to Integra. "Ok. So now to the hard part. What happens to me? It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you're not just gonna let me walk free. Little Miss Trigger Happy over there's makin' sure of that."
Seras wiggled the cannon in his face. "I don't appreciate you talking to me like that..." A wave of Integra's hand silenced her.
"You're right. We cannot just let you walk the streets as you once did. As a vampire, you must drink blood to stay strong, and incidents of citizens being bitten would not sit well with anyone."
"So tell me then... you gonna kill me?" He keenly observed Integra's reaction to the question. She didn't flinch, but she was a little too slow in answering. "Huh." He pushed himself up off the ground, and stood before the kneeling Integra. "I'm sorry, but I just can't allow that."
Integra stood up to face him, a stolid expression on her face. "And how would you stop us?"
He clenched his fist, and advanced on Integra, stopping a centimeter from her face. Seras made a move to stop him, but Alucard calmly placed a hand on her shoulder, restraining her. Seras relaxed, and placed her trust in her Master. If he did not think that Integra was in any danger, than she wasn't.
"That woman... that woman that was killed... she saved me... you think I'm gonna let that kind of sacrifice go without a fight? I don't care if you drive a stake through my heart, I don't care if you poison me with silver, I don't care what you do! I will not just stand here to be mowed down by some sadistic firing squad!"
Integra held his gaze for a few seconds, then turned her head. "Don't worry, we have no intention of just killing you. That would be wrong, since you really have done nothing to warrant it. However, your very existence poses a threat to the general public, and as such, you will be taken into our custody."
The man visibly gritted his teeth, and stepped in even closer. "I won't waste my life rotting in some cell. I already told you, I'm not gonna waste this life!" And with that, he turned his back to Integra. "I'll run. I swear to God, I'll run forever if I have to. I won't let you just roll over me like this. I'll go down fighting, down to the very end."
Integra hissed. "I admire your vehemence to survival, but with that kind of attitude towards our God, you won't make it very far."
"I don't give a damn about any God you can conjure up. God abandoned us humans a long time ago. We're left here to fend for ourselves.
Integra looked as if she was about to draw her sword and decapitate him, but she held her composure, and turned on her heels away from him. She approached Alucard, and whispered something into his ear. He nodded, and smiled as he approached the man. Integra turned back and watched as Alucard made a grab for the man's arms. He turned around, and met Alucard's grasp with his own. For a few seconds, the man held him back, but slowly Alucard bent his wrists and arms backwards, and when they reached their breaking point, the bones snapped loudly, and the man yelped in pain. Alucard placed a foot onto the man's spine, and pushed his torso forward while stretching his arms back. The man screamed, struggling against Alucard's grip, but to no avail. Integra signaled to a trooper, who produced a simple-looking pail of water. She brought it forward, placed it on the ground before him, and began to pray in Latin, crossing the water over and over again as she spoke. The words had a nails-on-a-chalkboard effect on both Seras and the man, as the Scriptures exterted their power over the vampires. Alucard seemed unfazed by the words, though, and contintued to stretch the man out. Integra finished the blessing with a powerful Amen, and dipped one finger into the now-holy water, and raised it up to the man's chest. His shirt was torn from the shrapnel, and his bare skin was exposed. The killing wound he had recieved from the metal spike had closed up, but had scarred quickly and heavily. Integra traced her finger in a circle on his skin, and he shrieked unhumanly to the skies as the holy liquid burned his flesh. Integra finished the first circle, and started on a second, larger ring. When she had trace both circles, she started on a pentragram within the first circle, re-chanting the blessing prayer as she tatooed the symbol onto his flesh. He writhed and writhed, but nothing could free him from Alucard's iron grasp. Once done with the star, she drew two T-shaped symbols with little tally marks running down them, and an H fashioned with similar marks.
With the preparation complete, Integra re-moistened her finger, and started on the words. With precision, Integra inscribed words in an ancient, runic alphabet, chanting as she went along. All around the outer circle, line and curve after line and curve were made, until she reached the other end. She then moved to the space between the two circles, and drew, in plain English, the words "Hells Gate Arrested", and "And Shine Heaven Now" on the left and right sides, while reciting words in the same language. "May Hell recognize this mark and repel it's bearer back. May Heaven bless this mark and purify it's bearer." On the top side of the middle circle, she wrote "Hellsing", and said, "May this mark and it's bearer belong to the Holy Protestant Knights, Hellsing." On the bottom, she wrote "Gott Mit Uns", and repeated a German-sounding prayer following the writing.
