A/N: To those of you who reviewed my oneshot fic "Monsters Don't Cry" thank you so much and those that haven't feel free to do so its not going anywhere.
Okay, my second Hellsing fic: placing characters in situations that may seem plausible, but there is always something underneath the surface; oh, and a forced alliance between enemies are always a guilty pleasure of mine in stories. Also there will be a chapter that has a slight yaoi ennuendo in it but its nothing too graphic and probably shouldn't be considered Yaoi since the premise behind it is more of a comic relief situation, but I catagorize it as a yaoi because it features two men (full clothed) sharing the same bed.
I guess you will have to see it to believe. Now on with the story.
P.S. Also, there is no way I am going to try and do Anderson's accent I have never done it before and I am not going to insult this awesome character by screwing it up. Thank you.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hellsing or Bram Stoker's Dracula (however I have read it)
Summary: A mysterious vampire is attacking the children at Father Anderson's orphanage so Sir Hellsing calls Alucard and Seras in to investigate but can two enemies forgo thier rivalry long enough to protect the young ones from any more horror even for one weekend?
Rating: M for adult situations, violence, and harsh language.
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In the small outskirts of a Roman suburb, the moon gazed its reflected light upon the large building that provided saftey and shelter for the orphans that were supervised by Paladin Alexander Anderson. Night had fallen and each bed was filled with a calm warm body dreaming away. The moon softly lit up a large room that was lined with small beds against the wall reserved for children aged six to eight. While the older ones had their own rooms. The air began to cool down the hot day so the windows were open to relieve the bedrooms of its stuffy atmosphere. In all sense of the word to start off the night truely was peaceful no sound save for the chirping of crickets and once in a while the hooting of a owl.
Part of the building on the east side overlooked a large forest while the west wing of the orphanage looked out onto the road leading into a small town that was twenty miles from the privacey of the church/orphanage. It would take someone two hours to walk from town to the orphanage but for now no one seemed to be out, even Father Anderson who spent most of his nights fighting vampires was in his room adjacent to the toddler bedroom having a bit of beauty sleep but his knives propped against the bed just in case. Into so deep a sleep, he could hardly hear the sound of a soft melody cutting through the crickets reach up to the open window of the large bedroom where some of the children were sleeping.
Or at least, almost all of them. The eyes of a seven year old girl popped open raising her head slowly pinpointing where the singing was coming from. She got out of bed and followed the sound towards the open window facing out into the woods. The little girl had expected to find the person behind the singing voice but was surprised to find there was nobody there but all that was evidence of someone being present was the sound of a woman singing a haunting lullaby deep, deep into the woods.
She knew better than to sneak out during the night and enter the woods by herself but the tone of the voice was so alluring, she had to know who it was singing. Taking one last look, the little girl put on her slippers and scaled down the walnut tree that had grown too close to the east side of the building, grabbing onto one branch and then another until both her feet were planted firmly on the ground and then scampered off through the trees. As if a strong force was pulling her deep inside the forest.
Meanwhile, Father Anderson started to stir from his slumber reacting much to the body's reaction to drinking too much water before turning in, instead of the siren voice that drew out the little girl. In fact, if he had heard the sound and was not deaf to its ears as the other parish were working that night he would of known that something was not right. Sleepily, he drew the covers back and walked down the hall to the restroom at the end to urinate. His eyes didn't have much trouble against the dark hallway, but he always kept a sharp alert out not for invisible furniture that he could ram into by accident, but in case anything monsterous was to attack him and his orphans.
He could no sooner die than let thier innocene be shattered in the hands of a disgusting demonic creature with no soul.
Espically one in particular.
Once he reached the men's room he released his water into the urinal, did a good job washing his hands in the sink then retraced his steps back to his room. As he passed by, the paladin stopped outside the closed door of the toddler room and carefully opened the door just a crack to peer in and make sure they were all okay. However, when he laid his eyes on Sally Minoro's bed at the far right end near the window, he felt his heart leap into his throat.
Oh my god...she is not in her bed...!
He pulled the door fully open and rushed in, not even caring that he could be disturbing half the kids from thier slumber as he made his way to Sally's empty bed. A small boy with dark-hair holding onto a teddy bear looked over at his caretaker as he pulled Sally's bedsheets off and knelt down to look at the space under her assigned bed. The tiny child sat up and dangled his feet over the side of his bed facing waiting for Father Anderson's head to appear on the other side of Sally's bed before speaking.
