A/N: Welcome to Chapter 25. Enjoy.
Suflețel cast her master a wary glance as she collapsed. She was still breathing and heart still beating. This was slumber. Assured that she would stay in this state for at least an hour and that Puișor was watching over her in the meantime, the hellbeast walked through the wall and into the mate's chambers. He sat in his chair, fingers steepled beneath his chin. Was he asleep too?
Upon her approach the vampire's red eyes flashed opened and he fixed it with a bored look. "What do you want?" he asked it.
Suflețel had been with her master for three decades now. It was but a moment for her, who had been born when there was no concept of time. She had served many different masters until now, but none had been like this bewitching creature. As a monster of shadow and decay, she thrived on sorrow and pain regardless of the source, but seeing her master so broken and harrowed in turn made her distressed. A beast like herself could only create chaos, not abate it. And so she had come to the one being who could do so.
The kitten hopped onto his lap and pressed an inky black paw to his chest, imparting her memories of today's carnage. Suflețel could not understand the petty machinations and yearnings of the creatures of this plane, but she had come to understand her master. A rare creature—one that Suflețel had seen but a few times in her long existence—that was neither man nor monster but a shade of both. She had the potential for evil but chose to walk a nobler path, and the majority of her darker deeds she had committed for show and subjugation.
But what she had done today was purely beastly. There had been no shred of humanity or goodness within her. This ravenous demon intent on devouring all around it was not her master.
The kitten watched as the vampire's red eyes grew wide in startle when the memories flashed through his consciousness. Whatever he had thought would happen when he severed their bond, it hadn't been this.
"Why?" he demanded. "I have removed my monstrous aspect within her. She should become purer."
This simpleton. Did he understand nothing?
She hissed at him. You didn't remove, you ripped. Something she has depended on since her beginning is suddenly gone and her soul desperately hunts a replacement. A balance.
He had understood her, and yet was unchanged. "And how is this my problem?"
Suflețel cared not for this aloofness that the creatures of this plane were addicted to. There was no hiding anything from a monster that had seen all there was to see starting from when the world was just a cold, desolate blackness. She saw that the bond he shared as mate ran deeper than most and that tearing it out so recklessly had wounded his soul as well. He had no choice but to contain it due to the chains his master had locked around him, but he was as broken as she.
Fix this, or my master will not survive.
"Maria isn't so weak as to die from a broken heart," he scoffed.
Her needle-like claws dug into his chest and she felt satisfaction as pricks of his blood welled up. She will be killed by your master when she breaks the rules. She has developed a taste for human suffering.
Hesitation flickered in his eyes for a moment and she knew that her truths were just beginning to sink through his thick skull. But he still said, "She cannot go against an order. It's impossible."
The human trusts her too much. She has not been issued the same commands as you. You must act quickly to restore the bond.
The vampire gave Suflețel a doubtful glare. "And if I don't?"
She will fill the wound you created with filth and all will have been for naught.
"You would profess to know her better than I?" He radiated cold indignation. "I, who has been a part of her all her life? I, who has taught her everything she knows?"
Prideful and oafish. Why her master was so woefully attached to this flawed creature she would never understand.
You gave her a seed that she nurtured with my help, she corrected. It was thanks to me, the bird, and her own innate composition that she has accomplished what she has. Surely you didn't teach her how to phase, or how to harness souls. Nor did you teach her how to split her soul and house the shards in all corners of the world. You didn't teach her how to beguile the mortals, either. The only thing you have imparted with her is a rot that she has managed to contain until now.
The vampire bared his fangs in an outraged snarl and swatted her away, but Suflețel gracefully leapt out of harm's way and onto the table, never taking her cold eyes from his.
You know I'm right, she said smugly. Ask the dog if you are still in denial. It's as brutish as you are but still sees through souls as well as I and the bird.
There was nothing left to say, so she flitted through the wall and back to her master who was still motionless on the bed. Puișor perched on the back of a chair, watching its master intently. Suflețel alighted to the bed and changed into a panther so she could better warm her charge. In her sleep, Maria squirmed at the sudden appearance of warmth beside her and curled against her.
Suflețel gave a tired sigh into the human's curls. She had had countless masters over the centuries, but this master had been the first to give her a name, to confer something more than slavery upon her. She would sooner sacrifice herself than let this creature come to harm.
"Master, I would have a word."
Alucard had floated through the wall and into Sir Integra's office. The blonde leveled him with an icy glower at the sudden intrusion and set down her pen.
"And I would like you to use the bloody doors," she ground out. "What do you want?"
"What orders have you given Maria?" he asked, his face the picture of boredom.
Sir Integra's gaze changed from angry to curious. "Why?"
