Oh boy, work sure has loved keeping me busy lately. Someone needs to slap me the next time I agree to work six days in a row. Thank you so much for all of your awesome reviews! I'm so glad that people are enjoying this story, especially seeing you all gush about how cute the last chapter was hehe. I'm just sorry that this chapter has to take a really dark turn. Reader discretion is advised. Without further ado, here's the latest chapter…

Strangest Human

The loud screaming and shouting of children immediately grated on Seras' ears as she snuck back into the orphanage through a window in one of the toilets. Alucard merely phased through the wall behind her, saying nothing as Seras peaked under the door to check if the bathroom was all clear. The last thing she needed was Sour Face catching her sneaking back inside. The crazy old prune had probably noticed that she was missing, but at least if she didn't get caught sneaking in, she could always pretend that she had been here the whole time, leaving Sour Face with no leg to stand on.

Upon wandering back into the hall, Seras instantly knew that she had missed dinner, much to her dismay. But oh well. She could always sneak into the kitchens later. Maybe Alucard could even help her with her special superpowers. That would certainly make things a lot easier, Seras thought to herself before she was almost knocked over by a hyperactive boy barrelling past her. The screams and laughter of children playing continued, and Seras noted that her new friend was looking rather disgruntled.

"The sooner that trash of a vampire gets back, the better," Alucard grumbled to herself, her hands casually in her pockets as she glanced around at the chaotic playtime session. "If I have to stay around here much longer around this infernal racket, I might just slaughter everyone here; to hell with my master's orders."

"You'll be leaving?" Seras gasped, grasping the sleeve of the other girl's coat without thinking.

Alucard glanced down at the younger girl with a raised eyebrow. "Of all the things I just stated, that's the one that you decide to latch onto?" She looked amused but rather bewildered at the same time.

"I don't want you to go…" Seras managed to choke out, feeling tears beginning to sting the back of her eyes. No. She would not cry. Alucard had told her to keep remaining strong. She almost found herself wishing that that awful priest would never come back so then Alucard could stay here forever. It would mean that their mission had failed, but if it meant that she could keep her only friend by her side, then maybe that was a price worth paying.

The thought of Alucard leaving created a painful, throbbing hole within her chest. She would be all alone again. None of the other children ever wanted anything to do with her. She was a freak. Only Alucard seemed to understand her. She helped her. She made her feel weirdly safer. Being around her new friend made her feel almost special because of the amazing powers she possessed. Alucard had shown Seras, and no one else. She wanted the two of them to remain in their own little bubble; her and Alucard against the world.

"You really like having me around, don't you?" It seemed that Alucard had not believed the little girl until this very moment. Seras could see the confusion and look of amazement within the red depths of her eyes. What did Seras have to do to truly prove that she could be Alucard's best friend?

Without uttering a word, Seras nodded in reply, still clutching onto the other girl's white jacket.

Alucard then closed her eyes and smirked. "Such an interesting human."

However, something behind Alucard quickly caught Seras' attention. It was Katie. The girl still looked bruised from their little scrap yesterday, but that wasn't what had Seras so interested and alert. The girl had tears silently streaming down her face, her cheeks red and blotchy, while her eyes were wide with fear. One of the priests was holding her hand as she was slowly lead towards one of the offices. The girl was shaking from head to toe, and she looked like she was about to be sick.

She was briefly aware of Alucard following her line of sight before her eyes too narrowed on the scene behind them. They watched as the young girl collapsed, vomiting all over the floor in front of her, the priest not letting go of her hand for even a second, glaring straight ahead, and dragging her along as bile continued to dribble down her chin and onto her school uniform.

Why was she so scared? Seras may not like the girl, especially after their fight yesterday, but something in her gut was telling her that something was seriously wrong.

"I don't want to go in there!" Katie began begging, still flopping around as dead weight. "I want to go play."

The priest looked even more annoyed as they finally reached the office door. Seras wasn't too familiar with this particular priest. She had seen him around a few times, but had little to do with him, and for good reason too. Most of the priests, and some of the nuns for that matter, creeped Seras out. She had heard some of the stories from the other children. She had seen things she didn't like and made her very uncomfortable. But they were adults. As far as Seras knew, adults could do whatever they wanted. They knew everything and never did anything wrong, even if it felt that way.

