Schraubenförmig

Dyo, guys. Well, lookie here! It's the next chapter to Schraubenförmig. I honestly didn't expect the amount of reviews I'd get as of now, or even any at all. Thank you very much for taking the time and also letting me hear your individual voices. For whatever questions currently and stufferz will be kept till the end of this chapter.

-l-

Chapter Two: die Sanduhr

-l-

"Ah, Miss Victoria, good evening." Walter C. Dornez quipped up from his spot at the stove lightly with an easy smile, eyes closed, "But, dear me, a little early, isn't it? The sun has just started to set."

The kitchen was warm and a bit sticky from the servant's cooking of the late day time, but it gave off a pleasant feeling right then. Coloring of the blue and white adorned the area with a few floral patterns in random places. The tile floor, however, felt cold for some reason.

Walter continued, "Did you sleep well?"

Seras Victoria sat down heavily on a wooden stool at the surface counter in the middle of the kitchen, dressed in another but usual blue uniform. Her dandelion hair was still slightly damp from her shower after she had gotten up from laying in her coffin for half an hour; just looking at the ceiling, "Um...nm..."

Walter tilted his head slightly, blinking as he picked up the meekness of her voice and no eye contact, but turned away then to give the soup pot in front of him a stir and then to shut off the contraption, "I take that as a 'no'? Don't worry. Everyone has something like that every so often."

The female vampire finally glanced up with her slightly half-closed crimson eyes, looking like she had been jarred from day dreaming. Her dream from her short slumber was foggy with barely much of any pieces of memory being present, yet Seras still felt some sort of obligation to remember, "I'm sorry...? What was that, Walter?"

He was at the large sink, washing his hands as he answered, "Getting to sleep; sometimes on some days, people loose the easiness of being able to fall asleep properly. They're energy is low, and they're affected both mentally and physically."

"But, Walter, I'm not a person anymore. I'm a...vampire..." She had gotten a bit defensive at the beginning, the familiar light of her personality in her eyes peeking back for that moment until her mouth was slow to form the next part of her speech; again being reminded of what she was now.

Something gave a very tiny, almost unnoticeable twist inside her.

Walter got a towel and dried his hands, walking over to stand in front of Seras from the other side of the table, his tone of voice still the same light feel to it, "That's right. You're not a person, or human. You're a vampire. Even still, Miss Victoria, no matter what something is, no matter what form, at some point they, too, need rest as well. If not, they'll break."

Seras blinked up at him at his words, "Break...?"

"Yes. Break. It happens to all of us. As much as it's natural, it isn't pleasant. Still, we make due with what there is and try to work with it. After all, what else is there to do?" Walter gave her a smile then.

'...but you don't understand, Walter...I'm not like you...' She thought to herself with a slight fall in her face and let her eyes rest on the shiny surface of the table they were at, '...how can you say something like that when you don't know much about it?'

"You know, you can always talk to me. I may not have all the answers, but know that I will listen." The former Angel of Death gently interrupted her thinking.

The female snapped her head up, her mouth slightly open as she stared at him. It was like the butler of the Hellsing family knew what she was thinking. But that didn't dwell on her for long as her throat began to tighten, a lump forming as her emotions were stirred just by that courteous, but a very meaningful, statement to her.

Ever since Seras had been turned, she couldn't have a normal life anymore. She couldn't interact with people like before, venture out on the town, be with the few but close friends, be on the work force of the police...practically anything. The poor girl had been cut off suddenly from about everything that she knew and was accustomed to, and all because of the start with vampires, ghouls, and her master, Alucard.

A heat began to burn in her chest from a live emotion called 'anger' that bubbled up and her fingers enclosed to her gloved palms to form a fist in her lap at that last thought: vampires, ghouls, and her master. Seras narrowed her red eyes a little with a soft inward of a growl, fitting her teeth against each other firmly.

Another tiny twist within.

