Hazelnut cream paint. She remembered the name of that one. They had brought it together that time they changed from the small apartment to the big house in the country side. She wanted something warm and with light. She knew it was ironic given that she was a vampire, a supposedly 'creature of the night'.
But who could blame her? She hated the dark rooms, with the thick red curtains and the stone walls. Too vampiric for her, besides, they reminded her of her cold and lonely room in the basement of the Hellsing mansion.
And right now she hated this room. This dark, dirty and bad smelling room. The original color in the ceiling would had been a nice one if it weren't stained with dried blood and cobwebs.
Seras deeply sighed. She closed her eyes and tried to forget about her pain.
Finally they had left her. After a whole month of torture finally those two cowards had left her to die in peace in this horrible torture chamber.
They had captured her, they shot her with those guns and she had fell without a fight. So easily beaten…
Jeremy had explained to her what those bullets were and how they worked. He had told her that they were producing thousands of the poisonous bullets daily.
'Fuck them' she sourly thought. 'Fuck vampires and fuck the humans.'
She was so tired, not only because they had starved her or beaten her till her skull had literally broken in pieces. But she was tired mentally of all of this, of worrying about everyone and everything, about being the only person in this crazy world with an ounce of mercy and care. Being and anonymous hero was over for her. She wasn't with Hellsing anymore, hell she wasn't even in England anymore, so why should she care about this stupid vampires wanting to start a war or whatever they had planned, because of course they were planning something that involved violence and carnage. Who would mass produce guns with special poisoned bullets and not use them? No one!
She was free from Hellsing and free from Alucard. And as strangely as it sounded (even for her), she now had a family to take care of… that, if she made it alive out of this.
Just as she finished that thought the door to her cell opened. The bright white light from the corridor blinded her for a moment, but she knew that her two captors had returned.
Unlike the last visits, this time they didn't taunt her with their words or tortured her with blessed water or venomous needles. One of them reached for her arm and injected her with a blue substance. She immediately felt the effect of the blue drug and her muscles relaxed, so much that she couldn't move her extremities or even feel them.
They took her by her numbed arms and dragged her out of the cell.
She didn't protest but instead watched her surroundings. Making note of how many doors and corridors they were passing. She knew they weren't going to kill her yet, so if the opportunity aroused she would knew were to run to get out of their lair.
She knew her daughter wasn't here, no amount of spells or barriers could destroy their unique bond. It wasn't like the one she had with Alucard when she was a fledging or even like the one with Hans…no, it was something above all kind of bonds, something indescriptible, something that was so natural and part of her, like her very being and soul. No one and nothing could break that link, but only death, and she knew her little child was safe and sound somewhere outside this maze of corridors.
They dragged her around for a while until they turned a corner and she knew they had finally arrived. It was the only door at the end of a long and luxurious hallway. When she first saw the door she quietly gasped.
Carved into thick dark wood was and eye inside a spade, outlined with gold embroidery and gemstones. The eye was big and it opened as they stepped into the corridor, watching them intently.
With growing fear and surprise she noticed that her captors had tensed at the sight of the black eye. Half way into the corridor the door opened slowly and all of the presents tensed, Seras began to wonder if she had underestimated the danger of the situation…
They entered and Seras was in awe at what was inside. It was a big circular room with high ceiling, instead of walls there were shelves over shelves filled to the brim with books. The very center of the roof was made of glass, dirty and broken. They were tables with more books pilled one over another; the air was thick with a mixture of old leather, humidity and dust. But what really caught her eye the moment she entered was the enormous oak in the middle of everything.
From its leafy canopy dozens of green leaves fell in a slow dance that inside the great and peculiar library seemed so natural but in reality it wasn't. Everything else was messy, worn-out and had layers of dust gathered over the years; but the tree was so full of life and color and as strange as it sounded it fitted so perfectly in the middle of the chaos that was the actual room.
She was so entailed in looking at the tree and the architecture, that when they placed and chained her to a chair she didn't even notice. But when the door closed behind her with a loud thud she was more than aware of the luscious desk in front of her and the back of the tall leather chair that was facing the oak tree.
Just like the oak, the desk was so out of place in the seemingly abandoned library. It was made of the same dark wood from the door, it was clean and she could even guess it was new. It completely lacked books, pens, or any other thing that one would normally put on a desk; only a single green lamp at her right rested in the smooth surface.
She tried to raise a hand to touch the surface but she became painfully aware of the headache that this action triggered. She didn't have the force to even move her hand and her vision was quite blurred, the sun was still high in the sky and that didn't help her at all.
"… I'm quite curious."
Seras couldn't focus but she could tell the woman was asking her a question, she was feeling disoriented and about to throw up.
"…What?" She slowly and in a small voice managed to ask.
"How did you found the river?" The voice clearly belonged to a woman who had a very thick Spanish accent.
"The river?..." Seras asked in confusion but then she remembered.
"Yes. Do you remember how you got here?"
Seras remained quiet. Not only because she didn't want to tell this woman how she, in a strike of luck, managed to found the infamous river but because her lips and throat were abnormally dry and the headache was returning tenfold.
"Do you?" Seras could hear the exasperation in the voice and a shiver ran through her entire body.
"Yes… Follow the path until you reach the dead tree, nearby, it shouldn't be difficult to hear the riverbed. Follow it until you reach the foot of the mountain… there is no way to get lost…" She quietly muttered the last words, almost whispering, remembering that in fact it was quite easily to get lost.
