Chapter four is up! It is a relatively short installment... nothing much to say here. The next chapter should be pretty thick though... I plan to start delving into the plot more. I hope you like it thus far, and enjoy!
The next few days at the Hellsing manor were quiet. After the whole fiasco the ball turned out to be, the whole of the staff thought it best to let Integra smolder for a while. They all figured she wouldn't have cooled down from the whole calamity until a few days had passed. All these judgements were wisely passed. Integra, not in the least bit inclined to be sociable after what had happened took her meals by creeping down to the kitchen, had her mail delivered through the crack beneath her door, and spent most of her time in her office, clad in a dressing gown and slippers. She didn't want to be bothered with reality, with people, with anyone really.
Even Alucard was apprehensive about paying her one of his frequent visits, visits that were set up for the sole purpose of annoying her. He could feel her emanating a silent fury… nursing her anger in a way not unlike the manner a cow ruminates its cud. He could feel her seethe, wallowing in her own anger, until she would eventually snuff herself out, the way a fire dies from using up all the oxygen it has in a closed chamber.
The unsettled agenda between the two of them had to be ended. It was better to do it sooner than later.
Integra sat at her desk as per usual, mulling over paperwork. She was growing tired of it really…. She had done so much nonstop over the past few days that she longed to get up and walk around. The fire that had culminated inside of her had finally reached its breaking point, the way a fever heightens dramatically before a great plunge. Her taut nerves were beginning to unwind, though frayed at the edges and a little worse for the wear. Any more couldn't really be expected from her… the ball was over but there was still much left in the manners of the conduct with her Majesty she had to attend to. A suitable husband had to be found, and a child sired. Shit. Like some wild creature, she had been backed into a corner, with no chance of escape, wedged between a rock and a hard place.
Moving her glove clad hand to dip her pen in the inkwell, her bony wrist hit the rim of the inkwell. The little glass phial tipped, black liquid running all over the vintage Victorian desk, the official documents on it, and onto the floor.
"SHIT!"
She screamed, shaking a big splotch of ink off her hand. The sleeve of her suit was now stained beyond repair. 2000 Pounds of custom fitted, embroidered, imported fashion down the drain. Not to mention the papers that now had to be copied, and the 10,000 Pound desk that needed to be repaired or replaced.
"Is now a bad time?"
A venomously calm voice came in the direction of her doorway. Alucard. He had actually cared to use the door, for once, albeit the fact he did not have the courtesy to knock. How very like him... to use some common courtesies, and totally neglect others.
Integra's head shot up, her ice blue eyes glaring daggers at him. There obviously had been no forgiveness of his actions towards her.
"Do you think I could have possibly forgotten about what occurred the night of the ball, or are you just stupid to come here?"
Her voice rang with aggression, the way a rabid dog growls and snaps at the hand that feeds them. She stared him down, no part of her in any way showing submission. Alucard carried a strange expression. He wasn't carrying his usual cocky grin of his. He almost looked as taciturn as she often did… What the hell was he up to? Integra snarled. The fucking wanker better not try anythig remotely akin to what he had done four nights.
"Yes… I remember what happened. And as I recall, you gave a grossly over exaggerated answer to my attentions. A kiss hardly merits getting bullets pumped into one's face. Have you considered anger management classes at all?"
The grin may not have been there, but his sarcastic humor was still lingering in his manner of address. It only made her snarl more prominent.
"Then you should know, I am going to exact my judgement… The bullets will not be my only retribution."
"Tell me, Master, what punishment will you bestow on your slave? I am ready to accept whatever you see fit."
She searched his face for a moment, looking for the hidden joke to his last statement. When she found none, she was even more enraged. What was she to do? She hadn't thought of a fitting punishment for him. Frankly, over the past few days, she had been avoiding any thoughts that might be related to the ball and the incident that happed at the said occasion. She didn't want to incite any more anger, but now she found herself ill prepared. What was a fitting punishment for his trespasses?
The dungeon? No… that was too good for him. Prohibiting missions? That could prove dangerous… not necessarily to Hellsing as an Organization, but rather to the security of the country. Alucard was their trump card. No… if he was needed, she couldn't in her right mind stop him. How about locking him in a room marked with seals, and then reading him the bible? Too tedious… she didn't want to sit about all day, reading him scripture. How about mortal labor? Yes… something arduous and testing… something that would take a damn long time to do.
"You are going to scrub the troop's bathing quarters clean… with a toothbrush."
It was the only thing she could think of. It was hard for her to be pressed into things. She needed time to think… to calculate. The prospect of Alucard scrubbing a bathroom with a toothbrush proved nonsensical and absurd. She would be sure to take a photograph of it. Maybe it wasn't so lame a punishment after all, once she gave thought to it. She had been thoroughly humiliated… now he would be. A smirk crossed her thin, tulip hued lips, taking the place of the dissatisfied grimace.
"Master… you can't be seriou…."
He let the sentence hang. Her smile had faded, and her eyes stared dead into his. There was no mirth in them any longer. She was serious as death its self. There was no arguing with her when she was this determined.
"I order you to do as I have said."
"And it shall be done."
He knelt, bowing low before her, for a moment, before he drew himself up to go and carry out this most undignified task. A grin passed over his features, as if he had just discovered something. Truly, his revelation had come as a shock, though one not wholly unexpected, and definitely not detestable.
"You enjoyed it…
didn't you?"
He said in a wily,
matter of fact tone.
"What the hell do you
mean by that? What did I like?"
Her face remained stern
and unyielding.
"When I kissed you… you liked it."
Integra's bronze skin paled until she was a blotchy hue of parchment. Her eyes were rather wide at his implication. Her mouth made a delicate little 'O', as if she had been a child, caught doing something naughty. Her bright blue eyes, paler and colder than the sky were wide with shock.
"I… I…"
She was at a loss for
words. What way was there to retaliate?
"Don't deny it. I see your thoughts."
"Get out."
"If you in…"
"I SAID, GET THE FUCK OUT!"
Her face had contorted from utter mortification to a look of passionate rage and vehemence, a feeling that radiated from her soul, an attack of wild, unrestrained fury that made her blaze like fire.
"GET OUT AND GO SCRUB THE FUCKING BATHROOM!"
The anger inside of her icy exterior had burst forth again. Alucard was trying her perseverance with his antics too much as of late. This time, she wasn't fooling around. She had been humiliated two times over, and there was no room for lenience in her voice. She didn't need to impale him, or drive bullets through his brain to get him to see the picture this time. He left without further protest or lament, walking back through the door and shutting it behind him, a triumphant smirk upon his maw.
He had won this round. And Integra knew it. And she was furious.
"ARRRRRRRRRRRGH!"
She screamed in an animal-like way, signaling to everyone in earshot that Alucard had probably just drove her up the wall again, and that she would not appreciate disturbances at this hour. Once he had left, she grabbed the near empty ink well in her black stained hands, and threw the jar with crushing force against the wall. She watched it shatter, staining the wall a blotchy, splattered black. Content with her expression of violent anger, she slumped back down in her chair, and pulled out a cigar from her stained desk drawer.
Nothing like tobacco to help one relax.
And done! I hope you enjoyed this little installment!
The reviews have been great to read. Thanks for all the support and such!
I still don't own Hellsing. Sorry to dissappoint.
-is pelted with tomatoes-
Happy camping!
Kimi-Taco
