Once again, I apologise for the huge delay. I was mainly focusing on my story 'Double Trouble' and then I ended up having a relapse in my mental health, which is always fun. Work has also been hectic as per usual, and literally as soon as my sick leave ended, they were back to forcing more overtime on me. Not to mention I also have some exams to study for. Here's hoping I don't end up writing about the anatomy of the heart or stomach or whatever in this chapter lol. But thank you so much for your awesome reviews! I really appreciate your feedback!

Without-U: I'm gonna reply again here just in case you didn't see it in 'Double Trouble', but yes, of course you can translate this story into French. There's only about five chapters left of this story, so the story is ten chapters in total. If you do end up translating it and publishing it somewhere, please send me a link so I can direct people to it. Merci beaucoup!

Fighting Back

Dies iræ, dies illa,

Solvet sæclum in favilla:

Teste David cum Sibylla.

Quantus tremor est futurus,

Quando Iudex est venturus,

Cuncta stricte discussurus!

Seras stared down at the Latin text printed into the withered hymn book, moving her mouth only slightly to make it look like she was singing along with all of the others. The noise from the badly tuned piano echoed around the large, cold hall, the melody not even salvaged by the high pitched singing of all of the other children. Unable to stop herself, the young blonde yawned for the eighth time in a row, barely able to keep her eyes open. The sharp cold draft was probably the only thing keeping her awake right now. She knew that she shouldn't have stayed up so late with Alucard last night, but she found the older girl extremely fascinating.

Of course, when the young girl had awoken in the morning, her best friend had vanished just like she always seemed to do. The orphanage had been rather quiet that morning, and there was no sign of Katie during breakfast. After everything that had happened yesterday, Seras wasn't really in the mood for food. Instead, she simply played with her Weetabix, pouring spoonful after spoonful back into her bowl until she had made a mountain of mush in the centre. The other children did not seem to notice Katie's absence, and if they did, they likely didn't dwell on it too much. After all, kids vanished here all of the time. Rumours were already going around that she had been murdered or fostered, but Seras remembered just how insane the girl had become after they had saved her.

An older kid had always told everyone about how as soon as you showed signs of madness, you were taken away by men in white coats who would then shove pills down your thought until you couldn't remember who you were and you became a zombie. They said that they had watched it happen to their own mother before being taken into care. Apparently she would always make her wrists bleed until the kid couldn't wake her up one day, and that's when they had been taken away. Seras wished that she could remember who the kid was so that she could ask them more about it. Maybe they would know exactly where Katie had been taken.

Either way, Seras had a feeling that she would never see the other girl again. Alucard had even pretty much said so. Her blue eyes drifted towards the stained glass windows that were beginning to glow from the setting sun. It had been a rather long and boring day, and Seras was desperate to see Alucard again. She had kept an eye out just like she had promised, but nothing had happened. There was still no sign of Father White, not that Seras was enthusiastic for his return.

Quærens me, sedisti lassus:

Redemisti Crucem passus:

Tantus labor non sit cassus.

Iuste Iudex ultionis,

Donum fac remissionis

Ante diem rationis.

"My my, Latin has never sounded more butchered," came an amused voice just to the left of Seras.

The young blonde nearly jumped ten feet in the air from the sudden presence that had appeared out of nowhere next to her. Meanwhile, Alucard simply looked nonplussed as she sat with one leg crossed over the other in the old wooden pew. Her arms were casually thrown back to hang over the edges of the back of the pew, and her red eyes sparkled with mischief as she glanced down at the hymn book in Seras' hand.

"Alucard!"

The older girl shot her an irritated look. "Hush, child, you are always so noisy."

"Sorry." Seras shrank back down before watching her friend in confusion as the book was pulled from her hands so Alucard could examine it. Her red eyes scanned the words printed on the pages before letting out a giggle and tossing the book back at the smaller girl. Seras just barely managed to catch it, a few pages falling use from the old thing and swaying to the stone floor.

"I remember this hymn, though you are all not pronouncing most of the words properly." Alucard sniggered.

Seras frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Over the centuries, it seems that Latin has lost its importance and prestige; their ancient sounds becoming lost as the years rolled by. To think this was the holy language of Europe for so long, even thousands of years before I was even alive." The more Alucard spoke, the more she seemed to become lost in thought.

Everything she just said pretty much went straight over Seras' head.

Alucard chuckled again. "It's like listening to kittens trying to sing in the language of lions."

Seras frowned. "Do you know what these words mean?"

"But of course." Alucard smirked rather smugly. "As a noble, I was taught Latin from a very early age and can speak many other languages, though most of those are now long forgotten."

