Chapter 7

                YYYYYYAWWWWWNNNNNN...

                Aw hell, she tried to hold it back. But she was tired, and she needed rest; her body felt weak.

                Alucard averted his gaze toward her, looking at her funny as she broke the serious air around them. "I think it's time for a nap...sun's coming up..." He walked with her to his room. Seras with a hand over her mouth, she nodded. She unhooked her halconnen and her heavy-duty backpack and sat it in front of Walter's room as they passed it, Alucard leaving his two guns there as well. Walter had asked them previously to leave their weapons with him, as he would upgrade them for the next night...

                Seras, being behind Alucard, knocked twice on his door, afterwards jogging to catch up with her mentor.           

When he reached his room, he noted the medical blood in a bucket of ice on his center table, and he poured it, offering Seras a glass.

                "You still drink right...Hmmmm?" He held up a glass for her, holding his own in the other hand.

                Seras took the drink and held it close to her mouth, hesitating as her brain battled with itself. Alucard studied her.

                "It's medical...mwahahaha...I would not give you human blood yet, you need training before that..." His glasses moved down the bridge of his nose as he studied her better, with his feet lazily propped up on the edge of the table as he sat in one of the wooden chairs.

                "Hmmmm..." She tipped it closer to her lips and sipped it gingerly, afterwards pulling it back. Her face showed neither disgust nor pleasure; however, she found it strangely appealing...

                He grinned widely towards her. "That's it, enjoy...aristocratic medical blood, type o...very rare..." His voice was unusually perky and clipped; he was becoming excited that she was drinking again. The hint of a grin was ever-present on her master's face. She smiled at him after swallowing, and held her glass up in the air towards him.

                "Cheers, then, Master," And she drank more, no longer intimidated by the red substance. Alucard did likewise, and took a big swig, his eyes wandering over to his window. The sun was slowly making a breakthrough.

                "Time to sleep, Seras...we need to rest..." He looked at her, setting down his glass lightly on the table, and added as an afterthought, "Oh...and I will be training you more."

                 Seras finished her glass and stared at it, little red droplets scattered all around the glass on the inside. She couldn't believe she had drunk...the entire glass. As stubborn as she was, she still drank.

                "Hai, master." She set the glass down on the table; across from Alucard's empty one.

                Having heard the light clanking sound of her glass hitting the table, Alucard knew she was going to depart to her own quarters.

                "Seras..." He thought, debating whether or not to ask her one question, but he ending up deciding not to. His face turned very dark. "...Never mind." He turned heel and walked to his coffin, a convenient few steps away from the table. Seras turned around and looked at him from over her shoulder.

                "Master...what do you need to say?" She remembered him saying her name, sounding like it wanted to say something more...but he'd leave it be and to himself, and he'd shrug it off as if it were nothing. For some reason, this bothered her.

                Alucard lay in his coffin-shaped bed now, on his side, and his hat and orange glasses lying on the table next to their empty glasses.

                His voice was heard from across the room. "Oh...it's nothing...only..." He rolled over partially and looked at her seriously, his eyes the color of the blood he had just consumed.

                She eyed him from across the room, cocking an eyebrow. "'Only...'?"

                Alucard kept his hard gaze, and then his face lightened up, bearing a huge, and rather silly, grin upon his face.

                "How about a nightcap?! Hmmmm..."

                 Donk.

                She turned around fully at him and dropped her head as her shoulders sagged and her arms hung limp, going semi-chibi-ish for a moment or two.

                "Aw...what the hell...sure, I guess," She scratched her head, which was partially dropped now. "Are you SURE that's what you wanted to say?! You looked too serious for that..."

                Alucard grinned evilly, all of his teeth showing. "Yes...that is the element of surprise, Police Girl," He got up in one swift motion and slipped in right in front of Seras in a second, and leaned over her, looking into her eyes...

                Seras' face changed from that of chibi dumfounded ness to that of particular surprise. She straightened her back and met his gaze. Alucard stared at her a little longer, his strands of hair falling slowly around his face, brushing against his cheeks. He then wrapped his arms around her shoulders and lower back, catching her in an embrace.

                "Seras...I think I'm losing it..." He said quieter than he usually speaks, still holding her. Seras' eyes were wider than dinner plates as her master hugged her...and so affectionately, to boot! She listened as he whispered to her, as she leaned her head against his chest, his bright red necktie tickling her nose.

                Her voice caught in her throat. "...What do you mean...Master?"

                He looked down at her in his arms, and said somewhat awkwardly, "I...am losing energy. I don't quite know why...battles are still fun, but harder...I must make you learn of your powers..." He stares at her, clearly concerned.

                She nodded her head up and down against his chest, his necktie moving a little away from her face.

                "Master...we need to get you back to the way you used to be, though...I don't want anything happening to you...and it's not normal to hear that you are feeling weak...you out of anybody..."

                He stood up, reluctantly letting go of her, and looks at her lovingly, as if to a new child. His jet-black hair still fell all around his face. "I know...I am an elder vampire, but still no reason...Well, I should sleep then..."

                He turned away, and said to himself, "Damn...things aren't like they used to be..." He stared at the wall in a daze of remembrance. "I would have to return to the place where I was sired..." He lie down on his bed for the second time, totally avoid of Seras, deep in thought.

                Seras watched him as he lay down, wondering what had gotten into him. At this point, she decided to go; it was best.

                "Well...oyasumi nasai, master," She held the door handle.

                "Night...Seras...tomorrow more blood will flow..."

                Her face was bland of expression and emotion, although she was still a little flustered about the sudden and unexpected hug she had received. She shut the door behind her as she walked out, taking a few steps away from the door, then bolted down the corridor to her own room and slammed the door behind her.

"Fuck...what the fuck is going on..." She grumbled, changing into something more comfortable, and crawled into her coffin-shaped bed. As she situated herself, the lid came down and sealed her inside protectively.

She was exhausted, however, and fell asleep almost instantly as her head hit the pillow.