"What is wrong Father?" the dark-haired boy asked,"where is Sally?"
He watched the tall priest get up and lean foreward on the small bed looking at the boy that had addressed him.
"I don't want you to panic Timothy," he whispered,"but I need you and the other children to stay here while the rest of the adults go and look for her."
Timothy clutched his teddy bear tight, as last keepsake from his mother before she died,"Has she disappeared?"
The regenerator bit his lip worridly, all the horrible things to think about when a child you were suppose to look after disappeared ran through his head, he didn't want to think the worst scenrio but children missing from their beds have been happening so much lately that when asked to attend a Church convention in Manchester he declined the offer. Wondering what the worst would happen if they were left alone and unprotected from his ememies.
Or enemy.
The idea of HIM finding the orphanage at any time made him almost vomit in horror. But he had to retain his composure for the sake of the little one staring at him couriously yet nervously at the same time, bouncing his tiny feet against the bedsheets drapped over the side of the mattress. Looking so cute and naive.
"Father...?" Timothy tried to ask again but trailed off when he saw the priest's face go pale.
NO! NOT THAT ANYTHING BUT THAT! His thoughts raged inside his head drowing out Timothy's timid voice I WILL NEVER ALLOW IT TO HAPPEN! EVER! It should not come down to this...he may be an abomination but he wouldn't go as far as to...w-would he?
"Father...?" Timothy spoke again breaking Anderson from his train of thought.
He turned around and shut the window locking it tightly, with a heavy sigh he walked past the row of beds watching the children trying to go back to sleep even with thier eyes closed they were blocking out the sounds of his voice and forcing themselves to get comfortable into a land of dreamscape.
"Just stay in bed," he quietly ordered the child that was still awake as he made his way to the door, without turning around to face him, he added,"No matter what you hear you and the other children stay inside where it is safe, understood?"
Timothy made no verbal responce but the shuffling of the bedsheets and the bed squeaking from the child's shifting weight told him that Timothy was staying in his bed. Hopefully, after leaving the room he ran into his own bedroom and put on his clothes and shoes. When he was fully dressed in his attire he tucked his blades under his cassock and went outside looking around wildly for any sign of Sally Minoro. He looked around the front and the back of the building, around the playground that kitty-cornered the orphanage, and then finally around the east side where there was the window of the room he was in a moment ago. So far no sign of Sally and his panic started to drill into him. There would be no other place to look but in the woods.
"God give me the strength." he prayed taking out his baronets,"as I walk into the valley of the shadow of death..."
In-between prayers, he screamed out Sally's name loudly, pausing for a minute or two to see if she was answering him, but no reply. Going deeper and deeper into the dark forest allowing his jade-green eyes to adjust to the pure black night of the woods. Father Anderson screamed out her name once again as soon as he was right in the center of a leafy clearing, weighing the option of giving up until morning or spend the rest of the night still serching until sun-up. If he waited until morning, whatever was happening to Sally would end in her demise but if he kept going without sleep he would not be mentally awake enough to face whatever creature was holding that child captive. The priest turned to God to guard and watch over Sally until he could find her.
"Please Lord," he whispered,"protect her from evil."
Just then he heard a slight fearful whimper that sounded like something or someone was injured. His eyes widened with surprise and did not think to hesitate tracking down the sound, if it was Sally then he had to know if not, if it was just a wounded animal, than at least he had the satisifaction of knowing if it was the little girl in the first place instead of regretting it afterwards. With his sharp blades he hacked down any branches that got in his way as the whimpering grew louder the more he got closer. At last he tracked it down in a patch of bluebells, falling to his knees at the sight laid before him.
Sally Minoro laying on her back with her hands resting on her tiny chest not moving. Her skin was as beyond pale as the waning full moon hanging over them and her eyes were sunken and dark, death was so close to her, holding her hand it seemed.
"Sally," he whispered,"Sally, wake up, are you okay?"
Another whimper trembled from her lips.
He carefully crawled on all fours clutching both blades in his fists while approaching Sally, the closer he got the more the feeling of coldness radiated off her body. Her skin texture looked as frozen as ice however, the night air was still warm. Father Anderson looked over the lifeless girl's body when he saw something on her neck, two small red puncture marks partially hidden away by her long yellow hair he had to stop from growling from the back of his throat in. For the vampire could still be around and hear him (then an sneak attack would be ruined) or it would be a matter of time until the victim of this vampire attack would become a ghoul and lunge at him.
