The Hellsing Heir: Chapter 4: Endless Funeral

[melrose_stormhaven]

Disclaimer: I don't own Hellsing. Don't sue.
Dedications: I give this fic to Muraki-chan, Momo and last but not the least, to Vlad the Impaler.


Chapter IV: Endless Funerals


Christina carefully adjusted the collar of her dress. She wore a black ankle-length, long-sleeved turtleneck dress. She looked at the mirror, checking her appearance.

"He was drained of his blood."

Her hands clenched into tight fists. Vampire. It had to be. Demons who drink the blood of men. And now, they drank Jean-Luc's blood. Gentle, quiet Jean-Luc, who wouldn't hurt anyone. Those blood-sucking bastards!

"Going somewhere, little one?"

"What are you doing here? If my mother found out you're here, she would be very displeased." She picked up the bouquet of white lilies she got from the Hellsing greenhouse. She then turned to face the red-clad figure of the vampire Alucard. Christina wasn't surprised to find him in her room. For some odd reason, she always knew when he was near. Besides, he had the habit of showing himself to her and teasing her when she was home.

He still looked as dangerous as he did ten years ago, when she first met him. He was grinning at her now, just as he did years ago. He took a step towards her. Christina stayed rooted to where she stood, her face calm.

Though she knew at the age of eleven what the Hellsing Institute was all about, it still amazed her that a vampire as powerful as Alucard would be allied with them–the same vampire her ancestor Abraham van Hellsing had supposedly destroyed years ago. She wondered how Alucard became her family's, or more specifically, her mother's slave. He didn't seem to be the type to allow himself to be enslaved by anyone, especially by a human.

"Aren't you leaving?" Christina told him pointedly. Alucard didn't move. Christina noted that he smelled of blood–medical blood, she hoped. She didn't mind him being near her. She was quite sure Alucard wouldn't hurt her. It's just that it seemed inappropriate that she should be talking to him when one of her friends died due massive blood loss. "I'm in no mood to deal with you today. I have a funeral of a friend to attend."

Alucard smirked at her. "You should get used to attending funerals, little one," he said mockingly. "Your life will be an endless funeral, and it is better for you to start early." When Christina remained silent and expressionless, Alucard grinned at her again and bowed. Then he disappeared into the shadows.

An endless funeral? Christina thought. She stared at the mirror for several seconds, then looked turned when she heard her door open. "Are you ready, Christina?" her mother asked.

Christina nodded. Integra strode towards her. She then awkwardly took her daughter's hand. "Child, I–I–am sorry about your friend," Integra managed to say.

Christina smiled at her. "Thank you, Mummy," she said with affection.

Integra gave her daughter a fond smile. Both of them knew and understood that Integra wasn't good at expressing her emotions. In public, she and her mother had a very formal, distant relationship, but in private, Integra and her daughter were close.

"Should I go with you?" Integral asked her daughter.

She shook her head. "I don't think so. Jean-Luc's family is Catholic and–" She saw her mother's face darken at the mention of the word 'Catholic'. Christina smiled slightly. "I know you can't stand almost anything associated with Catholicism, so coming with me would me wouldn't be a good idea."

Integra smiled dryly. "You are right." Her ice blue eyes narrowed. "Be careful. May the blessings of God and the King be with you. Amen."

"Amen."

*******

Integra watched from her study's window as the car drove out of the mansion. When the car was out sight, she turned away and let the curtains fall back into place. A slight frown touched her lips.

Christina was no longer a child. She was fifteen years old, a woman waiting to come out. Integra was amazed how her daughter had grown. Tall and pretty, Christina was a sight to see. It seemed like it was only yesterday that her daughter played hide-and-seek with Walter.

Fifteen years. So far, Christina hadn't shown any unusual abilities, except perhaps her uncanny ability to sense Alucard's presence. She was growing and aging at a normal rate. Integra was thankful for that.

"Something is bothering her."

Integra glared at Alucard, who stood in his usual place, among the shadows. "Her friend just died."

Alucard stepped forward, revealing to Integra the hardly perceptible frown on his face. "That may be one of the reasons, but I think there is more."

