Alucard silently watched her from the shadows, bound by the order of his human master; unable to fully disobey, yet unable to stay away from her either. She was like gravity, drawing him in, closer and deeper with every move, every breath and every touch. If it were still capable of doing so, his pulse would have been racing at the mere thought of their night together, almost a week ago now.
As she walked past him in the passage, going about her daily business and not even realizing he was there, he ghosted along behind her and whispered in her ear, "I am still here."
She jumped in surprise; then a smile lit her features.
"I know," she replied. He had explained to her what Sir Integra had asked of him, of the compulsion he faced to obey and disobey, and he knew she understood. But this did not make it any easier for either of them to accept. He restricted himself to only watching over her at night and when she wandered the hallways of the mansion; it was an exquisite agony he was forced to endure.
Ever since her arrival at Hellsing, Katherine had been hard at work designing and building a new type of weapon system, her specialty being the blending of blessed silver and modern war materials to create powerful undead destroying firearms, which was proving to be invaluable to the Hellsing organization. Finally after months of work, it was ready, and when the opportunity came for the testing of the new system she had designed, she prepared herself to once more enter the field. News had come of an infestation of Vampires in a village near Cornwall, where the disappearances had been specifically those of young ladies of a certain demographic. Pretty, pale skinned and dark haired, indicating a sexual predator who combined his lust for flesh and for blood in a plague of murders and disappearances in the area.
Sir Integra had specified that Alucard would not be needed for this particular mission as the target vampire was clearly inexperienced and incapable of creating legions of slaves. Katherine was selected to go along and supervise the deployment of a new hand cannon, capable of delivering a blessed silver warhead carrying a new version of Napalm that only burned the undead. A squad of soldiers would provide protection and a strike group, led by Ceres, would take the vampire out.
Alucard could not dispel the unease he felt over the whole situation, unsure of whether it was a premonition of disaster or his need to be close to Katherine, to prevent any harm from befalling her.
But he had no choice, and obeyed the command given to him, staying behind while the rest of the troops were dispatched, Katherine along with them. He did, however, keep in constant contact with Ceres through telepathy in order to monitor the situation. He followed the reports on the radio network as well, allowing him to build a clear picture of what was transpiring in the area.
If anything happened, he would know about it.
****
Katherine stood atop a grassy knoll, watching the battle taking place in the distance through a pair of binoculars. She focused specifically on the soldiers making use of her weapons, taking note of effectiveness of their utilization. All was going well so far, and she had heard from the soldiers guarding her that Sir Integra was on her way. The vampire needed to be captured alive; they needed to determine whether he was a chipped Freak or a pure Vampire.
A cold shiver ran down Katherine's spine as she sensed a pair of eyes watching her. She was familiar with this feeling; it often helped her determine when Alucard was close by, but he had been ordered to stay behind, and it felt slightly different this time, threatening.
Shrugging off the nagging suspicion that someone else was there watching her, she raised the binoculars once more to watch. She noticed that the small group of ghouls had been taken care of, and the soldiers were now moving into the surrounding forest, going in search of the vampire's lair.
A strange gurgling sound came from the left, and Katherine felt something wet splash onto her arm. Glancing down, she was puzzled to find dark red spots staining her sleeve. Her brain processed the information too slowly to keep up with the fast-moving entity that was slaughtering the guards around her one by one. She had enough time only to see the first man drop to the ground, his face and neck nothing more than a mass of bloody red gashes before something grabbed her from behind. Trees passed before her eyes in a green and brown blur as she was carried off at an inhuman speed.
"You have the scent of another vampire on you," the creature said, sniffing down her body. She tried to push him away, but was having a hard time even determining which way was up.
"That's right, and he'll come after you if you don't let me go!" she threatened, hoping he would be wary enough to heed her warning. But the monster merely laughed at her.
"The only reason he's interested in you is because of your virgin blood. Once I take that away, he'll have no more need for you."
"That's not true! Alucard would never –" Her words were cut off when he suddenly released his hold on her, dropping her harshly to the ground. She landed with a heavy thud on the left side of her body, but she slowly pushed herself back up, loudly cursing the vampire for hurting her.
"Oh be quiet you noisy bitch!" he yelled, smacking the side of her face with enough force to throw her frail human body across the clearing. Before passing out in a crumpled heap on the ground, Katherine's last thoughts were of the vampire's words to her.