He didn't want to divulge his bride's sudden change in temperament, not just yet. She still hadn't submitted properly to him. The fact of the matter was that he had been so startled by what Maria's familiar had shown him that he had gone to his master without properly formulating his thoughts. All he was certain of at this time was that he needed to know more. He had drifted through the centuries on a river of blood and atrocities and so had thought himself inured to carnage, but the image of Maria ripping into a warm human heart with such an animalistic grin had chilled him. He could not have a monster as queen.
"I've read all there is to read in her record room downstairs but there was no mention of the sigil," he said smoothely.
"Thinking of finding a loophole to overthrow me?" Integra asked with a teasing smirk. Alucard returned one in kind and his master said, "For all her powers she still retains the heart and soul of a human. Also, her duties require her to travel near and far and with such speed that neither of us can afford a meeting each time something arises. Therefore I have allotted her much more freedom than you."
Impatience threatened to show on his brow yet he managed to keep his expression placid. He didn't want vagueities. "And specifically what have you ordered her?"
"Why do you want to know?" she pressed, and Alucard cursed her shrewdness as he saw the glint of cogs turning behind her eyes.
"She can travel freely all over the world, whereas I have to ask to leave the grounds. I merely wondered where else you gave her preferential treatment," he lied silkily.
Still giving him a doubtful look, she picked up the phone on the edge of her desk and dialed Seras. Normally he would have found this amusing, as she had the ability to contact his fledgling telepathically and yet resorted to such a cumbersome and human mode of communication. Tonight was not the night for idle observations.
Seras arrived shortly with a worn leather-bound journal that appeared to have survived all manner of tumult and turmoil. She handed it to Sir Integra, offered a greeting to Alucard, and then bowed out of the room.
"This is the book my great-grandfather recorded all of your commands in," his master explained unnecessarily.
Alucard had seen this wretched book many moons ago, when he was recently broken and Van Hellsing was still working out the crude science of subjugating a monster. This book held the account of his experiments and their outcomes, of Alucard's suffering and shame. The first thing he would do upon his master's death and his release from his fetters would be to burn this book until not even cinders remained.
If Sir Integra percepted his rage at seeing the tome she brushed it off as she flipped nonchalantly through the worn and blood-splotched pages and towards the end where the handwriting changed from fountain pen to ballpoint. "These are your commands." The stretched on for several pages, a masterfully crafted cage of words that kept his master and her interests safe from his machinations. "And these are Maria's."
She turned the page to reveal only a few lines of her flowing cursive. "Do not knowingly do anything that will harm your master, her interests, or her allies." "Do not release your powers from their binds unless you and/or your master are at risk of destruction." "Do not lie to or otherwise mislead your master." Alucard had been given these three as well. "Eat and sleep at least once a week." He had never had need for such a command.
"This is all?" he asked, unable to keep an edge of incredulity out of his question. She could do practically anything she wanted with nothing but this paltry set of commands to hold her back.
Sir Integra smirked. "Jealous, are we? Maria isn't a monster as you are. I can trust her to make good decisions."
The petulant and vindictive part of him was tempted to tell his master exactly what her trusted servant had just got finished ravaging if only to see her faith shatter. He bit back on that impulse, however, and said instead, "In the final stages of the ritual she may have a difficult time controlling her more base urges. I recommend that you put a few more commands in place."
"Alucard," his master said, giving him a hard look, "it is not my duty to rein in your bride. Your responsibility as her sire is to keep her in check."
How was it that all of the women that surrounded him managed to test his patience so? He pointed out calmly, "I would endeavor to do so, but I cannot follow her with certain commands in place."
"Ah. In that case, I revoke your order to request permission to leave the Hellsing grounds. I also order that you may only leave the Hellsing grounds if it is to accompany Maria."
Alucard grinned. At least one good thing had come out of this. He didn't much care for the idea of playing Maria's keeper, as it would require a level of subterfuge he was no longer accustomed to. He would have to watch her from afar and be prepared to stay her hand if she appeared close to doing something regrettable, yet he would have to do so in a way that wouldn't undermine his authority or make her think that he was through proving his point and punishment.
"She has become quite proficient at phasing," he commented. "She does easily what most true vampires cannot." Before absorbing Schroedinger he would have found it a challenge himself.
"Her familiars transport her. Her body bears none of the burden."
Interesting. So his master seemed unaware that Maria had split her soul. When his queen had mentioned this feat he had been in such a rage that he had glossed over it, but with the damned cat's words also ringing in his ears he had recalled her admission. A regular vampire could not cross a body of flowing water, perhaps because the soul of a being that had become stationary in the stream of time couldn't bear fording the tides of something so brazenly flowing by. This was why he had taken a boat into London all those years ago. Alucard had since amassed enough souls that he could barter them like tolls and cross oceans with relative ease, though the price was steep. But now that he had the essence of that odd experiment within him, he could travel everywhere and nowhere on a whim. He could vanish to Timbuktu or to the peaks of Kilimanjaro, to the furthest reaches of space and time if he so chose.
