Kazumi: Alright then, it's the fourth chappie of 'A Scarlet Letter'. A forewarning, this chapter is a very sad one that includes death and destruction, you just might cry. DISCLAIMER!- I don't own Hellsing but if I did, I would sic them on every one of my enemies. BOOYAH!

'Text'- Thoughts

'Text'- Alucard's thoughts

Text/Text/Text - Word emphasis

"Text"- Ghoul sounds

Crimson Tears

"So Cody dear, who were your strange friends?"

Cody jerked out of her trance to look at her mother in the front seat, "Huh?"

"Your friends honey, the ones you talking to out on the balcony. We saw them from inside the ballroom."

"Oh! Those friends…well…" this was a difficult question. She really didn't want to be the one to tell her family that they were both vampires. But before she could say anything Page perked up with her two-cents.

"You wont bewive it mommy, it was Mr. Alucard! Wemember him?" Everyone in the car swerved around to stare at the girls. Ian looked over at Cody with amazement in his eyes.

"Is Pagie serious? That was him; for real?!"

Her father spoke up, "Now why didn't you tell us sweetheart? We wanted to thank him."

"I already thanked him for us all, and besides I didn't want you to get in trouble with your associates–" 'Oh crud! I didn't just say that! PLEASE tell me I did NOT just say that aloud!'

"Dear, what are you talking about?" her mother said. Cody looked at her strangely as she caught her mother's stern tone. But...her mom couldn't know about that, could she? Cody was sweating bullets now as she turned to face her father. His face held the fatherly calm, but his eyes had the look of You-shouldn't-know-about-that-so-how-do-you in them. "Um… Mom? Dad?"

"We'll talk about it inside Cody." He said before turning back to the steering-wheel,

She looked to her siblings for comfort, but they seemed just as shocked and confused as she was. "A-alright…" she mumbled. And with just a slip of the tongue, she was in the deepest trouble she had, and would ever be in with her mother and father…

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"Sir Integra, we have a new report."

Integra looked up from her seemingly endless stack of paperwork to the butler standing in her doorway, "Yes Walter?"

He straightened his monocle, "A new report has come in from one of our infiltration units. They have come upon a plan from a FREAK group called "Caedes" for an assassination attempt."

"The Latin word for blood and slaughter, go on," Integra raised an eyebrow; this was very unlike 'them'. Usually it wouldn't be a plan, unless it was like the situation with Millennium, it would just be a spontaneous FREAK attack on some random town. This could be a serious case…

Walter nodded as he continued, "Right then. It seems that the head of this particular group has constructed an assassination on a family that had failed once before and is now going to happen again tonight."

She lit one of her expensive cigars and gnawed on it sternly. "Well I guess that we'll just have to take care of it then, wont we? When was the first attempt?"

"The first of March, Sir," he replied. She narrowed her eyes, why was that date familiar?

"And where?"

"In the town of Burford… is there something wrong Sir Integra?" asked Walter as he watched her shuffle through her desk.

"There is something about that date and town that I recognize," Integra said as she pulled out a file, "Here it is; March 1st, 2005. Ghoul attack on the small town of Burford…Dispatched Unit G-16, senior officer Capitan Seras Victoria and Alucard…Nothing seems to be ringing any bells Walter–" She was cut short by a small white envelope falling out of the file and onto the floor. 'Of course! THAT attack, why didn't I realize it before?' She quickly picked up the note and read it over quickly before turning back to Walter. "Does the report say who the target of the assassination was?"

Walter looked back at vanilla colored folder, "It's a Mr. Michael Dwight Brooks."

Integra paled noticeably. 'It can't be–' "Walter; get Unit A-05, Seras, and Alucard out there right away, we have a grave situation on our hands."

His face turned into a serious frown before exiting the room, "Yes Sir Integra."

She lit another cigar and hesitated, 'I pray that we make it there in time…'

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Cody fidgeted nervously in the kitchen chair as her father paced before her, Mrs. Brooks seated not to far away. 'I shoulda kept my big, FAT, mouth shut God dammit! Damn damn damn DAMN!'

"Do you know why we are angry at you Cody?" inquired said father. She mumbled softly and scuffed her feet against the hardwood floor, "Answer me young lady!"

She jerked up and looked up at him with tear-ridden eyes, biting her lip as to not cry. "I-it's because I looked into something I shouldn't had, sir…"

"That's right. My work is nothing to pry into Cody; you could get into serious trouble, which is why I decided to only tell your mother about this matter." He sighed heavily as he walked over to Cody and hugged her gently, "I'm sorry to have scared you, but it seemed to be the only way to get through to you, do you understand?"

"Mm-hm…" she replied quietly as her mother joined in on the comfort-fest.

"Sweetie we love you so much, we just don't want you getting involved in something bigger than you."

Cody looked up into their faces, this time they seemed really sincere. "Can I go to bed now?"

"Sure thing kiddo, go get some sleep. But none of this gets out to your siblings, is that understood?"

