Taken
A Winds of Change Novella
Sapphirewyren
Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing
Author's Note: Hello fans of Winds of Change. I have a special short story that takes place during the first part of WoC. This is a one of my new novellas. This can be read as a standalone, but there are some references to WoC. Ok now for the warning:
WARNING! This story has some serious themes such as rape and human trafficking. There are some violent themes in here. If you are not comfortable reading about such themes, then don't read it. I don't want people barking down my throat about not giving a warning, so there you have it.
One of the best experiences about college are the study abroad programs. Students could choose to go to another country to take various courses and experience another culture. This year England had become the honor of being one of the most popular countries to study abroad and foreign students flocked to King's College, Oxford, Cambridge, University of Warwick and many others to learn their studies and British culture.
But like any young person, most of these students had social lives and an urging for the night life in which they went clubbing, shopping and partying. And if one was not careful or was too trusting, things tended to go badly. When the semester began and more students came to London, the news began to tell stories of missing students. One minute they were at the club partying it up with their friends and the next moment they were gone. Most of the victims were young women, all between the ages 18-25 years, all races, height, hair color, the only thing they had in common were that they were study abroad students. The police were completely baffled at the case. There were no credible witnesses, because most of the people were either too busy drinking or partying. Another thing that made the case more complicated were the victims cell phones were found, destroyed. There were no fingerprints and no surveillance images of the perpetrators. These kidnappings did not happen at just one club, girls went missing from several clubs and it took several days before anyone realized that they were missing. Parents of the missing girls flew to London demanding answers, any bit of information that would make this ordeal a bit more bearable, but the police had no answers. The families turned to the press to beg the perpetrators to bring the girls back or to offer large rewards for information or more preferably the safe return of the girls. But weeks turned to months and there was no new development in the case. Resources that were used for investigating the missing girls soon dwindled and every time a girl was reported missing, the police could not do much, but make a note of it and send a CSI team to the last known location. However due to lack of suspects and hard evidence, the case soon turned cold.
University College London- Ramsay Hall
Celeste Harper, Tammy Bacchi and Jamie Peters sat in their dorm room at University College London chatting about plans for the night. The three girls had been friends since middle school and were ecstatic that they could get into the same study abroad program. The redheaded Tammy was the leader of the trio because of her outgoing and friendly nature. Jamie was blonde and was noticeably the tallest, though outgoing as well, she was less reckless than Tammy. Celeste was the opposite of her two friends. The brunette was quiet and reserved, preferring a good book, to boys and studying to partying, though if she was with Tammy and Jamie, she could have fun.
"Why don't we try out the new club downtown, you know NyteLyfe?" suggested Tammy. "I hear all the hottest guys go there."
Jamie giggled; "That name sounds so cliché, but I wanna check it too." Celeste, however did not want to go out; "Haven't you been watching the news? All those girls that go missing? Why would you want to go to a club after that?" Tammy rolled her eyes; "Oh stop being such a virgin, Celeste. We just have to be smart."
"Yeah" chided Jamie "We've been studying for a long time. I'm ready to have some fun. You can stay here if you want."
"If anything, weird happens, we'll leave quick, right?"
Tammy nodded; "Sure."
"Ok, I'll go."
"This is going to be the best night of our lives, ladies!" crowed Tammy.
NyteLyfe: 10:00 pm
When the girls reached the club, they were dismayed to see that the line went around the corner, hopefully they wouldn't spend the whole night on line. A sleek black limousine soon pulled up next to the club and three men got out. All three men wore dark suits and sunglasses even though it was night. The shortest man had slicked back hair and a small goatee. The two bigger men, were obviously his bodyguards. They had buzz cuts, one of them had a nose that looked like it was broken several times. All three of them had very pale skin as if they had never heard of vitamin D. The leader of the group would stop and chat with some of the girls and then give the bouncer some money and the girls were admitted into the club. Seeing this, Tammy called out; "Yoo hoo! We could really use some help."
Celeste hissed; "What are you doing?"
The three men walked over to the girls and the leader asked in a smooth voice; "What can I do for you lovely ladies?" Tammy smiled coyly and said: "We are out to have fun because tomorrow we have class and we don't want to be in this line all night." The man grinned; "Let's see if we can do something about that." Celeste blinked, did the man have fangs? Must be a trick of the light or her eyes. The man introduced himself as Marcus and his bodyguards as Vlad and Tony. The three girls were led to a lush VIP room, where there were several other girls. Marcus and his men seemed very charming as they went around the room chatting and offering drinks to them. While Jamie and Tammy giggled, and danced, excited about being a VIP, Celeste just couldn't get comfortable. Something was nagging at the back of her mind, that this was not right. Just then Vlad handed her a drink; but Celeste refused saying: "I'm sorry, I don't drink alcohol." The big man frowned and pushed the glass towards her and said; "Drink". Celeste took the glass and pretended to take a sip, that satisfied Vlad because he walked away. "Why was he so bent on me drinking?" Celeste asked herself. She looked around, some of the girls were no longer dancing, but were on the couches and they looked unconscious. Celeste gasped and turned to her friends, finding Tammy, she grabbed her arm; "We have to go, I think they are drugging the drinks." But Tammy shook her off; "You're being a virgin again; those girls are just drunk." Celeste tried to find Jamie, but couldn't find the tall blonde anywhere, as a matter of fact, some other girls were missing. A couple of minutes later Celeste could hear Tammy laughing in a way that was definitely not like her. When she tried looking for Jamie again, she saw some men hauling Jamie through a hidden door. Celeste realized what was happening, they were being drugged and kidnapped! By now Tammy was delirious from the drug, but somehow found the strength to turn to Celeste and in a slurred voice yell; "Run!" Celeste didn't need to be told twice and as she turned to obey, she bumped into Vlad and knocked his sunglasses off his face. He glared at her with crimson eyes and snarled at her with a mouthful of fangs. She screamed and ran out on the public dance floor. Behind her, Celeste could hear Tony yell; "Don't let her get away!"
At that moment, Celeste was thankful for two things: the first was that she was shorter than most of the club goers and the second was that she wore sensible flats. Those could not be normal people; normal people don't have fangs and red eyes. Celeste knew that she needed to get to the police even if they didn't believe her, she would be safe. But what about her friends? Would they be found? Would she ever see them again? Celeste quickly rubbed the tears that was beginning to form in her eyes. She couldn't cry now, she had to get to the police first. She made it out the front doors of the club and sprinted towards the direction of where she remembered the police station was. Several London blocks from the club, Celeste was still sprinting until she was hit by a stretched Rolls-Royce. The good thing was that Celeste was not dead, somehow, but the collision, rattled her brain a bit. The girl could hear the car screech to a stop and hear two of its doors open and then close. Her legs refused to listen when she tried to get up. One set of footsteps ran towards her, the second set merely sauntered over. A man in a black and white butler's suit, with salt n pepper George Clooney haircut and a kind face, knelt down in front of her and asked; "Miss? Miss, can you hear me?" Celeste could hear him, but like her legs, her mouth also refused to respond. Instead of answering the man, the girl found herself muttering; "Please…. please don't hurt me."
