whooo two chapters in one week, can someone say procrastination
mostly dialogue, more action next chapter.
Enjoy!
Victoria awoke with a start, looking around she was unsure weather or not she was actually awake, she tried to remember what happened last, 'we were attacked' she recalled, memories flooding back to her at once, 'ah shit i'm dead aren't I?' she cursed. In the dim light produced by numerous piles of candles on the floor she could barely make out her surroundings. Standing up she could see at the end of the dim corridor there was a small room with a roaring fire. Exhaling slowly she could feel the cold biting into her skin, walking slowly down the corridor she could see portraits hanging on the peeling wallpapered walls, eyes following her movements. As she begun walking closer to the room she could see someone sitting in one of the large leather chairs, 'maybe they'll tell me where I am' she hoped. 'The whole vibe of this place is freaking me out' the woman panicked, it was deathly silent except for the occasional creaking of floorboards underneath her feet and the unsettling scurrying that would run down the hall past her. Finally reaching the end of the corridor, she stood awkwardly behind the chair unsure of what she was supposed to do.
The person stood up from the chair, a woman in a long white dress with a large crimson stain on her torso, both the front and back. "Esti treaz?" She asked,
Victoria backed away uncertainty, "I uh don't know what your saying".
The woman nodded slowly, "I will use this language then" she said softly in a thick Romanian accent.
The artists eyes widened remembering the language and face of the woman, "your from my vision",
She laughed softly, "it was a memory". Victoria remained silent, "sit down" the woman commanded. The pair each took a seat adjacent to each other in front of the fire, which oddly provided no heat, "you have questions" she stated.
"Many" Victoria replied, still cautious of the woman,
She shook her head softly, "they don't tell you anything".
The artist narrowed her eyes, "like what" she growled,
"Calm down, I will explain. I am Katja, I doubt Alucard would have told you of me" she scoffed bitterly.
Victoria softened slightly, "no, he hasn't",
Katja tisked, "stupid man can't admit his mistakes, either that or he's forgotten" she muttered under her breath.
"Who are you, am I dead?" She asked,
"Valid questions. Time is short, so my answers will be too. unfortunately your not dead" she huffed.
Victoria frowned "rude, but continue",
Katja smirked showing long fangs, "I'll start at the beginning, this is a result of him" she hissed pointing a clawed finger to the wound on her stomach.
Victoria shuffled uncomfortably and fiddled with her hands, "Alucard did that?",
"You see, a long time ago he ruled a country, and I was his wife. A wife older than him by years, hundreds of years" she reminisced.
Victoria was unsure what she was implying, ' surely he isn't that old' she thought, remembering the man as looking not much older than her.
"Since they won't tell you, I will" she muttered, "Alucard, or Vlad as I knew him, is now a vampire, he wasn't at the time I was alive, shortly after I died he became one, he is hundreds of years old and is very powerful. When we were married I was a vampire and he was human" she growled lowly. "One night the castle found out what I was, he felt he had no choice but to kill me right there" a red tear fell from her eye, and she quickly wiped it away.
Victoria was tense and she could feel the dry hatred coming off the woman, "vampires? They aren't real",
Katja laughed bitterly, "ask your new best friend, she's one too, Alucard's fledgling".
"Sera's? No way" she said in disbelief,
The woman nodded, "Integra has kept you in the dark on everything, ask questions when you awaken. Tell them you spoke to me".
Victoria nodded slowly, still trying to comprehend everything. "This seems too weird",
Katja ignored her, "you almost died you know, eaten by ghouls is an awful way to go" she smiled darkly.
The artist quickly looked for the wounds on her body but found none, "they're gone",
"Only in here, you'll be writhing in pain when you awake" she remarked casually.
"Awake?" She questioned, "where am I now?",
"Well this is where I've been for the past twenty years, watching you, because of the vampire blood now in your system you have access to this room too", Katja explained smugly.
"Watching me?" the artist paled,
"I was reincarnated in you, I watch you sometimes, your rather violent" she smirked. "I'm stuck here until you die or change".
"Change to what?" Victoria asked nervously,
The woman snickered "A vampire!",
Victoria's eyes widened, "n-no I'd never"
"While YOU'VE been asleep, I've been listening. They're planning to use you in their little fight, you'll need my help eventually" Katja said cynically.
