What Could Have Been
Seras woke to find herself curled up like a cat on her Master's lap with his hand running through her now unbound hair. The pair were seated – and she used the term loosely for herself – in an oversized arm chair at the edge of what looked to be a stage. Seras blinked blearily as colors flashed before her eyes; dancers were performing to music that had woken her. The women were very pretty with an almost olive complexion and almond shaped eyes above their face veils. They wore translucent clothing that reminded her of Princess Jasmine from Aladdin, and they danced with long sheer scarves attached to wrist bangles with bells at their ankles. This performance made her wonder where the hell they were. Last she remembered was a mention of Italy…
The lead female – at least Seras assumed that's who she was – sashayed her way forward to a pole near their end of the stage and abruptly took a running leap at the rod, swinging herself around it multiple times while her skirt wound itself tighter and tighter until she laid on the floor in what looked like an uncomfortable position with her legs tied upright by the twisted fabric. Then the green eyed woman winked at Seras amidst the round of polite applause and the blonde felt a flush creep up her cheeks at the suggestive gleam in those eyes. Her Master chuckled in her ear, sending shivers down her spine, and she fidgeted. The dancer went so far as to blow her a kiss before unwinding herself by crawling back up the pole in the reverse direction she'd spun down it and balancing elegantly atop the narrow point whilst another girl Seras hadn't noticed stood opposite her. They leapt at each other and Seras cringed, expecting an impact that never came. Instead they sailed just over and under each other to switch places, performing the same trick as before with the added impressiveness of it being from mid air. The new girl, a brunette with copper eyes lay on her back with her arms above her head, the hands dangling just shy of touching the pair in the chair. Seras scooched back closer to her Sire's chest when she saw that same perverse light glow in the female's eyes. Alucard put a possessive hand on her hip so casually that she barely noticed, half hypnotized by the swirls of red and gold in the woman's gaze.
The dancer winked and reached her hands out to squeeze the fledgling's generous breasts, but her wrists were caught the instant her fingertips grazed the material of the fledgling's dress by a snarling Master vampire. "I. Don't. Share!" With a jerk of his hands he tore the offending limbs from the suddenly terrified female in a shower of blood – that got all over Seras – and threw them to the floor in disgust. "Never touch what is mine." He growled, wrapping his arms back around his bloody fledgling as though nothing had happened.
Seras blinked. Then she blinked again.
The shell shock wore off moments later and she shrieked, struggling to free herself from her Master's lap. "What is wrong with you?! You don't tear someone's hands off for nothing!" She shouted at him in the sudden silence of the performance hall, pushing violently against his chest to lever herself away from him. Oh god, she was covered in blood.
"Stop your struggling!" He snapped at her, baring his fangs in a show of displeasure, she shivered in fear but managed to get her legs up from under her to push against him for more leverage. He backhanded her and she crumpled to the floor with a cry, landing in the pool of blood surrounding the severed hands. "I will forgive your impudence because you are so young," he growled, standing and bending at the waist to fist her hair and drag her painfully to her feet, "But I will not be so lenient a second time, fledgling."
With those words he turned and dragged her from the room, and she saw the others watching them with mildly interested looks on their faces, as though this were an everyday occurrence. Yelping at a particularly harsh tug, fearing he would scalp her at this rate, she reached her hands up to wrap around his wrist in an attempt to lessen the pressure on her skull. "Master!"
"Silence, Police Girl." He shot back, storming through the hallways and scattering servants in his wake; she saw them cowering against the walls to keep out of his path. At last they arrived in a white tiled room and he threw her into a wall, she shrieked as the impact broke her ankle, twisting her foot around to a sickening angle. Curling in on herself pathetically, she cringed as she heard his boots tap the tile by her head, expecting another blow. Instead, a shower of cool water poured from the ceiling, washing the blood from her skin in trickles of pink. She peeked her eyes open cautiously to see him kneeling next to her, examining her mangled foot, while his clothes got progressively wetter and his hair clung to his face just like hers.