"I see…" Seras could tell that the woman was not convinced at all. "But if you followed directions that were made to never reach the river… how it is that you found this place?" Her last sentence made it very clear that her patience was thin, the words were spoken between clenched teeth.
"I don't remember… I was sick." It wasn't completely a lie, she was actually feeling horrible.
The woman laughed, and Seras couldn't help but to remember a certain vampire master. The laugh of someone who enjoys mocking others.
"And what about the baby? Do you remember her?"
At the mention of her child, Seras stiffened. All sickness forgotten.
"She is mine." She growled out.
"She's not." The woman boldly contradicted her. "You have done something to that poor creature, tell me, what it is?" she sounded genuinely curious.
"She is my daughter, blood of my blood." Seras was trying hard to glare holes into the back of the leather chair. It just bothered her so much that they dared to even think that the child wasn't hers.
"You didn't bite her, did you?" The woman asked, more to herself, completely dismissing Seras.
"I would nev-"
"Then you feed her with your blood?"
"No! I didn't do anything to her, she's my daughter!"
And then suddenly everything was quiet. Seras couldn't look at the woman's face but she guessed she was thinking. The silence was heavy and it lasted an eternity for her. She was once again feeling weak and dizzy, her little outburst was over and with it the little energy she had.
"What do you want from me?" Her voice was deadly serious, all amusement vanished.
When she heard the question Seras was not surprised at all. Since the moment they had brought her out of her cell without a word she had suspected that they were taking her to their leader, the Romani witch.
"I'm looking for someone… you captured hi-"
"Captured? We don't capture." She dryly stated the last words. As if offended by such statement.
Seras couldn't tell why she felt the fury she felt at hearing such words. She was on a precarious mental state and she knew that, but the way she said it, the way she dismissed her so easily. It was not the right moment for her to be denied of what she wanted, and she wanted him, she wanted him so badly that it hurt. So she exploded, not caring about the powerful witch or the ache on her body.
She was on her feet in an instant, yelling her frustration and fear to the back of the tall leather chair.
"Don't lie to me!" Her voice was like a thunder in the middle of the night. "I know he is here! Show me where he is! DON'T HIDE HIM FROM ME!"
The chair swiveled around and grew taller and bigger, a swirl of air and shadows around the two women. The witch face was hidden by the shadows and she loomed over Seras like some kind of judge about to send the prisoner to a death sentence.
"Who do you think you are?" her voice was no longer human, it could be hear all around the library in a grave intimidating tone. "We don't have prisoners, we kill if someone stands in our way."
That made Seras stop in her tracks. Her mind trying to come out with any other possible scenario but his death. "That can't be, I'm sure that-"
"I'm sorry but I can't help you." The mood seemed to lessen down. The witch stood up from her chair and Seras felt the desperation creeping into her.
"But I-… what am I going to do?" She asked to no one in particular, her voice filled with despair. Defeated, she fell back to her chair.
"If it is from any consolation you are free to go." The chains in her wrist and ankles opened as the woman finished her sentence.
Seras felt like crying. She had put herself and her child in danger just to make it to the witch. Not only did they attacked her and tortured her, but they couldn't tell her anything about Hans… Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the woman's heels against the wooden floor, walking towards the door.
"Where's my child?"
The woman stopped mid step. The enormous room once again drowned in a long and tense silence.
"Ah yes… the child." The corner of her lips slightly and slowly turned upwards. "I am very sorry, but I think I'll keep her."
Seras got up in the blink of an eye, but before she could chase after the woman, the silver chains that had freed her just moments ago, closed around her wrist and ankles a second time.
"I want my baby back!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, struggling with the chains as she tried to walk towards the woman.
"Who did you stolen her from?" The witch asked, still standing in the same spot.
"She's mine!" Seras growled and tried to yank the chains from their hinges but to no avail.
But then she stopped. The witch was in front of her in less than a second, grabbing her by the throat and lifting her off the ground.
"I know you are lying, I know you are hiding something, I can smell it!" The woman viciously hissed in front of her face.
For a moment Seras only stared at the face in front of her. The woman had sunburned skin, long curly hazelnut hair and green eyes…. Those somewhat familiar eyes…
Green vivid eyes, cold and emotionless and yet one pair of eyes that seemed to read your soul and known your deepest secrets.
It was a split second that Seras got caught into those eyes, until the woman sneered and tightened her hand around her throat.
The only warning before she kicked the witch was a low growl coming from her throat.
The woman landed several feet away, in a nearby bookcase, dust and splinters flew on every direction.
"So you want to fight?" Her disembodied voice flooded the whole library, making Seras to look around nervously in every direction. "Then fight we shall!"
Just as the words echoed on every wall, the chains around her ankles and wrists fell to the floor with a loud clang.
But Seras could only register this for a second before she was attacked by none other but the tree. Thick roots that grew from under her hit her in every direction, breaking her bones and skin. She screamed in pain, she begged to the witch to stop it.
And then it stopped, as suddenly as it had begun the torture stopped.
The roots retracted back to the earth, the floor was back to its old self in less than a second, everything, except for the bookshelf were the witch had landed looked untouched.
The tall and exotic woman stood not very far from the broken form of Seras. She clicked her tongue in mocking disapproval and then she slowly started to walk towards the blonde girl.
