A BOND AS THICK AS RED BLOOD
The room was dark as a thick red mist spilled out from the vents and filled the empty space. It resembled poisonous gas with the way it looked but didn't act like it. It flowed and conjured up into one corner of the room just as the front door opened and a man and woman walked through.
"Please, come in." The man was elderly looking with his white hair and had thick-framed glasses that hung on the edge of his thin nose. He looked to be in his late 50's to early '60s compared to the woman who walked in with him. She was beautiful with pale-ish gray skin, raven black hair that was long and shiny, and bangs that covered her eyes. "You don't want another drink?"
The woman said nothing and dropped her coat to the ground, revealing her beauty that was fastened to a skin-tight black dress that showed off all her curves.
The old man's eyes became hungry and lustful. "Your looks make me want to drop down to my knees, caress your legs and prove how much I admire beauty such as yours." He shrugged his shoulders. "But I lack the youth to do that. Still, I was fortunate to meet you at the party. I knew you were the kind of person who could share my new type of pleasure." He gestured to the lights. "Do you mind? I find the dark more liberate." He cut the lights off so the God above wouldn't see their shameful acts. It was only for the devil's eyes. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her body. "I can feel your beauty very well, just like this." He entranced himself in her sweet ecstasy when he caught sight of the same red mist that covered the corner of the room, a figure soon becoming visible in it. "Who's there?" He alarmingly called out.
The red mist was absorbed inside a tall framed woman who finally became noticeable. She wore a floor-length white dress with long sleeves, a black slash and simple black pumps the peeked out from underneath her gown. Her hair was a pale blonde color that was long enough to drape across the ground like a golden waterfall, and with pale skin that looked like it was made of white marble.
"I'm sorry..." She lifted her head and stared at them with a disheartened expression. Her face was adorned with soft doll light features along with piercing scarlet eyes that glowed in the dark. "Truly, I am. You really are a beautiful woman."
Strands of her hair began to float in the air before suddenly latching ahold of the woman's body and shoving the man aside. The strands began to tighten around her skin until the fabric of her dress started to rip. It sliced right through her and before her body could drop, she flashes her stunning emerald eyes, befalling into ruins on the ground into nothing but ash.
The man collapsed to the floor and stared at the collection of ash and spoke with a trembling voice, his face turning pale. "V-Vampire?" He looked back up to where the woman was and saw that she was gone.
The policewoman's chest burned hot and heavy while running through the dark and thick woods of Cheddar village. She swore she was losing her mind because her men, her friends, they were dead but now...they were walking and trying to attack her with their rotten and gray hands the latched out at her. She had no other alternative but to flee deeper into the forest.
This can't be real. She pleaded, but despite her denial, she had no choice but to reload her pistol and pray it was a bad dream to wake up from. "I didn't join...D-11 to do this." Her lips quivered and she dropped her head to the ground. "I...I..." She continued to stare until she saw the hem of a white dress with a large black shadow casting over her. The policewomen whipped her head up and aimed her gun up at the imposing figure, only to have her breath taken away.
The cool night air picked up and blew the woman's long blonde hair in front of her face. The bright red moon stood at her back and obscured her scarlet eyes and shocked expression for a moment until the light glided over the side of her body, unveiling a beautiful woman that looked as if she just stepped out from a fairytale book, with looks as extraordinary as hers. Ivory skin, long white dress, blonde hair that just barely reached the ground, and scarlet eyes that were made of glimmering ruby gems.
The woman's pale pink lips melted into a warm smile. "Evening," she greeted her with a voice that sounded so very pleasant to her ears.
The policewoman got over the sudden shock and lowered her gun when she realized that she was pointing it an innocent woman. "I'm...I'm sorry. I...I thought you were..." she stuttered out her words and had to take a moment to breathe and calm herself down.
"Dead?" The woman answered with her poetic voice with a topic that sounded to morbid to even speak with.
This disturbed the young girl for a bit as the shakes began. "That...how?" She was speechless.
The fairytale lady looked at the policewoman and rested her hand against her chin, studying her up and down. "You...are quite the cute one, Miss." She smiled once again.
