Hellsing Fan Fiction ❯ Sweet Innocences ❯ Beginnings of a Bargain ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

"You idiot. How long have you known she was there, vampire?" Integra Hellsing hissed at him. Alucard merely returned to his defiant grin and shrugged.
"I do believe she's been listening to our conversation, judging by her complection, Master."
True to his statment, the poor young woman looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Walter guided her to the chair and put one hand on her shoulder to encourage her to sit before serving three cups of tea.
"Forgive me for not coming sooner, My Lady." Walter said apologetically with a slight bend at the waist.
"At least he actually means his apologies, Alucard. Take a lesson." She sneered before turning back to the young woman sitting in the chair across from her. The situation had yet to be rectified with her.
"Alucard you realize that the possibility, what little there is, is hindered on her agreement of even being blood bound to you?" Integra voiced suddenly.
"Why you are absolutely right. Isn't she?" Alucard asked the young woman, shifting to stand behind her. She looked straight up at the head that hovered over her in what looked to be terror, her eyes widening and her face paling further. Alucard breathed in the intoxicating scent of the panicking virgin below him, and leaned down.
"What do you say, Little Miss Aelita Nichole James?" He asked smoothely, the cold breath from his words fluttering around her ear. He nuzzled the bottom of her earlobe. "You wouldn't mind in the least at being my blood-bound donar, would you?"
Integra could've laughed at the most interesting expressions crossing the young womans face, but wisely held it in and expressed her amusement with a hint of a smile. She did laugh, however, when the girl opened her mouth wide and let out a very feminine, very shrill shriek as she boldly slapped the midian's face away from the shell of her ear and howled, "STAY AWAY FROM ME YOU FREAK!"
In fact, Integra thought it was so funny her stomach began to clench in pain at her peels of laughter as Alucard backed away from the young Aelita James hurriedly.
"Oh, Alucard, you are just a tease with the ladies.." She chuckled, still gasping for breath as Alucard brushed off his vest to retain some of his dignity. Sir Integra looked between the two as she regained her breath, motioning for Walter to refresh her cigar. There was an eternity of silence before she finally spoke.
"Very well.. Its decided." She said with a grin, leaning forward with her hands folded on her desk. "I have a bargain for you, Alucard."
The Vampire's ear twitched just the slightest, but he inclined his head to her amused stare. He had an inkling of just what she intended to propose, but somehow his telepathic connection with her was just a bit static-ish.
"If you can get this you lady to agree to a blood-bound relationship, as well as a mark by which to prove you have indeed completed the blood-bound ritual, then I will allow her to stay as a live donor." She said with a grin, leaning back. Alucard nodded with an impish grin.
"Of course Master."
"You have a time limit, Alucard. Don't get a big head now.." She frowned, attempting a reaction from the midian.
"Of course, Master."
"Two weeks."
"Very well, my Master."
Integra quieted, looking from the tall dark man to the pale young woman. The poor girl shivered from fright, and problably cold with nothing but a sweatshirt and undergarments to cloth her body. Judging by Alucard's actions, he didn't seem to mind.
"Thats it then. Dismissed, Alucard. Miss James, I want a word with you. Don't move." She said, returning her attentions back to the papers at hand.

