Freedom Chapter 15

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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Dressed in his best chauffer ensemble, Walter walked Integra out to the black Bentley. The car was packed with various weapons on a regular day, but he had outfitted it this afternoon with some heavy-duty equipment. Though he didn't want to be too paranoid, the communications system had been double-checked and he had a small unit of Hellsing regulars on standby at the mansion. He had done all he could; including making sure her new suit was tailored and ready in time.

She was in a fashionable dress suit, but with a nod to her safety and her status, a sabre crisscrossed her body. If she felt at all nervous, she didn't show it. Integra sometimes thought about how isolated her life was. Except for missions, she rarely left the grounds. Most women her age went out dancing and saw movies and who knows what else. She was pleased just to go hang out with dodgy old men, at least one of who was probably trying to kill her. That's a mite cruel, Integra thought to herself. She enjoyed social get togethers. These were men she had the utmost respect for. During the Valentine brothers attack they were steadfast. Several of them, including her host, she had known all of her life. The Convention of Twelve quietly ran England for the Queen. All of this was done with the utmost secrecy and only tacit approval from Parliament. She fumbled with her glasses for a second before she acknowledged the door Walter held open for her. Settling in, she pulled out an unlit cigarillo and fiddled with it. As they were heading out, she noticed that the guard named Waltham waved them through. She was glad that was working out. They needed to retain the men they recruited. Even doing long-term guard duty was useful. It freed someone else up to be ready for fieldwork.

She did not notice him flipping his little cell phone open as they were leaving.

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Seras was in place at the Irons Mansion. She had a direct line of sight into the dining area and she her cannon ready. Alucard was following the car. He had said it would slow him down to try and carry her along. Seras was unclear on that part. She couldn't do much about turning into bats on her own, but he'd done something like that when they visited Katerina. She could recall the feeling of wind, strange sounds of the night and the feeling of security in Alucard's arms. More than security, really. A sense of being a part of him in some way. She didn't feel quite like herself for a few seconds after they'd returned to Hellsing. Better to let a transport drop her off, she decided.

She tracked the Bentley and felt the strong presence of undead enter the area. "Master?" She called in her mind.

Police Girl. He had taken up a position a bit closer to the mansion. Reassured, she went back to watching the activities inside.

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Integra didn't enjoy herself. Eight out of the twelve Knights were in attendance, counting herself, and several of Lord Irons important friends. The dinner was tasty, so she counted that as a small blessing. As usual, she was seated next to Lady Irons who was intelligent and friendly. The general conversation, however, held little for her. After dinner, she retired with the men to the balcony. Political banter really didn't engage her, but ladies' social banter sent her screaming. Plus, she'd worked hard to be accepted as a peer. She looked out over the garden, her eyes searching for her guards.

"Lovely Spring, Integra." Not a question, just an observation from Lord Smythe.

"Well, it is a nice night. The garden is putting on a good show," she responded.

"As are you, my dear." Integra stiffened. Was that a casual comment, or pointed? His dry delivery made it hard to discern the difference.

She looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

He gave a languid shrug and pointed at the garden path.

"Down the primrose path?" She asked.

He laughed a quiet chuckle and looked at the other gentlemen.

Integra decided that she had the upper hand, if ever so slightly. She drifted back and spoke to Lord Irons about the advancements in synthetic blood.

"It's just a stabilizer, you understand," he clarified. "Not suitable for nutritional needs...uh, for them."

"Still, it would be handy to have for the troops. I consider the medical staff as important as the front line, don't you?"

"Quite right."

The general conversation ebbed and flowed. Rarely were state secrets spoken of at these casual gatherings, but a level of polite disinterest reigned.

A servant came out to announce dessert and they all began to move towards the house.

As Integra began to move, Lord Smythe put an arm out to stop her. She looked down at his hand disapprovingly. He removed it, shamefaced. They walked inside together.

She took her seat next to Lady Irons again.

"I never give up on you finding a young lad," Mrs. Irons remarked to Integra over coffee.

"Indeed?" Integra was feeling a bit in need of an ally in the room.

"I have a few fellows in mind for you, in fact."

"Oh?" They often had this same conversation, but Integra tried not being rude about it this time.

Lady Irons looked surprised, but covered it quickly by reaching for a grape from the table display. "Well, you'd need a man with good breeding, but an open mind, of course."

Several of the men around the table had stopped their own conversations to nod and listen.

"Think of the bloodline, dear," Lord Smythe was the last person Integra wanted to join in this conversation, but there he was. She knew exactly what he was inferring, as did many of the other Lords. She saw some heads nod gravely.

"You should marry for love," argued Lady Walcott. "Don't let these old men tell you otherwise." Integra smiled weakly at her. Suddenly all of the ladies had something in common with her. She saw more friendly faces around the table than she ever had before.