"Vampires think so high about themselves, they think they are better than everyone else in this world." Her words were so full of hate and loathing, she spat them as if they tasted foul in her mouth. "But they are wrong. They are the lowest of the lowest, they are cowards and parasites that need from others to survive."
But despite the palpable hate and the horrible pain she was suffering, Seras wasn't paying attention. Her vision was quickly fading away along with her other senses… she was slowly falling into another deep sleep. This time she was sure she wouldn't wake up, this time, it would be her last time.
The only think in her mind was him…
"… I- I'm sorry…" The woman in front of her was kneeling and had a confused expression on her face, she seemed to be asking her something but she no longer could hear. "…p-please… forgive me Hans…"
-0000-0000-
The only sound in the room was the continuous ticking of the old longcase clock in front of her.
She followed without batting an eyelash the hands of the clock, moving every second, counting the minutes and announcing the important hours. She waited.
Time had long ago ceased to be a problem to her. Time was relative, time was needed only for mortals, beings who had a fleeting existence in this vast and ever growing universe.
She smiled. An yet, if there was something she was sure about it was that ,human or not, eventually everyone runs out of time. At the end the important question wasn't how long or how much, but how would one spend that time.
There was a knock on the door and she kept her eyes on the clock. It was exactly half past six.
'Punctual as ever.' A pleased smile appeared on her lips. "Come in."
She turned around, pleased to see the face of her young apprentice.
"Madam Mondragon." A young woman with brown hair put up in a lazy ponytail and a green summer dress bowed before the witch.
The witch nodded, acknowledging her presence, a stoic expression once again reigned on her face. She sighed deeply before taking seat in a red Victorian couch and signalizing the girl to do the same in the couch besides the fireplace.
"Is there something wrong?..." The girl asked uncertainly, knowing that her teacher enjoyed being over dramatic.
The witch observed the girl for a few seconds, thinking about her next move. If her suspicions proved to be right then she needed to move fast before anyone could know the real identity of the vampire.
"Not exactly my dear Olga, but there's something I need you to do." The girl nodded, paying close attention to her superior. "What I am going to show you and tell you can't leave this room. No one, not even him can know."
"You mean-"
"Yes, him Olga." The witch stopped her before she could even think of his name.
The girl looked uncomfortable, not because the witch had interrupted her and was glaring at her, but because of the idea of hiding something from him. "But what if he ask me?"
"Don't worry about that, you won't even see him. I am sending you to the king's castle."
The girl's eyes widened in surprise and shock. "Am I going alone?" She already knew the answer, but a small part of her wanted to think otherwise.
"Well, yes." The witch responded as if it was the most obvious thing. "And you are leaving now."
"Now?!"
"Not now as in this instant." She responded sounding annoyed. "First I need you to show you something… well, someone."
-0-000-000-0000-0-
The first time she woke up it was because of the nightmare.
In her dream she would be walking the hallways of the Hellsing manor. Everything was calm and quiet, until she turned a corner and the whole place would be flooded with blood and corpses. The walls were red and had chunks of human flesh, the corpses would still move around, even the severed parts still twitched and they seemed to move towards here painfully slow.
Then she would look at the end of the corridor only to find Alucard standing there.
He was just standing there, hunched over something, his back facing her.
Then a hand would reach her ankle, and when she looked down she would come face to face with Pip. His face in a painful and face splitting grin. Like he was mocking her, like he knew the fear she was feeling. Then another hand would grab her from behind. When she turned she would see Sir Integra, also grinning at her with hunger and wickedness in her eyes. And then Walter, and Simon, and her parents. And then people from her old life, from her childhood, people who were long ago dead. They pulled at her clothes and called her name, they dragged her down with them, blood flooded the hallway and she was in the middle of everything being swallowed by the souls of people she once knew.
But then everyone would stop.
She would look up and see Alucard watching her with a small smirk, his lips and chin smeared with fresh blood.
With growing terror she would notice a small body hanging from his long fingers. His smirk would grow and he would start walking towards her.
When finally he was only a few inches in front of her he would raise his hand and she would see that the body belonged to none other but to her own child.
"Drink." He would say through his pointed fangs that were set in the most disturbing smirk she'd ever seen in his pale face.
He would raise the child high in the air and fat droplets of blood would start falling, and with them she would hear the cries of her newborn. But nonetheless she would open her mouth and drink.
The child would cry harder and yet she wouldn't stop. Alucard would get closer and closer until the child was in front of her, about to be eaten by her own mother.
But before she could close her fangs in the tender flesh of her daughter Seras would woke up.
She felt heavy and sick, physically and mentally sick. She couldn't erase the dream out of her mind.
She tried to sit up but there was something heavy covering her body and she couldn't move much. Her mouth and throat were dry and her body felt hot and wet. Everything was dark around her.
She tried to speak but instantly stopped when a pitiful moan came out of her mouth.
Her eyes scanned the area once again. She made out some forms but everything was too dark, and blurry… and now that her eyes had adjusted to the dark everything seemed to spin around. Her eyelids felt heavy, she was tired and wanted to sleep again.
But she was afraid of what her own mind would show her and decided against it.
Before she could think of a way to stay awake she heard voices. She couldn't tell what they were saying and they sounded distorted and far away.
"...to her?"
Now they weren't that far away, in fact they were too close and she could hear every little sound they made. It made her head ache and she wanted them to shut up.