"What are you talking about? Why would we want to hurt you?" the voice belonging to the second person demanded. Celeste sat up shakily to see who the voice belonged to. She found herself looking up a tall tan woman, with platinum blond hair that reached past her waist. She wore an all-black suit, the only color on it was the robin egg blue neck tie with at gold tie pin in the shape of a cross. Celeste flinched under the woman's sapphire glare. "There are men chasing me" sobbed Celeste. The woman gave a contemptuous snort; "Is it any wonder? Look at the way you're attired. That dress is short enough to be a shirt!"
The man however helped Celeste to her feet and said "We should get you some medical attention, after all you were hit by a car."
"No! I must get to the police. The man that was chasing me had red eyes and fangs!"
From the looks the man and woman gave Celeste, the girl thought that they didn't believe her. "You don't believe me…"
"Where was this man?" asked the woman.
Celeste paused for a moment before answering: "At the club NyteLyfe. The man's name was Vlad."
"Vlad?" said the woman, was now giving the girl a strange look. Celeste nodded, but then suddenly shrieked and pointed. The man and woman looked in the direction that Celeste pointed. There was the big hulking man that had been chasing her. The butler ushered Celeste quickly into the Rolls. Celeste thought that they would drive off, but the woman turned towards the large vampire with a smirk and lit up a thin cigar. Was she nuts? What didn't she understand about red eyes and fangs?
"So, you're Vlad. It looks like I am going to have to teach you a lesson about wearing the names of your betters like cheap makeup."
"You have something that belongs to me" said Vlad simply.
"You mean the girl? I don't see your name on her."
"Give her to me and I'll make your death quick."
"It seems to me that the little boy has no idea who he's talking to."
This made Vlad angry and charged towards the woman, fist raised to smash her face in, but she ducked underneath his outstretched fist. Since all his strength was behind that fist, and it missed, Vlad went sprawling onto the ground.
"You're going to have to do better than that and stop wasting my time."
Vlad growled in frustration, jumped up and charged again, but the woman side stepped and as Vlad went sailing by, she took out a Sig Sauer and shot his legs out from underneath him. Vlad cursed as he crumbled to the ground. Celeste watched in amazement as the woman blew a puff of smoke out into the night air before strolling to the large man, slowly as if she was strolling through the park. Vlad tried to swipe at her legs with his claws, but was rewarded with a large silver combat knife that pinned his hand into the ground.
"Who are you working for, you vampire swine?"
"I'm not telling you anything, bitch!" spat Vlad.
"Your head is full of teeth and no brain" the woman sighed, she then fired one round into Vlad's head. Celeste tried not to gag as brains and blood splattered everywhere, surprisingly missing the woman. Who was that woman? She must have said this out loud because the butler answered: "That is Sir Integra Hellsing, leader of the Hellsing Organization."
Integra entered the car; "Philip, get a cleaning crew out here."
"Right away Sir. Shouldn't we take the young miss to the hospital?"
"The medical team back at headquarters should be sufficient enough."
"What about the police….?" questioned Celeste. The look that Integra gave her, made her feel stupid for some reason.
"What I killed back there is not human, but a vampire. Something like that is out of the police's league. They will be of no use in this situation." She threw the cigar stump out of the window and immediately lit up another one. How could she smoke one after another like that? Celeste realized that she must have been staring because Integra asked; "What are you looking at?" Celeste quickly looked away. Philip chuckled; "Sir, be nice, the girl is already frightened by this ordeal." Integra ignored the butler and asked the girl; "What is your name?"
"My name is Celeste Harper, I'm majoring in neuroscience at University College London and I'm 19 years old." Integra looked at her for a long moment before asking; "Do you always frequent places like NyteLyfe?" Celeste turned red in the face; "No, I don't usually go to clubs, but my friends…" She started crying when she remembered what happen. Philip gave an exasperated sigh; "Sir, you made her cry." When they arrived at the manor, Philip led the crying girl to the medical center located on the property and told one the nurses; "Call me when you are finished."
Once Celeste was given the all clear, she found herself in the Manor's majestic kitchen sipping a cup of Jasmine tea with a slice of lemon and honey. Integra strode into the kitchen, smoking away on another cigar.
"Escort her to my office when she's done here. I want to have a talk with her." When the director left, Celeste gave Philip a sad look.
"Do I have to?"
"She will want to know everything that happened tonight."
"But I told her in the car."
"Actually, you started crying and she got that look on her face."
"What look?"
"That look where she stops listening completely. She may look like she's paying attention, but she's somewhere else entirely. You'd better finish your tea, miss. Sir Hellsing does not like to be kept waiting."
Celeste had hoped that Philip would stay once he bought her to Integra's office, but he had things to do. The girl did not like the idea of being alone with the Hellsing knight, even if she did save her life. The woman was scary and the expansive office did not help.
"I want you to start from the beginning, just skip the part of whatever induced you to wear that dress" drawled Integra. Celeste's jaw clenched, this woman was very judgmental about the way she dressed. But she did as she was told. Celeste recalled waiting in line and how Marcus and his goons had selected girls from the line to go to the VIP Room. Vlad offering her the drink and how she couldn't shake the strange feeling of foreboding. The look of terror in Tammy's green eyes as she told her to run. Celeste began tearing up again at the thought that she might never see her friends again. Meanwhile Integra gave one of those 'oh brother' sighs; "Can you please stop doing that?"
Celeste looked at the director aghast; "Doing what? Crying? I can't help it! My friends were taken by some freak! Don't you have a heart?"
Integra glared at the girl for a long moment before responding; "Naturally I have a heart, what I don't have is patience for your crying and self pity." She then dismissed the girl; "You may leave now." When the girl left her office, Integra rolled her eyes, this was the reason why she hated dealing with people. She needed to hire people to do that for her. She'll get Philip on it.
Meanwhile Celeste couldn't get out of the office fast enough. In her haste, Celeste ran right into a blonde wearing the black and red uniform of Hellsing.
"I'm sorry!" exclaimed Celeste "I didn't see you…I was …"
The girl smiled; "That's ok. Philip told me to show you to your room. I'm Seras." It was nice to see a smiling face for once, someone that cared.
"I can't go back to my dorm?"
"It wouldn't be safe, they might go there looking for you."
Celeste's shoulders slumped, she just wanted to crawl into a bed and never come out. Seras put a friendly hand on the girl's shoulder; "Don't worry. Sir Integra will find whoever did this. She's much nicer than she seems." Celeste looked at Seras incredulously, but decided not to say anything. Seras seemed nice and the last thing she wanted was to have an argument on the level of bitchiness of the commander. When they reached the guest room, Celeste was shocked by the size of it. It was a big as her entire dorm at Ramsay Hall. While she looked around, Seras told her where she could find the nearest bathroom and that someone would bring her belongings and then giving Celeste a serious look, said: "I strongly advise against wondering around the manor by yourself." Celeste nodded and Seras bade her a good night.
