Betrayal
Abraham returned home from the hunt, and the next evening he summoned Alucard to his office. As usual, the vampire had enjoyed the hunt, and his vicious grin as he dismantled the monster into bloody chunks was unsettling. Once the prey was ash, the vampire lost interest and would wander back to Abraham.
However, something was bothering Abraham. Always, there were ghouls; in fact, that was how all five of the vampires he had located had been discovered. When Alucard finally dispatched the vampire, many of the ghouls would simply fall apart, rapidly returning to dust. But there were always some left; maybe one, maybe a half-dozen, and the Hellsing troops were responsible for destroying those remnants.
What puzzled Abraham was why this would be so. He hypothesized that the ghouls that "survived" might be much older or newer than the ones that dusted, but identification of a handful of the ghouls based on clothing had shown no pattern. The age of the humans attacked and their gender also seemed to have no influence on whether or not the ghoul persisted. So, it was time to turn to his own vampire for an answer to this mystery.
Diary in hand, questions written out, Abraham was ready to get some answers from his charge. He was well aware that the answers were likely to be skewed; the vampire's favorite pasttimes were deception and confusion. Well, those, and inspiring sheer terror. Come to think of it, wanton bloodshed and destruction were also high on that list. Damn bloody vampire.
He'd placed a few drops of his own blood in the vampire's nightly meal, and was prepared to make a few more contributions over the course of the evening. The vampire was always eager for fresh blood, and incredibly greedy for his master's. While Abraham often felt more like beating the recalcitrant beast over the head with a stick, the carrot approach yielded better results.
Alucard appeared, melting through the wall. He paused and sniffed the air, clearly detecting Abraham's freshly spilled blood. Head tipped, he waited expectantly for Abraham to either speak to him or feed him.
"Alucard, I have some questions for you." Abraham ruffled the sheet of questions briefly. "Once we are done, you'll have the blood. You're well aware that there is some of mine mixed in, so this will be worthwhile for you. Cooperate."
The vampire glided over to the chair, eyes glowing slightly in anticipation.
"Do ghouls die when the vampire that creates them is destroyed?"
Abraham was watching Alucard closely and didn't miss the slight widening of his eyes. It was brief, so brief, but there. Damned monster, he WAS hiding something. However, the vampire was quick to answer in the affirmative.
"Do they ALWAYS die when the vampire is destroyed?"
"No, not always." DAMMIT. This was an outright contradiction. While the vampire couldn't lie, he could twist words better than any politician born. Abraham pondered, glaring at the vampire, while the vampire grinned back, waiting for his Master to untangle this knot.
Rephrase.
"Do the ghouls always die when the vampire that created them dies?"
A look of disappointment, and Alucard said simply, "Yes."
"DAMN YOU, why did you give me a different answer to the same question!"
A smirk, and "It wasn't the same question."
Abraham sat back in his chair, scowling at the vampire, rereading his notes to see what had changed. And then, realization.
"Alucard, last night's mission. You destroyed the vampire, and the ghouls did not die." With a low growl in his voice, Abraham continued. "Were there more vampires there, that you were aware of?"
His gimlet glare pinned the vampire to his seat, and Alucard shifted restlessly. A few times, his mouth opened to answer, but he seemed to change his mind. Something about his behavior...Abraham wasn't asking the right question, was he?
"Alucard. There were still ghouls. Were the vampires that created the ghouls still active, and not destroyed."
The vampire clearly winced, well caught out. Reluctantly, "Yes."
Almost dreading the answer, Abraham asked, "Were those YOUR ghouls?"
Alucard's eyes flew open. Clearly, he had not expected that question. "No, how could they be? I was hunting the vampire. And you won't let me kill humans." That last was said with a bit of a grumble. It was also clearly an attempt at misdirection and distraction, and Abraham was not going to fall for it.
"So there were more vampires, and you didn't kill them. Alucard, I am NOT going to play twenty questions with you tonight. I want full answers, and I want clear ones! Explain yourself." The vampire hesitated, and Abraham forced pain down their bond. The vampire would either cooperate, or suffer until he did. Either way, there were two good soldiers dead before last night, and Abraham had shot a third after he'd been bitten in that hunt. If his damn vampire had been holding out on him and contributing to those deaths, he'd have his hide tacked to the wall!
Alucard gasped, eyes wide, and his head flew back, colliding with the chair back with a loud cracking sound. Under his hands, the armrests creaked, clearly under strain. Abraham released the bond, and the vampire slumped in the chair, blinking at his Master, clearly slightly dazed and entirely shocked. Overdramatic bastard; he'd created the spell, and while Abraham could use it to punish him, he highly doubted the vampire was in anywhere near the distress he appeared to be in.
Glaring, he waited for the vampire to collect himself. Grudgingly, Alucard answered his question and confirmed his fears. His voice was quiet, and Abraham had to strain a bit to hear it, but clear.
"Vampires will sometimes have a child, turning a human deliberately. If the child has created ghouls, killing the vampire will not kill those ghouls."
"But killing the child will?" The vampire paused, and Abraham pushed again on their bond, lightly. The vampire answered quickly with that threat.
"Yes."
"So there was a child last night?"
"Yes."
"Dammit! Alucard, you were sent to kill vampires! Why didn't you kill the child!" Raging, Abraham stood, pacing the floor, furious. Alucard attempted to explain, his answer only fueling Abraham's rage further.
"You told me to destroy the vampire that caused the problem, and I did...I had no directions to destroy a child."
