The Lost Priest

Chapter 6

The Choices He Makes

SOUNDS/sounds

Thoughts

Telepathy

(Last Time)

She shook her head the best she could in his tight hold. His menacing smile widened as he slowly rubbed the side of her face with back of his blood soaked hand. Her blood red eyes began to tear up and drops slowly run down her soft cheeks. Her pail pink lips quivered. She was a beautiful example of female, vampire or not. He leaned his face into her yet again, staring right into her terrified eyes fill with tears.

"You're a beautiful woman," he coming in a little closer. "Very beautiful, my dear."

Her eyes widened as she felt something press against her lips. She started to feel limp as she notice his other hand was no longer around her neck but around her middle, bringing her right to him as his right hand reached back to cradle her head.

Bloody hell… was all she thought as she found herself reaching up, wrapping her arms around his neck.

BAAAANG!

(Present Time)

A sharp pain near his heart jolted him from behind. Seras snapped out of her daze after hearing the gunshot, but could not back away, for Abel still held her in his arms. Five more rounds were fired; one into his right lung, three more in his abdomen, and the final one in the back of his neck, just missing his spine.

He stumbled forward as his legs began to give way, sending him down on top of Seras. She shoved him off and looked up at a gunman clad in red, still aiming his large gun at the unconscious, bleeding Abel.

"Get up, Seras," her mastered ordered in a dark voice as she slowly stood up, a little lightheaded. "Go to your room and stay there until Hellsing or I call for you."

"Yes, Master," she nodded, quickly hurrying off and finding the door unlocked now. What just happened? I don't understand… At first I thought he was going to kill me but then he…

Alucard put his Jackal back in his coat as he strode over to the bloody heap on the floor. He bent over, picked Abel up by the back of his robes, and slammed him on his back. Needless to say, he was pissed about what just happened, at Abel for doing what he did and at Seras for not knowing the oldest trick in book when it came to bloodsuckers; seduction.

Alucard bared his teeth angrily as he reached for his gun again, aiming it pointblank to Abel's head, right between the eyes. How in the world had he trusted this creature? Called him friend, only to have him try and drink off of his servant. He wrapped his finger around the trigger, ready to pull it, when he noticed something from the corner of his eye; on the other side, under the table, the floor and the chair above it were soaked with blood.

He then remembered a slightly smaller blood spot on this side, not far from him, with bayonets in it, and the one Abel was currently resting in. His clothes were tattered and soaked in blood. Alucard sighed invisibly for a moment as he removed the gun from Abel's head and slipped it back into his large coat. So that was why he had attacked her to drink her blood. He had lost a large amount of his own, so it would only be instinct to replace what was lost, not caring who would have been around at the time.

Maxwell and Anderson somehow got the better of him, causing this; he would have to watch the video from the surveillance room to see everything that had happened here. But as of now, this black-winged angel in human form needed help if wanted to survive the night; the bullets were still lodged in him and he had lost a great deal of blood. Abel wasn't like him and Seras; the Crusnik was alive, alive as any healthy human. He even had human emotions, which was something Alucard still could not understand. For the most part he was human, just like Alucard's master.

Alucard hoisted Abel over his shoulder and rushed him down to the infirmary. By the time they started to stabilize him, Integra stormed in, not at all happy with what she had seen of the surveillance videos. She didn't even stay to see Alucard take him down; she was informed that Abel was in the infirmary and left before she could. All the doctors stared at her as she pulled out her pistol and aimed it at the pale, seminude, unconscious man on the bed in an oxygen mask with a bed sheet over his legs.

"Damn monster," she growled, cocking her gun. "How dare you do this to me…"

"Master, stop," Alucard said, jerking it from her hands.

"Alucard, hand me my gun," she snapped, holding out her hand, but Alucard refused. "That was an order, not a request!"

"I'm sorry, but until I explain everything, this gun will stay with me," he said, slipping it into his pocket.

"Explain quickly," she said softly but dangerously as Alucard motioned the medics to come back and take care of the Crusnik. "Why do you want to help him? Do you have any idea what he did to Seras, your own servant?"

"Yes, I do, but it wasn't entirely his fault. Apparently Maxwell and Anderson got the better of him," Alucard said as the medics rolled him out of the prep room and into the operation room to remove the bullets. "If you will follow me, Master, I will explain more."

Integra grunted but followed her vampire to a dark observation room with an observation window. They watched as Abel was quickly hooked up to monitors, machines, and IV tubes. She sighed before looking back at Alucard.

"Well, are you going to explain or not?" she queried, crossing her arms.

"But of course. I don't know what happened between the Iscariot and the Crusnik, but one thing was certain; they attacked him."

"I watched the surveillance video, Alucard, and I know perfectly well what they did. He transformed and ran them off, but I am more concerned about the fact that he seduced Seras and then tried to drink from her; I would think you would have taught her not to fall for such a thing!"

