Chapter 1: The Hour of Spirits
Mina Harker, the only person to have ever been fed on by Dracula and then feed upon him in return. They say she returned to normal after Professor Van Hellsing defeated her master but the beast never quit let go. The vampire's essence lies deep in her bones and so it waited out the long years in slumber immune to time, to the Eucharist, to Holy Water, even to the cross itself. A microscopic transgression against God.
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(Patient #0100120. AKA Little Red Riding Hood. PTSD, Severe depression, paranoia and recently diagnosed case of Erythrophobia. Possible Stockholm syndrome. Current medications list (Update): note: see physician's orders. Suicide risk. 24 hour surveillance.)
Audio recorded therapy session # unknown
"I used to love the color red. I wore red ribbons in my hair to school, ate only red popsicles, lollipops and apples. I wore red dresses with frills to Sunday school even though they contrasted with my pale blue eyes, blonde hair and pale skin. When my parents would try and dress me in baby blue and buttery yellows, I cried. I was infatuated and could not be swayed for I knew what beauty was and I bathed myself in it anyway I could.
Red was the color of roses, of blush, of cherries, wine, seductive dresses and lipstick. Red was the color of life and blood that flowed through me given by the eternal God as a blessed gift. When I told the children in my Sunday school class this they squirmed and giggled. The nun was a bit mortified to hear my answer especially when I was so small and later I was called into Father Michael's office."
"And do you remember what you talked about?"
The recording went quite for a minute.
"I remember us talking. The specifics? I can't recall. I just remember that was the beginning of our talks together. He seemed interested in what I had to say."
"Do you remember many of your talks with Father Michael?"
"No- and Yes."
"And what does that mean?"
"It's hard to differentiate. Back then our talks were always of the same things. They were about belief, and mankind, of sin and forgiveness, about human nature and our flaws, and always of God. I can't remember him ever changing- physically that is- while I grew up. All of the memories blurred together that way throughout the years-"
"Sarah, when did that relationship change between you and Father Michael? Why do you think he did what he did?"
A small click from the recorder and the voices that filled the room were quitted. A frail, young man set the device on the table. The only sound to be heard were the lively sounds coming from the fireplace as it danced casting the room in light and shadow. In his hand was a letter written on fine parchment, and a photograph, both placed in an equally lavish envelope. The back was sealed and he smiled. Hoping the irony would not be lost on its intended.
"You called, my Lord." An older gentleman said as he entered the room. His face was grave as fire from the hearth accentuated his wrinkles.
The younger of the two smiled showing off his shark like teeth."Take this letter into town, Arthur. Do not waste any time in doing so." The deep, rich voice which should have belonged to a man much larger, much stronger, rolled off his lips. The young man's accent was foreign and sounded exotic to unknowing ears. "I need the "Iron Maiden" and her "Dog" to pick up our scent as soon as possible. I want them to arrive on time when the party starts."
"Absolutely," His servant said as he looked at the recipient's name. A mischievous smile gracing his deathly pale features. "I will have this sent to the Hellsing Manor immediately."
The young man smiled as his manservant left the room. His hand went to the recorder to press play as he continued to listen to the audio recording delighting in the young woman's voice. It was hoarse with hours of near torture and exhaustion from her so called "therapies."
Picking up where he left off before.
"Sarah, when did that relationship change between you and Father Michael? Why do you think he did what he did?" The Doctor questioned her tone very bland and emotionless. Perfect for a psychoanalyst trying not to sound biased or judgemental.
"He often went on about how similar we were." Sarah spoke hoarsely. "About freedom, loneliness and being with one's own kind. I suppose the only creatures capable of understanding and describing the inner machinations of a monster- are monsters themselves."
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"Sarah- Hey, Sarah?!" Sarah snapped out of her daze. The world fuzzy as she refocused her gaze. She heard the voice of Maria who sat in the computer chair next to hers. "You can go home now." Sarah nodded her head and rose from her chair. Maria was the shift lead and now that Sarah looked at the clock she realized it was time for shift change. Quickly changing out of her scrubs she made her way past her coworkers as they stood around and gossiped.
