I would firstly like to thank those who have given this story a chance and those who have favoured it, and the three lovelies who have reviewed! This one is for all of you! :)
By the way, I've devised a schedule that I'm hoping to stick to. I will be posting an update to three out of my four current on-going series in the next three days, and then starting next week I will begin with the new posting dates!
The Deal is set to be released on either Friday or Sunday.
So those of you who are enjoying this story, please keep an eye out beginning next week for a chappy released on one of those dates! ^^
THE DEAL
CH IV
"Long time no see, Alice." A cheerful voice stated as the figure sitting behind the desk rose from the cushioned chair.
Alice trembled slightly and took a step back, her eyes wade and her jaw slack. Seras frowned and put a careful hand on Alice's shoulder as if to offer some stability, knowing that her words would go unheard.
Alucard however, stood silent and watched as the figure walked around the desk. Glacier eyes gazed over the three figures and lingered on the auburn haired girl in front of him. His eyes quickly flickered from one to the other, and suddenly the dots connected.
The figure standing in front of them was a young woman not much younger than Alice herself. Her tidy, shoulder-length black hair matched with porcelain skin and bright green eyes. She was of tiny stature and had a sort of regal air around her, showing that she was more than suited and able to maintain her level of employment. Alucard was able to spot the similar features between the two girls despite such dramatic differences due to different fathers, although the ancient vampire could tell by the individual scents. The warm, cinnamon scent that Alucard could catch a hint of when probing around Alice's memories was that of her mothers, and now, he could smell it again coming from the girl standing before them.
In front of the three, stood Alice's little sister.
He was sure of it.
If not for his findings, the proof itself was written all over Alice's face.
"Deatry..." Alice frowned. "What are you... What's going on?"
Deatry smiled a sickeningly sweet smile before advancing towards them. "What? No, "I'm so happy to see you!" or anything? Come now Alice, where are your manners! And you haven't even introduced me to your friends. Shame on you!"
Alice narrowed her eyes and tensed. The act her sister was performing wasn't fooling her. Something was wrong, and whatever it was, she was sure they would all find out shortly.
"Where's Norton Baxter?" Alice watched her sister carefully, making sure that Deatry stayed a good distance from them all.
Her question went unheard as Deatry closed the distance between the two and pulled Alice into a bone-crushing hug. Her actions shocked even Alucard. Seras stared at the two with wide eyes before snapping out of her stupor and aimed her pistol at the ready, her finger on the trigger all ready and waiting.
"I missed you." Deatry mumbled against the puffed sleeve of Alice's jacket. "I know I said some awful things to you but in truth, I really did miss you."
Alice continued to stand there in her sisters embrace still in shock. Her muscles were coiled and tightly wound and her nerves were on edge. She focused her eyes to the other side of the room and remained silent, simply staring a head waiting patiently for her sister to let go.
Alucard watched with slight amusement, his eyes trained on the younger sibling with interest.
"Where is Norton Baxter?" Alice repeated, only this time her voice was raw with emotion.
Despite her ability to suppress her emotions during missions or at any other moment in time, this reunion grated even at her self-restraint. Her crystal blues became glassy as tears weld up and eventually slid down her cheeks. Her body began to shake and her breathing became ragged.
Seras frowned watching the two before slowly lowering her gun, although her eye never wavered.
"You and I are finally back together after all this time, and all you can care about is that fool?" Deatry began to sob. "You always were so cruel, Alice."
Suddenly Deatry shoved her older sister away and took a step back, her hate-filled eyes glaring with intensity. Alice stumbled back but felt a hand brace her from behind as Alucard stepped forward to catch her. Seras, once again aiming her gun at Deatry, took a defensive step in front of Alice.
"You really want to know what happened to that old fool?" Deatry reached up and twirled a lock of her ebony hair between her fingers. "I'll be more than happy to tell you."
Alice steadied herself and narrowed her heated gaze at Deatry. "Please, do tell."
