Sorry it took so long to update guys. The holidays and all you know. Well this is the conclusion to the mission fiiiinally. Do you like the title? What on earth could it mean?! Uh-Oh.
Enjoy!
Does it Feel Different? To Be a Vampire?
The cat quickly turned around and fled back down the hall, disappearing in the dark. Cat looked at the door which was now swinging opened very slowly indeed. She thought to push it opened the rest of the way because she was so anxious to see what was going on on the other side, but she changed her mind when she heard all the gunfire and high pitched laughing.
"We should go," the little boy pulled at her sleeve and started to back away from the door.
"I can't just leave my friends. What if they need my help?" she stood still watching the door open wider and wider.
"Sure you can leave them they're grownups! Grownups don't ever need help and they don't want it from children anyhow. Now come on before it is too late!" the little boy grabbed her wrist and tried to pull her away.
"These are a different kind of grownup and they can always use some sort of help," Cat ignored his please for her to stay and crept quietly towards the door. She peeked her head through and immediately had to bite down on her knuckles to stifle her screech of shock. The sight of children flying around on wings was unbelievable, but so was everything else she had come in contact with in the last few months. "Alucard?" she whispered through the door. She wanted to get his attention, but was afraid one of the strange flying creatures might hear her.
Alucard turned around quite abruptly with some shock on his face. He had not been paying attention to the wall behind him and had not noticed the opening door, "Get back inside there! It's you they're after you'll just complicate things," he took a swift step backwards and tried to slam the door shut, but it would not move an inch.
"Nein! Who opened the door! Ve vere told to keep it shut oontil ve've killed these two! Now ewerything ist ruined!" Cat watched the black haired girl do a violent back flip in the air and punch one of the walls in anger.
"Just stay back in the hall, we'll take care of them," Alucard pushed her out of sight behind the door which had still not finished swinging opened.
"You vill not take care of us Mister wampire. There are far more of us thun of you. Vhat makes you think you cun vin?" the girl giggled and did more flips in the air.
"Seras, guard the door. Don't let these heathen gnats get passed," he reloaded his gun and continued to shoot into the swarm of children, but none of the bullets found their mark.
Cat pressed herself as close to the wall as she could so that the children could not see her. The little boy had finally run away and now she was left in the hall alone. All she could see was Seras standing in front of the door and coming into view more and more every second. Being seen was fast becoming inevitable and Cat could not see what could be done to help. She slid down against the wall and curled her arms around her legs to try to look smaller.
"Releasing Control Art Restriction to level three, level two, level one. Situation A. The Cromwell approval is now in effect. Hold release until target has been silenced," Alucard's arms dropped to the floor with a wet splat as two giant black dog heads grew in their place.
Cat could not help peeking around the door to see what it was Alucard was saying. She had never heard him say it before, but it sounded more like some sort of bluff rather than an actual instruction for something to start up. When she looked down she saw his arms laying in a wet mess of blood on the floor. She looked up with wide eyes at the thing that was standing where Alucard had been. It still had the slight remnants of a human shape, but all human features were gone. The base of the thing was a billowing mass of a black matter that had two appendages coming off of it which Cat assumed were it's arms. They were made up of all spikes and teeth and rows of glowing red eye balls that rolled around blinking fiercely in their sockets. Where most things would keep their heads this thing had a sort of venus fly trap appendage sticking out from the top of it. The shape of the head was vertical rather than horizontal like a venus fly trap, but was lined with many long sharp teeth just the same. It quickly snapped opened and closed like it was excited to be let out from where ever it had come from. When it was done gnashing, it opened itself as wide as it would go and let out an ear splitting shriek. Cat had to cover her ears tightly and even saw that Seras was cringing away from the creature.
When she looked back up the creature was in a position so she was able to see inside the giant tooth lined mouth. Inside it was mostly black, but at the very center of the ominous pit there was one very large eye ball rolling around in anticipation.
The creature, who was still indeed Alucard, stood still when it was finished with its transformation. It stared at the fluttering children with its eye lined tentacles, which twitched at the ends with excitement.
"Ah, Mister wampire thinks he can scare us vith smoke und mirrors? Ve know much better thun this. Just because ve are kleine kinder does not mean ve are scared like them!" the black haired leader zipped around the room faster than Cat could see and giggled manically.
The creature in turn laughed back in a laugh that Cat was surprised to find very familiar and almost calming after seeing such a hideous monster grow in the place of her regular one.
