Ch 6: Fateful Night
While the Hellsing organization was waging war with FREAKS and ghouls, the head of another organization was contemplating the next move in the war that his people were fighting. Father Enrico Maxwell was reading a report that had been sent to him from his agent inside the Hellsing organization. It had been difficult to get a spy past the tight security of Hellsing, and so far it hardly seemed to be worth it. In frustration, Maxwell rose and flung the report into the fireplace. He finished his wine as the fire consumed the words of the report and then stormed from the room.
I was a fool to think that this would be that easy, Constance thought as she worked frantically to save the life of the young soldier in front of her. The man she was working so hard to save was barely old enough to be called a man, she thought. She had worked to a point that was far beyond exhaustion and the part of her scrubs that were not covered by the protective gown she was wearing were spattered with blood. She did not know anything about the mission the soldiers had been sent on, but she could tell by the seemingly endless stream of dead and wounded men coming through the door that the mission had been a dismal failure. She continued to try and repair the shredded vein in the young man's neck, fighting the dull feeling of pain that had been getting stronger in her all day.
"Asystole!" the technician working with Constance exclaimed. The boy's heart had completely stopped pumping and the gaping wound in his neck was leaking blood as fast as it was put in. "That's it" Constance sighed as she gave up the futile pursuit to save the man's life. "Time of death, 12:30 a.m." She could barely contain the pain and sense of failure she felt as she pulled the sheet over the man's head, taking a final look at the face of the soldier she had not been able to save.
Two hours later, after the men who could be saved had been stabilized, Constance looked around and saw that there was no more that could be done. She gave a brief report to the doctor that was coming on to relieve her and practically threw the charts at him as she all but ran from the infirmary. She had to get out of there. The suffocating feeling was on her stronger than ever before and she felt that she would go mad if she didn't get out of this house. When she reached her room, she hastily showered, changed her clothes and grabbed her helmet as she left her room, slamming the door.
She found her motorcycle in its usual place. She mounted and sped down the country road that had first brought her to this hellhole after being waved through the gate by the guard. She rode as if the devil himself were chasing her, trying to outrun the pain and frustration. After several miles, she had exorcised enough of the pain to consider going back. Before she began the return trip, she stopped alongside a fence that contained a meadow where she could see a group of sleeping cattle. The night was still and the full moon cast a bright light over the meadow and the hills behind it. As she drank in the scenery, the tears that had been fighting for release all day finally spilled over her eyes and down her cheeks. In her mind, she spoke to the soldiers that she had not been able to keep in this world. I'm sorry, I tried my best but it wasn't good enough. May you all rest in peace. When the tide of tears began to run dry, she looked at her watch and realized with reluctance that it was time to go back to the Hellsing house and her duty there.
Constance was within two miles of the gate and could see the lights of the Hellsing house when she spotted a man in the road just in front of her wearing nothing but a bloody sheet. Her eyes widened in utter shock as she saw the face of the boy who she had pronounced dead a few hours earlier! The shock was so great that she hit the brakes of her motorcycle and swerved at the same time, forgetting one of the cardinal rules of riding. The bike leaned too far to one side and shot out from under her. She felt a sharp stab of pain in her right side as she was ejected off of the bike and rolled several feet before coming to a stop. She lay on the ground, gasping for breath as her vision blurred and her head swam. She could tell that she had broken some ribs and was fighting to keep conscious. She rolled onto her left side just in time to see what appeared to be a white-gloved hand protruding from the young man's chest. There was a terrible high-pitched scream as the body of the man appeared to disintegrate before her eyes. At this point, the pain and shock had overwhelmed Constance and she passed out, seeing only a dim red figure in front of her as she lost consciousness.
Alucard brushed his hands together to remove the dust from his gloves as Ceras came trotting up behind him.
"The guard who was keeping watch over this man was attacked before he could eliminate him" Ceras announced. "The doctors tell me that the guard will be all right, but he'll be in for it when Sir Integra finds out"
"Indeed" Alucard murmured "Lucky for him and us that this one didn't get very far."
At that moment a groan and the rustling of the grass in the road beside them caught Ceras and Alucard's attention. The groan had come from the person who was lying a few feet away from a toppled motorcycle. By the time Ceras had ran to the Constance's side, she had passed out again. Ceras rolled her gently onto her back and removed her helmet.
"Master" she called to Alucard "Doesn't this woman work for Hellsing?"
Alucard stepped to his apprentice's side and inspected the face of the unconscious human. He recognized the woman as the new doctor whose thoughts were still a mystery to him. "Yes, she is one of the doctors working for Sir Integra." He turned away from Ceras and the fallen woman and began to head back to the house.
"Master, where are you going? We can't leave her here when she's hurt."
"She is no concern of ours."
Ceras looked at her master in disbelief. She knew that he did not care about humans one way or the other, but it was inconceivable to her that he would just leave an injured person lying on the side of the road.
"Master, how can you be so cruel?" Ceras asked with anger in her voice "Do you have something against her?" Alucard heard a grunt from his apprentice and turned to see her trying to lift the injured woman off of the ground. His fledgling certainly was stubborn, he thought. It was Ceras' stubbornness that had caught his attention that night in Cheddar. She had earned the right to live when she refused to give in even when death was standing at her shoulder. It was the reason that he had turned her into one of his own kind, something he refused to do for just anyone.
Alucard walked over to where Ceras was still trying to lift the injured doctor. Normally it would have been an easy task, but it had been a long day for all of them and the vampires had not yet received their nightly ration.
"Get the bike. I'm sure she'll want it when she wakes up" Alucard said as he lifted Constance from the ground as if she weighed nothing at all. Ceras sighed in relief and smiled at her master as she hefted the bike off the ground and started pushing it back to headquarters.
