Chapter Eight: Hellsing's Offer
-Present Day, July 3-
I bit into the egg salad sandwich that was brought by the nurse for lunch. It had been three days since the Charactering woman had told me that I was under her protection, and true to her word, the dark haired man that I had met stayed with me. Even when he was dozing off, it seemed like he was alert, which made me feel a lot more at ease than without him being there. I didn't want that Hawkens man to return while I was sleeping. The dark haired man was currently standing in the hall talking to the doctor while I was eating lunch.
"I have good news." The butler had come back into the room, holding a small pile of clothes. "You can be discharged from the hospital after you finish eating. I will be taking you to the local GCP department to discuss an arrangement."
"How can I just leave? In order to be discharged isn't someone related to me supposed to sign me out?"
"That is usually the case; however your next of kin has already been informed of your current situation, without all of the details of course. They have given their permission for you to be discharged without a signed notice first, in order for you to be of use much more quickly."
"Be of use?" I finished the sandwich and glanced at the pile of clothes in his hands, recognizing a blue sweater. "Are those mine?"
"Your aunt brought them over yesterday; she was hoping to see you before you left, but we are on a tight schedule and do not have the time to spare for a social visit." He placed the clothes on the bedside table and turned to leave. "I'll be right outside if you need me."
He left the room and I stared at the door incredulously. He could have woken me up to say a final farewell to my own damn family before I went where ever I was going. Auntie Sheryl can be a panic artist if she's left in the dark on certain situations. I pulled on the pair of jeans angrily, feeling angry tears welling up in my eyes. I flung on the tank top and slipped on the sweater, pulled on a pair of socks and noticed that a pair of sneakers were at the foot of my bed, the ones I was wearing when I was attacked.
I slipped on the shoes and glanced around the hospital room once more. Hopefully I wouldn't have to spend any more time in one of these. I hope that where ever I'm going, I'll be allowed to have some color in the room I'll be staying in.
I went to the door, only for it to open before I reached it. The dark-haired man had collected black coat for himself and he seemed slightly annoyed with my messy hair. I shrugged and walked into the hall.
"Auntie didn't bring my hairbrush, and besides it's always like this no matter what I do." He raised his eyebrow in disbelief and led me down the hall, towards the front lobby. I glanced over my shoulder when a group of doctors turned away and started whispering to each other.
"It is because you are the first Non-Character to be placed in Charactering custody during an investigation. Usually the Non-Character is placed in the custody of the GCSU, but in this case, you were not."
He led the way outside into the scorching heat of midday. I held a hand to shield my eyes and waited for them to adjust before I noticed the man waiting beside a taxi cab. He held the door open for me and closed it after I got in. He moved to the other side of the cab and climbed in beside me. When he gave the driver the location, the driver shot us a disgusted look before speeding off.
The butler led the way to where we were supposed to meet his master, and it seemed that some of the Global Coalition Police department were avoiding us. I wasn't sure if I should be offended by their stand-offish attitudes, maybe it was because of same reason the doctors at the hospital avoided talking to me directly. Was it that strange that a Non-Character like me to be placed in the custody of Characters?
We were met by the female officer who was working with Hawkens that day at the hospital. She offered a friendly smile and led us to a conference room silently. The blond Charactering woman was already waiting for us, sitting around with a bunch of GCP and a tall black haired man wearing red stood in a corner. When we entered, the man in red seemed interested at the fact that I was able to move.
Unfortunately for me, Hawkens was there too, though he seemed to have swallowed a lemon when he saw me here. He glared at the woman who pointed where I would be sitting before she took her own seat closer to him. I felt a little intimidated by being in front of all these strangers, so I took a steadying breath.
"It seems that everyone is here now, this meeting will now commence." Hawkens glared sourly at the brunette who took over the discussion. "Today we will be deciding the finer points of the custody of Kiara Annette Summers with the Hellsing Organization:
"As per request, the Global Coalition Suppression Unit, Unit Three Co-ordinator Edward Hawkens will be designated to this detail as the direct contact for that faction. Officer Kim Scott will act as mediator and direct contact for the Rossolue division of the Global Coalition Police Department."
"But will she even be safe there?" Hawkens seemed to enjoy interrupting this man. "These people reside on a Plain of vampires, after all. Why should we even allow her to go a Plain that threatens her life?"
"Because you threatened hospital staff to make me sound crazy, or they'd lose their jobs for having moral integrity. You haven't given me reason to trust you." Hawkens turned his glare to me, and I'm pretty sure if looks could kill, I'd be dead. Instead of letting him intimidate me, I smiled widely. The man in red was grinning, and the blond Charactering woman just sighed.
"She has seen our enemy, making her a target. Unless you'd like to try your hand at Ghoul extermination for yourselves, I'd recommend from having another Rossolue Shopping center incident." The brunette cleared his throat lightly, causing us to look back to him. He nodded at the Charactering woman, relieved.
"Hawkens, it has already been explained why she was going to the HEL02 Plain. Please don't make this any harder on her; she has to leave her family to keep them safe." At the mention of Auntie Sheryl and Uncle David, it felt like I was punched in the chest. Worrying about my friends' safety left little room in my mind for thinking about my family, how could I not have realized that they were easily in danger?
I sat numbly as the blond Charactering woman made the arrangements to have an "avatar" made for me prior to our departure. Hawkens left the room shortly afterwards and Officer Scott had to explain that he was hoping to find a way to discredit them in order to keep me here. The brunette introduced himself as Officer Aaron Reiner, and the one in charge of Avatar Distribution.
Making my "avatar" body wasn't all that hard. It felt different to have my physical body look like an anime character, but the process wasn't that hard to follow. Here I was thinking that I'd be put in a coma induced sleep and then have my mind neural linked to a mannequin that they would make look like me. I really have to stop watching sci-fi; they really mess with your imagination.
I was told to lie down and go through an MRI scan. When I came out trying to get rid of the dark spots from my vision, I was looking like a Character. I was startled that I looked almost the same as I would if I wasn't animated. I had to redress once more, and I nervously walked beside the butler who had been accompanying me throughout this process.
The Charactering woman was waiting at the gateway with the man in red. When he saw me, the man in red sized me up in an appraising manner and I tried not to get squeamish. She led the way through the gate and we arrived in a large room, adequately furnished, reminding me of an English study. I glanced around surprised as the woman sat behind a large desk and smiled.
"Welcome to my home, Ms. Summers. Now then, I have some rules that you are going to have to follow in order to live comfortably here. And thinking back on it now, I don't believe I've introduced myself yet. I am Sir Integra Hellsing and as of this moment, you are going to be working for me."
A/N: I know most of this is being posted at the same time, but writing this has taken forever! I had a serious case of writer's block and coupled with homework, I mean it was ridiculous. And you should all celebrate now; this one was another long chapter. I know that most on FanFiction who specifically search for chapter stories appreciate long, detailed chapters, including me. And just to let you know, I will be giving a shout out to everyone who gives me reviews throughout my story at the very end. The last chapter of this will be where you could find your "names" if you post your reviews before I post Book Two. So if you want to see your name in here, you know what to do!