But there was one other means for vampires to overcome these difficulties. He had thought of undertaking it long ago but upon learning the rigors of the ritual had forgone it. If a vampire had a piece of itself waiting on the other side of the body of water in question, it could ford it with no difficulty at all. With a certain knife of obsidian and a sizeable amount of determination, a vampire could cut into their soul and leave a sliver of it somewhere in the land of their choosing. This was fraught with unpleasantries, however. Firstly, excising a fragment of your existence no matter how small was an excruciating task. Secondly, if the vampire wasn't exact with the blade they ran the risk of fracturing the soul and wounding it beyond repair, which would result in a consuming madness. Also, once the fragment was successfully removed and placed upon the land of choosing, it must be exceptionally well-hidden. A baby bird without its shell or mother to shield it, it could swiftly be crushed into oblivion by an enemy and once destroyed could never be regrown. Much like how Maria had reacted in pain and perhaps insanity upon his removal of their connection, a vampire whose soul fragments had been destroyed would turn into a volatile shade bent on destruction.
Splitting the soul once was an agony unspeakable, but to have done it eight times was madness. Even more alarming was the fact that in order to do this all without their master's knowing she would have had to have made the fragments when she had released the seal's control on her power, when her entire soul was out of its cage and exposed—in other words, in the heat of battle.
How he longed to pick through her memories and see how she had done such a reckless thing without destroying herself.
Alucard bid his master adieu and drifted through the floor back to his chambers. A cursory look with his third eye revealed Maria to still be asleep on her bed, bloodsoaked and her sword still on her back. The hellcat was curled around her protectively as a great panther and the eagle was watching over them both from the table.
Loath as he was to admit it, the truth of the familiar's words had stung. He had thought of Maria as his creation, the one good thing to have come from his darkness, but he now realized that such was not the case. He had been gone too long, and during his absence she had blossomed into the beautiful woman she was without his aid. On the contrary, upon his return he had nearly ruined her by destroying their connection. He hoped that she would see sense soon and pay fealty to him so he could restore the bond.
As he drank from a glass of wine he mused over the hellcat's words. The beast hadn't once called her master a human the entire conversation and had referred to an "innate composition" that had allowed her to become so powerful. What had it meant?
At his beckoning the hellhound appeared before him, its six red eyes glowing as it inclined its head.
What does Maria's familiar speak of? he asked it. It talks about her as though she isn't human.
The hellhound sat down and in a gravelly voice said, She is and she is not.
This was the problem with familiars—being not of this world they weren't the best at conversation or clarity. It was a reason why he seldom bothered to talk with his other than to give it orders.
Is it because of me?
It is and it is not.
Alucard growled in frustration. Then what is her composition?
Human and non-human. Alive and dead. Light and shadow.
The No-Life King realized that this was a waste of time. All beings were essentially a combination of those things. The cat would have me restore our connection lest Maria go mad with bloodfrenzy. What would you have me do?
The hellhound gave him an inquisitive look. In the four hundred years they had been together its master had never asked for its opinion.
Do you desire a human or a monster as a mate?
I can't have her as a human, he snapped.
Act now and she will forever retain a portion of humanity, the one that you cast away so quickly. Linger and she will become a true monster that will rival you in madness and cruelty.
Through the hellcat's memories he had seen what Maria had done in this state, but it was so at odds with the girl who had once cowered in terror at the sight of him slaughtering a few humans that his mind simply couldn't reconcile it. Was it possible for her to succumb to the darkness? He had thought that because she accepted his darkness so easily while retaining her compassion that she was impervious to the warping claws of monstrosity, that if he removed his tainted presence from her mind that she would only grow purer. How wrong he had been.
The cat had said that Maria had changed because her soul sought a balance, but why would it seek such a thing? In her blood coursed a mixture of both vampire and human blood and even without their link should have provided an equilibrium. "Balance" implied that her vampirism and humanity were two parts of a whole, which despite the amount of the vampire blood she had shouldn't have been the case. Until the ritual was complete and she had joined the Night, her soul should have remained wholly human except for the small bit of his own that had attached to hers to establish their connection.
Unless…
Alucard dispelled the notion nearly as quickly as it had appeared. It was unheard of. A ghost story told by ghosts. Besides, he would have noticed long ago.
His familiar gave him a long look but said nothing as it faded into the ether.
Maria awoke with her arms wrapped around Suflețel, crusted brown blood causing her to stick to her pillow and blankets. Wondering if anyone had been in her chambers and seen, she vanished her sword and all evidence of her earlier indiscretion. Explaining this to Sir Integra would be less than optimal.
