Chapter 3

Spiraling

Every mission that succeeded the graveyard ended with similar results. A huge chunk had been taken out of Hellsing's numbers by the end of the second month. Whether the troops were infected, butchered, eaten, abducted, shot, stabbed, impaled, or had their brains stolen, they were no longer a part of the organization. These losses soon went from inconvenient to detrimental. 250 soon became 175.

This made Integra nervous, given recent circumstances.

"Only the most experienced are permitted to leave on ghoul-related missions, understood?"

The troops nodded a salute.

"Dismissed."

The troops dispersed and went about their daily business.

"So that just leaves: me, the priest and Police Girl." She whirled around, Alucard stood a few paces behind her, arms crossed over his chest, his coat and hair whipped about though there was no wind.

"It appears that way, think you can handle it?"

Alucard scoffed, and sounded almost offended by the mere notion that he couldn't 'handle' something. "If it is your will, Master, it shall be done." He over-dramatically bowed low his hair barely touching the floor.

Integra raised an eyebrow. "Hmm?"

He smiled coyly at her and disappeared.

She grinned at the place her vampire had once been.

Alucard seemed to be his old cocksure self again…

…more or less.

Seras had noticed minor changes in the paladin's behavior. She chastised herself for noticing in the first place, but that never stopped her.

He'd been sleeping less, eating less, and praying more. He'd stopped talking aside from a casual 'hello', 'God bless', what have you. His nights were restless, and the few hours of sleep he did manage were everything but peaceful. Seras felt a strange sort of sympathy and nervousness for Anderson.

But she was just being silly. Anderson was fine. Or was going to be.

Right?

/ You've been watching zhat Irishman a lot lately. If I didn't know better I'd say you-/

'Now isn't the time Pip.'

/Snippy.../

It was the first full hour Seras Victoria had in the last two weeks to be alone. She sat on the lid of her coffin pondering the situation on the whole.

She remembered when she had first been turned into a vampire. The way she'd acted, the way she'd felt.

/ Your situation and his are nothing alike. Don't assume such zings. His holy backing has been taken from him/

"Don't assume such things Mr. Vernadead."

Seras jumped at the sound of her master's baritone voice to her left. She slid off her seat and fell to the floor with a thump. "Master?"

Alucard had been speaking to her shadow, which had assumed Pip's silhouette, he turned to her "Your boyfriend's a bit dense wouldn't you say?"

Seras's pale face reddened, "He-he's not my—"

"Of course not." Sarcasm dripped from his fangs.

/ I'm not dense. What makes you zink zat-/

Alucard's stare returned to the shadow on the floor. "Anderson's holy might comes from God, not the church." He scowled as though he were explaining the punch-line to a joke that should've been hilarious. "The church is made up of mortal men who misinterpret things. God knows as well as you or I what Anderson's true intentions were, and he is not faulted for the events that transpired."

Seras felt out of place. She never knew Shadow-Pip could speak to persons other than her. It was a strange phenomenon to watch.

/you say zat as zough you know ze way God zinks. You don't know God's will /

Alucard laughed, "Of course I don't. No one does. Hell, there most likely is no God. But, in the event that I'm wrong, I don't think he/she/it would have poor judgment," he said matter-of-factly. "Anderson is still holy. He is still a force to be reckoned with, with or without the church."

"Can he still regenerate?" Seras piped up before Pip could start an argument.

Alucard crossed his arms and thought for a moment, "I'm not quite sure," he said after a moment, "Let's find out, shall we?"

He was about to disappear when Seras said, "I thought you weren't allowed to hurt him!"

A wicked smile and a smart laugh, "Who said I was gonna hurt him?" and he was gone.

/ Zis won't end well. /

"No kidding." Seras ran out of her room and dashed up the stairs.

Even though she'd taken the stairs two at a time, Seras had no hope of stopping Alucard's master plan.

It had already started.

Kris eventually took the time to figure out that she was in a coffin, and with a little patience and some finagling, she'd managed to jimmy the lid open.

It hadn't been locked or sealed, easy to re-shut in an emergency.

The room that the coffin was in was dark and dank. Obviously underground. The walls and floor were of solid stone, and the iron barred door wouldn't budge no matter how hard she tried to open it. The room was so large Kris couldn't see the far corners from the coffin. She couldn't see the ceiling either. Her coffin, the altar it rested on, and the unlit candles that surrounded it seemed to be the only things in the chamber.

