Disclaimer: All of Hellsing and its characters are copyright to Kouta Hirano. Any original characters belong to the author of this fanfiction.

HELLSING

EREBUS

Here standeth the Bird of Hermes,

Eating my own wings to make me tame...

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Peaceful Voyage

Friday Early-Morning, January 2, 2032, Harbour...

A yawn rang out as the trio stood in the cold, Alex exhausted, since she had to wake up early so that they could check out and reach the ship on time. She had been boats before, having lived in Gravenhurst, who gave rides on little steam ships as a tourist attraction during warmer seasons, but never had she been on anything bigger than that. She wasn't sure if she'd ever ride anything bigger than a freighter ship. Some of the ship's crew graciously carried their things inside, some of them giving Alex a wink or sidelong glance.

Uncomfortable with the staring, she leaned sideways to whisper to Van, "Why are they looking at me?"

Van didn't look pleased by the obvious behaviour. "They spend days, weeks and months at sea, and a woman is a welcome sight. Be careful when around them, Alex."

"What? Women don't work on ships like these?"

His frown deepened somewhat. "They do, but I don't think there's any on this particular ship."

"Meh, if they try anything, I'll give 'em a piece of my mind...and maybe my boot. Most likely the boot," she amended thoughtfully, the vampires smirking beside her.

They climbed aboard as the ship was getting ready to set sail. As they boarded, they were approached by a burly man sporting a thick and greying brown beard. "Ah, so you showed up, Mr. Drake! These are the companions you spoke of?"

Van stepped forward. "Yes, Captain. The tall one is Bram Bennett, and this is Alex Rows."

The captain stepped forward, taking Alex's hand and shaking it firmly. "Nice to meet you, young miss. If the boys on board give you any trouble, you come straight to me."

She just smiled. "I think I can handle a bunch of seamen." He smiled in return, and turned towards Alucard just as Alex's face changed to that of horrified shock over realization at what she just said.

He either didn't notice it, or was simply ignoring it out of politeness, he held out his hand towards Alucard. "Welcome aboard, Mr. Bennett. I'm David Lamarr."

Though he didn't care for handshakes, Alucard took the man's hand. "How soon til we leave, Mr. Lamarr?"

"About twenty minutes. I'll have someone take you three to your rooms and show you around the ship." He turned, barking out, "Oi! Shamus!"

"What?!" answered a man from an upper deck.

"What do you mean, what?! Get your ass down here! We've got guests!"

A young man came down a set of stairs, skipping the last few in a small jump. He stood tall, his height at Van's level, with slightly tanned skin and bright brown eyes, a small gold hoop in his left ear. Like everyone else, he wore some winter gear and a hat over his sandy blonde hair. Spotting Alex, he gasped before grinning, running up to Lamarr's side. As if half-expecting it, Lamarr rolled his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"What's up, Cap?" he asked, smiling boyishly.

With a sigh, Lamarr introduced them, "This is Van Drake, Bram Bennett, and Alex Rows. I want you to show them where they'll be sleeping, and then take 'em around. And—" he began, raising an authoritative finger, nearly shoving it up Shamus' nose while giving him the hairy eyeball, and a black card key, "—no flirting!"

The young man raised his hands in defence, smiling innocently. "Oh, c'mon. I'm not like that!" Before Lamarr could say anything else, Shamus dodged him, walking past the trio. "Follow me!" he instructed cheerfully, Alex and Van blinking after him while the three did follow.

It took a couple minutes before they reached the residential area where every crew member had their own quarters. Coming up at the end of a hall, Shamus turned to one door, sliding the card key through the lock's reader before stepping through. Alex stepped inside with him, spotting a comfortable looking twin-sized bed in the corner, a porthole for a window beside it, a nightstand beside that, and a small flat screen TV bolted on the wall in front of the bed. Under that TV, there was a desk folded onto the wall which one could pull down. Next to the door, there was a smaller room that housed a shower stall, a toilet, and a sink, a mirror medicine cabinet hung over it.

