Authors Note: It has been a while since I have been able to update. I needed some time off but thankfully did not put the story completely on the back burner. I am determined to finish it and to re-write the first couple of chapters to make them longer and more indepth. I hope you enjoy Chapter 11 and I want to thank you all for all the support mail you have given!

Order 11: Stolen Immortality

The area was immediately quarantined from the general public in the early hours before the breaking of dawn. It was imperative that ghouls and other creatures of the dead be kept secret from the general public – what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them. Hellsing worked quickly in deposing of what remained of the broken corpses, as was the routine. It was Geiger's body that truly interested them. With great care, his remains were gathered and returned to the Hellsing Institution. It was clear from the way he had spoken, he had been there, during the time that Walter and Alucard had been in Poland during the Second World War – which was remarkable considering the fact he looked in his mid-twenties. How was it possible? As Integral overlooked the investigation at hand, she felt her stomach turn. She could feel the oncoming storm to English soil. It was her family's duty to protect the Queen and stop such a thing from happening. After being briefed by Celes and surveying the body of Geiger, she wasn't sure what to feel. Suddenly the situation wasn't such of an enigma as before. Unfortunately this fact didn't stop her from feeling troubled at the uneasiness in the air. Hopefully Alucard and Walter would find Rain before this extended into public view. That is what feared her the most, next to the fact that many innocents may suddenly find themselves drawn into a war that they know nothing about.

When Geiger's headless remains finally made it behind Hellsing walls, Doctor's began their search for any sign of a Freak chip implant. Expecting to find it anywhere beneath the dead patient's skin, their first assumption was that being a carrier of the chip gave him his longevity. But all attempts of locate an implanted Freak Chip failed. Geiger's prolonged life was caused by something else that no doctor could explain. Integral watched every moment of the operation. Celes had told her of his strange connection this man had to Frost as he had ordered Frost to hunt down Rain and without objection he obeyed. The pieces of this bizarre puzzle didn't fit at all. How was it that Frost survived the death at Auschwitz? Or was that even his original body that Celes had seen? Turning from the observation window of the surgery room, she left the doctors to finish their analysis of Geiger's corpse that would then be transported to the morgue until further notice. Passing a window that overlooked the Hellsing property, she stopped and looked out. Dawn had already broken and she had heard from neither Walter nor Alucard. Her mind felt overrun with questions and deep down she worried for her country. Her majesty, the Queen and every person in England were under the eyes of enemies that she thought had long been defeated and she never would have thought that they were originally created from a single vampire – Frost. Who was he? Where did he come from? Why was it him that the Nazi's chose?

She returned to her office, sitting alone at her desk as she tried to gather her thoughts. Then she remembered what Walter had said about the letter he had received from Christoph Berner in Poland – Rain held a connection to Iscariot. Rain had denied any affiliation with the Vatican, but how was this possible? Integral leaned her head forward, rubbing the back of her neck. Her head felt light, possibly due to the fact she hadn't slept in over a day. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, thinking quietly to herself. Rain was a vampire sleeping for 60 years in the cellars of a Synagogue in Poland. What right did Iscariot have to be there investigating her awakening?

The Vatican sent members of the Iscariot Institution here to investigate. They demanded information about Rain and any information I knew of her and her heritage.

Integral opened her eyes. Heritage? What was it about her heritage that drew so much attention from Iscariot? She leaned back, and looked slowly to the wall where her father's self portrait hung.

'Father...' She thought to herself. 'If you were here now, what would you do?'

There were so many secrets left to uncover and perhaps it was her responsibility to find out exactly what was going on. But where would she start?

"Iscariot hunts you, Rain and they will do so unrelentlessly." Integral whispered. "Enrico, what secrets of her past do you know?"

