A Series of Seemingly Unrelated Events
"I said…WHERE IS SHE?"
Dahlia and Samuel remained silent.
Caelum was pacing the living room floor, before he stormed up to Samuel with his clenched fist raised; he cuffed the side of his head and Samuel crumpled to the ground from the impact, just in time for Caelum to deliver a hefty kick to the chest. He cried out, and curled into a ball, cradling his newly broken ribs. Dahlia screamed as she helplessly watched her husband concede to Caelum's relentless attacks.
The dark haired vampire then grabbed Samuel by the front of his shirt that they went eye-to-eye, "You disappoint me, Samuel." He hissed, "I entrusted you and your wife with one simple task…one tiny, simple task, and that is to look after that wretched No-Life King's mate…to look after her, feed and clothe her…treat her like your own until he would find her… and you kicked her out…Now she is gone. Have you ANY idea what you have just done?"
Samuel slowly gathered himself up, spitting a wad of blood to the side. "…I refuse to be a part of this anymore."
"Refuse?" Caelum snarled, before kicked him in the stomach again; Samuel returned to the floor, rolling in agony. "You weren't like this eighteen years ago. Since you don't want to be part of this anymore, I'll just have to kill you."
"NO!" Dahlia screamed as she pulled free from Luther's grip and ran to her husband, throwing herself over him. "Mr Caelum, please! Samuel, he-he's just…he's not thinking properly…"
there was a prolonged silence until Caelum slid his gaze to Luther. "...Get that piece of shit out of here. I'll deal with him properly later."
The albino nodded and promptly grabbed Samuel in Caelum's place; the man resisted thoroughly against as Ermen held back a sobbing and weeping Dahlia. Samuel said, "Dahlia…why did you tell them?"
"She knows, Sam…She knows." She whimpered, as the president watched Luther lead Samuel out before he turned to Dahlia next. She went down on her knees and grasped at his sleeve, muttering hysterically, "P-P-Please don't kill my husband, Mr Caelum. I'll-I'll do anything you say, oh please, don't kill him."
"...Fine."
"Thank you, Caelum. Thank you so much..."
"That's what I like about you, Dahlia. You're not like Samuel, who's always suspicious and wary and so annoyingly defiant; you're surprisingly very obedient, and you obviously don't think much, do you?" He replied, with a smile. A few seconds later, and the smile vanished, replaced with a dark frown. "But now…you're just as guiltyas he is. Pick up the goddamned phone and call that runaway of yours to come home right this instant."
"…What if she comes back with Alucard?"
"Even if he comes, I'll kill him; I'm not afraid of him. Now get to it, Dahlia."
Swallowing, Dahlia nodded and hastily rushed over to the phone atop the cupboard and picked it up, dialling Ruby's mobile number. Ruby…I'm so sorry it has come to this. It's not our fault…we were forced to do this…Please understand, and please…please don't pick up the phone…
At Hellsing manor, Morris met up with Integra in the corridor outside her main office. She was walking towards him from the opposite direction, carrying three boxes with her, which Morris took from her arms.
"Thank you."
"These are really heavy! You carried them all the way here from the archives?"
"Yes." She unlocked the door, and opened it for Morris, who carried in the large cardboard boxes that were now stacked vertically in his arms.
"What have you been doing?"
"Now that we have a name, I was looking for more information about the Knights." Together, they made their way to the desk where Integra scooped one stacked-up box from Morris, and placed it on her desk, before she reached for the other. "My father hid these files well." The Director moved to stand behind the desk with Morris facing her. She wiped the dust off the lid of one box with a cloth beside her, then opened it carefully.
"'Closed Cases'?" Morris questioned as he glanced at the label on the side of the box.
"Yes, but obviously the Knights are not a closed case: Caelum - I assume - is reviving the Knights and taking over using their name, or my father has missed a spot. He discovered the Black Flame Knight sect via a distress call." Integra said; Morris began to help her go through the piles and piles of folders and papers. She fished out a random folder, and opened it, then pulled out a file. "There. It says here, on March 11th 1950, a distress call came from a village called Bal'allan. The call was made by a man named Anthony Rosenthal, and his fiancée, Emilia. The exact recording of the phonecall is also listed here: apparently, villagers were going missing until a vampire was spotted one night during patrol."
Integra rifled through more documents and finally located the victim profiling sheet squashed in between a hand-drawn, birds-eye view map of the entire village. Morris picked it up, inspecting it carefully. There was one location on the map that piqued his curiosity. The 'shrine'. A shrine for what?