Conversations continued, mainly on the topics of marriage, sexuality and the complete lack of values among youth today. Integra counted the party a success and attempted to make a discreet escape. Several ladies crowded around her to suggest a family member as a suitable candidate for dating and mating with. She hadn't counted on that, but it did keep Lord Smythe at bay.

As she finally made her way out to the front hallway, Lord Iron's security detail offered to see her out. Integra heard the tink of a canister hitting the marble floor, but there was no time to react.

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Dark clouds shrouded the waning moon. Seras communicated a loss of visual contact with his master, so Alucard moved closer and tried to call out to Integra. No response. He quietly drifted through the building until he came upon a smoke clogged hallway. Integra and four men lay where they had fallen, her hand on the hilt of her sabre. He should have had Walter give her a discreet handgun, but even then, it couldn't match a nerve agent dropped into the room. He knew from past experiences that inhaling wouldn't affect him like humans, but it would take time for the irritation in his throat to go away. That had been fifty years ago, but there was no reason to think that had changed.

Alucard reached down to pick her up, but Seras, in a panic, shouted into his mind.

M, Master? I sense powerful undead on the grounds. Maybe 5, or maybe less, but full vampires, I think. And they are in a hurry.

He moved away from Integra and hoped that the other vampires didn't have Seras's ability. Even he couldn't sense them with the range and accuracy that she could. Of course, Katerina probably wouldn't expect any other vampires to be here, whereas he did.

Quickly, he moved outside and waited where he hoped they would exit with her. Katerina would need her alive if his suspicions were correct. That bought him some time.

From his new perch, he could see Walter waiting patiently outside at the Bentley. Alucard decided to follow Integra and the vampires with as few distractions as possible. Seras maybe, but not yet, he thought.

Carrying a human body any distance, he knew, meant taking a vehicle. The sound of a lorry starting up sent him off on the hunt.

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Walter stood. A vague feeling creeping down his spine told him that he should have been more forceful. She was still a girl and it was his job to see her safe. Alucard had decidedly mixed loyalty in this case. I should rely less on those two, he thought. Still nothing had happened yet.

He checked his watch. Perhaps calling Miss Victoria for an update wouldn't be too paranoid.

"She left the room four minutes ago. I haven' t seen her exit, but some ladies had surrounded her before she left, so someone could have detained her to talk. Three people have left the room since she did. Master Alucard is going inside to check."

"Roger." Walter felt better, but was still uneasy that Integra hadn't been seen since she left the party. He would feel like a fool if he went bursting in there to find her gossiping with some old bird. The odd feeling had left, so he settled back down to wait.

A few minutes later, one of the security guards walked out, shaking his head. Walter got out and walked towards the main entry.

"Jesus..." the man was mumbling. Another troop was aiming his gun randomly and coughing. Walter began to run.

"Where is she?"

"She's gone, man." The first man was holding his head with one hand and his gun with the other. As Walter entered the doorway, he saw several guards running in from a side door. One man was still down, but Integra was nowhere to be found.

"Check the house. The grounds. I want two teams! Go!" The head of the security detail that Walter had spoken with earlier was giving the commands. "Secure the guests. Do not sound the audible alarms! Shut those bloody things off!" The blaring had just started.

In the sudden rush of silence, Walter shook his head. The lump in his stomach told him that it was all too late. He ran back to the Bentley.

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Back in the command room at Hellsing, Walter paced back and forth. He had fumed the entire way back. Both units were out with Seras. She might have a chance, but he wasn't counting on it. She would have to return before dawn, for one thing. His informants had been contacted and some tips had started coming in: a lorry rental slip, the criminal record of the invitation deliveryman, and one possible sighting of Alucard in Kent. Damn him.

Damn myself! Walter cursed, for growing so complacent with the vampires. The past few weeks had seen unusual behavior and even conflict between them. Damned odd. Now he felt he couldn't trust either of Hellsing pets. Seras hadn't reported the entry of the vampires on the Irons grounds until after the abduction. She was too close to her master. Still, he couldn't find anything about her reaction that wasn't genuine.

It was already an hour before dawn and Seras was limited in how she could travel. He radioed and called them back. He sent a few of the men that they had doing guard duty out to Kent. That's a pretty big area to cover and they just didn't have the staffing for this. I should be out there, he thought. He shook his head slowly. Who was left to do the coordination here? He really missed the men they'd lost, but he missed the leaders most of all. Some had come to them as military generals, but some he'd worked with for years as they were formed into battle hardened Hellsing commanders.

He opened the gates when he saw the transports on the bank of monitors.

"Seras Victoria. Report immediately!" He watched as she shouldered the cannon he had lovingly altered for her and ran across the grounds to the house.