Eternal Sin
Chapter 25 – The Opening of Integra Hellsing - Part 1
Hellsing Manor – August 21st, 5:57 a.m.
Once when Integra was a little girl, she came down with a terrible fever and Alucard sat dutifully at the edge of her bed, dabbing her forehead with a cold wet towel. Walter insisted that if he wished to act as nursemaid, 'You mustn't leave her side for anything, are we clear, Alucard?' The butler went on to explain that high temperatures could do damage to the delicate human brain. True to his word, the vampire did not leave her side once that night. His master slept fitfully and moaned occasionally from sickness but by morning, the fever broke and all was well.
Alucard was fondly reminiscent of that particular night as he leaned over the side of the bathtub with his shirt sleeves rolled up, efficaciously cleaning Integra's face with a warm wet washcloth. Doing what any loving husband would do for his beloved in her arduous time of need.
After all, she was his new-fangled bride, his last bride, his wife, his Countess—his Queen—in the name of all ethereal, otherworldly unions.
The blood of angels, demons and all of creation bound them together. Their own blood bound them together.
And Alucard's heart swelled with something precious, with something he'd nearly forgotten, something dearer than he believed he had a right to possess.
In sickness and health, it was not a concept solely designed for mortals.
He braced her partially submerged in the tub half-full with water with one arm, washing all traces of the night's nightmare away from her body with the other. Hellsing manor was a somnolent fortress, Judy was asleep by the time he returned and Seras was tying up loose ends with the troops. There was no one else to tend to his mistress so the duty fell upon his shoulders.
It wouldn't have mattered either way. He would not have let anyone within ten feet of her. He owed her this much for being such a stubborn fool. This transformation may have come a lot smoother and with less pain if he had only listened.
Yet, she had chosen him. His fair lady made her choice.
Perhaps there is a God and he heard me. Alucard thought and mouthed the word. Amen.
Integra released the sweetest murmur and Alucard could not hold back a crooked smile as he gazed down at her. He felt a stirring of pride, perhaps a little smugness, too. The vampire's spell had fully restored Integra's damaged left eye and closed all of her wounds. Behind her eyelids, above the sweep of her blonde lashes resting on the crests of her cheeks, there was rapid eye movement.
No, this fitful sleep had nothing to do with any common childhood fevers. Just as she did as a child, he knew she would wake up soon and all would be well.
"Hmm, I wonder what strabismus visions you see as you shed your human flesh. Whatever they are do not be frightened, my love—although, I highly doubt I need to tell you that." Alucard chuckled knowing how valiant his lady knight could be. Still, he knew the transition could be an arduous ride. Dying was painful. Being reborn was painful. "I am curious but I will not invade your thoughts. No," he softly assured. "Not tonight. Tonight is sacred for you, your rite of passage—even if it is a little painful. It won't last, I promise. It's the night of your re-birth and that darkness belongs to you and you alone, once you embrace it, you will rise."
Water trickled into the bathtub echoing pleasantly around the big quiet bathroom as he rinsed her hair that swirled around her shoulders like live eels. He noticed that it had already lost all signs of silver that mixed with her blonde strands. Once more Integra's vibrant platinum locks weaved through his fingers. He purred with delight. Integra's body was already beginning to flourish with unlife. The signs of human decay were diminishing rapidly.
"You see, I told you that age was inconsequential when one becomes a vampire. Yes. You will always be fifty-two but you will not feel like fifty-two. Your worries were for naught," he shared and squeezed the water from her hair gently. "Just wait until you learn to transform your body… then, you can be anything. We'll sail the night skies together. I will show you everything."
He had a warm gleam in his eye, "My lovely creature."
Once every nuance of dirt, blood and humiliation that Sergiu Medrea caused for Integra was gone, Alucard lifted her from the bathtub and took her to her bed. He dried her off, dressed her in her favourite nightshirt and placed her under the covers.
"Now rest peacefully, my dear."
Alucard wandered over to the tall windows lining the east wall of the room. The dawn was approaching as a pink wave across the sky, a beautiful but most unfriendly tide. It was coming fast. The sun. Hidden behind the precipice of the horizon, it would rise at any moment, spilling its blistering rays across the earth and into the hearts of vampires that dare face it.
He was not worried about it. Alucard no longer scorched under the rays of the sun for he had grown too strong for that to be a weakness, but such was not the case for new vampires. Direct sunlight could truly smolder the tender young flesh of a newborn vampire, a painful experience indeed if not rectified quickly. Until Integra grew stronger, until she herself became a true vampire, she would have to practice safe sun and remain in the shade during the day. That's if she could keep her eyes open during the day.
Being awake during the day was taxing enough, even for him, but it would be a greater hindrance for her at this stage.
The door to the bedroom cracked open slowly and Seras wandered into the room.
"I'm back. Is she awake—" Yet? The draculina finished the question silently in her head when she noticed Integra was still sleeping. She wandered next to her bed and examined Integra with childlike curiosity. Seras beamed. This moment to her was monumental and she couldn't believe it was happening. Then she glanced over at Alucard who was busy shutting all the curtains in the bedroom.
