ENJOY!

A Better Way of Travel

Alucard sprinted through the tree tops to find a spot far enough away where he could relax. The sound coming from the children's party was appalling. The noise they called music was booming and they laughed and screamed like wild animals. He finally settled in the crook of two large branches from a great oak tree. He considered going into town to find a snack, but thought better of going too far away. The night was unusually chilly and he could smell foulness on the wind. He had told Katherine to equip her gun before they left and was surprised to find she did not oppose.

He had begun to doze off when he heard the screams of the children. He stayed still for a moment waiting for another sign of danger. Then the wind shifted and he could smell them. Werewolves, at least six of them. He leapt from the tree and sped back towards the house.

Seconds before he reached the clearing he heard her call him. She was such a foolish child. He read her thoughts and saw she was afraid he would be gone, as if he had not realized what was going on before she had. He moved swiftly towards her, keeping his face steady so she would not panic. It did not work and she ran to him in the way a skittish animal runs towards the real danger without noticing. She stumbled into his stomach and he grunted with disgust at her lack of self control.

"What's going on!" she looked like she was going to cry.

"There are werewolves inside. Ready your gun," he pulled her away from him and began towards the house.

"I can't fight werewolves are you crazy!" despite how much she was panicking on the inside Cat continued to let herself be lead to the house.

"Take out your gun and shoot them in the heart," Alucard had already pulled his gun out and was it pointing it at the back door.

Cat got a glimpse of Colin standing stupidly in the middle of the yard staring wide eyed, "Alucard I can't go in there. The only shooting I've done is at targets and vampires that had no idea I was coming! Do you think I could even shoot those if they were aware I was trying?"

"If you wanted to live badly enough you could," they were at the back door now and Alucard slowly opened it and sniffed inside. "They are taking captives. If anyone has been bitten we must shoot them as well."

"Alucard!" Cat had pulled herself away from him now and stood rooted a few feet from the door. "You're being unreasonable. I only have six shots to begin with! And it's completely dark in there," she looked down at her feet and shuffled them.

Alucard grabbed her arm and pulled her forward, "Hold onto my sleeve and walk quietly. It will be brighter once we get to the foyer and you will be able to see. There is nothing that can prepare you for this. I understand how frustrating it must be to be a helpless human, but you must keep your wits about you and think quickly and surely. Mere seconds could decide whether you live or die." He pulled her into the doorway and shut it so she had no choice but to grab onto him and follow.

"Alucard, being human…" Cat was now thinking about his off hand remark.

"SH, they will hear you," he walked forward making no sound at all.

Cat followed obediently behind him. She tried to step carefully for she was sure there must be things all over the floor, but her feet came into contact with nothing. She thought she felt something flit past the side of her face and thought that Alucard must be moving things so she would not trip and give away their position. It suddenly dawned on her what she was about to do. There were werewolves inside this house and as soon as they saw her they would surely attack. She wondered if Krissy was alright and hoped that some of the other kids had escaped. She knew deep down that none of them had. When the lights went back on how many bodies would she see? Would she be able to handle it? They were people she had never met before, but would it matter when they were her age? It would be like seeing herself lying dead and mauled on the ground. She could hear men's voices now. They were muffled but she could tell they were very conversational. They sounded as if they were only in a bar discussing a football game over a few beers.

"Alucard what of Lucian?" Cat had suddenly thought of her dear friend. Had he arrived at the party or was he still on his way?

Alucard stopped abruptly and Cat lightly bumped into him. She stayed very still and listened to the voices. They had stopped. Slowly they began again, but it seemed like there were fewer of them. Alucard started to move forward more quickly now and Cat had to skip a little to keep up. She could see a dim light ahead and thought it must be the foyer. She looked behind her to see how far they had gone and could see the light from outside coming through one of the windows. It was only around twenty feet away. It seemed like they had been walking for ages and Cat sighed audibly without thinking.

"Now I know I heard something!" one of the voices yelled. "Check it out Jax!"

"You are far too relaxed in such a dangerous situation little one," Alucard shifted out of Cat's grasp and disappeared, quickly reappearing in the foyer. His gun went off three times before Cat could run after him.

She was glad to see that her eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the hall and now that she was in the dim lighting of the foyer she could see very well. Three bodies lay on the floor bleeding and twitching as the last breath of life went out of them.

"To me Katherine," Alucard held his hand out towards her and she ran to his side with her back safely against the front door. "The others have changed. If you stay in this spot you should easily be able to shoot them as they come out of the hall."

"You aren't going somewhere are you? Cat snatched up his sleeve as if it would prevent him from leaving.

"We can not let any of them escape. They may realize they are no match for us and try to leave. Then we will have this same situation in the future. They will make more of their kind and regroup," Alucard began to pull away then stopped.

"What is it?" Cat looked in the direction he was staring.

Krissy stood in an archway on the other side of the foyer. Her eyes were wide and glassy and her clothes tattered and covered in blood.