"They overdosed her. They fucked her up and now she can't heal like a proper vampire…"
"Well, at least we know it works… Is this permanent?"
"I don't know, I hope not."
They were two women, that, she could clearly tell.
"I can believe no one never asked him how she looked like… although right now that wouldn't help much, they burned half of her face, and her left eye looks like a big-"
"Olga."
"Ah yes. Sorry."
She recognized one voice, it was the witch. A voice she would never forget. The other one sounded younger, a girl the same age as her when she was human she assumed.
"You have 3 days. No one can know that you left OR that you came back. The moment you get the information you return to here, to my room. Make no stop and talk to no one." There was a brief pause and she heard movement a rustling of fabric and lips against skin. "And please, don't get caught mi niña."
-000-000—000—000—00—0-0-00-0-
Seras wasn't sure at what moment she had succumbed to sleep or how long she had slept. There had been no nightmares and she was thankful for that.
She was still tired, but the headache and the oppressing weigh in her chest were gone.
It took her a few minutes to gather her thoughts and fully wake up. She sat up and carefully inspected her surroundings.
The room was big and luxurious, the walls were made of dark wood and there were old tapestries hanging from it. There was an oak desk full of books and dirty glasses in front of the bed she was in, and a burning fireplace at her right. A large red Victorian carpet covered the entire floor.
Seras looked down at herself, a white cotton nightgown and a single damp blanket covered her. She inspected her body and noticed some bruises and cuts that were still healing.
She sighed. This meant that whatever poison they had put into her, it was still working.
She closed her eyes and laid down once again as she tried to think what to do next.
First and foremost, she needed to take back her child and get the hell out of here. What was she thinking in the first place? She had risked both their lives the moment she stepped into the woods, she had acted impulsively and now she was paying the consequences.
But there was something that was bothering her.
When the witch attacked her she was sure she was dying
But she was alive.
Not only was she alive, but she wasn't in a cell, or chained or being guarded by someone. There were no new wounds or bruises, and her older injures were healing, so that meant that someone must have been tending to her.
It made her extremely curious and she was tempted to stay and find out why they did it.
But once again, she couldn't continue doing this, putting herself and her child in danger.
This people might have healed her for their own selfish ends, maybe they just needed her alive and they would use her in some kind of experiment or whatever they had planned. She wasn't going to stay and find out.
Seras took a deep breath and slowly lifted the blanket off of her and got out of the bed. Her limbs felt heavy and numb and every move she made seemed to take more energy than usual from her.
She wasted no time, the moment her world stopped spinning she moved towards the door.
She reached for the doorknob and stopped. She took a deep breath and readied herself for whatever that could be waiting at the other side of the door. There had been too many misfortunes in her life, too many times were she was put to the test and had to fight to keep herself alive, but this time there was something much more important than her own life and she couldn't afford to have second thoughts or be weak.
She would kill whoever dared to stood in her way. She would do whatever was necessary to amend her mistake and retrieve her child.
A single move of her hand was enough to open the door.
She rushed out of the door and took a defensive position, waiting for the enemy to come out and attack.
The seconds passed and nothing happened.
She relaxed and a questioning expression crossed her face.
There was no one in here. She looked around her and found that the door she just came out was very well hid in between the bookcases of the odd library.
Narrowing her eyes, Seras scanned the place as thoroughly as her tired eyes could. She was completely alone.
She took a hesitant step, wary eyes trained on the tall oak in the center of the spacious room. But nothing happened and she continued towards the door.
In no time Seras was running through the corridors of the seemingly endless building. Turn after turn all she could see were doors that would led her to another hallway with the same 8 doors as the last hallway.
She slowed her pace and tried to calm the rising panic. The place was enchanted, just like the forest, the corridors will always led her to another set of corridors in an infinite chain. This was no illusion, she could easily tell, but more of a trick.
She needed to find the correct door and then she would be out of the maze.
The moment she finished that thought, a sound of muffled voiced reached her ears.
She listened intently and the sound seemed to rise in volume… it seemed like someone was yelling…
There! The fourth door at her right!
She opened the door and although she came to another hallway she could hear the voices more clearly, also, the corridor was longer, much longer than the other ones.
"-re you leaving everything we have worked for!?"
The voice belonged to a woman, who was clearly mad and she could hear her passing around the room. Seras walked as slowly and quietly as she could until she was outside the door, her curiosity getting the best of her.
"You compromised! You told me you wanted my help and I gave it to you in exchange of what I wanted! You know better than this!" There was a small pause, was she speaking over the phone?
"All of the people in here believe in us! You more than anyone should know how much of a tyrant that monster can be!" A tired sigh was heard from the woman. "I can believe you are throwing away everything because of a stupi-"
There was a sudden loud noise of wood being hit and Seras couldn't help but to jump a little. Everything was quiet for a few seconds until the woman spoke again.
"Fine," The woman hissed and Seras then recognized the voice; it belonged to the witch. "Do as you wish."
It was far too late when Seras tried to flee, the woman had already opened the door. Their eyes met and Seras knew hell would break loose at any moment.
"You! What the hell are you doing in here!?" The woman bellowed as her face darkened with rage.
The building started to shake and the shadows moved unnaturally fast towards the two females. Seras could feel the ancient power emanating from the tall woman, chilling her to the bone. She knew she had to run but her legs did not move.
