I know a lot of you are looking forward to this chapter, but I think it's anticlimatic. I apologise for all the mistakes in the previous chapter, because there was an original...well, I did a crappy job at editing. Don't worry, I've changed it now :) Oh, and BOSS FIGHTTTTT!
Warning: OOC(?), and GORE. EXTREME GORE.
It's Not That Hard to Kill a Man
(aka The Seige of Fort Cassandra)
The auction seemed never-ending.
Ruby was still standing on the spotlight, sobbing to herself with her head low, her hair covering her eyes. She wanted to die on the spot right there. The rate of the bids gradually decreased, going from hundred million to hundred and fifty million, then hundred and seventy million and so on.
Eventually, a suave voice in the audience said, "Eight hundred million."
There were shocked gasps followed by astonished giggles of delight. The gentlemen turned their heads to the shadowy figure near the door whilst their female companions attempted to get a closer look of this extremely wealthy male. Even the auctioner looked spooked by the proposed amount, his eyes widening in their sockets. "Uh…E-Eight hundred million." He stuttered, his voice wavering, "…Going once…"
There was silence. Nobody dared to make a sound.
"Going twice."
Still nothing. But then –
"Oh! We have competition! Eight hundred and twenty million, to the man at the right!"
All eyes swerved to the 'man at the right'; a man with long, marble-white hair and light red eyes. Luther. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, brooding silently. Ruby stopped crying for a split second and glanced up at the albino vampire in shock; he met her gaze but then turned away without a word.
"Eight hundred and thirty." The mysterious, suave voice rebuked to Luther's offer almost immediately.
The auctioner's jaw dropped at the total. "And we have eight hundred and thirty. Do we have eight hundred and fifty? Eight hundred and fifty?"
Luther raised his arm again.
"Eight hundred and fifty it is." declared the auctioner.
"Eight hundred and seventy."
Once more, Luther lifted his arm.
"Eight hundred and eighty!"
"Nine hundred million."
The voice elicited more startled, astonished gasps from the audience. Ruby merely stood on her spot, trembling. The auctioner turned to the albino vampire expectantly, but this time, Luther did not raise his arm.
"Nine hundred million, going once…Going twice…"
No-one dared make a sound.
And the auctioner thumped his gavel loudly on the podium, grinning widely, "Sold! To the tall gentleman at the very back of the room dressed in the…red?" He exclaimed, and Luther began to leave the room, disappearing through the door beside him that said 'fire exit'. The auctioner paid no attention to him, "Sir, please step forward to claim your prize and – " He was cut off by a bullet plunging in deep between his eyes. He fell backwards to the ground, with his grin etched on his face and blood pouring down his eyes and cheeks akin to tears.
In seconds, he was dead.
As everyone turned round to see who had killed the auctioner, there was a chilling scream and –
SPLAT!
A man's upper torso went flying against the wall, before it dropped to the ground, blood dribbling across the brick from his insides like a balloon filled with paint that had been thrown onto a canvas.
A lone figure stood in the middle of the room, his red eyes glowing in the darkness.
Alucard.
In his hands was a wriggling, flailing vampire whom he promptly tore in half; the room fell into chaos, but he was faster. Withdrawing the sleek silver Casull from the insides of his jacket, he pulled the trigger and fired shots in almost every direction possible, watching the bullets slam into the unsuspecting vampires he had taken by surprise. There were screams…tables were upturned…glasses smashed to the floor…Ruby couldn't seem to bring herself to move but no bullet penetrated her; she was frozen with a profound, unknown fear and continued standing limply while listening to the dreadful screams and screeches and cries. She squeezed her eyes shut just as blood and gore splattered onto her as the body of a vampire was thrown against the podium near her. Shakily, she re-opened her eyes after a few seconds, flesh and gunk seeping into her mouth despite how tightly clenched her lips were, and she blinked her thick eyelashes through the mess.
A vampire was on the ground crawling towards her, his hand outstretched.
"...T-Tell him to spare me..." He was uttering out, his eyes fixated on her, but a thick, black boot smashed over his skull, squashing his face to the ground into bloody smithereens.
Ruby stared.