"Now, Katie, you know that I have a very special job for you," the priest tried to sound sweet and kind, but it simply sent a shudder of fear down Seras' spine, and by the looks of it, it had the same effect on Katie.

"But I don't like it! It makes me sick!"

The office door slammed shut behind them, sealing the two of them alone together and away from the rest of the world. Seras didn't like this. She had seen this happen countless times to other children as well, and they always left the offices crying, confused and sometimes very sick and scared. She never knew what happened behind those closed doors, but Seras wasn't stupid, and she had a feeling it was something very similar to the strange touching she had witnessed some of the priests and nuns do towards some of the children.

Seras looked back towards Alucard who now had a strange look in her eyes. For the first time ever, Alucard looked… afraid? But her eyes were also distant as if she wasn't truly here in the moment right now. Seras had never seen such emotions cross her friend's face before. However, within a flash, that fear turned into an expression of anger and disgust.

"Alucard, he's doing something bad to her, isn't he?" Seras questioned, despite already knowing the answer. Her grip on Alucard's sleeve tightened, the fabric ruffling under her clenched fingers. Alucard's face became even more murderous.

"And they call me the greatest monster of this world…" the dark haired girl spoke mainly to herself.

"Alucard, we have to help her," Seras found herself begging. They were partners who were supposed to be stopping bad guys. That other priest her friend was hunting may be missing, but that didn't mean that they couldn't defeat the other bad guys that remained here. They had to save Katie!

Alucard then smirked. "My master ordered me to not cause any trouble… she said nothing about dealing with trouble though, nor to stay out of it."

Seras wasn't quite sure what the other girl was talking about, but it definitely sounded like Alucard was going to help her. That caused a small smile to finally appear on the little blonde's features, and she looked towards the office door with determination. The two of them were an unstoppable team! They could defeat anyone and anything! They were both a force for justice!

"Stay behind me," Alucard ordered her, and Seras wordlessly obeyed as they began making their way to the office the priest had sealed himself in alongside the innocent girl. Seras tuned out the sounds of the other children and focused intently on the office. Everything behind the door was silent, and her heart began to thud loudly in her chest, feeling like it was about to break through her ribs.

Despite her fear, she pushed on, remaining behind Alucard as she stopped before the wooden door, stared at it for a few seconds before her eyes narrowed and she kicked the door open, nearly knocking it off its hinges.

Seras' eyes widened as she caught sight of Katie's shaking form once again. She was sat on her knees having once again thrown up, though it was now mainly all stomach bile. The room had an acidic smell as a result, and the girl continued to silently cry in a puddle of her own vomit. The priest was stood by his desk, his hands on the zip of his black trousers, looking startled by the sudden interruption. However, when he caught sight of the two young girls, his surprise quickly morphed into anger.

"What are you two doing in here?!" The priest snapped.

"I could ask you the same thing." Alucard's voice was dark, taking on a dangerous edge.

The priest's soulless brown eyes widened before he chuckled, grinning down at the two of them. Katie briefly glanced back at them, a mixture of relief and fear upon her face. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, and snot dripped down her nose, mixing with the strings of bile that dangled from her chin. She looked so vulnerable. Seras wanted to run towards the other girl and cuddle her, but she wasn't too sure how grateful Katie would be for that. She knew Katie disliked her like most of the other children did. Besides, Alucard had instructed Seras to remain behind her.

"My, quite the fiery little thing, aren't you? I don't think I've ever seen you around here before. Are you new? Perhaps that might explain why you don't understand how things work around here. All good little children must learn to do as they're told and must not stumble before their Lord. And of course you have the little Victoria runt with you, hiding behind you like a coward," the priest spoke venomously.

Seras glared at him, moving more to stand behind Alucard's side. She was no coward!

Alucard's grin widened, showing off sharp, pointed teeth. "I was once a child who had to do what they were told. But then I grew up, and do you know what I did next?"

