Yay, this is Chapter 2 of Beyond Life and Death! Yeah, it's a horrible pun but who cares? :D I am not really happy with how the chapter turned out; it all sounded better in my head...but it's still not that bad, I suppose^^

A big, fat thanks to the one's who reviewed the first chapter and to the one's who faved and/or put this story on alert!

Spoilers ahead!

Fun-facts about this chapter:

-Yes, this takes place just after A's suicide. The scene is based on (in this, B is 14, in the One-Shot he's 15) the suicide scene in one of my One-Shots, "Beating the Unbeatable". No worries, you don't have to read it.

-Walter and Integra met Wammy on some party. They get along quite well. Alucard has met Wammy once, when he came for a visit, though they never talked to each other.

-Roger has no idea that Seras and Alucard are vampires, he's just totally nervous because he can sense that they're not normal.

-I know that at the time Hellsing takes place, L would be already nineteen, but I changed that bit.

Step 2: Infiltrate the orphanage & Stay inconspicuous

It was a week later that one human and two vampires found themselves in a rather expensive looking car that had been send by Integra's acquaintance to pick them up. Walter had joined them after Sir Hellsing had decided that she needed somebody to keep an eye on Alucard and she didn't quite trust Seras with that task.

Their driver had introduced himself as Roger. He was about Walters age, a bit younger perhaps and his curly white hair covered only the back of his head, leaving the forehead exposed, which made the impression that his forehead was abnormally large in size. A pair of glasses was resting on the bridge of his nose. At the sight of the ancient vampire he hadn't been able to contain his nervousness and even though he stroke her as a person who filled awkward silences with talking, after he'd introduced himself he had kept silent. Seras wondered if he knew what they were.

She sighed and leaned against the cool glass of the car's pane. The ride could've been enjoyable, for the scenery was truly beautiful (especially because everything was covered with a layer of snow), if it only weren't for the dark clouds in the sky. It would have been hard to get her to Winchester if the sun had shone, but she still thought that it looked gloomy. The former cop wasn't superstitious, yet she thought that it was probably a bad sign.

Her musings were interrupted as the car pulled into a driveway and the door she had leaned upon was opened, causing her to almost fall. She wanted to shout that they should have warned her, but when she recognized Roger, the words died in her throat. It was not like his appearance intimidated her; it was the look on his face that made her pause. It was an expression of utter shock and fear.

She was now curious, so she followed his gaze. Wammy's assistant stared at a small crowd that had formed in front of the building she assumed was the orphanage. The sight of it stirred an uncomfortable feeling in her, one she could not quite place. Next to this gathering waited an ambulance and when she squinted her eyes, she could see that the body of a child was carried into the vehicle by paramedics.

She turned to face Roger just to find that he had already disappeared in the crowd.

For some reason, Seras felt the irresistible urge to follow him and see for herself what had happened and she glanced unsurely at her master who in return stared back. His face was completely blank and the draculina wasn't too sure what to think of that. Would he stop her?

Integra had instructed them to stay as inconspicuous as possible and the fledgling was sure that if she gave in to her curiosity, she would be disobeying orders. Even so, something drew her to the scene and she simply stopped trying to resist.

When Seras arrived there, she realized that the group consisted mostly of children (what was not really surprising, considering that this was an orphanage) who all had the same, horrified expression frozen on their small faces. A girl was sobbing hysterically and ignored the attempts of her friends to cheer her up, some boys shook their heads in disbelief and the caretakers whispered to each other in hushed voices.

"Hey, get out of the way, we have another injured person!" yelled a man clad in the uniform of a paramedic. He and another medic carried a on which a boy lay.

Pushing aside one of the taller kids who didn't even spare her a glance, she leaned forward to catch a glimpse of his face, but a curtain of raven-black colored tresses shielded it from her view. What she could see, however, was enough for her to know that some kind of fight between the orphans must've taken place.

The child had had his head turned to the side, so she had been able to make out the red marks at his neck, a blatant contrast to the unhealthy pale skin. She didn't need some kind of training to know that those were fresh strangulation marks. It saddened her to know that this had been probably the work of a child.

What did you expect, Police girl? Are you really that naïve to think that children are innocent? She sucked in a sharp breath and almost fell over when she heard the voice of her master. She bit her lip to refrain herself from yelling at him for startling her. Also, the mockery in his inquiry was too obvious not to be noticed. He taunted her for still being 'too human', too 'naïve', and she hated it like nothing else in this world.