Integra headed towards the Hellsing Intelligence Command Center (HICC) because the cleaning and disposal team had just returned and their leader Sgt. Melissa Mallory was to give her report. "We were able to contain the scene before the police arrived, but our surveillance drones took several panoramic shots, just in case anyone from the club might have shown up, probably back up for the dead vampire." Mallory touched a button on the panel and several large panoramic images popped up on the Wall, which was one very large flat screen surrounded by smaller ones. Celeste had mentioned that the men who were kidnapping the girls, were dressed like Vlad, in dark suits, but there were no dark suits in any of the images. Mallory continued; "Before the body was disposed of, we retrieved several items from his pockets." A soldier stepped forward with a metal tray; "A small bag with some powder, it's believed to be the drug he used to incapacitate the girls. A set of keys, to possibly a van or truck used to transport the girls. A team is checking the clubs parking lot for it right now. And lastly a cell phone. But it is a burner phone. It had one missed call, probably from his employer. There are calls from the same number on several days going back to several weeks, so we know that the boss kept in touch, but it hasn't rung since then."
"Since this was a dead end, we'll just have to wait to see what Sam and her team find at the club" said Colonel Stewart. Integra nodded, even if they didn't have a location of the girls, it was still more than what the police had. At least they knew who they were looking for. Marcus knew this as well so he would probably lay low for a while, but Integra knew it would only be a matter of time before his hubris would get the better of him and he would make a mistake. Speaking of the police, when they saw the Hellsing Organization on the scene, they were not happy and had demanded to know what they were doing there.
"And what was your answer?" asked Integra.
Sgt. Mallory grinned: "I told them that you would gladly answer any questions that they may have." Integra chuckled as she lit a cigar; "Looks like I have an appointment with the police chief." They were not going to like that. "Keep me updated with any new information" the director ordered as she left the building.
"I think that she enjoys ruining people's days" remarked Col. Stewart. The Sergeant nodded in agreement; "Maybe she'll get the police off our backs and have some fun doing it."
"Should I feel sorry for them?"
"No, the police are big boys."
Marcus cursed as he sprinted to the waiting car. This night did not go as planned at all. It started off simple enough, hand pick some merchandise that his clients would be willing to purchase and then bring the goods to the meeting place. But there was that one girl that escaped and the worst thing was that she was virgin, which would have fetched even more money. Vlad had gone after the girl, but did not come back. Getting worried about lost products, Marcus called, but the henchman did not answer, so he had assumed that the police were involved. So, Marcus sent a second man to go down to the police station to find out what happened and hopefully find the girl there. But the man came back with the worst possible news; the Hellsing Organization was doing a cleanup not far from NyteLyfe. This could only mean that Vlad was killed by Hellsing. There was still no word of the girl, but Marcus had a feeling that she was now in their custody. This was NOT good. The girl had seen his face and knew his name, and like any senseless woman, was probably blabbing right now. He had spent years doing all his business in the shadows, as a human. The police thought that he was dead. Since his last run-in with the police, Marcus made sure that he did everything under the radar and in secret. He had gotten so good, that his clients did not even know what he looked like. Marcus was a ghost, leaving behind nothing at all, no evidence, no trail, nothing. Even most people working for him had no idea what he looked like. The Hellsing Organization was the last group he wanted after him. If it were the previous leader, it would have been fine. Lord Taylor was a man who knew what money was and Marcus could buy his silence. But this suit wearing broad, was a different story. She was too honest and dedicated to her duty. She was known to be extremely violent, when it came to vampires. So much that vampires went into hiding until she set one of her traps, drawing them out and then killing them. And now that she most likely she knew that he was a vampire and a human smuggler, she would turn England upside down and inside out looking for him. Integra Hellsing was terrible blight to anyone that was undead. The night got worse and worse and it did nothing to help his mood.
Hellsing Manor
Celeste had a hard time sleeping. It was hard to get comfortable, while knowing that your closest friends were only God knows where, suffering unknown atrocities. The girl tossed and turned over and over, she tried to tell herself that Tammy and Jamie would be fine. The Hellsing Organization would find them and then they could go home. She quickly brushed away tears that came to her eyes. This made her recall the annoyed voice of Integra and this made her cry even more. But crying did not help and it only made her feel worse. Celeste decided to do something that she had not done in a long time- pray. "Dear God please let Tammy and Jamie be okay. Please. If they are…. I promise never to go to another club for the rest of my life!"
"Silly girl, I don't believe that is how prayer works."
Celeste jumped up; "Who's there? Show yourself."
"You will see me soon enough, but now you need to sleep."
"But…."
"Get some rest, silly girl."
Celeste felt her eyes getting heavier and heavier, soon she was asleep. In her dreams, she saw a strange tall man dressing in all red with orange sunglasses and a sharp grin. The next morning Celeste tried to make sense of the voice she heard and the strange dream; "This house must be haunted or something." Next to the door, Celeste saw that all her belongings had indeed been bought from her dorm. At least now she could change into something that Integra couldn't judge. After taking a shower and changing her clothes, Celeste remembered what Seras told her the night before, but she was hungry. Maybe she could find the kitchen, that wouldn't be wondering and if anyone asks she could always pretend she knew where she was going. As Celeste left the room, she heard a voice say; "A delicious morsel had appeared before me." This voice was not the same as the one from the night before, this one belonged to someone female. Celeste spun around; "I'm not a morsel! Who are you? What's with all the voices in this house?"
"You look rather yummy to me, morsel." The voice now came from directly behind Celeste, she turned around slowly, to come face to face with a huge white tiger. Boy did that girl scream. The tiger's eyes narrowed and its ears flattened against its head. Celeste's eyes widened as the tiger shifted from animal to female human, her screams reached an octave that threatened to shatter the windows in the mansion. "Okay! Stop screaming!" pleaded Sam who was now covering her ears. Philip came running to see what was the commotion. But he was not the only one; "WHAT IN BLOODY TWO FUCKS IS GOING ON HERE!?" came the roar of one pissed Hellsing commander. That shut Celeste up quick, that and the look of pure twisted rage on Integra's face as she stormed towards them. Celeste flattened herself on the nearest wall and prepared herself to be yelled at. But Integra brushed past her and landed one hell of a punch right in Sam's mouth, knocking some teeth out. This surprised Philip, Celeste and especially Sam. "I expect something this stupid from Alucard! Am I mistaken in believing that you have more sense than he?" Surprisingly Sam grinned; "You think I'm smarter than Alucard?"
Integra took a deep breath before turning to Celeste; "I do not want to hear another sound like that come out of your mouth again, just because you do not dress like a lady, at least act like one, do I make myself clear?" Celeste could only nod dumbly. Everyone was silent until Integra was out of sight. "Her hand was bleeding…." Celeste said softly, she had no idea why she said this.
"She's a tough nut, she'll be fine" smiled Sam. Celeste pointed Sam's mouth; "I thought…."