"Leave her alone, Alucard."

"I sensed her presence while we were in that village three weeks ago," Alucard announced with a smirk.

Integra couldn't hide her surprise. "What? She was in the village?"

Alucard grinned. "No, Master. She was not in the village. Rather, she was somewhere near the village."

"Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"Didn't you tell me not to interfere with her life? My master should recall herself saying that I shouldn't let anything distract me from my duties."

Integra didn't say anything; she was too furious with Alucard to respond to his mockery. "Well, what was she doing there?" she asked instead.

"I do not know. I was too preoccupied with killing freaks to find out. I also sensed there were others with her–humans I could not identify."

Integra stared at the floor for a moment. What was her daughter doing near the village? Who was she with? She pressed the intercom. Walter's face immediately appeared on screen. "Walter, I need a copy on the autopsy report of Jean-Luc Gautier. Bring it to me as soon as you have it."

*******

When Christina arrived at the Gautiers' house, she put on a pair of dark glasses. Her scarlet eyes attracted attention, and she didn't want any attention right now. The driver opened the door, and helped Christina out.

"Hello, Hellsing," a familiar but unwelcome masculine voice said from behind her.

She ignored the owner of the voice. Gripping the bouquet tightly, she climbed the steps that led up to the door. Anna stood beside the doorman, waiting for her. When Christina reached the top of the steps, Anna saw her.

"Thank God you're here," Anna said with a small smile as she embraced her best friend. Anna glanced over Christina's shoulder. "Hello, Michael."

Michael Jonathan Harker smiled slightly at Anna. "Hello, Anna. Good to see you again."

"Let's go inside. I want to pay my respects to Jean-Luc," Christina said quietly.

Anna nodded. She turned to Michael. "Will you come with us?"

"Yes. I want to pay my respects too. Jean-Luc was my friend, after all."

The dimly lit room was already crowded when they came in. "How is Rachel?" she asked Anna. Rachel Marie Kent was actually Jean-Luc's stepsister. Despite not being related by blood, the two were very close.

Anna sighed. "Not good. She's in Jean-Luc's room, staring at the walls. According to their parents, Rachel's been asking for us since Jean-Luc died." She seemed to hesitate for a moment, she added in a hushed voice, "She was there when her stepbrother died."

"We have to talk to her to find out what happened."

"She might be too incapacitated by grief to be coherent," Michael protested. "Give her some time."

Christina would have replied, but they were approaching Jean-Luc's coffin now. She gazed at Jean-Luc's grieving parents. Jacques Gautier was comforting his ex-wife Genevieve, Jean-Luc's mother. Behind them stood Rachel's mother, Amanda, Jacques's current wife. Her eyes were red as well. The butler whispered something to Jacques as they approached. He looked up to face them. Christina gently handed the lilies to Genevieve. "My friends and I are truly sorry about your son. Please accept our sincerest condolences."

"Merci," Genevieve said between sobs as she took the flowers. "You are very kind."

Christina looked at Jean-Luc's dead body. Jean-Luc was wearing an elegant black suit, his hair slicked back. He looked like he was only sleeping, so peaceful his face was. But he is sleeping–don't they always say death was the final, endless sleep. She suddenly remembered Alucard's words: You're life will be an endless funeral. Was this the beginning? Mentally shaking such thoughts out of her head, she turned to Amanda. "Where is Rachel? May we see her?"

"Upstairs in Jacques's room." She managed a watery smile. "Thank you for coming. Rachel has been asking for you. She needs her friends now more than ever. She's…not been herself since Jacques died."

"That's why we're here, madam," Michael said. "We'll make sure Rachel's all right."

Genevieve suddenly lifted her grief-stricken face. "How can it be all right?" she wailed. "Jean-Luc is dead. It can never be all right!"

*******

They saw Rachel huddled on Jacques's bed, her eyes, blank and lifeless, staring at the dark blue walls. Anna felt like her heart would break as she gazed at Rachel's pathetic figure. She was about to embrace her, but Christina stopped her. She motioned for Michael to close the door. "We're here, Rachel," Christina said quietly.