"Let's see..." Integra scanned the profiling sheet carefully. "Anthony Rosenthal was a doctor; he had his own clinic, and assisted front-line infantry soldiers during the Second World War. He moved all the way from Bal'allan with his fiancée to England following the phonecall; to start anew, I suppose."
Morris picked up a random document. "It says here that the Rosenthal's are divorced now; Mr Rosenthal and the Mrs passed away about ten years ago."
Integra frowned slightly. There goes one potential lead. "What about their children?"
"They had two. One of them is missing."
"Missing?"
"Their youngest child, Mary. She went missing when she was five months old."
"When was this?"
"Roughly thirty to forty years ago. The child was never found."
"I'll ask if the Commissioner can give me anymore details." Integra said as she went to the other boxes of 'Cold Case' files Morris had beside him. "But it is also best to look through these. We might find more interesting things in here."
A few minutes later of searching and Morris found a thin folder, then pulled out the paperclip and settled it on Integra's desk. He opened it and flipped to a random file and lifted it out. "Hm, I found a similar case – a devastating fire killed a young couple named Van der Linde in their own home in Southampton, but it was suspected to be a murder case because no smoke was found inhaled in their lungs, which means they were killed beforehand. Also, the body of their two year old daughter, Leanne, was never recovered. Do you think it may be related?"
"Maybe. For now, I shall pay the Rosenthal's eldest daughter a visit."
"Okay; while you do that, I'll head to Bal'allan. See if anyone there can help us." Morris said, still with the map in hand.
"Wait - Morris, I'll tell Alucard and Seras to go; I have a contact who can assist them there. For now, I would like you to escort Miss Ashcroft to the manor." Integra said, "I wouldn't want her to go alone."
Morris nodded in agreement, "Sure, I'll go pick her up."
Meanwhile.
"...Yes, master. I will leave immediately." Alucard hung up on the phone following the end of the conversation without further ado and turned to Ruby, who was waiting for the car that would take her to Hellsing. They'd returned to the apartment to pack.
"Who was that?" She asked, as a familiar black car pulled up at the pavement, "Sir Integra?"
"Yes."
"Oh…a mission, right?" Her expression fell slightly, "So, you won't be escorting me back?"
"Stay in the car; the chauffeur will take you directly to the manor." He murmured, before he kissed her forehead. "Do not leave the car."
She nodded and smiled widely. "Okay."
The door to the driver's seat opened and out popped Morris free of his usual labcoat attire or the suede suit. Instead, he'd opted for a casual white t-shirt and dark, low-waisted denims. A black sweatband with a skull and crossbone pattern on it was wrapped around his forehead, his blonde hair poking out in all sorts of directions. "Hey." Morris greeted them, and before long, the passenger door opened and another familiar face emerged from the car.
"Mr Morris?" Ruby blinked as the vampire hunter unlocked the boot of the car and grabbed her suitcase, before lifting it inside the trunk, "…Joshua?"
"We came to get you." Joshua announced with a broad grin, stopping shortly in front of the girl. He seemed different compared to the last time Ruby saw him…he was really depressed…Now he was practically glowing…a totally different person…
"Awesome!" Ruby exclaimed, and she ruffled his hair with her palm while Alucard wrapped his arms around her possessively as soon as Morris walked over.
The vampire hunter didn't seem to have realised the ominous glare Alucard was subjecting him to. "C'mon. Let's go, we're on a strict schedule. Integra expects us by evening."
She glanced up at Alucard expectantly; he leaned over and kissed her cheek before letting go of her, then averted his gaze to Morris. In response, Morris gave Alucard an acknowledging nod. They watched Alucard drift away subsequently and then turned to the awaiting car; Morris locked the trunk while Joshua opened the door for her. She thanked him, and plopped herself into the passenger seat of the car before Joshua clambered in himself.
Morris slid into driver's seat and yanked the seatbelt towards the clip. "Buckle up everyone, it's a long ride to Hellsing." He said, and Ruby and Joshua did as they were told.
The car pulled out of the driveway and onto the main road. They conversed amiably (mostly about vampires) for a few minutes or so until Ruby's mobile began ringing and she pulled it out from her pocket and stared at the lit-up screen. 'Home', it said. Her mother was calling her? She flipped it open meekly and pressed it against her ear.
"Mum?"
"…Ruby. Oh, Ruby, please… please come home, dear, quickly…"
"What's wrong, mum? What's happened?"
