Eternal Sin

Chapter 14 – Good vs. Evil

Prospect Cemetery - London, August 13, 10:30 p.m.

Under a murky night sky in the misty gloom of the cemetery, Seras did as her master requested and went in search of Megan Blackwood. She knew the layout of the cemetery thanks to the satellite image she had on her mobile. While waiting for Crane's man to show up—who turned out to be Alucard's doppelganger Victor Payne—she had all the time in the world to study it.

Intelligence at Hellsing headquarters were assisting her in any way that they could. They were completely aware of the situation and were currently on stand-by just in case things take a turn for the worse and she needed some extra hands.

Zipping across the area in a red flash, faster than the human eye can see, Seras headed for the crypts desperate to find the newly turned vampire created by Victor. She could not let those Hunters have her for their perverse forms of entertainment, training or whatever the hell they intended, even if Crane did make it sound as if he were doing the world a favour by ridding it of monsters.

Maybe he had good intentions but he sounded like any other extremist and his actions tonight did not settle well with Seras. Something was incredibly wrong with Winmore Crane and something about his entire operation did not make sense. He was leading a group of innocent people into believing he was a seasoned vampire hunter, and they believed him. Yet, it looked to her like Victor and his people were the ones really running the show. Crane seems like a delusional man gaining power and wealth by exploiting his followers, breeding vampires for sacrifice or dealing with shape-shifting hybrids to turn innocent people into vampires for his own crazy scheme.

Suddenly, off in the distance, Seras heard a loud explosion and subsequently the squeal of car tires. The draculina could not help but wear a nefarious smirk on her face… Alucard was just getting started. She only hoped he would buy her enough time.

All right, it's time for me to focus, too. She thought.

Blessed with many of her creator's supernatural talents, unique abilities related only to his bloodline, the female nosferatu had only to try. To further her skills she needed to work on them and then maybe she could do some of that really cool stuff, too. Perhaps one day she might be as powerful as Alucard—Seras rolled her eyes at the thought and grunted.

"Geesh, maybe if I live for five centuries I might have a bloody chance." She muttered to herself incredulously. Nevertheless, she would not give up. Seras was not a quitter. She was determined to become stronger, to show Alucard how much she has grown, and she was definitely not the kind of woman who easily surrendered.

Not now. Not ever.

One skill that she has greatly improved on is the manipulation of shadow. She decided to start with that to find Megan. Kneeling on the grass between gravestones, Seras placed her palms on the ground. It only took a moment to cover a large area of the cemetery in a thin blanket of her shadow, quite like how she covers the mansion. With any luck, Pip would locate the girl.

"She's exactly where that Victor guy said she would be," Pip told her in astonishment. "I can sense someone moving around the crypts."

"Is she inside one of them?" Seras asked him.

"Merde! It's hard to tell when there are so many of those concrete vaults so close together and overgrown with bushes and plants. Alucard did mention night creatures. What's the harm in trying? Perhaps they can tell you more, my sweet?" The mercenary suggested.

Seras wrinkled her nose. "I hate bugs and vermin," she whined. "They squirm, live on dead things, they have a million legs and they chew on babies while they sleep. Maybe there is a rabbit around or a bird—gah! I've never communicated with or controlled animals before. What does master mean they are my servants? There is no book about Controlling Animals and Bugs for Vampire Dummies! I have no idea where to start."

"Well, their little souls are already caught in your shadows. Can you feel anything moving around on it? Do you see anything?" the Frenchman questioned. "I always wondered what I might see through an animal's eye."

Mr. Bernadotte gave her an idea. "What if I pinpoint one creature? Right now, I can sense thousands of living creatures all around the cemetery. It's like white noise if I try to listen to it all." Seras closed her eyes and focused harder, breathing evenly as she tried to locate a single heartbeat pulsing on her shadow, a solitary creature. She sensed a rat. It was a fat grey rat.

"Hi there little guy."

"I think it's best if you don't speak out loud but just to the rat," Pip offered.

Seras nodded dryly and tried again but spoke to the rodent with her mind. "I need your help finding Megan Blackwood. I know you don't know who that is but she's in danger and I need to find her quickly before a bunch of rotten humans do. Can you help me?"