But what happened next made her breath stop and her head spin. A tall form emerged from behind the open door. Time seemed to slow down for her, how he casually strolled out of the room, his cold expression changing to one of shock and his voice calling for her.
But then he seemed so far away, and she could feel herself falling, her vision fading into black.
The two conscious people on the corridor were silent for a long and tense moment.
"Hans, please listen to m-"
'Move.'
The woman was out of his way in a second, glaring at the german, who was busy cradling the unconsicious form of Seras in his arms.
His eyes took in her damaged body with rising guilt and rage. Her skin was of a sick pale, her face had signs of having been burned, her eyes were sunk and had dark circles above them. She was so skinny and had scars all over her arms and legs.
'Seras..' He tried to reach for her only to find a jumbled mess of memories and hallucinations. He touched her cheek as carefull and slow as one would do with fragile glass, as If afraid she would disappear the moment he felt her.
'vhat have you done?' He was standing, holding Seras possessively in his arms.
"I didn't know who she was, they found her at the woods and she killed one of the vampires. They thougth she was an intruder!"
'I'm leaving.' He turned and starting walking away.
"Hans! Come back here!" The woman tried desperately, but her words were futile. He had made his choice and no one would stop him, she knew it. "It was just a missunderstanding!"
'She has been tortured ans she is so drugged she can't even remember her own name!' He harshly growled into her mind, making her flinch. 'Don't try to follow me.' He stopped before leaving the hallway, the last words he would ever speak to her. 'And don't ever talk me.'
The door closed behind him, leaving nothing but regret and past bitter memories in her mind.
-0-000-00-000-0-0-0-0
Everything around her smelled so fresh.
The air had a certain humidity, but it was pleasant to her skin and made the smells of the forest to become clearer and stronger.
There was a lingering taste in her mouth. It was so sweet and it brought her just as equally sweet memories to her mind. The numbness and the heavy feeling of her limbs were no longer, she was warm and the smell that surrounded her made her feel melancholyc and at the same time blissful.
She slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was his strong jaw, his long nose and those lips she had longed to kiss every time that she had thought of him.
Without a second thought or even a warning to her lover, she hugged him.
Hans stumbled in his step, taken aback by her sudden movement.
It started with a small shaking of her arms, and then a small sobbing, until she was loudly crying, her arms tightly around his neck.
"I t-thought you were dead! I-I thought I would never see you again!" Fat drops of blood fell from her eyes, blurring her vision and making her stumble with her own words. "I love you so much, I can't-" She took a deep breath trying to control her frantic breathing. "I can't live without you…" She ended quietly as she pressed herself harder into his chest.
Hans hugged her harder and breathed in her scense. Eyes closed and eyebrows furrowed in distress when he remembered the long and painful days without her. How he missed her voice, her laugh, her small hands in his, everything about her just brought out a side of him he thought long ago dead.
A single smile from her and he felt like he could conquer the world.
Neither of them wanted to break the hug, but there were so many unanswered questions, and so many things to tell. They slowly broke apart, putting enough distance so they could look at each other eyes, but not to fully separate their bodies.
Hans touched her cheek and carefully dried her tears with the back of his hand. Admiring her young face, fully recovered after he had fed her his blood while unconcisious.
'How did you escape?' He asked slowly.
Seras seemed surprised for a moment, but then she seemed upset, her face downcast.
"I didn't… escape…" She muttered in a mix of bitterness and sadness.
It took him a few seconds to realize what she meant with that. There must have been a fight, she must have defeated him somewhat. Although he felt happy he refrained from showing it. He respected whatever remaining feelings Seras had for Alucard, he knew there was a time were the two of them shared a special relationship. But that was the past and he didn't felt in the least jealous, she was here, with him, and that was enough proof of her true feelings for him.
He took her chin in his hand and lifted her face, kissing her passionately.
'Seras…' He kissed her again, with a hunger that none of them had ever felt before. 'I failed you, I should have protected you. Please forgive me.' He rested his head in her shoulder, waiting for her response.
"You couldn't have win no matter what Hans…" She combed her fingers in his white hair and kissed his cheek. "There's no way to stop him, not after what millennium did to him…"
'But you did. You fought him and won, that's vhy you are here…right?'
She frowned and broke their embrace. "No I-…" She stopped herself, remembering the reason as to why Alucard had let her go free.
She gasped. How dumb of her! How could she have forgotten her own child!?
Suddenly, she turned around, as if looking for something.
"Where are we?" She looked around, trying to find the river or something that gave away the place where the witch resided. But all she could see were trees and more trees.
'In the forest.' He was looking at her intently, wondering why her change of emotions so suddenly.
"Wait, how did I end up in here- w-where's the witch? And the camp?"
His face darkened and he was suddenly his old self. Cold and emotionless. 'I'll explain everything, but first ve need to get out of the forest Seras.'
"No! I- we need to come back-" Seras turned around, ready to start looking for the place, but a hand in her wrist stopped her before she could go any further.
'Seras, we can't come back.' He hastily growled.
"Hans please, there's something important I need to tell you… and we really need to go back to the camp." She sternly ended, yanking her hand back.
'Vhy do you vant to come back?' He asked with suspicion dripping from his tone. He narrowed his eyes and glared at her.
"I should be the one asking you why you don't want to come back. And what were you doing in there in the first place?" She was quickly losing her temper. She had so many questions but he was being stubborn and his attitude didn't help at all.
