A/N: And back to the fic now. Chapter 13, just like I promised. As you people may have noticed, this fic has been a blend of the anime and manga. I've been selecting pieces of both 'verses, and in this case, I'm choosing the anime take on 'How to become a Vampire: The Hellsing Way.' Some of this chapter was inspired by my parents, so a hug and kiss to them. Especially my Dad, who after reading it said, "Eva would make a really scary vampire." I thought on it, realized he was very right, and decided to incorporate that. Weird, because I did not originally intend her to be good vampire material. Funny how these things happen. Oh, you guys, Integra saw him leave through the door. For him, that's unusual. Oh yes, and the meeting I was hinting at in the 'Humorous Interlude' will not be happening for a while... nobody get excited yet.

-Reviewers-

Safrawr, you're right. (I re-read the fic several times in shame) Alu does seem to be getting the upper hand… Maybe she'll have to get him back… -Gives Integra a whip- Anyway, my pleasure to keep writing as long as you keep reading.

Alucard's Familiar… Thank you for the suggestion. I decided to take your advice with this chapter, as you will see. It certainly forced me to grow as an author… usually when I'm stuck I just switched characters, instead of figuring it out. (I'm flattered you love my story… since you happen to be a favorite author 'o mine!)

Vampyr'sDaughter: Thank you for the 10!

Oblivionknight7: Of course she is! Then again, she was just trying to help…

Death's Integrity: Thanks for the explanation, and the compliment.

No-Life Hooligan: And here it is! Dang straight!

Disclaimer: I don't own Hellsing, or any of its characters. Hellsing is (c) Kouta Hirano. This storyline, Eva and The Staircase are (c) me.

Seras opened her eyes, and threw back the covers. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, which burned from the contacts. Once out of bed, she plodded over to the tiny little bathroom that was connected to her room, and took them out. She closed her eyes in relief, the sandpaper feeling gone. That hurt so much. She re-wet them and then put them back in. She grumbled, remembering what Eva had said, "You only take those out when you're with me or wetting them. Got it? I don't care if you're the only being for miles around. They stay in." Seras took off her pajamas, and got dressed. Not needing showers unless she was bloody or really dirty was a nice perk about being undead. Especially when the water heater was shot.

She could hear them running around outside her door. It was about seven, and she knew they were waiting for her to get up so they could eat dinner. She opened the door, and was immediately assaulted by James and Madison, who took her by one hand each and dragged her into the tiny dining room. The others were already assembled, and Seras squeezed in at her normal spot, opposite of Sherry. The older woman smiled wearily at her, and began Grace. They must have given her hell today. She looks so worn out.

"Amen."

They all obediently repeated her. "Amen."

"-Shall be banished into eternal damnation. Amen." Blue fire…

Seras shuddered. It was funny she chose to remember that tonight. That didn't often happen. She didn't like to think on it, and it's not like the children gave her a lot of time to think. Just then, there was a tug on her sleeve. "Aren't 'cha gonna eat?" Seras smiled at the six year old, and then patted her head. "Uh-huh, I was just thinking, Maddy." The girl beamed, and dug into her soup. James was making faces like he'd burned himself on the hot food, and Seras couldn't help but giggle. He frowned at her, and swallowed. "That wasn't funny." She quickly looked down at her own soup, and began to eat.

Mike and Joe were fighting over who pushed who, much to Sherry's dismay. Seras had discovered in her two months here that the twins were always arguing about something, which meant Sherry was usually trying to separate them. Lizbeth was slurping again, and Luis and Kayla decided to make faces, and see who'd snort their food out first. Seras smiled, and sighed happily. Just like it should be.

Soon dinner had ended, and Sherry herded the children off to sleep. As soon as they were gone, Seras stood up and cleared the table with inhuman speed. On most days, she'd do it the normal way, but today was Thursday. Thursdays and Mondays were different. She scrubbed as fast as she could, and then stacked them on the tiny counter to be put away by whoever had dish-duty in the morning. There. On these days, Sherry didn't ask how Seras did the dishes so fast; the old woman didn't really mind as long as they got done.

She dried her hands, and sighed.

The vampiress hated having to rush, but in order to make it on time, she had to. Seras power-walked to her room, and grabbed her purse. She slipped on her darker jacket, and shoved a hat on her head. Okay, I'm ready. She opened her door and went to creep down the hallway, but Lizbeth saw her and it was all over.

"Seras! Come say 'night!"

She stopped, and smiled. It was annoying, but she loved it anyway. She ducked into the room and kissed Lizbeth on the cheek. "Good night." Lizbeth shivered. "You're cold, Seras." Seras smiled nervously, and fiddled with her sleeve. "Umm… yeah, well, goodnight." James poked his head out of bed. "Where're you going? You're all dressed up!" Seras opened her mouth to reply, when Mike poked her from his bed. "Night." She patted his head, and when Joe began to pout, she patted his head too.

"I'm just going out, James. I'll be back later."

"Okay… be safe."

"Night."

"G'night."

Seras crept out and closed the door behind her, thankful the others were asleep. She was going to be late as it was, anyway. The vampiress slipped into the living room, and almost bumped into Sherry. "I'm sorry!" Sherry frowned. "SHHH!" Seras blushed, and then grabbed the doorknob. From behind her came Sherry's voice, laden with disapproval. "Tell her that I said hello." Seras bobbed her head, and slipped out into the darkness.