Deatry smiled once more and clasped both hands together, making sure the giant wedding ring on her finger was noticeable to all. Alice chocked on her own breath before shaking her head.
"You married him?!" Alice shouted in disbelief. "How could you marry the same man that threatened your life?"
Deatry looked at Alice and grinned. "Easy. I was never in danger to begin with."
"What?" Alice froze.
Green eyes danced with delight at Alice's reaction. "That's right. I was never in danger." She took a step forward but was stopped as Seras threatened to shoot her once more. "Do you want to know the truth before I kill you all as well?"
She was never in danger?
Alucard smirked at her threat but made no response. Seras snarled and aimed a second gun at the human in front of her. Alice however, brought herself back to reality and nodded slowly.
Deatry twirled around and walked over to the desk before hopping onto it, crossing one leg over the other and sat back against her hands staring at the trio with a saucy grin.
"I think you recall the time that I decided to leave home before all hell broke loose, correct?" Deatry didn't wait for a response before continuing. "Well, it was all a big set up. Truth is, I knew about the plan to murder the entire family. In fact, I was the one who orchestrated it."
Alice felt her entire being shake with rage. Her fists bawled and shook violently as she remained grounded to the floor while her sister's voice continued to echo through the room.
"I'm sure you're aware of the reason all of that went down, am I right? Well, it wasn't your father dearest that was their target. No, State Genesis wanted someone else. They wanted Kennith, yes, because he was brilliant, but he was only the icing on the cake. They wanted someone that they could use for testing rather than be the one doing the testing." Deatry smirked and eyed Alice with amusement.
"They wanted you, my dear big sister. It was your life that I bartered away in order for the entire plan to fall into place." She paused long enough to switch legs, swinging the opposite over the other and adjusted her position on the desk. "State Genesis accepted the proposal from Red Orchid to help with all of this, and in return, Norton asked for my hand in marriage. Being as young as I am and already able to control the heads of two companies like I did, I gladly accepted and eventually, Norton was taken out as well."
Alice looked at Deatry in disbelief. "How could you?!"
"Power, darling. It was all for power." She smirked. "You were always the prized child of the family that everyone adored. You were the one to inherit grandfather's praise and trained to be his perfect little soldier, while I had to sit back and suffer the consequences for being sired by a monster."
Alucard's hand roughly grasped Alice's shoulder as the girl's legs sprung and forced her forward into a lunge, halting her movements and holding her back as he watched Deatry with interest. A nasty laugh escaped her lips as she watched her sister struggled against the man dressed in red.
"Sad, isn't it? You finally figured out the truth, and here you are, able to do absolutely nothing." Deatry sighed with delight. "This was all too easy, you know that?"
"Why did he use our blood?" Alice spat out. "Why did father use our blood for that damn experiment?!"
Deatry blinked. "Oh, you want to know that too, eh?" She rolled her eyes and inhaled deeply. "Kennith had blood samples drawn up when I was born and discovered that my biological father had been part of an experiment using a mutated version of a wolf's DNA. He concluded that in order to separate and individually study each cell to figure out it's properties, he needed the blood of a virgin that was free of the mutation. That's where you came into the picture, and eventually Kennith was able to synthesize a "true" version of whatever was inside my father.
"When I was old enough to understand his notes, I read everything I could before Kennith found me in his office. He called it the "Werewolf Gene". Unique and individual, right?"
Alice narrowed her eyes. "Why would Red Orchid kill him if he was studying something that could have possibly become a bio-hazard or a cure?"
Deatry looked at Alice with droll stare. "I told you earlier. They wanted you, so sacrifices had to be made."
"The leader of State Genesis and Norton Baxter realized that in order to shove you into submission and make you work for at least one of the companies, you would have to have absolutely no emotional ties." Deatry tilted her head to the side. "That's when they decided to use me as bait in order to make you theirs."
Alice bit her bottom lip and tensed once more. Alucard, who stood silently behind her, instantly brought his eyes to Alice. The thoughts swimming through her mind now were alarming, although the thought of watching her perform the actions she wished to do made his blood biol with delight.
