I am so sorry for the long delay for Chapter 3; things have just been crazy recently. Long story short - finished my exams, went for my learner's license, got a new tattoo, best friend's been in hospital for a major knee operation, family drama, moved to my new flat….things are a bit better now so hopefully I'll be able to focus on writing again however I do want to bring to your attention that I'll probably only be able to publish one chapter a week (don't want to rush through the story.)
Also it was brought to my attention that the way I write my Romanian translations isn't 100% accurate. I apologize greatly for this and hope I haven't offended anyone but the translations that I've used and the way that they've been written is how I got them from an online translator, now I understand that this translator service is not always accurate but unfortunately it's all that I have T_T, so again I apologize profusely and hope that my Romanian readers will forgive my unavoidable mistakes. Also I'm going to try something different with my translations; the Romanian version will stay in the text with * next to it while the English version will be available at the end of the story. Let me know what you guys think!
On another note, I'd like to give a very big thank you to Che Black Diamond, for constantly being a great source of encouragement and advice! Thank you so much!
Disclaimer: I don't own Hellsing or any of its original characters.
Chapter 3: Birthday Betrayal
The next morning Seras was greeted by the bright smiles and loving embraces of both her parents. "Happy Birthday Sweetheart!", Sarah was the first to give her well wishes to her daughter before hugging her and kissing her cheek, as she stepped back Gavril immediately lifted Seras off her feet and into a bear hug, "Happy Birthday my baby girl!", Seras laughed at her father's behaviour while also trying to get him to loosen his grip on her, "Tată! Let go, I need to breathe remember!", Gavril just laughed and set Seras down on her feet again before letting go, "…and how many times have I told you I'm not a baby girl anymore, I'm 18 years old now which makes me a woman.", she said jokingly to her beloved father. Gavril 's huge grin shrunk down to a gentle smile and his blue eyes softened as he looked down at Seras before gently pulling her closer into a softer, more loving embrace, "You will always be my baby girl, Seras. Your mother and I love you with all our hearts and I am the proudest father in the world when I zee what a wonderful woman you have become…", at hearing her father's word, Seras had tears in her eyes and tightened the hold she had on him. Sarah just stood to the side and smiled as she watched the exchange between father and daughter. "Alright you two, enough now before you make this old woman cry, Gavril we still need to give Seras her gift!", she only half-heartedly reprimanded them, she herself could stop the giggle that escaped her mouth when she saw Seras' excited expression after hearing about her gift. Now Sarah and her family were most certainly not rich however thanks to Gavril being the best hunter in the town they did make enough to get by. He sold the meat to the local butcher, the skins also fetched a good price at the market and on some occasions he worked with the local blacksmith to earn a bit extra. Sarah grew and tended to her own little vegetable garden at their home so that their family didn't have to go shopping for food in the town, the only time they really needed to spend their money was for special occasions or if they really needed something, this included days like Seras' birthday. Now Seras wasn't materialistic at all, in fact Seras always insisted that her parents didn't have to get her anything but they always tried to get her something nice despite her protests but she couldn't deny the feelings of happiness and excitement she felt every time she did get something from them. "Tată, Mama….you shouldn't have…", before she could finish what she was saying Gavril spoke up, giving his best imitation of what he knew Seras was about to say, "…you shouldn't have gotten me anything, I told you I told need anything and that I'm just happy spending my day with you and blah blah blah….Seras it's not every day that you turn 18 so shush and let your loving parents spoil you.", he finished off with a chuckle, Seras just huffed and pouted, trying her best not to laugh after hearing her father's rather comical imitation of her voice. Sarah shook her head and stepped forward with a blindfold in her hand, "You know the rule Seras, blindfold on.", She secured the blindfold over Seras' eyes before leading her to sit on one of the nearby stools, Gavril had gone to get the much anticipated gift before standing in front of Seras with it in his hands, Sarah also went to fetch something before she went to stand next to her husband, neither one of them able to contain their excitement, "Alright Sweetheart you can look now…", that was all she needed to hear before pulling the blindfold off and opening her eyes, when she did she could stop the surprised gasp that escaped her lips as her eyes widened at the sight of the objects in her father's hands, "So beautiful…"