Kris sat on the floor next to the altar, making sure it stayed between her and the door.

She let her eyes adjust to the open darkness she saw a pair of rats in the corner doing…something. Kris couldn't really tell. She closed her eyes and listened. Her ears rang in the silence.

No one was down here.

Kris pulled her knees to her chest and realized she was no longer wearing her habit, but another long-sleeved dress. This one was adorned with lace and frills and tailored to fit her. She couldn't tell what color it was in the darkness.

She retched quietly when the thought of someone changing her clothes without her knowledge came to mind. She recovered quickly, hoping that there were more people in this… whatever it was, besides the two that brought her. Kris hoped at least one of them was female.

She heard multiple footfalls from the other side of the door. Kris stood, ready to get back in the coffin and hide if they entered.

They didn't, instead they talked amongst themselves. Kris listened.

"Hester, what were you thinking?" the voice was soft and smooth, most definitely female.

"What do you mean?" a second voice, probably Hester's. This one was more nasally and higher pitched. "It was just one night."

"I swear the Countess gonna kill you, Hes." The first voice scolded, "you need to keep your horniness in check."

"Emma," Hester snorted, "my libido is none of your business."

"I just don't want to end up like the first brides." Emma replied.

Kris knew the conversation continued but the women were out of earshot.

Brides?

Whose brides?

Kris sat back down. So there were women here; that was a plus.

Who was the Countess?

She had so many questions now. Her chest hurt.

The pain got worse and Kris fell onto her side clutching at her heart. She bit her lip in a desperate attempt not to cry out. Her breath came short, and her filed down, cracked incisors scratched up her lip. Her throat was dry.

The world around her blurred.

Kris tried to stay calm. This wasn't the first time her body rebelled against her. It craved the blood that she denied it.

The pain and delirium ebbed and faded. She sat up once she was sure the episode had passed. Her head was light but, that too, passed.

Kris wasn't a bloodsucker. She was a vampire, that much was true, but she never drank human blood. It was the only way she'd be allowed to stay at the school and as a pseudo-member of the clergy. Kris satisfied her thirst with animal blood donated by a local butcher. This, of course had a horrible effect on her.

She took a few deep breaths, stood, and got back into the coffin. Maybe a few hours of rest would do her some good.

She shut the lid and the smell of soil and ash lulled her to sleep.

Whatever it was Alucard had done landed Anderson in the infirmary. Integra was not happy about this.

Witnesses said that a section of floorboards near Anderson's room had caved in dropping the poor man to the floor below. Just down the hall from Sir Hellsing's chambers.

Despite the fact that her servant hadn't been near Anderson when the floorboards gave out, she knew it was his fault. It had to be.

He was okay, and would be back on his feet in no time. That didn't do much for Integra's anger.

"ALUCARD!"

"Yes Master?"

Integra stared daggers at him from the other side of her desk. "Why did you attack Anderson?"

Alucard was taken aback, or so he seemed, "Whatever do you mean, Master? I have followed your orders. I haven't touched him."

"You tampered with those boards."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

She continued to glare at him as she lit a cigar and pondered.

"How?" she asked.

The vampire shrugged.

The woman raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Social experiment."

Seras had been the one to bring Anderson to the infirmary after his fall; she was also the one who walked him back to his room once he decided he was well enough to leave.

The entire healing process took less than fifteen minutes. Yes, he could still regenerate.

"Ah never thought Ah'd be hazed." Anderson said to break the tense silence between them.

Seras laughed sheepishly, "Yeah, I'm sorry."

"Eh, it's not like it killed meh." He smiled graciously, "Ah'm fine. Just make sure it doesn't happen again"

It was around four in the morning, so only a few people were working to repair the hole in the floor. Anderson and Seras offered to help. The offer was accepted.

By six the floor was sturdy enough to walk on again. Anderson was still wary, but hid it well.

The humans were rising for the day, so Seras decided it was her turn to sleep.

"Good Morning, Father." She nodded to Anderson, then realized what she'd said.

He watched her carefully from his doorway. His expression unreadable, he took a deep breath through his nose.

After what felt like an eternity of uncomfortable silence, Anderson shut his door.

/Smoooooth./

'Shut up.'

End Chapter 3

A/N: Animal blood is not good for vampires. I stand by this theory, please don't flame me for it. It's unnecessary. Heh.

SO I have IDEAS NOW. And no time because of D&D. WHOO GO SELF.

As always, Review as you see fit.