SHATTER IT RED
"That damn traitor!" Integra was in a rage, steaming angry and totally red in the face. She's been doing nothing but cursing Anna and pacing around her office since getting back from the gallery. She didn't feel like sticking around someone like Maxwell any longer than she had to. She was afraid that she might actually strangle the man if his presence continued to irritate her.
Alucard, on the other hand, didn't look at all bothered with the information that they had gathered from the Vatican. "Don't go using such harsh words when speaking about her, Integra," he chuckled darkly while sitting on the sofa, flipping through the delicate pages of Bridget Vermillion's old book. He found it to be quite interesting and nostalgic, and he was no less impressed with the amount of knowledge inside than he was all those years ago. The information that the book held was vast and complex, ranging between herbal practice and black magic knowledge. "I always knew she was gifted…but I never knew it was to this extent. Anna would've thrived if she was born in this era."
"Quit enjoying this, you imbecile!" Integra would've thrown something at him if anything was in reach. Instead, she just walked over to him and roughly snatched the delicate book away. She opened it up for the first time but found that she couldn't even read a single word. The whole thing was in Romanian. Which was a language she didn't know. "Did you even know Bridget Vermilion was her name?"
Alucard looked somewhat taken back when he was asked that. "What kind of question is that? You expect me not to remember the name of my love?" he said while scoffing. "Of course I know it. Never forgot it and never will. It was how she introduced herself when we first met."
"And you never thought to tell me?"
The vampire simply shrugged and stood up from the sofa. He took the book back and continued to read through it, making sure to handle it with care since it did belong to Anna. "Who would've thought that someone would use Anna's extensive knowledge of black magic to make fake vampires," he said while turning his back to his master.
Integra narrowed her sharp eyes. "You still think Anna has nothing to do with this? You think her hands are totally clean?"
Alucard paused mid-page flip and looked over his shoulder at her. His usual joyful smile had fallen by that point but was replaced with something curious. "You really don't have any faith in Anna, do you. Tell me, Integra. Why is it that you hold so much disdain towards her human nature?"
This made Integra's face flare up again with ripe red anger. "it's because Anna is no longer human. She hasn't been for a very, very long time. It's past due for her to start acting like a vampire," she spat out. "I don't need a vampire who's still pretending she's a human."
Alucard stayed quiet and had to think about that for a second. Even if Integra had the right idea or not, it didn't matter to him in the slightest. Anna was the same in his eyes. Lovely or deadly. He adored every trait and fault of hers. "She did at one point. Acted as a vampire should be. Walter and I remember it well. The war…and the bloodshed she created all by herself. She was more like a demon than a vampire though, dancing gracefully within her own carnage…so full of rage and hatred."
"Did you never think…that maybe she was raging like a demon because of this here? Because of the damage she caused during her time as a human." Integra said while roughly pointing to the book that had evidence of black magic practice inside.
"That's an interesting thought." It was then that a dark shadow cast over his face when a single thought crossed his mind. A time when he and Anna were…lesser than friends. "But maybe we're thinking too far back." He snapped the book shut and looked over the remnants of burns across the worn-out leather.
The door leading inside Integra's office slowly cracked open and Seras Victoria peaked her head inside. She was called upstairs from the basement level but looked a little spooked when she saw the heavy atmosphere that lingered inside the room. It made her hesitate to even take another step in, but she did anyway.
"You called for me, Sir Integra?" Seras asked.
"I did. There have been some recent developments in the case that I need to inform you of. Sit down for a second." Now a little calmer, Integra took a seat at her chair and instructed Seras on the sofa in front of her. "The information I'm about to tell you…might be a bit alarming, but I want to tell you everything you know when you hear it."
Seras began to sweat with nerves. "Yes, ma'am."
"The Vatican had recently provided us with information they had obtained back in their country. And it appears…that the origins of the chip might've come from our very own. It came from Anna's blood and her own research." Integra kept firm with her words and studied Seras's face closely. She watched it but there was hardly any change. Seras was surprised, yes, but not nearly as much as she should be. "You don't look all that surprised."
Seras flinched. "Well, uh, you see…It's just that I've noticed Miss Anna acting kinda strange…as of late.
This intrigued Integra. "Strange? Like how? Explain further."
"Well…she just seems…scared. Like when the headquarters was being taken over by that ghoul army? I remember how frightened she looked when she heard that message given to us by that dying vampire."
Alucard crossed his arms over his chest and thought back to the dying message. "'Vermilion'. I suppose that the message was for her then," he guessed.
"So it seems," Integra agreed. "Whoever's behind these freaks…was probably making an attempt to reach out to her."
Alucard perked up to the sound of that. "Oh? So you don't think she's the one behind this?" he said with a dark laugh.
Integra grumbled. "Well…not entirely. I think we're still missing some pieces. We're not being told everything, and I think Anna's the one who's holding them right now. Holding them…from us." She growled out those last words and turned her attention back to the newborn vampire. "Seras, where is your master now?"
"Miss Anna? She went out to get some air. Said she wanted to be alone for a bit," Seras said confidently.
