Thanks for the reviews! Thank you for reading and supporting! I was on a writing roll! And this is a long chapter so make sure you are somewhere comfortable! Also, I must thank An Echo in Time for beta-ing :)
WARNING: Gore
Assault on Oracle Corporation
"It's fake."
Her father did not even spare a glance at it when she presented him with the cross; Mary and Luther glanced at each other before she threw her gaze down at the cross in hand. "…Fake…?" She squeaked; her voice seemed to have gone into hiding.
"Of course it's fake." He growled, "This cross contains as much holy power as a common cross in a church would."
Mary's jaw dropped slightly. She knew it. How could Hellsing have let them leave so easily? It had all been a set-up… "Father, I'm…I'm sorry…oh, please, forgive me, I – "
She was interrupted when Luther suddenly dashed in front of her and Caelum's hand made contact with his face. Of course, it was intended for Mary. The slap was hard enough to knock his mask off his face; Luther stood still, hissing raggedly through his exposed splintered teeth as the mask bounced against the marble white floor of the office, blood spots leaking out from the coiled tube which was now broken.
"Luther!" Mary ran to the fallen mask and picked it back up for him. "…Are you okay?" She asked, and the white-haired vampire nodded slightly. She returned to his side and began to affix the mask over his mouth, pulling the strap tight and secure around his head. "There, good as new." She tried to smile at him.
Caelum frowned at the duo, "Don't stick up for him. He was the one who sent Hellsing the death certificate. I've still to decide your punishment – and Mary, you disappoint me the most."
"…I'm sorry! Please don't be angry, father. Please don't punish Luther. He doesn't know what he's doing." Mary exclaimed, standing in front of the silent vampire protectively.
"Hmph. I'm really starting to worry about you two. From now on, Mary, I forbid you from seeing him. I don't care that you were childhood friends in the past. You're not a child anymore." Caelum said, before he grabbed his suit jacket and began to leave his room. "I don't like how tame you're making him..."
Meanwhile.
Alucard found Ruby at her home.
He had never visited her home before but the house smelled of death. The unmistakeable stench of blood was wafting from somewhere in the house… he didn't know where, but it seemed to be originating from the kitchen, and he could tell that a lot of blood had been spilled… He arrived at the house only to find it silent. He searched the lounge and dining room first before moving to the kitchen where he found the door leading to the basement open. When he stepped through the doorway he could hear the harrowing echoes of someone sniffling loudly.
"Ruby?" Alucard ventured down the stairs and found Ruby crumpled on the basement floor, motionless. Her eyes were sunken and red, and she had blood streaked down her face. She had been crying, but she was no longer sniffing or snivelling, and was merely…still. He approached her slowly, before lowering himself to her level. He tried again, "Ruby."
She didn't reply.
Alucard lifted her off the floor to stand and took the sides of her face with his hands and made her look up at him. "Ruby, what happened here?"
Ruby finally swerved her eyes to the side, and he followed the direction of her gaze to see a body lying near her, blood seeping out from underneath.
Dahlia.
A gun was lying beside the body.
Immediately, Alucard bundled the girl in his arms and covered her eyes with his hand. He didn't want her to look any longer. She was only a newly-turned draculina and he could not afford to let anything break her. He threw another quick glance to Dahlia's body before he scooped his arm around the small of her back and under the bend of her knees and carried her back up the stairs. He needed to get her out of here... get her somewhere…anywhere, but here.
She began screaming immediately, "No! NO! Noooo!"
Carrying her up the stairs was a difficult task; she was straining and resisting in his hold, wailing loudly and sadly. When he arrived at the lounge, he settled her down on one of the sofas and made her look at him; even then, her gaze was not focused on him properly and she appeared distant. "Ruby, look at me. I'm here. I have come for you." He shook her to break her out of this haze, "Ruby!"
"...All this time and I didn't even know – "
"Ruby, focus."
"I never even knew my real parents." She began mumbling and muttering incoherently, "And they...they...They were complete strangers! They weren't even related to me in any way at all! They were monitoring me the entire time! They were just preparing and waiting for me to meet you!"
He grasped her by the arms and tried to snap her out of her hysteria, "Ruby – "
"No. Not…Not Ruby. My name is…Leanne." She mumbled in a slight trance, as soon as she began to calm down. Her blue eyes were glazed over and glassy, "…Eighteen years ago, my parents were killed…and I was taken away by Caelum, who gave me to…to…"
She couldn't seem to finish her sentence. To assist her, he said, "Is this true?"
"…I…I betrayed you."
"How have you betrayed me?"
"The entire time, I was – "
"Caelum's pawn."
