Before I could register what was happening, I had already rolled to the side and dodged Mina's attack. She landed on her feet in the exact spot I had been less than ten seconds ago. I stared at the ground in amazement at my own reflexes. How...
Mina growled, obviously irritated. "You are a vampire now. My body has awakened with its full potential once more and that cannot be undone. Therefore, you now have a vampire's reflexes. Perhaps they'll help you survive a few more seconds!" Mina snarled again and lunged at me once more. Instead of rolling away, however, I jumped up at the last second and landed behind her with little more than a thud.
The black-haired woman swung towards me again, but her movements were sloppy and unpracticed. A small memory came unbidden to my mind from my conversation with Alucard when he was telling about his past, about the woman I now knew as Mina.
'She had very little interest in fighting,' he'd said. 'She preferred to spend her time shopping for new dresses than sparring with me.'
'She sounds boring,' I'd replied, wrinkling my nose.
He'd chuckled and pulled me close, kissing me softly. 'It wasn't my best moment. Eventually I'd managed to teach her some self-defense, but she was awkward on the battlefield, relying more on her powers than her own skill.'
Suddenly, I understood exactly how to win this battle for my mind. "Mina!" I called, causing her to pause momentarily. "How about another deal? You love those, right?" I smirked as she glared at me and straightened.
"What could you possibly have that I want?" she practically spit, her face contorted into what I supposed was a smug grin.
"Alucard," I said. As I expected, Mina immediately perked up. "You and I both know that as long as I'm around, his heart is mine. But if you kill me, he'll move on, eventually, and come running back to you."
Mina placed a hand on her hip and raised one finely threaded eyebrow. "What exactly did you think I was trying to do ten seconds ago?"
"I know," I smirked. "But you suck at hand to hand." The comment earned me a glare from the black-haired woman but I didn't care. "So, I'll give you a fighting chance. Let's settle this quick and easy, the way he would want us to."
Mina nodded, understanding immediately. She smiled and suddenly we were in front of the Hellsing manor. Something cold and metallic filled one of my hands. I looked down to see my Colt shining up at me, its white handle gleaming.
I glanced up at Mina, who was now holding a revolver, and raised a brow. "Theatrics are an old indulgence of mine," she said with a shrug. "Besides, I figured you'd want to see your old home one last time."
"Don't worry," I told her firmly. "I'll see it again shortly. You won't though." Without another word, I raised the gun and pointed it directly at her, pulling back the hammer silently.
We stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity, staring each other down. I took a deep breath and aimed the gun. True, I wasn't as good as Alucard or Seras when it came to shooting, but I was confident enough in my skill to hit Mina from this distance, especially considering I now had enhanced eyesight.
Unfortunately, I never got the chance because just as I was about to pull the trigger, Mina lowered her hand, pouting. "Well this is no good," she declared in disappointment. I raised an eyebrow, prompting her, and she continued, "I need drama, theatrics! Shooting you, while satisfying, is far too dull a death for you." She grinned evilly. "How about we make things interesting?"
Before I could demand what the hell she meant, a figure appeared before me where she stood. I watched in horror as the familiar red coat and wide-brimmed hat took shape over Alucard's pale face. "But... how?" I breathed, suddenly horrified of the task before me.
Mina smirked. "Did you think you had any real power here? This is inside our head, Cara, my head. You follow my rules." I remained silent as Alucard lifted his Jackal and aimed it at me, smirking. "Now, get yourself ready." As if moving of its own volition, my hand lifted and cocked the Colt once more.
"No..." I breathed, shaking my head as tears filled my eyes.
"Just remember," Mina called, watching from a lounge chaise she'd made appear. "You wanted us to settle it this way. Now, on the count of three. One..." I continued shaking my head as the familiar click of Alucard cocking his Jackal.
"Two..." I closed my eyes. Come on, Cara, think! There must be something I can do. I opened my eyes and looked at Alucard. He's not real... He's not real!
It didn't matter though. Real or not, I could never bring myself to hurt him.
"Three." This was it. My life had ended on a simple count of three. I closed my eyes once more as the gunshot went off. I waited for the bullet to pierce my brain, killing me instantly. I would collapse on the floor in a pool of blood as Mina stood over me, cackling in victory.
Or, at least, that's what should have happened.
Instead I heard nothing but silence. I peeked open one eye at a time, certain I was already dead. In front of me was a bullet. It seemed to be frozen in the air- no, that wasn't right. If I inspected the bullet closely, I could see it rotating in mid-air, inching forward at a crawl. The image was like a slow-motion scene out of a movie. I stepped out of the bullet's way easily and looked at Alucard, who was also seemingly frozen. Time seemed to have slowed down somehow, but how I had no idea.
"What?!" I fought back a groan as the all-too familiar screech echoed in my ears. I turned to look at Mina, who – unfortunately – had not been slowed down. She stared at me in shock, obviously as surprised by this turn of events as I was. "But... how?" she breathed out. "You shouldn't be able to do that! You have no power here! This is my world!"
She fisted her gloved hands and flailed them in the air. Her whole demeanor had changed into something almost... childish. Mina glared at me, but her blue gaze was no longer cold. Instead, it was filled with tears as she crossed her arms and pouted.
I returned Mina's glare, angry now. "You're wrong, Mina," I growled. "This isn't your world, it's ours. And no matter what kind of game you want to play, no matter what kind of torture you try to put me through, one thing will always be certain." Mina's eyes filled with fear as I stepped towards her with every word. "Alucard would never hurt me."