"This is pretty much what all the rooms look like," Shamus explained before stepping out, pointing to the door across from the first, and the door on the first's left side. "Those are the other two rooms available. I'll let you three decide the which rooms you want while I got help out the rest of these idiots on board. You three make yourselves comfy. I'll be back to show you guys around. Oh, and the card keys for your rooms is in the top drawer of your end tables. Don't lose 'em." And opening the other two doors, he soon left.

Van turned to Alex. "Why don't you take the first one he opened so that you can be between Alucard and I. I'll take the room across from you."

The Count grinned. It'll be easy to slip into Alexandra's with only a wall to separate them. "How cozy."

Alex looked up at Alucard, her voice hushed, "It'll be a problem if somebody sees your box."

"They won't," he reassured. "I can slip it under the bed for the time being."

Half an hour passed before Shamus returned, knocking on all three doors in succession. As they emerged, he said, "Alright, we're on our way to England, so I'll take you all on that tour now." The trio following after him, the first room he brought them to was a mess hall, which contained a large circular table with rotating chairs bolted to the floor. "This is where we drink coffee, tell dirty jokes, and choke on each other's cooking. The adjoining room is a kitchen, where we attempt to concoct our dastardly plans of trying to food poison one another."

Van didn't seem the least bit amused, but Alucard and Alex took the crewman's jokes in stride, both grinning. After they were shown the full sized kitchen, where almost every dish was made of plastic, they were taken to a small recreational room, which had a pool table, a wall of books, a large TV with a few game systems, shelves filled with games and movies, and of course, a few couches with large coffee tables. There was also a couple of computers along one wall, and Alex looked overjoyed, very happy that she wouldn't be bored after all.

"Oh my god! I thought I was going to laze around all day from boredom!" She spun towards Shamus. "Do you guys get internet?"

"Yep, straight from the satellites." He crossed his arms, angling his head as he considered her. "Y'know, you kind of remind me of this girl I knew a little while back. Do you have a sister?"

Alex blinked. "No. Only child."

"Oh, it's just that you somewhat look like her, except her eyes were blue. Not that your brown eyes are any less pretty," he amended, grinning flirtatiously. Feeling a chill down his back, he straightened up, glancing at Alucard, who just stood near the doorway, smiling innocently. Nervously, he coughed. "Well, um, let's move on then!"

Marching out like a tiny parade, he soon brought them to a room for exercise, equipped with workout equipment, a punching bag, and weights. Alex realized it had been two weeks since she last trained, and was sure that when she got back to Hellsing, she'd be feeling the strain of her training all over again. Taking note catch up on her exercise this week, she continued to follow after Shamus as he showed them around the ship, introducing them to some of the crew members they passed until they were finally on the main deck, being the bridge. Alex stared at the complicated controls, getting a headache looking at all the buttons, switches, levers, and even the steering wheel.

Lamarr turned around as they entered. "Ah, finished the tour Shamus?"

"Yep. Just thought I'd save the bridge for last."

"Very good. So," he began, regarding the trio, "how do you like it?"

Van could have said it was adequate, but seeing the excited look on Alex's face, he digressed. "It's a lovely ship." Either way, being stuck on a boat for a week was a vampire's worst nightmare. "Is there anything we can do to assist you during the journey."

The captain rocked on his feet, hands in his pockets. "Oh, I don't know. What can you do?"

"I'm quite adept with machines," offered the young vampire.

"Ha!" Lamarr barked. "Hear that, Shamus? Looks like you've got somebody to talk shop with!"

Shamus turned his head to look Van over. "I don't know, Cap, a passenger?"

"Ah, shut up. He can at least make your job easier a bit by helping with the maintenance." Shamus shrugged, Van smiling with some empathy. He knew too well of the protective nature one had of their work. Lamarr turned to Alucard. "And what about you?"

Alucard just stared back at the seaman, debating his options. Before he could come up with something, Alex pitched in, catching Lamarr's attention, "We can do kitchen duty!"