The priest looked confused, but still chuckled at Alucard's behaviour. Even Seras found herself growing confused, but still, she didn't question Alucard. She was powerful and brave, and she must know what she was doing. Seras trusted him.

Alucard took a step closer to the priest, her eyes beginning to glow menacingly, causing everyone in the room in gasp in fear. "I raised armies and burned their cities to the ground. I tortured each and every perverse Ottoman who dared violate a prince – a child. I had them dragged naked through the streets by horses and tied to tables where I had men cut them open and rip out their organs. I had their organs tossed into boiling water while all they could do was watch." Alucard was beginning to sound more and more manic.

"Years of study and hardship made me the world's greatest expert on how to slowly kill someone, dragging out their suffering as long as possible, pushing the human body to its absolute limits!" Alucard continued, her hair seeming to take on a life of its own as it billowed out behind her, each strand acting like its own independent limb. "For example, did you know that you can shove a stick up someone's ass, push past all of their internal organs until it comes back up through the mouth? The stick blocks most of the broken blood vessels, keeping the human from bleeding to death. Any movement or struggling just causes them to slip down the stick even further. They eventually usually die through exposure. Rotten corpses make quite beautiful decorations along the border of one's kingdom."

"W-what?!" was all the priest could shriek in shock.

Seras too was frozen to the spot, unable to believe that all of that had just come out of her best friend's mouth. She had said some strange things in the past, but never on this level! It was incredibly scary but also… pretty cool. Seeing the fear on the priest's face was extremely satisfying, and Seras soon found herself smirking much like Alucard. He deserved all of what Alucard had said and more.

"Shall we find out how long it takes for you to die? I promise to make sure to help you stay alive as long as possible. Or maybe I shouldn't intervene when the birds begin to peck at and devour your eyes?" Alucard's voice became even more demonic sounding, and the room seemed to be growing darker.

Seras jumped as the office door behind her slammed shut before all of the room's features seemed to disappear from sight. They were completely surrounded by darkness. Katie screamed, while all Seras and the priest could do was watch the scene unfold with wide eyes. Alucard slowly walked forward, almost as if she was taking a pleasant stroll. Strange symbols on the back of her gloves began to glow, but she seemed to pay them no mind.

"Demon!" the priest cried out. "Servant of Satan!"

Alucard laughed. "You'll be wishing I was Lucifer by the time I'm finished with you! Not even hell accepts the likes of you, you absolute fucking piece of shit! Instead, vermin like you is thrown out to the dogs!"

At those words, Seras watched as the same demon hound from earlier erupted from Alucard's frame. Savage growling and snarling sounded throughout the dark void, and Seras felt like she was looking at a different creature. This wasn't the same hound who had licked her face just hours before. This creature was deadly… evil… beastly… It both frightened yet fascinated her at the same time. She couldn't hold back the squeak of fear as she jumped back slightly, attempting to get further out of the way of the creature as it circled the void, its many red eyes swirling with what appeared to be purely primal hunger.

"Baskerville…" Alucard practically purred. "Fetch"

The priest screamed as the demonic hound pounced on him, his giant, sharp teeth ripping into his shoulder. The sound of flesh being ripped apart echoed through Seras' mind as she remained frozen in place still. She couldn't think. She couldn't move. All of this felt like a surreal nightmare. Her stomach churned at the sight of so much blood, and the vicious growling of the hound made her flinch back slightly. Katie continued screaming, but she went largely ignored. Seras looked away for a brief moment, her vision flashing back towards that night. Always that night.

"Seras!"

BANG!

No! This can't happen now! She needed to focus! Like it or not, she was in a room with a terrifying monster, alongside her best friend, Alucard. She needed her to be strong and tough. She was his partner and she would be needing her help.

Baskerville seemed rather happy with his new chew toy, shaking his head back and forth as his teeth continue to dig into the screaming priest's shoulder. His cries began to gurgle and be cut off by the blood pooling in his throat, some of which he managed to spit out, but it did him little good. His right arm was now only hanging on by a mere thread of red flesh, and Seras once again felt her stomach churn. Blood splattered everywhere as with one final whip of his head, Baskerville tore the arm off, sending the priest flying. He landed in front of Seras who glared down at him, ignoring the gruesomeness of the scene. Blood splattered onto her uniform, but she didn't care. This man deserved everything he got. He was a bad man, just like the men who had attacked her home that night.

