Chapter Two: Standing Orders
Summary: Alucard recieves his mission, and is sent out into the world.


The city was eerily quiet for a place with so many humans, much of their noise lost to the droning of magnified voices and machinery. To his predator eyes they resembled sheep now more than ever, huddling subconsciously together as they shuffled along the streets below. In all his years, he'd never seen a society of humans so completely and utterly broken and tamed. If it had been his choice, he'd burn the whole damn place down, just to see if he could get a reaction.

His gaze rose from the streets below, moving to trace the walls that separated the city from the rest of the world. Useful in build and design, he supposed, but nothing that could stop him if he so pleased to defy them. It made him wonder even further on the descendants of the vampires he had once known. Orelas had given him a brief description of them, more metaphor then fact really, but still they sounded like nothing he'd ever known. Human vampires, as the Monsignor had called them, no longer existed.

Beyond the walls, there was little to see, although there seemed to be statues of some sort in the distance. The nothingness unnerved him. Where there had been towns, trees, life, there was now only desert that stretched to the reaches of his vision.

With a forming frown, he turned his attention back to the city, eyes snagging on the billboard closest to him. Where there should have been colorful ads for human fancies, there was the face of his new master, brilliant in all its bleakness. He had to look away to stop the sneer threatening to overtake his features. A world that broadcast its submission, no, enslavement to the church, while something he had long ago strived for, was no longer something he wanted to witness. Especially when he was not the one calling the shots.

"E-excuse me, sir?"

The vampire blinked as the timid voice brought him back to his place in it all, back to the balcony he stood on in Monsignor Orelas's quarters. Turning, he fixed the young boy with an indifferent gaze, wondering absently why they would send a timid altar boy-type to fetch him.

The kid cleared his throat in an attempt to hide his unease. "M-Monsignor Orelas sent me to escort you to the briefing room."

Alucard continued to stare at the boy, waiting until he began fidgeting nervously before turning and moving towards him. The boy stiffened, eyes wide and unblinking as the vampire approached. He towered over the kid as he came to stand beside him, letting the glasses drop to reveal a single eye as he quirked a brow. "Well?"

The boys eyes had grown even larger at the sight of the unnatural red iris, his voice cracking painfully as he managed out a "Yes, right this way," while bobbing his head almost comically.

The nosferatu flashed a lopsided grin, amused at how pale his guide turned.

With a strangled noise the boy turned, tripping slightly on the hem of his robes, and power walked to the door without making sure he was being followed.

Alucard waited until the hems of the boy's robes disappeared out into the hallway before following, ignoring the door that had been left wide for him. He could sense the human in the hallway, pausing to regain his cool while awaiting the vampire's appearance. Drifting to a part of the wall that didn't have some piece or other of furniture shoved snugly against it, the Nosferatu let a tiny yet toothy grin slide onto his face before moving smoothly through the plaster and wood barrier.

Reemerging into the dimly lit hallway, he turned his head slowly towards where he knew the boy to be.

Jumping at the flash of movement and color, the altar boy yelped when he caught sight of the vampire, steadying himself on the doorframe behind him. Alucard motioned for him to lead the way, and after a terrified, indecisive pause, moved warily to retake the lead.

Alucard continued to grin, watching the boy the entire time. Despite the fact that he was standing near the wall, once the boy reached him he practically threw himself into the wall opposite, eyes never leaving the Nosferatu as he curled in on himself and scuttled past.

Once in the elevator that would take them to the sub level that housed the decadent meeting chambers, the boy situated himself in the corner nearest the button panel. Alucard entered the small space, smirking at his reflection and the city line visible behind him through the window at the end of the hall.

The doors slid closed, the Nosferatu turning to lean on the thin railing set against the mirror. The ride was silent, not counting the racket made by the machines controlling the lift. The boy stood stiffly in his corner, staring unabashedly until with a ding the doors opened once more and he fled into the hallway beyond.

The sub level was a maze of clinical white, religious relics scattered here and there to break up the monotony. Alucard could hear the whispers of humanity seeping through the walls, a voice here, footsteps there. And all around the beating hearts of weak men.

Finally they reached their destination, his guide leading him into the room's antechamber before pausing to fidget before the decorative door nestled in the small space. He knocked thrice, waiting until a booming voice bid enter before holding open the door for the vampire.

The chamber was large, white, and far more decorative than a meeting place for a church should have been. Had his footsteps carried enough weight to create sound, the reverberations would have echoed magnificently against all the tile. Alucard stopped in the center of the room, looking up at the men situated at the raised circular panel before him.

"Vampire."

Alucard flashed his fangs in response.

Whispering broke out to his right, before one of the irate men spoke up. "Monsignor Orelas, what is the meaning of this? A vampire? Hardly. Why have you brought this familiar before us?"