"You traded me off at the cost of our family?" Alice's voice was low. "Now you threaten me, saying your going to kill me too? For what reason would that be, darling little sister?"
Deatry eyed Alice carefully and grinned. "Easy. You're too much of a threat. Norton knew that bitch Integra would eventually want to sink her claws into you, so we made a move first to pull you under our wing."
At the insult to their master, Seras tensed and Alucard's grip on Alice's shoulder strengthend.
"If it makes you feel any better Alice, you weren't the only price I had to pay." Deatry brought and hand forward and examined her nails closely. "Kennith's prize possession was also a demanded payment."
"Prize possession?" Seras muttered to herself, only to be interrupted by Deatry.
Green eyes narrowed dangerously at the young draculina. "Shut up you little wench. I'm the one telling the story here, not you." She paused to regain her composure before looking at Alice once more. "There were two viles of blood in Kennith's safe. One with our blood, and another with that Abraham van-whatever's blood. Well, State Genesis and Red Orchid wanted those along with you."
Before Alucard could react in time to stop her, Alice drew her twin Taurus revolvers and aimed before pulling the trigger without a second thought.
That wasn't her sister. It couldn't be. Deatry would never betray the family like this imposter was making them believe.
Deatry pushed back off the desk and flew into the air doing a flip before landing gracefully on her feet. Her green eyes danced with amusement and delight as she watched Alice's anger unfold into a blind rage. She continued to dance around avoiding each bullet that was aimed towards her, swiftly dodging any and all obstacles in the room. As the bullets few, few managed to penetrate the thick window pane and cause an explosion of glass to shower everywhere.
"Tell me where my real sister is you lying piece of shit!" Alice screamed as she fired more rounds.
Deatry suddenly lunged forward with her arm stretched out in, her hand aimed at Alice's throat when Seras also began shooting. Deatry narrowed her eyes and snarled before jumping out of the way and jumped to hide behind her desk for a moment.
"I am your little sister, Alice." Deatry giggled from her hiding place. "Why can't you see that?"
"LIAR!"
Alice released the clip and allowed the two empty cases to fall to the floor before reaching back and lifting the back of her jacket up revealing several more loaded clips. She quickly pushed the twin revolvers back against the pieces holding her clips and reloaded the guns before firing once more. Seras tossed her two pistols aside before pulling the giant cannon strapped to her back around to the her front and aimed it.
In the midst of all of this, Alucard watched with amusement and waited for the entire thing to come to an end.
Finally once Alice was out of bullets for a second time around, Alucard finally decided to intervene and pulled out his Casull. Alice glanced to her side to see light from the open window shining on the bright silver of the gun. He smirked a twisted smirk as Deatry stood from behind the shelter of the desk with not a scratch on her skin, although her clothes were another story.
Alice narrowed her eyes. "I understand now."
"Whatever could you mean, pretty little Alice?" Deatry bat her lashes with an innocent look.
Alice eyed her intensely. "I understand your part in all of this." The corner of her lip twitched as Deatry's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "You had to offer yourself up for more than marriage, didn't you?"
Deatry's calm exterior was cracked instantly. "It was an even trade if you ask me."
"What did they do to you, Deatry?" Alice watched her as she rounded the desk.
Deatry smirked and stretched her arms slightly before running her fingers through her hair. "Lets just say they were able to finish what they had started with my biological father."
"So they finally were able to create a werewolf, huh?" Alice looked back to see a dangerous, blood thirsty grin spread across Alucard's face. "This will be fun indeed."
"Alucard, she's mine to kill. Not yours." Alice glared up at him.
Alucard's red orbs clashed with her crystal blues and for a moment the world stood still. He couldn't help but admire the fire burning brightly in her eyes, and soon his thoughts brought him to when he first met Integra. The same fire burnt brightly in her own eyes as she faced the men who were trying to kill her, and even now in the face of danger, Integra still held that desirable strong front that brought on the ancient vampires doting respect.
