Ooooh, well, I'm glad to say that I've gotten a couple hits, (but I have gotten three reviews, all positive!) but they could be just miss clicks, so, I've forced myself to come up with another chapter. See if anyone actually likes it. So, here we go! Oh yeah, just so you know... I have NO idea what made me put a freaking SOUP SCENE in that chapter... Oh well.
--Organs, organs, organs--
Abrupt pounding on her door woke Luca out of an other-wise rather light sleep.
"UP, UP, UP!!" Luca glanced at her bedside clock. 5:32 AM.
"Coming!" Luca shouted
"Thirty 'till go time! So hurry up!" Thirty minutes, eh? Well, this day seems to be off to a slightly-less-than-amazing start so far. Luca sprang up, trying to get some energy flowing, and nearly tripping in the process. Stripping off her pajamas and grabbing a pair of loose cargo pants, a belt, shoes, socks, shirt. Anything she might need to properly walk out of the house. Oh wait, brushing her hair might be a contributing factor to that whole 'stepping outside,' thing.
The luggage was in the car already, she was dressed and groomed, what else? Food, of course. She reached the door in less than three strides, unlocking it and ripping it open, revealing the glorious chaos that was, her family at five-forty-something A.M. on a Thursday morning. She sat down to a plate already filled with scrambled eggs, and a steak.
Soon the chaos was reduced to the small noises of mealtime, mainly the clinking of silverware against plates. "Everyone ready to go?" The father asked his two girls.
"All done." They replied in union.
"Good. Move out, troops." The girls rolled their eyes but complied nonetheless. Piling into the mid-sized sedan, she let the bickering begin between her father and sister. There was a reason she took the back seat, after all... And now they were off to the airport to wreak havoc. Errr... Board a plane to England without incident, yes, that's what will happen. We know that will happen as often as Alucard willingly dressing in a rabbit suit. But such was the nature of life, was it not?
-- puppies, ho. --
"We better get to blasted England soon..." Luca rolled her eyes at her sister. If there was one thing Sora hated more than England, it was the trip to get there. Oh, the joys of irony.
"Oh calm down, Sora, we'll be off this level of hell and onto the next level in less than twenty."
"I can't wait, all the rain and mist, oh! And we can't forget the thunder, blizzards, AND monsoon-things..." Sora retorted easily. Luca rolled her eyes again.
"I happen to LIKE this particular level of hell, thanks. California's too hot, sometimes. You know I like sixty-degrees better that seventy."
"Only cuz' your freakishly warm all the time..."
"True, but that's the fun of it. See? We're here already," Luca pointed out, feeling the plane drop it's altitude. Sora's eyes lit up eagerly.
"Awesome!"
"Yep, welcome to hell," Sora's elated grin turned to a twisted line.
"Hate you."
"Hate you, too," Luca remarked, batting her eyes innocently, all the while using a tone one might use for the opposite phrase. An insincere grin plastered messily over her face.
"C'mon we've gotta look for dad and Grandma Integra."
"Right." The sisters waited almost -but not quite- patiently for the plane to land, grabbing each others bags and filing off the plane, looking for their fair-haired, blue-eyed father, and their gray-haired grandmother, with the same piercing blue eyes all Hellsings seemed to share.
"There!" Sora pointed to a tall, stoic, elderly woman that everyone seemed to edge away from. Yes, that was their loving granny.
"Hey, Grandmother, how've you been?"
"Good, how have you been, and where's your father?"
"We've been good, and dad's probably lost by now." The two sisters replied in near perfect sync. If Integra was a little put off by two similar looking girls, she didn't show it. It seemed every year they looked more and more alike. Integra spun around with agility most forty-year-olds couldn't manage and gestured for them to follow.
"WAIT! Mom! Girls! I'm here!" The fair-haired man arrived, carrying all three's luggage in hand. "Here," he handed the girls their respective luggage. "How've you been mom?"
"I've been good, Walter. How have you been?"
"Same old, same old."
"Still trying to find another wife?" Walters smile faded a little.
"No, I've given up."
"I see. Come, let's leave this hell hole." Sora grinned, and now came the annual black-limo ride to the Hellsing estate manor.
It was, as usual, long, but filled with talking and recounting of news, from the girls grades to future plans, and everything in between. Their grandmother's will was never mentioned. But that had already been expected.
"We're here." Integra said. The manor came into view, it was huge. As always, and as Sora described it, 'Hella creepy.' Luca, controversially, described it as 'interesting.' Similar, yet completely unrelated, "come, Walter, we still have much to discuss. Girls, feel free to... roam. Your rooms are in the same place as usual. Jonathon will take them in." She gestured toward a young butler who gave them a curt nod.
"Ladies."
"Good to see you again, John." The chimed in together, suppressing a grin at his slight twitch.
"Of course." The two girls scampered off, one to their room, the other to explore.