It felt like forever, as the rat seemed to run in some unknown direction. Maybe it wasn't even listening to her at all until a bunch of other rats joined the fat grey rat and suddenly Seras saw a bigger picture through their eyes, a green-bluish outline of a tall girl loitering around a whitewashed vault. This particular crypt had a lofty black door on the front with carved vines and roses on its arched peak. It looked like a small temple that could house at least ten tombs. The girl came closer, she leaned down to peer at the collection of rodents all gathered together and they scattered, scrambled away in fright.

Seras's vision disappeared as if someone pulled the plug. She gasped. "I saw her! Come, this way."

Pip was busy questioning Seras about what the world looked like from a rat's eye, but she was not listening to him. She came to a stop outside of a row of crypts that resembled little houses but they were resting places for the dead.

Then she saw her.

The girl looked exactly how she appeared on the news, young and innocent. Her straight honey blonde hair was frizzy, and her complexion a touch more pale now that she was no longer human. She still wore a pair of black sweats and a purple tank top. Yet, her feet were bare and dirty as if she'd been taken from her home without shoes.

"She looks so lost," Seras said to Pip sadly. "It's as if she's waiting for someone."

"No doubt she's waiting for Victor—her Alucard look-alike. Her master…"

What a horrible thing for a master to do, she thought. Seras released her grip on the stock of her weapon and shouldered the cannon. She approached. "Megan Blackwood, is that you?"

After the front left tire exploded, Victor, Winmore and the Hunters climbed out of the van once the driver got control of it. Suddenly on edge, the group held their weapons at the ready, expecting some kind of ambush, but the night was as lifeless and quiet as the people buried in this wretched cemetery were.

"I don't think we were targeted—seems like the bloody tire just had poor timing," Winmore decided, glancing down at Victor who was a whole head shorter than he was.

The crossbreed grunted, "Hmm… perhaps." He sounded skeptical, looking this way and that. It made the hunters nervous.

"Are you sure you weren't followed?" The bishop inquired, there was something mistrustful about his question. "What were you doing this evening before you came here, anyways?"

The hybrid chuckled, his laughter cynical. His demeanor was aloof and overly confident as he crossed his arms over his broad chest. "That's none of your business, bishop. I told you I'd help you find a vampire to hunt so you could train these men and let them experience the death of a monster first hand. Not only have I found you a vampire but I also found the girl on the news that everyone is talking about. Imagine what your followers will say, when they discover you destroyed her and saved her soul from eternal purgatory? This is only the beginning of many hunts… as long as these gentlemen with you don't wet their pants. Now, I've honored our agreement so let's get on with it. Okies? Besides, how can you be sure you weren't the one that was followed, Bishop Crane?"

Winmore was not sure if Victor was hinting about the issue with the Iscariots or not but he wasn't about to suggest it. Perhaps, after tonight, he would cease the Sacrifices until the Iscariot backed off and returned to Rome. Hopefully, they would do so sooner than later. He would have cancelled the hunt tonight but there were some heavy investors looking forward to playing vampire hunter and he could not let them down. "I've been here at the cemetery for over an hour, waiting for you… I haven't seen anyone," he told Victor.

"True vampires are harder to detect," Victor replied knowingly. "If they don't want to be found you won't find one."

"What about Megan?" Someone asked, interrupting Victor and Crane's one-sided conversation.

Victor mused. "She's not a true vampire, not unless she eats one of you. Don't you all know that unless the Bishop here forgot to mention how it all works?"

The group all glanced at each other uncertainly.

"I hate to say it but this place gives me the creeps," said one of the hunters, his face anonymous behind his hunting gear. "Any minute I feel like that Michael Jackson video is going to become real. First it starts with a simple tire blow-out and then blam—zombies are crawling out of the graves with sole intent to eat us."

"What kind of crap are you watching?" another hunter asked. "I can't believe you still watch that stuff. It's nearly fifty years old. Seriously, why did you even join this hunt? You have more money than brains?"

"Listen man, I promised my girlfriend a vampire fang and the only way to get one is to kill one of these sons-of-bitches. Now, if you don't shut your hole, we can settle things right here. How 'bout it?" The guy looked ready for a fight.

Victor gave another dark chuckle and looked at the two men in black covert gear. He could not see their faces, but he bet if he could, that they would look like the world's biggest dickheads. "Are you two finished with yer shit?" he asked them. "The least you can do is pretend to be serious about this. Winmore, are these the kind of people you call Hunters—really?"

