Chapter 52: Past, Present, and Future (part 2)
George froze. Her eyes went wide as she slowly turned around in fear. She knew a werewolf when she smelled one.
"Hello little one, we've been looking for you for a long long time."
George didn't say anything. She just stood there in terror; her fear glued her feet to the floor. Ink immediately appeared in front of George and challenged the werewolf.
"George run." instructed Ink, as he locked horns with the werewolf and pushed him away from George. "George!"
George snapped out of her fear and she ran for the stairs; grabbing the gun the burglar had dropped on the run. She turned and fired at the werewolf, as Ink kept it from chasing her. The shots she fired hit the werewolf in his head and in his heart. He howled in pain, growled in anger, and then he regenerated.
"Lead bullets, George!" reminded Ink. "Just run!"
George ran.
"Shyte, what was that spell of blessing again." feared George. "Damn it, they need to be silver too. Silver, the attic."
George remembered Mrs. Smith mentioning that there was an extra set of dinnerware in the attic; as a second wedding gift. She just needed to get to the attic.
Meanwhile, as Ink fought the werewolf, the Smiths hid behind the couch. Mr. Smith had dragged his grandmother out of harm's way; and now they all hid, waiting for the nightmare to be over. However, it had only begun, as now a second man entered their home. He was tall and pale, and had red eyes.
"Well, well, well a shadow guardian. See Zain, I told you we would find him once we found her."
Zain looked around the room. He saw one dead burglar, one badly bleeding burglar trying to crawl away into the kitchen, and…he sniffed the air; and five humans hiding in fear. He walked over to the couch and looked down upon them. He sniffed the little girl.
"It's not this one." he said, returning to his master's side.
"Where is she shadow guardian?" asked the vampire, none too politely.
"Piss off, she's not here." he growled, as he fought with the first werewolf.
"Zain?"
"She's here. I can smell her."
"I just hate liars."
The vampire called his familiars to him, and they surrounded Ink. And like a pack of rabid dogs, the clawed and tore away at Ink. Their teeth ripping his essenceaway and destroying it. Ink foughtthe best he could against so many, but in theend...he fell.George was busy searching the attic, when she felt Ink's death. Her chest burned with pain and she began to cry. But she couldn't weep for him now; she had to find a weapon she could fight with.
"Spread out, search the house. Find me that girl."
Three werewolves and Zain searched the house, as the vampire sat on the couch and waited.
"Why don't you come out and we'll have a nice chat." he laughed.
The Smiths said nothing to him as they hid. The children whimpered and cried, while the adults prayed for someone to save them. George soon found what she was looking for, ten silver steak knives. Suddenly, she heard the attic door open. Her racing heartbeat quickened even more, as she quickly recited the spell of blessing.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are." he laughed.
George wasn't laughing. These bastards had killed Ink and they were going to pay. George's hands were shaking, as she held the knife, ready to stab him when he came close enough. She heard him sniff the air, and then he pounced on her location.
"Found you." he grinned, all fangs.
"Killed you." glared George, thrusting the knife forward.
George shoved the knife right into his heart. He screamed in agony as the silver burned him. George pushed it in deeper and the werewolf howled his death. His body fell at George's feet. She watched it turn back into a human and then left the attic.
"Ah, so she's upstairs." chuckled the vampire. "And she's killed Steven. Interesting. Zain, she's upstairs, bring her to me."
"Yes, my lord."
Zain and his second went upstairs. They searched each room and then they found George coming down from the attic. She stood before them with anger and hate in her eyes; her hands gripped so tightly around the blessed knives that they turned her knuckles white.
"You killed Ink and for this you will die!"
Zain just stood laughing at her.
"We've searched for you for eight years. I'm just glad to see it wasn't a waste of time after all. Randal take her down."
Randal stepped forward and charged at her. At first, George just stood there trying to decide what to do. She should run, after all she was only eight years old. She was no match for them and she knew it. On the other hand, these damn dogs had killed Ink; and she would not let that deed go unpunished. George growled in anger, as tears for Ink clouded her eyes. Suddenly, a picture flew off the wall and struck Randal in the head.
"What the? Who threw that?" wondered Randal.
"I did. Want some more?"
Using her powers of telekinesis, she threw everything in the hallway at him. Now angry at being toyed with, the werewolf blocked every blow and once again charged down the hall at George. George stood her ground and threw the knife at the wolf. But it wasn't aimed at his head, so he didn't dodge it. The knife struck him in his foot.
"Arrghh!!"
George chanted a spell and the knife nailed his foot to the floor. The werewolf howled and screamed as the silver burned into his flesh.
"What did you do?!"
"It's a spell of binding. Similar to the one that Wendy used to bind Peter's shadow to him."
"What? What the hell are you talking about?"
The werewolf tried to remove the knife from his foot, but George didn't wait for him to. She ran forward and shoved another blessed knife straight into his head. The werewolf screamed in agony and died.
