Chapter 2
Disclaimer: I wish I owned Hellsing, Tipsy and Ghost are mine though – that didn't sound right, but anyway. Onto the story...
Pacing tightly, Integra looked over to the smug face of her pet. She sat down and folded her arms, puffing aggressively on her cigar. Finally, she stubbed it out and moved over to be face to face with the trouble maker.
"Bad cat, do you hear me?"
Tipsy blinked, her eyes becoming huge watery disks.
"Oh, I can't stay mad at you for long, just promise not to bring any more live mice in here, got that?"
"Am I disturbing something?" Arucard had appeared and he moved forward, the shadows seeming to attempt to pull him back as they clung to his coat. There was a bundle in his arms that looked so fragile now.
"I told you that Seras was to be the last, Arucard." Sir Integra picked up another cigar and lit it. "I want an explanation, now."
"You wanted to meet our secret little hunter." The vampire indicated the albino in his arms. Gently, he put him down in one of the chairs and made do with the table edge himself. "And there he is."
"Why did you turn him into a vampire, Arucard?" She sighed, too tired for these silly games. "Are you insane? What will happen when he comes round?"
The vampire smirked. "His body had a rot in it; he would have died during the night anyway. With or without the bullet in his gut."
She raised an eyebrow and looked over to the albino again. "I said at all costs Arucard, but I didn't mean this. You know vigilantes; they expect their gods to be waiting with open arms."
"He had hell in mind." Arucard moved off the table and over to the hunter, gently tipping the head back and exposing the bite. There was a groggy choke but Ghost was too deep in unconsciousness to come awake.
"Even so, we'll have more vampires than soldiers here if you-" Integra froze when the infected wound was revealed; the crude stitches being stretched because of so much poison.
The vampire removed his glove, revealing the brands on the back of his hands. Nipping his thumb, he let the blood well before smearing it over the wound. A pained choke was the only response.
"You have turned him, haven't you?"
"The rot is deep in his body, it will take an hour or so to fully vanish." Arucard picked the albino up again and he paused. "Any suggestions as to where I should put him?"
"Put him in one of the old cells, we'll get a coffin made when he wakes up." Integra shook her head then sighed. "I have to ask, Ghost? Does that have something to do with his appearance?"
"You can ask him later." The vampire sunk through the floor and down to the holding cells.
Angry snarls erupted whenever anyone went near the room. After three days, there seemed no hope of getting any sanity from the hunter. The sire had finally been called back in since he was the only one with a hold over the albino.
It wasn't precisely a pleasant sight. Arucard sighed heavily as he watched the destructive behaviour. There still seemed to be some humanity buried under all the rage and animosity controlling Ghost as he tended to direct his attacks on himself.
Growling, the albino sized up his new master and bared his fangs. In a sharp twist, he suddenly started clawing and biting at himself. A bowl of blood was knocked over; the congealed mess having gone previously untouched was suddenly of interest.
"Come on, over here." Arucard crouched down, keeping roughly at the same level as his new charge. A hiss was the only response he got. Annoyed, he swiftly caught the new vampire and pinned him tightly against him. With one hand, he produced a small blood bag and with the other, he forced the albino's mouth open.
There was the initial distaste, Ghost frantically trying not to swallow as he jerked, getting covered with stray blood in the process. Finally, the unnecessary impulse for air made him swallow and he settled down, drawing the blood with urgency, instincts overruling his humanity again.
Something caught the sire's attention and he looked over where the infected wound had been. It had healed to a simple white line that barely showed up on the pale skin of the albino. Resting over it, or under to be more technical, was a simple little rune. A square diamond had been cut into the flesh and then crossed through. It annoyed him, he knew that from somewhere.
Sighing, Arucard watched as the albino started tearing himself up again, the t-shirt preventing too much damage to the torso. The vampire looked at his gloved hands and paused, tracing over the symbols. If they could control his power, surely one could be made to control Ghosts animal side?
Slipping to the floor, he chuckled as the mild look of shock expressed by the albino. The last of the blood was then licked off before he snarled and lashed out at himself again.
It seemed like a reasonable idea, Integra had to admit. She had gotten Walter to do some research on the spell necessary. The vampire also appeared to be researching something in the library and, as she stroked the cat, Integra smiled. It wasn't the first time these past few days that she was actually quite glad of the albino. He certainly proved a good enough distraction, allowing her time to plot against the ancient vampire.
An annoyed growl brought her attention to said vampire and she raised an eyebrow, awaiting an explanation. Her book was put down as he showed her a piece of paper, an odd doodle on it.
"What is it?"
"I don't know." Arucard sat down and sighed. "I know it from somewhere, I just cant think." He shook his head.
"Let me see." Walter walked over, several books in his hands. After putting them down, he accepted the sheet and smiled. "It's a rune."
"Of?"
"Check the Wicca books."
Grumbling, the vampire skulked off to find that precise section of the vast library. Walter sat down and leafed through the top book silently.
"So what rune is it?"
"War, destruction and the like. I don't honestly know why Arucard is interested in it." The next book was started on and he sighed. "We can't give Ghost the same bind as Arucard; it's the wrong spell-"
"I found it!" The vampire came over and indicated the rune. "Its war."
"Very nice." The butler turned the page in his book and he paused. "Just why are you interested in that rune?"
"It's a tattoo that Ghost has." Arucard smirked. "I wonder why he has it."
"What kind of a tattoo?" Integra yawned, deciding to entertain the vampire.
"Old style, it' been cut. None of this needle business you people have now." The vampire shrugged and picked up a discarded book. He froze, flicking rapidly through the pages. "I've seen these before." More runes were indicated.
