Bullet from Hell, Shield of Heaven

Chapter 2

Seras walked calmly through the unlit areas of the dock as if she had every reason to be there. You would think that a woman, walking alone in the docks would arouse suspicion. The dark docs were no place for them, but it seemed, as this did not concern her. Ahead was a large hanger like warehouse that stood out in stark relief under the full moon. Every now and then she would see a flash of red as her Master advanced towards the warehouse from the other side of the docks.

It was a very clear night as the water lapped against the hulls of moored ships and against the metal girders the lined the edge of the docks. The Harbour water rippled and moved, causing it to look like liquid silver in the moonlight. There was the creak and groans of metal girders and metal chains as the harbour slept for the night. The large cranes reached for the moon, like giant monsters trying to pluck it from the sky. Papers blew past her feet as she silently walked deeper into the dark harbour.

She came to the edge of the hanger that they had come to investigate. The new brand of FREAK chips that had appeared on the black market seemed to be coming from this location.. They had been upgraded from the original brand they had encountered all those years ago. They all bore that snake and cross symbol upon the top of the chip. This whole situation felt strange to Seras for some reason, as if she was missing something that was staring her in the face.

She carried her BAERLKS 13.7 mm round rifle, hung casually over her back. The Harkonan had been left at the Hellsing manor because she was just about getting away with the size of the sniper rifle. They needed to sneak in to see if the chips were either being produced or just shipped to this warehouse. The Harkonan cannon was just too noticeable sometimes. True she could have used the dark portals..But she was still only a fledgling and using this dark gift still left her drained depending on the distance.

“Do you sense the presence of all those filthy FREAKS Police girl?” her Masters voice purred into her mind, she could hear the glee and lust for blood in his tone.

“Yes my Master seems there are quite a few of them. And it’s such a beautiful night” She replied, adding her own purr. Seras looked up at the bright moon.

Alucard laughed in his rich baritone voice at her reply. Revelling in their shared phrase that linked them forever. “Yeees Seras. Lets not keep them waiting”

“As you wish, Alucard. My Master” She felt the responding build of Alucard’s power, as he no doubt phased through the roof of the warehouse.

Seras phased through the metal wall to appear in a dimly lit empty space. In the centre was a circle of light that illuminated the group they sought. Beside them were numerous crates all bearing the snake and inverted cross. Again Seras felt a twinge when she beheld that symbol. Then she felt eyes upon her, she looked up to see her Master’s eyes up in the metal rafters.

He seemed to scrutinise her a moment, as if trying to see the reason for her change in mood. This seemed strange to Sera’s, Alucard had never been concerned about her moods before. More often than not he berated her for such human emotions. But this time she almost felt concern flowing from his gaze.

Seras looked away from those glowing blood red eyes, dismissing the notion. She did not see them narrow in concern before they turned their terrifying gaze upon those assembled around the crates. There were 33 men in the hanger in total; Alucard could hear their hearts beating, a slow rhythm of life as they thought they were safe. He was about to change that. But first to see if indeed these were the ones that were troubling his Master.

Alucard moved closer so he could see what was inside the crates. There, gleaming in clear protective boxes, were thousands of the chips. The black pieces of plastic with a clear like covering that caused them to reflect the light. You could see protruding metal on either side like little feet. These would be implanted at the base of the neck. No longer would these chips need to be implanted into the brain via a lengthy surgery. The chips would change a human beyond salvation. The chip would then be drawn into the flesh.

Cheap imitation vampires the lot of them. Alucard loathed all of them; they were an insult to the true blood vampires like himself. He would kill all of them, every last one of them in the most agonizing ways. A maniacal smile spread across his face. As he moved above their heads as their attention was on a table, which held a few chips in their clear plastic cases. There was one man tied to a chair, he was quivering in fear as they brought one of the chips over to him.

“Of course I wouldn’t expect you to buy our merchandise without a demonstration” the one that spoke moved to the table and picked up one of the chips with a set of tweezers.

He seemed like a smooth one, his black hair slicked back over his head. He had black sunglasses over his eyes. Even from here Alucard could smell the taint of a FREAK chip inside him. Most in the room had that stench about them. Only 8 of them seemed to be un-chipped. Obviously they were the buyers.