Just as a beam of sunlight stole its way into the room, the older nosferatu swept the last panel shut, cutting it off. "It might take a little longer yet. The day is breaking and it will slow down the process. My guess is she won't wake until sunset," he presumed, turning around to face his fledgling.
Seras eyed Alucard thoughtfully. There was certainly something different about her Master's aura. He was calmer than she had ever seen him. And happy. Truly happy. Like an expectant husband, waiting for his blushing bride to join him at the altar. She noticed he'd also rid himself of his gloves, his long red coat and black suit jacket, standing there in his white dress shirt, sleeves rolled up, dark pants and his tall riding boots. Clearly, he'd been busy tending to Integra and it made him look so… so perfectly domestic.
Seras twittered to herself.
"Sunset?" She replied with a sigh. "But it's only morning now. I guess it must take longer than I thought. I have no idea how long I slept really before I woke up."
"I know it didn't seem like it, but you were asleep for a while, too. Let's be patient."
What choice did she have? "Well, I've taken care of the troops. I gave most of them some leave time but Gregory Penwood and Robert Walsh have been leaving me tons of messages. They are getting impatient. They want to know why we brought Integra back here instead of the hospital. What do I tell them?"
Alucard seemed unconcerned, but since Integra was unable to deal with business matters, Seras and he would have to handle the Hellsing Organization for one day, at least. "Tell them she is fine and resting and that she's recuperating. They will find out the truth all in good time. How Integra wishes to deal with her fellow Knights is up to her. Personally, I deem them a useless group of miscreants. They do not deserve a woman like Integra within their ranks. However… that is not my decision to make. Nor will it ever be."
"I know, Master. They screwed up big time, but… they did redeem themselves in the end." Seras reminded him.
The vampire king merely grunted in response.
"If you need to get some rest, I'll watch over her for a while if you like. I don't mind."
Alucard walked over to an empty chair draped with his red coat and black suit jacket and brought it over, setting it on the left side of Integra's bed. "Sleep is the furthest thing from my mind, Seras. Leaving her side now would simply burden my heart. No, I must stay right here until she rises from the ashes."
Seras could not contain a girlish squeal. "Who are you? And what have you done with my grumpy Master?" she teased.
Instead of receiving an angry scowl or a glare, Alucard scoffed with amusement.
"Well, if you're going to stay, then so am I." Seras informed him stubbornly. "But… I am so hungry. Oh! I have the best idea. How about I go grab us a snack and I will come right back and join you. Sound good?"
Alucard's attention was piqued at the mention of food. "Warm…?"
Seras made a goofy face. "Of course… silly. Thirty-seven-Celsius-warm."
"Then bring three, but don't warm the third one." Alucard politely requested.
Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing stood before a door.
It was a mysterious door coated with chipped black paint and a long brass handle. Its ominous presence had significant meaning. She was sure of it. Although, she could not understand what it was. And a part of her knew that once she crossed its threshold, there was no going back.
However, going back to what she did not know.
There were no clues about what lie on the other side for all around her was nothing but a cosmic blackness, an empty realm of void and nothingness. Perhaps the door was a portal. As if beyond it, a truth would be unveiled to her. Well, when push comes to shove—Integra shoved the door open.
A merry jingle announced her arrival.
She stepped inside a pub. The sort of establishment one might wander into to watch a football match or share a pint with friends after a hard day's work. The rustic looking place came with a long wooden bar, worn and scratched with character, inviting a newcomer to take a seat at its edge and order a drink, lament their woes for a while. Behind the bar was a series of shelves containing colourful bottles of liquor and along the counter, numerous lagers on tap. The rest of the joint was dark and full of shady corners. Its meagre yellow light came from the dusty orange lamps that hung over each table by a thin black cord.
Her arrival prompted a room full of faceless individuals seated at the tables to turn and swiftly stare at her. They appeared to be wearing funeral clothes, black suits and shiny shoes, black dresses, pearl necklaces and fancy hats. Yet, their faces remained blurry.
Nobody moved. Nobody spoke.
It was as if her arrival had ceased all activity, including the musician on the small stage at the end of the bar. Lights shone down on a dynamic looking man with sharp features, short, stylish blonde hair swept dramatically to one side, sitting on a barstool holding an acoustic guitar. He was dressed real posh, in a silver grey blazer with a white-collared shirt left open at the neck. His unknotted black silk tie hung around the shirt collar like an untied scarf. He wore black sneakers with white soles and propped one foot up on the bottom rung of his seat. It was as if he walked out of the flashy 1980's.
He said to her with a polite English accent, his tone friendly and his expression charming. "How about you take a seat, love, and I'll play you a little number." He strummed the beige guitar resting across his dark trousers, hand sliding skillfully along the neck, fingering over the frets.
Integra mused carefully, "And just who the hell might you be?"
"I know I'm not as young as I used to be… are you sure you don't recognise me? I'm a musician and an actor." He told her with a clever smirk.
Integra studied him impatiently. She was not in the mood for foolish games and quizzes. Besides, her knowledge of popular musicians or film stars was deplorable at best. "I know I've seen your face before but I don't really follow all that pomp…" Then her face lit up slightly with recognition. "Oh, of course… you're David Bowie."
