Hellsing Fan Fiction ❯ Left Behind ❯ Left Behind ( Chapter 1 )

Left Behind

 

It was funny that today of all days Grace Meriwether-Jones should think of Integra Hellsing- `Tegra, as she'd been called back then. They hadn't seen each other in years, though they lived in the same city. The girl she had, at the tender age of thirteen, thought was going to be the maid of honor at her wedding was a distant memory, a young face with round glasses and a soft face.

 

But today the sun was pale and faint through the winter sky, its pale color struck, briefly, a chord of memory-of `Tegra's fine blonde hair- and when she shook away a thousand questions and flicked through her mail, there was the envelope. An invitation to their `high school' reunion, really, a party for the five rich children who had completed their final four years of mandatory education together, taught for an hour everyday by the same tutors.

 

Had it already been ten years?

 

She would be twenty-eight now. It seemed impossible to her. After the death of her father, Integra had discarded their friendship like a used napkin. She had been missing throughout their last four years together, appearing occasionally to collect and turn in homework. Once or twice a month, at most, yet her work was perfect in every way. When she did come, Grace could never look at her- embarrassed, irrational, she'd stare at the desk and ignore her.

 

And in two weeks time, that faceless, unknown woman would be at a small party. Would Grace go? The other three had been a tight knit-group, with no room for her. She had agreed to private tutoring because she thought that `Tegra would be her best friend, her sister. Instead, she was cast out and left alone. She'd hated Integra Hellsing for a long time.

 

And then, miraculously, the furious, resentful young woman met a man, fell in love- and forgot, almost about Integra Hellsing. She went on to live a full, happy life.

 

Until today. And what did it matter if the wound still burned? She was an adult, for God's sake. An adult with her own life, not to be scared off by Integra Hellsing. Decided, she went back in to give her husband the good news.

 

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She'd never been one for parties. They presented too many problems- the work she'd miss doing, the messes that invariably occurred while she was gone, the decisions of what to wear and how to hide concealed weapons in it...not to mention Alucard's tendency to sneak out after her and telepathically convey to her what everyone around her was thinking.

 

No, parties were a bad thing, and Integra had no intention of attending this one. It was a `high school reunion', which was pointless since she hadn't attended much high school. Besides there would be only four other people that she knew, plus spouses and children who she'd have to play nice to. It wasn't even something she could be bullied by the Queen into going to.

 

It had not occurred to her that she could be guilted into attending the party, until Walter came in with her tea and noticed her reading the invitation.

 

“Ah, your high school reunion? I remember you and Miss...Mrs. Meriwether were good friends when you were younger. You know, she called last night and left you a message? She called your social line very late, so I didn't answer it, but apparently she's looking forward to seeing you.” He nodded crisply.

 

“Is she?” She put the invitation aside. “At any rate, I won't be going, I haven't the time.” She returned to the pile of expense reports in front of her. Someone had put in an order for rubber ducks. She wrote denied at the bottom and laid it to the side.

 

“Sir Integra, have you decided what we'll be serving for the relations meeting with Iscariot in two weeks? I've heard the Archbishop has a particular dislike for seafood.”

 

Her head snapped up, and she frowned. “Relations meeting? I thought that was in three weeks, not two. I'm sure I asked you to schedule it then.” A nagging suspicion that Walter was plotting to make her go to the party flitted across her head, but she ignored it. Just because he'd been rescued and rehabilitated from Millennium's brainwashing didn't mean he was inclined to suddenly plot to make her go to parties...since he'd done that anyways...

 

“It's from eight to twelve, Sir Integra, the same time as your reunion. We still have time to cancel.” He said in a convincingly thoughtful tine. She rolled her eyes in resignation and handed him the invitation card.

 

“Fine. See to it that it is done.”

 

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For the first time in years, she had nothing to wear. Not that she didn't own an abundance of clothes in the latest styles and didn't possess great clothes sense- it was simply that her mind was attempting to, secretly, find an outfit that would leave `Tegra dazzled. And `Tegra hadn't dazzled easily.

 

There was a blue dress that was too formal, a green blouse that was too feminine, and a yellow scarf that was too bright...nothing seemed right today. Eventually, she settled on a pale pink dress. Was it too short, too long? Before she could decide, her husband called to her that the car was ready, and she dashed down the stairs and out the door.