Sam laughed; "They grew back, so it's all good. But I'm still hungry." Philip rolled his eyes; "Sam please do not scare our guest by trying to eat her or running around in your beast form."
"I wasn't running around and I can't help it if she looks tasty."
Celeste found herself edging closer to Philip as he led them to the kitchen. As Celeste was eating breakfast, Seras walked in and smiled at her; "Now you know why you shouldn't wander around. By the way Sam, Sir Integra wants you in her office and I quote; "by bloody yesterday". The shapeshifter groaned; "I didn't even finish breakfast." The draculina raised a blond eyebrow; "By yesterday, Sam. You shouldn't keep her waiting." Sam trudged sullenly out of the room, while Seras giggled.
After breakfast, Celeste went back to her room, she had decided that it was the only safe room in the mansion. But she was bored and try as she might couldn't concentrate on anything but her friends. She tried giving prayer another chance, but heard that voice again; "Having another negotiation with God, silly girl?"
"What is it with this place? Show yourself or I'll scream!"
The voice gave a chuckle; "And anger my master again? Even though I must thank you for that." The wall began to ripple like a still pond being disturbed by a pebble being dropped in, and a tall man dressed in red walked through. Celeste let out a surprised squeak and collapsed on her butt; "You're the man in my dreams." The man grinned a wide fanged grin and approached the girl, kneeling in front of her, he took her chin in his long thin gloved fingers and purred; "Sam was right, you are a tasty morsel." Celeste backed away from the strange man; "What are you?"
Alucard rose to his full height. "I am the No-Life King, a Nosferatu, the true Vampire, but you silly girl, can call me Alucard."
"A…a vampire? Does Sir Hellsing know that you are here? Doesn't she kill your kind?"
Alucard laughed out loud; "Silly girl, Sir Integra Hellsing is my most beloved master."
"You're joking, why would she have a vampire for a slave?"
"Why don't you ask her?"
"I don't think so, not after seeing her punch that tiger lady. I think I'll stay here."
The vampire king laughed again: "She never truly managed to conquer the demon called anger. But in this case I am glad, I was able to sate my hunger for virgin blood."
"You drank her blood? She's a virgin? Is she a vampire?"
"You seem to want to know a lot about my master."
"Fine, how did you become Sir Hellsing's slave?"
For once the grin left Alucard's face; "I do not wish to talk about that."
"I can't just sit here! Where is Sir Hellsing? I have to call my parents and tell them what happened."
"She went to the police headquarters a while ago."
"And she didn't tell me?"
Alucard cocked his head sideways; "Should she have?"
"Well…yes, that would be nice. I need to know these things."
"I wasn't aware, Sir Integra worked for you."
"You know what I mean!"
"Silly girl, you are a most interesting creature."
"My name is Celeste, not 'silly girl'".
"You are silly girl to me. Tell me, why are you a virgin?'
Celeste's mouth fell open at the very pointed question; "That's none of your business!"
"Your blood smells delicious, so virginal."
"Tell me how you became a slave to Sir Hellsing, then."
"No."
"So, I have to tell you my secrets when you won't? That's not fair."
"Fair is not for the weak, Silly Girl. I could easily take that secret from you."
Alucard took a step towards Celeste, who picked up the bedside lamp. The vampire king laughed at her choice of weapons. "That will do little to stop me, silly girl." Celeste blinked back tears, she was supposed to be safe here!
"Lay one finger on that girl, slave, and I swear on my great-grandfather's grave, you WILL regret it!"
"Greetings Master, I take it, the meeting with the police chief went well?"
"Fuck your greetings, Alucard, you can shove them up your ass. What did I specifically tell you last night?"
"You told me not to bother her. I am not bothering her. Am I bothering you, silly girl?"
However, before Celeste could answer, Integra took the lamp from her and smashed it into Alucard's face. He hissed from the pain, apparently, there had been flecks of silver infused into the ceramic bottom.
"Go to your room and stay there until I say so, or you'll get the vase next" growled Integra.
"Yes master" groaned Alucard and in a couple of seconds he was gone. Integra turned to Celeste; "Are you alright?"
Celeste nodded, but added; "This house creeps me out."
"The house or its inhabitants?"
Celeste did not know how to answer that question, so she stayed quiet. Integra took a cell phone from her pocket and handed to the girl; "We found it, along with your friends phones." Since Celeste had not been drugged the kidnappers did not have a chance to get her phone and she instead had dropped it in her panic of fleeing the club. Sam had reported that morning of finding the truck that Vlad's keys belonged to. The Hellsing Forensics team checked the truck and it had the DNA of several of the missing girls that had been on the news for the last couple of months. When the Intelligence team checked the information of the truck, they found that it had been stolen from its original owner. The truck had been repainted and the original license plate had been replaced with a fake. The GPS unit was also checked and it seemed that the girls were being taken to an abandoned storage facility. However, when dispatched Hellsing squadrons arrived on the scene, the place was abandoned-again. Computers had been smashed and any documents had been destroyed. It looked like yet another dead end.
A Warehouse on the Docks
Tammy woke up with a splitting headache. She was used to that whenever she went clubbing, but as pieces of memories of the night before came back to the college student, she knew that it was not like any other party night. Tammy remembered going into NyteLfye's VIP room, with her friends Celeste and Jamie. There were the three pale men in black, Marcus and…who were the other two? She also remembered the drinks and Celeste being a virgin again…. but the drinks had been tampered with. Tammy recalled how the room began to spin and her speech sounded weird to her. There were unconscious girls everywhere and Tammy had thought they were drunk, until she saw the men hauling the girls out of a hidden door. As Tammy felt her legs buckle under her and the blackness of unconsciousness took hold of her mind, she gathered her last remaining strength to tell Celeste to run. It was a good thing that Celeste listened, maybe she would get help. Tammy hoped that Celeste escaped and was okay. She looked around for Jamie and saw her other friend on the other end of the cage, staring blankly and hugging her knees. A tattered blanket was draped over her shoulders. Tammy crawled over to and whispered; "Jamie, where are we?" Jamie turned to her and gave her such a haunted look that Tammy shrank away, but the blond said nothing. Tammy noticed that most of the imprisoned girls were staring in the same direction as Jamie. Outside the metal enclosure, in the middle of the warehouse floor, Tammy could see a large gray tarp and the outline of a body underneath. Jamie's whisper startled her; "Marcus was so mad…about Celeste escaping…something about someone called Hellsing, so he grabbed a girl…maybe he thought it was you, because of the red hair…he…he… they took turns…they told us to watch…they ripped out her throat…the blood…so much…." Just then a large group men came into the warehouse and herded the girls into a large truck; they were being moved to another location. Marcus had called from the new location commanding that they move the girls. And to leave the special 'gift' for Sir Hellsing.
Hellsing Manor- Integra's Office
A bit of good news came in the form of finding out at last who Marcus was. Johansen handed a file with Marcus' information to Integra. "Marcus' full name is Marcus Van Camp. He was a notorious human trafficker 25 years ago, He was thought to have died in a shoot-out with police, but now we know that's not true. That is also the reason why the police were stumped, they had no idea that the man they were looking for was already dead or undead."
