…Chapter Five – Hour of the Fox…

"Will he run

Till his muscles suddenly turn to iron,

Till blood froths his mouth as his lungs tatter,

Till his feet are raw blood-sticks and his tail

Trails thin as a rat's? Or will he

Make a mistake, jump the wrong way, jump right

Into the hound's mouth? As I write this down

He runs still fresh, with all his chances before him."

-Ted Hughes "Foxhunt"

Special Officer Seras Victoria walked out of the Hellsing Organisation's shooting complex and around the corner. Light stained the roof above her, running like rich maple syrup over the eaves. Caught in its unseasonable glow birds ruffled heavy feathers and tucked heads under wings again, determined to dream as if it were summer. Turning another corner Seras ran into Walter. He looked rather annoyed.

"Ah, Miss Victoria, I have been looking everywhere for you. Why were you not in your quarters asleep? It is only three in the afternoon."

"Oh, sorry, Walter," Seras looked down, shame colouring her face.

"As a vampire you must learn to sleep during the day. Not doing so affects your ability to hunt during the night."

"Yes, I know. I'm sorry."

"You are to come to Sir Hellsing's office immediately, there is a meeting about training the new recruits and she has decided you are to be involved."

"Oh, right. I'll go there immediately, then."

"I think you had better."

Seras ran off, why was she never where she was supposed to be?

---

Seras entered Sir Integra's office to find the commander sitting behind her desk with a very visible frown. It seemed she was not pleased with Seras either. To her left sat David Caulfield, kitted out in a commander's uniform. He did not look impressed either. Seras quickly took a seat as far away from both as possible. Seconds ticked away as the girl squirmed in her seat. Finally Walter entered, carrying a sheaf of papers that he had gone to fetch after finding Seras. He sat at Integra's right and passed the sheets around.

"Now that we may finally start," Integra began with a glare at the vampire in front of her, "This is the list of those who have passed the assessment and have been accepted into the Hellsing Organisation. As you will notice we have admitted twelve, however there is still a lot of work to be done. Even more than usual because we are only recruiting the best of the dregs." Her lips pursed.

"That is why we need a very intensive training program," Walter continued, "They will need to be brought up to standard very quickly as none of them are recruits of the SAS. Although Sir Hellsing informs me that she may have recruited two SAS units."

Both Seras and Caulfield looked at Integra, shocked. The knight didn't twitch, her gaze fixed firmly on Walter.

"Until Tuesday, when they will be assessed," Walter continued, "I want all of your attention on these recruits. Caulfield and I will be conducting the majority of the training," at this Caulfield nodded, "But we want you to assist at times, Miss Victoria," this time Seras nodded, "Which means you may occasionally have to be awake during the day, but seeing as you already seem to be, I should imagine that will be no problem."

Integra's glasses flashed as she turned to glare at the former police woman.

"I do not want you compromising your position as a hunter," she said, acid very evident in her tone, "I want you to stop these silly games, pretending that you're human. You are not. As such you need to be sleeping during the day; otherwise you are of no use."

"I'm sorry," Seras whispered.

"Sorry is of no use to me either!" Integra exploded, rising to her feet and slamming the table with a curled fist, "Especially at a time such as this! I want you to start behaving like a real vampire for a change. Listen to Alucard, he is your master, and I want to see considerable improvement! At a time when every true person is worth their weight in gold, you are no use at all."

Seras was close to tears.

"You are dismissed," Integra's tone changed from angry to cold as she reassumed her seat in an aloof manner, "I expect you to report to Walter at fourteen hundred hours to assist with recruit training. I expect you won't be late this time."

Seras rushed out the door before the tears got the best of her. Inside the trio of Hellsing leaders were silent as they watched the distraught vampire leave.

"I hope Alucard knows what the hell he is doing," Integra summed up the feelings of them all.

