sorry for the very late update, its art folio season and i'm behind to say the least -_-
also from now on updates will most likely be fortnightly rather than weekly, as writing chapters takes longer than it used to.
more of a filler sorry :X, next chapter will be right into the story.
Gabriela: my Spanish is terrible, but from what I understood, thank you!
xxyangxx2006: ikr, she sure is tough! But everyone has their limits, soon enough we'll see her crack
thanks everyone for reviewing, viewing, faving, following ect!
Ps. not entirely sure how British universities work, i'm kind of basing it off Australia's ones, so very sorry if there are any mistakes/inaccuracy's
Walking through the familiar lecture hall doors, Victoria took her usual seat at the back of the room, Alucard followed and took the chair closest to the window. The woman looked around to find she was rather early, many of the usually filled seats were empty and people were chatting in small groups. She was looking around for familiar faces but was unsurprising when she found none,
"Your handling everything rather well" Alucard mentioned casually still staring out the window.
'Whats with him and windows today' she mused. "I'm trying to keep it together" she replied, "I just have to find the positives... like living at Hellsing won't be so bad, the house is nice, don't have to worry about rent, I get to see Seras a lot and now I have a proper job" she listed off. "Although the whole reincarnate thing is taking awhile to get used too..." She trailed off thoughtfully,
Alucard nodded slightly, "are you not concerned Katja will take control of your body?" He asked slyly,
Victoria shook her head softly, " there's nothing she can do, I have no plans to be a vampire" the artist laughed.
Alucard recalled the recent conversation with Integra, "It's not your decision" he muttered under his breath.
Victoria looked up from writing her notes, "huh whatcha say?"
"Nothing" he grunted.
XxX
"And as seen on the video we can tell by looking at the cell samples on the slide..." The lecturer drawled on,
Alucard watched Victoria drawing in the corner of her notebook, "shouldn't you be paying attention" he remarked condescendingly.
"Why? I'm just going to work at Hellsing for the rest of my life anyway.." She trailed off still doodling on the books pages,
The vampire clicked his teeth together in annoyance regretting his earlier words, "you put yourself in danger for this?" He asked irritably looking around the room boredly,
"I wanted to get out of the mansion" she snapped, "believe it or not I'm stressed as shit, and you being a broody ball of condensation and over protectiveness doesn't help!" She whispered angrily.
Alucard stared at her blankly unsure of how to reply, "I'm just following orders" he said coldly,
Victoria tisked and raised her voice "Yeah that's all you ever do-!"
"MISS VICTORIA" the man at the front of the room called, "AM I INTERRUPTING YOUR CONVERSATION!?"
Victoria growled lowly glaring at the man beside her, "red this is your fault!" She hissed.
"THIS ISN'T THE TIME FOR COUPLES COUNSELING!" He yelled pointing at Alucard who was shaking with laughter while Victoria felt her cheeks redden in embarrassment. "MISS VICTORIA, WHAT BLOOD DISEASE IS THIS!?" He pointed to the projection showing a deformed bood cell.
Groaning the woman stood up, familiar with the teachers tendency to pick on her, clearing her throat she answered boredly "Sickle cell anaemia, caused by a genetic mutation in the gene that makes hemoglobin... "sir" she added sarcastically.
The teacher slammed his book down on the table angrily, "you have your finals in a week, try to care!"
Victoria nodded and sat back down angrily and she could hear Alucard snickering next to her, "god I hate them" she muttered.
XxX
"This is the second and last lecture, studio arts. Its the reason i'm here, so shut up this lesson" Victoria spoke coldly to Alucard as they walked into the room, and silently took their seats at the back of the room.
Shortly after a short elderly woman strode into the room and dumped a stack of large folios on the desk. "I'm handing back your marked folios, use the comments I've written to help with your exam" she announced. Shortly after people rushed to retrieve their folios, Victoria awkwardly walked upto the teachers desk and shoved the book under her good arm and walked back to her own.
"Thanks for the help" she said bitterly, eyeing Alucard relaxing in his chair. Dropping the thick book down on the desk she flicked through until she found her mark, "90 percent" she smiled staring at the mark.
"Can I see?" Alucard asked staring at the book,
"Huh?" Victoria raised a brow, "you won't really get it though..." she trailed off, receiving a bank stare from the vampire. "fine, don't wreck it though" she huffed sliding the book over. Carefully Alucard opened the book and thoughtfully flicked through the pages, Victoria turned back to her notes and was attentively listening to the teacher.