--and now for this shit to begin--
'Where am I?... Eh, oh well. Long as theirs not a hell mouth down here, I should be fine.' Luca grinned, she'd never noticed this cavern-hall-thing before, which wasn't surprising seeing as it's 'door' blended seamlessly with the stonewalls. Until now, anyway.
While Luca didn't know it, she was close, but still no cigar. Not a hell mouth. Just Dracula.
"Luca." The calm voice of Integra made her jump and clutch the stop over her heart.
'Holy...' "Grandmother! Where did you COME from!?" Interga didn't respond.
"Follow me." She said. Luca stared at her back. She was leading her father down the tunnel, not away from it. Luca didn't question her grandmother, only followed. The farther down she went, the more she realized something. The feeling of impending doom was getting more and more persistent. A few minutes more of silent wandering, and they had reached the end of the hallway. At the end was a door.
"In my will, I'm leaving you the house, and a few of my possessions. This is one of them," She opened the door. It was nearly pitch black, but the lighted torch from the hallway illuminated it. Barely. There was one thing in the room. A coffin, blacker than the night itself, leaned precariously against the wall. With… words carved in it? She realized that there were, in fact, words inscribed on it as she started towards the wooden masterpiece.
"Why? Well, why a coffin?" She asked Integra, who only smiled.
"The coffin's only part of it, what inside is what really matters." Luca bit her lip, Hellsing was for sure an out-of-whack family, but for her to get a USED COFFIN? That couldn't be right... Right?
"It's... Used." She clarified. Upon closer inspection she could she the edges of the coffin had been slightly rounded in places from wear and tear. It had been opened. Many times.
"Open it." With only little hesitation, she skittishly opened the coffin. It was, as she figured it would be, a corpse. It smelled horrible. She scrunched up her nose and used her shirt to try and stifle the stench, coughing the entire time. She looked to her Grandmother. What was she thinking, giving her a corpse? A test or something of the sort? This was one HELL of a test, if that was it.
"Feed it." She stared at Integra. No way. She questioned her ears, but knew they weren't lying. Her Grandmother. Had just asked her... to feed a corpse. Okay, what the hell? Had she really gone senile? No, she had shown no signs of it... until now, at least. Maybe she had just gone insane. "Feed it." Integra repeated, a little more sternly.
Luca looked at her Grandmother, it didn't... fit. Her Grandmother, Integra, insane? No way... "Why?" She questioned, trying to see the motive behind her words.
Integra looked at her for a few moments. "Come here." Luca walked to her slowly, wishing she had a weapon. And then remembered she did. She swallowed and approached. "Give me your hand." She did it without question, unsure of why she was still trusting her own Grandmother. Then, Integra brought out the knife. And so Luca brought out her own. Integra looked at the knife in Luca's hand, her other hand still in Integra's solid grip. And smiled. "You do it, then." Releasing her hand Integra's eyes burrowed into Luca's.
"Why?" She asked again.
"It must recognize you as its master. Just a pin prick will be necessary." It was true, Integra's knife was small, and could easily do just that much damage. She flipped the knife in her hand to a stabbing position and tucked it away. How long had her grandmother been able to handle a knife with such ease?
"Do it." So she did. It was a little bit more than she had planned, and was gushing surprisingly well.
'Damnit.' She had forgotten about the vein in her thumb.
"Feed it, Luca." She looked at her Grandmother warily, suddenly worried.
"Infections?" She asked, was the corpse at least sterile, to some point?
"None, I promise." Luca bit her lip. Her mind screamed the impending doom feeling to her, but it was shoved back by something else. A mixture of blind trust and curiosity, more than she had ever felt, much, much greater than the amount that had driven her to investigate this damned hallway in the first place.
Was there anything left to do but feed it?
She would have to throw up later. She rubbed her bleeding thumb on its dried tongue, biting her cheek to keep from something, whether it was retching or screaming, she really didn't care to know. She rarely did either, and found she'd like to keep it that way. Suddenly, the dead corpse clamped down of her thumb, sucking on it. She pulled out her thumb immediately and backed up, her once tight grip on her knife loosening. Realizing the knife was about to clatter to the floor, she tightened her grip, never taking her eyes off the 'corpse.' 'What the hell is it!?' Her mind screamed at her.
"Call it," Integra commanded softly. "He is yours to command," The thing was coming closer, and Integra's words had not fully registered in her mind.
It was coming closer. Her mind did the one thing it could think of. Defense.
Luca stabbed it in the gut, twisting and wrenching it out again. She backed up as the thing got up again. Hitting the wall, she suddenly realized what her Grandmother had said, and was still repeating, "STOP!" She screamed, only half hoping it would work.
It did work. It stopped, but still looked at her with a vague predatory look. Luca glanced at her Grandmother, who was smiling. Her family was insane. But who was she to judge? She glanced back at the thing. It was kneeling. An idea popped into her head. 'What if...?' She tired it. "Go back to your coffin, don't come back out 'till I order you to."
