Chapter 2 : A Dancing Shadow.

"Where there is light there must also be shadow."

Location: Northern Ireland

Ray slowly moved his sword to a up to down facing position as Anderson charged at him with his bayonets extended and cutting along the rooftop whilst Ray kept a close eye on Anderson's arms and legs, watching for a change in motion and when it came Ray dashed to the side, barely avoiding being cut through as Anderson slashed both bayonets in an X formation before shifting his position and began attacking repetitively to which Ray responded by defending himself with his Katana, Ray could swear Anderson was attacking at an inhuman pace but his newfound agility seemed to be enough to hold his own for a moment at least.

Anderson dashed back and threw at least 12 bayonets which curved mid-flight to strike from multiple angles which forced Ray to roll to the side with his blade in a defensive position to avoid most and deflect some though one embedded itself in his liver though aside from acute pain and a feeling as if the blade were on fire there was little effect, it must be his heart for a fatal injury.

Ray recovered quickly and darted to the side to retain a position between Anderson and Seras and he focused his sword grip in his right hand and drew from his coat his Colt .45 and fired a pair of rounds at Anderson's head though he deflected them with the bayonets. Ray charged forward, holding the blade in a reverse hold and firing again, this time at Anderson's hands, disarming him of one bayonet just as he ran out of ammo and completing the charge he slashed forward with the blade only for Anderson to block it with his other bayonet as Ray dropped his pistol and made a slight jump back.

Despite his usual level of skill he was not making any ground against Anderson, either his opponent was far more skilled than he looked or Ray was getting weaker and this seemed to be the case, it was probably to be expected as he had lost a substantial amount of blood from his fatal injury and had yet to replace it since becoming a person of the night but still, Anderson was very skilled indeed and the fact that Ray had survived this long was a miracle at best.

Ray again charged forward and began dueling Anderson who after deflecting a sixth strike jumped back and scattered more pages of the good book about, forming a restraining barrier around Ray who found it nearly impossible to move afterwards.

He looked back at Seras and rather than having a face of regret or defeat he seemed to be measuring something before grinning and turning back to Anderson who was approaching slowly with his blades crossed whilst saying "You put up a good fight but I don't see the same level of skill Yumie mentioned, I'll assume you haven't been feeding since I can sense the exhaustion on you. Ready yourself for judgement."

Ray managed to fight the barrier enough to grab a remote detonator from his coat which surprised Anderson.

Ray grinned and said "Sorry but this ends here, I will admit my instincts are telling me to protect Seras but there is something personal here as well, she reminds me of someone else who had to live with this curse and recognized it for what it was. Indeed I haven't fed and I doubt I will."

Before Anderson could reply and before Ray activated his last resort a familiar sound made itself known, the discharge of a .454 Casull.

Anderson was hit by several rounds which also shattered his bayonets as he turned to face Alucard, seemingly unharmed (though lacking his hat this time) and grinning massively.

The sound of a helicopter made itself known as one approached and hovered over the rooftop, it was just a short jump away for Integra and two Hellsing bodyguards.

Ray sighed with relief as he put the detonator away, he was likely going to have to get another one since the first one he had to steal back though still, it wasn't Integra's presence that felt reassuring but rather Alucard's.

Integra spoke, saying "Alexander Anderson, Iscariot's top enforcer. You are violating our agreement, you have no authority here."

Alexander was ignoring Integra, looking on specifically at Alucard who was grinning and seemingly waiting for any excuse to resume the fight. As he was now it seemed, Anderson was not powerful enough to take him on if conventional tactics would not work. He turned to look at Ray for a moment, dissatisfied for some reason not so much at his strength but his choices.

Ray sheathed his blade as Anderson grinned and said "It seems I cannot defeat Alucard as I am now, make no mistake though, I will be back to finish this fight. Protestant rabble should not be in North Ireland, this is catholic territory."

Before they could respond, he disappeared in a flutter of bible pages, withdrawing from the fight. Ray exhaled again and took a look at the pages around him which were no longer emanating any power, likely being restricted to proximity to their user.

The following Night, Hellsing Mansion.

Ray sighed as he stared at the ice bucket before grabbing the pouch and sinking his teeth into it and proceeding to drain it quickly, once he was done he tossed it to the side. It wasn't that he was irritated at himself but really that he finally understood the thirst and felt even more compassion for the ones who never asked for this, pity in the cases of those who lost control.

Staring at the coffin he sighed and kicked it with newfound strength, slamming it against the wall and splitting it in two as well. Even from when he first woke he wasn't like this though still he felt it was lacking, perhaps if they had properly given him a transfusion to replace that much lost blood he would know what his full potential was but still he was somewhat afraid of seeing that potential.

He opened the door, unable to rest at night and proceeded towards the stairs only to run into Seras who stopped walking when she noticed him.

She spoke, saying "Ray, may I ask a question?" Ray merely nodded and she resumed speaking, saying "Just before I turned you, you mentioned something about my eyes and when that priest attacked us in Ireland you mentioned knowing someone like me."

Ray nodded and replied "Yeah, Alice Kesari. She wasn't the same as the other vampires I had encountered, quite truthfully she was the first I encountered and I guess she was closer to Alucard actually but that was only because she was a daywalker, the sun had no effect on her though I never saw her fight anyone so I am unsure if she has the same level of power as Alucard."