"I don't trust you" Victoria confessed,
Katja clicked her tongue in annoyance, "I'll say this, I have no quarrel with you and I have no intention to hurt a relative-"
Victoria cut in "Wait relative?"
"Yes I had children as a human, my children had children and it goes on, surely you must have guessed where the resemblance came from. Don't cut in" she warned.
The artist lowed her head submissively, "sorry",
"As I was saying, I don't have an issue with you, rather Alucard. If I'd wanted to cause damage already I would have. However I think we can help each other out" she said suggestively, "I'll bring you back here again soon, but for now the door is down the hall, they're getting worried".
Victoria stood up, "thank you Katja"
The vampire nodded, and dismissed the woman. Victoria turned around and begun walking down the darkened hallway until she encountered a large black wooden door, reaching out towards the silver handle she pulled open the door and hesitantly walked through.
XxX
Victoria's fingers tightened around the object they were wrapped in, pain shot through her limbs like fire. Slowly prying open her eyelids she let out a pain-filled groan,
"Master! Master she's waking up!" Seras called to the vampire in the hallway.
The artist finally managed to wake herself up and begun looking around the room, her blurry vision beginning to focus. 'What happened?' She asked herself, moving her shoulder she felt a shooting pain run down her arm and collar bone, 'ghouls, the manor, Katja' she recalled slowly.
"How are you feeling?" Seras asked nervously,
Looking down Victoria could see that Sera's sore red fingers were wrapped around hers, "sorry about that" she apologized in a horse voice before letting go.
"No it's fine, you looked like you were in pain" the blonde murmured, "so, how are you?" She repeated handing the woman a glass of water and a variety of pills.
Moving her sore stiff body everything hurt, she slowly swallowed all the pills and her arm collapsed back by her side. She could feel tears leak from her eyes, "shitty, really shitty" she snifffed.
Seras hung her head in shame, "I'm really sorry, it's my fault" she then grabbed some tissues from her bedside and placed them in the woman's stiff hand.
"Thanks, and i'm sure its not" she breathed, trying to stop the flow of tears, "Seras can I be alone?"
The fledgling had to stop herself from also shedding tears, "yeah, I'll come check on you later".
Victoria nodded, and thanked her before settling down into the sheets and wiping the slow falling tears of her cheeks. Seras walked outside closing the door behind her, Alucard who had been waiting outside the whole time moved past Seras and went to open the door.
"Uh master, she wants to be alone right now" Seras said awkwardly,
Alucard retracted his hand from the door knob, he could her the woman sniffling and crying inside. "Master and I will meet here in an hour, you may join us" he said stiffly before walking away.
XxX
Integra strode upto the door and ripped it open, Victoria immediately turned to look at who entered and frowned slightly. Integra pulled a chair over by the women's bed and sat down uncomfortably, Alucard standing next to her, "how are you feeling?"
Victoria avoided eye contact and stared at the sheets, "fine",
Integra nodded, "I'm here to talk about what happened last night".
"I almost died" she murmured, "Ghouls",
The knights eyes widened, "How did you know?"
Victoria remembered the man that attacked her, "I overheard a man say it",
Integra ignored her, "and what do you know of this man?"
"He was a vampire, he also tried to kill me, but I got away" she said boredly examining the small cuts on her hands.
Integra stood up suddenly, "who told you? Was it him !?" She pointed at Alucard,
Victoria turned to Integra and met her in a blank stare, "Katja, she told me many things".
Alucards eyes widened and the blonde grew nervous, "like what?"
She frowned, "hmm where should I start" lifting up a hand she begun counting things off on her fingers, "Alucards a vampire and he killed Katja, who I'm related too". She pointed a finger to Seras who just entered the room, "she's Alucards fledgling vampire, oh and to top of the crazy cake, I'm Katja reincarnated!" She hissed.
"I don't like your attitude" Integra said stiffly,
Victoria glared at her, "really? Because I don't like my situation!"
Integra bit her tongue, "we were going to tell you",
"Really? Because I had to learn from a murdered vampire living in my head!" She barked.
The knight sighed, "I'm going to tell you everything, so listen, don't talk",
Victoria reluctantly nodded and crossed her arms, "go ahead".
