Two days had passed since Malakai had arrived at Hellsing Manor, and Seras had spent almost every available moment with him. Even on missions. Though he mainly just watched, there were times when he would give her useful hints and not so useful comments at sparsely placed intervals. And she liked him more and more every minute. He was kind, quiet, watchful. On the third night, she set out to find him, dressed in a black Evanescence T-shirt and blue jeans. He was on the roof of the mansion, staring up at the moon, which was almost full. He didn't seem to notice her at all as she leapt up to the roof (a nice trick she'd had to learn lately in order to keep track of him) and strode over to sit beside him. She sat down beside him and studied him for a while, noting the quiet and barely noticeable sadness in his deep crimson eyes.
"Hello, Victoria," he said, looking into her eyes as he spoke.
She liked how he did that, it made her feel comfortable and worthwhile. When he looked directly at her, she knew he was giving her his full attention, really listening and it made her feel like they were equal.
"Hi . . . how are you?"
"Well enough. And you?"
"All right, I guess. I've been thinking a lot lately, since I met you," Seras replied, letting him know with her tone that he was in for an interrogation.
Another thing she liked about him was that he was very open. Not at all reluctant to share his past with her, even the things he wasn't proud of.
"About what?" Malakai asked.
"You . . . your past. How you came to know my master. A lot of different things," She said.
"Where should I begin . . . it was an awfully long time ago, Seras Victoria," Malakai smiled.
"Begin at the beginning," Seras grinned, quoting a rather repetitive sentence he had used on a number of occasions.
"Very well," he mock-sighed before continuing.
"I met your master, Alucard, when we were still both very young. As I recall, we were human. We grew up together, I suppose you could say. As the years went by, a number of inexplicable events occurred, each more strange than the last. I now know that many of these were just stories, rumors. But what happened to us was as real as anything we will ever experience. I will not tell you how it happened. It is a story for another night. But, as you can guess, at around the ages of twenty-eight and twenty-nine-Alucard was a year older than me-we became what we are today; vampires. Years passed, and as you may have guessed, we took slightly different paths after maybe fifty or sixty years. I traveled, wanting to know more of the world I would inhabit for eternity. I decided to live somewhere else, after a time. Every fifteen or so years I'd move. After one hundred odd years I came back. To spend time with him, as he wasn't very social, and wasn't likely to take well to being left completely alone. I knew him well enough to know that. When I came to see him, I stayed for, oh, thirty years. And what a time that was. He was as active as he ever was, and he certainly didn't wait up for anyone. Thirty years. . . that was one hell of a time. Killing was a necessity that I admit we took to a bit of an extreme. It is no excuse, but in our defense I'll say this much. We were very young. . . neither one of us could fully comprehend the value of a human life then. It was quite beyond us. Then I left again. I returned shortly before Alucard became captive to the Hellsing family. I had not seen him since," Malakai told her.
Seras listened quietly. He was that old? Wow. What amazed her was that he'd known Master Alucard since childhood. It was a bit beyond her. She knew she didn't resent him for killing. She could not hold his past against him. It was, after all, before she was born. But something else was nagging at her now.
"And you? What of your past? Your life?"
"For the most part it was as I have told you. I spent the majority of my life traveling. I have never truly been content with remaining in one place," He replied.
"And the least part?"
Malakai hesitated, a fleeting look of pained longing passing over his face.
"The least part. . . was Trinity," he said quietly.
Trinity. A woman. Now she had to know.
"Go on," she urged gently.
"I met her just after the thirty years I spent with your master. . . she was beautiful. At first I followed her out of curiosity. She was fearless. She had brown hair. . . and ocean blue eyes. After a month, this sixteen-year-old girl was more than just a curiosity to me. She was an obsession. I introduced myself to her, and she and I spent every available moment together. How can I describe her? She was quiet, but so defiant, and thoughtful. She could not stand the sight of blood, or injury, and hated being in pain. But she was strong. And also Catholic. One night, I was feeding at the edge of the village. . . she saw me. She ran. I tried to stop her but. . . she. . . she threw that accursed silver cross at me. She screamed when I caught her. She screamed at me, accusing me of bewitching her, calling me a monster, among other things. And. . . she was attracting too much attention. People were waking up. . . I panicked. I phased with her, to a cliff with a seventy-foot drop by a lake. I didn't mean to bring her there. I'd just wanted to get away. She kept screaming, trying to press that cross into my skin. It burned me as I held her hands away. I couldn't stop myself. I bit her. And drained her. She looked at me as though I'd betrayed her. She asked me why I'd done it. And why did I give in to the temptations of the devil. I couldn't answer her. I cried. She died in my arms. And I had killed her. After that. . ."
Seras wrapped her arms around him, whispering, "I don't blame you. But you do? After all these years? It wasn't something you could help. You were obviously just upset. . . you said it yourself -you panicked. It happens. You can't control your nature, sometimes. I've lost it too."
Malakai didn't know how to react to the young woman who was holding him. He had not intended for her to pity him. But she was holding him so gently, trying to comfort him, when she could see he was upset, and sad. So he just let her hold him, resting his head against her shoulder.
"You know. . . you're the only one who knows about this. I. . . could never tell anyone. Not even Alucard. But you. . . I feel like I can tell you things. Thank you," He murmured, speaking with heartfelt sincerity.
"It's nothing. Everyone needs someone to listen, besides, I wanted to know. I want to know you, Malakai. The good and the bad," Seras replied, giving him a hug before letting him go, "That's what friends do, you know. They learn about each other."
Malakai sat up straight, smiling at her.
"You're a sweet little girl, Victoria," He said, kissing her.
It took Seras a moment to react to the kiss. But then, when she did, she couldn't bring herself to pull away. She kissed him back. When he broke the kiss, he gazed into her eyes.
"I have to go. I must hunt tonight, I haven't fed in a few days. Would you like to come with me?"
"Yes."