Winmore Crane directed his face towards the two men causing trouble. They looked like two glowing green beings behind the night goggles. He sighed noticeably. "Look, things are getting out of hand… everyone is on edge because of the tire and we've been in this cemetery for too long. We are hunters here to do God's work. Stop acting like a bunch of shits or I guarantee the punishment will not be graceful."

The two men immediately recalled what happened to their axed comrade just a little while ago… chopped to pieces.

The hunter getting the snappy retort from his leader replied, "My apologies Bishop Crane… I—I stepped out of line. It's Thomas who keeps egging me on."

"What…?" Thomas countered. "I think it was a mistake to bring Justin along. I told you he wasn't ready for this kind of sacred task at the last meeting."

"We don't have time for this crap!" Victor barked at them, losing his patience.

Abandoning their van, the group of hunters headed for the crypts by foot.

Alucard stepped out from behind an old yew tree. These fools were going to be a pleasure to kill, a pleasure to fill their minds with trepidation. These humans disgusted him. Blind, foolish mortals with an appetite for meaningless murder and suffering, there was no honour in what they were doing tonight. Like the coyote in the hen house, he would pick them off one by one like newborn chicks.

It has been much too long since he had any real fun.

Even if Don Carlos was a yawn fest, the remainder of the night was still fresh in his mind. The kiss on the terrace. Integra's confessions. Her feisty slap.

His beloved master looked so beautiful tonight.

And to think that arrogant hybrid ended his night early and tried to frame him again burned him up inside. Alucard was going to make him seriously regret that decision. Oh yes, Victor would be his last victim, the nosferatu decided. He could not wait to make that half-breed squeal while he ripped him apart limb by limb.

Megan Blackwood looked up sharply after someone called out her name. "Who's there?" she wondered with slight panic, her voice sweet. "Is that you, master? Do I have to eat someone now?"

Seras came out of the shadows and revealed herself to the younger female. "I'm not an enemy, Megan. I mean you no harm. My name is Seras Victoria and I am with the Hellsing Organization. I'm here to help you."

The girl seemed unsure as she spied over the other blonde-haired woman with her burgundy coloured, army-like uniform with its short skirt and long stockings. Her hazel eyes met up with red ones and she blinked, stupefied. "Oh? Are you a vampire?"

"Yes, I am. I have been a vampire for thirty years, which is fairly young in terms of our kind. I have two wonderful masters to whom I would give my life to protect if I had to," she shared with the fellow vampire. "They mean the world to me."

At this the other girl looked away unsure again. "Why have I become this…?" she questioned. "My master, he says… he says I must drink blood but I don't want to do that, yet, no matter how much I hate the idea, there is something inside of me that cannot think of anything else. I feel so weak."

Seras could tell she had yet to drink blood for her eyes were still a human colour. "I know it's hard but if you want to continue to live you must drink it eventually. I never drink human blood from the vein, you know… I only did once." She placed her hand to her chest as she thought about Captain Bernadotte for a moment. "My master supplies me with donated blood from the hospital. I've learned to accept that I cannot protect those I care about at my fullest unless I'm strong."

All of this made no sense to Megan. "My master said tonight I have to drink. He told me to wait here while he fetches me a few humans somewhere in this cemetery. I've been waiting around but he hasn't come back. I'm scared. I don't know what is happening to me, everything is so much louder, brighter and I can hear your heart beating from here." She placed her head in her hands in grief. "I don't want to bite people."

She began to cry. The precious blood she had in her, leaked from her eyes.

Seras was speechless but the girl continued to speak over her gentle crying, lifting her head up once more. "I've been living in this cemetery for the last couple of days… why does the sun hurt? I don't know where to go, my master wants me to stay here. All I want is to go home—home to my parents... they must be so worried about me, but I know I'm not myself anymore. Is this what it's like to be a vampire? Why did he make me into this?"

Seras took a few steps closer. She placed her Harkonnen against the concrete wall of the whitewashed crypt and took Megan's cold hands in her own. The girl clung to her fingers in raw desperation.

"Listen, your master is not a nice man, he's a monster—a real monster. There are monsters like him in this world and there are monsters like me who do not always need to be evil. We do exist, even if we are quite small in number." Seras thought of her master Alucard. "Well… it might only be me. Look, your master is deceiving you for his own personal gain and you don't have to do what he says. You could break away from that bond he has with you if you drink blood… you could be strong, like me. You can drink my blood. You could come with me."