The young blonde couldn't help but feel like Alucard often sounded like a fortune cookie from the cheap Chinese takeaways that her father used to bring home after an incredibly long shift at work. He had always let Seras have the cookie and claim the fortune, even though they never made any sense to her. She just loved the magic and mystery of it before moving on to steal her father's prawn crackers, much to his chagrin. The memories caused Seras' heart to ache; she missed her parents terribly.

"It is a poem about the end of days." Alucard's voice brought Seras back out from her memories. "It tells of souls being brought before God where he will judge accordingly; the good will receive eternal salvation while the bad receive eternal damnation. They speak of the sound of a trumpet that will mark the day of wrath."

"Why a trumpet?" Seras asked, confused.

Alucard shot her a weird look. "Once again, you latch onto the strangest topics of a discussion."

Seras felt her cheeks turning red, feeling pretty certain that Alucard had just insulted her. All she wanted to know was why a trumpet signalled the end of the world. Why not, say, a drum? A drum would probably sound much more dramatic. But then again, battles always started with the sound of a trumpet, so maybe that was the reason why? Okay, Seras was just confusing herself now.

The blonde girl sank further into the uncomfortable wood, wrapping her arms around her torso as an involuntary shiver shook her tiny frame due to the coldness of the room. It didn't help that Alucard seemed to radiate no heat at all. She stared straight ahead to where one of the nuns continued to play the piano. As usual, she had sat right at the back, as far away from the other children as possible. They were all preoccupied with singing or talking amongst themselves anyway.

"Where's Katie?" Seras finally asked, turning to face the taller girl once again.

"Hospital I imagine." Alucard picked invisible dirt off her pristine white gloves.

"Did the men in white coats take her away?" Seras gulped, causing Alucard to chuckle again.

"I guess you could say that."

Oh no, Seras thought as she looked away again. That meant that Katie was now likely a zombie. She had gone crazy and would now become a zombie. What if the same thing happened to Seras one day? She didn't want to become a zombie! Then there was Alucard. The girl in white was clearly far from normal, so what if she got taken away one day as well? Seras wasn't sure if she could survive without her new best friend.

"Alucard?"

"Mmm?"

Seras turned back to see that she had been staring at her with a rather odd expression. However, within a split second, Alucard's features had returned to their usual arrogant position. It was so quick, that Seras wasn't even sure if she had just imagined the strange look he was giving her. He seemed… confused…? Puzzled…? Maybe even a little bit frustrated? The young blonde ignored it, though, figuring that she was mistaken.

"Are you crazy?"

Alucard blinked, eyes widening slightly upon them reopening again before she burst into fits of laughter.

Seras sighed, looking down as she chewed on her lower lip. "I guess that answers my question," she mumbled. However, her own blue eyes soon widened as thoughts of her own sanity slashed at her again like sharp knives. "Am I crazy?"

Alucard managed to stop laughing, though her chest still vibrated with the odd chuckle. Red eyes were sparkling with mirth as Seras shrivelled in on herself, terrified of what the answer may be.

"Unusual, yes. Crazy? Not quite." Alucard giggled again.

"So I won't be taken away and turned into a zombie?"

Alucard appeared completely taken aback by her question, but all Seras could do was blink up at her innocently. It was a genuine question; why did Alucard act like it was so odd? It wasn't long before it looked like the dark haired girl was about to burst into another fit of laughter, only this time, she seemed to have much more self-control as her red eyes scanned every inch of the smaller girl next to her. Seras could feel her cheeks heating up as she glanced down at her hands that were now folded in her lap. No matter what, Seras always managed to feel somewhat pathetic when she was around Alucard. Then again, the young girl tended to feel pathetic around everyone. She supposed that's why she lashed out so much – a desperate attempt to prove the opposite.

"Oh little Police Girl, truly your brain works in mysterious ways," Alucard chimed as she grabbed hold of Seras chin and forced her to look up at him again. Seras felt a sharp pain in her head, but it had vanished as soon as it appeared. Alucard's eyes narrowed ever so slightly as she stared down at her, keeping her face pinned in place in her stronger grip. All the blonde girl could do was stare back, powerless.

"You believe crazy people are turned into zombies?" Alucard grinned from ear to ear. "How childish and naïve. Children tell the most entertaining tales."

Seras shook her head as Alucard finally removed her hand from her chin.

"What that child said was mere exaggeration and misinterpretation," Alucard explained. "These days, the insane tend to receive the proper care that they need."

"Were you looked after properly?"

"Hmmm, I suppose I do have a lovely master to take care of me."

Confutatis maledictis,

Flammis acribus addictis,

Voca me cum benedictis.

