The Seldom Seen
AN: I felt bad that I haven't written anything in days. I hit a block on what was going to be chapter four, so I wrote this instead.
All you silent followers and favoriters still make my day, but reviews feed my muse. ;)
As a warning, this chapter is fairly violent. Nothing too gory, though. Not yet, anyways. There might just might be another update today, let's see what I can get out for chapter five. :] The fluff I promised a reviewer in PM will have to wait until I find a jack hammer to bust the block.
Hope you enjoy this little snippet nonetheless!
04: I Will Not Go Mad, Not Go Mad…
Seras stared at her blood soaked hands, then at the pile of eviscerated and dismembered ghouls, and then to the bullet holes in her shirt. Oh god… what have I done?
Whimpering, the girl turns frantic blue eyes to her surroundings, searching for the familiar Hellsing uniform amongst the dead. What happened? How did I get here? I… can't remember.
The yawning blackness in her mind threatened to swallow the fledgling whole. What… did I do..?
Clutching her head and smearing blood across her cheeks, the blonde crumpled to her knees with a wet squelch. Surrounded by death, a copper tang ripe on her tongue, Seras struggled to keep hold of her mind.
'Master…'
A shockwave of memories exploded from the shadow veiling her thoughts, punishingly bright and real and oh god the blood…
That's right, Sir Integra had sent them to a warehouse to deal with the growing ghoul population and missing persons reports. It seemed like they were running rogue, and the fledgling and her back up team began exterminating them swiftly. Her Master had been sent on a separate mission, and it wasn't all that common for them to go on ghoul hunts together anymore, anyways.
The last ghoul had been shot down when the floor caved in beneath them, sending Seras and three of her men into the pit the ghouls had dug as protection against the sunlight. Right into another swarm of them, and their vampire.
Seras had charged the FREAK with her handgun spraying blessed silver bullets, but she ducked behind her minions to shield herself. And then she sprang forward the instant Seras' clip ran dry, and the fledgling had no choice but to swing her harkonnen like a club.
Her men were filling the cavern with the echo of gunfire as their semi automatics sent waves of bullets into the crowd of ghouls, trying to keep them at bay. One of those bullets went wild and pierced her arm.
Seras howled and clutched her bicep, trembling and gasping at the pain. Fortunately it had passed cleanly through the other side of her arm, but the silver coating had rubbed off on impact and sent virulent poison through her bloodstream. Gritting her teeth, swaying, the girl's vision begins to blur red. No! No, she could handle this, damnit!
She shook off the beginnings of the blood rage, and straightened, only to be tackled by the FREAK and pinned to the rocky floor.
Self preservation kicked in and her blue eyes burned crimson as the mostly dormant vampire inside her took over. With a roar, the girl rolled onto her shoulders and slammed her legs up and back into the FREAK's spine, shattering it and sending her flying into her zombie thralls. Rolling with the momentum, the blonde lurched to her feet and snarled, fangs elongated and black claws bursting through the seams of her gloves, She leaped blindly after her prey, and into a pocket of open space, only to jerk and twitch in mid air as bullets impact her chest, the force of it sending her flying backwards into the ground.
Muffled voices echoed in her ears as her men screamed her name in concern, unable to halt their fire for fear of their lives against the almost endless swarm of undead. How the hell were there this many animated corpses?!
Laying there in a pool of her own blood, struggling for the breath her body no longer truly needed, her Master's last words to her as a human echoed through her mind. "I had to shoot through you to pierce his heart. I'm sorry but you're dying and there's no time left. The choice is yours. What do you want to do?"
I… I… I want to live!
Darkness roared and blood consumed her world, dying everything red and taking away the last shades of grey. The wounds in her chest began to heal sluggishly as the blood crawled back into her body and she rolled to her hands and knees, rising shakily, her teeth aching to taste blood.
"Police Girl, tonight is truly a beautiful night."
As if those words were a trigger, the half dead fledgling threw herself into the crowd of ghouls with a snarl. Fangs and claws knifed through rotted flesh, spraying cold, stale blood in waves. Despite the rank earthy tones, she swallowed it greedily to refill her reserves.
Rip. Tear. Gut. Bleed.
Blood, blood, blood, blood, blood…
Gallons of it seemed to pour into her being, filling the hungry black void with a sea of angry red.
Slice. Kick. Punch. Blled.
More, more, more, more, MORE!
The sweetly sulphuric blood of the fallen FREAK dragged her mind from the depths of the madness, but did not return control of her body to her awakening sense of self within the slaughter. Limbs driven by the blood drunk darkness gifted by her Sire's fangs, the girl could only sit and watch within her own mind as she turned upon the trio huddling against the wreckage of what used to be the floor above.
Their fear smelled intoxicating and she dropped the husk of dry meat and broken bones to approach the promise of sweet living blood, untainted by rot and the false pretense of immortality.
Her name spilled from their lips like a mantra to god, pleading for him to come down from on high and save them from the insane vampire. Hah! They would have better luck calling for her Master.
'Master…'
The thought was locked down viciously by the greedy thing inhabiting her soul. No, she would not be allowed to summon her creator until the blood sucker had its fill and bathed itself in blood with her own claws.
Hysteria bit at the edges of her self, clawing little pieces away like tissue paper. When the last of the bullets riddled her form heedlessly, she closed her eyes and blocked her ears, chanting to herself and rocking back and forth in the last little corner of innocence left to her mind.
I will not go mad, not go mad, not go mad, not…
And then it was over. And she was left there, alone in her own head, staring at her hands in horror. Oh god… What have I done?
"Master…" She whimpered, hands dropping to her lap as she fell back to stare up at the warehouse ceiling so far away.
"Seras." A voice answered. His voice.
Suddenly, he was there, and real, and she sobbed, throwing herself at the red clad man; her bloody fingers curling in a death grip on his coat.
'I'm sorry's and 'I didn't mean to's and other garbled apologies spilled from her mouth in a tangle of syllables and half choked wails.
Her Master sighed and one of his large hands rested itself on her head, gloved fingers running through her hair in a soothing motion. "Police Girl, you have nothing to apologize for. This is the cost we pay for our long lives; an eternity spent in the company of blood and death."
Burying her face into his chest, the girl's shoulders jerk as she forces back further tears.
His other arm drapes itself across her shoulders, holding her to him in one of his rare moments of comfort for his Childe. Gratefully, the girl sags, her arms drooping limply at her sides as she rests her entire weight upon her Sire.
"This changes nothing, Police Girl, except perhaps your appreciation for the blood bags Hellsing provides us with." Alucard's words sink into her mind, easing some of the worry about the future.
"Sir Integra will be angry." Seras mutters, dreading the meeting between herself and the Hellsing heir as she gives her report.
"Most likely." Alucard agrees, "but you are young yet, little fledgling, and accidents happen."
Peeking up at him, she notes his expression change as he takes in the gory scenery. A perverse pleasure lights his face, and his lips quirk as he turns his molten gaze upon her, taking note of the number of bullet holes in her tattered uniform. "Heh. It was glorious, wasn't it, Police Girl? The thrill of blood in your mouth and under your claws." His nostrils flared, and she shivered before looking away and biting her lip.
"…Yes, my Master."