CHAPTER TWO:

Kamikaze

From behind the the one-view window of the hospital wing, Integra watched with a hollow fascination as the Abigail girl waved away the food and water being offered to her despite the incessant encouragement of the medical staff.

Seeing her in the flesh, Integra racked her brain trying to come up with some sort of memory of the girl. Surely, if she were indeed her cousin the elder Hellsing must have seen her at some point around the mansion in her childhood. She conjured the briefest flashes of memory: a pitter patter of little feet down the hallway whilst she studied, a glimpse of chestnut curls disappearing behind a door, but Integra couldn't tell if these were real or fabrications of her own making. But by the way Abigail's deep-set eyes clouded with worry and shameless suspicion as the nurses adjusted her IV as if she expected them to slip her poison, there could be no doubt of her heritage. She had eyes just like her father. Integra laughed humorlessly to herself.

"Is she ready to be wiped clean?" The immaterial baritone her servant's voice rumbled somewhere in the shadows.

Without turning her gaze, "I don't think the girl is going anywhere any time soon."

"Oh?"

Unable to see him, she shot a sidelong glance in the general direction of his voice. "The plot ever thickens, it seems. Alucard, you are looking at the daughter of one Richard Hellsing. You remember him, don't you?" She said snidely.

Silence. Then,

"...You have got to be joking."

He materialized beside her, face all but pressed to the glass. He snarled, "Wretched filth. She can't be anything else, with the father she had."

Integra shrugged, "Perhaps, perhaps not. Regardless she is the only lead we've got on these serial attacks, and she and I shall speak at length on the matter. In the meantime, however, I have a council of eleven very agitated knights waiting for me in the conference room." With one final lingering gaze she turned away from the window and started down the hall. She spoke over her shoulder. "And I would feel better if you retired to the lower levels for the remainder of the evening."

"Don't trust me with Richard's offspring, Master?" Alucard's voice all-but dripped with sarcasm. "Whatever do you think I would do?"

"Lord only knows," Integra rolled her eyes. "But I don't want you getting any funny ideas, so best to just remove the temptation. One traumatizing encounter for the poor girl is quite enough for one day."

"Am I the only one who thinks this Abigail Wilson, er- Hellsing-whoever the hell she is!- should be the least of our concerns?" Sir Penwood exclaimed after Integra presented the current state of affairs. " Sir Integra, if I am understanding you correctly, there have been six consecutive vampire attacks resulting in the abduction of dozens of children and this is the first any of us are hearing about this?! Explain yourself!"

Integra's eyes narrowed over steepled fingers, "I did not want to stir a panic." The fact that the least amount she had to deal with the other council members the better also played a minor role. The Convention of Twelve certainly had it's uses, but when it came to matters of the supernatural the men simply did not understand what it was she dealt with and Integra found it best to keep all incidents as contained as possible. "At first, I mistakenly thought these were isolated incidents. But by their repetition and the specificity of the attacks I can only assume there's a larger design at play. Vampires don't behave like human serial killers; they do not typically choose their victims so discriminately and they certainly do not leave survivors. This particular vampire has proven to do both. What is more," Integra withdrew a photo and held it up for all to see. The men's faces grew grave at the sight of Abigail's shredded abdomen. "The monster has left us a message engraved into the body of the one human he chose to keep alive."

"'From the ashes we rise,'" Sir Penwood read aloud the crude script written in the girl's flesh. "What kind of devilry-?"

Integra handed the photo to the Knight on her right to be passed around. "It could be a cryptic threat, or it might even refer to the "re-birthing" process of becoming a vampire. But this is only speculation as I have yet to speak to Abigail directly. Either way, the whole situation reeks of premeditation."