The vampires were nowhere to be seen. Blood was slapped over the walls, the tables, the chairs and ceiling along with a macabre decoration consisting of torn limbs, intestines and other innards. A head bounced on the stage, rolling to a stop beside her feet as though it was a trophy of some sort. She did not even have to glance down to already know what had just happened, and her mouth opened into a silent gasp of horror; she tried to scream but nothing came out except from a raspy squeak of disgust. Her voice seemed to have gone into hiding. With trembling arms, she lifted them up to herself and smothered away at the metallic, coppery-smelling sticky mess over her face, arms and hair.
And Alucard, the one responsible for this quick and disturbing slaughter, was standing in front of her.
"Ruby." He held his arms out as she looked up, "…Ruby, my love. I have come for you."
With a whimper, she limped towards him and she was in his embrace. Much to his delight, she slipped her arms around his waist, clutching onto him as if fearing he would disappear. Alucard took hold of her cheeks and wiped her face free of blood, then made her gaze at him, but her eyes were slightly dilated with the glassy look. Once again, she was reminded why she should be afraid of him…and also why she should not be…because Alucard loved her…but now…
Would he kill me too, if he found out?
He tilted her face up to his with a hand under her chin before he pressed his lips against hers affectionately, which soon turned rough and harsh as he applied more force, as though he hadn't kissed her for an eternity. Nothing happened; he did not successfully evoke a response from her despite the heated contact that had him stiffening all over as he pressed her lean body against him. He repeated his action, smashing his lips against hers before pulling back to see her response.
Finally, she swerved her eyes up to him, and blinked.
"…Alucard…?"
He liked the way she said his name, and began caressing the side of her face. If possible, he would like to hold her this way forever; he liked how tame his mate had become when he snaked his arms around that forced, hourglass-shaped waist produced by the tight fitting of the corset; surely she'd be howling and flailing in his arms at other times but now she stayed in his arms obediently and quietly, letting him pet her and stroke her hair. She had this incredibly soft body… she was so warm and he could hold her for hours and never get tired…he had no choice but to suppress a groan when she shifted slightly against him; Ruby was wearing practically almost to nothing at all underneath the skimpy garments…
She pulled away and they gazed at each other for a few seconds; no words were exchanged, they simply stayed in each other's embrace before he lifted his hand to her face again, to trace his fingers over the outline of her cheeks and the bulge of her bottom lip to her jawline; he was caressing her as if this was the first time he'd touched her, although they'd already been intimate at greater levels than this. She watched him, and then she smiled lazily, like a cat, whilst closing her eyes and placed her hand over his. Alucard would be the only one who could touch her as so. She didn't want anyone else to; she wouldn't allow anyone else. Only Alucard.
Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and brushed his thick dark hair back and away from his eyes; he was taken aback by the gesture, but he grinned widely again and glanced down at the corset, which made her cringe. She didn't seem to have the words to describe her distaste. Of course…his mate had also been stripped and then forced to wear that silky corset piece, panties and suspenders (which he liked very much but would not say to her face) before being yanked out for display like a cow at a judging contest with a sea of viewers/hopeful bidders that consisted mostly of men…
With another sigh, she grumbled out, "Don't ask."
"I like it."
"Of course you do." Ruby replied, with a gentle roll of her eyes, before she reached behind her and pulled at something then released, and there was a loud, elasticky 'twang!'.
"It is the truth. I like seeing you in silk...And you are not afraid." He said; she winced slightly at the fact that he had annihilated an entire room of vampires and he currently reeked of blood, which he'd just absorbed in seconds into himself.
"…No, I'm… not." She found herself croaking out.
"Good girl."
She felt beyond normal now. "Is everyone here?"
"Yes. My Master has troops securing the island."
"We're on an island?"
"Yes."
"Did you...did you find Dah - I mean, my parents?"
"No."
"I...I don't understand what's going on." Ruby cast her glance down, "Alucard, I'm glad you're here, but..." She shifted slightly to make herself more comfortable in his hold; at the same time, the black corset fell down slightly in progress and he stared, unable to take his eyes off the spectacular, seductive choice of lingerie she was adorned in against her will. It was distracting, and they both knew it. The corset barely covered her breasts and instead, pushed them up into view, making her cleavage appear large and deep like a crevasse; it looked easy to rip off too, if he ever found his hand slipping underneath towards the ribbon at the front that was holding the thing together. She made another disgruntled noise and pulled the corset up, then blew some hair from face, before planting her hands on the sides of his cheeks. "…My face is up here."
