Chapter Six

The grand hall of Castle Nosferatu had been lit up for the humans on the night of the meeting. Glass light fixtures had been installed on the walls and mounted in the centers of small tables. The floors and walls were all draped and carpeted in the same shade of bloodred. Most of the lesser Lords and a few of their Ladies were already there, milling around the room, talking in low, hushed whispers.

There were chairs along one wall, but no one was sitting down. Manners dictate they wait until the Four Lords arrive before they could be seated.

Meanwhile, in the dungeon where the tribute maidens were kept, Integral was helping the other girls into their clothes. The four-Ida, her 'sister'; Sara and Eliza, matching blondes who had come on the same caravan as Ida and Integral; and little, red-haired Melissa, who was only fifteen and looked so helpless as to invite the protectiveness of all the other girls.

They were all getting into their dresses, low-cut, silky gowns that left them shivering and goose-bumped. Integral pulled up zippers and helped them smooth their hair as best she could- feminine appearance was not exactly her forte. She herself was wearing her best suit, coal black. After making the final adjustments, the five left the room, and marched under the eyes of two vampire guards down to the grand hall.

The lesser Lords and Ladies looked on, watching with interest as the maidens made their way to a particularly bright corner, where none of the vampires were standing. They stood close together, staying behind Integral, who eyed the vampires around her without fear.

Below them, the sound of a gong rang out. It was a signal; the vampires moved back into two lines, forming a corridor walled in by their bodies. The double doors opened, and the four they'd been waiting on arrived, Lords Vale and Fin accompanied by vampiresses. Lord Fin was with a nervous young woman, one of his harem's fledglings; Lord Vale with his famous bride, who was indeed stunningly beautiful and elegant.

Dracula was not with them. Integral wasn't sure what to make of that; he might just be planning to arrive dramatically later, or he might not be coming at all. While she knew that she was a trained hunter, against the whole hall of vampires her only real asset would be the powers she had gained from the Iscariot incident, and revealing those would create problems, if only because she didn't know the extent of her ability and could overreach herself without realizing it.

But if this meeting was, as she suspected, for the purpose of forcibly turning these women, she could hardly stand by and watch it happen, or let it happen to herself.

"My fellow undead." Lord Fin announced, turning to face the crowd. Chairs were pulled out, and within minutes, all the vampires were seated. He continued. "Our females are starved for company. Should we deny them? I present to you the next generation, humans that will soon join us and add worthy new members to our race."

He gestured to the five humans in the corner. "Come forward." He ordered. The girls hesitantly began walking, Integra in the lead. The humans could feel the eyes of the many vampires watching them; it was an uncomfortable feeling, akin to that of a bleeding fish in sight of a shark.

Ida was closest to Integra; she kept her head lowered, her expression blank with terror. Before coming to the Castle, she had thought that it would mean nothing to die here. She had been wrong. Ida wanted very much to live.

"Which one of you wants to go first?" Lord Fin asked, smiling as if he'd said something funny. Some of the vampires did laugh, feeling as though they were obligated to do so.

When no one volunteered, Fin moved closer. The girls stepped back, but Integral remained where she was, out front. Fin looked at her questioningly, if as it hadn't occurred to him that any of the girls would dare to try and resist their fates. It hadn't-Integra was with Dracula, and Fin had thought that the elder vampire would know how to break in a human properly.

"Are you volunteering?" He asked. Integra rolled her eyes.

"For damnation? At your hands?" She shook her head. "No."

"Damnation? I assure you, there is nothing more desirable than becoming one of the immortal undead."

"Except death, and violation, and being impaled on a sharp object... I can go on."

"Has no one ever taught you proper respect, girl?" Fin snarled. Rebellion was not something he was interested in dealing with.

"For you? Do something to make me respect you, vampire." Integra replied, wondering how far back the other girls were. Fin was definitely going to force them, she was certain of it, and if it came down to a fight, she wanted all the room she could get. Fin advanced, and reached and snatched at her hand. There was a stab of pain as he squeezed her wrist.

Fin jerked around as a hand laid itself on his shoulder. Dracula was standing behind him. No one had noticed him come in, or even realized he was there until a second ago, which only added to his usual aura of menace.

"It would seem that I am late." He said. "These are the candidates for turning?"

"Yes." Fin said, still clutching Integra's hand. She tried to pull away, and he squeezed even harder. Integra was reasonably certain he'd broken something.