---

At the London Central Postal Office a letter bearing the royal insignia arrived. An additional inscription announced it was important and the address stated it was for one Integral Wingates Hellsing of the Hellsing Organisation. Instantly it was placed in a special sealed section of the sorting facility that would ensure it was delivered un-tampered with the next morning.

---

Two squads of the SAS woke with terrible hangovers late in the morning. One of them, a man named Jeremy, woke to find a piece of paper obscuring his view. Painfully bright light filtered through it and set his eyes on fire. Groaning, his mouth feeling like the inside of a drain not rinsed for at least a decade, he forced himself to get up. However within the next minute he was back on his knees expelling the contents of his stomach into the toilet. Dragging himself along the hallway he slipped on a stray pile of papers and found himself nose-down on the one that had accompanied his sleep. Peeling it from his face he noticed it contained a carbon-copy of his signature and a lot of fine print. Carefully he opened one eye fully, trying to gain enough sight to read the text but limit the pain. The writing stated in very official tones that he had signed up for a recruitment exam for the Hellsing Organisation. It also forbade him from revealing how he had entered their recruitment program, not that he could remember anyway. Thinking of Hellsing made him think of the SAS and the fact he was probably disgustingly late for work. Groaning, he looked down and the next line of the fine print caught his eye.

"From this moment on the above signed has resigned from the SAS and been transferred to the Hellsing Organisation's services."

Jeremy didn't quite trust his eyes, hung-over as they were. He had resigned from the SAS? Re-reading the line made no difference, it said he no longer belonged to the SAS and was now contracted to Hellsing. He opened both eyes wide with shock, unfortunately letting in a horrible amount of light. Moaning he closed his eyes and let his pulsating head fall into his hands. As unhappy with his resignation as he was, it seemed more bearable than turning up for work that day.

---

Seras Victoria, one of the Hellsing Organisation's resident vampires, sat in the passenger of the large khaki army-model Hellsing van. David Caulfield, acting commander, was seated beside her and was driving through the busy London streets. Overhead clouds stretched in intricate silk patterns across the sky, ice dotting their fringes. Turning right the Hellsing van entered a secure compound bordered by barbed wire and marked with the SAS insignia. As of yet the SAS had not heard of their unwilling help given to Hellsing, and so were happy to lend one of their training facilities to Sir Integra as a peace offering. Integra herself had no qualms.

The van halted far into the compound and Seras jumped out to open the back doors. The new recruits from the police and those that had survived filed out in twos, each carrying various guns and spare ammunition. Once they had formed themselves into lines Caulfield strode up, the soldiers saluted.

"Right," he said, his voice gruff and business-like, "For most of you this is your first training mission. The aim is to secure this building" he indicated the massive concrete structure on his left, "and destroy and inhuman forces that occupy it. The dummies will be those of ghouls and FREAK vampires, such as those you trained with during your recruitment exam. All day you have practiced shooting for the heart and I want shots to nowhere else. There may be some light from the moon tonight as the weather station says the clouds should clear, which will make it easier to see. However don't expect it to be so on every mission. We also have Special Officer Seras Victoria to help us tonight to make it as realistic as possible, and she will lead the main searching squad. However we won't always have her either, and on occasion it will be necessary to work around her. Miss Victoria?" the commander looked at her expectantly.

"Er, yes" Seras panicked, "But I will be around most of the time!" she grinned sheepishly. They had planned to tell the new recruits she was a vampire but somehow she couldn't. She had really meant to, but then she had seen Hugh standing in the front row and all her resolve had left her. Caulfield glared at her, obviously irate that she had not followed the plan and had broken the mood he was trying to establish. If the recruits were to perform properly they had to take training seriously. A sharp jerk of his hand started the mission and he turned away from the vampire. With a sigh Seras beckoned her search team, that of four, including Hugh Johnson, and lead them into the building.

As Seras ran up the main stairwell, the four soldiers behind her, her transmitter radio crackled.

"Unit Four reporting, first target has been sighted on the fire-exit stairs. Engaging now," the sound of gunfire exploded through the speakers along with several shouts.

