Phew! I thought I'd never get around to writing again. There's been a bunch of drama going on at work as per usual. I'm staying way out of it, but it does mean more overtime… again. Ugh I'm dead on my feet. I can't remember the last time I had a normal week. Thank you so much for all of your lovely reviews in the meantime, though! I can't believe how many followers this story has already, so thank you! I hope that you've all been taking care of yourselves, and I hope that you enjoy the next chapter!


6: Natural Instincts


"Mummy!"

Seras' eyes snapped open at the sound of the high-pitched cry. Nothing but blackness greeted her vision, and for what felt like an eternal moment, the draculina was paralysed. It was if someone had nailed her down onto whatever surface she was laid upon. Her eyes were wide, and she didn't even dare blink. That voice… that voice was crying for her… She had to find it!

Panicking, the young vampire finally managed to force her limbs to move. Gravity felt like it was ten times as strong as she tried to force herself to stand up. Her body buckled under the weight, but she fought on. There was a feeling of fatigue like nothing she had ever experienced. But she couldn't let that bother her right now. Her lower abdomen was stinging, almost as if it had been ripped open, but she ignored it. A thick metallic scent of blood hung heavy around her like the humid air of a jungle. It chocked her, but her surroundings revealed nothing but blackness as she attempted to locate the source.

"Mummy!" Another girl's scream filled the air.

Eyes blazing, Seras just knew that she had to get to the source of the cries. Something deep within her clawed at the inside of her chest, slashing at her ribs as it attempted to break free of its cage. Before Seras could even register what was happening, she was putting one foot in front of the other while one hand reached down to grab her abdomen. The screams still echoed in the vast void with nothing but the female vampire around to absorb the sounds. They pierced down her ears in an electric current that zapped straight into her heart, providing Seras with all the energy she needed to push forward.

She had to find them! She had to protect them!

The darkness slowly gave way, and Seras blinked when she found herself walking down a long stone staircase that twirled its way downwards like something out of a fantastical fairy tale. Though few oil lamps lit the way, Seras could still see perfectly in the darkness. Her boots clicked against the steps, and she pressed her hand against the cold grey wall as she guided herself downwards. The scent of blood still polluted the air of the never ending staircase. Should the draculina call out into the darkness? All she did know for certain was that she needed to keep walking and find the source of those cries.

Her babies needed her!

"Mamă!" The screams were growing louder, and Seras let out a frightened whimper as she began walking down the stairs three at a time. They kept twirling and turning, and Seras was about to let out a cry of frustration before she finally realised that she had reached the bottom.

The sight that greeted her was incredibly surreal. It really was like something out of a dark fairy tale. The vast hallway was dark with a small amount of illumination from a floating moon that hung just below the tall ceiling. Orbs of light that looked like stars floated at various levels. Intrigued, Seras reached a hand out to touch one of the low hanging ones, watching in awe and fascination as her fingers slipped through the small swirls of light. They felt warm against her skin, but not unpleasant at all. Clouds also danced around her and the sounds of a soothing music box also filled the air.

Seras gasped in recognition of the music. Her mother had had a music box just like that before she died. Seras used to sit on her mother's lap as she sat at the vanity, either brushing her hair or touching up her make-up before a night out. There was a tiny jewellery box that was always placed just in front of the mirror that had been passed down the female line of the family for many years. Her mother always let it play to soothe the young Seras on the rare occasions she would leave her with a babysitter. Even now, after all these years, the music relaxed her, making her want to fall back into the clouds and stare up at the moon and stars in pure bliss.

But why was she hearing it here? As far as Seras was aware, the music box was locked away in a small storage cupboard in her room at the Hellsing estate, among the few other possessions that she owned during her life as a human. That thought alone was enough to keep Seras alert and prevent her from falling prey to the comforting melody.

Seras continued on, determined to find the source of the screaming and figure out where she was. The clouds swirled around her as she pushed through them, and Seras' eyes widened as showers of rain fell from some of them. This place was almost like a child's wonderland. An enchanted land built just for them.

