Book Dragon: "As always, thank you Sirus183 and pruningshears for reviewing the last chapter. Thanks goes to anyone who has reviewed before, I appreciate all the feed back. Things will pick up here. I don't own Hellsing (and probably never will). Next Chapter in 5…4…3…2…1-!"

Chapter 8

Where are you! Where are you, damn it!

The voice boomed, seething in the dark, twisted and unknown among the billions of opening eyes. Scarlet lights twinkling in the dark-

When the bus stopped, Lori woke with a start.

And proceeded to be very angry with herself. She hadn't meant to fall asleep! A quick look around and she found it didn't matter much. There were still people around and Blondie was still where she could see him, his back to her. All was safe, for the moment. Those people were getting up, and if she wanted to stay safe, she was going to have to move with the herd.

So she stood and followed them out. Before she got to the stairs, she made sure to glance in the reflection of the windshield. Yep. Blondie was taking the bait, three people separating them. Good, she'd have to make sure he didn't sneak up too close to her. Lori grinned to the driver and thanked him for driving.

When she turned her back, she missed his unnerved stare.

The nocturnal world was alive as usual. The air was cooler than normal. It woke her up a bit more, feeling it slipping into her lungs and swirl around next to her beating heart. The place was not a busy street corner as she would've hoped; glancing up at the orange sherbet glow of a streetlight, but it wasn't deserted. There were people walking calmly along the sidewalks and looking at the stores. It wasn't a small town, but it wasn't a city either.

There wasn't much of an advantage.

No real crowd to disappear into. Worse? Her little throng of travelers were separating, going about their lives and splitting apart as destiny had intended. The only question now was if fate also was cruel enough to intend her to murder a person at the age of thirteen.

But there was hope.

Her eyes caught the few people sitting outside the coffee place nearby, a couple at one table and woman alone at another, maybe a couple of yards away at most. Looks like someone upstairs was behind kind again. A small smile spread to her lips as she made her way over there, in the wake of smoke that had been vomited by the bus's muffler. Her ears twitched to the boots following her. Jesus! How had he gotten that close without her realizing before?

Carefully, she made her stride a bit longer. A bit quicker. She did not glance around to judge if she needed to run away or not. Was he muttering? She thought she could hear whispered words on the night air. It was frightening. Her legs wanted to take off towards the people, but that wouldn't do. They were hope. All she had to do was stay ahead of him…

Lorian was closing the gap, happy because this was over. She was going to make it. After that, they'd help her. They had to. She was only a girl and there was someone bound to be in the store to help them out. After that? She could slip away through the bathroom or something when the police showed up and make her escape after that.

The couple went back into the store, the man's arm around his lady's shoulder and whispering things in her ear, making her giggle. There was a momentary surge of panic, but it cooled to nothing when she saw the woman with short blonde spiky hair was still sitting there, holding her mug. She didn't sip it, but looked at it, the hair hiding her eyes. She didn't look to be going anywhere. For Lori, she was her last chance. Blondie was way too close to escape on foot now.

Five feet away and she knew she was safe. Lori opened her mouth to say something, anything and saw with more relief that the lady was lifting her head, aware of her presence. This would be over in a second-

Her eyes were red.

Lori froze in place, unable to keep her own eyes from widening. The spit completely dried from her mouth. It was standing there that she forgot the crazy Irishmen behind her. Now she was in deep shit. She was a vampire. Not a Ghoul, not a Freak. A full fledged vampire. Never had she ever taken a vampire on her own, but it looked like she was going to have to, because the 'lady' was getting up.

Lori started to go for her gun, already knowing that this was the end for her. She was only a kid. Yes, she was a Hellsing, but she was still only a kid. There was no escaping the vampire and the Irishman. One of them would get her. It was only a matter of time.

Well, I at least don't have to worry about being an undead. Yes, she could be changed into a Ghoul, but at least she wouldn't have to worry about further disgracing her family by trying to make a living as a vampire. It was nice not to half to be tempted by such a thing.