She had to protect those she cared about from the bad men.

Without thinking, Seras kicked the priest as hard as she could in the face, hurting her toes in the process, but the satisfying sound of his nose crunching made the pain worth it. Blood splattered across the ground at her feet and soaked her black school shoes, making them look like they had been rained on. Though fearful of everything that was happening, Seras couldn't stop the smirk that continued to dance across her features.

Before Seras could do anything else, a gloved hand yanked the quivering body of the priest away before both he and Alucard vanished from sight. Like the flick of a switch, the room returned to normal. If Seras had blinked, she would have missed it. It was jarring, everything going from one hundred miles per hour to a complete stop. Seras' brain struggled to keep up with and process what had just happened. It rattled around in her skull, bouncing from one side to the other like a game of pinball.

The screaming and crying of the other girl in the room helped bring Seras back to reality, and she turned towards Katie who had managed to huddle herself into a corner while she shrieked hysterically. Blood no longer stained the room, though Seras could still almost feel the warm red liquid staining her skin. But when she looked, there was nothing there. Nothing but the dirt that stained her clothes from her adventures in the park.

Seras ran towards the other girl before stopping next to her, unsure of what to do. "Katie, it's okay now, we took care of the bad priest!"

Katie continued wailing.

"You can stop crying now; he's never going to hurt you again," Seras kept trying to reassure the other girl.

More wailing.

Seras sighed, her shoulders sagging in defeat. The other girl was an incoherent mess. But why though? Shouldn't she be happy that she had been saved? Shouldn't she be thanking Seras right now? She should be glad that Seras and Alucard had decided to help and take down that horrible priest. So why did she keep crying? Her eyes were wide, unblinking, and distant. Her skin was pale and covered in sweat. Her appearance almost reminded Seras of a wild animal. Just like that poor, frightened fox she had tried to adopt when she was five before her parents quickly put a stop to her 'looking after' the poor creature.

"Are you okay?" was all Seras could think to ask.

Even more wailing.

"Girls? What are you both doing in here? What happened?!"

Seras had barely registered that the door behind her had been opened, revealing Sister Grace stood on the threshold. Her eyes were stern, but also held a small amount of worry. Oh dear, all of this was probably doing to be difficult to explain. Just where did Alucard go? Why did he have to leave her behind to deal with all of this?

"Where's Father O'Carroll?" Sister Grace continued questioning.

Katie kept screaming, curling into an even tighter ball on the floor.

"Oh my goodness!" Sister Grace cried out, picking up her dark skirts so she could run towards the hysterical child. Seras was pushed aside as the nun checked over the girl, with Katie showing no signs of having any awareness of what was going on.

"Katie? Can you hear me, Katie? Can you tell me what happened?"

Seras watched with interest and slight concern. Maybe she hadn't been on time to save Katie like she had thought. Just what had that priest done to her? It would be no use telling Sister Grace. The nuns never said anything when the children tried to confide in them about things that made them uncomfortable; sometimes the nuns were even in on it. It was impossible to know who to trust in this place. But she trusted Alucard, and surely she would be back soon to fix all of this.

Sister Grace finally turned to Seras. "Seras, what happened?!"

"I… ummm… errrrr…"

"For goodness sake, girl, spit it out!"

"I… I don't know…"

Sister Grace sighed through her nose before speaking again. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"I just found her here." Seras managed to lie without stuttering this time. "I heard a noise, so I came in here and found her like this."

"And was Father O'Carroll here?" Sister Grace asked, sounding less impatient this time.

Seras shook her head.

"Alright." The nun sighed in defeat before turning her attention back towards the sobbing little girl in front of her. "It's nearly bedtime, so you best go to your room. Don't forget to clean your teeth and say your prayers before lights out. I'll sort Katie out."