"At your service..." The performer gave her a charismatic smile and laughed at her dumbfounded expression. "For a moment there you had me worried."
"Well then, perhaps you can tell me who these people are?" Integra inquired curiously. Around her, the blurry-faced people still gazed at her with their eerie anonymous silence. Their presence was unnerving and she could feel their gaze boring into her even if she couldn't see their face.
"I suspect they are here to mourn you, Integra. That's what folks do when you die… they gather and mourn for those that they have lost. They play music. They tell stories about you. They share a few drinks." He told her and continued to strum a tune softly on his guitar.
"I'm dead…? Is this a dream?" Integra seemed unable to admit the truth just yet. "Look, no offense but how can you be here? It's ridiculous. What is this place? I demand some answers!" she snapped impatiently.
"I believe this is what you call your inner universe, Integra, the realm of your soul... everybody has one. It's a nice place to chill out and escape for a while, so don't panic. I admit, I dig the quaint pub scene. It's intimate and cozy and I haven't played on a stage like this in years. I suppose I should thank you for the opportunity."
He nodded at her with appreciation and added. "By the way, I also happen to be the spirit of your gun."
Integra made an incredulous face. What he was saying was pure nuts, bollocks. "You—the spirit of my gun… what kind of rubbish is that? Good grief, I must be drunk and I've drowned in my bathtub!"
The legendary musician laughed heartily. "You're a very humorous woman but I assure you that you're not drunk, Integra Hellsing. You're dead—and this is no ordinary dream. Don't tell me you've forgotten what happened to you?"
With a great sigh, Integra rifled through her pockets and produced a pack of cigars and a silver-coloured lighter. Hold on. She blinked with sudden realisation. She was in her everyday charcoal suit and red cravat, but there was no cross on the knot. Oh, yes. Of course. Sergiu Medrea pricked himself on the pin part of the crucifix and it clattered to the floor inside his big fancy house.
"I was captured. That maniac tried to violate me. He choked me. I got stabbed through the stomach."
Yet, there was no stab wound. Integra inspected her stomach with the flat of her hand in astonishment. The wound she had sustained there was gone. There wasn't any blood. She felt no pain. With a shake of her head and with tentative fingers, she lit the cigar and inhaled deeply—inhaled as if she could figure out the mystery with a hit of nicotine. She took a few more drags and collected her thoughts, smoke circling around her head like a poisonous miasma.
Bemused, Mr. Bowie watched her carefully and said, "You're getting warmer…"
Integra stuck the cigar between her teeth and took a step back. Her shoe crunched over something. Glancing at the floor, she discovered she had stepped on her round spectacles—shattered and crushed beyond all recognition. How in God's name did they end up on the floor?
It suddenly dawned on her. "My eyes!"
Her left hand flew up to her face, nearly poking herself in the left eye. The eye patch was gone. The horrid eye—shot out by the mad Major—was whole and functional again. In fact, her vision was twenty-twenty!
David Bowie was laughing. "It's quite comical that you didn't notice you were not wearing your glasses or that eye patch the whole time you stood here. A lot has happened to you and is happening right now, but… maybe I'm not the one that should be explaining it. That supernatural sort of stuff isn't really my speciality." The musician informed and nudged towards the bar with his chin. "Might I suggest you chat with the bartender?"
"Integral…" a new voice called out.
It was a familiar voice, a most welcoming voice, one she had not heard for forty some years. Integra spun around and exclaimed in disbelief, "Father…?"
Indeed, there stood Arthur Hellsing behind the bar pouring scotch into a low-ball glass. Impossible! Like the others, he seemed to be wearing funeral garb, an all black suit, snappy waistcoat and black tie. He looked very dashing with his trimmed dusty blond hair and beard. He was not as he was on his deathbed, ailing and sallow, weak and withering. Here, he had pink in his cheeks and a sly twinkle in his scholarly blue eyes.
He appeared the way Integra liked to remember him most.
He pushed the glass towards her. "Sit my child and have a drink with your old man, hmm?" he requested and poured himself a scotch, too. "We've never had this trifle pleasure, you and I. You were just a girl when I passed away, still a bit too young for the good stuff."
In the background, Mr. Bowie softly strummed a song.
The Hellsing woman forgot all about the man on stage or the faceless people in the pub and took a seat at the bar, resting her cigar in the nearby ashtray. She gaped at her father in an odd mix of amazement and frustration. In one fluid motion, she picked up her drink, swallowed the contents and slammed the glass back down on the hard wooden surface. "Clearly, I'm having one hell of a dream. I'm speaking to my father who has been dead for over forty years. Will someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?"
"I quite understand you're a little confused, my child." Arthur patiently refilled her glass. "I believe the transformation you are undergoing kind of muddles the perceptions, one should think. I can only really speculate on the issue for I have never had a test subject to study on the matter."
"Transformation…?" Integra repeated.
"My darling, you've died and are being re-born as nosferatu." Arthur shook with a dry chuckle. That revelation did not seem to disturb him at all. "Did you forget that you gave Alucard consent? That noble vampire king grabbed the opportunity by the virtual bollocks. At least he waited until you made your choice. I really can't say that I'm surprised by that choice, Integral. You have completely fallen for that creature." He levelled a fixed gaze on her. "I shall not favour you with falsehoods… I'm quite astonished."