"Turn your radio off, idiot!" Caulfield retorted sharply, "The sound of gunfire through it not only alerts other targets where our other units are, it distracts them as they can not hear the enemy. In addition to this, these radios are a one-way system. While I can talk to you when you have your radio on, no other units may contact me. The more time you take up the less information they get!"

The transmitter went to static and then silence.

"Right, let's continue," Seras ordered her men. Creeping further up the stairwell they reached the first floor. Turning so they formed a semi-circle with guns pointed outwards they advanced slowly. Movement by one of the doorways caught a new recruit's eye. Motioning silently to the others he advanced slowly. A low moan came from the shadows beyond the doorway and a ghoul dummy came into view as the moon slid its ethereal fingers from around the clouds and into the window. Calmly the man aimed and for the heart and fired. The shot missed to the right and he fired again. This time it missed to the left. Silently Hugh slid up behind him and executed a shot directly on target. The dummy fell back.

"Target silenced on the first floor," he radioed to Caulfield.

"Roger," the commander radioed back.

The other recruit looked sheepish.

"Never mind," Seras told him, "Next time perhaps," she grinned sheepishly again, "When I started out with Hellsing I wasn't very good either."

The recruits looked bemused; failure was not taken lightly where they had been before. Inwardly Seras cursed herself for her falter, Hellsing was not supposed to seem lax on discipline, and decided that they should just continue on as if nothing had happened.

Carefully they crept to the second floor. After a thorough inspection the vampire deemed it deserted. As they searched the third level they found that section was also deserted. Seras thought this slightly strange as it was a training mission that was supposed to contain a lot of action, but didn't ponder it for long.

Peering through a fourth-floor doorway boarded by coagulating shadows the vampire was confronted by a dark mirror that ran the length and width of the room. Silent and eerie, stray beams of moonlight entered the room to skitter over the mirror's reflective surface. Delicately the vampire entered the room and behind her filed the recruits. Indistinct reflections of shadows followed the recruits as they carefully searched the room, but none attached itself to Seras. Suddenly a high pitched scream pierced their silent world from below. It was quickly followed by shouted curses and loud hammerings of gunfire. Everyone in the room froze, silently waiting for it to finish. But the noise went on, and was punctuated by yet more screams. Seras was slightly unnerved, this was not normal for training missions, and a small drop of cold sweat seemed to run down her neck. The recruits shouldn't be screaming at dummy ghouls or vampires, however lifelike, they had fought them during their recruitment process.

"Would you like me to take a look?" Hugh asked her. Seras nodded gratefully, he would be competent enough to sort it out. He nodded, and with the quick flash of a smile, left. 'They are only police recruits' the vampire thought to herself, 'And this is a SAS training facility, it would be normal if they had some trouble.' She conveniently forgot Hugh had been with the police too. Quickly she motioned the other recruits to search the rest of the floor. Taking one last look around, she turned and was just about to walk through the door when she noticed a flash of metal in the long mirror. Turning abruptly she examined the mirror, but whatever it was seemed to have gone. Nervously she examined the corner where the flash would have come from, but there was nothing except dusty concrete. Gently patting it with her foot she hesitantly leaned against the wall. A strange sensation of airiness entered her body, as if mist had seeped into all the cavities on her body and gently expanded them. Slowly it pushed out, tingling like flat lemonade. Then she felt a sudden pressure, as if she had been thrown against a wall and all the air had been forced from her body. Every air cavity in her body contracted and the vampire felt like a wizened apple left in the sun for over a week. Trying to gasp, but unable to, Seras started to panic, her brain not yet used to the fact she was dead and no longer had any need of air. But suddenly the air and mist rushed back in, like the first breath after having been winded. Falling to her knees the vampire forced herself to remain calm as air flowed gently back into her, filling the air cavities again with its light caress. Trying to stop her limbs from shaking she slowly got up and looked around her. All the walls had shifted, where as she had been in a corner before, she was now in a corridor. Panicking she turned and ran down it until she hit something large and soft. Again she felt all the air leave her as she crashed to the hard concrete floor. In front of her she heard a groan and a similar soft thumb as whatever it was also fell to the floor. Instantly she was on her feet, loading her Halconnen Cannon and pointing it at the sprawled figure in front of her. It groaned again, and then yelped when it saw the huge cannon.

