Ack, I'm really sorry about the... 6 MONTH?! … delay. Oops. I had a bad case of writers block in terms of writing these final chapters. It was annoying, because I knew what I was going to write and how the plot was going to go, it just wouldn't translate from my brain for some stupid reason. So I kinda just put this story to one side in the hopes the motivation would return without realising just how long I'd left it for. So I'm really sorry about that. But thank you for your kind comments in the meantime!

Lost and Alone

The streets of the outskirts of London were as dark and dismal as they always were. But there was something about walking them alone in the middle of the night that created an extra feeling of terror. Seras struggled to hold herself together as she gripped her backpack tightly, like a turtle curling into its shell. She had regretted running the moment the orphanage had vanished from view, but it was too late to turn back now. The young blonde girl wouldn't even know how to get back from here. She was in an unfamiliar part of the city. Characters in stories always made running away look so easy and adventurous. But now the reality was finally dawning on her.

Seras was lost and alone.

Hopes of adventures in the wilderness were soon squashed by the shouting of drunk men, and the amused looks of women lingering on the sides of some of the streets. Seras was cold wearing her thick coat, so how these woman could walk around in short skirts and strapless tops was beyond her. Every now and then, a car horn would blare, and sirens would shriek through the night sky, startling the girl, and causing her to speed up and become even more lost. Any time a strange adult tried to approach her, Seras would leg it. She knew that a girl of her age wandering the streets alone at night would look strange, but there was no way Seras was going to chance being dragged back to that awful place.

Despite their earlier argument, she missed Alucard. The older girl always had a way of making Seras feel safe and at ease, as if the two of them could take on the world together. Part of her wished, and was disappointed, that Alucard hadn't followed after her. Stuff her, then. Seras had made it this far alone, and she would continue to do so. Her dad had taught her a lot of street smarts. Seras could look after herself.

With her legs starting to ache, the little girl came to a stop at a junction in the road, rubbing her hands together in an attempt to warm her numb digits. Her breath left her mouth in wisps of steam, and she finally unlocked herself from her tunnel vision to assess where she was. Most of these parts of the city looked very much the same. Traffic lights blinked. The roads were relatively quiet, save for the few cars with loud music that would occasionally drive by. Pelican crossings beeped. People shouted in the distance. A precinct was to her right, most businesses closed saved for a few late night takeaway places. The neon lights buzzed and glowed brightly, giving Seras a headache. It at least helped wake her up some, though. Her poor eyelids were so heavy with exhaustion.

A group of loud drunk people exited one of the takeaway places, and Seras darted into the dark corner provided by the column of the nearest building. Litter crunched beneath her feet, and she held her breath in the hopes that the others hadn't heard her. They continued their laughter as they walked past, not noticing the little girl in the shadows. Once their laughter grew more distant, Seras breathed a sigh of relief. However, this caused her stomach to rumble as the smell of chips and kebabs reached her nostrils. She was so hungry. She thought about reaching into her bag for a chocolate bar or cookie, but she had to ration carefully. Not to mention she should probably head somewhere more safe and quiet before she ate anything.

Mind made up, Seras slipped from the side of the quiet stone building and walked past the takeaway place the strangers had previously left. There was no one else inside, save for the guy working behind the till, and a few cooks were just barely visible through the window in the back. Seras couldn't help but slow down and eye the kebab meat turning behind the counter. Such savoury smells wafted over her, and she was reminded of those late nights with her parents when they had brought food home instead of bothering to cook. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she thought about all the times she stole her dad's chips, or when her mum had insisted she didn't want anything, only to steal dad's food anyway. Her mum hated it when her dad shared his kebab with Seras, but the young blonde loved tearing through the tough meat with her little teeth. There was something so satisfying about it. Her dad always jokingly referred to her as a 'little monster' for doing so.

"Hey, kid, are you okay?"

Seras was snapped out of her precious memories only for her vision to focus on the man behind the counter who had shouted towards her. His skin was darker than her own, with most of his features hidden by black facial hair. Despite that, though, he looked no older than a teenager. A few pimples dotted his face, and his brown eyes were confused as he stared at Seras. However, the little girl, remained frozen.

"Hamaad? Who are you talking to?" one of the cooks asked as he leaned through the window that separated the two areas of the shop.

"There's some kid on her own just standing outside the shop."

"What? Are you having a laugh, mate? It's nearly one o'clock in the morning."

"No, seriously, look."

The other man, who looked to be the same age as the man behind the counter, leaned forward even more. His own brown eyes widened in shock when he caught sight of Seras.

