"Who the Hell are you people!" the savage little blonde thrashed in the poor mercenary's grip as she kneed him between the legs, causing the man to fall like a sack of bricks. The girl advanced on the much taller blonde, stopping before the desk with a blatant pout. "Did you just adopt me? Without goddamn telling me? Taking me in my sleep for…"
"What are you talking about, little girl?" The sharp voice made the little blonde lose her confidence for a second and she stared wide eyed at Integra Hellsing's piercing blue eyes. "What is your name?" The girl swallowed at the command, but managed to glare at the woman.
"Seras Victoria."
The room was quiet and Integra's cigar tumbled out of her mouth. She was the first to recover as she leaned over the desk to get a better look at the girl. "Seras…you are really Seras Victoria?"
"What of it, old hag?" the child stuck her tongue out as a vein on Integra's forehead throbbed. Integra smiled wickedly, making Seras back away.
The child was yowling as the female Hellsing dragged her down the halls of the estate, leading her into the dungeons. Seras grew quiet, terrified of the darkness around her and Integra's grip loosened in response. She opened the door to the cell, followed by Pip and Walter.
The room was deathly silent, as was to be expected during the day, but Integra's mouth turned in a frown as she heard it, never having walked in on the vampire sleeping before. The coffin lay in the shadows cast by only the partial light of the door and Hellsing approached it slowly. Then she heard it.
At first she thought it was the sound of a heartbeat, and she screwed up her eyes behind her glasses as she stepped closer to the origin of the sound, the black casket. Then she realized with shock that it was accompanied by the voice of a child. A child was screaming hoarsely and banging on the heavy lid of the coffin. Integra dropped Seras' ear with the forming shock and immediately ordered Walter and Pip to help open the coffin.
The three gasped and backed away despite what they had readied themselves for. In the silk of the coffin lining, a sobbing boy with red eyes was murmuring in a foreign tongue, shaking uncontrollably.
"When did you find Seras?" Integra whispered, unable to move to touch the boy.
"This morning. The little devil has been rampaging about the estate since dawn." Pip muttered, still sore about it.
Integra's eyes filled with pity for the child. It was almost one in the afternoon. Walter and Pip watched the miniature Alucard in quiet as Integra bent down and touched his shoulder. The boy flinched, swallowing his sobs and blinking away his tears as he stared at the woman.
"Alucard? Is that you?" she whispered, barely able to keep her voice level. There was no response from the child for several moments. Then he began to speak in an unmistakable Romanian tongue. When he only saw upset faces above him, the child tried German and then Turkish and Latin. "What does this mean?" Integra straightened, looking at Walter whose face was pale and his eyes unseeing as they were directed at the vampire. "Walter?" her tone was a bit rough, but it caught the elderly man's attention and he cleared his throat.
"I do not know, Sir."
Little Seras moved to the side of the coffin and the adults failed to notice as the children watched one another. Alucard's eyes were widened with awe at the girl, not remembering the last time he had seen another child other than the sultan's son. It had been months since he had last seen Radu, his younger brother, and he welcomed the sight of the pretty girl with a smile. Suddenly a fist struck him in the mouth and he retreated away from the cold blue eyes.
The room had frozen as all eyes stared at Seras and then the bloodied Alucard.
"Your teeth are ugly. They look like a dog's, like fangs." Seras' monotone brought attention back to the confused boy and he resisted as the mercenary brought the child's hands from his mouth. The wound was healed and, his mouth open, sharp little fangs could be seen.
"You have fangs as well then." Integra pulled on the little girl's lips, making an almost comical false smile on her face.
"UAH!" Seras threw away the hands and backed away from Integra, lifting her own fingers to run over the sharp canines. "What?" the gasp stole away her coldness for a moment and she seemed like the child she was.
"I'll have to explain." Integra sighed and then groaned in annoyance before looking at Alucard who was staring at the coffin. His childlike face had become like stone and she wondered for a moment if he was returning to his usual self, but then he drew his arms around his middle, hugging himself as his eyes closed.
The situation had been explained to Seras a week ago. Her vampiric strength was returning slowly, but she was coaxing it back by challenging the mercenaries to individual or dual arm wrestling matches. She believed that her gained strength was the product of her invested effort, but Hellsing had serious doubts about the matter. Integra smoked a cigar and watched her more placid servant sit like a lifeless doll in a chair before her desk. He had been looking at the same spot on the red patterned rug for the past three hours, only blinking occasionally if his shoulders twitched, which they did only a few times. She sighed at the depressing sight of the child. He had been alarmed by everything he saw when he left the dungeon, jolting at the lights that turned on by magic…etcetera. She recalled a memory that still stabbed into her heart with its every beat of remembrance and persistent existence.