"Please, Ruby, come back home right now. Something terrible has happened. Your father, he…well, he…Just come home, darling, hurry – "
Then the phone went dead. Now what? She was on her way to Hellsing… but now it seemed something had happened back home and she was needed… And Alucard told her not to leave the car…Well, going home shouldn't hurt, she thought. Anyway...She should go back home to tell her mother that she wouldn't be expected back home any time soon.
"...Mr Morris…" Ruby found herself saying, "...is it okay if you make a quick detour to my house?"
"Sir Integra Hellsing?"
Integra glanced up from her laptop to see a woman standing in front of her. The woman was old, perhaps in her mid-fifties. Integra immediately lowered the laptop screen and replied, "Are you Madison Rosenthal?"
The old woman nodded. "Yes."
"Please, have a seat, Ms Rosenthal. Thank you for seeing me on such short notice. Would you like a drink?"
"No, thank you." replied the old woman, as she sat down on the spare seat opposite Integra and smiled. "What a lovely place this is."
She was talking about the art gallery's cafe. It was not restricted to meetings with Enrico Maxwell; Integra often met up here with Hellsing clients or any other associate in general. "I would like to ask you about your little sister." Integra said, taking a sip from her espresso.
Madison hesitated, then nodded; she brought out her purse from her bag and placed it on the surface of their table, then took out a photograph from inside and handed it to Integra. "This is the only picture we have of her."
Integra scrutinised the picture, her eyes narrowing acutely. The photograph contained Jack Rosenthal, Emilia Rosenthal, a young Madison, and a baby in Emilia's arms. No doubt, the baby was the missing little sister. "What happened?"
"It happened a long time ago; I was young. A man came and took Mary away. I didn't know who he was." Madison replied, "My father was in hospital, and my mother was downstairs. I was sleeping, but I woke up because I heard her talking to someone. I went down, and I saw her crying and there was a gentleman standing in front of her."
"What did this man look like?"
The old woman tried to concentrate. "…Hmm, I don't remember much… but there was something odd about him. He was so young, much younger than my mother… He was very pale…he had black hair and…and I remember he had these horrible, horrible red eyes. He was holding Mary, and…"
"He took her away?"
Madison nodded meekly. "He walked past me out of the front door. ...I'm so sorry."
"Why are you apologising?"
"My sister was stolen from my family...but it's been so long. I fear I...do not have anymore tears to shed." Madison replied morosely, "I never knew her; it's as if she never existed."
"You've never seen your little sister again?"
The woman shook her head. "My mother didn't want to report it. She said Mary was his child, that he came to get what belonged to him...and we were better off this way. What a horrible thing to say, yes? But...I believe it was my mother's way of coping with the loss."
Whilst Integra was meeting up with Emilia's daughter, Alucard and Seras took a helicopter up north, and they were dropped off at the pier to make the rest of the journey by foot. They met Integra's local contact whilst at the harbour - a man with blue eyes, messy brown hair and briefcase in hand.
"Jack Seward," He introduced himself, "I am one of the descendants of John Seward. It's nice to meet you."
How cliché, Alucard thought. all of the descendants of the men who defeated him so many years ago have all stuck to the same profession. Morris was a vampire hunter, and now Seward was a doctor of some sort. Police Girl shook hands with him politely and said, "What are you doing here, Dr Seward?" as the trio began to make their way towards their rented van.
"Bal'allan is a village with a history of high vampiric activity, and human sacrifices." He replied, "I'm here to conduct some research and assist you."
Whilst Alucard wondered precisely how Seward would assist them, they began their journey; the group hitched a ride to the village from a farmer who was making delivery rounds to a village close to Bal'allan. Compared to Morris, Seward was a far quieter individual with a grace of an upper-class man. By the time they arrived, the farmer had driven off the main road and onto a lonely path. Seras was snoozing and Alucard was leisurely tampering with the Casull, occasionally giving fleeting glances to the sleeping police girl.
Alucard averted his gaze; the sky was darkening… it was a black, dusky hue with a spray of gleaming stars and the luscious curve of the moon poking out, hidden beneath thick, invisible clouds. It was a beautiful night. He remembered watching the moon from that window in his tower of his castle. He remembered how verdant and full it was, and since he'd arrived at Britain, he hadn't seen the moon like that for a long time. He was brought of his thoughts when their driver steered to the right.
"Alright, this is the last stop. I'm afraid you city folk will have to walk the rest of the way." The farmer said, as he stopped his van.