Walter got out a silver tray he polished earlier and was in the process of arranging the dish ware and picking out the utensils appropriate for the meal he would be taking up to his master, Integra, "What has been keeping you from sleeping much these past days, Miss Victoria?"

"Ah..." The fledgling shook her head twice to bring herself back to the conversation. This hadn't gone unnoticed by the monocle-wearing servant, yet he chose to keep quiet and allowed her to answer.

Seras opened her mouth to do so, but then closed it, furrowing her brows as she hesitated on just what to tell Walter. She wanted to say so much, but felt a barrier that prevented her from doing it. It's not something she wasn't foreign to, having come to know this wall for a while now, nor was there was a lack of trust in him since Walter's been a father-figure to her, but there was that uncertainty that held her back.

"I just can't sleep well, that's all. It's really nothing." She finally breathed out, closing her eyes and lifted her head a little to show a slight smile, adjusting her vocal tones to a lively level, "It's just like you said, about sleeping. Sometimes it's just one of those days, and I'm probably going through that right now, so don't worry about it."

"Are you sure?"

Seras nodded then, "Yeah. Thanks for worrying about me though." Sighing a little, she put her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hands, "You're about the only one who does..."

"It's not only just me," Walter countered, folding a napkin certain ways to cradle the utensils, "Sir Integra has been worried about you, too."

"She is?"

"Yes. As well as some of the other soldiers that are mostly from the unit that you command. I'm sure Alucard is the same as well."

"Mmph...Master sure has a weird way of showing it..." Seras scoffed slightly, remembering on how the said-vampire has somewhat ignored her more than usual except for the last mission they had, "If it's not making himself appear intimidating, taking out ghouls and vampires, spending time with Integra-sama, going on missions, and doing heaven-or-hell-knows-what in his room, it's messing with my head."

Walter smiled again, but this time more than before as he could tell that the normal Seras Victoria began to peek back in, "But isn't that Alucard for you?"

"I guess...but he still has a weird and possibly sadistic way of showing what he feels, or what's on his mind for that matter."

The man chuckled at her words and finished with the gathering of the head of the Hellsing Organization's dinner before looking up, "While you're here, would you like some blood? I've noticed you haven't been eating as of late. Not even a little."

The draculina blinked then averted her crimson gaze as her hands fell to her lap and bunching back again into light fists, wrinkling the blue skirt that hugged her hips. For once in a long while, Seras' mind wasn't plagued by the tempting and, as much as she would be frightened to even consider the word, delicious food that was to sustain the species such as herself and Alucard during the pleasant conversation. Then it was suddenly brought up and she went back to withdrawing into herself, going quiet and letting her bangs shield her tired yet conflicting eyes.

Another twist and the gnawing feeling of raw hunger scratched, making the girl flinch.

"Cold blood doesn't really go well for you, hm? How about I warm it up then? Would that help?" Walter asked, his eyes watching for any other change in her.

"No, that's okay, Walter. I-I'm not hungry..." Came a meek reply lined with the sounds of her throat tightening.

"You have to eat. You're a vampire and vampires need blood to survive. You want to live, don't you?" He put a hand on the table then, leaning on it with the other at his hip, his eyes now serious and firm, "Isn't that the reason why you let Alucard turn you into a vampire?"

"Ah, b-but..."

Walter had stepped away then, going back to the stove and to a smaller pot, uncovering it and poured the hot contents out into a black coffee cup. He came back over to her and placed the cup down.

Her eyes widened, biting the inside of her bottom lip. It was the familiar dark site of garnet colored liquid that Seras had fought hard to resist in partaking many times, but now that it was warmed up, her keen sense of smell immediately picked up on the scent and that increased the pressure on her conscience.

The servant watched her carefully, allowing a few moments to pass for Seras to make a move. When she didn't, he opened his mouth to speak, but blinked as the dark colored phone rang loudly at the wall.

