"Th-They're going to laugh at me. You know that, right?"
Integra sighed, pausing in her stride. She gave Seras a quiet side glance, urging her to be serious.
"Well, I'm not wrong," Seras exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting. There was an embarrassed blush on her cheeks. "The other soldiers never took me seriously and they knew what I was and about Master and all that. These men have probably never seen a vampire in their lives."
"That's why you're coming along, Police Girl. To prove to them that such creatures exist."
"But, sir, who's going to believe I'm a monster? Just because I have red eyes and fangs won't mean anything to them. Why not have Master be your example?"
"You know why. Alucard is too much of a monster, too frightening and extreme an example of a vampire. If those men saw him, they'd likely try to escape their contracts as quickly as possible." She returned to walking down the hall.
"Didn't you call me a monster not too long ago?"
Integra once more stopped, obviously hearing the snappy little whisper clear as day. "What was that?" She turned back around to address the vampire directly.
Despite knowing she'd been caught, Seras remained firm, though somewhat hesitant to speak. She gulped before responding, "I was told, by you specifically, that I was a significant threat, and you even warned my Master to keep watch over me, but now you insist I'm not at all like him, not as frightening. So which is it?"
"Miss Victoria–"
"Am I or am I not scary to you?"
That choice of words caught Integra off guard, especially with the tone of Seras' voice. Insistent, upset, even harsh. It definitely didn't fit the innocent girl standing before her. Then again, this wasn't just a girl she was talking to. This was a vampire. She was a vampire. Seras was a monster. An innocent, naive monster.
But there was something else to her. An unknown piece to the puzzle that was Seras Victoria that truly concerned Integra. It could be described as uncertainty, but as to what, she couldn't clearly state.
Was the Police Girl frightening then?
"Well?" Seras furrowed her brow. The glint of a deadly fang poked out in frustration.
It was almost adorable, if looked at from a certain angle.
"You're a child. A dangerous, silly little child," Integra stated, as sharp and cold as the Police Girl pretended to be.
"A child?" Seras growled, ignored, however, as the Hellsing seemingly dismissed the conversation. "That's it then? I'm just an incapable idiot you can use to your advantage? That's all I–"
"Why does this matter to you?"
"Wh-What?"
"You heard me. Why are you arguing this? You claim I'm contradicting myself, and yet here you are, doing the same. I shall ask you then, do you want to be treated like a child or a monster?"
Seras flinched, her argument crumbled to dust as well as her wit. She looked to the floor, silent, ashamed, and unable to answer.
With a soft huff, Integra swerved back around once more, this time punctuating each step she took like an all-important god. At least, that's what Seras dared to think, just for a moment.
Well, that was frustrating.
Seras twitched at the curious, baritone consideration that echoed in her mind. Seems someone was watching that little argument. Whether he was pleased or not, she couldn't tell.
Though reluctant now even more than ever, Seras followed Integra's path to the new soldiers. From what she'd been told, both by Walter and Integra, these were skilled mercenaries, so she and the surviving soldiers were only better than them by one vampiric notch, in her case literally.
"I heard from one of the guys working here that this place is haunted by the dead."
"Pfft, yeah, right."
"No, seriously, he told me that his co-workers were all killed and turned into zombies. Now their ghosts are probably floating around ready to kill us."
"Dude, shut up. Honestly, you sound like a kid at a playground."
Seras could hear their voices, and she already missed the subtle maturity of the previous soldiers. This lot already sounded like idiots.
Police Girl, don't be so critical of these new humans. They might a good meal if they wind up useless. Alucard's mischievous tone put her on alert. This wasn't a simple demonstration of her vampiric ability. This was a test, wasn't it?
"You don't think there might be a reason these guys are saying there are monsters here?"
She stood ready and alert at Integra's side, finally noticing the large group of grown men starting at both of them. For a moment, she considered them, as some seemed to be doing with her. None of them seemed terrible, younger than the original soldiers at least.
Integra cleared her throat, interrupting their little conversation. "Gentlemen, whatever rumors you've heard on the subject of monsters is true." There was a sudden hushed whisper through the group, but Integra continued regardless, "Here at the Hellsing Organization, you'll be dealing with the supernatural whenever it comes to our attention. We mainly handle the threat of vampires, which I can assure you is no easy task."
Some laughed at those proud statements, and while Seras was wary of them, she wasn't entirely focused on this whole charade.
Her Master was nearby, watching. Something he wasn't supposed to do, Integra had explicitly stated as such. She wasn't about to tell her, of course, but she was going to find him. It was a fun little game they played when training and missions weren't happening; a warped hide and seek.
Cautiously, she walked beside the wall. Every few, careful steps she took, she closed her eyes and listened, beyond the men's disbelief, Integra's calm tone, and every heartbeat, slow and fast.
Somewhere, in the middle of it all, she could sense his movements. Quiet. Deliberate.
Police Girl...
Yes?
"Police Girl!" Integra yelled, commanding Seras' immediate attention.
"Sir?" She pressed her back to the wall, straightening up and forcing herself to pay attention. She gave a sheepish smile towards the confused soldiers.
"These men want proof. Show them." The order sent a shiver down Seras' spine, and she wasn't entirely sure why.
"R-Right," Seras replied, understanding despite ignoring the entire conversation. She looked between Integra and the mercenaries, then turned to the wall behind her. Raising a nervous hand, she grit her teeth and lunged. A few gasps were all she heard before she entered the familiar darkness between the walls.
And from there, she saw him sneak above her head. A deep purr of intrigue was all it took for her to pounce up to the ceiling. All she needed was a light tug at his coat before he quickly gave up, much to her surprise.
It was too late, however, for her to react before that familiar chill in her bones returned. That feeling came from her Master, the sneaky-!
She fell through the ceiling with a yelp, but thankfully still held onto her Master's coat, bringing him down with her.
The resulting heap of vampire startled everyone but Integra, who wasn't amused in the slightest.