Eva leaned back in her chair, tipping it onto two legs like children are always told no to. Her eyes were closed, her hands stiff, and her neck muscles tense. Seras stared down at the glass. The dark-haired woman sighed. "Seras, darling, give it up. You and I both know that you will end up drinking it before you leave, just like the last time, and the time before that, and the time before that, and the time before that, and the time before that, and the time before that…" She trailed off, waving an expressive hand. "I really don't get why the hell you're still denying it. Well, to each their own."

She rested her hands on her stomach, fingers interlaced. The white blouse sighed a little at her movements, and her grey pinstripe suit-pants hugged her legs, which were wound around a table leg so she could avoid falling over backwards. Seras noted that the woman looked more exhausted than usual. The vampiress sighed, and looked back at the blood resting in front of her. She's right. I wish she wasn't.

Trying to delay the next little loss of her humanity, Seras decided to ask Eva something that she'd been wondering about for a while now… ever since the first time Eva made her drink blood. "Eva? If you could, would you want to become a vampire?" The dark-haired woman pulled with her legs, bringing her chair back to the ground. She put both hands on the table, and met Seras' red eyes with her own.

"Well, that's a rather idiotic question, Seras. We both know the answer to that."

Seras shuddered a little. When Eva had threatened to drink the blood, it had really hit Seras that Eva would make one hell of a scary vampire. The thought wasn't comforting. Then again, she didn't know if Eva even could become a vampire. Don't you have to be a virgin? She knew she was… but that didn't mean it was necessary. Master hadn't ever said anything, and neither had Sir Integra. She blinked. Not that I EVER intend to turn Eva. EVER.

Eva shook her head. "Damn, girl, you really don't know how bloody lucky you are. You have all eternity, which you can share with whomever you choose. You have everlasting beauty and you will be able to gather knowledge that we don't have in this age…. Seras, you're going to live to see technological wonders the rest of us can only dream of. This is our time… then our children will come after us, and shape the world in ways we'll never get to see, or enjoy. You, love, will last forever. The rest of us dwell on our mortality; death is not just a scary thing that happens because we forgot to go to church, or drove drunk. It's inevitable, and it scares the hell out of us all, because we can't escape it. You have transcended death. It cannot touch you unless you allow it, or someone visits it upon you. You've escaped the ultimate nightmare. You don't need to be scared anymore. I could hate, fear, and love you for that alone. I don't, but if you really MUST know, I envy you over all the people in the world… My point is, stop feeling so sorry for yourself and your 'lost humanity.' You've been given the greatest gift I can imagine. Stop fighting it and fucking embrace it."

Eva closed her eyes. "Now drink the thrice-damned blood."

Seras picked up the glass in shock, and drained it. I… whoa. I'd never really looked at it like that… She shook a little, and then looked back at Eva, her mind overflowing with what the human had said. What she saw surprised her more than Eva's words. What looked like a tear ran down Eva's cheek? Seras blinked, trying to prove to herself that it was just a trick of the light. It wasn't.

Just two trails of tears, and then Eva passed a hand over her face, and it looked like they had never been there. They then lost themselves in thought, Seras on what she'd heard, and Eva on… whatever goes through her mind, I suppose.

Neither of them said a word for the rest of the night, other than goodbye.

Seras went back to the orphanage, and cleaned like a machine, while Sherry looked on, a tad confused. The vampiress thought about blood while she cleaned the sink, contemplated what Eva thought of vampirism while she picked up toys, wondered in awe about the woman's tears while doing laundry, and generally gave no thought whatsoever to each task. Sherry followed after her quietly and without question, carefully handing her the correct cleaner for the sink, putting the toys where they actually belonged, and then separating the whites from the colors when Seras tried to throw them all in one load. Eventually, she ordered the girl to just go relax, there was no point in cleaning if it was done wrong. Seras blushed, and apologized profusely.

"Whatever it is, you can't focus, so why don't you go have a sit-down? I did all this before you came, and I still can." Sherry busily measured out detergent, turning a deaf ear to the younger woman's ample protests. Soon Seras gave up, and trudged back to her room. She changed into nightclothes, and curled up under the covers.

I've had people tell me I'd been given eternity before… but I never really thought on what that meant until now. She was so sincere, so sad… and so… angry. Seras closed her eyes in thought. It was still dark out, so there was no way she was going to sleep for at least two hours. She'd spent most of the evening at a nice restaurant with Eva and a few of the woman's friends, then she and Eva went into the bedroom alone for the blood. However, Seras had a while before dawn. Too long.

Wow. Two hours is 'too long.' How about two years? Two decades? Two centuries? Suddenly, I understand what Helena meant. Seras hugged herself. Can I do that? Do I even want to live that long? Then Eva's words came back to her. "Seras, you're going to live to see technological wonders the rest of us can only dream of. This is our time… then our children will come after us, and shape the world in ways we'll never get to see, or enjoy. You, love, will last forever."

Forever.

Suddenly, it didn't feel so bad. I may get to see the first city in space! World peace! I'll get to meet people hundreds of years in the future! I've got all the time to watch it all…

Forever.

Now she understood the tears. She's sad because she won't get to see it… Seras bit her lip, her vision going blurry. Eva' going to die someday… and Sherry and Walter and James and sir Integra and Maddy and… She choked back a sob. They can't all be vampires… not everybody… She saw the tear roll down Eva's usually impassionate face, and then she cried. She cried for Eva. Hell, she cried for everyone.

Seras cried for everyone who would ever have to die.

Her sobs quieted with the growing dawn, and emotionally exhausted, Seras slipped into dreams of spacemen and graves, burning books and orphans, but more specifically, dreams of eternity.