The policewoman's face blushed a vibrant rouge color from the sudden compliment. It felt out of place compared to the woman in front of her though. "Who...are you?"
The woman looked around and scanned her eyes over the dark lands. "Anna. That's the name I use now. I guess you can say...I'm the first responder." She turned around and started to walk deeper into the red and black night. "It appears I got here before my beloved...so I have time to spare before he arrives."
"Love? Wait a moment!" The policewoman ran to catch up to Anna and walk beside her.
Anna stared down at the woman. "It's not safe for you right now, my dear. It would be best if you pull out now while you still have the chance."
The policewomen cocked her pistol and held it up beside her. "I'm afraid I can't do that, Miss Anna. You're defenseless. I cannot just let you go off on your own."
The woman stopped mid-stride and stared at the young policewoman, blinking with her large and curious red eyes that glittered. Slowly a smile slid to her almost pale lips. "Well...now that is quite an adoring trait."
The policewoman flinched when she felt Anna's cold hand reach up and pat her hair softly. She was very delicate in this soothing gesture and made a flush of pinkness rise up in the policewoman's face. "I-it's just my duty to protect someone who is defenseless!"
"Hmm?" Anna hummed and pulled her hand away. She glanced over her shoulder and looked around the thick woods, eyes piercing through the darkness. Within the gloom, she could see dark shadows moving around quite clumsily as they got closer and closer. Anna stayed beside herself and kept her outer expression very calm to not startle the young policewoman. It wouldn't be long now until the ghouls would emerge from the darkness and totally surround them, and Anna honestly didn't have the time to deal with such a hoard right now. "Well, if you wish to keep moving then now would be the best time," she said and continued on her way.
"W-wait for a minute!" the policewoman ran to catch up.
The red moon acted like a beacon that led them through the woods and into an opening. It old graveyard by the looks of it that had a church right in the center. This discovery didn't sit well with Anna though and she pondered if her target was even in there or not. The files said he was dressing up and acting like a priest so this would be a good start, but...she never did like going into churches. Just the overall atmosphere of them sent shivers down her spine like millions of eyes were on her, judging her, discouraging her.
God's judgment was definitely working hard whenever she had to go inside a church.
The policewoman though didn't see the harm in going inside, so Anna's hesitation puzzled her. "Are you not religious?"
Anna shrugged. "Well...I do believe in God. I just don't think he's so overly fond of me though." Her poetic voice turned bitter. "I don't fancy judgmental eyes."
"There could be something inside, you know. Something dangerous."
"Ah, yes. That's the point of the matter and that's the exact reason why I have to go inside," she said, her lips turning down into a frown. Anna than noticed what looked to be a faint candlelight glow coming from inside. "Someone's in there," she said.
"What?" The policewoman turned back and tried to see something through the dark windows. "I don't see anything though."
"It was a faint orange glow, like candlelight of some sort." Anna lifted her long white finger up to her mouth and pressed against them for a moment like she was thinking. "Well...I don't see any other options right now." A deep sigh left from her lips as she carried on walking through the rows of old gravestones, the policewoman following close behind.
Anna slid her hand across the wooden entrance and pushed it open with ease. Naturally, it was unlocked but before fully seeing inside she noticed that there were no heartbeats thumping against her sharp eardrums, but there were footsteps wandering within. No was inside. No one alive, that is.
The inside was small and simple, nothing extravagant at all. The inside was only lit up by candlelight though so it made it very difficult to see. Anna could see everything just fine, but the policewoman fund it a bit hard. She held her gun out in front of her and traced the room with her eyes until they landed on a dark figure standing in the corner of the room. His face was shrouded in darkness until he finally stepped out into the light. The girls could see now that it was a man dressed as a priest. They both stood still and gave the man an eerie look since something wasn't quite right about him.
"The church always opens its doors to people in distress." the man said humbly and stepped up to them, smiling.
Anna opened her mouth and spoke to him rather politely. "Oh? Unfortunately, I think the doors are only open to those who still carry a heartbeat. Am I wrong?"