"Here we are." Walter had ignored most of the conversation and he indicated a combination of symbols. "Same sort of thing as yours." He showed the book to Arucard who took it.
"Then he will be bound to you as I am?"
"Yes." The butler nodded.
"And what of me? I am his master also."
Walter sighed, knowing that that was going to be brought up. "You have your control, just not as much as Integra would."
"When do we do this?" The woman leaned over, looking over the vampires shoulder to read the book. "It doesn't mention a specific day."
"Tomorrow then, we don't have the time tonight." Walter yawned and stood up. "I think that you both should retire to your quarters for the night." That said, he started to tidy up.
Arucard didn't actually need to sleep; he was far too old and powerful for that. Instead, he checked in on his police girl and noted that she was out cold. Deciding that his last remaining charge could be awake, he made his way down to the cellar and easily found the door.
The albino was curled down in the corner, slumbering like a dog. His sleep was light as he jerked awake, growling as he sensed someone at the door. Ghost paced tightly in a circle and snarled, annoyed.
Smirking, the sire came in and watched the aggressive display for a few moments. In truth, he was amazed at a lack of barks; certainly the howls had been loud enough to annoy most of those with supersensitive hearing. Kneeling down, Arucard let the bag of blood dangle from his fingers.
The complete lack of a response annoyed him and he caught Ghost, putting him in a tight hold. The thought occurred to him as to why he had never done this to Seras, true enough, she'd have hated him for it, but still.
An appreciative whine brought his attention back to the present and he noted that the hunter had nipped the bag that was only just in his reach and was lapping the blood with his long tongue. Ghost paused, looking up at his sire before a drop splashed on his nose, bringing his attention back to his dinner.
Chuckling softly, the ancient vampire dropped the bag down a little, then pulled it up out of reach. He gained a growl for the bother and Ghost twisted, trying to get the blood packet. With a sharp snap, he caught it and squirmed out of his master's grasp, moving away to finish it in peace.
"You've got a big day tomorrow." Arucard smiled hopefully, waiting for some form of a response. He didn't want to have his charge bound like he was to this infernal house. "Come on, just say one word."
Snarling and completely ignoring his sire, the albino hurled the remainder of the bag aside and hit his head against the wall before clawing it. After a moment, he turned on himself and the vicious behaviour did nothing to ease the other vampires mind.
It annoyed Arucard suddenly, he had never heard of this happening before. The blood seemed to have made this man, an honourable one too, some sort of an animal, more canine than human. He frowned, was it this kind of vampire who stemmed to the start of the werewolf myths – it certainly seemed so. His mind jerked back to the present as a howl echoed off the walls.
"Ghost, stop that!" Arucard snapped.
Another howl ricocheted off the walls, its owner lashing at the walls again.
"I told you to stop that – now!"
It was silent all of a sudden, the albino frowned then yawned. He pathetically whimpered as he passed the congealing remains of his dinner on his way to his corner. The door slammed shut and he tossed his head back and howled again.
Ghost stirred slowly. He cradled his head with what was possibly the worst hangover in history. The thought was tossed aside when he remembered that he had been through worse, nothing could beat the mental pain he had been through in his past. Something was licking him.
Uncurling slightly, he looked down at the impossibly fluffy black and white cat. It meowed and nuzzled his bare chest. The albino jerked up suddenly, where was his shirt? A chuckle made him look up and he saw four people, two women and two men – well, even he could see that one of each sex was a vampire, so that made one man and woman.
Arucard smiled smugly and leant against the wall, watching curiously as the hunter desperately looked for his shirt. None of them had really had the chance to look over the scars and other crude marks that covered the albino's torso. His t-shirt was finally pulled on.
Stepping forward, Integra managed a smile. Ghost looked completely terrified, moving into the nearest corner as quickly as he could. She crouched down and noted that everyone had already done that, getting on the same level as the hunter.
Nervously, Ghost licked his lips and came across fangs and the taste of blood. The very thought made his stomach churn and he twisted sharply, his stomach emptying itself. He was shocked to see more blood and that dark chuckle made him look up at the vampire again.
"What did you do to me?" The albino asked, dropping down and leaning against the wall, ignoring the urge to kill. He noticed the smiles all round and frowned. "What?" Without thinking, he scratched the back of his hands.
"Arucard, you have some explaining to do for him." The woman smiled, her hair long and almost white, almost.
Just how long had he been here? Ghost frowned as he noticed that his arm had healed, the rune whole again. The cat was rubbing its head against his knee and he tried to push it away. His stomach heaved again and he only just managed to get the same spot.
"Do you remember saying that you wanted to kill me?"
"Still do." Ghost scratched his hands then froze, noting that somehow he had black fingerless leather gloves, an intricate symbol on the back of them. He could spot several familiar runes on it too. Cautiously, he pulled one off and saw an identical mark branded on the back of his hand.
"It's a binding spell." The sire chuckled as the albino leapt away having not heard him come over. "See?" Arucard expertly removed one of his gloves to reveal his mark and the matching brand. "They use silver."
"Silver?" Ghost ran his tongue over his teeth, feeling the fangs again. Cautiously, he traced his hand over his neck, feeling for a fresh bite or something. The biggest clue to what he was occurred as, alongside a light curse, the female vampire nipped the finger she'd been chewing.
It was the first time that Ghost had taken her appearance in. She was young with short blonde hair and was pretty well endowed. Everything inside him churned, desperate for just a little taste of the blood she was carelessly splashing. The impulse was pushed down but had already been noticed by Arucard.
