A/N: Hello, everyone! I apologize for the absence! But here is the next chapter! I am sorry it is kinda short, but I promise the next one will be longer! As always thank you always for the lovely favs, follows, and reviews! You guys are wonderful, and I love you!
I welcome all new and returning readers! Please enjoy!
Warnings: Typical Hellsing gore, mutilation, blood, cursing
"What did you say to her?" Arthur leered at Acelie from behind his desk, his curled fingers twitching ever so slightly. "Olivia has never treated me with such disrespect prior to today, so this must be your doing, Ms. Acelie Smith."
In response to his accusations, Acelie just smiled and clasped her hands behind her back, the scotch bottle secure in her grip.
"I do not know what you are talking about, Sir Hellsing. I just happened to run into her before she was called to duty; Mrs. Dracul's actions and reasoning were of her own accord, not mine." She noticed the quiver in Arthur's throat, as if he was suppressing a cough, and she inclined her head towards the doorway. "If you could direct me to the kitchen, I can fetch you a glass of water and—."
"Why are you hiding my scotch behind your back?" Acelie froze as Arthur rose to his feet, the twitching in his throat and hands grew more apparent. "Are you planning to add 'thief' to your list of credentials?"
"Pardon me, Sir Hellsing, but Mrs. Dracul said—."
"Okay, first off!" Arthur grimaced, teetering back as lightning burrowed into his skull. "Don't call her that. Her relationship with Alucard is a secret. Second," He composed himself and held his hand outwards. "I am the head of this organization; no one else's word holds precedence against mine. Now, remember your place as my guest and return that bottle to me."
"….No." Acelie took a step back, her smile faltering at the corners. "I don't understand what is going on myself. Truly I don't! But if you just wait for Mrs. Dracul to return, I know she will—!"
"I said to stop calling her that!" Arthur practically growled, his throat like sandpaper and his limbs becoming like Jell-O. He wanted his scotch—he needed his scotch! "I won't ask again, Ms. Smith. Hand it over now."
"I'm sorry, Sir Hellsing, but my answer is still no." Acelie declared, eyeing the sweat pooling at his brow and how he was barely stabilizing his trembling form against his desk. 'My God…..it is like an addict experiencing drug withdrawal!'
"First my soldier, now my guest….!" Arthur charged around the desk and swiped at her arm. "Give it back, that is an order!"
"NO!" Acelie narrowly dodged him and fled towards the door, only to halt in place when Arthur tripped over the coffee table and proceeded to vomit his dinner onto the carpet. She didn't have time to be disgusted when blood trinkled down amongst the bile, and Arthur let one last gag before passing out. "SIR HELLSING!"
The scotch bounced on the sofa as Acelie threw it aside and scrambled to his side, gathering Arthur's limp form in her arms and gasped to find he was drenched in sweat.
"God, he is burning up! SOMEONE, ANYONE! PLEASE! HELP!" Acelie swept his hair from his forehead as her plea echoed throughout the room. "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SOMEONE ANSWER—!"
"Stop shouting," A booming voice growled behind her, and Aceline craned her neck back to find Alucard himself sans his trademark coat and hat. "You are liable to awaken the dead at that rate."
"You're….You're him….Dracula!"
"We can exchange pleasantries later, Scholar. Hand my master over to me." Alucard knelt down and shifted Arthur's form into his arms before standing tall. "I will—."
"Careful!" Aceline yanked on his sleeve, preventing him from taking a step back. "You'll get hurt too!"
"Too?"Alucard followed her line of sight and spied that wretched figurine on the carpet. If he had taken another step, he would've entered it radius. "You know of that figurine's effect on me?" A dark shadow fells over his face, his red eyes like neon lights. "Explain yourself, Scholar. What have you discovered and," He took a step forward, his piercing gaze rooting her in place, "what is the source of my wife's distress?"
Aceline's initial reaction was to give him the same answer she'd given Arthur, but the hint of fangs he flashed her way told Aceline he wasn't to be trifled with.