"I am the leader of an organisation called Hellsing, we are dedicated to ridding the earth of vampires, ghouls and anything inbetween. Alucard and Seras are vampires that work for me, there were many soldiers that also worked here but after last nights attack there were only nine survivors, including you and not including Alucard and Seras since they're technically dead." She gestured to the vampires behind her before continuing, "I don't understand the whole reincarnate thing so Alucard will explain. I have several meetings to attend to, I'll check on you later" she said coldly before suddenly standing up and walking out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
"You've put her in a bad mood" Alucard complained,
Victoria tisked, "well I'm in a worse mood". The vampire nodded before motioning for Seras to leave the room,
"But master!" The fledgling protested angrily,
"I'll recall everything later, leave us" he hissed. She narrowed her eyes before leaving the room in the same fashion as Integra.
"Now they're both upset" Victoria muttered,
Alucard frowned, "they'll get over it". Sitting down in the chair Integra previously occupied he removed his glasses revealing his crimson eyes. "How are you feeling?" He asked,
"I'm sick of people asking" the woman complained,
"Understandable, but I wish to know" he said sincerely.
Victoria avoided eye contact again, "I'm not that great",
He nodded solemnly "also understandable, you've been through a lot". There was an awkward silence,
"Where's your coat red?" The artist asked.
The vampire chuckled, "your lying in it",
She painfully tried to pull it off herself, "Ah shit sorry",
He stopped her gently "it's cold in here, hold onto it".
"You sure? It'll smell of me, I'll wash it" Victoria said guiltily,
Alucard shook his head, the inky locks of hair swaying gently, "you worry too much". There was more silence, "you had questions?"
Victoria sat up more and took a sip of water from the glass beside her trying to wash the still evident taste of blood from her mouth. "So many, but aren't you supposed to explain reincarnation vampires?"
"We will start with that then. A reincarnate is when a powerful vampire is reincarnated into a human body, they remain dormant until the human becomes a vampire, if the human dies so does the vampire spirit." He explained patiently.
Victoria frowned, "But I'm not a vampire, I talked to Katja in this mind room or something",
The vampire cleared his throat, "As you were dying from blood loss, I fed you some of mine so you would heal".
"ALUCARD!" The woman screeched,
He glared at her, "Well your healed aren't you? Would you rather have died?"
Victoria looked up and met his red eyes, "no, but surely there was another option!"
"If you wanted to join me and Seras as undead then yes" the vampire deadpanned.
The artist looked away, "thanks then I guess, but its gross... Do you have any questions?"
"Of course, don't you have more?" He asked,
Victoria scratched her cheek nervously "well yeah, but I thought we could take turns".
He laughed softly and rested his legs on the end of the bed and lent back in the chair, "what was Katja like?"
"Mean! But...super helpful, and she was so pretty, and graceful, and..." the woman hesitated "...sad, she was sad",
Alucards smiled faded, "what did she say?"
"She told me you were married, when you were human. She told me how she died..." Victoria trailed off. "Red, do you regret what you did?"
The vampire looked away from Victoria and out the window, "everyday".
The artist blushed 'I've made him uncomfortable' she mentally cursed. "Hey don't vampires sleep during the day?"
"I haven't sleep in awhile" he replied absently. "Your reaction to vampires is very unusual" he commented,
She laughed "Are we talking about you, Seras or in general?"
"All of the above" the vampire clarified,
"Well I'm going to have a chat with Seras later about it, and ever since I met you I knew something was up, I'm not that surprised to be honest. And I haven't met many feral vampires, so I don't know what to think" she confessed.
Alucard looked back to her confused, "your not scared?"
"No, your not trying to scare me anymore, plus when you did..." she looked at the man seriously, "I knew that was you by the way" she growled, "it wasn't that scary, you could have tried harder".
He nodded softly acknowledging her scolding, "I've been watching you for awhile",
"Okay... that probably sounded way better in your head" Victoria said awkwardly.
"I was at that Scott man's party, he cried for a long time after you left" he said intently,
The woman was puzzled "why, and I didn't see you?"
"That was the point, and I was bored" he confessed.
"Pretending you haven't been watching me... it's my turn to ask a question" she laughed softly, "what are the perks of be a reincarnate?"
The vampire lent further back in his chair, "immunity to ghoul bites otherwise you wouldn't be alive now, a normal bite from a ghoul would turn a human into one", he elaborated. "Vampire blood heals wounds at triple the normal rate and immense power if you are turned, however there's the chance Katja might take over your body rather than share it".