Weakness enveloped her and her body shivered as the chilling darkness coldly sank into her aching body. As consciousness took hold, her mind was brought back to reality by a deep hunger gnawing at her insides. She was lying on her side, her cheek pressed against what felt like cold but smooth stone. Strands of her black hair swelled in every direction across the stone beneath her body. Her arms were crossed against her chest as her hands gripped her upper arms. She was cold – a strange feeling for a creature who was already dead. Her legs were brought up close to her chest in almost a fetal position. Like a frozen corpse, she lay in the unknown darkness, unconsciousness threatening to take her again if not for the hunger pains clawing at her insides. She desperately wanted to rise, but her body didn't obey the commands of her mind. Minutes dragged on into hours and it could have been an eternity that she laid on the cold stone and she would have remained there, unmoving, yet half conscious to the world. What a dreadful existence it was. To be halfway between life and death, unable to finish the job so that she would be free of the body that had now become her prison. Rain listened to the empty air. What had happened? The last she remembered was the First and his pitiless attack and her own past memories flooding back, drawn forth himself. She whimpered softly, but suddenly ceased as she felt a warm droplet of liquid fall against her cheek. Her disoriented eyes opened halfway, looking at an angle up towards what was above her. The familiar silver mask expressionlessly looked down at her, shrouded in a black cloak that almost completely blended in to the darkness encircling them both. She felt the warm droplet trickle down to her lips, followed by more droplets that fell one after the other. A familiar smell filled her nostrils as she opened her mouth instinctively as the first drop reached her lips. Her tongue licked the corner of her mouth, tasting blood and almost immediately a flame of coherency flickered in her eyes. Her jaw ached as she began to bite slowly at the empty air for more. She needed more. Before she realized what was happening, an unknown strength sparked within her. Rain's arms came to life, sliding beneath her limp body and instinctively pushing her up so that she could draw closer to the source of sustenance which continued to drop like droplets of rain onto her twitching tongue. Her head spun and the black world around her swirled with lights that danced in front of her eyes. All reality melted away except for this moment – she forgot the First and Frost, the Nazi's and Hellsing. All she needed and wanted at this moment was to feed. But this moment was broken momentarily when the First's familiar cold touch pressed against her chest, pushing her gently down to the floor again as something furry was brought to her lips. She would have questioned this, but she hadn't the time as reality slipped from her grasp again. Blood trickled over the wiry fur against her lips and Rain found she was unable to control herself as her teeth sank into the unknown thing. Lying on the ground, she brought her hands up to hold up what she immediately discovered to be a rat, but it didn't matter. Consuming greedily every drop within the rodent, its stiff body fell from her hands when she had finished. The hunger within her didn't cease and she remained lying on the floor, her eyes tracing the room that had slowly begun to take shape. It was small and completely made of stone. She lay between two stone tombs, and immediately she knew she was lying in a mausoleum. But where, she did not know.

"Why?" She asked. So many questions swam through her head and she found this word encompassed them all. Once again silence stood between them and it gnawed at her stronger than the hunger. The First stood over her, the mask tilted downwards in her direction. "How could you have let them do this? How could follow them after everything they have done?!"

She clenched her fist in frustration as she shut her eyes so that she didn't have to look upon the taunting mask. "I don't know why I even try to speak with you; you remember nothing of us and you have become nothing but a puppet – a shell of what you used to be."

There was a rustle of his cloak as he turned from the girl.

'I had no choice.'

Rain's eyes widened as her hand dropped away as the voice filled her head.

"It can't be..." She whispered, her voice border lining between incredulity and disgust. The First looked over his shoulder to Rain who stared at him in disbelief as she tried to push herself up. "You..."

'...remember? Yes and I always have.'

She could not find the words to say to describe how she felt at that moment. She felt empty, yet overrun with conflicting emotions that made her sick to her stomach. Leaning forward as she tore her gaze from his, she gulped for air, the dark room beginning to spin. Bringing a hand to her throbbing temples, her shaking hand ran fingers into her hair, clenching a fist full of the black strands.

"How could you do this to me?" She whispered, trying desperately to let everything sink in. "How?! Answer me, demon! How could you dangle me by a thread above hell? Monster! I trusted you and you betrayed me!"

Her screaming accusations cut the silence like a knife. All this time, he had known who she was, but said nothing. He had attacked her on Geiger's whim and it was only now after he had sent her to the brink of death and dragged her back that he chose to speak.

'You know nothing of the circumstances behind my betrayal! If I had had a choice, I never would have let this happen!' His voice boomed in her head, causing her mind to ache. Rain moaned at the splitting pain in her temples. Shutting her eyes, she tried mentally to block him out, but it was a futile attempt in her weakened state.

"There is always a choice!" She cried, her voice quivering.

The First turned back; about to hiss a reply but the sound of Rain choking down a sob caused him to immediately stop. The girl had begun to weep at his feet, no longer able to find the strength to keep the crushing pain inside where she had kept it bottled up for so long. She gripped her chest, heaving for air through her cries of anguish. The First watched her fall to pieces before him, her heart breaking like glass. He felt something almost forgotten emotion stir within him – pity. Slowly, he found himself sinking down beside her, but she shun her face from his view the moment he tried to reach out to her.