Finally, she looked up at him. "…If you don't love me anymore, that's okay…"
He sighed deeply, then scooped her into his arms. "I will love you always." He murmured, and with that, she began sniffling and buried her face into his chest before wrapping her arms around him.
"…I'm scared."
"I will protect you."
She whimpered again and tightened her arms around him, rubbing her face against him. "Oracle." She then squeaked, dabbing at her eyes with her sleeve.
"Hm?"
She let go of him, her fingers now grasping at each side of his duster; she said sternly, "…Oracle. The research facility is called Oracle." Then she inched out of his embrace and stood up. "…I'm going."
He stood up after her, "Ruby, no," He followed her as she made her way to the door; he grabbed her by the shoulder, then spun her round and hauled her back into his arms, but she struggled violently against him. "Ruby, I will not permit you to go; it is far too dangerous - "
She shook her head fiercely, "No! Let me go, Alucard! I'm going! I don't care!" She returned to the screaming and screeching, flailing and thrashing in a bid to free herself from his clutch; she was hysterical, wailing and clawing at his shoulders as he attempted to carry her back.
"Let go! Let me go!" She screamed, but he silenced her by slamming his lips against hers. She resisted him, as she hardly felt this was the appropriate time, but then her legs gave way, and she slumped against him, their lips breaking apart, and she began sobbing into his chest. "…Please…He killed my parents…Please, Alucard…I need to find out what else there is…I've never asked you for any favours before, but…I really need to do this, and I need you to be with me."
Meanwhile.
"Got it. There is only one Oracle R & D Company in the UK." Morris said, as he tip-tapped away at his laptop. He had pinpointed the location of the hideout as soon as Alucard had called them telling them that he had found Ruby, "It's slap-bang in the middle of the City of London – not to be confused with the actual city, London - but rather, the financial district."
"You heard the man." Integra told the helicopter pilot consequently, "Get us there right now."
"Yes, sir."
As the helicopter revved into life, Integra, Walter, Seras, Morris, and even Seward, strapped on the seatbelts over their chests and put on their noise-cancelling headphones. Integra was on the phone with the Commissioner, reciting procedures to evacuate the financial district and make sure the media do not interfere while Morris and Seras were glancing at Seward.
"Hey, Dr Seward? You don't look very good!"
"He gets helicopter-sick."
"I'm fine." Seward barked to his companions, but his complexion was extremely pallid and completely devoid of colour as he went through his med-kit.
"…So what's the plan, Integra?" The vampire hunter asked, as the helicopter began to hover in the air. "Surround the building like a hostage situation and communicate via megaphone?"
"No, we hit them hard and fast." Integra replied, watching Hellsing manor below them become farther and farther away, "I'd like to get our men in there as quickly as possible. I've already given them orders not to approach Caelum until Alucard gets here. We don't know what he's capable of, and I certainly don't want any casualties."
"You'll probably get to Caelum last. The company's bound to be full of his vampire cronies all dying to get a piece of us."
Turning to her butler, Integra said, "That's not a problem for Walter, isn't that right?"
"Yes, mi'lady." Walter replied, with a crooked smile.
As the journey went on, Morris began drawing out a quick map of their plan.
"Okay, so here's the skinny: Oracle R & D. Pharmaceutical Company to humans. Secret lair for vampires. Objectives unknown. Run by Caelum. Amount of subordinates unknown. One known to Hellsing: Luther. Daughter: Mary Rosenthal, so leave her cos' she's human. We can arrest her, but whatever you do, don't shoot." Morris was yelling over the loud noise of the whirring helicopter blades and the engine itself. "I will be providing backup from a safe distance. At the moment, Alucard is not back yet so, Seras, we're going to do some espionage - you're in charge of this little machine – "
He lifted up a small beeping device from his pocket. It was silver and rounded, and smooth to touch.
"What is that?" Seras yelled in response, her hands clamped over her headphones while her gun wobbled in her lap.
"Glad you asked!" Morris shouted, grinning, "It's a mapping device. If attached to any building site, it will download and feed me back with a detailed birds-eye view of a building's floorplan via the computer, okay? I'll be able to see all the rooms, corridors, halls, everything. The problem is you need to attach it to a high level to get the most out of it, preferably a rooftop or the second top floor. It's fitted with this magnet that will stick to most walls so don't worry about it falling off."
Suddenly, Integra was pointing out the helicopter window. "There, I see it."
Seras and Morris turned to follow the direction of where Integra was pointing to. It was a large…skyscraper-like building, at least over a hundred stories high. She gulped as Morris patted her shoulder and handed her the mapping device. "You'll be fine!"
"Hey wait – " She turned to him in confusion, "Why don't you just drop me off here?"
"Huh? Are you crazy? You'll probably break your neck!"