The doctors had left Abigail alone some hours ago after they'd finished patching her up. The nurses would pop in every so often to check her bandages or to administer more painkiller, but for the most part they gave her a wide berth. Thanks to the digital clock on the wall opposite her, she did the math and figured she'd been there a grand total of twelve hours and in that time not one of her questions had been answered. So far whenever she asked what happened to her, where she was, why she couldn't phone her mother, or who in God's name was wealthy enough to have a fully staffed hospital wing added to their house the orderlies just kept their lips tight shut. Now Abigail was left to stare blankly at the ceiling, counting and recounting the number of tiles, as a means to quell her growing anxiety.

The swish of the double doors made her turn her head and much to Abigail's surprise a vaguely familiar young blonde woman entered the sterility of the hospital chamber. In her hands she held a lovely blossoming pot of flowers.

"Hey- I know you!" Abigail called, relieved that she recognized someone in this strange place. "Aren't you the girl from last night?"

The girl smiled sweetly and gave a little laugh, "I am. Master told me I should come pay you a visit, since he can't for some reason. My name's Seras Victoria by way. Can I put these here?"

"Uh- sure, go for it." Abigail blinked confusedly as Seras placed the flower pot on the shelving unit bedside the hospital bed.

"There now, that really freshens the place a bit. Don't you think?" Seras beamed, admiring her work.

"Thank you."

"They're geraniums. Supposed to have healing properties, at least according to the pamphlet."

"No-I mean yes, thank you they're very beautiful- but for last night. You saved my life."

Seras pulled up a rolling chair beside her bed, "Well, we couldn't just leave you there could we?"

Using the handheld remote control Abigail raised her bed to a sitting position to make their conversation easier. "Yeah, about this "we." You're going to have to elaborate. The people around here have been pretty tight-lipped on the subject."

"My master and I." She said simply.

Abigail wasn't sure how she felt about that. "Your master?" Just what kind of madhouse was she in?

"Well, it sounds funny when you say it."

"Just a little. People don't really have masters these days." There was no image Abigail could bring to mind of this second person, but then again her memory of last night was starting to blur and run like a watercolor painting left out in the rain. "But how did we escape? And what happened to those grotesque creatures? An-and the..other one?" Saying the words aloud made the whole incident seem highly absurd and fantastical.

"We killed them easily enough. Well, except for your vampire friend. He's been a slippery one so far, but don't worry we'll get him soon enough." Seras gave a happy-go-lucky wink. Abigail felt uncomfortable with how cheery she was on the matter.

"Vampire...?" Abigail mulled over the word. It felt wrong in her mouth. Inherently phony. "There's no such thing." But even as she denied it, she knew the truth. After what she saw, it was actually quite easy to believe. Accepting, however, was a completely different matter.

A pitying look crossed Seras' face. "I'm sorry. I really do wish you could go on believing that. Ignorance is bliss, after all. It was a hard pill for me to swallow when I first found out, too. But unlike you, I jumped straight from the frying pan into the fire." The blonde girl laughed as if this were an incredibly funny joke.

Abigail's brow furrowed. "So then what, you hunt..vampires, then?"

"Oh, yes. It's my night job, as it were!" Seras chirped.

"This is too surreal."

"You get used to it." Seras shrugged. "But don't worry, Hellsing is going to take good care of you. It's not every day we get to look after surviv- oh, sweetie, are you okay?"

All color had drained from Abigail's face, leaving her white as a sheet. "Hellsing?" she breathed. "Not the Hellsing organization?"

Seras blinked in confusion. "Well yes, but-"

"I can't be here," Abigail threw blankets off herself and made to stand up but was reminded of her couple dozen stitches and broken rib and winced painfully. Seras jumped to her feet in alarm and eased the girl back down.

"Please, Miss, you're not yet well."

A pair of desperate eyes implored her. "Are you going to kill me? Is whole thing just some elaborate scheme to lure me here?"

"Wha-?" said Seras, dumbfounded. "Don't be silly, we're trying to help you! Why would we try to kill you?"

Abigail blanched. "You killed my father..."

