Order 3: Maryland
Integra awoke to white walls. White walls? she wondered. I usually don't see the ceiling when I wake up...
She couldn't see anything at all. It was too dark and she needed her glasses. She reached without looking to grasp her glasses from the same place she always left them- but they weren't there.
"The bloody hell are my glasses," Integra mumbled to herself irritably. It was then she realized there wasn't even a table where there usually was one. None of the furniture was in the right place! This isn't my furniture, she thought, worried. This isn't even my room!
She shot up from the small, twin-sized bed, which was covered, in stuffed animals. She saw what looked to be a desk to the left of the foot of the bed. Is that a desk? It's buried under a layer of junk. But that seems to be the only place for anyone to put them.
Integra sat up on the edge of the bed and peered at the closest end of the desk. On the corner nearest to her, she saw a black glasses case.
I just hope that there are actually glasses in here, she thought to herself, picking up and opening the case. Upon doing so, Integra found a pair of glasses... that weren't hers.
"What is going on here?" she demanded of the empty room. "Is this some kind of sick joke, Alucard?"
All she received in the way of a reply was silence.
"Do not toy with me, vampire, if you value what little freedom I've given you." She knew it was an empty threat. No matter how much she wanted to deny it, the Royal Order of Religious Knights needed Alucard. Sometimes the only way to deal with a FREAK was to send an abomination.
Nothing.
Sighing, Integra put on the glasses. These are better than not seeing at all, she thought with some bitterness.
Upon donning the glasses, her vision immediately came into focus. She gazed in minor fascination at what were obviously not her own quarters. The white plaster walls seemed a trifle yellowed with age, with water spots on the wall and ceiling over the one window. The window was small with long vertical blinds closed against the sunlight.
Directly across from her she could see a partially open closet full of clothes, with the door leading out next to and to the left of it. Near the door, a five-drawer chest of drawers was against the left wall. It had a lamp, large stereo, make-up case, and various knickknacks. Alongside it was a bookcase with four shelves teeming with books, along with stuffed animals piled on the top of it.
To the right of the closet was yet another bookcase, taller than the other, with still more books and more knickknacks on it. A huge stuffed toy was between it and the closet. In front of the bookcase near the desk was a tower of CDs.
Next to the bookcase stood the desk and chair, buried beneath a layer of clutter and a small desk lamp.
Integra reached over to turn the lamp on. Turning the knob on top of it, the light from the bulb cast a sort of blackness over the nearby clutter, changing white to luminescent blue and making everything seem as if it were glowing.
Noticing that the lamp would not give her the proper amount of light, Integra flipped the knob again, casting the room into semi-darkness once more.
What kind of person has a light like that? wondered Integra.
Remembering the closed blinds behind her, she turned around and leaned over the head of the bed, reaching for the bar that would open them.
With the sunlight streaming in, she turned and saw something that she had not acknowledged before- posters. Whoever resides in this room seems to be a little preoccupied with a certain topic. All Integra could see covering the walls were posters and what looked to be scrolls, all of which had drawings from some animated show or other.
The one that was closest to the head of the bed and the window was the one that took her completely by surprise. It was a drawing of her, Ceres, and Alucard, Alucard taking up a good two thirds of the space. Alucard was looking like his usual arrogant self, with his custom .454 Casull and Jackal and an IV bag. Ceres was her usual bubbly self, depicted with her Harconnen over her shoulder. Beneath Ceres and to the right of Alucard was a picture of Integra smoking one of her favorite cigars and with the least amount of space on the wall scroll.
"I am going to find out how this person has a drawing of us, and done poorly at that," said Integra darkly as she got up to go about looking for a change of clothes. For some reason she was dressed in a slightly worn T-shirt and tight-fitting black leggings. If I was asleep, then what am I doing in a bra still?
She shook off the thought and made the couple of steps to the chest of drawers and opened the top one and found lots of clean white cotton socks. Taking a pair, she closed that drawer and opened the next. Underwear. She took one of these too. Integra repeated this for the next couple of drawers, but found only more clutter.
Sighing heavily, she placed the garments she had found on the small bed and walked over to the closet. Looking through the clothing, she realized that this girl, for the owner of the room was obviously a girl, had nothing in the way of acceptable attire. All she had were clothing that Ceres would be comfortable when not on duty, denim pants and too many overlarge shirts. I guess denim and a shirt will have to do, she thought.
Picking out a pair of black jeans and a small white T-shirt with black trim, Integra changed into the clothes. It was then that she realized the pants had a sort of lace design in them from the hem to the knee, with little stylized holes in various places. The shirt had a little white thing on it with little arms and legs and a huge head with nothing but black spots for eyes and a mouth. To her chagrin, the shirt was a little too formfitting for her tastes but it wasn't worth the effort to change. Integra looked for a pair of shoes. In front of the large bookcase next to the CDs she found a pair of white tennis shoes with a set of three stripes on either side of each shoe.
What is it with this girl and stuffed animals? she wondered while putting the shoes on, for there were stuffed animals all over the room. Must be from childhood.
When Integra was finished, she realized that there wasn't a mirror to look into to see if she looked presentable. She shook her head. "How pathetic."
The doorway had an elephant-shaped thing sitting in the middle of it. On closer inspection, she realized that it was a toy box. Leaning over, she pulled the strange looking toy box into the room and her left elbow brushed against something. Glancing to the side, Integra noticed a red tassel dangling from the pommel of a sword, which was hanging on the doorknob. Returning her attention to the garish piece of furniture when what she had seen had finally sunk in.