"I see. Then we have no time to waste. Alucard, I want you to go out and bring her back. She has some explaining to do," Integra ordered.
Alucard shrugged and turned to leave the room. "If you wish." He took a couple of steps towards the door till his pace slowly came to a complete stop. A large shadow cast over the room and the air suddenly turned both dreadfully cold and suffocating. It was a reaction…an unknown presence that lingered in the air like a deadly plague upon the horizon. Frightening enough for even Seras to take notice of and stand up.
"Ju…just now. What was that?" Seras covered herself with her arms and looked around frantically for where this feeling came from.
Alucard's face twisted up into a malicious smile while directing his attention to the far beyond. "Looks like the final player decided to enter the game of Cat and Mouse."
The sky was obscenely dark tonight. An obsidian kind of blackness without a single star in the night. The only thing that hung above Anna's head was the giant moon, glowing with this pale light that made her hair shimmer like gold. She sat by herself while dangling her feet over the edge, watching the sea below with a thousand-yard stare as the waves crashed against the cliff. She could even hear the sound of seafoam crackling in her ears. A million bubbles popping all at once.
"Hello, my dear Vermilion," spoke a smooth but sickening voice from behind.
Stagnant and heavy the air turned as a presence approached Anna from behind. She froze in the instant she saw the shape of his shadow, wishing that all of this was nothing but a nightmare. She knew it wasn't though. Anna could feel his hot breath on the back of her neck and see the size of the shadow he cast. Growing so large that it consumed her whole body.
Anna sucked in a deep breath and turned her head to the side, seeing the outline of a man but refusing to see the details. "Incognito..." she spoke through chattering teeth, turning her head only a couple more inches to finally get a look at this…creature's face.
He wasn't a man, but instead a demon that lived for the same kind of night she did. A deformed-looking vampire with abnormally long arms and legs. His face was oddly shaped and his height even matched with Alucard's, but unlike her love, this creature had a presence about him that terrified her into thinking that she was still a scared child.
Anna stood up extremely slowly. "What are you doing here?" She tried to take a step back but found her foot dancing on the edge of the cliff, quickly reminding her that she was trapped. Though, the thought of jumping off the edge felt more pleasant than being in the presence of this man.
Incognito opened one of his wicked-looking red eyes that pierced into her, burning her more than the witches' flames that accused her long ago. "You remembered me after all these years…but you've already forgotten about our deal?" he said while stretching his lips out into a grin. "You hurt me…so much, Vermilion."
Anna swallowed hard and took a quick glance over her shoulder. More than ever, she was contemplating just jumping off the edge. Yet, she felt like not even that could save her from escaping his grasp. He had her right where he wanted her. Terrified, helpless, and trapped.
Courage was nowhere to be found within her anymore. She had to look away. Anna couldn't stand to look at his face anymore. "Why can't you just leave me alone. I don't want to do this anymore. I just want…"
"You wanted a whole lot less when we met…but now you suddenly want to live?"
Anna could feel her face heat up and her eyes start to sting. She opened her mouth and instantly forgot what she wanted to say. "I…I just…I…"
All the oxygen in her lungs was suddenly snatched away when Incognito stepped towards her. He cupped her face in his hands and leaned in close. Close enough to finally release the red tears that had threatened to fall from her eyes. She was shaking within his grasp while staring at the man who terrified her most in this world. Leaving her silent and shattered.
"This isn't something…to argue over. My dear Vermilion," he said while slipping the hair away from her neck.
Without warning, Incognito roughly grabbed the side of her head and yanked it to the side. He opened his mouth wide to expose his sharp teeth before sinking them right into her pearl-white neck. A scream was immediately wrenched from Anna's lungs as she felt her skin being ripped apart under his razor teeth, completely drenching half her body in gushing red blood. As quickly as he appeared though...he was gone in a single blink of an eye.
Anna stumbled away from the edge of the cliff while clenching tight to her bleeding neck. She looked around frantically, but he was nowhere to be found. Incognito was gone. Completely gone. She couldn't even feel his presence anymore. She would've questioned if any of that was even real, but the wound on her neck and blood running down her dress was proof enough. Painful proof that left Anna looking like a total disheveled mess.
Anna felt sick. Her stomach twisted and she dry heaved as old memories rushed into her head. The tears didn't stop once and only intensified, making it hard to breathe. Anna clasped her hand over her mouth and let out this muffled scream. She fell to her knees and hunched over, pressing her forehead nearly to the ground, and just continued to sob. Sobbing more than she had ever done in all her years of living. Sobbed more than her time as a human…all the way to her times as a vampire.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Oh…God. Alucard…I'm so sorry!" she said through gasps of air as a different type of shadow hovered over her. This time it wasn't suffocating as Incognito's was.
Not saying a single word, Alucard simply just reached down and scooped her up. Even though he was silent, his face held over a million different kinds of emotions. There was excitement in his eyes, but only just a little. It was overwhelmed by a wave of nearly indescribable anger as Anna continued to cry, apologize, and cry some more.
"I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry!"