Of Blood and Boxes
Ch.18 of beckoning sights and sounds
Joseph Casto
"You can call me Dave." said the boy, turning around in the street and walking away from the still-warm corpse of his victim. He stopped to talk to the woman in the brown tweed jacket. His tone was soft and reassuring, as if she were a small child who'd seen a scary movie. Seras could've made out what he was saying if she'd wanted to, but she didn't really care.
He turned the corner with the woman at his side, and the two vampires followed. His steps echoed down and back the narrow alleyway, distorting them and making them sound like the beat of some obscure tune being whispered between the walls on either side of them.
"I notice you're from Hellsing." The boy said. "Are you here to bust us up master Alucard?" He asked, turning his head slightly to the left, exposing his throat over the collar of his shirt.
Seras noted for the first time the fang-marks in his neck. She contemplated how he could've been bitten and not be a ghoul or a vampire. As far as she knew, if one had their blood taken by a nosferatu, they could drink the Vampire's blood and become one themselves, or they could do nothing and become a ghoul. The primary was her preference, But she'd never heard of someone staying alive after being bitten.
"Well you needn't stare." The boy said. He pulled up the collar on his shirt and gave an indignant huff. You're from Hellsing so I don't suppose you've been permitted to speak with many "wild" vampires." He looked down at the floor as he continued his story.
"There are several things that can happen when one gives blood. If you give it, you either remain normal, turn into a vampire, or turn into a ghoul if you give too much."
"I'm waiting for my opportunity to become a night dweller myself, but Mistress Bathory says she's waiting for something. She also told us to expect you, master Alucard." He turned and nodded at Alucard, seemingly torn between hating him for killing his own kind and admiring him for what he was.
"I'd imagine Elizabeth knows a great many things." Alucard said. He glanced at Seras who was looking intently at her feet.
"Here we go." said Dave, coming to a halt in front of an enormous stone slab at the end of a dark Alley. "Open the door." He said at a camera to the upper left of the slab.
Abruptly a red dot showed in the stone. Ii split into two pieces, each going out two feet and down six simultaneously, forming a large red rectangle. The area within the outline fell back a foot and slid to the left, revealing a small, dark hallway. Dave grinned a huge, maniacle grin which reminded Seras of Alucard in an adolescent sort of way. He breathed in deeply and turned to the woman in brown. "You want the left door." He said, Pointing down the dark hall.
"Thank you so much." whispered the lady in brown, nodding as she said it. She Turned on her heel and walked quickly down the hall. There was a sound of a door opening and shutting, followed by a long, akward silence.
"Okay Fellas." Dave said, staring down the dark hall.
The Lights went on down the hall with a click starting at the entrance, all of them a deep, erotic crimson. The walls slid down, exposing the same marble as Alucard's room on all the walls and openings on the right and left side of the corridor at even intervals.
Dave took off down the hall with even, confident strides. It was as if he was a new person. He stood erect, revealing his full height which rivaled Alucard's and he let his arms hang limp, giving him a much more gangly appearance. As he went down the halls, Seras and Alucard followed with slight reluctance into the pulsing, dim Hallway.
They were greeted with loud techno music pounding in their ears. The Bass shook their very marrow, penetrating to their cores. Seras couldn't help but to bob her head in time to it, even though she was a bit more of a Led Zeppelin girl.
Alucard Kept his usual stride behind Dave, Barely aware of the male and female voices that greeted the leader of their little parade. Dave met each with a friendly nod, smiling as he did so. Alucard's eyes would occasionally drift into one of the rooms which were filled with either bubbling tubes of variously colored liquid, seminar rooms, beds, vampires, or some combination of the preceding.
The hallway opened up to an enormous room the size of a large gymnasium with steel grating for floor and flashing lights in the maze of steel bars overhead. They were on one of two raised platforms located on either side of the room. The floor was filled with people, all dancing or twirling or sitting around talking, and upon closer examination, one could see various doors along the edges and a balcony a bit above the other platform.
It looked like a large black Egg sticking out of the wall. Seras assumed it was made out of bulletproof glass and was filled with rich, powerful people. She smiled as it started to open, sliding slowly into two pieces. The two sections parted, to the addictive beat of the music, it seemed, revealing an almost empty balcony. However, the protruding arc was not completely empty.
Everyone in the room including Alucard looked toward the balcony with wide eyes. The eyes on the floor were filled with adoration and Alucard's with reminiscence. Seras licked the woman's body with her pupils and gasped. She wore a black renaissance-looking dress however, instead of it being inflated with wire and having giant billowing folds, it was much sleeker and looked as though it might be worn as lingerie. Her feet were covered with black, knee high needle heels and were preceded by fishnet stockings. At the base of her beautiful black corset she sported a frilly black miniskirt. Her corset had a lace top that went to the top of her neck and down her arms. Seras could make out the lacey caricature of a picture within it.