Integra began to do her paper work as she could think of nothing to do for the vampire other than let him be. Time passed and she flinched when there was a tug on her sleeve. Looking to her side, her lips parted at the large red eyes that met her. He pointed at her neck and all warmth drained from Integra for a breathless moment, then she realized she was wearing a crucifix. His eyes showed joy and hope at the little cross, making Integra smile, but the expression froze and she grew cold with dread.
Alucard had touched the cross and screeched in pain, backing away to the other side of the room, his skin smoking. He stared at her and then his hand. Then he cried out something in Romanian and fell to his knees, howling in misery.
"The Holy Father has cast me from his side! He no longer wants such a tainted thing as myself!"
Integra heard the same cry in the form of a whisper, but she couldn't understand what her servant was saying. Now he was muttering to himself, rubbing his arms furiously.
"Dirty, dirty, dirty, filthy, sinful infidel touch…dirty…"
He recoiled from the woman who touched him, blood tears rolling off his face as his eyes narrowed in pain, moving away, not wanting to contaminate her. His eyes widened with a thought and he attempted to speak in Latin again.
Integra was kneeling by the child, but, as she was turned away and he spoke in Latin, she stood up, giving him an apologetic look before returning to her desk, biting her lip.
Alucard watched the foot of the desk in a daze and he remained that way until Walter took him to the dungeons.
Walter had provided the rest of the memory.
He looked at the cell without surprise, but as he failed to move towards the coffin Walter realized his mistake and took the boy to a spare bedroom, but Alucard began to slow as the door came into view, his apprehension obvious. The butler had to coax the child to enter the room, holding it open with a smile. He led Alucard to the bed and put him on it. Sinking into the soft mattress, the boy realized how exhausted he was and he collapsed on the pillow without bothering to pull back the sheets when the door closed and Walter was gone. Seras had already fallen asleep hours ago and was snoring as the mercenaries ignored her or laughed in amusement.
The boy seemed like a little prince with his perfect posture and the way he attempted to greet others with a polite nod of his head, but Seras targeted him for these, seeing them as a flaunting of snobbery. She knocked him down often and hit him without warning, making sure not to be caught. It was to her advantage as he healed instantly from any injuries. She taunted him and enticed him to fight back but he only came to shake his head at her, understanding her intent. He would then say something in Romanian, making the blonde strike him again. This continued, Seras' amount of strength being invested in the pastime increasing each day until finally Integra and Walter were startled by the sound of shattering glass. They ran out of the office into a hall to find Seras smiling at the broken window. Walter began to scold her as Integra walked over to inspect the damage. She gasped, making Walter come to her side.
Both of them looked down the three stories at the patch of blood where Alucard had fallen. Now the blood was moving back into the boy and he was walking away, unfazed, or so it seemed until he suddenly appeared in the room. His glare made the three body's start and Seras backed away, trying to return the look and failing. He disappeared and Seras cried out as he stood before her for a moment. Then his hand became a blur and he threw the girl across the room like a little rag doll, repeating the act again and again as she would cry out or whimper. He only stopped when Integra recovered her voice and screamed the order at him. It was the intensity of the tone that made him realize he had lost his temper. Some guilt came over his face when he saw the terrified and bawling girl on the ground and he offered her his hand. She only jerked away and screamed at him.
"Monster! You're a monster! A freak! Get the Hell away from me!"
Alucard might not have been able to understand the words but he keenly felt her disgust and fear. His steps were soundless as they brought him to the shadows and he disappeared.
Walter searched for him as dawn came, becoming frantic as the sun rose higher, producing nothing. He reported his suspicions to Integra and she burst out of her doors, seeking the mercenaries. They laughed at first when they were told their mission, then color drained from their faces as Alucard's potentially hazardous nature was illustrated along with his inability to understand the current world.
"Who knows what he would do if he came across a car and felt it to be a threat? How would people respond to a little child tossing a truck into a building with ease? What if his thirst is triggered?"
The men left the mansion, both intimidated and determined by Integra's words.
Meanwhile, the little Alucard was hiding in the shadows, watching the busy midmorning street, searching for something familiar. Anything at all. He had to flee from the building mass of rodents that insisted on following him around. Then he realized that they avoided the light, so, casting aside discomfort, he stepped into society, disappearing into the crowds on the street.
It was dusk when Pip caught sight of the little vampire, but as the mercenaries had been forced to split up, he was alone as he tried to sneak up on the boy. Alucard recognized the presence and began to walk away, hoping to blend in with the masses, but the mercenary's skills allowed him to keep the vampire within his sights.