Alucard, Seras and Seward left the vehicle, and the farmer drove off. There was no more light on the road; their only light was from the retreating car. The trio began their trek, and eventually, faint orangey blobs could be seen in the horizon, and Seras sighed with relief as the view of a small cluster of houses loomed into view.
"Let us begin our investigation." Alucard said as he scrutinised the damaged, tattered sign that was hammered into the ground. It said 'Bail' Ailein'. "Come along, Police Girl."
"Yes, master." Seras followed him with a huge plastic case (that was cleverly concealing her gun) slung over her shoulder. "I wonder what we'll find here." She said as Seward sauntered after them and into the village. "I didn't think places like this still existed…"
It was quiet; the streets were empty. There were no street lights save for a lit lamp or so standing atop a random barrel every five blocks or so. There didn't seem to be the hint of a person around. They wandered around, noticing the dilapidated state of the houses.
"Don't stray too far, Police Girl."
"Yes, master."
After walking past the first few houses, Seward took note from the structure that they were only one storey, and very, very small. Moving away from the neighbourhood, the trio stepped into what appeared to a small village square, where a worn down village hall, barbershop, a feed shop, and the local grocers were erected, standing proud in view but still let down by their deteriorated state. A chapel and cemetery could be seen in the distance. In the middle of the square was a hole in the ground. Seward threw a look inside; Seras peered down beside him, while Alucard inspected the barred windows of the shops.
"…Do you think there are people here?" Seras said, listening to her voice echo around the stone walls of the dried-out well. "It is too far from the main city for people to live here."
"They must be self-sufficient. I'll go knock on a door and see if anyone can talk to us." Seward said.
"Me too."
The doctor and draculina left the well to walk up to the doors of random houses away from the village square. At his chosen door, Seward scoured around for a doorbell, or a letterbox, but there were none. He resorted to curling his fist and rapping his knuckles lightly on the beechwood. There was no response. Seward tried again, rapping with a little more strength compared to his previous attempt. "Hello? Is somebody there? Please, it's urgent. Is anybody there?"
Finally, the door opened – it gave a low creak, and then, a pale and ashen face stared back at him. It was an elderly woman; her hair was wild and grey, and she was long-faced, her cheeks were stringy and hollowed, and her eyes sunken, her elastic-like skin stretched and bedraggled. She clutched the carpet-like shawl that was draped over her shoulders closer to herself with one ragged, wrinkled hand.
Seward took a while to respond as he stared at her. The woman was positively emaciated and spooky; he swallowed down and said, "I'm terribly sorry to disturb you, ma'am, but I have a question to ask you – "
The door was promptly slammed shut before he finished his sentence. Seward blinked. What happened had happened very fast, in less than three seconds for a fact. He turned back to Alucard who merely responded with an amused grin and turned to Seras, who also elicited no response from her chosen house no matter how many times she knocked and called. Seward averted his attention back to the door and knocked again, but the woman did not open for him. Instead, she yelled in a language that was not quite English. "Dèan às!" She was screeching, over and over again.
With no success, Seward and Seras retreated back to Alucard's side. "They're afraid of us. It's no use."
"Leave them be, you two. Xenophobia has burrowed its roots here. I have found something far more interesting."
The two gazed at another exit of the village near the south which had piqued Alucard's interest. A sign near the wooden frame said 'Bail' Ailein dhe'Fireach' leading to the dusty outline of a mountain in the horizon up ahead.
Seras gazed at the path of the village that spread outwards; it was a winding, dark and foreboding trail, lined with a tremendous amount of trees and undergrowth that led all the way up to a large, rocky peak in the horizon, then trailed after Alucard as he began to set foot on the muddy path without further ado with Seward following suit as he gave worried glances over his shoulder.
"Vampires prefer to dwell in isolated regions away from humans. I doubt we will find out much in this village." Alucard replied.
A few minutes into their trek and Seward suddenly said, "Mr Alucard, Miss Seras, you might want to look at this."
The vampires glanced over faintly to see what Seward was pointing at. In the village they left behind, a sea of dishevelled-looking figures holding oil lamps could be seen. The villagers. They had gathered at the square and were now staring at the group inquisitively.
Meanwhile, Morris escorted Ruby home; he said they should really stay on the path to Hellsing and not deviate because of the strict schedule, but he could allow Ruby to at least check what happened back home. She told Joshua to stay with Morris, then left the car and stormed up to her house, to see an empty black car parked outside the gates. It could not have been a Hellsing car, however… She nervously opened the door to her house and stepped inside the building.
"…Mum? Dad?"
