HELLSING WITCH HUNTER 1616

DianaPrince31

Ch. 19: Close That Door, You're letting the Demons Out

Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing

Whoever invented the first door, didn't want to keep people out, he wanted to keep something in. Doors kept warmth in, when winter came. They kept pets and children from wondering from the safety of their home. But most importantly they kept the demons from the other dimensions from crossing over and causing trouble.

Walter and Philip both winced as they heard a door slam. Previous to that there were shouting between the two Hunters Sam and Integra. Apparently Sam had done something that Integra would consider stupid and told Sam of what she thought. Sam told Integra what she thought of her opinion and where she could shove it. The only reason why the Manor was still standing was because Seras stepped in between the two angry women before they could physically assault one another. So now Sam was slamming doors, while Integra was probably seething in her office. Why these two couldn't get along after all this time was beyond the two butlers. Perhaps it would be best if Sam and Seras moved to the Hunters Lodge in London. What was worse was that Integra started charging rent and lodging for their horses. She said if she was going to get headaches out of the two, she might as well get some money as well. And when Sam reminded Integra that Walter was against charging them rent, Integra said coolly; "Walter's name is not Hellsing, mine is. This is the Hellsing Estate and at the moment you are occupying the Hellsing Manor which is owned and headed by Sir Integra Hellsing, that's me, so you will pay rent or get the hell out." This had put a strain on all the Hunters and it seemed that everything that they had worked towards in terms of getting along was going down the drain. Soon the Hunters only saw each other whenever there was a witch attack, which meant Walter and Philip had to do extra leg work.

When the king made mention of this, Integra surprised him by saying; "You can either have us throwing slumber parties and having pillow fights or you can have us dealing with any potential witches in your kingdom, but you can't have both, Your Majesty."

"You said yourself that this country deserves better than three immature, bickering girls!" the king said sternly.

"So I did, it would seem I'm playing the hypocrite here."

"And if this ridiculous infighting gets one or all three of you killed?"

"Then you had better pray these idiot swords choose more worthy Hunters."

"And if this ridiculous infighting gets even one innocent civilian killed?"

"You can hang me first for murder, treason and failing my family name."

Everyone in the throne room gasped and Sam and Seras looked sullen, they were not committed like that.

"You seem to have all the answers, Sir Integra Hellsing" said Albrecht.

"Only because you haven't asked the hard questions yet, Your Majesty."

There was silence in the throne room and everybody stood still as is moving at the moment was a crime. After the king had dismissed the Hunters, Albrecht wondered what the heck just happened. This incident had happened three days prior of the door slamming and was the most likely candidate for the recent arguments. Sam and Seras were not happy because now it felt as if they had a sword two inches from their neck and Integra had put it there. They had tried to get the heiress to retract her statement, but she had closed the door on that topic and every time someone bought it up, they opened the door of yelling, shouting and insults.

After the latest argument, Philip didn't know if he wanted to bring the report to Integra's attention, but he did anyway. Several girls had gone missing over the last couple of days from the county of Kent, at first the people had thought the girls had run away, but one girl came back prattling nonsense about a door and a queen. As she read the report, Integra contemplated not telling the other two Hunters.

"I'd probably get the job more efficiently without those two" she murmured to herself.

"Sir that is not right. You three are supposed to work together" said Philip.

Integra sighed; "Fine you tell them, I'm going to prepare."

When Sam and Seras met Integra at the front gate, they both looked upset. "Philip said you wanted to leave us behind, is that true?"

"He has no reason to lie, so you figured it out."

"Well, while you were asleep we bagged us a couple of witches by ourselves."

"Do you want a treat for that?"

"Would you two cut it out?" said Seras. "This is getting ridiculous. We have a job to do, so let's go and do it."

When the Hunters reached Kent, the mayor came out to greet them. "My name is Spencer Bates. The girl, Clare Rowland had to be locked away because we believe that she is possessed. She tore off Father Carmichael's arm! He was trying to exorcise her…"

"Where is she being kept?" asked Integra.

"She is being kept in one of the lower prisons for obvious safety reasons."

"I'd like to see her."

"Sir Hellsing, I strongly advise against that! She already…"

"I still wish to see her."

Mayor Bates led to the Huntresses to the prison and once inside the stone building they went to the basement that reminded Hunters of the basement at the manor.

"I guess Hellsing Manor is not the only place with creepy basements" whispered Seras to Sam.