Sgt. Mallory interjected; "Right now we are checking all of Marcus' known hiding places and places where he was known to do business which is …. kind of on the international scale. However, we are sure he hasn't left the country yet, because he usually transports his goods by boat and all the boats in the nearest ports are accounted for." Integra's eye twitched at the word 'goods'; "Sgt. Mallory, these are human girls we are speaking about, not a crate full of chairs!"
"Sorry Sir."
"We are also investigating anyone suspected to have done business with Marcus, to see where that might lead and to check if they had any contact with him lately" stated Johansen. While the soldier was still talking, the door opened and the chief of the Scotland yard Goddard Pemberton, a man with a large pot belly, large muscular arms, with a thick handlebar mustache and an exaggerated swagger of a gait; walked in and said; "Sir Hellsing, you need to come with us." The director arched one blond eyebrow; "Whatever for?"
"It seems like someone left something for you at an abandoned warehouse. We are pretty certain it's a body."
Celeste, who had been eavesdropping in on the meeting, burst into the office; "Who is it? Is it one of my friends?" Chief Pemberton turned to her; "We are not sure, we are waiting for Hellsing."
Integra sighed as she rose from her chair, this evening was going to be a long evening.
"Sir, you have to take me with you!" cried Celeste.
"No. Philip bring the car around."
"Of course, Sir."
"These are my friends we are talking about!"
"My answer is still no."
"Why not!?"
"Because I said so."
"That's not a good enough answer."
"I don't have time for this, girl."
Celeste ran after the commander as she entered the car.
"Please! I called my parents and they need some information! You can't leave me in the dark! Please!"
"Fine, get in. You do know, you'll probably regret this, right?"
Celeste nodded, that was a chance she would have to take. She prayed that it was not one of her friends. When they reached the warehouse, there were both police and Hellsing personnel. Yellow tape was stretched across the door of one many gray buildings. One of the police officer handed Integra a white envelope and said; "This is for you. No one's touched the body." The paper in the envelope only had one sentence on it that read: "I hope you can live with this on your conscience."
When Integra entered the building, the first thing she noticed was the smell. It was rancid, a mixture of sweat, feces, urine and unwashed bodies. They had kept all the girls in here for weeks. But the smell that was most prominent was the metallic stench of blood. Having been around blood for many years, Integra recognized it instantly and it was coming from underneath the gray tarp. Though she did not want to admit it, she was beginning to have second thoughts. She thought of just letting the medical examiner and his team handle it. The director pulled the tarp off and nearly threw up at the grotesque sight. The girl was unrecognizable with her dead blue eyes opened wide with horror. Chunks of her red curls had been ripped off along with some of the flesh. Her face was essentially beaten in. All over her body were black and blue bruises as if these monsters used her as a punching bag. The girl's throat was ripped from ear to ear and from the jagged edges, it looked like a shark bit out her jugular vein. But it only got worse. The girl was completely naked, her clothes had been ripped off violently. By the girl's spread eagle position, Integra could tell that the girl had then been raped brutally and repetitively. By how many men, Integra was not certain, but it was more than one. The bastards had roughly penetrated every orifice on the poor girl. There were also bite like gashes on her body, indicating that the vampires had feasted while violating the girl. And if that was not enough, someone, most likely Marcus himself, decided to carve out her nethers with a large serrated knife. In the silence of the warehouse Integra could swear she could hear the echoes of the shrieks.
The commander had seen some serious shit, but this was by far one the worst things she had ever seen. Though her brain screamed for her to look away, Integra couldn't tear her eyes away from the grisly scene. She could only back away slowly, until she reached the door frame, on which she leaned against, breathing heavily. Seeing the state the knight was in, when she exited, the people outside could only wonder what atrocities awaited inside. Integra couldn't say how she made it back to the car without collapsing or puking her insides out. On seeing Integra's face, Celeste ran towards the warehouse, until the commander grabbed her. "Let me go! Let me go!" shrieked Celeste. But Integra's grip only got tighter.
"I…I can't let you see her!"
Celeste struggled against the older woman's grasp; "I have to see her! I have to know!"
"I won't let you see her!"
"Was it one of my friends?"
"I don't know…but if it was, you shouldn't have to see her like that!"
Celeste's shoulders sagged as she watched the medical team enter the warehouse. Some of them came right back out and expelled the contents of their stomachs, others had stronger stomachs but were still very sickened by the horrid sight, even Pemberton opted not to see the body at all, having witnessed Integra's reaction. If something could frazzle that woman, what would happen to him?
Hellsing Manor
A couple hours later, Celeste sat on her bed, even though she knew the Hellsing director for less than two days, she was sure that she had seen a side of Integra no one's ever seen. When the commander had walked out of the building, her eyes had a lost look in them. It was if she was in a heavy fog. The car ride back to the Manor had been silent, Integra had taken out a cigar, but it seemed that she lacked the strength to light and smoke it, so it dangled loosely between her fingers. When they reached the Manor, Integra went straight to her office, without a word. Remembering the haunted look on Integra's face, made Celeste glad that the knight had prevented her from seeing the body. But she really hoped that the girl was not any of her friends. Celeste got up and made her way to the Integra's office. The door was partially ajar, so Celeste slipped in; "Sir? Are you here?"
"What do you want, silly girl?" came the disembodied voice of Alucard.
"Not you, so go away Alucard." Celeste could hear the vampire chuckle, but she couldn't see him. She looked around the dimly lit office. On the desk, Celeste, could see a partially smoked cigar in the silver ashtray, along with the commander's grey blazer, necktie, vest and shoulder holster and gun, but not Integra. Celeste finally spotted the director lying on the couch with her head on a large black pillow or what Celeste thought was a pillow until it blinked four pairs of red eyes at her. Alucard chuckled again at the girl's shock at his dog form.
"You have the bad habit of wandering around where you shouldn't" said Integra softly.
"Sorry Sir! I just wanted to say thank you."
"For what?"
"Well… for not letting me see the body…. I shouldn't have went…."
"No, you shouldn't have."
"Did they find out…."
"Please! Please stop talking!"
"Ok…."
After a couple minutes, Integra opened her eyes to see Celeste staring at her. What was with this girl? Integra figured she couldn't blame the girl. After the ordeal, she went through, Celeste probably did not want to be alone. It could also be that Celeste had always been with Tammy and Jamie, that she didn't know how to be by herself. Just then Philip walked in and said: "Miss Celeste, you really shouldn't be wandering around, certainly not after what happened this morning. By the way dinner is ready and Sir, you really should try and eat something as well." Integra snorted; "After what I saw, your genius suggestion is to eat something?" Philip merely responded; "I'll make you some ginger tea." With that he and Celeste left the office.