Alucard suddenly stopped, facing Pip as he attempted to convince him to leave him alone, speaking in Romanian. The attempt failed and he was forced to duck when Pip made a grab for him and he started to run down the sidewalk. The shine of a large cross distracted him long enough for Pip to catch up. He escaped the wild grab and threw himself at the priest making Pip blanch in horror.
"Father! Father! Please tell me you speak the language!" he said in Latin, tightening his hold on the Holy garments in building desperation. "Please!"
The boy cried out in protest as Pip ripped him away from the priest and held him to his chest, staring at the Iscariot with remnants of self doubt. Anderson was glaring at the boy, clearly sensing the demonic presence and he grabbed Pip, bringing them into a side ally before he crushed the mercenary against a cinderblock wall. "I know you." He hissed, bringing his face into Pips, his eyes wide with the madness of his love for the Lord. "What is Hellsing doing with another vampire?" His hand abruptly tore the now quiet child from the arms as Pip tried to cling on to him.
"Stop! Please! He can't do anything!" Pip's plea halted and Anderson stiffened. The little vampire was holding on the priest as if for his dear undead life.
"Please Father. I have touched the symbol of our Lord and He has in turn burned me with His fury. I cannot speak to any other one of the Faith as they do not speak the language. I have found only infidels here. Please Father….tell me that you can understand my words." the voice continued in a mixture of Latin and Romanian, substituting his primary language as he could not find a word in the other.
When his surprise subsided, Anderson's gaze fell without compassion on the damned child and he threw it against the wall with the impact of a bayonet in his chest. Alucard gave a hacking cough, spitting out blood. He was quiet though, and looked at the priest with empty eyes that soon closed in acceptance. Pip came between the paladin in the vampire, drawing out a gun unwillingly. Just as conflict began to seem unavoidable, the priest's eyes widened at the little voice hidden by the mercenary. He backed away to see over Pip's shoulder, ending the aggression in the other man with his expression.
Alucard was whispering to himself in Latin and red ran from his eyes. Anderson was the only one who could hear the reverent recital of the Lord's Prayer.
"Open your eyes."
The vampire's red eyes flew open at the familiar language and he smiled through the tears, but it was short lived as the paladin's face also filled with recognition.
"Alucard?"
Pip became defensive again while the child's face became a mask of disappointment. "What does that word mean, Father?"
At this, the priest's attention went back to Pip and he scowled. "What is this?"
"Er…well…you see…" he looked at his gun and the priest's empty hands but decided to leave it exposed. "Mr. Alucard and Ms. Seras seem to be…not right…."
Anderson's eyes dulled as he realized his only source for an adequate answer would be from Integra Hellsing herself. His green eyes flashed to life and he looked at the scarlet eyes that watched him. "There is only so much that can be said in Latin. Do you speak another?"
The boy blinked, the tears having disappeared, and his lips parted in a smile. He tried Romanian, Turkish, and then German. The priest frowned as he responded in the last. "I speak German." Anderson watched when the boy began to shiver with emotion, laughing, oblivious of the blade that was searing into his flesh. He spoke in an old form of German, making Anderson's eyes narrow in concentration.
"Please, Father. Do not leave me. I have not been able to communicate with any other during these recent weeks. I do not know this strange place. There are roaring monsters that sweep by people as they journey with humans conducting them from the inside. The air is heavy and filled with poison. The sun's power has been captured in glass bulbs. What kind of place is this? We are surrounded by infidels that do not respect a Holy man like yourself when you walk by them."
Anderson stared at the vampire for a moment, his mouth in a small gape. "Are you Roman Catholic?"
The boy paused and then nodded. "Yes, Father. I am the son of Vlad Dracul, one who has sworn to fight for the Lord, though he has sadly fallen from this path and has sided with the infidel Muslims of the Turkish sultanate and I was gifted to the sultan with my brother. I do not know how I have come to this place, but I am rejected by the Lord. It is because the sultan has dirtied me, Father. How can I redeem myself in the Lord's eyes?"
"Are you sure you are the monster Alucard?" Pip responded with a twitch as he was finally able to recognize a word, but the boy showed only confusion and a somber expression.
"I believe I am dirty, perhaps a monster…yes I am one, but that is the Turk's doing. I do not know this thing I hear often of…Alucard…what is it? What does it mean?"
Anderson gritted his teeth, not enjoying having to speak to the vampire as if it were a human. Only the scarlet eyes and the steaming bayonet reminded him of the creature's identity. "What of the name Dracula? You have said Dracul."
Alucard's eyes brightened. "That is part of my name, Vladimir Tepes Dracula III. The order of the dragon which is dedicated to ridding the Holy land of the Muslims and other infidels."