He tore his eyes away from her chest and glanced up. "Where is my fang?"
"It's probably in that room with my clothes. Let's go. I'm getting cold." She said, but then - "Wait."
He turned to her expectantly.
"T-There's something I need to tell you first…" She began, her voice going dry; she grabbed his large gloved hand and he gazed intriguingly at her little warm fingers splayed over the back of his palm, tracing over the thin fabric. He was always reminded of how much he wanted her even by harmless, little actions like these. She added, in a serious tone of voice which he hadn't really heard her use before, "It's really important and - "
However, she was interrupted by a loud 'boom' and the walls and ground trembled and shook, she lost her footing and stumbled in his arms.
"W-what was that?" She stammered nervously.
"They know we are here."
"But – "
"I need to get you somewhere safe."
She sighed. Maybe I should get my clothes back first, she thought, as Alucard hastily swept her off her feet and into his arms, bridal style, before quickly kissing her. When he drew apart, she pouted slightly with those luscious, kissable lips of hers, as though wanting more, and he nuzzled her affectionately, making her giggle. A smile blossomed on her face and he grinned, then reached over again and kissed her forehead.
Alucard could be so sweet to her, that it was beginning to hurt.
Seras was running through the corridor having been fighting her way through a horde of security vampires and went to a grinding halt as soon as she saw a figure stumbling towards her from the opposite direction. Seras rushed for cover near one of the large plant pots, using its large leaves to hide herself. With her gun readied, she aimed it directly at the figure but then gasped as soon as she glimpsed through the scope lens.
"Mr Morris?"
He looked around; Seras popped up and out from her hiding place and scrambled over to the man. "Mr Morris! It is you!"
"…Seras…" The vampire hunter breathed out in relief; he was covered in blood and dirt and he was holding his stomach; his eyes seemed dilated and his complexion was very pale. "…I'm so glad to see you. This place is insane. I've been fighting ever since I got here. Are you alone? Is Alucard here? Did Integra come? W-Where's Ruby? What about Josh?"
She attempted to calm him down first. "They're fine. Sir Integra's waiting in a helicopter at the Loading bay not too far from here and she's sent troops to secure the island and look for survivors. Master just informed me he's got Ruby and Joshua is fine."
Before he could reply to that, Morris crumpled to the ground and Seras gasped. "Mr Morris?"
He removed his hand which was drenched in blood, revealing a wound in his gut. "…I…I was in the tournament. They capture humans and send them here to participate in a tournament, then they let vampires loose. I managed to escape because I saw the castle in the distance. I thought I might find something here..." He rasped out helplessly.
Seras went to his aid immediately and lifted him back up, "Come on, I'll take you to the helicopter – "
"No, I can't. They…they took the Bowie knife. I get it now, Seras." He clung onto her sleeve, "Listen to me, if they have the kukri knife, and the Bowie knife, then they might be planning to – " He groaned and his legs gave way; he fell to the ground again, succumbing to his wound.
"Mr Morris. You really need help." She didn't wait for his response; she grabbed his arm and looped it over her shoulders, then began to lead him back out of the winding trail of the corridor back towards the Loading Bay.
"…I'm having a really bad day." Morris grumbled, gazing at his bloodied crowbar.
"Yeah, me too. And Josh."
The pair swiftly escaped through the exit and back outside into fresh air and hopefully, a vampire-free zone. "What is this place anyway?"
"I don't know, Mr Morris. It is an undisclosed location."
"Then how did you find us?"
"Master can track Ruby." Seras replied, as Morris limped alongside her as they made their way towards a gatehouse. On one side of the rocky wall, he peered through the gaps; he could see a vast length of brick palisade that surrounded the castle protectively. The other side, he could see nothing but ocean.
"Are we…?"
"Yeah, we're pretty high up. The castle is built on a mountain next to the ocean." Seras replied, "Don't worry, we're almost there. There's still a bridge we can need to cross, but that won't take long."
A black helicopter loomed into view a distance away on the roof of one of the gatehouses. Morris squinted his eyes; "We're so far away." Morris croaked, as he glanced behind him to see that he was trailing blood. "Can't you ask Integra to come pick us up?"