"I don't recall volunteering her." The implication-that Dracula didn't want his tribute maiden turned-didn't sit well with Fin, but rather than express that feeling, he shoved Integra toward Dracula and turned towards Sara. Integra felt her hand move involuntarily as the broken bones knitted together and unzipped one of her gloves slightly.

Ida gave her a pleading look from behind the twins, and Integra pulled away from Dracula and went towards the girls again. Fin glared at her.

"Step back." He ordered. "Do not interfere!" The Hellsing ignored him, shielding the four girls with her body. Fin hesitated, and settled for motioning towards her in a threatening way. She didn't budge, just stared intensely at him.

"I stand with my own kind." Integra snapped. "Either fight or let us leave, it's damned drafty in here." It was a bluff-she couldn't enforce it-but she didn't really need to, as not even the four Lords wanted to risk hurting her and inciting Dracula's wrath. On the other hand, this display of rebellion would not go unpunished.

It was a stalemate.

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Seras Victoria knew Pip Bernadette.

The evidence of the dogtags and of those long red hairs lingered in her mind. No one at Hellsing was supposed to know where she was with the exceptions of Walter, Anderson, and Richard. The Captain wouldn't have been informed. This was to ensure no one could betray the plan; however, it was also to prevent anyone from trying something rash. Integra had known there was no way to contact Hellsing once inside.

And if he was alive, and Seras could find him…there was an opportunity there. A small one, and a dangerous one, but there was a way to get information out to Hellsing all the same. The trick wouldn't be convincing Seras into doing it, Integra was sure she could sue the girl's own morality to do that, it was that no other vampire could know. And Integra suspected that Dracula would keep an eye on his fledgling.

Still, she felt she ought to make up a note-something sort and encoded-she could give to the vampires in case of emergency.

While Integra scribbled down a summary of all she had learned here, Seras sat on the roof of the building, looking up at the stars.

She was thinking about him. The Captain who'd given her his blood.

No one had ever done anything like that ever, as far as she knew. With the exception of Fallen families, families who had sided with vampires during the war only to be betrayed, every human proudly boasted death over feeding a vampire outright. Bu the Captain had done it. He'd let her bite him, knowing she could kill him, knowing he was giving away a piece of his soul, knowing she was his enemy.

The blood had been hot and rich, and now she felt as if she could fly. The strength in her body was the same as when she'd first awakened in the castle she now lay on top of. Now she understood why her master was so insistent about her drinking, why any vampire would drink away another's life.

It felt good.

She still had the dogtags; she didn't know what to do with them. Finding him and returning him sounded good in theory, but in practice it might get her killed. She did owe the man, though. He'd saved her. That happened to her a lot…the most unlikely people helped her…

First, the police when she was younger, then Master giving her a second life, or unlife, and now this vampire hunter giving her blood. She'd meant to protect people as a human, but instead she was a fairly helpless vampire.

She was dangerous- a fact really brought home by Susan, Master's…Seras couldn't think of Susan as being anyone's woman. The sharp features of her face and the tribute maiden's scowl made her seem unsuited for what was basically prostitution.

Then again, Master was weird. Maybe he liked that.

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Walter mildly drank his tea and fussed over paperwork, ignoring Captain Bernadette, who lounged in the chair across from him. While the captain looked nonchalant, inwardly he suspected Walter was trying to worm information out of him in a very subtle way.

Pip did not want to talk about her. The Police Girl.

He knew that letting a hungry young vampire eat you was a bad idea. He was aware that he'd sworn an oath to this organization. He could imagine the carnage this girl could commit now that he'd helped her. But the sight of her face, of eyes that were going blind and fear that overtaking her, had bothered him. He wasn't a cruel person, despite his choice of profession.

He could put her out of her misery, or he could abate it, albeit temporarily. He could have killed her, but knowing that she was the woman in the picture he'd found, knowing she'd obviously suffered made it hard. So he'd let her off.

Walter, Richard, Sir Hellsing, Anderson…none of them would approve. They might sympathize, but they wouldn't agree. The Hellsing organization hunted vampires, it didn't hemp them. But…

He hadn't wanted her to die, even though his mind pointed out she was dead already, so he'd insured she lived a little longer.

Now she had his dogtags. They seemed worthless enough, and they wouldn't be much help to the enemy, but they could identify him as her savior, and that was reason enough to worry.

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