What Could Have Been

Alucard laughed, and rather than drawing the Jackal as she expected – she'd been surprised when Walter had given it to him for seemingly no other reason than since she got a new toy, so to speak, her Sire did as well – he did the same trick Seras had used on the wolf by rolling and taking the lizard with him, slamming it into the ground and ripping his arm free in a splatter of blood.

"I could use a warm up fight. Come on, hit me with your best shot!" He taunted, opening his arms wide for the raptor's next attack.

Seras noticed then as the great beast got back to its feet that it was taller than her Master, she guestimated something like eight feet, not counting the tail, and she was surprised to see it had feathers. That's different from the velociraptors in Jurassic Park. She thought lamely.

The dinosaur – holy fuck, a dinosaur! How is there a dinosaur in… wherever they were?! – apparently understood Alucard as it took half a step back and then lowered its head to hiss at him, the longer black tipped feathers on its tail fanning out like the ones attached to the backs of its arms to make the already enormous creature appear even larger. It swayed slightly from side to side in a move she recognized from the movies, and watched in horror as it leapt in the air with those enormous hind claws raised to strike and mouth open.

Perhaps her Master's greatest… weakness seemed the wrong word, fallacy, Achilles heel even? Whatever the case, he tended to just stand still and let his enemies rip him to pieces, literally, only to regenerate at the last second when they think they've won to demoralize them and take them out with a single shot. She'd seen it over and over, and the first time, in Cheddar, she was thoroughly disturbed by it. For the first time, however, she saw him actually move away from an incoming attack to punch the raptor in the jaw, even as the massive claws on its hind feet sliced up his chest in a spray of blood. The instant the giant lizard landed on its feet it swung its tail through the air to aid in its about face, and faster than she thought possible it was back in the air, aiming for Alucard's back.

Despite all the assurances of his invulnerability, the massive scope of his regenerative abilities, she still feared for his safety. "Master!" She shouted, stumbling a half step towards the skirmish. The world spun sickeningly and her legs crumpled out from under her as the blood loss combined with her subpar eating habits led to her body shutting down on her. The ground flew up to meet her and her last thought whispered pitifully in the yawning emptiness swallowing her consciousness whole; don't leave me.

…

She felt as though she were floating, and the world swayed rhythmically from side to side. Warmth suffused her right side and she felt very secure in this pleasant hazy world. After a moment her ears allowed sound to trickle through to her half conscious brain in the form of muffled voices. This… was very familiar.

"…logize, Drake, Cera has boundary issues. She was abandoned in my woods to die of exposure, and I've been looking after her since."

"The fact remains that she attacked my fledgling. You must teach her to recognize power, Darkconda, and know when to back down." The answering words rumbled like thunder in her ears and she scrunched up her face in distaste. Shaking her head mildly, she cracked an eye open to stare at the underside of her Sire's jaw. Oh, he was carrying her again. But who… Craning her head back against the support of Alucard's bicep, she caught sight of a tanned male with mussed black hair and a trim beard carrying an unconscious brunette female with what looked suspiciously like bullet holes in her right arm and leg. The breeze changed and brought the scents of the pair to the dazed fledgling, and she blinked in rapid succession as she realized she recognized them as the wolf and the raptor that had attacked them… And now the male – Darkconda – was chatting it up with her Sire as though they were friends.

"I wouldn't go that far, Police Girl, but we are not enemies." Alucard murmured in answer to her thoughts and she turned her gaze back to his face curiously. She still felt incredibly tired, and her arm still throbbed painfully. When she glanced down at herself she grimaced; she was covered in dried blood and the pretty outfit that complimented her Master's was ruined. Her eyes widened as a thought struck her and she hurriedly lifted her uninjured arm to carefully run her fingers along the ribbon necklace, thankfully finding it intact and free of any crunchy spots denoting spatters of dry gore. Relief and fatigue tugged at her senses and she yawned, head bobbing in time with her Sire's footsteps. He chuckled and shifted his grip to settle her more deeply into the cradle of his arms, "Go back to sleep, fledgling, I'll wake you when we get there."

