Chapter 2-New chapter
Bip…..bip…bip…
The blip-ping sound of a steady heart monitor went on for hours, one blip after another. Connected to the unconscious short black haired boy it faithfully displayed his still functional heart despite it being far from the regular pace of 75/min. It barely got up to 30-35. An oxygen mask covered his face, his warm breath fogging it up with each exhale. He had an IV line in his left arm; chest, abdomen, shoulders and throat all bandaged though only the bandages on the latter were showing due to the blanket covering the rest of him. His encounter with the female vampire had been swift yet brutal. There were claw marks which marred the skin of his chest and a deep wound on the left side of his abdomen where he had been run through. The left side of his face was also bandaged and the jaw wired shut to help the broken bones refuse together. Integra sat by his side holding his right hand. The night was finally at an end as the first raise of sunlight grazed the horizon. Her forehead leaned against her left fist while her right thumb gently caressed the back of his hand. Her skin looked incredibly pale while her breathing was somewhat elaborate and her body crippled from exhaustion. She stood there in complete silence until she simply couldn't take it any longer and got up from the chair she was sitting it. Her legs felt horribly weak and she had to turn slowly while holding onto the bed for support.
"He'll live." Said the deep and baritone voice almost as if nothing had happened at all. It came out of nowhere until seconds later when the elder vampire made his appearance next to her.
"Yes. Yes he will." came her reply just before her fist made contact with the right side of his cheek. "You glorified bastard!" She hissed full of repressed anger. The vampire only looked at her from the corner of his right eye not bothering to turn his head properly. His long ebony hair framed his pale face and a makeshift bandage was wrapped around his throat with a large blood stain on it. More wounds remained hidden deeply beneath his many layers of clothing. None of them seemed to have healed properly since being made. His clothing was back to normal, black suit and read leather coat.
Integra's hand took hold his jacket, icy blue eyes narrowed with anger written all over her once saddened face as she continued to speak.
"She almost killed him and you just stood there? You stood there! I should fill your god damned head with silver! Why? Why the hell didn't you stop her?"
"He got in the way." Alucard said calmly.
"In the way? He was doing his job unlike you! And now he's there dying! I'll have her head for this! Both of you….you, you did nothing! Nothing!" She shouted until her lungs could no more.
Clear tears of anger began running down her cheeks as she took in a few desperately needed breaths of air and continued to pull on his clothing with what little strength she had left while he remained passive. "I have to watch him just lye there and clean up your damn messes again and again. I swear to god I'll destroy her if Walter doesn't get better! Do you hear me vampire? I'll wipe her miserable existence from the face of this retched earth and have you watch!" She was screaming so loud by now that her body shook from the force of it and her shoulders trembled. Her chest moved frantically up and down trying to calm her raging heart beat.
"If you let him die…." Her voice eventually faded to a whisper and her head leaned against his strong, broad chest. Crystal clear tears trickled down the sides of her face before they dripped in rapid succession. Her free arm went around her stomach. "I….I can't….."
The shaking increased as despair took over rage. She sobbed unable to control herself any longer. Her tears soaked the front part of his white shirt through the partially opened black jacket.
"I can't watch him die…I don't ahhh…." She suddenly groaned in pain mid sentence clenching her stomach tighter. "Hhnmm….ahh…." the twinge intensified focusing on her lower abdomen; it caused her to bend over in pain.
Alucard's arms instantly moved around her effortlessly picking her up bridal style and placing her on the neighboring bed. And she looked down to find her pants stained in blood, the stain growing before her eyes. "No no….nn… Alucard..." She whispered crying a river through desperate eyes. Her hands clutched to his arms in a vice like grip. She didn't know what else to do in her panic but turn to the one she'd been screaming at moments ago. The vampire's left hand touched her forehead and the right her lower abdomen. He immediately picked up on the distress raging its way within her.
"You're loosing the child." His words hit her hard making her gasp out loud and have her eyes widening in unmistakable fear. The intense stress she'd gone through all night had finally taken its toll. Her pregnancy had already been classified as high risk due to the rare condition she suffered from barely two months ago.
Flashback
"What do you mean not normal? You told me a few days ago it was fine. The baby was fine."