Rachel stared at them. Her violet eyes, which were previously blank, were suddenly very bright, the shine of madness, Anna thought, a chill running up her spine. "It killed him," Rachel said softly. "I saw it kill Jean-Luc. It was going to kill me too, but I screamed and…"

Rachel stopped and stared out the window. "I saw them by the window, and I saw it biting into Jean-Luc's neck. There was so much blood coming out of Jean-Luc. So much…" She buried her face in her hands and sobbed, "We should have listened to Jean! He told us he had a bad feeling about going to the woods but we didn't listen! Look what happened. Jean-Luc is dead! And it's going after us next! It said so!"

"So the vampire's still alive," Christina said grimly, her hands clenching into tight fists.

"But that's impossible! Hellsing shot it six times in the head. You don't come out alive after you've taken six headshots. That's bloody, fucking impossible!" Michael exclaimed.

"Vampires are the undead, Harker," Christina pointed out calmly. "Have you forgotten about that? They're not like normal humans. Some of them have the ability to regenerate. Some of them are even immortal." She should know. After all, wasn't her mother the master of a vampire by the name of Alucard?

"But surviving six head shots? How did it manage that?"

"It isn't important how the vampire managed to live. What's important is what we're going to do now."

"We should tell our parents," Anna suggested.

"I told them what I saw," Rachel whispered bitterly, lifting her grief-ravaged face. "They wouldn't believe me. They thought I was just making things up. Nevertheless, I told Father Anderson about it–" Rachel stopped when she saw the startled expression in Christina's scarlet eyes "What's wrong?"

Christina quickly regained her composure. "Nothing," she replied calmly. "I think I've heard of that name before. Anderson… Alexander Anderson?"

Rachel nodded. "Yes. He's the Gautiers' family priest for many years now. I talked to him about what happened to Jean-Luc. He was very sympathetic."

"Why did you tell him that? He’ll tell on us," Michael said.

Anna rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, he won't tell on us. He's a priest after all."

Christina's expression didn't change, but deep inside, she felt like she'd been punched in the stomach. Her mother once told her never to trust anyone connected with the Vatican, especially Enrico Maxwell and Alexander Anderson. If there were anyone Integra hated more than monsters, it would be those two. Though her mother never said why she loathed them, Christina guessed that once upon a time, those two interfered with what her mother had thought as none of their (the Vatican's) goddamned business.

Now, the Vatican knows about this. No doubt they'll be using this information to their advantage. Damn. She needed to talk to her mother about this very soon.

"All right, we’ve established that the vampire is alive. What are we going to do now?" Michael said. All of them then turned to Christina, much to the girl's consternation. "What do you think we should do, Hellsing?"

"I agree with Anna. We should inform our parents of this matter."

"They won't believe us. They'll think we're fibbing."

Christina smiled slightly. "My mother will believe me. And that will be enough."

*******

Integra sat on her chair, her eyes trained on Walter. "She asked whether Hellsing conducted operations on the village near her school and she also wanted to know if Alucard was there?"

Walter nodded. "Yes. I didn't think much of it until now."

The leader of Hellsing scanned the autopsy report in her hand. "The Gautier boy died of massive blood loss," Walter told her. "The autopsy also stated that the coroner found two punctures, bite marks, he believed, on the boy's neck."

"Vampire," Integral hissed. "Why didn't we know of this earlier?" All incidents like this were reported directly to them, no exceptions.

Walter coughed apologetically. "Forgive us, Sir Integral. Jacques Gautier used his considerable political connections to suppress and hide the information about his son's death, so it didn't come to us earlier."

Fools! Integra thought angrily. But this wasn't the time to get angry. If a vampire killed Christina's friend, it might be possible the vampire might go after her daughter. "Send word to Alucard. Tell him–"

"There's no need, my master. I know." Alucard stepped out of the darkness, a gleam of anticipation in his scarlet eyes. His lips curled into a feral, dangerous smile.

~T.B.C~

A/N: More to come.

[Eden]

Nice!!! Fatherly instincts have come to him at last!! It will be cool to see Alucard protecting Christina, and interesting to see what she thinks about it.

New vampire, new plot twists, this is a great story.

~Eden