When I awoke the next morning, I was alone in the darkness. I lay in a haze for a little while before the door opened and the little light from the hallway rushed into the room. Alucard's figure stood in the doorway.
He didn't move, yet all the candles lit up. I saw that there was a plain wooden chair next to my bed that hadn't been there before. Alucard made his way over to it and sat down, leaning over me. My eyes were slightly opened, but he didn't notice. His hand reached toward me, and his finger traced my neck.
I remembered what Integra said. He had been enticed by the smell of my blood at one point, and probably still was. She said he wouldn't kill me because of my kindness and the fact that he was under her orders, but I was still a little nervous. I stirred on purpose to make it seem that he had woken me up.
"Oh, hi," I said, stretching my arms. "What time is it?"
"It's 6 in the morning," Alucard answered. "And no, I don't have to sleep in the daytime like most vampires."
Damn him and his mind-reading. Well that was good, I guess…I'd get to see him sometimes. Otherwise it would just feel awkward here.
I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes. In my peripheral vision, I saw Alucard watching me. I decided to ignore it for the time being. In the silence, my stomach rumbled. I hadn't eaten anything in over 24 hours.
"Uhm…" I began, laughing nervously. "Any idea where I could get something other than blood to eat around here?"
He laughed at me and stood, walking out of my room. I quickly got up and followed him. As we approached the stairs, he picked me up off the ground and carried me up about 4 flights. He put me down and led me to a large kitchen.
"Is this what you meant?" Alucard asked, sarcastically. I giggled and nodded.
I made myself some toast, and he got a bag of medical blood. Sitting across from him, I looked at him curiously. He swallowed and stared back at me.
"What does blood taste like?" I asked. It was never my intention to drink it myself…I was just wondering what made it so appealing to vampires.
"I don't know how to explain it," he admitted. "Uhm…think of your favorite drink…or food, even, and multiply it by a hundred. No, a thousand. And it never gets old."
"Wow," I said, in awe. "so the taste outweighs the grossness of biting peoples' jugulars?"
Alucard laughed heartily. "I guess you could say that," he replied, grinning. I copied him, showing most of my teeth. "Wow," he said, intrigued. "your canines are pretty sharp-looking-- are you sure you're not a vampire?"
I touched the tip of one of my canine teeth with my tongue. I never noticed their sharpness… "Uhm…I'm pretty sure I'm not," I replied, smiling. I looked down at myself. When did I change into pajamas? The last I remember, I was in my new "uniform…"
I looked up at Alucard. He was smirking. Mind-reading…pssh.
"Yes, I did put your pajamas on you," he answered the non-existent question. "but don't worry, that's all I did."
"I believe you," I said.
"Are you a virgin?" Alucard asked me after a short pause.
"What!? Why would you need to know that?"
"No reason, I was just wondering. If you don't want to answer, you don't have to," he replied, leaning back in his chair.
"Well," I began, looking down, feeling my face get warm. "Yeah…I am."
"I see," he said, sucking down the last sip of his blood.
That morning was rather awkward. While in the shower, I thought of why he would ask me such a personal question. I'd only known the real him for a day. It was just weird.
I found that there were extra toothbrushes and anything else I'd need under the sink. Wrapped in a towel, I rushed out of the bathroom and into my room. It wasn't that far away; it was on the same floor, at least.
There was nothing I could do with my hair, but fortunately I found an extra brush somewhere in the bathroom and took it with me. Once dressed and ready, I headed for Integra's office to see if we could figure out a job I could do around here.
Approaching the stairs, I wondered why Alucard hadn't suddenly appeared to help me. I shrugged and started ascending by myself. I knew it would take a long time, and I'd be wiped out by the time I got to the main floor, but I guess I could use the exercise…
Huffing and puffing, I made it to the last staircase. I saw Alucard walking out of Integra's office. I heard her say, "Do what you think is best," as Alucard exited the room. What could that mean? He saw me and glided over.
"I'm sorry," he said, concerned. "I was busy. Were you looking for me?"
"Well, to get up the stairs, yes," I began, still exhausted. "but actually I was going to see Sir Integra."
"Let me help you," he said, holding out his hand. I took it and he lifted me up the last few steps by one arm. He grinned. "That better?"
"Oh, yeah, thanks a bunch," I said, facetiously. I strode past him, and heard his feet clacking down the opposite way. After knocking on the door and being allowed in, I realized that my hair was down. "I'm sorry, I forgot about my hair…"
Integra smiled. "It doesn't need to be pulled back," she said. "You're fine the way you are. Please sit down."