"I'll be fine. Just drop me off here!"
Morris turned to Integra, who nodded. "Very well. Go, Seras. Search and destroy! We'll contact you when you're done." The Director commanded, and Seras smiled widely.
"Yes, sir! You can count on me!" Then she promptly ripped off her seatbelt, slid open the door and threw herself out of the helicopter.
"They're here."
Caelum turned to face the crowd below which he had been addressing. There were at least thirty rows of men clad in black standing stiffly in front of him, all awaiting orders. The hall was so large his voice did not even carry out properly, but that was why he had a podium and a microphone in front of him, and the large telescreens fixed firmly on each side of the wall.
Garth stood behind him, while Luther was lurking behind the curtain of the stage.
"Men!" The president yelled, studying each and every pale face carefully, "…I haven't prepared you all this time for nothing. The time has finally come! We have been living quietly in the shadows of the humans, and our actions have not gone unnoticed. Today, our enemy comes to us. You are tasked with protecting the company…our home, our pride, our dignity and our identity. Hellsing have come to rob us of everything we have lived for, but we shall put a stop to them."
The crowd began cheering immediately, throwing their fists into the air. "Hail Caelum!" They were chanting over and over again, the hall was nothing but a hurricane of male voices, "Hail Caelum, protector of all!"
Caelum added, "But I want you all to avoid Alucard. None of you are strong enough to fight him. I want to come out of this with least casualties." He spoke softly into the microphone, "…Now go, all of you, and show Hellsing what we are made of."
….
"Hm. Police Girl certainly is braver than I expected." Alucard said as they saw a tiny orange blob fall out of the helicopter that was hovering near Oracle. No doubt, it was Seras. After depositing the orange blob on the rooftop, the helicopter began whirring away to find a safer place to land.
With Alucard with her, they'd arrived a safe distance away from Oracle in the nick of time.
Ruby did not seem hindered by sunlight anymore and stared in amazement as she glanced around herself standing in broad daylight. However, she did not see Seras as she was engrossed in staring at the exterior of Oracle. It was a marvellous skyscraper-like building, with faceted glass walls and a lattice shell structure. All this time, she thought… It was hiding in plain sight. How this magnificent building had stood without any suspicion was unbelievable. They must have worked hard to maintain such a low profile. Now that she thought about it more, she was sure she had heard 'Oracle' before. It was then she remembered it was the name of the company that regularly supplied equipment and medicine at the hospitals she'd worked in.
"They've been under our noses the entire time…" She murmured, as a few black vans pulled up shortly behind them.
Armoured soldiers began pouring out immediately and took various positions with their guns ready. However, three soldiers came running up to them who saluted politely.
"Greetings, lieutenant."
"Alucard, I have orders from Sir Integra to discuss with you our plan. Miss Ruby, if you'd like to come with us, we're going to take you somewhere safe."
"What?" She blinked at the men blankly, "I'm not – "
"Ruby, do as they say. I will check up on you later." Alucard said, and she obeyed, for now.
She let the two soldiers lead her away whilst the lieutenant motioned Alucard to follow him into one of the tents to continue on with their conversation. She blinked numbly as she was escorted to a completely different direction from the group, towards a black van nearer the shade. They were almost there until Ruby yanked her arm away from one of the soldiers.
"Hey! What the – ?"
Screw it, she thought. Before they attempted to grab her back she spun on her heel and ran towards the direction of Oracle. She did not even realise it but her speed was too much for the soldiers and they fell behind shortly. She didn't care if they would have booby traps or minefields or whatever they may have in front of the building. She didn't care if vampires would start pouring out this minute to apprehend her. She found herself running towards the building with Hellsing soldiers yelling after her.
As soon as she flung open the double glass doors and stepped inside, she was surprised to see the receptionist behind the desk to her left. The lady stopped filing her nails and turned away from her TV screen on the desk. Ruby stared at her, and tilted her head to the side. The receptionist appeared human, but she could not see her reflection on the marble desk surface.
"The President is on the 150th floor." said the pretty woman, who did not even question Ruby's identity. "He is expecting you."
"…Huh?"
"He has your father. And the President will kill him if you do not come up alone."
With that said, Ruby gave her a look disbelief but continued on to the end of the hall without stopping or questioning.
"Have a good day, Miss Van der Linde!" The receptionist called after her cheerfully, "And while you're at it, why don't you try a sample of our newly developed Oracle Anti-allergen cream on the second floor? It's free!"