"The child IS a vampire, you are to kill vampires!" Abraham paused in his pacing, turning on his heel to glare at his recalcitrant vampire.
"Not..quite." Alucard looked at Abraham, somewhat hesitant, clearly uncertain about the information he was giving his Master.
"Clarify," snapped Abraham.
"A child is not, quite, a full vampire. It takes time, and if the vampire is destroyed, the child may not become a full vampire for years, decades. For some, their abilities never progress much further. They are never able to reach the strength of the vampire that created them, and even approaching it will take years."
"So, after last night, we have a weak almost-a-vampire running about?" Catching the brief hesitation before Alucard answered, Abraham shot another question at him, "Or is there something else you aren't tell me?"
This answer had to be drug out of the vampire. He paused, clearly thinking out a misdirecting answer, and Abraham slammed down mercilessly on their link. The vampire fell from the chair to lie on the floor screaming. Abraham released the link, and Alucard simply lay there, panting and twitching. Head on the floor, eyes staring at nothing, he swallowed a few times and forced out the word "Two".
Abraham thought back to the vampire hunts. One most occasions, the ghouls had persisted. "Alucard." The eyes turned and focused on him, the vampire swallowing. "Have there often been children left by the vampires when we hunt?"
The vampire's response was weak, but affirmative, a thin whispery "Yes".
"And WHY did you not kill these vampires, new or old?" Glaring, Abraham waited to hear. Three men dead, because he had not put the obvious together and the vampire had hidden the information.
"I wanted to...hunt them later, when they were stronger. And...you told me to hurry, to kill the vampire. So I did." Abraham turned, outrage on his face. The vampire spoke quickly, almost desperately. "I did kill the vampire, I followed your orders!"
Abraham closed his eyes, hands clenched into fists. Three dead men because the vampire wanted SPORT. Entertainment. Damn him. Damn him! This would continue, but down in the basement. The vampire would pay for this insubordination, and the staff and soldiers did not need to hear.
"Downstairs, now." The vampire looked at Abraham, shocked, then quickly glanced over at the blood. A second glance at Abraham convinced him to say nothing. Slowly and awkwardly, devoid of his usual grace, the vampire clambered to his feet. Abraham followed close behind as the monster limped down the stairs to his room.
Once entering, Alucard moved directly towards his chair, clearly intending to sit. Like Hell he was.
"Stand right there, monster." Alucard froze, watching his master cautiously from the corner of his eyes.
"There are three men dead, Alucard, because of your games. Does this not bother you?" The vampire looked at him blankly, clearly uncertain, unwilling to answer in the negative but unable to lie. "Those were MY men Alucard, men I was responsible for." Continued blank stare, lack of comprehension. "They died because you wanted SPORT. Is that the only reason you didn't tell me, Alucard, when you knew I lacked the information?"
A quiet and cautious "No."
Abraham's voice got deadly soft and quiet as he stalked towards the vampire. "And what, pray tell, where the other reasons you did not see fit to inform me?"
Alucard's look grew less dazed and far more worried, and he hesitated to answer. Abraham slammed the bond into him again, watching as the vampire's back arched and a hoarse scream scraped out of his throat. He released the bond, and the vampire collapsed to the ground. Overacting bastard. "Tell me. Now."
Alucard stared at the wall, gasping again, twitching. Even his jaw trembled, teeth rattling. Finally, he answered. "You...were supposed to...know. I had given...you...the information. You were supposed to...put it...together."
For Abraham, this was the final straw. His vampire, trying to put the responsibility on Abraham for the deaths of the men, trying to play innocent. His claiming that Abraham had told him to kill one vampire and the implication that this kept him from killing the others. His desire for sport, and willingness to allow Abraham's hunters to die for another night of fun for himself. His absolute lack of comprehension that allowing those deaths was not just unacceptable, but far, far beyond merely "unacceptable." Added to this was the vampire lying on the ground like a limp doll, pretending to great hurt and playing for sympathy or more guilt from Abraham.
Damn him. Damn that bastard!
"Stay here. You will be punished, and on future hunts you will have very specific orders. Deviate from them, find loopholes, attempt to disobey my intents, and you will be punished again." Drawing his pistol, Abraham sent six silver bullets into the vampire, watching with satisfaction as they burned and hissed. The vampire screamed, but Abraham had seen him struck by silver bullets before and do little more than flinch. Six bullets, and at such close range, were punishing but by no means as detrimental as the vampire was acting.
The goddamn faking bastard.
Abraham left, pulling the door shut and locking it firmly, then slammed down on the bond as he left to return to his office. The vampire screamed behind him, in a mimicry of wordless agony, but Abraham would not relent. Maintaining the pressure, forcing it harder and harder, he stormed into his office. The bottle of blood sat accusingly on his desk. He had thought to tempt that monster into cooperation? With the blood of three men on its hands? The bottle shattered in the fireplace, blood sizzling on the logs and spraying brilliant red arcs on the sootcovered sides. Abraham poured himself a drink, guilt and rage playing through him. Yes, he should have put the information together, but the damn beast had misled him out of spite and selfishness. He slammed down the drink, and slammed down the bond.
It was an hour before he calmed enough to seek his own bed, and until the moment of sleep, he maintained the pressure. Quantity of discomfort might make up for quality, and discourage a repeat of this behavior.
Abraham fell into a troubled sleep, the mute corpses of his lost men staring accusingly at him in his dreams.
In the basement, Alucard pulled himself towards the sanctuary of his coffin, seeking peace and recovery.