1 Part 2: Names

The vampire was sitting right across the warden as the man massaged his temples. He had a migraine, and not just because of the weather.

"Look, Alucard, I know that because you're undercover, you get special privileges. But for God's sake, vampire: biting off an inmate's hand?"

He chuckled as he ran one sharp fingernail between his fangs, casually trying to pick out some of the flesh that got caught there. The warden shivered. "The human attacked me for no good reason. I was very clear that I would bite off the offensive fingers if he continued to harass me, and he did. So: a monster I may be, a liar I am not." After a moment, Alucard smirked. "Besides, it wasn't his whole hand."

As if that made things all better.

The warden sighed and clasped his hands behind his back loosely, looking through the blinds of the window. The sun was about to set, and he still didn't have a plan. "What am I supposed to do with you? I can't have you go back without assigning you some sort of punishment, if only to save face. The other inmates would think it strange if I sent you back unscathed."

His face lit up with sadistic glee. "A punishment? How delicious. What sort of punishment would befit such an odious act of barbarism?"

So he's a sadist AND a masochist. Bloody brilliant, Sir Integra. Bloody brilliant. "Normally, I'd lock you up in an isolated cell, away from the other inmates so you could stew in your own insanity, not harm others, and learn your lesson. But seeing as you're supposed to be with them, already insane, and would probably do just fine locked up for centuries, that won't cut it. Beating you until you're black and blue won't work, either; you'd just regenerate. How would Sir Integra punish you?" And do I really want to know the answer?

"Oh, she's never had to. I suppose if we're speaking figuratively, she punishes me by not sending me out to kill for her more often. It wouldn't even have to be a vampire, you know. I'd willingly slaughter everyone in this institution: you, that idiot whose fingers I bit off, that sniveling coward of a roommate I've been assigned… Ah, but she has integrity, as her namesake suggests. My perfect master… oh, how I miss her already."

Apparently not. "Okay, so what can we do?"

Alucard leaned forward in his chair and pressed his fingertips together, losing the crazed gleam in his eyes for a strangely somber expression. "Since you are simply incapable of punishing me, why not brew up a little hatred?"

"…Eh?"

"Yes, I know how to solve this little conundrum," the vampire hissed lowly. The room seemed to drop in temperature as he stood, black hair casting a shadow over his face, all but his glowing red eyes. "I used this tactic on prisoners of my own, at one point. You have two options, now that I think of it. You can punish us all as a group, or you can let me go without any sort of penance whatsoever."

"In what world would that work?"

"In the world where giving one particular prisoner special privileges causes others to hate him. Have your guards treat me especially well, and it won't be too long until I'm attacked. The man in my dungeons who received extra helpings was found with his entrails about his neck, swinging from the ceiling."

The man shook his head, ignoring the last sentence. "Perhaps if you weren't undercover, I would consider the option. But the fact is, I don't want anyone becoming too suspicious of you. So I'm going with group punishment. They won't like it, but I don't think they'll try attacking you. I sure as hell wouldn't, what with the example you made of the inmate who has to spend a month in the medical center. You crushed the bone, by the way. There'll be no reattachment. Can I ask you to please at least try not to send anyone else there? It's always possible that they could be the culprit."

"Yes, yes." Alucard waved his hand dismissively. "He was human, though. I would know, considering that I tasted his blood."

He was sent on his way back to his cell after that on the premise that the punishment would be given the next day. When the back of the blue jumpsuit vanished after the door slammed behind him, the warden sighed in relief.

0o0

After what had happened, the guards dragged Alucard away and Tombstone was led, whimpering and shaking like a leaf, to the medical wing. Then the rest of the prisoners were lined up and led back to their cells early, losing all three hours of free-time in favor of being grounded. Alucard didn't show up for lunch, laundry duty, or other chores. He wasn't even there for dinner. This, of course, would give the others plenty of time to gossip. And gossip they did.