Integra stared at the large white moon, that peeked through the clouds into her office. Even though it gazed down at the earth and all its cruelties, it seemed completely oblivious, like an innocent child. "Alucard, what is wrong with men?" she asked in an almost inaudible voice. "What would make someone to do something that disgusting to that poor girl?"
"Trying to understand the mind of a being as despicable as this Marcus fool, is not good for your health."
"That does not answer my question, Alucard. That man…he…damn it!"
The hellhound nuzzled his master's cheek with a cold nose; "Get some sleep, master."
"I can't, Alucard…. I'm afraid…. I'll see…."
"Do not worry about nightmares, master. I am here."
Soon Integra's slow, steady breathing told Alucard that his master had finally fallen asleep. He gazed at the moon lit face of his sleeping master and was reminded of when she was younger, still trying to understand why people thought the thoughts they thought and do the things they did. "Some things are better off not knowing, my master." Later the vampire king carried the sleeping commander to her bedroom and laid her on the bed.
You going to watch her sleep?
What are you doing here, Sam?
I usually sleep here, when I'm not cuddling with Seras. I'll leave, just don't do anything creepy.
The tigress left and Alucard resumed his dog form and curled up next to his master.
Creepy.
I'm fulfilling a promise.
The next morning when Integra reached her office, she found the head medical examiner and judging by the dark rings around his eyes, he must have been up all night, maybe working, but more likely tormented by the horrors of what happened to the girl. The M.E. placed a thick packet of paper on the desk and said; "I'm not going to go through the details, since you already know. However, we were able to find out the identification of the young lady, her name was Phoebe Riley, 20 years old. She was from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Miss Riley was attending University of Cambridge as part of the University of Wisconsin's study abroad program as a medical major. Her parents contact information is included." After the M.E., left Integra had the difficult task of informing the girl's parents that their daughter would be coming home in a coffin instead of an experience of a lifetime.
Riley House- Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Rhonda spent yet another day waiting by the phone, waiting for her daughter to call. It had been a week and this worried the 55-year-old mother of three. Phoebe usually called every day to tell her parents what happened that day; good or bad. She sent emails, texts, videos and pictures of Britain, saying how amazing it was and how she loved it. But suddenly after a week, all communications ceased. For the first day Rhonda thought it was because Phoebe was probably studying for an exam, so she did not worry. But when another two days went by without word from her daughter, she began to worry. Her husband Rick tried to tell her that there was nothing to worry about, but Rhonda knew something was dreadfully wrong. Especially when it came on the news that girls who were studying abroad were going missing and the police were confounded. Rhonda tried to tell herself that Phoebe wouldn't go to some seedy club or that she was too smart for that. But with each passing day, that hope died little by little. One morning when the phone rang with a British area code on the caller id, Rhonda grew excited; "Hello Phoebe? Is that you?"
"No, this isn't your daughter. This is Sir Integra Hellsing of the Hellsing Organization. I have information about your daughter."
"Wait…who? Where is Phoebe? Is she okay?"
There was a pause and a sigh; "No, your daughter's body was found last night."
Rhonda went completely still and she sank slowly into her chair. It couldn't be, this had to be a bad joke. Rick came into the room and looked at his wife; "What is it? What is wrong, dear? Is it Phoebe?"
"Someone is saying…Phoebe is dead…"
Rick grabbed the phone and snarled; "I don't know who you are, but don't call here with a sick joke like that!"
"Calling a young woman's parents to tell them that their daughter had been found mutilated, violated and left about like rubbish is NOT my idea of a joke either."
Both Rick and Rhonda stared at the phone dumbfounded. Rhonda finally spoke; "No! No! This is…this can't be happening! Phoebe!"
Integra could hear as the woman broke down into tears, while her husband demanded; "Who did this? You must know and don't give me crap about not being able to talk about any ongoing investigation."
"Your daughter was murdered by a human trafficker named Marcus Van Camp. It is believed that he has taken over 50 girls over the last couple of months."
"Please…please tell me that you know where he is …. please"; Rhonda pleaded.
Integra glanced at a message that popped up on her computer screen. A strange cargo ship had docked illegally at Liverpool Port late last night, and had just several hours ago headed out to sea. Seeing what the cargo was, unbeknownst to the owner, the port master place a GPS tracking unit inside one of the crates and called the authorities. After finding out where the ship was located, the most recent coordinates were sent to Hellsing Headquarters.
"Yes, we have found him. Arrangements for you to pick up Phoebe will be made once her body is released from the medical examiner's office."
Rhonda handed the phone to her husband and went to her daughter's room. No more will Phoebe's laughter and burnt attempts at cooking fill the house. No more holidays or birthdays or arguments with her brothers- her brothers Danny and Arty will be so devastated, a couple minutes later Rick came into the bedroom and put his arm around his wife and let her cry as he stared numbly around at the room, that would now be empty. This Integra woman had stated that her organization would assume responsibility for the expenses. Rick had appreciated that she didn't give the same song and dance about how she was sorry she was for them; the way people did when they were at funeral. He did not want pity, he wanted to know that this Marcus bastard was going to pay dearly.
Calling families to tell them that their loved ones were dead did not get easier, but it seemed to get heavier. Integra could still remember the first time she had to do that momentous task. She was only 12 years old and three months into her position as Hellsing leader. Imagine the surprise of the family when they heard a child tell them that one of their loved ones was dead. They had thought it was a prank and hung up on her. It was very frustrating having to call them several times, but seeing the body finally convinced them. Integra felt it only got worse after that, but in some way, she had become numb to it. Or at least she thought she had, seeing that poor girls body had rocked her to the core, making Integra feel like she was child again. How she managed to keep the contents of her stomach inside was beyond her. That bastard Marcus was going to pay for his revolting actions, but not before he felt at least some measure of pain. Integra went to her gun locker and retrieved a Remington 870 Hellsing edition. This pump action 12-gauge shotgun fired 12 gauge bores packed with UV light, a new type a shot that Hellsing scientists developed to fight vampires. The steel gun was covered with blessed silver and the Hellsing logo was etched into it. So not only was it a dangerous shot, but would make a good melee weapon. A soldier entered the office; "The teams are ready to go, Sir."
"Good, let's go and put this son of bitch down, like the bloody animal he is."
Women were weak, so frail and emotional, that was why Marcus thought of them as good merchandise. Men also made good products, but women were the big seller. Also, most of clients were men, powerful, wealthy men who wanted his product. And he was very happy to give them what they wanted- if they paid. On the ship that he was on right now there was a crate that carried 57 girls. There would have been 59 if one of them hadn't escaped and he hadn't killed her friend. The look on the other merchandise faces were of shock and horror as they saw what happened when he was angry. Marcus laughed, as a matter of fact that Hellsing bitch also saw what happened when he was upset. Via a hidden camera, he enjoyed seeing her face when she saw her 'gift'. It was funny to know that the iron bitch had an expression that looked like she was going to puke. Everyone made it seemed that she had only two expressions: angry and uppity bitch. Well now she had a few more to add to her collection. Being a woman, she probably went home, crawled into bed and cried herself to sleep. Right now, she was probably an emotional wreck and would be as useless as the police. Marcus laughed again, he did it, he tore down that bitch of steel. As he was busy enjoying this fact, one of the men came in and said; "There are helicopters approaching, boss!"