Seras let out a long sigh of relief when he left to answer. A fluttering feeling had started at the pit of her stomach and was quickly working its way to the rest of her body and something began to overshadow her mind; almost like someone had slid their hands along her head from behind, very, very slowly. She felt a tingling in her limbs as well with a force that threatened to move her hands even if she didn't want to. Now that Seras broke her stare of the blood and turned her head to the side, all of those things disappeared in an instant.

The fluttering was pleasurable, and hunger was beginning to get the best of her. The dandelion haired girl felt her fangs return back to their usual length since they had alarmingly grown at the site of food in front of her. Her eyes remained a little wide and shaky; fear clearly taking place of just about everything now.

"...yes. I'll see to it right away." Walter hung up the receiver and turned back to Seras, "Miss Victioria, Sir Integra wishes to see you."

Seras looked up at him then trailed her eyes at the window. The sun had gone to bed for their side of the world, and so have the sunset colors that would streak across the sky in pursuit. New astrological bodies took their places as the stars twinkled and sparkled against the midnight blue velvet sky.

'...time to go to work, I guess...'

-l-

"Alucard, don't play with me. She's your fledgling. You should be able to tell me what the hell is going on with Seras." Integra's voice was in its usual firm and strong tone as she stood at the large window, hands cupping her elbows behind her back with her eyes staring out into the night.

Hellsing's trump card stood between the desk and the door after he was summoned. He was without his hat and glasses, but not without his trademark grin of mockery, raising his head a bit high, almost in pride as Alucard's voice was smooth and playful, "Why must you know? It shouldn't be of your concern."

"It concerns me immediately when it comes to the individuals working in the Hellsing Organization." The woman turned on her heels to face Alucard fully, "I will not ask again, Alucard. You tell me what you know right now, and I won't tolerate any of your games."

He huffed slightly, but his lips only widened a little more, baring the sheen of his teeth, "There's no mystery to what's going on. It's normal for the children of the night to experience this soon after they're reborn."

"Meaning..."

"She is in the transition of loosing her humanity. Or what remainants there is of. The struggle between the past and new life is what's generally happening where one is torn between the two. She can deny it as much as she wants, but that will only make it even harder on her and much longer to deal with. I see no point in her trying to hold onto something that will never again be hers when she could enjoy her new life so much more if she would just give up."

Integra raised a brow as she heard a slight laugh etch its way into his explanation, "And you find this amusing? Seras isn't the type to just 'give up'."

"Indeed. But she's starting to become troublesome to you, isn't she?" Alucard sneered at his master, "Or has my ability to read your thoughts become a little rusty?"

"Your ability to butt into my privacy is causing me migraines and a shortage on pain killers." She sighed and took out a cigar, lighting it and took a long drag before opening her steel blue eyes to Alucard, "This transition...is it a threat?"

"'Should I be worried?' is more of what your mind is trying to hurriedly trash." He took a delight to the small twitch at the woman's right eye as he again read her thoughts easily, but continued, "I wouldn't really know, nor care. But despite my years, even I have no knowledge of how this will go or the extent of the outer and inner-effects of this change."

"How long will it last?"

"You ask so many questions..."

Integra shot him a glare, "And you like to try my patience. Apparently you're the only one able to give me any information on this, so unless you want a silver bullet lodged in your body, preferably your head so you can see how it feels for someone to give you a pounding headache, you'll answer."

Alucard only gave a short, deep chuckle from his throat and glanced his crimson eyes down at her office desk, reaching out a gloved hand and placed it over an hourglass that was at rest, and flipped it over. The sands were pulled down and through the opening to the other equal compartment below, complying with the laws of gravity as he himself complied with Integra's order, "We're not restricted by time like you humans are, so it'll take as long as it will take."

"That's an awfully cryptic statement and that does nothing to ease my conscience." She sighed and sat in her chair, threading her fingers together on the table over an open file, "Is that all you know?"