There was a dull burn in her throat and stomach signaling her thirst. She summoned a packet of blood from the kitchens, but a draught of the cold and flavorless liquid did nothing to quench her appetite. The warmth and richness that the humans' terror had brought were all Maria could think about. She longed to taste it again. The black maw within her seemed to have lessened if only slightly and it was still raw and sore. Her chest felt as though the muscle and bone would tear away at the slightest touch.
She changed into a different white dress and then addressed the small pile of letters on her table. Tonight she had the American Congressional Ball to attend, but it wouldn't be for another several hours. In the meantime she wrote a detailed but altered mission report from the previous night, one for her records and one for the Americans. An execution had been requested in Mexico so she would occupy her downtime with that. Perhaps a good flaying would help fill this ravenous wound.
The ring on her finger glinted as she swept her curls up and she stopped to look at the jewels. How could merely looking at something feel so painful? Her chest constricted at the sight of this token that was nothing more than that. She had waited so long and so patiently for him, had worked so hard to give him a kingdom, and he had rewarded her by tearing a hole in her and demanding that she grovel like a dog before him.
Maria would forever remain loyal to him, as she knew it was her destiny to walk beside him and, unpredictable and cruel as he could be, she loved so many other aspects of him that she would never be able to bear separation.
However, while she was true to him in every sense, she also had pride and self-worth enough not to fall to his every whim. He had told her long ago that he had wanted her to rule alongside him, not beneath him. He had also known that she had a knack for using her words as weapons against him when it was necessary, so why he chose now to erupt was lost on her.
Maria had accused him of loving her and in doing so had struck upon the very core of his recent turmoil. Like a wounded animal he had attacked and ripped out their connection in retaliation. He wanted her to break, to come weeping to him like a weak human girl and beg him to use his power to make her whole once more.
But she wasn't going to apologize for saying something true, and she wasn't going to beg. Even if it felt like she could go mad from the loss. Maria understood him better than anyone else; she knew that he had no intention of ending the ritual or he would have killed her or stolen back all of the power he had given her. She also knew that he would hate not being able to pick her mind at his every convenience. Combing through her thoughts had long been his favorite hobby, and especially now that he wanted to know how she felt about him and this argument he would be even more anxious to read her mind.
Alucard would cave. She was certain.
Until then, she just had to go about life as she had in his absence. She didn't need him to hold her hand and fight her battles for her.
Her updo complete and crown resting regally on her head, she spun around once before the mirror. The floor-length silk dress was in cream and was stunning in its simplicity. It fit snugly to her curves, accentuating them tastefully and guaranteeing all eyes would be on her tonight.
She walked through the wall and into Alucard's chambers. He sat with his back to her at the table and she could see a half-empty glass of wine on the armrest, his gloved fingers wrapped loosely around the stem. Though he gave no acknowledgement of her arrival she knew that he sensed her.
"There's an important ball in America tonight and you've been invited as my plus one," she told him in a business-like fashion. "The clothes you wore last time will be suitable."
"And where are you going in the meantime?" he asked.
"I've got a small matter to attend to in Mexico and then I'll go to the ball."
It was excruciating to see him and yet be unable to touch him. The hole in her heart was a giant mouth screaming for him, yet she turned around to return to her chambers.
"Maria," he said, and she stilled instantly, cursing the way her pathetic heart leapt in hope and delight at hearing her name on his lips. "How was the mission in California with the Turkish humans?"
Did he know? Unless he had spied on her he couldn't have known what had happened, though he had almost certainly seen her bloodsoaked homecoming. She smiled and said simply, "They were just dogs."
"Did you enjoy it?" His voice was devoid of all inflection, almost clinical. He could have been asking about the weather.
"You told me I'd come to revel in the massacre," she said plainly, "and you were right. Will there be anything else?"
Wordlessly he waved a hand to shoo her away, and the hole within her gave a groan of anguish. Did he feel it too? Was his heart trying to break out of its cage of flesh as well?
She turned back around to walk through the wall and she had one leg through the stone when he spoke again.
"Ti-e sete?" he asked.
Her throat was parched as a desert and her stomach was in knots, as though it were trying to wring out every last remnant of her previous meals. Surely his blood would be like a downpour on withered fields, a rejuvenating spring.
But if she touched him, drank from him and felt his essence filling her anew, would it improve or worsen this ache?
After a moment's hesitation, she admitted softly, "Da."
Alucard rolled up the sleeve of his white shirt to reveal his forearm and Maria watched enraptured as a cut opened at his wrist and a trail of rubies dripped down and onto the flagstones.