After a moment of silence the two finally looked back towards a bored Deatry. The two, in their silent argument, had come to some sort of treaty and now both raised their weapons towards the newly discovered werewolf.
Deatry grinned from ear to ear. "How cute. The lovely couple think that a set of pistols can kill me?"
Seras watched the two and couldn't help but step back slightly, her cannon lowering as she submitted to the fact she was not needed at this particular moment.
"Couple?" Alice spat out. "As if. Alucard could only dream for a woman like me."
Alucard's smirk widened at Alice's words.
Without hesitation, the two fired and the bullets embedded directly into Deatry's forehead and chest. The room went silent as her figure went limp and dropped back against the desk before landing with a loud thud onto the floor. Alice remained silent but felt her hand quiver as she watched her sister, her flesh and blood, lay there in a pool of her own blood.
"Stay focused, young one." Alucard's tone was even. "This isn't over yet."
The two vampires suddenly flew back towards the window in attempts to escape the miasma as Deatry, having dropped to the ground with something in her hand, released a similar grenade-like weapon in the room.
Before Alice could move, Deatry shot up and grabbed Alice by the throat. The force sent the two flying back through the double doors and into the long hallway leading up to the office. Alice struggled against the steel grip against her throat and swung her leg up kicking Deatry hard enough in the stomach to make her flinch, taking the opportunity to roll the two over. Alice landed on top of Deatry and straddled her, effectively pinning her down as she used both hands to mock her sister and grip her throat tightly with both hands. Deatry smirked and used her free hand to slam the side of it against a bare spot on Alice's throat, causing the girl to flinch and release her hold enough for her to gain the upper hand.
"This ends here." Deatry stated in a calm voice, that infamous smile spreading across her face.
Alice's eyes went wide as she felt herself fly back and before long, Deatry once again had a hold of her. She lifted the older girl off the ground with one hand tightly clasped around her throat once more before tossing her to the roughly. Alice gasped loudly in pain as her back collided with one of the large windows feeling it crack under the pressure.
"Pity." Deatry stalked forward and flexed her fingers. "I thought for sure the window would break under that kind of pressure. Seems I was wrong to get the pain as thick as I did."
Alice struggled to get up slowly before getting mercilessly kicked in the stomach with a pointed-toe heel. She coughed loudly and tried to crawl forward towards the gun that had flown out of her hand, only to have it leave her reach as Deatry picked it up.
"Isn't this weapon a little masculine for you, sis?" Deatry smirked. "Perhaps you're more butch then I thought you were-"
Before she could finish her sentence, Alice used the rest of her energy and swiftly moved her body enough to swipe her attackers feet out from under her. The unsuspecting Deatry dropped to the floor with groan, letting go of the gun in the process and Alice watched as it landed merely inches away from where it had been before Deatry disturbed it. Once more, Alice struggled forward in pursuit of it before feeling a slicing pain rip through her lower leg. With a straggled cry, Alice looked back to see Deatry's nails had elongated into sharp claws and were now dug deeply into her flesh.
"Don't think you're getting away with that dirty little trick, my dear, sweet, little Alice." Deatry smirked as she yanked back, causing her lengthened nails to drag down Alice's leg making the gashes deeper.
Alice let out a loud yelp and soon began reaching for her weapon once more.
Suddenly, the two looked towards the doors to the office as a loud roar boomed through the entire hallway. Alucard's form suddenly burst through the doors, his expression far less than impressed. He was quick to cover the distance between himself and the two girls laying on the floor, mercilessly reaching down to grab Deatry roughly before sending her crashing through the windows lining the other wall. Seras quickly rushed out of the room coughing and hacking due to the effects of the miasma, aiming and firing her cannon at the window beside her to shatter the glass. As fresh air began to flood in through the open space, her breathing regulated and she was able to focus more clearly.
Alucard looked down at Alice and couldn't help but think of how pitiful she looked laying on the ground all beaten down and bruised.
"Get up, human." Alucard narrowed his eyes. "You still have a job to do."
