Welcome to the fifth chapter of my story.
I want to say that I am sorry that I did not post last week, but I was having a very busy time because I was in a theater production.
Thanks to Verya, Blackpanzer, and Gunslinger Roland for reviewing my story.
I do not own Hellsing or any affiliated characters.
I do own John Riley so please ask permission before using him in a story.
All reviews are welcome, justified flames accepted, and advice appreciated.
London, England – Present Day
"Yeah, my BPQ. Stands for Broken Pool Que. I killed my first vampire with it and the tip broke, so I have been carrying it around with me as a good luck charm and a weapon of last resort. I carry it up me sleeve like so." I demonstrate for him, showing him how I strap it in so I can pull it out easily. He nods his head and says, "Your armaments is very interesting but what about these weapons over here?" He gestures to the other various weapons that are strewn across the steel table. I reply dismissively, "Oh, those are just stuff I have picked up from the vamps I pick them up, use them, then I throw them away after I am done with them." He says, "Well, if you wish to use any of the weapons or armaments in the armory just ask me and I will assist you in your request as much as possible. Now, I would like you to meet with the agent you are going to be working with tonight." I gear up putting on my weapons and I look at the weapons on the table and say, "Disney, do you mind if I just leave these weapons with you? I don't think I am going to need them for a while." He replied, "Of course." I walked out into the dungeon corridor and I knew that one or another the hunt would end here. That it was going to be in London that my score will be settled, or my body will be found floating in the Thames river. One way or another it was going to end here.
"I have called Ms. Victoria down here and she should be here in a few moments." says Walter. I scratch at the the scraggly growth at my chin as I nod my head. I vow to myself that when I get back I am going to shave. Then I smile inwardly, how many times had I made that particular promise only to break it the moment I got back. I glance around the room, it is still in the dungeon area of the mansion. It had been converted into a war room with various maps of London covering the walls. One map on a table is covered in dots and flags. Walter is talking to various units over the radio. Walter finishes talking to the guy so I ask, "What's with the map?" I jerk my head towards the map with the flags and dots. He replies, "This map shows what the situation is like across London. The white flags represent current Hellsing units in the field. The red flags represent vampire outbreaks that are happening right now. The black flags represent vampire outbreaks with a confirmed report of the use of ghouls. The green dots show where we suspect vampire activity. The gold dots represent where we have killed vampires. The gray dots show where we suspect where we have killed the vampire but it has not been confirmed. The red dots show where the vampires were able to escape entirely." I whistle, the map showed a depressingly small amount of white flags, but the thing that concerned me most was how many green, gray, and gold dots were on the map. There were at least 300 dots on the board. I ask, "How long is a dot kept on the map until it is removed?" Walter replies, "The green dots stay until we can confirm or disprove the activity. The gold, gray, and red dots stay for two weeks before they are removed." I can't believe it, there is no way any city could maintain a vampire population that size, and London was not even very big when compared to other cities. I gasp, "Impossible, no way. If you had this many vampires popping up on your radar, then you would have at least double that you can not find. No city could sustain a population of that size without civilians finding out." He nods and mutters to himself, "So, Americans have not found out about our problems." He raises the volume of his voice and continues, "Yes, under ordinary circumstances no city could maintain a vampire population of this size, however we have a special problem that we refer to as the FREAK chip." He paused ordering his thoughts then began speaking again, "We have an enemy that is producing these chips. These chips, once implanted into a human, turn that person into a low-level vampire." I feel my face twisting into a mask of horror. This totally changes the equation. In America there had been a balance of power. The vamps were on one side secretive, fewer in numbers, and generally wanting to avoid fights to keep their beloved immortality. On the other side were hunters, well organized like the Hellsing Institution or the very loosely organized American hunters. We had more numbers and were generally willing to sacrifice our lives to kill vampires. However if what Disney was saying is true, then we may have somebody producing these FREAKs to wear down hunters until the true vamps moved in. I will admit one of the few reasons I am alive is because I catch vamps off guard. I hear the door open and distantly Disney was saying something, but I was to wrapped up in my thoughts to notice. Finally words pierced my meditation, a woman's voice saying, "Mr. Riley I am pleased to meet you." I look up to see a proffered hand, I grasp it as my gaze continues upwards and I am staring into red eyes, the eyes of a vampire.
Las Vegas, Nevada – 2 years ago
I really wanted a drink, but that wasn't going to be happening any time soon because the hunt had to go on. I wasn't going to take another sip until he was in my hands. I look around and think irritably to myself I really need to get a cell phone. I locate a land line. I pick up the modern plastic cordless and I dial in the number. It rings three times, it always rings three times. It picks up and she says, "Hello John." I decide to give up on ever figuring out how she does that. I reply in my tired voice, "Hello Rachel, I just thought you might want to know that I am still alive and the vampires are deader then there were before." There is a pause, then, "Was he there?" I answer in my dead tired voice, "Naw, he's not here. He must have skipped town earlier." Then I hear I tiny voice whisper, "Stacy are you alright?" I hear the shambling behind me. I say to Rachel, "Hold on for a second I have to clean up." I put the phone down and draw Harry out of the holster. The shambling is getting closer. I turn around and see one lady shuffling towards me. She was dragging her feet on the Persian carpet. She was wearing a strapless blue dress, some silver jewelry, and sapphire earrings. She would have been really beautiful if her face hadn't been that gray with death. I cocked the .44 and I was pulling the trigger back, I heard myself saying, "I'm sorry." I roar and the ghoul disintegrated into dust. I play back my memory to try to count how many women were being fed on. I stroll through the dimly lit room. Eyes searching, ears listening. Then I hear a woman's scream tear through the stillness. I run towards the source, smashing aside chairs and divans. I push aside a curtain and see another ghoul, she is shambling towards the lady. I raise Harry and aim for her heart. I squeeze the trigger. The ghoul disintegrates into dust. The lady looks up at me, relief floods into her brown eyes. Then she stares past me, her relief filled eyes widen into horror. I didn't think, I just reacted. I whirled around, dropping to my knees. The .44 angled up, right into the last ghoul's head. I fire one last shot, and it is over.
I walk back to phone and pick it up. Rachel says, "You alright John?" I answer in a dead voice, "I feel like refried shit that has been run over a couple of times." She snaps back, "So, you are feeling normal." I sigh, and respond, "Yeah, I am feeling normal. Can you call up Kurnugia for me. Tell him that I have taken down about 12 vampires who had gathered together in the Luxor and that he may want to investigate the Casino security guards in the area." She says in a despondent tone, "When are you going to forgive him Riley. You know it wasn't his fault." I don't answer, there is no need to, she knows why I won't forgive him. Why I can't forgive him. She sighs, "Alright Johnny I'll call him up." I smile and say, "Thanks Rachel, I don't know what I would do without you." She snaps back at me, "You would probably do some stupidly heroic and die while taking down 20 vamps with you." I respond, "Only 20? If I am going to go down in a blaze of glory I would take at least 50 with me." We both chuckle, and hangup.
I spend a few moments sifting through the contents of the wallets and purses that I find scattered across the ground. These vamps were pretty loaded, it looks like I won't have to worry when I am going to be able to get more silver ammo. I happen to glance at the elevator and I see that the small red numbers were slowly counting down to this level. I draw out Caladbolg, I wait the few anxious minutes for the elevator to reach this floor. Then the elevator chimes and the doors begin to open.