The priest blinked and stared at Anna, a bit started from her youthful and foreign appearance. He couldn't mistake those eyes though. Eyes that looked like they were bathed in blood. Absolutely gorgeous and hypnotizing. "I am not the one to judge who walks through those doors. I'm merely a person who gives guidance to the weak."
This unnerving man caused the policewoman's hands to tremble a bit. "I'm on a mission...and the most likely suspect would be..." She honestly didn't know what to think anymore. Something about him was upsetting her, but his outer appearance looked ordinary in her eyes. "But you're normal."
"People like him and I are different from the ghouls you encountered outside," Anna spoke, crossing her arms over her chest.
The policewoman paused and had to take another look at Anna. "Like...you?" Only now did she truly felt like she was looking at her appearance entierly and suddenly being struck with this feeling of anxiety that ripped through her body like lightning, igniting every one of her nerves on fire. "Miss...Anna?" Her words fell short through when her mind suddenly started to become muddled and confused. Time seemed to slow down as she struggled to keep her eyes open as sleepiness started to kick in. Her body moved on its own and she was pulled forward right towards the suspicious priest that grew more and more inhuman by the minute.
Anna cocked a brow and tilted her head to the side. "That was quite a rude trick," she said smoothly despite the obvious danger the policewoman was in. All it took was one bite and suck for her nineteen year old life to end, vanish in the blink of an eye like she was nothing but a candle in the wind. "Have you no shame?"
The priest smirked at the lady. "Well...I just had an idea so I needed leverage," he informed her but Anna didn't look the slightest bit interested.
"Leverage, you say?" Anna asked out of politeness and took a step towards him but the moment she lifted her leg his voice dropped in pitch.
"Ah, ah. Don't move." He wrapped his long finger-like claws around the policewoman's neck and squeezed very slightly. The threat was enough for Anna to stop though. You don't want this innocent girl to be turned into a ghoul, now don't you?" The shift in her ruby gaze was very subtle but he, unfortunately, noticed it. "Now that's a surprise," he said with a short laugh. "A vampire carrying for a human?"
"An innocent human." Anna corrected. "The poor dear was just unfortunate enough to be dragged into this bloody mess."
"It doesn't have to be a bloody mess." He stared at her, burning his gaze right into her very soul to try and find any kind of secret he could use against her. "You're old...I can tell that by the way you talk and carry yourself. It must be lonely...being alive for this long. How about we make a deal. You can join me...and I'll let this one go free." he offered.
The woman remained quiet before a smile fell to her face. It made the priest's veins ignite and burn with a desire the longer he stared at this woman. Oh...he wanted her. He wanted to touch her skin, and feel his hands through her hair...and wanted to know if her blood was as sweet as her smile. Something was amiss though within his fantasies because he couldn't imagine those desires. He can't picture this woman anywhere in his head because it was blocked by a large and dark shadow, having eyes resembling her own ruby ones.
"I'm so terribly sorry." Anna's voice broke him out of his trance. "It's a tempting offer, it really is, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to turn you down." She stared at him, smiling until her scarlet eyes started to glow.
All the air suddenly felt like it was sucked forcefully from his lungs when his body stiffened and turned to ice. He couldn't move aside from the occasional twitching of his fingers. The priest remained locked in place as Anna began to walk towards him once more. Sweat rolled down his face and his skin started to crawl as fear entered his bloodstream.
He then noticed that her shadow grew in size and only now did he recognize that it wasn't in her shape at all. It was wider and taller than hers and had the outline of a broad-shouldered man wearing a wide-brimmed hat.
It was the same shadow he witnessed in his own mind.
He began to sweat profusely as this woman got closer and closer to him, her eyes still glowing and piercing through the darkness and straight through to his heart. His own body began to throb with anxiety as the trembling began. He was going to die. The priest just knew it because this woman didn't feel like a normal vampire. She was older than him and stronger, much stronger, but that wasn't only it...something lurked within her shadow. He could see red eyes slowly open up on the ground and stared wildly at him.