Orelas raised a hand to quite his fellow. "He is in fact a vampire, but not one of the creatures of which we are accustomed. He…predates them. And more importantly is now under my command, by the will of our predecessors."

Further grumbling was ignored by the head, whom eyed his servant severely. "I have awoken you from your death sleep, fed you, and resupplied you with your preferred arms. I have proven both my power over you, and my generosity, even though a demon such as you does not deserve such. And yet you do not bow before me…"

Silence chased the echoes of Orelas's voice, gathered men holding their breath.

"Forgive me, master." Alucard bent in a mocking bow, more than certain the man wouldn't push the issue with so many eyes present.

The Monsignor's lips thinned into near nonexistence, but indeed said nothing to challenge the slight. "I have summoned you here for a singular purpose. Five months ago a train containing the bodies of innumerable vampires was found, wrecked, ten kilometers from the city's entrance."

More whispering, forcing Orelas to raise his voice. "It was also found that at least one of the reservations has been…compromised. Although we are not yet sure the exact meaning of this, we cannot afford to sit idle on this matter." Leaning back in his throne-like chair, Orelas gazed steadily down at the vampire in red, voice level and cutting as he gave his orders. "You are to make your way through the reservations, and any subsequent hives you may encounter. Leave nothing alive. The public has not been informed of this possible threat, and they have no reason to be. Be as discrete as possible, demon, we need not raise unwarranted panic."

Alucard waited until the echoed command died into silence before again mock bowing, grin larger than ever. "As you wish, master." Still bent at the waist, Alucard looked up into the hard eyes of the Monsignor over his glasses.

Orelas watching with a growing feeling of foreboding as the demon's eyes burned, form blurring until it was swallowed by darkness. He closed his eyes, waiting for the storm on either side of him to begin.

Xx

The night air raked its fingers through his hair, tugging at his coat as it whipped to and fro. Although the scents it carried with it had changed during his time of inactivity, it still carried the traces of human interference it had during the 21st century. And beneath it, something he couldn't identify that nagged at the back of his mind none the less.

He paused at the base of the massive rock statues standing sentinel between the city and the vast expanse beyond. Amusement bubbled up into his chest, spilling out in bitten off chuckles. "Even I was never so extravagant as to create such eyesores. Hm, perhaps I should have…"

Letting the mirth escape fully, Alucard leapt to the crown of the stone man's head before him. Without looking back at the confinement behind him, he used the statue as a springing board to launch himself high into the night sky. The force shifted the monolith, gravity grabbing greedily at the stone. The earth at the base of the statue erupted, newly formed crevices filled with the rain of dirt kicked up as the ground lost its hold. It hit the ground face first with enough force to render it into multiple chunks, louder than a train wreck. A cloud of dust exploded up around it, tremors from the impact racing in all directions, reaching even the walled-in city.

Men and women paused as the ground beneath their feet rumbled and shook, looking worriedly between one another in search of an answer to the unasked question. Only one pair of eyes looked to the stars and the wastes they illuminated, echoes of laughter lingering in the back of his mind.

Xxx

Quaint, if a bit dirty and run down, the town of Jericho was nearly deserted. Here and there the signs of rebuilding were glaringly obvious, just as here and there the signs of ruin painted a picture of a grim, not so long ago past.

The stench of old blood lingered in the dirt beneath his boots, mingled with the spices of fire and fear. Ghost images of flames, dead and dying men, screaming women and weeping children, they overlapped one another in his mind's eye. Different villages, different peoples, all of them bleeding for his cause, all of them ultimately bowing to him. But not here, not now. A mental shake to his senses and the thoughts, the memories, were banished.

A flicker of movement caught his attention, eyes landing on a swaying curtain barely concealing the presence of the man standing behind it. Frowning slightly at the cowardice of the remaining inhabitants, Alucard continued his slow trek through the town. There was no real reason for him to be there, save for his curiosity. These people who refused the so-called sanctuary of the church's city enticed him, yet so far he was sorely disappointed.

Where were the gun-toting, hard headed humans he had been expecting? The heart beats hidden behind poorly repaired walls quickened at the mere sight of him, senseless thoughts spinning off about his attire and the death of little children. In-so-far as he was aware, they had no reason to know what he may or may not have done in his 'youth', let alone have reason to feel more then general wariness towards his person.

Obviously, he was missing something.

The tell-tale sound of metal scraping metal paused his steps, the bullet meant for his skull whizzing mere centimeters in front of his nose to lodge itself in to the beam next to him. Slowly his eyes traced the bullet's path back to the human standing in the shadows not ten feet to his right.

The form went rigid, muzzle of the gun in outstretched arms illuminating the shooter just long enough to show in fine detail the face of a young woman before his vision went red and the world fell away.