While the Hellsing organization was waging war with FREAKS and ghouls, the head of another organization was contemplating the next move in the war that his people were fighting. Father Enrico Maxwell was reading a report that had been sent to him from his agent inside the Hellsing organization. It had been difficult to get a spy past the tight security of Hellsing, and so far it hardly seemed to be worth it. In frustration, Maxwell rose and flung the report into the fireplace. He finished his wine as the fire consumed the words of the report and then stormed from the room.
I was a fool to think that this would be that easy, Constance thought as she worked frantically to save the life of the young soldier in front of her. The man she was working so hard to save was barely old enough to be called a man, she thought. She had worked to a point that was far beyond exhaustion and the part of her scrubs that were not covered by the protective gown she was wearing were spattered with blood. She did not know anything about the mission the soldiers had been sent on, but she could tell by the seemingly endless stream of dead and wounded men coming through the door that the mission had been a dismal failure. She continued to try and repair the shredded vein in the young man's neck, fighting the dull feeling of pain that had been getting stronger in her all day.
"Asystole!" the technician working with Constance exclaimed. The boy's heart had completely stopped pumping and the gaping wound in his neck was leaking blood as fast as it was put in. "That's it" Constance sighed as she gave up the futile pursuit to save the man's life. "Time of death, 12:30 a.m." She could barely contain the pain and sense of failure she felt as she pulled the sheet over the man's head, taking a final look at the face of the soldier she had not been able to save.
Two hours later, after the men who could be saved had been stabilized, Constance looked around and saw that there was no more that could be done. She gave a brief report to the doctor that was coming on to relieve her and practically threw the charts at him as she all but ran from the infirmary. She had to get out of there. The suffocating feeling was on her stronger than ever before and she felt that she would go mad if she didn't get out of this house. When she reached her room, she hastily showered, changed her clothes and grabbed her helmet as she left her room, slamming the door.
She found her motorcycle in its usual place. She mounted and sped down the country road that had first brought her to this hellhole after being waved through the gate by the guard. She rode as if the devil himself were chasing her, trying to outrun the pain and frustration. After several miles, she had exorcised enough of the pain to consider going back. Before she began the return trip, she stopped alongside a fence that contained a meadow where she could see a group of sleeping cattle. The night was still and the full moon cast a bright light over the meadow and the hills behind it. As she drank in the scenery, the tears that had been fighting for release all day finally spilled over her eyes and down her cheeks. In her mind, she spoke to the soldiers that she had not been able to keep in this world. I'm sorry, I tried my best but it wasn't good enough. May you all rest in peace. When the tide of tears began to run dry, she looked at her watch and realized with reluctance that it was time to go back to the Hellsing house and her duty there.
Constance was within two miles of the gate and could see the lights of the Hellsing house when she spotted a man in the road just in front of her wearing nothing but a bloody sheet. Her eyes widened in utter shock as she saw the face of the boy who she had pronounced dead a few hours earlier! The shock was so great that she hit the brakes of her motorcycle and swerved at the same time, forgetting one of the cardinal rules of riding. The bike leaned too far to one side and shot out from under her. She felt a sharp stab of pain in her right side as she was ejected off of the bike and rolled several feet before coming to a stop. She lay on the ground, gasping for breath as her vision blurred and her head swam. She could tell that she had broken some ribs and was fighting to keep conscious. She rolled onto her left side just in time to see what appeared to be a white-gloved hand protruding from the young man's chest. There was a terrible high-pitched scream as the body of the man appeared to disintegrate before her eyes. At this point, the pain and shock had overwhelmed Constance and she passed out, seeing only a dim red figure in front of her as she lost consciousness.
Alucard brushed his hands together to remove the dust from his gloves as Ceras came trotting up behind him.
"The guard who was keeping watch over this man was attacked before he could eliminate him" Ceras announced. "The doctors tell me that the guard will be all right, but he'll be in for it when Sir Integra finds out"
"Indeed" Alucard murmured "Lucky for him and us that this one didn't get very far."
At that moment a groan and the rustling of the grass in the road beside them caught Ceras and Alucard's attention. The groan had come from the person who was lying a few feet away from a toppled motorcycle. By the time Ceras had ran to the Constance's side, she had passed out again. Ceras rolled her gently onto her back and removed her helmet.
"Master" she called to Alucard "Doesn't this woman work for Hellsing?"
Alucard stepped to his apprentice's side and inspected the face of the unconscious human. He recognized the woman as the new doctor whose thoughts were still a mystery to him. "Yes, she is one of the doctors working for Sir Integra." He turned away from Ceras and the fallen woman and began to head back to the house.
"Master, where are you going? We can't leave her here when she's hurt."
"She is no concern of ours."
Ceras looked at her master in disbelief. She knew that he did not care about humans one way or the other, but it was inconceivable to her that he would just leave an injured person lying on the side of the road.
"Master, how can you be so cruel?" Ceras asked with anger in her voice "Do you have something against her?" Alucard heard a grunt from his apprentice and turned to see her trying to lift the injured woman off of the ground. His fledgling certainly was stubborn, he thought. It was Ceras' stubbornness that had caught his attention that night in Cheddar. She had earned the right to live when she refused to give in even when death was standing at her shoulder. It was the reason that he had turned her into one of his own kind, something he refused to do for just anyone.
Alucard walked over to where Ceras was still trying to lift the injured doctor. Normally it would have been an easy task, but it had been a long day for all of them and the vampires had not yet received their nightly ration.
"Get the bike. I'm sure she'll want it when she wakes up" Alucard said as he lifted Constance from the ground as if she weighed nothing at all. Ceras sighed in relief and smiled at her master as she hefted the bike off the ground and started pushing it back to headquarters.