He began to feel his finger switch though and with much heists, he snapped them. Upon his command, rows upon rows of ghouls stood up from the pews and aimed their guns at Anna. "K...Kill her."
Anna's eyes grew wide when flashes of white light filled the room, drowning out the morbid silence and darkness of the church. The loud popping sounds from their automatics made her ears ring and it left her disoriented by just the sure force. Anna remained unharmed though when a rupture of darkness burst up from her shadow and coiled around her body, shielding her from the barrage of bullets that couldn't penetrate the strange dark mass.
The priest was stunned into muteness as the dark matter melted away from the lady's body and conjured on the ground behind her. It rose up from the floor and began to take the shape of a tall, broad-shouldered man who made Anna's frame look small and weak. He wrapped his arms around her when the shadows finally morphed into a humanoid figure. His face was pale like Anna's but his hair was raven black, and his crimson eyes were covered by red-tinted sunglasses that blocked out the sides. He had on a long overcoat made of dark crimson fabric the collided ominously against the red moon overhead, a dark black suit with a red tie, and leather riding boots that stomped heavily against the earth.
When this man talked his voice made Anna's heart jolt a bit. "Evening, Anna."
She leaned her head back into his chest and looked up at him, seeing him smirking down at her with this type of grin that made Anna melt. "Evening, my love," she spoke with a smile.
The priest scoffed and raised his voice. "Who the hell are you?"
Alucard's smirk only widened. "My name is Alucard. my dear Anna and I are merely tools of the special operations agency, Hellsing." He lifted his white-gloved hand that had a seal on it and pressed it on top of Anna's hair, running his long fingers through her locks. "We dispose of garbage."
"Garbage? Huh! Special operations agency?! Have you lost your mind?"
Alucard's deep chuckle resonated off the walls in the church and made the priest shiver. "Me? Have I lost my mind?" He released his lover and began to walk towards the man, stomping his feet hard against the carpet." What do you think you're doing? You say I'm insane but you also had quite the crude imagination towards my Anna. That's what makes you trash."
The priest clicked his tongue. "You can die now! Both you and that witch of a woman."
The ghouls took aim once more. Alucard reached into his coat and gripped ahold of something. He then started to pull out a silver pistol that had an abnormally long barrel. Words were etched in on the side of it that said, 'Hellsing ARMS .454 Casull Auto'.
He took his gun and pointed it behind his head and pulled the trigger. Large bullets shot out from the barrel and punctured right through the ghoul army and leaving large holes behind. It was a pull after another until the walking and mindless puppets were reduced to nothing but ash.
The policewoman stared with wide eyes. "They're not human," she said weakly while still behind held in the demented clutches of this vampire.
The vampire priest was at a lost for words as he watched his army being put down by this dangerous man. "Why...? Why're both vampires!"
Alucard dropped a smoking magazine at his feet and reloaded another one into his pistol. "You instant vampires are cockroaches. Multiplying before you know it." He cocked the slide back with his sharp fangs that peeked out from his lips. "I can't stand your kind...half-assed vampire without the slightest bit of self-respect! You don't even know what you are! We have our reasons for serving humans." he balanced his weapon on his forearm. "But, of course, it's not a story for trash like you. A silver cross from the Great Lanchester Church was melted down to cast the 13mm explosive rounds in this gun. So relax...and go to heaven, forever!"
The priest quickly tightened his grip around the policewoman's neck and used her as a human meat shield, actually lifted her off the ground a bit.
Anna gasped sharply and ran to Alucard and forcefully lowered his gun arm. "Wait!" she pleaded with him. "She's the only survivor."
Alucard stared down at his lover and saw the panic rise up in her eyes.
The priest quickly spoke when he saw a weakness in Anna's character. "I know you can't shoot her. You're servants of the humans." he laughed.
Anna gritted her sharp inhuman teeth when Alucard's deep voice grabbed her attention. "Will you take responsibility for what will happen, Anna?" he asked her rather softly, staring in her eyes when she looked back up at him.