"Oh! The monster has a sense of humor too!" the black haired fairy flitted towards Alucard and back again in a blur. Each time she got near enough she poked one of the red eyes playfully. Each time she poked then they grew redder.
The creature began to wriggle around again and the tentacles slowly multiplied and expanded, but the laughing children did not seem to notice.
Cat thought that since they seemed to have the advantage now it would be alright to come out of the hall and watch the nearing show. She stood up slowly so no one would notice and crept towards Seras who was still standing with her gun raised, but looked much more relaxed. Cat walked up and stood slightly behind her so she would not be so noticeable.
Seras jumped slightly and turned around, "You're supposed to be hiding!"
"Don't you think it's okay now? It looks like we have the upper hand now even if those things don't know it," Cat smiled reassuringly and moved farther behind Seras to make her feel better.
"I suppose so. Just keep very still so they don't notice you," Seras faced forward again so it would not look like she was talking to someone.
"Done," Cat figured Seras was not all that bad. She just wanted to help people and do what was right.
Alucard had grown tired of the children flying around and acting like they were superior. He waited as any predator does for its prey, silent and lethal. The children flew back and forth at blurring speeds taking turns poking the many eyes and swatting at the tentacle. He set his sights on one of the children and carefully watched its movements back and forth. When the time was right he shot out one of his tentacles and grabbed the child around its middle. It screeched in surprise, but that screech was quickly cut off when Alucard shoved the child into the toothy pit and snapped it opened and shut greedily until the child was devoured.
"What! Stop! Eweryvone stop! What ist it that hus just huppened?!" the black haired girl quickly flew to the back wall and hovered just below the ceiling. The other children followed her and stared warily at the massive creature that was now taking up half the room.
"Wow! Did you see how fast he was!" Cat looked at Seras excitedly.
"Yeah, now he just needs to do it eight more times," Seras looked at the children just as wary as they were.
In a split second it all happened. The black haired girl shot a look to where Cat was standing behind Seras. Cat saw the glint of malice in her eyes before the girl spoke quickly under her breath to her comrades, "Bekommen Sie das Mädchen!"
Before anything could be done or even said, two of the children had grabbed Cat by her waist on either side and were hovering with her in the air on the other side of the room. Cat did not even have time to be afraid.
The monster began to writhe and flail around angrily and in its rage spit up the bloody remains of the fairy child it had eaten onto the floor below the others just to be cruel.
"Ah, vhat vill you do now Mister Alucard? Ve've got das girl und you haf no vay to save her. You vill just haf to gif up und leef. Vhat a shame you should lose so quickly because you spoiled our game. Ve vere hafing so much fun oontil you had to go und play dirty. Now you only haf yourself to blame," the girl twirled her hair around her finger and smiled.
Seras danced on the spot, eager to shoot at the annoying children and get Katherine safely away.
"Be patient," Alucard's voice came from inside of her head, "I must release Control Art Restriction Systems to level zero. It's the only way to get rid of them quickly."
"But what about Katherine? Won't it kill her too?" Seras looked at the mass of tentacles and teeth and sniffled.
"I can keep from killing her, but the things she will see…there is no telling how it will change her. As soon as you see her fall out of the darkness grab her and run back to the truck. Wrap her in blankets. She'll be covered in death."
Seras backed into the hallway behind Alucard in hopes it would make the children think they had given up.
"Releasing Control Art Restriction Systems to level Zero. The Cromwell approval is now in effect. Hold release until the target has been silenced," a cold blackness began to creep across the floor and the walls. It looked the way fog does when it sits low on a field, but much thicker and more sinister.
"You hast better stop it right now or ve'll rip her into shreds!" the black haired fairy danced around the two that were holding Cat up.
Cat knew what was happening. There was no trick she could play this time to keep herself alive. The only way to get rid of the children would be to get rid of her at the same time. Maybe there would be enough of her left when Alucard was finished so she could be turned into a vampire as well. At least then she would be able to stay with him forever even if it meant following in the same footsteps as Seras. Cat had always found her story a little sad if not pathetic. She wondered if blood would really be that bad to drink. It was donated after all.
Before she was finished thinking and before she had time to frighten herself any further she and the children were enveloped into the dark mass of teeth and tentacles. She felt the hands of the children leave her arms as they tried to flee the blackness, but she remained floating where she was. Ear splitting screams filled the air around her and she felt warm splashes of liquid hit her body. She felt teeth scraping against her arms and legs and soon something began to slink its way up her body and tighten around her waist.