XxX
Walking out of the hall Victoria could feel the medications wearing off and the casual aching pain returned to her arm, "red, you have any more meds? She grunted adjusting her bag,
"No, is your pain returning?" He asked absently staring at the setting sun,
"Yeah.." She trailed off adjusting her arm in the sling. Noticing his thoughtful stare into the sky she laughed "Whatcha staring at? Surely you've seen a sunset before?"
Alucard shook his head gently, "not many, I'm always asleep at this hour.."
"Come here" Victoria murmured tugging his jacket to follow, he reluctantly followed the woman to a large stone staircase leading to the old library. She painfully sat down on the stairs and dropped the heavy folio and bag beside her, Alucard then ungracefully sat down beside her. "You can see it best from here" she pointed to a gap in the wall of trees where the slowly darkening sky was visible, the vampire removed his glasses and stained at the sky thoughtfully, 'he looks so peaceful, you wouldn't even be able to tell he's a vampire' Victoria thought occasionally glancing at him.
"There was a painting of this in your book" he muttered, looking sideways at the woman,
Victoria fiddled awkwardly with the corners if her folio, "Yeah I used to sit here every afternoon in the spring, inspired me I guess..."
Alucard nodded, his gaze still fixated on the sky, "its nice" he said gruffly,
"nice?" the artist repeated skeptically, "its amazing, every single one is different, and don't even get me started on the colors.." she trailed off smiling lightly. The pair sat in silence for several minutes in silence watching the sun disappearing over the far hills, "he red, can I ask you something?" Victoria begun awkwardly,
"you already have" he smirked.
"ugh, you know that's not what I meant!" the artist huffed, " but being serious... and you don't have to answer if you don't want to..." she quickly looked over at the vampire to make sure he was listening. "have you ever you know, like had to kill someone.."
Alucards neutral look faded to a frown, "why do you wish to know?"
"Because, your a vampire, and erm, higher up on the food chain?" she reasoned, "I need to know if i'm in danger",
the vampire sighed and glanced sideways to see the woman staring at her shoes uncomfortably, "Yes, i've killed people, however I no intention to harm, or let harm come to you".
Victoria fiddled with her jacket nervously, "oh uh, thanks",
Alucard's eyes widened realising what he just said, "i'm just following orders" he said coldly.
the artist frowned, 'of course you are' she thought bitterly. There was another awkward silence, "what about Seras? has she killed anyone?"
"she won't even drink blood, much less kill someone" he growled irritability,
'I need to talk to her later' the woman noted, "well there's no rush for her to kill someone" she snapped. Alucard was about to respond when Victoria heard people approaching from behind,
"there're people behind us, put your glasses back on" Victoria hissed.
The vampire obeyed slipping his usual glasses back on in time for a small group of people to approach, "they're in my art class.." She trailed off boredly staring into the distance.
"Oh hey I know you! Your in my class!" one of the women in the group called to Victoria,
She raised a brow and pointed to herself confused, "me?"
"Yeah you!" the woman giggled, she was surrounded by a small group of three girls with one boy, all of which had their gaze fixed on the pair.
"Oh um... hi, can I help you? Do you need notes or something..." Victoria asked awkwardly digging in her bag,
"No silly! We just think your... Erm... Really cool.." She trailed off looking around the group for reassurance, they nodded in agreement and muttered words of praise.
'Im not buying it, they've never even looked at me before' she thought suspiciously. "Oh well thanks I guess.." She replied smiling awkwardly eager for the conversation to end. "Hey red, can we go now I'm getting cold and sore" she yawned standing up, the vampire nodded and followed,
"Give me your book and bag" he demanded holding out a gloved hand,
Handing over the items she muttered words of thanks. Turning back to the group Victoria saw they were all huddling and whispering, "erm well, see you around I guess" she called.
"Wait!" A girl from the group called, "we're going out to celebrate our last day, you and your... Uh friend? Are invited too" she called desperately,
"Uh, thanks but I don't know..." She trailed off awkwardly,
Another girl stood forward in another attempt, "ill buy you a round?"
Looking up at Alucard he merely shrugged not caring either way. "Yeah alright, just for abit" she compromised.
XxX
It was a short walk to the pub around the corner from the campus, one many students frequently visited. The group took up a large section of the small pub, Victoria was pushed between a girl she knew as Marcy and the one boy in the group who's name she didn't know. Alucard sat across from her in between two women and had a slight scowl on his face and was tearing up the napkin in front of him slowly, savoring each tear. It wasn't long before the first round of drinks arrived and Victoria downed her greedily, eager to ease the pain in her body, looking around she noticed she was the only one with alcohol.