"And still is. The problem doesn't lay with the child but you Sir Hellsing. According to the ultrasound results you have a condition know as Placenta Praevia and are therefore at a high risk for not only a premature labor if not possible abortion but also severe bleeding. It is why you bled out this morning. The placenta normally attaches itself to the uterine wall, however, in cases such as this it far lower inserted, on the cervix to be exact. You're barely 4 months along and this is the third time this has happened. The only treatment I can offer you at this point is to no longer subject your body to high levels of stress, activity or trauma I can't assure you otherwise you won't lose the child despite our interventions.
Flashback end
"No….No!" She screamed indivertibly placing her right hand over the one the vampire had on her belly and entwining their fingers together in a tight grip. "I'm not loosing my child!" her face barred the same determination her blue irises showed. Blood marred the sheets she sat upon. The pain in her lower abdomen increased tenfold.
"You will." He spoke softly with words that freely revealed a sadness and yet a definite confirmation within them.
The two faced each other off, crimson set upon azure. "No I won't." Integra replied in a very firm commanding tone. Fire consumed her eyes, the sparkle of hope peeking Alucard's interest immediately. His studied her intently before shifting in glee. His lips curled back in a small yet quite mischievous smile that became a grin then full fledged laughter.
"You would ask such a thing my master?" His chuckling filled the entire room drowning out the fainter blips. "Really?"
"I might." She said turning her gaze towards the unconscious boy lying motionless and dead like on the bed next to her. {Damn it!} Integra lowered her chin clenching her teeth tightly against each other. Another wave of excruciating pain hit her.
"No you won't. You're a Hellsing." Alucard whispered against her right ear with morbid satisfaction while continuing to grin. The situation could not be more ironic.
"I'm a mother!" She screamed back at him from the pit of her lungs grabbing his collar and bringing him close enough so their faces almost touched. "I'm a mother first. I'd rather suffer and gravel at your feet before acknowledging such a loss." Inhaling deeply she carried on. "Either of them."
"The floor's but a move away."
Integra chuckled no longer able to control her rapid breathing any longer nor the groan of pain as her ordeal went on unchanged. Despite it all, she didn't back down.
"And, my I say, I can wait while you are rapidly running out of time my master." The vampire pushed the hand from his throat straitening his posture beside the bed. Afterwards he too stood there motionless in what seemed full intent on leaving her to her fate. "However…." he continued a moment later. "The child's aura is strong. It could be interesting, very interesting indeed."
Sniggering he let the white gloves covering his left hand fade into nothingness. The nail on his left index finger lengthened into a sharp talon which he then brought up to his right wrist. He waited for the knight to speak but her lips remained sealed except for the sound of her elaborate breathing.
"Then I will ask. One day my master, I will ask make no mistake about it." The talon made a simple yet deep cut along the upper underside of his wrist. 2 cm long it bled out immediately. After that he brought it right in front of Integra's lips. "The choice is yours, risks including. Everything has a price."
Several seconds passed allowing the ancient blood to move over his skin and drip down onto the already stained sheets before she grabbed hold of his underarm and placed her lips over the seeping wound. The effect was immediate in stopping both the pain and bleeding her body endured. Alucard let her feed a little bit more before bringing it to an end. The cut healed with ease. Using slight pressure on one shoulder he made her lie back down. Her mind felt hazy from the potent drug within her system. It was the very first time since meeting him more than half a century ago that she actually shared some of his blood, even more, dared to consume it. Her temperature rose causing her cheeks to blush and her pupils to visibly dilate. Not until the cool touch his hand provided upon her forehead did her battered body's state start reverting back to normal. Her right hand went to her lower abdomen as she exhaled deeply. The intense, excruciating pain began to fade.
"Your child is fine." Alucard said in a gentler tone. He watched for a moment then turned facing one of the windows. His steps didn't make a sound. His frame cast a large shadow on the bed she was lying in.
"For now?" Integra whispered looking at the ceiling. Uncertainty lined each of her words.
"For now." He confirmed. "There is no real guaranty, much less for a Hellsing. We are after all incompatible in means of blood. However…" he grins and offered a swift sideway glance back towards her. "….time will tell, time will tell."