The cold, winter wind was playful as it nipped at her ears and nose. Sarah could feel it tussle her hair about as she walked down the streets and made her way to the market. Tobby was sick and she knew he would need some fresh herbs, a bone broth, and some vegetables for soup. The boy was always catching ill at this time of year so she was used to treating him with more homeopathic remedies. Some orange juice, ginger and tea were also needed to help his immune system. Perhaps even a nice sweater or blanket could be purchased from one of the local shops.
During winter break Tobby would be home from school and that meant that Sarah would need to find someone to watch over him. It wasn't that her younger brother was too young or incapable of watching himself. Sarah just didn't trust most people and the ones she did- were few and far in between. Before she had lived in London Sarah had lived in a small town in the countryside. The young girl she had been would never imagine she could live in the great city of steal and brick. However with her line of "work" that meant coming to a large city with an equally large population. After all when your job relies on you harvesting tissue and organs, for donation and research, a large supply of somewhat fresh bodies is necessary.
With the salary her job offered she was able to afford a small but cozy place in the better part of the city. After all not many people could stomach the sight and smell of blood. From there Tobby went to a small public school and did well considering he was mute. He could read and write like the other children and the school offered an interpreter for his sign language. If the interpreter could not be there then Tobby had no problem writing out his needs. The young man was gifted with written language and when tested could read at a college level. This came as a surprise to many of his teachers. Life was as close to normal as it could get for the two siblings. It was just how the young woman preferred it.
By the time Sarah got home it was dark and the pollution from the lights of the city blocked out all of the night sky, except for the moon. The winds had died down but the chill in the air still seemed to have a strong bite. The flat she had rented was silent and dark which struck Sarah as odd as she turned on the lights. The only sound that could be heard was the muffled sound of music coming from the tele in her bedroom. When she had put away the grocery's she wasn't surprised to have found her brother sprawled out in her bed with the TV on. An empty glass of juice, a bottle of water sat untouched, a cape around his shoulders, and Nosferatu, in all its black and white glory on the screen.
The young woman smiled as she turned the lamp on and made her way towards the sleeping figure. Sweat plastered Tobby's brow and his breathing sounded raspy. Sarah frowned as she felt how warm his forehead was. Tobby would probably need to go to the Doctor soon if he got any worse. It was then that Sarah noticed the plastic teeth peeking out from behind dry cracked lips. Reluctantly she pulled the accursed thing from his mouth and placed it on the night stand. Tobby was dehydrated but that did not mean that an adequate amount of drool didn't coat the nasty things.
"Hey," Sarah whispered as she could only imagine the little man had a headache. "Time to go to your own bed, okay." Tobby opened his eyes for only a minute before he curled into his sister who welcomed him with an embrace. Her younger brother was almost too old to carry so she managed the best she could picking him up bridle style and taking him to his room. The young lady untied the strings to his cape and put him to bed. Sarah looked at the cursed red object with distaste before placing it in the laundry basket. She turned his humidifier on and made sure to set out a bottle of water in case he got too thirsty. "Dinner will be waiting for you when you rise, my Nosferatu." She whispered earning a smile as she turned out the lights.
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Integra looked out the window at the grounds below waiting. Contemplating the letter in her hand. It didn't take long before Alucard appeared behind her. Seras however still did not quit have a mastery of moving through physical objects. It would still take her some time to make her way into the study and that would help Integra get her thoughts together.
"You called me here, Master. Do you have orders?" She could feel the lecherous smile of the vampire from behind her back.
"Yes, but first I have an inquiry." Integra turned her good eye to the vampire as she held up the letter. "Do you recognize this seal, Count?" Integra sat at her desk and pushed the envelope to Alucard. The grin that had split apart his face earlier was replaced as he saw the red, wax seal of a dragon. Alucard picked up the envelope and inhaled deeply. It smelled of long forgotten memories and earth.
"Yes, it is familiar but it can't be possible." The vampire replied.
"Why is that?"
