Okay, okay. People really want a sequel to this. SO ALL RIGHT ALREADY!
Sorry it took so long for those who wanted it sooner. (It was supposed to be a oneshot, damnit! The Rose too! I was just too damn stupid to figure out that I should put 'complete' rather than 'in progress'.) So here it is, OKAY! And you had better appreciate it 'cuz it took me a long time to figure in more of it.
The night after Integra sat awake in the library. The room was dark, save for the fire in the large fireplace. The flames danced in the grate, illuminating Integra's face lighting up her fierce blue eyes.
She clutched a worn copy of Dracula in her hands. She'd read it many times. So many, that she could nearly recite the whole thing. But sometimes when she was finished with her work, she would curl up in her favorite chair by the fire, her favorite book open in her lap.
It had been her favorite book for a long time. Since she was about…ten. Yes, that was right. She thought it was so intriguing. She loved it through and through. She had even felt an attraction to the character of Dracula. She didn't think of him as just a monster. She thought he was a sad character. She felt bad for him by the end of the book. When he was killed. When she had discovered that Dracula still existed, in her very house, under her very control, she was delighted. But she realized that he was not to be taken lightly. He was not to be pitied.
He was to be feared.
Did she fear him? No. But she respected the power he had. She had to. After just a few months of his awakening, she knew that he wasn't like anyone she had ever known before. He challenged her like no one else had. Her father had challenged her mental abilities. Arucard challenged her soul. Her determination. Her will. The disturbing thing about that, though, was that she enjoyed his mind games. They made her stronger.
She wondered if Van Helsing had been so intrigued by Dracula. If that was what endeared him to keep him.
"How do you feel about him?"
Arucard's words caused Integra to jump from her memories into the present, her book falling to the floor. Quietly, Arucard picked up the book and handed it back to her.
"What are you doing in here, Arucard?" She asked, frowning at him. He smirked in response.
"To ask you a question, which I have yet to receive an answer to." He replied.
"How do I feel about whom?" She looked up at him. His hands were gripping the back of her chair, and his face was bent towards her.
"How do you feel about Van Helsing?" He was patient, exactly the opposite of how Integra usually was. "Why do you ask?" Integra eyed him with suspicion. She knew he was up something. It was another one of his little games.
"I'm just curious. And no, I'm not up to anything. This time." He gave her a sideways smile that Integra might have found attractive on anyone else.
She sighed and cursed mentally. She hated his ability to read her thoughts sometimes. What she got in response to her cursing was a slight mental chuckle from the vampire behind her. "He is my ancestor, Arucard. I respect him greatly. Is that what you want?"
He made a noise under his breath and walked toward the fireplace. "You don't like my answer, because you hate him, don't you?" She watched him closely, trying to trap him in a corner like he always did her.
"True. I hate him. But I also love him. I admire him like no other. After all, he was the only one who could best me." Arucard turned to face her, leaning his back against the wall.
"I thought you absolutely despised him." Integra said, taking an interest in the conversation. Arucard's lips twitched. "One might believe so. And yes, it makes me extremely angry that he stole my freedom, but that doesn't mean I hate him. I just…get angry sometimes."
"Were you thinking of him last night? Is that perhaps why you were angry?" Integra asked, smiling. "Hm. Yes. You could tell I was angry?"
"Yes. I could tell. Sometimes I can tell how you feel through our tie. Mostly when you feel strong emotions." She admitted.
"Really? Arthur could sometimes do that. But yes, I was thinking of him last night." He said softly.
"Then why were you in my office last night, angry as you were?" She asked.
He looked at the fire. He could tell what she was hinting at. What she was thinking about. Instead of answering her question, he replied, "So you think my character is attractive?"
Integra had not been expecting this. She felt herself blush slightly, and knew by his expression that he was pleased by her reaction. She also knew that he was trying to get a rise out of her. She had caught him with a question that he didn't want to answer, so now he was retaliating by trapping her in an embarrassing situation. But he wouldn't get the best of her this time.
"Yes, I did." She smirked. His eyes widened a bit in shock. He was not expecting this reply from her. That she would admit the possibility of having feelings for him.
"Did, as in you no longer do?" Arucard pressed, looking at her face and her mind. She kept her mind blank, however, and her face expressionless.
"Answer my question, and I will answer yours, agreed?" She sat up straighter, and looked him in the eye. He chuckled softly. "Alright. I was in your office last night because I had found myself in a particularly bad mood due to your ancestor. So I decided I would try to kill you."
The shock on her face lasted only a second before she recovered and asked, "But you didn't...?"
"I couldn't. But now you have to answer my question."
Integra thought for a moment, finding the right words so he couldn't twist them around. "Sometimes you have…moments when you are not simply a monster in my eyes."
Arucard seemed pleased by her reply. "Well, Master, I've had my bit of fun for the night." He smirked and began to leave the room.
"Wait, Arucard." Integra called him back. He turned to face her.
"Why didn't you go through with killing me?" She asked. "I already told you. I couldn't. The bonds of my servitude would not allow me." He replied.
"That's not what I meant. I want to know why you didn't. Not why you couldn't." She shifted her body and looked him straight in his eyes. She could tell he was thinking.
"Because…Because I had a last minute change of heart, if you will. I decided it would be better for me for you to be alive. I would rather have you alive, if truth be told." He said.
"Why I that?" Integra searched his face for an answer.
Arucard was at the door, staring at Integra for a long time. Studying her. Studying the beauty in those deep blue eyes. "Because, Integra, there are times when you are not simply my master in my eyes." With that, he turned and left.
Integra smiled to herself as she settled back into her chair. She opened up her book and began reading again, wondering what might have happened if Dracula had gotten Mina.
DONE! If it sucks, it's not my fault. Okay, so it is. But if it didn't suck, please review to let me know. Thanx.