"What the ever-loving fuck is up with that guy?" Dog growled, munching on his Sloppy Joe (which could hardly be called sloppy- there was barely anything between the buns). "I mean, red eyes, some serious fucking chompers if I've ever seen 'em, and he eats Tombstone's hand. Psycho!"

"He spit the fingers out, though... at least we know he's not that nuts," Ginger murmured, scratching at his freckled nose. "Still, I wouldn't want to be within a ten-mile radius of that guy."

Another man, Brook, pinched the bridge between his eyes. "You dumbasses have any idea how annoying you sound right now? Look, shit's happening around here. Just yesterday, Victor got iced, and all you're worried about is some Johnny-come-lately? I think he's important, yeah, but fact is: I think we ought to be looking elsewhere."

All the men at the table paused, remembering. In just a week, four inmates had been murdered- along with two others from the women's side. Isaac frowned as he poked at his food. "What if there's a correlation? What if it's not a coincidence someone like Alucard shows up right when things are going to hell in a handbasket?"

Brook's eyes narrowed in thought. "But how? Are you saying Alucard is related to the murders somehow?"

Isaac shrugged. "He said he killed a bunch of people before coming here, but that might have been just to get under my skin. Maybe I'm just being paranoid."

"Well, that's understandable if you are," Dog muttered under his breath.

The black man reached into his jumpsuit's collar and fished out the small crucifix on his necklace. "Well, I don't believe in coincidences. I don't know if Alucard lied to you or not, but I get the feeling you two were put together for a reason." Brook returned the cross to his suit. "But don't do anything stupid when you see him again. Shut your trap if he tells you to."

Isaac gave him a shit-eating grin. "I'll survive. They do call me Roach for a reason, after all."

0o0

The closer Isaac got to his cell as all the inmates went to their respective rooms, the more he began to suspect that Alucard would be there by the time he returned. He was right. Looming in the darkness, a figure was visible lounging on the chair by their desk, waiting for him. "Hello, Cockroach."

His words sent icicles creeping down his spine. Something about the way he spoke divulged an undercurrent of malevolence. Isaac didn't respond at first, simply because he was unsure of how. But when nothing followed after that, he had no choice. "Alucard," he greeted tightly.

Alucard's head of unruly black hair tilted, but nothing else moved. "Aren't you curious, how I got your name?"

"You were bound to hear it eventually. But… sure. If you want to tell me how, sure." Isaac felt it best, at that point, to just play along. He still didn't have a measure of just how crazy Alucard really was; it felt all too possible that he could be the next one sent to the infirmary if he didn't tread carefully enough.

He smirked. "I had a little conversation with our guard as he walked me back here. But he didn't have any idea at all why you're called 'Roach'. Now, I'm curious: what could possibly merit that little sobriquet?"

"Maybe you can figure it out," Isaac snapped, growing irritated. "Maybe I'm called 'Roach' because I can survive anything."

"No," Alucard replied calmly. "That's much too kind. Prisoners, as I understand, don't get uplifting nicknames. Maybe that's the way you'd like to view things, but I'm not one to fall for something so easy. Perhaps it's because you're spineless?"

Isaac's eyes darkened, and he lost all pretenses of friendliness. "What do you want, Alucard?"

His eyes lit up in unholy glee. "To learn a little about my roommate, of course. I assure you, my intentions are noble-" Yeah, about as noble as a lion gnawing on the carcass of an antelope, Isaac thought to himself, "-and I simply mean to learn. Really."

The inmate tiredly rubbed his eyes with his index finger and thumb. "I don't know; will you bite my fingers off if you don't like my answer?"

Alucard cackled. "You're funny!"

And you're crazy. "How about we play some quid-pro-quo?"

The frightening man considered Isaac for a moment, looking him up and down, before he smirked in amusement. "All right. You answer first."

After a long period of not adding to the story, here is the next edition! More to come! Thank you all for your lovely reviews!