Their conversation was interrupted by several knocks on the door. Someone on the other side tried opening it but it remained shut.
"Sir Hellsing…"
"Not now." She said but the person's persistence had her raise it up a notch. "I said not now!" It actually came out as an angry scream. Seeing him was the last thing she had on her mind right now. "Damn bastard." Her head throbbed.
"I can assume, my master, that our earlier discussion will be reconsidered?" the way in which he spoke those words had her cursing at herself. Could he be more manipulative than that?
/ It answers itself./ Yes. Yes he could.
"Then what did she do vampire? Can you answer me that?"
"Perhaps. Until then I suggest asking someone else that same question." Alucard produced a small vial filled containing the remains of a dark red liquid and placed it on top of the windowsill. "It was in her blood. It tampered with her mind in a way I couldn't understand, not until I forced it open. It made her see things, remember others. It's Schrődinger's."
The look in his magenta colored eyes got serious as he turned his head back to her. Integra got up as well but remained in a seated position. Her own expression immediately changed as well. "She hid it from me. Too well might I ad; everything about her past. Such a cunning little creature." He chuckle lightly in amusement at the interesting turn of events. "A blood blond should have revealed it all…." He murmured to himself getting lost in that particular train of thoughts.
"Alucard." He didn't listen.
"She died, apparently far sooner then when I ended her life."
"Schrődinger is dead." Integra said again a bit louder and harsher. "You should know."
"Yet 'nowhere and everywhere' stands before your very eyes."
The young knight didn't reply straight away. However, when she did, the words held profound meaning. "You needed 30 years."
The two locked eyes for a moment simply starring at each other. Buried somewhere within the molten pools of lava, sky clear blue clearly saw what didn't need to be spoken out loud.
"You should not think for a moment she's in better shape than Walter. But, as you can see, neither am I." He turned and faced her fully pulling at the collar of his shirt and bandage at the same time revealing his injured throat. Two deep cuts marred the side of his throat, their healing going slow, very slow. "Would I not be in a position which didn't require actual breathing I most surely would have drowned in my own blood, how very ironic?" He smirked, eyes taking that well known look of madness within them. "She's beyond her age. All this time I watched her I always thought her humanity was repressing her darker nature when instead her very nature is that dark side. She's willingly repressed those feelings and memories so much that I had to break her to get to them and calm her down. I fought myself but Seras didn't have that privilege. We were in the way and so she could only fight back, she could only fight us."
"What did you do vampire?" Integra's question followed once his words died out. She left the bed behind walking carefully right behind him. Her right hand held onto the bedpost for support. " Alucard?"
"I broke her." Alucard paused for a moment, allowing her a second to absorb the information. "Broke her body, then her mind and made her submit. What you may have had planed for her will not happen. You will stay away from her master, an advice I gave you a while ago if you remember? Seras's subconscious is shattered. You would not whish to fully understand the things I had to do to her or the ones she did at the club. She may not recover at all, she's too young."
"You forced her?"
"I had to."
"Even after….." If any to know about the draculina's true past, Integra was one, better said the only one who knew the truth; the real truth.
Alucard didn't respond but his silence was more than enough. His eyes narrowed at the thought it, at the thought of not knowing such a thing considering his own troubled past….his shared past.
"I will take her home." He said in the end turning to walk away. A black, swirling portal appeared on the nearest wall before him.
"It's not an option."
"It will be as soon as she wakes." He went through it. At the same time Walter's fingers began to twitch.
Alucard slowly walked down the path leading to his chambers within the bowels of the large dungeon. His steps moved completely silent as the sols of his feet barely seemed to make contact with the stone floor. As he got closer the aftermath of the night's events still haunted the dark corners of his mind. And the closer he got, the more blood stained the corridors, the floor and walls. Bits of ruble fallen from the structures cracked under the pressure of his weight as he walked over the mixture of crimson, rock and dust. Reaching the steel door to his room, or better said its remains; he kept it in sight a few seconds more remembering the feel of the cold metal pressed against his face before his powers ruined it. The few things once decorating his room were now in total disarray ripped, broken or shredded.
