Sanctuary to the Lost and Damned


Ch 5:Blood Cannibalism

Alucard lied on his side in the small cell. 'and they call me a monster', he thought as he recalled the events of yesterday, or the day before. The vampire had no sense of time in the cell.

The experiments that they had conducted were more than pointless, in Alucard's view; they were downright cruel. What was the point of testing the vampire's tolerance for pain or cutting his body open for an examination of his internal organs.

He could remember Hellsing's words to Lord Godalming and the others with him. "As you can see the vampire seems to have the same internal organ systems that all humans do. This suggests that the vampire's organs adapt to take on a new function. "

The Vampire was disgusted with the conduct of the doctor. 'How Ironic Human were' he thought, 'that they should point out the similarities between us yet treat me as if I am something completely different. Something unworthy of humane treatment. To regard us as not being able to feel emotions.'

He wanted to roll of his other side, but that side hurt more.

His long tongue lapped up the blood that continued to bleed from him in an attempt to conserve as much blood as possible.

He looked at his many wounds which had only started to heal. They were all too deep and he was not healing like he should. The last time he could remember it taking this long for a wound to heal, was more than 500 years ago, back when he was human. This concerned him. Would he continue to bleed until he ceased to be?

He could not recall how long it had been since he last fed.

The door creaked open. Hellsing appeared as Alucard expected. "Come" was all the man said before disappearing out of sight. Alucard rose slowly to his feet before following his master's command.

Hellsing walked quicker a pace than Alucard was able to maintain, prompting many angry demands for Alucard to hurry up.

They came to an old wooden door. Hellsing opened it to reveal a large empty room. "This is where you will sleep, Alucard." Hellsing told the vampire.

Alucard looked at the room. After noticing a lack of a coffin or even a bed he turned to Hellsing. "But... master...There is no where for me to sleep."

"There is a floor."

"...Master...I used to sleep in a coffin-"

"Before you were captured. "Hellsing cut him off. "I have already told you that you would need to get used to your new life. You, my slave, are at the bottom of the power hierarchy. You are entitled to nothing; You must earn these things."

The Man turned around and headed for the door. He stopped. "Oh, Alucard get some sleep you will be joining me for a test run of your service to my organization."

"Master!" Alucard moved to his knees. "I have not fed since before...my capture. I will need to feed to be ready for duty."

"No. I will decide when you need to be feed. Am I clear." Hellsing did not face him.

"Yes master."


Hellsing came back for the vampire at dusk. Alucard was told that a vampire had attacked a family in the countryside. It was a young family of seven, Hellsing had explained, so there were at least two ghouls the others would by now be vampires. Plus the original vampire would hopefully still be there.

There were 14 soldiers, Hellsing and Alucard. Hellsing cleared his throat. "Okay men, I want the ghouls dead as well as any difficult vampires, but if possible I want as many of the vampires alive as possible. Move out!" all 14 soldiers surround the house.

Alucard chuckled to himself at the many technical mistakes Hellsing had made with his orders. "You know that both the ghouls and vampires are already dead, master." Hellsing remained impassive to the vampire. He knew that fact, but he also knew that bringing up these technicalities would only confuse the men.

"Alucard. I am going to release some of your basic powers. They will be sealed again after the mission is done understood."

"Yes, master." The Vampire said before turning in the opposite direction.

"Where are you going?" Hellsing demanded seeing Alucard heading for the barn and not the house.

"I'm checking out the barn first, master." Alucard was surprised when Hellsing said nothing to this and carried on with his business at the house.

Alucard opened the side barn door to immediately see a female vampire. She was smirking.

"I see, so you are the original here." He grinned, "I did not expect to find you so quickly."

"To the contrary," said the vampiress with a southern American accent, "I found you. Tell me are you with those fools currently investigating the house."

"I am."

"I see, so you would be distressed if I told you that I have set a trap there."

"No, because I'm here."

"Well, I know what you are and you me, so unless you wish to continue this tea party, I reckon we should fight."

Alucard's fangs grew as quickly as his excitement. She attacked first. The two vampires fought with their elongated fingernails. Alucard sliced the vampiress check. He was instantly transfixed at the site of blood. He launched himself at her. He did something he had never done to a member of his own kind. He punctured her neck and drank from her undead veins. He drained every last drop sweet blood from her body. She collapsed on to the floor, not destroyed, but in a sort of coma-like state.

Alucard could feel the burning feeling of blood in his veins. This was a very good burn. The blood had restored his vigor and the only thing that he could think of was his desire for more. Two vampires both appearing to be 14 dropped from the upper level. They growled. He replied. He had survived more than 500 years as a vampire and he was determined that he was not going to be beaten by these brats. The three vampires fought. Eventually Alucard drained them of their blood as well.

Outside the barn Alucard heard the sound of an explosion. He laughed insanely. He knew that it was the house. He secretly hopped that Hellsing had vanquished in the blast. His eyes darted around. "Come-on who else what's to play?"

He saw something move in the stack of hay.

"Come out Vermin!" He lifted the bit of hay up and saw a small boy who could not have been any older than 7 . His insane smile faded as the boy screamed. The boy was human. The boy tried to run away. Alucard picked the boy up into his arms.

