Hellsing Fan Fiction ❯ Fare ❯ It Cuts Deeply ( Chapter 21 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Artemis_Vampiress 
Hatred is born in suffering
Anime/Manga: Hellsing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Horror / Action | Type: Fanfiction Sequel | Uploaded On: 06.17.2009 | Pages: 3 | Words: 1.8K | Visits: 371 | Status: Work In Progress
Hatred is born in suffering
Anime/Manga: Hellsing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Horror / Action | Type: Fanfiction Sequel | Uploaded On: 06.17.2009 | Pages: 3 | Words: 1.8K | Visits: 371 | Status: Work In Progress
Author's Note: You may possibly hate me for this.
Dawn was coming. Lethargy swept over Integra like a blanket and unlike the other vampires, she did not have the will nor the control to overcome it.
“Come, Integra,” Alucard said, and she was swept into the shadows.
The vampires spent the daylight hours in the ruins of Hellsing's basement, protected by Alucard and Malakai's safeguards.
They slept like the dead, exhausted and thirsty as they were. Integra felt the thirst gnawing at her, searing pain in her veins, and was grateful for the relief of sleep.
Alucard could feel her hunger and was almost moved to pity. Almost.
He fully intended to see them all fed upon the setting of the sun.
When Victoria finally woke up, Alucard was already gone. He had left hours ago. She frowned.
Where are you?
Hunting.
He showed her his intended prey and Victoria sucked in a breath.
Those are our soldiers.
I'm not going to kill them.
Not yet, you mean.
She could feel his amusement and it angered her.
Don't worry, Victoria. There is a rat among the ranks of my former master's valiant warriors. I intend to silence only him.
A . . . rat? Victoria was seized with a sudden fear and bit her lip.
If there truly was a traitor amongst those soldiers, then she had saved his life and endangered all the rest . . .
Victoria, I want you to leave that place immediately.
What? But the others are still-
Malakai is awake. He will wake the others when I contact him. I want you to leave there and get as far away as you can. Now.
His command left no room for argument, but plenty of room for puzzlement.
Why?
No response.
She was going to have to trust him.
* * * * * * *
Old friend, it's time for you to leave. Collect the others and go.
Malakai sensed the veiled emotion behind Alucard's command and immediately woke Lansing, who still slept peacefully in the coffin-bed beside him.
What's the rush? Malakai asked curiously as he phased through the lid and grabbed his shirt from the back of the chair and pulled it on, leaving Lansing to dress herself so that he could wake Integra.
There is danger. Get them out of there.
Did you have a destination in mind?
Take them home.
Home. To Romania.
Alright. One of these days, we are all going to have to stop giving you your way all the time, old friend. You're becoming insufferably bossy.
Feel free to stop obeying me when my commands no longer make sense. Make sure they are fed. I won't have them weakened.
Bossy bastard.
If it pleases you to think so.
Then the touch of Alucard's mind was gone, and Malakai, who had continued walking to the rooms where Integra slept, now raised the lid of her coffin-bed and shook her gently, commanding her to wake.
“What?” she asked, bleary-eyed, her body confused as it sensed the hour of remaining daylight.
“We must leave. It's not safe here anymore,” Malakai said as he tugged her hand gently, sitting her up and helping her stand as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed.
She obeyed sleepily but quickly, and Malakai left her to dress and found Deyavi, Gavril, and Lansing waiting in the hall, dressed and ready to follow him wherever he would lead them.
* * * * * * *
The rat had a distinct scent that was easy to detect but not as easy to follow, as Alucard walked amongst the sleepy, frightened humans rescued from Hellsing manor. Those who were still awake greeted him with relief, asking him when they could leave and where they would go, and if Integra was still alive.
He ignored them, his finger stroking the trigger of the Jackal and his senses wide open.
It wasn't long before he found the rat.
“Alucard,” Adam said, smiling in weary relief.
In answer he pressed the barrel of the Jackal to Adam's forehead, smiling in return.
“Adam,” Alucard replied in a low, gentle voice, “I never did take a liking to you. And now I know why.”
Adam's eyes widened.
“No-what? What are you talking about?”
Alucard slid the barrel of the Jackal down to Adam's heart. He would destroy Adam as Adam had destroyed Hellsing; attacking their very heart.
