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Al's POV:

"I'm just being paranoid, right Mori?"

Silence.

I slid down my double-locked door, burying my face in my hands. "Alright so what if I'm being a paranoid little bastard! I can't shake the heebie-jeebies Mr. Frumos gave me in the car lot! So what if Master's a big scaredy cat who probably still wets the bed and sucks his thumb! I'M STILL A LIVING COWARD!" I wailed, and Moriarty licked my cheek comfortingly as I petted her head a little shakily. "You're right Mori; I need to get a grip. By the way, I was just kidding about the whole bed-wetting thing." I said with a nervous chuckle, and she pulled back to give me a look. I scowled. "Don't give me that, I'm the only human in this house and what I say goes!" I said indignantly, jabbing a thumb at my chest as she rolled her eyes. I smacked my forehead in realization to what I had just done. "Christ, I'm arguing with a dog about my paranoia or lack thereof." I muttered, then stood and staggered to the kitchen as Mori followed happily.

"But it's not my fault, I mean, hackers have to have company too, don't they?" I asked her sheepishly as I started chopping carrots for the stew I was making. She blinked at me a few times from her position on the floor, then grinned a doggy grin. I flinched. "No, I'm not getting a girlfriend. I'm pretty sure that counts as some sort of pet-care infidelity." She lost the doggy grin and glowered at me silently as I scraped the veggies into the simmering pot on the stove. I could almost hear the "Really Al?" as she woofed and laid her head on her paws. I nodded sharply as I started peeling a potato. "Yes really! Besides, I'm a you-know-what, that's illegal! I don't wanna pull somebody else into it if I get arrested!" I argued, and there was an indignant huff from the floor.

"Okay I know I say I'm too good to get caught, but so did all the other guys in prison, and look where they ended up!" I said triumphantly, turning to point the knife at her, and she considered it for a moment before leaning forward to lick the vegetable juices from it as I smacked my forehead. "You're a carnivore Mori, act like one for the love of all that's holy." She regarded me innocently, then did her doggy grin and tilted her head. I yanked the blade away, turning to wash to dog spit from it irritably as I muttered vague threats on my canine companion. Mori had been my companion for a couple years, and was as loyal as loyal came, although she did occasionally steal my cookies and blame it on…well, she didn't actively blame it on anyone else, but she did put on an innocent face and grin her little doggy grin at me so it seemed incomprehensible that she would even think of eating Daddy's cookies.

"You're lucky I still find you adorable even when you're almost as big as I am." I told her condescendingly, and her ears perked up as I smiled fondly at her. Leaving the knife in the sink, I knelt and ruffled her ears with my hand. "Who's my good girl, who is it? It's you, yes it is!" I cooed, and she barked happily, her bright tail thumping softly against the ground. Moriarty was a pale white-gold from head to tail, and her fur was a fine coat, her tail a bit more fluffy and plumed than the rest of her. Her eyes were a dark hazel-brown, nearly red, and she wore a black collar that had her name and my address on it with silver letters.

Her ears suddenly flattened, and I straightened as the doorbell rang demandingly. Shrugging the "Kiss the Cook and Run" apron off, I hung it on a peg in the hallway before looking through the tiny window in my door. I swallowed hard. Those suits look official… Unhooking the latch and undoing the lock, I opened it a small crack. "Yeah?" The leader removed his dark glasses to reveal dark eyes that faintly reminded me of Mr. Frumos's. "Is this the residence of a Mr. Curtis?" he asked quietly, and I swallowed hard once. "Speaking." I croaked, and he smiled disarmingly as my eyes were drawn to his teeth. If I knew I wasn't being paranoid, I'd say those teeth are way too sharp for a human… I thought with another swallow, and he suddenly curled his fingers around my door. "May we come in? We have a few questions for you."

Something in me told me that letting them in would be a very bad idea, but what could I do? Hackers gotta hack, and if these people knew about my itchy keyboard fingers, then it was curtains for Jay's murder investigation. "S-sure." He shouldered the door open as I hastily backed away, and his two companions staggered past me as my eye twitched and I suppressed the urge to cover my nose. Oh god…what's that stench? I thought as my eyes watered, and I held my breath, shouldering past them and watching as the man sat on my couch, leaving me the armchair. I sat, and his two goons sat on either side of him as his nose twitched too. Apparently the odor was even worse for him than it was for me, I thought with a certain sense of smug satisfaction.