"Alucard, I explicitly ordered you stay out of this meeting," she snapped, glaring at the two monsters.
"I was, my Master. The Police Girl was the one that dragged me out against your orders." Alucard stood, pulling up with him a giggling Seras. He let her go once she started squirming, attentive to her actions as she disappeared into the floor.
He turned his attention to the soldiers, grinning like a madman. The Police Girl had wandered towards them, hovering in the ceiling above. "Besides," he added, "I was interested in seeing these new soldiers for myself. I'm sure they'll do better than the last ones and not die early, yes?"
Integra sighed. None of the mercenaries had interjected or protested, so for now, that would hopefully be the case. "Right, then. If any of you have any sort of question or concern you'd like to put forward, now would be the time."
"Captain Bernadotte," one of the more frightened whispered to the man sitting lazily in a chair. "You can't seriously be expecting us to work with real monsters, right? We can't fight shit like–"
"If that's what you're concerned about, I can assure you, the Police Girl and Alucard are nothing like the enemies you'll be facing. They're simply examples. The more common variety vampire is much weaker than they are." Integra shrugged her shoulders as if to shake away the man's doubt.
"Ah," the one referred to as Captain Bernadotte spoke, "so they are just the worse case scenarios?"
"If it unfortunately ever came down to it, then yes." Integra noticed Seras poke her head out from the ceiling and glared at her before she returned to hiding.
"Then there shouldn't be much of a problem." Captain Bernadotte mimicked Integra's shrug, though smugger than she had been.
Seras hopped down and onto Alucard's back, resting her head on his shoulder. She ignored the concern and fear radiating from the humans in the room and relaxed herself with that strange scent of blood her Master always had; raw power, centuries of it, intermingling in every shadow that made him who he was.
"Not yet anyway."
Everything was so pristine, shiny, clean, and blindingly bright.
The sunlight reflected off the polished floor, beaming through the ceiling's curved, glass windows.
Seras yawned, rubbing as much sleep out of her eyes as she could while slowly following behind her Master. It was far too early in the day. She was practically one step away from falling against her Master's back or onto the floor and claiming all those lost hours of sleep.
This meeting Integra was having with the Vatican leader, Maxwell, if Seras recalled. Did it have to be in the middle of the day? Not sunset or a nice early sunrise?
"Police Girl," Alucard murmured, a deep hum of consideration following.
She'd shut her eyes, not at all aware of anything, and, as a result, bumped right into him when he stopped. At his chuckle, she opened one eye and whimpered.
"If you'd like, Police Girl, I could return you back to your coffin. I'm sure my Master wouldn't mind the quick trip." Despite his teasing tone, his offer was genuine. He knew she'd recently become accustomed to sleeping during the day, after years of doing the opposite. Being forced out of the routine irked her, it seemed.
"I'm... fine," she replied, fighting a losing battle just to keep her eyes open.
He pulled her up to walk in front of him, keeping a steady hand on the small of her back to lead her around.
They were wandering the museum, passing the time while his Master spoke with Enrico Maxwell. It had been at Seras' half excited suggestion that they do so, as well as Walter's curt agreement on it, that lead them to aimlessly walking around. Of course, now that the drowsiness had fully set in, Seras was starting to regret having ever gotten up today.
"Police Girl," hissed Alucard, right into her ear, placing his hands on her shoulders to rouse her.
She squeaked, practically jumping out of her skin at the feeling of his breath on her ear. It almost broke through the lethargic barrier, but then she realized they hadn't even moved from when he placed her in front of him.
"Master," she groaned, half-lidded eyes glaring at the elder vampire. They glowed a bright, deadly red for a mere second before she closed them again. Just trying to keep her eyes open was giving her a headache, not to mention the sunlight whenever she actually accomplished that first task.
Hearing that same baritone call out to her again made the ache worse, spread to the back of her skull even.
She opened her eyes again and gasped.
Behind her Master was a tunnel of blood and flames. Embers and crimson dancing through the air and caking the ground.
Too real and too unbelievable, she opened her eyes again, this time finding difficulty. She found herself slumped against her Master's chest and groaned again.
The fact that that felt like reality...
Alucard picked up his drowsy Childe and rested her on his back, like she tended to do so often lately. As her arms slowly wrapped around his neck, he heard her murmur something unintelligible, which he responded to with a quiet purr of agreement. He found it wise to do so, despite not knowing what she was saying. Once she fully resigned to sleep, he started walking back to where he'd left his Master with Walter.
"Ah, you're back," Walter said with a bit of surprise in his tone. He stood near the entrance to a cafe garden, on watch and rather nervous of something.
"Yes. The Police Girl finally admitted she couldn't stay awake any longer. I came to make sure things were going smoothly before I left to put her in her coffin," Alucard replied, shifting his gaze to see his Master and the Vatican leader through the glass doors.
"Yes, well, about that. I'd severely advise against that decision."
"And why is that?"
Walter's tension made sense now, but the reason still eluded him. The butler's gloved fists tightened a little more and he grit his teeth. "Seems Iscariot came as prepared as we were. Anderson is somewhere around here, practically looking for a fight with you."
Red eyes gleamed through thick yellow glasses. He remained calm, however, as to not wake his fledgling. "Well, as much as I'd to..."
"You'd rather not disturb Miss Victoria, am I correct?" Walter smiled. "My word, Alucard. You've grown quite a fondness for the girl as of late."
"She's been exceeding my expectations. Eager to learn, fight, kill, much more than I thought she would be." Taking a quick glance at the sleeping vampire, Alucard couldn't help his own light smile forming.
"Why did you turn her, anyway? What do you intend to do with her?" The butler crooked a curious brow.
"I saw something in her that night in Cheddar I've only encountered once before. Something beyond the blood, pain, and fear that I believed had been lost in you humans," Alucard explained, tipping his head ever so slightly and feeling the soft brush of Seras' hair on his cheek.
