History

“History”
Chapter 2

My prior comment on this story may seem pretty obvious, but I know people do use different mythos for their stories, and not everyone has the same interpretation of these characters. More could be said because this is fan fiction, and all fans may have completely different ideas. Anyway, please continue to enjoy. And no indeed, this will not be left uncompleted. There will be about four chapters in all… and if it weren’t for school and work it’d be done by now.


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“It is about time you learned how I became the father of all nosferatu.” Seras sat dumbfounded. She could neither look away, nor speak. Her master carried a heavy burden, one that bowed his proud back toward the ground. This was perceptible only to Seras, but she didn’t realize that. Alucard breathed deeply before he let his heady, velvet voice wash over her, and she braced herself for the rolling feeling it would cause. Alucard’s narrative began steadily, in a country far, far away from England, many years in the past.

“I once was a man, feared by mortals across the world- feared for my bravery, ferocity and strict morality. I was called Vlad Tepes, Vlad Dracul, and Vlad the Impaler. You may have heard of me.” A wry grin accompanied his words. Seras nodded, not daring to express her horror. “Vlad the Impaler” was a name long feared and well known. She remembered then, tales of his deeds… how he punished his enemies and displayed their bodies. She had heard how he would sit among the staked corpses to eat… and there were rumors of his apparent blood thirst. Seras shivered and sat wide-eyed, but unmoving as stone. If that was true, then he was also-

“It may surprise you, Police Girl, to hear that I once fought for God against the heathen Turks. The “Dracul” of my name came from my father, who belonged to the great Order of the Dragon, who fought as a defender of Christendom. Dracul means dragon, and strangely enough, it also means devil.” Alucard interrupted himself for a guttural laugh, amused with his own irony. “Despite my famous cruelties, I was a man of the Cross, and all I did to defend that was for Him, the great, bountiful God!” Alucard stood up, his eyes backlit with lightning and fire. That manic grin split his face and Seras felt a warm tingle in her lower body, but the rest of her was as numb as winter. She followed him with her eyes only. He relished the moment, and at last sat again to begin his tale anew.

“There was one battle, Police Girl, where I had an absolutely glorious victory. I can still smell the iron in the blood and hear the shouts of my men as they utterly destroyed our adversaries.” Seras shuddered, remembering the phantom battle in her dream. The smell, illusion or not, still hung in her nose and it both enticed and disgusted her. Then she recalled the next image from her sleep. The whiteness falling, and the scream. Alucard’s dark face turned bitter, and a note of despair crept into his burning eyes. Seras leaned forward, waiting for the answer. “It seemed, however, someone was out to ruin me. To cause suffering in my heart and my kingdom… and when I returned to the castle, they had already achieved it… a letter. A terrible letter… Bearing news of our defeat, and my death.” Seras put a hand over her mouth in order to stifle a gasp. She had read Bram Stoker’s book, “Dracula,” as a younger girl, but had put very little stock into the facts. But the events were falling into place. Seras’ stomach lurched when she realized what she’d seen as a white form falling from the tower had been a woman.

“As you may have guessed, I can assume from your expression, my wife was devastated by the false news. She killed herself. She leapt from the tower, and when they told me… I ran to her body and found her crushed, spattered on the ground, utterly destroyed, but still she was beautiful…!” Alucard’s voice became frantic and angry, rising like a tongue of flame through the darkness of the dungeon. His stunning grief and fury scorched her where she sat. Tears freely formed in her eyes; so taken was she with his passion. Alucard’s fist trembled on the black throne. “She was still so beautiful, my heart cleaved itself three times. I rose in a fit of maddening desolation and ran to my altar, whereupon I destroyed it, cursing God’s name. I did this because I was told suicide was a sentence in Hell… no reprieve, no forgiveness. Only fire. In death I could never see my wife again, so I turned from those open hands, and I spat on His name. When at last my fit was over, I was cursed. Eternity is my only gift, my own private Hell at my feet. I will wander this accursed world forever, spreading my darkness and misery, destroying foes, seducing the righteous from God’s path…” Seras became confused. The fount of his emotion had diminished, but what he had just said seemed to be different than his actual life. She opened her mouth to ask, but he spoke again, abruptly.