"It takes a while to get used to." He chuckled. "But you're strong, even for a vampire." The sire was slightly shocked as he grabbed by the lapels of his infamous red jacket and pushed against the wall.
"Vampire? Is this some sick cult of yours? Kill a few and become one?" Ghost let go and tried to control his rapidly sparking temper. He ended up hitting the wall and snarling.
"Power restriction complete, remove all rage." Integra smiled as he instantly calmed down, the runes on his hands burning.
Ghost, shocked, looked at them. "What the..."
"You're bound, as I am. Sir Integra is your master now, as am I."
Walter snorted and smiled as the albino trained his eyes on him. He indicated himself. "Hello, my name's Walter."
"Ghost." He replied, unsure and desperate to get away from the vampire.
"Is that your real name?" Seras grinned.
The hunters face fell and then he just smiled. "It's the only name you need to know." Looking around, he noticed that the room was in quite a state.
Taking note of the observations, Integra smiled. "You've caused a fair bit of damage these last few days."
"Days?" The albino frowned.
"You don't know?"
"Know what?" Ghost growled deeply and snarled as his hands burned again, resetting his temper.
"You've been acting no better than a cur, that's what." Arucard stood up and smirked, seemingly finding something funny. "If you need me, or a walk, just call master." He vanished into the shadows.
No amount of magic was going to control the hunters rage at that comment and he snarled angrily before looking over at the shocked humans, the other vampire having scattered. "Whatever you did to me, stop it. If it takes a bullet to the head, then aim true."
Walter looked sadly around his kitchen, it was not the most pleasant of experiences to realise that one of your newest charges despised himself so much that a suicide watch was called for.
He looked down at his feet as Tipsy mewed, pawing his trousers with her front left paw which was white. Obediently, he picked up the ball of fluff and expertly tied on his favourite apron with the white lace around him one handed.
Mewling away, Tipsy jumped onto the work top and pawed at the radio which Walter turned on for her. Immediately she started to paw at the dial.
"What will it be today Tips old girl? Classical? Pop? Or rock and roll?" Slowly, he started turning the dial until the cat found a radio station that pleased her. His hands were brutally swiped just as some good old fashioned power rock started blasting from it. Jumping, the butler turned it down a little.
With an expert flick of the paw, Tipsy had it back up and started to bob her little round apple head.
Walter stared for a moment then shrugged. "When in Rome do as the Romans do, or in my case, when Tips has taken over the kitchen, do as Tips does." He started to bob his head slightly.
"Get the air guitars out." Ghost grumbled bitterly as he came in, dropping down on a convenient chair. His glance at all the lovely sharp cutlery didn't go unnoticed.
However, Walter felt sure that Tips trying to do the air guitar was distracting enough even for a deranged psychopath. The butler paused to watch Ghost pick up the kitten and to carefully lead its paws up and down as if it really was playing a guitar.
Chuckling, the albino watched for a few moments. Tipsy sat down, wanting a demonstration to make sure she was getting the paw swiping part right. After a moment of concentrated staring, Ghost sighed and stood up.
"You might as well watch, Walter. Pick up a few tips for some actual head bopping." Shaking his head, he muttered something along the lines of, 'it's been years since I did this' before he completely loosened up and started strumming his invisible guitar. A large air guitar solo erupted from the radio and that was it for all sanity and reason. He jumped around, spinning in circles and bopping his head as if there was no tomorrow.
Walter edged over to Tipsy, who was gawping, little green eyes wide. "I agree Tips."
The song finished with a crash of drums and, since he had already gone beyond redemption in the embarrassment stakes, Ghost finished with a skid on his knees. It ended, he stood up and sat down heavily again, looking for all the word as though that had just not happened.
Tipsy mewed loudly and tapped the radio, turning the volume up again as another song came on, this time she jumped onto her hind legs and started hopping about, madly bopping her head and swinging her paws.
The butler slowly edged towards the hunter who was in hysterics. Ghost looked up, a dark glint in his bright red eyes.
"We both did it, old man."
Integra was in desperate need for a cup of Jasmine tea and a cigar. The place to find the tea was in the kitchen since she miraculously couldn't get a hold of Walter, the first time he had ever failed to come at so much of a thought for his services.
Clicking the clip of the bullets into her gun, she kicked open the kitchen door and froze at the sight of her respectable, indispensable, level headed, never changing and direly boring butler learning the air guitar, how to bop your head and also how to gyrate his hips.
"Come on, you've got to strum at the crotch, have you ever seen a guitar that high before?" The albino sighed. "Look at Tipsy, she's a natural."
The butler sighed himself and this time, as the air guitar solo came blaring on, he threw himself into it. At the same time, Ghost was showing off just how loose his hips were and he froze, his pale skin burning red.
Tipsy was the next to pause, almost guiltily dropping to her paws. Both convicts looked at the butler who grinned triumphantly.
"See, I told you this...old...dog..." He tailed off, cleared his throat and smiled. "Sir Integra, anything I can do for you?"
"An explanation would be nice, Walter." Coyly, she added the wish for another demonstration of hip wiggling off the albino. His head jerked up and he looked about surprised.
"Did you say that you wanted me-?"
"No."
"I'm positive that you just said that you wanted -"
"No."
"Are you sure you didn't -"
"Positive, now Walter, an explanation?"
"Ghost was teaching Tipsy to 'air guitar' and then insisted that I participate so that our feline wasn't embarrassed." This was said with a perfectly straight face, not a hint of colour in his cheeks.