The group came to a stop in front of a large metal door, guarded by two burly men. The door had a small window in it, so one could look through; it also had a sliding door to obscure the prisoner's view of the outside world. And it was through this window that Integra was looking into. For a couple of moments, the Huntress did not see anything and then the girl popped up. The girl was petite with unruly red hair and blue eyes; that at the moment had a crazed look and were blood shot. At seeing the 'visitors' the girl began to giggle madly in a high pitch voice. Taking off her leather coat and sword belt, Integra said; "Open the door, I'm going in." Mayor Bates gave her an astonished; "Sir, this is madness! I strongly advise against it!" Seras nodded her head in agreement; "I don't think it's safe." However Sam said; "Let her in, this I have to see." The guards opened the door slightly, so that the occupant couldn't get out, but the slender woman could. The last thing that Integra took off was the leather eye patch.

As the door closed behind her with a loud thud, Integra looked around the dimly lit cell. On the wall were several lengths of broken chains. Apparently they had tried to chain the possessed girl to the wall and that didn't go over too well. The floor was littered with refuse, old dishware and tattered blankets. The air smelled of unwashed bodies and waste. It would seem that everyone was too afraid to come and clean up the cell.

On your right

The possessed girl leapt at Integra, but went sailing over the Hunter's head as she quickly crouched. Clare screamed in frustration and tried again, hiding in the shadows and leaping at Integra. The Hunter grabbed the petite girl and slammed her into the nearest wall. Then taking the girls face in a tight grip forcing Clare to look into her eye. Soon the deranged look in Clare's eyes was replaced with a glazed over look and she spilled the beans. "We wanted to become powerful in magic, so we summoned the witch queen Jezebel."

"What happened to the other girls?"

"They were devoured by the witch. I was the only one to escape, though she is coming for me. She has placed a part of herself in me. As long as she has this connection with me, she will find me."

"How did you summon her?"

"We found a book of black arts; we opened the door, once in this dimension she cannot be destroyed. She will be queen of all and conquer all!"

"I'll be the one to determine that. Who are the other girls?"

"They were Grace Payne, Ella Walker, Lily Walker, Zoe May and Bethany Evans…they are all dead…"

After a couple of more questions; specifically about the black art book, Integra left the cell while placing her eye patch back on. Mayor Bates looked at the Hunters expectantly and asked; "Now what do we do?"

"If this witch queen truly has a connection and is coming for her then we can use that. You would have to move that girl to a less populated area" answered Integra.

"You mean to use that girl as live bait!?"

"Yes, in order for my plan to work."

"You can't just carelessly put someone's life on the line, Sir Integra!" exclaimed Seras.

"What if she is killed?" asked Sam "You do remember you told the king, don't you?"

"Yes. Now we don't all day, better for two people to die, than two hundred."

The plan was a simple one or at least to Integra it was. The girl Clare would be taken to a nearby field, so that Jezebel would find her there. Once Jezebel tracked her host there the Hunters engaged her in battle to distract her, while the girl reopened the dimensional door. Before the witch could be sucked through the door, several of the Wild Geese tossed a barrel of kerosene over her, soaking her in the flammable liquid. When Jezebel was sucked through the door, a flaming crossbow bolt was shot at her where Jezebel burst into flames as the door closed behind her. Though the people of Kent were glad that the witch was gone they also mourned the death of five girls. What had started out as nonsense and curiosity, turned into messing with forces that one had no right dealing with, leaving five dead and a sixth whose fate was unknown. No longer possessed, Clare sat with her parents, the Mayor and the three Hunters. Usually the punishment for those who dabbled in witchcraft was death by burning, especially if it caused the death of others. But looking at how repentant and scared the girl was, Seras was the first to believe that Clare should be pardoned. Sam did not agree however; a witch was a witch. Who was to say that she wouldn't do something stupid like that again? The final vote was left up to Integra and she made her decision.

As the Hunters rode back to London, they all agreed (for once) that Integra made the right call. Clare would live, but she would spend time in the stocks and a year imprisonment. Being burned alive would have been too much for the close knit town of Kent to endure after so much death and Clare would have to live with the deaths of her friends for the rest of her life. The mayor was especially thankful for Integra's leniency. And when the king read the report and a letter from Mayor Spencer Bates, he was pleased. Clare had learned her lesson and would no longer be dabbling into witchcraft. After the Hunters had gone, the people of Kent decided to burn any books that had any kind of witchcraft or dark arts for the safety of their town.

Chapter End

Author's Note: This wasn't as action packed as the other witch fights, so sue me or don't. We'll be getting into some action in later chapters, but for now, we find out what happened to the Whitehall family. Yes they will be back and we all know that they are plotting something. Wonder what that is. Find out in the next chapter. See ya in the next chapter.