"As for my intentions," he continued, "that rests on her decisions, as always. Whether she decides to continue down this path or forge a different one, it doesn't concern me. The Police Girl has proven herself to be capable from the moment she became a creature of the night."
"So you're saying you've never had anything beyond a simple expectation for her? Part of me doubts you didn't at least have something in mind once she started drinking blood."
Alucard looked back to the butler, expression largely consisting of contemplation, with a twinge of annoyance. Perhaps he was becoming soft, readable at the very least, because of his time with Seras. He certainly hadn't intended for that to be the case.
"She's not like them," he growled, narrowing his eyes at the ex-vampire hunter. "She's not like any of them. Not like her, especially."
Walter sighed, clearly understanding the vampire's meaning. "Of course she isn't. Miss Victoria seems far more loyal than those women ever were."
Eyeing the empty chair in front of her, Seras drank the final remnants of her second daily blood pack and sighed. She slumped into her seat, resting her head in her arms.
Her sleep schedule was still recovering from that damned meeting at the museum, and all these preparations for whatever was coming next left her rather confused. Sleep was a luxury at this point, as her Master had decided he'd train her whenever he wasn't busy with the preparations. That meant training long past sunrise and exhaustion that left her dead in her coffin right before noon.
She wasn't complaining much about the training. It was when Alucard was busy that upset her.
It was so boring, sitting around in her room, doing absolutely nothing.
No need to train the mercenaries, Integra insisted! They're already experienced enough!
Can't practice with her guns anymore! Not even the bloody Harkonnen! She hadn't even touched the damn thing since she got it! What was point in having it then?
Not allowed to leave the premises! Too many plans! We'll need you soon, everyone said! When was soon? Who the hell knows!
At this point, Seras didn't even bother leaving her room unless it was training. Training and sleep were blessings in disguise, even if one of them ruined the other. All this time, waking up at the same hour before evening, enjoying breakfast, waiting, waiting, enjoying dinner, waiting, training, then dropping right back into her coffin like a real corpse, just to start the whole damn cycle over again.
How her Master dared to live more than a century was a mystery she had yet to solve. In the amount of time she'd been stuck waiting though, she was bound to find an answer soon enough!
She buried her face in her arms and groaned. This was monotonous.
"When eternities of darkness rear their heads at you, Police Girl, I'm sure you'll understand why patience is such a valuable virtue to have," spoke her Master through the walls.
When she lifted her head, he appeared behind the empty chair, wearing clothes she had never seen him in before. She had to admit there was something comfortingly normal to the garb, despite knowing who was behind it all.
"Is it time?" she asked rather hopefully.
"Unfortunately, training will have to wait for now." Before she could voice her complaints, he added, "However, the preparations are complete."
"Oh, thank god," she grumbled, holding her head in her hands.
Alucard sat in the empty chair, watching her over his glasses rather than through them. "I thought," he began, finding a small flicker in her eyes as he spoke, "you might like what's to come. My Master has learned of our enemy's whereabouts. Brazil."
She straightened, the hint of a smile appearing.
Amused by this, Alucard said, "Think of this as... A secret third gift."
"A vacation to Brazil? Really?" Seras questioned through excited giggles.
"More or less. They wish to invite us into battle, sending a ghoul army to our doors. We come knocking at theirs. Simple as that," he answered with a light shrug.
"And that took you almost two weeks to decide?" Her mocking tone was delightful to hear.
"Finding a flight to Brazil wasn't entirely easy, Police Girl, especially with the specifications we need. As well, reservations had to be made." He pressed a gloved finger to her forehead, though gentle in his action.
Pushing his hand down, her smile disappeared and something akin to realization took its place. "There's still something else you're not telling me. And I feel as though I won't like it at all."
"Oh? How perceptive of you, Police Girl." Alucard grinned. "Yes, there is one little detail of this small trip I haven't told you. Nothing too terrible, if we're being honest. You see, this flight goes right over the Atlantic, and you know what I've told you about our kind and-"
"Running water? Of course I do. The trip to Northern Ireland wasn't exactly fun, you know," she reminded him. "But I'm stronger now than I was then. I think I can handle the trip, no?"
"As much as I'm sure you could, it's a risk I'm not willing to take."
"Well, it's not much your choice, is it?" She crossed her arms over her chest.
He wasn't expecting such a reply and was thus silenced. He pursed his lips and breathed out through his nose, a breath he obviously didn't need to take.
Her defiance wavered. "I'm sorry, Master. I... I didn't mean to-"
"No, you're right. You are a vampire all your own. If you wish to sit with me during the flight, that is fine."
Seras cast her gaze to the table between them. After a moment, she asked, "What exactly is the alternative? Out of curiosity, of course." Her eyes brightened with child-like interest, even going so far as to swing her legs a little to further her innocence.
Alucard chuckled, watching her facade crumble into a shy, hopeful smile as she looked back up at him. "You'd be hidden in your coffin for the flight. We figured since it was already being flown in with mine, you'd be safer in it than not. Merely a suggestion."
Slumping back into her seat, Seras actually considered it, much to his surprise. Her gaze locked on him, mentally debating herself, until finally, she pouted. "F-Fine."
"Hm?"
"I'll stay in the coffin. If you think it's better, then I'll do it."
The confined space was so agonizingly familiar.
The blood smelled so sweet, mixed with another flavor. So tempting, she had to come closer.
The trail was like a centipede, crawling along the floor, then onto the ceiling, back down and onto tiled kitchen floors now. There were larger spots every once in a while, spaces she assumed were the origins, where the bodies used to lie.
She found one against the wall, and above it were long faded photos, tilted, and some hanging on loose threads. There were actually some blood droplets on the nearby fireplace, splattered on the pictures there as well. These were similar to the others, but the more she eyed this scene, the more something in her didn't feel well.