"Officer Seras Victoria?" it said, the voice male and unsure.

Seras blinked, the cannon slipping slightly down her shoulder, "Yes?"

"Oh good," the man wheezed, trying to get the breath he needed for life back, "I thought you were a ghoul, or something like that."

Seras looked puzzled, "Who are you?"

"New recruit Barringthwaite," he answered. Seras' head started to spin, has she really not left the SAS training compound? Puzzled she ran the other way down the corridor and found herself by the stairs that had led them up to the fourth floor.

"You did ask us to search the rest of the floor, didn't you, sir?" Barringthwaite asked her, still sounding unsure, but less unsteady.

"Yes, yes" Seras answered, distracted. On her left was the entrance to the room with the mirror. Unsure, she entered it with reservation. The mirror was blank. Nothing reflected in its depths, as if nothing ever had. Still trembling Seras walked over to the corner she had investigated before. There was nothing. A pile of dust she had disturbed earlier; and then nothing. Reaching out one pale hand she tapped gently on the wall to her right, the echo smothered by the smallness of the room. It seemed solid enough. Suddenly the echo of a knock hit the vampire, shocked she jerked back from the wall.

"Officer Seras?" came a thin and distant version of Barringthwaite's voice.

"Y…yes?" the vampire stuttered.

"The room with the mirror must be on the other side of this corridor. The one where we ran into each other."

"Oh," realisation dawned, "It was your knock then?"

"Yes."

"But then how did I get from here to there?" Seras mused to herself. The wall felt solid under her fingertips. Absently tracing a pattern along it her fingers found a hole. Curious the vampire looked up, but there wasn't a hole, her fingers were half through the wall! Muffling a scream with her other hand Seras snatched her fingers back from the wall. Shaking violently she half-collapsed against the other wall. With a yelp she realised that this one could dissolve behind her too and jumped back onto her feet. But the wall stayed as it was and when Seras touched it there were no "holes". Dredging up whatever courage she had left, the Hellsing officer walked over to the wall with the "hole" and gently touched it. This time it was as solid as concrete should be. Frowning Seras ran her hands over the whole length of it, but if there had been anything before there wasn't now. She heard the step of a boot behind her and whirled to find Barrringthwaite's large frame behind her, a look of concern on his face.

"Is everything ok, Officer?"

"Err, yes," Seras replied, "Has the floor been thoroughly searched?"

"Yes, Officer" Barringthwaite replied.

"Right," Seras' voice had the timber of command in it again, "The last floor to search is the roof. Everyone is to gather at the ladder that leads there and we will proceed."

"Very good, sir" Barringthwaite saluted and ran off to deliver the orders.

---

The ladder that led to the roof was of a slimy and rickety metal that grated alarmingly at the top. Hellsing vampire Seras Victoria led her team recently reduced to four up it with an increased confidence, the time it had taken Barringthwaite to deliver her orders had given her a chance to remember that she was the leader, and had to inspire the new recruits to follow her as such. Finally she gained the safety of the concrete roof and looked back, this new confidence deflating. The top of the ladder had almost rusted off the restraints and one upright was bouncing with every step the recruits made. She shuddered, trying not to remember that she had just taken it. Dead or not, some things were just plain dangerous.