Ruby ignored her. A huge telescreen at least the size of a cinema screen fixed above was buzzing out Oracle commercials. Opposite the reception desk were a small group of wide, black chairs with steel legs placed in erroneous positions around a glass table loaded with financial magazines. The ground floor in general was huge and had a high ceiling and a shiny, black floor with a sleek finish. Passing the waiting area and reception, Ruby made her way to the two elevators which were ready and waiting for her at the end of the hall, throwing a glance over her shoulder to see the receptionist had settled in her seat and was watching her small TV.
She turned away, focusing on the lift.
It was a glass elevator, with a glass pod inside. The glass doors slid to an open and Ruby stepped in. The doors lay in wait as she turned to the button selection. She pressed '150' and wondered how long it would take to get there. The doors closed, and the pod began to rise up –
At the same time, she had just seen Alucard storming in.
"Ruby!" He growled, clearly enraged at her decision to rush in blindly without consulting him…or anyone in general, first.
"May I help you, Mr Alucard, sir?" asked the receptionist, but he did not pay her any attention.
Ruby placed her palms flat against the glass but the elevator wasn't stopping. "I'm heading to the 150th floor!" She yelled, thumping her fists against the glass. She didn't know if he had heard and the pod went up and up and up and up and the reception hall had now vanished from sight along with Alucard and she was now passing all sorts of floors. In just a few seconds, she had already passed 20 floors.
She thought Oracle was empty because she did not see anyone else except from that reception lady until she heard a faint but loud, inhuman roar from a floor above, somewhere, and the pod shook slightly. She was only on the 54th floor and a touch-screen map near the button selection indicated that the top floor was the 150th floor.
Monsters? Ruby thought, Does Oracle have…monsters?
Finally, the pod grinded to a halt and the doors opened with a 'whoosh' and she left the pod-lift, having arrived at the 150th floor already. The pod was now whooshing back downstairs to the 124th floor.
Now where was she supposed to go?
There were two choices – to the right, or the left. She took the right for now. Oracle was different than Hellsing. Compared to Hellsing, Oracle was very…updated. The walls were not as close to each other and every corridor was wide with matching marble tiles. The décor was white, and spotlights were planted in the ceiling. It looked like a showcase studio, or show home. She came across the occasional portrait on the wall from modern artists and billboards outlining Oracle business principles, annual budgets and plans. Memos to staff. Memos about the canteen and locker rooms and research facilities. Flyers about racing night, staff night-outs and parties.
Nothing…vampire-ish, really.
It was a contemporary reminder of the modern era and seemed to contrast with Caelum's archaic background and history. Wandering alone, she hadn't come across Caelum, Mary, Luther, or any vampire yet, and she wrapped her arms around herself tightly.
As she ventured deeper and deeper, she was occasionally hit with flashes of déjà vu. She remembered these corridors. She remembered these walls. She remembered being in this building at least some point in her life. Her feet carried her without fail; if she remembered correctly, she was heading to Caelum's room… She walked forwards in one of the winding corridors until she arrived at a closed door. Was this his room?
But she hadn't been back in Oracle for so long. Things certainly must have changed… Standing outside the door, she tried her luck. She grasped the doorknob and opened it quickly.
Ruby stared.
The room was large, with bunk beds, tables and a telescreen at the very end. And inside the common room, was a large group of young men.
Her eyes widened.
They were all so…so young. They were...boys, but here they were, fair-skinned, pale and handsome, and all were dressed in black. They were not physically young as Joshua, of course. Some at least appeared in their late twenties. Swallowing down, Ruby stepped backwards. Before she could turn to flee, one of them had apprehended her from behind; he climbed down from the ceiling and even then she had not even heard him sneaking up behind her; she was shoved into the room, the door slamming shut behind her.
"Well, well, well, what have we here?" He said, as he circled her while licking his lips. She eyed him cautiously; he was attractive, tall and lean. It was then she realised most of the residents in this company were roughly the same in appearence.
"Fresh meat!" One of them hollered, which encouraged many jeers from the rest of the young vampires.
The one closest to her leaned over and sniffed her; Ruby shrunk away immediately. "She's only about two days old." He said, grinning now.
"What are we waiting for? Let's get her!"
Ruby screamed as they all lunged at her, and as she froze up completely on the spot, she squeezed her eyes shut to brace for impact.
Nothing happened.
She looked up, panting heavily. Time seemed to have slowed down. She saw all the vampires leaping to attack her, their fangs bared, claws at the ready. Their appearances had turned demonic. No longer were they handsome young men but creatures. And she was standing in the middle, ready to be eaten alive, but -
Sister.
…Huh? She glanced up and tried to pinpoint the source of the voice, but had no success. The voice sounded familiar, somehow…
Sister, let us lend you our strength.
Then she blacked out.
Meanwhile.