She assumed it was hunger from all the blood around. A gloved finger dipped into the drops on the fireplace and moved to her mouth. One taste wouldn't hurt. She was a vampire after all.
Wherever she was, there seemed to have been some sort of chaos.
Moving along, she found another point of origin, this one much larger. It was almost as big as a body, which made sense. Whoever died here, in the middle of what appeared to be a living room, sure took a nasty blow.
Kneeling down, she was about to take another taste from the origin spot, when she heard something.
Creaking of wood, unmistakable.
Searching the room for the source wasn't hard. It was right in front of her.
The smell of blood momentarily faded.
Resounding bangs. Those were... gunshots. She could smell those too. Only those, in fact.
Laughter. Male.
Familiar.
A whimper.
She noticed a single, teary, blue eye staring at her. She stood, not moving beyond that.
One blue eye became two. A hand, small and trembling.
Then the screams. Anguished, a multitude of screams. A shrill one, young, overpowered the rest.
They all came charging at her, through this child, who wielded nothing but a fork.
Without thinking, she grabbed the poor thing and threw it at the wall, a powerful crack the only sound of impact. Before it even made it to the floor, by her mother, the whole scene became a bright flash of light, blinding her.
"Misbehavior like this won't be tolerated here. Hurting others, breaking things, mistreating your elders. You're quite the unruly little creature."
She gasped, opening her eyes to the shadow of a man, vague and almost long forgotten.
"Throwing stones, punching people, shooting them, tearing out their hearts, drinking blood." The figure flickered in and out for a moment, trying to retain shape. "Why even claim you're right when even a maniac can see what you really are?"
She panicked, slashing at the vague form's presumed throat.
The desk between them disappeared, the shadows racing to compensate for change, time, space.
"There is so much to you. I see potential, wasted on your poor choices. How do you think he'd react? Seeing you like this? He'd want you to do better, achieve greater things."
"Shut up!" she screeched, attempting to swipe at him again.
The figure flashed backward, keeping distance, but staying poised. "At least consider what I'm saying. You're becoming more worthless than you realize. How disappointing. Pathetic, cowardly, irredeemable. A monster."
"Be quiet!"
"A loathsome nuisance."
"I said, shut your damn mouth!"
"A vampire."
She screamed and pounced, clawing wildly, not even paying attention anymore.
When she finally calmed down, she stumbled to stand, dizzy from anger. A strange light shined at her feet, coming closer. From behind her. The shadows fled from her and it, clearly not at all affected by her attack.
More voices, these unintelligible but still male.
The air cooled. The moon loomed like a large, observant spotlight on a stage.
She shivered, recognizing this more than any other thing she'd encountered. Looking over her shoulder, she tensed.
The voices went silent. Something resembling that church tried to mold itself into existence before her. Mocking her, just like everything else.
She saw that innocent little Kitten enter the scene, following orders and the path to the building. The large double doors eased open, the beam of a flashlight shining around.
"Is this it?" hissed a strange voice from within.
The light hit the shadows, a being forming from them.
The wary Kitten raised her gun, easily frightened and shaking.
"Oho? Are you sure about that?"
From behind the poor Kitten, she watched the familiar gleam of red appear. Red eyes. Blood surrounding the figure.
"No," she whispered, "no, no, no."
The man took one step, then another, grinning like a madman.
The Kitten whimpered, frozen still in fear.
"This... So this is how you see things? How you see yourself?" The man appeared before his next victim, the poor, naive girl. The human.
"No!"
"How you see me?"
Her Master glared at the human, then at her.
It was only then that she realized he wasn't referring to the Kitten. He could see her.
He snapped his fingers, the Kitten dropping her gun and stepping aside. Her eyes lost their fear, their bright blue color, all life faded away.
"Why am I in this memory, Police Girl?" he asked. "Of all days, nights, times, moments, and places, you chose this one. Why make me the centerpiece of this warped nightmare?"
"I-I don't know!" she cried, shrinking back and trembling like her human memory had.
"Are you simply afraid of me, even after all I've done for you?"
"I don't... No! I'm not! I'm not afraid of you." She whimpered under his scrutinous gaze, well within the darkness of his shadow.
He leaned in, leveling his gaze with hers. They were mere centimeters apart. "Who are you?"
"Wh-What?"
He straightened and stepped back behind the still shell of her former self. "Who are you?"
She stared at the quiet Kitten, by all accounts dead and gone from this world. "I don't... know."
He pet the Kitten's head, then snapped his fingers.
Two more past memories appeared. The frightened child from the scene of bloody murder and the stoic, almost murderous gaze of the girl from the orphanage.
"Who are you?" he repeated.
It was then she noticed the eyes.
The moon had disappeared. The air grew colder and colder until she wasn't sure what she was shaking from.
Dozens of hungry, red eyes surrounded them, watching her, waiting.
"I... I really don't... know." She finally burst into tears, almost falling to the ground.
A hand held her up, steady, lifting her gaze up to meet his.
"M... Master?"
There were a thousand emotions in those red eyes. Recognition, understanding, longing, care, sadness, anger.
Hope.
"Of course you don't," he murmured, his thumb rubbing away a few of her tears. "I'm not quite sure either. No one can be. Not entirely. Not yet."
"Sir?"
"In time, you will learn. We all will. Not yet, little Police Girl. You must have patience."
She stepped closer, resting her head against his chest. She felt his arms around her, holding her tight.
This was calm, gentle, nice. Finally quiet. Finally happy.
"Yes, sir."
Seras heard a door close and started, bumping her head against the underside of her coffin lid.
Groaning and rubbing the point of impact, she fell back to the cozy interior of her coffin and closed her eyes again. Part of her refused to wake up and she really wanted to listen to it. She was so warm and comfortable.
The lid squeaked open and she opened an eye to see who dared do such a thing.
"Police Girl, we're here," her Master declared, before letting it thump closed.