Lori let the killer out of her cage.

Drew her gun and aimed.

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But it seemed the she-vampire had no intention of killing her or twisting her. The sudden blaze of emotion that filled her red dead eyes burned like the dusk sun. There was a moment of pure panic that rose to her face. Not use to seeing a kid wielding a gun? She charged forward faster than Lori could've ever anticipated. She didn't have time to even pull the trigger before she was on her.

The lady's arm curled around Lorian, making her press the gun into her shoulder. Lori was unable to keep her trigger finger in place as it was shoved up in the collision. Gritting her teeth, she was unable to keep it from pulling up and over the draculina's shoulder, away from her heart and head. Useless.

Her eyes widened in some shock as the draculina's forearm pressed against her lower back, pressed against the eternally cold body as if in some morbid hug, and lifted fully off the ground. Lori knew her neck was exposed. One arm was trapped, the other hanging uselessly over the vampire's shoulder. Lori braced herself for the sharp barrage of pain that would soon go searing through that soft flesh, her eyes slammed closed.

"Undead filth. Turn to dust and rot, Amen." The Irishman intoned behind her in an almost insane voice.

Lori opened her eyes, startled. She'd managed to forget about him.

Still hope. Lori struggled in the vampire's grasp. Momentarily surprised at how easy it was to move, while swinging her arm, finger reclaiming the trigger. Bent her elbow and drew it back in a bit. Managed to get the muzzle of her pistol to press against the undead's skull. There was still a chance she might distract her, at the very least and escape.

But there was movement behind Lori's back.

"Long time no see. Picking on little girls now, Judas Priest?" The woman snarled.

Lorian turned her eyes to the scene behind her. Stunned. For a moment, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. The Irishman had unveiled two every long bayonets that rivaled the size of machetes. He had them prone and ready to sink into her exposed back, through her and into the vampire's heart. His grin showed too much of his teeth and reminded her of a skull, his green eyes too wide and eager, arms stretched out in a stab. The bayonets were made of silver, so they'd kill the vampire if they pierced it.

That wasn't the stunning part. What was stunning was the fact the vampire, gritting her teeth, fangs sharp and over laying, and her red eyes glittering like hell's fire, was holding him at bay. The undead woman glared. The other arm, not holding Lori was out, hand open, palm facing towards him.

Impaled by those two blades.

Holding them back, keeping them from piercing. The blood was pouring freely as they sunk further through the back of her hand and closer to Lori's exposed back. If only for one staining moment, this occurred, but she waved her hand away. The blades dipped with it, a fluid motion that ripped them from his hands. He was open now. The vampire charged forward and slammed her head into his forehead.

Deja'vu.

The Irish priest went stumbling back a step or so, but it wasn't for long. Lori watched with fascination as the draculina brought her skewered hand back, smoking with the silver. Watched her open her mouth and pull each of the handles out with her teeth and spit them onto the ground where they clanged. The angry snarl on her face was absolute. She looked like a wild animal.

"Unclean-" He started.

Lorain had heard enough. The killer surged forward. Lori removed the barrel, twisted it around so her nose pressed against the inside of her elbow. Briskly shot the priest in the forehead, aiming with one eye. She smirked sadistically as the bullet made a hole in his head roughly the size a pencil could slip through easily. It was more gratifying to watch him buckle back and fall to the ground with a thud.

She looked at the wisp of smoke that escaped the barrel with pleasure.

Then she felt red eyes looking at her.

Lori turned back, her shooting arm stiff and ready to curl around if the draculina so much as twitched the wrong way. The vampire's arm was still encircled around her waist and she was two inches away from the vital point of her neck, arm curled in front of her face or not. It would be easy for her to bite her, but still, Lori wouldn't help but try to bring some hell before she went down.

"Nice shot." The she-vampire said instead, looking impressed.

Lorian started at her, surprised, but considering her. Odd.