"Please help me take Sir Hellsing to the organization's physician. Then….I'll explain what I can until Her Majesty returns."
Alucard grinned at that, pleased to hear someone finally acknowledge Olivia's title.
"After you then, Lady Scholar."
Water sloshed at Olivia's heels as she made her way through the endless darkness, the rosary's pulse her only guiding light.
"You said you wanted to play," Her voice reverberated around her, giving the impression she was inside a massive cave and not the cozy Yadav residence. "Is your game making me wander around in circles or are you going to show yourself?"
"Livvy, so impatient…..you don't want to play? I want to have fun…why don't you want to have fun too?" The water rippled behind her, sending her hair standing on edge. "If you keep being bossy," Something plopped through the water's surface, and Olivia bent down to find Manali's rosary, "how will you win? Your prize…that funny woman…..she wants you to save her…..can you? Or….will you let her die? Like Martha."
"You must be a coward if you are resorting to such pathetic taunts." Olivia scoffed despite the flash of red in her eyes. "Now come out and start this game of yours."
"Livvy, Livvy…don't you see? We have already begun."
Light flooded the room, and Olivia discovered she had not been wading in water but blood. And, as she suspected, this was not the interior of the Yadav residence but a vast cavern.
Made of stitched human skin.
"Welcome to the my home, Livvy." Something slimy brushed against her heel as the blood rippled to her right. "Do you like?…Isn't it….pretty?"
"If your objective was to scare me, you failed. However," Olivia pinched her nose and let out a gag, "if your objective was to make me nauseous, you succeeded."
"You are no fun, Livvy…..why are you so boring?" There was a splash to her left, sending blood splattering across her legs. "Boring…..boring….Livvy is so boring…."
"I am here for Advisor Yadav, nothing else." Olivia continued to wade through the blood. "If you release her now, unharmed and without any tricks, I will ensure your death will be swift. Consider that mercy."
"But….I was born to play with you…..just you…and only you," Olivia could see something slithering beneath the blood towards her. "If I can play one game with you…..I can rot happily," A marionette arm with a human hand welded on shot out of the blood and latched onto her skirt, "Maggots may feast on my skin….earthworms may burrow into my foramen," The creature's head surfaced next, the jaw bone hanging from the doll's head by wires, "But I will be happy," It crawled up her legs, gradually revealing its entire body, "I will be so happy….because," A long marionette leg and a short half decayed leg curled around her waist and its lone arm anchored itself around her neck, the limbs attached to a mannequin's torso that oozed blood plasma, "Because….I….played….with…..Livvy." The creature's face was centimeters from hers, the smell of rotting flesh saturating its form. "So…be….nice….and play….with….me."
"…..You're not a vampire." Olivia whispered, still as stone. "What the hell are you?"
"People with potty mouths…..don' .answers," The creature taunted before crawling onto her back like a spider. "Time to play, Livvy…..we are going to play your favorite game….hide…and….seek."
"And I suppose," Olivia snatched her arm away as the creature reached for Sic Parvis Magna, "I will be the seeker?"
"You are so smart, Livvy," The creature jabbed a finger into one of the gashes on its chest and painted a line of plasma down her neck. "Can….you…guess….what….you….are….see….king?"
"…Advisor Yadav."
"Very good," The creature rewarded her with another stroke of plasma. "If you win before time is up…..the funny lady…..is yours…if you lose…..then…..you play…forever."
"Before time is up?" Olivia studied its movements as it continued to paint her neck. "Hide-and-seek doesn't have a time limit, the game ends once everyone is found."
"Boring…..Boring…..why must…..you make…..everything…..boring?" The creature punctuated every word with a poke at her cheek. "Time is of the essence because…..if you don't find the funny lady…..she will die….and…..so will…..the little girl."
Right on cue, a giant hourglass breached the blood's surface, revealing not sand within but a petrified Pushpa Yadav.