Flashback
Seras's body flew with great speed into the small table next to his large chair and broke it instantly before crashing against the thick, stone wall behind it. Alucard's right hand held her immobilized in place right after and firmly choked the last bit of air out of her lungs while various shadows kept her immobilized with an iron steel grip. His ebony hair could hardly stand out from the darkness surrounding them like a blanket of death. The two glowing orbs, once his beautiful in crimson color, now burned like the deepest pits of Hell. He had unleashed his fury and there was definitely no going back.
"Submit or I will show you true despair draculina." His voice lacked the gentle tone always used on her. His face was only inches away from hers. The draculina's lips pulled back in an evil sneer. Her mind and body both continued to resist against his intrusion and efforts. She was still unable to properly register his presents, him, above anything else. The vampire released the hold on her throat to reposition her body in a state far more suited to his advantage. But then something happened. For just a second her eyes shifted to their normal color and her struggling ceased. Her chest was pressed hard against the cold blocks with his left elbow applying pressure directly over the middle of her spine as he kept her body twisted at just precisely the right angle to cause pain. Her hips were raised as the position forced all the weight of her body to rest on the wounded and dislocated right knee, also bent and forced at an abnormal position by his legs wrapped around them. The other limb had been incapacitated just like her arms: the right under her and the left pulled back to the breaking point and held at the wrist.
"Dra….cu…l…in…..a…" the voice he heard was nothing like that of the vampire he knew. It lacked even in association with the one during her most calm and gentle phases or those of her rage filled ones. This one sounded menacing and on the verge of full fledged dementia and yet, in a way, so very lost….disoriented about its very meaning.. It preceded an equally disturbing chuckle and laughter. "Dra….cu….lin….a…" she said again forcing her body to move forward so that her left shoulder gave a clear pop at being dislocated. Afterwards she stopped a second time yet didn't cease on laughing. Her body didn't even register the severe pain. Her laugh was infectious and depraved. The pain was relished.
"Seras." Alucard spoke calmly and assertive not letting go.
"Se….ra…aas…." She mimicked him in a seemingly mocking kind of way then began repeating it over and over. The very last came out as a prolonged moan as she turned her head and caught a glimpse of him from the corner of her onyx dyed left eye. "Sehrahshh…."
"Enough Victoria." Releasing her dislocated arm Alucard grabbed the young vampire by the back of her neck, pulled her up and turned her around so that her back faced his chest. "Now answer me. It's the last I ask."
"Serhrashh…."
Hissing against the bare skin of her throat he bared his blood stained fangs then brought them over it. It would only take one move to make her bleed again.
"Sehrhh..….m….maa..assster...Master…."
"Yes draculina?" He coaxed her into continuing, a glee in his tone at finally being called.
"Master….master careless…." She mocked him further laughing against his chest with bloody-black irises shining in pure, deranged madness. A black swirling tendril had moved behind the distracted vampire during all this time. "Careless…" the tendril strikes but it blocked just before penetrating the left side of his back. Alucard seizes control crushing her body against the hard stone of the bloody floor; the slabs crack from the impact.
/So be it./ In that moment he jerks forward and latches his mouth against the right side of her throat. His teeth ravage her flesh in a brutal, violent way. He stormed her mind, he would take control using any means necessary. Her barriers shatter in one single brutal act as he penetrated the deepest, most hidden recess of her mind. Her entire being was under attack. Despite it all, there was no sound coming from her lips, hardly at all, as ripped her flesh apart; the scream only came when nothing more dare to stand in his path.
"Ahhhh!"
Once inside it all finally became clearer. Everything in her mind way dieing, burning away like paper caught in a blazing out of control fire. He could do nothing and had access to nothing for each time he tried the fragment he saw fell apart: again and again, over and over, and one after another. It was an all too known, an all too familiar scenario..
Everywhere….everywhere and nowhere…ha ha ha ha…..
The haunting boyish voice echoed over and over till a violent contra attack from the young vampire stopped both of their actions. Seras began fighting his presents, a process which unfortunately, only fueled and accelerated the destruction
/ Stop. Seras stop!/ Alucard urged her on trying to salvage whatever was left of her sanity. /SERAS!/
Her mind pulsed with power bringing it all to an end. It began to cry, the memories literally dripping off the walls confining them.
.
.
.
….wrong…..wrong…
.
.