More oddities greeted her as she pressed onward. The draculina nearly tripped over a few toys that were scattered across the floor, and for some reason, she could feel herself growing irritated at the mess. Before she could think more of it, transparent butterflies flew past her head, and Seras whipped her head back around to watch after them. Books were also laid down on some of the clouds, the female vampire noticed, acting like solid tables despite the lack of a visible surface. Upon closer inspection, the books were written in many different languages, some Seras recognised while others she did not. An English one caught her attention, and she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion when realising that it was the story of the Pied Piper. What was going on? Where was she?

Seras growled as she tripped over a teddy bear, this time actually falling to the stone floor and scraping the palms of her hands against it as she attempted to catch herself.

Childish giggles caught her attention, and Seras blinked in confusion as a small figure stepped out from behind one of the clouds. Red eyes met blue, and pale blonde, almost white hair, blew gently in a breeze that Seras could not feel. Lily!

"Mummy's here to play!" Lily yelled happily, skipping over to the stunned draculina. The little vampire smiled as she picked up the teddy bear that Seras had tripped over and cuddled it to her chest. Seras then realised that Lily had been the source of the screaming, and in a panic, her eyes raked over her small form looking for any signs of injury or distress. But there wasn't any. Still, this did little to calm the blonde vampire down.

"Where are we?" Seras managed to gasp out.

Lily looked confused for a moment before smiling again. "Home."

"Eh?" was all Seras could reply with as she watched Lily twirl around, still clutching the teddy bear to her as black as night bats flew down from the ceiling and danced around the small girl before disappearing from view. All Seras could do was sit there with her mouth agape. Little Lily looked like a princess in her silver dress with golden threading. A tiny silver tiara was settled on top of her head, and her feet were bare as she continued to skip around, drawing patterns in the air with the clouds which obeyed her every movement. They moved aside to let her pass them, almost as if she was a ray of sunshine.

"Is it feeding time? Where's daddy?" Lily kept asking questions.

Seras' mouth open and closed like a goldfish, but she was unable to produce any sounds. How could she answer Lily's questions when she didn't even know what was going on herself? Why had Lily been screaming earlier? Had Seras imagined the whole thing? The young vampire remained on high alert, not trusting her surroundings one little bit.

However, Seras was soon startled by a line of mice running past her on their hind legs, blowing into little trumpets as they went. Seras squealed and squished one of them with her boot before she could stop herself. It squeaked before vanishing in a puff of smoke, leaving a bewildered Seras to stare down at the spot where it had once existed with wide eyes. Okay… someone must have spiked her blood last night or something…

When Seras looked back up, she gasped when she saw that Lily had vanished and that the room was closing in on her, threatening to pull her into that dark void once again. A woman's laughter that Seras didn't recognise filled the air, and Lily once again began screaming in terror.

"Lily!" Seras cried out, pushing herself back onto her feet and diving towards the source of the sounds. Blackness now completely engulfed her once again, and this time, Luna's screams also echoed around the void.

NO! She had to protect them! Whoever was hurting them had just made the biggest mistake in their miserable lives! Seras was going to slowly tear them apart, plucking their limbs from their bodies like petals from a flower. She would rip their teeth out one by one before moving on and pulling their nails from their fingers. She would make it slow and agonizing. She couldn't wait to dig her claws into them and spill all of their blood. She would gouge their eyes out with a spoon before shoving them down their throat, taking great delight as they choked and gasped for breath.

"Mummy!"

"Seras!"

What?

"Miss Victoria!"

"Seras!"

Seras bolted upright from her bed, nearly head-butting Sir Integra in the process, but the platinum blonde knight moved out of the way just in time, cigar still held between her lips. She frowned down at Seras with a disapproving look, but also seemed slightly relieved. Seras ran her fingers through her hair in confusion, her abdomen still stinging slightly, but she barely paid it any notice. Something warm was pressed up against her side, and the draculina looked down to see a sleeping Lily curled up against her waist, thumb loosely inserted into her mouth. Looking back up, Seras caught sight of Luna pacing like a soldier by the door of what appeared to be a hospital room. She was wearing a Hellsing's soldier helmet that was way too big for her, and it practically hid most of her face from view. A toy rifle was being held against her shoulder.

Luna's eyes then lit up when she saw Seras staring at her. "Look mamă! I'm guarding!"

"Ummm?" was all Seras could say.

"Welcome back, Miss Victoria." Uh oh. Integra sounded irritated.

"What happened?" Seras gasped out, holding a hand against her throbbing forehead.