I followed her instructions. "Is there any job I can do yet?" I asked. As lazy as I was, I couldn't wait to get to work here.
"There are little jobs you can do here and there," she began. "but we're thinking of something else you can do in the future. I can't disclose that with you at the moment, though. As of now, you can assist Walter, clean the artillery in the target practice center, or be in charge of stocking things. None of these tasks sound very interesting, I know, but they're the only ones I have for you right now."
"That's perfectly fine," I said. "I'd like to help Walter, if that's alright."
"Perfect-- he'd be glad to have assistance," Integra replied. "I'll call him up here so you can get started." She pressed a button on an intricate-looking telephone. Moments later, the butler came through the doors.
"You called?" he asked Integra.
"Yes," she began. "Zinautha has chosen to help you as her job."
"Excellent," he said, smiling at me. I waved, grinning. "Let's get started, then."
Walter had a rather difficult job. He was in charge of computer files and paper files, making Integra's afternoon tea etc., etc. I was running back and forth for most of the day. He tried teaching me the proper way to organize data using paper. I couldn't remember which type of paper went in which tray, and ultimately got lost. The computer was much easier; I had been a computer whiz in my early years, and understood the methods of transferring a file from one window to the other and such.
"You're doing rather well," Walter encouraged. I heard a beep from somewhere. "I'll return in a few moments-- that's Integra calling."
"Okay," I replied. Before then, I hadn't really looked at the files. When Walter was gone, I double clicked on one and read the first line. It was a record of a vampire that had been terminated by Hellsing. Checking a few more, I noticed that they were, too. I hadn't realized how many files I had gone through, but there were a ton of them. I wondered how long they had been in business…
"Well over twenty years, that's for sure," Alucard's voice sounded from behind me, making me jump. He was leaning on the door frame, holding a wide-brimmed hat that matched his cloak.
"I figured so, seeing all these records," I said. "Did you do all this?"
"Most of them, yes," he replied. "before Integra came to power here, I couldn't have. She's the one who gave me this…job. I'm not saying I hadn't been killing long before she met me, but those were never recorded."
"You must be pretty good, then?" I questioned jokingly.
"You could say that," Alucard answered, grinning. He walked over to me, watching the computer screen. "I never understood those contraptions."
"Computers? They're pretty easy to use," I said. "Mostly it's just click and drag, but sometimes I have to do other things."
He was standing on my left, the mouse pad being at my right. "You mean like this?" he asked in a low, smooth voice. He reached around me and moved the mouse, clicking a file and moving it to the other box. I twitched a little. The back of my neck felt warm and it stretched out to my cheeks.
"Uh--uhm…yeah, like that," I said, shakily.
Alucard took his arm back and stood straight, laughing. "You really can't take a joke, can you?"
Turning slowly, I glared at him. "I'm going to hurt you."
"You can't."
"I'll find a way."
Walter walked in with his quiet footsteps. "What's going on in here?" he asked in mock concern.
"Alucard's being a jerk," I said plainly.
The two men just looked at me. I stuck my tongue out at Alucard. He grinned and laughed. Walter laughed, too.
"Fine, then," Alucard said. "you can go downstairs by yourself tonight." Laughing again, he walked out of the room and down the hallway.
I stuck my tongue out, again, in the direction he walked and made a noise of displeasure in my throat. Walter shook his head and chuckled again, returning to the piles of paper he was sorting earlier. Returning to my work, I began to daydream. It was about-- well that's not important.
As happy as I was to work for the Hellsing organization, I got bored. I really hoped that Walter didn't turn around to see the game of solitaire I was playing instead of moving files. There were only a few left, anyways.
Each time I heard a movement unlike the shuffling of papers behind me, I'd minimize the solitaire box and continue to place files in the correct folders. When the movement ceased, I'd bring the window back up and resume my game. Unfortunately, I sucked at solitaire and failed miserably.
I transferred the last file and looked over my shoulder to see Walter's progress. Coincidentally, he was just putting down his last paper file as I turned around.
"It looks like I'm done with this for the day," he announced. "How about you, Zinautha?"
"I'm done, too," I replied. "What else is there?"
"Well, we need to clean the artillery and check the supplies," Walter answered. So Integra fooled me. I'd have to do those things no matter which path I chose. I decided I'd keep an eye on her from now on-- she's pretty crafty.
I nodded and followed Walter down to the target practice center. We completed the chores we had to do, and by the time we finished, it was late. I made my way down the stairs on my own, and we happened to have finished our tasks when we were 3 flights of stairs above the main floor. Fantastic.