Integra stared at her father and it all came flooding back, the events at Crawford manor. A collage of images filled the blank canvas of her mind—and her laying on that bedroom floor bleeding to death. It didn't hurt as much as she thought it would, being bitten by a vampire. Gingerly, she felt the bite marks on her throat with her fingertips and closed her eyes, heaving a great heavy sigh. Alucard.
Her fingers desperately reached for her cigar still smoldering in the ashtray and she puffed on it as she recalled the last moments of her human life. Her father's words hung in the air like molten drops of guilt threatening to burn if they should fall on her.
Her stare was cold and hard. "You're disappointed…"
Arthur took a sip of his drink and set the glass back on the bar. "I said that I was astonished, Integral. I never said I was disappointed. You know I do not appreciate words being put in my mouth. I taught you better than that." He scolded mildly and then smirked at her with a sly look in his bright blue eyes. "What's with that look, hmm? You should know better than anyone that Hellsing's find ample ways of getting themselves into trouble. I mean, just look at your grandfather. He was the worst of them. Am I wrong? He started it all—chasing that monster all the way to the Carpathian Mountains in Transylvania! And what did the old codger do? He brought it back to England. He captured Dracula. He brought him into our family home!"
Arthur shook his head. "Of all the crazy harebrained stunts—different things were to come for our family once that creature crossed our threshold. And different did it get! Together we re-invented that vampire, your grandfather and I. It was our crowning achievement—other than when your mother and I created you, of course." He assured like most business-oriented fathers. "It was no act of God that we turned him into a devastating, powerful weapon. Too powerful. And when I feared that I could no longer control him, I hid him away from the world. Until, my treacherous brother Richard came along and you unlocked the old Count. That monster became your salvation that day—and today… your saviour. However, what I could not have predicted was that you would be his saviour too, Integra. And that is what's so astonishing."
"But surely I've tarnished the family name… tarnished the honour and faith that this great family stands for. I never got married. I never continued the Hellsing line. I've ruined everything you and grandfather built with the purpose of protecting the country and its people." Integra crushed her cigar out in the ashtray, the smoke tasting bitter now. "I was weak." She sounded bitter, too.
Arthur scoffed. "Nonsense. You followed your heart like a true Hellsing; so much like your grandfather in that sense. People will get over it. They always do. The Hellsing organization will flourish for as long as you wish for it to flourish, until you are bored with it after two hundred years and decide to eat all of its board members."
Integra's jaw dropped. "Father!" She admonished and then the two of them snickered like naughty children. "I cannot believe you just said that. You're incorrigible."
"It was a deliciously hideous thing to say, wasn't it?" He seemed so dreadfully pleased with himself. "Hmm, I wonder what kind of creature you will make."
"Not a mindless one I should hope. I didn't stumble onto this path unknowingly," she reminded him and stared into her drink sullenly. She scoffed. "He's a useless idiot without me, father. I do love him. He needs me and… I need him. Does this mean I've turned my back on God? It's selfish, I know."
"No sweetheart, it's not selfish…well, maybe a wee bit. But you didn't do it with a rapacious heart. You did not seek immortality for the sake of evil or hatred. You did it for the purest most honest desire any one person can have. You never need to turn your back on God; I don't believe that for a second. Your faith is always there, in your heart…as long as you're willing to let it. I believe that when one loses all faith, monster or human… that is when evil becomes a servant of the Devil."
Arthur reached for her hand. His palm was warm and Integra wore the faintest smile. He paused for a moment and swirled the amber liquid in his glass in the other, then looked up at her capriciously.
"Sometimes I think you've forgotten, my dear, that you are also a beautiful woman. I knew when I died and left you with Alucard… I knew… that you would both construct your own fate. It was inevitable. How, under His heavenly gates, could that No Life King not fall in love with you, Integral? Because of you, he is no longer just a pale shadow of himself. You are a strong, intelligent woman willing to stand up to the world's most evil demons. You have achieved greatness. But most importantly, for as long as you live your subfuscous unlife, you will always be a Hellsing and you will always be my daughter. Never forget that." Arthur told her. "Now it is time to waken… I will not listen to your woebegone tales any further. Be free, my child. Alucard and Seras are desperately waiting to meet you. Go to them. Go… be with the family I could never give you."
The world around her began to melt away into the nothingness and with it… her father. A part of her desperately wanted to cling to him and never let him go, but the rational side of her knew that it was folly. She understood her destiny now and it was not here in this place. Not here among the ghosts. Still, she felt a pang of sorrow. Her father was a soothsayer, a wise, yet, silly man, and she missed him so very much.
"Father... Father... Father…" Her own mumbling woke her up from slumber.
Integra's eyes fluttered open.
~And the darkness became my light and for the first time… I truly felt alive~
For a moment, she almost did not know where she was, except the patterned plaster ceiling above looked awfully familiar. Of course, Integra realised she was in her own bed, in her own room, inside her own house. The mild panic ebbed and beneath the covers, she felt the nightshirt she normally wore, noticing she wore nothing underneath it.