She forced herself to walk unhurriedly to him and lapped at the blood, dragging her tongue up from the point where the rivulets converged to fall together and to the wound itself. It was a challenge not to let out a sigh of relief as his taste filled her senses and—if only briefly—calmed the writhing of the living gash inside her. Alucard watched her drink with an unreadable expression, and how Maria longed to know what he was thinking. Why offer her this kindness so soon after casting her away? It had been less than twenty-four hours.
It was a few minutes until his wound closed and her sustenance vanished. Maria rose to her full height from her stooped posture and gave him a probing looking, but his marble features gave nothing away.
"Would you like me to return the favor?" she asked presently.
He inclined his head in a silent nod and she held out her arm for him as he had, dragging a shadowy finger over her wrist to create a slit. His gloved hand wrapped around her forearm to bring the offering to his waiting lips and she held her breath as his long tongue trailed up to the source. His cool touch left her tingling and her shadows were writhing behind her mutinously, begging to go to his and meld together but she forced them back into her silhouette.
Alucard sucked from her in complete silence, his eyes sliding closed as if in rest. He only drank for a few moments before he drew away. It might have been wishful thinking on her part, but Maria thought that his hand lingered on her arm slightly longer than necessary.
Souls trickled out from between the cracks of the seals to close the wound and she took a step away from him before asking, "Will that be all?"
"Yes." He didn't even bother to look at her, staring straight ahead and down the table toward the closed door.
Maria phased back to her room where both of her familiars were waiting. Suflețel was staring up at her from the bed furtively.
He is a simpleton, she told Maria.
In some areas, yes, the brunette chuckled.
He causes you both to suffer needlessly. Why?
Maria could only shrug. He's an arrogant asshole who can't admit when he's wrong.
The cat shook its head and stretched before alighting from the bed. You mortals are all so bewildering. Even you, despite your makeup.
What does my mascara have to do with this? Maria asked as her shadows enveloped them and swept them away to the head coven in Mexico.
Perhaps his stupidity is catching, was all her familiar said in return.
The flaying did little to improve Maria's mood, though she did feel a bit better afterwards. Alucard's blood seemed to have helped her feel a bit more like herself. She no longer had the sensation of floating and her sense of touch had mostly returned. The hole within her was still calling to be filled, however, and she wondered what exactly she had to do to appease it.
After the flaying and impalement and making sure she had erased all traces of blood from her body she went to Washington, D.C. for the ball. When she emerged from the taxi in front of the elegant hall Alucard was waiting for her, his arm crooked in a gentlemanly fashion. The way his blue eyes crinkled with the kind smile he wore was more painful than any knife. But if he could put on a show for all of the humans so could she. With a matching grin she locked her arm in his and strolled into the ball.
It was wrong, not being able to keep up a mental conversation with him. Generally whenever they were near each other they were in some form of dialogue, whether it was poking fun at the people around them or talk of their mission. Maria felt nervousness trickle down her spine like cold water. She simply couldn't trust him to behave himself and answer all of the questions correctly.
Though she was highly reluctant to do so, she had no choice but to tear down the wall she had built to keep him from her thoughts.
We need to communicate in case you don't know how to answer a question, she told him.
Agreed. His low voice came across inflectionless and it felt as though she were talking to a statue, devoid of all emotion. Without their proper connection she could only hear his thoughts and none of the feelings attached to them. She had always thought that he kept his emotions from her, but now she realized that she had always been able to glean some in the tone of his voice. She lamented the loss and wondered if her voice sounded as mechanical.
They were met with the same sort of fanfare as their last outing, bombarded with questions and introductions and food that neither of them wanted. As the hours slowly dragged on she could feel the hole in her begin to squirm and her stomach burned with both hunger and discomfort at eating human food her body could no longer handle. She should have drunk more before coming in order to counteract it.
"If you'll excuse me for a moment," she smiled and extricated her arm from Alucard's to head to the bathroom where she returned all of the hors d'oeuvres.
What's wrong?
If it's not an apple or plain wheat bread I can't have it, she answered. What do you do with the food?
The taste is unpleasant, but it doesn't affect me.
Maria envied him. All food had lost flavor for her several years ago so she couldn't even enjoy the taste of these fancy little cracker ensembles.
Return to me. An idiot is jabbering about some policy I don't care about.
She checked herself in the mirror and rushed back with a smile, thereby saving the vampire from what would have been a long and dull discussion about tax reform. Presently the Secretary of Defense found her and jubilantly offered a toast in her name. He seemed to have drunk his fair share already, judging by the rosy color of his cheeks.
He clapped Alucard on the back hard as he laughed and Maria would have giggled had she not felt like her chest was about to burst. "So you're the lucky dog that she chose! Has he been properly vetted? Can we trust him with you?"
