Eden, thanks for reading.
Chapter V: One of US
Alexander Anderson regarded the people around him with carefully hidden contempt. Many of the Gautiers' guests were Protestants; only a few of them were Catholics. The Gautiers were good Catholics, always attending mass, helping Catholic causes?but the people around them?heathens, most of them.
He let his gaze wander around the room, eyes searching. He wanted to see the heir to Hellsing, the daughter of Sir Integral Wingates Hellsing, the Lady Christina Elizabeth. When he heard she was here, he immediately looked for her. He was intrigued about the girl. Her very existence was a mystery to many people?Alexander included in the list, since none of them recall Integral Hellsing being married or involved with anyone. Another thing that aroused his curiosity was the rumored color of the heir's eyes?red.
Red was a very rare eye color, and the only beings Anderson knew that had red eyes were beings of the darkness?vampires included. Was it possible that the proud leader of Hellsing consorted with her damned pet in order to have an heir?
Anderson chuckled to himself at the thought. If what he thought could be proven as true, it would be his greatest pleasure to expose the treachery of the Hellsing bitch to her King then watch her and her daughter burn at the stake for the heresy they committed. The leader of Hellsing condemned as a heretic for mating with the monsters she was supposed to destroy. A smile touched Anderson's lips.
''Father, why are you smiling?" Jacques Gautier asked, noticing the smile on the priest's face.
"I was just thinking about your son. Surely, he is in heaven now." Anderson truly pitied the boy. To be killed that way was not a pleasant thing. Vampire, Anderson was sure as soon as he'd heard. And for the boy to be the Hellsing heir?s friend was such an amazing coincidence. The father of the boy nodded gratefully at Anderson. The priest then looked away.
Then he saw her. Anderson would have been able to spot her anywhere. Christina Hellsing had her mother?s blonde hair, but unlike her dark-skinned mother, she had fair skin. She was wearing dark glasses and was walking towards the door with that cool, arrogant stride he?d always associated with Hellsings. Her chin proudly tilted up as she walked through the crowd. She stopped in front of the Gautiers for a moment, bowing slightly. Then she left as dignified as she had come.
Alexander Anderson smiled again to himself. This would be the perfect time to make his acquaintance with the heir to Hellsing.
*******
Christina sensed someone was following her as soon as she left the Gautier?s? doorstep. She didn?t glance back to see who it was, and she went on her way towards the car.
"Ah, the Hellsing heir. Leaving so soon?"
She stopped walking and whirled around. She found herself face-to-face with a tall, thirty-something blond man with green eyes. He was smiling at her, and he was wearing the clothes of a priest. She had never seen him in her life, though she had a good idea who the man was. Alexander Anderson.
"So good to see you here, child," Anderson said genially. "I've been longing to meet you." The priest noted her dark glasses. "Why hide such beautiful eyes?"
Christina's expression didn't change; she merely stared at the priest.
"How is your mother?" Anderson took a step towards her. Christina did not move. "Tell me, how is your mother's pet? We still have some unfinished business."
A sly smile touched Christina's lips. "Why don't you ask him personally?"
Anderson lifted his eyes and grinned at Alucard, who stood behind the heir, his custom-made black Jackal pointed at the priest's head. "Monster, you should know by now your gun is useless against me, a man of God." Anderson's hand moved, and Christina caught a glint of steel peek out of the priest's clothes.
Alucard grinned back. "I might just test the truth of that, Judas Priest."
"That will be enough," Christina said in a quiet voice. "I came here to pay my respects." She stared hard at the priest. "I expect you of all people would know that."
Alucard did not lower his gun. Anderson grinned at Alucard. "We?ll meet again, heathen monster." He then bowed at Christina. "May God bless you, Lady Christina." Then the Catholic priest slowly walked away.
"I?ll be waiting, Judas Priest," Alucard snarled softly, still not lowering his gun, keeping an eye on Anderson's back. When the priest disappeared into the dark after a few seconds, he finally lowered his weapon.