She shook her head. "It's too risky."
"Police Girl; Morris." said a familiar voice behind them, and the two turned round to see Alucard carrying a now fully-dressed Ruby in his arms. Thankfully, she'd found her clothes and Alucard's fang, which had been hidden in her broken pocket of her jacket.
"Master!" Seras exclaimed in relief as the vampire let Ruby down to the ground who was also helped by Seras; now she had two people hanging off her shoulders. "Ruby, are you alright?"
"…My ankle really hurts…" The poor girl whimpered.
Alucard glanced at the wounded. Morris looked as though he wavering between being alive and being dead, and Ruby couldn't even stand up properly… "Morris, are you able to walk?" He questioned, and the vampire hunter nodded. Alucard gave him an acknowledging nod in response and glanced to Seras. "Police Girl, scout the rest of the castle. Morris, you need to leave this place now. Take Ruby with you to the helicopter at the gatehouse. My master is waiting."
Everyone split up following Alucard's commands.
With Morris and Ruby on the way to the helicopter, Integra and the rest of the Hellsing troops securing the peirmeters of the island, and Seras on the hunt for the Bowie knife, Alucard departed by himself to find the man responsible. As he travelled deeper through the twisting maze of the castle, killing vampires along the way, he noticed there had been a party of some sort been held here. And here he was not invited. His search eventually led him to a dead-end in the form of a church in the north wing of the castle, where he was greeted by a lone figure standing beside an altar with a white cloth sprawled over it.
The figure was a vampire; he had a large frame and an equally stern expression to accommodate his size and bulky figure. He was in a black suit, and he said, "Good afternoon, Alucard."
Alucard raised an eyebrow. His voice was surprisingly soft and gentle, contrasting with his intimidating appearance.
"My name is Ermenrich."
"What is your real name?"
"I forgot."
"You must be one of Caelum's men, sent to intercept me."
"I have orders to stay behind."
"And why do you listen to that blundering fool? Is he such an influential, that he has you all wrapped around his little finger?"
"Caelum is not a fool; he is the one who saved us all from that horrid place." Ermen replied stoically, "We are indebted to him, and he treats us well; we reward him with our loyalty, even until the very end."
"I admire how respectful you are. It is something I have come to discover that many young vampires do not have."
"Of course. Caelum taught us to admire you."
Alucard was overcome with precarious laughter by those mere words. "Admire? How peculiar. I am being worshipped. You view me as a deity in your eyes…even though in precisely five minutes…I will be ripping your throat apart?"
"I stopped feeling emotion a long time ago, thus, I do not feel fear."
"Why do you hold this tournament?"
"Entertainment purposes, and for population control."
"I see you have no desire to create more vampires."
"Affirmative. We are at the top of the ecological foodchain. The human population are at the bottom, and we are in sufficient number. Any more vampires being created and we may risk the collapse of the foodchain."
"Why don't you tell that to rogue vampires?"
"We have. They don't listen, so we created the vampire bar. Those who still do not comply, we exterminate them."
"I see. You have altered your goals, but you still abide to the basic, underlying principles."
"Incorrect. We do not assist humans or vampires." Ermen said, "And I owe you no more explanations. Shall we begin?"
Alucard smirked in response, "…We've already begun, Ermenrich." And Alucard delved a hand inside the innard of his jacket – immediately, Ermen took his position behind the altar - he pulled away the white cloth to reveal a huge gun that was affixed to the floor - and pulled the trigger. he was not going to wait for Alucard to make the first move, and before Alucard could take out the Casull, a hurdle of machine gun shells slammed into him - the sound of the gun's firing rate was deafening. BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM! The machine gun fired fast and furious shots at the vampire who merely stood in the wide open, letting the bullets pummel into his body relentlessly. Ermen continued firing, watching the clip being fed through the gun like a film reel, as empty shells flew out and clattered to the floor.
Once the first clip was over, Ermen glanced at the smoking nozzle over to the opening of the church to see that Alucard was still standing, his head hanging low. His jaw dropped open slightly; the elder vampire was unmoving but still standing, even after all damage!
Ermen watched the vampire sway slightly on what was left of his legs, before he collapsed onto his back in a puddle of blood.
The church fell silent.
He left his spot behind the gun and neared Alucard cautiously, and then -
"Is that all you have?"