The priest's eyes narrowed, surprising the boy. "You mean to say…the name Dracula is from a Holy order?"
"Yes, Father? What is wrong?"
Anderson's anger was controlled when he saw the wide eyes question him. He grunted his displeasure at the conversation and moved forward to take out the blade that was pinning the boy to the wall so that his feet hovered above the ground. The child only winced and then the wound healed itself when he dropped to the cement. He stood, looking up at the priest. Anderson was still bent over for the purpose of removing the blade and the priest started when he felt cold hands near his face. Alucard's fingers were touching his glasses in curiosity, gently grazing the priest's cheeks at times. He looked over the hands at the vampire's eyes while Pip was shifting his weight on his feet uncomfortably.
"Why do you wear glass over your eyes, Father? They are like the ones the beautiful Queen wears."
"Queen?" the odd statement distracted Anderson and he did not straighten to leave the vampire's touch.
"The Queen with the golden hair and azure eyes that would make the great sea cry in envy. She sits behind a great wooden table in a humble throne in a room with a magnificent window that is positioned to catch the moon." Anderson's eyes widened as he realized the vampire was talking about Integra. "You too have pretty eyes, Father. Does the glass stand there to protect them?"
Pip watched with interest at the flustered expression that came to the priest. Anderson stood up, frowning and trying to glare at the boy. "Is this a game?"
Alucard looked hurt and he frowned as well. "I am sorry if I was mistaken, Father."
Anderson shook his head sharply. "No. Do you really not know anything? What you are? Nosferatu? Vampire? One who was a man and now drinks the blood of mankind?"
The eyes looked on without understanding until the last question, then they blinked and the boy recoiled. "I have never heard of a creature that drinks the blood of a man and has been a human, other than the crazed or the demons of myth. Am I possessed by the devil, Father? I have not drunk blood, but I have been thrown from a great height and have not died. I have been hurt and have healed. I can walk through walls like a spirit. I do not eat or drink. I have, also, this strength that is not reasonable for one of my age and size. Have the Turk's infected me with some evil?"
Anderson scowled half heartedly and turned to Pip who tightened his grip on his gun. "This is your problem." Then he began to walk away. He was able to take a few steps before he was knocked to the ground by an overzealous vampire.
"Please! You must not leave me! Please! I have to get back to my world! I have to redeem myself with the Lord! I have to take back Radu's soul!"
Anderson stopped trying to get up when he caught the name. "Who is Radu?" he murmured slowly, able to detach the vampire's hands now.
"My little brother. The Turks have tempted him and stolen his soul from God. He is too young to know to refuse comfort and endure pain for the Lord. He was frightened into it, Father. He will end his sin of being an infidel if I can take him from the sultan."
All of this meant nothing to the paladin and he was only able to understand the boy's desperation and misery. He sighed and sat up from the grimy floor, his eyes twitching at the filth, but he gave up on being angered when the boy apologized. "You can tell that woman you spoke of before. She's more likely to be able to do something." He tried to get up but little hand forced him to stay.
"I cannot understand her language. I cannot speak to anyone but you. I need you, Father. Please help me."
The mercenaries were gawking at the Iscariot and then the little boy that marched in front of them as they approached the estate. Men who had remained at the mansion welcomed those returning until some of the other men described the character of the priest. Alucard frowned as he saw that Anderson had been detained at the gate, and he retreated to the other side of it, leaving Integra who had just stepped from the front door.
She gave a long doubtful stare at the priest and then looked at Alucard who was pulling on Anderson's sleeve and speaking to him in German. Her eyes widened when the paladin responded and the two appeared to be able to communicate.
Anderson growled, catching her attention. Then he gave a final look at the little boy and faced Integra.
"He wants to apologize…to…the Queen. I'm assuming that means you. And he wants to ask for forgiveness for harming and upsetting the little girl. Probably…that other vampire." Anderson was looking at her defiantly as he struggled not to avert his eyes at the uncomfortable atmosphere.
"What are you doing, Father Anderson?" Integra blinked, still trying to digest the moment. "You can understand him? Why would you help?"
"Shut up, Hellsing." Anderson hissed. Alucard immediately grabbed his sleeve and gave it a hard yank.
"You are being mean to her, are you not Father?" Alucard stared into Anderson's face.
Anderson grimaced, glaring at the boy. "I'm not being mean." He growled as a feeling akin to one that accumulated with the presence of his orphans was now originating from the vampire.
"I'm not stupid." The vampire argued with a frown.
Integra watched the two bicker and she couldn't help but smile at the sight. It also amused her that Alucard thought she was a Queen… With a smirk she gave the order to let the priest enter the estate.