I decided to put up a casual front. "So, ya wanted to ask me a few things?" I prompted, crossing my legs and folding my arms behind my head as he grinned again and I heard Mori's faint growl. "Down girl." I called, and she quieted with a soft whine, nudging under my legs to glare at the man and his companions, her teeth ever so slightly bared, even after my admonishment. The man nodded, pulling a clipboard from his suit. "Are you familiar with this woman?" he asked, holding it out to me as I took it, and my eyes widened just barely as my fingers tightened on the thin wood flap and the papers it contained. Jay's blank face stared back at me, along with a large amount of biographical information, as well as the depressingly large DECEASED recently typed in. "Yeah…we met at a computer technology college a few years ago. Far as I know, she's in-"

"We know you were at her funeral a few days ago." My heart froze as Mori growled faintly, and I rapidly composed my face, giving a weak grin. "I'm afraid I wasn't sir, but I did pass by a graveyard a while back on my errands. Maybe that's what you saw. Besides, what would Jay be doing in England anyway, she hasn't been since-"

"A few weeks ago. Don't lie to us Mr. Curtis, we know she was your student in appropriating information illegally." My eye twitched a little. Jeez, call it hacking and have done with it old man. I coughed a few times into my fist. "I'm sorry, but you must have me confused with someone else, I work for Mr. Frumos in the Department of Trafficking, and he can vouch that-" Uproarious laughter shook me from my excuse, and I stared at the man as he slapped his knee as if I had told the joke of the century. "This is hilarious! Well, the fact remains Mr. Curtis, that you have been seen with the wrong people, and we don't like to have our secret leaked before its time." He suddenly stood, and I swallowed hard as a menacing aura filled the room and he bared his –no longer unbelievable– sharp teeth. "You were seen with Hellsing, Mr. Curtis. Do you know what that means?"

I fumbled for a weapon of any kind as I felt Mori whine under my heels. "I-I have no idea…" Long, sharp, and metal. Did I leave my knife here? I really, really hope so. He stepped forward once, and I choked as his hand closed around my neck at the same time I wrapped my fingers desperately around the metal object in my hand. I gaped as his eyes glowed red, and the weapon clattered to the floor as I felt dazed and lightheaded, as if reality was slipping away. "Vampires exist Mr. Curtis. And you have stumbled upon the wrong faction of them." I gagged as he applied pressure, my legs weakly twitching instead of kicking him as I willed them to. Jay…I'm sorry…I wasn't able to avenge you…

"YOW!"

Reality and sound came rushing back, along with the sharp burst of pain in my foot as Mori bite down, then let go and dodged as the man cursed and aimed a blow at her. I was slammed unceremoniously against the wall, and I groped in the slightly open cabinet beside me for another weapon as he glared down at me, his eyes a furious, pulsing crimson. I found something and stabbed it at him as he screeched and staggered back, dropping me to the floor as I wheezed and hacked, massaging my throat to try and regain circulation. I looked up to see him kneeling a few feet away, a silver fork embedded in his eye. Death by silverware. Real badass mister. I thought with a snicker, but it faded as he roared and yanked it out with a gruesome squish and no small amount of blood. My eyes widened and I darted behind the couch, my heart pounding as I heart unsteady footsteps.

"CURTIS!"

I whimpered as I covered my ears with my hands, and there was a feral growl to my left. I looked, and my jaw dropped as the rotting corpse in a suit reached out to me –how the hell had I not noticed that before?! – and made a long groaning sound. "HOLY SH*T! I screamed, scrambling away and backing right into the other one, who dripped something clearish and reeking of decay onto the shoulder of my shirt. I screamed again and executed a Bond maneuver, jumping over the couch and ducking as the hand of the guy whose eye I had removed nearly broke my face. "RUN MORI!" I roared, grabbing the butcher knife I had been using earlier and slinging the backpack I had packed earlier over my shoulder as I staggered out the front door.

"YOU CAN'T RUN CURTIS! MY MASTER IS EVERYWHERE! HE'LL HUNT YOU DOWN AND YOU'LL REGRET THE VERY DAY YOU WERE BORN!"