He gasped when Alucard's eyes re-opened and all of a sudden, Ermen's left arm flew off in a spray of blood and reappeared in Alucard's grip. Smirking wickedly at him as he began to get back up, with shadows and Ermen's blood swirling around him, the No-Life King crushed the ripped limb in his hand, blood and torn flesh dripping to the floor. Ermen hadn't even seen the elder vampire move at all; his speed was startling. As Ermen's arm began to regenerate, Alucard lifted the Casull, his finger curling around the trigger.
"…How disappointing." The No-Life King sneered as Ermen took the brunt of his retaliation, his lips tugging further upwards into a ruthless grin, "A weakling like you has no right to defeat me; I will destroy you."
The bulky vampire did not waste any time; he began to rush over to the machine gun but Alucard was faster; he fired a shot from the Casull and the bullet collided with the nozzle of the machine gun just as Ermen pushed down on the trigger; the gun exploded from the impact and Ermen leapt away from the destroyed artillery. "Shit." He cursed, when Alucard fired at him again. He clenched his fists and lifted his arms in front of his face to protect himself and the bullet bounced off him like a rubber cork hitting a wall. Alucard fired another round and a hail of bullets hit off Ermen's chest, having very little effect.
Ermen charged towards him without further ado, the bullets deflecting off him, and with a roar, he threw his fist down at the elder vampire once he got close enough. Alucard dodged, and the punch sent shockwaves rippling through the ground, making the chairs and stands rumble and shake and fall over as though an earthquake had just happened. Ermen pulled his fist back out of the destroyed ground and then lunged in for another assault upon realisation that he had been too slow; and Alucard evaded narrowly another assault that had the juggernaut vampire ripping off a chunk out of the wall, debris and brick flying everywhere.
His strength was something Alucard noted; the bullets not working was another thing. Alucard continued to evade and reloaded a clip with different bullets into the Casull. Since his usual bullets didn't seem to work, perhaps these would…
Alucard pulled the trigger again, and the bullet embedded itself deeply into Ermen's right eye as he went charging. He screamed and stumbled in his pace, clutching his bleeding eye and to follow up, Alucard fired another shot, the bullet ejecting into Ermen's left. Blood splattered onto the wall and he howled, clutching at his bleeding eyes in agony. Blindly, he slowly managed to gather himself to stand, hearing Alucard's chuckle echo around the church hall and he pulled away from his eyes. His eyes resembled nothing but reddish, black holes, having been destroyed in their sockets from the explosive impact of the special bullets. He wiped away the blood dribbling down from the wounds before he stumbled around clumsily, his arms flailing around.
The church went quiet once more.
"Where you at, No-Life King?" Ermen was now roaring, having abandoned his controlled, quiet and stoic demeanour. "Just because I can't see you doesn't mean I can't hear you! I'LL KILL YOU!" And he turned to his left, swinging his heavy fist around only to punch another lump out of the wall. He growled as he retreated his tightly fisted knuckles, having missed his target. He felt a presence to his right and slammed his fist towards that direction, only to knock over what appeared to be the candle stand and the cross. He heard something topple to the ground and soon smelt the acrid stench of fire.
"You're far too slow." Alucard's voice taunted him from all around; Ermen turned around and around frantically, trying to pinpoint his voice. "Without your sight, your strength means little."
Ermen came to a stop; Alucard was behind him.
But he was too late.
A fist rammed through him, impaling him deeply. The length of Alucard's arm was lodged in his chest, his fingers were sticking out of his back, grasping bits of broken spine and flesh. Ermen's mouth opened to a silent scream, and with a slant smirk forming on the No-Life King's features, he slowly pulled out his arm then grabbed Ermen's throat and he was hoisted into the air, his legs kicking and flailing, and in years, he began simpering and wavering like an injured child, having been unused to anyone overpowering him since…ever.
"N-No!" Ermen was yelling, "You can't!"
"I have." Alucard said with a sneer, "Just like many others, your biggest downfall was that you underestimated me."
"No…" He muttered bitterly, his voice quivering. Emotion seemed to have returned to him, slamming back to him with much brutality and he truly wanted to weep at the face of death.