'Rain... Listen to me. Listen to what your father tells you for we haven't much time.'

His voice was quiet and calmed her mind. The palm of his taloned hand touched her hot cheek and guided chin upwards so that her face was pointed towards the mask.

'My child, I am cursed...' His mind said to her. '... and I wish I could tell you everything that has happened in the past 450 years, but we don't have the time. Soon Geiger will awaken and I will be like before, his puppet to control."

Rain's eyes widened, tears running down her cheeks and onto the cold metal of his taloned hands, freezing immediately.

'Rain, you have no idea the pain and grief that has filled me since I was ripped from your touch. In death I was not free. When my body was destroyed, my tormented soul remained chained to the physical world, trapped in the Nazis grasp. I was mad with sorrow and heartache, but this pain was nothing compared to the prison I would soon be faced with. They used Geiger to take control of me – heed my warning, child, Geiger is not what he appears. He is a powerful sorcerer who used his black magic to bind my soul with his own, giving him immortality. Under the command of the Krieg, he instilled my soul inside this...' He withdrew his hand from her cheek, flexing the claw before her eyes. '...hideous shell that moves at his will like some sort of string-puppet. I've tried desperately to escape this body, mutilating it in the process. But my attempts have been in vain. As long as I live, he will live, and as long as he lives, I cannot escape this curse. Not even destroying his body can stop him for he will find another host, another body to possess so that he may continue to live. He has used me to keep himself chained to this world.'

Rain leaned her cheek into his hand.

'Geiger's control has been weakened for the time being as he has focused all his power on finding another body. But this will not last for long. Soon I will be lost to you again, unable to act of my own free will. I have brought you here now to tell you that you must run. You must forget me and forget all of this.'

"I cannot!" She replied.

'You must! You must leave London immediately.'

"No! I will not abandon you to those dogs." Rain insisted. "Not when I finally know the truth..."

'My daughter, you were brought here for a reason. You were lured to London to start a war. The Last Battalion wants nothing more than to taste war forever and they knew you would stop at nothing to find me, even if it meant waging a war against this place. Now I am telling you that you must not fall into this trap. Once Geiger awakens, I cannot begin to imagine the horrors that could befall this country. He will send me to hunt you and I will not be able to prevent it. The Krieg, the Nazi leader, knows of your existence. He knows you are my Child, my only true descendent and like me, he wants you for his own.'

"Then I will go to him by my own free will."

'No!'

"Yes, Frost. I will stay by your side, no matter the cost. Even if you cannot act on your own, I will be there to comfort your tormented soul." She said.

'Rain, you cannot do this. You cannot allow yourself willingly to fall into their hands. I had always told you that you must never take the life of an innocent. If you come with me, you will be turning your back on everything I taught you.'

"Master..."

'I am not your Master anymore, Rain. You have come so far from the child that I knew. You have grown into a beautiful woman, one I do not wish to see drawn into this bloodshed.' As the First said this, he stroked a thumb against her cheek as his palm curled delicately under her chin.

"I have already been drawn into this madness and it doesn't matter how far I run, I will be hunted till the ends of the Earth. I will not run from the Nazis or the Vatican."

'Vatican?!' Frost's mind spoke out in surprise. 'Rain, please listen to me, you must ru-'

Your dirty little secrets are coming to light, Das Erste.

The First reeled back immediately away from Rain, as Geiger's familiar voice filled his head.

'Rain!'

Bringing both hands up beneath the folds of his cloak, he clenched the sides of his head. Rain's heart immediately sank as The First fell towards the wall, looking for support. A mental howl rose from his mind as his talons sank into the stone. Dragging his hands down, the granite peeled away, leaving claw marks in their wake.

The Krieg will not be pleased that you would try to spoil his plans. But no matter, she will fall into our hands no matter the choice she makes and you, Das Erste, will never be free.

"Frost!" Her voice jarred him from Geiger's words, but only for a moment. "Fight their control! Don't listen to them!" She said, watching him from her place on the ground.

'My love,' His mind gasped, his voice beginning to dim. 'Please forgive me. Please forgive my secrets and the life I have kept hidden from you.'