His arms shook as he pushed himself up to his feet by pressing the tip of the blades down into the dirt and pushed up on them, never leaving his eyes off Sally Minoro for a second.
"I can't believe this is happening," he gasped, "not one of my own wee ones...but I have...no choice..."
Almost at once, Sally's body started to move her arms drapped down over her side and her head nodding back and forth as the darkness filled up to her open eye sockets. He watched in preperation as her skin looked slimy and decayed; the paladin took a step back to ready himself once she let out a hellish roar that made his blood quiver particualy coming from the young sweet angel that she had once been. As much as it pained him to kill one of his own orphans, he would never live with himself if he spared this one little ghoul walking this earth and indulging in filthy carnal ingestion.
It had to be done.
Sally's body stood straight up with no use of limber joints or knee-bending making her stand erect with so much ease that it was like she was being pulled up by unseen strings like a wooden puppet. Gone were the ocean blue of her eyes that made her stand out among the other girls now in place were the hollow empty black sockets that bore into him with such hunger and rage that signaled her leap from a dead stop at his face to rip it apart. With his blade one slash was all it took to decaptiate Sally ghoul's head from her body as the second blade tore into her heart killing her instantly, in a splash of rotten blood and piles of dust that collected in a mound down at his feet. He prayed to the pile that was once one of his own orphans and turned back towards the orphanage to inform Maxwell of what happened
As he walked away he realized this was the first time since after killing a ghoul that he felt sorry for it.
"I know he is behind this," Anderson rued trudging up to the steps of his orphanage," Alucard has gone too far this time, now he is making my own children attack me, he-BOTH of them will pay for this!"
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The clock on the wall of his motel room read 1:15 by the time his cellphone started to go off. Enrico Maxwell reached over across his bed and picked it up from the nightstand where it rested and clicked on the button to answer it. Enrico Maxwell was in Manchester, England as much as he didn't want to it was the place for The Church to hold thier congressional meetings this year to discuss issues and situations from the gays becoming men of the cloth to the new female bishop that was sworn in. Not that he didn't care for matters like that or ignorned them but being here in Great Britain meant that he was once again in Prostatant country, which he loathed.
As much as he wanted to have Father Anderson go in his place, the paladin refused politely, saying that it was too dangerous for someone such as him to leave the orphanage unattended happening just as the first orphaned victim was discovered. Once the problem (meaning the monster) was eradicated, he explained, next year would be better.
And speak of the devil as to who called Enrico up at one in the morning.
"It happened again!" he heard Anderson say, "I had to strike her down...it was Sally Minoro...that...that thing...made her a ghoul!"
Maxwell sat up in his bed rubbing his face, another one, the fifth in a row this week, two boys and three girls missing from the orphanage in the middle of the night only to be found the next morning drained of thier blood, those that were not weak enough became ghouls and were dispatched as necessary to prevent further outbreaks. It was a just decision but it still made Anderson shudder at the fact that it wasn't no ordinary full-grown ghouls; strangers that he barely took the chance to know personally. But these were his children, his friends, he was thier caretaker and made sure that each one would be safe from harm and taken into the hands of good families that loved them.
It had to stop.
"So we have no choice," muttered Maxwell, despite his grogginess he tried to asset the dilemna as best he could,"first off, let the town know that we are going to cancel 'Adoption day' this weekend, to keep this contained from the townspeople, did you see the vampire this time?"
"No, it uses the same area for its meals twice and yet it eludes us every time," sighed Anderson,"and whenever we stake out the area it happens in a different part of the woods, changing its feeding area...driving me...crazy!"
Over the static of the cellphone Maxwell could hear Father Anderson's restless heavy breathing trying to seem composed enough to try and get anything in edgewise. But there was a tone in the paladin's voice that suggested that nothing was working to calm him down. In fact, he was getting more and more agitated, like something was on the blond priest's mind, that he had to extract out just ease Anderson down.
"What is it Alexander," Maxwell continued,"what do you think?
"You know what I think," gritted Anderson through his teeth,"that we are the only orphanage being attacked, I checked around and no other orphanages are facing this, so I think this attack is personal Maxwell..."
"Personal! Someone is doing this on purpose?!" his stomach tightened he wouldn't sleep easy for the rest of the night.