The house smelled of cigarettes. When she opened the door to the lounge, she stared at the strange men loitering in her living room. There were at least five or six, all dressed in black suits, with sunglasses. Their attire reminded her of bodyguards, although the scale tipped heavily in favour towards the possibility of these men being members of the mafia. Had her father accidentally gotten himself unintentionally involved with the black market?
However, Ruby's attention was captured by the man who was sitting on her father's armchair with one leg crossed over the other. He was the only one to not be adorned in a black suit, and he was also the only one to be sitting down; he was young, with short black hair to his ears and he too had sunglasses, and was dressed in an expensive-looking grey suit with a white shirt and a black tie that heightened his pale complexion. A lit cigarette was squashed in between his lips, and when he saw Ruby, he smirked.
The man standing by his side was big and burly, with slicked-back raven hair and brown eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. He also had a far larger build compared to his companion in the couch, who was skinnier and leaner. When Ruby glanced up at the big, bulky man, he responded to her stare with an equal stony glare of his own. It was then she caught sight of strange, raggedy scars across the width of his forehead and the left side of his head where it was more evident.
Surgical scars? According to her history textbook, those scars appeared to be from procedures to the brain such as lobotomies... "…W-who are you people?"
The man sitting down spoke first. "Make sure she came here alone."
"Yes, sir." The big burly man stomped out of the living room, "You three, come with me."
Ruby paled as the men left. Oh no, she thought, Mr Morris! And… Joshua… She feared the worst as a bead of sweat trickled down her forehead. That guy on the couch must be the leader…but he's so young… Upon closer inspection, she thought she had seen him before, too. "Where's my family?"
"Your mother is in the basement, and your father is receiving his punishment for trying to send you far, far away from here."
"Let them go! Whatever debts my family has, I-I'll pay."
To her surprise, the seated man merely erupted into mocking laughter, and she blinked numbly at him. "Debt?" He questioned, before he laughed harder, and Ruby saw the telltale, sharp tips of fangs in his mouth.
The colour drained from her face once again. Vampire? This man… no, these men, are vampires? What's going on? And…is he the guy from the portrait?
"You've forgotten, Ruby?" said the strange young man, "Yes, that's right, I know your name. I'll get round to that soon. Let's just say… I can't blame you for not knowing who I am…it's been a long time since the last time I saw you…you were just a toddler…but look how much you've grown; I hardly even recognise you. And this…It's nice to know you at least remembered me a little during our short time together."
She stared when he unravelled the family crayon drawing from his hand, and when he held it up to her, smirking, her mouth fell open in shock.
He grinned at her reaction, then stood up from the sofa, dusting down at his suit and crushing his cigarette with his black, leather-gloved fingers. He watched the brittle white and brown components float down to their carpet, and turned to her. She stepped away from him as he neared, "Don't be frightened, Ruby. I won't hurt you…I would never hurt you, because we have so much history, you and I."
Before Ruby could even realise what was happening – he slapped her squarely across the cheek with the back of his hand. She reeled slightly from the impact, her hair falling over her eyes, and raised a shaking hand to her stinging cheek.
"You – "
He struck her once more and she stared at him, wide-eyed. When he raised his arm again, she automatically flinched, but then he smiled, his hand lowering to her reddened cheek to stroke it affectionately. "You know better than to talk back to me, Ruby."
An awful silence engulfed them for a few seconds. She could do nothing but gawk at him wordlessly, clutching her stinging cheek.
"Why do you look so shocked?" He said, as he let go of her, "Just because you are the so-called 'mate' of the No-Life King, that doesn't mean you are untouchable. It does not grant you any unique ability, title or protection…nor are you privileged in any way. You are still nothing but a worthless little human." Then he took off his sunglasses.
It was indeed the man from the portrait, confirming her suspicions. The more she looked at him, the more the portrait didn't do him justice. He was surprisingly more attractive up close and in person. She gasped as soon as his blood-red eyes met her gaze. Those chilling eyes were unmistakeable. She had seen them before countless times. Those…red eyes…from my…
"Dreams?" He suggested.
"How did you - " She paused, "...You're Caelum." Ruby didn't remotely understand. He knows me. He knows my family…but…why…?
As if reading her mind, he said, "Of course I know you. You're one of my people, after all. I have been watching you for a long time. In fact, I have been… observing humans for a long time. And now…I have come to take you back, Ruby."
They'd been walking on the path for a long time since leaving the village. Gazing over his shoulder, Seward realised the village looked like scenery in a snowglobe. Scaling the path with the two vampires, and he wondered what they may find when they reached the foot of the mountain. Maybe they'd find something amazing, or something truly horrifying. An adventure to the very core, he thought.