The girl sniffled and wiped away a tear from her pretty face, smearing red along the back of her hand. "Go with you… drink your blood?"

"Yes, the Hellsing Organization has a huge headquarters that could easily house you. Together we can fight evil monsters, protect this world and the people that live in it. You could start a new life there."

Seras had so much hope in her voice. She was broken out of her trance when the earpiece she had attached to her ear suddenly crackled with a voice from Hellsing Intelligence.

"Seras, we were digging around, looking at some old infrastructure maps of the area you're in and you're not going to believe it, but there are some old World War I and World War II tunnels networking to various buildings in your location. Over. Be on the lookout for anything suspicious."

"Roger." She confirmed and frowned while speaking to Intelligence."Send in the backup. Keep on the perimeter of my location and do not make yourself obvious. I'll let you know if we need your help. Over."

A strange ominous fog gradually grew thicker around the group of Hunters as they continued along the road in the cemetery, headed for the vaulted tombs. It grew so thick and dense that it got difficult to see each other unless they stood close together.

Victor quickly stopped and looked around. He sniffed the air for a moment, and then he looked around carefully.

"What is it?" Winmore questioned.

"I dunno," replied the hybrid cautiously. "This fog… it's getting really thick. You boys need to keep your eyes peeled. The danger level just went up a few notches."

"Yes, sir!" A few answered.

One of the men trailing behind, turned to look around to make sure no one was following when a red figure materialised out of the fog like a ghost, holding a gloved finger up to his lips. The look of surprise was as far as the hunter got before the figure reached out, snapped his neck and dragged him away in total silence.

No one noticed a thing.

"Stay close together," advised Victor Payne. "We're almost there."

Alucard dumped the body on top of an old sunken grave on the side of the road. It was time for that fun now. He knew Seras had found Megan, but she still had taken no action against the newborn. He would buy his fledgling a little more time.

The old vampire kept his distance a few meters behind, hidden within the fog, walking steadily after the hunters while he summoned his faithful servants of the night.

The road beneath the hunter's feet turned black as if ink split and steeped across the page, all the bumps and cracks of the preceding asphalt disappeared. Then a swarm of red eyes in various sizes all winked opened under their boots and spiders… thousands of black spiders, began to crawl up the hunter's boots and pant legs.

Crane's men began to clamour. They frantically tried to get off the road littered with the haunting moving eyes.

One of them was not so lucky.

A menacing chuckle accompanied the swarm of spiders and eyes like a malevolent echo. Sprouted from the blackness of the road came six reddish-black shadow arms all with hands covered in white gloves. It grabbed one of the hunters by the leg and literally dragged him down into the mire as if he sank into a giant puddle of mud.

His horrified screams came to a swift end.

The people that managed to get off the road and onto the grass and graves, away from the eyes, still had spiders scrambling up their bodies like tiny merciless soldiers. It disoriented them and created panic. The armed men flailed about and swiped at the insects furiously. One man, in his wild terror, accidently pulled the trigger on his Uzi and the submachine gun sprayed bullets aimlessly, hitting gravestones, flying through tree leaves and dirt.

It even ripped through one of the hunters, killing him instantly.

"What the fuck is going on!" A man hollered, taking a few shots at the red eyes with his high-powered rifle. His efforts did nothing to stop the strange visage.

Alucard was revelling in his fun, laughing it up, when someone appeared behind him in the fog. He was not surprised to discover it was the hybrid, Victor, the man pretending to be him all over town. The crossbreed was a whole foot shorter than Alucard was but he still managed to knock the red fedora off his head. Victor thrust the muzzle of his gun into the back of his skull and Alucard's unruly black hair fell over his eyes, partially obscuring his vision.

The vampire king smirked. Instantly, all the eyes, spiders and fog… disappeared.

"Why are you here, No Life King?" Victor asked with a slight tremor of dread in his voice, pressing the gun harder into Alucard's skull. "I don't understand how did you find me?"

"There is a lot about this world that you do not understand, you snivelling crossbreed," Alucard jeered, even if a part of him was impressed that the hybrid risked getting this close to him. He could sense the other creature's fear he could nearly taste it on his tongue, yet, Victor still risked being this close. "It wasn't you that led me here." He explained. "Although… I would have found you eventually, especially after you all but sat on my lap at the opera. You thought you were being clever, messing with me, ripping up that young girl, killing her boyfriend. No. One cannot forget the horrible stench of a freak like you. However, you are not the man Hellsing has been trailing... we have the Catholic priest here to thank for killing those two birds."