She groaned again, reluctantly pushing the lid off and stretching like a cat. As she wiped the grogginess from her eyes, she peered up at her Master, who grinned and walked over to a nearby chair to sit and relax. Much like he always seemed to do when there was nothing better happening.
"How was your rest?" he asked.
"Eventful," she said, "but nice." As she crawled out, she observed the dimly lit room. "Where's Mister Bernadotte?"
"Unfortunately for the Captain, he won't be staying with us." He removed his glasses, setting them down on the table next to his chair. He was still in that suit she hadn't seen before this little trip. The coat was even hanging over his chair.
"Any reason as to why?" she spoke sarcastically.
"Master's orders," was all he answered with.
She rolled her eyes and walked past him, deciding to explore what the suite had to offer.
This place certainly was beautiful. If she hadn't known whose money actually went into getting it, she would've thought she was still dreaming.
The windows were huge, and she could see almost half the city and the sunset at the same time. The view alone was gorgeous.
She couldn't wait to see all of it.
The summer sun's radiant warmth still lingered in the night. The streets and sidewalks were filled with people, moving on their own terms and speaking either a language she didn't understand or one she was told not to respond to.
Rio de Janeiro's strangeness only made her want to see more. She wanted to skirt down the alleyways and lurk about the streets. The buildings were different, the people were different, even the trees were different.
For now, all she could do was sit on the rooftop and wait. Her Master's stood nearby, looking above rather than below like she was.
They were apparently waiting for Integra's orders before they would be able to wander about the city. After her Master received the call, she'd be able to see the sights personally.
For now, this practically bird's eye view of the world beneath her would do. He'd decided to appease her curiosity somewhat by letting her sit up here.
The humans were like ants. She could see them, perfectly defined features and frightened faces, down below. Maybe rats, since they seemed to be piling onto each other, in a way. A crowd of them, surrounding the hotel.
Wait.
"Master, do you... What are they doing down there?" she wondered.
They had begun to amass quite the crowd now, cars stopping, camera crews appearing. As if the hotel had suddenly been visited by a celebrity or become the scene of a-
There were whispers on the nearby rooftops. She could faintly hear orders, or what sounded like them. When she looked to the other buildings, she saw snipers trained on them.
One of the snipers fired, and Seras narrowly avoided it.
A hand grabbed her from behind, pulling her into the penthouse. She fell onto one of the chairs, confused but alert to her Master's actions.
As he landed, he pulled out his Casull and Jackal, watching the door.
Their footsteps were careful and deliberate. Plans between them were barely audible. Some were so close to the door, Seras could hear their breathing.
The sounds sent a thrill through her she couldn't entirely explain. She could even see Alucard reacting similarly.
Another sniper bullet broke through the window, and once more, Seras dodged it a second before it could land.
She turned her attention to the shattered glass, then the sniper barely poking his head over the roof.
"Where's my rifle?" she asked Alucard, her annoyance evident in her tone.
"By your coffin, I believe." He grinned at the sound of her growls. "Don't like being a target, Police Girl?"
When all he received in reply was a sharp, blood-red glare, he couldn't help laughing even a little.
Ignoring him, she readied her rifle and took aim, mere seconds of practiced, easy preparation. She saw another head pop out over the rooftop, like a mole leaving its home. Before one could say anything to the other, she fired. A sharp twitch and she shot again.
"There," she said, walking over to the other window. She remembered seeing another group on one of the other nearby buildings. "Bloody gnats don't know when to go away, do they?" Repeating her preparation, she heard Alucard's hum of approval right before she fired, making the kill just a little more satisfying.
"They don't know who they're dealing with, clearly. Millennium must have them fooled." Alucard aimed his Casull at the door.
"Are you sure we should be confronting them without consulting Sir Integra?" Seras questioned, realization suddenly dawning on her.
"You ask that after killing three of them already?"
"I wasn't really thinking rationally."
"Good. Irrationality makes battles much more interesting."
Seras rolled her eyes. "Another bit of wisdom from the war monster himself? I'm flattered you choose now to tell me this."
"Don't be so sarcastic, Police Girl. If we don't call upon my Master, then you get to use the Harkonnen."
At the mention of the weapon in question, Seras brightened. Use that stupid cannon? Finally? Oh, it couldn't be true! It was too good to be true! "Really?" she said, her eyes darting to the thing sitting uselessly by her coffin.
She'd almost thrown it against the wall in frustration, but now!
"Ah, ah, ah," Alucard interrupted, turning her attention back to him. "First, I handle the ones at the door. Then you can blast the ones down the hall."
"Really?" she repeated, bouncing at his side with even more enthusiasm.
"It should clear out any stragglers, so yes."
With the promise in mind, she ran over to the cannon, eagerly loading in the first round in what felt like years of owning it.
The door broke open, soldiers filing in and aiming their guns at Alucard specifically. He held still, waiting for their first reactions.
A barrage of bullets tore through him, turning him into light remnants of a body. What was left fell to the floor in a bloody, ruined heap.
Seras bit her bottom lip, finger twitching on the trigger of her cannon. They were going to fire at her next. She could easily take care of them now, but Alucard had ordered her to be patient.
The men reloaded their guns, noticing her.
Fiendish laughter. The soldiers froze, their attention back on the defeated corpse. Most of them were awestruck as the body rose, jerking about as it healed. An arm rose up, gun in hand, and fired once.
One down.
Casull and Jackal in either hand, Alucard grinned and fired twice from each.
Five down.
They were running now, a futile retreat. Two more shots.
Seven.
There was one left, the only one to have actually fled the room. He screamed as he sprinted down, warning the other members of the dangers.
Seras hefted the Harkonnen onto her shoulder, giggling as she took aim, directly at the frightened soldier's heart.
The sound of the blast was spectacular, the cries following becoming screams of the damned. The explosion tore men to pieces, blood caking the walls of the hallway.
Her eyes twinkling with excitement, Seras moved to reload the cannon, only to be pulled back from the ammunition.
"Police Girl," Alucard warned.
