Freedom Chapter 4
By J.L. Pitard
Standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Kohta Hirano and his publishers. I have no stake in them...
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Lightening flashed outside the windows of the ornate hall. Old glass giving the storm an abstract look. Inside, the mansion looked as if it had been sleeping for a hundred years. Small creatures scurried about in the corners. In the middle of the room, a large dining table stood, covered in dust, candles and lace. There were no chairs around the table, but four sat empty near the fireplace. Doorways leading to smaller, stodgier rooms were open along three of the four walls. Shadows deepened as the candles dwindled.
The light flared up as a young woman walked through.
"Mistress, your guests have arrived." She called in a heavily accented voice.
Laughter flowed back at her through the doorway like the light tinkling sound of crystals in a chandelier.
"Do show them in, Marta." The voice coming closer as she spoke.
"Very well, mistress," the woman turned, and screamed in fear as a tall, well dressed male figure appeared directly in front of her, stopping her with his suddenly solid body.
"Don't trouble yourself over us," Alucard towered over the servant, then stepped aside so she could run past him into the nearest doorway.
Seras stood behind one of the chairs, where Alucard had told her to remain.
She watched as an amazing looking woman entered the room. Or rather, flowed into the room. She was dressed in a simple black gown that contrasted dramatically with her white skin. Her black hair fell thick and lush down her back. Seras wondered if the woman could control her hair's appearance as Alucard did. Seras idly wondered if she would ever be able to do all of those things as well. What would she have to give up first?
Her master and the other vampire embraced for a moment, then parted. Seras was certain there hadn't been anything friendly in that gesture, at least from the cold look in Alucard's eyes.
Seras stood, unacknowledged and forgotten. Don't speak, huh? She wanted to scream. The woman spoke with Alucard in what sounded like several different languages, but he answered her only in English.
Alucard was unmoved by her beauty. Large black eyes meeting his red ones. She was obviously the master of the beautiful vamp he had killed; she had chosen her for the resemblance no doubt. Would she be more fun to kill? Her looks linked her to the same part of the world that his did. Not of his lineage, he knew that from her signature. Little and swift, like a dancer; he had tasted many like her, centuries ago.
She was a monster, much like him. No matter the surface beauty, he knew her soul was as black as her eyes.
"Please," she said, in English, "let us sit for a moment."
He sat with Seras at his back. She resisted the temptation to sit down in the chair next to him, or put her hands on his shoulders. This situation was creeping her out, but she did not want to let him down again. Why didn't he even introduce her? Who the hell was this woman?
"You must be hungry," the vampire seemed to faintly purr when she spoke. Seras turned her head to one of the doorways when Pudgy, as she called him, came into the room. He was leading a scared looking middle-aged woman. If she could shoot daggers with her eyes, Pudgy'd be deader than he already was. She felt Alucard sending calmness towards her, like a wet blanket covering a fire. Pudgy had no such controls on him and he gave her a withering look in return. He brought the woman to face the line of chairs. He shook her and made her stand in front of Alucard. The woman was looking around wildly for escape, but she was being held firmly. Adrenaline adding spice to the taste of her blood.
Their hostess kept her eyes on Alucard, but gestured towards the captive, "Please."
He eyed the woman with a pitiless, but disinterested gaze. "We feasted before we arrived," he lied. Everyone in the room, except the victim, knew that he was lying. Medical blood was never a feast, but he shrugged. So there it was.
"Very well."
Pudgy shook the woman so she would whimper, then let her stand alone, as if she were free. She looked around like a rabbit ready to bolt, when their hostess raised her hand. She gestured for the woman to come to her. Seras was amazed when the woman seemed to calm down and willingly go sit in the vampire's lap like a child. It was comical. The vampire looked so much younger and smaller. The captive woman was very happy to be allowed to snuggle, as if she were with a favorite aunt. Even when the vampire sunk her fangs into the woman's neck, she looked the picture of happiness.
Seras tried to shout out and move to stop them, but she felt Alucard in her mind like a vise. He seemed to rebuke her without words and her limbs could not move. Her breath came faster, though, as she watched. The effect of the spectacle seemed to be lost on Alucard, who politely looked away from the intimate act.
Pudgy came up, took the victim, then continued draining her. The human body has more blood than most vampires can consume, but it only has to lose a critical amount to go into shock and die. Then the vampire's bite can convert the dead into the undead. Making Hellsing clean up their undead was the manner their hostess had chosen to make contact in the first place. Perhaps that was what the show had been about, thought Seras.
Alucard, however, knew the real thrust of the message. Freedom.
"Lady Katerina," he said in a weary tone, "your offer, though perhaps well meant, cannot be accepted."
