Knight Street, north London, 10:45 PM.
The pounding beat of the music resonating for the club could be heard several streets away and the heightened senses of Seras and Alex picked it up as they walked towards it. The club's name, the Fledglings nest, seemed especially appropriate. Alex looked over at Seras, dressed in a strapless dark purple top, black denim skirt and a black hand bag and high heels she was defiantly a head turner.
"Nice outfit" he said to her, she looked at him, wearing black boots and jeans, a short sleeved black shirt that had a barbed wire design across the chest and ends of the sleeves and with a pair of green sunglasses with green tinted lenses hanging around his neck he looked the part as well.
"You don't look half bad yourself" she replied as they reached the club's door and the bouncer outside let them with a 'good evening miss Seras'. The inside of the club was dark, illuminated by the flashing multi coloured disco lights and there was a bar on the far side of the buildings main room, the door that led to the bathrooms was next to it and booths and tables occupied most of the club, aside from a large space in the middle that was the dance floor, the two Midians went over to one of the tables and sat down.
"How come that bouncer knew your name? You come here often?" he asked her
"Sometimes, when I'm allowed the night off. Or whenever I can sneak out"
"You sneak out? I thought you Hellsing personal were above such childish acts" Alex replied, smiling
"I could say the same for you" Seras replied, smiling back.
"Come on, this is a club so lets dance." She said, guiding him to the dance floor.
'Oh yes, this is defiantly what I've been missing most since I joined Hellsing' he thought as they began to dance. Suddenly he felt someone bump into him and knock him sideways, almost making him fall over. When he'd steadied him self he turned around to see who'd knocked into him. It was a girl. A very good looking girl with long dark hair, green eyes, wearing a navy blue skirt, a sky blue tank top and oddly a ornate cross around her neck, showing she was a catholic.
"Oh I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to…"
"Maybe you should watch where you're going next time" Seras snapped. Alex cut her off.
"Don't worry, there's no harm done. I'm Alex by the way" he said, quickly slipping his glasses on so she wouldn't see his blood red eyes.
"Anna. Anna Anderson" Seras seemed to tense when she heard the girls surname, as if she was a threat.
"Want to dance Anna?"
"Sure" Alex quickly turned to look at Seras.
"You O.K with that?"
"Sure Alex, it's not like I'm your girlfriend or anything", she walked over to the bar and ordered a drink as Alex led Anna out onto the dance floor and they began to dance. She watched them from her seat at the bar, he seemed so relaxed and at ease, not unlike herself at that age and totally different to how he'd been in the week he'd been at the Hellsing mansion. She was so focused she didn't notice the bar tender or three other guests as they lifted their heads, their blood red eyes glinting under the clubs harsh disco lights. She also didn't notice the dark red colour of their drinks.
After about ten minutes both Alex and Anna were tired out and decide dot take a break, Alex led her to a booth and ordered two cokes when a waitress passed.
"You're a pretty good dancer, I've never seen moves like that"
"Thank you, I studied dance in Rome"
"Rome? How come you've got an Irish accent"
"I was born in Ireland but I moved to Rome to live with my uncle in his orphanage when I was five."
"Why?"
"My parents died"
"Oh. I'm sorry. My parents died when I was a kid too"
"Don't be. As long as I live a good life I will see them again someday"
"You a catholic?"
"Yes. My uncle is a Catholic priest. I'm here in England to help him chaperone the orphans, he's taking them on a sightseeing trip around London. It's a little boring so I decided to have some fun on my own. Of course if he finds out I snuck out I'll be in big trouble"
"Isn't that some sort of sin? 'Thou shalt not sneak out' or something like that" Anna laughed.
"You English have such a sense of humour." she said, taking a sip of her drink. Alex stared at her, the lights seemed to illuminate her as if she had a halo, making her seem almost heavenly. He was so focused he didn't notice the two men who'd left the bar and approached the table. One of them leaned in close to Anna's face.
"Hey baby, wanna ditch this loser and be with a real man?" he asked her, he looked to be in his early twenties had greasy pockmarked skin, bleached hair that was cut short and was wearing a leather jacket, white shirt that had red stains in it and designer jeans. If it wasn't for his Russian accent he could have passed himself off as a classic spoiled rich brat.
"No, I don't associate with street rats" Anna replied, the mans friend who seemed to be about Alex's age with short fluorescent spiked up green hair and dressed in blue tracksuit bottoms and a white hoodie slammed his hand down onto the table, knocking Anna's drink over.
