Eyes in the Looking Glass
Sometimes Alucard spoke at great length with dusty old portraits of long dead men.
Or rather, he would stand in front of them, seemingly absorbed in an intimate conversation only he could hear. At least, that's what she thought. It was just as likely that his attention had been caught by a fascinating speck of dust suspended in mid-air. She did not think the latter situation beneath him in any case.
There were times when Alucard would catch her watching him and he would grin slyly at her, laughing bemusedly. Integral imagined that he was sharing a joke of sorts with her ancestors, one that she could guess, would speak of only ill things to come.
Then, there were other times when he would look at her with the curious, penetrating gaze of a scholar studying a bizarrely complicated riddle. When she noticed, and looked up from her work, he would promptly turn back to his enthralling dialogues with whatever painted figure posed austerely before him.
She did not like to think about the other moments…
The moments of intense fury and lust that possessed him occasionally, unsettled her, because they did away with all illusions that she might have once had over his purpose in dealing with her. It was then, in those seconds that all questions over the nature of his wants, and the object of them, were dispelled with a blinding clarity that frightened her.
Five years is a long time to be watched and watching.
Integral lay draped atop an old armchair in the library, watching the flames flicker from the fire place. She was sitting alone, thinking. It was the middle of the night, close to the dawn of a new morning, and she was now eighteen.
"An adult," spoke a sultry voice from the shadows.
Integral did not bother turning from her comfortable position, buried in the plush cushions of the armchair.
"Are you not going to scream daintily and ask with righteous anger, 'Who is there?"
"I should think it obvious, Alucard. To my knowledge I only have one petulant monster hiding under my bed and running about in my closet," replied Integral with a bored aristocratic air. She ignored his baiting reference.
"A few years ago you knew of none."
"Many things change in a few years, servant."
"That they do, my master," agreed Alucard solemnly, materializing in the armchair opposite hers.
"Empires can rise and fall in a matter of years, and people can lose their lives in a matter of days, seconds even."
"What do you think of my looking glass, servant? It was an antique from my mother," asked Integral conversationally, through lidded eyes, motioning to the mirror that rested against the fireplace. He raised his eyebrow, puzzled, unsure of where this line of dialogue would lead.
"It is a very handsome piece of metalwork."
"Really? I think so too. Strange though, I do not believe the reappearing demonic eyes in the looking glass was an intended addition. Then again maybe it's an accessory feature active only when young women happen to be undressing themselves in front of it."
As Alucard began to laugh, dozens of red eyes appeared in the shadows all around them. It took him several minutes to calm down.
"You caught me peeking, master," the laughing vampire finally managed to cough out.
"I did."
"Ah well, shall I apologise then? Sir Hellsing, I am ever so sorry that you caught my watching your undressed figure, the smoothness of your dark skin, the firm shape of your waist, your legs and the fullness of your--"
"That is quite enough!" she spat out, riled. The years might have forged her steel, but she was still too young, and knowing that her vampire had now decided that she was old enough to actively lust over did little for her nerves.
He had by now, stopped laughing, and was staring intently at her, through her. She had his full attention, but still he smiled cruelly from his chair.
"You have always know, Integral, about my intentions, I have always been clear on this matter."
Having regained her composure, she stared back at him with an icy gaze, "Always, servant, but regardless of your sexual delusions about our relationship, you will learn that your place is not in mirrors gaping at my nude body when it pleases you."
"Oh, and tell me where my place is, little girl?" he replied darkly, rising from his seat.
"At my feet, when it pleases me."
No statement before had ever given him so much pleasure.
Disclaimer: Hellsing is owned by a crazed Japanese fellow. Not by a Mexican student in UNAM.