 

The car ride seemed to go on forever, dragging on and on...and then suddenly it was over, an she was walking through the front door. Five people were in the room already, seated on cozy furniture around the fire. She recognized the black-haired couple to her left- Brian and Rosy, two of the trio from her high school, she'd gone to their wedding. There was another woman talking to them- redheaded and hot-tempered Christine, the third of the trio, and with her, a tall, fantastically beautiful woman with golden blonde hair she didn't know.

 

And to her right, conversing with a dark-haired, inhuman looking man in red, was her.

 

She was the same- white blonde, silver glasses, narrow figure. And she was different- her hair straighter, her face more angular, in a suit instead of a school uniform.

 

Taking a deep breath, and clutching husband's hand, she went over. Integra looked up, and their eyes met. She looked furious.

 

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I can't believe this! Christine's adopted sister is a thrice-damned vampire!

 

Vampiress.

 

We'll have to follow her out or hope she does something to warrant immediate destruction- these people don't have security clearance. Now shut up.

 

Your friend wants to talk to you.

 

Thinking he meant the vampiress, she looked up blackly. But it was Grace, presumably with her husband, giving her the same sort of look a mouse might give a cat when it was cornered. Integra was accustomed to this look.

 

“Grace Meriwether, is that you?” She said, plastered a pleased expression onto her face. “How have you been?”

 

“Fine, and you?”

 

“Fine.” The silence after Integra's answer stretched on and on, and left Grace feeling awkward. It didn't seem to bother the woman across from her- she merely watched the others talk without a care- which made Grace even more nervous. She was trying to summon the courage to say something else when a voice rang out.

 

It was...heavenly. Grace's mind glazed over, her thoughts a pleasant haze. All that mattered was the sweet voice of the beautiful blonde woman.

 

“Is everyone here?” She asked. Brian answered, his voice awed.

 

“Yes...we're all here, Mistress.” He breathed. The title sounded right, Grace thought, and immediately the woman's- the angel's- real name did not matter. She was their Mistress, and they lived to obey. Only to obey.

 

“In that case...” Mistress crossed the room and closed the doors, locking them. “It's time for dinner...starting with you, Hellsing bitch.”

 

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As the vampire advanced on them, Integra couldn't help but roll her eyes.

 

From your lips to God's ears, my Master.

 

Is this some form of mind control?

 

It's a form of vampiric hypnotism. She replaces their will with her own.

 

Why am I not affected?

 

You don't feel the urge to worship her?

 

My temples are tingling a little. Besides that, nothing.

 

“I'll devour you...it will make me so happy. You want me to be happy, don't you?” The vampiress whispered. She held out her hands. “Come to me.”

 

“I would die before being ordered by a vampire.” Integra replied. Her voice was like cold steel. “Come here, and meet your death.”

 

“You...you can still think for yourself! Hiding behind the protection of your slave, I see! How cowardly!” She looked much less beautiful, spitting through her numerous fangs.

 

“Do you really think that I, a Hellsing, can be subjugated by you? That a vampire's pathetic will can defeat mine?” Integra stood up. She walked past the vampiress to the door. “Could you even kill me, I wonder? I doubt it.” She reached for the latch.

 

With a wild shree, the vampiress charged. Before she had moved a foot, the Casull's explosive bullet had reduced her to dust.

 

“Target silenced.”

 

“I noticed.”

 

The rest of the guests were blinking, shaking their heads to clear the haze. Now that they could comprehend the events that had just unfolded, they reacted the way most civilians did. They freaked out.

 

Before it could get too out of hand, Integra intervened. “Quiet!” She dragged Grace, who was nearest, to the couch. The other four joined her, all staring wide eyed at Alucard, who was giving them an extremely disturbing smile. Integra threw a coaster at him.

 

“Behave, pet, before I make you sweep up salt with your eyelashes.” She ordered. “Now, go and inform Walter I need five security clearances. And get me more cigars.”

 

“Yes, Master.” Theatrically, the nosferatu slid down through the floor, taking care to smile evilly the entire time. Integra stepped on his head as soon as he was low enough.

 

“'Tegra, what on Earth is going on? Vampires?” Christine was turning as red as her hair, a sure sign she was bound to explode.

 

“In this world, there are monsters who stalk the night. One such monster, and the one we see most, are vampires, undead demons who drink blood. To fight these monsters is the duty of the Hellsing Agency. I am Bureau Director of the Hellsing Agency, and it is my job to insure people like you know nothing about things like them. Do you understand?”