"S-Sorry!" She dropped the Harkonnen, raising her hands in mock surrender. Swallowing her excitement, she looked to her Master for his next order.
He gestured towards the door. "Shall we take care of the rest?"
Seras grinned, hissing, "Yes, sir," before following at his side.
Alucard let another soldier fall, licking his teeth of the blood. He searched for his fledgling, who had become the eager little soldier in the short time they'd made there way through the masses of SWAT team members.
He wasn't even sure if she'd taken a second to actually drink from any of them. Bodies were strewn about, heads blasted open, limbs shot off, blood dripping from every corner of the halls. Quite the mess.
As he reloaded his pistols, he followed the trail of death and screaming.
Stomping over corpses, Seras shot through the last few humans left before actually stopping to acknowledge her Master's presence.
Then she noticed his concern.
"Is there something wrong?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.
"You're not actually drinking from them, Police Girl. What's the fun in slaughter if you can't have a drink after?" He gestured back to the piles of bodies, mirroring her confusion.
"As much as I appreciate the sagely wisdom, I can't exactly take a break to drink when there are more of them running about. I want to actually enjoy my meal in peace, not get shot at or interrupted by more cowards," she explained, deciding then to actually do as he suggested. She was starving, being surrounded by so much blood. When was her last real meal, she wondered before taking a bite.
"There is a way to drink quickly."
She perked up at notion, releasing her kill to look at him once more.
"Not exactly as satisfying as tearing through flesh, but it makes collecting the blood much less of a hassle," he continued.
Seras noticed some of the blood at her feet moving unnaturally towards her Master, realization immediate. She could vaguely recall this behavior from back during the Valentine incident. He'd done this before, she just wasn't sure how yet.
Seeing her keen eyes trying to figure out his tricks, he stepped closer and knelt down next to her.
Between them was an imperfect circle of blood, collecting from the nearby bodies until it was a reasonable size. He tapped a finger against the side closest to him, some droplets obeying and inching closer.
She hummed, considering his demonstration. There had to be something she wasn't entirely seeing, not yet anyway. Was it like walking through walls; sinking through shadows between rooms towards a destination? This had to be somewhat like it.
"Try it," he said.
Of course he was able to do it so effortlessly the first time she'd seen him do it. He'd taken an entire hallway's worth of blood into him in a matter of seconds.
Placing a hand next to the circle, she imagined it moving towards her thumb. No success.
This little lesson was a bit more cryptic than the others, that's for sure. She couldn't pinpoint exactly what he'd done to bring the blood closer.
"Think of it as already a part of you," he hinted, taking pleasure in her furrowed brow of concentration.
Doing as instructed, she grit her teeth and tried again.
The whole circle trembled, but beyond that, held firm.
"You're putting too much effort into it. It's a lot less difficult than you're making it out to be."
Seras relaxed, breathing without thinking.
Like a snake, the blood began to move, uncoiling itself and slithering towards Seras' hand. After what felt like an eternity, the circle disappeared into her hand.
Alucard watched his fledgling smile and look to him for approval, which he gave in the form of a simple nod. Slowly, their path of carnage began to disappear between the two of them. He took the most, being the more experienced of the two.
"There are other abilities that use the same line of thinking. Healing, for example," he explained as they both stood up. "It's much easier to control your own blood, so it's much less effort, but the difficulty lies in healing larger wounds and reconnecting torn off body parts."
"Like a head?" she joked, only to receive an annoyed glare, much to her confusion. Probably a touchy subject, if she had to guess. She continued to follow at his side, now that the floor was empty of living humans.
"Nonetheless," he continued, "it's an essential ability to learn as a vampire. Tricky, but necessary for survival."
"Are there any others I should know?" she inquired.
He mulled over the question, almost 600 years of knowledge and experimentation swimming through his thoughts. "Hypnosis lies in that same vein, I suppose," he answered rather hesitantly.
"As in, controlling people's minds or putting them to sleep?"
"Both."
Seras stopped, surprised by his casual response.
"If you're worried, no, vampires cannot control one another that way. Vampiric hypnosis only works on humans," he assured, continuing his stroll towards the elevator. Of course, he wouldn't tell her about the actual way vampires could control one another. Especially since he could, in theory, easily control her without much thought, being her sire. It was a trick he wasn't entirely fond of using on his fledgling, considering how well-behaved and eager she already was.
With a sigh of relief, she sprinted after him. "Because we can control their blood?" she guessed when she made it into the elevator with him.
"Not exactly. It's far too complicated to teach without a willing subject and time, which at the moment we have neither of."
"We could always use one of the mercenaries back home," she suggested with a mischievous smile.
He laughed, petting her head. "That's a bit too devious, Police Girl, and too easy. You need an actual challenge in order to learn."
"Integra then?"
"Police Girl."
"It was just a joke, Master," she insisted through her teasing.
Seras wasn't a complete fool. She definitely understood by this point that Integra Hellsing was a force she couldn't compete with unless she wanted to end up like the enemies they faced. It was certainly annoying, that her Master's master could compare her to lowlife vampires. How easily Integra could just decide that a simple mistake was enough to have Seras at the barrel end of the Jackal.
Well, if this little fight didn't get her into trouble, she'd be counting the days until some other minor thing led up to her final death.
Reloading her rifle, Seras listened as the chime of each floor passing began to slow in frequency. When she looked up to check, she realized they were nowhere near the ground floor.
There was a loud groaning from all around them, the elevator clearly upset by an outside force. Metal screeched and the elevator lights flickered before shutting off.
Thankfully they could still see.
"They cut off the power," she realized.
The elevator continued to whine, something else acting on it.
Alucard growled, peering up at the ceiling and listening.
Seras could hear it too. The scuffle of shoes, scraping of some kind, and then something like the flapping of a dozen birds' wings. Right above them.
"Wait, are they-" Before Seras could finish her sentence, the elevator screeched once more at the snapping of one of the ropes. There was also the sound of an explosion following.