"This is the order of the Dragon, the Signum Draconis. The symbol of my father's order during his holy crusade before he was proclaimed king of Wallachia. They only allowed those of noble birth into their society. By birthright I was initiated into the order. When I was a boy the Sultan called for my younger brother and I to attend to one of the orders meetings. It was a trap. One the Sultan gladly used to hold leverage over my father with."
The Englishwoman could tell that Alucard was holding something back. She knew enough from history the torture that Alucard must have sustained while in the hands of the Ottoman Empire and didn't see the value in opening old wounds. "Does this order still exist?"
"No, the order disbanded and fell to ruin long ago." The vampire said setting the piece of paper down. His eyes never leaving the symbol of a dragon guarding a cross. A quite fell over the room that put Integra on edge. Normally she couldn't get the monster to shut up.
"Well, then I suppose it should not come as a surprise. While the letter was addressed to me I have the sneaking suspicion it was meant for you. Besides an address the rest of the letter is in Romanian." Cut from his daze, Integra could only imagine the look in his eyes as they were concealed by his spectacles. The heiress held out the letter and watched as the vampire read it. "What does it say?"
"It's a summons."
"A summon to what?"
"I am to meet someone at the address listed. An old manor at 3 o'clock this coming morning and no sooner."
As Alucard finished the letter a loud bang could be heard. In less than a second Seras came bursting into the room panting. "I am sorry, milady. I tried to get here sooner."
Alucard scoffed at his charge. "A fully fledge vampire and you have yet to master the art of intangibility."
"I am sorry, Master. I tried to but I just kept banging my head into every other wall. But I am getting better." She laughed scratching the back of her head nervously.
"Seras," Integra interrupted. "You are fine. We were just going over your new mission."
"Mission," the blonde woman peeped. "What mission?"
Alucard smiled, his full attention on his master. "So you mean to go after these pretenders?"
"Yes, I have reason to believe we are dealing with a foe who not only knows about you, Alucard, but wishes to get our attention. I also suspect we are also dealing with a hostage situation."
"Hostages" Sera interrupted. "Who are they?"
"That has yet to be determined." Integra revealed the final piece of the puzzle. The picture that was sent with the letter was placed on the table. Both servants looked at the photograph in their master's hand. A picture of a young woman with dirty blonde hair, and a young brunette boy, smiled at them with silvery blue eyes. Seras noted their pale features cutting through the darkness of the room. A mother and a child perhaps? No too close in age it seemed. A pair of siblings?
"What are your orders, my master?" Alucard asked. His tone eager.
"Your mission is to go to the address listed. Find out why this order of the Dragon is seeking our attention. If they are foes of Hellsing then your orders are as they have always been. Search and destroy! If there are hostages, then find them, bring them back to the manor for questioning. You have your Masters orders."
Alucard's smile split his face as he imagined how the night would play out. "Yes, my Master."
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Sarah sat looking out of the window at the night sky alit with stars. It seemed so strange. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen the constellations so clearly. Suddenly an overwhelming feeling came over her. She was supposed to be doing something but everything seemed foggy. Slowly she made her way out of her room and towards the hall. Someone was waiting for her there.
It was another woman. A beautiful woman. This strange woman stood in the hall and turned down the corridor. Sarah eyes followed the reflection of her strawberry blonde curls as they shone in the dark. The woman turned and smiled before making a turn in the hall to heaven only knew where.
"Lucy?" A voice softly whispered in Sarah's mind. "Where has Lucy gone?"
Without thought Sarah's feet began to move her forward. She followed the strange woman down the hall until she came to a door. "Lucy?" Sarah could feel herself call in a voice that wasn't hers. "Lucy, where are you?!"
A sudden flickering of strawberry blonde hair illuminated by the moonlight caught her attention. It was hard to describe what she was seeing as she followed the woman. The landscape held no distinct shape and soon she was nowhere near a manor but instead was at a church. The churchyard half in ruin was cast ominously in shadow and reclining on the bench was the figure of the woman she had been trying to catch.
"Lucy," she murmured. Lucy did not move instead she laid motionless. A ghost of white that stood out in the graveyard. "Lucy," She cried out a little louder. "Lucy!" She panted in an exhaustion that wasn't hers. Then suddenly she stopped as she saw a shadow of a creature come towards Lucy. Its pale face looked toward her baring ivory white teeth. It looked like a beast and before her pounced on poor Lucy it turned its blood gaze to Sarah.
