"Are you sure, Master? We can use it?" - Victoria looked at lady Hellsing's armoured Rolls-Royce with a doubtful frown. The car's massive body shone softly in front of the porch and Alucard leaned against its side leisurely.
"And why not? Integra will not go anywhere today - thanks to the flu. Walter has stuffed her with pills so our precious lady will sleep soundly till morning. I hope her mood will improve after that... - Alucard shook his head and tossed a key with Hellsing's emblem on the keychain to Victoria. - Get in. You'll drive."
"Eh... Maaaster... I've never driven such cars!" - whined the girl, slowly taking the Rolls out of the gates.
"So what? Enjoy your new experience then! - Alucard waved his hand to a gate guard with majestic air and went on, - Don't forget about momentum while driving, though. This vehicle is really heavy with all its armor and the full fuel tank."
"Uh-huh, I know... - Victoria fidgeted in her seat nervously and gripped the wheel tighter, - Where now, Master?"
"Walter asked me to run some errands in exchange for the car... Lemme see. - Alucard took a sheet of paper out of his inner pocket and unfolded it, - Our ex-angel of death is idling his time away with his old buddy Fergusson - gossiping about us, no doubt... A drugstore... A bank... Whoa! A new box of Integra's cigars! She smokes too much, I've told her many times to quit, but noooo... That stubborn girl never listens to elders' advices!"
"Well, let's start from the City then." - sighed Victoria, who knew that some banks closed earlier on Fridays.
After finishing almost all Walter's errands, the two came to the glasses shop at last. Alucard was greeted as an old customer there.
"The same as usual, sir?" - asked the chief salesman, taking out a package with so familiar to Victoria dark glasses, - How many?"
"A dozen, of course. Let's follow the tradition... Heh." - Alucard picked one pair out of the box and put it on his long nose immediately. Victoria snorted and walked up to a stand with women's accessories by the window. One of them caught her eye - a frameless pair of shades with rectangular glasses of a delicate shade of pink. She put them on and looked into a big mirror behind the counter.
"Not bad, really... - she turned her head and tried to look at herself from aside. - Those tales about vampires not reflecting in mirrors are just someone's sick imagination, what a relief! Don't know what I would have done if it'd happened to be true!"
"Pssst, lady! - a whisper snapped her out of her musings. A young fellow in a salesperson's uniform tried to attract her attention, glancing cautiously at Alucard's back, - Are you with him?"
"Y-yeah... So what?"
"Please, ma'am! For God's sake, tell me - what does he do with that sunglasses?! He buys them all the time - every month he comes here to purchase several damn pairs! It drives us crazy, but the chief banned us from asking our 'best customer' directly..."
"Errr... Um... - Victoria's mind was working at its full speed in order to concoct a believable answer for the curious salesman, - You see, he breaks them pretty often - at work, mostly... He's a little bit clumsy, I guess! Ah-ha-ha... "
"What kind of work could that be?!"
"Sorry, it's classified information... - the salesman looked suspicious like hell and the girl hurried to drive his attention away from her master's biography, - How much for this pair? I like it!"
"Ah, this? They suit you very well, miss... 200 pounds plus a tax."
"What?! For a mere pair of sunglasses?"
"Not mere - they are from the latest Gucci collection! We don't sell cheap stuff here, only the best brands!" - the guy looked insulted a bit.
"Eh... Well... No, thanks then." - Victoria put the glasses on the counter and left the shop to the salesman's utter disappointment. She stopped at the sidewalk and started to look for the key in her handbag, when suddenly a joyful cry, making a chill run down her spine, rang in the warm evening air.
The girl quickly turned and froze - her worst nightmare was closing by and it was too late to run.
Father Anderson was approaching quickly, donning his trademark insane smile. His right hand slipped under the trenchcoat, where an endless number of blessed blades seemed to dwell and maybe even breed.
"Thou cannot escape the vengeful hand of God almighty, foul creature!" - thundered the priest, making all the people in the street look at him. Victoria stepped back, suppressing a scream ready to burst out.
"Goodness, he has his hands again... They were chopped off completely! What kind of creature is he?" - she looked around, trying to decide what to do. The situation looked bad enough - without any weapons, in the middle of a crowded street… and her opponent wasn't the type of person who would care about innocent bystanders' lives...
"I will purify thee with our righteous methods!" - Iscariot agent's green eyes gleamed with fanaticism.
"Heh, you do sound like a detergent ad… Corny as usual, dumbass! - Alucard stepped out from behind Victoria's back and pushed a package with sunglasses into her hands. - Here. Hold it for awhile and stay back, police-girl."
"Alucarrrd!" - the priest gasped with hate. He leaped forward, pointing two swords into his sworn enemy's chest. The vampire dodged them gracefully.
"Too slow! Looks like your master didn't heal your wounded paws properly, dog! - another pirouette, followed by Alucard's laughter and Alexander's angry growl, - Guess, we should report pet abuse, huh, Victoria?" One of the blessed blades whistled quite close to the vampire's nose and he chuckled.
"No, I think I'd better put the poor thing out of its misery!" - the enormous black gun thundered several times and the middle part of Anderson's body exploded, splashing blood and pieces of flesh all around. The priest landed on his back and screamed, scratching the pavement with his fingers. Panicked cries of the people, witnessing the bloody encounter, echoed his voice.
"Rest in peace, priest." - Alucard shot the last round into the regenerator's forehead. The long body of the holy assassin twitched for the last time and became still. The silence, which fell after that, was almost deafening.
Victoria stood a few yards away, cradling the package in her arms. She glanced around just to see the street becoming deserted unbelievably quickly. Only one person didn't seem to be scared - a man was hurrying to the scene from the opposite side of the road. He wasn't old, but his long hair was completely grey. He ran up to the lifeless corpse, kneeled by it hastily and touched its still smoking forehead and chest. Shaking his head, he snatched a cell phone from a pocket and dialed a number.
"Buffonard! Send a car with several people to me at once! Yes, I'm still here... Prepare all required for the Ultimate Incantation procedure immediately. Brother Alexander will need it as soon as possible."
Folding the phone and hiding it back into the pocket, the man stood up and turned to the vampires.
"Hellsing's nosferatu again. - he almost spat these words in disgust, - Some day we'll erase even the memories of you from this world. Of you and your human masters!"
"Oh, glad to see you too, Maxwell. Long time no see... Can't say I missed you, though. - Alucard's smile was extremely malicious, - A tough day for you, Iscariots, huh?"
"Any hardships endured in the name of God are joy for us, true Christians. - said the Iscariots commander through clenched teeth, - We'll be repayed hundredfold for our loyalty in Heaven."
"If you say so, Mr. Masochist... Well, I'm always glad to make your life a little more joyful! - the vampire chuckled and bowed mockingly, - Sorry, but I don't have time to continue our theological dispute. Let's go, Victoria!" He grabbed the girl's hand and pulled her in the direction opposite to the one their car was parked in. The two quickly turned around the corner, hearing the wailing of police sirens coming closer.