The doctor opened the door timidly, and peered around the room with the aid of the dim lighting, as he entered. He managed to shut the door before the sight of the vampire momentarily froze his limbs. The creature was on the side of the bed, an outstretched arm touching the cloth of Hellsing's sleeve, while the man himself appeared to be sleeping until two blue eyes gazed back at the doctor, startling his fragile nerves. Nothing was said, and the doctor went about, completing his job with a ducked head. The doctor shivered once or twice with the weight of Abraham's eyes, which never left him. He gave the instructions for how much and how often Hellsing should take the medication and what activities he should avoid for some time, and then the doctor left. After the time he had spent in the room, the doctor was sure that Alucard had not been sleeping, the concept greatly unsettling his mind.

The night continued to progress and Hellsing left his slave as he was and watched the ceiling, feeling a veil of calm descend upon his person. The veil was disturbed and it slipped away when a figure stood in the doorway, after opening it with a nervous knock. Abraham stared at the woman, unnerving her further, and dark eyes dropped to the floor as Mrs. Blackwell spoke. "Sir." Moments passed before she tightened her jaw and looked up, pausing at the sight of the vampire. She frowned, remembering her objective. "Sir Hellsing, how is your health?" Her leg muscles jumped as she almost walked into the room, but she stopped when Abraham responded.

"Fine, Mrs. Blackwell. What is it you want?"

"Well…." The woman hesitated and then scowled at her nervousness before erasing the expression. Her eyes went back to the blue and her mouth opened. She described what had occurred after the glass pane had fallen on Abraham, telling the man of how the vampire appeared and threatened the staff into following his orders, and then of how Alucard had sent her flying into the wall where she had been knocked unconscious for several minutes. By the end of her story, Abraham wasn't looking at her. His eyes were directed at the bed, seeing nothing. Then they moved to the vampire, and there they remained.

"Thank you. You may leave now… I will see to his punishment."

Content and ignorant, the woman nodded respectfully and retreated from the room, closing the door gently.

"Master."

The darkness of the cell swallowed the title as Hellsing looked over the familiar instruments. Red eyes narrowed in disappointment and frustration, watching the man's face that was only visible for the vampire's superior sight, as it existed in the shadow of the light from the open lantern.

"Why do you want to do this?"

"That does not matter… Slave." Abraham's eyes lingered on a blade, but they left it and turned to the vampire that was sitting, obediently, against the stones of the wall. "I may do as I wish with you." His hands unbuttoned the straps that covered Alucard's chest, and they continued to his abdomen, silent except for the dull sound of the unbuttoning of the straps themselves.

Red eyes traced the progress emptily. "But why do you wish to do this? What drives you?"

"Silence."

And there was silence at the command as Abraham pulled away and returned to his instruments. Alucard broke it within seconds. "Is it what I've said before? You want to take everything I possess because of what you, yourself, have lost? You want to show control. Control of which you alone possess…like God, over another…"

"I told you..." The knife entered Alucard's flesh, slipping easily into his stomach. "…to be quiet."

The vampire watched the dissection and his eyes dulled. Disgust threatened to enter his mind, but he warped the feeling into self loathing. "What are you taking tonight?" He whispered without real interest, giving the illusion of an ongoing conversation.

"I don't know yet."

The blade cut an uneven line when a short spasm of humor moved its subject. Alucard finished his grim chuckle while Abraham glared in annoyance.

"Don't laugh."

The vampire smiled at the glare, closing his eyes and reclining his head against the wall. "Of course, Master. Forgive me."

Hellsing's hand paused at the last statement, then carried on as before, but Abraham's face was cold and unfeeling. There was no satisfaction in his features until Alucard jerked and coughed a glob of blood into his hand when Hellsing thrust the scalpel under his ribcage. Abraham ignored the icy blood and gore his hand and wrist were submerged in, and he smiled when he was able to make the creature shudder by moving the blade again, creating a running, soup out of the vampire's organs. The blade withdrew, dripping with gore that squelched on the floor. The shadow that was cast from Alucard's figure wavered as he shivered with half-mast eyes watching his master's hand as it lowered.