Van and Alucard stared at her in small shock. Alucard? Kitchen duty? The Dracul grinned as he pictured the Count in a chef hat and apron that said Kiss the Cook. His hand slapped over his mouth, trying not to laugh, a snicker coming out. He tried biting his tongue, and the inside of his cheek, distracting him long enough for the humour to pass, and he stood up straight, a partially restrained smile visible on his lips. He nearly lost it when Alucard seemed to glare at him.

Lamarr arched a brow at the vampires before regarding Alex. "Oh, you sure about that? It's a lot of dishes in one day, and even if you're cooking one meal a day, it's a lot of mouths to feed."

"What meal?"

"Dinner."

"Fine."

"You two can cook?"

"I'm just making him dry the dishes and put them away. Otherwise, my awesome can take care of the rest. And he'll be my food poison tester."

Her face was completely deadpan, and Lamarr sent Shamus a fleeting glance. "I see that kid gave you a most interesting tour."

Alex grinned. "I knew he was joking."

Shamus turned his head again with his own grin of triumph. "See, Cap?! At least somebody knows how to take a joke!" After a moment, he added hopefully, "I like her. Can we keep her?"

"Oh, shut up!"

Later, as the trio walked down to the lower decks, Van grinned. "I can't believe you actually volunteered Alucard for kitchen duty."

The girl smiled a little proudly. "Hey, he can't sit around doing nothing. People are actually going to think he's a vampire. Besides, he's helped me in a kitchen before."

This shocked the Dracul, turning his head towards her. "Say again? When did this happen?"

"It was while I was packing things in my apartment. He took the dishes off the higher shelves for me," she explained, recalling that day with clarity. The vampire had snuck up behind her, having made her uncomfortable at the time. "You don't mind, do you?" she asked, looking at Alucard.

He shrugged. "It's fine." Even if it demeaned him a little, it would give him ample time to spend with Alexandra.

Friday Morning, January 2, 2032, Ship—Day 1...

Since everything had quieted down, the two vampires went into their rooms—the girl assumed they were going to sleep—while Alex decided to go to the rec room. A few crew members were playing video games while a couple played some pool. They acknowledged her with polite nods before going back to what they were doing. Sitting at a computer, she signed onto the internet, checking her usual sites and then catching up on her subscriptions. After an hour of that, she went to a search engine, typing in vampire. Naturally, because it was such an expansive subject, there were plenty of good results, and she sighed at whatever she read. Maybe she should keep a notebook of fact versus fiction. Christ, if there was a subject in college that was dedicated to vampires, she'd probably be at the top of the class with the amount of research she did on the subject.

Having her fill of the theories on the undead, she stared blankly at the screen before going back to the search engine to look for Romanian history. Again, plenty of content, and her head began to spin just staring at it. Eventually she decided that it was too overwhelming and narrowed it down to Romanian folklore. It narrowed it down considerably, looking at the various traditions of such a proud country that bore proud people. She looked at the list of characters in myths and fairy tales, a few catching her attention.

"Find something interesting, my dear?"

Startled by the sudden interruption, she spun around in her chair. "Christ Al—Bram, don't do that!" He smiled, taking a seat, getting in his usual comfortable position that was so Alucard. "I thought you were sleeping."

"I took a short nap. I'm more interested in what you're up to."

Realizing what was on the screen, she suddenly felt embarrassed, pursing her lips as she turned back to the screen. "Oh, I was just curious about your country, that's all. It's a lot of a history to take in," she admitted.

The vampire angled his head some. "Yes. I suppose it doesn't help that it also conjoins with Hungary and Turkey. If you're so curious, then you can simply ask me. I'm more than happy to educate you on the history."

"I'm just looking at traditions and folklore right now," she said, going to a different tab. "Fat...frumos. Did I say that right?"

"Făt-Frumos," he corrected, putting more emphasis on the U, grinning a little. "So, even you are interested in Prince Charming."

The accent he used to pronounce it had her staring at him for a moment before realizing what he said, shrugging. "Meh, probably just a pretty boy who's full of himself after beating the zchmoo so many times."

He blinked behind his shades. "The what?"

"The zchmoo?" There was a pause. "I said it wrong, didn't I?"

He chuckled before moving his chair closer to have a look at the word she was referring to, the girl pointing at it. "Ah, yes, the Zmeu."