'They tortured you Seras! The vay they treated you! This people are dangerous and von't hesitate to kill, she-' He stopped himself, clenching his fist and taking a deep breath. Remembering how bad she looked, she was so skinny and pale, she looked dead and sick. It had scared him, he had been afraid of losing her…
At the sight of him Seras temper fell. His words were truth, that witch reminded her of Alucard so much, and as he had said, she was almost as old as the king vampire.
She sighed, nothing good will come out of this if she continued to act this way, she needed to call down and convince him to take her back. She took a step towards him and hugged him.
"Don't get mad, please."
He relaxed in her embrace and hugged her back.
'I can't continue vithout you. I don't want to lose you again...'
He whispered with such a raw emotion that made her heart ache and her legs wobble. She took his head in her hands and made him look at her.
"No one and nothing will ever tears us apart." She was dead serious, her eyes flashed red and darkness took over her face. A warning not for him, but to whoever dared to even think about harming them.
She kissed him once again.
"Please Hans, take me back. I promise you that nothing bad will happen. I promise you, you won't regret it."
He took a step back and said nothing. Instead, mist surrounded his form and in a second, a great white wolf appeared.
Seras smiled, delighted to be able to touch once more the soft fur and feel the warmth coming from him. Hans leaned in her touch and offered his back to her.
The travel didn't last long, and in a few minutes they were standing in front of a small and seemingly abandoned cabin wood.
But what really caught Seras attention was the woman leaning against the door of the cabin.
"Did you forget something?" She asked sarcastically, a mocking smirk on her face. "Or did you came here to apologize?" At said words her eyes drifted to Hans. She glared at him hard.
Seras gave her own angry stare to the woman. "I didn't forget her!"
A confused frown appeared in the woman's face, until it all clicked together. "The little girl..."
'Vhat are you talking about?' Hans took a step forward, asking in a menacing tone.
The woman suddenly appeared quite surprised, one could even say shocked. Hans, Seras, the child. The dates did matched, but she couldn't believe, not in all the years she had walked the earth had she known about such thing, it couldn't be possible….
"Oh god… it can be true, you are dead. You are a vampire! You can't possibly have been preg-"
"Take me to her!" Seras interrupted her, not wanting Hans to know anything from anyone besides her.
"Fine." She sharply turned around, the door of the cabin opened by itself to let her through.
Seras followed her behind without a hint of hesitation, and although Hans wasn't so sure himself, he warily followed Seras.
They walked for a while in a tense silence, none of them wanting to voice their doubts.
At last, the witch came to a stop in front of a white door, and the only one in the corridor they were currently in. She reached for the doorknob but stopped. She seemed to think about something for a moment and then she hesitantly turned towards Seras.
"I think you should be the one to enter first." She told her quietly.
Both Hans and Seras shared a look, he expressed his concern and suspicion on the woman, but Seras reassured him that nothing bad would happen.
Seras reached for the doorknob, hundreds of thoughts racing through her head.
The door opened. She slowly stepped inside, adjusting her eye side to the darkness of the room. But the moment she saw the cradle at the end of the room all rational thought flew out of the window, and she ran further into the room, not paying attention to Hans calling her or his hand trying to stop her.
She was sleeping so peacefully and soundly, her tiny chest moving with every breath she took. The back of her eyes stung and she didn't care for the single tear that fell from her eye the moment she saw her little girl safe and sound, but above all, alive.
It brought her an immense relieve to know that her girl wasn't an undead.
She gave the sweetest smell she'd ever knew and it aroused an ancient and sleeping instinct inside of her. That impulse to protect and care, to love and teach.
The girl was completely fine, not a single scar or a sign of harm… Although there was a lingering smell of another vampire in her skin, and it made her feel quite possessive of the little one. She was also bigger and fatter, and if there was something that at the moment angered her was that; she had been deprived from seeing her own daughter grown.
The girl stirred and all anger disappeared from her mind.
She slowly lowered her hands and took the child in a gentle embrace.
From the door, Hans observed with keen eyes, still not knowing with certainty what was making Seras so emotional. He glanced at the witch, who was also observing the blonde vampire but curiosity and amusement danced in those green vivid eyes.
He finally stepped into the room, only to stop when a foreign smell and presence appeared in his psyche. He immediately knew it was a baby… but it wasn't human, at least not completely. He frowned, curiosity got the best of him and he walked to where his lover was.
When he finally was behind her, Seras turned around. And he was able to see the small bundle nested against her voluptuous chest. But what surprised him the most was the look in her eyes, the way she looked at the small child in her arms, in such a loving manner.
So many question came to his mind. Who was this child and why Seras seemed so happy to see it? Why did smelled like nothing he ever smelled before? And then it hit him.
His chest clenched at the sole thought of what Seras had done.
She had stolen a baby.
But that wasn't the worst part; it was that she had turned the innocent child. His heart sank at the thought. He had heard the sad tales of vampire females driven mad by age and loneliness. They would steal little children and turn them. But the children would never age, they were little bloodlust machine. And no one knew if they were able to mentally mature, because the vampires would grow bored of the child after a time and kill it. And so the circle would be repeated till the end of their times…
He observed Seras. He blamed himself for this. Her time with Alucard had must been hell, he didn't know what that monster had done to her. What if he had tortured her, what if he had… what if he had raped her? He clenched his fist and swallowed his rage at the thought of him forcing Seras to bed him. It disgusted him. This was his fault and he had to help her to come back to her senses.