Oro supplex et acclinis,

Cor contritum quasi cinis:

Gere curam mei finis.

"But my master grows impatient," Alucard sighed out, lazily propping her feet up against the empty pew in front of them. "It's time that we silenced our own cursed and sentence them to eternal flames."

"But… Father White…"

"Isn't back yet, I know," Alucard growled. "But the piece of shit will be back soon. The temptation of pure, young blood will be too much for him. Cunts like him always come back for more."

Seras' eyes widened upon witnessing her friend's sudden aggression. "He never leaves for more than a few days," she mused out loud, trying to defuse the slight tension in the air. Though she wasn't scared, she was never exactly comfortable when Alucard got angry like this.

"Psssst" Their discussion was interrupted. "Oi!"

Seras glanced towards the harsh whisper that came from two rows in front of her. A boy sat staring back at her, glaring while also looking amused at the same time. The young blonde couldn't remember his name since they rarely had anything to do with each other. She just knew that he had been here longer than she had, he was older than her by about two years, and that he was considered one of the 'difficult' children, just like Seras was.

Automatically, Seras glared back, annoyed at having been disturbed.

"Who are you talking to?" he whispered, his expression becoming teasing.

"None of your business," Seras whispered back.

"I always knew that you were a crazy one." The boy chuckled, though his brown eyes displayed disgust. "Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness."

"I'm not talking to myself!"

"You lying little shit." The boy rolled his eyes.

"I am not lying."

"Is there a problem back here?" One of the nuns had appeared next to them, interrupting their argument. Luckily, it wasn't Sour Face, but still a nun that Seras took a large disliking to. She had been stood on the side lines, keeping watch over everyone – not that she did a good job. But of course, Seras was the only one to get caught as per usual. She could feel her temper flaring even more as a result. She had had it with this place!

"Seras was talking," the boy quickly told on her, shooting her a smug look afterwards. Grass.

"Seras, stop talking and being disrespectful," the nun chastised.

The young blonde didn't even bother to argue as she slouched into the pew, crossing her arms over her chest as she pouted. What would be the point? She would probably only make things worse for herself like always. Alucard had remained silent the entire time, merely smirking as she watched the scene. That traitor.

The nun, clearly already fed up, returned to her post on the outskirts of the hall. The boy continued to smirk at her before Seras aggressively raised her middle finger at him, seeing the big kids do it all the time when the adults weren't looking. It obviously meant something bad as the older boy glared at her before turning back around, seeming to grow bored of tormenting Seras as well.

Alucard chuckled. "Such rude behaviour for a young lady."

"I'm no lady!" Seras snapped, consumed by her grumpy mood.

"Is it bedtime for the human?" the older girl continued to tease.

"No way!" Seras protested.

"Then I suggest we sneak out of here before my eardrums grab my gun and shoot themselves." Her voice became a growl again as she winced at the terrible sounding piano and singing. Seras wholeheartedly agreed, but surely she was in enough trouble already? How exactly were they going to sneak out of here when people surrounded them on all sides?

Before Seras could even blink, the two of them had appeared in her bedroom. The little blonde blinked and then blinked again, totally confused over what just happened. Her head was feeling dizzy and her stomach was queasy. What…? How…?

"You have turned the most peculiar shade of green," Alucard noted as she flopped down on Seras' bed, not even taking off her shoes as she laid sprawled out, arms folded behind her head.

Honestly, why was Seras even surprised at this point? She had seen some of the stuff that Alucard could do at the park yesterday. She truly was the most amazing and most magical girl that Seras had ever met, and she couldn't help but smile at the thought. She sat down on the wooden floor as she waited for her dizziness and nausea to subside, which thankfully didn't take long. Alucard continued to laze on her bed, eyes closed and expression more serene now that they were away from everybody else.

Not knowing what to do, Seras grabbed one of her dolls and began running her fingers through its hair. Alucard didn't seem like the type to want to play dolls with her. Whenever the kids her age asked the older kids, they always got teased in response. This doll was one of the few possessions that Seras had from her old life. As far as she knew, she had always had it. It had lost some of its stuffing and bright colours over the years, but it always smelled like home. Each lock of hair was a thick, red thread that fell to the doll's shoulders, the colour reminding Seras of Alucard's eyes.

Speaking of Alucard, Seras looked back up to her slender form that remained as still as a statue on the bed. Unable to resist, Seras drew closer, almost as if she was hypnotised by a siren's call. Alucard looked so peaceful this way. Her eyes were closed, and her expression was neutral. Thick eyelashes decorated the end of her eyelids, and her skin was as pale as a porcelain doll. It looked so soft and smooth that Seras could feel her hand slowly moving up to touch it. Everything about this girl was so perfect, and it drew Seras in. The young blonde wanted to be just like her so badly.