Integra was also aware that the wound at her middle was gone, recalling the dream she just woke up from vividly. She remembered everything else, too. That bastard Sergiu had stabbed her. Left her for dead.
However, the wounds were gone. She felt no residual pain. She felt no kind of pains at all, except for an extraordinarily different kind. A pang, a hunger unlike any she had ever felt. It made her teeth ache made her mouth feel parched and thirsty. The idea suddenly thrilled and unnerved her all at once. She knew what that hunger was. The dream was not just a figment of her imagination but also a telling of truths.
Her father told her. She was a vampire.
Integra sat up.
"Sir Integra!" Seras was the first to squeal, hovering anxiously on the right side of the bed dressed in a clean burgundy Hellsing uniform, and her red eyes as wide as saucers. "You're finally awake. We've been waiting forever! Oh, wow. Look at you. You have both of your eyes back!"
The Hellsing woman couldn't help but cringe at the draculina's cheerful proclamation. Was it her or was Seras's voice much louder than usual? The sound wasn't awful. It was more profound in some way.
"Why must you always be so loud?" A deep voice reproved. "As I have stated once before… you're liable to wake the dead."
Nothing Alucard could say could ruin Seras's good mood. "I can't help it we won and all three of us are together again. The bad guys are dead and everything is just as it should be, so you're both just going to have to deal with it." She insisted stubbornly and sat at the edge of Integra's bed as giddy as a schoolgirl. "Master was right, Sir. As soon as the sun set you woke up. It's like he's done this before or something."
With her pair of reconstructed eyes, Integra followed Seras's gaze to the other side of her bed and her heart leapt instantly.
There he was slouched back in an armchair with a booted foot propped on his knee. His chin rested on the backs of his gloveless knuckles, elbow situated on the arm of the chair like a spoiled ruler indulging in this evening's delightful entertainment. His eyes burned as dying embers, watching her with a villainous smile upon his face.
She gazed at him—the man she could not live without. She could feel his blood flowing in her veins and it stirred something sensual inside of her.
"Alucard…" she whispered and made a surprised expression at the sound of her voice. She examined her throat with her fingers. It did not hurt anymore either, her own voice sounding so alien to her. It was clear and full, not raspy and tattered as when she had last heard it.
"Good evening, Integra. I trust that you slept well?" He inquired, smoothly.
"I dunno if I would say 'well' but I'm alright. I did, however, have the barmiest of all dreams," she shared, her eyes taking note of Alucard's casual appearance without his coat and jacket. He seemed very relaxed and her eyes lingered on him as if she were seeing him for the first time.
Alucard mused as she gawked at him, like a babe seeing the world for the first time. "You spoke with Arthur…"
"How—"
"You were talking in your sleep just before you woke up," he avowed. "What did he have to say?"
With a sigh, she told him. "He said a lot of things, Alucard. Some of which I will admit was remarkably prophetic. We played into the hands of providence. I've accepted the truth."
"The truth…?" Alucard repeated.
"Yes. The truth that no matter what happened at the Crawford property, this was inevitable, my fate. It's like you said, 'It's as if life is indeed made up of fate'." She recalled the night Alucard read to her and the discussions they shared about the greater powers that be. "Maybe it is cruel—but I don't feel that way. I gave you my blood and now I'm dead."
"And do you feel dead?" Alucard had a devious glint in his eye.
For a moment, Integra closed her eyes in favour of all her other senses, allowing the verve around her to unveil itself to her. Indeed, there was a lot of life and energy around her that she never noticed with her human perceptions before.
The Hellsing manor was brimming with more activity than she ever imagined.
It was full of dull hums, buzzing electricity and moving water and air through pipes and air ducts in the walls. With a small twist of her lips she realised they had a small rodent infestation in the basement. There were voices. Many voices. All belonging to people under her employ. She could hear them talking, hear them moving around. One pair spoke about the score of the football game they were watching, while two Hellsing patrol officers stood outside smoking cigarettes. She inhaled the fragrant tobacco smoke. Mmm, it smelled wonderful.
She longed for a cigar.
It was nearly overwhelming. It was all so new, this heightened sense of keenness and acuity. Her senses were in overdrive. Neither her body nor her surroundings felt the same. She dug into the vastness of space around her, space that no longer felt as if it closed her into anything.
Can I walk through walls?
Alucard's twitter came from the left side of her bed. "Of course you can, Integra. You can be intangible. Simple matter cannot contain you anymore. It's quite fun at first, but I assure you that the novelty will wear off eventually. Keep in mind, vampires are not born knowing all of these skills… you must learn like everyone else." He explained to her in mind, hearing her thoughts.
"It's not that hard," Seras joined in, overjoyed to speak telepathically amongst all three of them now that they shared relations. She no longer had to have physical contact with Integra to do it.
