"Only now, in this difficult moment of my life, do I experience the unexpected revelation of a woman's superiority, of the terrible force that her presumably weak body may emanate. This same body is more complex, more powerful, more enclosed within itself, constrained to an inner life where no man exists. A superiority unknown to the male part of the species. It's all a question of corporeality."
(Vlad Dracula as collected from what are believed to be Dracula's notes, written during the time of his imprisonment).
Chapter Four
- Of Scourging and Lashings
"May I pass, Sir?" Seras knocked on the door of the office, interrupting just when Alucard was licking Integral's wounds again. They were bleeding and since he had been a good servant during the whole ordeal, the Master was rewarding him. Or maybe Integral relinquished to see him shudder in pain when his tongue lapped the aching zone. The Hellsings were as cruel as he was. He adored that.
Integral gestured Alucard to move with a single nod of her head. He bowed and faded to a corner, slowly vanishing in the shadows as he toyed with his bloodied fangs. His Master buttoned her sleeves and put the gloves on her hands. She searched for a handkerchief to wipe his saliva from her forehead before speaking aloud: "Come in, Captain."
Seras lowered the doorknob and entered, shutting the door before walking over to salute Integral. She was carrying a white envelope on her right hand, one which he was able to recognize immediately.
Finally they have found it. Excellent timing, Alucard thought.
Suddenly, Seras paused briefly on her tracks. Too fast to be caught by human eye but Alucard was. The Police Girl caught a glimpse of his fading figure, probably the glitter of his canines. Her olfactory senses must have detected the oddity on the Master for he heard Pip's commenting:
Ew. That's nasty, the boss stinks like Alucard.
Pip! We shouldn't smell this.
Easy, girl. Maybe we should invite her to shower with us one day. What do you think?
While her mind was chatting with the Frenchman, his fledgling talked to the Master. "My research in Midian wasn't promising," she started her report. Alucard remained and listened; it concerned his plans as well. "I was allowed inside the city but I am afraid that my features are easily recognised," she added apologetic while rising her shadowy trump. "But for what I was stemmed and confined with, I could safely say that Thomas is just a puppet. Same goes for that John bloke pervert. An ex-worker, Laura, told me that they were nobodies until Angel came."
"Angel?"
"The first counsellor," Seras clarified. "I couldn't spot him anywhere but he made them ascend to power…Thomas has good intentions but is not good in political intrigue and the other must have slept with all the women of their administration to know the useful gossip."
Integral's features grimaced; circles appeared around her eyes. The agony of the wounds and the war had aged her beyond the twenty-four years she was but for Alucard it was more enticing: the marks of war and death, something that would be with her for the rest of her existence. "I will need more information for the meeting next month. But good work, Seras. Focus on the training of the new transfers. We need more professional soldiers as a priority. I will aid you when I can…" she bit her tongue. Alucard could tell she wanted to scratch her wounds.
"Don't worry, Sir. I can take care of them alone!" Seras exclaimed, taking a step forward. "You get better. Ok? We need you healthy. Have the doctors healed you yet?"
"No," Integral sighed, lounging further in her seat. "None of the surgeons I have met can explain this beyond a mere eczemas caused by stress. These wounds aren't just a skin condition," her jaw tensed. "Some dared to suggest I suffer from Munchausen syndrome! As if I like attention! Regardless I have hired specialists on the matter…"
"Uh… the blood burnt me when I touched it," Seras said nervously. "During the first attack when I bandaged you. I thought it was the silver buttons of your jacket but…"
"Pardon?" Integral arched an eyebrow. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"
"It slipped my mind. The research and the training…" The Police Girl excused herself. "I accept the proper punishment for my omission, Sir Integral."
Integral rose from her leather chair and slowly strode towards his fledgling – each step left her breathless as the wounds brushed the material of her socks and shoes. She had always a soft spot for the weak creatures, Alucard accepted that flaw on her character, though.
At least that made Police Girl drink blood once and for all.
"Relax, Captain," Integral suggested, steadying her breathing and stopping beside Seras. "I understand the stress and responsibility. Just make sure to tell me everything from now on. Understood?"
"Yes, Sir."
"You may leave then, Seras," Integral dismissed her.
"Wait, I came to deliver this letter, Sir Integral," Seras told her, offering the neat white envelope to the Master. Integral took it right away and inspected it carefully. She no doubt recognized the red crest of Iscariot that sealed the contents. She turned it around and scanned the dates and the stamps.
"This was sent four days ago," Integral scolded. "Why wasn't this on my desk with the rest of the mail?"
"I-I don't know, Sir. Mr. Alphonse said that he was certain to include it… somehow it must have been misplaced."