"You passed out from hunger." Integra glared at her before sighing through her nose. "What did I tell you about drinking your blood?"

"Huh?" Seras couldn't believe how much Integra could make her feel like a child sometimes. "I did drink my blood last night! I couldn't have passed out from hunger!"

Integra's icy blue eyes narrowed. "I don't appreciate being lied to, Police Girl."

"But I did! I swear! Just ask Walter, he'll tell you!"

"Then how is it you had no blood in your system when the nurse attempted to take a sample?" Integra questioned as she finally pulled her cigar from her lips to release a puff of smoke. Seras fanned it away from herself in annoyance, however, she couldn't fight off the confusion at Integra's words. Seras had vague memories of the seconds before she passed out. Sure enough, she remember the nurse making some sort of comment about her lack of blood. But that was impossible. She had definitely consumed her rations last night; Walter had made sure that she had.

"I don't know…" was all Seras could pathetically reply with.

Integra sighed again. "It is of no matter now. The doctors were able to transfer plenty of blood into your system, and while you were unconscious, I took the liberty of allowing them to take some samples from you."

Seras froze. "Samples?"

Integra's lips twitched into a slight smirk. "Nothing much, just whatever blood you did have in your system, some tissue samples, ova samples, along with some other cells."

"Gee, thanks for asking, Sir." The vampire glared at her superior. At least that explained why there were random stinging sensations in different parts of her body. Of course Seras would have granted permission for the doctors to do this, but still, it would have been nice to have been asked properly. It left Seras feeling like nothing more than a lab experiment with no rights. It further reminded her of how she wasn't human anymore – just a monster. What rights did she have? Seras relied on Hellsing for everything, even her own life. She had to do whatever Integra wanted.

"It is critical that we investigate further into vampire biology," Integra explained in a harsh tone. "Since we are still unable to find any records on vampire offspring, we need to do whatever it takes to find out the truth. Your co-operation is vitally important, Miss Victoria. Your samples will allow us to gain more knowledge than my ancestor ever could when experimenting with Alucard all those years ago."

Her master was experimented on? Honestly, that shouldn't have surprised her. No doubt the ancient Hellsing wasn't as gentle and considerate as Integra was. For all her faults, at least Seras never had to worry about Integra purposefully inflicting any pain on her unless the vampire went rogue or something. Her master probably had no such luxury, and Seras could feel her heart aching for him as a result. No wonder he was as crazy as he was. Seras would probably be just as mad if not more so if she had gone through some of the things that she assumed her master had – perhaps even things she could never begin imagine. The lengths that Abraham likely went to… that's what had Seras agreeing with Integra that there was no way he would overlook something as important as potential vampire reproduction.

Seras sighed. "Maybe the records got destroyed," she voice her thoughts out loud.

"Excuse me?" Integra sounded taken aback.

"The records: maybe they were destroyed by someone."

Integra stared down at her with wide eyes before she frowned and gritted her teeth. "Alucard!" she hissed under her breath.

"But why would master do such a thing?" Seras questioned.

However, it seemed that Integra barely registered anything that the draculina was saying. The furious leader was already storming over to one of the phones that was hanging on the wall. Lily stirred slightly next to her, and Luna stopped her exaggerated marching to watch Integra with interest. Seras remained frozen.

There were a few seconds of silence before Seras could hear Walter's reply from the other end of the line.

"Walter, I need you up here in the ward Seras is in this instant!" she ordered. "It appears we have a dangerous situation on our hands!"

Seras felt her breath get caught in her throat, almost making her choke. Integra's words caused her to twitch, and her mind suddenly felt like it was spinning at a million miles per hour. The rest of the world tuned itself out as all she could do was focus on the two little girls in the room. Thankfully, Luna seemed to have gotten bored with being a 'guard' and was making her way towards the bed Seras remained sat on. Lily was now fully awake and clung to the older vampire, seeking comfort. Once Luna was close enough, Seras grabbed hold of her and pressed the dark haired child against her other side, clinging to both the girls as if they were about to be snatched away from her at any second.

Why were all these other people around them? No! She had to get them away! Back to the nest! A safe spot! Away from everyone! Her babies weren't safe here! Get away!

Get away!

GET AWAY!

"Is everything alright, Sir?" Walter asked as he entered the room.