"Damn it! Who is it? The police?"
"No, Hellsing!"
"What!? But she's supposed…. Arm all the men! Don't let them land! Kill them all!"
This was NOT supposed to be happening! How did Hellsing find him? It didn't matter, this ship would be her grave. Marcus had not just been collecting girls, but also any thug looking for work. There were over 150 armed men on the ship, let's see her deal with that. Also, there were 300 empty containers, which meant if they wanted to find the girls, Hellsing would have to check each one.
As the gunships neared the ship, the men started firing.
"We're being fired on, Sir!" yelled the pilot.
"Well then, fire back!" bellowed the commander.
"Thermal is picking up heat from one of the containers, in the hold the furthest left from the bridge!"
The choppers guns roared to life, lighting up everything, while trying to avoid the crate that held the captive women. Whoever was not fast enough to run for cover became a stain instantly. "Land these choppers immediately! This shotgun is not going to shove itself up Marcus' ass by itself!" The pilot snickered and soon Integra got her wish-the choppers landing, not the shotgun one. As the soldiers split into teams and went after the thugs, Integra headed toward the bridge, where she knew Marcus was hiding. Any unlucky fool that thought they could take on the pissed off woman, received a face full of UV shotgun bullets in the face. These rounds blasted a hole in their faces and if another chump was near, they were collateral. Seeing his master blasting her way towards the bridge, amused Alucard immensely. He noticed that some of the thugs that were eating shotgun shots were human, if Integra knew this, she made no indication that she gave a crap. To her, they were all monsters that needed to be erased from existence, after all not all monsters have red eyes and a mouth full of fangs. When Integra reached the bridge, Marcus grinned; "You finally arrived. Did you enjoy your little 'gift'?"
"I've had better, including the leather thong, this clown got me for my fiftieth birthday."
Alucard sniggered at recalling the look on her face.
"Well go figure, it takes a woman to have no taste at all. I thought the expression on your face when you opened it suited you perfectly. Maybe I'll send you more gifts."
"You filthy piece of shit, you will pay for that!"
Marcus ambled over to Integra and sneered; "You are a stupid, human woman, I am a vampire. What are you going to do?" He was too busy posturing, he didn't see the upper cut to the chin that sent him reeling. It was followed up by a shotgun blast to each knee cap. "You may be a vampire, but you're still a child by vampiric standards, little boy" growled Integra "You lose one of your 'toys' and throw a tantrum like a child by breaking another one, that is not how a man behaves!"
"Shut the hell up! Just because you dress like one, doesn't make you one!"
"I guess the same can be applied to you as well."
Having regenerated his legs, Marcus leaped at the commander with the intentions of eviscerating her, but was stopped when Alucard grabbed him by the neck. "You will not touch my master, filth."
Marcus glared at Integra; "Figures that you need a man to protect you, you spineless woman." Integra sat in the chair that Marcus had previously occupied and smirked; "Of course I do. You believe women are weak, so having a man to protect me only makes sense. You have this idiotic pride on being a man, yet you gang rape a girl who was drugged. Emphasis on the word 'gang'. What was the matter, boy, was she that strong that you need a whole group of boys to hold her down? Did they need to help you get it up as well?"
"You bitch! You think you're funny!? You'll pay for those words!"
"No, you will pay by feeling some semblance of the barbarisms you inflicted on that girl."
"What are you…. going to do?"
"You're afraid, that's good. However, I'm not going to do anything. Alucard however is different story." Integra took out her silver combat knife and stuck it in the desk; "Use this Alucard." Marcus' eyes widened as he had an idea of what was coming.
"And Alucard?" said Integra in a seductive voice.
"Yes, my master?"
"Go slowly…. I want to enjoy every second of it."
"Of course, my master."
Outside of the ship's deck, both Marcus' men and Hellsing soldiers could hear the screams of a vampire slowly being violated by the hell hound familiar, Baskerville and a 6-inch silver combat knife. "What the hell are they doing up there? And why wasn't I invited?" wondered Sam as she stomped in a head of yet another thug. "I'd rather not know" replied Seras as she put her fist through the chest of a smuggler, ripping out his heart and tossing it to the side. Sam picked up the organ and took a bite out of it like it was a peach; "If you're not going to eat it, I will"
Back on the bridge, Marcus now knew what torment Phoebe went through- a little bit. One would never really know that kind of pain.
"Please…please…s-stop" begged Marcus pathetically. Integra took a long drag from her cigar; "Begging? I'm sure that's Phoebe did the same and you probably ignored her, didn't you?"
"Who?"
"The girl you treated like trash had a name, a family, a future, Marcus! Not that you cared. All she was to you was something you could sell! You may finish him off, Alucard." The vampire king grinned widely, happy that he could get a meal. He bit down on Marcus' jugular and drank deeply. Alucard's hell hound familiar snapped up the body like a dog biscuit. Seeing their boss, was dead, the remaining smugglers threw down their weapons and surrendered to the Hellsing soldiers. Integra looked around the blood splattered room, it was finally over. Alucard watched as his master sat in the chair with her eyes closed. "Are you alright, master?"
"Now that Marcus is dead, yes. But there is still more to do."
Sam and Seras burst through the door and stared at the mess in the room; "What did you two do in here?" demanded Sam. Integra stood up and straightened her tie and walked out; "Nothing you wouldn't do."
"Wait…what the hell does that mean?"
As Alucard followed Integra out, he laughed at the baffled looks on Sam and Seras' faces.
Tammy's legs were beginning to cramp up. She and about 50 other girls had been shoved into a crate early in the morning. The girls barely had any sitting or standing room and the stench was unbearable! The poor girls who had been kidnapped earlier smelled deplorable. A couple of hours the ship had started moving out to sea and by the cheers that could be heard from outside the crate, it seemed like Marcus' plan had succeeded. This saddened her, that meant that she would never see her family and friends again. They would probably be sold off to men from distant countries where there were little or no laws against this disgusting crime. What was worse was that they would be forced to do things against their will or forced into prostitution. As Tammy was contemplating her dreary fate, she heard the smugglers start to shout in panic and screaming about helicopters. Then there were the sounds of gunfire and screams of the dying and though Tammy never really wished anyone dead, now she hoped that it was the smugglers that were doing the screaming. After what seemed like hours, everything went silent for a while. For a moment, Tammy thought that whoever the rescuers were, had forgotten about them, when suddenly she felt the crate being lifted out of its hold by one of the on-ship cranes. The container was set down on the deck and doors were opened letting in the blinding sunlight. The first people Tammy saw were soldiers in black military armor and a tall woman wearing a black and red suit holding a handkerchief to her face. The girls stumbled out of the container, blinking at the light, while trying to cover up their immodesty.