She stood at attention and gave him a mock salute, "Yes sir!" and marched up the stairs towarsd the bedroom shared by her and her brother and sister.

"So how'd it go?" asked Ian as Cody entered the large bedroom.

She sighed, "Nothing special. Just the usual lecture, and so on and so forth…" She flopped down on the bed and was just about to turn off the light when she noticed her sister by the window, pale and shaking like a leaf and whimpering noticeably. "Pagie?" She and her brother rushed over to calm her, "Page, what is it?"

"Talk to us Page!"

The small girl whimpered as she pointed out the window into the darkness fearfully, "I-its t-thoshe t-things a-again…T-they're b-back…" Cody gazed intensely out the window as Page clung to the front of her pajamas, but sure enough the sight that greeted her was not one that she wished to see again; coming out of the woods was an army of ghouls. There seemed to be about thirty of them, and in the front were three grown men, oddly enough though, they weren't being ripped to shreds by the zombie fleet behind them, which meant only one thing…

"Vampires," she whispered roughly. She stood up and spun around to face her siblings and quickly took to action. "Ian! Take Page and get mom and dad, tell them to arm themselves; don't open any doors or windows, lock them up real tight. If those things start attacking, get them in the head or heart, they won't die by anything else! I'm going to call for help, just go downstairs and I'll be with you in a minute–" Ian was about to open his mouth to say something but was stopped by her shouting again, "DON'T ASK QUESTIONS IF YOU WANT TO LIVE, JUST GO!"

He was about to go off to their parents when he came back and enveloped Cody in a loving hug and gave her a peck on the cheek. "I love you sis, just be careful alright?" She almost started crying when Page came up and did the same thing.

"I will, and I love you too, now get outta here you two..." He smiled warmly and rushed off with Page in hand as Cody scrambled for the phone and dialed the police.

"Hello? Burford sheriffs department how can I help you–"

"Look I don't have much time mister, patch me into the Hellsing agency now!" There was an uncomfortable silence over the line before the sheriff-person responded.

"Exactly how do you know about that?!"

"JUST PATCH ME IN YOU BLOODY IDIOT! WE'RE GONNA DIE OUT HERE IF WE DON'T GET HELP!"

"…Alright miss just hang on," Cody was given elevator music as she waited. 'I swear if this is the last thing I hear before I die I'm gonna–'

"Hello?" a familiar voice came over the phone.

"Sir Hellsing! Oh my God, its Cody Brooks – there's ghouls swarming all over the place and there are vampires with them!"

"Cody, listen. I know what's going on but you have to stay calm. There are people on they're way out there right now. Arm yourselves and stay inside the house–" The conversation was interrupted by the sound of gun shots, screaming and the breaking of glass.

"They're in the house; they're in the fricking house! What do I do?!"

Integra sensed the panic in the young girls' voice, "Stay out of sight, we're comi–" That's all that was said before the line was disconnected.

"Shit…" Cody dropped the phone in shock. She and her entire was stuck in a house…fifteen minutes away from civilization, with NO phone, and to top it all off, they had gotten into the house. "Oh, we are so effing screwed." Cody cursed as she reached under her bed for the 45 chrome pistol she was given by her uncle in America. His exact words were "Don't use it unless you're under dire circumstances." Not even her mom or dad knew about it. "Well Uncle Herbie, looks like my present will be of great use." And with that she flew down the stairs.

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Soldiers rushed about to find and eliminate the ghouls, while he sauntered to the edge of the trees.

"Master!" The Nosferatu Alucard turned at the sound of his fledgling's voice and saw her running towards him, Harkonnen Cannon in hand. "Master, where were you going?"

Alucard smirked and turned back to the forest, recalling what his own Master had said to him before he embarked. 'Do not waste any time; go straight to the girl and her family, they are in great peril…'"I have my own orders Police girl. Finish your job here then come find me," he said before melting into the darkness.

Seras Victoria sighed and threw up her hands in exasperation, muttering a "Bloody vampire…" before shooting a ghoul right between the eyes.

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It was taking no time at all to reach the front yard, but the sight that greeted him was not a pleasant one. There were ghouls everywhere, but every so often he caught the sight of dead ghouls, as though something, or someone, was fighting back. Alucard smirked and made his way to the house plowing through the ghouls that got in his way. As he reached the door, he noticed that it was brutally ripped off its hinges, and both windows broken in; but made his way inside. There was blood and glass covering the floor, everything was either broken or completely destroyed. But it was the bodies that made him scowl in disgust. They were soaked with blood; he even saw a limb or two that had been ripped off and gnawed on, then again so was the rest of the cadaver. In the hallway he saw a small arm stretched out, as if reaching for someone. It wouldn't be long until the carcasses themselves turned into ghouls.

When suddnely three loud gunshots caught the No-Life-King's abrupt attention.

He sauntered into the kitchen to see a ghoul fall, and the shooter of the gun. It was a young girl clad in blood-soaked pajama's; both from ghouls and from herself. As she turned around, her glazed eyes widened at the fact the he was in the room.