The words were light in sound as a feather; distant and deep, seemingly male.
.
.
…wrong….What the hell is wrong with you?
They grew in strength and tone and became an anger filled scream. The voice belonged to a woman. A woman hidden in darkness whose silhouette changed from what it was into a small and frightened little creature marred by fear, hatred and rage and locked away in a dark closet forced to witness her parent's death; forced to fight to live and survive on her own from now on. The vampire saw everything from a third person's perspective: each image devastating the draculina more and more; each image a scar on her being. He had no motive to seek further as it was enough to understand that what he was witnessing had been buried incredibly deep; so deep it harbored between actual existence and fiction. It was a feeling well know; there are some things never meant for remembrance.
"Did Seras cause more trouble again?" A male voice asked.
"Yes." A woman answered. "A boy stole her toy so she responded by hitting him with a rock. None of the teachers take kindly to her, the children more so. I suppose the effects of that night still haunt her, they haven't worn off yet."
"I see. But if she continues to do so we won't be able to provide care for her here any longer. She's been in four orphanages already. We can no accept such behavior any longer, it must stop."
"He started." The little one replied in a whisper no longer wishing to remain silent.
"A rock is not an answer Seras. All you do is fight."
"They keep taking my things."
"Your things are everyone's things. You should learn to share."
"I'll share when they damn well deserve it!" She rose her voice cursing. Fire burned in her beautiful azure eyes. "They make fun of me, why should I allow it? You don't know anything about me! What the hell do you know?"
"Enough!" He yelled loudly causing her to flinch. "Sister Beth, take her to her room where she will stay until she'll learned her lesson. No dinner tonight and if she continues you will she all her other privileges suspended till further notice. The toy will not be returned to her."
"Yes father."
.
.
The memory faded before he got to see her respond and disapprove of their decision. Why were they taking everything away from her? Why?
.
.
.
"Seras…..Seras listen." The image of the shadow covered man behind the large desk shifted into that of a woman with long blond hair and frightened sky blue seemed amazingly familiar but very lacking in that simple fire that defined his draculina so well.
"Do not move from here under any circumstances.
"Mom! Mom!" It all went silent until two shots were heard and the doors opened revealing the bloody mess. Two men with guns, one older in a brown suit and the second younger with a long red jacket, stood over her mothers corps. Grabbing the nearest object she could find, a fork, the little girl ran up to the men surprising them. She stabbed the younger in the right eyes in a fit of anger before being shot in the left side of her abdomen. The force of the last hurled her small frame backwards causing her to crash against the closet's doors. Blood gushed out of wound staining everything around her. She fell on the floor on her stomach with a loud thud while a pool of blood was promptly forming under her.
"Fuck! That little piece of shit!" He cursed. "My eye hurts so much."
"Let's get out of here!"
Seras's head moved up a bit at the sound of their voices, her vision beginning to blur and be bathe in red.
"He's not paid enough. I'm going to rape the old hag."
"Don't be an idiot she's already dead."
"And? She's still warm." said the one in the red jacket before starting with his gruesome task.
Another scream broke the flow of images and the despondent laughter haunting her. Afterwards he watched the events before his arrival. There had been more, a lot more to her retribution then the picture he'd seen on onset. Angry? No. Brutal, vicious, no mercy, no regret? Yes. She'd reacted so much worse, far worse than during any previous battle. Truly, she had shown no forgiveness towards any living creature to dumb to get out of her way in time.
Seras, as he knew her, had unquestionably died.
Flashback end
Part of his attire vanished as he reached one of two coffins, one dark grey almost black and the other dark brow with large silver colored cross over the lid, leaving him in his boots, black pants and white undershirt. The lower part of the latter was still marred with crimson. He kneeled next to the first coffin. The lid opened revealing the draculina's body. Her long golden hair enclosed the crimson silk pillow and lining, one of his shirts acted like a pair of pajamas and most of her pale skin was covered in stained bandages: arms and legs all the way down to her ankles. Her eyes were closed and lips partially closed giving her a most peaceful look despite the lingering bruises. Her lower was cut and almost the entire right side of her throat was black-and-blue with the partially mark visible beneath the bandage he'd placed over. His right hand cupped the left side of her face and his thumb stroked gently over it. Both her mind and body had finally given up after hours of torment and she had completely lost consciousness. Concentrating the vampire closed his eyes and entered her sub consciousness. At first it was all dark and he found himself to be alone. There was absolutely nothing left. Then a room like structure began taking shape. "You've come again." The body of the Frenchman appeared before him. His left hand adjusting his hat as he stood to the vampire's right. A cigar hung between his lips, its white smoke rising into the air. "Do you still have something to do here? I thought you would be long finished by now."
