By My Own Power
Over the months, night after night, Walter and Alucard patrolled London's streets. Unlike freaks who liked to show off their power, keeping an eye out for demons was a constant search for subtle "problems". Sometimes they got lucky and the devil was just making an ass of himself. In Integra's office, Alucard reported what happened on their nightly escapades. Walter stood silently in a corner, in the back of the room. Seras was standing in the corner behind Integra. Her head had been down, just listening to Alucard; when suddenly, hers senses caught the whiff of something….unusual, but very pleasant.
Seras lifted her head and began to look around the room. She quietly left her corner and began to search for its source. She was still following the smell when she came face to face with Walter. She hadn't realized it but she had crossed the room in less than four seconds. Walter just stared at her.
"What do you want?" he asked, coldly.
"Nothing. I …Walter can't you smell it?" questioned Seras.
"Smell what?" he asked, grinning evilly. "I took a bath."
Seras fumed at him and sunk back into the opposite corner. Alucard had just finished his report. Now it was Integra's turn for questions and answers. Seras glanced over at Walter. He was still staring at her. Sears lowered her eyes. What was it about him that freaked her out so much? Maybe it was because he was so different from the man that he used to be. Maybe it was because he was so much stronger than her. She was older than him, but he had already mastered flying and turning into mist. Tricks he'd used to scare the shit out of her and spy on her while she was bathing.
Because of her lack of body temperature, she could no longer tell hot from cold. But she didn't realize that the mist in the shower was Walter until he had materialized right in front of her. She remembered that she had yelled at him for it; but her shouts didn't seem to even faze him. He just stared at her naked body as if looking at a painting; just something to be seen and…appreciated? He wasn't leering at her, he wasn't trying to take advantage of her, he just stared at her. Seras remembered taking up a towel to cover herself and demanding that he get the hell out. He obeyed, but not before he gave her a small knowing smile.
Seras shuddered at the thought of it. Walter had become such a madman and a pervert. She knew about what Millennium had done to him. She knew that somehow they had taken his inhibition and morals from him. He could do anything now. He could do whatever he wanted, good or bad, and never feel anything; no remorse, no happiness, no sorrow, no joy and no pain. Seras remembered the old Walter. He had been kind and patient with her. He had fought beside her when the Valentine Brothers attacked. They were a good team. She loved that about them. And, she considered him a friend; someone that she could talk to. The new Walter; he was mean, impatient, silent, and cruel. Usually, he did nothing, absolutely nothing. In fact, she had watched him sit and stare at a wall for six hours. He never once said a word or even moved a muscle. She had often wondered, since that day, just what he was thinking about. But old Walter or new Walter, Seras could not dismiss that there was something special about him; something that….
Suddenly, she heard someone call her name…inside her head.
"Seras."
She looked up and saw Walter grinning at her. Though his mouth didn't move, she heard him just as clear.
"These two are going to be a while. Come with me downstairs."
Seras looked Alucard and Integra. They were now arguing about the children. How the hell did they get on that subject, anyway? Seras turned her gaze back to Walter and nodded. She and Walter both disappeared. Alucard's third eye opened in the back of his head. Though he was talking to Integra, he had seen the exchange between Walter and Seras. He knew what it was the Seras was sensing. It was Walter's desire for her; and if she could now smell it herself that meant her own desires would soon be awakening. At this, Alucard smiled to himself.
"Late bloomer." he thought.
Walter and Seras reappeared in Walter's room. Seras had never been in his room before. And now that he slept in the basement too, his room was right across from Mouse's. She could have visited him anytime she wanted to, but she didn't. Walter just stood there watching her as she looked around his room. Seras noticed that his room was as barren and cold as he was. A coffin bed and a table/chair set was all that was in here. He had no personal belongings at all. Maybe he left everything upstairs in his old room. But surely, he had one thing to remind him.
"No, I don't." he said, reading her mind. "Some ….memories still …hurt."
Seras looked at him with sad eyes. He had just revealed something personal with no more emotion than a bucket of water. She gave him a weak smile. Suddenly, there was that smell again. It was starting to drive her nuts. She just had to find out where it was coming from. She followed her senses and they lead her right to Walter. She timidly sniffed his neck. When Seras felt him staring at her, she looked up; his expression as just as still and as blank as a sheet of perfect glass. She could even swear that she saw her reflection in his lifeless eyes.
"Walter, you seriously don't smell that?" asked Seras.
"What's it smell like?" he asked of her.
"It's like…"
Seras sniffed him again. She softly nuzzled his neck.
