Waking Up Dead
Ketti:You know what I just found out? That you guys mention me to other people. :O It gave me such a huge ego boost I had to do at least one update today! I make no promises about timing the other ones, but I have a guestimate that Alucard will come in chapter five. Mind you, things in my head don't always turn out the way I want when I type them. Like the third part of this chapter. But JuJu said it didn't suck, so here it is!
Seras was floating in an ocean of blood. No, not floating, she was sinking! Her eyes opened, and all she could see was red, she couldn't breathe without tasting, smelling, the copper syrup. She had to get to the surface! She strained and kicked, and tried to scoop the crimson water beneath her, but quite suddenly her limbs were locked to her sides and she plummeted like a stone. The light faded faster and faster, until the red was so deep as to be black…
She woke with a gasp, shooting upright, only to cringe and drop immediately back to the stiff mattress. Gods, but her chest hurt. Looking around herself blearily, it didn't take long for her to realize she was in a stone walled cell. She lay on a lumpy futon on the floor, with clearly bruised ribs, surprisingly unchained, but she assumed the door must be locked, so why bother restraining her? Well, they'd learn why soon enough. After a moment, her throbbing skull cleared enough for her to remember… A hand flew to her throat, only to encounter a rough gauze wrap. There was a disgusting taste lingering in her mouth, that she had the sneaking suspicion was a combination of stomach acid and blood. There was a bucket by the door, that she dreaded approaching, but seeing no alternative, she crawled over to it, and was amazed to find water. Cupping her palms and bringing the overly mineral tasting water to her lips, she rinsed and spat to the side of the bucket five times before she thought the taste was diminished enough to swallow some of the somewhat questionable contents of the container.
Head clearer, mind no longer buzzing with half remembered dreams, she looked around a second time, and realized two things; one – her clothes were different, two – there were no windows, and the only furnishings were the bucket and the musty padding she'd woken on. Her lips pursed as she considered her options; she needed a weapon, but if she broke the bucket now, she'd lose what remained of the water. Water meant survival for however long she was meant to stay in this hell hole, but having a wooden knife – or stake, of sorts – meant defending herself.
"Fuck."
"Sir…" the man shifted nervously, clutching his clipboard like a shield, "I've got bad news, and worse news, which do you want to hear first?" He cracked a smile, but Simon Davies was not in the mood for games, and he gave the other a withering stare. "Er, right, ahem, so… The reports from the roof are in; two different blood types confirmed, one of which matches Officer Victoria's. There have been no new bodies recovered from the Thames, and none of our contacts are talking about child trafficking or underground auctions." The man – Franklin something-or-other, Simon was sure – sobered and gave Seras' senior partner a grave look, "Now for the worse news, sir… This case has been taken out of our hands."
"What?!" Simon's hands slammed into the desk with enough force to make his coffee mug jump a good two inches in the air. "That's bullshit, tha-" "is out of our jurisdiction now, Davies." The chief interrupted, looking stern and apologetic all at once.
"But Chief, I…"
"I know, Davies, but you know how the higher ups are about cases they want."
Simon's fists clenched and he jerked to his feet, "Then I'll look for her on my own!"
A large hand clamped over his shoulder for a moment as the two men exchanged knowing glances, "Be careful and try to keep Kalvosh's trigger happy tendencies in check."
"Sir."
Seras wasn't sure how much time passed, only aware that she'd had to empty her bladder three times already in the far corner, and there was barely an inch of water left in the bucket. Sbe was terribly hungry, but couldn't allow herself to be weak, so she forced herself to ignore the loud protests her stomach made. Her throat burned, too, despite the water she forced on herself. She was busy flexing her muscles, making sure to keep herself limber, when her silence accustomed ears caught the faint hint of movement outside her door. It was the first sign of life she'd heard since waking, so she grabbed the bucket – slicking the floor to the left of the door – and perched herself at the right angle to bash her visitor's head in.
