note: plot thickens! ;)
Chapter 10: Of Golden Hair and Blood Red Lips.
The young Hellsing Director awoke sometime in the night, to find a certain someone hovering over her. She blinked, scrunched up her brow and turned over onto her side once more.
"Five more minutes…" She grumbled sleepily, curling in on herself and stuffing her pillows closer to her face.
"…"
"Not the reaction I was going for, but it will have to do." Sighed Alucard exaggeratingly "Or are you still asleep?" he whispered bringing his face closer to the woman's. His icy breath ruffled a few curls.
"Whatever it is, Alucard, you can bug me about it in the morning." Mina murmured dreamily, squeezing her eyes shut, trying to will him away, "I thought I told you to stay in your rooms if not needed…" she turned to him, defeated. There was no way she was going to fall back asleep, with him breathing down her neck. Literally. Their noses were almost touching, but that didn't seem to faze her in the least. He hovered along the length of her body, his midnight black hair, tickling her forehead.
"Yes, mother…" he mocked sweetly. It seemed very phycadellic. Mina was glad he at least didn't roll of his eyes. "But it would be too late. In the morning."he smiled evilly.
"Hmm…" Harker rubbed her eyes "Why am I awake?"Mina wondered, looking from the bottle of pills on her bedside table to his face and back.
"Because I switched them with tic tacs. Come, rise and shine." He pulled the warm covers from her body.
"What?" Mina cried form shock and cold, shooting into a sitting position, nearly knocking heads with the vampire.
"We're under attack." He reached into his trench coat and pulled out his heavy, semi automatic. He pointed it at her window, which was covered by lush, navy drapes.
"Alucard, if this is some sick joke…and tic tacs! Are you out of your bloody mind?" She stood up and he immediately rearranged them so that his back was to the window. He pulled her close, with a grimace, and then transported then down to the main hall, just as the window exploded. Mina looked up on reflex, but there was only the ceiling above her now.
She looked around to find Ceres and Gabriel walking in from the kitchen.
"It seems we have some unwanted visitors, this late hour." Gabriel looked like he had been thrown into the washing machine and tumble-dried afterwards. "And I was having such a good dream too." He gave Victoria a sneaky smile, which made the Draculina blush madly.
Mina rubbed her eyes tiredly, trying not to think too much into it.
"What are they, how many, what weapons do they have?"
Ceres turned to her, surprised.
"You don't look effected at all, Sir!"
"I'm tired, I'm pissed off and I just woke up in bed with a dead man." She looked out the bullet-proof, anti-freak windows at the raging fires on the court yard.
"Well, technically, I wasn't in your bed. Besides it used to be mine…" Alucard huffed annoyed.
"…"
"I don't want to know." Mina, Gabriel and Ceres said at the same time. Mina's half awoken mind rang in alarm…Don't go thinking that! What ever happened in that dirty old man's past was none of her business!
Just then they heard the unmistakable screech of old megaphones being turned on. Mina covered her ears at the high-pitched sound.
"Ehem, ehem…is this thing on? Tawarish(1) Sokolov, can you hear me? Da(2)? Okay. " A female, girlish voice rang out through the grounds.
"Come out, you no good kapitalisty(3)! If you do, we'll make sure your death will be quick and painless. Try to fight and my comrades will crush you! How was that Tawarishu? Did I sound formidable? "
"Oh, God…" Mina groaned as if they were torturing her "Comunists! First Nazis, now them! What is it with nutters and bloody world domination plans?" she looked at Alucard apologetically "…Sorry, no offence."He did not comment.
"Where are my men?" Wilhelmina asked, directing her gaze at her retainer.
"I called them back into their quarters. Until we find out the strength of the enemy, it would be wiser to keep human forces away."
"Thank you." Mina's eyes softened with emotion. She never liked losing anyone, war or not. "What are they?" She asked Alucard and Ceres.
"Well that little one is most definitely a vampire. A NoLife." Alucard contemplated.