"Yeah, zchmoo."

He nearly laughed. "No, no. It's zh-may-ew."

After sounding it out in her head, she said, "Zmeu?"

He grinned. "Well done. Now, what about it?"

"Now that's confusing," she commented. "I'm not sure if it's one creature, or many. This entry seems to indicate both." Then she began to read some of the content, "The Zmeu is a creature that is featured frequently in Romanian fairy tales, usually with the intention to kidnap maidens and then marry them. Almost always, it is defeated by a prince or a knight-errant (usually by Făt-Frumos, the Romanian version of 'Prince Charming'). The Zmeu has many forms, indicating it can shape-shift, it's main appearance that of a..." There was a pause.

"Bah-lah-ur," he offered.

"Bălaur," she repeated, continuing on, "a dragon with multiple heads, or more naturally, a humanoid dragon. Other powers consist of the ability to fly, spit fire, and it has supernatural strength. Occasionally, the Zmeu is depicted with having a jewel in the middle of its forehead, and it's behaviour is compared to that of ogres. It is also known to reside in the underworld." She sighed, leaning back. "Y'know, I think this guy just wants to get laid."

Alucard chuckled, loving how her mind worked. "Maybe." She was so close, that he couldn't help but take a whiff of her hair.

"If you think about it though, it kind of reminds me of vampires."

Curious, he angled his head. "How so?"

"Well, it has supernatural strength."

"So do werewolves," he pointed out. "As do many demons."

"Okay, but he can shape-shift. How many supernatural creatures can do that?"

"That would be restricted to very powerful vampires, and certain demons, yes."

"Well, in a way, aren't vampires a type of demon?" she asked. When he said nothing, she amended, "I wasn't trying to imply that they were evil."

He shook his head. "No, I was just thinking how strangely logical you can be." It did bring him back to that time Gabriel had introduced himself, asking Integra that peculiar question about vampires actually being blessed creatures, not damned.

"I'm not sure if you're complimenting me or not," she confessed, staring at him. "You've got a weird look on your face."

He smiled. "Unfailingly kind, as always."

"Now I know that was sarcasm!" Turning back to the screen, she clicked out of that tab, going to a list of rituals. "How do you say this?"

Looking to where her finger indicated once more, he pronounced, "Dragobete."

She didn't know why, but she found his Romanian accent...sexy. Slightly flustered by this revelation, she distracted herself by asking, "What's that?"

He smiled charmingly. "It's a holiday that celebrates the coming of spring, named after the son of Baba Dochia. Against his mother's will, he married, and Dochia sends the woman away to do some sort of impossible task but the wife is given divine help, returning to Dochia with the completed task, making her mother-in-law believe that spring has come. She travels to the mountains and freezes to death after shedding her twelve fur pelts. There's variations to the story."

Alex stared at him for the longest time. "Pleasant woman," she said dryly, making Alucard grin. "But what do you do on that holiday?"

"It's also known as the day when the birds are betrothed." At her blank look, he added, "It's basically a different version of Valentine's Day. However, nowadays, even Romania celebrates both."

"Isn't that redundant?"

He chuckled. "Perhaps." The vampire tilted his head again as he regarded her. "Perhaps I can demonstrate the differences. It occurs on the twenty-fourth of February."

Alex didn't say anything, not sure how to respond to that. Still, at least he was giving her fair warning before he surprised her with whatever he was now planning. Rather than linger on the embarrassing subject, she continued with her research, asking Alucard now and then how to pronounce something. Sometimes it was because she actually had no idea, other times it was because she was indulging in the sound of his native accent, and sometimes it was for both reasons. Whenever he spoke in Romanian, his voice seemed to naturally deepen, making it sound more powerful than the sultry tone he always had, which was already deep, powerful, and sexy. For the rest of the time, she found it difficult to hide her enjoyment from the sound of his voice.

Friday Afternoon, January 2, 2032, Ship—Day 1...

