Story Time for Integral

Chapter 2: Black Eyes

Integral raised an eyebrow "Big Red?" she asked skeptically.

Walter nodded. "But for now let's just call him Red."

"Alright, so tell me about this vampire Red. What did he look like?"

"Well," said Walter "for the most part he looked like a rather tall European gentleman of about twenty. He looked normal enough though he did dress oddly. He was always walking around in a great hat and a red coat, hence the nickname."

"Yeah Daddy is always saying that vampires spend most of their time pretending to be human."

"Well now Red only looked human when he wanted to. When he got mad you'd have to be blind and deaf to mistake him for a human. He could turn into horrible and scary things. Why I remember that the most disturbing thing about him when I first saw him was his eyes. They were black and evil looking."

"Aw that's so sad. Who beat him up?" asked Integral.

Walter blinked. "Who beat whom up?"

"That's what I want to know."

"…Let's start over." said Walter after a last failed attempt to understand what was going on.

"Alright, I want to know who beat Red up."

"What did I say that gave any indication that he HAD been beat up?" asked Walter.

"Well you said he had two black eyes." said Integral slowly. She wondered if perhaps Walter really WAS getting on in years and becoming loose in the head.

"…You know what, forget what I said about the eyes. They were red more often then black anyway."

"Alright then go on with the story." said Integral as she snuggled further down under the blankets.

Walter sighed, he had a feeling this might be a long day. "In any event I met Red when I was in my own youth. I had just been hired to the Hellsing family for my…special skills…and at the time he was acting as a servant to this family."

Integrals eyes got huge. "You mean we used to have a vampire working for us? But I thought we were supposed to kill vampires."

An odd smile played across Walters face. "This was a long time ago Miss Hellsing. The past leaders of your house have been vastly different from one another and operated in different ways. Some of the ideas of your grandparents would…not be welcome in this day and age."

"Oh so THAT'S why Daddy keeps calling Grandpa a dried up old crazy man with too many dangerous ideas for his own good."

Walter raised an eyebrow. "That seems a bit harsh though I suppose Sir Lionel did go thru more trouble with Al…Red then your Grandfather. However it's not my place to question them. May I go on with the story?"

"Yes please go on. Sorry Walter."

"As I was saying I met Red in my youth. He was working for this family at the time and both of us were put together as partners for a mission."

"You were new to the Hellsing family but they still put you together with a vampire as a partner?" Asked Integral a little awed.

"Well there were some…interesting circumstances that led to that." said Walter.

Integral could tell he was trying to hide something awkward and anything Walter thought were awkward and wanted to hide Integral had long ago learned were the most interesting. "Please tell me Walter. What happened with you and Red?"

Walter sighed. "Well on my first day at the mansion I was just another soldier in everyone's eyes. Though I did have a few special skills and tricks so did a lot of the other soldiers. After all you don't hunt vampires for years and not pick up a thing or two."

"What are these skills you keep talking about?"

"Oh you know, just the tricks and things I can do with wire. I err…tied the vampires up with it."

"Oh I see."

"You do?" asked Walter.

"Sure." said Integral. "You were a dental floss ninja."

Walter couldn't help but blush a little he heard Integrals old name for him. "Err yes I suppose so. In any event I wanted to be noticed as a member of the agency. So I decided that I would go to the agencies vampire. As you can tell I was an immature child back then rather then the immature old man that I am now."

"What were you planning on doing?" asked Integral her eyes wide again.

"Well," said Walter, "I really don't know."

"Huh? What do you mean you didn't know? You were just going to go after the vampire without any plan at all?"

"Actually yes, and that is exactly what I did. As I walked thru the mansion looking for him I remember that all kinds of plans kept going thru my head. I went thru every possible scenario. I was ready to do everything from killing him off to trying to make friends with him. After a moment of walking around I really had no idea what I was going to do when I found him. Of course as luck would have it that's when I found him, or rather, when he found me."

Integral gulped. "What did he do? Could he tell what you were planning…or not planning?"

"Oh he knew alright and he made sure that I knew that he knew. He came walking down a hallway at me calling my name and as he approached he began to look less and less like his human self. Bats came off of him and he began to grow extra eyes."

Integrals gave a little gasp and pulled the covers up to her face. "And…and what did he do then? Did he try to hurt you? Did he want to drink your blood?"

"Well he got closer and closer to me. Bats were flying all around and I could see that he was turning into a mass of shadow. He came closer and closer till he was right on top of me."

"What happened then?" asked Integral in a little squeak the covers almost over her head.

"He leaned his face in close to me, bared his huge fangs and with his mouth right next to me he asked me in a deep voice 'Do you want to go out for slushies?'"