Victor tossed Winmore Crane a furious look.

"Hellsing…?" repeated the big sturdy bishop, whose eyes widened behind his night goggles. He took an involuntary step back. He did not sound as tough and as mean as he did earlier. "It—it's you! The rumours are true. It's Hellsing's vampire, Alucard!" he squawked with almost tangible fear, holding out his rifle loaded with blessed silver bullets. His hands shook at the sight of world's most notorious vampire, a vampire he had only heard wild tales about. Dear Lord, he was real and he was standing right before his eyes like a vision of Death himself.

Alucard laughed nefariously at the sight, his chuckle low and deep. "That's right, Father, here I am. It seems that you have upset some balance of power and attracted a bit too much attention to yourself. The Iscariot Organization and now Hellsing is aware of your misconduct. You screwed up. Burning vampires that you created—turning Megan Blackwood into a vampire for this pathetic hunt, using her and those other girls to frame me. What game are you and this half-breed playing at? Tell me," he growled, "Why are you trying to defame Hellsing? What is your motivation?"

Winmore shook his head. "I had nothing to do with any kind of framing and I have nothing against Hellsing. I saw you on the news like everyone else… you turned the girl that we are hunting for this evening into a monster. She deserves to be set free of that curse, free to embrace the pure body of the Lord. Instead, she walks the earth drinking the blood of humans."

It occurred to Alucard that Winmore Crane had absolutely no idea that Victor was a shape-shifter and that it was he that turned Megan Blackwood into a vampire.

"And what of the vampires you create to burn for your ritual?" Alucard demanded, trying to figure out how Crane fits into all of this.

"What do you mean?" Winmore retort. "I never created the vampires! My Seekers—like Victor here—find them and bring them to me. That is their role. I don't know what you're talking about. I don't care about the Hellsing Organization. I'm a servant of God—a holy warrior placed on this earth to rid it of monsters." Bishop Crane seemed to regain some of his vigor and held his rifle pointed at the vampire indignantly. "The people of this country need a real leader to show them how to protect themselves from the creatures that would harm them. They don't need bureaucrats that hide behind gilded doors, they need the church, pure honest people to lead them. It was my calling to unite the Holy Hunters and teach them how to survive should London ever go to war with those foul monsters again."

"Shut up!" Victor ordered him viciously.

"I will not. This is your fault, Victor!" Crane accused suddenly, sounding frantic "You and your unholy kind have angered the mightiest of beasts. And here he is! Here stands the Black Marksmen in judgement before us! No… no! I never wanted to deal with you or him. This was all his idea! It was his idea to host The Sacrifice. You were the ones who found the creatures…"

And just like that, Winmore Crane's body language changed as if he'd only just woke up, he straightened sharply. He became silent. Then he gasped with a revelation.

"Wait, was that all a lie?" he murmured at Victor. "Did you and your organization create the vampires for our ritual and this hunt? Are you the one that turned Megan Blackwood?" Crane sounded shocked as the correlations began to fit, began to make more sense. "That's why the Iscariots are investigating my diocese, my parish community. You brought this evil upon me! I'll fucking kill you!"

Victor was gnashing his teeth. "You're a fool, Bishop. A stupid deranged fool!" He pulled the trigger that he still held to Alucard's head.

The back part of Alucard's head exploded in a giant burst of black and red. Blood and bits of skull flew in the direction of the hunters, pelting their goggles with vampire matter. His round glasses, knocked from his face, fell to the asphalt and shattered like orange glitter.

Victor swiftly shifted into the form of a black greyhound dog and scampered off between the gravestones, leaving Winmore and his group behind to fend for themselves.

"Do you really think that is all it takes to stop me?" Alucard roared angrily and snarled after Victor's cowardly retreat. "I am coming for you, Victor!" Even with half his head blown away, Alucard was still able to grab his prized new hand cannon out of his jacket. It was an intimidating gun weighing at 14 kilos with a 12-inch slide containing a high capacity magazine capable of 10 rounds plus one in the chamber. It came with a dark grey Nitron finish, making it extremely corrosion resistant and gave it a more futuristic shape than that of the long straight Casull. It appeared more like a small combat rifle with finger grips and bulk along the barrel, which counteracted the recoil.

Integra's custom-made gift made Alucard breathless when he held it.