"I…I think I know this aura."Ceres pondered out loud. "It reminds me of the Captain, you know, the one with that insane major?" Mina nodded once, asking her to continue. She was familiar with the facts.
"He was a werewolf?"
"Y-yes." Victoria shuddered, remembering the fight.
"Don't cower, Police Girl. He is dead and you are not. That certainly counts for something." Alucard scolded her and then turned with a shit-eater grin to the Hellsing Director "There is a werewolf army outside your door step and leading them is a Master Vampire above A class."
The enemy started bombarding the mansion. They all felt the walls give way.
Mina looked at him steadily. Since his return, he had fifteen years to replenish on familiars. But fifteen years are not five hundred4. She was worried.
"Will you be alright?" she asked quietly. The NoLife King looked surprised that she cared.
Moron, of course I care, I'm supposed to take care of you!
"We shall see." He chuckled darkly; finally realizing who the powerful aura belonged to. "Give me my orders, Sir Harker."
Mina sighed and then her eyes sharpened.
"Nothing has changed. The direct order is: search and destroy." He looked at her dubiously, as if doubting her resolve. Her temper flared "Search and Destroy! Crush any and all forces who stand in our way. Do not run or hide, strike at them from their front! March to all obstacles, pound them and reduce them to dust!5" She panted slightly. Alucard gave a short bark of laughter, his eyes glowing evilly.
"At last, the final seals are down. Roger, Miss Mina. I shall lay your enemies before your feet."
Before she could stop him, shout at him for calling her by name, as if nothing, Alucard strode to the front doors and opened then wide.
He was immediately welcomed by gunshots.
One bullet zipped past him and grazed Ceres' cheek. She felt the horrible sting and growled:
"Silver!"
Alucard's body hit the wall, and his blood spattered everywhere. While the silver rounds disappeared in his darkness, the Hellsing Director groaned.
"Not the furniture! God dammit, Alucard, get out there and wreck havoc!"
"Roger, Sir" he said through ripped jaws. He appeared to be smiling. Alucard regenerated in a blink of the eye, familiars encompassing his form and then Mina noticed the red trench coat darken a little more and the vampire's whole form turn to shadow.
"AH, A-chan!" shouted the girly voice from outside "Kak Dela6?" Mina looked through the window and saw a short young woman stand just before the Hellsing gate. She could have come closer, but she stayed there, waving, Mina made a double check, yes, waving to Alucard. The Director scrunched up her eyes, to see her better. She was pale, even for a vampire, and had long fair hair that fell onto her shoulders. The two lose braids were held back with blood red bows and she had an army cap with the soviet red star on the front.
Yes, most definitely soviets, thought Mina.
"Maryna Mniszchowna7. Since when do you speak Russian?" He walked down the paved road leading away from the estate, hands in his pockets, a slight skip to his step. His footfalls echoed throughout the grounds.
"You forget that I was the Tzaryca, a long time ago." She smiled as Alucard stood before her.
"What is he doing?" hissed Mina, as she and Ceres crowded in the window to get a better look. Gabriel looked over their shoulders.
"He's …talking to her…" Ceres seemed appalled "They know each other."
"Should I be worried?" Mina pondered "If they do know each other, we have no idea how old and powerful she may be. Gabriel! We must evacuate our troops. I trust Alucard to deal with this, but I don't trust him with anyone's life other than my own."
Gabriel looked on, his eyes glazing over in wonder.
"She…He called her Maryna Mniszchowna. There was once a daughter of a polish magnate of that name, who wed the self-proclaimed Tzar of Russia, Dymitr the first and then Dymitr the second…"the butler replied in a daze.
"When was this?" asked Mina carefully. She had a feeling that things were going downhill fast.
"Early sixteen hundreds, M'am."
Damn…! Did he turn her? She's over four hundred years old! Was she a vampire before she got married or after? …how is that possible?
"I don't think we can get anyone out of this mansion. Our troops are in lock down." Gabriel continued "They have surrounded us…And I do believe the power is down, the emergency generator is running, I heard it turn on while heading up. The satellite communication lines are probably still working though, Sir"
Mina tutted and reached into her pajama bottoms' pocket to retrieve her SmartPhone. She pressed speed dial and momentarily was connected to the barracks.
