Forever Yours By Galatea

Disclaimer: See previous chapters.

Author's Note: I'm enjoying keeping these chapters quite short; it means I can post something more often! Oh, and those that are fans of 'Final Resistance', don't worry I am still working on it!

Rating: PG

Chapter 2 ~ In the Line of Fire

Constable Son inched his face a little further past the cracked plaster wall. He both loved and loathed this time of year. On the one hand it meant that his watch was a lot longer than in the short nights of the summer. On the other, it meant that it was only 6 o clock in the evening and he was already up to his neck in trouble. He would never understand why it was that all the freaks came out at night. There was something about the comforting blackness of the after hours that seemed to bring out the worst in everyone.

Of course, Bardock Son was also conscious of a number of other things that came out at night that his teammates were not. There was also a very particular reason why he worked nightshifts as well.

Bardock was a vampire. One of the first in fact. He had been 'born' nearly 2,500 years ago, deep in the heart of Transylvania in Europe. He had travelled the length and breadth of the world in his time, learning language and culture as he went, sucking the life out of the local inhabitants wherever it pleased him. Sometimes he thought that that had been the life. That had made sense. That was what he was.

But not anymore.

He had determined nearly a year ago to that very day that he was going to find another way. He had decided that he didn't want to play the villain anymore. He didn't want to seduce virgins across the country. He didn't want to battle every other No Life King he found. He wanted to live among humans. Maybe he would never be able to walk the streets in the daytime, but he wanted a chance to do some good. He wanted to wipe his slate clean. He wanted his soul back.

But he wasn't even sure where to start. He had travelled all around Europe and the United States in search of someone of his race who could tell him what to do. To his dismay, he was drawn into more battles than he could count. Sheer numbers of vampires had created these strange half-breeds. FREAK vampires. Immortal, yes, and brutal, of course. They were cruel and malicious and not good for anything but sucking blood and causing pain to the people. He had killed a fair number of those himself. Hey disgusted him – to think that in some way they were related. That someone of his kind would bother raising an army of ghouls to fight on their behalf.

His only option was to hunt down the 'No Life King's like himself. Perhaps one of them would be able to tell him what he could do. He might be censured and despised by his own kind, but that would be nothing if he could find some sense of peace within. If he could find his way back to the man who had existed 2,500 years ago.

Vampires like him were not easy to track down. Unlike the FREAK vampires, they did not go around killing just anyone and turning up on news shows as mysterious homicide cases. A true No Life King would not create ghouls to follow him, as he would have enough strength on his own in a fight. Those that he did drain of blood would either become his loyal servants – far more powerful than any FREAK vampire, and others would simply have their life drained and die. In a way, it was a kinder death than becoming a soulless, cannibalistic ghoul.

His last contact hadn't been able to help him. He had been laughed at for desiring such a thing as to become more human. However, he had been sent in the direction of England to search out another like him – Alucard. He had heard the name before, but never met the creature himself. He did not know what to expect when he found him. If there was the slightest chance of this being helping him regain his soul, then he was going to take that chance. It was worth it not to spend the rest of his existence intent on the destruction and pain of others.

There was the scrunching sound of feet on concrete, and Bardock felt his whole body tense up, ready for the spring. Gloved hands loaded the silver bullets into his gun and he rose to his feet, feeling the burning pres of the metal in his hands. The gloves were not perfect, and the lethal metals stung his flesh even as he held it encased in the shaft of the weapon.

When the moment was right he leapt out of the little gap he had been resting in and wielded his revolver. His aim was accurate and he blasted through the heads of the nearest ghouls in a heartbeat. He had told the rest of his team to wait downstairs, knowing that if they saw the creatures an enquiry would result. He didn't want to draw attention to the existence of Vampires in the area. It would only make it all the more difficult to find out where Alucard was.

Killing off the first ranks of the ghouls wasn't hard. He didn't know where the FREAK that had transformed them was – the chances were that the coward would probably have already fled. He would be able to catch up with it whenever it suited him – for now he was more worried about the welfare of his team downstairs. He couldn't allow these ghouls to slip through his net.

He finished off the first ones that had advanced, listening intently for the next lot. However, no matter how much he strained, he could hear nothing, and he had excellent hearing. Surely there could be none left in the building?

He slipped into a wall and into a nearby room, feeling the presence of dark energy there. Pieces of ghouls lay scattered across the floor – the occasional arm or leg or head. He had grown used to the carnage by now of course. He had been blown to pieces himself a few times.

Something niggled in his mind. A sound he heard – quite a faint one, but there nevertheless. It tickled him continuously, like an itch that he couldn't quite reach. He leant down to the floor, easily prying up one of the floorboards with his fingers and peering into the darkness. It smelt rancid from the years of damp that had infested the abandoned warehouse.

However, deep inside he could make out a few bright red spots of light, and he craned in to get a better look at them. His hand reached in and found itself in a tangle of wires, and something made of metal.

And then the timer hit zero, and Bardock Son died. Again.

***

To be continued.