Chapter XVIII: Darkness
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"And who might you be?" Hellsing frowned as she tried to focus in the darkness. His voice was familiar and it only took her a moment to recognize it.
It was the one who irritated her a few nights ago. Knowing that he was her savior irritated her more.
"You're so gullible, you know that?" the voice in the shadow taunted. "Extremely curious too. You have already been warned by... what did he call himself now... Sol, that's it. But you are also wise to accept his help by calling for the darkness. And by doing so you called me."
"I instantly regretted it," Integra said as she narrowed her eyes. He was starting to get on her nerves.
"Would you prefer to be back in your cell?" the voice in the shadow asked rather sure of himself. "I know for a fact that your captors were preparing to do something vile to you." Unnerved, Integra frowned even more.
"Describe vile," she challenged but inwardly cringed. The room temperature dropped as she felt the being behind her. She could hear him breathing on her neck as if he was smelling her or rather tasting her essence.
"To put it mildly," he said huskily. "They were going to make you into a sex slave." Integra froze when she heard this but had reason to doubt him.
"I am not lying," the voice said as he blew in her ear. "They have a demon with an... equipment the size of one of your cute delightful thighs of yours." Furious, Integra took a swing at the source but struck nothing but air. "Temper, temper, my lady. I spoke the truth."
"Which part?" she growled.
"Everything," she could hear the mirth in his voice. "An I do think that your legs are delightful. It's a pity you hide them behind those dreadful pants of yours."
"These designer pants costs me a fortune," she frowned.
"The way I figure you could save a lot more if you wore micro minis, thigh length boots and a tight tank top and get rid of that silly glasses of yours," the voice said irritating her further.
"If I had my gun..." she threatened making the owner of the voice laugh. "Never mind my legs. Why is it so dark in here? Where am I?"
"Illuminate," the voice said and the room came to light. The sudden brightness made Integra squint as her eyes tried to adjust. "Sorry," the voice said and the light dimmed. "Better?"
"You confuse me," Integra, thankful for the change of lighting, smirked. "A while ago you were acting like a sex depraved lunatic and now you are genuinely concerned about me." When her eyes had adjusted she found herself in a drawing room of old Victorian design. Standing in between two windows hiding from the light of the rising sun was a being in a black cloak leaning on the wall with his arms crossed.
"Sorry about that," he sighed. "I have a bad habit of voicing my thoughts."
"And your thoughts wandered somewhere it shouldn't been," she smirked.
"I don't know about that," she could hear the tease in his voice. "You are a remarkable woman and strong women turn me on."
"Then turn yourself off," she growled. The cloaked on laughed heartily as his head turned towards her.
"I can't," he said. "But I can wait. Now to business."
"Business?" Integra arched an eyebrow. "What business do we have to discuss?"
"You have questions about your abduction, yes?" his voice turned serious all of a sudden that it took her by surprise.
"Yes," she managed weakly.
"Then I have something you want," she could imagine him smiling beneath that hood.
"In exchange?"
"Let's leave it fate," he took out a coin and stood straight. "Tails, I tell you without payment."
"And heads?"
"Heads, I still help you but you have to agree to the method of payment later," Integra knew that there was a catch.
"What kind of payment?" she asked.
"I can't tell," he said. "Those are the terms." She really didn't have anything to go on but she didn't see anything wrong in accepting his help.
"Toss it," she sighed. Tossing it in the air, the cloaked one let it fall into his palm. To Integra's dismay, it landed heads.
"They were after the vampire Alucard, that you know already," the cloaked one said as if the win was nothing to him. "And not to break your ego, they weren't after you."
"They didn't want me alive?" she was confused. By the abduction and by him.
"The authors aren't but those in your prison did for reasons I already gave," he walked towards one of the sofas.
"They want me dead," she realized the fact with clarity. "Why?"
"You are the only one who could control him," he said seriously. "And you could find a way to free him from his present prison."
"Prison?"
"He's being sealed by a powerful ward that even you could break him out of. Not even unsealing him completely would help."
"What does that mean?" she was getting more confused by the minute.
"Meaning they don't need you," he said with a hint of darkness. "In fact they consider you a nuisance."
"They do?"
"Of course," he said. "I would too if you messed up with my plans."
"What now?" she asked. "Do you think I should give up?"
"On the contrary. We must find Alucard and free him."
"You seem a bit sure of yourself," Integra huffed. "Assuming we find him, how are we going to get him out?"
"I'm working on that," he said. "But first we need help."
