Hunting the Hunter

A rustle, faint, of skin on sheets.

A hiss, just as faint, of a breath released through clenched teeth.

“Never let this end....”

•••

From a distance, it looked like Walter was dancing.

Christian slid a sidelong glance at Arthur Hellsing to see if the other man was as perplexed as he was, but he was smiling as he looked through his binoculars.

Arthur had assured Christian that it was for their safety that they had stopped at the top of a hill less than a quarter mile away from the practice field, but he couldn’t see what was so dangerous about a butler dancing around in a flat area dotted with seemingly random concrete pillars, empty cars, and the scattered remnants of brick walls from what might have once been a home.

As though he felt Christian’s eyes on him, Arthur lowered the binoculars and met Christian’s gaze. “You’ll understand better with these.” He held the binoculars out to Christian. “It’s more impressive than you think.”

Christian turned back to the field and raised the binoculars.

•••

Walter moved on through his practice session, one hand rising above his head to spin out a cyclone of flickering silver, his other hand dropping to his waist to throw out five more controlled loops of wire. When he was younger, he would come out of these sessions with cuts caused by his own imperfect control. These days it was a point of pride not to damage anything but his target.

Today he was putting his pride on the line to extend his control. After his encounter with the vampire in the deep shelter, Walter had been forcibly reminded that he was not a creature of the darkness as was his prey. If he was to survive, he must use the tools at his disposal to their fullest capacity.

The wire continued its dance around his body even as he closed his eyes and took a step forward, focusing on the subtle feedback from ten spinning strands – a rock there, a wall a bit farther, and... a pillar, it must be, from the way the wire encountered resistance down the middle of his path but open space around it.

Eyes still closed, he spun his body away from the wires’ protection, unfurling them fully to wrap the head of the pillar and decapitate it. The wires deftly caught and wrapped the chunk of concrete and Walter spun again, grinning as though playing a homicidal game of crack the whip with the concrete in his wires’ grasp. Once, twice, he spun, building momentum, and then with a flick of his fingers, released the concrete to hurtle into and through the brick wall he had first touched with tentative tendrils of wire.

He opened his eyes to survey his handiwork and laughed. Let that nightmare come at him again. Let him try. Walter would be ready.

•••

“Come on, my boy,” Arthur cut into Christian’s slack-jawed amazement by taking the binoculars from his unresisting fingers. “We’ll let Walter know we’re here now.”

Down on the field, Walter was moving into another series of maneuvers that seemed designed to leave a swathe of destruction everywhere he went, pillars sliding into pieces and metal flying off of cars like shrapnel. Without the binoculars, Christian couldn’t tell if the young man’s eyes were open or not, but that hardly seemed to make a difference.

Arthur gave him a nudge. “You’re gaping.” With a laugh, he started down the hill, pausing halfway down to put his fingers in his mouth and let out a piercing whistle before flashing a grin at Christian. “Don’t tell Sir Islands I did that; he’s been stodgy ever since our Eton days and I won’t hear the end of it from him.”

The whistle served its purpose, giving Walter warning that others were coming who didn’t want to become part of his deadly workout. By the time they reached him, Arthur first and Christian trailing stiffly behind him, Walter had pulled the wires back into his rings, brushed a few errant strands of hair off his face, and straightened his waistcoat when he saw it was Arthur who had interrupted.

“Sir Arthur.” He favored his master with a small bow. “Am I needed?”

“No.” Arthur smiled approvingly at his butler and held out a hand to indicate Christian. “Mr. Wallace was early today and I thought he might find watching you at practice as interesting as I always do.”

Christian nodded, eyes flicking down to Walter’s hands and rings and then up to his face. “Sir Hellsing was right. I have never seen such a thing.”

“I should think not,” Arthur interjected, almost beaming with pride. “Walter is a unique asset.”

Walter cut in before Arthur could get any more effusive, embarrassing him further. “We all have our skills.” A cigarette right now would do a treat. “Mr. Wallace, if you’re ready to get back to finding proper accommodations for Mr. Hellsing, I won’t keep you waiting.”