When did he get here? Seras couldn't help but question as her mind felt like it was tearing herself straight down the middle, both her sanity and insanity battling for dominance.

"No, Walter, it is not!" Integra sounded so close to losing her temper at this point. Her coffee coloured cheeks were flushed and her eyes were as hard as steel. Her cigar lay snapped in two and forgotten in her hand, even when the still lit end burned through her pristine white gloves. "I believe Alucard may have tampered with the files."

"I'm afraid I don't understand, Sir."

"There is no way that Abraham would have not investigated a matter such as this. If rumours of vampire offspring exist like you yourself explained, then he would have looked into the matter. After all, is it not our job to eradicate vampires and other evil from this world? If reproduction was a possibility other than the biting of a virgin, Abraham would have noted this," Integra explained. "There is clearly a reason why this information has been hidden from us. Alucard knows something and he is not telling us. He's purposefully destroyed any records Abraham ever made on the subject."

Walter frowned. "How can we be so sure it was Alucard?"

"Because it would be just the sort of thing he would do!" Integra bellowed. "It appears there are even more secrets about his kind that he doesn't wish to divulge. He thought he could play this game and hide this knowledge from future Hellsings, but he is mistaken. He will tell me everything I need to know."

Integra then turned and grabbed the phone again.

"What are you doing?" Seras gasped, gripping the girls even tighter.

Integra ignored her while she dialled a number. Seras held her breath, watching as her boss pressed the phone to her ear. Walter remained standing loyally by his master's side, watching events unfold with mild interest. The seconds that the call attempted to connect were the longest of Seras' life. Deep down, she knew exactly who Sir Integra was calling, but she still clung onto the futile hope.

They were going to take Lily and Luna away from her!

They were going to hurt them!

No! Only she could be near them! Only her and her mate! No one else!

"Good evening, master," a familiar voice purred from the other side of the line.

However, before Integra could respond, Seras was darting forward. Within the blink of an eye, she had snatched the phone from Sir Integra and crushed the device in her hand as if it was made from clay. Seras' hand slowly unclenched itself and the pieces fell to the floor one by one. Plunk plunk plunk. The pieces scattered across the tiled floor with wires sticking out in random directions. A fury unlike anything she had felt before had taken complete control of the draculina, and it took a few seconds for both Integra and Walter to register what had just happened.

There was a foreign presence inside her mind, and Seras instantly hissed as her master invaded her thoughts. She could feel his confusion, and she let out a scream before she slammed the invisible shutters around her mind, locking him out. He tried to push past her barriers, but they wouldn't budge. His rage at being shut out from his servant's mind slammed against her. Seras barely even registered what she was doing. All she knew was that she needed to protect her young. She needed to get them away from here. Protect them from those who would cause them harm. Integra would experiment on them. Her master would tear them apart. The soldiers would murder them in cold blood.

NO! SHE WOULD NOT ALLOW IT!

"Ser –" Anything Integra was about to say was cut off by the sight of a savage monster leaping towards her. Instinctively, the Hellsing reached for her pistol and shot Seras at point blank range in the head.

Sense of vision became lost as Seras could feel her whole head being blown apart. It burned her entire body, and she knew that she was nothing more than a bloody mess on the floor right now. Her hearing soon followed as her torn apart brain cut off her senses one by one. The smell of her blood and burnt flesh disappeared. The very feel of the world around her was gone completely. But she was still alive. Instincts screamed within her, vibrating the pieces of her body that likely lay scattered about.

Without even trying this time, her third eye snapped open. The world beyond her was a dangerous place. Integra stood over her mutilated body, her gun still pointed steadily towards her, however, the melted ice of her blue eyes betrayed the Hellsing leader's worry. But Seras wasn't too interested in what Integra was doing. Instead, her third eye zeroed in on the two girls who were curled up in each other's arms on the bed she had previously been sitting on. They clung to each other fearfully, unsure of what was going on. Their red eyes locked on their mother's mangled body, and the two of them began to tremble. She could feel their fear… their confusion… all of it was calling Seras into action. They were so precious… her precious daughters… why were they out of the nest? Seras needed to get them back!