"If I were you I'd change my mind, bad things happen when we don't get what we want" he said in a thick London accent. Alex had had enough.
"If the lady says no, it usually means no, now make like a rocket and take off" they two men looked at each other and laughed.
"Why's it matter to you so much?"
"She's my girlfriend so leave her alone and get lost" he snapped, adjusting his sunglasses.
"Heh, yea right pal, as if a loser like you could ever land someone as hot as her"
"Drop dead" both the men leaned in, the colour of their eyes could be seen. Like Alex's and Seras's their eyes were the blood red that marked them out as vampires. However unlike Seras and Alex they weren't the good guys.
"Sorry pal, we already did" the younger one said as they both bared their fangs.
"SERAS!" Alex screamed at the top of his lungs, over at the bar Seras heard his scream but wasn't able to help as the bartender's hand snapped out and grabbed her by the throat.
"Looks like we get to ice two of Hellsing's Midian attack dogs as well as all these clueless humans" he said, cackling evilly. The man at the bar set down his glass as the disco lights went off and the normal lights came on, showing that his drink wasn't AA pint of beer but a pint of blood. The two security guards at the door were joined by several more who shambled out from the toilets next to the bar, preventing anyone for getting and more importantly making sure anyone already inside couldn't get out. The bartender threw Seras to one side and leapt up to stand on top of the bar. The other vampire, dressed in brown trousers and a black trench coat joined him.
"FEEDING TIME!" the bartender roared at the top of his lungs and he and the other vampire leapt into the crowd, ripping two peoples throat's out in a spray of blood. The guards snarled ferally and drew the pistols holstered at their belts and emptied them into the crowd, the dancers were dropping like flies.
After Alex had screamed he regained his bearings and instinctively pushed Anna to the side as the two vampires leapt at her, taking the impact of their charge himself, sending him sprawling onto the floor. The older vampire grinned sadistically and bared his fangs, Alex kicked him off and scrambled backwards, he looked around for Anna but he couldn't see her in the panic that the vampires had created.
"ANNA, GET OUT OF HERE!" he yelled as loud as he could, not knowing if she'd heard him. He reached for where the crossbow had been holstered at his waist but his hand closed around thin air, he frantically looked around for the crossbow and saw it a few feet away, Alex dived for it and was able to grab it just as the younger vampire grabbed him in a head lock.
"Seeya later Midian brat" the vampire snarled in his ear, Alex gripped the crossbow, placed it under the vampires chin and pulled the trigger, the quarrel going through sinew, shattering teeth and bone and finally cerebral tissue, piercing his brain. He pushed the dead vampire off him and yanked the bolt out of the dead vampire, now just a pike of dust on the floor, fighting off the waves of nausea threatening to grip him, driving the bolt into the calf of the older vampire, soaking his designer jeans in dark red blood from a ruptured artery. He collapsed, indistinguishable from the other fallen in the sea of blood that now coated the dance floor
Back at the bar Seras had recovered and drawn a small pistol she'd hidden in her handbag and was firing into the air, making the few remaining humans duck down and leaving the vampires and ghouls exposed, giving her a clear line of sight to her target. The other vampire was hit in the heart and toppled off the bar to rest in peace. The bar tender took one of her shots in the shoulder but it only seemed to make the vampire angry and he lunged at her, knocking her off her feet and grabbed one of the glasses filled with blood, smashing it over her head in a vampiric bar brawl. Seras looked up at the vampire, her blood drenched face lit up by a maniacal grin as she gripped the stock of her pistol, slamming it into the vampires face, sending him sprawling to the floor. She brought the pistol back up and did the same thing again, and again, and again, at first bones could be heard breaking but after a few blows it turned to a wet crunching sound and Seras's face became stained with blood. From the dance floor Alex could see what she was doing.
"Seras!" he called to her again, bringing her back to her senses, looking down the bartender's face was little more than a red ruin but he was still clinging to life (or unlife). She quickly loaded again and shot him through the head, putting another blessed silver round into his heart for good measure. Alex breathed a sigh of relief but didn't notice the older of the two vampires he'd been fighting rising to his feet and come up behind him, a jagged shard of glass clutched in his hand. A malicious snarl was all the warning Alex but even as he brought the crossbow around he knew he'd be too late. He tensed, waiting for the strike that would finish him
The fatal blow never came and the vampire let out a small groan and toppled over, three bayonet like knives were embedded in his back. Both Alex and Seras stared at the fallen vampire, each at a loss for what to say or do next. The sound of the ghouls reloading their weapons brought them back to their senses.