"You have been a pleasant opponent, Ermen, but you are not enough to defeat me. And you are nothing but Caelum's puppet. You are so miserable…so pitiful, so pathetic." Alucard replied; Ermen let out a fickle gasp as the grip increased on his neck, making him choke and splutter. "…And this is how I will end you."
Ermen screamed when Alucard crushed his throat with his fangs.
A room.
He was in a room.
And he was sitting on a chair with his chest, his shoulders, and his ankles and wrists tied down by leather straps. The crown of his head was attached to wires and catheters, and a white mask covered his mouth and nose, with holes that left only his eyes exposed. The top of his head was exposed, along with his forehead. His brown eyes darted around shakily, before he caught sight of a man with ash-blonde hair lying on a gurney a distance away, yelling and fighting against his bonds as a crowd of people in white labcoats sliced at his face with sharp tools. He could hear the man screaming and yelling, but his cries were muffled, sloppy, and slurred.
The voice nearby brought him back to focusing on his current situation and he glanced up at the scientist. The scientist was holding a scalpel, and a circular saw. "Let's see what your brain looks like."
The man strapped in began to sweat. A lever was pulled down and the saw began to spark into life, buzzing and whirring loudly. The man began screaming, his fists bundling up so tightly his fingernails dug into his flesh, drawing blood when the spinning blade neared his forehead. He screamed aagain nd tried to jerk free from his bonds, but nothing happened.
The saw descended down onto his forehead and he roared, when the blade dug into his skull.
...
...
He woke up later to find that he was brought back to his cell. The pain from the lobotomy procedure had knocked him out; it was surprising he wasn't dead yet. Maybe that was why they kept performing lobotomies or other brain procedures on him…because he wouldn't die. He rolled out of bed and then felt around his head where he felt the bump of disfigured skin.
"You've awoken."
He turned round to see a young man, watching him from the top bedbunk… a young man with black hair and red eyes. He looked foreign. European. Not from England, definitely. This young man, this young guy, with his black hair and red eyes, he turned away from him and casually carved a tally mark on the wall with the tip of his nail; the screeching, grinding noises the wall made as it yielded to the sharpness of his nail did not seem to faze him.
"…Who are you?" He croaked out, surprised he could still speak properly.
"I'm new here," replied the young man. The strange young man spoke with a northern accent. "You were out for weeks. What do they actually do to you in here?"
He scoffed at the young guy. "Have you been to the operating room yet?"
"No, all they have been doing is asking me ridiculous questions."
"…They want to find out how vampires work. They want to find out how our brains work."
"They do this to everyone?"
"Just me. See that guy over there?" He pointed to the cell opposite where the same ash-blonde man who was also being operated on the same day as him was lying on the bed with his face bandaged completely in layers upon layers of white fabric that his head was nothing but a globe, spherical shape. The metal plate on the cell said 'Luther'.
"Yes. What happened to him?"
"They tried to find out how we suck blood. They cut his mouth up and pulled out all his teeth, but too many grew back at once, and they grew too fast, so…"
"Why did they do that?"
"Experiments."
"Experiments? That does not make any sense; you're stronger than humans, in fact…we are superior to them in many ways. Humans are weak creatures, and we prey on them. They are our food, but you…you let them push you around and do these things to you? Why? Why do you let this happen?" He demanded, but before he could reply, the young guy sat up in his bed all of a sudden, glaring at him. "…I see. You're scared. You're afraid to kill them."
"I don't want to kill."
"You're pathetic." The young guy sneered at him in fury, with disdain clearly evident in his tone, "…It is not that hard to kill a man."
He went quiet then and stood still and quietly in his spot. The young man sighed and got off the bed and dropped to the floor; he was shorter than him and skinnier and leaner, but his demeanour was enough to make him feel a little nervous. The young guy glanced at him from head to toe, crossed his arms, and said, "…What is your name?"
"Ermenrich. What's yours?"
The strange young man smiled.
"...Caelum." He replied, "My name is Caelum."
Alucard could hear clapping.
He stopped drinking and dropped the body, then turned round when the clapping grew louder. A figure in black sidled into the room from the far end of the hall, and came to a gradual stop to stand in front of the stained glass window. Alucard watched him warily; it was the man from the portrait. Caelum. He was dressed in a black suit, and he removed his sunglasses, revealing his ruby-red eyes. Only elder vampires had permanent crimson pupils, indicating their old age and the amount of blood they have drunk over the years.