And with that sudden turn of the conversation, Seras got the feeling she was suddenly very much out of her depth. Luckily, she was spared from having to say anything because it was at that moment the emergency lock-down sirens began wailing.

Privates Boscoe and Heathrow were not having the most exciting of nights. Guard duty, while by far the safest shift one could hope for when working with Hellsing, was mind-numbingly boring. If given the choice, they would much rather be on the front lines blasting the heads clean off of ghouls alongside their comrades, but fieldwork was reserved for officers with much more experience. So until they were able to move up in the ranks, they would be stuck as little more than guard dogs.

Tonight, they found themselves stationed at the gates of Hellsing manor. If anyone asked Private Boscoe, he'd say it was a completely useless job. The mansion was so far removed from the city, it was practically in the middle of nowhere. Nobody ever came that wasn't supposed to. A scarecrow could probably do just as good a job. But nobody ever asked Boscoe, so he kept these thoughts to himself.

A sound like a strangled animal made Boscoe look to his partner and he found Heathrow fast asleep standing with just his head propped against the wrought iron of the gate. A thin dribble of drool slid down his chin and the dying animal sound turned out to be obnoxious snores. Boscoe rolled his eyes.

Then something appeared in the nighttime mist, Boscoe had to strain to make it out but after a moment he was certain he could see the silhouette of a figure drawing closer.

"Heathrow," Boscoe hissed at his partner. "Wake up, you idiot. There's someone coming."

Heathrow awoke with a jolt, "Huh- I'm sorry, what?" Boscoe jutted his chin and indicated down the long drive and Heathrow saw there could be no mistaking the approach of somebody on foot. The both straightened to attention.

Finally, the figure came close enough to be seen in full and both soldiers stared with mouths agape at a lone little girl- no more than five or six- with straight blonde hair and the biggest brown eyes either of them had ever seen. She stopped dead in her tracks not five feet away and stared curiously up at them.

"What are you doing here? These grounds are off limits," Heathrow snapped.

Boscoe shot his partner a dirty look. "Relax Heathrow, she's just a kid. Probably lost, is all." He knelt down to the girl's level and grinned. "Is that it, darling? Didja just lose your mummy?"

"Mummy?" Her clear voice rang like little bells and she cocked her head inquisitively.

Boscoe turned back to his partner, "See? Now sweetheart we're gonna help you find your family, okay? You just hang tight you'll be home in no- AHH!" Boscoe screamed in pain as the little girl suddenly grabbed a hold of his head and plunged sharpened teeth straight into his throat.

Heathrow was so stunned he fumbled with his weapon before raising it to the little girl's head, but he didn't have time to fire. The little girl's hand shot out and grabbed hold of the barrel and with impressive strength bent it at a 90 degree angle upwards. Shaking, Heathrow dropped the gun and watched as the girl sucked Boscoe dry and let the man fall lifelessly to the ground.

He had no time to call for back up over his walkie before with inhuman speed she was in front of him and he found himself helplessly trapped, drowning in the never-ending pools of red her eyes had become. You're going to let us in. Her voice echoed in his head. You're going to open the gates and then I'm going to kill you.

Try and he might, poor Heathrow found himself unable to stop his fingers from dialing the entrance code on the keypad beside the entrance. She smiled, the perfect visage of innocence. Thank you. Behind her, two grown men approached them. One of them with long streaming blonde hair stooped to her level and said, "You've done well, Diana. Finish him off and join us when you are done."

They were the last words Heathrow would ever hear.

The lights flickered on and off, causing a ripple of trepidation around the table of Knights. Integra's eyes narrowed. What now? She prayed it was something as simple as an electrical failure. Hah, she should be so lucky. The phone sitting in front of her chimed and across the little screen "alert" flashed bright red. She answered.

"What happened? Report."

She was met with the frantic cry of one of her soldiers. "We're under attack! All outside communication has been cut off. We're ready to engage at your order, Sir."

"What! Why haven't you already exchanged fire?" Integra yelled.