Alucard had left sometime around noon to actually go to sleep until the evening. Once Alex was satisfied with her research for the day, she went for a workout. Nobody seemed to be there, so she was pretty content for the time alone. For two hours, she used all the equipment until her muscles burned, her body aching by the time she was done. She sat on the leg press, panting some, her face flushed. All that was missing from her training was sparring and marksmanship. Unfortunately, she couldn't do either of those. There wasn't sufficient room to have a proper spar, and guns on a ship was a bad idea.

The girl left for her room to shower and change, muscles soothed to a dull pain. It'd be worse the next day, she realized, groaning to herself in a small whine. Once she was dried and dressed, she headed for the mess hall and kitchen, seeing Shamus there with a few of the shipmates, drinking tea. Funny, he struck her as a coffee sort of guy. Spotting her, he grinned, putting his cup down and standing up to greet her.

"Hello there!"

"Hey. I forgot to ask when you guys usually have dinner."

He shrugged. "Usually it's not until around eight, but there's no fixed time. So, what are you going to make us?"

"I don't know. Depends on what you have in stock."

"Well, I'll show you the big freezer we have. We've got lots of ingredients." Walking with her into the kitchen, he waltzed up to a large freezer door, bringing down the lever and pulling it open, the chilled air coming out. "It's pretty cold now, but it's a welcome feeling when slaving over a stove for awhile. We've got steaks, chickens, pork chops, sausages, ice cream, popsicles, frozen vegetables, cakes, and so on. Any frozen goods are in here. Everything else is in the fridge, or the big pantry."

She nodded. "Alright. Thanks."

"If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Not often we get guests on board, so a fresh face is always welcome, especially a pretty lady." Alex almost gushed. Almost. Shamus closed the door before leaning on it, smiling warmly. "Just out of curiosity, are you involved with anybody?"

She blinked, then sighed, slightly amused as a soft smile graced her features. Van was right. She opened her mouth to respond, but paused, not really knowing the answer. "I'm... It's complicated right now."

"Ooh, one of those, huh?" He sighed in defeat. "Too bad. Well, I know where to draw the line, so you don't have to worry about me pursuing you."

She made a face, not sure how to respond to that. "Thanks?"

He grinned. "You're welcome. I hope you and him—or her—work it out." Alex watched him leave, smiling to herself as she went to work, gathering all the necessary stuff for dinner.

Friday Evening, January 2, 2032, Ship—Day 1...

Alex had to ask how many were on board altogether before she could get around to cooking, and it didn't take as long as she had expected. She imagined it would have taken her a couple of hours, but it only took half of that. By the time she was done, she put everything together in their own separate plate or container, grabbing a stack of plates and a bunch of cutlery before placing everything on the table. As someone had instructed her earlier, she pressed a button on the ship's intercom, calling everyone to dinner. Exhausted, she went into the kitchen to cool off in the freezer for a minute, then head back out. Much to her surprise, Alucard was in the kitchen.

"Oh, hey," she acknowledged. "Nice sleep?"

"It was adequate. You've been busy."

She shrugged. "It wasn't that bad. Just a lot of dishes to wash afterwards."

Alucard said nothing, and Alex turned as a few people began to come into the mess hall. The girl left the vampire alone in the kitchen as most of the crew sat around the table. During dinner, they chattered amongst themselves, cracking dirty jokes and telling stories while Alex ate her own food. Van wasn't present, which Alex understood, but it didn't seem like Alucard had left the kitchen at all. Even the captain wasn't present. Maybe he was keeping the ship on course or something. Still, ships had auto-pilot.

"Hey, miss, how did you cook these pork chops. They're nice and juicy," one asked her.

"I cooked them straight from frozen," she explained. "Most make the mistake of thawing meat. That just increases risk of food poisoning. Besides, I hate waiting for it to defrost."

Shamus looked around curiously. "Hm, where's your buddies?"

"Uh," she said, lost for words. "Well, they already ate." There, that would do. Finishing up, she stood, gathering all the plates and going into the kitchen. She blinked upon seeing that all the pots and pans were already washed, dried, and put away in the racks, the counter and stove top clean. "No way."