"She did it." Morris said, as he sat in the black van with the laptop propped up in front of him. "She did it! I got a floorplan of the entire thing! Dear god, it's like a beehive!"
"Elaborate, Morris." Integra muttered as she set up her laptop beside him on the cramped desk. They had finally landed their helicopter on ground only to find out that Ruby had rushed in herself and Alucard had gone in after her.
"Well, the first fifty floors are complete research facilities." Morris said, "...I am assuming these are for the public, only. The remaining hundred are…I'm not too clear, but it seems to be…living quarters, for the vampires. The top floor also has a large penthouse suite."
"I see." Integra propped a headset over her hair, tucking away strands behind her ear neatly, "Seras, can you hear me?"
From the buzzer beside her, a fuzzy static began to sound off.
"Yes, sir, I hear you loud and clear."
"Seras, you will be in charge of evacuating civilians. Walter is already on his way to assist you. Rendezvous at the fifteenth floor, then report back to me. It's time to put an end to Caelum."
When Ruby finally came to, she was panting heavily, and grinning.
Dropping her smirk, she blinked unsurely, feeling disoriented. She had no idea why she was even grinning in the first place. She glanced around herself; she was standing in the middle of the room which was now empty and free of vampires. The stench of blood lingered strongly in the atmosphere, and she looked around again; all four corners of the room were slathered in fresh blood.
She swallowed down, swaying slightly.
A vampire could be seen running down the corridor, screaming.
In her hand, she was holding something. Ruby blinked and threw her gaze to her hand, to realise both hands were trembling and covered in blood, too. She glanced to the thing she was clenching and inspected it. It was cylindrical, long, thick and cold, and dripping. She felt a chill run down her spine when she realised it was part of a severed leg. Her eyes widened - but that was not all - there was a pile of severed limbs scattered around her, followed by a sea of mangled bodies.
However, she did not scream. She did not cry or gasp in revulsion.
Instead, Ruby tossed the limb away with little care and waded out of the bloodshed, and shut the door to the vampire's quarters quietly beside her, sighing gently. She wiped her face clean of blood as she trekked down the corridor, accidentally coming across many vampires who began running away from her as soon as they caught sight of her.
"N-No!" One of them was yelping, shaking his head, "Spare me, please! I'm too young to die!" Backing away from her, he spun on his heel and ran the other direction to safety. Ruby stared after him, but did not follow. She continued on, eventually passing an open door where she could hear loud rattling and growling.
Ruby turned, to see a large cage with two wolf-like dogs snarling and throwing their bodies against the steel bars of their cage as though trying to escape. One was larger and had a typical, charcoal-grey coat. It was rugged and rough-looking, with formidable fangs and its snout and jaws musty and dripping wet. To her surprise, it appeared to be missing an eye, for all she could see was one brightly-glowing amber eye staring at her through the gaps of the bars while the other 'eye' was an eyelid sewn shut with a scar running vertically. It's companion was white and snowy, perhaps a female, as its body was more lean and sinewy with a thinner tail. Once they caught sight of her staring at them, the wolves ceased their barking and howling and began pawing at the cage, whining piteously and loudly, tails wagging.
A sign on the cage door said PROTOTYPE WEREWOLF I AND II.
Turning away from the prototype werewolves for now, Ruby continued on down the only route left her to take. Caelum's room was in fact, a large suite. Ruby opened the last door presented to her only to find herself in a penthouse.
It was empty.
I thought he was expecting me...? He's not here.
She was facing his desk directly which was on a raised split-level. His desk was made out of glass and there was a black, leather swivel chair. On either side of the desk were bookshelves, lit up with spotlights. Behind the desk, there was no wall except a large floor to ceiling window. The whole office was white and pristine, and there was a large screen on the left and a closed, white door. There was a bedroom and en-suite to the right, it was not separated by a door or wall, but was an open-plan room connecting with the rest of the office space.
Stunned, Ruby didn't know where to begin.
She was taken aback with the standards of living these vampires had. No doubt they were rich and powerful, privileged and certainly upper-class. Elite. She swallowed down inwardly and moved to the desk first, but could not find anything of interest – there were only Oracle Business Plans, capital figures, minutes and other things she generally didn't understand about a business.
Caelum's computer was also password locked. She tried Emilia, Mary, Gideon, Black Flame and other possible answers but nothing. The computer simply shut her out with the red, blaring words ACCESS DENIED. Sighing, she inspected the rest of the desk but there was also nothing to help her. His desk contained a few ornaments consisting of a Mr Henry desk vacuum cleaner, a PVC-painted figurine of a dragon, a fraying calendar with dates circled in red and a small potted plant. She found two cases on the desk near the mouse. The cases contained bullets; why they were split into two, she was not sure because both bullets looked the same.