Allowing all of her instincts to take over once again, Seras could feel her body pulling itself back together. Flesh dragged itself across the floor, knitting itself together as bodily tissue fused and bones cracked as they snapped back into place. Blood flowed back within her, giving the draculina all the strength she needed to heal more rapidly. Her senses returned to her, and she stared without fear down the barrel of Sir Integra's gun. This mortal weapon could do nothing against her. The rush of power almost made Seras feel giddy. It felt like all this time she had been fighting to climb her way up a thin rope, only now she had let go and was allowing herself to fall blissfully into the warm waters below. What had she been so afraid of? Why had she been bothering to fight and climb away from this wonderful feeling? Even now, as the current pulled her away, her whole body seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as it relaxed and embraced what had been lying deep within her all along. It felt so good to lose that control. It was like she could breathe again. The weightless tingling sensation practically had her purring on the spot.

While her third eye remained locked on the twins, Seras' glowing red eyes never left Integra. Her blonde eyebrows pulled together and her lips pulled away from her sharp teeth in a challenging grin. Integra's own eyes widened even more, and she appeared frozen and at a loss of what to do. Despite her eyes giving away her inner fear, the rest of her face and body remained as composed as always. The gun was still pointing towards the now feral vampire, and Seras released a warning growl, daring Integra to try anything like that again.

Within a flash, Walter was stood in front of his master, wires intertwined between his fingers and ready to slice through flesh if need be. His violet eyes flashed, and the kindly butler was no longer before her. No. These were the eyes of a deadly and experienced hunter. Someone who could face a foul monster without even the slightest hint of fear. It didn't matter how much he and Seras got along, nor how much time they had spent together like grandfather and granddaughter. In the end, Seras was nothing more than a monster. A monster he had been trained all his life to hunt and kill. And right now, Seras was seeing exactly that. He was a threat. A threat to her, and a threat to her babies.

Seeing red, Seras snapped her teeth at him before attempting to lunge forward once again. In mere seconds, wires were burning and tearing through her flesh, sending the draculina scattering across the room in pieces once again.

"Mamă!" the two young girls both cried out.

This spurred Seras into action even more, summoning her flesh back together at lightning speed.

"Sir, get Lily and Luna out of here and find a safe spot!" Walter barked, his eyes never once leaving the insane draculina.

NO! Seras would not allow anyone to take them away! No one was to touch them! No one! NEVER!

Seras was screaming and wailing before she could stop herself. Walter and Integra watched her animalistic display with wide eyes before the Hellsing leader shook her head and began running towards the twins, her pistol still loaded and ready in her hands.

"NO!" Seras screamed, practically shaking the whole house, as she too darted towards the twins.

Walter's wires lunged for her again, but this time, Seras was ready. She danced and ducked around them with all the grace of a ballerina, leaving Walter startled. The world blurred around the blonde vampire as she pushed herself forward at lightning speed, easily passing Sir Integra as the other woman became nothing more than a slow motion blur. Lily and Luna reached for her, terrified over what was going on and questioning why their supposedly new friends were attacking their mother.

Seras could feel a sigh of relief escape her lips when the girls were finally in her arms once again. The three of them clung to each other, and Seras pulled them back before Integra could reach them.

"Victoria!" Integra yelled. "Have you taken complete leave of your sense?!"

Seras merely hissed in response, pressing the twins even tighter against her before pulling them both up into her arms. The girls buried their faces in her shoulders, and Sera felt a bit better knowing that they were both safe in her arms. But it wasn't enough. She needed to get away. To get them away from everyone! She needed to hide them! Protect them! Nurture them! Never let any human or supernatural creature get within one hundred miles of them! She would rip apart anyone who even tried to get close to them!

"Victoria! Snap out of it!" Integra ordered again.

No! Don't listen to her, a sinister voice from inside her purred. They're only going to try and hurt her offspring! They'll take them away from her! Where was her mate?! Why wasn't he here helping them and protecting them? Unless these people had done something to him! She could sense him out there somewhere, but even despite embracing her inner vampire, Seras still wasn't strong enough to call out and reach him. Her mate was supposed to never leave them! They were all supposed to stay together! They could all never be apart! Something was very very very wrong!

Eyes flashing dangerously, Seras let out another growl towards the human female, slowly backing away while still clinging to the two girls. She could feel them trembling slightly against her, with Luna once again trying to be the bravest out of the two of them, but even she was finding this terrifying and overwhelming. Lily's wet tears stained the collar of her uniform, and that only angered the draculina even more.