"Wearing red at wakes is a disrespectful thing to do," Christina snapped. "Especially if the one who wears it is a vampire."
"Do you object to my presence because your friend was killed by a vampire?"
Christina's face didn't reveal any surprise at his question. "Mother sent you here, I suppose." She smiled mockingly at Alucard. "Since when did the vampire Alucard become a babysitter?"
There was a long silence. Christina glanced back at the Gautiers' mansion. The lights were being dimmed, and people were leaving. She wondered what it would be like to be left alone with the dead, watching the dead?waiting perhaps, for something. When she turned back to Alucard, he had a faint sneer on his lips.
"Humans. So sentimental."
He read my thoughts again. "That's why we are not called monsters, only fools."
*******
Integral Hellsing sat on her favorite chair, eyes trained on the window. Where were they? she thought. She glanced at the clock. It had been three hours since Alucard left. They should be here by now. Unless?
Integral pushed those thoughts down. No, Alucard will not do anything to Christina. He would not dare?still, with Alucard, one can never really be sure.
"They'll be here soon, Sir Integra," Celes assured her. "Master will never let anything happen to Miss Christina." Celes had been assigned to guard her, since, though he was loath to admit it, Walter was a little too old to guard Integra. Walter was probably downstairs now, making tea or napping.
"So this is the Hellsing mansion," a sweet, melodious but masculine voice said from behind them.
Celes's gun immediately flashed up, and she aimed it at the source of the voice.
A tall young man stood at the doorway. He was a beautiful man with waist-length ash blonde hair and pale skin. He wore a long-sleeved white shirt and a pair of black leather breeches underneath a cape of midnight blue. "That is pointless, child. Blessed silver bullets have little effect on me." His red lips twisted into a smirk when he turned to Celes. "So, this is one of the vampire pets I've heard about. Pretty little thing, I should say."
"Who are you?" Celes asked. Behind her, Integra secretly alerted her men and had drawn out her gun. Then, a sound coming from behind the man caught their attention.
From the shadows came a hulking, slender figure clad in a blood-splattered tux?a ghoul. It was carrying three freshly severed heads in its hands. Two women and a man, their eyes wide and staring. When the ghoul lifted its face, Integra quickly recognized the ghoul. It was Jean-Luc Gautier. And unless she was mistaken, the three heads would be his parents.
It took all of Integra's strength not to show any reaction at the sight before her. The heavy, overpowering scent of blood alone nearly made her want to vomit. Blood dripped on the carpet, soaking it red.
"He's such a nice boy," the blond man said in his melodious voice. He put his hand fondly on the boy's head. "He even brought me his parent's head as a gift. Too bad I didn't get the sister. I so wanted her." He then took a step closer to the two women.
Both Integra and Celes fired a shot, but the blonde just laughed?a mocking, high-pitched laugh?and in a swift, fluid motion, like silk cloth flowing with the wind, dodged the bullets. The windows behind him shattered, and soon alarms wailed throughout the mansion.
Integra swore. Raising her gun, she aimed at the man again and fired. Celes was screaming at her, "Lord Integral, get out of here!" The policewoman then proceeded to gun down the blonde, who managed to evade it. "Damn you!" Celes cried out.
"Celes!" Integra shouted. "Behind y?"
However, it was too late. Jean-Luc brought down the heads on Celes's own head with a sharp crack. The blow sent her sprawling on the floor, unconscious.
"Splendid!" the blonde man exclaimed with a laugh. He smiled triumphantly at Integra. "Well, since she's out of the way, I'd like to discuss certain things with you."
"I'd sooner die," Integra spat out, blue eyes flashing with defiance.
The man sighed. "Humans. I'm not here for you, but for your daughter." He looked around. "I never thought she?d be a Hellsing. All my life, I?ve searched for someone like her and to find her here...is incredible." He paused and gazed directly at Integra, his red eyes aglow. "You know what your daughter is, do you not?"
