Note: To Paladin-kriss: Sorry, I forgot to take that part out about her killing a vampire with lead bullets. So I've added to it and given her a bloodline. To Haissan: Sorry, the whole story is in first person.
--
Chapter 2: Back Again
I thought I had seen the last of them, but I was wrong. Now I was dreaming about them, especially him. It was always the same dream, like a scene stuck in a loop, over and over it played. It was like I'd have to blow my own head off just to get the channel to change.
I am running. I'm always running. There's a monster chasing me that you can't see. It's like a big black dark cloud that's oozing after me and no matter how hard or how fast I run, it's always right behind me. And along the way, I keep running into people that need help. I pull them out of holes in the ground. I pull them out of holes in the walls. I pull them out of holes in the sky, and once they're free they just disappear and I am running again. And then, he appears. I run into him head long and he wraps his arms around me.
"There you are Dino. Or maybe I should call you dinner."
Then he bites me and the darkness consumes me. I always wake up screaming and always wake up on the floor.
I'd go to a psychiatrist, but the only thing he'd tell me is what I already know. It's my own anxiety over my unanswered questions about what happened a month ago. And why the hell should I pay him $300 bucks for that. What I would pay $300 bucks for is the answer on how to make this nightmare go away. I feel like I'm wasting my life sitting here at this desk job. It's the same thing every day.
Jim asked me if I wanted to go bowling with the gang, but I told him no. I just didn't feel like it. What I did do was go to the gym. My mind is clearer and I think better on a treadmill. Maybe because you're running in place and getting nowhere, just like my life…and now, my nightmares.
So I was running and thinking when I caught the whiff of something I had smelt before, blood and gun powder. I looked around and saw only other gym goers in their routines. But the smell never went away. I stopped running on the treadmill and followed the smell. I went left and didn't smell anything, so I went right and the scent returned. I was following the smell…no I was being led by the smell to the women's bathroom. I hesitated before I entered.
"Why hesitate? You're female, you're allowed in here." chuckled a deep voice inside my head.
I knew who that was and I went inside.
"What are you doing in here?" I asked.
"Waiting for you." he grinned, with that evil "bad boy" grin of his.
"In the women's bathroom?" I scoffed; wondered what the hell he was doing here and what the hell did he want.
"Well if I had waited in the men's room, you wouldn't have come."
"What do you want?"
"Just you."
"Won't Sir Hellsing be mad if you're caught "snacking" again?"
"First of all, what she doesn't know won't hurt her and second of all, we're in America in a women's bathroom, who'll find out."
"You'd be surprised. Big brother is everywhere." I joked.
"Ha, ha, ha."
"So what do you want with me?"
"A quick bite."
"No way." I said, starting to back out of the bathroom.
"Too bad, I've had a 13 hour flight and I'm hungry."
He moved so fast that I didn't even see him move. What I felt though was the pain in my back as he shoved me against the wall. He held me tightly; his scent of blood and gunpowder was the only thing that I could smell, as his body covered mine. Fear gripped me and spurred my heart to beat faster and faster as I felt my skin part. He cut me deeply and kissed my neck.
And oh my god, I never felt anything so…so…pleasurable. It was like pain and pleasure all in one dizzying package. My body felt weak, so weak that I couldn't stand on my own. My senses were reeling. I couldn't tell what was what; where I was, what I was doing, or how long I had been doing it. My eyes rolled back and my mind surrendered to him. He was stealing my lifeforce and I felt so good that I wanted him to.
--
The next time I woke up. I knew where I was. I was back in England; in the same rich room, with the same silk red pajamas.
"Not again." I groaned, trying to get my head to stop hurting.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in." I called out.
It was Walter, bringing a smile and some breakfast.
"Good morning, Miss Coven, I trust we slept well."
"Yes, sir." I said, sitting up to speak with him. "But ah…why am I back here again?"
"Yes, that. Well, eat first and then we'll visit Sir Hellsing."
"Thank you." I said, getting up.