Alucard wiped the blood off his lips and chin and snarled at the man, "The ringleader has finally stepped out from the shadows."
"It's nice to finally meet you, No-Life King." said the man in black.
"Enough talk. I am tired of fighting puppets of yours. They are merely dogs, unleashed from the cage by the owner. You."
He threw his head back and laughed, "My Legion contains the strongest vampires in history and they are all loyal to me."
"So, you cower in the shadows of your men."
"Don't accuse me of cowardice; if I was a coward I would not have confronted you as so."
Alucard threw a glance to Ermen's unmoving body, "Your subordinate was kind enough to show me your past, Caelum."
"Then you must have seen what happened at the laboratory. They claimed they were 'working to see a better future'." He said half-heartedly, before he threw his glance to where Ermen had been, "…Dreadful place, really."
"And what did you do to the scientists?"
"I killed them all."
"And then you took over."
Caelum nodded. "That's right. I'm so glad you didn't need me explaining. I took over their corporation and re-established the Order of the Black Flame. I became their leader and commander, their ruler and sovereign."
"But that is not all."
He smirked, "…Yes, I'm the one who manipulated Sloan into opening the vampire bar; we needed someone and Victor was a good choice because of his ambition and determination. We just needed something to spur him on so I sent a vampire to bite his son thirty years ago. I'm the one who killed the Harker's and stole the kukri knife, and I'm also the one who sent Nadia after you and your mate. But this isn't about me, this is about you."
Alucard raised the Casull and fired at Caelum, who did not attempt to evade. The bullet sunk into his face, blowing the top portion of his head off, sparing half of his cheeks and his mouth, and blood and brains sprayed the window and the floor and began to leak over his shoulders, red gunge seeping into the fabric of his suit.
However, Caelum's mouth began to laugh, his lips pulling back widely, and then the mouth spoke, "…You do know that I am almost as old as you?" The body put its hands behind its back and began pacing the floor up and down, seemingly with no intent to regenerate. "Bullets like those will kill those silly, young vampires and other unholy freaks, but they have no effect on me. While many of our kind fear you, I do not."
"Oh?" A grin appeared on Alucard's face. "Perhaps I should enlighten you then."
Caelum's body held its hand up. "You and I have much in common, Alucard. We have a… mutual understanding…We don't have to be enemies."
"I have no desire to associate with you. You are not an un-ambitious man…nor do you seem the type that hungers for power or wealth. Why do you do this?"
"Perhaps it's because I want you to know who I am…where I come from…why such a tournament like this exists, and why you and your Master were powerless to stop this from happening. Hundreds of lives have been lost today, surely a crushing loss to the organisation you have pledged your allegiance to."
"Whatever you do for entertainment purposes is none of my concern."
"Then I want you to know why I kidnapped your mate."
"Yes, do tell, before I annihilate you."
He chuckled. "We really are the same, Alucard. We've both had a few undead heartstrings plucked delicately by humans of the opposite sex. I know how it feels."
Alucard listened intently as Caelum continued…
"…Ruby's not like the others. She's different…different than all the women you've had in the past. Something about her makes you want her so badly; you've never felt this way before…and you must own her, body and soul. But she keeps refusing you, which makes you want her even more. You can't stop thinking about her, day and night. You can't get to sleep unless you know she's sleeping beside you… You want to touch her… Most importantly…you want her blood. You want to know what it tastes like, what precious memories it holds…"
Caelum stopped to laugh, then stepped backwards into the corner of the room where the light did not reach.
"Trust me, Alucard; you don't want to find out." He muttered, and finally, his flesh began to patch itself and his head returned to normal, his beady red eyes landing on Alucard's form. "You might end up finding something you wish you never knew. You can have all the women in the world, Alucard, but not Ruby. It's not too late to look for another bride, either your master, or that little Police Girl of yours."
"Ruby is the only one I want." Alucard snarled, "If you dare lay a finger on her, I will tear you apart."
However, Caelum merely burst into insane laughter at that point. "Yes, yes, yes! That's more like it! Yes, that's more like you! I like that, I like that. Good…" He snickered, "Do you feel it? That sense of threat? That feeling that…something bad is going to happen? Yes, because…well… I know your weakness, but the funny thing is… you don't know mine."
