There wasn't a mission for a while, so I spent most of my time training. After another exhausting night, my clothes were soaked with sweat. A couple of questions was all it took to find out where the showers were. I grabbed a towel and strode through the mansion, humming.

When I reached the showers, I heard water splashing. Dang, I thought it was late enough that no one else would be here. Oh well. I deposited my things in a locker and waltzed into the cloud of steam. I approached one of the faucets and turned on the hot water.

I reached for the soap and felt another hand touch my own. I glanced and saw a woman's slender fingers. My eyes darted to the floor but, against my will, wandered upwards, to the face of my Mistress. Our eyes widened and the only sound I could make was a pathetic squeak. Mistress screamed in shock.

My face felt like it was on fire. "M-M-M-Mistress! I didn't know, uh that is, why are you, uh, oh no." My hands windmilled around and knocked the soap from its dish. In my rush to step backwards I slipped on the soap and careened right into Mistress. We tipped over and she fell on top of me. I couldn't think straight. I tried to wriggle free, but Mistress was totally immobile. I don't know how long we were frozen, but the next thing I heard was a throat clearing followed by sinister chortling.

"Am I interrupting something? I never knew you were a screamer Police Girl. I can come back later, if you like." I tilted my head back and stared at Alucard's boots.

"M-M-Master, it's not what it looks like I was just..." Mistress stammered.

"Mister Alucard, I swear, nothing is; that is; eep," I squeaked.

Alucard's grin nearly split his face in two. "I had no idea you were both so close already." His ears pricked up a bit. "Oh, more guests, how fun!"

Three armed soldiers pointed rifles inside the opening and not long after, Sir Integra joined them. It took a few seconds to dawn on them, but once it did, everyone but Integra was giggling uncontrollably.

"What the hell is going on in here? This is outrageous! I demand an explanation!" Integra roared.

Mistress and jumped apart faster than I thought possible. We stood at attention, blushing fit for a sunset. Stuttering, I tried to tell her that nothing untoward was happening, but I couldn't string two words together. Mistress was having similar difficulty. We babbled for several minutes until Integra made a silencing motion with her hand.

"It's clear from your scrambled speech that this was indeed an accident. Just don't let it happen again. And Victoria, don't scream like that unless it's an emergency; we thought the mansion was under attack or something," Integra scolded.

The soldiers departed, one giving a dirty wink and thumbs up before leaving. Mistress' face darkened and she darted behind me. Alucard was the last to leave, plopping a towel on the floor. Mistress wrapped it around herself and darted to the changing room. When I could finally move again, I retrieved my belongings from the locker and dressed in record time. I decided to call it a night and return to my coffin. At the top of the stairs, I ran into Mistress again. I jumped back for what seemed the fiftieth time that night.

"Oh, fancy meeting you here," I said sheepishly, "oh, right, both of our rooms are in the basement, what a coincidence heh heh."

"Yeah, that's quite a coincidence," she replied, "but I need to apologize about that; I never thought that someone else would just walk in like that."

"No need to apologize, I should've shouted ahead to see who was there. Um, Mistress, can I ask you a question?"

"Okay, what is it?"

"That big scar on your..."

I couldn't finish my question because she slapped me with the force of a Mack truck. "You pig!" was all she said as she stormed downstairs. Man, this is just not my night.

I closed the door and saw Mistress sitting on the edge of my table. Oh no, this can't be good. She stood up and stepped towards me. I raised my hands in self-defense, but the blow never came.

"I came to apologize about slapping you; it was a little severe."

"No, it was justified; my question was a little personal."

"Well, I've decided to tell you; as an apology," Mistress said. "A few months ago, I was just starting with D-11. My unit was dispatched to Cheddar Village to investigate a string of disappearances. Our wagon came under attack and everyone but me was turned into ghouls. I ran to the church hoping to escape. When I got there I ran into the vampire who was masquerading as a vicar. He was about to rape me and suck my blood when Master burst in. The vampire tried to use me as a shield, but Master didn't care. He shot me through my lung to kill the vampire. He saved me by making me a vampire."

"So that scar is from Alucard's bullet?" I asked.

Mistress nodded.

"It's almost daytime; get some rest," Mistress instructed.

She strolled out the door and I turned to the table. I slid the bucket over to me, reached inside, and excavated the bag of blood. I snapped off the end of the tube and poured the blood into the champagne flute next to the saucer. After the blood was gone I slithered into my coffin and nodded off grinning.

END CHAPTER

Sorry about the wait folks. Thar she be, the gratuitous shower scene. Please Read and Review (after every chapter would be appreciated; I'd like to know if you're still reading)

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