Crouching behind a concrete heating system Seras waited until the other three soldiers had emerged. Above her the moon cast a waning light on the small patch of roof visible by the heating system. The small splashes made this world into shades of grey rather than the harsh white lines and shadow blotches of below. Eventually the others had joined her, and signalling silence they peered from behind the unit in order to see the whole length of the roof. Gasping Seras realised it was full of ghouls! Wrenching herself back the vampire hastily wiped her face, just because she was dead didn't meant she did not feel like sweating.

"It that, normal?" one of the men asked.

"Umm, yes," Seras replied, thinking that spooking them would only make the situation worse, "I want you two," she pointed to Barringthwaite and the recruit next to him, "To shoot from that side of the unit, while we shoot from this side. Remember to aim for the heart and whatever you do, don't panic. This is only a training exercise after all" she smiled, but it felt weak even to her. The recruits decided not to question her further; it seemed easier to believe that everything was as it should be rather than face the truth. Seras cursed the fact the manhole they had used was too small for her to bring her Halconnen Cannon up. There was no time to force a bigger hole, so she would have to do with a revolver. Fixing in her mind what Hugh had taught her at the shooting complex, Seras leaned over the top of the heating unit and started shooting the shambling mess of non-humans that had until then not noticed the arrival of Hellsing forces. With her vampire-heightened vision she hit every target dead centre in the heart, but the revolver didn't have the effect the Cannon did. Around her the recruits started shooting as well, ghouls turning into ash all around them. But still the mass of ghouls moved closer, the roof was a large area and Seras estimated there must be several hundred. Glancing down at the soldiers she realised they were coping with the, unexpected difficulty, well. Not well enough for her to fetch her Halconnen Cannon, but perhaps well enough for her to radio Caulfield for help. The Hellsing officer motioned to the recruits she was going to use the radio, they nodded, the hot blaze of guns never ceasing.

"Unit One to Commander, Unit One to Commander," the vampire had slunk partway down the ladder so that she could hear over the gunfire, something that had seemed downright dangerous a few minutes ago paled into comparison with what was now going on.

"Come in, Unit One," Caulfield's crackled voice came through.

"We have been ambushed by ghouls on the roof. Real ones this time."

"Shit!" Caulfield swore, "I haven't heard anything from the other units since Unit Four's report, at the beginning of the mission. I was hoping they had forgot, or weren't bothering as this was supposed to be a training mission. But if there are real ghouls about…" he paused, and there was silence, then crackling came through again, "How many men have you got?"

"Three," Seras replied, "I sent one to check on the other units." On the ground Caulfield paced by the Hellsing van, someone was tampering with the mission, that was obvious.

"I'll radio Hellsing HQ," Caulfield's voice came through Seras' radio again, "Get Walter to bring the helicopter and attempt a rescue. Once we regroup everyone we will know how many we still have. Then we can devise a plan with which to defeat this ghoul army."

"Roger," Seras ended the call and carefully hauled herself onto the roof again. She screamed when she saw what had happened in her absence, the heating unit had been overrun and she was now wading in ghouls! Desperately she called the names of the recruits, but she could hear no answer. The undead humans were closing around her, numb grey fingers reaching for her clothes, hair, gun. The scent of decay assaulted her nose, its sickening sweetness making even the vampire choke.

-Master!- she cried in her mind. There was no answer, -Master!- she tried again. No answer. She could feel nothing of his presence, physical or mental. She remembered their last conversation.

"You need to stop relying on my power to save you from every situation," he had been sprawled on a chair in the dungeons, a half-drunk bag of medical blood on the table before him.

"I know," Seras replied, eyes downcast, looking at boots that needed polishing.

Alucard moved so he was leaning his chin on the hand propped up by the table. Gold glasses slid down his nose to reveal his red stare, black hair falling to frame it, "I may be your master but I will not always come to your aid. You are a vampire. An individual hunter," his voice was low and soft, "By relying on me you are undermining your own powers and stifling any opportunity to gain additional ones."

"Yes, Master."

Alucard nodded, and hooded his red gaze, seeming to fall asleep.

