RED IMPOSTORS
Seras sat at the table inside her soundless room and stared with discouraging eyes at the bag of blood in front of her. It laid inside a bucket of ice and was colored in a deep red, delicious and thick, but went untouched by her hands. During the span of a minute, she thought things over a million times, presuming that this would have to be the day she gave up on her humanity. Give in to the temptation that had been resting in the back of her mind for over a month now. Yet...she continues to hesitate. Her thoughts had become scrambled and the image of having to drink blood both excited and disgusted her at the same time
She grumbled under her breath and finally pulled the bag of blood out from the ice pool. She didn't rip it open though. Instead, she rushed out of her seat and made a quick jog over to the bathroom. Only then did she tear it open but poured all the blood into the toilet. Just the overwhelming aroma of iron made her body twitch uncontrollably with a growing appetite. Seras quickly acted against these desires though and flushed every last drop of blood down the drain until nothing was left, not even the smell.
Seras sat down on the floor in front of the toilet and tried to calm her stuttering nerves, surpassing the urge to drink until she felt it was alright to move again. "I can't keep doing this..." she muttered when there was a sudden sensation of cold fingers on the back of her neck. Seras gasped sharply and turned around in a blink of an eye, seeing these matching pairs of red eyes staring back at her. "Mistress? I mean...Miss Anna?" she choked out.
Anna had crouched down soundlessly behind her with her arms resting on her knees, staring with these eyes that didn't even look a little bit surprised to find Seras doing this sort of thing. "Ah, looks like you're still not drinking," she said while tilting her head curiously to the side. "Indeed...you are stubborn."
Seras turned her head away and shamefully looked at the ground to avoid eye contact. She wasn't staring at the floor for long though until Anna moved her head back up to look at her again. Being this close, Seras could see over a million shades of red swimming around in Anna's eyes, studying her and searching for something that could never be spoken with words.
Anna smiled weakly and released Seras's face. "When I first turned...I lasted for over six months without having a single drop of blood," she said as her smile faded, little by little until it was nothing but a frown. "I had never seen Alucard so frustrated with me before that time. I nearly worried him to death."
Seras sucked in a deep breath and tightened her jaw to stop any kind of quivering. "I'm sorry, Miss Anna. I don't want to make you worry but...it's just..."
"A hard pill to swallow, I know," she said softly before pulling Seras to her feet. "Come with me. Maybe I can help."
Anna dragged the studdering Seras out of her room and up the stairs through the Hellsing Manor. They weren't walking through the halls for long though until she leads them into a darkened room that turned out to be an empty kitchen once the lights were turned on.
"Would you be a dear and start boiling a kettle of water for me?" Anna said while smiling gently at her, gesturing her long fingers towards the stove.
"Eh? Ah, sure." Seras pulled a kettle out from one of the cabinets beside her and quickly filled it up with water to boil.
Anna rummaged through the cabinets and began to pull out small bottles, one after another until three were in her hand. They did have labels on them but Anna worked way too quickly for Seras to read them. She poured the contents into an old mortar and pestle bowl before manually grinding everything together using a swirling motion.
Seras blinked a couple of times before suddenly realizing what Anna was doing. It actually made her feel a bit excited to see her in action. "Oh, I remember now. You did say you were once a herbalist."
"That's right. I may be a bit out of practice but this was something I learned because of my stubbornness," she said and continued to grind away until it looked more like a paste than powder. "It won't be long until your body starts feeling the strain from not taking in any blood."
Seras peaked around Anna's shoulders to see what she was doing. "What are you putting in it?"
"Calendula, ginger, ginseng. You know, things to help with inflammation, nausea, and fatigue.
"And It works?" She couldn't imagine things like that would work on a vampire, but since it was Anna who said it, Seras felt like she had to believe it.
"It worked on me for a time." She lifted her head when the kettle began to make a sharp whistling noise that signaled it was ready. She gestured Seras to turn the heat down while she grabbed a cup. Seras handed over the hot kettle for her and she poured the water inside, soon mixing it in with the pale yellow paste. "Be mindful, Seras. This is not a permanent solution. It will only buy you some time to get used to this life. You will eventually have to drink." she gave a firm warning before handing over the strange concoction.