Alucard merrily just looked at her and said nothing more. What he knew of where his fledgling was currently in the transition he would keep to himself until he saw fit on when to tell Integra.

"I don't have enough to choose a course of action for the moment, so things will go on like usual. You are to keep a closer eye on Seras this time, Alucard, but don't do anything that might set her off. Freak activities are at a strange low, and I get the feeling that I can't afford to loose her right now. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes," His eyes went to the hourglass and watched the golden sediments completely drain to the bottom in the hourglass, "my master."

"Good." A knock came at the door quietly and Integra looked up, taking the cigar out of her mouth and placed it down, "Enter."

The thick, rich wood entry way opened and in stepped the Hellsing Organization's only female vampire member. Seras was a bit surprised at seeing Alucard in the same room, but then mentally kicked herself for being distracted on the way up about the conversation with Walter and the events revolving around it, and not sensing or realizing earlier that her master would be with Integra, like usual.

She bit in inside of her mouth at that unconsciously, her mind flaring up again with her thoughts from where her confusion started with three things: vampires, ghouls, and her master. Seras blinked once then and shook her head to clear it away, a coldness gripping inside of fear that she would think such a thing, especially about Alucard. She quickly stomped everything away, knowing her master may be in her mind right now.

The elder vampire on the other hand, kept his position where he was, not turning or offering a glance of acknowledgement of her presence. He turned over the hourglass again when the door shut behind the young woman with his grin unfaltering, carefully peering into her mind undetected.

"Glad you could make it, Seras." Integra began after the other female saluted.

"Is it a mission, Sir Integra?" Seras questioned, trying to force her tone of voice at a normal level and straightening her stance in the head of the Hellsing family's presence in respect, choosing to ignore Alucard outright as he did her and shielded her mind from his probable prodding. At this, he pulled up even more into a smirk but she didn't see it.

"Yes, it is." Integra confirmed, picking up the papers on the open file and shifting through them, "It's a small one this time. Your objective is simple: to take two small groups different from your usual unit and investigate an asylum on the other far side of town. Supposedly it's been abandoned for many years but we have gotten reports of strange things going on. A number of teenagers and about twenty other people have gone inside for whatever reason and never came back out. This happened about a week and a half now."

"If I may, Sir Integra, I don't understand. This doesn't sound like it's our field of work. Shouldn't the police handle this?"

"True." The older woman then handed Seras several photos, "But because of this, they're not going to step one foot near the place."

One picture was taken during the day where the asylum's front was being shown. Everything looked normal for a run-down complex. It was a 5 story-building with additional small ones connecting on the side harboring chipping white paint with the walls crumbling in more than a number of places, windows gone save for large sharp shards still in place, the name of the asylum missing all of their brass letters except for "s" and "v". Exposed to the elements, the metal parts of the building had rusted and the discolored green oxide production from the air and water mixing with the metal crept downwards to the ground. The grounds were wild with vegetation and very damp, almost marshy since there was a marsh not too far off, and the gates between the person who took the picture and the asylum were a bit off their hinges and bent inwards.

Seras switched to the next one behind it and her eyes widened, the slink of the hungry feeling and the haunting scraping of her mind began to curl forcefully again. It was a night photo this time in the same spot but this time it seemed to have taken on totally different appearance.

The asylum was lined and streaked everywhere with blood in random order, and the color was rich and visible enough to tell that it was oddly fresh. Hand prints and impressions of bodies and even faces of the dead were among the mess in both blood and dirt, incoherent phrases and words strewn about the walls. There seem to be a light surrounding the complex, an aura of its own, and even though it was just a photograph, it sent a cold spark down her spine. But that wasn't all that gave her an alarming feeling.

Where the name of the asylum was, there, almost as clear as day, was written in crimson, but couldn't make much sense out of it since it was written in something she had not seen much before.