"Indeed." Sir Integra raised her eyebrows before turning to the newest vampire in the Hellsing Organisation. "And you were doing this because...?"
"Walter here was letting Tipsy choose the station and she wanted rock but didn't know how to dance to it."
"And you did this Walter because...?"
"Tipsy gets a little tense; it's good for her to chill out."
The woman raised her eyebrows even higher. "I thought Tipsy was bought to relieve our stress, I didn't realise you were hired to relieve hers."
Slowly, the albino attempted to edge away and he froze, positive this time about the reference made to his hip wiggling. "Excuse me?"
"Yes?"
"If you want a demonstration, I'm here all eternity, or until you get that cure anyway." He shrugged and smiled slowly as another rock ballad started, Tipsy started to bob her head conspicuously. Walter started to tap his foot.
Sighing, Integra decided to grab her tea and watch the show from a good seat – namely the one that the albino was sitting in. At the second that thought occurred, Ghost jumped off the seat and offered it. Deciding that she needed to inform Arucard of this development, she accepted the seat.
When the song was in full swing, the cat giving all she had and the hunter laughing, going along much the same lines, Walter sat down next to the woman and smiled sweetly.
"Sir Integra?"
"What?" She didn't take her eyes off the pair and smiled as Ghost scooped up the cat and put her on his shoulders. A moment later, the cat was bobbing away with some serious hip action had started from the albino.
"Can we not inform Arucard of this development?"
"Would I do such a thing Walter?"
The butler decided not to answer that question and wisely went to fetch her Jasmine tea and cigar.
She sat quietly enough, puffing on her cigar in her dark room lit only by the light coming off the screen of the laptop in front of her. As she had expected, Arucard slunk out of the shadows to disturb her deep thinking to annoy her.
"Arucard."
"Yes master?"
"This young pet of yours."
The vampire folded his arms and smirked. "I didn't have anything to do with Tipsy, that black and white ball of demonic fluff."
"I was referring to Ghost."
"Oh." The vampire visibly deflated.
Sir Integra lit up a cigar and sat back, exhaling the smoke slowly. "He's developed telepathic abilities already and hasn't quite realised yet, why haven't you explained this to him?"
"Well..."
"You thought it would be funny to let that poor soul have no idea that what he thought he was hearing was actually my thoughts? It nearly got very embarrassing." She sighed and sat forward again. "If that's the case, it's cruel. He hates what he is enough without him believing that he's crazy."
"I didn't know."
"Sure, and pigs fly."
"Then they fly, master. His mind is closed, it always has been. I thought it would open to me once I became his master, it hasn't." Arucard huffily sat back and folded his arms.
The woman smiled, suddenly finding this idea quite a good one. It provided someone in this house whose stray thoughts wouldn't cause her any embarrassment. Not a bad idea at all... "Then keep a better eye on him." She scolded.
"Yes, master." The vampire dropped through the floor.
It was highly awkward. Ghost was more than zealous in avoiding his sire, meaning that he was proving hard to catch in the same room as for more than ten minutes. Arucard finally caught up with him quite early in the new day, when sleep had forced the hunter to stop running.
The albino was curled up on the floor having dragged the light sheet from his brand new coffin. Tipsy had found her way to him, curling up against his exposed chest under the sheets, her tail being the only giveaway as it protruded from the covers.
Arucard smiled and walked over, jumping slightly when the fledgling jerked awake, scrabbling back a few paces. Panting, he looked around and focused on the vampire, a deep growl rumbling in his throat.
"Get out." The command seemed almost metallic there was so much canine ferocity to it. The albino bared his fangs, annoyed that his slumber had been disturbed by this monster.
"We need to talk-"
"The day I talk to you we'll be in neighbouring pits in hell, now get out." Ghost angrily snarled and bared his fangs again.
The ancient vampire had to admit that he was impressed with the display, even though most of it was probably unintentional. Arucard sat down on the coffin and watched, seeing how quickly control would be lost.
The answer was quite simply; not very long. After being commanded back into sanity, Ghost sat against the wall in silence. The sire smiled again, a rare gesture he was using a lot recently; he had to admit to a certain pride-
"Stop it!" The albino snarled.
"That's what I was wishing to speak to you about." Arucard smirked, taking some pleasure in the confusion. "You see, there are times in ones life when, upon meeting another-"
The hunters face had gone completely slack before he burst out laughing.
"What?"
"How to say this without being crude?" Ghost smiled sadly for the briefest of moments. "I've had more than my share fair of experience."
Arucard frowned, what was this idiot talking about? It clicked. "No! Not that!"
"I have a plaque with my name on it in the gutter; please tell me what you meant because I hope to whatever god we prey to that we're on totally different rails."
"Very much so." The sire cleared his throat. "It's about your telepathy..."
"It's elementary, my dear Tipsy." The albino chuckled on his hands. He had finally found a use for the coffin and that was as a sofa of sorts. The albino was currently lying flat on his stomach with his chin on his folded arms.
The responding smile sounded suspiciously like a 'and do tell?' The feline actually chuckled as she rested, her body tucked up under her and she had her head on her paws. Their noses were only inches apart.
"You deal with Arucard and I'll see to Integra. About fifteen minutes should do it, are you up for the challenge?"
Tipsy sat up and put a paw to her forehead, her tiny chest puffed up.
"Then god speed." He playfully saluted the cat and watched her dash off. Whether or not this would work was beyond him, but Arucard needed taking down a peg or two in his opinion. No one threw innuendos around like that and got away with it. Getting to his feet, he pulled on the same shirt he had been wearing for several days now and paused, he should probably ask for some clean stuff.