There were also a few photoframes – one had a black and white picture of Mary when she was a child, standing beside a tall, blurred figure... where the eyes should have been, were two blurry dark dots. It must be Caelum, she thought, as vampires do not show properly up in pictures. Another photo, which was probably more recent as it was in colour, depicted an older Mary, the Mary which Ruby knew, standing beside another blurred figure in black. Again, where the eyes should have been, were red dots. Caelum. Another photograph was dated back to roughly the First World War, where a blurred figure (again, it was most likely to be Caelum), was surrounded by strapping young soldiers.
As comical as it was for an old, aged vampire in keeping these ruined photos where he did not even show up properly, Ruby felt…pity.
However, she tore her gaze from the desk and moved to the bookshelves which were protected by a clear, sliding glass door. There were books on self-improvement, human relationships, space, history, the supernatural and almost every type of genre available. They were mostly nonfiction, which ranged from travel guides, manuals, encyclopaedias and memoirs and autobiographies of almost every important persons on this planet. The variety of books also included books that appeared to be tomes and grimoires.
She moved from the shelves to the white door near the screen first, and tried the doorknob. It opened easily and she found a closet-like room, except it contained folders and boxes. Perhaps it was…an archive?
Ruby stepped in and switched on the light. There were boxes in every shelf labelled from 'ORACLE Reports', 'ORACLE staff list', ORACLE Sickness/Absence', 'ORACLE Pension', then 'Mary's homework/classwork Primary School' and 'Mary's homework/classwork High School'.
Finally, she came across a box labelled 'PATIENT INTERVIEWS – SUBJECT 17: CAELIUS'. She tilted her head to the side and pulled it out. The box was loaded to the brim but she did not find it heavy. She left the archive and quickly opened the lid to find old reel tapes and reports with the name Caelius. The first report she found appeared to be an unofficial record:
Oracle FINDINGS on Vampire Mythology, No.4.
A long time ago, Count Dracula terrorised thirteen peaceful villages scattered at the foot of his castle in Romania. Every year, he demanded twelve young men and maidens from each village to be sent to his castle; they were never heard of ever again.
A few centuries later, Dracula targets an Englishwoman named Mina, arousing suspicion and attention from an intelligent and brave doctor known as Abraham van Helsing. Together with his associates, they destroy Dracula's home, his castle, his brides, his slaves…everything…with their strength, determination and stamina, along with their most powerful weapons.
It is speculated that after these weapons were stained by Dracula's blood, these weapons are no longer ordinary.
And if gathered together, their possibilities are endless.
Ruby put down the report. So that was why Caelum needed the weapons. He was going to gather them together and attempt to kill Alucard. But how could he be so sure? She moved onto the next couple of reports as quickly as she could. This particular reports that were stapled together, especially the first one, was slightly harder to understand:
17 is not like the others we have come across, since we found
17 in the caves near a village in the countryside.
17 is a young man with black hair and red eyes.
17… is…perhaps 22 to 23 years old?
17 was simply sitting there, staring at the sky. They circled
17 with their hooks and blessed bayonets, but
17 did not do a thing.
17 did not attempt to fight us as many had done so. They threw a spear with a ringed nook around
17's neck but
17 did not show any signs of malevolence.
17 did not speak nor did
17 ask any questions, so we believe we will make excellent progress utilising
17.
17 is very calm and composed, as though the strenuous years of living without aging or decaying has taken a mental toll on
17. From the van, as I sat here, writing this journal as the events unfolded in front of my very eyes, I saw them bring
17 into containment.
17 had no objections.
Signed, Dr Kessler.
….
Meeting Subject 17.
Subject 17 was introduced to me properly today. I will be his analytical psychologist from now on. This is a very big challenge for me as he is an old specimen. I asked 17 his name but he did not look at me and he did not speak. I asked him in Romanian and he still did not speak. I asked him in Old Romanian but it was still not enough to elicit any satisfactory response from him.
I think it will take some time until I get through to him. I have reminded him that if he does not speak, he will not have a pleasant stay here.
Signed, Dr Kessler.
…..
MEMO: Progress on Subject 17
Dear All,
Subject 17 has finally begun to communicate with us after months of coercing. I told him when we found him we found some possessions in his cave that had not perished in the fire which we had brought with us and if he co-operated, we would give them back. He finally said yes. He speaks with a northern accent but he told me he comes from Romania and has been speaking English for centuries. He told me vampires learn and pick up things really quickly so I asked if I could test him and he agreed. Compared to our other specimens, 17 demonstrates high resilience and extraordinary potential in hypnotic abilities and mind-manipulation; these results are extremely satisfying and I would like you to sign a petition which will give me consent to focus all progress further on with Subject 17 where I will be submitting him for further tests and re-runs.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Stuart Kessler
….