"You…you made it…thank God…"said Cody, as she pitched forward, but was caught by Alucard. He surveyed the situation at hand; the girl, young Cody, had been bleeding for a while, she wouldn't last much longer at this rate. "They…they killed them all Alucard…they're all dead…" Cody bit her lip trying as hard as she could not to cry in front of the grown man. She gasped roughly and coughed up specks of blood. "The ghouls…burst in through the back first…and I came downstairs to help but…they were already flooding the room…I yelled for them to get something to protect themselves but……" she couldn't finish, but Alucard could assume what happened. "The vampires that came with the ghouls had already left…" He frowned at the fact that the only things he had gotten to kill that night were the damn ghouls, but right now he had more important matters at hand. His master told him to protect the family, although most of them were gone now…

"Uuuuggghhhhh….." His thoughts were abruptly interrupted when a familiar sound came to his un-dead ears. Cody winced as she too recognized it but was not prepared for what came around the corner.

"No….it can't be…" Four ghouls came around the corner, somewhat resembling what had used to be her siblings and parents at one point. Alucard grimaced as the once happy, youthful Page came slowly staggering into the room, bowels trailing along behind her, moaning. "God…no…please…," Cody cupped her face in her hands as Alucard moved in front of her, drawing his Jackal in the process, focuaig a lone red eye on the targets before him as they lurched towards the duo. But as he was just about to shoot, a figure shot up and latched itself onto his arm. "ALUCARD NO! DON'T SHOOT THEM, PLEASE! I BEG YOU! Please…don't shoot…" He lowered his arm but picked up her own gun off the floor and offered it to her.

"Put them out of their misery. They are not the loving family you once knew. They did not choose to become what they are now. The only means for releasing them from this torture is to let them go." She looked up for a moment, contemplating what he had just asked her to do, and slowly but steadily took the gun from him and walked toward the things that was once her family. As they reached for her in their hunger; she looked up at them with her tear-streaked face and brought the 45 up. "I-I'm so sorry…I love y-you…s-so much..."

A series of gunshots followed.

He looked onto the face of the young girl; she was broken and dying, even if she managed to live through this experience she would be orphaned and probably traumatized for the rest of her life. Alucard made his decision, walked over and kneeled beside the silent girl; her eyes shadowed from her bangs and her face red from shed tears. "It hurts, but it was the only way."

She sniffled and wiped her eyes with her free hand, "But…but now, God…what am I going to do now?" He placed a gloved on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring glance.

"I will give you a choice; you can either die here, which will be very soon, and return to your family in heaven, or you can come with me." Cody looked at him from the place she was sitting, considering the choices. If she chose to die right here and now, she would never get to the age of sixteen, never be able to get a boyfriend, and never get to do a lot of things if she lived. But if she went with Alucard…well it was a lot better than the first choice, she thought. She looked up at him and nodded solemnly. He smiled and gathered her in his arms, gently cradling her shoulders. "Just close your eyes…" As she did so she felt his presence right by her ear. Her breathing and heart rate sped up just enough for the Nosferatu to notice. He chuckled softly, "There's nothing to worry about, the pain will only linger for a few seconds." She relaxed once more, feeling a hard nipping sensation on the side of her neck. After that, a comforting darkness enveloped her and she knew no more.

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As Integra hurriedly got out of her car, she scanned the front yard for any sign of Alucard. At the moment all she saw were her soldiers checking around for any more ghouls; she groaned slightly. "Damn it all Alucard, where are you?!"

'Right here Master.' Integra whirled around to find her servant standing in the doorway of the once proud Brook residence with a small, sleeping figure cradled in his arms. "The target has been silenced Master…" She looked down at the teenage girl resting in her servant's arms,

"How is she?"

Alucard glanced at Cody's now peaceful face. It was only for a second, but Integra could've sworn that she saw pity in his blood-red eyes. "She is the only one left. Her family were ghouls seconds after I had arrived; there was nothing I could do to help them." There was still something troubling her; this scene was very familiar to her. It almost looked like the one many years ago when Alucard turned Seras–

She glared at him almost immediately. "Tell me you didn't." Her midian servant slowly looked at her, his gaze hardened so that even Integra herself felt uncomfortable under the stare.

"You told me to take care of her, Master, so I did. She chose this path of her own free will, just like the Police Girl. And besides…" His voice reverted back into the annoying, pompous Nosferatu that she knew and put up with every bloody day, "You didn't tell me how exactly I was supposed to take care of her." Integra scowled as she pulled her gun out and shot the infuriating Midian in the back of the head as her was walking away, snickering at his Master's own frustration. She sighed; hopefully this one was more cooperative in her eating habits than another vampire fledgling that she could think of. As she made her way back to her car, she could only wonder what Alucard's new recruit would bring to the Hellsing Organization.

Kazumi: Wow long chappie, I will be updating my other stories very soon so don't worry. Ja ne and R&R!