Integra raised an eyebrow as her newest servant entered. The albino sat down and waited patiently to be asked to speak. After a moment, he got tired of waiting and got straight to the first of two points.
"I presume that you want me to be respectable?"
"Of course." The Hellsing leader frowned.
"Well, you see, I've been told that I was out of it for a while and..." He tugged his shirt before sheepishly smiling. It was a smile he had perfected years ago and he was glad to see that it still had the exact same effect.
"I don't know what I've been thinking." She shook her head. "You can go down to the stores and get yourself some things." Integra paused at his downcast look. "Is anything wrong?"
"Nothing, I was just hoping to go to my flat, pick some stuff up from there."
"I think I can arrange that, Seras could probably do with the walk."
He nodded, having expected nothing less, it just made his plan sweeter. "It's quite far out." Again that sheepish little smile, perfect under the stray strands from his punkish mane that once reflected a lions but now more resembled a wolfs.
"I'll get Walter to drive you both then." She stood up and paused, realising who that would leave her alone with. A gentle chuckle made her look at the albino who raised his hands defensively.
"I'm trying, I've got a...how did he put it?" Ghost frowned then smiled. "Its like a dog, it wont let you in its kennel but your happy to, err, defecate in someone else's garden."
"Charming."
"His words, not mine. But, if you're interested, I have an idea..."
It had somewhat saddened the albino when he arrived at his old flat. He was tempted to refuse to leave, to just stay put. But it was a useless idea and so, he packed his few belongings into two or three rucksacks, disheartened to hear the hushed comments about the place.
Pausing, he glanced about before picking up tiny box which was tucked into the bottom of his bag. Ghost sighed as he heard Seras comment again about how cold the place seemed and Walters simple reply that perhaps he was about to move on hurt him all the more.
Pulling on a fake smile, he came through to the main room and indicated the door, signalling that it was time to go. In silence, they got back into the car and for once, that silence was truly comforting to the hunter and he smiled properly. Things were about to be utter chaos when they got back.
"It was awful!" Arucard paced about the small room that the albino had just been transferred to. The coffin sat lonely in the corner as Ghost, now in clean clothes, unpacked slowly.
"And what happened that was so truly awful?" He yawned, unwittingly baring his fangs in the process. "Cant you tell Seras?"
"She's conspiring with master, I just know it."
Dutifully and desperately repressing laughter, the albino nodded. "Women are all alike, even the undead ones."
"Precisely!" The sire leaned against the coffin. "But I'll tell you what she did first. To start with, she had her hair up, this tiny black velvet chocker around her neck that had a red stone in it..."
Was this guy obsessed? He'd told Integra to glam up a little, but this was a little too detailed. After being told about the different perfume, Arucard finally started on what had gotten him so distressed.
"...so I sit down as I'm told to. Then," here he paused, trying to word this properly after the last batch of innuendos, "then she tells me to come with her to the kitchen, which I do. And she starts cooking something..."
Reheated roasted steak with vegetables. Ghost nodded, so far all the check points had been made. He tuned back in after being told about the various smells in the kitchen.
"So she sits down and its candle light for two, isn't it? Then master leans forward, smiling seductively at me..."
Only to catch his annoying little cravat and send him face first into the gravy and peas. The hunter chuckled, that experience had put him off ties for life. Then came the next part.
Arucard was now sitting on the coffin. "She apologises, didn't know what came over her..."
And the idiot was more than willing to forget it after a cross of the legs flashed a hint of thigh, maybe a little garter. Oh yes, his female master had pulled in every detail for this one.
"And as she wipes my face off with a napkin, with little seductive strokes..."
And a good look down that low cut top no doubt.
"She goes and grabs my hat and shoves my face into the gravy again then dumps a glass of water on top of my head!"
Perfect, his master had done successfully well. Flicking out his blanket, Ghost smiled before snuggling down on the floor, lifting the corner to allow a certain four legged fiend in.
"And that cat, was stalking me all night." Arucard shook his head then grinned manically, moving over to sit next to the suddenly nervous hunter. "Revenge time, any ideas?"
Oh, Ghost had more than a few. Now that he thought about it, what was his little plot of revenge to that particular stunt? His chuckle caught his sire's attention.
"Well?"
"But, our..." God, he hated this word, "master," that definitely sounded far too forced, "really wont like it."
"And I like getting my head dunked in gravy? As your master, I command you to plot against our master." Arucard smirked.
"Will you let me sleep in peace if I do?"
"Of course."
Sighing, Ghost rolled onto his back. "What you should do is get some nice flowers, I don't know if they do a night service here, but flowers are essential to this one..."
She was suspicious. Sir Integra, Knight and leader of the Hellsing Organisation was warily looking at the bouquet of flowers that had been delivered for her. The note said it was from Arucard, but the clashing choices of anything red and yellow was an obvious giveaway from the start. There was some interesting greenery in it though, quite fancy and a little bit like ivy...
Dashing to her medicine cupboard, she decided that she was going to shoot that vampire with all the bullets she could in a certain region of his anatomy. Grabbing her bottle of lotion designed specifically for stings, bees and the poison ivy sort, she liberally squirted some in her hand, applying it to her nose.
It sounded stupid but Integra admitted to sniffing the flowers. Now she had a nose fill of poison ivy stings and the lotion seemed a little thick and sticky. Realisation dawned on her and she cursed Arucard some more, grabbing the soap and scrubbing her face with it, trying to remove the honey.
The scream was heard thought the entire building and Walter dashed in, breathless after more dancing lessons from the cat and the albino. He stalled, waiting to be informed what had caused the woman to become to angry.
