Youth and Innocence
Chapter 6
Standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Kohta Hirano and his publishers. I have no stake in them.
6.
"Sir Hellsing," the voice resonated in the room well ahead of the frightening visage. "You've been reading that page for some time."
"You're not supposed to hurt me," Integra challenged.
"Have I?" Alucard strove for sincerity in his voice.
Quickly Integra hurried on to the next folder. I don't care how childish it is, she thought, I'm not talking to him. From the edge of her vision, she saw the grin on his face curl up a touch, either he was confused or about to sneer. Tilting his head to one side, the vampire considered her.
Integra was acutely aware of his presence, his stillness. Watching and waiting, like a wolf surveying the herd for weakness. After a time though, her focus improved and the reading went faster. She was startled, therefore, when in mid stretch she saw him. He seemed not to have moved at all, though his eyelids were half down. The red orbs still disconcerted her. "Here now, are you of any use at all?"
"Your orders, my young Master?" He puffed a bit of unneeded air out, somewhere between a growl and a hiss. "What do you command?"
She sat back down and pondered for a second, wary of what she was thinking. Integra tried to plot out how he would see her request. "Come here and tell me what you think of these." She noted his eyes widen slightly, then contract and the crimson irises seemed to rotate. He moved with languid grace to the desk. Integra almost got up to get away from him, but she wanted to show him no fear.
"I read some of those," he scoffed, "while you lay sulking."
"Well harrah for you. You can read English," she tried to irritate him with her sarcasm, "Did you cause any of these?" He didn't answer right away, making Integra nervous. Alucard looked over some of the newer reports and shook his head. She adopted a scowl to hide her fear, "read the rest and tell me what you think." She was tempted to give him the whole damned pile of papers, but she pulled off the ones that had been concerning her most. There was a pattern there, she was sure of it, but she couldn't figure out what it all meant. This test of her servant's worth would at least be amusing, at most, well she could hardly hope he'd solve it for her, could she? The vampire stood near, but not touching the desk. Arms folded up across his chest, he seemed to consider a report, then flick a white-gloved finger and a new report took its place. She looked to his face, but his expression didn't change.
"What do you think?" She waited until he was almost through the stack. "There'll be another attack soon? Can you tell where?"
Alucard shrugged his shoulders. "It looks like a standard extortion ring, with ghoul attacks added on." He looked down at her, not sure if she understood or not.
"Ghouls are made by vampires, and Father believed this lot had allies within the church, though the attacks target individual churches," she put her pencil to her lips as she thought out loud.
"Perhaps if you follow the money?" He offered. He had seen enough details in the sources to pick out three possible nests, but he needed her to find them, to learn how to find them. Killing off the lower tier vampires was fine, he itched for the action, but what filled him with hope was that there would be a worthy foe at the top. He had given her a direction, and she seemed smart enough to follow it.
Integra took several documents and cleared a space to lay them out. He rearranged them and included one she had overlooked. They were now sharing the space behind the desk, Integra was oblivious in pursuit of the case. Alucard was not. "But we've been there," she looked up at the creature. Oh dear, she thought as she saw his face up close. Yes, he had once been handsome. "Our agent found nothing, not even a trace."
"Indeed, your agents often find nothing. This is not one single vampire causing trouble, this is an organization. Very different," and promising, he thought. "Yet they are breeding their trash unchecked?" He shook his head, "you should sen--" A knock interrupted his word.
"Miss? Your tea?" The family butler's deep voice rumbled as he opened the door to the hallway.
"No! Wait!" Integra turned to Alucard whispering, "you've got to hide."
He laughed until he found in her mind how seriously she felt the order. He allowed himself to dissipate and merge with the ceiling, but he certainly wouldn't leave. He watched the middle aged butler enter, look around and carry the tray to her desk. She pointed at a small side table when he couldn't find a good spot for the food. "That's fine, Mr. Patel. Thank you," Integra was grateful to her staff, but she was anxious that he leave, and quickly. She tried to communicate that by sitting down and turning back to her work, but he cleared his throat.
"Ahem, young Miss, I know I've expressed this before, but I would like to again extend my condolences to you on your great loss," there was more he was going to say, but she cut him off.
"Yes, I am most appreciative, but I do have a lot of work to continue with. Have you seen Mr. Dollnez?"
"No, ma'am, if I hadn't seen him leave two hours ago, I'd have sworn he was in here." The genteel manner of the butler masked his curiosity.
"He left?"
"Yes ma'am. Mr. Dollnez was accompanying Mr. Bennett on an errand." The butler looked around again. He began to move to the door, but there was clearly something on his mind. He hesitated with his hand on the doorknob. "I don't mean to pry, Miss, but was someone here with you?"
"No!" Integra stood, also looking around quickly. "There is no one here, as you can see." She heard soft laughter as her hand swept an arc and she began to panic, but the old man didn't seem to hear it.