Pushing himself away from the wall, he turned back to her. Stepping towards her, his step faltered. Rain tried desperately to scramble to her feet, but her weakened body kept her anchored to the ground. The First could feel Geiger's grasp enclosing in around his mind and body. It felt like ever ounce of air had been sucked from the room and he was left unable to breath.

"Don't leave me again!" She screamed, reaching out to him and him to her. But suddenly his hand fell away from her extending touch. Reaching up to the mask, he tilted his head back, his body erect.

'You are their means to an end.' He whispered, even if Rain may not have understood its meaning. She could feel the chill rising in the air as the temperature suddenly dropped, her breath becoming visible. Her heart sank, staring at him with frightened eyes. All Rain could do was watch, unable to help him fight the battle he fought within.

I had nothing to say
and I get lost in the nothingness inside of me
I was confused...
and I live it all out to find, but I'm not the only person wit these things in mind
Inside of me...
But all that they can see the words revealed
is the only real thing that I got left to feel
Nothing to loose...

Just stuck hollow and alone
and the fault is my own and the fault is my own

-Linkin Park

The autopsy on Geiger's body was finished and it was confirmed that was a negative host of the FREAK chip. Somehow, he had gained some sort of longevity on his own. As the doctor's cleaned up, his body was covered by a simple white sheet and brought to a cooled room in the basement of the Hellsing mansion that would serve as a morgue for the time being until his body could be cremated. The young doctor who wheeled the body into the next room looked no older than his mid-twenties and clearly unfamiliar with the story of the body laid out before him. To him, he was simply another body brought in to be searched – although he did find it strange that the body had been brought directly to the Hellsing Mansion, an abnormal place for what he thought to be a protocol autopsy of a FREAK. There must have been something about the body that Lady Integral wished to keep secret. But nothing seemed out of the ordinary – until he pushed past the doors of the morgue and found himself alone with the headless body for the first time since it had been brought in.

"At least the poor sod died quickly..." The doctor mused, standing for a moment to let his eyes graze over the snow white sheet that showed the contours of Geiger's body.

Died? You are sadly mistaken, mein gewählt.

It was as if someone had silently crept up behind him and whispered into his ear. Startled, the doctor spun around, only to find himself alone within the cold room. Perhaps it had been his imagination as it was not an uncommon occurrence for someone that had just taken part in an autopsy, let alone the autopsy of a headless corpse. The doctor shook his head, trying to shake the feeling that there was something else within the room besides himself. The Hellsing mansion was a strange place and he had heard many rumors of the creatures that lived within its confines. Whether or not those rumors were true was something that he could only imagine. Trying to push the uneasy feeling from his mind, he turned to leave, reaching for the door.

Leaving so soon? But we have just met and I would just love to get to know you.

The voice sent chills up his spine and he would have run from the room if it hadn't been for one thing. As he reached again for the door, its distance seemed farther away than it had been only moments before. Taking a step forward, the door suddenly distanced itself from him.

"What's happening? This must be a dream." The doctor whispered to no one in particular.

A dream? No, mein gewählt. This is no dream.

Something cold touched his shoulder and frantically he turned around to see what it was.

I can taste your fear and it is delicious. Give your body to me for there is a task that I must complete.

No one stood before him, but he could feel a frozen touch against his cheek, tracing down over the curve of his chin, neck and chest. As much as this scared him, he couldn't turn or look away. His body remained frozen like the touch that caressed him. With eyes wide, he felt the life-giving air being drawn from his body. His vision dimmed and the world faded away. It felt as though he was falling into some sort of slumber, unknown to him that he would never wake up. His head bobbed forward drowsily, his knees weak. The moment his eyes closed, they suddenly snapped open again as his head lifted. With a strange grin, he adjusted the collar of his scrubs and turned back and left through the door to the morgue and returned back up the stairs to the main floor of the Hellsing mansion. To those that he passed, they noticed no difference. Friends and colleagues whom he had finished an operation with on minutes before passed him in the hall, nodding politely as they did. No longer was he the person they knew, but the one they had been analyzing. Geiger, through the eyes of his new body surveyed the halls of Hellsing mansion carefully. There was a great opportunity to pry into the secrets of the house, but he knew there wasn't any time. The task at hand was to apprehend Rain, not to spy on the Hellsing family. He sighed within, a part of him wanting greatly to sabotage anything he could within the mansion, but he knew that the opportunity for such an occasion would come soon enough. Walking to the entrance and then out into the courtyard, no one questioned him as he walked to the guarded gates and then off of the Hellsing grounds.