Author note
Ah, Seras Victoria…The only character in a manga or anime with a reason to angst…
But seriously she's got it bad! I mean she's an orphaned girl who at the age of 18/19 had just seen all her friends and comrades turned into mindless monsters… And then she has to choose between rape and murder from some crazy priest vampire or be killed and turned into a monster by some random (incredibly cool) vampire who just annihilated all her undead friends and comrades!

Sorry. That was entirely too long and irrelevant…

Chapter 8: There's a sword in my gullet

Alex slowly woke up, remembering nothing of previous events. He opened his eyes but he could hardly see anything. He tried to move but felt completely immobilised by something.

"Awake at last?"

The voice came from nearby in the darkness. It was not at all familiar to Alex. Shortly afterwards, the person had opened shutters, revealing an incredibly bright sun, blinding Alex.

"Welcome to the city."

As his eyes accustomed to the painful light, he looked out of the large windows. He appeared to be near the top of a very tall building in the middle of a small city. The streets were tidy but the city appeared completely empty.

He turned his attention away from the window and to his captor. It wasn't the large military vampire from before but a female vampire, yet another freak vampire. She was stood in the shadow of the room, watching Alex with intrigue. Next to her lay the sword the Paladin had given Alex. It was simply placed on a table next to her. He struggled again but to no avail.

"It's really not worth the effort. You've been immobilised because of your increasingly less unique state."

She gestured to a wild rose affixed to Alex's front. He was frozen to a wall by the simple flower. His situation was rather mocking.

"You didn't really think you could hide what you are!"

Alex growled under his breath. The vampire sat down on a lone chair at the opposite side of the room, leaning back contentedly.

Alex spoke, "…Where am I?"

"You're imprisoned in the centre of our little 'project'…"

Just as she mentioned this, the door opened. The vampire of his previous encounter strolled in.

"I will take it from here."

"All right…"

The woman walked out of the room. She glanced across at Alex and laughed quietly before closing the door.

"Indeed, our 'project' is well under way…"

He paused, leaving a short gap expectantly. After several seconds of silence he frowned at Alex.

"Fine! Our project has operated in the shadows for many- - -"

Alex interrupted, "Do I need to hear this?"

"Yes damnit! Don't worry, I don't expect you to live to tell anyone!"

He left another opening for a response, but received silence again.

"…Anyway, where was I? Yes, we came across a rather unique chip from certain individuals. Analysis ascertained that this chip had no significance in an electronic system. Then after much experimentation it was found that upon implanting the chip into humans, they became super-strong, cannibalistic creatures, vampires! Our plan involved a great number of 'volunteers' in order to succeed…"

He moved to the window overlooking the city, "Out there is our army. Several thousand enhanced persons, who will march down into England, causing chaos and destruction across the land on their way to London where we will instate our rule, after total victory over the nation!"

The rather pompous vampire lost himself in a burst of maniacal laughter at the ambitious goals he saw them achieving. After much time laughing, he noticed his captive, indifferent towards him. He composed himself.

"Don't you have anything to say?"

"Not really…You're just another heathen freak, although you're a much more annoying, pretentious one than the rest!"

The vampire smiled at particular words, "...'Heathen'! My, what bold language! I can see those archaic teachings of the Vatican still have their effect! I would never have guessed you belonged to that organisation until you uttered that."

Alex seeming to echo the words of Anderson responded, "Even if this land is overrun by heathens towards men, you are even lower than them! We are ordered to annihilate those who would defy God's will and we accept that task until death!"

At hearing this defiant statement, the vampire moved towards Alex.

"'Until death' Then what of you, vampire?"

He laughed quietly, "I was going to have you left 'alive' to become a part of our rebellion but I grow tired of that nonsense you people continue to spew out!"

He struck at Alex, sending him flying across the room. Alex was freed from the sealing power of the rose, but after the powerful hit he lay on the ground, writhing in pain.

The vampire approached him again. He lifted Alex off the ground by his neck and proceeded to severely beat him up. When he had finished, the vampire hurled his limp body across the room, sending him crashing through the table.

Alex rolled over, coughing blood. He was lone and helpless against such a powerful vampire. Where he had landed, he noticed an object shining through the broken table. The XIII sword was lying just out of reach. Alex looked but didn't move. The vampire had begun to approach Alex. But he paused in surprise. From the distance the sound of gunfire could be heard. He looked out of the window. Alex took the initiative and slowly, agonizingly reached over for the sword while his captor was momentarily distracted.

However, the vampire's suspicion was correct. In the distance, a large crowd of people dressed in black robes was charging through the city. Freaks had begun to pour out of the buildings into the streets. The crowd was armed with guns and was blasting its way through the hordes.

His eyes widened as he realised, "Priests!"

He barely finished the word when a blade jammed through his back. He looked down at the sword pierced through his chest. As blood began to trickle from the wound, he held his hand to it and collapsed against the window.

Alex ripped the sword out of the vampire unceremoniously, falling back onto the floor. Through the daylight, he watched the vampire turn to dust. He clambered to his feet and looked out of the window.

Just as the vampire had seen, the Iscariots were storming the city. Huge groups of priest, armed with handguns were blasting through crowds of freaks and ghouls. Occasionally, bombs were going off in the buildings, sending many ghouls flying into the air, and starting huge fires.

Alex looked back into the room, at the door, his escape. He quickly tried the handle but it was locked. He stepped back, then gathering his strength he charged against the door. He let out a cry as his shoulder crushed against the door.

He returned to the window. The fighting had pushed right back to only a few blocks from the building he was trapped in. Just then he noticed a number of objects flying towards the building, one crashing through the window.

Alex dived away from the window as the object exploded. He slammed onto the floor, but narrowly avoided the blast. As the smoke cleared, he looked across to the door. The bomb had blasted a chunk out of the wall. He once again struggled to his feet and managed to squeeze through the hole in the wall.

He had escaped into a corridor and began looking for a way out. The bombs had demolished the floor and fires had started around the rooms. At the end of the corridor, Alex spotted a staircase. He looked down in between the stairs. He could see the ground floor, several flights down.

He slotted the sword behind his back and began the descent.

- - -

And now a message from the author!

Greetings, reader! I would like to apologise on behalf of my non-creative mind that caused me to write the crap that formerly spanned chapters seven through to early nine. The edit has led to various changes: no blessed guns, no mary-sue-like invincibility, no badly parodied characters, no flesh-eating ogres, just better thought out plotlines and characters!

Now onward, to the next heavily edited chapter!