The little Hellsing lowered her arm, cautiously.

"Er-Thank you. Could you put me down please?" Equally odd.

Lori's heart sank when the vampire shook her head and looked at the Irish Priest on the ground. The little Hellsing was ready to go through her resolve again when the vampire said something surprising.

"Not yet. He'll get back up in a minute. He's a regenerator. We should get the hell out of here. I'll have to carry you. You're too slow, as a human. Here we go."

Lori opened her mouth to say something. To maybe protest against it, but the draculina's arms where already curled around her tighter and she zoomed off at a run that made Lorain's head swirl slightly. Christ! She grabbed onto the cold flesh beneath her, clinging for dear life as the world swam by in a blur.

Too dazed to believe her amazing luck.

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"Is a r-regenerator what I think it is?" Lorian asked.

She sat in a small cozy room with a blanket over her shoulders, a mug of hot coco wrapped in her pale fingers. The couch was indigo, soft, and comfortable. There was a suspicion that if she allowed herself to sit back properly, she could fall asleep in less than five minutes.

Lorian stayed upright.

She fingered her jacket, laid out next to her, while keeping a careful gaze on the draculina, who sat opposite her in an equally comfortable chair. The spiky blonde sat just as rigidly, smiling a little too tightly and staring far too much. It was clear they were both uncomfortable in this little dim room (the place was lit by candles only) despite all its homey touches.

Lori tried not to pay too much attention to the photographs and focus on the vampire before her (best not to let your guard down even if she did save her from a nasty fate), but they were interesting. One was of a man holding a small blonde haired girl on his shoulder. He was handsome and he wore a blue uniform (police man, before the uniforms were created to accustom the officer, interesting). Clearly the draculina's human father…

"It's a human that can re grow himself, yes, if that's what you're thinking."

Lori thought about this, fingering her cup before sipping it cautiously.

"…Can you kill them?" She asked.

"If you fill his skull with bullets, I'm sure you can." The draculina replied, and said nothing else.

She was staring far too much. Lori shifted uncomfortably and tried not to look back. Again, her eyes flickered over the photographs over the coffee table that separated them. They were all old. It was an odd world to be glimpsing, though it didn't look too different from the one she walked through today. The pictures weren't as crisp, and there were things that looked odd to her. The color of the sky, for example. Had it once been that blue?

"You look familiar." The draculina said, "Have we met somewhere before?"

"I don't believe so." Lori replied, smiling a bit sheepishly.

If they had met before, it would've only been once. Alucard would've put a bullet through her head. Still, there was something very different about this one. Not every day you get saved from some random vampire. Then again, thinking back to her meeting in the basement with Alucard, that had happened to her twice already. The girl considered all of this, sipping her coco, until she was interrupted by the sound of the blonde bloodsucker's stomach growling.

Both of them froze.

Then the draculina laughed nervously.

They both spoke simultaneously.

"Don't worry, I don't-"

"If you're hungry, d-don't be-"

They both stopped and stared at each other. Lorian was growing more and more surprised by the minute. This was not the way she had imagined a vampire to behave at all. She seemed more like a shy, everyday sort of woman. Not a blood sucking monster at all. Even if her eyes were red, they seemed a little too big and too human-looking to belong to a demon.

When she gave another nervous laugh, Lori offered a consoling smile.

"I drink medical blood." The draculina told her.

"I figured. If you're hungry, don't be shy on my account."

Lori watched the vampire rise to her feet and go to the refrigerator. She started to poke around in there, before removing something and pouring it into a bowl, but stopped after a minute.

"Are you sure? I mean-"

"No. I'm fine. It doesn't bother me. I've seen it loads of times. It's not like its mine or anything…" Lori told her, in an off hand tone.

The draculina nodded, and after another moment of hesitation, picked up the bowl and brought it back into the room with her. She put it on the table. Lori couldn't help but look in it, the dark red liquid that looked a bit like tomato soup. Then she felt eyes on her, so she looked up and shrugged.