-Master!- Seras called again, desperately, knowing that he would never answer, -Master this is an emergency!- Nothing. Seras was totally alone. The ghouls had almost brought the vampire to her knees. Using her police hand-to-hand fighting skills Seras pushed them off her. Grabbing a baton from her belt she used it to pierce the hearts of the ghouls around her; but there were too many. Fighting with the desperation of being alone, the vampire gradually made her way to the heating unit, hoping for something to guard her back. Just as she reached it she saw the recruits. Huddled together two were holding onto each other for dear life, Barringthwaite torn limb from limb at their feet.

"This is not normal!" one of them screamed to Seras.

Hastily dispatching another ghoul the Hellsing officer looked down at him, "I know," her voice was soft with resigned sadness, "I'm sorry, but we have to fight anyway."

The men continued to look terrified.

"Walter is on his way to attempt a rescue mission," the recruits were still frozen. This kind of situation was hard to train for, and they hadn't even had started that training yet. Pressing her almost empty revolver into one of the recruits' hands she tried a different tactic, "Shoot you idiots! Do you want to be ripped to shreds as well!"

That worked and the men pulled themselves together enough to recover scattered weapons and ammunition. Seras grabbed her revolver back and started to use it in conjunction with the baton.

At her side the radio crackled into life again and Caulfield's voice, tainted by distance and the transmission, could just be heard over the gunfire.

"Seras! Seras! Come in, Seras!"

"I'm here Caulfield," she yelled back, "And we need help NOW! One is dead and we're running out of ammunition."

"I can't get through to Walter," the commander yelled back, "He isn't answering. You'll just have to hold on. I'm going to gather everyone who is left and then we'll try and storm the roof, but it may take a while. Just try to keep everyone alive!"

A ghoul grabbed the vampire by the hair, rudely jerking her back to reality. With a yell she stabbed it viciously through the heart. A scream behind her made he spin around. A ghoul had one of the men trapped and another ghoul was advancing behind him. The other was desperately trying to shake off a ghoul that had him by the arm and was ripping into his flesh with glee. The vampire was flooded with all the fear and doubt she had felt over the last few hours and watched it turn to a white hot rage. How dare someone play with Hellsing like a cat toys with its prey? How dare they interfere and undermine her authority as a leader? She was a vampire, damn it, and no-one was going to play her for a fool, then get away unscathed!

Bloodlust brightened her eyes and she bared her fangs, a crooked smile stretching itself across her face. Lunging at the ghoul that held the recruit's arm she ripped it to shreds with her bare hands, before turning and doing the same to the one behind it. The recruits screamed: their leader had just turned into a monster! Terrified they ran and clawed their way down the manhole. Seras, too caught up in her hunt, didn't notice.

---

Panting, shaking and bleeding from a variety of wounds the two soldiers finally made it back to the Hellsing van. So far twelve other recruits had escaped to stand, exhausted, behind their commander.

"She's gone crazy, Sir!" one of the men spluttered.

"Who?" Caulfield demanded, worried.

"Officer Seras, Sir."

Caulfield swore, he did not know how to deal with psychotic vampires high on the taste of blood, let alone a sea of ghouls in what was supposed to be a secret training mission. Hurriedly he flicked switches in his radio, trying to get through to the Hellsing Mansion, "Walter!" he yelled, "Walter we need you and Alucard here now!" But there was no answer, the radio just spitting static back into his face. He threw it at the building in anger and desperation, where were they!

---

On the roof Seras Victoria, fangs dipped in the cold midnight air and hot blood continued her rampage as befitted one who was turned by, arguably, the most powerful vampire the world had ever feared. Daughter of the shadows she dispatched any of the ghouls that dared challenge her. Delighted she laughed insanely at the inferior beings that had been so stupid to choose to confront her. With no Walter to bring her to her senses or Alucard to take half the attackers Seras reigned supreme; power filling her body in an intoxicating wave. The night belonged to her, and she would damn all those to Hell who wanted to contest it.