He had not enjoyed the mission.
Most of the times, missions were what he lived for- what he thrived on. Alucard needed to slip into his predatory instincts, to give into his bloodlust. He needed a release from his constant boredom; he needed to utterly crush an opponent. It had become a necessity- both Integra and Seras knew that he needed to be let off his chain at least once in a while, otherwise he might altogether lose his will to fight. And so, the Police Girl had not accompanied him. He had been sent out alone.
An entire hospital, flooded with undead, wreaking havoc upon the sick, elderly, infirm… even newborns, children diagnosed with cancer. Slaughtered. Eviscerated. Not many things could sicken the king of all undead creatures, but that night, he was. For a brief, flickering moment, he was sickened at the sight of it. The humans (granted that they were only humans) could not have proved themselves to be any more than they were- they did not have a chance in Hell of fighting back.
The first was in the maternity ward. The second was in the Emergency Room. But the third vampire was what truly ruined his night.
There it was, the disgusting creature had been caught with its fangs sunk deep into the flesh of some unfortunate soul's neck. Alucard could distinguish just from the back that it was a female with long, curly black locks and ivory skin. But he hadn't cared too much about the human, not at first.
He had disposed of it in the typical way he normally did, by making it battle him under the false hopes that perhaps he could ever possibly be beaten. And then it was frightened beyond measure at the black shadows that engulfed the room and the fangs he exposed when he smirked in that familiar arrogant smirk of victory, fangs which were easily twice the size of its own. And then he had pulled out his gun, his second favorite steel weapon, the Cassul, and promptly blew its brains out.
Nothing out of the ordinary, save for the still faint heartbeat and shallow breath of the vampire's victim. "Oh, pity," he muttered as he stared at her for a while. "He didn't take enough. It'll be a slow death for you, then."
The woman on the ground sputtered and gagged, coughing out a glob of blood. Alucard raised an eyebrow, his curiosity rising ever so slightly. Was it so bad to see the face of the woman he was about to kill, or should he simply end her misery there?
Of course, having all the time in the world and not the slightest hint of empathy, he strolled over to her side and nudged her with his boot, making her fall over flat on her back with a groan of pain. First, he had examined her already ruined neck, the side of which having been reduced to nothing more than loosely hanging muscles and skin. Blood was not spurting out at the rate a fresh wound would have bled, meaning that she was indeed very close to dying. And then he made the mistake of looking at her face.
Blue eyes, calm and tranquil as the ocean on a warm summer day stared back at him. His eyebrows knitted as a dark feeling settled on his shoulders as he knelt down to her side to get a closer look at the woman on the ground. He took off his glasses and hat.
It was as if he were looking directly into five hundred years ago. The same thin nose and high cheekbones, the same small forehead, the same wide eyes, the same thick, curly eyelashes that framed those glistening irises, the same hair, the same plump lips…
At first, he was rendered utterly speechless as he openly gawked at her image, the sheer beauty of the specimen in front of him. Yes, this was the very same face that made him desire Mina Harker all those years ago, the same face that caused him to become ensnared by the seals that still bound him to that family's bloodline. It was the face of the only woman he had ever loved.
With a hesitant hand, he carefully brushed some of the stray hairs that had been stuck to her sweaty forehead away, and failed to notice that the woman had flinched at the contact. All he had been at that very moment was mesmerized, enraptured by her familiar appearance.
Wordlessly, as the moment dragged on, he picked her up by the back and supported her shoulders, leaning her body over his lap. She whimpered in his arms but could not find the strength to struggle against him; not that doing so would have done her any good. Alucard bent his head to her neck and paused for a brief moment before dragging his tongue across the wound. This was not in the hopes of preserving her life. He was taking away her pain.
He truly gave his best effort. But when time came to pass, sealing the bite could do nothing to stop the venom already flowing within her nearly depleted veins. The nameless, but familiar, woman had died in his arms. There was nothing more he could do for her.
Alucard sat there for the longest time, forgetting the sound of wailing sirens in the background, forgetting the sound of humans scuffling about in the rooms just outside of the one he was in, the police officers who worked so fervently to salvage the lives of those who remained. All he could do was stare into those now murky blue eyes of hers and do nothing more.
A single crimson droplet appeared on her cheek just before he set her back down on the ground and pulled out his gun once more. But for the first time since he had ever begun killing, whether it be by a human or vampire hand, he turned away. And then the trigger was pulled. With dragging feet, his towering form left the premises, never to return.
Silence, silence, and more unnerving silence was his only companion as he walked all the way back to the Hellsing mansion. As he came through the front door, he was approached by his ever cheerful fledgling. "How was the mission, Master?" she asked him with a kind grin.
He stopped momentarily and stared into her eyes, which looked more like his each passing year, with a deadened expression. Her smile soon began to fade away into a look of worry. "Master?" she asked quietly.
Alucard managed a thin impersonation of his usual boastful grin and ruffled her hair. "It was no different from any other, Police Girl," he assured her, then walked around her and continued on his descent to his chambers for the remainder of the evening.
He slipped through the wall that led into his room in the darkest recesses of the basement and walked directly past the placid throne set towards the center of the room, which was accompanied by a table stacked only with an empty wine glass. Lifting the lid of his coffin, he slunk in and stared out into the darkness before pulling the lid back to rest over him.
Shutting his eyes, he drifted off into a less than empty slumber.
He remembered how beautiful she used to sing as she strummed away on her violin, tapping the floor with her dainty and pale leg as she kept along with the hymn she had concocted just for him. A blissful feeling overcame him as he watched her, understanding that there was nowhere on Earth he would rather have been than right in front of her in that ballroom, watching as she played. By the end of the song, she received a standing ovation. She had blushed when she saw him standing in the front row, clapping and cheering louder than anyone in the room. As she made her way down to meet him as the ceremony began, he quickly swept her off her feet and delivered quick but passionate kisses all over her face and neck.
She giggled. "My Prince, should I not be the one to do this?"
He chuckled back at her, running his hand through her curly black hair. "I could not help it. Besides, you've already given me everything I could ever want."
Warmth flooded into his breast as she wrapped her arms tightly about his middle and embraced him, resting her head on his chest. He placed his chin on the top of their head. Music began to play in the background, but not nearly as beautiful as when she sang.
"You have the voice of a seraph and the hands of a goddess, my Princess," he complimented her.
She hummed and released him, instead grabbing his hands and placing them on her hips. She placed her hands on his broad shoulders after that, and they both began to sway slowly to the music vibrating around them.
"Thank you. And you have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen," she returned to him.
"My eyes?" he questioned, thrown off.
She giggled once again. "They are the most vibrant shade of crimson. I simply adore them."
He beamed genuinely from ear to ear and dipped her down in time with the tune of the song. She did so gracefully, even though everything about him was quite the opposite, as if with her talent alone, she could mask the fact that he was not all that good at dancing.
When the song ended, she pulled him in close for a long kiss, merging her soft, pink lips with his. Words could never express just how warm he felt.
It finally had to end, though he absolutely abhorred the idea of it. Her brilliant eyes opened once again and she cast him a knowing gaze.
"Happy birthday, Alucard."
The vampire's eyes snapped open. He could still feel the weight of her hands on his shoulders. He could still smell her, lingering around on his clothing, which at this point had nothing more to it than gunpowder, sulfur, and remnants of blood. But most importantly, he could still feel that tingling warmth in his chest from when she touched his soul.
A quiet laugh escaped his hoarse throat as he ran a hand through his tangled locks. "Can you believe it, Ilona? I'm six hundred years old, now."
But his question was answered with nothing but silence.