"You're serious." The vampire said.

"Yes. I…had a friend that was one or your kin."

"Well, that explains an awful lot. Would you mind telling me your name? Mine is Seras Victoria. Perhaps I knew your parents…?"

Lorian snorted.

"I doubt it. My family is…well, let's just say your kind and mine wouldn't be able to sit in a room together." The girl replied, looking down into her mug, at her own reflection. Hearing the words out in the open like that, so coldly… It was a very sad and awful thing to say.

"But I'm not like them." Lori said, quieter. For some reason that sounded worse. So she shook it off and looked at one of the photos again. She pointed to an older gentleman, standing in professional-looking attire, on a sun-lit hill top somewhere and inquired about him, if not just to get away from the topic of her past and her name.

"Who's that?" Seras looked and smiled for a moment.

"That's Walter. He was a…good friend of mine. He passed away about a decade ago."

"I'm sorry." Lorian said.

It was clear that was a bit of a touchy subject because she looked terribly sad. Her eyes had that vague, seeing back into the past expression. Lorian knew that look because she had worn one like it on more than one occasion. Especially on the bus ride.

"…Did he go easy?" Seras nodded.

"Yup. Very old age. He was old when I met him. He was tough though. I don't think I'll ever meet another man quite like him again. He was a bit like a grandfather to me. I met him soon after I was given my…new life." Seras replied, before touching the side of her neck gently. Was there a pleased smile trying to rise to her face? Her eyes were soft.

But she smiled shyly instead, and shook herself of it.

"How old are you?" Lori asked, unable to stop herself or keep the wonder out of her voice.

It made Seras grin a bit, a sheepish, but friendly thing that the girl couldn't stop herself from liking either. It seemed extremely familiar. Lori wondered if maybe the same smile graced her face when she was a bit nervous.

"Oh, not that old. Maybe fifty-five. Not very old for my kind, you probably know that. I'm still a considered a bit of a child."

Yes, Lori could see it in the way she behaved.

"Was it hard to adjust?"

"It was difficult, yes, but it's different for everyone…why?" She asked.

"And if I was a boy and I asked you to change me, would you do it?"

Both of them sat in silence. Lori was a bit stunned that she had been able to get the question out of her own throat without stuttering it. Then again, she felt more comfortable with Seras. Why? Because Seras reminded her a hell of a lot of herself. Their personalities were similar, more the same than anyone else Lori had ever encountered. Even the look of surprise was easy to understand.

"…I'd have to ask why you'd want to do it. You know, it doesn't make things any easier. Would you tell me?" Seras asked, leaning forward and looking at her.

The concern in her scarlet eyes was a bit nerve-racking. Lori had to lean back a bit and take quick glances at her. Couldn't stare directly at her. Couldn't bare it. The girl sighed and wondered if this was such a good idea, looking down and staring at her own reflection in the dark brown liquid. Her face that didn't look like a Hellsing at all.

And it never would.

"Well, I'd tell you what I could. I'd tell you I need a passport because I'm going away and probably wouldn't be coming back. I'd tell you I'm running away because they all want me to be something I'm not, something I'll never become and the only person that sees it is me. I can't do it."

"Did you tell them this?"

"N-no. They're not the type to listen or accept that." Lori said coldly.

Her fingers suddenly curled a little harder around the mug and she felt her jaw tighten. Something else was coming up out of her throat. The words rolled over her tongue easily enough and she heard them, a bit startled.

"I hate them." She snarled.

"Oh come on, you don't really mean that-" Seras started, but Lori looked up at her.

Met her eyes fully for the first time and held them there. The killer was swimming around close to the surface of herself, like a prowling shark, and its gaze was as steady as her teacher's had been. It wanted to come out and have a little fun.

"Yes I do. They never accepted me. They wanted me to be perfect my whole life and all I could do was screw up, time and time again. Nothing I did was good enough. And now, because I cheated (they even saw me do it), they think I'm something I'm not. I try and all I get is slammed around. I've had enough." Lori said, her words cold.