Seras listened and spoke, saying "Is she the reason you began hunting vampires?" Ray replied "I suppose but not in the way you may think. She didn't do anything to me or to anyone I knew. Truth be told I suppose I was in love with her for a while, I was able to quench her thirst with a blood transfusion kit for some time until some Neo-Nazi took her down with a musket, I've searched high and low but still haven't found Alice's killer or even a motive for as to why she would kill her, since that person was also a vampiress."

Seras was silent for a moment before saying "Oh, I'm sorry." Ray shook his head and said "It's fine, I suppose talking about it helps keep my memory of her alive and well."

More questions loomed in Seras' mind such as Ray's past experiences with Iscariot though Ray's expression was somewhat saying he no longer wished to talk about the past so she decided to keep heading to her own room whilst Ray resumed heading upstairs.

"I find it difficult to believe that miss Kesari would abstain from feeding directly." came Alucard's voice as he phased through the wall to appear in front of Ray halfway up the stairs.

Ray took at short glance at Alucard before saying "You knew her?"

Alucard merely grinned and said "For a short time, a short time for those with our lifespans that is. On one occasion I took her form to deal with a group in the mid 40s although I must admit the expressions we make are nowhere near alike. She drank without care or regret so I find it difficult to believe your tale."

Ray replied "Aren't you the progenitor Dracula? The backwards name is a poor alias. If so then merely read my mind and know the truth. I never knew much about Alice's past since she rarely confided in me about such things though I had suspected she was older than she let on."

Alucard spoke again, saying "It's not just that, you are correct in believing she was very much like me. The things I can do so can she do as she has probably devoured as many as I have. I find it odd that she would recklessly allow herself to be put down by some musket wielding trash."

Ray resumed walking, moving to the side to go around Alucard as he said "The bullet curved and sped about in a rapid fashion as if controlled by dark magic. But based on what I saw in her face after one day, it seemed she had lost the will to live."

Alucard's grin disappeared for a moment as he turned around and said "Would you really have ended your own life to try and stop that priest?"

Ray stopped his movement for a moment before nodding once and saying "There was no way I could have escaped that restraining barrier, I wasn't about to let him kill a defenseless woman."

Alucard grinned again and said "Oh? I admit the police girl does have far to go but I wouldn't say defenseless. Perhaps you have less control over your instincts than you claim."

Before Ray could reply Alucard phased through the wall once more.

Flashback - Several Months Ago. Location : Northern California, United States.

Ray kicked off the vampire from his blade just before it turned to ash, back then he was dressed with a leather jacket and a woodland camo hat with black sweats.

Sheathing the blade in it's water filled scabbard he heard a shout across the night and darted in that direction whilst drawing his pistol.

Turning into a large open plaza with several stores, some open this late, he noticed a woman effortlessly slash through six ghouls with a Katana, she seemed to be dressed casually though the look on her face when she moved about spoke that she didn't normally dress like that, she was probably between 27 and 31, Japanese and no stranger to combat, vampires or ghouls as she had no fear but rather a bloodlust about her though not a vamparic one, more that of the call to war a warrior feels so often.

A ghoul holding a pistol snuck from the darkness and fired with terrible accuracy and Ray dispatched it with a headshot from his silver loaded pistol and reloaded it, having apparently used his last bullet in that magazine.

Putting the pistol away he dashed with his blade and quickly hacked through a ghoul and then stood back facing the Japanese woman who let out a sadistic grin as she charged at the remaining ghouls with reckless abandon, leaving Ray puzzled as to her methods of battle until he noticed something about her that was inhuman.

She was blurring about the parking lot as if distorting space, quickly decapitating and otherwise slashing through the ghouls until she halted slightly, the ghouls were gone, even the ones Ray was facing though now two figures made themselves known, a Vampire and a human hostage.

The male vampire was holding a 15 year old girl hostage, threatening to turn her if they didn't let him leave. Ray was about to draw his pistol for a bid to take the vampire's head before he could act but the Japanese woman was too fast, moving with a blue hued blur and appeared behind the pair as the Vampire's head suddenly slumped off it's parent body and along with the rest of the corpse, turned to ash, the young girl was petrified and unable to move though she was safe.

Ray sighed and sheathed his blade and then said "Hey you, swordswoman. I don't suppose you know who sent that vampire here?"

The woman turned to look at him and shook her head, saying "I dispose of trash, I don't bother with the reason why they litter about."

Ray sighed and looked about the ghoul corpses before looking again at the pile of ash that was the vampire they just took down before looking up at the woman and said "Well perhaps you'd change your mind about that in order to find more trash. Somewhere in the forest there's supposed to be this group of vampires and vampiresses plotting some kind of conspiracy. I was about to track them down until something stirred the hornet's nest, I assume that was you."

Flickering right in front of him with her sword to his throat was the woman who then said "I don't suppose you'd help me find them then?"

He didn't even flinch at the sword, merely replying "Sure, We're probably after the same thing, their deaths. I'm also after some information regarding another vampiress I've been looking for so if you could hold off on finishing at least one of them until I can pry some info from them then I would appreciate that, once they spill their guts you can do as you please."

She must have found that amusing as her grin became larger before she sheathed her blade and said "Fine, just as long as you let me in on anything they give you."

Ray nodded and sighed, looking around him before reaching into his pocket for a cigar as the woman walked off into the night.

Just as he pulled out a match he said to himself "Won't be long now hopefully."

To be continued...