"Our enemy, Sir, they are vampires but they are just children!"

Integra sucked in a breath and closed her eyes. The missing children! Fury rose in the pit of her stomach. God damnit. She was starkly aware of the eyes of her fellow Knights, all waiting for her to make a decision. What could she do? She had to do her job. Her face remained stoic, not revealing any of the remorse she felt.

"Hold the line and unleash fire," she said at last. She was ordering the execution of innocent children! No, not innocent. She firmly reminded herself. Not anymore. "Bide as much time as you can."

"Yes Sir- ah-argh!" The soldier's grave voice gave way to shouts and the sound of firing bullets.

Integra sat utterly confounded for a moment, before regarding the faces of the terrified men sitting around her. She could hardly believe it was possible for her fortune to be so bad.

"We need to bide time!" The Knight to her left exclaimed.

"First priority should be our evacuation," asserted another, trying to take charge of the situation. He looked to Integra. "Secure a path to the heliport!" There was a crash from somewhere many floors up, causing dust to fall from the ceiling. "What was that?!"

"I'm afraid it was the heliport, Sir." Came the soldiers voice from over the speaker. The knights gasped hopelessly.

"Sir Intgera we can't hold this position for much longer. They're too small and too fast for our bullets. We're being overrun!" The officer's words gave way to tortured shrieks. But soon another voice was replaced by it.

"Hello? Is this thing on? Cool!" It was youthful, petulant voice. "This message is going out to the round table conference and a very personal and heartfelt shout out to the queen bitch herself, Miss Hellsing! We'll be getting intimate as soon as me and the little twerplings finish lunch. Let me be the first to thank you for providing us all with these tasty snacks! By tomorrow Hellsing will be nothing more than a pile of shit."

A rage like she had never known gripped Integra and she crushed her cigar between her fingers.

"What's going on!" Abigail shouted over the screaming alarms.

"I think it means we're under attack." Seras ventured. Then again, she was still new around Hellsing, so she couldn't know for sure.

"What! By who?!"

Seras shrugged and reached across her mental connection with Alucard. Master, what's happened?

Ah, Police Girl. How's Sugar-and-Spice doing?

Master, do you even hear the sirens?!

Hmm, slight annoyance. It would probably be best if you rendezvous with Walter. He'll be needing your help.

Sir, what about Abigail?

Silence.

Seras sighed, wishing for once her Master could be just a little more helpful. She opened her eyes and noticed Abigail staring at her like she was crazy.

The draculina smiled back sheepishly. "How do you feel about a little field trip?"

"What do you plan to do about this, Integra!" One of the Knights shouted.

What indeed. Thankfully, a call came in from Walter. She took it. "What's your position, Walter?"

Her butler's voice, calm as could be, came through. "The sub-basement. I've already been brought up to speed on the situation. Outside communications have been cut off so I wouldn't expect reinforcements for at least another few hours. In the mean time our current forces are prepared to defend the conference room with their lives."

"What do you recommend?" Integra asked, thankful she had such a seasoned war strategist in her ranks.

"Well for starters, please fortify the door to the conference room. Since Alucard and I are in the subbasement with Miss Victoria arriving shortly with Abigail in tow, I propose we divide into two teams. Alucard will head upstairs. And when Miss Victoria and Abigail arrive, she and I will make our way to the conference room."

"How will you manage? The hallways are full of vampires."

"How did you manage to find Alucard's cell ten years ago?"

"Um-I'm not sure I'm comfortable with this," said Abigail a little shakily from on top of Seras' shoulders.

"I'm not sure you have much of a choice, Miss." The old man- Walter, he said his name was- called to her from inside the air-duct a few feet overhead. "Now extend your arms, if you will. I'll pull you up."