"Impressive, little girl. That's two of my men you've killed."
"For killing Ink, I will kill you all!"
"Ha ha ha. I don't think so."
With that, Zain shot George in her right arm.
"Ooowwww!!!"
George fell backwards, as the shot hit her. An intense and searing pain surged through her as her arm bled.
"Now, little kitty without your claws, you're less dangerous."
George dropped the blessed knife and grabbed her arm. It hurt like hell. It hurt worse than when Alucard himself hit her. George looked down at her hand. It was covered in blood, her blood. George looked up when she heard footsteps. Zain now stood standing over her.
"Now, be a good little girl and come along."
"Sod off!" yelled George, still trying to stab at him with her left hand.
"Quite the little fighter, aren't you? He's taught you well. So why don't you tell me where he is."
"He's in England."
"That I know. Where?"
"I don't know. He like girls with blonde hair; so did you try university?" snickered George, trying to feel brave.
"Cute. Let's see how cute you are when faced with a real vampire."
Zain reached down and picked up George by the front of her shirt. He carried her downstairs and presented her to his master.
"Well, well, so this is the child." smiled the vampire.
"Yes, master. She reeks of his stench."
"Why is she bleeding? Did she give you a hard time?"
The vampire laughed at Zain, but Zain didn't find it funny. This girl was dangerous.
"She killed Randal and she's telekinetic."
"Who are you and what do you want?" asked George, as she glared the vampire right in his eyes.
"You're a brave little one. I can see it in your eyes. My name is Brandon McBride and your master killed my sister. So naturally, I want revenge. Now tell me where is he."
"I don't know." said George, defiantly.
Brandon grabbed George and picked her up. She dangled like a doll in his hands.
"Don't toy with me child. I've waited eight years to taste his blood. And if you won't give me his, then I'll have yours."
Brandon bared his fangs and then stopped. A very large black gun was pointed at his head.
"Put my daughter down."
"Master!" exclaimed George, very glad to see Alucard.
"Kill me and she dies."
Just then a gun went off, and blew Brandon's arm off. George fell to the floor.
"George, come here."
"Sir!"
Excitedly, George ran towards Integra. She hugged her with her good arm.
"Zain, kill them. I've got the one I want." said Brandon, turning to face Alucard.
"Yes, master."
"No time for hellos George."
Integra picked up George and ran outside. Zain followed. Integra ran by Seras.
"Curb this mutt." she ordered.
"Yes, sir."
Seras rushed forward and fought with Zain.
"I will not let you harm my sister!"
"And my master will have his revenge on all of you!"
As Seras and Zain fought, Integra put George on top of the car and checked her shoulder. She pulled the bullet out and dressed her wound. George cried and cried, but not because she was in terrible pain.
"Sorry we're late George, but you wouldn't believe how many minions this guy has. We've been killing werewolves all night." explained Integra.
But George wasn't listening to her. She was mourning Ink.
"What's wrong George?"
"They killed Ink." cried George.
Integra frowned and hugged George.
"In this business, we lose friends and family. It is something that we must face and live with. There will be times when we cannot save everyone. So we save as many as we can; and we make damn sure that the bad guys don't live to see another day."
But George took little comfort in this. She just continued to cry in her mother's arms. Ink had always been there; even longer than she could remember. Ink was her only true friend. They had eaten, bathed, slept, played, and fought…together. And now…he was gone. George couldn't even begin to imagine what she would do without him. The more she thought about it, the more she cried. Integra knew the pain of losing someone close to her; someone that she loved with all her heart. She knew that there was nothing for it, except to get it all out. So she hugged George tighter and let her cry.
Meanwhile, inside, Alucard and Brandon stood off against each other.
"So you're after me because I killed your sister. Well, you'll have to be more specific, I've killed millions."
"Eight years ago, you were sent to Northern England to rescue kidnapped children. There were 500 of them…"
"Ah yes, now I remember, the wicked witch who was eating little children."
"You drained her dry and left her dead husk to sit and rot."
"Heh, heh, heh, could have been worse; I could have dropped a house on her."
"You won't be laughing for long. Mr. Smith, wouldn't you like to get even with the man that caused all this. To kill the man that has destroyed your happy family."
With that, Mr. Smith stood up, as did his wife, and yes even the grandmother. Alucard turned and saw that all three of them were ghouls.
"Kill him."
The Smiths rushed forward and tried to claw and subdue Alucard. Alucard just shot all three of them dead. The children watched in horror and fear as their parents died before their eyes.
"You didn't turn the kids?"
"They're still innocents. I want servants, not children. Besides, I'm not a monster. Heh, heh, heh."
Brandon pulled out his guns and started shooting at Alucard. Alucard didn't even dodge his bullets; he just laughed and returned fire. Soon, they were out of bullets. Brandon then morphed into a Man-bat and tried to claw Alucard to death. Alucard morphed into his demon vampire form and the two fought as real vampires would. That's when Integra walked in.