As soon as Seras moved, Katie began screaming loudly again, causing Seras to shriek in surprise before dashing out of the room as fast as she could. What was wrong with her? Why was she acting like that? Had the girl gone mad? However, Seras didn't want to dwell on it too much as she began to focus her thoughts more on Alucard and where she could be. She had just simply vanished with the priest. What was she doing? Was she okay? Though Seras knew that she most likely was. The young blonde knew her new friend was magical, but she had no idea just how truly powerful she was. She had managed to tear the priest apart and scare him like she had seen no adult be scared before. Sometimes she forgot that grown-ups could feel fear.

Making her way upstairs to all the bedrooms, Seras managed to avoid as much of the other kids as possible. She washed her face and cleaned her teeth just like she was told, however, when she made it to her room, she couldn't bring herself to say her prayers before bed. Instead, she collapsed with her back against her door, her breathing becoming heavy as the day's events finally caught up with her.

How could she say prayers after all of that? How could she pray to someone who let monsters like that priest exist in the world? The nuns often told her that it was the devil who made bad things happen, but why did God let him do that? Seras thought that God was the most powerful being of all? Why didn't he help Katie? Why did he let the priests and the nuns hurt all of the children like they did? Had they all done something very bad and were now being punished?

Seras wracked her brain, but came up empty. She wasn't exactly the most well behaved child, but she wouldn't say she was always naughty either. It was then that Seras couldn't help but think about Alucard's words to her when he had first visited her at night. Maybe he had a point. Maybe the nuns were wrong about God. Maybe… maybe life was just like a TV show? As much as Seras wished she could help her favourite characters on the telly, she knew she never could. Was it the same for God?

Sighing to herself, the young blonde changed into her nightie and buried herself under her duvet. The longer Alucard was away, the more anxious she was beginning to feel. She missed her. She was worried about her. Her eyes traced patterns in the cracks of the wall before she tossed and turned, trying to find a comfortable position. What Alucard had done today had been terrifying. She even shuddered at the memory. But still… she was her best friend. It would be mean to not accept Alucard for who she was, even if her behaviour did scare Seras at times.

A dark chuckle then startled Seras into a sitting position.

"Your strangeness never ceases to amaze me, little Police Girl."

"Alucard!" Seras cried out happily, feeling relief wash over her. "Where have you been?" Without thinking, she threw herself out of bed and launched herself at the taller girl, latching onto her torso and hugging her tightly. She buried her face into the white fabric of her coat, breathing in her comforting scent.

The moment was short lived, however, when Alucard pushed her away with an annoyed look on her face. Seras sighed, but otherwise accept the silent scolding over personal space. Luckily, Alucard quickly moved on from the issue.

"Let's just say that some fields have a nice, new and improved scarecrow," she answered sinisterly.

Seras gulped, getting the hint. She then quickly shook her fear away. "Thank you for helping me save Katie. But she seems to be broken now." Seras furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

Alucard chuckled. "Broken being the operative word. I don't think you'll be seeing that girl again."

"Why?"

Alucard's eyebrow twitched before she forced herself to relax. "Not all humans are strong enough to cope with certain situations. She's given up the fight and retreated deep into her own mind. She'll recover though – probably."

Seras looked down at her hands sadly.

"But you keep fighting, though, and for that, you have impressed me."

"Really?" Seras gasped.

Alucard smirked. "In a way, you remind me of my master. She too is strong and determined, however, even she can be weak when it comes to situations like that. I think sometimes she forgets the monster that I truly am. You, however, easily endured."

Seras shrugged. "I've seen worse."

"Childhood trauma is an interesting thing; you either use it to make you stronger, or you allow yourself to break. I nearly made the mistake of allowing it to break me, but I fought on. Perhaps I fought on too well that I allowed it to warp me. Never make the same mistake I did, Police Girl," Alucard ordered.

Seras blinked in confusion before latching onto one particular topic.

"Did some bad things happen to you too?"

Alucard closed her eyes again and smirked. "They never stopped."