Having a weapon stronger than the Casull was necessary in these times of progressing technology and with it, potentially stronger opponents. Who knows exactly what this era has in store for him. With any luck, he would meet someone like Anderson again, he hoped.

Pointing the gun towards the escaping half-breed, Alucard fired three twelve millimetre hollow point bullets made entirely of blessed silver and capable of exploding like an opening flower once it hits its target, expelling fragments of silver like a hand grenade.

The shape-shifter was fast enough to dodge all the shots, which obliterated the tops of two grave markers and one tree branch that came crashing to the ground.

Winmore and the group of hunters stood by gaping at the legendary vampire in the long red coat, who had the entire back part of his head blown away, blood streaking down his sallow face. It all happened so fast that they barely knew what was happening, their human eyes incapable of seeing it. The big vampire looked monstrous and gruesome, like a possessed demon with eyes of fire and hair that writhed like snakes.

Alucard was already repairing himself. "Wonderful! It seems that crossbreed is going to put up a good chase, but first—" He pointed the Professional and then withdrew the Casull from inside his coat, pointing both guns at Winmore Crane and his remaining thugs.

"—we still have business to settle here. I'm afraid I can't let you live, Father."

Victor changed back into the form of a man once he was clear of gunshots and caught his breath. He frantically dug his mobile out of his suit jacket and dialed a number while up in a tree, hidden in the foliage. He knew it would not take long for Alucard to finish with Winmore, so he needed to act fast.

Someone answered on the third ring. "Hello—Victor…? Is that you?"

"My lord, Sergiu, I am very sorry to bother you but Hellsing is here! It's fucking Alucard." He sounded on the verge of panic, and rightly so. "I don't know how they knew I'd be here but it appears they were onto Crane for the last few days. What should I do?"

"Those fucking Iscariot bastards!" Sergiu hissed through the phone. "I swear they'll stop at nothing even if it means kissing their enemies boots. I will not let them have her! I've been alone too long in this tedious life… I only just found her. We have so much catching up to do."

"You don't have to worry about that, my lord. The mission at the London Opera Ball went flawlessly, just as you envisioned, but the Twelve has yet to give the order and now Alucard is freaking here ruining everything. Argh! Why do we still work with Crane and his stupid sect of religious freaks?"

There was a long, painful string of silence on the other end of the phone until Sergiu began to chuckle darkly. "Never mind Crane," he said finally. "I have a new plan. After tonight, the Twelve will have every reason to lock up our dark prince and his sidekick. Use the tunnels and come to St. George's Cathedral. There's an evening mass here tonight. Lots of fun."

Victor was not following along with his boss's brainchild just yet. "There's no way to escape that old bat and his slutty little fledgling. Now that they know I'm here. I'm as good as dead." Victor sighed dejectedly. This was not how he envisioned things to work out. "I've failed you, my lord."

"No… no, you've done splendidly, my darling Victor," Sergiu insisted softly, his voice almost loving. "You know, a wise man once warned me to stay clear of doing business with the church, that it is indeed the best way to dig an early grave. Gage was correct, I should have listened to him… we did not really need Crane's money or his status. I had hoped that Winmore would build a worthy army of vampire hunters—it was profitable, his followers are loyal if not complete idiots. We'll stick to our original plan." He took a deep breath filled with regret followed by sad puffs of laughter. "But right now is not the time to wallow and lament. Forget about Winmore we do not need him anymore. Let Hellsing's dogs follow you to the cathedral," Sergiu advised. "It will lead to our ultimate prize. Any prize that big cannot be won so easily, it requires hard work but it will be worth it. Mmm, I can taste it already. Besides, I have a little surprise in store for Seras Victoria. I'm sure you'll agree it's quite fitting after you see it."

Victor's smile went from ear to ear. "You don't say? Well, I can't wait."

The two female vampires heard the commotion going on nearby, men screaming from whatever horrors were terrorizing them. It all began so fast with a cacophony of guns firing and trees breaking, and then it stopped all at once.

"What's happening over there?" questioned Megan frightfully, eyes looking in the direction of the racket.

"That's my master, Alucard," Seras replied somewhat proudly. "He's trying to stop the people that have come here to kill you. The man that you call 'master' is with those people. He never intended for them to be your supper," she told her. "He is the one leading them here to end you, as if you are some kind of trophy, but I'm not going to let them do that."

"That's what you think."