Who would try and attack us like this...through those orphans...?
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Hellsing Organzation.
"HOW DARE YOU MAKE THOSE SLANDEROUS ALLEGATIONS!" The Hellsing woman shouted.
How Sir Integra wanted to shove her burning cigar into that catholic bastard's eye. It was only 2:40 in the afternooon and just as she was about to enjoy her tea.
Upon taking a non-stop flight to London from Manchester, Father Enrico Maxwell left the taxi and entered the manor, barging into her office and started calling her a "Prostestent Child-killer". But the best part of his beautiful rheotic was when he yelled at her for not keeping her mongrol vampire on a leash. She resisted the urge to throw pipping hot tea in his face but even though the offer was far too tempting to pass up he was in such a state of chaos that he would no doubt rip her office apart like a wild animal and she wasn't in a mood to redecorate.
In the midst of his rantings, he threw down a report regarding the incident with Father Anderson and the little girl-ghoul from last night. A thin vanilla folder slammed right in the middle of her desk nearly spilling her tea. Maxwell's fist slammed down on top of Integra's desk over the folder.
"You dirty little bitch, I bet it was Alucard behind this, he is the only one that knows about it because you tell him!" he shouted his face turning red,"dont deny it, he does everything fucking thing you say! Why did you make him hurt that child in our orphanage? We are the only one being targeted! Just this week four children have died by the hands of a vampire bite and become ghouls! Sally Minoro is now the fifth! What do you have to say for yourself!? ANSWER ME!"
Sir Integra took another deep puff from her cigar and put it out vigorously staring coldy into Maxwell's eyes,"What you are suggesting is that I told Alucard to slay the children in Father Anderson's orphanage, you son of a bitch, what makes you think it was even him-" she tapped on the folder "-it says so right in here that Anderson did not even see the vampire that turned Sally Minoro, just because I enjoy making your life a living hell that does not mean I will drag some little urchins into it no matter who they are the wards under I do not condone the violence against children! NO MATTER WHO THEY COME FROM! WHERE THEY COME FROM! OR WHAT FREAKING RELIGION THEY PRACTICE!!!"
The woman's hand grabbed Maxwell's collar and pulled him towards over nearly causing him to lose his balance and topple over on her desk.
"And another thing, when my vampire kills it is because I order him to, when he has to feed, than I allow him to feed on one ADULT person! I would never allow myself to stand by and watch him take the life away of someone whose future is so far away...I know what it is like to be a child and to have death's gun barrel staring back at you...that is something I would never wish on any youth. So I suggest you find the real culprit or I will get Alucard in here to fed you to him myself!"
"Then," Maxwell gritted through his teeth,"if it is not you precious Alucard...than in god's name who?"
Sir Integra gently released her hold on the catholic and settled back down in her chair taking out another cigar and burning it brightly. They stood in silence for what was like the longest time, letting the thick sickly smoke waver in between them. Maxwell standing there so intimidately (or he tried to after Integra's sharp comeback) and his hated prostestent leaning back in her chair in some form of deep thought. A mischevious smile on her lips.
"What if," she drawled lazily,"it wasnt a vampire...maybe your orphanage is hiding something...are you sure that there was no heh, 'other' reason that Anderson went after Sally Minoro into the woods...alone...at night..."
His eyes twitch,"What are you implying woman?"
"Well," Integra took another long puff and straighten up,"I watch the news, and I must say I keep wondering if anyone has ever questioned you men before in that orphanage, I mean, at least we prostestents have some dignity unlike some child-molesting catholic-"
"YOU BITCH!"
Maxwell's hand raised up and lowered down towards Integra's face ready to make a painful bulls-eye onto the closest area on her face, just as he anticipated that rewarded sound of skin slapping against skin he felt his arm stiffen and his hand about to land the offending blow stop suddenly. He trailed his eyes couriously up his outstretched arm to his wrist where a white glove with a familiar Hellsing symbol etched in red blood was holding it tightly in a vice grip preventing the hand from making contact with Integra.
"Didn't your mother ever tell you before she passed away that it is not christian-like to hit a woman?" came a dark foreboding voice that filled him with dread.
TBC
A prologue to start thing off. Feel free to leave reviews or helpful suggestions/critisms but remember this is a AU story so don't expect too much lol. And I am sure you all know who that was that stopped Maxwell from bitch-slapping Integra. I always wanted to see that happen