“Or shall I?” Seras licked her dry lips and fell silent. Alucard shifted his chair to be closer to her, and leaned his upper body on his knees. His face was close enough to hers to almost touch, that her sometimes-blue, sometimes-bloodred eyes met his own. His breath was milky sweet. As he leaned in close, he whispered to her. “That’s where I began. I spread my plague everywhere I could, engendering creatures of the night here and there, by bite, by my seed, by any means I had available. Do you know of the infamous Elizabeth Bathory…?” Seras pondered a moment, but slowly shook her head, her mouth partially opened, absorbed as she was in his voice. “Bathory was a countess in lands not too far from mine. I visited her briefly when she was young… barely to her twenties, and yet so bored with life she kept company of witches, alchemists, Satanists, and for a short while, one real vampire.” He grinned, fangs lengthening, and chuckled again. “It was I who made her, truly, into the blood-drinking murderer she became. She was so enamored with herself, so utterly infatuated with her appearance, that when she began to age, she took to slaughtering beautiful virgins to bathe in their blood.” Seras’ mouth dropped open with horror. Alucard smirked, and gently closed her mouth with one gloved hand.

“She slaughtered about 600 girls before anyone did anything about it… after all, she was royalty. It was only when nobles’ daughters were openly killed that she was stopped. Silly woman… lost her head. Though, her methods were quite satisfying. She loved to hang them by their ankles, cut their throats and let the blood pour onto her and into her mouth…” For the first time. Seras spoke. She looked positively ill, her stomach remembering human nausea.

“Please Master, spare me the rest. I feel sick.” She reeled forward and Alucard took her into his arms. This dizzying story had finally gotten to her; there was only so much horror she could take, and hearing of that woman was making her retch. Alucard bit back his diatribe and cradled her head to his chest. Normally he would have scolded his fledgling for balking at her own nature, but she was so dutifully listening to the long-kept woes of his heart. Alucard pressed her perhaps harder than he had meant to, but he realized that she was taking his story well. There was genuine concern in her, and he began to reflect on the reason he had created Seras. It was different from the Bathory woman, and different from any other nosferatu he had made. Those were all from spite. This one was from a unique force altogether. Alucard opened his mouth.

Alucard, you are needed. Come to me at once. Integra’s voice sounded to him, and he knew he could not disobey.

“Police Girl, it seems we must continue this another time. My Master calls, no doubt with some errand. Another dog dies tonight." With a note of reluctance he let her go. Seras stood, dazed by his sudden display of gentility. Had she felt need in his heart? She watched longingly as he vanished utterly from the room, and she began to ascend the stairs, wondering how she would find her way back up. She could try phasing like her Master did, but what would happen if she got herself stuck, or simply couldn’t do it? She plodded on, disoriented and feeling helpless. Some minutes of ceaseless wanderings passed, and thankfully there came a gleam and a familiar, very welcome voice.

“Miss Seras!” The beam of an electric torch cut through the dun halls and brightened Seras’ spirits immediately.

“Walter! Thank God!” She ran forward and greeted the genteel old butler with a hug. “I never would have found my way out of there!” Walter patted her arm comfortingly and led the way out.

“Alucard let me know you were down here, in need of assistance. I thought that rather strange… why were you in Alucard’s quarters?” Seras would have blushed if she could have, but waved it aside.

“Listening, really. Master is instructing me on a few things.” Walter nodded.

“Say no more. Sir Integra is in need of you.” Walter led the way back into the bright halls of Hellsing and down to Sir Integra’s office, where Alucard waited with their mission. The passed an ornate grandfather clock along the way. Seras noted that the time was just after one AM… she was startled to realize how long she’d been absorbed in the flurry of her Master’s tale.


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More to come soon… if you’d like to know more about Elizabeth Bathory, follow this URL: http://www.abacom.com/~jkrause/bathory.html
And here’s one about Vlad! http://www.donlinke.com/drakula/vlad.htm#Background
BTW, I did know a great deal about both of these people before writing this. However, I wanted to make sure my facts were straight for the benefit of the readers... and so no one could point out my mistakes.