"Shit, should we call the police or something?"

That was all Seras needed to hear to snap her out of her frozen state. Before anything could be said or done, Seras bolted down the street. Curse her stupid, tired brain for daydreaming like that. This is exactly how she was going to get herself caught. Her lungs burned as she sharply inhaled the cold air as she ran. Her limbs ached even more, and she finally came to a gasping and spluttering stop as she reached the gates of what looked like a park. A fox screamed in the distance, startling Seras once again, making her fall backwards and slam her shoulders against the iron fence. There were no people around and hardly any street lamps to light up the area. A lot of the buildings were scruffy with graffiti covering most of the lower floors.

Seras panted in an attempt to catch her breath. Her mouth was now dry, and she could feel the cold air stinging at the damp stain on her trousers from her earlier fall. Teeth chattering sounds echoed off the surrounding trees as Seras curled even tighter in on herself. She sunk to the ground, bottom coming to rest on the pavement as her breathing finally began to even out. Lungs no longer burning, Seras reached into her backpack and pulled out one of the chocolate bars she had packed.

As she tucked into her Mars Bar, Seras once again found her mind wandering back to Alucard. Was the other girl even wondering where she was? Did she care? Probably not, Seras thought to herself glumly. Alucard had never cared about her from the start. She was mean. She just kept getting Seras into even worse situations.

This line of thought caused Seras to think back to Sour Face and what she had done to her. The image of the nun convulsing at the bottom of the stairs felt like it had burned itself into Seras' brain forever. She hadn't meant for things to go that far. In that moment, Seras had been so convinced that she had become a murderer. But no. Sour Face would come back. The young girl wasn't sure which outcome she preferred. But it was for that reason, Seras knew she could never go back. Not only would Alucard laugh at her, but she would get it ten times worse from Sour Face after everything that had happened. That's if they didn't cart her off to some other horrible place.

Seras swallowed her final bite before shoving the now empty wrapper into her backpack. Upon doing this, her hand brushed against the photograph that she treasured so much. Unable to ignore the wave of melancholy, Seras gently pulled the photo out and started down at it. The faces of herself and her parents grinned up at her.

Grief shot through her chest, and she immediately stuffed the photo back into her bag.

How had her life come to this? Just a few months ago, she had been so happy. She had a dad. She had a mum. She had a home. Now she had nothing. It had all been taken away from her in the span of ten minutes.

Bang!

Seras squeezed her big blue eyes shut.

"It's a long, long way..." Seras sang to herself under her breath. "But my heart's... right there..."

Bang.

Seras' eyes snapped back open. Blue lights were now spinning through the air. Radio traffic reached her ears, and the young girl gasped in fear. A police constable pulled his hat on top of his head, his neon jacket glowing brightly in the night. The car door had already been slammed shut as the officer looked her up and down, pressing his lips into a tight line. The silver of the metropolitan police badge shone in the light, causing the girl to squint.

"Daddy?" Seras whispered before her eyes finally adjusted.

A much older looking police officer was now slowly walking towards her, regarding her bag and her position on the ground.

"Hello, little-un," he greeted her.

Seras didn't move.

"What are you doing out here on your own, eh?"

Oh no... they were here to take her back...

"Where are your mummy and daddy? Can you tell me your name?"

Seras shook her head, shifting to the side ever so slightly.

"We're here to help," the officer began speaking again. "My name is Ian."

Seras continued to ignore them in the vain hope that they might just give up and leave her alone. Normally, she would be thrilled to be in the presence of police officers. But not this time. She knew that they would just take her back to the orphanage, and then she would be in even more trouble than she currently was. That thought made her more miserable. Could Seras do anything other than make bad situations worse?

"I don't think she likes you very much," Ian's partner joked, keeping his distance as he leaned against the side of the police car.

Unfortunately, Seras didn't recognise either of these officers. She was familiar with a few of her father's old colleagues, but these two were complete strangers. A shiver travelled up her spine as she pressed herself even more against the fence, the cold metal bars digging into her back in the process. Seras wished she could walk through objects like Alucard could. Then she could slip through the bars and make her escape.

The officers communicated back and forth like adults often did, thinking that Seras had no idea what was going on. She could have listened if she wanted to, but she was too busy plotting a way to get herself out of this mess. It wasn't until Ian reached up to start pulling his jacket off that Seras took the opportunity to bolt again.

"Hey!"

"Come back here!"