Christian understood Walter’s discomfort and nodded. “If you please. I would like to finish earlier today if it’s possible.” Not knowing what Walter chose to share with his employer, he didn’t mention that they had arranged to have dinner together later. He accepted the grateful smile Walter gave him with a nod and a conspiratorial wink that Arthur couldn’t see from his angle.

After all, they were just a pair of employees who were in this together, right?

•••

Christian stood transfixed in front of the Seventh Spectral Peril, taking in every detail with a degree of rapt attention that Walter found more fascinating than the print itself.

Walter watched Christian, trying to determine what he was thinking. His lips were parted, his cheeks were pale, and his eyes wide, almost with fear. He looked from Christian to the print, but he’d seen it before - the first night he met Doru - and hadn’t found the Seventh Spectral Peril to be the that disturbing. It was just a collage of images - a spyglass, an organ (a heart perhaps?) wrapped in wiry hair, some buttons, a snail, and a staring eye with three irises and pupils.

From Christian’s reaction, and the way his own thoughts turned to Doru, Walter questioned his choice to bring his companion here. It had seemed a good idea after a day of house hunting and a quiet dinner in a newly-opened brasserie. Walter hadn’t wanted to see the evening end and had suggested the gallery to extend their time together by another hour or two.

It had been almost enough to think that perhaps they were out on a date.

Now he’d somehow managed to terrify Christian and he wasn’t sure if there was something wrong that he, Walter, couldn’t see the source of Christian’s fear. Doru’s pointed comment about his humanity came back to him, Do you really think that behind that human mask you wear, that you’re just like them?

He had opened his mouth to ask Christian if he wanted to leave when two new arrivals caught his attention. Or rather, one of two new arrivals caught his attention. Doru was just handing his coat to his companion and leaning down to murmur something in the young man’s ear when he locked eyes with Walter. For a moment, neither Walter nor the vampire moved, then Doru put a hand on the young man’s arm and stood up again, sending his companion to find the coat check.

“Walter,” he said, threading his way through the patrons to Walter’s side. “What an unexpected pleasure to see you here once again.”

Walter put a hand out to Christian, drawing his attention away from the print at last while Walter instinctively put himself between Christian and Doru. “I brought a friend. Christian, this is an acquaintance of mine, Doru. Doru, this is Christian. He works for my employer’s brother.”

He watched Doru’s face for a reaction to the introduction, but saw only good will as the two shook hands. “What a pleasure to meet you,” Doru said, releasing Christian’s hand. “You are the first friend of Walter’s I have met.” And though Walter listened for any hint of emotion in the comment, he heard nothing but good will.

Doru’s companion joined them then, smiling up to Doru without comment, clearly awaiting an introduction. “Philip, allow me to introduce you to my friend, Walter and his friend Christian. Walter, Christian, Philip is a good friend of mine and an artist who is currently studying in Paris. I make it a point to take him to at least one gallery when he comes to see me here in London.”

Philip was small where Doru was tall, ruddy-skinned where Doru was pale, and blond in contrast to the vampire’s midnight-black hair. He had an open smile that he turned on Christian and Walter without hesitation. “I’m so glad to meet you both.” He reached for Christian’s hand and then Walter’s. “Doru has the most interesting friends. I’d love to sculpt you.” He gave Walter’s hand an extra squeeze before releasing it. “Or both together if you’d like.”

“Philip, you should at least give them time to get to know you before making such offers,” Doru chided good-naturedly. “He’s one of those people who come to galleries for the art, of all things.”

Remembering how he and Doru had spent their time at this gallery before, Walter wondered why Doru bothered with Philip, then looked away for a moment as he realized just why Doru might bother with the man.

“I understand completely,” Christian said, surprising Walter out of his thoughts. “A gallery is for the appreciation of art. If I wanted to read, I would go to a library, to eat I would go to a restaurant. Why would I come to a gallery for anything else?”

