Of Blood and Boxes Ch.15
Of Becomingness
Joe Casto
Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing, nor am I, Joseph Casto, Reaping any profit from this story. I thank GONZO studios for the non-profitable use of their characters, and renounce any and all ownership to all of the characters in this story, not including those I have invented myself.
The summer was over, and now everyone had an excuse to wear a coat again. An English summer is about the equivalent of a rainy American fall, so everyone was eager to get back into their winter clothes. Seras had disappeared with a leave of training several weeks ago and Alucard hadn't seen her since the night they spent together.
Integral and her new lover had been disappearing at random Intervals into Integral's room, which had been recently modified to.suit her purposes. It now consisted of a lot of black drapery and gothic crosses, as well as having some gothic-style arches added in. She loved it and her "girlfriend" liked it as well, but she found it a little creepy, which gave her a plausible excuse to stay close to Integral most of the time.
Alucard had been, for lack of a better term, pouting, and was beating himself up over whatever he did wrong to make Seras go into her room and stay there. The last time he had seen her, she's walked out of his room and into hers without saying a word. Whenever he walked past her room, he'd hear disconcerting noises.noises he hadn't heard in centuries.
Her room was like a fortress. She had locked the door and unlocked it only for Walter, when he'd bring her twice her normal supply of blood, which she requested fresh at that. Walter could be overheard talking to Sir Integral and her aide about how the shadows in the hallway seemed to draw to her room. And a black sort of plasma substance came from under her door. Her room had become "black as death it be" and he had noticed some "Disturbing behavior and dress habits". However, he left her to her business and went about his errands, cursing himself for giving his first and thus far only niece to Integral. Their screams at night tortured him to the extent that he had started wearing earmuffs and earplugs in hopes of keeping the sound out.
Alucard walked briskly down the hall, anxious to take a shower after disposing of ten of the dwindling F.R.E.A.K. vampires. They were becoming an endangered species and were almost extinct. He bared his fangs in a smile of grim satisfaction at the thought. He continued his pace down the hall when he saw Black ooze coming from under Seras' door. He walked up to it and squatted down so as to see the substance more clearly.
"Ectoplasm." He said with a bored sort of interest. "Seras..I." he was about to apologize for whatever he had done, which wasn't at all in his character, but he still felt it was deserved. A voice erupted in his head. "Come in, pumpkin." It was earth shattering, dominating all of his thoughts and totally impossible to ignore. "Tone it down a bit, police girl." He said, another smile creeping onto his pale lips. "Sorry." She replied, and gave a little chuckle.
Alucard turned the knob to her room, waiting a moment before opening the door. He pushed lightly on the door and it swung open, propelled by some outside force. He stepped into the room, and his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. "You've been busy." He said with an air of amusement in his voice.
Seras was lying on the floor towards the back wall of her room, her head resting on her enormous dog, staring at Alucard with her deep red eyes, licking her lips as she stared at her master.
The walls of her room looked like liquid red and black marble. There were a small flock of bats hanging from her ceiling and black tentacles of energy writhed about, radiating from her. She had apparently not bothered to get dressed after she left, as she was nude, and on her chest, curled into a tiny ball, was a little grey cat.
"I think I've got down the whole manifestation thing, hon." She said, Licking her lips and giving a wicked smile. Her canines had elongated to almost the Length of Alucard's, giving her a much more menacing appearance. However evil she looked though, she still had the look of naiveté that showed her to be Victoria.
"Not quite yet." Alucard said, his smile waning slightly. He looked at Seras, noticing her eyes narrowing and her increase in pulse. "You do a good job!" he said, covering his tracks as quickly as possible, "You just need some ones that are more. Powerful." He said, wincing at the coming response from Seras.
"Like Demons or something?" she asked, genuinely curious at what she was doing wrong. She thought back to when Alucard had used his own summon to defeat the Demon "Set" and Incognito back at the tower of London.
"Exactly." Alucard replied. "But I don't think you're quite strong enough for that yet. As of now, you've come as far as you can in the area of manifestation." He said it in a matter-of-factly tone of voice that reminded Seras of one of her professors from college.
"So what now?" Victoria asked, disappointed that she couldn't do more to become a better vampire. "How do I become a.better vampire? If you'll forgive the phrase."
"Quite alright." Alucard said, producing his glasses from behind his back and placing them on his nose. "I would suggest that you.." He looked down his nose and sprouted his standard maniacal grin, stretching impossibly wide across his face, from one ear to the other. "Hunt." He finished, watching Seras' response.