She elegantly raised one arm and the veritable roar of whispers subsided, leaving the room so quiet that if a needle dropped it'd sound like a gunshot to Seras. The mysterious woman sat both of her hands on the railing of the balcony and leaned forward, causing everyone in the room to sigh at both the sheer grace of the action and the exposure which resulted.
Alucard's eyes widened slightly as he took in the woman. "She hasn't changed in three hundred years." He whispered to himself.
"Children..I have returned." This was followed by what Seras would figure to be the most tumultuous applause she'd ever seen. "After such a great time I bring news of the future." She waited for several seconds for the drama to soak into her audience like a sponge." The time has come for us to feel what we've all been searching for."
One could practically feel the massive intake of air that come from that statement. You could've cut the silence with a knife as the woman's lips parted into an oh-so-slight smile. "Acceptance..Acceptance for what we are and from where we came. Acceptance of our beliefs and our pasts! Where we've been is nothing next to where we are.and that is dwarfed by the sheer concept of where we will be soon."
Applause filled the room once more as Seras looked from her vantage point down on all of the people that were around her. There had to be a thousand vampires in that room if not two thousand. She shivered slightly when she felt the temperature of the room. Regardless of the number of people within it, it was about fifty degrees.
"Tonight we have two very important guests. These are two guests that could easily reverse the trail of prejudice that has precipitated from the haphazard actions of our brutal ancestors. We are on the edge of a new age my children.one in which we, vampires, the nosferatu.we shall be called equals!" The Spotlights turned onto Alucard and Seras. The ceiling shook and the walls trembled with the force of the applause that came. Alucard removed his hat and gave a small bow to the crowd, obviously loving the attention. Seras Shook in her boots and responded with the biggest nod she could muster which was rather meager.
"I thank you for your attention children and with both sadness and hope, bid you adieu for the moment. God bless!" She turned on her heel with a small wave and disappeared into the black background followed by the enthusiastic applause of everyone in the room except for Seras.
"Well.. " Alucard said once the applause was quiet enough for Seras to hear "are you ready to play messiah police girl?"
A/N Bit of a pause there eh? Sorry about that. Hopefully That little bit of chapter there was okay. R/R please! Thank you for reading!
"You can call me Dave." said the boy, turning around in the street and walking away from the still-warm corpse of his victim. He stopped to talk to the woman in the brown tweed jacket. His tone was soft and reassuring, as if she were a small child who'd seen a scary movie. Seras could've made out what he was saying if she'd wanted to, but she didn't really care.
He turned the corner with the woman at his side, and the two vampires followed. His steps echoed down and back the narrow alleyway, distorting them and making them sound like the beat of some obscure tune being whispered between the walls on either side of them.
"I notice you're from Hellsing." The boy said. "Are you here to bust us up master Alucard?" He asked, turning his head slightly to the left, exposing his throat over the collar of his shirt.
Seras noted for the first time the fang-marks in his neck. She contemplated how he could've been bitten and not be a ghoul or a vampire. As far as she knew, if one had their blood taken by a nosferatu, they could drink the Vampire's blood and become one themselves, or they could do nothing and become a ghoul. The primary was her preference, But she'd never heard of someone staying alive after being bitten.
"Well you needn't stare." The boy said. He pulled up the collar on his shirt and gave an indignant huff. You're from Hellsing so I don't suppose you've been permitted to speak with many "wild" vampires." He looked down at the floor as he continued his story.
"There are several things that can happen when one gives blood. If you give it, you either remain normal, turn into a vampire, or turn into a ghoul if you give too much."
"I'm waiting for my opportunity to become a night dweller myself, but Mistress Bathory says she's waiting for something. She also told us to expect you, master Alucard." He turned and nodded at Alucard, seemingly torn between hating him for killing his own kind and admiring him for what he was.
"I'd imagine Elizabeth knows a great many things." Alucard said. He glanced at Seras who was looking intently at her feet.
"Here we go." said Dave, coming to a halt in front of an enormous stone slab at the end of a dark Alley. "Open the door." He said at a camera to the upper left of the slab.
Abruptly a red dot showed in the stone. Ii split into two pieces, each going out two feet and down six simultaneously, forming a large red rectangle. The area within the outline fell back a foot and slid to the left, revealing a small, dark hallway. Dave grinned a huge, maniacle grin which reminded Seras of Alucard in an adolescent sort of way. He breathed in deeply and turned to the woman in brown. "You want the left door." He said, Pointing down the dark hall.
