Another great chapter with a mess of reviews. Thanks all:
BadLuckCat
BlackWingsBlackSoul
Zizzi Hungarian
Kantra
Lord Makura
Gale Frost - (I was waiting for your review! Oh, and super-special-awesome? Has someone been watching the Yu-gi-oh Abridged Series?)
Order 21: The Calm Before the Storm
Many decades had passed. He was no longer Count Dracula but was referred to as Alucard, a name bestowed on him by Abraham's son, Arthur. Arthur was less than willing to take on a vampire servant and kept a respectable emotional distance from him, just as his father before him had. Alucard, for his part, found Arthur tolerable. He had liked watching the young boy play pranks on his father and turned a disdainful eye on his kowtowing brother, Richard.
When Abraham died, Alucard felt a strange emptiness. Not sadness or regret, just a feeling of loss. He had gone peacefully, in his sleep, of old age. Alucard felt no resentment to him, the slayer of his kind, that was centuries ago. It hardly mattered now. During his last days of life, he made known that the Hellsing Organization would fall under Arthur's control. Alucard looked with satisfaction as Richard's crestfallen look over the last declaration. Abraham had given the order that he, Alucard, would present himself to Arthur. Somewhere along the way it had been decided that as long as he lived that Alucard would serve the Hellsing family. No objections.
His existence was to be kept secret from everyone but Arthur and those he thought worthy. Whatever that meant. It was during Arthur's reign that Alucard's true powers came to light.
He was sent to Warsaw, Poland in September of 1944 with the Hellsing's retainer at his side. Walter C. Dornez, also known as the Angel of Death, a fourteen-year-old upstart with the power to control high-velocity microfilament wires with incredible skill and precision. Together they demolished all of the Millennium group and destroyed their plans to make artificial vampires. It was a glorious war in Alucard's eyes, one he'd relished. It was a good time in his life.
But good things never last. Least not for this vampire.
He knew this all too well. Enough to put him in a state of slight paranoia. When the years after the events in Warsaw began to lengthen, he found himself carefully scanning each hallway before he walked. Extra precaution never hurt anyone, he reasoned.
It all turned out to be within reason though.
He was heading to the kitchen when an eerie stillness filled the air. He paused then sighed softly. This was it.
Hellsing soldiers surrounded him, guns up. He hid a smirk. The soldiers fired a ferocious barrage, the bullets all but ripping him apart. He reformed quickly and gave a quick smirk over his shoulder.
The first soldier lost his head, the next lost their limbs. He latched onto the throat of the next and dared the others to move. If they wanted a fight they'd have one, Hellsing soldiers or not.
"Stand down, Alucard," a voice said.
The vampire whirled around to see Arthur Hellsing standing nonchalantly, a cigarette hanging from his lips. Alucard grinned. "Who would have thought I was doing such a bad job?" he said lowly under his breath.
Arthur blew smoke out of his mouth in a faint sigh and spoke seriously. "You are too powerful a drug to be used as more than the occasional medicine. I can't have you walking around freely."
Alucard bared his teeth. "That is why I was created! I'm supposed to be powerful."
Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Then I'll just have to keep your powers under control."
Losing it for the moment, Alucard jumped above the soldiers and lunged straight towards Arthur. The Hellsing did not move, even as Alucard stopped with his hand outstretched for his neck. The vampire was unable to cause him harm.
The soldiers sprang forward, wrapping leather binds around Alucard and confining his hands behind his back. Alucard gave an uncharacteristic shriek but vampiric strength did nothing on these holds. He was straight jacketed.
He was taken to the sub-levels where the Black Arts Room, laboratory, autopsy theater, interrogation room, and dungeon was. They dragged him to the underground prison where the door was decorated with a huge symbol. Alucard took it to be some kind of restraint of his powers.
Before the door shut, Alucard gave one last look to Arthur, standing stoically at the end of the hall.
On that first day, Alucard sat and thought. He'd already tried to phase through the walls and nothing happened. His powers were completely nullified. He'd tensed his muscles and kicked at the door with enough force to bring the entire Hellsing manor to the ground. Still, it held. Three hours, ten thousand eight hundred seconds later, Alucard figured there was no escaping. He sighed softly to himself and sat down, his back facing the wall. He figured he was in for a wait.
He counted the seconds.
Twenty-one thousand six hundred seconds after the door shut, Alucard began to get hungry.
He took several deep breaths and tried to ignore the hunger. Were they even going to bring him any blood? A vampire's hunger can grow agonizing but Alucard was a long time away from feeling hunger pangs. He struggled to his feet and paced the room.
This imprisonment...it reminded him of many centuries back when he was still just a human servant. He shook his head hard. It was too early to start remembering the past.