Maria laughed and smiled up at her groom, who despite his placid expression was likely imagining a hundred different ways to mangle this boisterous man who had dared engage him like they were old chums. "He's the only man I trust," she told the Secretary. "And let me assure that I'm the lucky one that he chose."
"Well, best watch out," he said, leaning in closer to Alucard. Maria could see the No-Life King twinge for the briefest moment at the physical contact. Oblivious to this, the human whispered loudly in his ear, "She's tough enough to take down an army of monsters on her own, I've heard."
"That comes as no surprise—she defeated me easily enough," he replied, and unable to stand another second of the clingy human he nodded in parting and dragged Maria onto the dancefloor into an effortless foxtrot.
"You're doing surprisingly well," he whispered.
"What do you mean? I do this for a living."
"Not the niceties. I thought you'd have come begging me to restore the connection by now."
She looked up to see him smirking down at her haughtily, but in his crimson gaze was a shrewd glint.
"I could say the same for you. Does it hurt, not having me with you?"
"My time spent with you has been but a small fraction of my time on this earth. It changes little."
She knew his words to be false, and yet it still felt like he had ran her through with his sword. The flicker of intrigue in his eye told her that he had said it to get a rise out of her, so she mustn't let it bother her.
"That's a relief," she smiled, though she couldn't seem to stop the trembling in her fingers.
"And how does it feel for you?" he asked, a knowing and sadistic smirk curling his lips.
Maria wasn't sure whether it was best to feign indifference or be sincere. "Like there's a great mouth inside gnashing its teeth and starving for anything to fill the void."
"You know what you need to do to fix it."
But she didn't. Of course she understood that Alucard wanted her to admit that his presence and generosity were a blessing she was unworthy of. She refused to do such a stupid thing, which meant that she would have to find some other way to patch over this wound until he came to his senses and restored their connection.
"Kiss me," she whispered.
He looked taken aback for a mere moment, but then his fake human smile was in place again and he leaned down to brush his chilled lips against hers. When he seemed about to pull away Maria pressed forward once more, opening her mouth and inviting him in. Despite the way he had his arms around her holding her to him as though they were inseparable, his tongue danced about with hers in a languid, lifeless way. It was the most lacklustre and pitiful kiss she'd ever had.
But she wasn't going to stop yet. Maria wanted him to long for her more. She beckoned her shadows to break free of her silhouette and slink to his and when they met electricity sizzled through her, silencing the groans from the hole. Alucard must have felt it as well because he gave a soft but sharp intake of air into the kiss.
Maria, he growled, and she was delighted to realize that she could feel his irritation so long as their shadows were touching.
Yes? was her innocent reply as she pressed herself against him further, allowing him to feel all of her curves and warmth through their clothing.
His long fingers were wrapped around her waist and hand tightly and she could feel that he wanted simultaneously to pull away and never release her. His shadows which were always strictly controlled were fighting against their bonds, wanting to meld more completely with hers.
What are you doing? he demanded.
Just as the song ended she broke the kiss to give him a smile, emerald eyes smouldering with desire despite herself. When she retracted her shadows from his as well the wound that had finally simmered down thrashed about like a wild animal in a cage. The hunger was tenfold.
I just wanted to see if that would help fill the hole, but I was wrong.
His hold on her slackened, yet his blue gaze was sharp as he took in her quivering smile. He cautioned her, It is unwise to let this wound fester.
I have no intention of doing so.
The two of them retreated from the dancefloor to engage in more networking for awhile longer. Drinks were pressed into their hands and policies discussed, meetings arranged.
After about the fifth flute of champagne Maria began to feel off. She was hot and cold all over, almost feverish, and her stomach was lurching uneasily. She excused herself to the restroom and Alucard watched her go, assuming she had had too much of the human food to eat again.
In the marble bathroom she locked herself into a stall and waited, but the nausea didn't subside. On the contrary the room seemed to be spinning and she leaned against the wall. Why was her mind so fuzzy? It was like there were clouds inside fogging up everything so her thoughts couldn't rise to the surface.
She tried reaching out to her familiars or to Alucard, but was met with only silence. How was that possible? Her familiars were a part of her—they should always be able to hear their master's voice no matter the distance.
The stall door opened and she swirled around, nearly losing her footing in the process. A gorgeous woman with raven black hair, a lavish crimson dress and matching red eyes stood with a delighted open-mouthed grin, as though she had just received the best gift possible.
"His Majesty the Rajah requests your presence," she whispered.
Maria hissed and tried to summon her sword, but her shadows wouldn't listen to her. They were tar, miring her in futility.
"No, no. No need for violence, my lady. Just come with me."
The brunette felt a sharp pain in her chest and the next moment the world turned black.
It had been five minutes since Maria had left his side and still she hadn't returned. Was she wasting more time talking with another stupid human?