"That's partly my mistake, but let me finish. It was true that he had started to seduce her into letting him drink, but he never got the chance to. I arrived before he could and fired several rounds into him. He went down, I ordered Seras to leave, and I was going to do the honors of killing him for said reason."

"Why did you stop, then? He's not worth saving; he's more dangerous than many things out there."

"It was all because he was simply acting out of necessity. You shouldn't blame him."

"'Necessity?' Explain in greater detail, if you don't mind."

"I'm surprised you didn't notice, Master. And here I thought you were knowledgeable about our kind. Well, since you don't know, I'll tell you. When we are attacked to the point that we are nearly drained of blood, we need to feed. It's an instinct to preserve ourselves. At that point we can not distinguish between friend or foe; they're just dinner. It's the only way to replenish what we've lost quickly. It seems Crusnik also have the same weakness. Abel wasn't attacking her because he wanted to taste her. No, he was doing it to replace what he had lost from the Iscariot and he was mostly likely angry as well, which also excuses his actions."

Integra stared at Alucard for a few moments before turning her attention back to Abel as the doctors removed a bloody bullet from the back of his neck. Instinct, was it? A necessity for self-preservation, huh? She would have to think about this before she let him continue working under her. She already had one crazed monster; she wasn't sure she could handle two of them.

"This is yours, I believe," Alucard said, holding her gun.

Integra said nothing but removed the weapon from his hand and put it back in its holster. They both continued to watch as the doctors carefully removed the silver bullets from Abel's body and sealed up the wounds.

"I would figure that he would simply heal himself with no need to close the wounds- or is that also a side effect from losing so much blood?"

"It is. Surprisingly enough, in this form, he is completely human; I'm still trying to figure out what he is. He can take blood transfusions to replace what was lost. We vampires are the undead feeding off the living, but the Crusnik is also living and feeds off the undead. He has emotions only humans can understand and produce; he's more human than I would have imagined."

"If you're trying to persuade me into letting him stay, you're going to have to do more than that. I'm seriously considering just handing him over to Maxwell and letting him handle Abel. Have one of the doctors tell me when he is awake and able to have visitors."

"And where are you going, Miss Hellsing?" he asked as she started to walk off.

"To my chambers, if that all right with you," she snapped, slamming the door behind her as Alucard sighed.

"Must be that time of month again," he said under his breath as he looked back at Abel as the doctors continued to slowly remove the bullets. "Well, Abel, let's see how you get out of this mess."

Seras lay on her bed/coffin, looking out into the dark, blank room that was hers. Her neck was almost healed by now, but it still throbbed. She had some bandages around it and had changed into a nightgown. Her mind kept going back to what Abel had been doing to her. At first she thought Abel was going to kill her, but then he flirted with her.

She could still feel him holding her and his lips against hers. She also still had a ringing in her ears from the gunfire from her Master. She felt funny, ashamed, and embarrassed, mixed with just a hint of fear. Her chest felt tight, like something had crushed her heart, and she was shaking slightly.

She rolled over and pulled the covers up over her head, curled up into a ball, and shut her eyes tightly. She was trying to block out that memory, trying her hardest, but his words kept playing over and over again in her head like a broken record.

You're a beautiful woman. Very beautiful, my dear. She shook her head but his voice still remained. I can't stop thinking about him. I hope Master Alucard didn't…

"No, I didn't."

Seras shot up and looked over at the table to see her master sitting on a chair, looking at her over his orange tinted glasses. She held her covers close her chest as he got up, walked over to her bed, and sat down.

"He's not dead but he is in critical condition and is in the infirmary," he said as Seras looked down. "I had to do what I did, Seras. He would have drained you otherwise. I should warn that Integra is not at all pleased that you couldn't handle yourself against him and that he made advances towards you; she almost killed him when she found out. She is considering about removing him from the Organization and handing him right over to Maxwell to deal with."

"She wouldn't," Seras said in shock, turning her eyes back at Alucard. "Maxwell and the others will kill him!"

"She almost killed him too, mind you," Alucard stated. "He is currently resting in ICU. He had to have my bullets removed and he's getting a steady IV blood transfusion and oxygen. When he wakes up, he will most likely be drugged."

"So, then he's still unconscious?" she asked as he nodded. "Why? Why did you have to shoot him? You could have killed him!"

"He was going to drain you dry and I wasn't going to allow him do that," he snapped slightly. "He lost a great deal of blood and was going to use yours to replace his. At that point he didn't care who you were."

"It was my fault?" she shouted as Alucard looked at her, wide eyed. "It was my fault… he told me to leave but I… I was worried about him and refused to do as he commanded."

