Sir Integra Hellsing stood by the large window behind her desk, watching her men perform their drills in the grounds below. It was late afternoon, and as soon as the sun set, their work would begin. The world out there was a mess, but on this particular day Integra could not help but feel the world inside her organization was in even greater turmoil. Things had spun out of control so quickly that not even she could have seen it coming.
But steps would be taken, as soon as Alucard arrived.
The vampire in question arrived as soon as the sun had disappeared beneath the horizon, appearing suddenly from out of nowhere. Integra was quite accustomed to him drifting through walls here and there, but even she had been caught off guard for a moment – so deep in thought was she.
"Good evening, Alucard," Integra greeted, a puff of cigar smoke escaping from her mouth and floating up past her face.
"And a good evening to you, Miss Hellsing," he answered, his voice as smooth and silky as always. She felt comforted by it, assured that her initial speculations about the situation were incorrect. Alucard had not changed.
"I want to talk to you about the incident that took place last night."
"Surely you have already spoken to Katherine about it. What more is there to say?"
Integra noticed there was no longer a cocky grin on his face, and she felt uneasy by his sudden seriousness. Something about the story was not adding up.
"I want to hear your side of it, so start talking."
"Very well, one of your men attacked Katherine during the night. He carried her off to one of the storerooms on the first floor where no one would hear her cries for help."
Integra could see he was growing quite agitated, his hands balling into fists and his teeth bared threateningly.
"Go on," she urged.
"I'm sure you can fill in the blanks for yourself. Unfortunately for him, I happened to be in the vicinity."
Integra took a long drag of her cigar before sitting down at her desk and folding her hands.
"The man's actions were no doubt completely out of line, and he deserved to be punished. But killing him? It isn't like you to act so rashly, Alucard, especially since you did not bother to consult me on the matter."
"Would you have preferred I let him continue?" Alucard asked, his tone of voice challenging her.
"Of course not, but you could have kept him alive so I could deal with him myself."
"And let him believe he can get away with what he had tried to do? What kind of an example will that set to the others if they think they will get away with a slap on the wrist?! They need to know their actions will have dire consequences. You forget that even you are a woman, Master. If you had been the intended victim, you would no doubt have given me permission to kill him."
Integra glared at him over the top of her glasses, her pale blue eyes narrowing. "You forget your place, Alucard. It is not up to you to make the decisions around here. We will let this incident slide, since the man was in the wrong."
"Fine. Will that be all?" Alucard asked, feeling impatient with the whole ordeal. He had not seen Katherine again since last night, and the incident with the soldier left him feeling anxious for her safety. He was certain no one else would try anything, not after what he had done, but still he could not shake the nagging suspicion that he needed to watch over her.
His human master, however, had other plans.
"No. As of now, you are forbidden from seeing Katherine."
If Alucard still had a beating heart, he was sure it would have stopped from shock. His eyes stared directly at Integra, waiting for her explanation for this ridiculous order.
"I know you've found her to be an amusing little toy since she first started working here, but I can tell when a woman is in love. When Katherine gave me her rendition of the story, her eyes lit up like London on the 5th of November as soon as she described how you had come to her aid. You know as well as I that it is completely unnatural, and utterly irresponsible on your part for allowing things to go so far. She is human, Alucard. Leave her to live out her life and hopefully find herself a human man she can grow old with – and die with."
Alucard remained rooted to the spot, feeling slightly disorientated, which was unusual for him. This was what he had been dreading all along. Her humanity and his immortality had been a problem from the start, yet both of them had chosen to look past that for a while. Now their world of fantasy had coming crashing down, and the harsh reality of the situation would ultimately force them apart.
Alucard turned away from his master and made to leave, but she called him back.
"Don't even think about changing her, Alucard. I allowed Ceres to stay with Hellsing because her circumstances were different, but if you turn Katherine, I will send her away. Do I make myself clear?"
"Perfectly," Alucard replied, before passing through the walls as though they didn't exist.
As he wandered aimlessly through the hallways of the great mansion, Alucard found himself cursing not only his bondage, but also his immortality.
****
The darkened corridor stretched ahead of Katherine, like the gaping throat of some monster, threatening to swallow her alive. She did not pause to think about what she was doing, worried that if she did, she would turn around and return to her room without finding him.
The dungeons that lay beneath the old Hellsing castle were an intricate maze, and she knew that somewhere within this maze was Alucard's room.
Katherine rounded the corner at the end of the hallway and was met with more darkness, only it seemed to be thicker this time, more imposing and threatening. She hesitated, placing her hand against the cold, damp wall to steady herself. Taking a deep breath, she started forward, keeping her hand on the wall to guide her.
"Alucard, where are you?" she whispered into the eerie silence, afraid that if she raised her voice any higher than that, the resulting echo would awaken things that lived in the dark – things that would devour her in an instant. The corridors twisted this way and that, and Katherine began to lose track of where she was going. She began to fear she would get stuck down here, where no one would find her. She was starting to doubt that Alucard still cared, that he would come find her.