"So troublesome and fragile." He sighed, shaking his head as he reached out and quick as a flash, snapped her foot back into the proper alignment. She screamed and jerked herself backwards, hitting her head on the wall with a dull thud. Shivering and biting back the whimpers so hard her blood teeth sunk into her lower lip, she tucked her knees to her chest and buried her face between them, wrapping her arms protectively about herself like a child.
He grunted and she heard movement, thinking he might leave, rather hoping he would, actually. She felt raw and hyper sensitized to his presence just then; one minute he was normal, almost human, the next he was tearing someone's limbs off, or punishing her for some unintended slight, or, or, or… It was all too much. She longed for the quiet times when he mostly ignored her at Hellsing.
The curtain of water abruptly parted around her as he stood over her, and she almost looked up, but was determined to keep her defensive position in case of further assaults. Rather than harming her, however, she felt something cool drizzling over her scalp and his fingers began to massage the strands. A bit of foam drifted down her nose and she wriggled her, wiping the suds from her face with the back of her hand. Why was he washing her hair?
A glance at her arm answered her; the bubbles were tinted pink, he was getting the blood out before it dried. She blinked. Her Master and his mercurial moods…
Relaxing just slightly as he continued silently grooming her, she closed her eyes and let her head loll with the gentle ministrations, shivering pleasantly when the now warm water washed over her and swept the shampoo away. This continued for a few minutes until he deemed the filmy residue gone and blocked the falling droplets once more, and she smelled something vaguely fruity as she heard a click of a new bottle opening. Lulled further by the floral aroma, she slumped against her knees and drifted into a haze of half awareness.
She stirred when the shower was turned off, and further when he hauled her up by the armpits to prop her on a seat. When he tore her soggy clothes off she shrieked and jerked back, only to fall into the large towel held open for just that reaction. She was bundled up swiftly and a flush crept from her cheeks to the tops of her breasts. "Master…" She mumbled, ducking her head in embarrassment.
She could hear the smirk in his voice as he scooped her up as though she weighed nothing at all, and purred in her ear, "Yes, Police Girl?"
Being so close to his chest she noticed his clothes were completely dry. How the hell did he do that? "Mmnn.." She mumbled, changing her mind about asking him why he was doing this.
"Because I can, fledgling. Being my servant is not all discipline and lessons." He answered her thoughts, carrying her down another series of hallways. "The life of a vampire is a glorious thing, Police Girl. You will learn to appreciate it." He murmured as they entered a room she recognized as the one she woke up in earlier that night.
He placed her on the bed and even went so far as to tuck her in with the covers hiked up to her chin, a rather wicked smirk twisting his lips.
"…Master?"
"Mm?" He hummed, brows arching.
"How long are we staying?" She glanced away from him, a queer feeling in her stomach. She didn't like this place much.
"We leave on the next train, Police Girl, this was merely an introduction to the old bloods social norm. As a member of my bloodline you will be expected to follow them. For now."
The last part sent a chill down her spine at the implications in his tone. What was he planning? Did she want to know?
"You will see soon enough, Police Girl. Now go to sleep."
Sleep? Sleep sounded glorious. Sleep was a reprieve from the insanity that her life had become these past few days… or weeks… or however long it's been.
"G'Night, Master." She mumbled into her pillow as she turned on her side, hugging the plush cushion to herself like a teddy bear.
She got no reply, and felt vaguely hurt by it for some absurd reason.
Why should I even care?
I don't know anymore.
Blessed numbness swallowed her whole, giving her strained mind the rest it needed before it snapped.
AN:Now, doesn't that pretend to make up for bitchslapping her around? XD
You've got to remember that these are the old courts, brutality is law. Survival of the fittest, and when you're someone's blood slave, you're their bitch until you're strong enough to fight back.
(Also I'm mean to Seras. =x)