Vampires live long lives. They carry with them decades and centuries of memories of people they'd met and places they'd been. Alucard was about to experience them all, all over again.
Eighty six thousand four hundred and thirty nine seconds after the door shut, Alucard was distinctly not amused.
How long were they going to keep him down there? This was getting ridiculous. It had been a full day and he hadn't received a drop of blood. He was quiet throughout the entire time, the silence his only accomplice.
Days passed.
Two million five hundred ninety two thousand seconds after the door shut, Alucard got his first visitor.
It was late at night when Walter snuck down to the dungeons. He placed his hands on the door and spoke softly.
"Alucard. Alucard, can you hear me?"
Alucard was silent. He could see the outside though, with his third eye. He saw Walter smile softly.
"I know it's gotta suck being locked away. Nothing I can do about that. I talked to Sir Arthur but he's pretty adamant. I'm not even allowed to be down here but I thought you could use some company."
Alucard smiled privately. Ever thoughtful Walter. He sometimes spoke like a child, like he would back when he was still fourteen, but only in Alucard's presence. And even then it was rare.
He watched as Walter sat with his back to the door.
"I don't think it's fair. We fought in Warsaw together. And for him to just lock you up, like a common prisoner? Where's the justice? I can say it wasn't one of Sir Arthur's smartest moves."
Alucard chuckled. He'd have to second that remark.
"Sir Arthur's going away soon," Walter continued. "To India. He'll be gone about a month." The young boy sighed. "The stupid knob to this door is jammed. I heard that only a Hellsing can open it. Man, does that suck. You know, I'd get you out of here if I could, right? Alucard?"
Alucard gave a low breath and called out:
"Yeah, Walter. I know."
He watched Walter smile. "Good. I should get out of here before someone notices I'm gone. I'll try to be back soon though." He rose to his feet. "Later, Alucard."
Alucard smiled. "Later, Walter."
Twenty years, two hundred eighty eight months, seven thousand three hundred days, ten million five thousand twelve hundred seconds...
...Is a long time when you have only yourself to keep you company.
Alucard thought a lot during that time. An idle vampire is a dangerous thing.
He thought of killing Arthur, something slow and painful. Then he thought of his loss at Abraham's hand and decided to ignore that thought.
He took to sleep at amazingly long intervals, the longest for five days straight. His dreams, when he had them, were tortured. Not the dreams themselves but the aftermath. He would dream of Mataji, of the nights they spent together making ardent love; he would remember Vivien, her warm smiles, her beautiful face, and he would wake to his empty cell, disappointed and depressed.
He wondered what he'd done to deserve such an imprisonment. They treated him like such a monster but truly where was the line between man and monster? Alucard tortured himself with these questions. It seemed the answer was conscience. A man has a conscience which holds him back from murdering. Monsters have no such things. Though Alucard never killed children he deemed this more a standard than an issue of conscience.
Five years after his imprisonment, he watched from his cell as Arthur Hellsing married an Indian woman named Radha. Two years after that, the couple had their first child: a girl they called Integra, the Latin for 'perfect'. Radha died almost two months after Integra's birth, from hyperemesis gravidarum, a condition in which morning sickness is constant and extreme, resulting in dehydration and malnutrition, due to frequent vomiting.
Arthur devoted his life to the child. From age five, he told her all about how one day she would inherit his place in the Royal Order of Protestant Knights. At seven, she started learning fencing, quickly showing skill.
Alucard watched all this from his place in the quiet dungeon. He had mixed feelings toward Integra. She was a cute little girl and he had always liked children but to think that he would have to answer to her one day made him angry. That is, if he ever got out of this dungeon.
Integra didn't go to school. Arthur home schooled her in typical subjects but also the workings of the vampire. He kept silent about Alucard's existence though.
As Integra grew up, Alucard began feeling more active. He hadn't moved in close to a year but he had the feeling once Integra was the only Hellsing left, he might get his freedom.
Of course, he'd envisioned this scenario a thousand times before but something about this time was different.
Alucard's intuition paid off.
Three days after Arthur's death, that slimy bastard Richard slipped his way into the castle and attempted to murder Integra.
Three days after Arthur's death, Alucard watched with intense focus as Integra crawled her way to his dungeon.
And thirteen million six hundred ninety five thousand forty three seconds after the door shut, the door opened.
Okay, that's that. The next chapter's already almost done. Just need a bit more time. Keep reviewing. Love ya!
P.S: Counting off the seconds? I kind of borrowed that from an AWESOME SessXKag fic written by Resmiranda. She's a true genius and I have to give credit where credit is due. Check her out.