"Krissy!" Cat ran towards her and threw her arms around her neck. "Are you okay Krissy? Did any of them bite or scratch you?" Krissy only stood staring straight ahead with the same horrified expression. Cat began feeling her arms and shoulders for cuts or bite marks. She moved her hand to Krissy's back and Krissy flinched. Her face remained motionless, but Cat could feel her skin twinge at her touch. She gently turned Krissy and found four long gashes parallel to each other running from between her shoulders and down her back about eight inches.

"Oh Krissy," Cat could feel the tear welling up on the rims of her eyes. She tried to blink them away, but it was no use. They flowed down her face in two hot streams meeting at her chin and dripping to the floor.

"Step aside Katherine," Alucard raised his gun without waiting for her to move.

"Alucard please! There must be something else we can do! Some kind of cure or some way of controlling it! There are good vampires right? There must be good werewolves as well!" Cat frantically tried to think of some way to solve the problem, but she knew nothing of werewolves or even of vampires for that matter. She was not even sure if there were good vampires.

"There is no cure Katherine and there is no such thing as a good monster. Now step aside or be shot as well," Alucard pulled the hammer back on his gun.

Before Cat could step out of the way she heard a vicious growling behind her and Krissy. She realized her gun was still secured to her thigh and she now fumbled with the strap to free it, but it was too late. One of the werewolves rushed at her from behind while the two others came through the hall entrance at Alucard. He turned his gun towards them and shot one down, but the other successfully landed on his chest and bit deep into his shoulder. As Alucard stumbled back onto the ground the werewolf took the opportunity and tore away Alucard's shoulder taking it and his arm with him as he landed back on the floor.

As this happened the other werewolf behind Cat and Krissy stood up on its hind legs and growled menacingly. Cat froze in place, fearful if she moved towards her gun it would lunge and Krissy's fate would befall her as well. The werewolf leered at her and snarled. Its jaws snapped together and saliva dripped down into a puddle on the floor. Cat wondered what was taking Alucard so long to regenerate.

Cat caught movement from the corner of her eye and looked over at Krissy. She had turned towards the werewolf and was now taking slow but steady steps towards him.

"Krissy!" Cat hissed under her breath. She reached out to pull Krissy back, but Krissy slapped her hand away almost viciously.

The werewolf barked out what Cat thought may have been a laugh then spoke in a deep voice that sounded of snarls and grinding knives, "It is too late to save your friend youngling. Why not join her and enjoy a life of power."

Cat could not speak. She looked over in time to see Alucard stand up with his arm finally back on. The other werewolf lay dead on the ground, but Cat could not remember hearing gunfire. Cat's back was against the wall and she felt herself sinking to the floor.

With the way now clear Alucard quickly raised his gun and began to fire. Cat watched as the beast dodged the bullets and threw Krissy over his shoulder. He flew past her and towards the front door. Cat was shocked as Alucard moved out of the way rather than taking the clear shot of the werewolf's heart. He instead shot at it as it ran across the yard, only managing to maim its arm.

Cat could not bring herself to stand so she waited for Alucard to come back inside. He propped opened the door and began flicking all the lights on in the house. Cat looked through the hall archway and could see scattered bodies piled on top of each other and various objects. She closed her eyes tight and pushed herself off the ground.

"Are you unharmed?" Alucard re-holstered his gun and looked at Cat.

"Yes I'm fine," she rubbed her arms up and down to show there were no scratches. She wanted to be sure that Alucard would not think she was lying so as not to be shot. "Where is Lucian?" Cat was still worried and she had not yet remembered Colin was still in the yard.

"He arrived after the attack began and quickly went back to Hellsing to alert Sir Integra. They are both on their way now to be sure everything is alright," Alucard turned and walked towards the door to wait outside.

Cat trailed after him wanting desperately to get away from all the death. Then she remembered something, "Alucard?"

"Yes?" he stood at the bottom of the stairs with his arms crossed looking for Integra's car.

"When that werewolf was coming towards you, you moved out of the way and shot him from behind. You could have easily shot him dead in the heart; you were in the perfect place to do it. Why didn't you?" Cat had tried to think of an answer for herself but she could not imagine what would cause him to do it.

"The bullet would have gone threw his heart and then into your skull," he remained motionless as a stone statue.

"Oh. Since when do you care if I get shot? I thought you only cared about getting the job done," Cat no longer needed to know Alucard's reason, but she was having fun prying.

"Do you ever stop talking?" he began to walk away from her and down the driveway.

Cat thought she saw the corners of his mouth twitch a little, "You've grown fond of me haven't you!" She skipped along beside him completely forgetting the terrors she had just faced.

Alucard walked a bit faster to get away from her nagging, but said nothing.

"You have I know it. You've grown fond of me and if I died you would feel bad especially if you were the one to do it," Cat smiled and held onto his sleeve so he could not get farther away from her.

"If you die on my watch I will be locked in the basement for a month with no food. That is the only reason I do not kill you myself and do not forget that. As soon as you are old enough to take care of yourself I will no longer be held responsible for you and you can go off and be killed as quickly as you like for all I care," he stopped and swatted her hand away and glared down at her.