 

All four nodded. “Good. You will have to sign a contract for your secrecy. Failure to sign or breaking the contract will mean termination. If you should see vampiric activity, or other supernatural monsters, inform me at once. Any questions?”

 

Christine burst out, “How can the government hide things like this from us?”

 

“It's for your own safety. Besides which, it would greatly increase the amount of work we had to do. People would send in false alarms at all times.”

 

Rosy, clutching at her husband's arm, asked, “Who was that man with the gun?”

 

“You don't have the security clearance to know that. Forget it happened.”

 

Before they could ask anything else, a black portal opened in the ceiling and five thick packet of paper dropped onto the coffee table, followed by a metal case of cigars and a lighter.

 

Brian handed out pens, and they set to it.

 

“Sign here...and here...and here...don't mind the fine print, sign here...”

 

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A week later, Grace was invited, alone, to Hellsing Manor for a late dinner.

 

The food was exquisite, the house beautifully kept, the fires warm and crackling, the grounds white with fresh, pure snow. It was like a tale from an old classic, this house, if you ignored the soldier's barracks out back. She should have felt lucky to be invited into Integra's home after so long.

 

Instead, it was...awkward.

 

Oh, definitely, Integra was polite enough. She asked questions and even answered a few of the harmless ones. She was smiling a little, and there was none of the cold, iron will that she'd glimpsed before the vampiress.

 

But it was a mask, Grace could tell. Why Integra had invited her, she couldn't fathom, but it wasn't for her own enjoyment. Despite her attempt at a content demeanor, little things gave her away. She was a little too forceful when she struck a match for her cigar (when Grace asked about her lighter, Integra rolled her eyes and told her not to ask), she kept glancing behind her as if looking for someone, and her fingers would start to tap the armrest impatiently, then stop.

 

It went on, through dinner and into tea, until finally, Grace felt that she had to speak.

 

“'Tegra,” She said, using the old nickname for the first time. “Can we be completely honest with each other?”

 

“I suppose.”

 

“A long time ago,” Grace whispered, “when we were just children...you left me behind. You went, alone, to a place I couldn't follow...a place I can't imagine. And I know now it must have been difficult for you.” She paused, seeing Integra's reaction.

 

“Go on.” `Tegra said, her face expressionless.

 

“I was unfair to you. I resented you. I felt like you had left me to suffer, all alone...but eventually I forgave you...and I realize that we've grown entirely apart-I don't even know who you are anymore, `Tegra...can we stop pretending? Tell what's really gone on while you've been away. There's no point in your sitting here and suffering through my stories.”

 

“No one's been that straightforward with me in years.” Integra said, smiling genuinely. “It's refreshing. Well, to start with...when I was twelve, my father died.”

 

“I remember. I was at the funeral.”

 

“I spent three days hiding in air vents because my uncle was looking for me. My father had told there was...something that could protect me in the sub-level basement. I fled down there. My uncle caught up with me, and I barely made it into the basement. I was wounded...bleeding...and...”

 

“And?”

 

“And I was saved by my father's...gift...” She made a face. “Which turned out to be a five-hundred year old psychotic vampire. The family pet, if you will. He's been here ever since, killing the vampires the human men can't handle, doing my bidding. Most of the time, anyways...He was the one who shot the vampiress at the reunion.”

 

“Isn't it dangerous to have a vampire in the house?” Grace cried. “What if he tries to kill someone?”

 

“The spells holding him to me are strong, as am I. He's not going to run loose as long as I'm in his way.”

 

“Then he has an incentive to want you out of the way, doesn't he? Aren't you afraid, `Tegra, fighting vampires and keeping them as pets and...and who knows what else?”

 

“Don't worry, Grace. I can defend myself...and I happen to like fighting. Walter and Alucard - my pet- keep finding excuses to keep me off the battlefield- some nonsense about my safety.”

 

“You're so brave, `Tegra. Just the thought of vampires makes me and Gerald nervous- he insisted that I not come to your home.”

 

“Is he offended that I didn't invite him?”

 

“No, he was worried about my safety, but I thought if I were with you I'd be alright.”

 

“Hellsing Manor is fortified against vampire attacks. Don't worry. Grace, you like clothes and fashion, right?”

 

“I love them!”

 

“Then maybe you can help me...there's a ball next month that I've been forced into attending, and I need a dress...”

 

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“Oh, Gerald,” She sobbed into the phone. “It's terrible. `Tegra's...she just died.”

