Her head was full of thoughts as she worked her way to the bowels of the building. She collided with Walter as he was leaving her room. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed and helped the aging retainer to his feet. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, Miss Victoria. You, however, look as though you have had an interesting adventure," he replied. "Would you like me to prepare a bath for you? There is a bowl and a bag of blood on your table if you are hungry."
"Thank you, a bath would be lovely, but could it wait until tonight? I haven't slept well recently. I also haven't looked into a mirror for a few days, so I'm sure I look dreadful." She paused, biting her lip. "Um...I want to ask you a question, but –"
"Sir Integra has informed me of the situation." Walter gave her a brief, sympathetic smile. "I will answer any of your inquiries to the best of my knowledge, regardless of the circumstances. Any time, not just now."
She smiled back at him, the first time since she had awakened in a strange place. "How long was I gone after everyone else returned from the raid?"
"It would have been ninety-six hours tonight. If you need anything between now and this evening, please do not hesitate to ask." He stopped at the steps and turned his head to look at her. "I am extremely relieved that you have returned."
"I missed you too," she replied and smiled again. She waited until he had left for the upper level before heading to the secret crypt that held her friends.
The statues had been cleaned while she was gone. She thanked Walter in the silence of her mind and lit the new candles he had left for her. "Oh, my friends, I have done something terrible," she confessed and sat before Aphrodite. "I killed a man today, to feed from him. I was so hungry and I didn't know what to do. I was so close to being home. If he had just let me walk by he would still be alive and I wouldn't have this burden on me. I know that I am a vampire and that I need blood to live, but I can't kill without losing what humanity I have. I'm scared of losing it." She sat in silence for an hour before she summoned the strength to teleport to her room, stumble to her bed and pass out.
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Walter came to fetch her a little after nine-thirty to inform her that the bath was ready. She followed him, struggling to keep a skip out of her step. She had not been so excited about a bath for a while.
She soaked in the tub while the water grew cold, then scrubbed every inch of her skin and hair until she felt clean. She didn't think she would ever tire of bathing. It refreshed her. She wrapped herself in the thick robe that had been left for her and decided to go sit out on her favorite balcony. She found Walter on the second floor and asked him to bring her a glass of blood. He agreed and she continued to the third floor. She passed by Sir Integra's office and was not surprised to see a light on under the door. Her superior was often up until midnight working on assignments.
She was startled to hear raised voices. She did not mean to eavesdrop, but she was compelled to stay when she realized one of the voices belonged to her Master. His tone was too low for her to hear anything he said, but she could sense his agitation. Sir Integra was angry at him.
No, she was furious.
"You know damn well what I meant when I said to take care of the problem! I expressly forbade you from doing anything of this nature. Do you know how lucky you are not to be sitting in the dungeon I saved you from?"
Her Master's response was muffled, but it was apparent he had said something that his master did not approve.
"You have gone too far this time, Alucard, and it cannot be overlooked."
The draculina backed away from the door and continued to her favorite spot. When Sir Integra became upset her anger froze you to the core. It was a rare occasion when she raised her voice. What could her Master have done to infuriate her?
She was mulling over this question when Walter brought her blood and a glass of cordial. She looked at him in surprise as he took the seat next to her. He raised his glass and toasted with her. "To nightcaps," he said and she laughed. "How are you faring, Miss Victoria? You look much better."
"I feel better," she admitted. "Thank you for your help. There is something that is bothering me, though." She glanced at the retainer. "On my way out here I happened to overhear Sir Integra yelling at my Master. I was unaware that he was back from his leave." Walter frowned, but refrained from comment. "I'm starting to get the horrible feeling that Master was involved with my disappearance. What do you think?"
"Alucard returned earlier this evening, while you were in the bath. He was sent for directly." Walter looked at the young vampire. "I must make myself very clear, Miss Victoria. I will tell you what I know to be fact, but I can only speculate as to whether or not he was involved in any way. I sincerely hope not, but as you well know, his motives are not always clear."
"I understand," she replied. The sinking feeling in her stomach was becoming uncomfortable. She forced herself to sit still.
"Alucard's mission in Peru was successful and he returned a few hours earlier than expected, before you left on your own mission. Sir Integra asked if he wanted to accompany you on the raid, but he declined. He said that there were things he needed to arrange because he was going to be taking several days of leave. The only reason I know of this is because I happened to be in the room when he was telling her. He did not say when he would be returning, but he left an hour before you set out on your mission and he has come back within hours of your arrival." Walter fell silent and took a sip of his cordial.
"Thank you for telling me what you know, but now I have even more questions than when I started thinking."