"She is the heir to Hellsing." Alucard?s voice rang loud and clear in the room. A flock of bats appeared and clustered, and soon the vampire Alucard stood in front of Integra. His Jackal was already aimed at the vampire.
The blonde man smiled again, not impressed with Alucard's appearance. "Ah, so you?re the great Alucard. I?ve heard many great things about you." He took a step back. "I would like to fight you, but I have pressing business elsewhere." He turned to Jean-Luc. "My child, deal with them for me." Then a mist surrounded the blonde.
Alucard cursed and fired at the blonde, but it was too late. The man had already disappeared into thin air. "Follow him!" Integra ordered. Alucard made a move to leave, but the hulking figure of Jean-Luc blocked him.
"So you want a taste of HELL!" Alucard shouted, firing at the ghoul. One of the bullets caught him by the arm; it withered away, but he still swung his other heads, rapidly approaching Alucard. Integra also fired at the ghoul, hitting it on the head, but the boy only heaved the bullets out.
Then the head of his mother came whistling down on him.
The ghoul fell face flat on the floor. Celes then riddled him with bullets, and in a few seconds, he was but a pile of ashes.
Celes rubbed her head. "And that was for hitting me on the head." Celes lifted her head, meeting the amused eyes of her master.
"That was nicely done, policewoman."
*******
"So this is where they hid you."
Christina whirled around at the sound of the voice. Amidst the darkness of the attic of Hellsing mansion, she found it surprisingly easy to see. She stared at the creature in front of her, feeling her anger rise. It was this creature's fault why Jean-Luc died. She gripped her gun tightly, nearly squeezing the trigger, ready to shoot the creature.
He gave her an amused look. "Surely you know bullets are useless against me," he said in his melodious voice. He then stretched out a white-gloved fist, which he slowly opened.
One by one, silver bullets fell to the floor with a soft clatter. There were six bullets in all?the same bullets Christina had used on him on the night she and her friends first encountered him.
"Why did you kill him?" she asked him.
The creature's eyes narrowed. "You know why. He and your friends saw something they shouldn't have seen." He shrugged carelessly. "Besides, I was hungry."
"Humans do not exist just to be your food!" Christina shouted. "You monster!"
"Who are you to call me a monster?" He smiled maliciously at her. "You are one of us, do you not know?"
"No! You lie!" she spat out, stunned by what he'd said.
In less than a heartbeat, he was in front of her, his hands gripping her wrists tightly. Face inches away from hers, red eyes boring into her, he whispered, "Can you not see it?" He put her palm over his left chest. "Can you not feel it?"
"NO!" She violently pushed him away, making him stumble back. He hissed at her, his fingernails turning into sharp claws, ready to slash Christina into shreds. Then Christina pounced on him, pinning him down, surprising him with her show of strength.
He swiped at her, slashing the upper part of her dress, her body. Blood oozed from the deep, diagonal wound, but Christina didn't seem to notice. "You will take back what you said," she said in a low, dangerous voice, her eyes bright with anger.
"Never!" With another swipe, he finally managed to push Christina off. She fell on her back. She tried to get up, but he was already upon her, straddling her. He firmly cupped her chin in one hand, forcing her to face him. Then he leaned over, brushing his lips against hers. "One of us," he crooned, his free hand stroking her hair. "Always remember that, my lady Hellsing."
Suddenly, Celes and Alucard were in the room, guns ablaze. Snarling, the intruder jumped off Christina, then leapt through the stained glass window, showering her with shards of glass. Cursing, Alucard followed the man. He leapt out of the window.
"Miss Christina, are you all right?" Celes said. The former policewoman was about to put a hand on Christina's shoulder when her head whipped round. "Do not touch me," she hissed. Celes obediently backed away.
Christina's whole body was shaking with fury. She stared at where Alucard stood a while back. Then she jerked back her gaze to the shattered window. "I'm not one of them," she whispered to herself. "I am not."
~T.B.C~
Looks like the vampire's making trouble....whehehehehe :razz:
