Promise to a Dragon

Chapter One: In the Beginning

Like all good stories, this starts on a dark and dreary night. It was the night of a red moon, it's full spectral glory casting unholy shadows on the land below. Though tree and stone remained silent, the small village of Cheddar sang with the screams of the butchered.

Beneath the watchful gaze of the blood moon, a monster had his way with his newly found sheep. Every last one had been butchered and drunk dry, only to rise once more as mindless cattle full of sharp teeth and hunger.

It was when all but one had been massacred that any sort of hope arrived. What came to rescue of the young girl was not a knight in shinning armor, but a monster even more terrifying than the creature preparing to rape her.

The man who was not a man raised his gun to the demonic priest and his captive, and uttered one small question. A question that would change Seras Victoria's fate forever.

'Are you a virgin my dear?'

Without thought or concern, the girl answered.

"Yes!"

And with that single word, her fate was sealed.

Looking down at the frail creature in his arms, something within the ageless vampire stirred. Something so long ago buried he wasn't even sure what it was. All he knew was that it frightened him. But he also knew he could not let girl be turned into a ghoul.

He truly had no idea why he turned her into a vampire. To repay her for shooting her through the heart? No, he had shot hundreds of people before, and killed thousands before that in other ways.

Then was it lust? Perhaps. She was rather beautiful. Or for the fight he saw in her? The small spark of darkness he saw in her? One he could so easily turn into a blaze that would consume her.

That was the most likely cause, but even that answer didn't feel right.

The little police girl had reminded him of someone... someone from so long ago.

When she had looked at him with those pleading blue eyes, it had ripped open a wound he didn't even remember acquiring. It was a wound, still so raw, yet it had been buried beneath hundreds of years worth of self pity, rage, and bloodlust. Those blue eye had drawn out the slightest glimpse of something so completely and disgustingly... human.

And that frightened him. Terrified him even.

Yet it wasn't until he had tasted her blood and seen her memories did he realize who she was...

Ilona.

Every single thing he had done had been for her. His Ilona. He damned his own soul for her. He had avenged her death with the blood of his enemies. He had baptized her memory in hell fire.

He had been chained like a dog all for her. It had not been Mina Harker he had seen that fateful day, but his precious Ilona, long ago taken from him. In his desperation for even the smallest taste of her, he had become reckless. It was trapped within her memory that he fell before Abraham Van Hellsing that night so long ago.

And now here he was, dragged back into that madness once more. All for one insignificant little girl.

Part of him roared in anger at his inward thought. She was in no way insignificant. No, she was everything. She had been since the day he met her over five hundred years ago.

A single tear of blood fell from Alucard's eyes as he gazed down at his little Police Girl.

He knew what had to be done. What he would be forced to do to get her back. And he would hate himself for it.

He would have to break Seras Victoria into a million pieces. But he would be there to put her back together, piece by piece, until he had his Ilona once more.

Seras sat hunched over the wood table in her room, a glass bowl in front of her. Staining the bowl crimson was cold blood she was meant to drink.

Seras' stomach turned in both hunger and disgust. She had been a vampire for almost a week, and she still couldn't bring herself to drink blood.

Ignoring the hunger in her gut, she picked up the bowl and entered her bathroom and dumped the contents in the sink.

Other than the sink, the only other occupants of the small roof was a bath and a cabinet. Apparently vampires didn't need to use the loo. She also no longer had 'feminine problems' now that she was undead. For that she was grateful.

Seras watched as the last drops of blood met the white ceramic.

"Do you honestly want to die?" Questioned a deep voice behind her.

Seras spun around in shock, the glass bowl leaving her grip as she did. It was only by a shadowed hand that it didn't shatter on the tiled floor.

"Master!" Seras cried out.

Alucard sneered at his fledgling. "Idiot. If you don't drink your blood, then you'll only grow weaker and weaker. How then will you be able to fight when the need arrises? And trust me, the fight will come."

Seras looked down in shame. "I know. It's just that... if I drink, it feels like I'll loose something important."

"Sentimental fool." The elder vampire growled. "You will learn soon enough, I suppose."

Seras only fell more into herself. She wanted to make her Master proud. She really did. But she wasn't quite ready to except the loss of her humanity just yet. She just needed time. Why couldn't Master see that?

"Very well, starve yourself." Alucard glared at his fledgling. "But it this continues for much longer, I will have to force feed you myself." he growled. "Don't make me regret my decision to turn you." And then he left.

What Seras didn't know was that he would never regret turning her. He truly didn't see her as weak. No, the things he said were to make her stronger. He knew she wasn't prepared to renounce her humanity just yet, and he would let her take her time. But she still needed a push. If not, she would only kill herself. And that was something he would not allow.

One day, Seras Victoria would become a powerful No-Life Queen. It didn't matter if it took fifty years or one thousand, he would wait for her.

He would always wait for her.

Sir Integra rubbed her temple where yet another headache was plaguing her. The source of said headache stood before her.

"Alucard, why did you turn her into a vampire?" She asked for what seemed like the thousandth time. It could be, since every time she asked, her servant gave her a less than satisfying answer.

Alucard remained silent. He was wearing those damn glasses, preventing her from reading his expression.

"Do you know why she became a Police Girl?" Her vampire questioned seemingly out of the blue.

"He father was an officer was he not?"

Alucard's expression remained unreadable. "He was. But that wasn't the only reason. As a child, Seras Victoria watched her parents' murder."

Integra froze. That was interesting. And not just because Alucard had actually said her full name.

"That girl has been through hell." he continued. "I simply gave her the power to fight back for once."

It was the closest thing Integra had to an answer, and she had a feeling that was all Alucard was willing to share.

Her cigar snapped in her grip. "You may leave now." The vampire bowed and took his leave through the floor.

Integra leaned back in her chair, still pondering. "Why did he turn her?" She whispered to herself.

Perhaps it was a question best left unanswered.

The young Draculina watched the Hellsing butler busy himself with Sir Integra's tea. She sat on the pristine counters, her long legs swinging back and forth like a child.

"How long have you worked for Hellsing, Walter?" Asked Seras in idle conversation.

The elderly man smiled at the girl. He truly did like Seras. She was kind and quite nice to talk to. So unlike her master.

"Dear me, a while now." He pondered for a moment. "I do believe fifty or so years now."

Seras looked at him wide eyed. "Since World War II?"

Walter nodded. "Yes, that sounds about right." He chuckled. "God it's been ages."

"And what about Master? How long has he been here?" Asked Seras eagerly. She wanted to learn everything she could about her Master.

"I... don't know. Long before my time, I know that."

Seras pondered. "And what about Hellsing itself?"

Walter grinned. "You've read Bram Stroker, correct?"

The girl nodded.

"There's your answer."

Her eyes widened. "So, the book was true?"

"Most of it at least." Shrugged the butler. "Some things I'm certain he got wrong. It was a second hand account after all."

Seras looked around her in awe. This building was possibly as old as that famous novel. "And what about Dracula? He was real?"

Walter paused, the tea almost done. "That's a question best answered by Alucard. He'd know much more on the subject than myself."

Seras didn't have time to ponder the implications of that as Walter had left with the tea cart, leaving her to wonder his parting words.