She nodded sleepily, too drowsy to argue, and half turned to rest her cheek against his chest once more, noting distantly that there wasn't a single drop of blood on him, though she saw him get torn up earlier. Must… be… a neat… trick…

…

"Seras, wake up. We're home."

She stirred and squinched her eyes shut tighter, voicing a half moan of protest. "Come now, Police Girl, wake up. Wake u-"

…

Something cool and round touched her lips, and the smell of blood mixed with the tang of something vaguely alcoholic filtered into her nose. Instinctively she parted her lips and allowed the viscous liquid to be poured into her mouth, swallowing when she felt as though it might overflow. Clarity began to return to her thoughts upon the third swallow and she cracked her eyes open to see a wine glass held by a masculine hand, still half full of a deep red liquid.

"It's not as potent as blood fresh from the vein, but it will do for now, Police Girl." The familiar rumble of her Master's voice caressed her ears as he tipped another mouthful down her throat. When the cup was empty she felt better, albeit a bit fuzzy around the edges from the alcohol. A flush crept up her cheeks when she realized she was situated upon his lap, and wondered what it was about her being unconscious that made him want to treat her like a lapdog. He grinned at her in a show of fang and the flush brightened, and she turned her gaze away from him to take in her surroundings; it looked like a grand foyer in an old but well maintained castle, the massive stone blocks fitted neatly together, showing very little wear from the sands of time. A long gold edged maroon carpet split the room in half, leading up to the dais she and her Master occupied, matched by a grand looking banner bearing an unfamiliar coat of arms. She noticed that the only windows were high up in the wall, no direct sunlight could touch the inhabitants of this hall. "Where are we?"

"Home, Police Girl. My home that is. Welcome to Castle Draculae. We'll be staying here for a time." He murmured in her ear and she shifted uncomfortably at the continued close contact. An evil gleam lit his copper gaze and his lips twisted in a cruel mockery of a smile as the arm behind her back abruptly vanished and she overbalanced with a shriek, tumbling top over tea kettle down the short series of steps to sprawl gracelessly across the carpeted stone floor even lower than his feet. "Owww…"

His mocking laughter echoed through the cavernous hall and she glared up at him sullenly before rolling to her feet – with only the slightest of stumbles – to start stalking away from him, muttering obscenities under her breath.

"Where are you going, Police Girl?" He called after her, sounding terribly amused.

"Away from you, Sir." She answered, adding a thick edge of sarcasm to the last word.

She could hear the smirk in his voice at his parting shot; "Take a right and go down the steps." He'd just answered her unasked question of how the hell to get out of the castle. Ugh! Grudgingly following his directions she made her way to a lesser used exit – no where near as grand as the main door, but that suited her just fine – and quietly admired the mountain scenery surrounding the grand looking castle. With a sigh, she wandered over to the edge of the flattened plain and looked down, jerking back in surprise when she saw the yawning gap of a drop below to a grassy field. Shivering in distaste – she was never very fond of heights – she backed up and bumped into something. Something that wasn't the castle wall, and didn't feel like her Master.

Jerking around in surprise she stared up into the grinning face of a caramel skinned man with a mustache wearing a brown business suit. His grin widened and she caught the gleam of light off his fangs as he reached for his hat and performed a half bow, revealing his close cropped black hair, "Beunas noches, senorita, my name is Tubalcain Alhambra, and I have some business with your Master. Be a good girl and fetch him for me, would you?"

AN:And we introduce the first part of the plot!
I'd just like to note that the use of Draculae and any castle description is inspired by Anonymous Psychofan's Son of the Dragon. I really like that fic. And it's the closest I tend to come to anything vaguely historically based. So there's my excuse for possibly confusing y'all. :P