"Oh.is that right." Seras said in a tiny voice that hinted at fear. She had never been comfortable with the concept of drinking other people's blood, especially right out of someone's jugular vein. But, as Alucard always said, there must be a first time for everything, especially when it comes to Vampires. She recalled that a vampire must drink blood both to live and grow stronger, so it was something she needed to do. But it was like paying the bills or doing a report for college, where one must procrastinate for as long as possible because you don't really want to do it.
Alucard watched Victoria's face as she battled internally over what she should do. She looked so cute when she was confused. He smiled at the thought and regained his posture. "Wait here, I'll be right back." He turned his back to her and held up one hand. "And I would recommend putting on some clothes as well.not that I mind." He waved his arm and was engulfed in a black cloak which shrunk and blinked out of sight.
Seras blushed a deep shad of red, having not noticed that she had been nude throughout the entire week of her meditation. She stood up quickly and opened her Armoire, expecting to see her standard wardrobe and gasped in surprise at what she saw.
All of her clothes were there, but some of them were slightly altered and all of them were of a very soft, very black fabric. She hugged several shirts to herself and took in their scent deeply. It was a refreshingly, yet musty scent, like that of a man wearing expensive cologne who had been working all day. She dressed quickly and assessed herself in the mirror.
She wore pair of short, black shorts with a black tank top. She remembered that it was fall, and, though she was dead and it didn't really matter, she put on a long, black trench coat which had been made to look like alligator skin. As an afterthought, she put in some dark sunglasses and put on a shoulder holster with a standard pistol. The sunglasses really weren't necessary, as it was night, but she liked to hide her eyes in public.
It was still odd that she could not see herself in her reflection. That was another reason to dress heavily. The more you wore, the less noticeable it was when you "disappeared" in a puddle or a glass window.
Alucard Showed up behind her with a "whoosh" noise and stared at his reflection, or lack there of. HE wrapped his arms around Seras' stomach and nuzzled her neck. "Ready?" he asked, genuinely concerned about her mental health.
"Yes." She said, nodding and closing her eyes. She felt the blackness of the cloak closing around her and felt the stone floor of her room leave her feet.
****************************************************** HEY! I hope I'm back up to par with this chapter, as the last one was a bit short. Enjoy and review.
Joseph Casto
Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing, nor am I, Joseph Casto, Reaping any profit from this story. I thank GONZO studios for the non-profitable use of their characters, and renounce any and all ownership to all of the characters in this story, not including those I have invented myself.
The summer was over, and now everyone had an excuse to wear a coat again. An English summer is about the equivalent of a rainy American fall, so everyone was eager to get back into their winter clothes. Seras had disappeared with a leave of training several weeks ago and Alucard hadn't seen her since the night they spent together.
Integral and her new lover had been disappearing at random Intervals into Integral's room, which had been recently modified to.suit her purposes. It now consisted of a lot of black drapery and gothic crosses, as well as having some gothic-style arches added in. She loved it and her "girlfriend" liked it as well, but she found it a little creepy, which gave her a plausible excuse to stay close to Integral most of the time.
Alucard had been, for lack of a better term, pouting, and was beating himself up over whatever he did wrong to make Seras go into her room and stay there. The last time he had seen her, she's walked out of his room and into hers without saying a word. Whenever he walked past her room, he'd hear disconcerting noises.noises he hadn't heard in centuries.
Her room was like a fortress. She had locked the door and unlocked it only for Walter, when he'd bring her twice her normal supply of blood, which she requested fresh at that. Walter could be overheard talking to Sir Integral and her aide about how the shadows in the hallway seemed to draw to her room. And a black sort of plasma substance came from under her door. Her room had become "black as death it be" and he had noticed some "Disturbing behavior and dress habits". However, he left her to her business and went about his errands, cursing himself for giving his first and thus far only niece to Integral. Their screams at night tortured him to the extent that he had started wearing earmuffs and earplugs in hopes of keeping the sound out.
Alucard walked briskly down the hall, anxious to take a shower after disposing of ten of the dwindling F.R.E.A.K. vampires. They were becoming an endangered species and were almost extinct. He bared his fangs in a smile of grim satisfaction at the thought. He continued his pace down the hall when he saw Black ooze coming from under Seras' door. He walked up to it and squatted down so as to see the substance more clearly.
