Order 31: Old Men Worry Too Much
Vattican Garden. 5:00 P.M.
Sprinkles of rain fell upon the earth with the softest touch. Skey had lain her body across the oak bench under her favorite tree. Heaven lay just above her, its eyes blinded by the stormy clouds. Thunder rumbled once in a while, and only a few sprinkles of rain would fall. Other than that, this was othing but a simple overcast. It felt a bit too ironic to Skey. She always thought she read too deep into things, but something gave her stomach a pit feeling she was right. Could this storm mean a bad omen for Wednesday? The clouds swiftly swam across the sky and into slower clouds, the swirling of whites, grays and gray blues mixing. A low rumble would occur but nothing to grab one's attention. She was alone in the stretch of garden. During any storm, many stayed inside to do such things as read their Bible, play chess or even cards. Skey did love to play chess against the others but today was just one of those days where you felt tired and wanted nothing more than to lay down and rest, yet not tired enough to fall asleep. The days were dragging by so slowly, boosting everyones' anticipation for the epic battle for their lives and for the Church.
" (sighs) Father..."
The memory kept coming up unexpectedly. It was the hardest thing to do, to cut her father's head off. Feeling the cold steel having to cut through his dead flesh, it was far too much. Just when she had finally found her real father, it had to be both of them at opposite sides. She tried not to let it bother her, but that memory refused to be repressed. It would bring along the death of her mother as well and at Malakai's bloodied hands. It was final. Upon her father's death, she was now totally alone and without any other relatives. The only ones she had to look to was Anderson, Yumie and ultimately, God. Though her eyes could not see him, she knew he above could see her. There was a weak smile.
" Hey, God...You having a good day? Well, see ya."
A raindrop fell between her eyes, slowly spilling out down each side on the bridge of her nose.
Training Room. 5:30 P.M.
Anderson was training with one of the newer agents. Once in a while when one requested, he's train with them and give them some pointers about their balance, defense and offense. Still, Anderson couldn't all of his concentration into this spar. It gave the man an upper hand to catch Anderson off guard like this. Just so many things kepy reoccuring in his head. After a while it was getting irritating to the point Anderson called off the spar. No words were given as an excuse when he left. The bayonets were just dropped and he strode out of the musky training room with anger. The green eyes hid reasons for his actions from everyone. It wasn't surprising considering this man never gave reasons for the things he did. And it was always best to never question him about his decisions unless you wanted him channeling his anger at you. The hallways seemed longer than usual but he finally got himself out and to the gardens. He had thought he was alone out here. The fresh sprinkles of rain fell into his springy blonde hair, speckling his round rim glasses. The gentle whisper of Western wind shuddered the trees and his long gray coat. His walk had cooled and he wandered through the greenery aimlessly. If he was to tell the truth, his body was restless to go back out there and hack down some vampires. He'd grown used to going out all night and hunting vampires, but now nothing. He was praying for Wednesday to come to test his bayonet blades along these true vampires and utterly, to end this whole charade of a holy war. Further away from him he could see the outlines of a gray coat hanging off the wooden bench settled under a tree. The inner lining was acerulean blue by the figure of the person, he could tell it was a woman. No other agent wore such a flashy coat as Skey did.
" Skey! Whit ye daun oot here? And under ae tree in this weather!"
The girl's eye fluttered open, absent of surprise. One would suppose nothing ever surprised her anymore after living in the Vatican for a year. Anderson grabbed her ankles and pushed her legs off the bench so he could sit down. Disturbed from her light slumber, Skey sat up and stretched her arms into the air. The sky lost its will to even rumble a low chorus, but still sprinkles fell down like a fine mist. The mist felt good to Skey and her clothes were now slightly damp from the sky's moisture.
" So, what brings you out here, Father Anderson?"
" Ah couldnae concentrate on ma training...Ah guess thaur is jus so much gaun on tha' it's getting til me. Ah know though, Ah'm nae the only yin it's getting til. Everyone is on edge aboot this whole thing."
" You can't blame them for fidgeting like this, Anderson. They've been in battles and riots of vampires...but this is a completely different scenario for them. This is not no riot or gang of vampires. This is...all out war. A war against the strongest and most ancient vampires."
She spoke truth. The Iscariot agents were used to controlled fights with vampires. The worst fight with a vampire would be a riot of them. The difference between a riot and war was in war, it was a battle to the death. Both were pledging to protect what they believed in even at the cost of their own lives. Riots were just a bunch of them stirring trouble in groups.
" Skey..Ah know ye want it bad enough. Aif ye stick close til me in battle, Ah'll let ye hae the last hit against Malakai. Efter a', Ah really believe tha' ye deserve it more than Ah would. Ye hae family tae avenge. Ah cannae stand in the way O' thon."
It was one of he nicest things Anderson granted her and oh yes, did she indeed want it bad enough to sing her blade through Malakai's vocal cords. Even at this moment, her hand was shaking with that lust. The deluded vampire was a fool to believe that she would love him after what pain he had caused her. Pain does not make someone buckle to their knees. All it does is cast the dry wood onto a fire of rage within their swollen hearts. You can see it in anyone's eyes when this emotion occurred. Some frowned, some went red in the face with anger and other laughed like a psychopath.
" Thanks."
" Yer welcome. Come on, let's go inside and dry ye aff. Ye'll catch yer cold staying oot here any langer."