"That doesn't sound good" Victoria recalled Katja saying how they could help each other out, and figured it was something along these lines.
Victoria turned to look at the vampire "Hey red"
"Mhmm?"
"When can I leave?" She asked playing with the corner of her hospital gown,
The vampire smirked slightly, "hospital wing or Hellsing manor?"
"Both?" The artist asked confused,
Alucard shook his head "Hospital should be soon, Hellsing... You don't".
Victoria's eyes widened "What?"
"Integra will explain later, now you should rest" he stood up and ruffled her hair receiving a growl in response, turning around he walked silently out of the room.
Looking through a curtain of hair the woman cursed as she watched the vampire leave the room, "I need more answers".
XxX
After Alucard left Victoria was left alone to process all the information she was told, 'surprised I haven't had a breakdown yet' she thought. Slowly and painfully she moved her legs to the side of the bed and using her good arm pushed herself up, her vision briefly faded and she felt her head pounding. Slowly she walked to the other end of the hospital ward and stood infront of a floor length mirror. Immediately she noticed a large purple bruise around her neck, pulling down the corner of her white hospital shirt a large portion on her shoulder and upper arm was bandaged. She examined the rest of the bites on her body to find them all bandaged heavily aswell, the dark bruise around her eye stung when she touched it with her cold fingers. She had a cut on her bottom lip and a bruise on her nose, "I'm hideous" she mumbled. There was suddenly a knock on the door, Victoria quickly shuffled back to her bed and pulled the sheets and coat back over herself. She managed to settle down into the sheets before the door burst open and Integra along with her two vampires strode in, "ever heard of knocking" she whispered bitterly.
"Good evening" Integra said curtly,
"And to you" the woman replied, "So whats this about me not leaving?"
Integra sighed and rubbed her aching head, "we have a good reason to believe that people are after you, therefore you will be staying here".
Victoria huffed, "Wait what? For how long? And who's after me and why?"
"You ask too many questions" Alucard commented,
Integra sighed again clearly done with the situation, "you'll be staying here for the foreseeable future, but you'll be working for your stay. Millennium had expressed interest in capturing you, how they found out about your situation we are unsure".
"What if I don't want to live here" she said stubbornly,
"Believe it or not you don't get a choice, and from what I understand your being kicked from your apartment anyway" she reminded coldly. "You will be able to retrieve your things tomorrow".
The artist sighed and buried her face in her hands, "ugh, why me" she complained. Turning side ways she glared at Integra, "you said working? What will I be doing?"
Integra smirked slightly and tilted back in her chair, "you were in the medical corps yes? Therefore you will be working in the medical ward and field medical unit",
"Next question, when can I leave this place?" She gestured to the room around her,
The knight frowned, "whats the rush? You realize once you leave you'll be put to work?"
"Well assuming it's around lunchtime I have a university lecture I have to attend to in a few hours" Victoria explained.
Integra shook her head slowly, "you'll reopen your wounds,and it's too dangerous your a sitting duck in the open",
"Please sir, it's my last lecture before finals, it's very important" she begged, "plus I can practically see them heal, it'll be fine"
Integra sighed and there was a pause, "fine... but take him with you, last thing I need is you getting kidnapped" she grumbled pointing to the vampire behind her.
"Yes sir, I do need a ride to the subway though" Victoria reminded nervously,
The blonde stood up and begun walking towards the door, "yes, yes be ready at four".
XxX
Integra left Alucard and Seras with Victoria and the tension was felt in the air.
"Sooo..." Seras begun, "feeling any better?" She asked hopefully,
Victoria glanced to Seras, "yeah actually, sorry about earlier",
"Oh no, it's fine, you dealt with everything better than me" she gushed.
Victoria laughed softly "I'm screaming internally", both women begun giggling while Alucard stood scowling. The artist looked at the vampire and stopped laughing, "oh red, you uh, don't have to go if you don't want" she reasoned,
"No, it's fine. It's rather boring here.." He trailed off.
Seras giggled and whispered something in Victoria's ear, which enticed a giggling fit from both women, "oh no, I don't think so" she chocked out still laughing.
Alucard glared at both women, "what did she say?" He demanded,
"Oh don't worry it was nothing" she sniggered. "Oh Seras can you show me to my room? I have to wash all this dry blood off my skin and hair".
Seras blushed slightly, "of course" she smiled while helping the woman out of bed, standing up Victoria stretched her limbs and yawned.