"Thank you so much." whispered the lady in brown, nodding as she said it. She Turned on her heel and walked quickly down the hall. There was a sound of a door opening and shutting, followed by a long, akward silence.
"Okay Fellas." Dave said, staring down the dark hall.
The Lights went on down the hall with a click starting at the entrance, all of them a deep, erotic crimson. The walls slid down, exposing the same marble as Alucard's room on all the walls and openings on the right and left side of the corridor at even intervals.
Dave took off down the hall with even, confident strides. It was as if he was a new person. He stood erect, revealing his full height which rivaled Alucard's and he let his arms hang limp, giving him a much more gangly appearance. As he went down the halls, Seras and Alucard followed with slight reluctance into the pulsing, dim Hallway.
They were greeted with loud techno music pounding in their ears. The Bass shook their very marrow, penetrating to their cores. Seras couldn't help but to bob her head in time to it, even though she was a bit more of a Led Zeppelin girl.
Alucard Kept his usual stride behind Dave, Barely aware of the male and female voices that greeted the leader of their little parade. Dave met each with a friendly nod, smiling as he did so. Alucard's eyes would occasionally drift into one of the rooms which were filled with either bubbling tubes of variously colored liquid, seminar rooms, beds, vampires, or some combination of the preceding.
The hallway opened up to an enormous room the size of a large gymnasium with steel grating for floor and flashing lights in the maze of steel bars overhead. They were on one of two raised platforms located on either side of the room. The floor was filled with people, all dancing or twirling or sitting around talking, and upon closer examination, one could see various doors along the edges and a balcony a bit above the other platform.
It looked like a large black Egg sticking out of the wall. Seras assumed it was made out of bulletproof glass and was filled with rich, powerful people. She smiled as it started to open, sliding slowly into two pieces. The two sections parted, to the addictive beat of the music, it seemed, revealing an almost empty balcony. However, the protruding arc was not completely empty.
Everyone in the room including Alucard looked toward the balcony with wide eyes. The eyes on the floor were filled with adoration and Alucard's with reminiscence. Seras licked the woman's body with her pupils and gasped. She wore a black renaissance-looking dress however, instead of it being inflated with wire and having giant billowing folds, it was much sleeker and looked as though it might be worn as lingerie. Her feet were covered with black, knee high needle heels and were preceded by fishnet stockings. At the base of her beautiful black corset she sported a frilly black miniskirt. Her corset had a lace top that went to the top of her neck and down her arms. Seras could make out the lacey caricature of a picture within it.
She elegantly raised one arm and the veritable roar of whispers subsided, leaving the room so quiet that if a needle dropped it'd sound like a gunshot to Seras. The mysterious woman sat both of her hands on the railing of the balcony and leaned forward, causing everyone in the room to sigh at both the sheer grace of the action and the exposure which resulted.
Alucard's eyes widened slightly as he took in the woman. "She hasn't changed in three hundred years." He whispered to himself.
"Children..I have returned." This was followed by what Seras would figure to be the most tumultuous applause she'd ever seen. "After such a great time I bring news of the future." She waited for several seconds for the drama to soak into her audience like a sponge." The time has come for us to feel what we've all been searching for."
One could practically feel the massive intake of air that come from that statement. You could've cut the silence with a knife as the woman's lips parted into an oh-so-slight smile. "Acceptance..Acceptance for what we are and from where we came. Acceptance of our beliefs and our pasts! Where we've been is nothing next to where we are.and that is dwarfed by the sheer concept of where we will be soon."
Applause filled the room once more as Seras looked from her vantage point down on all of the people that were around her. There had to be a thousand vampires in that room if not two thousand. She shivered slightly when she felt the temperature of the room. Regardless of the number of people within it, it was about fifty degrees.
"Tonight we have two very important guests. These are two guests that could easily reverse the trail of prejudice that has precipitated from the haphazard actions of our brutal ancestors. We are on the edge of a new age my children.one in which we, vampires, the nosferatu.we shall be called equals!" The Spotlights turned onto Alucard and Seras. The ceiling shook and the walls trembled with the force of the applause that came. Alucard removed his hat and gave a small bow to the crowd, obviously loving the attention. Seras Shook in her boots and responded with the biggest nod she could muster which was rather meager.
"I thank you for your attention children and with both sadness and hope, bid you adieu for the moment. God bless!" She turned on her heel with a small wave and disappeared into the black background followed by the enthusiastic applause of everyone in the room except for Seras.
"Well.. " Alucard said once the applause was quiet enough for Seras to hear "are you ready to play messiah police girl?"
A/N Bit of a pause there eh? Sorry about that. Hopefully That little bit of chapter there was okay. R/R please! Thank you for reading!