"A sword? What kind of simpleton keeps a display sword on their doorknob?" Her voice was loud enough to be heard throughout the house. Turning again to the sword, she studied it. The scabbard and hilt had black enameling with dragon twining around each part. The pommel, hand guard, and end of the scabbard were brass. Partially drawing the blade, Integra inspected it and found that it wasn't sharp enough for fighting. The sword had a dragon etched into one side and a phoenix on the other, both near the hilt. It looked to be a sword of the type used in Tai chi. The only reasons I can see that this blade is dull is that the owner uses it for practice fighting or it's a display piece. More than likely, it's the latter.
Shaking her head slightly, she resumed pulling the elephant into the room to clear the doorway. After a couple of seconds, Integra had it in front of the closet, but as soon as the doorway was clear, a large furry creature sped toward an already irritated Integra, rubbing up on her leg.
Jumping a little at the unexpected animal at her leg, Integra peered at it. It turned out to be a rather rambunctious chocolate Labrador Retriever. It --no, she-- was wagging her tail and gazing up at her with the most expressive eyes she had ever seen in a dog, waiting to be paid attention to.
As she was leaning slightly to scratch the dog behind the ears, Integra heard voices... familiar voices. Forgetting the dog, Integra rushed down the stairs that were just ahead and to the right of the entrance to the bedroom she was occupying. Following the voices down the stairs, she walked into the large but cluttered living room and spied someone sitting in front of a large television set. The images on the screen were of that irritating Paladin, Alexander Anderson. The man in front of the set was speaking in a voice that was dripping with amusement, his timing equal with that of the dialogue. He sounded and looked much like him, at least from this angle, which wasn't very good, considering she could only see the back of his head and enough of his face that she could see the five o'clock shadow that framed his face. He was watching an animated show about…
"What in the bloody Hell is going on here???"
The person in front spun around in the office chair he was using to sit in and Integra noticed that he was not a man but a boy of about nineteen, surprise clouding his features to be quickly replaced by irritation. But she did not give him a chance to react before she was upon him, grasping him by the collar of his T-shirt and lifting him partially out of the chair.
"Is this some kind of sick joke?" Integra pointed to the screen. At this point, a cartoon version of her had shown up and ordered the insufferable priest out of her country. "You do realize that if you are going to attempt to hold me hostage, you will fail."
The boy's face darkened in anger. His long, slim fingers quickly came up and roughly removed Integra's hands from his shirt collar. "'Linn, what the fuck is wrong with you?" he growled. "Why the hell are you yelling at me? Just because Aaron calls you 'Integra' doesn't mean you have act like her!" He swiveled away from her and used a small black control connected by a cord to a black box, which effectively paused the images on the screen. The box connected to the television had what looked to be a DVD case with "Guilty Gear X" written on the cover.
"I do not know this Aaron that you speak of, nor do I wish to play into your little game. If you do not tell me what is going on, I will be forced to notify the proper authorities." She crossed her arms across her chest, every muscle displaying her displeasure. It's a good thing he took my Walther from me, he must know how I'm skilled it its use.
"Linn, you are starting to piss me off. Knock it off. You are not the leader of a secret organization that eliminates vampires." The boy's voice was getting louder and louder with every word he spat into her face. "You are my older sister who goes to the local college, hardly does enough work to stay in school, is an anime and RPG geek, and writes fanfics. You don't even own a gun, much less know how to fire one. You dressed up like her for Otakon this year- you even have the suit and the wig to prove it. But you are not an Englishwoman from London!"
She brought herself up to her full height and glared down at him. Granted, this near insufferable child was slightly taller than her but that didn't matter. What mattered was that he was insulting her intelligence and that was something that she would not tolerate. "I am Sir Integral Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, Knight and Leader of the Royal Order of Religious Knights. How dare you tell me tell me this rubbish! I do not know how or why I am being held prisoner here, but it will end now!"
The boy narrowed his eyes. "You are not an anime character. You are Aislinn Elisabeth McCormick. You live in Potomac, Maryland. In the United States of America. You go to the local community college." With every word he said, it sounded more and more like he was addressing a particularly stupid five year old. "Do I need to make it even more obvious that you aren't Integra? If you are so stuck in trying to get the act down that you've come to think you are her, why don't you go look in the mirror and find out for yourself."
Without another word, Integra stalked out of the room and into the small bathroom in the nearby hall. Switching the light on and looking into the mirror, the leader of the Hellsing Organization got a tremendous shock.
The person staring back at her... wasn't her.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Hey, all. I have to apologize for not updating sooner, but I was extremely sick over the past couple of months. I'm also taking this opportunity to give credit where its due to certain people. If this chapter seems a bit slow, hey, it's character development, people. ^_^ Hopefully, I can put elements from both the anime and the manga and do it properly...
Dionitor: Thank you for your inspiration. You are my (physical) muse. Just remember- it's all your fault. *grin* You also need to stop calling me Rip.... *squirts with water bottle.*
Tadiera: You and your cummerbunds...
Bored Child: No, I am not Integra. You and Dionitor need to stop calling me that... *wink*
And thank you, reviewers, for your support! I'll try to write a fun story for you guys. ^_^V