"I'm sure that is the reason," she patted his arm condescendingly, "Whatever makes you feel tough and emotionless, Alucard." She snickered and skipped down to the end of the driveway. She could see Integra's car turning the corner down the street. It was going much faster than usual and she thought she could see Walter in the driver's seat.

"Better get out of the way," Alucard stepped onto the grass, "Walter is a terrible driver."

"He can't be worse than you," she narrowed her eyes at him, but stepped to the grass just the same.

Walter did not slow the car down as he turned into the driveway and the wheels made an awful squealing sound. He slammed on the breaks and before he had completely stopped the door flew opened and Lucian tumbled out in a run and rushed straight to Cat. She braced herself and for good reason. He plowed straight into her grabbing her around her shoulders and lifting her in the air in a bone crunching hug.

"I was sure you were going to be dog food by the time we got here!" he buried his face into her shoulder and shook her lightly back and forth.

"Well thanks a lot! Don't you think I'm tougher than that Lucian?" her arms were pinned to her sides so she laid her cheek on the side of his head. It was touching how worried he had been about her but she wished he would let go. She could hear Alucard snickering.

"Enough of that Lucian," Integra stepped out of the car, "Go inside and get me a body count."

Lucian gave Cat one last squeeze and then trotted off towards the house.

"Did you get them all?" Integra looked at Alucard expectantly.

"The leader got away and he took a new recruit with him," Alucard made a huffing sound that Cat could not decide if it was a laugh or disgust.

"Male or female?" Integra had gotten out a small pad of paper and was writing things down.

"Female. To be specific, Lucian's sister," he stuck his hands in his pockets like none of what had happened bothered him. Cat was sure that none of it did. He had seen this a million times before.

"Oh dear, this is going to be difficult to explain," Integra shoved the pad back in her coat pocket and headed for the house.

"Here you are Miss Cat," Walter had pulled a red pea coat out of the car and was holding it out for Cat.

"Oh thank you Walter," she realized how wet and cold she was when she saw the silky lining of the coat. She pushed her arms through the sleeves and quickly buttoned it up.

"Have you forgotten about your other friend?" Alucard moved to follow Integra back to the house and Cat followed him.

"Who…? Oh my gosh Colin!" Cat broke into a run and went around the side of the house to the back lawn. Colin was standing by a tree with one hand on his head like he was moments from making a decision. "Colin, are you okay?" Cat did not stop running until she was two inches from him.

"Yeah I…I guess so," he looked slightly shell shocked, but otherwise unscathed.

"Come on we'll find you a place to stay for tonight. Everything will be better tomorrow," Cat put her hand on his shoulder and led him around to the front of the house.

"Walter, can you arrange for Colin to stay somewhere until tomorrow? This is his house. Then I would like very much to go home please," she leaned Colin against the car and went back to the house to see if Integra would be ready soon.

When she got inside Integra was pulling identity cards out of pockets and purses and taking the information down onto a small pocket PC.

"Do you think you'll be done anytime soon? I would really like to leave," Cat did not feel bad at all for asking. Why should she stay here after all that had happened? She deserved a good nights rest and a break from all of the terror.

"It is going to be quite some time before I am done. Alucard, take her home and look after the house. Walter and I may not be back until morning with all these bodies to explain," she shoved an ID card back into a boys pocket and moved to the next.

"Yes, Master," Alucard bowed and then led Cat outside.

They stepped outside just in time to see Colin get into a cab. "I hope he'll be alright. I don't think he saw anyone killed though. He only heard the noise," Cat wondered if he would push it from his mind and never speak of it. That was how a lot of boys dealt with things. They did not like to talk about their feelings very much.

"We'll see you at home Walter," Alucard winked at Walter and took Cat's arm.

"What are you doing? How are we going to get back without a car?" Alucard drew her closer into a hug almost as tight as Lucian's had been.

"Vampires prefer not to travel by cars," cold shadows began to lick at Cat's feet. She tried to look down to see where they were coming from but Alucard held her too close.

"I change my mind. I'll just stay here," she tried to sound relaxed, but she knew he could hear the panic in her voice. She was sure even Walter could hear it.

"Don't worry Katherine, it will only hurt a little," he smiled wickedly and then everything was black.

Cat felt like she was standing next to an airplane engine. The wind rushing in her ears was so loud she could feel her eardrums rattle and was afraid they would even break. Her entire body felt like it was being burned from the inside out. It was the kind of burn that one could not tell if it was from fire or ice. She opened her eyes just long enough to see a world full of glowing red eyes, fangs, blood, broken glass, and death. Then it was over as quickly as it had begun. She felt her feet touch lightly onto the ground and the burning in her body felt only like a distant memory. She opened her eyes again to find herself in the foyer of Hellsing mansion.

"You see? It was not bad at all," Alucard dropped his arms away from her and headed off towards the kitchen.

"Right…not bad at all," Cat turned on the spot and went straight upstairs to change and go to bed. After she took a very hot shower and put on a fresh T-shirt she climbed into the cool sheets and snuggled deep into the pillows.

"Vampires prefer not to travel by cars. What a pompous thing to say," she chided before she pulled the covers over her head, knowing that Alucard would hear her.

I expect lots of reviews! This took me a while to work out.