From the inside of his coat, Caelum pulled out what appeared to be a small black box with a button on it. "Just like Mina…" He glanced up at Alucard with a smirk, "Ruby will never be yours."
And he pushed down on the button.
Alucard lunged at him - but a figure sprang up and moved in front of Caelum - it was Ermen, who had defended the president with the last ounce of his life and strength, and Alucard found his arm thrusting through the face. Raising an eyebrow as his fist smashed through and out the back of the skull, he retreated his arm and gazed around the church to see that Caelum had vanished, leaving only the loyal subordinate with a gaping hole in his head.
Loyal to the very end, indeed.
As Morris helped Ruby towards the direction of helicopter, Ruby stared over the castle walls at the ocean below, and gulped. "We're quite high up." She said, as Morris continued hopping towards the direction of the helicopter that was still a distance away, perched on top of the landing pad like a trophy.
However, the two came to a stop when they arrived at the bridge. It was a wooden bridge over the ocean with a flimsy, metal chain railing and Ruby gulped. It was high up. Very high up. "I hope you're not afraid of heights." Morris said, and Ruby shook her head meekly.
"…I…I-I'm fine. Do we have to go this way?"
"It's the quickest." He led her towards the start of the bridge but Ruby began to pale. "I'll go first."
"O-Okay."
Morris took one step onto the bridge and tapped his foot on it several times to ease the girl's fear. "See? It's sturdy enough. Give me your hand, and try not to look down."
She accepted and the two began to make their way slowly over the bridge. Why was the bridge so long? Ruby squinted her eyes ahead; they still had a long distance to cover. She swallowed down and followed Morris meekly, watching the blood spurts he was trailing over the wood. The vampire hunter was losing a lot of blood… he needed to get to a hospital, fast. Soon, they had triumphed over the first half of the bridge and had quite a distance left until the ground beneath them began to shake.
"W-What's going on?" Ruby screamed as she was thrown side to side, holding the railing for support with her eyes squeezed shut, and Morris cursed under his breath.
"Just run!" He grabbed her hand and began making a frantic dash to the end of the bridge while clutching his wound but -
The bridge behind them exploded and as Morris was thrown forwards from the force of the unexpected detonation, time seemed to slow down; his feet left the ground and his body was flying in the air, tossed relentlessly like a ragdoll by the brutal force. The noise was so deafening his ears were brimming with pain and he squeezed his eyes shut to brace for impact. But that was when he heard it; he heard a scream, and as he flew to the ground, his head slamming over ground, the tiny hand in his that belonged to Ruby, he felt it leave his grip. His mouth opened into a strangled gasp; time began to speed up and with widened eyes, he watched helplessly as she followed the destruction of the bridge, saw her plummet down.
He saw her falling in mid-air…he heard her screaming…
…and Ruby disappeared into the deep and dark, thunderous waves below…
Notes:
1. Ermen's dead, which is a bit of a shame cos I didn't develop on his character. In the original version, I wrote about his story but when I re-read it, it didn't contribute to the story so I removed it. Basically, Ermen was born in a feudal-like era and was mentally disabled; he was taken in by an elderly couple who raised him up. One day, a shady man comes into the village who uses Ermen's mental handicap to his advantage and tells Ermen to kill the elderly couple and take their possessions and give them to him – which he does. Realising what he has done, Ermen is approached by a 'witch' who is actually a vampire, and gives him the 'power' to kill the man who conned him into killing his foster parents, ie, she turns him into a vampire. Before Ermen can kill the man however, the man cunningly provokes him and Ermen blacks out. When he wakes up, he realises he has slaughtered his entire village during his rage and the man has actually escaped. Terrified of what he has become, Ermen wanders the earth alone. Decades later, he is captured by Oracle and they perform lobotomies and other brain procedures on him. Gradually, he becomes better and meets Caelum.
2. The Truth about Oracle Corporation. Caelum reveals that Oracle was a corporation/research facility that captured vampires and experimented on them. When Caelum was captured (mentioned in Chapter 23), he ended up meeting Ermen and after he meets Luther, it is revealed in this chapter that he took over Oracle. He killed all the humans and then took over the corporation itself and used it as the Order's HQ.