When the ship returned to the Liverpool Port, the girls were transported to a large mansion. The building was made of brown brick and had large windows set in cedar frames. The property was surrounded by a rock wall and secured with a black iron gate. The walkway was lined with an array of colorful flowers. The lush green lawn was trimmed and watered. The vans pulled into the 10-car garage that was attached to the house. The house was a good distance away from the street, so the air was still, devoid of noise from the traffic. A short chubby woman came out of the house and headed straight for the tall blond woman and even though Tammy couldn't hear all of what they were saying, she heard the chubby woman say; "This is not what we discussed on the phone!" Tammy couldn't hear the tall woman's response because she was being herded into the house. She however did not miss the golden plaque on the wall next to the door that read: Hellsing Women's Shelter Dedicated by Dame Eileen Bard*, whoever that was. The chubby woman introduced herself as Peggy and went about making sure all the girls were cleaned, fed and sent off the bedrooms for well needed rest. As Tammy laid in an actual bed, for the first time in days, she wondered about Celeste and hoped that she safe. But she also thought about the girl that was killed. They both had red hair and Marcus had thought that the dead girl was her. Tears came to her eyes as she realized if it wasn't for a case of mistaken identity, it would have been her who was dead. It was all her fault, if she hadn't wanted to get into the club so badly, none of this would have happened. But if this didn't happen, these other girls would be sold off somewhere and more would be kidnapped.
"Don't blame yourself, Tammy" said Jamie "I don't blame you. We all decided to go to the club."
"What about Celeste? She said she didn't want to go. Is she ok? You think she was able to find the police?"
"I don't think these people are the police."
Later the girls were told that they would be taken to police headquarters where they would give their statement. They were also informed that the Hellsing Organization had contacted their families and preparations for them to return home had been made. Then a man in a butler's uniform asked; "The young ladies called Tammy Bacchi and Jamie Peters will be coming with me." The two girls glanced nervously at each other, but they got into the limousine. In time, they arrived to another large mansion, this one dwarfed the women's shelter. As the car pulled to the front door, the same woman from the ship was standing there waiting and next to her was…. "Celeste!" cried Jamie. When Celeste saw, them she ran to them and all three girls cried and hugged.
Once inside Philip led them to the sitting room, where Celeste told them about how she ran into Integra, well her car anyway, and how the Hellsing Organization took over the case of the missing girls, when they learned that vampires were involved. She told them about the strange voices and Alucard. Philip entered; "Your belongings have been bought here from your dorm and your parents will be coming tomorrow to bring you home, until then you are welcome to spend the night here, with Celeste. When your families arrive, you can decide if you want to continue your study abroad studies at University College London. I will let you know when dinner is served." Celeste followed Philip out of the sitting room with her suggestion of chicken and waffles. Tammy and Jamie were left alone with Integra. When they got up to leave, Integra called them back; "You two owe Celeste your lives, out of the three of you, she has the most sense. There is something to be said about girls who would rather wear next to nothing and fritter away their lives at some tawdry club, fraternizing in close proximity to alcohol, drugs and horny men. And it's not good. At this age, you should be trying to make something of yourselves and a party girl turned prostitute is not one of them." The girls hung their heads. "And another thing, there is NOTHING wrong with being a virgin. I, for one am very happy with my choice to remain one and you should let Celeste be happy with her decision. No more of that 'you're being a virgin' bullshit. Am I clear?"
"Yes Sir" the two girls said in unison.
"Good, you may go now."
When the girls left the large black dog that had been lying at the commander's feet said; "You would have made a great mother. Perhaps we could…."
"I'm 573 years old, Alucard, a bit too old to be having any children."
"That's not what your body is saying." Integra gave the dog a sharp nudge with her foot. "Stop being fresh, Alucard."
The next morning the three girls were driven to Heathrow International Airport to meet their families along with the other 55 girls. The families were overjoyed to see the girls alive and well and sent their thanks to Integra. But she was not there to receive it, the commander stood on a private tarmac by herself next to the casket of Phoebe Riley.
As Rhonda and Rick Riley made their way through Heathrow, they say a large group of smiling and crying girls and their relieved parents. This scene crushed the Riley's hearts as they remembered that they were not going to see a smiling face, but a coffin. On their arrival on the tarmac, they saw one lone woman standing vigil over a coffin draped with two flags, one was the state flag of Wisconsin and the other was the University of Wisconsin coat of arms. The woman herself was dress in an all-black suit, which made her seem to melt with the plane's shadow, the only thing that assured the Rileys, that she was human was the occasional fluttering platinum blond hair as the wind began to blow. She gazed at the couple with piercing sapphire eyes as they came closer.
"Is this Phoebe?" asked Rick. Integra did not answer but the look on her face confirmed it. Rhonda threw herself on the coffin and began to weep loudly. Integra took a deep breath before saying softly; "They cleaned her up as best they could…"
"You caught the monster that did this?" asked Rick. Integra's face hardened; "Yes, I made sure that the bastard who did this paid immeasurably. By the time, I was finished with him, he was begging pitifully. He will not be selling anymore girls ever again."
"What…did…you do?" asked Rhonda softly.
"There are some things that you are better off not knowing. Have a safe trip home."
The Rileys could only watch in awe as the commander place a gloved hand on the casket and whisper something unknown and then walk off. As they watched the woman, both Rhonda and Rick decided that she was right, they were better off not knowing. They had received the medical examiner's report of what had happened to their daughter and whatever Integra did to Marcus, they felt he deserved it. Moments later the plane bearing the Rileys and their daughter was soon headed back to the States. Integra watched it until it was small black speck in the sky.
The End
Epilogue
In the weeks that followed, Integra personally invested her time to hunting down all of Marcus' clients and bringing their victims back to their families. Of course, the police were not happy about that, as they felt that the Hellsing Organization was overstepping their boundaries. Integra told them where they could shove their feelings. Another setback that the police had to deal with were the lawsuits. Many of the girls' families decided to sue the London police for what they felt were inaction, negligence and incompetence. The families felt the London police force did not do enough to bring their girls home. Instead it was a different organization, that was completely outside the law who ended up doing their job. The families' attitude towards Integra and the Hellsing Organization were completely different. The mailbox was flooded with letters of thanks and gratitude. The most recent piece of mail that the Hellsing director received was from the Rileys. The envelope contained a handwritten letter and a picture of Phoebe's headstone, which was the shape of two large interlocking hearts:
In Loving Memory, of
Phoebe Amelia Riley
Loving sister, Loving Daughter
June 8, 2530-April 16, 2550
Rest in Peace
Integra opened the top drawer of her desk and dropped the letter and the picture in; "Requiescat in Pace"
The End
Author's Note: Soo there you have it. My first novella. I hope you enjoyed it. I had this in my mind for some time and decided to write it out. As with all my writings, it came out much longer on paper. This took three days to write and three days to type. Keep an eye out for my next novella.
*Eileen Bard was a knight at the Round Table in the Winds of Change series. Find out what happens to her and the others.
*This story has been proofread-again and again*