“Was it worth it?” he murmured.
“What are you-”
The Jackal pressed into Adam's flesh and he cut short his protest.
“Was it worth it?” Alucard repeated, his voice low and menacing.
Adam dropped the facade of confusion and smiled.
“Worth it? What could be more worth it? You are free now. You are once more the Prince of the Undead. The Hellsing Organization will never recover from this,” Adam replied, laughing, and repeated, “What could be more worth it?”
Alucard sneered and his finger squeezed the trigger, and Adam's blood painted the walls of the underground bunker. The sound woke all the sleeping humans within and they cried out in fear.
In death, Adam was revealed for what he really was, what his mistress' magic had hid for so long. The blood and tissue on the wall crumbled to ash along with his slumped body.
Despite their initial fear, upon seeing the body turn to ash, the humans relaxed. They saw Alucard as their savior, protecting them from the enemies in their midst, seeing all the hidden dangers.
They didn't know what he would sacrifice for this small victory.
Even he didn't know.
* * * * * * *
Her first mistake had been her haste in leaving the city. She was weakened and needed to feed and she had known this; now it was too late.
Her second mistake had been her anger. Seeing that “Cheshire Cat” had filled her heart with so much emotion that it had blinded her to the immediate danger and rather than obeying Alucard's command to flee, she had chosen to confront their enemy alone.
Held steadily now in the grip of two Siphons, as she had learned that they were called, she felt their cold, numbing power sinking into her skin. And for a moment she hated herself.
Alucard! She cried, casting her summons out to the night sky.
It didn't matter. Her physical senses were fading, and her vampire powers had faded long before. He would not hear her.
The Cheshire Cat approached her, her movements slow and sensual.
At first the vampiress had appeared to her in some kind of disguise. She looked like some kind of woman-child, a girl of fourteen or so in black and red striped stockings and a black skirt and corset. She'd chattered at Victoria incessantly, trying, she assumed, to pass the time until Victoria's vampire powers were gone. Then, when she could no longer summon the power to shape-shift or call Alucard, the vampiress had dropped the disguise.
Now a fully grown woman walked toward her, graceful, elegant and dark, with a siren's smile on her face.
“Victoria,” she murmured, and caressed Victoria's face with the backs of her fingers.
Victoria turned her face away from the Cheshire Cat's touch.
She locked eyes with the dark vampiress.
In a weak, quiet voice, she asked, “Do you think he'll let you live?”
The Cheshire Cat's smile widened and she traced her fingers down Victoria's neck to rest just above her left breast.
“Oh, yes,” she replied, leaning in closer, “He will. And more than simply that, my sweetness; he will give me everything I desire.”
Victoria could have laughed if she didn't feel so weak, so numb. It was difficult just to take in air so that she could speak; her vision was fading from her, stripped by the Siphon's magic. Her arms and hands were completely numb, and she could hardly move. But she knew that the Cheshire Cat would not allow all feeling to be taken.
She would want Victoria to feel it when she killed her. And there was not a trace of doubt in her mind that the Cheshire cat intended to kill her.
“You said once,” Victoria said, struggling for breath, “That we had one thing in common.”
The Cheshire Cat vampiress smiled.
“We both have a temper, Seras Victoria. We are ruled by our emotions, and it costs us dearly. It cost me my home, my family. And when I became one of the undead,” the painted talons pressed hard against Victoria's chest and she felt pinpricks of blood sliding down her skin, “It cost me my lover.”
Victoria closed her eyes. It wasn't as if she could see anyway.
“It will cost you everything.”
The talons pierced her flesh and parted bone to reach inside her body. The Cheshire Cat dug her hand deeper into Victoria's chest until her fingers brushed against the pulsing heart.
The Cheshire Cat leaned in closer, mouth grazing Victoria's ear.
“We will have one more thing in common very soon, my sweetness.”
Her fingers gently stroked Victoria's living heart and her talons scraped against the tissue.
“Alucard will be as much mine as he was yours.”
And the talons tore into the flesh of Victoria's heart and ripped it open.
Victoria's body dissolved into ashes.
For a moment, the Cheshire Cat did not move, her eyes staring off into some unknown world as she stood there, her hands coated with blood, her dress covered in a fine film of ash.
