A/N: Not much of a reception at first. I wish Fanfiction would allow for longer summaries. Then maybe I could write something that would actually entice people to my story. MarzBarz, you rule for reading and commenting. Please continue to do so, as it is quite encouraging. ^_^
Two
The wind rushed past, but Seras paid it no mind as she stared at the female vampire standing before them. Her long raven hair followed the wind's paths, trailing elegantly clear down her back. It was longer even than Alucard's hair. Her flaming eyes bored into Seras's with an intensity she had yet to experience until now. Seras tried to place the strange emotion emanating off the female vampire, but to no avail, as she quickly closed her eyes. She shifted her arm beneath her cloak and pulled out a metallic band with two lengths of black cloth dangling from either end. This, she pulled up to her face and placed over her eyes and above the bridge of her nose where it sat perfectly, molded to her flesh. She tied the cloths together behind her head and dropped her arms.
"I feel I should be going, now," she murmured. She turned. There was a horrible, squelching sound and Seras jumped and gasped sharply as two jet-black, bloody wings erupted from the female vampire's back through two slits in her cloak. Fully feathered, fully functional, she flapped them twice, flinging the blood off. Then, with a rushing wind, the sound like a thousand tortured voices, she spread her wings, preparing to fly.
"Wait!" Seras exclaimed. The female vampire turned. Her eyes flamed. "Yes?" she asked.
"Who are you?"
The female vampire smiled a surprisingly warm and inviting smile considering her sharp fangs. "Call me Wynter." she said. The breeze around them picked up in a screaming whirlwind and before Seras could blink, the vampire Wynter had taken off into the skies, soaring off into the darkness. Seras stared into the inky blackness of night where she'd vanished. Then, she turned to Alucard. "Master, who was that?"
"I believe she already answered that for you, Police-Girl," he replied. Seras fumed. "No, I mean she called you 'master'! Do you know her?"
"Police-Girl, I've lived for many centuries and known quite a few people. Whether I know her or not depends on how big of an impression she made on me."
Seras stared hard at him. Try as he might to brush it off, she suspected that he knew more than he was letting on. But for the moment, they'd completed their job. Integra would probably be a little irritated at how long it took them to finish it, but at least it was over and done with.
"Oh, I'm exhausted," Seras moaned, flopping to the side limply. "Is this what I'll seriously be doing for the rest of my life?"
"Possibly. For either the rest of your life or however long Hellsing remains intact. Whichever comes first," Alucard replied simply. Seras grumbled to herself. "Gee, thanks, master, you're so encouraging."
Alucard peered down at his fledgling curiously. "Are you still angry?" he asked, more for his own curiosity than concern for her welfare.
"No, not really. What you said made sense. But he was a fledgling just like me. I couldn't help but feel sorry for him."
"Be thankful you have a master who won't throw you to the wind before your time, Police-Girl," Alucard practically spat out. "Humans have a phrase I hear from time to time. They say that sometimes, you learn to swim by being thrown in and seeing what happens. I've never heard such ridiculous nonsense before."
Seras smiled slightly and stood up. In his own weird, warped way, Alucard was just reassuring her that he wasn't going to just abandon her. She really was thankful for it, despite the fact that she wished he'd be a little more understanding from time to time. In the very least, she wished he wouldn't meld his helpful tidbits with sarcasm.
"So, master," she said, grabbing her gun and following after him, "Wynter, do you know who she was?"
Alucard didn't answer. He just stared straight ahead in the direction of faint thumping sounds. Sir Integra and Walter were probably on their way. Seras sighed and braced the Harkonnen's barrel against her shoulder. "Master, how come you never answer my questions?" she asked irritably.
"Because they often aren't worth answering," Alucard replied bluntly. Seras's head lolled. "That's mean, master. But wait, what about that question? You just answered it!"
"It was worth answering."
"Agh, why are you so mean to me?"
"I'm hard on you because you have potential, Police-Girl. Don't complain."
"I'm not," Seras growled. She shifted her gun and sighed. She knew that he was dodging her questions about Wynter. He clearly knew who she was, but for some reason, was refusing to tell her. Was she someone that Alucard knew in the past? Maybe a relative? No, that couldn't be right; Alucard was a vampire who walked alone. He'd told her himself that perhaps the world was ready for a vampire that didn't travel by her lonesome, rising from Seras's refusal to drink her master's blood and free herself from him. She just didn't feel she was ready to. She shook her head fiercely. She was supposed to be trying to figure out who this vampire Wynter could be. Maybe she was a lover from the past? Seras shook her head again, realizing that if she'd eaten, she'd probably be blushing. She felt a deep respect for her master that bordered between love and parental admiration. It was a perfectly balanced in-between and somehow made her slightly flustered to think about it. Besides, something told her that wasn't the correct answer anyway.
She chanced a look at Alucard, walking with his hands in his pockets, staring blankly ahead of him. His laid back nature was just a farce; he was always on high alert at all times. He only ever truly relaxed when locked deep within his chambers at Hellsing's headquarters. She swallowed, wondering whether or not to try to ask him more about Wynter.