"Than you're an idiot, Police Girl," Alucard moaned as Seras looked away again. "I suggest that next time you listen. Abel faces expulsion because of it, and if Miss Hellsing gets her way he may be executed."

"She wouldn't!"

"Yes, she would. I suggest that you tell her what happened. She's being stubborn about it and not listening to me."

"I'll tell her right now," Seras said, jumping out of bed.

"She's sleeping right now," Alucard said as Seras had one arm in her robe. "Waking her would not be wise."

"Than what am I supposed to do?" she wailed as Alucard stood up and straightened his hat.

"I'll wake you when Integra is ready to meet Abel," he said fading into blackness. "Be ready with your statement by then."

"Yes, Master," she said, looking back at her bed.

It wasn't until 9 AM that Abel began to wake up. To but it bluntly, he felt like total shit. Everything hurt and he felt really weak. It took him a couple of minutes to realize what had happened between him, the Iscariot and Miss Victoria. What in God's name had he done? Seras most likely hated him now, not mention Alucard and Integra.

The oxygen mask had dried his mouth and tongue out. He noticed he had monitors attached and needles in him. He looked around the room slightly for a cup of water or someone to get him something.

"H-hello…?" his voice was barely over a whisper and raspy. "…Can I have some water…? Please…"

No one seemed to hear his pleas. He scanned the room with half shut eyes looking for someone. What he could mostly see was the ceiling and the guardrails on the bed. He went to move his arms to sit up but found he couldn't, so he tried to push himself up with his legs, but even those failed to move him. He slowly lifted his head and looked over at his left arm to find a restraint peeking out from under the white bed sheets.

This is just great. I'm in restraints, he moaned mentally. Now I know I'm in deep trouble. Ugh! Oh, God, I hurt!

Tears started to slide down out his eyes, dripping down his face. He clenched his teeth as more pain started to set in. This was torture; it had to be. Punishment for what he had done. More tears started to slide out of his eyes, thinking about what he had done Seras and how he let down Alucard and Integra.

Crying? Is it from the pain or that you nearly drank Seras last night?

Alucard appeared beside his bed with a cup of water in his hand. Abel looked up at him. For once he didn't have the devilish grin on his face, he looked serious. He reached down and removed the oxygen mask from Abel's nose and mouth before lifting his head gently and bringing the cup to his lips.

The cool water rushed into Abel's mouth with much-needed relief. When he had enough he turned his head slightly and Alucard removed the cup.

Abel, I'm here to warn you. My Master is not pleased with last night's events.

I figured that would be the case. What is my punishment?

She either wants to kill you herself or hand you over to Iscariot. Either way you're going to die.

Glad to know I have a choice. Listen; I never meant to hurt Seras. I have a hard time controlling my actions in that form, especially when angered. My actions were unacceptable—

No need to explain or apologizes to me. I figured it out myself and relayed my thoughts to Integra, but she isn't willing to forgive. I also learned that it was the Police Girl's own decision to stay even when you warned her to leave. It wasn't entirely your fault, so don't go on a guilt trip. Right now Seras is talking to Integra just outside the door, explaining her version of last night. She's fighting with my Master to keep you well… alive.

What? Why is she doing that for me? Does she have any idea of WHAT I was going to do to her? And I don't mean just drinking from her either.

Yes, she knows. I think she almost wanted you to. She likes you, Crusnik. She highly admires you to the point of loving you.

She can't! I'm a priest! It's not right!

My Master is coming. Tell her your side of the story. Also, I was never here.

Before Abel could answer, Alucard vanished just before Integra pulled back the curtain, sounding like she was going to jerk it out of the track. She stepped up to his bed as Seras stood far back, almost out of his view. He swallowed slightly as she glared down at him with narrowed blue eyes.

"Abel Nightroad, do you remember the events of last night?" she asked in hard voice.

"Y-yes, ma'am. I fully remember last night's events and I apologize for my actions to you and Ms. Victoria," he answered in a hushed tone. "Due to my injuries and anger, I was unable to concentrate on keeping my composure, allowing my Crusnik nature to arise. I take full responsibility for my actions and accept my punishment."

"Is that so? Well, I was recently informed that Seras denied your warnings to vacate the room. Is that the truth?" she asked.

"Yes, Sir Hellsing," Abel said, looking at Seras. "I had told her to leave so I might have calmed myself down but she denied the warnings and I was unable to regain my composure to the point that I ignored her pleas to stop."

"You admit to having nearly raped and drained Ms. Seras Victoria?" Integra asked as Abel looked at her semi-innocently. "Yes or no, Abel."

"Sir Integra, I never said anything about rape," Seras butted in, covering for Abel. "I just said that he—"

"Seras, enough. I finished watching the rest of the video earlier this morning. I saw what he was planning to do," she stated, turning to look at the vampire behind her.