Suddenly the ghouls were lifted off their feet, hovering a few feet in the as if held up by some invisible wire. Then wires could be seen flashing and slicing and the ghouls all dropped to the floor, hacked and sliced into bloody mounds of hamburger meat.
"What the f…" Ale said to be cut off by Seras.
"Walter, thank you so much" she called out as the angel of death appeared from behind one of the pillars near the entrance.
"My pleasure, I haven't had a chance to have so much fun since the Valentine brothers."
"How did you get in?"
"The door of course, that charming young man outside was a little unwilling to let me in but I was able to 'persuade' him otherwise"
"You didn't kill him did you?" Seras asked him, Walter shook his head.
"No, I mearely utilised a pressure point, he should be fine by the morning"
"Was he working with the…"
"I highly doubt it He didn't move from his position at the door. I followed the two of you and saw that one breaking a lock on a side door to let the ghouls inside this establishment " he said, pointing at the vampire who'd been knived in the back. He then finally noticed the blades sticking out of his back. Reaching down he pulled one of them out and held it up, studying it in the low light. He held out the blade so Seras could get a look at it.
"Does this seem familiar to you?" Seras stared at the blade and after staring at it for a few seconds she suddenly flashed back to the awful night in Badrik in Ireland when that blessed blade had pieced her chest and Allucard had clashed with Iscariots wild card.
"Anderson. It's like the ones Iscariot's Father Anderson uses" she hissed and both her and Walter had very grave looks on their faces as they spoke to each other in hushed whispers.
As they'd neglected to include him in their conversation Alex began picking through the bodies that littered the floor, trying to see if anyone had survived. He noticed a ring on the index finger of one the vampires who'd attacked him and slipped it off and pocketed it, making a note to show it to Walter. Most of the clubs guests were dead but a few still clung on to life, but their injured were too severe for them to last more than another few minutes, the ghouls had been very accurate for vampiric leftovers. He'd checked most of the body's that were still in one piece but he hadn't seen Anna's body yet, it was as if she'd vanished into thin air.
"What happened to you Anna?" he muttered to himself.
"I'm right here" said a voice behind that almost made Alex jump out of his skin, there, standing right behind him was Anna.
"Where'd you go?"
"When they started shooting I just fell to the floor and played dead."
"Smart idea, I wish I'd thought to do it"
"I'm glad you didn't, you probably saved my life. There is one other thing though"
"What?"
"Why did you say I was your girlfriend when those men were hassling us?"
"Well…I…er…It was the best way I could think of to make them go away" Alex said. Anna leaned in and kissed him.
"Thank you", Alex turned around quickly, blushing furiously and didn't see her leave the club, slipping out through the side door. Or see the glint of the bayonet like knife hidden in one of her boots. He quickly made his way over to Seras and Walter.
"So, are we ready to leave?" Walter nodded.
"Yes we should be heading back to the mansion soon or miss Integra will most likely stake the both of you if she finds out you were out without her permission.
"You're not going to tell her are you Walter?" Seras asked, worried of what Alucard would say if he found out. And that Alex would most likely be punished even though it was her idea.
"As much as I would like not to I must. I was young once, as unlikely as it seems but I know of the dangers working for Hellsing can pose, especially if you leave the protection of the mansion and are inexperienced" he replied as the trio left the club and walked out into the cool night air. Alex then remembered the ring.
"Walter, one of the vampires had a ring with the same symbol that was on that patch from the other vampire Alucard killed earlier today"
"Nice to see you aren't taking all the credit" said a voice form behind them, Alex turned around to see Alucard, smirking.
"WAS THERE ANYONE WHO DIDN'T KNOW WE WERE SNEAKING OUT!" Seras screeched.
"Probably not, half of London will have heard that" Alex muttered as they neared the mansion.
'I hope Anna got home O.K' he thought to himself, remembering that she'd told him she'd get in a lot of trouble if her uncle found out.
"If you were truly worried you would have accompanied her on her journey home" Alucard said to Alex, having read his mind when they'd shared eye contact for a few seconds.