"Master…!" Both Seras and Megan said at the same time as a tall man in a long red coat, floppy hat and orange glasses unveiled his countenance slowly from the shadows.

Seras frowned immediately, this was not Alucard she could sense it. She grabbed Megan in a proficient headlock and shoved the pistol that she carried on her hip next to the blonde girl's temple with such speed that even Victor barely saw it. "Stop where you are or I'll kill her, Victor!"

"You go right ahead and do that, Seras Victoria. The Bishop and his hunters are being slaughtered as you speak—I have no use for that girl any longer."

Seras blinked in confusion—what?

"Everyone calm down and listen. Don't shoot!" Crane pleaded of his hunters as much as he pleaded with Alucard who stood before him pointing a pair of deadly looking guns at them. He watched how a whirl of shadow seemed to fuse the damaged vampire back together, blood receding from his skin, skull and hair shaping back into place, returning him to a state of omneity, appearing the way he did before his head was blown to bits.

The hunters heard the bishop's command but still held their guns at the red-clad monster. It seemed they held their ridged, frozen position more from fear.

Winmore tore off his balaclava and night vision goggles, revealing untidy brown hair and a handsome chin covered with stubble.

"You don't understand, vampire," he said. "I was a boy during the Battle of London or The Zeppelin Affair as they like to call it. My real parents were eaten alive by monsters roaming the streets wearing old Nazi uniforms. It was like World War 2 in the middle of downtown London! How quickly the pleasant evening became a night of hell. I swore I would never submit to monsters like those that destroyed everything I loved that night. It was then that I swore I would devote my life to God and to being strong. It was that day… that moment, that I was chosen to be a Hunter," Bishop Crane revealed, believing with his whole heart that what he said was virtuous and right. "A brave man, a priest of a small church, a selfless man of God, shielded me with his body and those Nazi vampires never found me. They never found me even as the streets became red with bloodshed. They never found me even as the man protecting me died from his wounds and I cowered beneath him, using his corpse as my blanket of protection. Those cries of pain… of death… oh, how they still ring loudly in my mind at night. I continued that priests' work… he was my saviour."

Alucard stared at the holy man who stood there looking tortured with his past. And he thought, even after thirty years, victims of that battle were still walking wounded.

"I'd say somewhere along the way you forgot your true purpose, Father," he told him. In the depths of the man's clear blue eyes, he could see nothing there but chaos. "You've gone mad… do you believe it is God's will to slaughter your own, to revel in their demise? You are not the first to bear the scars of war, scars that warp and twist one's mind. You have fallen privy to someone else's scheme even if you cannot see it through your cloud of madness and greed. Your intentions might seem honourable to you, but at what cost?"

The Bishop grabbed desperately at his head, fingers gripping his hair with two hands. "No! I did everything for my followers. I needed to protect them from miscreants like the Iscariots. Death in the name of the greater good. That's all." He rubbed his face with the heels of his hands and insisted miserably, "That's all…"

"You're right, Father, that's all… now it's time to say your prayers. Say your prayers and meet your maker," Alucard said to the deranged bishop and his merry group of men. His fingers started to squeeze both triggers when suddenly three silent headshots took out the three unknown hunters standing next to Crane, killing them instantly.

The human hunters crumpled to the ground like saggy lifeless scarecrows. Dead.

Winmore lifted his head from his hands in shock and looked down at the dead men at his feet. He felt another presence and turned around, startled as he stared down the barrels of two silver guns equipped with smoking silencers held out by a mangy-looking androgynous man dressed like a priest. There were frayed bandages around the face and eyes hidden behind bluish round glasses. This new assailant wore long dark robes with a lengthy, dangling silver crucifix that glinted while it swung.

"Oh… no," Winmore whimpered. "Iscariots…"

Front and back, Winmore Crane was the target in the crosshairs of both Alucard and Heinkel's handguns.

"That's right, Bishop Vinmore Crane, voo are unver arrest by the order of His Holiness," Heinkel said.

"Vatican Section 13…!" Winmore proclaimed and immediately fell to his knees, holding his hands up in prayer, in a dismal pledge. "I did it for mankind! I did it for them!" Heinkel tore the rifle out of the bishop's hands and dropped it out of reach.

"Ve quite," Heinkel ordered. "Voo have caused enough trouble, murderous vastard."