"Tell me, boy do you live here?" the boy struggled trying to free himself from Alucard.

Alucard kicked the side door open and carried the boy out.

Outside in the yard were only four soldiers and He saw that Hellsing was standing facing the field with his backs to everyone.

"Master!" Alucard called out to him. He approached the hunter with the child still in his arms. "I thought that you might handle him."

Hellsing looked at Alucard. "Is he a vampire?"

"No, he is a human child."

"Oh, he's a survivor...Give him to Norbye. " Alucard did not know which human was Norbye so he just plumped the boy into the first soldier he encountered before returning to Hellsing's side.

"Are you alright, my master?" He asked with false concern.

"I lost most of the team. It was a trap Alucard."

"I think that see knew that you would search the house first. "

Hellsing's head turned, "She? Do you mean the head vampire here!"

"I do."

"Where is she? Did she get away."

"No she is still in that barn, along with two other boys."

"You need to capture them Alucard."

"They are not currently a threat.

For the first time Hellsing noticed the blood on Alucard's clothing. "Did you kill them."Alucard did not answer. "Did you kill them Alucard!"

Alucard turned away. " I don't know."

Hellsing had examined the a dry body strapped to the cold metal examination table for several hours before retiring to his study where he sat in his chair by the fireplace.

He had spoken to Lord Godalming regarding the woman's identity. Arthur told him that she was the daughter of a businessman from Texas who went missing. Apparently he brought her with him for the trip. They were last seen getting off their boat at the the Liverpool ship port.

She seemed to be dead, all three of them did, but there were no other signs of injury. Neither the head nor the heart had been pierced. He was not able to find a single drop of blood in her body or in the bodies of the other two. He had not spoken to Alucard since the incident. Alucard did have blood on himself. Since the boy was unharmed, he concluded that it must have belonged to the three vampires; It was cannibalism of blood, but were these vampires dead?

A thought floated into his head like an sweat fragrance floats into nostrils on a spring day. 'What if Vampires could go into a dormant state like some trees do in the winter to conserve themselves.'

It would explain why vampiric activity fluctuates through the years. 'Yes', he thought, 'if the vampires could go into a state of hibernation then they could avoid suspicion. That would lead to them going undetected for years, even centuries.'

A smile crept into his mind. Had he just figured out one of the vampire's secrets? He would need to test his theory in the morning.

Abraham Hellsing lifted a spoon of pig's blood to the mouth of the dried out corpse. He poured it in and waited.

Green eyes opened and looked at him. The undead creature struggled against the bindings.

He smiled. His hypotheses was correct. A vampire was dependent on blood for their activities. These creatures were drained of their blood, so he reasoned that the vampires were put out of balance which had been corrected by putting blood back into the vampire.

"Hello deary" He addressed the vampire.

"You piece of shit!"she yelled. He did not respond to her insult. He smiled his Cheshire grin. "I'll bet that even the Vatican knows about this." He said aloud, but to himself.

"What are to talking about you old man!"

Next he would talk to Alucard.

The vampire sat in this room wondering when Hellsing would appear. He knew that It had been more than a week since the hunt, as he had on several occasions left his room against his master's orders.

He could remember feeling embarrassed when Hellsing asked if he had killed the vampires, and the answer that he gave. Usually he had the answers for everything related to vampires, as he had been one for more than 500 years.

The truth was that, he had never feed from another vampire, the thought had always repulsed him. But he had been so hungry.

Hellsing finally arrived after a few more days.

"Tell me, Alucard, what happens to a vampire who has not feed in an extended amount of time?"

"They get hungry" Alucard answered simply.

"Well yes, but, a vampire can only be truly killed by being pieced through the head or heart. That is what we have been able to confirm at least. So what happens to a vampire who has not the chance to restore their blood supply."

Alucard turned his head "I told you, master, I do not know. I have never feed on my own kind before."

"Why did you do it then?"

"Because I was hungry master."

From the corner of his eye, Alucard saw Hellsing smile. He shivered.

"I'm glad that you did though," Hellsing did not catch the surprise in Alucard's face. "Because of what you did I have made a new discovery about vampires. Did you know that when deprived of blood, your kind can enter a state of hibernation?"

"No I did not master. I have always had a steady supply of blood; with the exception of my time in captivity."

"Well, I can't have a repeat of the incident, so you will given pig's blood every three days, if you behave."

"Thank you, master."

"There is more good news." Hellsing told the vampire. "I am getting married."

"You have never spoke of this woman before now, I give my congratulations, master."

Of course you haven't! The only reason that I am telling you now, is for your warning. I do not want you to engage in conversation, unless answering a question. I do not want you to be seen by her unless it is unavoidable. You must not tell her who, or what you are, nor what the Hellsing organization does. She believes that we are an anti-terrorism unit and I would like to keep it like that. Understood."

"Understood, master."


END of Ch 5


Preview of the next chapter: Request

Alucard smiled as he knelt down to the boy. "I will scare away all of your monsters." Although Alucard had not meant for the boy to see his teeth and eyes; the boy had.

"The boy's eyes grew large."whoa." The boy smiled. "I bet that you can scare away any monster."