There were probably better ways to get a hospitalized girl into a dusty air-duct twelve feet above the ground, but this was all they had time for. The blood-curdling cries of men could already be heard echoing from down their hall. Very apprehensively Abigail raised her arms and grasped Walter's outstretched hands, wondering how on earth such an old man would have the strength to-

Abigail cried as he suddenly hauled her up. Once she was safely inside the cobwebbed air-duct, Walter quickly appraised her injuries to make sure none of her stitches had come apart. Then he called down to Seras.

"Alright, Miss Victoria, if you would be so kind."

"Right, Walter!"

And with unreal agility Seras leapt straight from the ground and landed safely beside them with ease. Abigail gawked at her. "How did you do that?" Seras only shrugged. Abigail felt light headed.

"Alright ladies, I suggest we move as quickly possible." Walter intoned and began crawling down the tunnel.

Abigail tried to crawl after him but hissed in pain. Both the butler and Seras stopped to look at her. She gave them apologetic look, "My rib isn't healed yet. I don't think I can make it."

"Time is of the essence, my dear. We can't afford to be hampered down by something as trivial as pain." While Walter pitied her, as a soldier who had contracted significantly worse injuries on the battlefield and had still managed to pull through, he didn't feel that bad. "Pain is just a message to the brain. You can choose to ignore it."

It was not what Abigail wanted to hear, but it was either do or die so she nodded weakly and decided to suck it up.

The tall blonde man, and second Valentine Brother, quietly slipped away from the carnage in the hallways and began his pursuit for their true reason in coming here tonight. It wasn't difficult; the dark aura of his quarry was almost magnetic in it's strength. All he had to do was follow it. An excitement swelled in his chest that was hardly containable, but he pushed it down knowing full well he had to be at his most cool and collected for this encounter. After all, he wanted to make a good first impression.

His search led him to a locked door in the lower levels of the building. No matter. With ease he was able to crash through it, leaving nothing but splinters in his wake. Inside was a dark, cold chamber. The potency of the aura was so strong here, he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand upright.

"I know you're in here," he called after a moment, stepping over the threshold. "Even when you're hiding I can feel your presence."

Then somewhere in the darkness, "Why on earth would I hide? Don't mistake my patience for cowardice. Honestly I was starting to get a bit bored waiting for you."

A flicker of fear gave the blonde man a moment's pause, but he fought it down and walked calmly towards the voice. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Alucard." He gave a respectful bow. My name is Luke Valentine. I'm a really big fan of your work." He meant it with every ounce of his being.

"Indeed?" Alucard's deep rumble dripped with amusement.

"Quite. They tell stories of your amazing strength. How you glide through oceans of blood. A monster whose power radiates with a darkness that casts a shadow on darkness itself. Truly the immensity of your power comes only second behind that of my own Master."

"Is there a point to this, or did you really come all the way here to wax lyrical?"

"I have a proposition for you. And that adorable little fledgling of yours, if she should want." The corner of Luke's mouth stretched into a smirk. "It must get tedious, working for humans. Caged like a lowly dog. Whatever reason you may have for serving your human Master, you certainly cannot deny that it's far beneath someone of your caliber. Or any vampire for that matter. After all, we are the superior species."

"You're beginning to grate on my last nerve," Alucard growled from his chair. "Speak quickly if you know what's good for you."

"Come with us. My brother and I will take you both to our Master and you can be on the winning side of history."

"And who is this all-powerful Master, exactly?" Alucard asked, curiosity sufficiently piqued.

"You know him rather well, I should think. He's a true vampire, much like yourself. Only stronger."

A dark chuckle began in the base of Alucard's throat and rippled into a maniacal laughter. A moment later he unsheathed his gun from his coat and fired it straight into Luke's head. At the last split second, however, the intruder managed to dodge it. He stood mere centimeters out of the line of fire.
"Impressive," Alucard complimented. "Your reflexes are amazing."

"I told you, my Master is more powerful than you are. I am nothing like the lowly bottom feeders you are used to. But I didn't come here looking for a fight."

"Could have fooled me," Alucard scoffed. "But my fledgling and I aren't in the market for new allegiances. We're quite comfortable here, thank you."