Both vampires bolted into the wall, Seras feeling the rush of wind as the elevator fell to the bottom floor before the darkness surrounded her.
"They knew we were heading down," Alucard said with a satisfied smirk. "Clever fools, I'll give them that." He began walking, and to Seras' shock and amazement, he was walking along the barrier wall, up towards the roof of the hotel.
"M-Master?"
"Come along, Seras. Our true enemy has made himself known."
He makes it look so easy, she thought to herself, watching and trying to understand how he was doing this new trick. Clearly, it was something like walking through walls, which she'd figured out under pressure rather easily. This had to be no different, right?
Alucard made it back onto the roof, noticing immediately that he wasn't alone.
Standing by the edge of the building, admiring the view, much like Seras had, was a tall man.
"Evening, vampiro," said the man, looking over his shoulder at Alucard, a mischievous grin on his face.
"Good evening. Were you the one who told those humans to try killing us?"
"Unfortunately for them, yes. Try is all they could do, all they were meant to do." The man turned to fully face the vampire, bowing before pulling a card out of his sleeve. "You see, Mister Alucard, I am Tubalcain Alhambra and by the orders given to me, I am supposed to kill you and bring back whatever samples of your blood remain to my superiors."
Alucard grinned, thrill evident as much as the hunger in his eyes. "Well then, Alhambra, unfortunately for you, I cannot be killed easily. You can try, as try is all you can do, but in the end, like that rascal superior of yours, you will be defeated."
Without warning, the fight began, Alhambra flinging cards, Alucard blasting them to shreds. When cards landed on the rooftop or Alucard's body, they exploded. It wasn't that difficult for Alucard to heal himself, but that gave his enemy the opportunity to fling more cards, which meant he had no time to heal himself.
Finally, Seras had figured out her Master's wall walking trick and had made her way up to see what the commotion was all about. She poked her head out for a second, only to hide again as cards exploded like shrapnel.
With no other choice, she stayed in the shadows, listening and following her Master's movements, which mirrored the enemy's.
Sir, what do I do? she called out to him telepathically.
I'll take care of this, Police Girl. You go find that mercenary captain and contact Integra.
The orders were strict, and she had no reason to question them, so she obeyed. With her rifle held tight, she snuck out of the darkness between walls and slid down the side of the building, keeping herself hidden from the crowds once she landed.
Cautious of the soldiers out front, she pressed her body against the wall and waited. After a small, nervous gulp, she hissed in mock pain, kicking a foot against the ground to create a disturbance.
Sure enough, one of the men took the bait and wandered to the alley she was hidden in.
If hypnotizing humans was similar to controlling blood, then this shouldn't be too difficult to do, right?
She pictured it somewhat like the circle of blood, raising a hand to help. It was a strain, lurking about in the darkness trying to defy the laws of gravity had already done a number on her energy, but once the man saw her, he barely got a word out before his eyes glowed a dull orange.
Smiling, and keeping as silent as she could, she walked up to him and whispered a command into his ear. Slowly, almost like a ghoul, he stumbled out of the alleyway and towards the rest of his coworkers, who seemed to not notice his absence.
They seemed a bit confused and worried about him at least, but apparently his words were enough to persuade them.
The explosions on the rooftop had died down considerably. A concern, but not one she was entirely focused on.
The crowds were beginning to disperse, the reporters having been told that the "terrorists" had been killed by the SWAT team and that the hotel would be completely evacuated of guests and staff until the investigation and clean up was finished.
Unfortunately for them, Seras and- hopefully- her Master were still alive. Once she found Captain Bernadotte, she'd be able to call Integra.
Nodding to herself to boost her confidence, she strode out into the open.
And suddenly, an explosion much larger than normal happened, a police car turned to destroyed metal and flames.
The crowds ran off much faster than before, much more chaotically. In the scramble of people, she could see a familiar face.
"Captain! Was that you?" she called, running up to see him. She was honestly glad he'd created such a huge disturbance. Now no one could hear them over their own fear and screams. With her vampiric hearing, she could concentrate on the Captain's voice alone in all the ruckus.
"Of course, cher. Integra contacted me after you and your batshit Master started shooting up the hotel. I was supposed to create a distraction earlier but you two made it damn near impossible for me to even get here." He lit a cigarette, then stuffed his hands into his pockets rather casually, as if this madness was a daily occurrence.
"In... Integra," she spoke slowly but clearly. "Was she upset?"
"With you two? She almost sounded like a banshee, yelling in my ear like that. I don't think she's as angry as she's acting, but it's not my place to say."
Seras wasn't particularly mad about having predicted the rage that woman would fly into. She simply hoped her Master wouldn't mention the fact that she'd been the technical catalyst of the firefight.
Crossing her arms over her chest, Seras sighed.
"Great," she said with a small roll of the eyes. "Let's just-"
Another loud explosion, the cracking of pavement following, coming from right behind her. She turned around and, once the dust settled, saw her Master lying like a broken toy in a small crater the impact of his fall created. He was bleeding as well, but still alive, from what she could tell.
He lumbered to his feet, laughing. His body glowed as his healing began. He gazed up at the rooftop, then followed the form of his enemy as it made its way down to him.
"M-Master!"
"Stay back, Seras!"
"But-" She didn't have time to respond, backing away as a group of officers surrounded her and the Captain.
"P-Put your hands up now! You two are under arrest!"
She heard the Captain whisper a few curses as he pressed his back against hers. Biting her bottom lip, she kept her eyes trained on the man in front of her.
Like the rest of them, he looked rather nervous, terrified even. He tried to retain his composure, but one of his eyebrows was twitching. A nervous tick? Or perhaps he was reconsidering at the sight of what appeared to be a confused, innocent young woman?
Following his words, Seras held her hands up, but she otherwise kept still, watching this frightened human.