Alucard. . .
. . .it can't be true. . .
****
When Sir Integra's helicopter landed outside the village, she realized the situation was worse than expected and that the vampire had been greatly underestimated. Initially all had been going well, with Kit's new weapon used effectively against the small group of ghouls near the village, and the strike team closing in on the lair of the vampire. However when the lair, an old abandoned wood cutter's shed, was breached, there was no sign of the target vampire. At the same time the squad guarding Kit was attacked by an entity moving too fast to follow easily, which slaughtered a large part of the group and abducted Katherine from the staging area.
Sir Integra immediately authorized the release of Alucard to salvage the situation. He was, however, already on his way, moving through the night as always in the blink of an eye, unseen and unheard until he released his devastating talents on his enemies. Ceres had informed him of the abduction, and yet he had to report to Integra first, though he chafed at the delay; he burned to find and save her – before that ungodly creature took what was his.
As he arrived on the scene, Integra was supervising the men finishing off the last of the ghouls, and she signaled him to attend her. Before she could say anything he asked, "Where is Katherine?" Once again the intensity of his voice and manner implied the tension he was under. Integra looked him in the eye and calmly said, "She has been taken. She knew the risks and willingly accompanied us."
He stared her in the eye, his anger slowly building to the point where he had trouble maintaining his façade of calm indifference.
"I will find her and stop the wretched being who has taken her. I will tear up this entire forest if I have to, and I will not allow you to stand in my way," he stated, and for the for the first time in their relationship, not waiting for a confirmation of her order, released the restrictions on himself and melted into the dark, following the scent of her who had come to mean so much to him.
Integra was left standing, discomfited and surprised at the reaction of her servant.
As he tracked her through the woods surrounding the town, Alucard knew he had little time left; the predator was clearly following a pattern here, and none of the victims had ever been found. He burned with anxiety and a wrath that would only be satisfied by the slaying of the creature who had dared to take that which belonged to him – to destroy it completely and painfully.
He came upon the killing ground suddenly, and saw crouched there the vampire, dressed in an old woodcutter's uniform, scraggly hair blowing in the wind and crimson eyes fastened to the limp form in front of him. As Alucard appeared, the creature lowered its head and licked the neck and jaw of Katherine, who was still unmoving on the ground, lapping up a small trickle of her blood from the corner of her mouth. The familiar grim smile flashed across Alucard's face as he heard the beating of her heart, and saw the steady rise and fall of her chest as she breathed.
The creature hissed and looked up at him threateningly, whispering, "She is mine now; I will turn her into my plaything for eternity!"
So saying he tore her uniform blouse off, exposing her breasts to the cool night air, and roughly ran his hand over them.
"So warm and soft," he said.
Before another move could be made, Alucard blurred into motion, one hand grabbing and breaking the creature's left arm, ripping it off and throwing it into the forest, his other casually twisting the creatures neck in a 360 degree circle.
Grabbing the clothing of the beast, he ripped him into the air and calmly stated, "Be glad my master wants you brought back alive," before slamming the creature onto the ground. He pulled out a long, silver blade from the folds of his cloak and stabbed the creature on the right side of his chest, pushing the blade right through until it was in the ground, keeping him pinned and squirming in agony.
"Be a good vampire and stay there until they come for you."
Alucard turned to look at Katherine, thinking of all the times her life had been threatened since she started working for Hellsing. The situation was only made worse by his attraction to her, and for the first time in centuries, he felt a prickle of guilt.
Picking Katherine up was the work of mere moments, and he once again covered her with his cloak, wrapping her tightly in it before cradling her against his chest. Appearing at Integra's helicopter a moment later, he looked her in the eyes and said, "You will look after her, no harm will befall her…" the threat in his voice clearly evident. Gently laying her in the helicopter seat he vanished into the night, there to explore the new feelings he experienced.
Could it be that he had finally, after centuries found his true soul carrier? The one who could both destroy and complete him?
He would have to be careful, this lore was known to only a few of the oldest vampires, a lore that was guarded to the death….
Upon his return to the mansion, he watched the medical team revive Katherine and after treatment for her fortunately minor wounds, escort her to her room. He observed her looking around desperately for him, seeking his form in any of the dark corners of her room before the f9o medication took effect and she fell into a restless sleep, whispering his name.