Walter placed the breakfast tray on my vanity table and then left the room. I showered, dressed, ate, and then stepped out into the hall.
"OK, let's see if you remember how to get there." I told myself.
I walked upstairs and made a couple of lefts. Soon Sir Hellsing's office door was staring me in the face. I knocked.
"Come in." I heard.
She sounded just as miffed as the last time I was here; probably more so now for having to see me again. I entered her office and stood at attention before her desk.
"At Ease." she told me.
I went to parade rest and waited. Suddenly, Walter appeared beside her carry a tray of tea. Did that man ever make noise?
"So Miss Coven, it seems I am stuck with you." she said, as she put the file that she had been reading down on her desk.
A quick look and I saw that it was my file that she had been reading.
"Stuck with me?"
"Yes, your transfer papers came in on Monday. And Alucard, the most helpful bastard that he is, was more than happy to go and fetch you."
Wow, her sarcasm was so thick that you could have choked on it.
"Transfer? You need a Logistics Manager?"
"No, you are solider on your country's inactive list, are you not?" she reminded me.
"Yes sir, I still have 18 months of inactive duty to serve before I am completely discharged from service."
"As we do need soldiers here, I requested from her majesty to send me a new batch of soldiers to replace the ones I lost while on mission in your country. Somehow, your name ended up on that list."
"In other words for saving our ass, we're sending you our leftovers."
"Aptly put. However, since my soldiers rarely last more than eight months here. I am in no position to argue with her unless the subjects she sends me are completely incompetent."
"I take it then that you completely screen all applicants before bringing them here."
"Yes, of course."
"And I'm still here?"
"Is there something you wish to tell me?"
"Well, it's just that if what happened to me ten months ago is a normal day at work for you then I don't think I can be of any service to you."
"Nonsense, Dino. You will be of great service to us. If not but to me." said a dark and laughing voice.
I jumped as the cold shivers of his approaching slide up my spine.
"Stay away from me." I warned him.
"Why?" he asked, with a taunting grin.
"Because every time I see you, I end up on my back." I said, without thinking of how that must of sounded.
He strode forward, right up to me, bent down and looked me right in the eyes; his blood red eyes staring right into mine.
"Such a declaration, you really shouldn't say things like that, or people will think that you're not a virgin."
"Then they'd be right!"
"No they wouldn't." he chuckled, full of delight. "You're a virgin of the first degree; a church going, god fearing virgin who rarely thinks about sex at all."
"I am not!" I protested.
"You must be," said Integra, with a slight chuckle in her voice. "otherwise, Alucard wouldn't be so interested in you."
"Why would you want to deny being a virgin?" asked Walter, in a fatherly tone. "It's nothing to be ashamed of."
"It is in my country."
"Ah, yes. The US of A, the unscrupulous sinners association." laughed Alucard.
I just glared at him. How dare he insult the United States of America the greatest country on the Earth? Didn't matter that what he said might be true, it was still an insult.
"Listen you…."
Suddenly, a gun went off and a hole was in Alucard's forehead. I turned and stared at Integra with utter disbelief. She had shot him. She really shot him. Only he didn't die. He really was an Immortal.
"Now what was that for?" he asked, in an annoyed manner, as his wound just sealed itself back up.
"First of all, you calling the USA an unscrupulous pack of sinners is the pot calling the kettle black and secondly, stop drinking her blood without my permission."
"Your permission?" I growled.
She just looked at me and raised an eyebrow. It seems that she hated having her authority challenged, on any level.
"Now that you are here Miss Coven, your rank of Sgt is being reinstated and you are now part of Bravo Squad. Walter, make sure she has proper uniforms and introduce her to her new unit members."
"Yes, Sir Hellsing. This way please, Miss Coven."
I followed Walter out, but I overheard them as I left.
"I hope you're happy; but if you ever use your powers on the council again to get your way, I will have you shot, sealed in a vat of holy water, and buried up to your ass in garlic."
So he had me brought here. I wondered why as I followed Walter down to the unit barracks. What did Alucard want with me?