He felt a cold breeze whip past him and shivered slightly; the temperature here was far more frigid than at village. It was starting to get chilly and icy. Seras and Alucard seemed unaffected by the sudden decrease in temperature, however, and he stopped in pace when he noticed Alucard, who had been in front of him, had stopped also. Seward peered over to see what had temporarily stopped Alucard in his tracks: it was a large, rectangular stone slab that had been propped in the middle of the clearing.
"Intriguing." Alucard murmured, when Seward approached it, unfolding the map.
"What is it?" Seras asked, as she joined Seward' side.
"This must be the shrine where they offered sacrifices." Seward deduced, as he inspected it thoroughly. There seemed to be nothing else on the slab except from a few marks from the obvious exposure of the environment and weather. He rubbed his finger along the frayed surface and looked at his finger. "It hasn't been used for a long time…" He whipped out his notepad from his pack and began taking down notes with a ballpoint pen until Alucard grabbed his attention by stalking past him. "Mr Alucard, where are you going?"
His question was answered when Alucard pointed all the way up, and Seward and Seras gazed up at the towering peak. They had finally reached the base of the mountain. How on earth were they going to climb that? They watched Alucard leap up to the very top with their jaws hanging in mid-air as the No Life King landed on the summit in seconds.
"Police Girl, if you have a fear of heights, then stay with the doctor. I will scout ahead." Alucard said.
"Pardon?" Seward replied; he hadn't heard. Alucard was too far up.
"I-I'm not scared of heights, master." However, Seras had managed to hear with her advanced hearing, and she called up to him, before she turned to Seward. "Will you be alright by yourself here, Dr Seward?"
"I'll be fine, Miss Seras. You should go ahead with Alucard."
"Okay." She strode to the mountain and grasped onto one rock, then began to attempt to climb the mountain. Seward watched the draculina; she was already halfway up.
With Seras on her way slowly but surely, Alucard scouted the summit by himself. The peak granted a nice view of the stars but this was no way accessible by humans; he thought twice if he should return for the two rookies, but when he saw that there was a cave directly in front of him, he decided to go in. The summit contained nothing but trees, bushes, fungus, rot and moss. He sniffed the air; the faint stench of blood was clearly evident. However, there didn't seem to be any sign of vampires nor was there anything of particular interest except from a small glow coming from the innards of the cave.
He went inside without further ado; the cave itself was dark and dank, the pebbly walls grimy and smarmy to touch. Droplets of water dripped from mini stalactites and onto his shoulders and the wide, floppy brim of his hat, but he did not pay it any attention. After what seemed another long walk, he arrived at the clearing to see a poorly made fireplace out of chopped pieces of wood and tufts of weeds, before his gaze landed on the hunched up figure that was hovering over the corpse of a deer. Sensing his presence, the hunched-up figure turned round before scrambling away for cover.
Alucard was faster; he re-appeared in front of the fleeing vampire, and the vampire bumped into him, glancing up meekly as Alucard stared at him from the bottom of his eyes. "And where do you think you are going?"
The vampire tried to fight Alucard, his claws and fangs at the ready, but again, Alucard was quicker, and with one fluid motion, he'd shot a bullet from the Casull into the vampire's left leg. The leg flew off in a spray of blood over the cold ground, and the vampire stared in muted shock at his severed limb, then whipped his head up to Alucard.
"I-I'm sorry! P-Please doon shoot me in the heed, please doon kill me, oh almighty one, oh powerful and strong one, oh tall and handsome one, please doon kill me!" He yelped, with a thick Scottish accent, and he scrambled up to Alucard and wrapped his arm around his leg.
Alucard raised an eyebrow in response at the vampire, but grinned. The creature appeared malnourished and emaciated; it was no doubt a 'he' and his attire of a greying shirt and slacks that greatly resembled the villagers' wear. His head was a mop of tousled, dirty blonde hair that curled past his ears, and he was filthy all over and bruised, save for the clear blue eyes that were blinking up at him pleadingly. "Ah know you doono what's goin' on here." He spluttered, "But I didnae mean to take over your cave, I dinna ken, honestly. I dinna ken you'd be coming home so quickly."
It seemed this vampire had confused Alucard with somebody else.
Alucard glanced around, noticing the piles and piles of human bones scattered around the cave. "Are you responsible for this?"
The vampire threw a quick glance to the human bones and then shook his head. "You think ah did all that? No, you got it wrong, sir, ah didnae kill these human varmints, honest!"