But before he could think of anything to say, she spoke.
"Hans..." She looked up with such a raw emotion in her eyes, that he almost agreed to play her game just for the sake of seeing her happy. "I know this may sound weird… and I'll understand if you don't believe it at first…" Her voice was soft and sweet.
"She is sleeping and I don't want to wake her… but when you look at her eyes you'll see." A warm smile appeared in her lips.
"She is your daughter."
She took a step forward, offering the child to him. But his first reaction was to back away. He was rigid and his eyes were wide. He didn't even glanced at the little girl.
A spell seemed to be lift up from her. Her smile faded and she looked at him completely heartbroken.
But he was too shocked to react in any other way. This was worse than what he initially thought. Not only did she stole the baby and turned her, but she believed that it was theirs!
He took a deep breath. 'Madchen…' He sounded tired.
She visibly swallowed the lump in her throat and held the tears back. "H- Hans, please look at her. She is our child." Her voice cracked and her lower lip trembled.
But before Seras could break into tears or Hans could reason with her, the small girl in her arms yawned loudly, catching both of her parent's attention. Seras held her breath waiting for the girl to open her eyes, while Hans held his breath waiting for a baby vampire in bloodlust.
One blue eye and one red eye stared at him for what it felt like an eternity.
The moment their eyes locked he knew.
It wasn't because of their color or shape, or even at the way she looked at him almost… knowingly. It was because those eyes had stared at him since the day he first stood in front of a mirror. Those eyes belonged to him.
"Do you see it now?" Seras asked upon seeing the awe in his eyes, knowing very well what he was thinking.
Hans just nodded too shocked to form words.
But the special moment was broken when a surprised gasp made them look away from each other and towards the door.
The witch stood by the door with a shocked expression upon her regal features. She slowly walked towards them.
"So it's true…" She seemed nervous and visibly swallowed. "I want to see her."
It came out as a demand, yet her face showed uncertainty and something else that Seras thought was guilt. Her thick eyebrows where furrowed and her posture was rigid. Seras was confused by her whole body language and immediately went into a defensive mode.
"Don't come any closer." Her voice was a low guttural growl and her eyes flashed an extreme red.
The woman sneered at her and stopped. "I have as much right as you to see her."
Seras frowned deeply and have her a puzzled look. "I'll kill you if you try anything."
The woman returns the glare tenfold, but then she directs her anger towards the always silent Hans.
"She doesn't know does she?"
Hans says nothing but only stare. Seras may be unaware of the real emotion behind her words but he isn't. She hides well her pain. He couldn't care less.
"She doesn't need to."
This, is only heard by her.
"Ve need to go madchen."
But Seras was no fool. In fact, she felt quite offended for they seemed to be treating her like one as of lately. She could clearly tell that there was something important that he was hiding.
"What is she talking about, Hans?" She tried to sound confused. To give him a chance to tell her everything without this escalating more than it needed to.
"You don't vant to know." He coldly answered as he took the hand that wasn't holding the baby and tried to walk out of the room. His patience was running thin.
"Yes, I want to know." Was her stubborn reply as she yanked her hand back and returned to her previous place besides the cradle.
"Are you going to deny me?" The woman dramatically asked, sounding hurt and betrayed.
"I am not denying anything!" Hans angrily snapped.
Seras eyes widened, surprised by how he seemed to lose his temper so easily because of the mysterious woman. This made nothing more than further increase her curiosity. She would not leave the place without answers from both of them.
"What does that mean?" She demanded at him while she eyed him suspiciously. "Deny what?" She couldn't hide the slight jealousy that escaped her tone.
"Just tell her already or I will!" The woman yelled annoyed.
"Nein!Lass uns gehen!" He growled.
"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what is she talking about!"
"Tell her once and for all!"
"Hans!"
"She is meine mutter! Ja!" His blue eyes pierced through Seras' red ones. "Carmen is meine mutter…"
There was a very long silence were they only stared at each other.
"What…" It was the only thing she could manage to say after a while, complete disbelieve all over her face. "I- I thought…"
She just didn't know what to say. She had so many questions for both of them but it was clearly not the right time. Hans seemed agitated and she started to feel the guilt starting to eat her for her early behavior.
She frowned as she swallowed the lump in her throat. She felt weary under his accusing glare and it reminded her of how old he really was; of all the things he never told her, all the things he hid from her.
She wasn't mad. He had his reasons and she would respect that.
He said nothing as he turned and walked towards the door, Seras right behind him.
"Wait!" Carmen tried to call him back but he was already out of the room.
He didn't stop but Seras did. She turned around and saw the defeat in the woman's eyes.
"You were the one who gave me the necklace." She was surprised with herself for not bringing that up earlier. Since Alucard had told her about the necklace she had been well aware of who this woman was. It never really crossed her mind to mention it… she guessed it was because there were more pressing matters like finding Hans and their child.
"I thought you didn't notice." There was a small smirk in her lips.
"Thank you… I guess…"
The woman didn't respond but only observed her with an unreadable expression. Seras stared back for a while until she turned and left the woman alone in the room.
"No, thank you, Seras Victoria."
Her smirk grew and she looked down at her hand, the small black ruby of the red eye glinting in the light.
She pedaled as fast and hard as she could while being careful of not breaking the bicycle or knock someone on her way. She glanced at the package that was tightly secured with a rope in the front of the basket, making sure that it hadn't broke or fell in the midst of her excitement.