"Very well then," apparently uncomfortable, he stood in the doorway.
"Mr. Patel, would you be so kind as to let Agent Dollnez know that I would like to see him tonight when he returns?" Integra thought the butler looked just a bit happier with a job to do. He nodded and exited, allowing her to exhale. She spoke to the empty room, "I know you're still here. You can come out."
Alucard allowed his upper body to materialize from the ceiling, long silvery hair falling gently to the floor. "Am I to be your secret little pet?" His voice managed to indicate both disapproval and amusement, exactly as he felt.
"Yes, well no, but just not yet, I don't want to scare anyone. You look, well no offense, but you look scary." Integra watched him flip himself into the room, his hair like a living thing, reforming behind him.
"Walter's been disposing of a body, my Master." He smiled a cruel grin that caused Integra to review her earlier thought about him. There was nothing handsome in that horrid face, nothing like she'd imagined a vampire would look. Alucard pulled through her mind to find a more pleasing visage and filed it away.
"Oh, I thought he took care of that," she tried to ignore his leer. "Now, what were you saying before?"
"You should send me to the last location. I'll get results for you." Alucard's lips curled up at her laughter.
"I'm sorry, " she waved her hand in front of her mouth, "it's just that it's such an obvious trick."
"I'm glad I could amuse you," he said sourly. "There is no need for me to trick you into letting me out. I assure you, I can move about with some freedom."
"Oh, I thought, with the..." she gestured on the back of her hands. Walter came through the anteroom doorway just in time, saving her from having to show her ignorance.
"My lady," he said and nodded his head to Alucard. "I bear both good and bad news." He placed a folder on Integral's desk.
"What is this?" She picked up the papers.
"That is the good news, ma'am. I have a list of people who were involved with your uncle's attempt on your life." He tapped the table with one finger, "and estimations of their level of involvement."
"Oh," Integra looked at the length of the report. "This looks bad. If this is the good news, where is the bad?"
"Unfortunately, your secretary has decided to terminate his contract," he avoided Alucard's eyes. Had he looked, he would've seen something akin to pride there.
"Oh? But that's good news. I never liked Mr. Bennett, but don't people usually give two week's notice?" She looked over the desk as Alucard flopped into a chair, holding his sides with laughter. "I was hoping he'd..." her voice trailed as she looked at the vampire.
"Dear Angel, you are the best!" He ran his long tongue along sharp teeth, "I only wish you'd invited me!"
"What's he on about, Uncle Walter?" She caught the pained look on Walter's face. It was only there for an instant before he looked his old self again.
"Nothing child. Isn't it time you started on your dinner?" He put his hand on her shoulder, pointing her toward the full tray.
"I would've loved to liquefy that mind. How did you do it?" He delighted in the man's discomfort. The girl poured herself a cup, trying to ignore the beast.
Under his breath, Walter said, "quickly."
Laughter and the sound of a cup breaking rang through the room as Alucard left, amused at the look of understanding that Integra was focusing on Walter. "Did you just..."
Walter was one of the few people ever to effectively fool both the Interpol and MI-5 polygraph teams. Hellsing loaned him out to each organization for assistance training their interrogations teams once upon a time. He was never able to fool Alucard, but no human could. Still, he had a half second to decide his response to Integra. "Yes." The truth was what she deserved if she was to be his boss for however many years he had left of service. "Gerald held too many of your family's secrets to be allowed to leave and he felt he couldn't stay, not with Alucard here." He saw her white face and for once questioned when the time would come for him to fall on his own sword. There was no dishonor in how Bennett left, no begging or pleading. It was a good death.
"That's murder," she stepped back, her voice leaving no mistake about how she felt. "In my name?"
"Yes, you must understand, that's what I am, what I have been trained to do and what I have done for this family and this organization for over forty years." He was secure in what he was, what he had become: judge, jury and executioner for all enemies of Hellsing. Walter no longer shied from targets just because they had pulses. This child would rein him in? The young leader was standing, a new look in her eyes. He tried to identify it and settled on wariness.
"You will never murder another human," she paused to consider Alucard's words from the other night. She didn't want to tie her own hands, "without my knowledge and consent."
"Agreed," Walter withheld the sigh of relief he felt. It wouldn't do to let her see how deeply he cared.
"How is this handled? The police?"
Walter shook his head. "When one becomes an agent, one ceases to exist. His death is an inside concern only. His apartment is owned by your family and he left a note for the rest of the agents."
In a way, thought Integra, I am master to two monsters. She shivered and turned to the work at hand. "Walter, I was looking over some papers with Alucard and he suggested going back to one of the sites again. Can you discuss this with him and go along? I'd like a report on his behavior in the field."
His smile gave away his thoughts. "My pleasure, Miss."