As I spoke, the crimson vampire turned towards her almost robotically and aimed the gun at Mina. She shook her head, pleading under her breath. "No," she muttered. "No, this can't be... This can't be happening!"
I looked down at her, my disgusted expression reflected in her blue eyes. "Too bad he doesn't feel the same way about you." I turned away on my heel as Mina's final roar of anguish was cut off by a single gunshot.
As much as I'd like to say I continued with my bad-ass exit, it was not to be. After a few minutes of walking, I fought back a groan of irritation as Hellsing's familiar silhouette came through the horizon. I had stepped into my own personal version of Coraline and I had no way of getting out. "Please, please, please don't let there be any creepy spider people wandering around," I muttered to myself. I hated spiders.
Just as I turned in the opposite direction for the third time in a row, a familiar chuckle from behind me stopped me in my tracks. "Only you would find it so natural to make light of the current situation," he commented. I fought back a smile in vain as I turned to the man leaning against the fountain, his arms crossed. "You really are a mystery, ma chérie."
"Pip!" I squealed and ran into my captain's arms, hugging him tightly as he spun me around. "What are you doing here?" I demanded once he placed me back on the ground. Pip raised an eyebrow at me and I nodded in realization. "Oh, I see. So, you're like the Cheshire cat?"
"More like Tweedle-dee." I spun around at the comforting voice of my boss just in time to see Integra and Walter grinning at me broadly.
"Does that make you the Queen of Hearts and Walter your white rabbit, sir?" Seras questioned innocently, suddenly beside me.
Walter smiled softly. "Seras, you do realize that means you're Tweedledum?" We all laughed as Seras blushed and looked down sheepishly. As the others continued their banter, I began to look around for him, my face falling in realization as the minutes passed, taking the chances of his appearance with them.
Just as I was about to lose hope, a hand was placed gently on my shoulder. I turned and looked back at Pip, barely aware of the others who were watching us. "He's waiting for you inside," he said softly. I smiled up at him in thanks and nodded. "Go on then. Your mad hatter is waiting, ma chérie."
I smiled and practically raced up the steps to the manor. My heart was racing as burst open the door. The entrance was brightly lit, blinding my eyes which were now so accustomed to the darkness in which vampires traditionally lived. I blinked quickly, letting my eyes adjust to the new light as I looked around; but I didn't have to look far.
He was like a dream; I supposed he was, after all. He smiled at me and I thought to myself that he must be a Cheshire cat, even if he is a little mad. I raced toward the man in red, hugging him around the waist tightly and closing my eyes as I inhaled his scent.
"Took you long enough," he chuckled lightly. I rolled my eyes and swatted his chest playfully, not bothering to open my eyes or pull away.
"I was a little busy dealing with your lover," I reminded Alucard, but I was smiling too much to be truly angry. "I've missed you." I hugged him tighter and kept my eyes closed as I breathed in and out deeply.
Alucard chuckled and wrapped his arms around me. "I miss you too," he replied.
Suddenly, the darkness I felt was not just from my closed eyelids. I didn't bother to fight the familiar feeling as I drifted into nothing once more. This time it wasn't encasing me.
It was bringing me home.
I sat up gasping. Tentatively reaching my hand up to the corner of my temple, I panicked for a moment, feeling the dried blood in my hair. Stay calm, I told myself as I padded back over to the bathroom to inspect myself. Vampires heal incredibly well.
But I wasn't a vampire. Mina was, and I had just killed her.
My body was still vampiric, for the moment at least. I could feel it in the way I moved, in the way I saw dust particles floating in the air, in the way I smelled the blood from the cafeteria being served to the soldiers, in the way I heard one of the soldiers barking out orders to their units. German was still new to me, but the message was clear: Bring down Hellsing.
I inspected myself in the mirror, carefully washing out the blood with a cloth. The wound had healed nicely, not even leaving a scar. I walked out of the bathroom and checked the clock. I'd been unconscious for at least two hours. I brushed out my long black hair and calmly walked over to the window, but the view below me nearly brought me to my knees.
London was not London. It was all fire and blood and screaming. It was a place likened to hell- no, worse than hell. I had seen many battlefields in sand traps and the like, but this was different. The city I had come to call home, filled with the people I had come to call my family, was being burned to ash. I clenched my fist and grit my teeth. I needed to get out, but how?
The window was my first thought. We were still too high off the ground for a normal human to survive the jump even to one of the nearby skyscrapers. But, for the moment I wasn't a normal human.
Yeah, but we don't know how long that will last, dumbass, the rational part of my mind screamed. What if we go back to normal on the way down?!And part of me wanted to agree. I felt fine, but there was no guarantee how long this power would last. I sighed and looked up at the moon. It was a crescent tonight, not too thin, not too wide. Almost like...
Without another thought I balled up my jacket and punched through the window. The crash was louder than expected but that was fine. I could hear the alarmed soldiers running towards me, but I was already halfway out the window. I sat on the ledge, ready to jump just as the first soldier burst through the door. He was one of the Major's lieutenants, well built, with blond hair. He had been the one to try to hold me back during my earlier outburst.
He said nothing as we stared at each other for a long moment. Finally, I nodded to him but he remained silent as he watched me slide off the balcony into the night.
Sometimes I still wonder if, knowing what would happen that night, I would still have jumped. I like to think I would have, but I am selfish. Nevertheless, I jumped down, oblivious to what would happen that night, to the sacrifices I would make, to the people I would lose. I ran through the streets of London, alight with flame, unaware that I would be running straight into Millennium's trap, or that after night I would not see Alucard for a very, very long time, if ever.