Removing her towel, Integra revealed her face to be completely covered in ink. Growling, she mumbled something about slaughtering Arucard after first speaking with a certain newly fledged vampire.
"Stay still." Ghost sighed, trying to hold Integra still as he dabbed at the ink on her face. The butler had run out of ideas as to how to remove it so the challenge was now left to the albino who, suspiciously enough, knew how to get it off.
"I'm trying." She mumbled, his large hands having held her face in such a way that her jaw was somewhat fused shut. The towel was dabbed on her again before a new part was selected, the procedure starting again.
He smiled slowly at her, sharp fangs catching the light making him look as innocent as Puck on a midsummer night. "Are any other of my services required, master?"
"Yes!"
"Now what I have planned is a simple thing really, but guaranteed to work." He paused, noting Walter who was watching them.
The man raised his eyebrows but kept firmly quiet.
"We'll need Tipsy, and a very large brush."
Once again, Ghost was being prevented from sleep. Moaning irritably, he curled up tighter on the floor and tried to ignore Arucard who was physically shaking him in order to get his attention. There was a distinct hairiness to him.
"She's done it again." He sat down, knowing that the albino was listening. "Ever heard of tarred and feathered? I've been honeyed and furred – with real fur!"
Grumbling, the hunter sat up and sleepily pushed his hair off his face. It was three in the afternoon; didn't this guy have any manners? Something unintelligible was muttered and he received a light hit to the head.
"Speak clearly. I need every detail."
"I said was it syrup or honey? I don't like honey unless it's in tea..." Ghost tailed off, focusing properly on the vampire. "Get your own idea; I'm getting out of this."
"Just one more idea." Arucard smirked at the weakening resolve. The albino was worse than the devil with his games.
"One last one, then sleep?"
"Of course." The sire nodded then frowned as the hunter flopped down. "You tell me first, then you sleep."
"I knew that. Ok, what's her favourite film?"
With ease, Arucard listed her top five and noticed that he was being gawked at.
"Weird."
"That's rich coming from someone who's trying teaching the cat to dance."
"Tipsy?" A light whistle brought the cat in from outside and Ghost smiled. Clearing his throat, he worked his way through a rough guitar solo and laughed at the instant dancing. "You were saying?"
"Ok, that's rich from someone who's taught the cat to dance."
"I thank you, now, get...um..." What did he do when he had had all that dog hair dumped on him? "You'll need a tub of hot water, and soap."
"To bathe the master?"
"No, yourself – you stink. After that, you'll need to get..."
This was great. Seras skipped into the small private entertainment room she wasn't supposed to know about. It appeared, from the presence of an utterly fantastic chick flick sitting on the DVD player, and a family sized bottle of cola as well as a huge bucket of popcorn, that Sir Integra was going to have a quiet night in.
She dropped down onto the sofa and looked for the remote which she couldn't find, rooting around the couch she froze only when she heard the door open.
"Seras, why are you in here?"
What to say? "I was asked to keep you company, sir Integra."
"By?"
"Walter."
Integra sighed and looked at the popcorn, cola and her favourite chick flick DVD which was a major secret since she always commented loudly that she liked adventure or horror. Oh joy of joys. "Very well, put it on." She sat down primly and picked up the popcorn.
The vampire pressed play on the DVD player and sat down to watch the trailers and to pour out two glasses of Pepsi which she started to drink.
The scene was unfolding to the girl meeting boy part when it jumped, replaced by something else entirely. Something that was most unsuited for the 12 rating, more like X-rated.
Both women leapt to their feet to turn it off and collided together, Integra hit the off button and they both let out a sigh of relief that no one had seen that.
"I can't believe Walter would do that. Arucard!"
"Sir Integra," Seras stuck her tongue out and started to fan it, "hot!"
"What do you – ahh!" They bolted over to the cola, sloshed half of it onto the floor and then managed to guzzle it before realising that the burning was growing worse. "It's in the cola!"
The women paused and looked at each other, their eyes narrowing as they both turned to the door. "Ghost!"
The vampire yawned and petted the kitten in his laps fur as he listened to the two women recount their happenings. He noted that the DVD was left out but didn't mention that of course.
Yawning again, he sluggishly looked at the time. It was ages until night break, why was he even up? Why was Seras... oh no. Now he had two females against one master. Actually, things could get pretty interesting...
"Well?" Integra asked abruptly.
"I can't believe he'd do that."
"I know – it's against human – and vampire – rights!" Seras announced.
"Utterly terrible."
"He needs to suffer the consequences greatly." Integra declared.
"I mean, all that food gone to waste."
"We should – sorry?" Both women glared at him.
Ghost gulped. "Sorry, I'm half asleep and I was rather fond of popcorn when I was mortal – that cure would be handy any time soon, master."
"Cure?" Seras asked, wrinkling her nose.
"Yes, against my vampirism."
"But, well, there isn't one Ghost." Seras shrugged. "Now, how to have our revenge?"
The pale vampire recovered his wits quickly and swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat. "No more, I'm done with plots."
They looked at him.
"No!"
They continued to look at him.
"No! Never, ever!"
There lower lips started to tremble.
"Fine – last time!" He sighed. "Since master doesn't know your involved Seras, we have a very new interesting angle. Ok, you need to find your best...push up bra and..."
Ghost was aware that his head was hitting the floor repeatedly. "Go away..." he mumbled and swiped at the causer of his annoyance. It refused to let go. "Let me sleep...five more minutes..." The battering stopped and he curled up into a tight ball inside his blanket.