Integra spoke aloud but thought telepathic speaking could be quite beneficial in the future. "Well, it's certainly not dead in the sense that I am lifeless. I know that I am technically dead, but it feels quite the opposite. I never knew… I could never really…"
"…understand until now?" Seras finished for her and took Integra's hand into both of her own. "I get that. You are one of the best monster hunters I know, Sir. You know so much about the supernatural but nothing compares to living your life as one. It's kind of weird looking at it from the other side, huh? Suddenly the whole world is brimming with new sounds and new scents that you are not accustomed to hearing or smelling. You'll get used to that, you'll see. One day it'll be second nature," she encouraged and looked bashful suddenly. "I'm glad you didn't give up on us, Integra. For a moment there last night I was so scared that I'd lost you."
"I didn't fall into Sergiu's hands to die. I had hoped you and Alucard would find me before anything terrible happened. I knew I was their target; I was suspicious the moment Lilith walked into my office. I mean, whom were they kidding? I could tell she struggled with something internally and it's a true shame in the end. She would have been a great asset to the Hellsing Organization. I believe she truly wanted to be my friend." The Hellsing woman sighed deeply. "I let them play out their plan and reveal their secrets. I hid my own plans from the world. The least you and Alucard knew the more authentic their plot seemed. I had hoped to lure you all to their lair except… there were forces at hand that I could not have predicted."
"It was reckless. You learned to manipulate your thoughts remarkably," Alucard offered.
"It was risky and dangerous, I know… I know. I owe you both a huge apology." Integra actually smiled and squeezed Sera's hand. The draculina's touch was potent and electric, more so now than ever before. Even her sense of touch felt amplified. It actually gave her goose bumps. "Let's forget about that. It's all over now. I promised you that I wouldn't give up, didn't I?"
Seras couldn't help but sound a little bit childish. "Because you love master…"
"No… because I love you both."
Seras began to sniffle with happy tears. "Oh, Sir! Don't do anything that crazy again—promise!" She flung her arms around the other blonde woman, giving her a big hug and scolded. "Even if you are a vampire now you're not invincible."
Integra endured the invasion like that of a mauled kitten while Seras clung to her fiercely. While Seras held her, she found herself intrigued by a familiar rhythmic sound coupled with a strange swishing noise. It was louder with Seras so close. "Is that yours and Alucard's heartbeats I hear?"
Seras released Integra and sat back, grinning.
Alucard answered. "Yes, it is. As well as your own, I imagine." His tone was serene. "You are probably hearing the flow of our blood as well—kind of makes it handy to know where your potential food sources are. Does it make you thirsty?"
Integra flashed her eyes at him at the mention of blood. "Wouldn't you like to know?" She replied callously.
Alucard's responding chuckle was mischievous incarnate.
The Hellsing woman scowled. "You're just revelling in this aren't you?"
"Revelling does not even begin to describe it." He countered with a clever look in his sultry eyes.
"Then let's get one thing straight, Alucard." She began grimly, letting go of Seras's hand. "I made my choice and you might have given me this unlife. However, I must regretfully inform that I will in no way call you 'master'." Integra put down her verbal foot. "No matter what I've become or how I got here, I will bow to no one. I am still a Hellsing and I will always be a Hellsing. As long as I retain my mind that will never change."
Alucard's grin grew tenfold. "Spoken like a true No Life Queen—I wouldn't have it any other way. However, with all due respect, Integra… you are my wife in my eyes. You are me. And I am you. You drank my blood and I drank yours. The days of master and servant are finished. Such titles are no longer suitable would you not agree?"
Integra thought it over. "I… I suppose you're right."
"Nonetheless, in saying that," Alucard persisted, "I will humbly follow your orders as a devote husband. I pledge my allegiance to you. Previously, I told you that I relinquished my desires to command and conquer. Even now that you are my mine, I say these words to you. They do not change. Not ever. For you, I would happily slay the world if you so ordered me to, but not until then."
"Devote husband and wife? Is that what we are?" It made Integra chuckle.
"And why not…?" Alucard sounded a little exasperated. "Don't mock what you've never had, Integra. I will treat you with no less respect than I did before. Finally, I have been given the opportunity to stand beside you as an equal. Do you think you've fallen from grace now that you and I are the same?"
Shocked by Alucard's words, Integra replied, "You know I don't believe that."
"Then why do you laugh?"
Integra was annoyed with herself for feeling coy by the mere mention of the term 'husband' and 'wife'.
"The concept is still ambiguous to me, my experience in such matters is nil." She answered truthfully. "Forgive me, Alucard, I did not mean to make light of the situation. That was not my intention. It's just… the idea. It's… it's not something I ever expected to hear you say, that's all."
A pleasant look overcame Alucard's face. "I see… you are a blushing bride, then."
Now she was fuming. "I'm not blushing!"
Alucard wore a pestiferous look but remained silent.
"What about the Hellsing Organization?" Seras wondered, hesitant if she should interrupt her masters as they hashed out their marital roles. Clearly, Integra was blushing. "Err… you have to get back to the Twelve, Sir. They're breathing down our necks about you and frankly I bet they're going to come knocking soon if you don't calm them down."
Integra did not hold back a groan at the thought and shifted her gaze to Seras. "I'll settle things with them momentarily. As for us, of course the Hellsing Organization will continue to be operational. We must always be there to protect those that are helpless to monsters. That is my duty. It is as long as the Convention doesn't try to plunge a stake through my heart," she claimed matter-of-factly.