"I suppose," she grumbled as she glared at him. "But I'm agreeing with your proposal under protest." He casually shrugged irritating her even more. "We need to go back to my castle."
"I need to assemble our team," he walked towards the window and nodded. "Our pointman has just arrived." Curious, Integra went and peered out the window. Much to her surprise and chagrin, a silver Austin Martin pulled up and parked in front of the townhouse, she supposed.
"I knew he was going to be a pain," Integra said as she saw the driver exit the vehicle and walked towards the door. "He's been playing all along."
"Actually, he's really a clutz," the man gave a heavy sigh that Integra knew was frustration. "He learned to harness that weakness into a strength."
"It looked like it's working," Integra said admitting that his way had merits.
"He's still alive, that's saying enough," the man walked away and motioned her to follow. "We must go. But..." Suddenly, Integra found herself enveloped in a bright light and when it died, she found herself wearing a dark blue ladies' business suit. Her skirt was shorter than she would care and she was wearing heels. She immediately stumbled as she caught her heel on to the carpet.
As she fell forward, she expected to fall on her face but a pair of careful arms caught her before she fell. Looking up, she found herself looking at the deepest pair of blue eyes she had ever seen. From the darkness of his hood, it seemed like they were glowing. Those eyes were strangely familiar to her.
"You'd better be careful, my lady," he said softly that she almost blushed as the words hid the true depth of his soul. This man cared for her. It was a welcoming feeling, something that she hasn't felt in a long time.
"Lower the heels," she said as she tried to salvage her dignity. "Why did you change my clothes?"
"They'll be looking for you," he said but his voice faltered. "We need time before they come for you. Sooner or later they will. And your hair tied in that braid, no one would recognize you." Immediately, she grabbed the back of her hair and sure enough, her hair was braided.
"Let's get out of here before you turn me into something undesirable," she growled as she walked out the door, with lowered heels.
"I'll never do that, Inty," the cloaked man said in a whisper. As if she had heard him, Integra turned and glared at him.
"What's your name?" she asked curtly but the man didn't sense any venom in her voice. "And don't give me that crap of leaving your name behind. I need something to call you."
The man smiled and took a scythe from one corner of the room and hefted it on his shoulder.
"Grim," he said as he started to follow her. "They call me Grim."
.
"And who might you be?" Hellsing frowned as she tried to focus in the darkness. His voice was familiar and it only took her a moment to recognize it.
It was the one who irritated her a few nights ago. Knowing that he was her savior irritated her more.
"You're so gullible, you know that?" the voice in the shadow taunted. "Extremely curious too. You have already been warned by... what did he call himself now... Sol, that's it. But you are also wise to accept his help by calling for the darkness. And by doing so you called me."
"I instantly regretted it," Integra said as she narrowed her eyes. He was starting to get on her nerves.
"Would you prefer to be back in your cell?" the voice in the shadow asked rather sure of himself. "I know for a fact that your captors were preparing to do something vile to you." Unnerved, Integra frowned even more.
"Describe vile," she challenged but inwardly cringed. The room temperature dropped as she felt the being behind her. She could hear him breathing on her neck as if he was smelling her or rather tasting her essence.
"To put it mildly," he said huskily. "They were going to make you into a sex slave." Integra froze when she heard this but had reason to doubt him.
"I am not lying," the voice said as he blew in her ear. "They have a demon with an... equipment the size of one of your cute delightful thighs of yours." Furious, Integra took a swing at the source but struck nothing but air. "Temper, temper, my lady. I spoke the truth."
"Which part?" she growled.
"Everything," she could hear the mirth in his voice. "An I do think that your legs are delightful. It's a pity you hide them behind those dreadful pants of yours."
"These designer pants costs me a fortune," she frowned.
"The way I figure you could save a lot more if you wore micro minis, thigh length boots and a tight tank top and get rid of that silly glasses of yours," the voice said irritating her further.
"If I had my gun..." she threatened making the owner of the voice laugh. "Never mind my legs. Why is it so dark in here? Where am I?"
"Illuminate," the voice said and the room came to light. The sudden brightness made Integra squint as her eyes tried to adjust. "Sorry," the voice said and the light dimmed. "Better?"
"You confuse me," Integra, thankful for the change of lighting, smirked. "A while ago you were acting like a sex depraved lunatic and now you are genuinely concerned about me." When her eyes had adjusted she found herself in a drawing room of old Victorian design. Standing in between two windows hiding from the light of the rising sun was a being in a black cloak leaning on the wall with his arms crossed.