 

“Gracie...you knew this was coming. I'm so sorry.”

 

“Can you come and get me? There's no...I mean...I'll tell you later, but please come and get me.”

 

“I'll be there in a minute, Gracie.” She flipped the phone closed, shoved it into her handbag, and looked around. She was alone in this deserted corner of the grounds; everyone else was paying their respect to `Tegra's grave. If it could be called that, she thought. If a pyre of dead wood and gunpowder in the back yard could be called a proper sendoff.

 

She sniffled, and made her way around to the front o the manor. A part of her wanted to flee up the front drive and wait, alone, for her car, but she remembered Walter's expression upon the pronouncement of her death and felt guilty. If she was hurting, he must be in agony. She marched back into the house.

 

It was empty. She ran to a large window that faced the back of the house, and sure enough, where `Tegra's ashes lay scattered, there was now a large, rugged boulder in the center. Alucard was there, with Seras and her familiar Captain Bernadette, Walter, and the current army. They were paying some sort of military tribute to `Tegra.

 

She wasn't on of them, and didn't want to be; she could see their grief was a thousand times worse than hers.

 

She turned back towards the front door.

 

She wasn't needed. Once again, `Tegra had left her behind- this time, to another world entirely.

 

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Seras Victoria was worried about her Master. Not that he was going to get killed in battle, not that he was totally and completely insane, but that he'd been emotionally wounded beyond all hope.

 

Two hours ago, the doctor had called them all together to inform them Sit Integra was going to die soon. They'd stood, awkward, in the living room, she and Pip talking quietly in he r head, Walter bustling around with drinks and staring at the family portrait on the wall, the other friends and relative milling around gossiping or mourning.

 

It hadn't struck her then that Master wasn't there- he'd spent a lot of time in Sir Integra's bedroom since she fell ill.

 

So they'd waited, pointlessly, for something- who knew what?- and then the sound had come.

 

A scream, a terrible, inhuman scream that chilled the others to the bone and made some ladies faint. But Walter had dropped his tray and run to the door, and Seras had fallen to her knees, crying blood tears into her hands.

 

She was bund to her Master, after all, and even the tiniest, involuntary portion of his grief that she felt was overwhelming. Sir Integra was dead. It was, she reflected, just like her to die quietly in her room without anyone making a fuss. The master of Hellsing had hated a fuss.

 

She'd only followed, numb and cold, as Master had carried the body (drained of blood, but no one but she and maybe Walter had noticed) outside and built a pyre. Walter had brought a bit of gunpowder, and using Sir Integra's favorite lighter...

 

...they'd given her the sendoff she'd deserved. Everyone.

 

Master was still there, dressed the way he'd been in South America, kneeling before the makeshift headstone. She could still barely taste his grief, but she still couldn't stop crying. It was if the sun had ceased to rise or the moon to wane and wax.

 

People like Sir Integra, who lived to be seventy-seven and bully people into doing their will didn't just up and die.

 

“I won't think about it,” She whispered, clutching her knees. “I'll just stay here.”

 

It'll be okay, Seras. I promise.

 

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“People are staring at me, `Tegra.” Grace hissed, glancing nervously over her shoulder. The woman next to her lit her cigar and yawned.

 

“Most people who've passed on to Heaven don't come to the Gates of Hell, Grace. And your divine glow isn't helping.”

 

“Do you think you'll be waiting much longer?” Grace questioned. Integra shook her head, and pointed with her free hand to the horizon. There, thousands of newly dead souls were coming towards the Gates, whispering.

 

“He's coming. It takes a while, because he's absorbed so many souls. But he'll be here soon.”

 

“I hope so. It's been five thousand years. That's a long time to sit on a rock and wait.”

 

A familiar silhouette came into view. It was moving far too quickly to be human, and the cord parted as it moved straight towards them. The red coat, the orange glasses, the toothy smile...

 

“You should go home, Grace. I'll see you soon.” Integra's expression mirrored Alucard's- a wide, frightening smile. She stubbed out her cigar. Grace stood up and hurried off, wringing her hands and getting progressively brighter as she vanished.

 

And suddenly, he was in front of her, kneeling down and looking up at her.

 

“Idiot.” Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing said. “You're late.”

 

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First Hellsing fanfic, so criticism wanted. I'll probably edit this and repost it once I get enough comments to identify all the problems.

 

Review! This has been chickentyrant5.