Chapter 2:
The deadlights.
1978, in a family farm, located in a distant rural town.
A farmer stood on a field of his property, working early. He was cutting up some wooden logs with an axe, more to keep his mind distracted than anything else. He was bald with a clean small beard, his eyes green like the field where he stood. Also tall, with an imposing physique that would make him tower over any ordinary lumberjack or farmer. He wore some black pants and a white sleveless shirt with no noticeable sweat.
It was pretty early in the morning, barely 4:00 am. That was a regular time to wake up for the man but he had another reason to be awake at this time and on the outside.
After finishing the logs, he watched as a group of men arrived in a truck, expecting to see him. Their hats and glasses indicated that they were sensible towards sunlight. They were grimmly to say the least, but the man waved at them like old friends, a smile on his face as he did.
"Well, well, well. If it ain't my best friends in the whole wide world." Said the farmer man cheerfully. "You gonna take me out for another ride, guys?"
"You know the drill." Replied the leading agent.
"Yeah, I will play along, no questions asked, while you try your mad experiments on me and see how that turns out, for as long as you pay our bills and keep us under cover. Get this over with quickly, I have to attend my family." Said the farmer, a little tired but willing to cooperate regardless.
"Same old Drake. Get him on board, I'll call it in." Said the leading agent thinking of how much they had done this. His men lead Drake to the back of the truck, where he sat with the others patiently waiting for them to make it to their secret testing facility.
During the whole trip, Drake could only think of his wife and daughter's well being and how much he wanted to spend the day with them. He had lived for a long time, taking offers from obscure groups and organizations that needed him for their goals, to make a change in history. The company had been harvesting his blood to their favor, studying him and seeing ways to leverage his assets. They kept him and his family out of the reach of other groups. Drake understood mankind, and he knew that if given the chance, Hellsing or something worse would find him and try to exterminate him. It wasn't sure but he would take no chances. But he was glad to have a family that loved him and that he could protect. An aged being like him, an anomaly in nature, had only this as a reminder of the bits of humanity and emotions he still had. He wished this peace would last long enough for him to feel alive again.
"We heard you were trying to become a priest. How does that work for you?" Asked the leading agent as they hit the road.
"Just wait and see."
Present day, streets of London.
Shadowman's first meeting with the leader of Hellsing was going just fine, by his standards at least.
"Now that introductions are out of the window, I say it's better if you two get down to business." Said Seras as Integra read the files provided by Michael. Didn't take her any longer to finish reading, now fixing her eyes back on Shadowman.
"Are you sure this is the man, the one we look for?" Asked Integra.
"Positive. The papers Seras and I brought confirm it. He is the monster maker in the flesh." Shadowman assured her.
"Well, mister LeRoi, you can believe me that we'll be doing our best to track him down. If we get a location, you will be first one we tell. Do say, did Agnetta tell you to stay around for the time being?"
"Something among those lines but if we do things right, it should not take too long."
"If so, you are free to come along. I will see to it myself that your time here is pleasant."
"I appreciate it. Hope it's not bothersome for you."
Shadowman and Integra kept questioning and answering to each other during the time it took to reach Hellsing manor, much to Seras' amusement. What they didn't know was that some grimm figures were watching them go from a high vantage point on top of a building.
"Shall we chase them, sir?" Asked the one watching, using his enhanced eyesight. He wore some shredded black robes with an ominous hood.
"No. Our Lord has spoken, we are only charged with watching them and informing." Said the other one, who wore a similar getup except that his was red. Bloody red. "We will only keep the others informed. Until the order is given, we do not engage."
The red hooded man then picked a communicator to establish contact with his superiors.
"The Shadowman has arrived. He and the police girl have escaped the old lab and gained intel. He is being led towards the homebase by the hunters." Then a deep voice, belonging to their master, answered to this report.
"Precisely what I was expecting. You two can come back to the base, I will take it from here."
"Should we prepare the next attack, sir?"
"No, that won't be necessary, boys. If we want to cover our tracks, we need people they can't link or trace to us. Hired guns. You are dismissed now." The two did as they were told and picked their equipment up before leaving the scene silently.
The car eventually made it. Everyone got out and went for the main entrance to the manor. Shadowman stood a moment to take a good look at the property.
"Is it what you had in mind?" Integra asked him.
"Eh, more or less. It sure has an eerie vibe going for it. So where am I headed first?" Michael asked, very politely, trying not to incomodate sir Integra on the slightest. He was far from his turf now, the wise and decent thing to do was follow all instructions and leads of his host and try to be a well accomodated guest before they would get back to working on the present matters.