At the same time, many miles away from the little town, in the dark and foreboding castle, the resident hellhound barked and yipped excitedly while its tail wagged back and forth with much enthusiasm much to its master's amusement. "Yes the time has come my pet, our little flower has bloomed at last and what a perfect rose she has turned out to be.", the Vampire King continued to observe his familiar, it never ceased to amaze him how the dreaded beast who usually sought to slaughter and devour any who crossed his path would start acting like an excited pup at the mere thought of Seras…in fact all of Alucard's familiars felt attached to the girl and couldn't wait for her to be the mate of their master, their voices filled his mind with pleads and urgings to go get her…to bring her home. "Silence! All of you calm down! I am your master and you will not issue orders to me!", the command echoed throughout his mind and the voices fell silent. He couldn't blame them for being excited, he too was filled with much anticipation but he had to be careful, if he made the wrong move then Seras might end up hating him…he still planned to turn her but the thought of Seras hating him made his heart feel as if it might shatter. At that thought Alucard couldn't help but give a soft chuckle, "…and here I thought my heart had died along with my mortal self…..seems that you found it and gave it life again my Seras…", again he chuckled to himself, "I really am starting to sound like a lovesick pup.". Alucard then went back to his silent pondering, despite his excitement he couldn't help but feel that something bad was going to happen…he quickly put it down to being nervous about Seras' reaction and tried to push the feeling to the back of his mind but still it lingered... "Enough of this foolishness, I will simply sleep until tonight. Seras will have this time to be with her family and then I will bring her here where she belongs.", with that said he teleported to his coffin deep within the dungeons of his castle, he lay down to rest but not before ensuring that his mind had a direct link to Seras so as to sooth his growing sense of paranoia, feeling her excitement and happiness put him at ease and he allowed himself to fall asleep, "Seras, dragostea mea…" *
"So beautiful…", in Gavril's hands were twin daggers that with 13.5 inches in length, the blades were silver while the grips were made of a black hardwood. Each grip is divided by a brass banner in the middle, the guards of each dagger were also made of brass and styled to have a slight curve so as to provide better protection for the wielder's hands, the hilt of each dagger was brass as well and shaped to have an almost crown like appearance. The hard, black scabbards also had brass-metal finishing on the tips and the around on the upper part of where the blades would slide in. Every brass-metal finishing had detailed line-art to give the daggers a more refined look. To anyone else these blades wouldn't seem so special but to Seras they were priceless for she knew without a doubt in her mind that her father had made these daggers with his own two hands just for her. There were simply no words to describe how much such a gift meant to her…the materials needed to make such daggers would've been horribly expensive and the amount of time dedicated to each piece…it was overwhelming to think that her father would out of his way to like this just for her. "Tată…", she had tears in her eyes and tried to form a coherent sentence but couldn't get past the lump that seemed to have gotten stuck in her throat. Sarah smiled before revealing what was in her hands, in one hand she held a black belt made specifically to hold the daggers on either side of a person's hips, the buckle was made of the same brass metal that was on the daggers and scabbards. In her other hand she held up what looked like some sort of black folded material. She offered the material to Seras who proceeded to stand and unfold it; she quickly realized that it was a black traveling cloak with brown fur trim; again there was no doubt in her mind that her mother had made it for her. Seras could no longer hold her tears back and let them fall from her eyes; Sarah took the belt and cloak and then placed them down before hugging her daughter, whispering soothing and loving words to her little girl. Gavril followed his wife's lead and put the daggers down next to the cloak and belt before enveloping both mother and daughter in a loving embrace…no words were said, there was no need for them.
Once Seras had calmed down she immediately put the cloak on, the black material was soft beneath her fingers and the fur slightly tickled her skin. It was only once she had it on that she realised that the cloak had a hood as well which also had the fur trim on it. It fitted her perfectly and went well with the rest of her attire; as usual her golden hair was up in a tight bun, she had on her black riding boots, black pants, her usual black bustier and a plain red blouse. After the cloak was properly on she then quickly secured the belt onto her waist and placed each of her precious daggers into their designated holders. "Thank you Mama! Thank you Tată!", Seras gave both her parents a big hug and a kiss on each of their cheeks. "Anything for our little girl.", Sarah was the one to speak while Gavril stood next to her grinning broadly at Seras. "Now we just need to go into town and buy a few things…", after hearing this Seras' smile quickly disappeared as she looked up at her parents, a confused expression on her face. "To town? But why? What do we need to get that we don't already have here at home?", it was no secret that Seras didn't trust the townsfolk and was always anxious whenever her family had to go to town to buy something. "We just need to get a few groceries dear; well your father has to go get them while I get started in the kitchen.", Seras was still confused, "But Mama what groceries would we need from town? Tată and I brought home that deer just the other day and we have our own vegetable garden…", "yes, yes dear I know but I want this meal to be special so your father and I agreed that we'll buy what we need from the grocer…", she tried to explain to Seras before adding, "…and don't start that nonsense about how we don't have to go out of our way or anything like that, we want to make this day special for you Seras.", hearing that stopped Seras from arguing and she merely sighed in defeat. Gavril chose this moment to move to the front door, "I'll be back soon!", and with that he was out of the house and on his way to town. Sarah then told Seras to go practice her archery or something until it was meal time, Seras protested and offered to help her mother cook but was swiftly silenced by the 'no-nonsense' look her mother gave her, so instead she just grabbed her bow and arrows and went off to practice on one of the trees nearby the house so that she wasn't too far away from home should either of her parents need her for something.