Seras felt confused, but his grip on her mind tightened, then released as he spoke. He made his point and she would be quiet.
"Your master," the beautiful vampire purred in her accented voice, "she is aware of what we offer you?"
Alucard shrugged. He hadn't told Integra, but that didn't mean she didn't know. She would probably figure it out if he didn't alert her first.
"Your reluctance frustrates me, my Prince, but our plans can be implemented without your acceptance." She raised her eyebrows as if it was a question, and perhaps part of it had been. Alucard's face was blank, but Seras, even standing behind him, could tell that he was getting angry.
"My titles passed with my humanity. Toying with them gets you nothing, why persist?"
"It gets your attention, does it not?" She smiled as he raised an eyebrow. Then her expression changed. "Why do you persist in slavery? You could be king!"
He smiled a wolfish grin, "My servitude is part of my own plans and is of no concern to you."
The female vampire, Katerina, turned to Seras for the first time. "And you, child, are you servant to the monster or to the master?"
A chill ran through Seras' mind. She wasn't sure if it was Alucard or the other vamp, but she'd been learning a little of what her master had told her and she used her confusion as her mental shield. She truly wasn't sure whether Katerina meant Alucard or Integra as the monster.
Alucard answered for her without turning back to look. "She is mine."
"Do you keep her gagged as well as bound, Lord Tepes?" Black eyes drilled into Seras. She tried to keep her look blank, but the vampire seemed so nice, so familiar, reminding her of a favorite teacher she'd once... happy thoughts... rainbows... hearts and cute kittens...
Police Girl! A black cloud rained skulls over her happy thoughts.
"Enough!" Alucard held up a hand and the master vampires looked at each other.
Seras looked at him, then back at the teacher, no, she looked nothing at all like anyone she'd ever known. Knowing laughter from Pudgy and Katerina made her face redden to match her dress. The facade of civility seemed to flee from the room. The candles burned out. Only the fire cast its red light in the room.
Alucard caught the glint of fangs in the smile that faced him and returned a full grin. Her servant, Pudgy, still clutching the dead body, seemed as confused by the change in the air as Seras.
Katerina rose first, then twirled across the room and faced them. A dancer, as he'd thought. Alucard stood up, relishing a test of strength. He hadn't planned to kill Katerina tonight, but it was a slap in the face to mind rape his servant. The rational part of his mind chimed in that he needed to know how much of her plan to kill Integra was in motion.
He watched her as she started to stretch and grow. The rational part of his mind went quiet. He could play with her a little anyway.
"Releasing control art restriction to level three, level two."
The laughter now was Alucard's. The shadows around him began to sprout eyes and teeth. His body became part of the shadows, then solidified. Long black hair lashed out at him, whipping his face. He grabbed some and pulled Katerina towards him. She let him, but as he got closer, used his own strength to pull him off of his feet. He rolled as he fell and became a hellhound.
She howled as he took a chunk out of her arm. She backed away from him, toward her servant. Alucard was pleased to see her trying to re-knit her arm with her mind.
"Good, good."
He stood as a man again, one of many red eyes noticing that Seras had her Casull in her hand. She might need it if Pudgy decided to attack, but he hoped she wouldn't try to join his fight. He tried to calm her, but a sharp pain shot through his leg. Katerina had raked him with her nails, her arms impossibly long.
She took advantage of his momentary pain to launch herself across the room at him. She was a blur of nails, knives and hair. Alucard grabbed her hands, twisting until he heard a crack. Her knives clanked as they fell on the marble floors. She screamed and bit at his hands, drawing blood. Pudgy, until now a wallflower, decided to join the dance. He ran low, knocking into Alucard's knees and bringing him to the ground.
Katerina was now on top of him, hands still trapped in his. Her teeth searching for an opening to tear at him. Seras moved over top of Pudgy, her gun to his temple. She made him lay flat out with his hands on his head.
Alucard began to crack Katerina's fingers one by one. Her hair intertwining with his as she moaned for each broken finger. She rubbed her body slowly over his. Seras looked at them, disgusted, as she realized that they had been playing with each other. She kept her gun on Pudgy's head, though. His eyes held sure death for her. She guessed that he hadn't been told not to kill tonight.
"Now, Kiska, tell me how you plan to free me, when you can't free yourself?" He was keeping it light, hoping to hold the mood she was enjoying.
Katerina smiled; rubbing one leg along his thigh until, with a sudden move she kneed him. Surprise lit his eyes, but he threw her without letting go of her hands and pinned her under him, this time taking more care to immobilize her legs.
"I'd like an answer." His voice was now warm, husky as he leaned over her. She smiled, but said nothing. Her fingers were beginning to set and would need to be re-broken at some point. Alucard wanted to destroy all of her outward beauty, but he restrained himself. Get information first.