"The guest's room. We arranged it before your arrival. Seras here will lead you there and give you an appropriate tour across the place so you can get familar with it." Integra replied, with a calm but refined tone.
"Alright, but I will need a bathroom. The swamps of Louisiana aren't very clean places and it would be best to take the scent away."
"No worries, we'll get to that in a few moments. Now, if you'd be kind enough to proceed." Said Seras as she motioned towards the way in and walked through with Michael following behind her.
Michael took a moment to appreciate the decorations and details put into making this place unique and charming, the furniture, the statues, there was something. The guards just watched as they walked, nodding a little and making way for the two of them.
"Well, you guys do live kind of a fancy life style."
"A little. So what do you think of Integra?" Seras asked Michael as they neared the guests room.
"She's a good woman. Though she feels like a Bond villain at times." Seras chuckled a little at this. "Is she a good boss to you?"
"I'd like to think she is the best but neither of us has been the same since the master faded away. We've got even more work to do now."
"Yeah, figured it out. For how long have you been at it? At all of this?" Seras shook her head for a moment at this.
"18 years is a long time. Long enough for it to be my reality." Seras then opened the door for Michael. "If you have any issues just let me know."
"Don't even worry about it. Wake me up when you get a hint of the next hideout." This said, Michael went into the bathroom to get cleaned up. Seras left the room and went back to work.
'Nice girl.'' Michael thought to himself as he continued his activities before going to bed. He sat there for a moment and checked his personal items and possessions in the bag, putting it next to the bed. He slowly laid himself down to get sleeping.
Michael didn't get much good sleep that night. Some visions plagued his mind and dreams as he tried to rest. London in flames, like back at 1666, the manor he rested in being raided by beasts and Drake, looking down on him with a smile, extending his hand to him. Were those just bad dreams? Or was he actually catching glimpses of a messed up future to come soon? Shadowman would soon find out what this all meant and if it held any truth.
Seras went into Integra's office as ordered.
"You wanted to see me, Integra sir?"
"Oh yes, do take a seat, please." Seras did as told and sat in front of Integra, ready to listen.
"As you can imagine, this is all about our new guest. Years ago, when Alucard was still with us, before he even met you, we came across a man who lived in a small town. We thought he was helping our enemies build an army of ghouls for their use in war. Alucard found the place bombed to ashes, probably by the military in an attempt to tie loose ends and wipe out enemies of the state. But when Alucard arrived, he only found a man alive, his target. Whatever bomb they dropped on him served only to slow him down. He tried to fight Alucard and he held his own for a while. I had to lift Alucard's restrictions for him to win. The man was shredded to pieces, left for dead. Or so I thought until tonight."
"Drake." Seras guessed.
"That's right. He isn't just an average megalomaniac vampire, he is an ancient being, almost as old as Alucard. We didn't know too much about him back then except that his DNA was being harvested to create monsters and super soldiers." Integra sighed at the distant thought, looking back on those events.
"Is there a point to telling me all of this?" Seras asked, concerned.
"Yes, there is. Without Alucard, things like this will grow considerably harder. That's why we should watch out. If this is the first time we've seen him move in all these years it's because he has huge plans and we don't know them. Luckily, mister LeRoi arrived at a good hour. We are going to need all help possible." Integra kept telling to Seras.
"So what should I do then?" Seras asked, seeing how overwhelming the whole situation turned out to be.
"Stay close to him and wait, even with all the data you collected, it may take us a while to figure out what they are up to. Tomorrow you'll get your mission. Until then, stay alert and clear your mind." Integra ordered.
"Understood." Seras then exited through the door with Integra's words still playing in her mind. Whatever awaited them was meant to be heavy.
In a compound, hidden somewhere in England.
A group of hooded men entered to meet with their employer. They went into a small building where the man in question was sitting nonchalantly with his men hearing music and having a bloody mary in a glass cup. He turned to them slowly, greeting them as they became visible. The men stood in front of him, ready to hear him talk.
"You came a little late, but that's fine, really. Gives me more time to prepare the meetings. I take it you've heard of our recent issues in the old labs." The host told them as they approached. The group's leading man, an imposing man with stitches and cuts all over his body and an unusual green skin, answered for them.
"Aye. Hellsing's pet hound and Nettie's ebony warrior did a number on it. Not like it matters at this point." The host smirked at this.
"That's right. Just had to go snooping around. But that's fine, really. I want them close up to see what I will accomplish, but they could use a wake up call. That's why you're here, boys." Then with a gesture he ordered his men to open a weapons vault behind him.
"Hellsing's gonna feel this." He mused to himself with a smirk.