"MS. SONG!" She pounded on the glass in pure desperation, her hair and face a mess of grime and tears. "HELP ME! A MONSTER GRABBED ME AND I—I—I—OH GOD! OH GOD! HELP ME!"
"PUSHPA!" Olivia charged forward, only for the creature's arm and legs to latch around her throat and lock her in place. "What the fuck do you think you are doing?! Release her now, you sick son of a bitch or I will—!" The fire died at her lips as her trachea was constricted, leaving her to thrash against creature's limbs.
"Potty mouth…I don't like potty mouths….." The creature gave her another warning squeeze before relenting slightly, snickering as Olivia gasped for air. "Time to explain the rules, Livvy….or…..are you going to keep being…..a filthy…..potty mouth?"
Thousands of curses, some in Hungarian and Korean, danced on her tongue, but she swallowed them and leered at the creature's face.
"What are the rules?"
"You have one hour…..to find the funny lady….to save the little girl…..and to escape….for every minute that passes…..blood will drip into the hourglass…..until the little girl drowns." The creature giggled at the flash of red in her eyes, poking her cheek again. "Ooooooo…..Livvy is getting angry."
"Get on with it," Smoke was practically billowing from her mouth, Pushpa and Manali's safety the only things keeping her from slaughtering the creature then and there. "The sooner you finish, the sooner we can play your game."
"Bossy…..bossy….you really are…..a boring person….Livvy." The creature chided, one of its wires snapping so its jaw was askew. "That is why…I made sure the game…..was fun….so," The wire on the left snapped completely, the jaw bone now hanging by two threads on the right. "ready….to….play?"
"Pushpa!" Olivia called out to the near hysterical girl, waiting for her to meet her eyes before smiling softly. "I will come back for you with your mom, and the three of us are walking out of here together. So I need you to be brave and wait for me, okay?"
"NO! DON'T LEAVE ME!" Pushpa clawed at the glass, her nails on the verge of snapping off. "DON'T LEAVE ME! DON'T LEAVE ME! DON'T—!"
"I'M NOT LEAVING YOU!" Olivia bellowed, her voice lowering once she had Pushpa's attention again. "I'm not leaving you. But, you have to trust me. I am going to find your mother, and then we are coming back for you. And when we do, I will stay by your side and protect you with my life. So, please," She held her hand out towards the hourglass, "wait for me."
Through her blurry gaze, Pushpa could see the strength in Olivia's unwavering eyes. But, most of all, she could feel the warmth of her smile. Olivia was standing in literal Hell with a monster slithering around her, yet…she wasn't afraid and was smiling at her—reassuring her that everything would be okay, that she would protect her. Pushpa clung to that and placed her trembling palms on the glass as she sunk to her knees.
"…Okay." She whimpered, a fresh of tears trailing down her cheeks. "Please….come back with my mum, Ms. Song."
Curling her hand into a fist and pressed it against her chest, Olivia nodded before facing the creature.
"Start your game."
The creature clapped its heels together in jubilation as it climbed onto Olivia's shoulders and slid its hand over her eyes.
"Finally…..game…..start."
That was Olivia's only warning as the creature dived backwards with her below the surface, leaving only the two rosaries to float where she once stood.
"We have stabilized him, though I still have no idea what the hell is going on." Dr. Trevilian reported, eyeing the director resting in a hospital bed with an IV in his arm. "When I saw Sir Hellsing prior to dinner, he was fine. Yet, when you brought him in, his symptoms indicated severe dehydration that I have only seen in marooned soldiers and addition patients." He rubbed the bridge of his nose before holding up the blood sample he took. "I need to analyze this to figure out what is going on, as well run numerous other tests."
"May I assist in the analysis, Dr. Trevilian?" Aceline held out her business card. "I have experience operating laboratory equipment, and I also have something I need to analyze that pertains to Sir Hellsing's condition, if I may of course."
Dr. Trevilian studied her business card for a moment before handing it back to her with a nod.
"I worked with your mentor years ago, so I trust your skills be valuable. The lab is down the hall on the left. Make sure to wash up and grab a lab coat before entering."