"There is nothing to discus mercenary."
"Guess not." He agreed looking at him with his one good eye. The cigar dropped to the floor and was stomped by one of his feet. "After all, what else could you do? You shamed her, dishonored her in the worst possible ways. You have no shame, do you?"
"You could not control her, I did. As her master she will always obey."
"Then you should have at least kept your filthy hands to your self! Had you any sense of pride at all you wouldn't have forced yourself on her! For God's sake man she couldn't fight back any more!"
"I do not need lessons in morality from a mercenary." Alucard passed by him not bothering to look at him. His path, though, was abruptly blocked.
"You don't honestly expect me to let you in again, do you?"
The vampire narrowed his crimson eyes but didn't bother responding. He merely raised his left arm and waved it in a dismissive manner while he passed by the enraged mercenary. "Don't you DARE!" The latter shouted trying to grab hold of the disrespectful vampire.
Unfortunately, despite Pip's attempt to both follow and stop him, it was he himself whose actions were hindered this time. He realized far too late. "No!" His right fist slammed against the darkness separating them. "Leave her be! Misérable! You bastard stop!" His words died out. As for the vampire in question, after watching a second more from the corner of his left eye, Alucard urged his feet to move forward once again. He walked for what seemed to be a long time until another figure appeared in the darkness before him. It was the one who'd most shocked him the first time he came across it at that critical moment in time when Seras finally began calming down: himself. Or better said, the boy, the small piece of his soul he'd forever bestowed in her care: shoulder long ebony hair just now beginning to fall in waves with bangs covering his forehead. They ended with two thicker locks on either side of his face which framed it and obscured the front part of his ears. The rest of the raven mane stood arranged behind the latter.
Yet most sticking of all were the two deep ocean blue eyes which stared back at bloody crimson.
Flashback
Do not cry…Do NOT cry….
Why can't they leave? I hate them….hate them
….…don't cry….never…
Never again, don't cry.
Mom….
Mom…
Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry…
.
.
Seras's voice, though it sounded as if belonging to a much smaller and younger being, could not go unnoticed despite the mass of screaming echoing throughout the recess of her mind. The same words kept repeating over and over again and seemed to go on forever until they abruptly came to a halt. All that remained was the sound of a child's crying.
Alucard, as unexpectedly as it may seemed, suddenly found himself alone with not just one little human but two. 6 year old Seras cried her heart out, body quivering with the force of the sobs consuming her. A large pool of blood surrounded the tiny body closely and safely held by a figure that made him stop dead in his tracks. It was a boy. His hair as black as the night, wavy and long reached a little passed his shoulder blades with bangs that covered more than half his face. His frame was much larger than hers, at least twice her age, with simple clothing consisting out of a short, dark brow sleeved blouse and long black pants. Strangely, Alucard could not decipher the words coming out of his mouth despite plainly being able to see the boy's lips move just above the patch of short golden locks. He was holding her in his lap arms securely wrapped around her small body while her head rested under his chin, forehead pressed against the base of his throat. He could not see her hands but they were tightly gripping at the boy's shirt.
One step at a time the vampire approached and the closer he got, the more familiar the boy's hunched over position got. Alucard reached the very border formed by the pool of blood separating them. In that moment the body raised his head just enough so some of the ebony strands parted a clear path to his irises. They were a beautiful sea blue.
Flashback end
Alucard narrowed his eyes lightly at the sight. He went in expecting nothing else in his path and instead was faced with his on mortality from another time. Childish laughter broke the connection between their eyes. A little girl popped up, running around for behind the silent and motionless boy till she eventually took notice of him and abruptly stopped. She wore a light blue sweater with longer sleeves than needed, a short pair of brown pants and shoes with blue socks. Her arms, still up from her running, dropped to either side of her body after she took notice of the intruder. She seemed so incredibly tiny compared to his much larger frame.