But before Seras could close the final millimetres between her fingers and the other girl's cheek, Alucard's eyes had snapped open, her mouth spreading into a mischievous smile. Seras yelped as Alucard grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her body over her own, wrestling with her until the blonde was pinned to her side.

"You're quite strong for a human child," Alucard spoke, ruffling the smaller girl's blonde locks while using her other arm to keep her pinned down onto the bed. "Come on, let's see if you can fight your way free."

Seras didn't need telling twice as she was already beginning to feel slightly claustrophobic. She wiggled as much as she could, huffing when her body barely moved an inch. Alucard laughed at her attempt which only fuelled Seras' desire to prove herself. But no matter how much Seras thrashed around, Alucard's grip on her was like being pinned down by steel. The other girl's body didn't move a single inch, no sign of her breaking a sweat over it either. Meanwhile, Seras was panting both in exhaustion and frustration. She was pretty sure she would much rather be playing with dolls right now than wrestling. There was no way Seras stood a chance against her magical friend.

"That's not fair!" Seras cried out. "You have superpowers!"

"And you have a brain, little Police Girl; use it," Alucard taunted.

All Seras managed to do was wiggle herself further up the bed, while the dark haired girl's grip remained strong and unbreakable. The smaller girl didn't even need to look up to see the smirk that threatened to tear the other girl's face in half. If she couldn't get her limbs free, then Seras guessed she would just have to result to other methods. With that in mind, Seras shifted her head to glance up at the exposed skin just below Alucard's neck. Seras latched onto it, and bit down. Hard.

Alucard gasped in shock and all but threw the smaller girl to the other side of the room.

"You bit me?!" Alucard asked incredulously. Though Seras hadn't broken the skin, there was still small teeth marks that had left small indentations where the girl's neck met her shoulder. Alucard looked almost impressed as he stared from the teeth marks to the blonde girl who still lay in a heap in the other corner of the room.

Seras didn't say anything, afraid that she had angered her friend. But Alucard hadn't mentioned any rules.

"Don't you fancy yourself as a little vampire?" Alucard began to laugh.

"You're not mad?" Seras asked, pushing herself into an upright position.

"Why would I be mad?" Alucard replied through chuckles. "You will probably make an interesting apprentice one day."

"Really?!" Seras beamed. "Does that mean I can be a vampire like you?"

Alucard's laughter died down in an instant, her expression turning rather sombre. "That is not a decision to be taken lightly, Police Girl."

"But…" Seras stuttered. "Then we really could be friends forever…"

The older girl smirked and shook her head, some of her thick black hair falling over her shoulders to hide most of her face in shadow. Her fists clenched and unclenched at her sides, and Seras couldn't help but wonder what she had said that was so wrong. Did Alucard not want them to be friends forever? Seras' heart felt like it was being squeezed at the thought. Seras didn't ever want to leave Alucard. But she had said that one day she would leave. If Seras was a vampire, then maybe she could follow her? Or maybe she could just come with her anyway and work for this 'master' that she also worked for. Surely it was a win-win situation?

"You're far too young to understand," Alucard whispered regrettably.

Before Seras could respond, her bedroom door was swung open, and she turned to see none other than Sour Face glaring down at her. She looked grumpier than Seras had ever seen her. Her sharp eyes soon landed on the small girl, and Seras fought back a whimper of fear. Was she going to lock her in the basement again? No! There was no way that Seras could spend another night down there! She didn't want the bad men to get her!

"So this is where you've been hiding, devil child," Sour Face snapped, stomping towards the cowering child. "Do you think God has patience for those who don't attend their Bible studies?"

Seras glanced towards Alucard, silently begging for help, but the dark girl merely glared at the two of them, making Seras feel more alone than she had ever felt in her whole life. Why wasn't her friend doing anything?! Friends helped each other, right?

"Now what are you looking at?!" Sour Face demanded, turning to look in Alucard's direction, appearing to stare right through the other girl in the room. She turned back towards Seras with an even angrier expression. Her prune-y face was turning red, and her lips were sucked inwards even more. Not a good sign. "There's nothing there!"

Seras frowned. But… Alucard was right there. Why was it that nobody else ever seemed to acknowledge her presence?

"Your blasphemous behaviour has gone on for long enough, and I will not tolerate you polluting this establishment with your filth," Sour Face ranted. "Good little children obey the orders of adults, and do not offend God by refusing to study his words!"

Seras had had enough. "Go to hell!"

SMACK!