Another tall, priestly looking man approached, coming out from between the trees situated behind two giant gravestones. He had short wavy dark hair and walked casually towards them with an ever-pleasant calm expression on his scarred face.

"The nosferatu, Alucard," he acknowledged glancing at the vampire with his droopy coral coloured eyes.

"Why good evening, Bishop Makube," Alucard replied just as pleasantly, returning his guns to the inside of his coat, "Fancy seeing the Iscariot Organization here this evening."

"Yes, well… we were in the area and happened to stumble upon your little situation here in the cemetery. I'm afraid we will be taking Mr. Crane with us now," the Iscariot leader insisted.

The vampire king grunted amicably. "People like you never just stumble upon anything. You're lucky. I was just about to put a few bullets into him, ending his miserable insanity."

"Your assistance in this matter will not be overlooked," Makube assured. "Winmore Crane will face holy judgement and the appropriate actions shall be taken. He will tell us everything he knows about this group he has been dealing with and if we find anything of Hellsing's interest, we will contact you."

"I'm sure you will." Alucard did not really care what they did to this pathetic human, even if he was a victim born of the Major's war. "You Catholics really should keep better tabs on your flock," he advised and laughed.

Alucard vanished before their eyes.

Both Iscariot stood looking at the spot where Alucard had been standing. Crane moaned pathetically between them, still on his knees mouthing silent prayers.

Heinkel wondered. "Do ve follow him?"

Makube waved a hand aimlessly. "Perhaps it would be best if we let Hellsing take care of it, let them soil their hands. The Vatican cannot afford to be in the public eye at this moment as we are still recovering our strength. I have told you this before… it is too soon. We'll let Hellsing shed the light on this secret organization that Mr. Crane has been dealing with. And then, perhaps, we will decide which route to take."

"And vhat of our missing paladin… vhat of that mysterious hybrid, Victor? He is an abomination vhat should ve destroyed," Heinkel reasoned. "There could ve more like him and it is our job to exterminate vhem, isn't vhat the purpose of the Iscariot?"

"Patience, Heinkel… patience and all shall be revealed under the eyes of God, something tells me so. Something tells me we shall soon find the answers to all of our questions. Just be patient." Makube told him with a clever smile. "For now we watch and we learn. Come now… let's go somewhere more private and have a discussion with our new friend. Maybe he knows where to find our paladin."

Winmore Crane began to protest until Heinkel Wolfe knocked him out with the butt of her gun to the back of his head.

A/N: Some real dirty business going on here. Lots of information...gah! This chapter nearly killed me XD! I imagined that there would totally be victims of that attack on London and that those victims could potentially become real trouble. That is what inspired me to create Winmore Crane. And I was inspired by Dracula's/Alucard's abilities with weather and animals to somewhat rub off on Seras and allow her to learn how to skillfully connect with creatures of darkness, too. It was fun to explore some of that with her.

Next. Chapter 15 - Voices In My Head. Alucard and Seras face off with Victor and learn some maddening truths to an even bigger picture. Integra tries to hold the fort, but can she?

Reviewers: I'm really inspired by all that have fav'd or followed. Again, I can't thank you enough for giving the story a chance. There is plenty more to come.

Sarah Rose 29: It's so great that you agreed with how Alucard returned to his seat part! It was sorta minor, the part, but BIG to me when I wrote it and big for the characterization. Thank you hun! Indeed the plot thickens still lol! Your comments are always awesome!

AmericanWildDog: Hmm... that's a really interesting question about Pip and Seras and whether or not she can understand the French lol! I think that she can understand most of it after he's been yapping to her for 30 years *nods* She should be able to speak French herself by now, eh? Oh man, Integra's job is only going to get more difficult sooner AND later. I love reading your comments! Thank you!

Grey-Chan Fallen: EEEeee! Your comments are always so inspiring lol! the way you analyze the plot. Yesh! I feel like I can't wait to share more story with you faster haha! Oh my gosh.. did you say 'cake'? I can make you any kind of pastry desserty thing you wish! It would be a pleasure! My strengths are French pastries mostly but I can do some yummy cake! *hands over profiteroles* hehe *hugs* You're a doll!

Alexis: I really tried to stick close to the Hellsing world with this fic, so I appreciate the sentiments! I love the irony of Alucard thinking that another creature is a freak of nature and I agree, I think he'd really think that way too. Integra has some truly bumpy roads to journey over yet. Truly enjoy your thoughts and comments! *super hugs*