"And what do you call yourself, cretin?"
The vampire began kissing Alucard's boot, his lips making a loud, smacking sound with each kiss. "Thade Nuvos, sir, at your service sir, oh please doon kill me, sir. Please find it in yer dead heart to spare a simpleton like me, sir. I am quite useful; I make a good shoe cleaner, aye. I am just a lonely scavenger – " He pointed to the dead deer and then to a pile of other dead animals ranging from possums to weasels and owls. " – and I 'ave never bitten a human varmint cos' personally, ah think they taste a wee bit like petrol."
"Thade." Alucard repeated, and the vampire nodded feverishly. "That's an interesting name."
"Real name's Herbert, sir."
"What are you doing here, Herbert-Thade?"
"Can't a vampire live hassle-free away from them human varmints, sir?"
However, a new voice entered the fray before Alucard could question anymore: "Master!"
The two vampires turned to the direction of the new voice; and Seras, who had finally arrived, stared wide-eyed at Thade the vampire who had gasped and let go of Alucard's boot. "A police girl? Nae wonder!" Thade exclaimed, "Ah should've known. It's you! Hellsing's trashman! The trump card o' Hellsing! Ah heard about ye! Ah heard how you recently got yer own wee fledgling. They said she was a police girl, alright. Ah heard so much about ye; how ye kill all them evil vampires without batting an eyelid or workin' up a sweat, how ye swim gracefully in a sea of blood. Oh god, have mercy!"
"Uh…What is that, master?" Seras asked, pointing to the vampire who had gone back to kissing Alucard's boot.
Alucard glanced down, and smirked. "An interesting toy. Police Girl, you can do the honours."
Honours? He must mean 'interrogation'. "Yes, master. But…who is he?"
"Me?" Thade squeaked, "Ye talkin' to me? Ach, me name's Thade Nuvos. Ah live in the cave just a few ledges doon, but it's not as warm and cosy as this one." The vampire grinned at Seras as he eyed her head to toe, then tidied his non-existent hair and wolf-whistled, much to the draculina's embarrassment, "Hey, sweets, want some luvin'? Thade got plenty of love, right 'ere, an' he got his own sweet pad, too." He patted an oblong, squat rock beside him, his eyebrows wiggling suggestively.
Seras dove behind Alucard in seconds. "…Eek!" She squeaked, "…W-We just have a few questions we would like to ask you, Mr Nuvos…"
Thade doubled over with cackling, harrowing laughter, and Seras cringed furiously. "Alrigh', alrigh', go on and ask, sweets. Ask me anythin'. Just doon let yer master kill me. I didnae do anythin'."
"W-Well, um, d-do you recognise this symbol?"
Thade stared at the photocopy Seras nudged over to him from a safe distance away, then he shook his head. "Nope."
"You lie." Alucard snarled, before the nozzle of the Casull was thrust against Thade's temple. "I am in no mood for games, Herbert-Thade. If you value your miserable life then tell us everything you know."
"A-Alrigh', fine…" Thade snatched the photocopy of the symbol off the ground; he pulled out a pair of glasses from the innards of his tattered coat, put them on and inspected it closely. "Aye, I've seen this symbol alright. It's the seal of them Guardians of the Black Flame."
"The Black Flame Knights."
"Aye, that's them, the wee bastards." Thade grunted, as he replaced his glasses back into his shirt.
"Why did you call them Guardians?"
"'Cause they were, half a century ago. What do you want wi' them?"
"They have become of interest to Hellsing." Alucard replied, with a slanted grin.
"But they're no' the kind to be messin' around with Hellsing." Thade picked his leg off the ground and re-attached it to the wound, where it was beginning to heal.
"What do you know about them, Mr Nuvos?"
Thade rubbed at the back of his head, then sighed. "Not much. From what I heard, it was created by a vampire called Gideon. He began collecting newly-turned vampires and helped them control their blood lust. They moved here from Romania, and they been livin' in England ever since."
"Is Gideon still alive?"
"Nah, he got his head chopped off."
"So it's someone else. Caelum?"
"Aye, ye know 'bout Caelum? If you doono, he's a vampire, like all of us." Thade said, glancing from Alucard, to Seras. "They say he's off his nut. But that's vampires we're talking about. O' course we're all mad."
"You speak as though you are affiliated with him." Alucard replied; Thade whimpered again.
