Author's Note: I know, I know. You're all saying it.
"Juju, why are you churning out new stories when old ones stay unfinished? I mean, Hetalia oneshots are fine, but full-on stories?"
(._. ) Trust me, I know.
Seras sighed, her head in her hands as she gazed out the window at the rain pouring down outside. The grounds were deserted, apart from a soldier or two running to the men's barracks with their arms over their head, as if that would keep them from getting any wetter. The streetlights light the darkness, their luminescence spotlights turning raindrops into sparkling jewels as they bounced like rubber on the pavement. It wasn't normal that rain poured this way in England. Usually, "rain" consisted of a drizzle that would be laughable in other countries.
Seras was lounging in the parlor, her nose stuck to the window as she kneeled on a cushioned divan under the sill. She watched the rainy night outside, a growing sense of unease gnawing at her insides. She knew why she was restless—she could feel the full moon above the clouds and she longed to be bathed in its gentle light. But sadly, she wouldn't be able to venture outside tonight.
Rolling off the divan, she left the drafty parlor and trudged down the hall, dragging her feet. Why bother with hurrying? There was nothing to do. The indoor range was full to the brim of soldiers, there was no reason to go to the mess hall and stare at food she couldn't eat, and the men's barracks were off limits to her, even if she was their captain.
Besides, she didn't have anyone to talk to on this cold, bleary night. Walter and Alucard were busy in the weapon's forge, crafting some new design all their own. She supposed that she could go and watch, but the forge was boring to her and she didn't really share Walter's love for weapon-crafting. The men were busy gambling their paychecks away; the ones in the gun range were already broke, otherwise they'd have been in the barracks as well.
She passed by the large double doors that led to Sir Integra's office. She paused in front of them, shuffling her feet and eyeing the square shapes that were cut into the wooden surface. She finally made a decision and raised a hand to the door. She hesitated a moment longer before rapping three times and waiting.
"Enter," said the heiress, and Seras opened the door and shimmied into the office. She looked around; Walter usually brought her missions in the form of manila envelopes and she turned the post-operation reports in to the front desk, so there was rarely a reason for her to come into Sir Integra's office. She knew her master had a habit of showing up in there, but she wasn't her master and she really wasn't close enough with her boss to just show up uninvited.
The office was sparse, with minimal décor and a rather gloomy look. A few bookshelves stood against the far wall, their bodies stuffed with papers and notebooks of past reports. Replicas of famous paintings hung on the walls. The only large piece of furniture was the giant desk. The desk was packed so high with papers that the wooden surface was nowhere to be seen. Integra sat in a tiny cleared off section amidst the mountains of paperwork, scribbling away on memos and smoking her ever-present cigar.
"Are you going to stand there all day, Agent Victoria? Or is there something I can help you with?" Seras opened her mouth, almost smarting off that it wasn't daytime. But she snapped her lips shut just in time, scolding herself for becoming too much like her sarcastic master.
"Well, I was hoping that you had something that I could help you with. You seem pretty busy as it is," Seras answered slowly. She still wasn't sure where she stood with the human at the desk. She knew that Sir Integra hadn't trusted her a bit when she first arrived, but she held onto a fragment of hope that the woman would warm up to her once she learned that Seras wasn't going to go crazy and just slaughter her own men or something. Then again, Seras thought, maybe she just acts this way with everyone.
Integra looked up and narrowed her eyes slightly, looking intently at the girl in front of her. Seras tried not to fidget under her gaze, staring back at her vacantly. "If you don't have… I mean, I can come back later… urm."
"Agent Victoria, I doubt you can help me with this paperwork, unless you're an expert at forging my signature. If you're bored, go read a book." With that she turned back to her work, silently dismissing her.
"I would, if I hadn't already read most of them. All the ones in English, anyway. Even the boring ones." And she had. Because Alucard rarely sought her company and only happened to meet up with her if he saw fit to correct something she'd been doing; she had a lot of spare time on her hands. More often than not, she found herself drawn to the books in the large library. Most of them were in strange languages, but she found and devoured an entire section of books written in English. And she'd learned a lot of interesting things about science and alchemy and even vague topics like demonology.