With that, Integra motioned for Seras to move out of the way. She flung the covers off and swung her legs over, climbing out of bed. Covered in a nightshirt that went to mid-thigh, Integra padded over the tiled floor to the windows in bare feet. She felt neither hot nor cold.
Alucard stood up from the chair he was in and watched her closely.
"Of course, I'm sure they will lay low once they hear your voice," Seras confirmed, watching the other woman, coming to stand at the end of the bed now. "How they will react to you being a vampire… well, that I can't be sure of."
Integra parted the curtains and stared out at the early evening stars. Yesterday's big moon hid behind sparse clouds and appeared a hazy dim bulb up in the indigo sky. Still, seeing it filled her spirit with certain brilliance and she thought… the moon is my sun now.
"Alastair Kershaw was working with Lilith. They were an item. She was the girlfriend that nobody met, the woman he picked up at the airport that day we got Yarwood's severed tattooed finger. I never thought anything of it," Integra murmured and fisted her hands angrily at her sides. "To think he lied to us all this time. The swine…"
"I told you before… I never liked that guy." Alucard reminded.
"He's currently being held prisoner. So, he won't be duping anyone anymore," Seras offered. "Good fucking riddance, I say. I hope they hang him by the balls."
"Oh my… oui! I love it when you speak like that, ma chérie," Pip interrupted, his disembodied voice floating around the room. "Like a trucker woman that could drink you under the table better than any man. It's such a turn on."
Seras lamented. "Ugh, Pip, where do you come up with this stuff?"
"It's so easy to get her riled up, no?" Pip said, impishly. "But never mind that—look at this! So, it is true, Ms. Hellsing… you've finally let the big guy bite you."
Integra could not hold back a smirk. She turned away from the window to face the room. "That's right. I get to live out the rest of my days as a giant mosquito."
Positively repulsed, Alucard grunted disparagingly. "What a horrible comparison, my darling. I'd rather you compare us to a leech or a blood-sucking bat then a meagre insect loathed by the entire world."
The Hellsing woman laughed.
Alucard continued. "I'll have you know that vampires get bitten by mosquitoes, too."
"Really? And what happens to the mosquito when they do?" Integra genuinely wondered.
"Nothing that I know of, thankfully we resist the swelling and itching they cause for humans. I haven't scratched a mosquito bite in over 500 years."
The room fell silent. Then Pip's cackle echoed all over the house like a haunted mansion. "That's the stupidest thing I ever heard."
"It really was," Seras agreed and giggled. "Seriously though, you really need to look at yourself, Sir Integra. It's been so long since I've seen you like this."
Integra wore a deadpanned expression now. "What do you mean 'like this'? What—was I hideous before?"
"Well… no, but you did complain about wrinkles, old age and bladder—"
"Seras!" Integra squawked as her eyes widened with alarm. "That's quite enough. Must we advertise my prior shortcomings to the entire household?" On her peripheral right, she could hear Alucard's chuffs of amusement. Her right eye began to twitch.
Seras chuckled uncomfortably. "Um, right. Sorry. My bad…"
"You two are both delightful and completely ridiculous, I'm having a hard time deciding on which," Alucard taunted and both females turned and glowered at him. For a moment, he balked at the severity of their admix scowl.
"You put your own shoe into that one Mr. Alucard," Pip alleged.
Integra turned towards the window again, ignoring the silly conversation. She noticed how gloomy clouds had moved in and hid the moon behind them. She sensed rain on the way, perhaps a storm. Her inner thoughts grew darker as the dull ache continued to bother her mouth. Inquisitively, she ran the tip of her finger across her teeth.
"My, what lovely fangs you have."
Integra glanced over at Alucard dryly for his annotation. "Is it always this bad… this craving? I feel as though I have not eaten for a lifetime. A thorough gnawing emptiness…"
Seras blinked.
Alucard smiled triumphant.
"The lust for blood will forever be your dark passenger, Integra." He said. "It is your burden and your plight as a vampire. It is also your survival, as you are well aware. It provides you with adequate hydration and sustenance. Your vampiric knowledge should ease the transition for you, but as your mate, do not fear to ask me anything. I humbly await your quandaries."
"Are you sure you want to rush into that so soon?" Seras questioned cautiously. "Perhaps you should take a few days and—"
"—why should I wait?" Integra countered indifferently, cutting Seras off. "I know how this works. Drinking blood is essential if I wish to obtain my full potential. I loathe the idea of remaining weak due to any mortal sensibilities that I still possess. Not that I wish to 'eat' all of my board members as my father would put it, but you know what I mean."
Her remarks had the old vampire king chuckling oh-so sinister. "Not an ounce of hesitation—that—is the Integra Hellsing I met all those years ago in that forgotten cell. Splendid." Alucard rumbled with praise. "Yes, why waste a single moment filled with dithering uncertainties and instead grasp your true nature, accept the role you play on this shadowed stage." He rifled into his jacket draped over the chair, extracting the extra bag of blood that Seras brought up earlier. "Transforming into such a lovely creature is utterly exhausting. Let's just say, I thought you might be ravenous so I saved this for you."