"No, sir, I doono him, sir. I just heard 'bout him. Nobody knows who he really is. Nobody knows where he is now. You doon find him, he finds you. Ah heard Hellsing came and chopped all their heads off an' all, but one of 'em survived. Must 'ave been Caelum then."
"How do you know all this, Mr Nuvos?"
"There's plenty o' campfire stories around."
"And how long have you lived here?"
"Twenty years, tops. I move around and around from place to place. Cannae settle in one place for long." Thade replied, scratching at the back of his ear.
Seras sighed inwardly. Integra told them the Knights were killed off by Arthur Hellsing at least fifty years ago. Thade wouldn't have seen what happened then. "Do you know anything else about Caelum?"
"Well…ah heard that Caelum went an' fell in love wi' a village girl...He gave her his heart and soul… but she went and married someone else. And after Hellsing came an' killed all his buddies, he got captured and was taken away. Poor sod."
"He was captured? By who?"
Thade shrugged.
"And what of the villagers? Do they know anything about this?"
Thade was scritch-scratching at himself before rubbing at his face and head over and over again with his fingerless-gloved hands. He thoroughly reminded Alucard and Seras of a grooming, common sewer rat. He uttered, "I doon think so. But they're scared of city people an' won't talk to anyone outside their village. Well, can ye blame them? They got a history of sharing land wi' vampires."
Seras nodded to herself. That would explain the villager's xenophobia. She said, "I thought the Black Flame Knights protected humans?"
Thade let out a squawk of laughter then. "They stopped protecting them varmints ages ago. They had to give offerings, you know! Did ye see that stone in the middle of the road? Aye, that's the shrine. They used to put dead humans in bags, leave 'em there an' then the Knights would send someone doon to collect it and bring it back to the mountain for eaties."
"Why don't they protect humans now? Because Gideon is dead?"
Thade shrugged and began picking fleas off his shirt before flicking them at Seras, who ducked behind Alucard once more. "Maybe. But ah reckon it's Caelum wantin' for revenge for you Hellsing people killing his folk when they did nothing wrong. Them Knights protected humans! Why did Hellsing come and kill 'em? You started it."
"…B-But there was a distress call, right?"
"Then Hellsing must have attacked the wrong vampires, sweets. There were lots o' vampires living here. Nice ones and nasty ones."
"…The wrong vampires…" The draculina breathed as she turned to Alucard consequently, "Sir Hellsing's father attacked the wrong group? And one of them survived…Caelum… he wants revenge. What should we do, master?"
The dark-haired vampire laughed mirthlessly; Caelum, whoever he may be, was proving to be interesting. "There is nothing we can do, Police Girl. There is no vampire here at this present time, except from this lowly creature." He said, and Thade winced slightly. "For now, the villagers are quite safe. Let us return to Dr Seward, we've left him in the cold long enough."
….
Once they arrived at the foot of the mountain, they found Seward sitting on a rock, clutching his phone. As soon as the doctor saw their return, he stood up immediately and rushed over, stopping shortly in front of the two.
"I just received a phonecall from Sir Integra." He said, "She told me to tell you that your associates, Frankie Morris, Joshua Sloan, and Ruby Ashcroft are missing."
Yes I know, I have split Alucard and Ruby up again because…
i am an evil author.
IMPORTANT! - Chapter Notes/highlights:
1. Sorry for lack of Alucard x Ruby moments :(
2. Caelum knows Ruby's parents. I won't hand it to you on a plate as its up to you to piece things together if you have been very vigilant, but there were clues in this chapter about almost everything that is to this story.
3. 'Red eyes' was mentioned in Chapter 1, and a few more chapters following that. It appears in Ruby's dreams; it's been part of the story since then and even before the actual story began. He is also featured in a crayon drawing Ruby drew which was found in the previous chapter that show Red Eyes was an associate of Ruby's but she doesn't remember. It turned out to be Caelum, and he is a memory; I deliberately gave the false pretence that this 'Red eyes' wasn't very important, or it could have been, or was Alucard, but it's not… Everything will be made clear in later chapters, unless you may have already figured something out.
...HAVE YOU ANY IDEA HOW LONG I PLANNED THIS? NYARGHHH THE FRUSTRATION :O
4. Jack Seward is a minor character; he was meant to be sent by Sir Irons to Hellsing, not Morris, but his background didn't quite match the plot then so I had him come out now instead.
5. I exaggerated Thade's accent. Bal'allan/Bail' Ailein is based off a village in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland but the real village is called Balallan, with no apostrophe. I added that in as my own touch :D Isn't fanfiction awesome? You learn new stuff everyday!