"Thank you, sir." Aceline spared Arthur one last glance before venturing out into the hallway. Closing the door behind her, she was about to head to the wash room when she noticed Alucard leaning against the opposite wall with the scotch bottle in hand. "Thank you for your help, Your Majesty. I will take that from here." She reached for the bottle, only for it to be held out of her grasp.
"Fulfill your end of the bargain, Lady Scholar." Alucard reminded her, a shadow masking half his face. "Answer my questions, now."
'I suppose it was futile to hope I could avoid this,' Aceline took a deep breath before squaring her shoulders and looking him dead in the eye. "The figurine is made of olive wood, and it is coated with tung oil, roses, dill, and coriander, Your Majesty."
Alucard scoffed and shook his head at her explanation, still dangling the bottle out of her reach.
"Don't lie to me, Lady Scholar. I cannot be harmed by such trivial things like a newborn would."
"….Yet, you were." Aceline repressed the urge to flinch as he glared daggers into her face. "And the reason you were harmed…that is the cause of Her Majesty's distress."
Alucard opened his mouth to retort—or perhaps to inquire—when Aceline quickly cut him off.
"That is all I can say. Like I told Sir Hellsing, I don't fully understand what is going on, but…..this is a conservation you should have with Her Majesty. However," Aceline took another deep breath before continuing on. "Your…..Your Majesty, you must've known what having a human bride and drinking nothing but her blood would do to you, right? I mean, you knew it would affect you in some way…..right?"
It was like someone had dumped a bucket of holy water on him. Alucard's eyes widened in realization, his pupils constricted and—wait, his eyes….they were blue? Yet, as quickly as the moment came it passed and Alucard's face was blank once more.
"…..I see. Thank you, Lady Scholar. I'll leave you to your work then." He handed the scotch bottle to her and slipped back into the shadows without another word.
"…Dear God, please there be a light at the end of this tunnel." Aceline then recited a Hail Mary before hurrying down the hallway, praying she would have results by the time Olivia returned.
Blood gushed into Olivia's nose and mouth as the creature dragged her further into the ocean of blood, its grip unrelenting despite her struggles.
Then…..wind was rushing past her, and Olivia found herself freefalling through a vast, blue sky.
"What the—?!"
"The game board…..Livvy….look," The creature, still clinging to her back, pointed to a stone castle in the distance. "That….is where the funny lady is…but that…..is just part of the fun." With a snap of its fingers, Sic Parvis Magna morphed into a silver rapier with a red handle. "A knight….and her blade…..while you are searching for the funny lady…..so are the hungry monsters."
"What?!"
"Hee~Hee~….such fun…for such a boring girl…now…count to ten…..and start seeking." The creature pressed a kiss to her cheek before dissolving into dust, leaving Olivia to spiral downwards.
"Good fucking grief, fine! If I must kill…..then so be it." Pressing her arms to her side, Olivia aimed her body towards the castle's highest lookout tower, spying a figure crouched on the parapet. "One….two….three…..four…..five…..six," The lookout tower drew closer, and Olivia spread her arms and legs out to decrease her fall speed, "Seven….eight…..nine," With a 'thump', she landed on all fours on the lookout tower floor, catching the attention of a large toy soldier with a skinned human face. Gradually rising to her feet, Olivia removed the rapier from its scabbard as the toy soldier leapt from its position, visceral drool spurting from its shredded skin.
"FOOD! FOOD!" The toy soldier charged forward, its axe raised high. "FOOD!"
"…Ten." Olivia smirked before slicing the soldier's head clean off its shoulders, blood staining her face and clothes. "Ready or not…..here I come."
A/N: The next chapter will have more action and plot, so please look forward to that! We also see where Walter (the little asshole) is, and we will get to see Olivia and Alucard's conversation soon!
Thank you all for reading! Please leave a review! I love them all and you all so much!
Please be safe, guys! And please be kind to each other!
Thank you again for reading, and I will see you in the next chapter!