21
Integra led the group down the musty stone stairs to the sublevels. She hadn't been down there in 10 years, but she remembered the passage well. She also remembered other things. The wide grin on her uncle's face, illuminated by the muzzle flash of his gun. The pain of the bullet tearing through her arm. The dungeon room growing larger as she fell down the stairs. The vision she had when she touched the door handle.
They were moving quickly down the dark corridor now. There was a secret tunnel somewhere down this way that would take them off the Hellsing property, and hopefully to safety. Amon let his hand brush against the stone wall as he walked on.
"How long has it been since you last came down here?" he asked.
"Ten years," Integra said eyeing him. "Try not to touch anything. We have little cause to clean down here."
Amon scowled as he shook the thick cobwebs from his fingers. He looked up as the cracking sounds of gunshots echoed down through the stone ceiling. "We shouldn't have come here," he said.
"Shut up," Integra snapped over her shoulder. "I don't need you heckling me. And I never asked you to follow us."
"We have no choice now. The house is already surrounded," he said.
"And whose fault is that?" Integra asked rhetorically. "You can't seem to walk ten meters without falling into some intrigue. And it appears you've dragged me down with you this time. Solomon is here for you, not for me."
"Could Solomon know about this exit?"
"Impossible," Integra said with absolute certainty. "The only people who ever knew that much about this house are my late father and I, Walter, Alucard, and… my uncle Richard."
"Could your uncle be doing this?" Amon asked.
"Of course not. He's dead," Integra said.
"You're sure of that?" Amon asked, pushing.
"Of course I'm sure. I killed him myself."
"Why did you do that?" Robin asked, wide eyed.
"He was trying to kill me," Integra said after a moments pause.
"Why?" Robin asked.
"He wanted to take over as head of the Hellsing Organization but my father left the position to me," Integra replied.
Amon moved closer now, more interested. "He tried to kill you in order to take over your father's position? That's very..."
"Lion King," Robin suggested.
"I was going to say Shakespearean," Amon said.
Integra glared at both of them over her shoulder. "It was no movie. It was my life. And it almost ended that day. If Alucard had not been there, he would have killed me. I'm sure of it."
Amon and Robin said nothing for a moment as they kept walking. The muffled sounds of terrified screaming began to filter down from the upper levels.
"Sounds like Alucard is doing a good job keeping them busy," Integra said with a sneer.
"He always does," Seras said.
22
Robin began to get slightly claustrophobic as the corridor got narrower and darker. It was almost pitch black now.
"How far is it to the door from here?" she asked.
"Not far," Sir Integra responded.
They all had their hands on the walls despite the dust and grime. It was comforting to have something to hold onto in the dark. It was another few minutes before they saw the white outline of the door up ahead. It looked like Heaven to Robin. They were still a few yards off when the door opened and light from the gathering dawn flooded in. They all squinted to see the figure of a man standing in the doorway, a gun raised in his left hand.
"Hello Integra," he said, his voice dripping with malice.
Story Notes:
"...Shakespearean" - It's not as well known as it should be, but Lion King was based on Shakespeare's Hamlet. I used that to make fun of Amon and Robin's age difference. At 25 he thinks of a literary classic while at 15 she thinks of a Disney movie.