Return to me, he commanded her.
But there came no reply. This was unlike her. Even at her most irascible moments she answered his words. Her behavior tonight had been unlike usual, but somehow he felt in his gut that this wasn't right.
"Excuse me," he said curtly, leaving the small group of Congressmen to head to the restrooms.
His shadows stretched invisibly across the floors, scanning for any sign of her presence. They came up with nothing, but that wasn't necessarily bad. Constantly hounded by the Turks she had long ago learned to conceal her energy at all times. She was but a ghost to all but the most perceptive beings. Even Alucard had to strain his third eye to find her when she wanted to stay hidden.
He floated invisibly through the wall and into the women's restroom to find it empty but for one human inspecting herself in the mirror. Peering into the stalls revealed nothing and a hollow sort of coldness began to roll about his gut.
Maria, where are you? he demanded.
Silence.
No matter how hurt or angry she was with him, Alucard was certain that she wouldn't run off in the middle of this important gathering, as droll as it was. He had long admired her because she could set aside her emotions and do whatever needed to be done, and tonight should have been no different. She would tolerate his unbearable closeness for the sake of their kingdom. She wouldn't flee.
But, a small voice in his head reminded him, she hadn't exactly been herself ever since he tore out their connection. Who was to say what she would do now? He was supposed to be keeping an eye on her and he couldn't do that if he didn't know where she was.
His hellhound appeared at his summons, invisible to the humans as its master was.
He asked it, "Where has she gone?"
It looked up at him with all six red eyes. I know not.
"Fetch me the cat, then."
The dog vanished to reappear a mere second later with the black kitten and eagle in tow.
You idiot, the cat hissed at him immediately. I specifically told you not to wait to restore the bond.
He was feeling sour enough as it was—if this arrogant little beast didn't curb its tongue he would crush it.
Staying his hand, he ground out, "Tell me where she is."
They have her, but they've taken her to a place neither I nor any other familiar can enter. The mistake they've made is grave.
"Who has taken her?" Alucard all but snarled.
Your oldest enemy.
The Turks. Of course it would be them. His return had shaken the vampire world and news of it had spread faster than hellfire, so of course they were aware. It had likely been why they had decided to make a bolder attack on the humans Maria had aligned with in an attempt to worsen her image and possibly kill her in the process. She had thwarted them so easily that it had stoked their ire, and now they were committed to starting a war.
And a war they would get. Alucard would see the world dyed in crimson, the sounds of wind and rain drowned out by screams of agony. He would crack open the earth, split it wide enough that the fires of Hell could spring up and devour what corpses he didn't.
They had taken everything from him. His rightful kingdom, his family, his humanity—all had been their spoils. On the morning he had joined the Night he had sworn an oath never to let them rob him of another thing, and he would keep that promise even if it meant disobeying his master.
He and the three familiars all phased back to Hellsing headquarters and directly into Sir Integra's office. She had been dozing of at her desk and leapt up, a gun in her hand and ready to fire.
"You absolute bastard!" she snarled. "How many times must I tell you to use the door, and to knock?"
"We have more serious issues," Alucard informed her, forgoing his usual insincere apologies. "Maria has been taken."
The rage on his master's wrinkled face melted into alarm. "Explain."
So he told her what little he knew. "Give me permission to go after them, to get her back."
Sir Integra frowned as she took in the No-Life King's wild visage. In his fervor he had unconsciously taken the form of the prince, and his usually short and tidy black hair was a wild mess like reeds in a whirlwind.
"I think I should send the Captain and Seras in your stead," she said slowly. "You're too unstable."
"No," he growled out. "It must be me."
The cat appeared beside him and looked to the blonde as it spoke to Alucard. My master will not last long where they are holding her. She weakens.
Panic gripped the vampire with its icy hands, constricting his chest. "There is no time. No one alive or dead knows the enemy as well as I do. Send me now or she may never return, and I can promise you that if such a thing would happen not even your family's precious spells will protect the world from my wrath."
His master looked much older than usual. She rested her face in her hands for a moment that stretched on like eternity and when she looked up, there were more lines than before.
"Search and destroy," she ordered him. "Bring Maria back here in once piece."
A too-wide grin stretched across row upon row of fangs as he inclined his head reverently. "My master," he hissed in thanks, and the next moment he and the cat had vanished from the office.
Maria woke up in a darkness so complete that she briefly wondered if she had died. So absolute was the blackness that there was neither light nor sound. Her shadows were still odd and her head was full of mud, caking over her third eye and making her sluggish. She was powerless.
A voice suddenly rang out in the darkness, deep and booming. It was such a shock to her system that each syllable felt like a knife to her head.
"Welcome, bride of Alucard. We have restrained your powers for your own safety. Please wait patiently until His Majesty is ready to see you."