Integra seemed to hear the truth in her words and sighed, finally putting down her pen. She opened a side drawer and pulled out a tiny key ring. She flipped through the keys before handing one over the desk to Seras.
"On the second floor corridor, there's a locked door. This key opens it; it's the restricted library." Integra eyed her a moment longer before pursing her lips. "On the main table, there are three books in a stack. The topmost one has a symbol not unlike the ones on Alucard's gloves. Bring me the three books; and if you like, pick out a book to read from the shelves. A book, Miss Victoria. It's restricted for a reason; those are very important documents in there." Seras nodded dutifully and backed away, her heart jumping. She'd been promoted to "Miss Victoria" now. It'd be no time before they'd all be calling her Seras.
The key turned slowly in the lock, and Seras made sure that it didn't break off accidently in there before she stepped through and closed the door. Something in the room made her feel like she was a rebel, breaking the rules even though she had permission to be in the library. It was clear to see that these books were not used often.
In a glass case along the far end, parchment scrolls and a tapestry hung. She walked over to look at the tapestry, admiring the gold embossed letters. She couldn't read the words, but she had enough sense to know that they were Latin. The emblem was the same as her Master's gloves, and it looked like the tapestry outlines the use of the different runes decorating the circles around the edges.
Finally, she turned away from the fascinating work of art and located the three books Sir Integra had asked for. Putting the keys on top of them, she turned and began to peruse the shelves for something to read.
Surprisingly, most of the books were in English, if not a bit dated. There were books on medicine, ancient rites, history, geography, Europe, medieval times, the Black Death, and so much more. She took her time looking over the spines, occasionally grabbing one and flipping through the pages. She was about to take one on cultures of the Mediterranean when she spotted a section close to the ground that called to her. Putting the book back in a place that she'd remember it, she bent down and discovered that it was an entire bottom shelf on nothing but vampires.
She had wondered where the vampire books were. She knew that Hellsing had to have had them somewhere; this wasn't any silly Draculaor romanticized bullshit, this was the real deal. Pulling out a few books, she realized that van Helsing himself had written a good many of them. Some weren't even in print; the man's handwriting flowed across the pages. She found a book on the known powers of Nosferatu and stood up, ready to leave.
She lost her balance trying to stand and grabbed the bookshelf blindly for support. Luckily the thing didn't fall, but a single book toppled down. Apparently it had been sitting between the top of the shelf and the ceiling, far out of Seras' reach. She picked it up, frowning as she tried to figure out how to put it back where it came from. She dusted off the front cover with her shirt, looking at the image on the front. It was a woodblock from some ancient time, showing a man with a beard eating dinner and watching something.
Removing the dust entirely, Seras realized with a shock that the man was watching people die… on poles. Poles through their stomachs, poles through their bodies, poles coming from their mouths…. It was disgusting. "The Impaler," she said softly, reading the title. She didn't want to see any more gross pictures, but her morbid curiosity got the best of her and she flipped to the first chapter. She scanned the first page, realizing that it was a historical account of some man. She read out loud, trying to sound out the strange syllables on her tongue.
"Prince Vlad the third of the House of Drăcu- Drăculeşti, also known by his patronymic name, Vlad Dr—" She stopped, a cold shiver running down her spine. "Vlad Dracula." She slammed the book shut, her unbeating heart jumping into her throat. "Master." It was a book about Dracula. Her master. When he was a human. She looked down at the book, at the image on the front. She should put it back. She should pick up her vampire book and leave. She should, but she couldn't. Not when the information was there, in front of her.
She put the vampire book back, sticking The Impaler under Integra's stack of books before locking the door back and scurrying down the hall. She knew that if Alucard ever saw her reading the book about him, he'd be beyond livid. But it was a risk she was willing to take, if it would shed some light on the man behind the amber sunglasses.