a/n: I've just pushed my homework to Sunday. It's not that hard, and besides I've got everything planned out for it. It's 10:37 p.m Saturday now, and I don't know when sleep will take me. So, let's hope I can get this done.
Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing.
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Chapter Four: The Finding of the Guilty
Integra would've found it much more comfortable of Walter had accompanied her on the search in the rain. But the Geese's' fear of Alucard had resulted in Walter staying behind. Integra found it strange that they all suddenly feared Alucard, but after some thinking, she realized it wasn't Alucard they were scared if, it was just what he'd think of them. Considering that fact that was he said was actually true.
She's hoped with all of her heart that it wasn't. Integra loved her fiancé and she loved her vampire and ever since Alucard had told her what had been done to him, she'd prayed every night that he was lying. But as the days went on, Alucard began acting different, and then he'd disappeared. On top of all of the internal conflict within her, she began to feel guilt. It hurt and burned in her stomach. With a grunt, she clenched her stomach which caught Pip's attention.
"Do you think you'll be okay to go out in the rain, Sir?" Pip asked with concern. "It's nothing," Integra replied back rather sadly. Though weary, Pip nodded and opened the door leading outside for Integra.
A gust of wind and water came towards her, accidently causing her to stumble into the Captain. An apology from both sides was exchanged. Pip then turned around, and shouted, "Hurry up Seras! Does it take one this long in order to put on a coat?" "Just wait, I'll be down there in a second!" Seras' muffled voice replied.
Finally, with the hat in her hand, Seras ran downstairs with a huge pink rain coat, one similar to the hooded cloak she wore out in public. Obviously, Seras loved pink. "Okay!" Seras said holding up the hat, "Let's go find Master!"
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They had been walking for quite a while, and Seras had dragged them out into the middle of nowhere. It was a marshy area, very dangerous to be in in this kind of weather. But it was all for Alucard.
Pip thought that the girls would've had an issue with not using a car, but instead, walking out in the rain following only Seras' nose. But they were both desperate to find Alucard, as was Pip, but he'd been wondering what it would be like once they'd found him or if they found him. Don't tell yourself things like that Pip, he thought to himself, of course we'll find him.
Unlike the other two, Pip had only put on a thin rain coat and his hat, so he was very much soaked. He ignored it though and continued following Seras. It had to be hard for her to smell his scent; the rain was beginning to pound on them. And to make all else worse, they were in an area that seemed to be completely covered in trees. "Seras! Where are we?" Integra shouted towards Seras. The loud rain was making it hard to speak.
"I don't know! Master's scent ends here, I think he knew we were coming and he just wanted to be alone!" Seras replied back with a shout.
"But," Pip shouted back, "He's probably somewhere in this area!" Seras quickly nodded. Pip thought for a while, hesitated, and came up with a plan, "Okay, we should split up!" They stared at him for a few seconds. "It's too dangerous out here, one of us could get lost!" Integra protested. Pip smiled his sly smile, his trademark, and replied to Integra, "That's why you two will stay together so if one gets hurt, you'll have the other. As for me, I'm a man, and I should be okay!" And with that, Pip progressed into the bush, leaving the other two to stare at a vacant space. "Well, let's get too it!" Seras exclaimed, grabbing Integra around the arm and pulling her in a random direction. Her Master could've been anywhere.
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Deep down, Pip had been glad that he had been separated from the girls. Their emotions where interfering with his, though he knew that they all felt the same thing. It was guilt, but guilt on different levels. He's wondered who was feeling more pain, Integra or Alucard.
If what Alucard had said was actually true, Integra would be forced to break the engagement with her much loved fiancé, the heir of Hellsing would've already been provided, and Integra would be alone. That was if Integra allowed Alucard to keep the child. But again, not that any of what he'd claimed was real, so Pip didn't have to worry about Integra.
Alucard was who he'd have to worry about. To tell a lie like that…something had to happen. Maybe someone had hurt him, but he was too scared to tell. Maybe it was his idea of a sick joke, but then, why would he run away?
Pip's thoughts were suddenly put at a halt when he came tumbling down and falling straight on his bottom. He recovered quickly though, looking around to make sure no one had witnessed his slip. "Mud and small rocks," he personally noted to himself. His eyes stopped on a long dock which was outstretched into a huge lake.
The fall had taken a toll on Pip, so he decided it wouldn't hurt for him to take a short rest and sit at the edge of the dock. As he began walking on the dock, he realized how unsafe it was. There were no rails and it was slippery, any one could've walked this dock, slipped into the water, hit their head, and drowned. But, Pip refused to be a victim of the dock and made sure he was careful until he reached the edge.
With a sigh of relief, he sat down and allowed the rain to caress his face. The pour was dying down now and was no more than a drizzle. Still, there was no Alucard. He'd wondered if Seras and Integra had had any luck. Probably not, just as Seras had said before, she had completely lost the scent.
So they were lost again.
With a sigh, Pip stood up and began to walk off of the dock until he came across black seaweed. He carefully bent down and picked it up. It was very long seaweed and had a strange texture to it. As he felt it again, he concluded that it wasn't a plant, but it was hair, probably animal hair. He probably hadn't noticed it before because of the heavy rain, but it was lessening now.