I wonder why Caelum has kept these. These were obviously kept during his confinement as a test subject here. Ruby thought, as she finished reading through the letter. I wonder what happened to this Dr Kessler…
"Behind you!"
She dropped the stapled reports in shock, turned round and –
A clenched fist landed on her face, sending her flying into the air. She slammed onto one of the glass bookshelves, shattering the glass door and making a few ornaments on top of the shelf topple down and land at the foot of the desk near where she lay. Groaning, she looked up to see none other than Caelum stepping into the room…however, the one who had shouted 'behind you' at her was not Caelum, but in fact was…
"…Dad?" Ruby gawped wide-eyed at her father, who was being dragged in by Caelum and then dropped off at the side.
"Don't you even think about it." Caelum snarled at him warningly, and Samuel hung his head low.
"Dad!" Ruby yelped, but she was in too much pain to move at the precise moment. All she was capable of doing was lying on her stomach, motionless. "Let him go…"
The president raised an eyebrow at the strewn papers on the floor and stepped over them, "…I leave my office for a few minutes and I come back to find you snooping around; where are your manners, you whelp?"
Ruby quickly gathered herself, placing a hand to her chin to smother away the blood leaking out of her mouth. "W-what exactly is it that you want?"
Before she could move, however, Caelum suddenly vanished from her field of vision and in a split second, he had materialised beside her; she was too slow to retaliate as he grabbed her by the crown of the skull and slammed her forehead against the glass shards.
"What I want? I want Alucard dead, that's what I want. And to do that, I had to find his weakness, which is you. I want to curse Alucard for what he has done to my sister, what he has done to me! No, what his brides has done…Yes, they were the ones who turned me. I curse them all!"
She didn't understand. "But if you kill Alucard, then you'll – "
"Die? Yes, but I will not die alone. You will die. And Luther, and Alucard's fledgling. Yes...it is theorized that if Alucard is defeated, then all vampires on this earth will be wiped out, for the curse lives within him, and we are his curse-bearers." Caelum murmured, "Hellsing... the existence of that organisation is truly ironic! They have sworn to fight evil that walk this planet, yet they remain oblivious to the fact that the very source of the evil they are fighting...is caused by the one they have kept by their side all along! Or perhaps they DO know. They do know that Alucard is the source. Yes...why didn't Abraham van Helsing kill Dracula that day? Why did he choose to enslave him and bring back to Britain...? And that...is Hellsing's biggest secret and conspiracy."
Ruby listened. What Caelum was saying was making sense for once, but she didn't dare to acknowledge or believe in it.
He turned to her then, and she shrunk slightly, "But what truly matters now is I was the one who found you first, NOT Alucard. That was my upper hand! And if you haven't noticed, you are the key to everything, and you have made a mistake coming here, Leanne," He growled in her ear, "You see…The only reason I have allowed you to live so long is because you have something I need and to come here to Oracle alone and into my room, is a blessing."
Still gripping her by the top of her head, he pulled her to look up.
"Hmmm…but it seems I may have underestimated you. You butchered some of my best men in less than five minutes…What have you become?" He purred in her ear, and she trembled uncontrollably. "Since I can no longer sense Dahlia, I suppose she must have wasted away herself, or was it you yourself, Ruby, who pulled the trigger because you found out the devastating, horrifying truth?"
Samuel looked up immediately. "What?"
Caelum then forced Ruby to face her father. "…Why are you here?" He questioned her, "To save your 'father'? Do you not despise him, for everything that has been done to you?"
She kept silent, until he slammed her face against the floor again. "…I-I don't know," Ruby eventually croaked out, squeezing her eyes shut, "I know what happened…but it doesn't mean I…" She paused "…I'm sorry about what happened to your daughter."
Obviously displeased with what she had to say, Caelum frowned and rolled his eyes while Samuel looked up wordlessly. "Disgusting." The president snorted, "Don't you know? It was Samuel's fault in the first place. It was his fault his real daughter died. His wife was working that day and he was left alone in the house to look after their daughter. He fell asleep and she made her way to the kitchen. She found the door leading to the basement open, and when she went over, she accidentally dropped her toy down the stairs. With those steep stairs, she tried to climb down to retrieve it only to fall and break her neck."
"W…what?"
"Of course! Why else would he allow Dahlia to take you in and call you as their own? Because he was guilty and blamed himself! His wife was getting worse each passing day and he thought, to have you…to keep you and call you 'Ruby'…to replace the black hole he caused, would help Dahlia!" Caelum exclaimed, "…I only needed someone to look after you, Leanne…and he was trying to keep the skeletons in his closet…well, basement, to be more precise. It was a convenient transaction for the both of us."