"Like a light scent of musk." she said, trying to give words to a scent. "Its…It's…"
Seras edged ever closer to him and inhaled his scent. The smell of him made her head swim. She felt dizzy and very, very hot. But, oh, the sweet and delicious smell of him. It wasn't until Seras gently nibbled at his chin that he moved. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Seras laid her head upon his chest and clawed at his right breast. Walter responded to her light clawing by licking her neck; from front to back, from the base of her neck to the far end of her shoulder. Seras moaned her consent as his tongue traveled down inside her shirt. Wanting more, needing more, Seras pushed Walter away, but not so far that she couldn't claim his lips. Walter sighed his pleasure as he and Seras kissed. He grabbed her waist and pulled her closer to him. His hands stroked her back and buttocks, as they traveled up and down her body. Seras was enjoying Walter's kiss, it was what she had always wanted. But that changed when she felt him bite her lip. She pushed him away and tried to catch her breath. Walter just stood there watching her as he licked her blood from his lips. He saw the confusion on her face. He just didn't care. He wanted her and that was all there was too it. But that wasn't all. Alucard had said "only if she agrees." He could see it in her eyes, she didn't agree.
"Alucard was right. You are still too young for me." stated Walter, sucking his lip free of her blood.
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Seras, now more angry than scared.
Walter didn't answer her right away. He was still enjoying the taste of her virgin blood on his lips. He had WANTED her before. Now, now he NEEDED her.
"It must be her blood that fills me." he thought. "I will accept no other."
"Walter! Answer Me!" shouted Seras, angry at being ignored.
Walter stuck with the quickness and speed of the deadliest viper. He grabbed her arm, threw her against the wall, and pinned her there. He ground his throbbing need into her stomach. Seras eyes went wide as she realized what it was that she was feeling.
"Fight me." he demanded.
"What?" asked Seras.
Walter banged her head against the wall. But instead of fighting back, she began to cry.
"See, no strength at all. I could take you and make you mine." he said.
Then Walter slapped her, turned her around, grabbed her hair and pressed his body against hers. Seras' tears fell as she tried to figure out why Walter was doing this to her. Walter now rubbed his manhood against her. He held her there, tighter and tighter, as she tried to push him away; but she couldn't. He leaned forward and whispered in her ear.
"I could shag you now, but you'd just be a good lay. If you want me, you must first defeat me. Prove to me that I should love you."
"Walter, please. Let me go." begged Seras.
"Did you know that I loved you then …before I become a vampire? Did you know that your uniform gave me erotic dreams? That I could see you begging attention; that I could smell your loins dripping in anticipation? I can smell your desire just as you can smell mine; but you are not yet ready. And until you are, I will not love you." explained Walter.
With that said, he released her. He threw her to the floor as one would a with a discard toy.
"Go." he said. "GO!"
Seras stood and ran from his room crying. The old Walter never would have humiliated her like that. She wanted the old Walter back. She was so entangled in emotion, that she didn't see Alucard coming down the hall and ran right into him. She looked up and saw that it was him.
"I'm sorry, master." she said, sheepishly. "I wasn't watching were I was going."
"What's wrong, police girl." asked Alucard.
Seras stood in awe. He hadn't called her that in years. Had she been some how demoted? Had she lost the privilege of her name? As that Seras said nothing, Alucard began to walk away.
"Master." called Seras.
Alucard said nothing, but stopped walking.
"Teach me to be stronger." said Seras, not believing that she was asking him for help.
Alucard never "helped" anyone, unless it was to his benefit. When she had first met him, he teased her, taunted her, and made her do things against her will. She used to despise drinking blood, but now it was …normal. He used to read her thoughts and talk to her inside her mind, but she had learned to ignore his voice. She had been a good solider then; but with her vampiric powers, she was a great solider now. She no longer felt like a fish out of water, but part of a team…a family.
"I can not." said Alucard, without feeling.
Seras head shot up at his rejection.
"Why not!"
"Because you lack the will to learn. You are still afraid of what you are." said Alucard.
"I'm not. I drink blood now. I can past through walls. I can shoot any thing that I can see." said Seras, in her defense.
"But you have never hunted. You are still hand fed. Even Walter, who is eight years younger than you can feed himself, if he had too." charged Alucard.
Seras fell silent and cringed. It was true. After 15 years of being a vampire, she still fed ONLY on donated blood. But since Alucard's rescue of Integra from her wedding, the blood rations were becoming less and less. Seras could only guess that they were trying to starve Alucard. No one knew of her, Walter, or Mouse; so rations usually were only enough for him. These he gladly shared among his "children" as he preferred to go hunting. Surely, the Knights knew that if they starved Alucard he would only go out hunting. They didn't want that, did they?