"If I may offer you my opinion?"
"Of course."
"I have known Alucard for many years. His motives and actions often defy our reasoning, but we trust him because he has proven himself to be a character with a strong moral fiber and a startling sense of loyalty. If he was involved, I do not believe that his intention was to hurt you. In his eyes, he probably thinks of it as helping you to realize your full potential."
The companions were silent for several minutes as they finished their drinks. Walter cleared his throat. "I don't know if you would be interested, but I was planning on watching a Swedish film that has come to my attention. It is called Let The Right One In. Perhaps we could also play a game of backgammon. It has been a while since I have had the pleasure of beating you."
She was surprised into laughter. "That sounds great."
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She enjoyed the movie more than she had thought she would, but it was over sooner than she had hoped and she was once again left alone with her questions. There was nothing for her to do on the upper levels once the humans were asleep so she headed for her room.
It was becoming more and more likely that her Master had been involved with her abandonment. Understanding why was the problem and it was a distinct possibility that talking to him would not alleviate her confusion, but exacerbate it.
She opened the door to her room and stepped inside. Her chamber shared a wall with her Master's and she stared at it for several moments before walking over and leaning against it. She closed her eyes, trying to sense even the slightest glimmer of essence from him. She detected nothing.
He was blocking his connection to her.
For some reason this hurt her feelings. A lot. It also made her angry.
Murderous rage angry.
She glared around the room, looking for something she could beat up. There wasn't anything that she was willing to sacrifice, so she dressed in a tank top and shorts and teleported to the training room that was frequented by humans during the day and by her at night. She had a room all to herself with weapons and training tools that could not be used unless one had supernatural strength. She honed in on the person-shaped punching bag.
When she was a new vampire her Master had insisted that she learn where vital organs, veins and arteries were in the human body. He also insisted that she use it for target practice. Head shots, specifically.
She had no idea what her dummy was made of, but she had been made well aware that she was not strong enough to destroy it. Her Master could, but he was several thousand years older than her.
She pretended it was a boy from her grade school years, a boy that had tormented her relentlessly for almost three semesters until she decided to teach him a lesson. Taking a page from Ender's Game, she had bloodied him up badly enough that he was out of school for three weeks, though she had refrained from killing him. The brilliant thing about it was that he couldn't even prove that it had been her. No one believed him because she had been tiny compared to him.
When she got bored with fighting him she pictured her Master instead. In her mind's eye she had him pinned down to a table with silver chains. In reality silver chains would be ineffective, but this was her dream and she loved the shine of silver. She straddled the dummy and pounded at its head.
She realized that somehow she had managed to crush the head flat. The human's blood had made her stronger. Just the thought made her want to cry.
What was the matter with her?
Maybe she was finally going insane. She had a temper, it was true, and she had flown into a violent rage several times, but never like this. Where was all this anger coming from? Perhaps her mind couldn't handle the stress of having taken unwilling blood. She had only ever had donated blood.
Her eyes widened.
The blood.
That was the answer. The man she had fed on had been charged with theft, rape and aggravated assault on several occasions. His memories had been revealed when she ingested his blood. He had been a reckless man with a violent temper and those attributes had been passed on to her.
Bloody hell, she thought.
She managed a wry grin at the accidental pun.
The good news was that the immediate side effects would fade by the next morning. The bad news was that some of his attributes would remain a part of her for the rest of her undead life.
Although, come to think of it, maybe that wasn't such bad news after all. Sometimes it was necessary to be reckless and excessively violent.
This also meant that she was a true vampire now, a status she had hoped not to gain. She had taken her first human life, the only step that had kept her a fledgling.
She frowned. Perhaps that was why she could no longer feel her Master. Technically she had freed herself of him when she drank his blood from the floor after Incognito had, for all intents and purposes, destroyed him. The link had remained and he was still able to boss her around because, as her Master explained it, she wasn't really free if he didn't offer his blood to her willingly. She was not sure that was true, but she had no other vampire to ask.
It was the only explanation she had. It made sense. She had taken the final plunge.
I would not be so sure of that, Police Girl.
Her Master's voice in her head was akin to being hit with a Taser. She was frozen for a moment before she was able to respond.
Where in the seven hells have you been? Do you have any idea what I have been through? What the fu–
Enough. My Master requires your presence in her office. Come now.
She picked herself up off the floor and rubbed her face before glancing at the clock. Three in the morning.
On the dot.
There was no chance that Sir Integra was in a good mood.
Just a note: Let The Right One In does exist and if you like realistic vampire movies, it is definitely worth checking out.