"Don't waste your time, Police-Girl," he said. Seras jumped in surprise before remembering their weird telepathic bond, developed from the moment they became master and apprentice. He could somehow sense whatever she was thinking, whereas she could only hear him. She couldn't truly sense his thoughts. It was irritating as hell, but there was nothing she could do for it.
"But master, I'm just curious about her, that's all. You seemed to know her. I just wanted to know if maybe she was an old friend or something, you know?"
He sighed irritably and pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "Police-Girl, I'm not going to say this again. Mind your own business."
Seras made to protest, but thought better of it and bit her tongue. She'd upset him. Obviously, mentioning Wynter brought back memories only he remembered, but would rather have kept buried.
"Sorry, master," she whispered. "I didn't mean to upset you."
"Whoever said I was upset? I simply don't know anything else," he said, grinning. Seras rolled her eyes. He was still hyped up from pent up anticipation from the battle and was in one of his post-fighting moods again. He wouldn't take anything seriously until after he'd slept for a few hours. She'd already gotten used to it, but Integra's short temper was another story. Alucard often got himself 'killed' when talking to his master in one of these moods.
"You're lying," Seras muttered.
"Says you,"
Seras clenched her fists, snarling to herself. "Wynter was right; you are irritating!" she snapped. He tipped his hat. "Just another of my redeeming qualities," he said, grinning.
Seras felt the need to go out and kill something.
//ooo//
Wynter sighed heavily and stretched. She'd recently fed well and needed to find a safe place to rest. Because of her nomadic nature, keeping a coffin was out of the question. Fortunately, her special abilities made it easier for her. She was what was called a Day Walker. She could freely walk about in the daytime and not have to worry about death by sunlight. Unfortunately, the only drawback was her unusually pale skin, which burnt unnaturally quickly. Well, she supposed it was natural for her kind, a Proper Undead.
She stood up, turning to the east. It was almost sunrise. She had money; maybe she'd just settle for an inn for the day and search out a nice dry cave somewhere in the meantime. She'd gotten away with it before. She'd spent years perfecting the art of charming her human prey. The secret lay in eye contact. Once she locked eyes with a human, it was all over. That was one reason she wore the blindfold. The other was that no matter how much blood she drank, her eyes never dulled down to a neutral enough color not to draw attention to herself. She told humans that the blindfold protected her abnormally sensitive eyes and she pretended to need a guide stick when in reality, she was always aware of her path.
As she stood up, memories of her meeting with the younger vampire, Seras, came to mind. Instantly, sadness replaced contentment from feeding.
"Seras Victoria," she whispered, "Quite the interesting young vampire, if you ask me,"
She smiled. She knew she wanted to be upset about the current matters at hand, but she knew that given the circumstances, it was for the best. She gazed up at the pale twilight sky, preparing to allow the sun to ascend the heavens and rule the day once again.
"Well then, Seras Victoria," she muttered, turning in the direction of Hellsing's headquarters, "Perhaps I would like to meet you. I wonder, can you hear my thoughts?"
//ooo//
Seras bolted awake, gasping. She shot up, forgetting the lid of her bed for a second and knocked her forehead sharply against the wooden surface. Snarling and clutching her head, she pushed the button, making the lid rise up. Then, she sat up fully.
"Wynter?" she exclaimed softly. She was sure she'd heard Wynter's voice in her head just then. Did Wynter have telepathic abilities? Like Alucard, was Wynter an abnormally powerful vampire who could communicate by thought? Vaguely, she wondered if perhaps all vampires could do this and that she just hadn't learned how, yet. She wished Alucard would answer her questions.
She gasped and stood up. "Wait! Integra might know something," she said. "All right then, I'll ask her."
//ooo//
"I can't believe this," Integra snapped, "Another village, destroyed by these third-rate fledgling vampires."
She slapped the report down on her desk and gazed hopelessly at the piles and piles of papers lining it. Walter cleared his throat. "Sir Integra, have you considered the possibility of another incident involving the FREAKS?" he asked.
" I have, Walter," Integra replied, going over another recent report. She rubbed her eyes beneath the frames of her glasses and sighed, "But every vampire examined at each scene proved to be a normal fledgling. They only had one noticeable thing in common,"
"The lack of a master," Walter said. Integra nodded. "Yes. Each one was weak, poorly trained and heavily emaciated, hinting that they'd been abandoned by their sires or possibly, sire just moments after creation. The way this is pointing, I can't help but assume that there may just be a single sire behind this mess."
"I must say, I've never heard of such a thing," Walter said, scratching his chin, "A vampire turning dozens of humans into fledgling vampires and then abandoning them with no apparent reason."
"It may not be just one vampire turning them, Walter. It could mean that there's several doing the turning, but that one damn bloodsucker is controlling their actions,"
"In which case, we could have a major epidemic of vampire attacks headed our way in the near future," Walter finished. Integra nodded and sighed heavily. "I'm considering sending Alucard out to investigate this," she said.
"What about Ms. Victoria?" Walter asked.