Seras took in a deep breath and got a strong scent of ginger steaming off of it, with only a hint of the other things mixed together. She swallowed hard and leaned her head back, dunking half the drink down her throat so she wouldn't have to taste it.
"You are far too soft on her, Anna," Alucard's voice spoke up from the darkened doorway.
Both the girls turned their heads at the same time and saw Alucard leaning against the wooden door frame, staring at Anna with cocked eyebrows. He was unreadable though because of his tinted sunglasses that rested against his nose, half his face obscured by his hat.
"There's nothing wrong with showing a little kindness, Alucard," Anna said while putting everything away. "I'm just giving her a little more time to get used to her new life." She stiffened a little when she heard him approach, taking his hand and gliding it from her neck all the way to her cheek so she could meet his eyes.
"That's called being soft." He saw her face slowly scrunch up into a childish pout. She was clearly upset with him but that face she made wasn't at all threatening. "Now that's not a nice face."
"You don't deserve a nice face if you're going to be mean to her." Anna crossed her arms over her chest and huffed.
Alucard blinked a few times and just stared at her. He couldn't take it anymore though and finally broke down and began to snicker. His snickering then turned into a full-body laugh that made his chest squeezed with pain. Anna stomped her foot into the ground and lightly smacked his back with her dainty hand that didn't even hurt. It only made him laugh more.
"Don't laugh!" Anna cried with a face reddened with embarrassment.
Seras only watched on silently while taking small sips of her drink at a time. A knock soon same from the doorway through and everyone turned their heads, seeing Walter standing there with a polite smile on his face.
"Ah, I was looking for you, Alucard," he said while walking inside, carrying a case in his hand. "Your order has been complete." He placed it down on the table and popped open the lid, revealing a charcoal colored gun with the label 'Hellsing' printed on the front.
Alucard walked up to it and grinned upon seeing his new toy. "Nice."
"Oh, dear..." Anna muttered to herself and sighed deeply. She pressed her hand to the side of her face and dropped her shoulders in worry. "So this is what you've been working on this whole time, Walter," she said.
"Indeed," he nodded. "The 13mm Jackal. A semi-automatic, anti-freak weapon. 390 millimeters long, weighing 16 kilograms and has a 6 round magazine. Too much gun for any human to handle."
Seras could only look at it with big and curious eyes. "Oh, wow..."
"Instead of the modified rounds for the Casull, we've custom-made an explosive armor-piercing, especially for this gun."
Alucard picked up the gun and began his inspection to make sure it was up to his standards. "Casing?"
"Pure silver."
"Aminition?"
"NNA 9 marvel cartridges."
"Explosive or mercury charge."
"Mercury, and of course, they're already blessed."
Alucard pointed it out in front of him and looked down the barrel towards the floor, his grin widening with every second passing by. Oh, he can only imagine the excitement he was going to feel once he ran into Anderson again. "It's perfect, Walter."
Walter smiled and bowed his head. "I'm glad you're satisfied."
Alucard grabbed the gun by the barrel and held it out to Anna, gesturing for her to take it and try it out. She looked momentarily taken back at first but grabbed it in the end, holding it awkwardly with both hands since she wasn't sure how someone was supposed to hold it.
It was a bit of a funny spectacle to see. Nither Alucard, Seras, or Walter had ever seen Anna carry such a wicked looking weapon before and just the motion of seeing them together definitely looked off.
Anna never did fancy using any kind of weapon when performing her duty as a vampire killer. Using something like a gun felt way too disjointed for her liking, and though she felt a bit of disdain towards her natural abilities as a vampire, Anna won't deny that using them felt more personal when dispatching enemies.
Anna frowned deeply and almost looked upset. "I...I'm sorry. I just don't think these kinds of things suit me," she said apologetically.
Of course, Alucard already knew that but still wanted to see what it would look like. "I agree," he said while chucking and took the Jackel back.