"I know what I'll take." Abraham chuckled and his eyes flashed with the scalpel as it dove into Alucard's body, releasing a spurt of blood to join the cascading torrents that were pooling onto the floor, along with clumps of tissue. The red touched and then clung to the cracks separating each stone, branching and reaching over the expanse of the cell. The rivers flowed in the midst of silence.

Alucard eyed the wine bottle in the woman's hand with morbid amusement and he shook his head as Blackwell moved to toss it to him. "This is my Master's joke." He chuckled to himself, leaning against the wall, unmoved from the night before.

Madelyn blinked and then slowly lowered the bottle to her side. She recovered and glared at the creature. "What?" she spat the question with all her abhorrence for the demon. "What are you talking about?" Her brow creased further when Alucard chuckled to himself without looking at her. Dark eyes twitched and then eased with smug approval. "Is this your punishment?" Red eyes went to her. "For how you intimidated the staff and threw me into the wall?"

"Oh, so you asked him to punish me?"

Blackwell scoffed. "I just informed him of what transpired. He decided to punish you." The liquid in the bottle swished in the background.

Slowly, Alucard's eyes became a glare. "Don't encourage his behavior."

The woman paused with the sound of the liquid. She spoke as another swish resumed behind her heated words. "I'm not encouraging his behavior." Madelyn snarled defensively. "I encourage his punishing you. You deserve it. Everything…" her voice trailed off with a brief revelation. She laughed disagreeably, almost making Alucard hiss. "I heard about your…confession." She laughed again and stepped forward without thinking, coming closer to Alucard. "You know. You know what you've done. You know you deserve Hell itself. Everyone in the estate agrees that you should die."

"I suppose it's hate." The vampire spoke quietly to himself, and he shifted his position as his eyes drifted to the ceiling.

"What?" the woman stammered, halting her step.

"Madness is sparked from hate." Blackwell just stared at the creature without understanding. "That's how it began for me, for him, and perhaps now, for you."

"I'm not mad!" Blackwell screeched in fury. "How dare you…!"

"So you think…" the red eyes burned into the woman, stealing her breath. "…that it is normal…how you were just acting. Cackling like the hellish flames of insanity…speaking of death and damnation for another with such confidence…fueled by hate…"

"You! It's….you deserve it!" the words were given meaning with her tone and the human's expression of horror and hostility.

"Undoubtedly." Alucard frowned as he remembered the blood. "Leave the bottle here. I may try to drink it later."

Mrs. Blackwell calmed with the new question. "I thought you weren't allowed to."

"No, not specifically." A smile snaked across Alucard's face and his fangs glinted in the light from the door. "I don't know if I will be able to drink it or not…without a stomach."

The gasp rebounded off the stones to be beset by a voice. "What did you…?" Wide eyes traveled over the vampire, noticing his lighter hair and unrefined posture. "He…actually…"

"Is that the punishment you so desired?" The grin pushed the woman back and she gazed at the vampire with fleeting fear while he laughed, soon resorting to coughing up a handful of blood. He watched it drip onto the stone floor, holding his hand before himself with a contorted expression of hilarity. Crimson broke away from the blood and narrowed gleefully at the woman's starch face. "Is it? Pray…tell me what kind of sensation of pleasure runs through your veins." The words overwhelmed the mortal and Blackwell heaved the bottle at Alucard's head, causing a mist of blood and glass to shower over the creature and spray the wall.

"You're disgusting." She breathed, wide eyes watching blood seep from the grey hair to coat the smirking expression that the vampire wore. "Disgusting." She repeated while her hands formed shaking fists be her sides.

"Thank you." Blackwell flinched at the mocking tone and Alucard's mouth stretched as his eye widened inhumanly. "You may leave now, woman. Your task has been fulfilled."

Madelyn Blackwell gasped and retreated as the blood twitched and moved into the vampire on its own.

"I can absorb it this way without having to hinder my missing organ."

The woman stumbled and gripped the frame of the door to right herself when she dashed out of the cell, without looking back at the monster behind her.