"Wake up or the kitten gets it."
The albino was sitting bolt upright, Tipsy had actually attached herself to his chest. He tried to remove the feline, uncomfortable without a shirt on. The cat refused to move so he pulled the sheet over his shoulders. "What now?"
"Sit down and prepare yourself."
"I'm already sitting down." Ghost smiled as the vampire deflated.
Arucard waved a hand. "Details, details. Ok, I need to tell you something utterly terrible."
"You're getting a vacation?"
"That sounded almost hopeful." He shook his black haired head. "Anyway, I was just minding my own business, mixing up the spices in the kitchen when Seras walks in. As you know, she's very well endowed but tonight she was...really well endowed."
Of course, she must have taken the bra thing seriously. Could you get push up bras for her size? Ghost shivered at the thought of such a health risk.
"So I ask her what she's up to, why she's dressed in a little black number with a split all the way up the leg and pretty much every millimetre of her throat exposed. She laughs and jokes away saying that I couldn't have forgotten her death day, could I have?"
Of course he would have, it was in a week. It puzzled the albino, he was sure he said birthday but never mind, vampires would be vampires.
"So I go along with it, not to upset her of course because she gets very...dangerous when she's upset. You have seen the Hell cannon?"
Ghost nodded sleepily.
"So I go along to a little meal all nicely prepared by Walter – blood with spices I tell you, odd. But anyway, we're drinking away and she excuses herself. You won't believe what happened next."
Of course he would.
"Those scheming women dumped an entire bucket of flamingo pink paint on me!"
Ghost choked. "Pink?" It was supposed to be orange...
"Everyone's against me!"
How true those words were.
"I need a plan."
He'd been waiting for that. "Master," that still felt so odd, "I told you last time would be the last and you promised you'd let me sleep." That said, he turned and curled up again with Tipsy safely against him.
"Please!"
Well... "There is one thing you could do."
Arucard smirked. "I'm listening."
"Ok, I need you to get me a rare T-bone steak, some kitty kibble and..."
Walter was furious – how had this happened! The butler looked in despair at his carefully prepared dish of macaroni cheese which now had a lump of kitty kibble in it. Worse still, Sir Integra's T-bone steak also had kitty kibble on it and a certain feline was sitting on it as she munched away contently.
"You'll get fat." He warned her and turned on the radio, the kitten decided on a softer music today – heavy metal. "The youth of today, I'll never know."
Just then, Arucard entered and froze at the sight of the ruined macaroni and steak. That wasn't supposed to have happened at all, he was to place the kitty kibble into the cereal and the T-bone steak was to be switched with the other T-bone steak (rare as a cow) and lastly, the red wine was to be replaced with alcohol free. Looks like it had stopped at kitty kibble switching.
"Arucard, would you care to explain why my muesli has kitty kibble in it?" Walter asked suspiciously. "I was so surprised, I put the box on the side and a certain feline knocked it everywhere."
Oddly, Tipsy puffed out her chest in pride.
The vampire looked around him then sighed. "I was getting a little revenge back at Seras and master; only I seem to have made a mix-up somewhere."
"You should get Ghost's advice on plotting, he's very good at it too, you are the result often enough. Tell me, what detergent did you use to rid yourself of that vile paint? I haven't quite managed to get it out the carpet just yet."
"That scheming little...albino rabbit!" Arucard folded his arms, seething. "Right, I need to talk to master about him."
"He is your charge." The butler smothered the urge to smile, so it seemed they had a little prankster.
"I don't want to deal with him; me and master are planning on tricking him!"
Ghost wasn't in the mood. It was a reasonable time and, fresh from the shower, he felt quite refreshed after a night hunting down freaks. For some reason, he had been told to go to his Integra's office and was more than a little suspicious.
Going in, the albino sat down lightly on the chair and tried to stop his eyes popping out of his head. My, his master scrubbed up good. Integra batted her long eyelashes and crossed her long legs, revealing a lot of thigh and a garter.
A garter? That sounded a little cliché. He smiled, sitting back and deciding to play dumb until he was asked to go to through to the bathroom.
"You know, I've been thinking lately." She smiled seductively, leaning forward slightly to allow him a lovely view down her top. He coughed and averted his eyes.
"Master? What's got into you?"
Skirting over, she sat down on his knee and smiled, tracing his jaw line. Integra was surprised when he abruptly stood up, clearly nervous.
"Look, tell Arucard to get out of the bathroom, I've already showered. Honey in my hair is impossible. Seras can go and put away the feathers and I'm sorry, but navy blue and black really clash." That said, he bolted out of the room.
"That was a bit of a disappointment." The sire appeared from the bathroom door, a vat of industrial honey in his hands.
"You're telling me that?" Seras put down the bag of feathers and put her hands on her hips. "He really freaked out, didn't he?"
"I think my advances were unwelcome."
Seras frowned and rested her chin on one hand. "He's right though about the colours, they do clash."
"Police girl, you're not helping..."
Walter wondered how he had gotten involved in this madness. Oh yes, it had something to do about taking Tips on an early trip to kitty heaven. Now he was currently trying to find a radio station for the cat and smiled as the ballad rock was chosen again.
As if on cue, Ghost entered and started to give them both air guitar lessons, again. There was something quite difficult in learning the air guitar and it annoyed the butler severely that little Tips had mastered it and that she was on to happy raver dancing.
Some cats just get it all.
Now that he thought about it, shouldn't the albino have been getting tortured at the moment? He did look a little spooked. The butler paused, waiting for the song to finish before enquiring.