Integral's corner of her lip started to twitch, Alucard noticed; She must be annoyed by the lack of competence displayed. That old butler was easier to deceive than Walter used to be. He moved to the shadows of the ceiling, quietly following his Master's movements. She had turned and returned to her desk, cutting the envelope with a slice of her letter opener. Seras remained still too, both vampires waited until Integral finished reading the letter.
"They demand an appointment to meet me," Integral informed Seras while she folded the letter and tucked it inside her right pocket. "It's about the nature of my wounds."
"They have information? That's great!" Seras beamed, flashing Integral a cheerful grin.
"I am afraid that I know what their ridiculous theory will be."
"Then you can deny the meeting?"
Integral smirked at Police Girl, reaching for her box of cigars that was laying on the top of her confidential labelled folders. "You misunderstood me, Captain. They demand a meeting, they are not requesting it," she corrected her, placing a cigar on her mouth without lighting it. "They are arriving to my Manor this afternoon."
Alucard chuckled and returned to his room, leaving his Master and fledgling to discuss the preparative of the Catholics' greeting among themselves. He was looking forward to facing Anderson once more. While high in his triumphal mood about his latest experiment, he toyed with the Iscariot crest that he had ordered to be made before crushing it with his fist to destroy any evidence. Integral had not noted that the envelope had been already opened to be read. I must reward my soul servant, Enrico Maxwell, after all is done, he laughed.
-
"Sir Hellsing," Alexander Anderson greeted Integral with a bow, right after he descended from the black limousine that brought him and the two nuns from Iscariot to the Hellsing courtyard. Alucard had been ordered to remain hidden unless his presence was needed or requested. His Master did not wish the Judas Priest to lose his mind and destroy her precious Mansion during a brawl with him. The vampire huffed, bored and expecting something to happen so he had an excuse to come out and play.
At least Police Girl doesn't act like a nervous wretch around him anymore, Alucard noted, gazing his fledgling with new eyes. Instead of freaking out, she remained calm and… grinning towards the clergyman?
"Father Anderson," Integral replied back, returning his courteous bow with her own. "Or should I call you Bishop Anderson now?" she chuckled. "You are still dressed as a priest."
Anderson smirked, a glitter of his zealous self could be spotted on his eyes. "Section XIII religious men and women don't exactlyfollow the teachings and etiquette of the normal clergy," he explained, glancing at the nun at his right – the short haired one who dressed as a man. "That includes our cloths."
"Maxwell didn't share that opinion," Integral's tone became spiteful, dripping with venom. Alucard detected a twitching on the Asian sister with glasses, her gaze was on the ground, crestfallen.
"Father Maxwell isn't the best example to judge us all, Hellsing," the other nun intervened, stepping forward to move closer to Anderson.
"And good afternoon to you too, Sister Heinkel. I was speaking with Bishop Anderson here," Integral chuckled, gesturing to the lit cigar between her lips. "Your services aren't needed until I finish my cigarillo."
Alucard bit down a voracious laugh at her response to see Heinkel shooting a glare of contempt to his ingenious Master.
"Can we finish with this, Heinkel? Alexander? We should cut to the important business," the Asian nun proposed quietly, straightening her skirt shyly.
"Aye, Sister Takagi. We should," Anderson nodded and glanced towards Seras briefly, unable to hide his psychotic smile. Police Girl waved at his direction but did not say a thing; instead, she moved closer to Integral, acting as her protector instead of him. Then the Judas Priest turned once again to Integral. "Aren't you going to invite us in, Hellsing?"
"Don't wear out your welcome, Anderson," Integral warned as she spun around. "I have ordered to be prepared a place for us to speak in the garden. At least if any of you loses your temper, none of my Ming Dynasty vases shall pay the price."
Integral led them through the marble path that circled the Mansion to finally arrive behind the building in the backyard. The training fields and supplies storehouse was located far from the apparently normal garden. There were several sculptures surrounding the green zone, most were angels with the occasional gargoyle mixed. The bushes were green and neatly tended and the plants lacked blossoms due to the autumn that was slowly becoming winter. His Master descended the small staircase and walked towards the table and the chairs that had just been added for their commodity. She favoured her left leg on an occasion, Anderson was quick to note that.
"Are you wounded on your leg, Sir Hellsing?"
"No," Integral answered, sitting down. "My wounds are on my feet."
Heinkel and Yumiko exchanged a look, Anderson fell silent and took his seat. Seras remained standing, looming behind Integral's chair.
"How did you know about my… dilemma, Anderson?" Integral interrogated, folding her arms, teeth tightening their grip on her cigar.
"By God's designs we were gifted by the possession of a copy of your meeting with the cursed rulers of the unholy city," Anderson cackled after answering. "We know about the truth behind those images."
Integral arched both eyebrows and turned to glance at Heinkel. "We had spies to provide us the tape so we could analyse the leeches closely," she explained, "Your pitiful display caught Bishop Anderson's eye and after testing if it was a fake or not, we decided to visit you."