“Exactly!” Philip beamed up at Christian. “Doru humors me, but he comes here for the people, not for the art.”

“And you, Walter?” Doru asked. “Why do you come to places like these?”

“A bit of both,” Walter said, feeling put on the spot. “But there is only so long you can look at the art, while the people keep changing.”

Philip scoffed and reached out to take Christian’s arm. “Let’s leave these two philistines to each other if that’s the way they’re going to be about it.” As he led the bemused man away, Walter could hear Philip launching into his opinions on the superiority of sculpture over painting.

“Well,” Doru said, a tinge of laughter in his voice, “imagine that. I do believe my companion has absconded with yours.”

“Yes...” Walter shifted to stand beside Doru, giving him a vantage from which to watch Philip and Christian as they stopped in front of the first of the Spectral Perils. “Does he know what you are?”

“Of course not,” Doru murmured, looking down at Walter. “He would either have absurd romantic illusions about my nature, or he would be too terrified to see me again.”

“You don’t know which?” Walter realized that tonight Doru wasn’t wearing glasses, and his eyes were a brown deep enough to almost be black. He should never hide his eyes behind those red lenses.

“Humans can be so unpredictable,” Doru said with a smile. “Haven’t you found it so?”

Staring up into Doru’s eyes, it was all Walter could do to nod. Yes, they were unpredictable, weren’t they?

“Your friend Christian...” Doru broke the eye contact first to glance over at Christian and Philip. “Does he know what you are?”

“He knows what I do.”

Christian and Philip had moved on to the second Peril and were in deep discussion, oblivious to the fact that they were under discussion.

Doru shook his head almost impatiently. “But does he know what you are?”

“What I do and what I am are the same thing.” Walter frowned, looking back at Doru. “And he has seen me at practice.”

“Ah, practice. Then he has not seen you at in your element and has not seen all of you.” Doru turned his focus back to Walter. “Will you allow him to truly see you?”

He didn’t have to think about it, Walter shook his head decisively. “No. Never.” Humans were so unpredictable, after all.

“Then he is just a friend and not something more. Forgive me for prying, but I had thought....”

“You thought what?” Walter asked sharply before he stopped himself and forced his tone to neutrality. “That we were together the way you and Philip are?”

“Angel.” Walter was surprised at Doru’s hurt tone. “I do not harm Philip. Look at him. Does he look as though I victimize him?”

Philip hardly looked like some vampire’s victim as he chatted animatedly with Christian. He looked healthy and happy and deeply engaged in their conversation. He did not look like the ghouls that Walter so often had to dispatch after losing their lives and souls to a vampire’s bite.

“No,” he admitted reluctantly. “He seems fine.”

“He is fine,” Doru stated firmly. “And he will remain fine. Just as you can take pleasure in your Christian’s company without his knowing all of you, I can take pleasure in Philip’s. And if it is not all that I would want....” He let the sentence trail off and shrugged. “I have learned that honest companionship is the rarest of commodities for us.”

•••

The rarest of commodities for us lingered in Walter’s head for the rest of the evening, through less pointed conversation with Doru about the gallery’s patrons, through superficial chatter with Philip and Christian when they returned, through the drive back to Christian’s hotel, and through the interminable drive back to Hellsing thereafter.

...for us.

Will you allow him to truly see you?

No. Never.

The rarest of commodities....

He didn’t even have it in himself to curse Doru for his disquiet. He had finally reached the point of acknowledging his attraction to... to other men and Doru had gone and unsettled that tiny bit of peace by pointing out that he was still hiding himself.

He pulled through the gates at Hellsing Manor and left his car at the motor pool. He acknowledged the nods and greetings of the house guard and staff with his usual calm, giving none of them any indication of his troubled mind.

He didn’t know where he was going until his path led him to Arthur’s office and he wasn’t sure what he was going to say until the question left his lips. “Sir. Would you...” How to phrase it? “Would it affect my position here if I were to,” he hesitated for a bare moment before his own loathing of fear drove him on, “have a liaison with Christian Wallace?”