:year eight - age twenty-one:

I'm lost in a forest
All alone
The girl was never there
It's always the same
I'm running towards nothing
Again and again and again and again
- A forest; The Cure

"ALUCARD!"

Integral paced in her office, threads of blonde hair trailing in curious directions. Ever since her official recognition as a Knight of the Round and recent conveyer of the Queen's will, her occupancy of her late father's workplace became more and more frequent. Originally, she hated this place. She loathed looking at it. It brought back sour memories she longed to forget, but duty required her presence in this cavity of a place so it would be there Integral practically lived.

The study was thick with smoke shed recently by cigars. An ashtray had been replaced three times that day, which was irregular for Integral who was not - by any means - a chain smoker. However, certain situations begged to alter some bad habits for a worse turn.

Integral struggled to keep her mind collected as she paced, uncertain of what she was feeling, uncertain of how to feel, uncertain of everything at once. Once every while, her gaze strayed its direct path and looked up at the portrait of Abraham Van Hellsing whose eyes followed her every move. As if he was motioning disapproval for her failure as a leader and control over a pet.

"ALUCARD!"

The name was screamed more empathetically, rattling the crystal as the whole mansion vibrated with her voice.

"Master..?"

"You.. BASTARD"

No sooner were those words spoke than Integral spun around on one heel and swiftly drew herself across the room towards the subject of her attention. One two three four five steps were taken then SLAM. The palm of her hand violently contacted the side of Alucard's face, throwing enough force to dislocate his jaw. A pair of red eyes widened with alarm than refocused in taunt, one gloved hand pressing the bottom of his mouth than twisting with a sickening CRUNCH as he realigned the joints properly.

"What do you think you are doing, undermining my authority?"

"Now now now, master. You strictly told me to eliminate the target and I did. I never undermined anything."

"Like HELL you did, Alucard. You know better than to curse innocent little girls."

"Innocent? Hardly. I gave her a choice at the time. In order to exterminate the creature, I had to shoot right through her. As we both know, you have told me many a time before not to murder innocent civilians. And, as you can tell... I didn't murder anyone. Now did I, Master?"

"Preventing the girl from dying as an innocent civilian by damning her soul is hardly what I call a justified deed, Alucard."

"Now now, Master. You are overreacting."

"Overreacting? OVERREACTING?" Integral slipped her hand into Alucard's coat and punctured the darkness as her fingers swam through the liquid substance and eventually found just what it was she was looking for. Drawing the heavy weapon with both hands, she pressed the Casull's double barrels against Alucard's chest to balance the weight and used both index and middle fingers from both hands in order to pull back the heavy trigger, leaning back to force the great resistance. Realizing her lack of acquired strength was not likely to execute the trigger, she picked up the weapon with both hands again and SLAMMED the silver casing over Alucard's head - fracturing his skull. "THAT, ALUCARD, IS OVERREACTING. I have been on the phone for HOURS with the Queen. She thinks we are UNDERMINING HER. She ASSUMES that I ordered you to begin collecting an army of vampires!"

"I must admit, that's not quite a bad idea," Alucard wheezed, taking back his weapon from Integral as he rubbed the torn dead flesh on the side of his head.

Integral just paused, unable to say anything. What she couldn't say with words, she said with actions. A hand whipped into her coat and picked out the Walther PK, where she appropriately plugged in a round of silver bullets point blank in Alucard's face. The vampire fell backwards in a heap of blackened, decaying blood.

"You IDIOT."

Integral made a b-line for her desk, one arm sweeping the surface and knocking a pile of papers and a half a cup of tea off and onto the floor. She collapsed into the chair, both cradling her head as she collected her temper and patience.

"...If it makes any difference.. I approached the Queen myself just half an hour ago," Alucard half sputtered, a whistle accompanying his words due the hole in his mouth. "Curious. Her reaction wasn't quite as violent as yours, but she never did know how to aim a firearm correctly."

Alucard mused as he picked himself up, half his face torn off and caked with decaying blood. Alucard didn't bother to regenerate dead tissue just yet, as he had yet to master multitasking. So talking and regenerating at the same time was out of the question. "The police girl has a good heart. She will provide strength and integrity in this organization. She does not disobey me. She does whatever it is I ask her. She will be loyal. She has no choice. Where else can she go but here? Integral, if I let her go now, she will not survive."

"I realize that, Alucard. I'm certain you thought of that when you offered to infect her with your disease as well."

"Now, don't be hasty Master... She's a good girl with a good soul."

"A good soul she NO LONGER HAS."

"Oh, come along now Integral.." Alucard smiled, twisted and curious. " If it helps I do not doubt that one day the girl may even be my equal in strengths... Given time. Given experience. No one would expect that such a common little thing could inherit such strengths... It was a good price, her humanity for what I gave her. She might even earn the respect her comrades never gave her. So very lucky she was there at the time she was. Don't you agree?"

Integral repaid his musings with a dose of silence.

"She didn't even have to work for the honor. It was simply... given to her."

"What are you telling me, Alucard? What are you suggesting?"

The vampire shrugged, picking himself up and looking down at the stains of blackened blood that pooled over the antique rug. "What do you think I maybe suggesting, Master..?"

"...Fine. The police girl will join the organization under the specialized unit. I will contact Walter shortly to get her situated into the institution with her own coffin and firearms."

"You are avoiding my question, Master."

Integral's brows furrowed. She picked up the receiver of her phone and began to dial, her mind fluctuating on various tracks of information.

"Master..."

"Walter? I request your assistance up here in my office immediately. Thank you."

Integral looked up and Alucard had left, leaving no traces of his ever being there in the first place. She sighed, one finger rolling over a sore temple as a headache promised to break her absence of thought. Frustrated, exhausted, pissed, and scared, Integral slammed one fist against the oak of her desk as she screamed. "FUCK!"

"I know why you turned her."
"It was obvious, wasn't it?"
"Hardly fair to her."
"I wanted to show you. I wanted to give you a taste of how easily in reach my blood was, how I would give it to you without resistance if you only asked."
"There were other reasons you did it."
"Yes, there were."
"...You turned her to replace me."
"I grew too attached to the girl you once were. I missed her."
"So you chose another girl to corrupt and ruin."
"To raise."
"There is a fine line between tenderness and corruption, Alucard. And you fail to see that line."
"She doesn't believe I do."
"..."

Author's Notes: The ending will make this more clear. You have to get to the conclusion though. Brace yourselves, kiddies. It'll eventually make more sense. This is one of my more humorous chapters, right next to Chapter 4 and Chapter 9