"Oh," Integral uttered. Alucard was certain she was making a mental note to find this spy and silence him. She leaned forward to face the Catholics. "If you have come to tell me these are stigmata. You are wasting both yours and my time," she sneered. "I refuse to believe in that rubbish."
Anderson's eyes narrowed; his hands closed into fists beneath the table. Alucard gleamed, waiting for the mere sign of threat so he could beat his nemesis again. But he collected himself too soon and spoke to Integral. "We have been sent to corroborate that, Hellsing. We ask your cooperation in this so we can retire soon," his voice held a hint of conflict.
"I shall not, Anderson. I am not Father Pio or any other religious charlatan who wants to be venerated and proclaimed as saint by the Vatican!"
"I highly doubt you're the real deal, Hellsing," Heinkel hissed, fuming from her chair. "Canonizating you is outside the Vatican plans even if your trickery turns out to be real."
"Their sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more," Integral quoted Hebrews, "Are you going to contradict God's own Word? He said it Himself. Christ suffered and that forgave our sins. We are not supposed to suffer like He did!"
"Uhmm… well, the Holy Scripts also made slavery legal so I won't take it so… literal if I were you, Sir Hellsing," Yumiko pointed out quietly as the rest turned to look at her in disbelief. She shrunk further on her chair, clearly uncomfortable with their gazes. She could be fun to toy with Alucard promised that he would haunt the little nun after all was over.
"Shouldn't that defeat the purpose of being a religious fanatic?" Seras mused aloud.
Iscariot is a barny lot, Pip told her, and she nodded in agreement.
"Yumiko is special," Heinkel pointed out, defending her partner.
"Sir Hellsing," Anderson rose, his hands were shaking, struggling for his control. Whoever put him in charge of Iscariot was not right in the head but Alucard admitted he rather preferred the regenerator to that pathetic weasel, Enrico Maxwell, he was only fun to devour after his servants finished with him during the war. "Let me examine you. I shan't take long and it will satisfy our curiosity."
Integral did not have an opportunity to reply, as she began to shake in agony again. She collapsed on the top of the table, wincing, gasping for air as her back arched. Heinkel and Yumiko hastily came to Anderson's side to observe her suffering over the strikes of invisible lashings in wonder.
"Shouldn't the scourging precede the Crown of Thorns?" Yumiko asked.
"Before, after… who gives a fuck about that!" Seras exclaimed with a heavy French accent, moving to aid her chief but not daring to touch her. What she could do to relieve her? Silly girl. "Shit fuck."
"What's that smell?" Heinkel sniffed when Integral finally fell unconscious. A sweet aroma had begun to spread around them.
"Blood…obviously," Seras snapped, gently straightening Integral's posture to remove her jacket. It was soaked with blood on her back; her white shirt had became crimson red. Alucard licked his fangs, restraining himself from leaping to lap away the blood. "And… honeysuckles?"
"No," Yumiko shook her head, "I recognised the flower from our trip to Argentina. It's the Passion Flower. We brought some to Father Maxwell as a gift."
"Let me see that, Draculina," Anderson approached Seras with a wistful expression. He was very gentle to pull up his Master's shirt and examined the bleeding gashes on her skin. "It is a miracle…"
Integral stirred, coughing and shivering. "T-the miracle d-does not seem so fabulous if you ask me, Anderson," she said, attempting to move without success.
"Be still, Sir Hellsing," Anderson advised, picking up the wounded knight and throwing her across his back to carry her without inducing further harm. "Seras Victoria," he grinned to the girl, "Guide me to the Medical Wing." Seras glanced at Integral.
"As do he say, Seras." Police Girl only needed that answer to comply with Anderson's request.
Master…
Stay there, Alucard. I am on his hands for now. If you appear, I won't like to deal with a berserker Anderson in this position.
I will visit you after then…
But he did not leave immediately, rather he lurked in the shadows to watch the leaders from different Christian organisation interact.
"Anderson?" Alucard heard Integral murmur, muffled by the cloth over her mouth.
"Aye?"
"Do you really think this is the work of God?" she asked sceptically. Integral had no reason to believe the stigmata nonsense; she was Protestant.
"Perhaps," Anderson replied as he secured his grip on her while they entered inside the hospital area. "Or perhaps it's the Devil's work in order to confuse the true believers over to the wicked heretic ways."
Integral chuckled, "I thought as much."
Author's Notes: Thanks to Verdandi24 who edited this piece and helped me to improve the flow and grammar. Also, huge thanks to my reviewers, if you notice anything wrong, please nitpick, I welcome feedback of any kind. Andno I didn't make the accents, Anderson doesn't speak with Scottish accentin either the Spanish version or Japanese one. Enrico Maxwell apparently died in chapter five of volume 8 (is not certain yet). Next chapter is the last.