"You know with all the blood I lost, I really should have slept longer" she remarked casually,
"It's the blood I gave you" Alucard muttered under his breath.
The artist turned to the blonde and lent on her shoulder for support "Alright let's go Seras", as she shuffled past the still brooding vampire Victoria held out the coat and smiled softly, "thanks red, for everything". The two women the padded out of the room leaving Alucard.
XxX
After a painful shower she spent an hour attempting to cover up her bruised face with makeup and redressing her wounds. Victoria dressed herself in her black jacket and jeans before wrapping a scarf around her neck to conceal the bruise, pulling her bag over her good shoulder and putting her bad one in a sling she walked out the door. 'Its not that bad here, better and cheaper than my apartment' she mused looking around the mansion as she walked, slowly she dragged her booted feet to the main hall where she met Alucard, "hey red" she waved to him. "No hat today" She stated cheerfully,
"Your in pain" he stated, "why are you going?"
The artist frowned, "yeah of course I'm in pain, but school's important to me",
"Why? Your just going to work here for the rest of your life" he stated coldly.
Victoria frowned, "yeah that's true... But I'm almost done, I'm not going to quit now" she sighed. "Come on, let's go" she said gloomily,
"First take this" Alucard ordered placing a pill in her hand,
She stared at it before laughing, "your not trying to drug me are you? Because if you are, it's not supposed to be this direct".
Alucard laughed softly, "no, trust me",
"Yeah because your so trustworthy" she snickered, "it's a painkiller isn't it?" The vampire nodded and she immediately put the pill in her mouth and swallowed it, "let's go" she commanded stomping out the door.
XxX
After being dropped off at the station the artist paid the train fair and the two waited on the platform, "have you been on a train before?"
Alucard sighed, "I'm hundreds of years old what do you think?"
"Ermmm yes?" Victoria replied nervously,
The vampire stared at the tracks, "not a moving one" he said now eyeing the train approaching the platform,
"Ah well it's better than a boat or plane, and the scenery is really nice this time of day" she rambled as the front of the train flew past and eventually slowed to halt. Pressing the door button she motioned for the vampire to follow her onto the crowded train, "erm the ride back will be better" she promised. The two made their way to a pair of seats by the window, "see? Look" she pointed to the end of the tunnel and Alucard boredly looked out the window.
"How long is the ride?" He huffed,
"Erm forty five minutes usually..." She said hesitantly, "if you don't like it you could always jump out and fly" she said sarcastically.
Suddenly the vampire stood up and begun walking towards the door, Victoria quickly rushed up and gently tugged him away from the door he was attempting to open, "no! No no no, I was joking dude!" Victoria scolded. Pulling him back to his seat he sat down in a huff and stared out the window,
Victoria tisked "Whats up?"
"what did Seras say earlier?" he demanded,
Victoria laughed "oh you can't still be bummed about that?"
"Im not" he stated firmly, "I simply want to know",
"well your not gonna, private between girls" the artist snickered.
He turned to glare at the woman, "she has kept this secret from you, don't you hate her for that?"
"well no, I can see why she did it..." Victoria explained, "and I don't really think she's any different after telling me, I don't really care that much, I like her for her". Alucard grunted at her answer and looked back out the window, the artist frowned, "you were so talkative earlier, something wrong?"
"Bored" he lied,
"Well I said you didn't have to come... " she grumbled.
Alucard scowled and glared at her from behind his glasses, "your weak right now, you make an easy target",
"Oh what it's not like you'd give a shit if I got kidnapped anyway" she bit back before putting in headphones and turning to look out the opposite window.
XxX
Victoria silently led the vampire off the train and out of the station, walking up the stairs she felt the skin on her leg wounds stretch and crack but there as no pain, 'guess he was telling the truth' she thought guiltily. "It's a five minute walk from here" she called to the vampire, he grunted and continued to follow her. The pair walked in silence and although the artist was no longer upset, Alucard defiantly was, 'what the hell did I do?' Victoria cursed internally observing the brooding vampire. Not long later the pair arrived at the gates of the institute, she turned around and stared at the man seriously, "now, don't be weird, and don't do anything stupid or vampy" she remided.
Alucard smirked, "oh no, nothing of the sort",
the woman hesitated unsure of what he meant, "well... alright, lets go".
Esti treaz =your awake? (Romanian)