Sharp tingles of pain in the shape of a handprint consumed Seras' left cheek. One moment she had been glaring up at Sour Face, and the next moment, she was staring at her wall with wide eyes. Something hot dripped down from the corner of her mouth, and Seras licked her lips in response, the metallic taste of blood hitting her tongue. She cringed and spat it out onto the wooden floor beneath her, finally turning to glare back up at the crazed nun.

However, Seras wasn't given much more time to process what had just happened. Sour Face had already grabbed a lamp from Seras' nightstand, and held it high in the air ready to strike. Seras was unable to dive out of the way in time as the hard material came crashing down on her. Screams filled the room, and it took Seras several seconds to realise that they were her own. The lightbulb, which had been on for hours now due to the longer winter nights, had burned her skin at the back of her neck from where she had curled in on herself defensively. Her head spun as the assault continued, the small girl almost becoming numb to what was happening. It was like she wasn't even in her own body anymore. This was happening to a stranger, and all Seras could do was watch.

Each blow from the lamp seemed to be harder than the last, and Seras didn't have the energy to fight back anymore. What was the point? Sour Face would win. She always did. All Seras ever did was cause more pain for herself. Almost lazily, her blue eyes drifted over to meet Alucard's red ones as she sneered at the scene before her. There was a momentary look of worry before she schooled her features and glared down at the blonde.

"What are you doing?" she hissed. "Fight back!"

Seras slowly shook her head, gasping as one blow hit the centre of her chest, knocking the air out of her.

Alucard growled. "You're stronger and better than this, Seras!"

She… she said her name…

"If you wish to live for eternity, then you must prove yourself! You do not need my help to get out of this, or anybody else's help for that matter. You can fight back. You can always fight back! No matter what, you keep going! Because nobody else is going to fucking do it for you. Not the nuns. Not me. Certainly not God! The best revenge and retaliation is to keep on fighting!"

That was the final push that Seras needed. Forcing her battered muscles to work, she rolled out of the way of the next blow, almost causing Sour Face to lose her balance. She managed to right herself, and glared at Seras who was now pushing herself to her feet while glaring back at the woman who was supposed to be taking care of her. She did no such thing. She was a bully. If Seras was in God's shoes, she would never be okay with something like this. No. Sour Face just hid behind God like a coward. She didn't do this for God. She did this for herself.

"You blasphemous cunt!" Seras yelled at her, using the harsh word she had learned from Alucard just earlier.

"What did you just say?" The nun's eyes widened in rage.

Seras ripped the painting decorated with the Lord's Prayer off her wall, shrieking at Sour Face like a feral animal. Though she couldn't reach the nun's head, Seras settled for smashing the canvas against her torso instead. Sour Face moved backwards to get away from the aggressive child before her feet became entangled in the doll that Seras had dropped earlier. The angry blonde saw her chance, and she took it. She slammed the canvas against the nun's head as she bent down to untangle her legs, sending her head flying backwards like a baseball while the rest of her body had no choice but to follow.

Sour Face stumbled again, falling backwards out of Seras' door before a sickening crack filled the air. The nun's head was thrown forward before her body limply fell to the side. A splatter of blood now adorned the post that supported the top of the bannister of the stairs. Gravity did the rest of the work as the nun collapsed down the creaky wooden stairs like a rag doll. Her body twisted in angles that Seras didn't even think was humanly possible. After what felt like an eternity, the limp body finally came to rest at the bottom of the staircase. Her eyes remained closed as her body twitched and convulsed, the smell of human urine filling the air as the nun continued to shake, a puddle forming beneath her.

Seras dropped the canvas with a gasp as she stared down the stairs at Sour Face's body.

Oh god… What had she done?

Fun fact: I was actually raised Roman Catholic. One of my uncles is a priest who can perform exorcisms and everything. Though I often like to refer to most of my family as 'casual Catholics' since we were never very good at obeying the rules lol. So writing a lot of this stuff brings back memories. Apart from the abusive stuff, as I was fortunate enough not to suffer any of that, but I do know of people who were victims of the church. But anyway, I'm an atheist now. Please don't throw stones at me hehe.

My damn laptop went and crashed on me halfway through writing this… twice… and I lost a good chunk of the original chapter grrrrr. I kinda had to step away a bit after that, otherwise I would have punched a hole through my laptop screen. Why do computers have to be so mean? I hope that you guys are all doing okay and staying safe. Pretty please feel free to leave a review as they always help us writers out. I'll try and update again as soon as I can. I also have a poll you can vote in on what Hellsing fic you would like me to write next. It's on my profile, and you can see the story descriptions on my blog. Until next time, take care!