Integra then dipped her finger into the water for the last time, and moved inside the pentagram, her victim still screaming. For each of the five spaces between the five star points, she drew a runic number, from 5 to 1, and with each mark, she sealed his fate more and more. "I hereby forge the first seal, the seal of Soul. May the bearer of this mark give his soul to the Holy Protestant Knights, Hellsing." For each number, a different aspect of the vampire was sealed, and placed under control of Integra. "... the second seal, the seal of Blood." "... the third seal, the seal of Mind." "... the fourth seal, the seal of Purpose." "... the fifth seal, the seal of Body." And with the final seal, Integra stepped away from the struggling man, and removed the bucket of holy water. Alucard released the man's broken arms, and let him fall prone on the ground. Seras stood there, in horror, as the brutal ritual of control was concluded. Integra, after washing her hands, returned before her new vampire. She did not even bother to kneel, but instead commanded in her strong, authoritarian voice. "Now, rise, vampire. You are now under the command of the Hellsing Institution, the Hellsing Family, and my direct orders. Rise."
With reluctance, the mangled man rose from the ground, onto his knees. He groaned, and he pulled his arms back into place. He rose to his feet, and the seared mark of ultimate control, carved forever into his flesh, was visible in black scarring on his chest. Seras was speechless, as she made sense of what had taken place. This man, this demon that was now kin to her, who had been willfull in his moments before his capture, now submitted to the simple commands of Integra. Seras realized that the mark he bore on him was the same mark that Alucard wore on his twin gloves. Seras had never fully grasped the reasons for such symbols, but she thought back to what she knew about Integra and Alucard. Alucard served Integra, because her father had 'tamed' him. Could it be... that those marks were the restraints that held Alucard bound to Integra? And as the new Hellsing 'recruit' piled into one of the Humvee's behind some Hellsing troops, Seras could only imagine what kind of feeling it was, to be forced to obey in such a way. She could not help but feel sorry for him, for undergoing such an ordeal as this. Life, death, and imprisonment. This man had everything he had taken away from him in a midnight. How must one feel to go through that? That was the question that echoed in Seras' mind, as she rode back to the Hellsing manor across from the newcomer. His head was hung low, so that she could not see his expression, but Seras knew that he must be infuriated at such treatment, frustrated beyond words at his inability to liberate himself, and ultimately vengeful aginst Integra for her crimes against him. Seras knew that Integra was decisive, but to slap this man into a cage just because of his vampirism? It was too much for one night. Morning was coming soon, and she would have to retire within her coffin until the next night. She had the feeling that tommorrow night is when it would really start. Tommorrow night, she would learn all she wanted, and more, about this stranger, this rough, stolid individual, who was now chained to Seras, Alucard, and the rest of Hellsing by fate.
Tommorrow night, the newest vampire under Hellsing's control would officially be born.
AN: Phew! I wrote all of this in a few hours. Impressive, I hope. Now, I know that some of you are gonna have some early doubts about my interpretation of the Pentagram. I don't think that it is too far-fetched that the Pentagram on Alucard's glove is any more than the restraining device that he periodically releases ("Releasing Restraint Level 5 thourgh 1") or something like that. Now, I don't know what language the outer layer of the Pentagram is in, and for a simple fanfic like this one, I'm not going to dissect the Internet to find it. I would like to know what "Gott Mit Uns" means, and I'm guessing it's in German, but don't harp on me if I'm wrong.
Now, to me, while writing, this first episode seemed a bit sadistic, a bit too macabre, but I think it sets a solid stage for development of the new character, and of his relationships with the main characters. Now, if you noticed, I did not tell you anything about this man. Not even his name! I did this, so that you can start from scratch, and watch this character grow from nothing into what I ultimately want him to be. (Now that I think about it, I probably shouldn't tell you about my character development strategy, but I really want people to watch the growth of the character, and try to identify with every little quirk he picks up along the way.
Next Chapter: The New Blade of the Hellsing Institution