"She's just a fledgling herself," Integra said, "Since she became comfortable with being a vampire, she developed a rather peevish tendency to feel sympathy for other fledglings. I swear, I don't know what that idiot Alucard was thinking by turning her," she grumbled. She glanced up at the sound of the door creaking. She sighed, "I can hear you, you know," she called. Seras stepped in, looking somewhat hurt. "Um, Sir Integra, am I really that much of a burden?" she asked, having completely forgotten her original mission. Integra couldn't help but smile at Seras's childlike innocence.
"No, Seras, you aren't a problem at all as you are. You're still learning. I'm placing the blame on that numbskull you've got for a master,"
Seras giggled at that and heard Alucard's voice growling in her head.
Humph. And after everything I've done for her, he grumbled. Seras scowled and scratched her head furiously. "Master, stay out of my head!" she shrieked to the surprise of Integra and Walter. She froze, blushed heavily as a result of feeding two hours ago and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. He has a habit of manipulating our telepathic bond to eavesdrop," she said.
Hey!
"I apologize if I startled you,"
"It's quite all right," Integra said, adjusting her glasses, "I understand the feeling to a degree,"
No good traitors.
"Thank you, Sir Integra," Seras said with a smile. She loved it when she was able to irritate her master for once, instead of the other way around.
"Now then," Integra said, "Did you need something, Seras?"
"Um, yes, I did have a question for you, but I suppose I'd better wait for another time. Master's still hanging around."
I am not! Whoops.
"So I'll let you get back to work,"
"That would be appreciated," Integra said with a light smile. As Seras departed, Integra sighed. "It seems my wayward servant is feeling a bit quirky today. Maybe sending him to investigate the matter is a good thing,"
Walter chuckled. "Modern times are certainly having an effect on him. As I recall, he wasn't like that when he awoke,"
"No, but he wasn't incredibly tolerable then, either. I swear, his curiosity was almost a death for him on more than one occasion, his bizarre fascination with outlets for starters. Now then, back to the issue at hand. I've received word from Norwich that three young men have all vanished under mysterious circumstances and have all been spotted along the coastline. How much do you want to bet it's our fang-happy vampire at work again?"
"Observing the influx of fledgling vampires, I'm beginning to notice a pattern, Sir Integra," Walter said. "Our first case at Dover two months ago produced the reanimated corpses of three young women between the ages of eleven and twenty-two, all of them recently abandoned fledglings and all of them poorly trained."
"Yes."
"Then, our second case at Leeds yielded four corpses, one woman estimated at about fifteen and three young men between the ages of twelve and nineteen."
"Yes. That one was difficult to explain to the townsfolk."
"And finally, excluding our most recent case, there was the final attack at Shrewsbury. Six corpses, all of them women between the ages of ten and twenty. I'm beginning to dissect a pattern here, Sir Integra."
"I see your point," Integra said, leaning her chin on her upraised hand. "The victims were predominately female and all of them were adolescents."
"Precisely. Furthermore, all of the women were virgins at the time of creation and all but one engaged to be married sometime that year."
"I see. So this then tells us that whoever is pulling the strings behind the creation of these fledgling vampires has spent a lot of time studying his victims beforehand. But this brings us to this question; what on earth is the motive? Creating all of these fledglings and then abandoning them to fend for themselves without any proper training? I don't see how it all adds up."
"Perhaps Alucard might have some idea. I dread to tell you Sir Integra, but I'm afraid I'm rather stumped at the moment," Walter admitted grudgingly.
"Yes, he might," Integra grumbled reluctantly, hesitant to involve Alucard in any of this matter whatsoever. "Despite how I wish to keep him out of this if at all possible, he might be our best option. He has, after all, turned and trained four successful fledglings that we are aware of, Seras Victoria included in that number."
"Sir Integra, I actually have a bit of news concerning one of Alucard's fledglings. We managed to track her down and sadly, I'm afraid she was killed by the Iscariot Organization some time ago. As for the first, I'm afraid her whereabouts are unknown at present."
"What about the third?" Integra asked.
"Same. As you requested years ago, the moment we found out about Alucard's fledglings, I have kept tabs on as many as I could find. Only the second and third were traceable. The last sighting of his third fledgling was about three years ago in Ireland by the Iscariot Organization. I fear the chances that she has been eliminated as well are rather high, Sir Integra."
"That's rather disturbing," Integra said, lighting a cigar and sighing. "Naturally, any fledgling of Alucard's is going to inherit vast amounts of power. If the wrong people got a hold of one of those fledglings, it would be the same as releasing Alucard from his bondage,"
"There may still be hope for the first. Perhaps she would serve a purpose in our quest to discover the meaning behind these irate fledglings and their enigmatic master," Walter said, smirking.
Integra nodded. "There is some merit to that idea, Walter. Provided the first one is still connected to Alucard, she may be of assistance. Do you know her name?"
"Yes. I believe she is called Wynter,"
A/N: I love Wynter. She's awesome! She's in my hall of memories in my profile. It's a list of my all time favorite creations. I have another character who will go in there. Her name is Nightingale. But her story isn't up yet and won't be for quite some time, so she'll have to wait.