Chapter 8
-Job
It was the silence before the dawn, as if the earth was taking a deep breath before the start of a new day. The sky had grown suddenly paler after the aura of Alucard's vortex vanished, and the sun was only minutes away from breaking the horizon. Exhausted, cold, and furious, Integra clenched her fists and paced along the mountainside. The vampire loved to vex her, and he was getting better and better at doing it. Integra hated the feeling of not being able to completely control the powerful vampire, and he loved to show her that. It should have ended years ago, but some deep-rooted thread inside her seemed to enjoy their sadistic game - just not when it left her standing in the frozen Carpathians of another dimension. At least this world's Dracula was destroyed. Integra silently wondered if even Alucard could have survived that shot.
She did not know how it had taken her so long to figure out. Perhaps it was her stubborn intellect refusing to jump to the conclusion that she had traveled through time. The vampires together looked so similar in so many features, yet they were still somehow different. Dracula's eyes were a deep-set brown, for one thing, and his natural voice was far wilder and bordering on seductive. Though, thinking back, Alucard had been that way when she had first met him. Perhaps, a hundred years ago, Alucard had been no different from this Dracula. Integra suppressed an inner shudder and dismissed that train of thought. It did not matter. And where was the bloody vampire anyway?
'Perhaps your pet is not as strong as he thinks.'
Alucard let go of the female as soon as she had gained her feet. Her eyes stared blankly at the heavy fabric of his red coat as her fingers released their grip on his sleeve.
'The book I left, Walter,' she heard his deep voice project just above her. Katrina closed her eyes, afraid to look at her new surroundings.
'Where you left it, Lord Alucard,' a kind, older voice replied from not too far away.
Katrina felt like she was floating. Dracula's presence in her mind suddenly vanished, leaving her with an almost hollow feeling. The tiles under her bare feet were painfully hot as her lifeless blood temperature rose from that of the frozen mountain air. Keeping her eyes closed, Katrina could feel the tall vampire move away from her.
'Master?' a young woman's voice questioned from a few paces away.
'Do something with her, Police Girl. I have things to finish,' Alucard stated, passing Katrina over to a young red hared vampire.
'Y-yes, master,' she complied, confused as she took a dutiful step towards Katrina's back.
Alucard disappeared wordlessly from the open foyer, leaving the two occupants with the vague impression that he was headed off toward some form of riotous entertainment. The two beings turned their eyes on the slender form in the corner, scantily clad in a purple dress reminiscent of centuries past. Long blonde hair tumbled over her ivory skin, down past her thighs. The multi-layered skirts ended just above her ankles, and here arms were left bare for the most part. She turned her head slightly away from the two pairs of inquisitive eyes.
Walter was the first to move, setting down his dusty rag and approaching the new arrival, judging by her extreme lack of skin pigment, another vampire.
'Welcome to Hellsing, Miss,' Walter greeted in a cheery tone with a bow, standing within Katrina's peripheral vision. 'My name is Walter Kum Ddolnneaz, butler and steward of the Hellsing family. This is Seras Victoria,' he introduced, sparking motion from the young vampire.
For her, cowardice is not a choice, it is her nature, her master's voice echoed in Katrina's mind. She turned slowly to look at the speaker, defying the taunting memory. She choked back the terror she felt rising in her as she quickly surveyed her new surroundings. Walter waited for her, his head politely half bowed as he extended a friendly hand. Gritting her teeth against the coward she had become, the vampire placed her cold hand in the warmth of the old man's.
'Katrina,' she introduced herself. Walter smiled warmly as Seras perked up and joined the uncomfortable exchange of greetings.
'Welcome to Hellsing, Miss Katrina.' Seras's voice was bordering on mildly too perky for the shock Katrina was struggling to get through, but the displaced vampire found it almost refreshing to hear after centuries of only limited companionship. Seras laughed nervously, gesturing toward the ice slowly melting on the fabric of Katrina's dress. 'Do you want to dry off?'
There was nothing she could do. Before she could even register who had spoken, Integra was thrown against the ice-encased stone and Dracula's cold hands were both pinning her and tearing away the heavy cloak she wore. As she raised her hands to strike at him the cloak fell away and the lifeless hands that had been holding her against the mountain flashed to take an unbreakable grip on her wrists, all in less than a heartbeat. What little Integra could do to fight against the vampire she did with what energy she had left, if only out of principal, refusing to be defeated. Her arms were twisted together behind her back to be held in one of the vampire's strong hands. Knowing where this was going, Integra jerked around to free herself, or to at least slow him down as Dracula's free hand roughly pulled a mass of her hair out of his way.
Integra gasped sharply as a cruel mix of pain and pleasure flooded and weakened her entire body. Her struggles all but ceased as Dracula sunk his fangs into the lifeline in her neck.
'If I die, he's free,' Integra managed as her eyes began to defocus. 'You'll be doing him a favour.'
Dracula ignored the human, drawing more and more of her blood until he was fully supporting her weight in his arms.
Integra grit her teeth, her eyes closing involuntarily. She forced herself to think of her duties as the comfort of release tried to seduce her into compliance. Her muscles had lost their strength, and, though she hated it, her body collapsed into the vampire's lethal embrace. She slowly blinked her eyes open and stared blankly at the gray sky over the vampire's shoulder.
'A-Alucard,' she whispered. 'Kill the bastard.'
As if on cue, a loud shot thundered just above Dracula's slightly bent form. The native vampire looked up and turned to grin maliciously at the newly arrived Alucard.
'That Harker could aim better than you,' Dracula taunted, throwing Integra's limp body at Alucard just as the vampire was about to fire another round. As Dracula had hoped, Alucard hesitated long enough to avoid shooting through his master, long enough for Dracula to leap over the side of the mountain.
Stopping his master's inevitable and dangerous fall with one arm, Alucard readjusted his aim with the other and sent a bullet that tore through Dracula's heart. The morning's sun shone on the servant and his master as the lord of Transylvania vanished into dust against the mountainside.
'Don't give up, little girl,' Alucard whispered in Integra's ear as he stooped to retrieve the wool cloak from the ground.
Integra's eyes opened again part way before closing as her mind slipped away. Wordlessly, Alucard drew his master closer to him, holding her firmly in both arms as they disappeared together.