Integra watched her and spoke up then, taking up her cigar and placed it in her mouth, "That picture you're looking at now. It's using quite a bit of old English that's centered around the 12th century I take it. It says 'I have come for my servant and I will take back what is mine', more or less."

Seras gulped slightly and looked back up, "I see..."

"You have half an hour to prepare yourself and organize normally. I have already assigned the two units you'll be taking and they're waiting for you as we speak. Again, you're job is to investigate the buildings and not to overlook anything. Search the whole area and grounds. That is all."

Seras put the two pictures down and stood up straight again at attention, setting her jaw in a firm line and saluted, "Yes, sir, understood, sir."

When she turned to leave, Integra's stern voice rose then to hold the girl in place before her hand was laid on the knob, "And, Seras, when you get back, you will report to me this time. No excuses."

The fledgling turned around fully, beating back the movement to furrow her brows in reluctance to obey Integra. She knows she will be exhausted even if it was just a surveillance mission, but duty is duty and she knows the leader of Hellsing will only take so much. Seras bowed then, "Understood, Sir Integra."

And with that, she left and the door creaked to a close behind her.

"You're getting soft, my master." Alucard finally said then, still in the room in the same place and had witnessed everything that was going on. He raised his eyes from the hourglass, the grin ever still there, "I wonder why?"

"Even I will take some form of measure to not aggravate Seras' unstable condition. We don't know what will happen and it doesn't hurt to be a little cautious." Integra replied, putting out her cigar, "You will follow her, Alucard. Like I said before, keep a close watch on her. Leave out the mind games but don't ignore her either like you just did."

He scoffed at that statement, "I don't ignore her."

"Yes, you do. Since this change has been going on in Seras, you've neglected not only to tell me about it, but being at a much less minimal level of guidance for her. I will hear no more of this, Alucard. Do as I say. Now go."

Alucard smirked, passing a hand over the hourglass he had been occupied with before giving a mocking bow to Integra, fading away from the room, "As you wish, my master."

Integra let out a heavy sigh when the last Nosferatu had left her alone and took off her glasses, rubbing at her tired and dry eyes. She then caught site of the hourglass and made a face at it. The sands inside were no longer there, but replaced with dark blood and it dripped slowly from the top compartment to the bottom every three seconds.

Alucard's words from before echoed in her mind, "We're not restricted by time like you humans are, so it'll take as long as it will take."

A growl of frustration came from her throat, "If any one of those two decides to make another vampire to add to the Organization, I'll kill them both."

Her hands reached for the night picture again of the asylum and Integra put her glasses back on, glancing down at it more closely, reciting again what the message written on the walls had said, " 'I have come for my servant and I will take back what is mine' huh..."

-l-

Chapter Two: Hourglass

-l-

Sheesh...almost about 10 pages for this chapter, and that's excluding the beginning and endings things that I have to do. I didn't think I could type this much for a chapter. o.o;...a lot more dialogue going on this time around and actual interaction.

And now for the questions and stuffs!

SacredYoukai-san – Yup, I've read the manga, but only up to volume 5. I haven't been able to go past that just yet. The anime isn't too bad, but I'm going for the Hellsing Ultimate OVA where it follows the manga instead.

Jjvalvour-san – Yeah, I kinda forgot about the glossary thing in the first chapter. I'll get around to editing the first chapter as soon as. For the title of my story, it'll follow the same suit as I'm doing for my chapters: I won't translate till the end. It's another thing to make me keep this story going and not just drop it.

Um...I think that's everything...I apologize for this chapter coming out so late, guys! Initially I had planned to get this out on the one-week anniversary (like that actually exists...) of the first chapter, which was like...a couple days ago to date on this update. Unfortunately I had some responsibilities to tackle, like a rush study on a kanji test I had, a group project for English...my health being a pain in the ass again...and all them good things that got in the way.

Thanks for all the reviews! If you don't mind, review again? Until next time! Bai-bai!