"Sorry about that," he sighed. "I have a bad habit of voicing my thoughts."
"And your thoughts wandered somewhere it shouldn't been," she smirked.
"I don't know about that," she could hear the tease in his voice. "You are a remarkable woman and strong women turn me on."
"Then turn yourself off," she growled. The cloaked on laughed heartily as his head turned towards her.
"I can't," he said. "But I can wait. Now to business."
"Business?" Integra arched an eyebrow. "What business do we have to discuss?"
"You have questions about your abduction, yes?" his voice turned serious all of a sudden that it took her by surprise.
"Yes," she managed weakly.
"Then I have something you want," she could imagine him smiling beneath that hood.
"In exchange?"
"Let's leave it fate," he took out a coin and stood straight. "Tails, I tell you without payment."
"And heads?"
"Heads, I still help you but you have to agree to the method of payment later," Integra knew that there was a catch.
"What kind of payment?" she asked.
"I can't tell," he said. "Those are the terms." She really didn't have anything to go on but she didn't see anything wrong in accepting his help.
"Toss it," she sighed. Tossing it in the air, the cloaked one let it fall into his palm. To Integra's dismay, it landed heads.
"They were after the vampire Alucard, that you know already," the cloaked one said as if the win was nothing to him. "And not to break your ego, they weren't after you."
"They didn't want me alive?" she was confused. By the abduction and by him.
"The authors aren't but those in your prison did for reasons I already gave," he walked towards one of the sofas.
"They want me dead," she realized the fact with clarity. "Why?"
"You are the only one who could control him," he said seriously. "And you could find a way to free him from his present prison."
"Prison?"
"He's being sealed by a powerful ward that even you could break him out of. Not even unsealing him completely would help."
"What does that mean?" she was getting more confused by the minute.
"Meaning they don't need you," he said with a hint of darkness. "In fact they consider you a nuisance."
"They do?"
"Of course," he said. "I would too if you messed up with my plans."
"What now?" she asked. "Do you think I should give up?"
"On the contrary. We must find Alucard and free him."
"You seem a bit sure of yourself," Integra huffed. "Assuming we find him, how are we going to get him out?"
"I'm working on that," he said. "But first we need help."
"I suppose," she grumbled as she glared at him. "But I'm agreeing with your proposal under protest." He casually shrugged irritating her even more. "We need to go back to my castle."
"I need to assemble our team," he walked towards the window and nodded. "Our pointman has just arrived." Curious, Integra went and peered out the window. Much to her surprise and chagrin, a silver Austin Martin pulled up and parked in front of the townhouse, she supposed.
"I knew he was going to be a pain," Integra said as she saw the driver exit the vehicle and walked towards the door. "He's been playing all along."
"Actually, he's really a clutz," the man gave a heavy sigh that Integra knew was frustration. "He learned to harness that weakness into a strength."
"It looked like it's working," Integra said admitting that his way had merits.
"He's still alive, that's saying enough," the man walked away and motioned her to follow. "We must go. But..." Suddenly, Integra found herself enveloped in a bright light and when it died, she found herself wearing a dark blue ladies' business suit. Her skirt was shorter than she would care and she was wearing heels. She immediately stumbled as she caught her heel on to the carpet.
As she fell forward, she expected to fall on her face but a pair of careful arms caught her before she fell. Looking up, she found herself looking at the deepest pair of blue eyes she had ever seen. From the darkness of his hood, it seemed like they were glowing. Those eyes were strangely familiar to her.
"You'd better be careful, my lady," he said softly that she almost blushed as the words hid the true depth of his soul. This man cared for her. It was a welcoming feeling, something that she hasn't felt in a long time.
"Lower the heels," she said as she tried to salvage her dignity. "Why did you change my clothes?"
"They'll be looking for you," he said but his voice faltered. "We need time before they come for you. Sooner or later they will. And your hair tied in that braid, no one would recognize you." Immediately, she grabbed the back of her hair and sure enough, her hair was braided.
"Let's get out of here before you turn me into something undesirable," she growled as she walked out the door, with lowered heels.
"I'll never do that, Inty," the cloaked man said in a whisper. As if she had heard him, Integra turned and glared at him.
"What's your name?" she asked curtly but the man didn't sense any venom in her voice. "And don't give me that crap of leaving your name behind. I need something to call you."
The man smiled and took a scythe from one corner of the room and hefted it on his shoulder.
"Grim," he said as he started to follow her. "They call me Grim."