It worked. Again. She glanced at it, watching it trudge back to its coffin; its stomach wasn't even bleeding anymore. It was wearing a straight jacket covered in chains, too. 'That can't be a good sign...' Luca glanced at her smiling grandmother, "an explanation?"
"Of course. Now, what do you think that was?"
'More questions? 'Wish she'd just give me the damned answer..' "I..." she trailed off, having no idea what to say. "Haven't the foggiest."
"Think, Luca. You are smart enough to know this. It's been in our bloodline for generations."
'Bloodline? The Hellsing bloodline? But what...' Luca stopped the trail, realizing where it was going, it would explain it all, except... they weren't real. Right? She stared at Integra, hoping for some sort of answer, a poke in the right direction, something. Anything. Integra smiled, seeing the realization and denial in her granddaughter's eyes.
"Yes, it is a vampire, they do exist. And Merry early Christmas, Lucrecia."
'My family, is officially completely screwed up.' "So... this... vampire is my?..." She trailed off, unsure of what to call it.
"Servant, to the Hellsing bloodline. He was put to sleep after the... population of his 'kind' became scarce. I am old, Luca, he needs to be reawakened; I must make sure he falls into the right hands. Another Hellsing must become his master. So I chose you."
'Why me?' Luca sighed, it figured, her sister, when it came down to it, she wouldn't be able to handle it. She was sure of it, and her father... Why not her father? "Why not dad?" She questioned, "He's older."
"Exactly. He is too old, your father. He has grown up not knowing of the vampire's existence, to tell him now, this late... I do not know if he can accept it. You and your sister though, are both young, and may very well be able to adapt, and of the two of you, you are the best choice to be able to... handle him." Luca narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Handle him?"
"Yes, I'm sure you know him. Dracula. The most famous, and for a reason." Luca stared at her grandmother. Of course, of all the vampires in the world, it had to be Dracula. Great. "Do not let it get to his head, though, you must be careful. While he cannot disobey you, he will find loopholes in your command. Trust me. Be careful what you order," Integra looked thoughtful for a moment before reaching into her suit, pulling out several packets of donated blood, and tossing them toward the hungry vampire, who immediately reached for them and began sucking loudly. Luca ignored the loud noise and thought.
"How will I keep him... hidden?" She asked.
"Alucard can take the form of a canine. That will have to do."
"A dog? I suppose that is fitting... A name will be needed, though..." Luca mumbled, not bothering to wonder why her servant went by the odd name.
"Hm, a problem I didn't foresee, Alucard will be out of the question, it will be too easy for people to notice it spells 'Dracula' backwards. As well as in America, it would be looked at as an odd name." Luca blinked as the anagram was suddenly spelled out into her face. Literally.
"What about a name for when he's in his... human form?"
"That will be easy enough. Vlad will do just fine." Luca grinned. It was perfect, name his human form after his, well, human side. Vlad 'The Impaler' Dracula, if she remembered correctly. What was his native title? Trepas? Wait. Trepas. Ha! No one would ever suspect. Oh, the wonders of the average ignorant American.
"I've though of his canine name. Trepas." Integra looked at her granddaughter. Yes, she would be fine.
"Good, it's settled. Alucard can stay here and recover from his sleep. You will go with your new master soon enough." Integra looked at Luca, waiting for something. Luca raised a brow questioningly before realization struck her.
"Yes, stay here untill then." The anorexic sight stopped it's feeding momentarily and nodded.
"Master." It rasped. Integra turned and left, leaving the two. A vampire as a pet? Well, if nothing else, it would prove to be an interesting experience.
Luca glanced at her new pet a last time, before turning and following her grandmother, closing the door with a loud 'click,' only just entering the stages of aware-ness and acceptance. Accusations questioning another's sanity would come later, for the moment, it was off to her room to beat her head against the wall and try to wrap her mind around this too-large-to-be-real concept. Damned family.
It was left to feed in darkness.
--lolzendbai--
SO! How'd ya like it? Good, bad, horrible, great, not what you expected, what you expected, kicked ass, sucked ass?
Tell me!
And it could just be me, but the fact is, I think she went along with it just a little too easily, without explanation and all, the end acceptance it to be blamed on shock, but the beginning... Well, I don't think I could have gotten that whole... relevance of the family bonds/trusts-thing and gut feelings beating down the rational part of her mind part across. If that makes sense to you, anyway. Hopefully it does.
Also, I happen to lack a spell-check on both computers, so, sorry for any spelling errors, or mistakes.(said problem has been fixed, hurrah!) So, a beta would be nice. Plus, I may be in need of a good co-author to help me plan out the good and the bad. Keep it flowing and as realistic as we can. Keep the stuff that you like going. Preferably someone whose read the last two Hellsing Manga's. I've only got 1-8, sadly.
And, on another note, because of school, posting can and (probably) will start to come veeeerrry slowly. So, updates may be several at a time (if i'm lucky) and far inbetween.
Thanks, muchly!