"So Victoria whats your freinds name?" Marcy whispered,
"Uh.. Alucard" she replied.
Marcy nodded, her pastel pink ponytail bobbing slightly, "so Alucard, how do you know Victoria" she asked playfully,
'Thats an odd question..' Victoria mused still suspicious of the groups intentions.
Alucard's head snapped up at he stared at the women, "she and I work together" he replied coldly.
Marcy glanced at the other women on the table and they nodded slightly, "so I love this whole Victorian vibe your giving" the woman on the left of him giggled, playing absently with her hair.
"It was a bad time in history for my kind" he grunted still destroying the napkins and increasing the pile infront of him, there was an awkward silence and there were exchanged looks around the table.
"Can I get you a drink?" The woman on the right whispered, rubbing his shoulder affectionately,
The vampire grinned misunderstanding her actual intentions. He moved a hand to brush the hair away from her neck, "maybe you can..." He purred inspecting the flesh, the girl giggled oblivious to his intentions.
From underneath the table Victoria kicked Alucard in the shin as hard as she could, he growled and retracted his advances. "Stop it" Victoria mouthed, he scowled and returned to destroying various items. The girl scowled upset Victoria interfered, looking over to the male in the group she mouthed something incomprehensible.
"So Victoria, what was the subject for your final piece?" The man asked sliding another drink infront of the women,
'Oh thank god, relatable conversation' she thought relieved. "Ah well for my first piece I thought I would explore the impact of human industry on the environment, and then.." Victoria was rambling about her subject oblivious to the fact the man was completely uninterested, he was texting under the table and would occasionally nod or smile to fain interest. Alucard saw this and felt an indescribable irritation, 'he isn't even making an effort' he observed, meanwhile the two women beside him were attempting to find a subject he could relate to and failing miserably. It had occurred to the vampire why Victoria had been invited out tonight and he was contemplating on whether or not to tell her, but figured she would figure it out.
XxX
An hour later several glasses surround Victoria and she had a visible red tint on her cheeks, 'she's drunk again' Alucard observed. The man had been keeping Victoria's attention by giving her his phone to play games on, but it was obvious she was getting bored.
"Hey red wanna get out of here?" She yawned rubbing her eyes, Marcy's eyes widened and she pulled Victoria gently back down to her seat,
"Oh no no no, come on, we've only been here abit.." She trailed off awkwardly looking around for reassurance from the group.
"Nah I don't know, I got work tomorrow.." She trailed off,
"Just one more round" Marcy begged still holding the artist in her seat,
"Mmm alright" she replied before looking over at the girl who had been silent the entire night, "do I know you? Ya look familiar.." She squinted trying to get a better look at the girls face.
"Yeah we went to highschool together" she reminded,
Victoria nodded before pulling out her phone, "shit it's getting late" she cursed. There were panicked looks around the tables and the women became more direct,
"So are you are Victoria a couple?" Marcy leaned over the table and leveled her face with the vampire's.
Alucard looked away from the woman, "no" he growled,
"So your single?" She giggled ignoring his increasing frustration,
"I'm not discussing this" he deadpanned. Marcy frowned and sat back in her seat,
"Hey Marcus can I talk to you real quick?" She asked sweetly, the man nodded and they both retreated to the back of the pub.
"Bathroom" Victoria murmured before walking to the back door,
XxX
As soon as Victoria left the remaining woman on the table shifted closer to Alucard shooting questions rapidly,
"So your single right?"
"Do you like her?"
"Do you want to go out sometime?"
Alucard sighed and ignored the questions. Usually he wouldn't mind the attention as infatuated woman made easy prey, but for some reason lately it had become annoying.
A woman grazed her hand with his, "listen, you shouldn't go for her" she murmured referring to Victoria, "In high school she had a major drinking problem and would go to parties and get in fights." The woman listed off, "and after her mom went to the nursing home she went so downhill she'd show up at school smashed" she explained with false sympathy.
Alucards eyes snapped to her in an intimidating stare, "what".
"Yeah she was a real mess then she left to go join the army or military... something like that I don't know. But I can see she's still a drunk, sweetie you seriously don't want her", she snickered playing with a strand of his ebony hair. Suddenly the vampires hand snapped up and ripped her hand away
"Don't tell me what I and don't want" he growled crushing her wrist causing her to squeal in pain, the rest of the group to come to her aid and begun begging the man to let go.