She laughed with joy, not caring about the looks she got from the always gossip townspeople.
Her mind drifted back to the beginning of week, when she had found the death rabbit; completely dry of its blood and half eaten.
She had cried her eyes out.
Little Johanna had her first bloodlust, and her victim had been none other but her own pet.
At first she hadn't understand what had happened and Seras had been too upset to explain it to her. Of course Hans had to be the one to tell her.
Johanna had been so scared. She had cried and apologized to the butchered remains of 'Fraulein Mony', as she often called the little rodent.
Seras couldn't help but to compare the incident with the time she had killed the soldiers who turned ghouls, back when she was just a fledgling working under Hellsing. That's what had put her so upset, she didn't want her own daughter feeling a monster who would hurt the people she loved… It was something disturbing and dark, something that a child shouldn't feel.
After Seras had calmed down, she explained to her that it was a part of growing up, and that one day she would be able to control those impulses… But meanwhile, no more pets.
The girl had been heartbroken, not only for the loss of her only friend, but because she couldn't replace it… as bad as that sounded.
The rabbit had been a gift, yes, but it also had been a way to keep her curiosity and eagerness to meet other people at bay. The plan had clearly backfired.
Chronologically, Johanna was ten years old. But mentally and physically she was only a five year old kid. Her growth was steady but slow. When she was a baby she barely cried, and now that she could speak, her words where a few and between and quite unusual for a child.
That wasn't really a surprise given that she had no other way of entertaining herself but with books, a hobby that she enjoyed, but lately she had been craving for human contact and social interactions.
It never crossed their mind that she could eat the damned rabbit!
Their situation had been worse and they had spoken about what to do. The solution had been easy: another pet. Just this time it would be something that she couldn't eat.
So Seras had spent the whole weekend searching for the right animal. It had to be low maintenance, but entertaining enough to keep her interested; she also needed to be able to play with it.
So no dogs, cats, birds or any type of rodents. So at the end her only option had been a fish.
She had woken up early in the afternoon and left for the small city that was two hours away from their villa. Luckily she didn't need to travel those two hours and only used a portal to get her near the entrance but far enough so no one would see her arriving.
And so, she had arrived to the pet store.
But before she could get to the fish section, her eyes caught sight of a yellow snake.
It had been so many years since she saw one, and she remembered that she always wanted one when she was a little girl… until she found out that their food were living mice.
But just besides the snake had been quite a curious and rather cute (at least in her opinion) reptile.
The chameleon was looking directly at her while it balanced itself on an artificial branch.
Seras had smiled from ear to ear, giving the small creature a toothy grin.
And that's how she had found the perfect pet for her little one.
But that wasn't the reason for her excitement and desperation to get home as fast as possible.
Finally, aster what it felt like an eternity, Seras made it to the outskirts of the city and into the woods. Where she dismounted the bicycle and in the blink of an eye she was standing in the front gates of their very own villa,
She smiled proudly at the small house they had built with their own hands.
The place had been cheap to buy for it was old and the construction was inhabitable, it was also too far away from the civilization and it only had the plumbing system but not electricity.
But for them the place was more than perfect. No neighbors, an enormous back yard and a good part of the forest only for them. It was perfect to raise their children.
She didn't bother to close the gate behind her and almost ran towards the door but refrained from doing it for the sake of the poor little chameleon inside the box she was carrying.
Seras found both Hans and Johanna sitting in the living room, reading.
"I'm home!"
They both looked at her at the same time with those cold eyes, she shivered with anticipation when she met Hans blue eyes and gave a loving warm smile when she saw the blue and red eyes of her girl.
Seras left the package in a nearby table and jumped over Hans, placing herself in his lap as she kissed him with lust.
Johanna scrunched her nose in disgust but said nothing and returned to her book, quite familiarized with her mother's loving nature towards her father.
"Vhat is it meine liebchen?" Hans asked as he caressed her cheek.
"Close your eyes." She softly said to him.
As he did, Seras took his hand and guided him to her abdomen where she pressed it for a few seconds.
And then he sensed it. It was faint but strong, a rhythmic thump and a soft palpitation. A heartbeat, one that wasn't from Seras.
His eyes flew open.
"You are…"
"I am."
"You are what?"
Seras looked at Johanna, who had that solemn expression that clearly had been inherited from her father, but that thanks to her mother side didn't look like a cold indifference. Her eyes always seemed to be searching for something and taking in every detail of her surroundings, curiosity and innocence shone in them.
Seras smiled and then, gave her a simple answer.
"You are going to be a big sister."
Ugggh! finally! hahahaha. sorry for the late update and the cheesy final!
So this is the end. I didn't want to explain many details regarding Carmen and Hans relationship, because i personally hate OC's (you should use them only if necessary!) But if any one is curious she is based in Esmeralda from the notre dame hunchback. She looks like Esmeralda from the Disney movie BUT her backstory is completely taken from the book (By Victor Hugo). In the book Esmeralda is a teenage girl (only 16 i think) and the captain only wants to have sex with her. And once he gets what he wants (and after other events with Frollo and the Hunchback) he just leaves her... and if i'm not wrong he is the one that accusses her of being a witch. And sadly, they do burn her alive.
I guess with that information is more than enough to figure it out what happened right? hahaha, in any case, if you have any questions, reclaims or suggestions please feel free to send me a PM.