Now come back. You're not supposed to attract attention.

"If you were really concerned about that, you would have stopped me before I had left the car!"

Still, she quickly returned to Alucard and Walter and waited impatiently for Roger to come back.

The sun had already long set when the elderly man walked towards the vehicle and gave them a sign that they could now come inside. His hands trembled slightly and his face was marred with a sorrowfully expression.

No one spoke.

The three Hellsing members follow Roger through the still corridors, when their leader finally broke the silence. "I...I am terribly sorry for making you wait so long, but...you see...I...there was..."

"It's okay, Roger" offered Seras and relief crossed the assistant's face, before his face returned to the regretful expression from before. They reached a door which was opened for them and they stepped into Quillsh Wammy's office.

The orphanage leader already awaited them.

He appeared even older than Roger with the slightly bended back. He was dressed in a black suit with a matching black tie and made the impression of a typical old English butler or English gentleman. His combed back hair, his bushy eyebrows and his mustache were snow white. His face was rather calm, given the situation, which Seras couldn't help but admire.

"Welcome, Walter, Miss Victoria and Alucard. I hope the wait wasn't too bothersome?" Wammy greeted them and motioned them to take a seat in front of his desk. He himself sat down at his desk and folded his hands on top of it.

"I assume Roger didn't tell you what has happened, did he?" he inquired with a raised brow and the Hellsing butler shook his head. "I am afraid he hasn't." A sigh escaped Wammy's lips and he said "I can't really blame him. It is a rather unfortunate incident, after all. It appears that one of the children was killed today."

"Killed?" the former 'police girl' blurted out and flushed a light pink when the others stared at her and she continued in a lower voice "I mean...somebody was killed? Could it be that...?"

"That the death is related to the paranormal activity? It is a possibility, though I doubt that. Besides, we do have a witness" explained the inventor. Now it was Walter who spoke up. "Then shouldn't it be clear what happened?"

Their host sighed again and told them "Yes, there is a witness, but right now he is also a suspect and he was attacked by a classmate." The image of the strangled boy entered the draculina's mind and she was horrified to find out that it had really been a child.

Police Girl, focus .Alucard scolded her via mind link. She did as she was told and her master decided to partake in the conversation. "Could we now talk about the reason why we were sent here?" he drawled with a bored expression on his face. He had already placed the device on the desk while they had been talking.

"Of course" Wammy replied and turned the radar on. Seras watched as the old man located the orphanage and instantly noticed the two red dots. The master and she. The vampiress searched for the third one, yet she couldn't find it. The others noticed as well.

"Hm...It seems like the person is not here anymore..." mumbled the butler and Quillsh Wammy nodded. "It seems that way. I am positive that it is one of the five children, excluding...the corpse, that were taken to the hospital" he concluded.

Five children only? That would make their job a lot easier, the only female in the room thought happily. "What are their names?" she asked.

"Their names are B, F, J, S and V; B being the witness. The others are currently in a state of shock" was the answer.

"Letters?" This confused her. Hadn't she asked for names?

"This is not a normal orphanage, Miss Victoria. This is an orphanage that has specialized on child-prodigies and supports their talents. They are given letters as names to protect their identity" Walter informed her.

"Miss Hellsing and I already debated on how to integrate you into the orphanage. Here are the instructions. Miss Victoria..." she was handed a file. "...you will act as a new caretaker. I believe that the children will trust you easily." The inventor gave her a reassuring smile.

"Walter, my friend, you will be a history teacher, specialized on WW II. Is that alright with you?" "It's fine with me" answered said retainer and accepted the folder he was given.

Then it was Alucard's time. His fledgling wondered what task he could possibly get. The idea of the ancient vampire surrounded by a bunch of children just seemed wrong. As it turned out, Integra had thought so as well.

"What?"

"You heard right. Sir Hellsing decided it wouldn't be a very good idea to let you interact with the residents of this institute, so we will keep your existence a secret. You will only be allowed to leave your room when you are ordered to. This is an order from Sir Hellsing."

Alucard growled disapprovingly. He was obviously pissed at not being able to roam outside at night.

But it was an order from Integra and Seras somehow doubted her master would disobey.