"General Lovett, here."
"This is your Commander. What is the situation?"
"We have just finished the evacuation into the underground levels of the estate and closed off our route, Sir. Awaiting your orders, Sir Harker."
"Put me on loud-speaker."
The commander did just that, which was signalized by a quiet beep. Harker pressed the mobile firmly to her ear.
"This is you Commander-at-chief. We have been surrounded by the enemy, the power is dead and so are regular communication lines. We are facing an army of werewolves. As of now, there is no sure information if they are altered or regular beasts. I hereby declare Code Red, operation: Lupus Volucer. Do not attack first if possible, learn the enemy. I repeat: do not attack first, if blood spill is possible to avoid. Proceed with caution." She paused and then directed her next words to the General "Lovett, I will try to contact the Congregation of Twelve, The King. I do not know how this will fare, but we must get to London. This lock down must be put to an end. I will contact you soon, so don't you all dare get hurt. God's speed."
"Understood, Commander."
She hung up and looked at Ceres. "Let's go to the armory."
...0...
"Zdravstvujte8!" said the female vampire, with a smile.
"Long time no see. Bun venit9, Maryna." Alucard looked behind her at the three old soviet tanks that had currently ceased fire on the estate and whistled.
"So you're a soviet now? How did this come about? You, a magnate10's daughter, siding with the people, forgive me, dogs?"
She huffed.
"You know, that I turned away from them, when Michail Skopin-Shujsky11 decided to get rid of me. I told you all that when you turned me over."
"Ah, must I always repent for past mistakes?"
"Aw, don't say that A-chan…the sex was good…" Maryna reminded, thinking with a cringe of her two husbands one of which was an orthodox monk on the run and the other turned out to be impotent.12
"…I've had better." Alucard smirked provokingly and Maryna snarled at him.
Play time was over.
"So this is the end, isn't it?" she growled "You won't join me? Get rid of these filthy humans?"
"I'm your Maker, not your Master. You've drunk my blood and chosen your freedom. These decisions are yours and yours alone. You know, that it is my home you just shot at, don't you?" He casually took out his old and trusty Casull, deciding that for old times' sake, it would be more appropriate than his submachine gun, Djed13.
"Sabaka14!" Maryna pulled out a Mauser C9615. They both pointed at each other's heads and shot.
At the same time, howls erupted all around and war officially begun.
...0...
Mina looked around the armory.
My father supplies all these guns…
"Are you sure, you can handle this?" Ceres asked quietly, so that Gabriel could not hear. Mina wrapped a belt of ammo around her waist and heaved up the machine gun. She already had her two semi-automatic pistols strapped to her thighs. The guns seemed impossibly heavy, as if already soaking in possible blood.
"I don't think I have a choice now, do I?"She murmured sadly, adjusting her coat. She had managed, though with a little embarrassment, to change in front of her servants into something warm and comfortable. "They've come to attack my home, and God only knows what else they want. I can't afford to worry about who I might be shooting down. As long as it isn't my people I'm putting down…or people in general."
"Mina…" Ceres grabbed her wrist, looking at her. She didn't have to say anything; Mina knew why she was worried. She had never shot something live and breathing. She had never killed innocents. Till she took up her role as the new Hellsing Leader, she had been a regular woman. And now she was alone and about to fight a battle. She couldn't even count on more troops, the bloody werewolves managed to block all satellite transmissions.
"Watch my back…Victoria, I forbid you to die, you hear?"
"Yes, Master." The vampire was touched by the ferocity of her voice. Mina was so unlike the young girl she once was-she had grown marvelously under the strict eye of Integra Hellsing. Even so, Ceres still saw her through the prism of the five year old girl she once met in the Library. Victoria would always protect that little friend's heart.
"Well if you've gotten what you need, let's be off, Ladies." Gabriel sheathed a short katana16 and buckled it to his side; two Asian long-swords were strapped to his back. Both Ceres and Harker looked at him with raised brows as he ushered them out of the armory.