He stood and took her hand, helping her up. Both headed back inside, leaving the bench vacant for the next comer. Two leaves, lush and dewed with the sweetest raindrops fell and landed on the bench softly like a dove's feather.
Maxwell's Office. 5:40 P.M.
Sleep had become Maxwell's arch enemy. Whenever he laid down to doze off, knowing within his body the tire it was taking on, the sleep would never grant him the peace. Though his body may have been tired, his mind was neverendingly agitated. Vampires were the most cunning creatures ever derived from hell. The one vampire who gave them the information about this Malakai could have been right, but what if the vampires too became restive and wanted to plan their attack tonight instead? The boost of security was complete, but would it be enough? Iscariot had the best vampire hunters in the world, but even the most professional assassins could be caught off guard every once in a while. Such worries kept building weights onto his mind. The doors to his office were pushed open. Anderson let himself in. The heavy doors we pushed together, closed fully. This was a migrane waiting to happen.
" Yes, Father Anderson? What do you need?"
Maxwell took a seat behind his desk, knowing this would be a conversation to sit down for. Anderson crossed the Persian rug lain on the floor and took a seat in one of the chairs before the desk.
" Eh, it's aboot Skey..."
The mumbling, though coherent words made Maxwell's hairs on his arm and neck stand on end. Bashfulness was never known to be in Anderson's vocabulary.
" Oh, you better not be saying you and Skey got something going on behind my back! god will rain down on you-"
" Nae! Nae! O' course nae! It's nae something like THON! Heaven's sake, Maxwell, I'm a priest!"
Maxwell froze in his tracks of standing up and waving his arms about in madness. Maxwell sat back down, straightening the blue vest out some. There was a glare from Anderson about Maxwell's assumption. Maxwell found no reason why he shouldn't be giving that look. After knowing Anderson for so many years, it was wrong to assume such farfetched ideas like he was.
" Ah meen, Ah'm actually afraid tae let her oot thaur against A' thae vampires! And dae we e'en hae enough tae fight thon monsters?"
" Anderson, I meant to talk to you about this last night but you never showed up. Hellsing is coming to our aid. Integra will be bringing her vampire Alucard here and tough I hate to say this, you must watch your manners. No more fighting with Alucard, you hear me? I don't want another fight breaking out like you two did in the Basilica. Try to control yourself for once. Alucard has already promised to aid in this battle."
That dream...when he saw Skey battling and Alucard battling vampires, and the Vatican being overrun...it was coming true! Truly, this dream was an omen. It was predicting the future. Normally, Anderson got mad at the mention of Alucard's name, but this time the sensation was that of utter surprise and disbelief. It was thought that one could not dream and then predict the future without the help of God or the Devil. Anderson's quiet body stood up and walked slowly towards the doors. Stunned Maxwell only kept his seat and let the tall priest walk out without a word. Just as Anderson open the doors, he looked down to see Integra standing there in a full defiant face towards him. Behind her, Alucard stood, thw wickedist of grins on his face.
" Hello again, Judas priest."
" Nae today, Alucard."
Anderson brushed past the filth with a face of disgust and went on his way down the halls. Alucard watched as he left, pondering why Anderson avoided him. It wasn't everyday you cought him in such a mood. His mind was clearly disturbed about something in particular. A swelling of curiosity rose in Alucard's blood to find out what it was that was knawing at Anderson's mind. And frankly, Alucard relished the idea of picking that priest's mind apart and seeing what kind of secrets he could find. But only after his master had finished her meeting with Maxwell would he be able to do what he wanted.
Skey's Room. 6:00 P.M.
The sun was nestling itself on the horizon. The heavy curtains had been pulled back to let in the glowing light of the sun as Skey sat in her comfy bed reading her Bible. She had turned to Exodus, Revalations, Psalms and Genesis to read her favorite parts from them. Her small alarm clock played one of her favorite CDs done by Lacuna Coil. Finally her mind was absent of the dark thoughts that kept infesting her conscience. All that was pictured in her mind was the scenes she read from the Bible. Bam! Skey jumped nearly into the ceiling when her dorm door was slammed open. The book fell with a loud drop to the floor and when Skey saw who it was, she got a sour face and started yelling.
" What the hell do you think you're doing! You scared the daylights out of me!"
Anderson didn't say anything but shut the door and started pacing. Only then did he explain why his nerves were so wrecked with concern. He told her about the dream, about the battle and about the scene where he was the one fighting Malakai. Anderson felt safe spilling his guts to her about his feelings, knowing that she wouldn't tell anyone nor judge him for them. But he too, even saw the concern in her pretty blue eyes.
" Ah'm sorry for bothering ye like this...but Ah had tae tell somebody! Thaur's more at work tha' we're nae aware O'. Ad tae hae Hellsing here, isnae exactly in ma favor. The Vatican could handle this battle themsel'. We dinna need nae filthy Protestants tae aid us!"
Again with the prejudice. Skey always ignored this side of him though. She picked her Bible up and set it in her nightstand then turned the music down but not off. She told him to sit down and take a breather. A guy his age didn't need t be stressing so much over these little things.
" You know what you need? (grins) You need a hug!"
Before Anderson could leap away, she had wrapped her arms around him. The embrace was only given by her and a level of shock and near embarassment flushed in his cheeks. skey knew this helped ease his mind off the Hellsing problem and of the upcoming battle. With a smile of angels, she tilted her head so they could see each others' face.
" You know what? Let's play a game of chess. It'll help take your mind off things."