"I'm more than capable of handling kitchen duty, my dear," Alucard said from behind her, his voice smooth as ever. Before she knew it, he had taken away the dishes from her, throwing them in the sink after clearing off the bones. "You've been working hard all day."

"I just...I just thought. Oh man..." She deflated, feeling foolish while Alucard grinned at her. "Wait, I will at least do the plates and stuff! Shoo!" The girl pushed him aside, sticking her hands in the sink and began washing the plates. "I've got my pride, you know."

Alucard smirked. "Such pride is to be rewarded."

Standing behind her, he trapped her with his arms on either side of her, hands on the edge of the counter. Alex could feel him pressed lightly against her back, leaning his head down as his nose brushed the place behind her ear, evoking a shiver out of her. The girl inhaled sharply as a sudden pain slid across her finger. The vampire froze his movements, seeing her bleeding finger, a cut on the pad of her fingertip.

"Silly girl, there are knives in that water."

Alex pouted, feeling the sting as she retorted, "I knew that! You distracted me!"

"My apologies," he said lightly, grabbing some paper towels and wiping her hand dry as she turned to face him, leaning slightly against the counter as he did. He briefly regarded her, noting her anticipation. "May I?"

With a swallow, she nodded. Smiling, he brought the finger to his mouth, tasting the blood on his tongue. Nearly groaning at the taste of it, he closed his eyes. Soon his lips closed over her finger, savouring her flavour. Each time he did this, his blood sang as hers mingled with it. Perhaps her blood was slowly changing him with each intake. However, that was not all her blood was doing to him. Every time, it induced a physical response, and it was getting more difficult to resist. As the girl shivered from his gentle suckling, he opened his eyes, seeing that her pupils were slightly dilated, watching his mouth. Deliberately, he slipped her finger out of his mouth slowly, a quiet breath escaping her.

Leaning toward her ear, he whispered huskily, "I'll do the washing from now on." After a moment, she nodded, wordlessly grabbing the drying cloth, her face bright red.

Later, Alex went to her room after snatching a book or two from the rec room, reading in her bed, the sound of the ocean waves outside her window actually quite relaxing. Oddly enough, they were smutty novels, and she instantly found herself engrossed in one of them, as it was about pirates. Well, that explained what it was doing in their book collection. Beside her on the nightstand, the box with the glass encased rose stood open, glinting softly under orange light of the lamp.

Meanwhile, Van sat in the darkness of Alucard's room. The young vampire stood against the wall, arms crossed somewhat as he held up the photo of Alex, flipping it around to read the note. Alucard lied on the bed, fingers entwined on his stomach as he sat against the wall. A couple nights ago, when he had erased Conley's memories, the vampire made a quick trip to the apartment—the whereabouts of which he had extracted from the boy's memories—to take the photo. It was for two reasons. One, Conley's memories might have returned upon seeing it again. And two, it was evidence.

"You said you first spotted this in Andrews' memories?" The Count grunted his affirmation, eyes closed, glasses on the table. Van frowned. "And you believe Gabriel sent this?"

"You doubt me, Bat Boy?"

"It's not that, it's just I don't see the point as to why he would send this to him, a human of all people."

"Who cares about the point?" Alucard opened his eyes, training crimson pools upon the hunter. "Whatever he was trying to do, it obviously didn't go as he planned. The only thing that concerns me is when the photo was taken."

Van stared at the photo. "It looks like the time we just checked into the hotel." The Count watched him, and the Dracul added, "Which means that his follower, or followers, were close by, watching."

"They weren't watching. Distracted or not, I would have been able to tell if there was someone around." Even as he said that, Van looked doubtful. "What is it?"

"Those suits, even with our third-eyes, we couldn't tell where they were."

"We could still sense them," he pointed out. "The problem was pinpointing their exact location."

"True, but still, I can't help but worry. I feel like this one photo was a key to something more elaborate than simply tearing you and Alex apart." Alucard said nothing, so Van sighed. "I've got work to do, so I'll be in my room if you need me. Goodnight."