Luke looked incredulous. "How can you say that!" He shouted. "You're nothing but a slave here. Come with us and you could the king of a new world!"

Alucard gritted his teeth. Enough was enough. He would finish this scumbag off quickly.

Out of all of the Knights, Sir Penwood was having the most difficult time coping. Integra had long since given up on trying to reassure the sniveling man. But just as it seemed he was on the brink of a mental breakdown, there was rustling from overhead that stole everyone's attention. All at once, one of the tiles came loose and was replaced with what appeared to be, if Integra was not mistaken, the yellow-clad backside of her newest vampire servant. Sure enough, after a moment's struggle the draculina fell through the tight squeeze, arms wrapped tightly around a very distressed-looking Abigail Wilson. The two girls yelped as they came crashing straight on Sir Penwood's head, knocking him to the floor. Walter followed suit, albeit entirely more gracefully.

"Are you alright, Miss Victoria- Miss Abigail?"

Abigail's mouth hung open as she found herself in a heap on the floor of a fancy conference room, the object of at least a dozen people's attention, in nothing more than a hospital gown. She flushed crimson.

The entire room stared, quite perplexed. Sir Islands was the first to speak. "So this is the long-lost Hellsing, huh?"

"What? No- my name is Abigail Wilson. I haven't been a Hellsing since you lot killed my father!"

"Now wait just a minute-" Walter began.

"Sir Integra I think you have some explaining to do-"

"THERE ARE BIGGER THINGS!" bellowed Sir Penwood. "WE ARE ABOUT TO GET EATEN! DON'T YOU PEOPLE GET IT?!"

Integra lit a cigar, feeling much more confident now that two of her best agents were safely at hand. "Quite right, Sir Penwood. Abigail you and I have much to discuss, but now is not the time. For now, just make yourself comfortable. Walter, take us through it."

"The plan is as follows, Sir Integra, Alucard will intercept our attackers in the sub-levels. Seras and I will clear this floor. I promise that not one of these villains will see the light of day again."

It could have been the trick of the light, but Abigail could have sworn she saw something as fine as hair glint at Walter's finger tips. Her neck started itching and by the way he was talking, she knew that whatever was out there was not going to survive for very much longer.

Jan Valentine was just beside himself with glee. Becoming a vampire was the best thing to ever happen to him, and he owed it all to his Master. There was no place he'd rather be than storming these halls, watching the little tykes rip apart these filthy human scum to shreds, all in the name of the grander plan.

"Little Hellsing chicky," he sang as he marched with his band of vamp kids toward the conference room. "We're coming to find you. Come on out an' play little Hellsing! I promise it's gonna be a lot of fuuun. We just wanna torture you, kill you, maybe skull-fuck your corpse a couple of times, burn the house to the ground and go home and masturbate, okaaaay?"

His little diatribe was cut off when one of the doors opened to reveal an old geezer. Quick as a flash, the old man flicked his wrists and as if by some sort of witchcraft several of the young vampires around him split in two.

"Oh dear," came the prim and proper voice of the old man. "I guess I'm not as spry as I used to be."

Jan growled, "Get him, you little brats!" And with a snap of his fingers a legion of child vampires sprang forward at beak-neck speed, eyes burning red and teeth gnashing.

"Miss Victoria, now would be a good time for support."

Seras hesitated behind her weapon, "But Walter, they're just children!"

"Not anymore, Miss Victoria. Now fire!"

It was with a heavy heart that Seras pulled the trigger, taking out a whole row of them with one shot. Quickly, she reloaded and fired a second volley, aiming this time straight down the middle.

"Oh, fuck you!" Screeched Jan Valentine as the canon rocketed towards him. While the shot managed to take out the remainder of the diminutive demons, with astounding reflexes Jan managed to jump out of the way. With a crazed laugh he careened towards Walter.