The vampire parted his pale lips ready to speak when she gasped in what appeared to be fear and quickly ducked back behind the boy's legs, small hands taking a firm hold on the fabric of his pants. He was her lifeline, her protection. Afterwards her head popped up again and large, innocent, blue eyes watched his every move. It was a simple gesture, yet one that reminded him of the time his Police girl had shared that particular color. Slowly, as no to frighten the little creature further, he kneels before her, left leg up with the right down supporting his weight. No words left his lips as he was content for the moment to merely examine her a little while longer. A little time passed before her eyelids closed and she graced him with a most happy and lovely smile; a genuine unafraid smile.
"Seras." Her name rolled off his lips in a gentle alluring whisper. He extended his right gloved hand towards her and held it up and opened for her to take should she choose to do so. "You should not stay here all alone. Will you come with me?"
The girl remained passive and focused on his face. Her grip unconsciously tightened around the boy's pants; she did not wish to let go.
The vampire's fangs revealed themselves further as he spoke capturing her interest entirely. Her head slightly tilted to the right in order to get an even better view. Alucard offered his Cheshire cat grin at this; it came slow and soft instead of its usual way. Her reaction was a tad confusing for the old vampire as he didn't quite expect her small index finger to move up and touch her own teeth and a soft sigh of wonder to leave her lips. She was too focused on understanding that she missed the light flash of his crimson eyes and the light chuckle that left his lips.
"Will you little one? Despite your fear, will you follow me into the darkness?"
A small yip, as if out of fear, left her throat and she hid again for a second.
"It's all right I won't harm you Seras." Gentle and patient, his deep voice seemed to lure her in. his eyes were soft with no intention of malice in them whatsoever. They seemed….loving. "Come."
Still hesitant, the little girl took two tiny steps forward coming out of her hiding place. She cast a quick glace up at her defender who, all this time, had remained silent yet whose eyes never once left the elder's body. His body was partially covered by the dimness and shadows around them. Afterwards she walked up to him and carefully extended her right hand towards his. The difference couldn't be clearer as he took her tiny hand in his much larger one and willed her to come closer. It was a position similar to his first encounter with Integra decades ago only this time the girl's head barely went passed his knee. A few seconds more of holding her hand Alucard let go and allowed himself the small comfort of running the tips of his gloved fingers against her left cheek. His ruby irises saddened. He already knew her reply. Watching her provided the answer he'd been searching for. "You won't, will you little one?"
A light smile was his answer followed by the timid shaking of her head. Her laughter caught his attention immediately, her voice no longer in pain, scared or angry. It was kind and childish, angelic like. She acted fast and hugged him. Her short arms did their best to wrap themselves tight around his muscular throat. the sweet scent of her golden hair filled his nose; the embrace though, ended as fast as it began. With the bright smile still plastered on her face she let go and ran up to the boy taking his left hand in hers before embracing his legs from the right side once again. He offered a small smile of his own in return and patted her on the head twice before turning around ready to leave.
"Stai." Alucard said rising. There was, nor had there been any doubt in his mind regarding the use of that particular language. The boy was him, the boy was his past, he would understand. Their eyes met anew, the ocean faced the raging inferno. The boy gave a slight nod of his head before tugging gently at the little girl's right arm.
"Trebuie sa pleci." He said. The phrase used was short and to the point and this time the vampire heard every word. Both children then stepped into the darkness eating them up with Seras continuing to stare at him with a bright smile on her lips as she was pulled along by his younger, once innocent, self.
The moment ended with the vampire being jerked back into reality the very next moment. He was back in his room standing over Seras's open coffin while another set of sleepy crimson eyes starred back at him. They were as beautiful as ever. His right hand, still lingering on her cheek, continued its caressing motion in a soft and gentle manner as he watched her.
"Sleep my draculina. I will greet you when you wake."
Her eyelids closed as soon as those words parted from his lips and her entire body relaxed succumbing to much needed sleep. A while longer Alucard continued to stare at her before rising to his feet.
.
.
He closed the lid of the black coffin.
To be continued...