"How…how did you…it doesn't matter, just don't go reading my mind again, however you did it" he said curtly. Alucard smirked, although he didn't make eye contact this time.
"Make me" Alex gripped the stock of his crossbow and unintentionally his finger pressed down on the trigger, discharging a quarrel that went right through Alucard's left foot. He grabbed Alex by the scruff of his shirt and hoisted him up to his eye level. His eyes bored right into Alex's and the young vampire was terrified.
"Insolent, trigger happy little…"
"Release him my servant." said a stern voice from the gates of the Hellsing mansion. Alucard dropped him roughly on the pavement. Integra appeared out of the low fog that seemed to have set in, Seras noticed they were already back at the mansion, she hadn't noticed due to the fog.
"I see you found our two missing hunters. Despite my wishes that you not get involved" Integra said, Alucard nodded.
"You did not make it an order, so I was free to ignore it if I wished" Integra decided to ignore him and continued.
"And many thanks for watching them Walter, I knew I could trust you" she turned to look at Integra, her look changed from one of mild irritation to one of anger.
"And as for you. Do you have any idea the risk you took? You and your fledgling could both have been captured if not killed by those vampires. If it wasn't for Walter you would both be dead by now" Seras hung her head.
"I'm sorry sir Hellsing"
"I hope so, you're forbidden to leave your quarters for the next week aside from on assignments. I'll set up the barrier myself." Intergra said sharply, Sreas hung her head and went inside the mansion grounds, heading to her room. Alucard followed, deciding to give Seras a few urgently needed lessons on how to be a better teacher. Alex looked at Integra.
"Am I in trouble too?" she shook her head.
"No, I know what it's like being in this organisation so young, even I snuck out late at night when the pressure of running Hellsing grew too much"
"How do you think I was able to track you and miss Seras so easily?" Walter asked him. Alex then remembered the ring and dug it out of his pocket to show to Integra.
"One of the vampires at the club was wearing this, isn't it the same symbol as the patch?" She took the ring from him and held it up to the light.
"It seems so, since your teacher will be unavailable for the next week you can do one of two things. Either train with Alucard or help Walter in his research."
"If it's all the same to Sir Hellsing you I'd like to help Walter, Alucard's still mad at me for shooting him in the foot" Walter chuckled.
"I shouldn't worry, Sir Integra does far worse to him on a daily basis if he angers her but you may assist me if you wish" he said as a faint ghost of a smile flickered across Integra's face as she went inside the mansion grounds, leaving Alex and the angel of death outside the gates.
"Was your new weapon effective?"
"Yes but its not very big, I nearly got killed because I lost sight of it" Alex replied, imagining what could have happened if he'd never seen it after he'd lost it.
"I'll take care of that, I have something in mind already"
"What?"
"Now that would spoil the surprise wouldn't it?" Walter replied slyly
"Oh there is one more thing, have you drunk any blood yet?" Alex stared at him.
"Heck no, Seras hasn't mentioned it"
"You will need to or your powers will fade and you will grow weak"
"I won't drink it, no matter who asks me or tries to make me"
"Miss Seras said the same thing but I'm sure like her you shall come around"
"Don't count on it" Alex muttered as the two headed for the mansion, vanishing from sight in the fog.
Across the city Anna quietly lifted the window hatch and slipped into the house she was sharing with her uncle and the orphans while they were visiting London.
"Yer a lousy sneak m'dear niece" said a coarse voice from the shadows.
"Uncle! I…"
"Save it lassie, yer lucky I aint sendin ye back ta Rome tomorrow."
"Uncle, the club I went to, there were vampires there"
"Did ye handle them?"
"I got one but a woman and Alex took care of the others."
"I can guess who the lassie is but who be this Alex of who ye speak?"
"Just a boy, nothing special" her uncle smiled softly, his face still hidden.
"Ah but if he were just nothing ye wouldn'a used his name would ye?"
"I….I"
"Save it, the bed with ye before I change ma mind" Anna quickly left the kitchen, heading to her room. The man came out of the shadows and Anderson's face was full of rage
"So, Hellsing's got a new midian pet, they're in fer it this time, nae vampire's a flirting with me niece if I can help it" with that he drew a knife and drove it into the table, the file on Hellsing's newest member being pierced by the blessed blade.
To be continued
(In chapter 7- The acting Furher decides to introduce Millenium to Hellsing's new vampire and who better to say hi than his pet Warrant officer)