He had no time to deliver his final blow before Seras deftly disarmed him and tackled him in a death grip to the ground. "I've got him Walter! Are you alright?"

"I think I'm starting to feel my age," said Walter as he approached them. "But I think it's high time we got some answers. What was the objective of this attack? Who are you taking orders from?"

Jan smirked wickedly."Wouldn't you just like to fuckin' know. We got you bitches spinnin' so fast you're chasin' your own tails. Betcha the twerplings were a bit of shock, huh? Well there's more where that came from. AWRGHH-"

Walter crushed on of the impudent vampire's fingers beneth a his foot, "Young man, the left one's next."

"We were following orders, alright! Our Master was very clear: attack the Hellsing headquarters and kill everyone we found inside. We were supposed to confirm the deaths of the round table and as an extra special bonus bring in the big kahuna himself and his little slutty plaything," he leered at Seras.

"Ah, so you're not the only one in charge here," Walter muttered. "Who else?"

"Wow, you're quick!" Jan cackled. "Right now Big Brother Valentine is downstairs talking some sense into that ancient old fuck and soon your big secret trump card will be batting for a better team," he smirked over his shoulder at Seras. "And if he even gives two shits about you, your fine piece of ass will be coming too." Seras growled and tightened her hold around his neck.

"Was that really all you had?" Alucard growled standing amidst the bloody splatters of what remained of Luke Valentine. He confessed himself disappointed. Honestly, he was hoping for more of a challenge. "Such a shame I overestimated you. As a vampire you were just a pathetic piece of shit. Now you're nothing but dog shit." Alucard was no comedian, but it wasn't beyond him to make a joke every once in awhile.

"The one upstairs didn't seem like much," he mused, absorbing the blood around him. "But they're having more trouble than I would've imagined." He walked away, thoughts swirling around this so-called vampire "Master."

Then the awful tell-tale gurgling of ghouls sounded from down the hall. Both Seras and Walter stared into the daunting blackness punctuated only by the pinpricks of their glowing purple eyes, and they realized with a sinking feeling that their fallen soldiers had succumbed to the undead.

Jan used the moment's distraction to his advantage and roughly threw Seras off himself. "And now for our next trick, check out door number three!" The ghouls began their slow, lurching approach and Jan made a dash towards the door to the conference room.

Walter threw his wires towards him in a last ditch effort, but even as his arm was cut clean off his body, Jan didn't slow his pace. The vampire threw open the door, surprised to find it unlocked and was overcome with a sick joy that victory was soon at hand, but something made him stop. The Knights of the Round Table sat very composed facing forward, pistols cocked and aimed straight for him. He recognized Sir Integra right away, front and center, with the most infuriating smug look on her face. "You made it," she said, raising her own gun at him. "Congratulations."

"Oh, fuck me." It was all Jan had time for before the Knights unleashed their bullets. Integra was filled with satisfaction watching decimated body fell to ground, but it was short lived as she saw the ghouls that stormed her hallway.

"My men," she breathed. "They turned all my men into ghouls!"

Abigail screamed, startling everyone in the room. She had been so quiet, they had nearly forgotten she was there. The girl was pointing a shaking finger towards Seras who was being bombarded on all sides by the flesh-eating monsters. "Someone has to help her!" The girl cried. "They're going to kill her!"

"Hush. She can take care of herself," Integra assured, but nothing could have prepared her for what she was about to see. Just when it seemed Seras would be overcome, her baby blue eyes began to glow blood red and, with a ferocity that she had never shown before, began ripping the ghouls to shreds one by one.

Abigail covered her mouth, eyes growing big as saucers. "She- she's a vampire too?" She whispered in horror.

Perhaps it was because Integra had never seen such violence from the usually mild-mannered vampire, or because it happened to be her own agents being torn apart, but something about the scene was unbearable and Integra could not stop herself from running straight into the carnage."Seras!" How she trusted that a blood-frenzied vampire would not attack her, she did not even stop to consider as she threw her arms around the girl. "That's enough! You can stop. Seras, please stop."