Seras ignored the both of them, sprinting like her life depended on it. Her feet pounded against the stone pavement, echoing through the narrow, quiet streets. Her pace picked up even more when she heard the sound of running behind her. Streetlamps would occasionally expose her location when she ran by, and she could hear one of the officers radioing in to let others know what was going on. Her legs still ached, but she ignored them as best as she could. Her blonde hair was beginning to cling to the beads of sweat forming on her forehead. This made the cold air feel even sharper against her skin. It was like thousands of tiny needles were piercing through her as she ran. But she couldn't stop. She wouldn't go back.

Realising she needed a better strategy, Seras made a sharp right turn, back towards the fence. With a huff, she launched herself as high as she could, her hands locking themselves around the cold metal of the bars. She immediately began slipping back down, but the girl kicked and reached up with her other hand to grip the top most bar and pull herself back up. The officer's footsteps grew closer. So with a final burst of adrenaline, Seras swung her leg up so she was straddling the top of the fence before allowing herself to drop down on the other side. Her ankles screamed in protest as she did so, and Seras once again found herself falling backwards and into some shrubbery. The jagged branches tore at her clothes and skin, just in time for the bright light of torches to shine her way.

"Little-un, please, it's okay," one of the officers tried to reassure into the darkness. "You're not in any trouble, we promise."

Seras scurried backwards until she was more well hidden amongst the leaves and branches. The torches of the policemen continued to search her out, and Seras barely managed to stay out of their traitorous light. Eventually, the officers agreed to go in through the gates to search the park better, and the young girl breathed a sigh of relief when their ominous glowing forms vanished from sight.

Once her breath had been caught, she scrambled out of the bush and made a bee-line towards the nearest tree. However, with her energy almost completely sapped out of her, Seras collapsed on one of the first available branches that kept her off the ground. She leaned back against the trunk of the tree, fighting off tired eyes that wanted nothing more than to close and rest. Her backpack acted as a make-shift cushion, protecting her from the sharp, protruding bark. Leaves shielded her from view, so hopefully the officers wouldn't find her when they came snooping around this area. Seras felt confident enough that she could finally get some proper rest.

But it wasn't until she looked around and assessed her surroundings that Seras realised how truly alone she was. She could barely see more than a few metres in front of her, as if she was trapped in a void. The long, gnarled, jagged tree branches did little to comfort her as they looked like the haunted forests from story books. But right now, this scary tree was her only protection. It provided some shelter from the cold night air, and hid her from her pursuers.

But she was all alone.

Apart from the occasional shriek of a nocturnal animal, everything was silent. So silent that Seras could hear the thumping of her own heart. Thump thump thump; the organ was still frantic. The little girl placed a hand on her chest as tears began to sting the corners of her eyes. Where did she go from here? Was she to live on the streets for the rest of her life? As terrifying of an idea as that sounded, it had to be better than going back to the orphanage.

Maybe this tree could be her new home. She could build her own nest like a bird. She could scavenge for food. She was pretty sure that a park this big would have to have an allotment somewhere. Maybe they even had some rhubarb. That would be a delicious treat. And she would have endless entertainment during the day with the swings and the slides of the nearby playground. The slide was all that was visible in the dark void as it shone in the moonlight, like a beckoning beacon.

Yes. She could stay here forever.

"Well, that was quite the entertaining show," a sudden, unexpected voice startled Seras out of her thoughts.

Wide, blue eyes glanced up to see none other than Alucard, swinging casually, almost like a monkey, from one of the branches just above her.

"Despite what you said earlier, you still fight the good fight."

"Alucard!" Seras cried out, and before she could stop herself, she launched herself at the other girl hanging from the branch. Their bodies collided, and Alucard grunted as they were both sent toppling to the ground. Seras barely paid any attention as Alucard twisted herself to cushion their fall, landing with Seras latched on top of her like an octopus, all of her limbs clinging to the other girl as she buried her face in the white fabric of her jacket. The dark haired girl's scent was instantly soothing to Seras' senses.

She was safe.

Their earlier fight was completely forgotten about. Seras was simply beyond ecstatic to see a familiar face after spending hours wandering around the dark city. They laid still like that for a few seconds before Seras felt Alucard awkwardly reach up one of her hands to tap the back of her head. Tears stung the corners of Seras' eyes for a different reason this time. Never in her life had she felt so relieved. Alucard was here. She was no longer alone. Her best friend was by her side.

"I think that's enough, little police girl," Alucard scolded lightly, but Seras was unable to keep from beaming as she sat up to face her friend.

"You're here," Seras breathed out.