Then she raised a bloodied hand and began to lick away the traces of Victoria's lifeblood.
It wouldn't be long now.
* * * * * * *
Alucard felt it as a knife tearing into his body. An agony he had never experienced before shook him and brought him to his knees.
He gasped her name as he tasted blood on the back of his tongue.
Dawn was coming. Lethargy swept over Integra like a blanket and unlike the other vampires, she did not have the will nor the control to overcome it.
“Come, Integra,” Alucard said, and she was swept into the shadows.
The vampires spent the daylight hours in the ruins of Hellsing's basement, protected by Alucard and Malakai's safeguards.
They slept like the dead, exhausted and thirsty as they were. Integra felt the thirst gnawing at her, searing pain in her veins, and was grateful for the relief of sleep.
Alucard could feel her hunger and was almost moved to pity. Almost.
He fully intended to see them all fed upon the setting of the sun.
When Victoria finally woke up, Alucard was already gone. He had left hours ago. She frowned.
Where are you?
Hunting.
He showed her his intended prey and Victoria sucked in a breath.
Those are our soldiers.
I'm not going to kill them.
Not yet, you mean.
She could feel his amusement and it angered her.
Don't worry, Victoria. There is a rat among the ranks of my former master's valiant warriors. I intend to silence only him.
A . . . rat? Victoria was seized with a sudden fear and bit her lip.
If there truly was a traitor amongst those soldiers, then she had saved his life and endangered all the rest . . .
Victoria, I want you to leave that place immediately.
What? But the others are still-
Malakai is awake. He will wake the others when I contact him. I want you to leave there and get as far away as you can. Now.
His command left no room for argument, but plenty of room for puzzlement.
Why?
No response.
She was going to have to trust him.
* * * * * * *
Old friend, it's time for you to leave. Collect the others and go.
Malakai sensed the veiled emotion behind Alucard's command and immediately woke Lansing, who still slept peacefully in the coffin-bed beside him.
What's the rush? Malakai asked curiously as he phased through the lid and grabbed his shirt from the back of the chair and pulled it on, leaving Lansing to dress herself so that he could wake Integra.
There is danger. Get them out of there.
Did you have a destination in mind?
Take them home.
Home. To Romania.
Alright. One of these days, we are all going to have to stop giving you your way all the time, old friend. You're becoming insufferably bossy.
Feel free to stop obeying me when my commands no longer make sense. Make sure they are fed. I won't have them weakened.
Bossy bastard.
If it pleases you to think so.
Then the touch of Alucard's mind was gone, and Malakai, who had continued walking to the rooms where Integra slept, now raised the lid of her coffin-bed and shook her gently, commanding her to wake.
“What?” she asked, bleary-eyed, her body confused as it sensed the hour of remaining daylight.
“We must leave. It's not safe here anymore,” Malakai said as he tugged her hand gently, sitting her up and helping her stand as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed.
She obeyed sleepily but quickly, and Malakai left her to dress and found Deyavi, Gavril, and Lansing waiting in the hall, dressed and ready to follow him wherever he would lead them.
* * * * * * *
The rat had a distinct scent that was easy to detect but not as easy to follow, as Alucard walked amongst the sleepy, frightened humans rescued from Hellsing manor. Those who were still awake greeted him with relief, asking him when they could leave and where they would go, and if Integra was still alive.
He ignored them, his finger stroking the trigger of the Jackal and his senses wide open.
It wasn't long before he found the rat.
“Alucard,” Adam said, smiling in weary relief.
In answer he pressed the barrel of the Jackal to Adam's forehead, smiling in return.
“Adam,” Alucard replied in a low, gentle voice, “I never did take a liking to you. And now I know why.”
Adam's eyes widened.
“No-what? What are you talking about?”
Alucard slid the barrel of the Jackal down to Adam's heart. He would destroy Adam as Adam had destroyed Hellsing; attacking their very heart.
“Was it worth it?” he murmured.
“What are you-”
The Jackal pressed into Adam's flesh and he cut short his protest.
“Was it worth it?” Alucard repeated, his voice low and menacing.
Adam dropped the facade of confusion and smiled.