"It didn't work." The hunter stopped and smiled having picked up the thought. "And shame on you, old man, for even thinking about trying to out trick the trickster. It'd be like trying to be a better hobgoblin than Puck."
Some happy raver music came on, the pulsing beat immediately had Tips doing the 'snowball' which involved waving her left paw twice, tapping her paws together twice, the waving her right paw twice and then taping them together again. Over and over as she bobbed her head and wiggled her little bum.
"Then may I enquire as to why you look so nervous?"
"It's the bucket of water balancing precariously on the door next to your table of marvellously prepared chocolate chip cookies." Ghost smiled then yawned theatrically. "It's been a long night; I came for my hot water bottle."
"You have a hot water bottle?"
"Come on Tipsy." He let the cat jump into his arms and he smiled, turning to leave, slipping through the door so as not to disturb the bucket.
Shaking his head, Walter attempted some air guitar practice but it was cut abruptly short as he bumped into the door in his haste and watched rather dismayed as Sir Integra, Arucard and Seras (in a white T-shirt) where soaked to the bone. "Oh dear."
"He planned that!" Arucard sat down. "I'm going to have words with him."
"Then go."
"Once I get my nerves back, master."
He was shaking like a leaf. Ghost sat down heavily on the floor and let the cat curl up against him. What was wrong with him? After...nearly three years? And he still wasn't over it all. He only had to look in the mirror to be reminded. He snorted, since he now didn't reflect, that problem was solved.
The albino let out a deep breath, trying to control his thoughts. After a moment, he stood up (gaining some indignant meows) and moved over to his small chest of drawers. Searching through the top one, he produced his wallet and opened it, smiling sadly. The door opened and he hastily shoved the article in his back pocket.
Arucard raised an eyebrow and sat down on the unused coffin, the hunter still refusing to use it as he still refused blood. The sire held out his hand and smirked.
"Hand it over, Ghost."
The albino stood stalk still and he watched as the vampire grew impatient before marching over to him. Carefully, he removed the wallet and just waved it slightly. "It's a wallet, nothing more."
"Give." Arucard took it and opened the thing, puzzled to find it void of money or anything really except for some photos. Oh, the photos.
"That's Jill." He smiled sadly, indicating the fiery red head in the first photo slip. "All the stuff I've been getting you to do, it was something we used to do together."
"Uh huh?" Cautiously, the photo was flicked over to reveal the same woman, this time holding a small girl with crystal blue eyes.
"And that's Amy, she wasn't planned really, I was still in service." The albino smiled, lost in memories. "We were going to get married, a winter wedding of course because of my skin but Jill loved the snow, just like little Amy...did."
"Did?"
"Vampires."
Arucard sat down on the coffin again, dragging the hunter next to him. "They were killed by vampires then?"
"Sort of."
"Sort of?"
"The car crash killed them, I survived that. Yeah for me. What's the prize? Six months being a pet."
"So how did the vampires kill them?"
Ghost snorted. "They ran out on the road, we thought someone was being murdered or something. I braked, the car skidded and then I woke up in chains."
"Chains?"
"About two years ago, the vampires had a game were they kept humans, alive, for parties. Exchange stories, 'oh yes, this is a fine taste, albino is so rare these days, don't you think?'" He paused. "Then they were killed off."
"That's good."
"By you."
"Did I?"
"You then took a nibble on the guy in chains."
Arucard shifted his weight. "Well..."
"I was that guy."
He cringed.
Ghost stood up, picked up the little kitten and took his wallet back. "Later, master." The word sounded like a curse, something vile and distasteful. Then the albino was gone, the door gently swinging shut.
Arucard was uncomfortable. His master was staring at him in silent fury, letting her anger slowly boil. After a moment, she lit a cigar and inhaled deeply before tilting back her head and exhaling in one breath.
"You are aware of the unforeseen consequences of your actions, Arucard?"
"Yes, master."
"Then you should also be aware of the complications your stupidity has caused! You fed off a mortal, that is one thing but then you later turned that mortal unknowingly!"
"Well..." He shut up at her scowl, best to let the steam run out than stand there to be flattened by the roller.
"You are a disgrace to the Hellsing Organisation and the royal majesty herself, for this, I'm punishing you with..." Where was a good plotter when you needed one? "Helping Walter in the kitchen."
The butler paled.
"And Seras with her target practice."
That wasn't too bad.
"You're the target."
Ok, he could heal.
"She'll be using her Hellcannon."
Not so good.
Satisfied, Integra turned to face Walter. "I want you to go and fetch Ghost; I wish to have a word with him in private. Oh, and make sure he brings Tipsy, he was teaching her the snowball last I heard and he promised to teach me it too."
"Of course, Sir Integra." Bowing stiffly, he exited the room and ran right into the said vampire and kitten.
"Don't even bother, I heard." With that, Ghost walked into the office and glared at Arucard before turning to face Integra. "Yes master?"
"Why didn't you inform me of this?"
"They're dead. I'm dead. I didn't exactly want to share the details of my once personal life."
The woman frowned and stubbed out her cigar. "You will keep no further details like that a secret. For a start, I wish to know your real name since Ghost is highly inappropriate."
"Sounds derogatory, doesn't it?" The albino shook his head. He was commanded to tell the truth. "My mum was a junkie, never met dad. I was actually 'it' until the social took me in. Darlings called me ghost because I was quiet."
"What is the name on your birth certificate? Or the one that should have been on your death certificate or marriage certificate or whatever?"
He smiled. "Ok, it was Casper."
There was a pause. "I think we'll stick with Ghost."
"That would be appreciated."