Like before, she strained to focus her energy on what she wanted, though having done it once made feeling for the power again slightly easier.
She couldn't actually give this one orders either, if she even accomplished her want in the first place. Right now, she could only hope silent persuasion and repeating the order in her mind would make him do it.
Then she noticed his eyes glow orange and the gun in his hands rattled as he mentally fought against her.
Without much warning, he lifted his gun up to his head, cackling like a psychopath before shooting himself.
The others gasped, some even screamed, but Seras took the moment of shock to move to the next part of her improvised plan. If her heart were still functioning, it'd be racing with each quick decision she was making, and the insane fact that she just made a man kill himself.
It definitely wasn't what she'd asked for, but it was something.
Her hands twitched, focusing now on the blood. Most of it was either dripping from the body or splattered onto the officers next to him. Moving it to her wasn't difficult, as it was already naturally flowing her way.
However, if her hopes were true, she didn't want it to entirely come to her.
At her mental command, the blood began to coalesce in front of her, bubbling up as if trying to become a new being.
The officers were all watching this strange magic at work, and the Captain as well.
"Now," she murmured, praying the blood obeyed as she wanted.
Though not precisely what she'd asked, the blood on the other officers reacted, cutting off their heads. Like a ripple effect, the continued blood splatters immediately killed the next ones, until the rest of the circle was either dead or had run off.
"Holy shit," the Captain cursed, taking a step away from Seras.
"Oh, relax," she grumbled, grabbing one of the abandoned guns on the ground. Her attention was back on the fight between her Master and the man she assumed was from Millennium.
Things were... well, she could say improving, but the state of her Master was still just as bad as when he'd fallen. Thankfully, their enemy was looking just as beaten. Not entirely down yet, but it was something.
"Mister Alucard, how much longer will you fight? Surely by now, you've lost enough blood to consider surrender at least, no?" Alhambra mocked with a lopsided grin. Despite his facade of confidence, there were beads of sweat on his brow and he was breathing faster than when he'd first started.
Alucard laughed. "If you think I'll be giving up now, your superiors must not have told you everything about me." His eyes gleamed with a new surge of power, his wounds disappearing.
"Wh-What?"
He had given some attention to his fledgling's antics behind him. Hell, he could smell the fresh blood, the madness.
Master, please, take some of the blood at least, she had suggested through their connection. She was worried about him, despite what she knew about him. It was adorable.
He wasn't denying the charitable donation though. Licking his fangs, Alucard let this new energy flow through him.
Alhambra, now terrified of the perfectly healed monster, flung a dozen more cards at him.
Alucard hadn't lifted his guns to stop them. However, he didn't need to as they didn't even make contact with him.
Seras had fired down as many as she could, the others completely missing Alucard.
Realizing that he was now outnumbered, Alhambra growled and aimed his next volley of cards at the Police Girl and her human companion.
"Miss Victoria," the Captain urged, noticing Seras frantically moving to reload the gun.
"I know, I know! It's fine!" She dropped the clearly useless weapon and went to grab another. As fast as she could, she shot at as many of the dagger-like playing cards out of the air before any could hit them. One zipped past them, exploding against the remains of the destroyed police vehicle.
By this point, Alucard had released the first restriction on his power. He stepped closer to the pseudo-vampire, hissing and grabbing him by the neck.
"It was foolish of you to try and fight that which cannot be killed by a monster, Alhambra." As the man squirmed and kicked in his grasp, Alucard aimed his gun right at his opponent's forehead.
Alhambra held out his last three cards, not going down without a fight.
His arm was shot clean off, cards blown up in his fingers and blood spurting out of his shoulder. Two bullets.
He screamed in terror, silenced when Alucard bit into his throat.
Within moments, their enemy was in flames, familiar blue ones like that brother Seras had killed. Only dry, charred scraps remained of what was once Alhambra.
And yet Seras was still a little tense.
Alucard laughed, slowly returning to his regular form.
"S-Sir?" Seras stepped closer, clearly confused.
He turned and looked to his fledgling and the Captain, making the human flinch back in fright. "We have to leave before the authorities return, Police Girl. My Master will have our heads if we keep drawing attention to ourselves."
"As if she won't already," he heard her whisper to herself before following behind him.
She urged for the Captain to come along, but after a quick decision between them all, the mercenary was tasked with finding transport to the dingy hotel he was staying at while the vampires took care of their coffins and weapons.
"You were splendid out there, Police Girl."
When the ancient vampire was met with silence, he peered over his shoulder.
He could tell she had something on her mind. Seras had a dazed, far-off look in her eyes, a look he'd seen many others have and even himself. He was curious to check what she was focused on, but didn't really want to pry at the moment.
Likely it had something to do with his Master, since what they'd done tonight was extremely reckless. Who knew what the woman would do once they contacted her or returned to the mansion?
He stopped walking and to his surprise, she did as well. Perhaps she wasn't entirely lost in her thoughts as he'd assumed.
"Police Girl?"
She hummed, eyes looking straight through his once he turned around.
"Is there something troubling your thoughts?"
For a second more, she stayed quiet, before returning to reality and watching him, hesitant.
He was about to comment, but was interrupted by her response, "Master, am I a child or a monster?"
The question honestly caught him off guard, but he immediately knew where this had come from. He had been right in his assumption, it seemed.
"It depends. Which do you wish to be?"
"Neither preferably."
He chuckled at her deadpan reply. "Well, then what is it you want?"
She seemed puzzled by this question, furrowed brow and all. "To... To be? I just-"
"No, no. What do you want, Police Girl?"
"I don't... understand."
"This isn't a question of who you are versus who she thinks you are. It's a question of what you want from her versus what you don't. She's made you upset, and you want to fix that. There's why, now how are you going to fix it? What will you do, Police Girl?"
As his words sunk in, she slowly began to nod, a small smile forming. Wordlessly, she walked past him, settled on this new idea she'd presumably thought up.
He grinned and followed right behind her.
