ALPHA

3.

Half an hour later, Alucard laid his master gently on her bed; Dr. Seward pulled a chair nearby and sat on it, watching first Integra, then her savior. Alucard had found out that Integra had been scheduled to be poisoned the day before; Richard or one of his men had been tired playing hide and seek and thought she might just get some breakfast. So the servants had been ordered to set apart a jug of milk only for Integra. She hadn't drunk it the first morning it was served. But the servant preparing breakfast for Integra the day after that remembered the order and stupidly obeyed it, taking the milk in her room. Some people were so used to obeying orders they never turned their brain on again.

In the mean time, Dr. Seward had found out who or what Alucard was, and was perfectly satisfied in the blissful ignorance of how the vampire came up with the answer from the servants so fast. He hoped the foolish servant was just fired, but then, he really didn't want to know. With the milk at hand he quickly found out what the poison exactly was, and came up with the right antidote fast enough.

Now the girl seemed to be resting. She should be all right in just a few hours, Dr. Seward calculated. He didn't feel like leaving her in the company of a perfect stranger, not to mention a vampire, but then, if Alucard had wanted to hurt her, the doctor supposed he could have done it sooner instead of going through all the trouble of curing her from the poison.

Seward cleared his throat and got up. "Do you mind if I take my leave?"

"Not at all, doctor," Alucard answered softly.

As soon as the doctor closed the door behind him Alucard sat down on Integra's bed, pulling the girl close to him. He had a feeling that protecting this little master of his would prove to be quite a challenge. It would be some fun.

Her skin felt rather warm against his gloved hand as he stroked her head, carefully removing her blonde hair from her face. She still had a slight fever, but it was harmless. For a while he caressed her hair without as much as looking; he sat there, musing for quite an amount of time.

After the Hellsing's motto that some things must be done, Alucard lifted her gently and cradled her in his arms. She stirred but did not open her eyes yet, feeling much too cozy to be bothered. As soon as Alucard's lips touched her own, though, her eyes snapped open. But that didn't bother Alucard, clearly, since he continued brushing his lips against hers lightly.

Integra grasped his arm rather weakly. She wasn't even sure what for, whether to defend herself or to encourage him. Her language faculty seemed to have left her on her own, not to mention she would have had trouble speaking with Alucard's mouth pressed against hers; but even as Alucard broke the kiss, smiling down on her, she could only stare at him speechlessly. She had always been an eloquent girl, so it was as if a spell was cast upon her. Afterwards she did like to think that Alucard did bewitch her, but whether that was true she didn't really know.

She was perfectly aware that she, or at least a part of her which was made of matter, wanted it. And the feeling she had towards him – she could almost call him her knight – was something she'd never felt towards anyone before. She was sure she'd loved her father very much, but this was an emotion so much more dashingly brilliant than the familiar love.

But...

She just couldn't do any further consideration. Alucard embraced her very tightly as he bent down and kissed her again. This time her senses had recovered from the shock and came alive, her nerves were laden with such intense impulses she never knew before.

It was simply marvelous.

Before she knew it, she started kissing him back, thrilled at the twofold, threefold sensations. Words or science could hardly suffice to describe what she felt. It was exciting and comforting at the same time, and speaking of time, time ran a thoroughly different course during all of that.

She felt his hands fondling her, now caressing her back, now her nape. He did everything noiselessly, while she could hear her own ragged breathing and how loudly her heart was beating.

But it didn't matter.

Nothing mattered much. Except that he was there, so close to her, so loving...

And then he broke the kiss.

He looked straight ahead, as if he was trying to perceive something invisible and inaudible. His arms were still around her, radiating such fervor she never knew she longed for, but there was something wrong. "What is it, Alucard?" she asked breathlessly, trying to calm herself down.

"Walter is coming."

- - -

When Walter entered the room of Integra Hellsing, she was sitting up in her bed to meet him. She looked bright-eyed, as usual, only her cheeks were more flushed. But then, Walter'd heard that she'd just escaped another attempt of murder, this time using poison.

"How are you, Miss Hellsing?" he asked warmly.

"I'm fine, Walter." She couldn't quite say that she was glad to have him there again; she was, but not at this particular timing.

"I'm glad to hear that. The past few days had been quite in the state of disarray and I should have liked to do something about it."

"I made an interesting discovery in the sublevel. I believe you are acquainted with Alucard?"

"Oh!" the elderly butler gaped at her for a few seconds and then found his voice back. "I never thought-"

Integra interrupted him. "I want a complete report regarding South America and Hellsing's vampire. Put them in my father's..." She cleared her throat and corrected herself, "Put them in my office as soon as possible."

"I understand," Walter smiled the typical gentle smile of his and retreated, bowing.

Alucard appeared as soon as the door closed with a click. She did not look at him, though. The short pause had served to create quite a change in the girl sitting straight in her bed. The mere sight of Walter had been a harsh reprimand for her. "I told you to leave me alone. I need to think."

It had only been four days since her father's death, and there she was, making out with a vampire. She, who was supposed to protect England from these creatures, had degraded to such a degree as to accept the wish of an undead with delight!

She looked up and saw that Alucard was still in the room.

"How dare you disobey- Leave!" she shouted severely. She didn't say anything else, nor did she throw anything at him, but Alucard looked as if she'd just slapped him in the face. He did not say any word, though, and left.

As soon as he obeyed her order, she found out that she did not feel as happy as she ought to. Instead, she felt like crying.

- - -

tbc