Gavril walked swiftly through the town, a neutral expression on his face as he walked past the gossiping townsfolk, ignoring their vile comments and hateful glares. Soon, though not soon enough in his opinion, he was standing before the local grocer...a big burly man with greying black hair and beard, hard green eyes and a gruff expression on his face, "A trecut mulți ani de când ai venit să cumpere de la mine Gavril ..." *, Gavril took a deep breath before answering the man in front of him, "Da, a fost și singurul motiv pentru care eu sunt aici este pentru fetita mea, este ziua ei de naștere astăzi și soția mea și doresc să pregătească o masă specială pentru ei, dar, în scopul de a face acest lucru am nevoie pentru a cumpara o parte din legume. .."*, Gavril waited anxiously for the man's reply, surprisingly there was a long pause before the man chose to speak, "Așteaptă aici.", that was all he said before he walked into the back room of his little shop, Gavril was very confused but waited patiently, still ignoring the looks he got from the other people in the shop. The minutes seemed to tick by excruciatingly slowly before the grocer came back with a bag in his hands which he proceeded to give to Gavril, "Aici, un pic de tot și totul este proaspăt.". Even more confused, Gavril looked into the bag and saw several vegetable, all of them looked ripe and fresh, he then looked up at the grocer but before he could speak the man cut him off, "Fără taxe, considera-le un cadou. Vreau să lăsăm trecutul în urmă ne prieten vechi. Știu că nu există nici o scuză pentru modul în care am acționat pentru tine si familia ta, dar sper să câștige iertarea-o zi.", After hearing this, Gavril could only stare at the man before him, all around them he could hear the other patrons, gasp in horror and insult the grocer but he didn't seem at all fazed. Gavril finally found it within himself to speak, "Mulțumesc, Victor, tu nu stii ce inseamna asta pentru mine și familia mea.", with that Gavril stepped out of the shop and made his way back home. Inside, the patrons went up to Victor, "La ce te gândeai?!", Victor merely smirked at them and pulled out a vial that he had hidden in his shirt, the vial contained a clear liquid but everyone instantly recognized it for what it was and grinned maliciously at each other…now all they had to do was wait.
Gavril arrived home with a huge grin on his face and immediately went to the kitchen where he saw his wife meticulously going about her task of preparing the meat she planned to use for the stew she was making, it was Seras' favourite dish and Sarah made sure that everything was prepared accordingly. She was cutting the meat into cubes when she saw her husband enter the kitchen, immediately puzzled by his overly joyful expression she asked why he was so happy and he proceeded to tell her about what had occurred between him and the grocer, Sarah was stunned into silence before she moved to take the bag of vegetables from her husband, taking the bag and placing it on the kitchen counter she proceeded to unpack the vegetables and sure enough they all looked and smelled fresh. Sarah couldn't believe it….someone was finally willing to accept them! She couldn't stop the smile that appeared on her face or the tears that ran down her cheeks, Gavril moved forward to hold and kiss his wife, he knew what she must be thing and what this means to her…today was just getting better and better for their family. "Seras will be so happy once she hears about this! But let's wait until later to tell her!", Sarah could barely contain her excitement while Gavril merely smiled and nodded before letting her go and helping her prepare the rest of the food.