Alucard watched the young vampire leave, the door locking shut behind him as it was closed. Many moments passed as he pondered to himself in the dark. Bored, he phased through the wall, gliding to his feet and twisting around to face the whole of Alexandra's room. The girl lied on the bed, reading a novel. Without her notice, he stepped forward, his added weight on the bed finally catching her attention. Looking up, Alex wasn't surprised to see that it was Alucard, sending him a reprimanding look.

"You're supposed to knock before entering, jackass."

Alucard noted the rose on the end table, smiling a little before it widened into that devilish smirk as he looked at her. "I was just wondering what you were up to, since I could sense you weren't sleeping."

Alex's eyes narrowed at him as she considered something. "You must be bored as hell if you're bugging me."

He grinned. "Is it so wrong to enjoy your company?" Alex said nothing to that and his eyes glanced at the book. "What are you reading?" The second he asked, her whole face turned pink. Fascinated by her shift in mood, realization caused his lips to curl back and upwards, baring his teeth. "Oh," he crooned. "The little things I learn each day."

She panicked. "What? I'm just reading a book on adventure, that's all!"

"You're adorable when you lie," he commented, moving closer. Before she could get away with it, his hand shot out, snatching the book, the girl lunging out of her blankets to try and take it back. He laughed as he held the book out of her reach.

"Give it back!" she demanded.

"I think not," he replied back teasingly.

The further he lifted the book away, the more she climbed onto his lap. In one quick movement, he had her pinned underneath him on the bed, hands held above her head, legs holding her own down. The hand that held the book came closer to his face as she struggled beneath him, reading a few pages with a deadpan expression. Alex stopped long enough to watch his expression change to that of unholy delight, causing her embarrassment to increase tenfold!

"Oh, ho, ho!" he laughed, as if he had just come across a hidden stash of candy. "What an interesting read you have here."

"I will hit you!" she promised.

To incite her further, he read aloud, "The captain of the ship approached the young maiden, his dark eyes shamelessly roving over her body, the dress sticking to her curves, soaked to the bone. What a fine lass, he thought as he pictured the woman writhing under him, panting and screaming in ecstasy."

Before he could read on, one of her legs got loose, and she managed to use it to flip them over, causing him to release her wrists. Now free, she smacked the book out of his hand, which fell to the floor, and she moved to go grab it, but he suddenly had his hands on her waist, firmly holding her in place. Looking at their current position, Alex squeaked, face going red. The girl sat, straddled on his stomach, and Alucard lied there, smirking up at her.

"Uh," she said dumbly. What now?

This position opened up many possibilities, but Alucard's mind could only focus on one. His face softened as the image formed, and he nearly growled with that growing lust. His fingers pressed lightly into her for a few seconds as everything in him shouted to take her. No, not yet. Instead of doing what his body wanted, a hand reached up to brush the hair out of her face. Alex relaxed at the sweet gesture, closing her eyes. She allowed him to pull her down, lying next to him on the bed while they faced one another. Yes, everything was back to normal between them, she decided, smiling to herself as she curled into his chest. Alucard glanced up at the wall lamp, the light switch flicking off, submerging them both in darkness, except for the bit of moonlight shining through the window.

A/N: For those of you who don't know or haven't read my Rhapsody of Chaos fanfic, Shamus is a guest character, another original character of mine. The girl he refers to is my main heroine OC, Riley, from the RoC story. He'll likely make more references to it throughout this arc. That's right! It's gonna be an arc! After writing down the plot for their time on the ship, I realized how freaking long it was, so I ended this already long chapter here. Probably going to be at least another two or three chapters. Also, I too, had been pronouncing Zmeu as zchmoo before I looked up how the hell to pronounce it properly. Still, wouldn't you pronounce things incorrectly on purpose just to hear Alucard's sexy Romanian accent? Out of all those who played Dracula, Crispin Freeman undoubtedly the best. He even says that Alucard's sexy!

Anyway, might be awhile before I post the next chapter. I'll be busy the next few days. I keep putting something off simply because I don't want to do it. Believe me, I just want to write right now. So until next chapter, please leave a review, your thoughts, any questions, and luck, because dammit, I'm going to need it. Anyway, goodnight. Thanks for reading, following and favouriting!