A silence followed Caelum's words. Ruby averted her eyes from the president to her father, who was now gazing back at her with an equally jaded stare.
Caelum raised an eyebrow at her response. "Garth." He called out loud, and Ruby spotted a timid-looking young man in a black suit who had entered the room. "…You called, sir?" said the meek man.
"Bring it here." Caelum declared impatiently.
"Yes, sir." The one named Garth came up to them and thrust an empty test-tube towards Caelum, who took it off him and then placed it near Ruby's cut on her head; she resisted and flailed only to come to a stop when Caelum suddenly went still and –
Ruby's leg flew off, severed at the knee.
"NO!" Samuel yelled, as she screamed. He got up from his spot and tried to lunge himself at Caelum only for Garth to hold him back. "Get off me, you damn vampire! Damn you! Damn you all! Ruby! ...Ruby... It-it's going to be alright…everything's going to be alright…okay? Don't…don't cry…"
Caelum laughed loudly as Garth shoved Samuel away from him and the man crumpled to the floor, cradling his previously broken-ribs which were still in the process of healing. Turning to Ruby, Caelum began to stroke her hair as she wailed in protest, "Don't struggle, or I'll do more than cut off a leg. The next thing I cut off will be your head and you wouldn't want that, would you?" He murmured, whilst Ruby sobbed helplessly. Then he moved the test-tube to the stump of where her leg should've been. Her blood oozed out faster compared to the cut on her forehead, the thick red fluid gushing into the vial. Once it was full to the brim, Caelum handed it to Garth.
"Protect this with your life. There won't be another opportunity like this ever again."
Garth nodded.
Ruby watched the vampire plod away with her blood in possession, stepping over Samuel who was still rolling around on the floor in agony. "W-What do you want? ...What are you up to...?"
Caelum suddenly pulled out a handgun from his pocket and thrust it against her temple. "This, is what I have been doing this entire time. I took the Kukri knife and the Bowie knife and melted their components together into customised bullets, and I promise you, these bullets will kill you. I don't need the cross anymore; this is satisfactory enough."
Ruby's eyes widened, and she began to scrabble around for something, anything, that she could use to defend herself…maybe she could come across something hard and heavy, to hit him in the head with… Desperately, her fingers sifted through broken glass and the books that had fallen out of the shelf until she accidentally knocked something bulky and weighty. It rolled onto the ground, and then –
A melody began playing.
Gasping and panting, Ruby swerved her eyes to see where the noise was coming from. A music box. The slow, almost broken melody was coming from a music box, which she had knocked over.
Caelum's grip on her loosened all of a sudden.
Inhaling a shaky breath, she felt him slowly rise from her. She couldn't believe it. The music was…soothing him? He stepped backwards, the gun dropping out of his hand. It clattered to the floor, and Samuel quickly crawled over to Ruby, gasping helplessly at the amount of blood gushing out from her severed leg. She swerved her gaze to him, then down to her severed leg…finally, her shoulders slumped and she looked away dejectedly, unmoving.
"Ru - Leanne…oh, Leanne…Look what he has done to you…" He sat up and inspected her wounded self, before ripping off a large portion of his shirt to blot out her wound, "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…Can you ever forgive me?"
There was no response; she remained silent in his hold, blinking unfocusedly at Caelum, who had moved to the box and lifted it up; it seemed he had temporarily forgot about the two. The music box appeared broken, and it was old, with chipped, rue burgundy paint with the word EMILIA etched on the side, and Caelum appeared occupied, his crimson eyes affixed on the ballerina twirling around and around…the ballerina was finely sculpted entirely out of glass, and one of her arms were missing…
"This…" He murmured under his breath, "…I have not heard this sweet melody for such a long time…Ah, yes, I remember now…I gave this to my love, Emilia, and what precious but painful memories it holds…"
Notes
1. It was the brides contacting Ruby; they aren't alive but she has a connection with them. Her vampire side activated in this chapter. In OVA 1 and 2, Seras often goes into her berserk vampire mode which is the equivalent of what happened to Ruby in this chapter.
2. One of the Prototype Werewolves is a character from one of my deviantart pics, labelled The Vampire and the Werewolf. It features a guy who is a 'werewolf', has grey hair and wears an eyepatch over his missing eye.
3. Caelum's pictures turned out blurry because this is coinciding with the myth that vampires do not have reflections, and when photographed, come out as blurred figures
4. Emilia's music box is actually playing 'Emilia's song'. But to make it easier for you guys to imagine, I think a good tune which the music box is playing is Lilium from Elfen Lied.