Alucard smirked. "Unless you believe me to be an illusion?"

Seras sniggered, for once not annoyed by her best friend's teasing. It was just so good to hear her voice.

"Have you run away from the orphanage, too?" Seras asked after she had finally calmed herself down somewhat.

"No," Alucard replied before ruffling her hair. "I just wanted to see what sort of trouble you could get yourself into."

Seras huffed and tried to smooth her hair back into place.

"And I've been thinking about what you said," Alucard continued, looking up towards the moon. "If I had walked away from some fights, perhaps I wouldn't have had to walk through some of the hells I have experienced in life."

Seras cocked her head to one side as she listened.

"I have no doubt that things would have turned out differently for me if I had. But the past cannot be changed. I supposed... the reason I am so drawn to you... is... well... you remind me of myself."

Seras grew even more confused.

"Not quite fitting in with authority's view of the world; having a strong sense of one's own morals; stubborn; rebellious." Alucard suddenly looked like she had tasted something sour. Her head snapped back around to regard Seras with a glare. "Though this is something that will not be repeated to my master."

Seras shook her head in a silent promise, though she didn't really have much idea of what Alucard was talking about.

"But you, Seras, handle everything far better than I could. There is a fire in your blood that I have never witnessed in anyone before. Even when walking away from a fight, you don't give up. You simply choose your battles wisely, and in that way, it always makes you the winner – the survivor. Choosing survival is not giving up. It simply means that you live to fight and be victorious another day..." Alucard trailed off, her red gaze turning back towards the moon. Her jacket fluttered slightly in the breeze and all Seras could do was remain silent.

Was Alucard praising her? It seemed like it. A smile tugged at the corner of Seras' lips as she reached up to lace her fingers through Alucard's. The other girl stiffened for a second, but still allowed Seras to lock their hands together. Their hold was gentle, yet firm. Seras couldn't remember ever feeling this nice while holding somebody's hand. The comfort she felt was like being snuggled beneath a warm blanket. Like a turtle or snail curling into its cosy shell. Just like a shell, Alucard's mere presence was like an impenetrable shield, that not only protected her, but was a place that she could call home. Was this how it felt to have a best friend? To know that there was at least one person out there in the world that you could rely on?

This feeling only grew even more when Alucard's hand finally relaxed into her own. This was the first time Alucard had ever done so whenever Seras had tried to initiate physical contact. They both had a home in one another. They were no longer alone.

"For love has fairly drove me silly, hoping you're the same," Seras sang under her breath. If this song could bring her some comfort, maybe it could do the same to her best friend.

Alucard blinked and glanced down at Seras before her eyes lit up in recognition. The dark haired girl smirked before letting out a low chuckle. "Of course; I knew I recognised that song from somewhere. Walter will be most pleased."

Seras cocked her head to one side again.

"Are you ready to go into battle, Seras?"

"You mean... go back?" She glanced away, unsure.

"Yes."

Alucard's hand never left her own as Seras thought it over.

"Father White returned not long after you left. It's time we put an end to things. Is this a battle for Seras Victoria?"

Seras bit her lip. Going back meant facing everyone again. It meant going back to a world of pain and misery. But her mind flashed images of Katie... of all of the other children who had gone missing or who had been hurt by Father White and all of the others who worked at the orphanage. They shouldn't be allowed to get away with all of that. Alucard was strong and powerful. With her on side, they would both be unstoppable in their mission. And that mission was to help others. Just like any good police officer would do. It's what her father would do.

Mind made up, Seras frown as she squeezed Alucard's hand in determination.

"Yes. Yes, it is."

Just two more chapters left to go and this story is finished. To be honest, I'll be glad when this story is over. It was one of my first Hellsing fics, and I'm not one hundred percent happy with it, and I just want to move onto other Hellsing projects. But I'm determined not to leave the story unfinished. The last chapters will be up VERY soon, and then I'll finally be releasing Castles In The Air since that was the story that won in my poll when asking what I should publish next. But I'm also gonna try and get a lot further with my other projects, too, beforehand.

Thank you for reading! Feel free to let me know your thoughts!

News: Playlists for all of my Hellsing stories are now available on my Spotify: tauruspixie. There's also a playlist of atmospheric music on there for any fellow writers out there who draw inspiration from music, much like myself, called, 'Writing Inspiration'. There's also playlists on there for future Hellsing stories that I intend to publish, which might give you a hint as to what some of them are about/involve.

Story trivia for Amicus is now also available on my blog. Basically it's a list of random facts about the story, including inspiration etc.