"But he didn't though," she fought back, running up to Abel's bed. "Abel, tell her! You would never do something like that! In this form or in your Crusnik form! Tell her!"

I'd think you'd better tell a lie on this one, Crusnik, unless you want to be filled with lead. Or silver; either way, it wouldn't feel too good.

"Regardless of what you saw on the tape, I—I never had any intention of having any s-sexual actions with Ms. Victoria," Abel replied.

"You deny the video evidence against you," Integra responded as she shifted her coat slightly, showing the handle of her gun. Abel swallowed slightly.

"Y-yes, ma'am," Abel said in hushed, squeaky voice.

"You can't always believe everything you see," Seras added, watching Integra glare down at the nervous Abel. "We're telling you the truth!"

"Very well," Integra said, turning on her heel and putting her back to Abel. "I will consider your testimony and tell you my verdict in the near future."

And with that Integra walked out, leaving Seras in the small room with Abel. They both sighed slightly in relief. Well, for right now anyway.

"I was so worried that you were going to be shot or given to Iscariot," Seras said, removing a restraint from Abel's wrist.

SLAAAAP!

Seras stared at Abel, putting her hand on her cheek. Abel looked up at her angrily. He quickly undid the other restraints around his other wrist and middle. Seras was at a loss for words; what had she done to deserve that?

"You defied my orders to leave," he said, not taking his eyes off her. "You have any—ANY idea of what was going through my head? Integra was dead right about the rape allegations. Seras, I hurt you last night and I could have done a lot more than that if Alucard hadn't stopped me then."

"But, Abel… I-I…" she began as she watched Abel painfully sit up. "You shouldn't move around! You'll reopen your wounds! Lay back down!"

"Seras…"

"Abel, please! You lost a lot of blood! I don't want you to get hurt any more," she said beginning to cry. "I know it was mostly," sob "my fault for what h-happened," sniff "last night! I know that! Please," sob "don't…"

By that point Seras was on the floor, crying her eyes out. Abel sighed again as he painfully slid to the bottom of the bed to get the restraints off his ankles. As he undid the buckles he heard Seras get up and run out room, still crying. Before Abel knew it he found himself starting to weep again.

Seras had just defended him, and in return he had whacked her upside the head. He could no longer intrude on Integra's hospitality. If his running away made him look guilty then… Well, he wasn't exactly innocent, after all. Abel wiped his eyes before removing the IV needles and electrodes from his body. He had a feeling that Alucard was watching everything but had no plans on stopping him, or he probably would have intervened by now.

Abel painfully felt around for the latch to lower the guardrail from the bed. He found it, pushed down on it, and slowly swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. Surprisingly enough, no doctors or nurses showed up to put him back in the bed. Either the doctors and nurses were really bad at paying attention or this was Alucard's power at work.

He put on a robe and slippers and grabbed his glasses before hurrying out of the infirmary. He knew this place was more alive at night but even still the halls were empty, void of any person. It was midday after all. Now he was sure it was Alucard's doing. The hall remained empty as he walked into his room and closed the door.

Abel shoved everything he could into a duffle bag after he dressed. He then pulled out a couple pieces of paper and wrote down two small letters, one addressed to Sir Hellsing and the other to Seras. He folded them up and grabbed his duffle bag, gun, holster, ID card, and dog tags.

The halls were still empty as he walked down to Seras' room and slipped the letter under the door. He then walked up to Integra's office. He hung the gun, ID, dog tags, and the other letter over the doorknob. By that point, Abel's wounds were finally starting to close, though they still hurt.

He hurried back downstairs and slipped out the front door. About forty feet out of the building he paused for a moment. He turned around to see the outline of Alucard staring down at him from the top floor of the building. Abel bowed to the vampire before turning and running again. He shot out the front gates, just glimpsing the guards. They appeared to be sleeping, but Abel knew better.

It was a nice idea while it lasted, at least. So, he would be on his own again, with no boss and no money. But Abel was Abel and he could sweet talk any waitress out a cup of tea or a sandwich. Maybe he could find a church he could be a minister of. It was possible, after all. He didn't know were he was going, but it was better than hurting anyone else.

(A/N: Well, that is the end of chapter 6. I hope you all enjoyed it. And don't worry this story still has along ways to go after all. So, don't go getting all upset about Abel leaving. Please remember to review! Thank you!)

Millie M. Banshee.

Beta: 2stupid

(BN: Wow, an OOC Alucard… I thought he would have just laughed and kicked the shit out of someone. He does act like that, except there'd be more gore around. Bloodthirsty berserker. Meaning no disrespect to all the nosferatu out there.)

(A/N the only reason he's OOC is because when I did make him his insane self people were telling me his character was too flat. So either you have him OOC or flat. I wish y'all would make up your minds. Honestly.)