XxX
Victoria leaned against the wall for support, her legs ached and her mind was foggy. Walking to the bathroom she heard two people arguing in the intersex bathroom,
"Your supposed to keep her distracted!" Marcy screeched,
"But shes a drunken weirdo, a shiny teaspoon could keep her entertained" the man argued back.
There was the sound of flesh hitting flesh, "Alucard's attached to her like glue, your suppose to separate her from him so I get a chance!"
"Ow fuck why did you slap me!" He complained,
"Because you fucked up! Seriously how hard is it to keep a drunk women entertained, she's probably begging for attention" Marcy barked.
Victoria was correct in her theory 'I knew this was a setup' she thought bitterly. Bursting through the door she walked upto the pair and towered over them, "oh hey Victoria hav-"
"Shut up, I heard everything!" She hissed,
The pair looked at each other and hung their heads in shame like kids being caught. "We can expla-"
"No you can't!" She growled, "Your both fucking pathetic, you think your fucking sneaky and cute doing this? Say that shit to my face I dare you!" Victoria took a step closer to them and they took a step back. "See? Your cowards, you make me sick. Be grateful I'm not seeing your asses again, or there'd be hell to pay!" She threatened, walking out the door she flipped the pair off before slamming the door.
XxX
Walking back into the bar Victoria's eyes widened when she saw what Alucard was doing, rushing over she tried to pry his hand off the girl's fragile wrist. "Red no! Don't you'll break it!" She yelled still attempting to stop him, his eyes were blank and he stared predatorily at the girl in his grip. "ALUCARD!" She shouted, the vampires attention snapped to her,
"What" he growled,
"Let her go" she said softly still gently pulling at his arm.
He loosened his grip a little but still held her firmly, "she has no right to talk about you" He trailed off,
"Alucard they only invited me so they could flirt with you, I should have expected this" she murmured,
The vampire dropped the girl in his grip and snarled at her, "it's not your fault" he gruffly reassured.
"No I should have expected it by now, I'm just a weird drunk" she whispered feeling her eyes begin to water, "I'm sick of it, let's go home".
He nodded and retrieved her folio and bag from underneath the table, suddenly Marcy and the boy came out from the bathroom, she was crying heavily and the group rushed to her aid. Walking out the door Victoria had to fight the urge to turn back and relish in the scene she caused.
XxX
"It's ten minutes till the next train" Victoria sniffed staring at the schedule board, after several minutes there was no reply and her throat grew tight, "...sorry you had to hear that shit about me".
Alucard shook his head softly dismissing her apology, "I don't care",
Victoria turned away from his gaze, shuffling awkwardly over to a seat before sitting down. shortly after Alucard sat down beside her, "this keeps happening to me, every social thing just ends up... Janked" she sniffed brushing the hair away from her face, "what did she tell you?"
"You drank and fought often" he recalled absently off,
"I lived with my brother, he was a shitty influence" she mumbled.
Alucard frowned, "your past doesn't matter",
"I don't want you guys to know who I was, I'm getting better buts it's still a problem... Don't tell anyone... Please" she begged,
"I won't" he grunted, staring at the tracks. He glanced over to see the women gently wiping her eyes, "are you going to cry?" He asked awkwardly,
Victoria sniffed loudly and dabbed her eyes, "nah, not if I can help it. No point, crying won't help" she whispered.
Alucard nodded but couldn't pry his eyes away from her, even he could tell she was suffering both mentally and physically, "how are you feeling?"
"Shit" she replied simply, "I'm not handling everything aswell as I thought..." She trailed off frowning. Alucard was silent, struggling to come up with comforting words,
"You'll be alright" he muttered,
"Eventually, but it doesn't feel that way now... You just don't get it" she said coldly. The train approached the platform and they silently took their seats, preparing for a long awkward ride home.
XxX
Victoria and Alucard stood in the manors front room, it was approaching nine o'clock and Victoria was eager to climb into bed. The vampire offered to take Victoria to the kitchen to get a snack but she persistently refused,
"I'm just not hungry..." She said boredly.
Alucard growled lowly "You must eat!"
"Just let me go to bed, I'm not hungry" she pleaded turning around to go to her room,
"It's because you drank too much!" He argued back, Victoria turned back and glared at him, the vampires eyes widened realising what he said.
"What?" She hissed, daring him to say it again,
Alucard stood awkwardly "I meant th-"
"Nope, shut up, I know what you meant" she growled, "goodnight" she hissed stomping off down the hall. The vampire huffed and went in the opposite direction to his room, hoping she wouldn't be this way tomorrow.