And just like a switch being flipped off, red eyes gave way to blue. Seras heaved heavy breaths, looking positively astonished with herself. She looked around and caught Abigail, who had crept out of the conference room into the hall for a better look, staring at her. Shame flooded her as the teenage girl quickly looked away, too scared to even look her in the eye.

Meanwhile, Walter threw a bloodied Jan Valentine against the wall. "It's all over, boy."

"Nice, go and kill me then, dick." Walter was struck by how resigned his tone was.

"Oh, I'm not going to kill you," Walter promised. "Not until after you tell me who put you up to this. Then, I'll put you out of your misery."
Then Integra strode towards them, gun cocked and ready.

"Whaddup, bitch!" Jan hollered condescendingly before the bullets flew through his face.

"We'll have no more of that. I'm pissed off," Integra growled. "Who the hell are you people? What did you hope to accomplish with this freak show of vampire children? Who's responsible for this? I know sure as hell you're not intelligent enough to orchestrate an attack like this on your own."

"Come on, bitch. You already know, don't you?" Jan coughed, using the wall to help himself to a standing position. "It's the one who made me what I am. Who made the little demon twerplings what they are. The Great Master."

Integra's eyes narrowed, "Explain yourself."

"Not a lot I can say. Just that he's a bigger bad than your Alucard could ever hope to be. And we've got plans for London. Big plans."

"Enough!" barked Integra. "Stop beating around the bush."

"Come on, I know you got our little message," he leered in Abigail's direction and the teenager took a step back. Jan began to cackle. "You humans are so pathetic. Such fucking weaklings. I wish I could be around to watch you grovel at our feet, but oh well. We've all gotta do our part."

"Walter," Integra intoned. At the insinuation, Walter whipped out his wires and wrapped them tightly around Jan's neck.

"Yeah, yeah saw this comin' a mile away," Jan yawned. "Anyway, now that I'm fucked anyway hows about I piss a little wisdom on you dipshits." With his remaining hand he gave them all the middle finger. "Think of tonight as a little teaser for what's to come, a follow up letter to last night signed with a flourish by Phoenix."

"Finish him off, Walter." Integra said with disgust. Walter nodded and pulled his strings, slicing the pierced cretin's head from his shoulders.

Integra bit her lip. Phoenix. A name, at least she had a name now. Names were concrete. It certainly gave her a lot to think about about. But right now she was running on over twenty-four hours with no sleep and she could scarce bring herself to even think in coherent sentences. She felt nauseous. All around her tiny bodies lay lifeless, and to what purpose? Turning to the rotting corpses that were once her proud soldiers she muttered, "Put them out of their misery, Walter. And clean up this mess."

"You will relay that order, Walter, " said the voice of Sir Islands, stepping towards them from the conference room. He handed a fully-loaded gun to Integra. "The responsibility must fall to their leader. Sir Integra it's your duty."

"No Sir, that's going too far," called Walter.

"This entire situation could have been prevented. Integra, your lack of preparation is an offense. And since this facility falls under you command, the responsibility is yours. The fact that these men died and were reanimated as these corpses is entirely your fault."

"How dare you!" Walter started, but Integra interrupted him.

"Walter!" She shouted, taking the gun dutifully from Sir Islands. "That's enough. I will handle this. You take Abigail away from here. I think she's seen plenty for one day. I will speak with her in the morning."
Walter looked as if he wanted to protest, but after a moment he gave a bow. "Yes, Sir." He stepped over the rubble to Abigail. "Let us go get your wounds redressed, Miss."

Abigail could only nod numbly, overwhelmed by the body count she had seen in just one day. It was more than any normal person should see in a lifetime. She allowed him to wrap a guiding arm around her shoulder and lead her down the opposite hallway, the sound of Integra's gunshots ringing in her ears.

Thank you to everyone reading and to the lovely people leaving reviews. You guys are the best.