Maria opened her mouth to demand to know what was going on, how they had snuck this on her and how they were controlling her abilities so easily. But no sound would leave her lips no matter how hard she screamed.
"I'm afraid you're in a very special room made specifically for containing monsters like you. The darkness is a living being that exists in permanent starvation and eats anything that enters it. Lucky for you, it has no desire for flesh; it craves things we deem intangible like sound and light. Now make yourself comfortable and wait for His Majesty, if you'd be so kind."
The voice ceased and Maria sat down, though she couldn't feel the floor beneath her. Perhaps it was because of the lack of any and all sensation to distract her or because her powers were muzzled, but the pain in her chest had grown exponentially worse. It felt like some terrible beast had fallen into this pit in her soul and was desperately trying to claw its way out. She feared what would happen if it managed to escape.
Futilely she attempted to reach out to her familiars. She could feel the connection she had with them in her soul, small red embers that could warm her if she focused on them hard enough. There was a nearly invisible thread that stretched from their places in her heart that carried all the way to theirs, but tonight she couldn't find it. Somehow the Turks had cut her off from the outside world in ways she had never dreamed possible.
Walking around did nothing, as even if she fumbled against a door to freedom she wouldn't be able to feel it. How much time had passed she had no way of knowing. Had it been seconds or years? She was being held captive by vampires; they could leave her to rot in this place for decades before they bothered to speak to her.
With no powers to aid her and no way to call for help Maria had no choice other than to wait and hope that her familiars would be able to lead Alucard to her. The silence was playing tricks on her mind and she found herself scratching at her chest where the pain was building. The beast within was ripping into her, sinking its claws deep into her flesh in order to slowly but steady clamber out of its confines. But as it stood, her sternum would be in the way of its escape. She had to make way for it…
As the time passed she wondered about this beast inside her. Where had it come from? Had it always been lurking within her core, or had it fallen into the hole that Alucard gouged when he uprooted their connection? It was a fiery and maleficent monster, of that she was certain, but would it help her? The only thing she could feel was its claws as they tore her apart on the inside. She couldn't feel her own nails scratching away at her chest—she wondered how much longer it would be until she had removed the seal to release it.
Unable to hear her exhalations or feel her chest rise and fall, Maria measured the time by claws. Each new gash she felt the beast rip into her soul the closer to salvation she was. It was quiet enough here that for the first time in her life she had found true solitude. Finally she could hear the flow of her soul and all the secrets it whispered to her. This monster within had been with her from her inception, an indispensable part of her that had been hibernating this entire time. Alucard had essentially caused a landslide when he tore their bond out, and it was these shockwaves that had caused the beast to stir. Starving and enraged, now it was hellbent on getting out and making up for lost time.
Maria would help it. It was a part of her, after all. She wanted it to see the world as well. Just a little more and perhaps she could reach her fingers into her chest and crack it open like an egg. It would hatch and be free, and so would she, she was certain—
So soft she almost thought she had imagined it, a crack sounded from within her and she grinned. The beast's claws were close now; it was inches from the edge. If she reached her hand inside, perhaps it could grab ahold and she could pull it up.
Come, she besought it. Come taste the world with me.
Maria thrust her hand into the hole and gasped when suddenly it felt as though the sun itself had settled in her waiting palm, living magma that implored her to pull it up and out of her to be born.
Laughing joyously she pulled, but it was like trying to tug on the sun, massive and impossible. It knew that its freedom was imminent and redoubled its efforts to claw up and over the edge. It was agony, but Maria urged it on.
From her chest she could see a red glow like melting rubies. It was almost here. Just a little more pain, a little more effort and it would walk the earth with her. They would conquer all with flame and terror, until none were left to stand before them.
Without any warning whatsoever there was a roar like thunder and the entire world shook. Jarred by the sudden onslaught of noise and sensation Maria cried out and clutched at her throbbing ears. What was this? The beast was still scrambling up. She couldn't be interrupted now.
And then the blackness was gone, chased away by a blinding white light that covered everything. Her eyes had become accustomed to the dark and felt as though they had been stabbed. She looked down to see blood and bits of bone trailing down her front, and her hand was lost between her breasts and inside her ribcage. The blinding heat she had felt in her palm was none other than her own beating heart.
She didn't know how long he had been there, but Alucard stood a few yards before her as the wrathful prince, his red trench coat heavy and slick with entrails. The manic grin that had been on his face faded instantly upon seeing her on her knees with one hand thrust deep into her own chest.
"What have you done?" he whispered.
A/N: And a nice little cliffhanger for you. The next chapter will be the last. Favorite, review. Check out that original story on Fictionpress of mine. I've got up to chapter 4 of it posted now. :3