Alice looked up at him and narrowed her eyes before shakily pushing herself up. She reached forward and successfully grabbed her Taurus before using the window to pull herself up.
Alucard smirked as he watched her. "No there is the human I've grown fond of."
Alice's eyes grew slightly at his words but the moment was cut short as a giant desk was hurdled towards the two. Alucard quickly grabbed Alice and dodged the projectile as it crashed through the window and began its plummet down to the ground at the base of the building.
Alucard and Alice both looked towards Deatry as she stepped over the frame and smirked at the two.
"How cute." Deatry dusted off her shirt before looking back at the two. "Alice's red-clad savior has come to her rescue once more."
Alice narrowed her eyes. "I don't need his help if that's what you're getting at."
"Stuck on your pride until the very end. That's so you, big sister." Deatry smirked. "Although your pride won't be enough to save you from that."
All eyes were lowered to Alice's injured leg. The gashes made from Deatry's claws had penetrated her flesh like a hot knife sliced into butter. The wound, only minutes old, was now a dark purple and was festering as if it were poisoned. Alice went wide eyed and looked at her sister only to find the girl smirking at her new predicament.
"What the hell is this?!"
Deatry giggled and crossed her arms. "You've just officially been dubbed the new experiment."
Alice narrowed her eyes and attempted to rush forward only to have a searing hot pain rip through her body from the injured leg up. She dropped to the ground once more and gasped loudly, reaching back to touch the flesh above the purple-stained area gently. Seras rushed over and settled herself down close to Alice before reaching back and pulling out a roll of linen and began wrapping the wound up as best as she could.
Alucard eyed the wound before looking at Deatry. "I thought a werewolf needed to bite in order to infect?"
"Not in my case." Deatry's smirk grew. "I guess that's a bonus that comes with being the first successful experiment. Now, here's your options Alice." She paused and approached the three. "You can either let me bite you and turn you, or you can suffer an agonizing death due to that poison. The choice is yours, really."
She paused once more before eyeing Alucard with distate.
"Or, you could choose to become one of him."
Alice looked up at Deatry with hate-filled eyes. "Why?"
"Why?" She looked down at Alice with bright eyes. "Why, it's because you're the one who was meant to be experimented on as the family's protege. Wouldn't be fair it were only me that had been poked and prodded, now would it?" Her eyes glanced to the watch on her wrist and suddenly a sullen look crossed her features. "Unfortunately I have to call this meeting to a close, so tata for now little one. I can't wait to meet again and see what path you've chosen."
A retort died in her throat as Deatry suddenly vanished, leaving a confused Alice and a curious Alucard watching the spot she had been standing in.
Seras looked at the two and frowned. "I don't mean to interrupt, but we need to get Alice back to Hellsing immediately, Master. The poison is spreading and her wound is getting worse."
Alucard narrowed his eyes slightly and turned to look down at Alice, her eyes still fixed on that spot her sister had vanished from. Her crystal blues were dull and had a far-off look in them.
"Make your choice, human." Alucard continued to eye her. "Or I will make the decision for you."
Alice remained silent for a moment before responding with a monotone voice. "Not yet. I'll make it to Hellsing and then you can use the blood. It's what it was for."
Alucard muddled over her words for a moment before realization hit him.
Her father was either a genius or a lucky fool.
Aha! Bet at least one of you didn't see that one coming! ;D
Okay so, it wasn't exactly as long as I was hoping it was, but hey... There was a fight scene? LOOL
So I decided to end it here because really, a lot has happened in this chapter and really, I didn't want to reveal too much too soon.
There's going to be a lot going on in the next update, so hopefully I don't throw things around too much. I have one twist left, and then only a few more chapters before the end. This series was never intended to be a super long series or anything. Just something small and hopefully enough to catch the interest of one or two people. :)
Anyways, I must go now and fight off the fatigue as I write up my next chapter to Magnificence (My Kuroshitsuji story featuring Claude Faustus~). :)
Tataa for now!