Aelita shivered in the cold leather chair before whom the plate on the desk named Sir Integra Wingates Hellsing. Quite a mouthful. She shivered a little bit more as she watched what she assumed to be a vampire, drift down through the floor, winking at her from beneath a pair of yellow-hazed sunglasses. Before his eyes had sunk through the floor, Aelita thought it appropriate to stick her tongue at the creature. 'Alucard' 's look of surprise before sinking below the floor was priceless, and it afforded her slight relief in such a tense situation.
She studied the blonde behind the desk. The person sounded to be a woman. Her blue eyes were blocked by a pair of round, silver framed glasses. Sir Integra had blonde hair that would make even the primpest of blondes jealous. It gleamed silver in the moonlight of Integra's lamp lit office. The woman's presence commanded attention. This had to be one of England's more noble breeds, those kinds Aelita had only seen in newspapers. What was even more interesting was the fact that this woman employed vampires. More papers rustled, and Aelita looked away from her to look curiously around the office.
After a few more minutes of sitting in complete silence, the butler offered her a cup.
"Some tea, Miss James?" He asked kindly. She blinked, wondering if the man was also a vampire before hesitantly accepting the tea with a quiet, "Thank you."
"Sugar?" Aelita shook her head in the negative, sitting the cup haphazardly in her lap.
The silence, discluding shuffling papers and scribbling pens, making Aelita all the more uncomfortable. She sipped her tea, the sound amplified by it.
"Um.. Miss Hellsing, is it?" She asked timidly. Sir Integra looked up, shifting her glasses to the end of her nose.
"May we finish this conversation so I can go home?" Aelita questioned, ever shy. Integra raised a blonde brow before shuffling a couple more papers aside and foldin her hands over her massive oakwood desk.
"I'm afraid you won't be leaving until the two week bargain is up." Integra answered bluntly. Aelita did a double take.
"You don't even know where you are, why you got here, much less if we would be willing to let you go home after what you've been through."
Aelita shook her head.
"What happened to me, first off. And why wouldn't you let me go home?"
"Well, you must realize that you could have very well been raped and killed by the vampire that attacked your neighborhood." She paused letting it sink in. "We would also like to have our physicians examine you during your stay here. You could have a concusion from how hard it hit you."
That explained the throb in the back of her head..
"You are currently staying in the Hellsing Manor. Your home was destroyed in the raid, and it is unlikely you could return without financial assistance. We will send in a team of boys to rebuild your burnt down home if you manage to survive the two week bargain I've set up with Alucard."
Aelita was suddenly irritated.
"Speaking of which..." She growled. "You set up this deal without my consent in the first place. How do you know I even want to participate in something so wretched?!"
The hot tea spilled in her lap as she opted to shake her finger at Integra. She cursed loud and shoved the cup onto the desk in front of her. Integra laughed, leaning back in her chair comfortably as she plopped her chin in one hand.
"You see, I have no doubt I'll win the little bet. You have already concluded Alucard is a freak, so I wouldn't be surprised if my servant dropped you the day after the next."
Aelita was still irked. There were so many things to atone for, things that his kind brought on her household. Aelita squeezed her eyes shut before clenching her hands into the folds of the oversized sweatshirt she was in. Sighing, she leaned forward and folded her hands across just above her mouth.
"So you're telling me that there is nothing left of my home except for me..?"
Integra nodded her blonde head.
"And anybody inside... was the... was the child inside... gone?"
Integra seemed to hesitate, but her eyes hardened.
"Dead. Drained of blood I'm afraid." Integra's voice was cold, emotionless. "You have my sympathies."
Aelita's expression dropped, her eyes dark.
"So I lived at the price of that sweet little girl..." Aelita felt sick. Janice was a little girl she'd adopted, when she'd found out a few particular details of herself during a mandatory examination. Janice was a sweet little red-headed girl with bright blue eyes and skin that matched her own. Full of life, Aelita had been wooed and inspired by her zeal and passion, even if it was just a trip to the grocery store.
Now she was gone. Not much more than a six month memory. Her stomach lurched, bile building on the back of her throat.
"I.. don't feel so hot." she groaned, clenching her sides. The butler quickly attended to her, grasping one of her hands and patting her back.
"Walter, escort Miss James to her room please. Miss James, I'll speak with you more in the morning. Hopefully you'll feel better by then and will be able to stomach conversation." Integra said after a moment, returning to the work on her desk. "You're dismissed."
Walter helped Aelita to her feet and guided her out the double doors.
"If you'll kindly follow me, Miss James, I'll take you back to your room."
They wandered the dark halls for a bit before Aelita spoke up.
"Miss Hellsing seems to not be too bothered by death." she said quietly. Walter's step faltered momentarily, but he continued.
"She has seen it many times herself. There was once an occurence where she had to shoot her own troops to save them from a life of damnation as ghouls."
Aelita stopped, staring at Walter's back horrified.
"Her own.... soldiers...." She whimpered, taking a step back. "What is this place? Who are you people?"
Walter looked back at the Aelita with a sad smile.
"We are the Hellsing Organization. We exterminate Vampires like the ones who destroyed your home. But enough chatter. You look tired, Miss James. Please, come along before it gets too late."
"I'll take her, Walter." Came a baritone voice.

The Vampire from before was standing just beyond the candle light of the hallway. Walter raised a brow from his bespectacled eye.
"Sir Integra would object, Master Alucard." Walter commented offhandedly.
"It hasn't stopped me before, has it?"
Walter gave a devious smile before stepping aside.
"Good Evening, Miss James."
And with that, Walter walked down the hall back towards Integra's office, leaving her to the mercy of the Vampire. It left Aelita unnerved.
"Well, girl? Come along." He commanded. Aelita stayed rooted to the spot she was standing, distrust radiating from her. She heard the midain sigh in irritation before dissappearing.
A pair of gloved hands snaked beneath the underside of her knees and her back, picking her up bridal-style effortlessly and striding down the hall. She shivered at the contact, his body holding no warmth to comfort her. Her entire body was stiff, unaccustomed to this kind of contact.
"So I'm a freak, am I?" Chuckled the deep voice. Aelita cast a glance up at the pale face surrounded by dark hair. His eyes were covered by the sunglasses, and even from this angle she couldn't see them. The only thing she could see on his face was that typical, manic grin on his face, proudly boasting his fangs.
"Indeed." She answered coldly.
"O-ho, we have a spunky one here."
"Damned straight!" She hissed, almost laughing at the irony of the statement. Alucard caught it and laughed loud.
"I do believe that vampire had a reason for visiting you. Not very many vampires skip houses just to visit a two story house with only two humans in it. Especially with only one that is good for food." He commented, shifting her in his cold arms. Aelita blushed as she realized uncomfortably that the sweatshirt kept sliding up her thighs. She tugged at the hem again, trying to bring it back down to the tops of her knees.
"He was an old boyfriend. I didn't know he was a vampire." She shot back. "I didn't even believe in vampires before this."
She felt the scraping of something sharp against the lobe of her ear.
"I'm sure you believe now, eh?" His voice teased the shell of her ear with a cold gust of his blood scented breath. She wrinkled her nose with distaste.
"Go eat a mint." She snapped.
They arrived finally at one of the doors. He cradled her in one arm, reaching for the doorknob with the other.
"Put me down, I can walk on my own, thank you."
Alucard seemed to raise a contemplative brow, but obeyed. She twisted the golden door handle and shoved the door open, slamming it shut as soon as she was inside and locking it.
"Goodnight, little one." his voice chuckled from the other side. Aelita waited for the dreadful presence to waft away before she even thought about sleeping. It would be quite a long night.