Katherine stopped abruptly, turning so that her back was pressed to the wall. Slowly she slid down to the ground, hugging her knees to her chest. What was she doing down here? She should not have come; now she was lost somewhere in a dank dungeon with nothing but the pulsing darkness; and it was closing in on her, squeezing the life out of her. Leaning her forehead against her knees, she closed her eyes wearily.
Suddenly he was there – or rather his presence. She felt him approach like a warm breeze, wrapping around her like a lover's embrace. She lifted her head, searching for any sign of him, but saw nothing. She did, however, feel as though he were tugging at her sleeve, urging her to rise and follow. Unsteadily she rose to her feet, leaving the safety of the wall and trusting wholeheartedly in him.
He led her along in the dark, finally stopping outside a heavy wooden door. Without any hesitation, she pulled on the door and descended the short flight of stairs on the other side. At the bottom she stopped, and there he was, seated in his throne-like chair at the end of the passage, looking every bit like a king of the night. Her heart leapt up in her throat at the sight of him, and she found herself unable to move, mesmerized by his dark beauty. That all too familiar grin was on his face, and his blazing red eyes were staring at her from behind a screen of messy black hair. She opened her mouth in an attempt to speak, but words had failed her entirely. His grin widened, and he stretched out his hand, beckoning to her.
The spell had been broken, and she hurried to obey, moving towards him. He opened his arms for her, and she climbed into his lap like a small child, resting her head against his shoulder while his arms wrapped comfortingly around her.
They sat in silence for a while, and finally the questions she had been burning to ask surfaced.
"Alucard, why didn't you come to me? Didn't you want to see me?"
"Shh," he soothed, stroking her hair. She could not help but smile; he was right, they shouldn't waste their time with talk. She felt his hand touch hers, his fingers slowly tracing up her arm, stroking her neck and finally stopping at her chin which he tilted up. She had only a second to look into his eyes before he closed the gap between them, his lips gently brushing against hers. She felt herself melt in his embrace, her hand grabbing hold of the front of his shirt and pulling him closer to her. Her desire grew in intensity, and she broke away from him, pulling back a little so she could look at him.
"Alucard, I want to belong to only you, and I want you to have all of me."
He said nothing, staring at her for a few tense moments. She could not make out what he was thinking, his face too shadowed for her to see his expression clearly. He launched forward suddenly, his lips claiming hers in a hard, fiery kiss. His passion overwhelmed her senses, and she barely noticed that he had risen with her still in his arms. He moved swiftly, leaving his cell and carrying her all the way back up to her room where he dropped her onto the bed before crawling onto her. His lips had not left hers once, but he broke away now and grabbed hold of her top, ripping it off of her with no regard for her clothing.
Not that she minded; their last night together had left her anxious and longing for more from him. She opened her legs to accommodate him better, and a low moan involuntarily escaped from her throat when his lower body came into contact with hers. His hand ran up the side of her leg, slipping beneath her skirt and causing her to arch her back while whispering his name. Alucard took advantage of this and reached around behind her, his nimble fingers finding her bra hook. Expertly he unhooked it, and it fell away, exposing her to him. His infamous grin returned as his eyes devoured her. Katherine felt her cheeks redden and she bit her lower lip, but slyly she lifted her hands to his shirt, fumbling with the buttons. His grin turned into a smirk, but he allowed her to continue, and within moments his shirt hung open, revealing his broad, strong chest. With wonder in her eyes, she traced along his cool skin with her hands, but he did not allow her to continue for long before her yanked her towards him, claiming her lips once more. She pressed up against him, feeling her excitement and yearning mount. His lips moved down to her neck, and she tilted her head back to allow him more access. She felt his hands touching her everywhere, driving her to the brink of ecstasy. When he removed the last item of clothing separating them, she wrapped her arms around his upper body, digging her nails into the flesh on his back. Her breathing accelerated until she was practically panting in his ear.
"Alucard," she whispered in a pleading voice, begging him to possess her body and soul, to send her over the edge of pleasure.
All of a sudden he was everywhere – inside and out. Her vision was clouded with images of him, of his blood red eyes which seemed to penetrate to the core of her soul. Katherine closed her eyes in pure bliss, before opening them again so she could look at him.
What she saw was not Alucard – her love, her life – but the face of the soldier who had attacked her, a triumphant grin on his face.
"Got you now, woman."
She screamed in horror, and suddenly she was lying alone in her bed, the sheets tangled around her legs and a thin sheen of sweat covering her forehead. She sat upright and looked around, but there was no one in sight.
A dream – it had all been a dream.
More like a nightmare.
With a sigh of relief, she collapsed back onto the bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling. It had all felt so real; she was certain she had given herself up to Alucard.
"Oh Alucard," she whispered brokenly, burying her face in her pillow as hot tears soaked the casing.
Unbeknownst to her, Alucard was watching through the eyes of his fledgling Ceres Victoria who, on his command, had hidden herself in Katherine's room. He saw the expression of fear on her face, heard the anguish in her voice, and even smelled the salt of her tears.
But all he could do was watch as she cried herself to sleep.
"Master, do you want me to stay?" Ceres asked telepathically.
"No, you may go."
He could not watch any longer; it was bad enough that he was restricted to only seeing her through the eyes of others, but now, when she really needed him, he could not even be there in person.
"I'm sorry, Katherine."