Shooting the two humans one last loathsome look, Seras turned and fled, her whole body a blur of mist as she ran through the manor. Where she was going, she wasn't sure, she just knew that she needed to get away! They were going to hunt them down, and Seras needed to make sure the three of them were long gone before anything else could happen. Shouting could be heard from behind them, and Seras sped up even more, flitting between soldiers patrolling the corridors, moving too fast for them to even catch a glimpse of them.

Before Seras knew it, she had reach the garage she and the twins had originally been brought through earlier. The place was empty, and an idea formed in Seras' head as she moved towards one of the more inconspicuous cars that were used for undercover operations. She grabbed the back door handle and nearly ripped the whole door off as she yanked it open. Letting go of the twins, she placed them in the back seat before a familiar voice behind her caused her to hiss and slam the doors, hiding the twins from sight.

"Well, well, ma chère, so the rumours are true. You have been unfaithful to me," a man with a French accent joked.

Seras spun around, her senses coming back to her enough to recognise Pip, the mercenary who saw the young vampire as an endless source of entertainment. Seras glared at him, her back pressed against the car door. Pip merely smirked, seeming completely oblivious to the danger as he flipped his long braid over his shoulder and took a few steps towards her. His one eye widened, however, when Seras bared her teeth at him.

"Sheesh, little vampire, I was only joking." He held his hands up defensively.

However, Seras looked and felt far from amused.

Pip once again appeared oblivious to the dangerous mood Seras was in. "I came to see if what everybody has been saying is true: that you've had little vampire babies. I must say that I am feeling quite betrayed ma chère. I thought what we had was special, but instead you have gone and spread your legs for another," he continued to poke with a wide smirk.

Seras sniffed the air slightly, an action that caused a confused expression to spread across Pip's face. The scent that met her was filled with tobacco and gunpowder. It burned her nose and filled her with disgust. No. He wasn't her mate. Seras could feel that she was quickly losing herself again. No! What was she doing?! Integra… Walter… Pip… they were her friends! She couldn't hurt them! Oh god… what was she becoming?! What had she done!

However, all of those thoughts disappeared within a flash when Pip took another step towards her. The vampire bared her teeth even more, showing off her elongated fangs as she snarled at him. Pip took a startled step back, his fearful expression briefly reminding her of the time when they first met and he found out she was a vampire. He was a threat! No one should be near her babies! She would get them away from here!

Never once taking her eyes off the startled mercenary, Seras opened the driver's seat door behind her before climbing in and slamming it behind her. She growled once she realised that she wasn't going to get very far without the keys for the ignition. But, through her cloudy mind, she could remember a thing or two she had picked up while on the police force. Desperate to escape, she easily ripped a panel out and hotwired the thing more easily than she could have ever done as a human. The car revved to life, and her eyes momentarily locked with Lily and Luna's in the rear-view mirror. Her heart squeezed painfully with a longing to keep them safe and protect them from the world that would hunt them down and tear them apart. They both stared back, looking confused, but also relieved somehow. Yes. Seras was doing the right thing.

With a determined glare, Seras pulled the car into first gear before pressing her foot down on the accelerator. The car roared to life even more, and the tires squealed against the concrete ground as it sped forward, leaving smoke and skid-marks behind it. The garage door was smashed out of the way as Seras floored it down the road and through the gates to the estate. The soldiers appeared at a loss as to what was going on, and dove out of the way of the speeding vehicle and flying metal pieces from the smashed gate. Seras paid them no mind. All she could focus on was getting the twins to safety as she sped down the country road and into the dark night.


I had to re-write this chapter a few times before I was happy enough with it to upload it. No clue why it gave me so much trouble. I guess it doesn't help that I'm feeling a little rusty from having not written anything properly in a few weeks. And I kinda fell asleep in the middle of editing, so hopefully there isn't more stupid typos I've missed than usual. I hope that you guys thought that it was okay. So yeah, please as always, leave a review if you have a bit of spare time as I always love to know your thoughts. The next chapter will be the long awaited return of Alucard mwah ha ha ha! I'll be sure to try and release that chapter as soon as possible. Until then, take care of yourselves!