"Yumie taught me." he shrugged. "The code, Sir Harker, if you please."
Mina stepped to the doors and ordered them to close. Several layers of titanium moved into place. She punched in the numbers, let the computer scan her eye and then pricked her finger with a hairpin to leave a trace of her blood for verification. She scowled, face set with grim determination.
"Let's not dally."
...0...
It was hell, when they surfaced on the ground floor. The Weres were fighting her men, blood was flowing everywhere and on her front lawn, Alucard was dueling the female vampire.
"Well at least he's having fun" said Ceres grimly, looking behind her at the desolated mansion. Damn. Again. They usually lost a fortune in renovating.
"Let's finish this quickly…" Mina said, but neither her butler nor vampire, were listening. They were engaged in battle against shadowy masses, with gleaming sharp teeth.
...0...
"Who sent you!"Alucard bellowed swiping at the vampire. She shot off his arm and instead of the limb a hell hound appeared.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Maryna razed her arms and shaped them into a window, her familiars looking through her fingers. Thousand of blood red eyes peered at her former Master.
They fought, and all the human eye could see, was a black abyss and fires from the depths of hell, erupting then vanishing once more in the darkness.
The female vampire was at her limit. All servants had been called about, four hundred years of battles and feedings were put to the test, but she was losing. Whenever she captured the Count, the moment she tried to engulf him, her familiars would turn on each other, not recognizing friend from foe.
"Why can't I capture you? I have more familiars, more power than you! I am more than you."Maryna shouted
"Wretched child, I am older than you, do you honestly think you could defeat me, Drąculea? It was always men who defeated monsters, not dogs." Alucardsmiled and rose in front of her, towering before the small woman. "And you, moja Luba17 are a dog."
She had time enough to shriek before he devoured her. Her familiars began fighting one another, tearing her to shreds. He was everywhere and nowhere, and now, Alucard was giving her a fate worse than death. She would never make it back. Not in thirty years, not ever.
"Ostav'te menja! Ostav'te18!" she screeched
"Tavarishe, pomogite! Pomogite19!" her agonized voice died down and Alucard absorbed what was left of her.
At last, he drained her blood, but it didn't help. There was nothing. No information. She had been whipped clean. He growled in frustration. All he could pick up was fear. Fear of not knowing one's self or purpose.
*so…The Hellsing mannor get's ruined a lot, doesn't it.
*An all out war in her own backyard! How does Mina seem to always pull through?
*Music: Korn Twisted Transistor
Read and Review please!
1 (Russ.) Comrade. I probable got the english spelling wrong. I'm trying to figure out how to trans script.
2 (russ.) okay
3 Trans scripting: capitalists. Note: I don't like communism.
4 Hellsing OVA 8: Alucard releases millions of familiars and servants, the souls of people he had killed over the 500 years of his unLife.
5 Hellsing OVA 3: Integra orders Alucard to kill the S.W.A.T team in Buenos Aires.
6 (russ.) How are you?
7 Don't know why I made her evil, since she was one of the few women (that did something/got mentioned) I remembered from History class. The Dymitriads: Polish-Russian wars over Eastern Europe territory in the early 1600's. I hope I got the dates right XD
8 (russ.) Hello
9 (Rom.) Welcome
10 Title of higher nobility
11 New Tzar of Russia, who took over after the second Dymitriad. Defeated and replaced by the Ruricovich dynasty.
12 An over interpretation of history there, but the first Dymitri was a monk on the run. That's why the people didn't want him as their ruler( and because he would be dependant of polish nobility).
13 Djed, means spine of Osiris, or pillar of the Dead in Egyptian. I thought it sounded exotic ;p
14 (russ.) dog
15 Google it =.='
16 Japanese sword. Yumie was a samurai ( no duh!), so I thought it be wild if she was like, little Gabe's mentor.
17 (rom.) ~at least I hope that is Romanian ~my dear.
18 (russ.) leave me alone.
19 (Russ.) Help me