A mischievous smile spread across Integra's face. "Did you, now?"
Again, Seras blinked.
"Mon dieu!" Pip suddenly spoke up in disbelief. "I knew it! What did I tell you, Seras? Didn't I say she'd make a scary monster?"
"Not out loud, Pip!" Seras admonished and glanced worriedly at her two masters, but they were too busy in their own little world to notice.
Volumes of unspoken words passed between Count and Countess.
"Drink, my love. And you shall learn what it means to be a vampire, but you must bear in mind that this blood will not unleash your true vampire nature. For that, you must drink blood from the vein of a living human. I have no doubt that your opportunity will come, and when it does, I greatly look forward to such a day." Alucard confessed coming to stand in front of his mistress.
He offered her the blood.
Integra took the cool flimsy blood bag out of his hands, her mouth began to salivate and her new teeth sharpened. She swallowed instinctively. Just the idea of drinking blood evoked a completely new animal inside of her. She looked up at Alucard, hungry blue eyes searching his. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"To think you really need to question this, Integra." He answered with deep incredulousness. "This is the moment you become who you were really meant to be. I have desired this moment, like perfect dream that is no longer a dream at all—I've only just woken up to discover that it is real. I want to savour it. I want to hold it in my hand. Taste it. I want to observe you blossom, to see you unravel the ribbon of your new existence, my beautiful creature. Go on… drink."
A rumble of thunder sounded from outside, off in the distance. The first fat drops of rain splattered against the window.
Without hesitation, Integra tore the tip of the tube off with her teeth and sucked up mouthfuls of blood. Her eyes fluttered closed and she sighed deeply while she fed. The blood, it was exquisite.
Seras bit her lip, astonished to see how readily Integra accepted the blood.
"That's it," Alucard extolled. He was completely enthralled, watching her with a rabid expression. He did not even realise he was holding his breath, which he released and it shuddered passed his lips. Watching her feed was tremendously arousing. And when she opened her eyes to look at him, he smiled wickedly… they were deep red, like jewels, glittering passionately at him.
Having emptied the contents of the donated blood bag, Integra removed the tube from her mouth with a lavish sigh. "Make love to me," she demanded breathlessly, running her palm across Alucard's shirt.
Seras's brows shot up.
Pip gave a low whistle. "And… that's our cue to leave," he sing-songed. "Why don't we give these two love birds a little space, mignonette?"
"I think you're right, Mr. Bernadotte." Seras tiptoed towards the door and looked back just once, but it was enough to witness Integra unscrupulously squeezing her master's rear end with a roaming hand. Seras choked on some giggles and blushed profusely. "Right… err… toodles, you two. Try not to damage anything."
A/N: Ohhh the fluff! We have earned it XD! Everyone is back together again. It took me a solid week of thinking, when trying to decide who would be the ultimate gun spirit for Integra and when the idea for David Bowie came to me... I was like OF COURSE! I blasted this out loud in an parking lot lol! I love David Bowie and I was so sad about his passing and I thought this was a nice tribute, besides the fact, that he would also be the COOLEST gun spirit for Integra. I did enjoy those quirky moments in Hellsing and since Alucard and Seras both have these crazy gun spirits I thought Integra needed to have one too!
In my headcanons I think Integra, as a vampire, would indeed, grasp the role by the virtual bollocks lol! I can't see her being all squeamish about it. I'm going to have fun with this. And I hope you have fun with it, too!
Next. Chapter 26 - The Opening of Integra Hellsing - Part 2. The steamy tension inside Integra's bedroom rivals the storm unleashing its fury outside her window. King and Queen finally get to enjoy the splendor of lovemaking. But they are not the only ones... Seras and Pip find ways to occupy their time, as well. (Note: Warning! This chapter will definitely contain scenes of sexual content. I hold nothing back. You've been warned.)
Until next time!
Reviewers: Omgosh! I'm ecstatic by the response to the last chapter! You are all so supportive and wonderful! I'm so happy that I could share this laborious endeavour with you. Many, many thanks to...
AmericanWildDog (I'm thrilled I could give your OTP that special moment heeee!), miree3D2Y (you cried? Nawww! That means the world to me! *crushes with hugs*), speedfanatic05 (your comments always mist my eyes... in a good way hun! You're comments are just out of this world! Yes, it's almost over but I have been brainstorming some new things lately... cause writing about Integra as a vampire is just too damn good to pass up, ya know *squishes you*), RainbowLondi (You should write your story and if you do I will be first in line to read it! PM me anytime hun if you want to chat about plots I'm friendly I swear!), kitsuneluvuh (Hirano has a very interesting mind, doesn't he? XD!), Alexis (You are right about the fluff and there is a lot more of that to come. Oooh! I love the story about Merlin!), SuperheroAnimeGeek (Nawww! Thanks SOO much hun!), Sarah Rose 29 (You've been my star this week, thanks for everything!), fer (Oh, no... YOU are the one that's wonderful!), and kalin (Your comments having me smiling big time. Thanks so much for that. I hope you enjoy the romance that we've all been waiting for.)