I'm really sorry I haven't updated for so long, and I honestly don't have a great excuse for it either. I can't really promise the next chapter anytime soon, either. I have about 5 minutes of free time everyday between work and school, but I'll figure out some way to finish this story soon, probably the next chapter will be the last. I've also been working on two other 'Hellsing' stories while finishing this chapter, so they'll probably be posted sometime within the next few weeks. Anyways, enough from me, here's the chapter:
In the underground labyrinth that was home to the Hellsing family's pet vampires, utter chaos was ensuing.
Alucard has released his young fledgling mid-spin, and she had crashed landed on top of an already battered-looking Walter, who let out a muffled 'oomph' as the stunned vampire's weight pinned him down.
"Miss Victoria....please....AIR!" Walter gasped as he tried to shove a stunned and limp Seras off of him.
Alucard, meanwhile, had stopped spinning and had fallen heavily to the ground, chuckling manically at nothing in particular. The few remaining bats gathered above him, flying in lazy circles around his head.
Walter managed to roll Seras off and get to his feet, pulling her along with him as he scrambled towards the remains of the doorway, deciding a hasty retreat was the best course of action while the elder vampire was down.
Walter paused in the doorway, unable to pull Seras any farther. Kneeling down beside the unconscious vampire, he began to shake her vigorously.
"Please Miss Victoria! You must get up, now's our chance to escape while Alucard's down!" Walter begged furiously.
Seras slowly opened her eyes as she regained consciousness. She blinked in confusion as she looked up at Walter's concerned face. "Walter? What happened? Where's Master?"
She propped herself up on her elbows and looked around at the destruction and rubble that used to be her room. She spotted her Master passed out in the center of the room with the tiny bats circling around his head. Groaning, she let her head fall back onto the cold stone floor.
Meanwhile, Walter was begging her to get to her feet and run while they still could. He pulled her to her feet and dragged her out the door.
Seras shook her arm free and walked back towards her Master. "No, Walter. Now's our chance to get him back in his coffin. He'll stay there and sleep it off until the sun goes down. Hopefully by then he'll be fine."
Walter shook his head doubtfully, but hesitantly followed Seras back inside.
"Just grab his legs and I'll grab his arms. We can carry him back to his room then. There's a hole there off to the left that goes into his room, I think." Seras instructed, grabbing Alucard by the arms and shooing the bats away from his head.
Walter grabbed Alucard by the legs and began to lift the vampire king. He immediately dropped him again when the vampire began to mumble and kick his legs.
"Oh dear Lord. No, no, please no..." Walter cried, backing away from Alucard.
Seras also let go of Alucard's arms when he began to stir, dropping him hard on the stone floor as she also backed away, her arms raised in defense.
Alucard woke up on the floor, staring blankly at the ceiling as the bats returned to circle above his head. Slowly, he climbed to his feet, cackling manically at the ceiling as Seras and Walter huddled in fear against the door.
Meanwhile
In the upstairs rooms of the manor, Integra wandered aimlessly, looking for any signs of her pet vampires or butler. As she neared the main hall of the house, she noticed that most of the rooms were dark. As she entered the darkened main hall, she strode confidently into the room. She felt around the wall for the switch to the lights. Finally feeling it in the dark, she switched it on.
"SURPRISE!"
The lights revealed a room full of people standing in front of a large banner that was hung on the back wall that read 'Happy Surprise Birthday, Sir Integra!'.
Integra took a step back, shocked by all of the people inside the room. For once in her life, she was left totally speechless.
Off to her right was a table full of brightly wrapped gifts and off to the left were tables full of food. All the staff members and soldiers were present, and there were bright balloons and streamers hung everywhere.
Integra was beaming with happiness inside, but on the outside all she would allow was a small smile as she recovered from the initial shock. She looked in the crowd for Walter and Seras. She was pretty sure they'd have forced Alucard into this, too. At this thought, her smiled turned into a fully evil grin, causing the closest of the guests to take a hesitant step back in fear.
After several seconds, she hadn't spotted Walter or Seras in the crowd, and she couldn't sense Alucard in the room either. A few of the braver guests had come forward to congratulate Integra, while the others headed straight for the food tables. She questioned a few of the guests about the three missing people, but they hadn't seen any of them in quite some time. More then a few of them told her about noises and explosions from the lower levels, and she made a mental note to check for her 'friends' in the basement later.
As Integra began to warm up to the party and was heading towards the tables of food, Sarah came bursting into the room. She looked around the room wildly, just noticing the party that was occurring. She recognized Integra, who was talking to some soldiers, and immediately ran over to her.
"Sir Integra, please come with me, quickly! You're the only one who can control him, he's gone mad!" Sarah pleaded, grabbing Integra by the arm and trying to drag her to the door.
"What the-" Integra stared in shock at the disheveled young lady who was dragging her by the arm. Shaking her arm free of Sarah's grip, Integra calmly straightened her sleeve. In her mind, she was fairly certain of whom Sarah was speaking of. There was only one person in the house she could think of that who would be described as 'mad'.
Sighing in resignation, she turned and gestured to the soldiers behind her. "You men, come with me. We may require your assistance." Turning back to Sarah, she gestured for her to lead the way. "Alright, where is my vampire?"
Back in the basement
Alucard was continuing his reign of terror and destruction in the basement. Seras had had the sense to grab the Harkonen away from Alucard while he was out, and he was now looking for it again. The bats were still buzzing wildly over his head, but he seemed not to notice or mind them to much.
Seras and Walter huddled in the corner, apparently forgotten by Alucard for the moment. Across the room, Seras could see her Harkonen half-buried by the rubble and debris that littered her room. She poked Walter softly to get his attention and nodded with her head in the direction of the cannon. Walter looked over and spotted the cannon, and nodded back to Seras.
"On the count of three...one...two...THREE!"
Walter and Seras made a mad scramble for the cannon, both of the skidding and sliding along the debris-ridden floor and landing in a heap on the other side of the room. They began to dig the cannon out, Walter digging and Seras removing the larger pieces of stone.
Alucard turned abruptly at their sudden movement-so abruptly that he stumbled and nearly fell again-squinting hard at the two figures. Suddenly, he fell backwards in a panic, scrambling away into a far corner of the room, where he hugged his knees and rocked back and forth, pulling his wide-brimmed hat down over his eyes as he whimpered.
Seras and Walter were so shocked by this that they halted their digging project, turning to stare at the elder vampire in amazement, unsure whether it was a trick or some new game he had devised.
Seras cocked her head in confusion as she stared at her Master. She figured that she would never understand him, despite her best efforts.
Walter, however, traced the frightened vampires gaze back to the doorway-what remained of it, at least. When his eyes met the sight there, he went rigid, grabbing Seras' arm and turning her around to face the doorway.
Seras was busy scrutinizing her Master when Walter grabbed her arm. "Wha-?" Seras' question died on her lips as she saw the very pissed-off looking Sir Integra standing in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest. Several well-armed soldiers stood behind Integra, looking very unhappy to be charged to this particular assignment…