Anna dusted off her hands before crossing them over her chest. "Do you think this can kill Father Anderson?" she asked, curious to think if it was possible.
"Oh, I think so." Alucard had no doubt in his words and was itching to try it out.
Walter walked back over towards the door. "Miss Victoria. Very good. I have a new weapon for you too," he said while reaching for something behind the doorframe. He took in a deep breath and grabbed the handle of a long case and brought it out, struggling just to take a single step since it was so heavy.
Anna quickly intervened and grabbed the case from him. "Please don't hurt yourself, Water," she said walked with easy over to the table and sat it down gently, popping open the locks and lifting the lid. Her face immediately paled and she stepped back beside Seras. A shocked looked adorned both of their faces that matched perfectly.
"The 30mm, anti-freak Harkonnen." Walter brought out a ridiculously long gun and set it down beside him, displaying the hight that way surpasses his own. "It has two types of ammunition. Depleted uranium shells. The other, explosive armor-piercing incendiary rounds."
Anna breathed in deeply and clasped her hands together, speaking as gently as she could. "Walter."
"Yes?"
"You made her cannon." Anna bit down on her lips and walked over to the Harkonnen to tap her knuckles against it. "You made her something...that is capable of destroying a tank."
Alucard chuckled and patted Anna's head to ruffle her hair. "It suits her, doesn't it?" He kept at it until she glared, stepping away from him to fix her hair.
"Do you really think so?" Sera smiled cheerfully. "I don't know if I would look good carrying that thing around. I mean, the length is a serious issue but even that's beside the point." She paused for a moment and her smile fell. "Wait a minute...isn't depleted-uranium illegal?"
"My thoughts exactly," Anna said before frowning to herself. Her attention was drawn away though and she looked up at the ceiling, just staring at it for a couple of seconds before looked back to Walter. "Walter, I've been meaning to ask you. This is a bit off-topic but isn't the members of the Round Table supposed to arrive today?"
He nodded. "You're correct. Sir Integra is looking to get permission to investigate the chip that was found recently."
"I do hope that is the case. The chip worries me since they're able to create artificial vampires faster than real ones can."
"We don't yet know the science behind it, which is why Sir Integra is in a bit of a rush. She fears that if something like that still occurs...things could get dangerous," he said eerily.
"What about the initials?" Anna asked but Walter shook his head.
"Unfortunately, we have yet to discover the full name, much less who it belongs too," Walter said which caused Anna's frown to deepen.
It worries her greatly, not knowing who this chip belongs to and how it's being operated. Neither her nor Alucard have look into it since Integra wasn't given permission too. The only thing they knew for sure is that something was a very, very off about it. Not in the way that it turns normal people into cheap vampires, but...just strange and dark. Like there was something else more to it instead of the power of science.
Anna paled suddenly and begin to feel the pit of her stomach start to drop and turn. Her nose crinkled up and she groaned with disgust before turning her head towards the ceiling again. Anna tilted her head curiously to the side before covering her nose. "Walter... was someone else suppose to show up today for the meeting?"
The sudden sharpness in Anna's voice caused Alucard to become a bit alarmed. He looked up at the ceiling as well before blinking very slowly. "Oh...I get it now," he said with a dark realization.
Walter cocked a brow. "No. Why do you ask?"
"Is something wrong, Miss Anna?" Seras asked since she was beginning to tell that something was off.
Anna kept her eyes sternly at the ceiling for another agonizing minute of silence before breathing in deeply. "I smell blood."
Author's Note:
Happy Halloween!
I want to apologize if you think this chapter is not up to par with my previous ones. I unfortunately have been sick this whole week (Not COVID!) and haven't had motivation to write, much less edit.
My other excuse is that I have no Internet right now, so I can't edit anything properly. I'm having to do most of it on my phone, which sucks!
I want to thank you all though for sticking with me. You have no idea how much it means to me to have people read my story and enjoy it.
I thank you all from the bottom of my heart and I promise I will edit this chapter properly once my Internet is back!