Meanwhile, Seras was outside lying outside under the shade of a nearby tree, her archery practice long forgotten as she lay there daydreaming…she had the constant feeling that something was going to happen but she didn't know what, she also thought about the dream that she had the night before about a man with long hair that hung past his waist and as black as a raven's wing, he was tall, very tall….she'd bet that she'd just barely reach his collar bone. He wore a white shirt and black trousers as well as black riding boots…his skin was very pale, it seemed so white that it was almost glowing….kinda like moonlight but his most striking feature were his eyes, red like blood…so intimidating and yet so inviting….Seras had dreamt of this man many times for as long as she could remember, as a child she dreamt that he would merely hold her or let her braid his long hair….there was also a giant dog that with shaggy black fur and eyes just as red and intimidating as the man's but not once did she feel afraid in fact she felt safe and cherished….as Seras aged her dreams started to become more sensual ….passionate, hungry kisses and intimate touches…just thinking about some of her dreams made her blush! Those were not the type of things a good girl should think about let alone dream about! Her latest dream puzzled her though, nothing really happened, they were in a clearing in the middle of the forest, they were surrounded by wild flowers…she vaguely remembers a similar clearing from when she was little, she lay done on the ground besides him with her head on his chest while he had his arms wrapped around her petite form…they lay there for what felt like hours before he brought one of his hands to lift her face to look at him before leaning closer to kiss her, it was a gentle and loving kiss that left her yearning for more….when she looked at him his crimson eyes held so much love for her that she felt her heart melt…. "Seras…", the way he had said her name sent shivers done her back even now but what he said next confused her, "I'm coming for you Seras, it's time to leave behind your mortal life…my love, my mate, my queen.", at hearing that she had so many questions that she wanted to ask but of course her mind had other ideas and that's when she woke up…Seras huffed and decided that if luck was in her favour she'd see him again tonight and will be able to ask him what he meant. "Seras, it's time to eat!", Seras' eyes shot open at hearing her father call for her, only realizing now how late it was in the afternoon, it'll be dark soon. Without a moments' delay she got up and dusted herself off, making sure her daggers were still attached to her belt she then grabbed her bow and arrows before rushing home.
Sarah was busy putting the finishing touches on the stew and tasting it when Seras came into the kitchen, "I'm here!", Seras quickly rushed over to steal a taste of her mother's delicious stew but was stopped by her mother's stern warning, "Oh no you don't young lady! Go was your hands immediately!","But Mama….", "Wash. Now.", knowing when to give up Seras turned around and went to wash her hands, Gavril chose this moment to quickly steal a taste of the stew, "Ah my darling it tastes wonderful as usual…", "Gavril! What do you think you're…..", Sarah suddenly found it very difficult to speak, her throat felt as if it were being squeezed shut, she couldn't breathe…she suddenly felt some sort of liquid fall from her eyes, nose, and ears before collapsing onto the floor, "Sarah!", Gavril immediately rushed to his wife's aid, lifting her up into his arms…upon seeing the blood coming from her eyes, nose, and ears a cold realisation hit him…they had been poisoned! He tried to call out to Seras but it was at that moment that he too felt as if he couldn't breathe and soon he felt the blood running down his face…frantically he looked done to his wife only to see her lying lifeless in his arms…her brown eyes no longer had any life in them as they stared up at him…again he tried to call out to Seras but it was futile, he soon collapsed onto the floor, his arms still holding his now dead wife in his arms as he struggled to do anything…in those last few moments his life flashed before his eyes, from the moment he met Sarah to when they got married, when Seras was born and as she grew…he relived each of those moments before silently sending a prayer to the heavens to please save his daughter….and then he was gone."Mama? Tată? Is everything alright? I thought I heard yelling…..", the words were caught in her throat as soon as she saw her parents' lifeless bodies on the floor…the blood on their faces a clear indication of what happened…..in that moment Seras could do only one thing…..she screamed…
And there's chapter 3! Hope you guys enjoyed it! Please review, I'd love to hear what you guys think!
Phixora
Translations (*):
"Seras, dragostea mea…" – "My Seras, my love..."
"Tată" – "Father"
"A trecut mulți ani de când ai venit să cumpere de la mine Gavril ..." – "It's been many years since you've come to buy from me Gavril..."
"Da, a fost și singurul motiv pentru care eu sunt aici este pentru fetita mea, este ziua ei de naștere astăzi și soția mea și doresc să pregătească o masă specială pentru ei, dar, în scopul de a face acest lucru am nevoie pentru a cumpara o parte din legume. .." – "Yes it has been and the only reason I am here is for my little girl, it is her birthday today and my wife and I wish to prepare a special meal for her but in order to do so I need to buy some of your vegetables..."
"Așteaptă aici." – "Wait here"
"Aici, un pic de tot și totul este proaspăt."- "Here, a bit of everything and it's all fresh."
"Mulțumesc, Victor, tu nu stii ce inseamna asta pentru mine și familia mea."- "Thank you, Victor, you don't know what this means to me and my family."
"La ce te gândeai?!"-" What were you thinking?!"
Seras' daggers' design: .
Seras' cloak design: shop/images/Claok_15_grey_aufm_