"I watched my parents die," Seras replied rather bluntly. "They were shot by two men and then one of them… I don't quite know what he did, but he went between her legs and kept moving back and forth. I stabbed him in the eye with a fork."

Alucard chuckled. "I bet you were ferocious."

Seras smiled and nodded. "There was blood everywhere, and his eye was all squishy!"

Alucard then ruffled her hair, much to Seras' shock and delight.

"What happened to you?" Seras asked, unable to hold back her curiosity any longer.

"You really want to know?" Alucard raised an eyebrow.

Seras nodded.

"I don't remember too much from my time as a human, but my first memories consist of me being sold by my own father to the Ottomans. I was raised in a foreign land, and though I was comfortable by prisoner standards, I was still subjected to torture, abuse, starvation, and… well… let's just say what we saved your friend from today," Alucard explained with a dark look.

Seras gasped. "They touched your secret places?"

"Yes, but much worse. I suppose you're still too young to truly understand," Alucard replied before continuing with her story. "I swore revenge on them though, especially when my traitor of a brother decided to side with those who had bought and imprisoned us. I escaped, but my other older brother, whom I was very close to, perished. I became the heir of Wallachia and fought for my throne. I was the rightful ruler."

"Whoa…" Seras breathed. "Where's Wallachia?"

"It no longer exists. Not in the form I knew it to be anyway. It united with neighbouring kingdoms some time ago and now goes by the name of Romania."

"Oh, I think I've heard of that." The name rang a bell, but Seras wasn't one hundred percent sure. "Wait, so does that mean you're not the ruler anymore?"

Alucard chuckled again. "No. I failed my people and lost my kingdom many centuries ago."

"Centuries? That's one hundred years, right?" Seras' eyes widened. "How old are you?"

"Would it displease you to know the truth?" Alucard's grin grew even wider.

"Awww come on, please tell me!" Seras begged, eager to know the truth.

Alucard rolled her eyes. "Though I cannot remember the precise date of my birth, I am over five hundred years old."

"Five hundred?!" Seras gasped. "Wow! You're so old!"

Alucard's eyebrow twitched again. "Why thank you very much, child."

"Is it because you're a vampire? Being a vampire makes you immortal?"

Alucard shook his head, his tone becoming a lightly scolding one. "While I am the age that I am because I am a vampire, there is, however, no such thing as an immortal. I can be killed."

"Really? How?"

"Why? Are you interested in trying?" Alucard purred before letting out an insane laugh.

"What? No!" Seras quickly explained. "I'd never want to hurt you!"

Alucard went back to smirking. "Is that so?"

"Of course! I'd never want to hurt my best friend!"

The smirk morphed into a frown. "Isn't it time for small humans to go to sleep?"

Seras looked hesitant as she slowly sat back down on her bed. "You won't disappear again, will you?" She then frowned as Alucard pushed her down onto the mattress and pulled her covers over her body, giving Seras little say in whether she stayed up longer or not. Alucard could get so grumpy sometimes, and her mood swings could be really weird. But Seras couldn't deny that her eyes were feeling heavy and that her brain was desperate for rest after everything that had happened today.

"No." Her answer was quick and sharp. "Now go to sleep. I will see you again tomorrow evening."

"You promise?" Seras tried to sit up again but was immediately pushed back down.

Alucard sighed in annoyance. "Yes! Whether I like it or not, I need your help to keep an eye on things throughout the day."

Seras smiled as Alucard began to retreat away from her. "Goodnight, Alucard," she added sleepily, losing the battle against her heavy eyelids.

"Goodnight, Police Girl," Alucard practically growled out, bracing himself for more chatter from the girl. However, her ears were met with silence, and she finally relaxed her tense position as she turned to glance back at the blonde girl who was now passed out and sound asleep.

She shook her head. "You really are the strangest human I have ever met."

And that's a wrap for chapter five. Alucard is such a complex and difficult character to write, and balancing all the aspects of his personality can be a right pain in the arse. But I hope that I'm not doing too badly. I guess a bit of OOCness is inevitable given that this is fanfiction and not the real thing. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter, and as always, please please please let me know your thoughts! Until next time! Cheerio!