As he again looked towards the bottom, he noticed more hair, and as he did, he began to pick it up and put it into locks. Again, he was at the edge of the dock, and this time fearing the worse. This hair had felt very similar to the hair he'd felt millions of times.
He knelt down and looked into the water. It was dark and murky, everything was unclear. He squinted his eyes as hard as he could, and stopped once he saw something white. It was almost like long white hair floating freely in the water and whatever it was attached to was just black.
Pip pulled is head from under the water and took a deep breath and held it. He figured that there was a strong possibility it could be Alucard. He'd seen his hair turn white or a very light blond when he'd gotten seriously injured or when he was hungry. Maybe stress was a contributor as well. Or maybe it was just a school of fish or an anemone.
Whatever the case may be, Pip decided it was better to at least get something rather than nothing. So with little hesitation, he submerged himself into the murky waters.
Integra was now carrying her socks and shoes in both hands. Her pant legs were rolled up to her ankles, and her hair was a curly mess. How she'd hated the outdoors. Seras, on the other hand, was attentive; each noise seemed to cause her to jerk and look around. The huge puddles or water and mud meant nothing to her, her only task seemed to be finding her Master. Integra could see why though.
She really hoped that Alucard had been lying and that this all could be forgiven and forgotten. She'd loved her fiancé with all of her heart and couldn't see him hurting Alucard. But he was human, and humans could make mistakes, big ones.
"Come on Seras," Integra called out, "It's getting cold. We need to find Captain, I doubt that we'll be finding your Master here, we've been looking all around." "Okay," Seras called back, quickly jumping to Integra's side. "I think he went this way," Integra said, walking away from Seras. With a light chuckle, Seras grabbed Integra's arm. "Sir, he went this way! I can smell him over here!" Seras jumpily replied. Integra looked at her and thought. She was so happy despite what had been going on lately. Maybe there was something more to it.
The two came across a mudded area with a long dock leading straight into a huge lake. They both looked at each other for a while and then back at the dock. "Seras," Integra asked, looking at Seras" Is this where his scent ends?" Seras nodded her eyes wide with shock. Integra observed her and found it strange that she pointed towards the dock. "Yes, I can see the dock," Integra said, looking at the dock, than back at Seras' hand. She was getting rather annoyed with this odd behavior. And then she looked back.
For as tall as he was, Alucard wasn't very heavy, therefore Pip was able to pull him up with ease. He'd known Alucard was cold, but not freezing. He was hard as well, almost like a corpse. "Figures," Pip thought to himself as he emerged from the water. Alucard was unconscious, so he made sure to put him on the dock first, and then he crawled up.
Pip went into a small coughing which resulted in him coughing up some water. Though it been easy to retrieve Alucard, the moment he'd dived into the water, he could see nothing. He was down there for a while. So with a breath of fresh air, he made his way towards the white haired vampire. Alucard wasn't breathing, but he never breathed unless he was talking. Pip put his hands on Alucard's head and stomach and put his head on his chest. There was no heartbeat, but there was warmth.
Pip lifted his head but kept his hands on Alucard. It wasn't his head that was warm, but his stomach, more so his abdomen. Pip lowered his head on Alucard's abdomen and tensed as he felt a heartbeat. With shaky fingers, he sat up and began unbuttoning Alucard's vest until only his white shirt remained. Pip put his fingers on Alucard's midsection and slowly added pressure. He stopped when he'd felt the heat rise up and when he'd noticed how stiff Alucard's abdomen had become, and then there was the heartbeat.
He quickly removed his hand when he heard two people approaching. "Master," "Alucard!" they two gasped quickly kneeling down beside them. "Careful, it's slippery," Pip cautioned, "and you may want to take a look at this." Integra and Seras' finger's followed Pip's unto Alucard's abdomen, each applying a bit of pressure. Integra said nothing; she blankly stared, stood up and walked off somewhere behind a tree. As the two witnessed this, they looked down. Seras had attempted to get up to follow Integra, but Pip grabbed her by the shoulder and shook his head no. He knew now that at the moment, Integra wanted to be alone or think of a wedding that would never be.
Her prayers were not answered; it was as if no one was listening. Her dream of a perfect husband had a perfect life for her had been shattered. Alucard was telling the truth, she could feel the heartbeat, the warmth, and the stiffness of his stomach.
The next few months would prove to test Integra's emotions as well as her trust. And as far as she was concerned, she'd be doing at alone.
Okay, Alucard's hair is white because he lost a lot of energy. The warmth in him would be the baby because obviously he's a dead body and dead bodies are cold and hard. I touched my uncles when he was in his coffin. That was a while back, but I never did forget how he felt.
I really didn't want it to be this long, please keep in mind; updates will probably be each weekend, not this close. And plus, this is like five pages. This is too long for me to write, it takes time. So, expect shorter chapters. Thanks to all of you who reviewed and to those who did so kindly! And it is now 9:16 p.m Sunday here in Texas. Have a nice week and God bless!