It all happened quite quickly; a voice grunted in confusion at not seeing her from the doorway, and when he took a step forwards he lost his balance, slamming into the door and falling flat on his ass. Fortunately, Seras was prepared for him going backwards, and leapt out of the way, using the moment of surprise to swing the bucket down viciously onto the – presumably, from the brief glimpse she had of his clothes – servant's head. He grunted in pain, but fell limp as a gorilla sized ragdoll to the stone floor. Pushing and pulling at the lumbersome beast, she managed to roll him far enough into the room to close the door. And off she went, down the hall, completely unarmed with no clue where she was or where she was going. Brilliant.
Forcing herself to move, and breathe as quietly as humanly possible, the police girl ran on bare feet across the stone floor. Spotting some stairs, she pressed herself to the wall as she crept up towards the upper floor, peering cautiously around the corner before taking a chance and running to the left. The walls started to get less dreary looking, covered by wood paneling, and at the junction of a turn a red carpet was lining the floor. A little unsure of what she would find, she decided to follow it – follow the red brick road, she told herself, laughing scornfully at her own thoughts – until she came to a door. She frowned, but… Checking the knob cautiously, it was unlocked.
Shit, shitshitshitshit. She'd made a huge mistake. On the other side of the door was an opulent – strangely windowless – and facing her was the woman from before, Lady Morhphine? Something like that. They both froze for a split second before the pale lady laughed and stood from her seat, "Ah, my pet, coming to me willingly. So eager to die? They say the bruised fruit tastes the sweetest, let's put that to the test."
It was all a blur, literally, as the red clad ravenette shot across the room and grabbed Seras by the throat. The police girl acted on instinct and kicked the freak in the chest. They both tumbled to the floor, and Seras rolled to pin her. Dimly, she wondered how in the bloody hell the woman could move so fast. Was it… No, she refused to consider that option just yet.
Her 'owner' snarled, baring her sharp teeth that seemed even longer than the last time as she swung her hand up from below to smack Seras into the other wall. Okay, ow. What was she, on some mega steroids?
Cringing and rubbing at her head, trying to shake herself back into proper order, she looked up just in time to see the end of an umbrella coming for her face. She threw herself to the side, and stared with awe as the sharp metal tip pierced the wall like a knife through hot butter.
Throwing all her preconceptions to the side, she leapt back, and stumbled as the carpet was suddenly pulled out from under her. Falling flat on her ass, she moaned in pain, before yelping as she was tackled.
Pinned to the floor, wide eyed with fear, she couldn't suppress the tremors crawling up her spine. The woman, the… - she didn't want to admit it, couldn't, but … what else..? – vampire stared at her with glowing crimson eyes, fangs bared and extended past her lower lip as she raised a clawed hand to Seras' face. "Disobedient little scrap of flesh, I'll make you suffer for your actions."
Seras panicked.
She bit the hand, and growled low in her throat as the monster above her screamed. The burning in her throat – that she had forgotten was even there – was soothed instantly, and she was disgusted as she realized she liked the cloying liquid on her tongue. Oh god. What was wrong with her?! But she had no time to linger on these thoughts as the creature's free hand slapped her, the force of it unlocking her jaw so that the fingers slid free of her teeth.
Her breathing – already ragged from being tossed about like a rag doll and the bruised ribs – hitched and became more shallow. She could almost feel her pupils dialating as a new tremor rocked her body. She felt… Strange.
"How dare you, how dare-" the woman's words were cut off mid sentence, but her lips were still moving. Seras blinked, the world seemed to be going in slow motion, and yet, it seemed to be speeding up. The conflicting information made her senses reel, and the room seemed to spin.
"Filthy mongrel! MEN!" The shriek for her servants made Seras moan as her ears rang painfully. "Take this… this… thing, and throw her away. Sell her to the cage for all I care, just get her out of my sight! Of all the… I never… not keeping the beast… waste of… better get my quid worth…"
Seras felt sick. The world was spinning and her ears weren't working quite right. But the burning in her throat was gone, and her bruised ribs didn't hurt anymore. Something heavy impacted her skull, and darkness consumed her.
'I'm getting really tired of blacking out. It's getting old.'