"How now, sweet Prince," she answered, trying to free a leg again. "Have I tempted you?"
Alucard smiled in response, a toothy grin. He leaned his head closer and bit her lower lip, drawing blood, then slowly licking it. She pulled their hands close to her mouth and licked his drying blood. A smile spread across her face. "You...you really..."
Watching them, Seras felt her stomach twist. Was this what he wanted with her? Dear Jesus I hope not, she thought. He flitted a quick glance at her with one heavy lidded eye and she tried not to meet his look, just to keep her focus on her restrained vamp. Pudgy whimpered, entirely captivated by the sight. She couldn't decide if he was excited or upset, but it didn't really matter. She kicked him slightly, to draw his attention back to the large gun at his head.
Without looking their way, Katerina softly said, "You may leave us, Michael." Seras looked to Alucard, who nodded, eyes closed before desending again to kiss their hostess. Seras lifted her gun and Pudgy grumbled to his feet. He practically howled, but his master ignored him, her mouth on Alucard's. Her eyes closed to the world. Pudgy stalked across the room, picked up the victim's body like a doll and left clutching it to his chest.
"Playtime is over now, Katt," Alucard said, one hand smoothing her hair. "It is time to talk. How will you free me?"
He slowly released her legs as he stood up. She turned to mist in his hand and reappeared in her chair. Alucard turned towards Seras and offered a hand. She didn't trust herself to look at him, but she gave him her left hand as she holstered her gun. Seras went to stand behind him, but he used her hand to guide her to an empty chair next to his. Oh goody, she thought wryly, I must've done something right!
Katerina sat, looking just as enchanting as she had earlier, her hands crumpled in her lap.
She rubbed them and turned with them stretched out to him, like a child offering a broken toy to be fixed. He smiled and gently broke each finger for her. Setting them right. Blood red tears flowed slowly down her cheeks, but she looked beatific. She leaned back into her chair, her hands still in his.
"Ah, yes, the plan," she said slowly. "You will understand that I can not tell you the details. Not with that silly seal on you." Her fingers had healed enough that she was stroking the outlines on his white gloves. Alucard held his hands still, relaxed. "We can't trust you until you are freed, and perhaps not even then."
Seras thought the vampire was flirting when she said it, but Alucard nodded as if it were a simple fact.
"You will kill her?" He asked. Seras started putting the pieces together and almost said the name out loud, but Alucard noticed in time to clamp down on her mind. Once again effectively gagged, Seras started steaming. How could he?
"Let me handle the details, my Lord," she leaned slightly forward, looking beyond him at Seras. "She is not yet your lover?"
Seras was already angry, but this was too much. She stood up. Alucard tried harder to control her, but she was fighting their mental connection and he released her. Better not to waste energy on her with an enemy at hand.
"What!?!" Sputtered Seras when she got her breath.
"Police Girl, sit down," he said testily. If she blew it, he would eat her for lunch.
"No harm meant, child," said Katerina, obviously pleased. "If you had tasted enough of your master, you would be free. I saw in your memories the choices you've made. Mind you, I killed my master the moment I could. I'm always careful not to free mine. Michael's nearly two hundred and still effectively my slave." She smiled what might have been meant as a friendly look, if Seras had never been the odd girl out in school. She recognized the look for what it was. This master vampire felt threatened by her relationship with Alucard. That was...weird.
Speechless, Seras sat back down. She looked very hard at Alucard, but kept her thoughts to herself.
"Dear Katerina," Alucard sought to get back to the topic, "how can we assist your plans? I am limited, but you need not keep me in the dark. I need to know when your plans go into effect."
The petite vampire looked at him for a few moments before speaking.
"Vlad dear," she said slowly, "they already have."
She watched him carefully and when he didn't respond, "We have some human servants as well as vampires and ghouls. There is some support for this plan among her compatriots."
Alucard had no doubt that this was true, there was suspicion that Integra had enemies in the men who sat at the Convention of Twelve with her. Perhaps this would draw them out. He smiled at the thought of gutting all of them. He would save Penbrook and Irons for last.
"Splendid," he said aloud and turned to his hostess. "You will contact us before you attempt to take or kill my master. Use my servant as our go between. She has more freedom to travel and is not bound by the Hellsing family."
Seras frowned. Some part of her refused to believe he would include her in his betrayal, but the proof was right there.
Lady Katerina nodded and smiled. Alucard turned to Seras. She was so angry that her eyes burned as he looked at her. A nice look for her, he thought. Then he gripped her sternly and led her to the front doorway in silence.
As she was about to give him a piece of her mind, he wrapped his coat about them and dissolved back into the night.