Her hands were trembling. For the first time, it wasn't fear that made them shake, but pure livid anger. They wanted to dawn the jacket of hers in one fluid swing of her arms and use that little wimpy pistol to give a little hell. She wanted to see a bit of blood splatter on the walls of her grandmother's office. She wanted to watch the whole castle just burn. To crumple to nothing but ash and brittle blackened stone. Wanted to rest a dominating foot over it

Lori wanted knock it down herself.

But Seras was frowning and looked frightened.

The girl sighed and forced that little kill-demon of hers to quiet down and her fingers stopped their quivering. When she opened her eyes she wasn't angry, just tired. Just very tired of it all.

"I'm sorry. I nearly lost my temper." She said, dully, and offered a small smile to show that all was well.

It hurt a bit when Seras gave it back, but it was a cramped and a pretty uneasy thing. Lori was going to open her mouth and say something else, but her eyes fell to the little fangs over lapping the draculina's teeth. The words died and some other confusion surged up. Was Seras scared? A vampire? Frightened?

But that made no sense. Lori waved it away, annoyed, and couldn't quite remember what she was going to say. So she rubbed the bridge of her nose with two fingers and decided to just drop it.

"Hm. Never mind, I'm just tired…could you help me get a passport, Ms. Victoria? Please?"

"I suppose so, if you really want to go that badly. Um, why not spend the day here? You've been up all night, and I can see the sun rising. You can think about it a bit…and if you still want to go in the evening, I'll help you." Seras said, and smiled.

Lori stared at her a minute, and then nodded. Okay. She already gone this far. What was one more day? Besides, Lori was pretty sure she had her mind made up. What could this draculina do or say to change it anyway? She didn't feel like arguing or forcing her. What just happened was confusing and awkward. Lori didn't want to dwell on it.

When Sears left to fetch her some pillows (they decided the couch would be fine as a bed) Lori reached to the floor for her suitcase, to change into a pair of pajamas. Her hand grabbed nothing. Lorian looked at the floor, puzzled for a moment, and then remembered she didn't have it. Had she grabbed it off of the bus? She couldn't remember. The girl sighed. Oh well. It was long gone by now.

All that left was her trench coat and her gun.

Lorian hugged it to her chest when she finally fell asleep.

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Master.

Red eyes opening in the dark, but the booming voice was gone. Anger and…something else, was gone. It was…tranquil. The moon rose and it was stained scarlet. A small hand, hers, gloved in dove white reach up for it. Puzzled at the strange circles and stars on the back of her hand, before it too, began to stain red.

Master.

The girl woke to a quiet voice talking.

"-no, she's fine. No injuries. Anderson was here earlier, though. Not, I'm not kidding. Uh huh. Okay. Yes. That's correct. A couple of hours? Okay. We'll be here."

The phone was replaced with an audible click.

Lorian laid there, her nose still buried in the jacket. Her eyes were open, but her face was pointed to the back of the couch. The draculina couldn't see her to know she was awake. Unless she listened to her breathing, but Lori thought she wouldn't know to do such a thing. Her eyes were threatening to leak. A Hellsing didn't cry, but was she a Hellsing anymore?

If she stayed here, she was going to have to be.

Seras Victoria had betrayed her.

Lori didn't understand it. Who had she called? Not Grandma. No way, but who else would give a shit about her at all? Lorian could think of no one. Except Alucard maybe. And why not? All vampires had been human once; wouldn't they be social or something? The girl didn't know. It was all so screwy. Her foggy and sleep muddled brain wasn't functioning as she would've liked.

And was she even right? What if Seras had called someone, like a friend or something? No. The context was wrong. Ms. Victoria had called somebody and soon they would be coming to collect her. Either to kill her or take her back home. Lorian didn't think Seras was trying to kill her.

That's why Lorian didn't shoot her when she snuck out of the house.

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