"Why the sudden interest in becoming stronger?" he asked, slyly.
Again Seras said nothing. She really didn't want to tell him what had happened between her and Walter. Alucard frowned; sometimes getting information from Seras was as easy as getting Integra to wear a dress. Alucard stared at his child and read her mind. It was easy, she was distracted, and her mind was on other things. Alucard huffed his disapproval. After 15 years, she still hadn't learned to shut him out completely. After 15 years, she hadn't once asked for her freedom. No more, it was time to grow up.
"So you want Walter that much do you?"
Seras blushed.
"Of course I know. There isn't a thought in your head that I don't know or can't discover." he said.
"It's true, but the thing is …I don't even know why." she confessed.
"Liar, you've always been attracted to Walter. You have an affinity for older men. Someone to replace your father." said Alucard, accusingly.
"Master, I…"
"Did you know that Walter wanted you too?"
"He just told me. I didn't know. I mean he never…."
"You never thought to read his mind?"
"Master, I couldn't pry. It's not …"
"You two were just too "civilized" to admit the truth to each other. But now he has made the first move and left the decision up to you. So chose. Your humanity and morals or your desires fulfilled."
Damn it. He was doing it again. He was challenging her weaker side. He was trying to make her give up her heart and that she would not do. But it was her heart or Walter's love. Humph, what did he know of love anymore. All emotions had been taken from him. Making love to him now would be like making love to a wild animal. It would just be sex and nothing more. Usually, all he ever did is stand there and stare at me. But just now…he kissed me. He wanted me. I could see in his mind what he wanted to do with me, to me, and for me.
"Master, I want to be stronger." said Seras, firmly.
"Even in death, just like life, it was one's own desires that motivated them to be more than what they were. The desire to achieve and conquer." thought Alucard.
"Alright." he said.
All of a sudden, Seras noticed that her body was no longer under her control. She raised her right arm and then her left. She raised her right leg and then her left. She panicked and begged him to stop as he marched her up and down the hall like a toy soldier.
"Master, stop it! What are you doing!" exclaimed Seras.
"15 years police girl and you've still not learned to block me out." mocked Alucard.
Alucard waved his hand and Seras body slammed into the basement wall. She fell to the ground, gasping for air, and trying to get up. She was almost on her feet when again Alucard took control of her body and ran her down the hall at full speed. Seras hit the wall so hard, that her body left an impression on the wall. She shook her head trying to clear the fuzziness, as blood ran down her face from the gash in her forehead.
"Master, please stop it!" she begged.
"See, you are just a puppet on a string. You are my servant and I can do whatever I want with you." he said, viciously.
Again Seras' body ran full throttle down the hall. But this time Alucard turned her sideways just enough that her right arm hit the wall first as the weight of her body crushed against it.
"AAARRRRGGGGHHH!" screamed Seras, as the blow dislocated her shoulder.
Seras was in pain; but the physical pain was nothing compared to her emotional pain. She had been shamed by her "lover" and now she was being physically abused by her "father".
"Why me?" she asked herself. "I didn't ask for this."
Again Alucard flung her against the wall. This time it felt like he had broken her spine. Seras knew all her wounds would heal, but the pain would not stop.
"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" she shouted.
In seconds, Alucard was in her face. His toothy grin wide in evil mischief.
"Why don't you make me?" he teased.
Again Seras felt her body moving at full speed; but this time she had had enough. Enough with being humiliated, enough with being mocked, enough of being second to Mouse and now third best to Walter. Finally, something snapped.
"No more." she said, to herself. "I am the boss of me. I can survive on my own."
Seras shoved Alucard out of her mind and slammed the door in his face. She willed her body to stop and it did so mere inches from the wall. Seras' feet never once touched the ground as she went to stand before Alucard. Seras stood staring at Alucard, her red eyes aflame with purpose and intent.
"That's enough." she growled, with hatred.
Alucard smiled.
"You see Seras. You already possess all the skills and power you need. You are of my blood and you are older than Walter. There is no reason for you not to be able to beat him." explained Alucard.
"Then why?"
"Because you let him. You lack the will to use your powers. You don't want to be a vampire. You don't want to drink my blood and become a true no life king. You lack strength only because you don't want it." said Alucard.
With that, he disappeared; leaving Seras standing alone in the dark.