"Ectoplasm." He said with a bored sort of interest. "Seras..I." he was about to apologize for whatever he had done, which wasn't at all in his character, but he still felt it was deserved. A voice erupted in his head. "Come in, pumpkin." It was earth shattering, dominating all of his thoughts and totally impossible to ignore. "Tone it down a bit, police girl." He said, another smile creeping onto his pale lips. "Sorry." She replied, and gave a little chuckle.
Alucard turned the knob to her room, waiting a moment before opening the door. He pushed lightly on the door and it swung open, propelled by some outside force. He stepped into the room, and his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. "You've been busy." He said with an air of amusement in his voice.
Seras was lying on the floor towards the back wall of her room, her head resting on her enormous dog, staring at Alucard with her deep red eyes, licking her lips as she stared at her master.
The walls of her room looked like liquid red and black marble. There were a small flock of bats hanging from her ceiling and black tentacles of energy writhed about, radiating from her. She had apparently not bothered to get dressed after she left, as she was nude, and on her chest, curled into a tiny ball, was a little grey cat.
"I think I've got down the whole manifestation thing, hon." She said, Licking her lips and giving a wicked smile. Her canines had elongated to almost the Length of Alucard's, giving her a much more menacing appearance. However evil she looked though, she still had the look of naiveté that showed her to be Victoria.
"Not quite yet." Alucard said, his smile waning slightly. He looked at Seras, noticing her eyes narrowing and her increase in pulse. "You do a good job!" he said, covering his tracks as quickly as possible, "You just need some ones that are more. Powerful." He said, wincing at the coming response from Seras.
"Like Demons or something?" she asked, genuinely curious at what she was doing wrong. She thought back to when Alucard had used his own summon to defeat the Demon "Set" and Incognito back at the tower of London.
"Exactly." Alucard replied. "But I don't think you're quite strong enough for that yet. As of now, you've come as far as you can in the area of manifestation." He said it in a matter-of-factly tone of voice that reminded Seras of one of her professors from college.
"So what now?" Victoria asked, disappointed that she couldn't do more to become a better vampire. "How do I become a.better vampire? If you'll forgive the phrase."
"Quite alright." Alucard said, producing his glasses from behind his back and placing them on his nose. "I would suggest that you.." He looked down his nose and sprouted his standard maniacal grin, stretching impossibly wide across his face, from one ear to the other. "Hunt." He finished, watching Seras' response.
"Oh.is that right." Seras said in a tiny voice that hinted at fear. She had never been comfortable with the concept of drinking other people's blood, especially right out of someone's jugular vein. But, as Alucard always said, there must be a first time for everything, especially when it comes to Vampires. She recalled that a vampire must drink blood both to live and grow stronger, so it was something she needed to do. But it was like paying the bills or doing a report for college, where one must procrastinate for as long as possible because you don't really want to do it.
Alucard watched Victoria's face as she battled internally over what she should do. She looked so cute when she was confused. He smiled at the thought and regained his posture. "Wait here, I'll be right back." He turned his back to her and held up one hand. "And I would recommend putting on some clothes as well.not that I mind." He waved his arm and was engulfed in a black cloak which shrunk and blinked out of sight.
Seras blushed a deep shad of red, having not noticed that she had been nude throughout the entire week of her meditation. She stood up quickly and opened her Armoire, expecting to see her standard wardrobe and gasped in surprise at what she saw.
All of her clothes were there, but some of them were slightly altered and all of them were of a very soft, very black fabric. She hugged several shirts to herself and took in their scent deeply. It was a refreshingly, yet musty scent, like that of a man wearing expensive cologne who had been working all day. She dressed quickly and assessed herself in the mirror.
She wore pair of short, black shorts with a black tank top. She remembered that it was fall, and, though she was dead and it didn't really matter, she put on a long, black trench coat which had been made to look like alligator skin. As an afterthought, she put in some dark sunglasses and put on a shoulder holster with a standard pistol. The sunglasses really weren't necessary, as it was night, but she liked to hide her eyes in public.
It was still odd that she could not see herself in her reflection. That was another reason to dress heavily. The more you wore, the less noticeable it was when you "disappeared" in a puddle or a glass window.
Alucard Showed up behind her with a "whoosh" noise and stared at his reflection, or lack there of. HE wrapped his arms around Seras' stomach and nuzzled her neck. "Ready?" he asked, genuinely concerned about her mental health.
"Yes." She said, nodding and closing her eyes. She felt the blackness of the cloak closing around her and felt the stone floor of her room leave her feet.
****************************************************** HEY! I hope I'm back up to par with this chapter, as the last one was a bit short. Enjoy and review.
Joseph Casto