“Worth it? What could be more worth it? You are free now. You are once more the Prince of the Undead. The Hellsing Organization will never recover from this,” Adam replied, laughing, and repeated, “What could be more worth it?”
Alucard sneered and his finger squeezed the trigger, and Adam's blood painted the walls of the underground bunker. The sound woke all the sleeping humans within and they cried out in fear.
In death, Adam was revealed for what he really was, what his mistress' magic had hid for so long. The blood and tissue on the wall crumbled to ash along with his slumped body.
Despite their initial fear, upon seeing the body turn to ash, the humans relaxed. They saw Alucard as their savior, protecting them from the enemies in their midst, seeing all the hidden dangers.
They didn't know what he would sacrifice for this small victory.
Even he didn't know.
* * * * * * *
Her first mistake had been her haste in leaving the city. She was weakened and needed to feed and she had known this; now it was too late.
Her second mistake had been her anger. Seeing that “Cheshire Cat” had filled her heart with so much emotion that it had blinded her to the immediate danger and rather than obeying Alucard's command to flee, she had chosen to confront their enemy alone.
Held steadily now in the grip of two Siphons, as she had learned that they were called, she felt their cold, numbing power sinking into her skin. And for a moment she hated herself.
Alucard! She cried, casting her summons out to the night sky.
It didn't matter. Her physical senses were fading, and her vampire powers had faded long before. He would not hear her.
The Cheshire Cat approached her, her movements slow and sensual.
At first the vampiress had appeared to her in some kind of disguise. She looked like some kind of woman-child, a girl of fourteen or so in black and red striped stockings and a black skirt and corset. She'd chattered at Victoria incessantly, trying, she assumed, to pass the time until Victoria's vampire powers were gone. Then, when she could no longer summon the power to shape-shift or call Alucard, the vampiress had dropped the disguise.
Now a fully grown woman walked toward her, graceful, elegant and dark, with a siren's smile on her face.
“Victoria,” she murmured, and caressed Victoria's face with the backs of her fingers.
Victoria turned her face away from the Cheshire Cat's touch.
She locked eyes with the dark vampiress.
In a weak, quiet voice, she asked, “Do you think he'll let you live?”
The Cheshire Cat's smile widened and she traced her fingers down Victoria's neck to rest just above her left breast.
“Oh, yes,” she replied, leaning in closer, “He will. And more than simply that, my sweetness; he will give me everything I desire.”
Victoria could have laughed if she didn't feel so weak, so numb. It was difficult just to take in air so that she could speak; her vision was fading from her, stripped by the Siphon's magic. Her arms and hands were completely numb, and she could hardly move. But she knew that the Cheshire Cat would not allow all feeling to be taken.
She would want Victoria to feel it when she killed her. And there was not a trace of doubt in her mind that the Cheshire cat intended to kill her.
“You said once,” Victoria said, struggling for breath, “That we had one thing in common.”
The Cheshire Cat vampiress smiled.
“We both have a temper, Seras Victoria. We are ruled by our emotions, and it costs us dearly. It cost me my home, my family. And when I became one of the undead,” the painted talons pressed hard against Victoria's chest and she felt pinpricks of blood sliding down her skin, “It cost me my lover.”
Victoria closed her eyes. It wasn't as if she could see anyway.
“It will cost you everything.”
The talons pierced her flesh and parted bone to reach inside her body. The Cheshire Cat dug her hand deeper into Victoria's chest until her fingers brushed against the pulsing heart.
The Cheshire Cat leaned in closer, mouth grazing Victoria's ear.
“We will have one more thing in common very soon, my sweetness.”
Her fingers gently stroked Victoria's living heart and her talons scraped against the tissue.
“Alucard will be as much mine as he was yours.”
And the talons tore into the flesh of Victoria's heart and ripped it open.
Victoria's body dissolved into ashes.
For a moment, the Cheshire Cat did not move, her eyes staring off into some unknown world as she stood there, her hands coated with blood, her dress covered in a fine film of ash.
Then she raised a bloodied hand and began to lick away the traces of Victoria's lifeblood.
It wouldn't be long now.
* * * * * * *
Alucard felt it as a knife tearing into his body. An agony he had never experienced before shook him and brought him to his knees.
He gasped her name as he tasted blood on the back of his tongue.