"No!" Sarah cried out her face covered in a sweat. She kicked the blankets off and turned towards the light in her room. The tele was on and playing Dracula with Bela Lugosi as the count. Tobby had a sudden fascination with vampires lately, but for the life of her, Sarah could not remember putting the damn movie on. All in all it explained the bad dreams. Turning off the tele she finally had enough sense to address the cotton ball sensation of her dry mouth and made her way towards the kitchen. What she found would be fuel for her nightmares for years to come.
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"All the perks of the Desert Eagle .50 caliber hand gun. It's about as powerful as a semi-automatic handgun could get with of course a few upgrades. Tommy claimed handing the gun over to the vampire.
"Is that so?" The Vampire looked at the heavy pistol. "And what are these upgrades?"
"It takes a 9 round magazine clip but I bumped it up to 15 rounds. You lose more velocity with a semiautomatic but the punch is hard to beat. You should be able to handle it quite nicely still. Also the usual upgrades you prefer. The gun shoots .50AE bullets with pure Macedonian silver casings, explosive tips already blessed for your standard bullets but I have added a few tester rounds to one of your magazines."
"Oh," Alucard said looking at the American. "And what are they?"
"The magazine has been labeled and works effectively with large hordes of ghouls. I call them the Dragons Breathe. Specially modified rounds that will set anything in their way on fire and send the main target off to Hell with a nice boom."
"Interesting, we will have to see how your new weapon plays out. Also whether it will be better than the last, Tommy Gunn."
"Absolutely, feel free to give me your feedback." The blonde man said as he went back to work in his shop. While his work had not been as unique and effective as Walters the Vampire had to give the man credit. He was used to selling fancier commercial guns to large companies that sold their weapons as collector items. When Hellsing had approached him with a job proposition it probably never occurred to the American that he would be making weapons for vampire slaying. The transition was difficult as he seemed to underestimate Alucard's strength and abilities. However he was making progress in interesting ways and tried to meet the vampire's requests.
"I am ready, master." Seras spoke, her weapon strapped to her back in a large case.
"Good, let's go." Alucard grinned as the pair made their way down the hall and to the motor pool.
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"Good evening, Ms. Harker." A man greeted from her dining room table. "Please don't be frightened. My master sent me to come for you."
For moment Sarah didn't understand, blinking her eyes and trying to shake whatever spell she was under. "Who?" Sarah replied groggily but the question sounded weak.
"My master. He has been planning a ball for you and yours. A sort of coming-home-get-together. Other members of the party will be arriving and he would be so upset if I did not come to get you." As the stranger stepped into the light she saw he was very lithe and thin. He had no true distinguishing features. His hair was a dull brown and eyes were a ruddy reddish-brown. His voice was deep and the way he spoke was eloquent. Everything about this man screamed ordinary and yet strange."
"You are nuts! I don't know who you think I am but I know no master of yours! Now get out of my house before I call the cops!" Sarah slowly made her way towards the bedroom. Her phone was most likely still in her coat which was likely hanging off a hook in her bedroom.
The man stood up swiftly with a smile. As though he had read her mind he spoke. "Go ahead. Run to your room and look for your phone. It will not be there. I would also like to point out that your movie selection is quit superb. It's been ages since I have seen Bella Lugosi play the count. Classic movie monsters never quit go out of fashion and the music is very soothing is it not?"
Sarah could feel the blood leave her face. This man had been in her bedroom while she slept and put the movie in. Roaming around her room in the middle of the night undetected as he went through her personal belongings. She took two tentative steps backwards before attempting to make her way to Toby's room. However the moment she spun around her face collided with someone's chest. With horror she looked up to see the eyes of the man who had been sitting at the table not long ago.
"Don't worry about your dear little brother, Toby. I have already sent the car to drop him off. Now Ms. Harker, as I must insist we leave now, the Master is waiting." The man said with a fanged smile. "Shall we?"