Anna's face contorted a bit. She bit down on her lips and had to look away to think for a minute. Her doll light features became disheartened before slowly...she nodded her head and spoke her answer to him if a weak and small voice. "Yes..." she released her hand from his forearm and backed away.
Alucard's lips turned up into an entertained smirk. "Oh? Now that's quite a turn, my dear Anna."
"Alucard, please," Anna said once more.
He chuckled and turned back to the vampire and policewoman. "Police Girl." he addressed her, holding his her gaze with his own.
"Yes," she answered back calmly.
"I'm going to shoot you in the lung. The bullet will pass through you to hit the trash vampire in the heart! You don't want to die now, do you? Do you want to come with us?"
The vampire priest began to shake a bit and anxiously looked down at the policewoman.
Alucard continued. "No one will force you. The choice is yours. Answer!"
Anna intertwined her fingers together and held them under her chin, waiting with a shaking and anxious heart for the policewoman's answer. She just needed to know with one word. One single word to make her move and the change. "Please answer," she said softly to the young woman.
"Yes." And with that...the policewoman peacefully closed her eyes and waited.
BANG!
The shot ripped out from the gun and the candles blew out. The bullet soared through the air and finally pierced the woman, leaving a big hole in her chest but also hit the vampire hiding behind her. He blasted back against the wall behind him and cried out as he was reduced to ash, once and for all.
The woman didn't even have the time to hit the floor before a pair of long white arms reached out and cradled her fall. Her head was held close to the soft and silky fabric of Anna's white dress and with her hazy eyes, she could still easily make out the woman's concerned ruby gaze.
Anna's lips trembled as she felt the woman's body grew heavy as warm blood flowed out of her and stain her dress. The smell made her nose turn up and stomach twist.
Blood...for a vampire, the smell just utterly made Anna sick to her stomach.
"I'm sorry. I'm so, so, so sorry." Anna apologized a thousand times as the policewoman's blue eyes stared up at her, helpless, just like she was right now.
Alucard's heavy footsteps came up from behind them. "You said you would take responsibility." he reminded her.
Anna felt his strong hand press against her shoulder. "I know...I know." she brushed the woman's hair aside to get a good view of her neck.
Anna looked up at the last candle in the church and watched it as it slowly went out, leaving a small trail of smoke behind.
Integra waited at the end of the street of Chedder village with a hoard of Hellsing men behind her with flashing blue and red lights. She watched as two figures slowly came into view. It was Anna and Alucard. Alucard was carrying the policewoman his arms who was wrapped up in a blanket.
It would've been a good thing that they came back, which means that the mission was complete, but the discouraged look in Anna's eyes told her differently.
Alucard stopped in front of Integra. "Mission complete," he said in his smoldering deep voice. "All targets activity has ceased. The limited power released is completed."
"Despite there being two of you...you spend too much time for just one target." Integra eyed them both before shifting her focus to the policewoman. "I'll call for rescue." She turned to walk away but Anna called back to her.
"No," she said. "I wish for you to transfer this woman to the Hellsing Organization."
Integra looked over her shoulder and narrowed her gaze at Anna but made sure to get confirmation from the policewoman first, which she got a small nod from. "You don't make decisions."
Anna shook her head and stared sharply into Integra's eyes. "I don't...If I did then I wouldn't have been burned alive 500 years ago...when I was still human." her voice was bitter from the awful memories. "But this girl...she was in control...and she made the choice all on her own."
Integra scoffed and turned away from them. "It's time for the Hellsing Organization to withdraw," she ordered as all the vehicles and helicopters began to take off and leave the sight of Chedder village.
The policewoman glanced towards Anna and opened her mouth to speak. "Ah, uh..." she couldn't get the chance to say anything to her though before Anna turned on her heel and began to head into the forest, somewhat melting into the darkness. "Mis...tress?" she choked up just in time for the beautiful vampire to stop.
Anna was half shaded in the dark when she turned around to face the policewoman. Smiling very slightly at her, she said. "Miss Anna is fine with me." And with that...she disappeared into the thick lush of the forest.