Katherine was sure that this was finally the end. After all the times she almost died it was funny to finally be killed by the one she adored most. It was easy to run from something you feared, easy to fight something you hated, but when you loved the one who was killing you there was nothing you could do. She closed her eyes and relaxed her body, hoping it would not hurt too badly to be ripped apart.
"You've always given up too easily. Ever since you were a child."
Cat felt herself sinking down lower from the place she had been dangling. She opened her eyes again and could see the many red eyes and teeth. Some were still chewing on the mangled remains of the children. What was left of their faces was a horrible twisted mess of gaping jaws and eyes wide opened with shock. The tentacle which had wrapped itself around her now flexed in the way a snake does when it is swallowing prey. As it did this Cat was pushed further downwards to what she assumed was the floor, but it was impossible to tell with all the black mass around and the bits and pieces of body floating around her. She wiggled her fingers to see if she could move then reached her hand to her hair and felt it. It was drenched with something that was cold and slimy. She thought the rest of her body must be covered as well, though inside the blackness she did not feel cold.
Outside she heard someone call out. It sounded like hurry up, but she was not sure.
After what felt like an eternity she felt the tentacle stop moving her downwards and it began to unwind itself from her. As soon as it had released her entirely she felt like gravity was abruptly turned back on and she fell swiftly and shortly downwards. When she broke through the blackness it felt like breaking the surface of a swimming pool when you did a cannonball, only backwards. She grunted as she landed on her back. The last thing she saw before she closed her eyes was the huge mass of black and red with dripping bits and flailing tentacles floating above her. After they were closed she felt someone pick her up and begin to run.
She felt safe now and soon drifted into a stress induced sleep. She briefly awoke when she felt warm blankets being wrapped around her and heard soft familiar voices.
"Is she going to be alright?" Dallas looked at Cat with concern and scooted to the far side of the bench, away from Alucard.
"Aye, she's tough zat one! She'll be fine once zat mess is cleaned off 'er and she 'as a nice long sleep and somezing to eat. Speaking of somezing to eat, I'm starving. Let's get ze 'ell out of 'ere fast," the soldier hit the gas hard and Cat felt the truck begin to rock violently back and forth.
Soon the rocking put her to sleep and when she awoke next she felt the soft warmth of her cozy bed. She carefully cracked one eye opened and saw that the curtains were opened and the moon was still high in the sky. She opened her eye a bit more and saw a silhouette by the window. When she was very sure that no face was looking at her she opened her eye completely and smiled.
Alucard was standing at the window staring at the moon. Cat admired how strangely human he looked with only his black pants and white shirt. His hair was even shorter than it usually was.
"Are you awake?" he kept his back towards her.
She shut her eye tightly and thought of faking sleep, but then realized he already knew she was awake and was only asking to be polite, "Yes."
"Do you remember what happened tonight?"
Cat rolled her eyes at the question, "Yes," how could she forget?
"I am sorry."
Cat's eyes widened, "What?"
Alucard turned away from the window and looked at her from the corner of his eye, "I am sorry. For what had to happen to you, I am sorry."
Cat pushed herself further up on the pillows and starred at him with narrow eyes. It was a simple thing to say to anyone, but she was not sure she should trust it coming from him. It could mean something was wrong. Maybe she was dying. Maybe she was severely disfigured. Maybe she was already dead and she was a vampire! Did it feel different to become a vampire? Would she crave blood right away? Would she be tired? She did not feel tired, but who knew how long she had been asleep for. She watched Alucard's face change into a scowl. What was she thinking! This was a once in a lifetime thing and she was ruining it with stupid thoughts!
"It's okay, I'm fine," he gave her a look that was hardly relief, "But, thank you…for being sorry I mean. Or for caring…enough to apologize. Thanks." She mentally smacked herself in the head for sounding so dumb, but Alucard's face softened despite her clumsy words.
"Well, goodnight then," he turned and headed for the door.
"Yeah, goodnight," Cat waited until he was through the door then slumped back into the pillows. She sighed deeply and closed her eyes for a moment before throwing the covers back and running to the bathroom. She flicked the light on and looked in the mirror. "Still green," she sighed with some relief and some slight disappointment, "I should have guessed that dying wouldn't have been that nice."
She switched the light off and walked back to bed. She crawled in slowly and nestled herself under the covers. All she wanted to do was sleep for a week and forget about the awkward and uncomfortable night. She laughed to herself before she fell asleep. The word awkward seemed a funny choice for a night that many people would call terrifying beyond belief.
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