"Alucard, stop playing around and kill him. The police are on their way."
That said, Alucard grew eight tentacles and grabbed Brandon. He held him by the throat and ripped his heart out. Brandon turned to dust and fell to the floor. Then Seras, George, and Pip entered the house.
"Master, Zain is dead." reported Seras, looking around at all the bodies lying upon the floor.
"And so is Zain's master." grinned Alucard, all fangs.
"Pip, get your men and clean up this mess." ordered Integra, surveying the scene.
"My men are still cleaning up the mess outside. What am I the maid?"
Integra just looked at him with one raised eyebrow.
"Alright, alright."
Pip went around the room and started checking the bodies.
"Looks like it was a busy night for the Smiths, this guy is dead and he's a robber. I know cause he's wearing a lady's stocking on his head. I can't do anything for the Smiths, except scrape them off the floor. This guy is still alive, but barely. He's been shot twice and he's lost a lot of blood. He's past out either from the loss of blood or from the fright of seeing a real vampire."
"There's one in the attic, one in the upstairs hall, and one in the kitchen too." said George.
"George, tell me. What happened tonight?" inquired Integra.
In between sobs, George told Integra everything that happened.
"I cast a protection spell on them. I should have cast a barrier on them; but I didn't know about the werewolves. I froze and they killed Ink. All that training and I'm still useless; I couldn't even stop them from killing Ink."
"It's not your fault George. You couldn't have known about the werewolves. Luck too, plays a large part in what we do." said Integra.
"Luck? Bad luck me being here?" cried George.
"Good Luck, George." said Seras. "What do you think would have happened if you hadn't been here?"
Then George remembered something.
"Sarah."
George went over to the couch and saw that Freddy and Sarah were still hiding in terror behind the couch.
"Sarah, Freddy, are you alright?"
Sarah opened her eyes, cried and ran to George. George grunted in pain, as Sarah bumped into her wounded shoulder.
"George…they killed mum and dad and gran. They killed everybody."
"It's going to be O.K. They will never hurt you again. My family will make sure of that. My father has killed their master; so you're safe now."
"Dead, dead, dead! They're all dead! Everybody's dead!" screamed Freddy in fear.
George looked at them, as Pip and his men carried out all the bodies. This morning, George had been the orphan without a family; but now Freddy and Sarah were the orphans.
"Sir, what will happen to them? Can we adopt them?"
"No, George, we can't. However, I will personally see to it that the knights find them a good home."
"We are ready to go, sir." informed Pip. "We have two live ones and a lot of dead ones."
"Sarah, Freddy, you have to come with us." said George.
Sarah clung to George, but Freddy didn't move. Integra walked over and picked the boy up.
"Come Frederick, there is nothing for you here anymore."
Alucard and Seras left, then Sir Hellsing left followed by the children, and Pip followed out after her. They loaded the bodies in the truck and drove away. Looking back, George saw the police pull up to the Smith's house.
Later, after they have left the bodies and the children with MI5, as they drove home, Integra notices that George is quiet and asks…
"What's wrong, George?"
"Is this what always happens?"
"Unless we stop them…yes."
"Their parents are dead."
"Their lucky George, most vampires don't care if your innocents or not. Brandon could have just as easily killed Frederick and Sarah too."
George rubbed her sore shoulder, and leaned against the car window. The city lights created shadows, as they drove home. George thought about Ink. He gave his life for her, and she would see to it that it wasn't wasted. She would make damn sure that this never happened again.
"Sir, I swear, I'll be a good hunter someday."
"You already are George. You defended the Smiths with your life."
"It wasn't so much their lives as mine. I was too scared to do anything. And because I didn't do anything…Ink died."
George started to cry again. The tears just wouldn't stop. Integra pulled George into her lap.
"I'm always afraid George. I'm afraid that my decisions will cause undue deaths. I'm afraid that I may not be strong enough to save people. I'm afraid that I'm too weak to fight, and afraid that I may lose someone I love. But despite all that, I still have to fight. It's not that Hellsings don't feel fear, because we do. It's just that if we let our fear stop us, people will die. So despite our fears, we keep moving forward, we keep defending, we keep fighting."
George was quiet now. Integra looked down and found her sleeping in her lap. Integra smiled as she watched her sleep. This poor kid not only had bad luck, it seemed to follow her wherever she went. It seems Alucard had been right, all those years ago. Death was coming for her, and because she had been raised a Hellsing; she was ready to fight it.
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Note:
OK, now i know Ink is a shadow pet and that Alucard could have just made another one. But come on, how many of you have pets. When they die from old age or diesease, you can just always get another pet, right? But it's never the same is it? This is how George feels. Yeah, Alucard could give her another shadow pet, but it wouldn't be Ink.
And if you think killing Ink was bad, just wait till you see what I do to the Hellsings next. :D