The smooth one moved with almost feline grace towards the cowering man in the chair. He grabbed the mans hair and forced his head down so he could get access to the base of his neck. He placed the chip at the point where the spine curves down to the shoulders. The metal feet dug in as the man began to scream, as the chip seemed to grow hot. His screams became high pitch as the chip disappeared under his flesh to latch right on the spine.

Inside the wires latched onto the spinal cord and sent signals to the brain to re-write its characteristics. The man in the chair stopped screaming and looked up, his eyes had turned from brown to dull red. He snarled showing newly formed fangs. The smooth man untied the man. The newly chipped man leapt at one of his fellows and bit deep into his neck. The bitten man screamed as his blood was drained from him.

The new FREAK began to laugh as he dropped the drained corpse to the floor. He stretched his arms wide as if testing new limbs.

“Oh fucking hey! I feel great!” he exclaimed. The corpse at his feet began to moan as it rose from the floor.

“As you can see the transformation from human to vampire is almost instantaneous. As is the transformation from corpse to your own personal ghoul. Once bitten there is no chance for the individual, your bite is now fatal to your prey even if you don’t drain them dry. Though it is always fun to do so.” The man gave a smirk as if he had said something funny.

“You seem to deliver Mr Blackthorn. Are you sure your employer, Mr Serpintis, can deliver the amounts you promise” this man was un-chipped and seemed to be the buyer. He wore a dark Armani suit and bright red tie. Underneath was a white shirt, which hung close to his handsome figure. His hair was blonde and spiky, eyes where a dark blue.

“You have no need for concern Mr White. Mr Serpintis can deliver all I promise. For it is his promise also” Blackthorn spoke smoothly

“Then we have an accord, you can tell Mr Serpintis the money will be wired into the account you specify”

“Oh little FREAKS…working hard for their money” Alucard’s voice echoed from the darkness. He floated down to land sitting on the highest stacked crate. His right leg was crossed hover his left at the knee as he seemed to have a casual air about him. Even though every gun in the building was now pointed at him.

“Who the fuck are you?” One of the un-chipped flunkies shouted at Alucard

“Me? I’m the trash man to get rid of you filth” Alucard gave his full smirk.

“Master….you have been watching too much TV when you’ve been bored” came a sweet, innocent voice from the shadows as Seras stepped forth. Her eyes gleamed red a moment.

“No I have not police girl. I do not waste my time with that infernal talking box”

“No you just shoot it” Sera’s commented under her breath, earning a glare from her master.

“Have you two just come out of a nut house?” the group laughed. Blackthorn looked closely at Seras, seeing the red tint in her eyes showing she was a vampire. But he had no idea what he was dealing with.

“No matter who they are, from the women’s gaze she must be one of the old batch. This is a perfect opportunity to show how superior our chips are. You” he indicated the man he had recently chipped “kill her”

“Gladly….though I might have fun with her first” he moved forward, practically drooling at her chest.

Seras bared her fangs in disgust and looked to Alucard.

“Master?” Alucard grinned

“Show them how pathetic they are police girl”

“Come on then pretty boy” Sera’s placed on hand on her hip as she accentuated her body as she waited for him to make the first move. She could see Alucard resting his chin on his hand as he looked over the top of his glasses at the scene.

“Lets dance baby” The FREAK ran at Seras as if to bring her to the floor. But he ran straight past her…he stopped suddenly, choking. Then became dust on the wind.

The others in the room gasped, as they never even saw Seras move, as they watched her right hand where it had been in cased in a pristine white glove, was now red as fresh blood dripped from it and onto the floor. She raised the bloodied hand to her mouth and licked some off with her tongue. She immediately spat it out afterwards earning a widening of the eyes from Alucard in reaction. Blood should not be wasted.

“Yuk! Master they taste foul…even a rat tastes better than that” She exclaimed as her face grimaced in disgust.

“Police Girl…what have I told you about wasting blood?”

“I’m not wasting it! It’s foul..you taste if you don’t believe me!” She snapped in his direction, arguing as if they were the only two in the place. In an instant Alucard appeared beside Seras and sucked her bloody fingers, causing a blush to rise to her face. “M..m…MASTER!”

Alucard spat the blood out also after a moment. “You’re right police girl. They finally taste like they are…filth” Alucard smiled at the group.

“I have had enough of this. Kill them!” Mr White exclaimed. His men opened fire upon Seras and Alucard Blackthorns men joined in the fray while Blackthorn himself moved back into the shadows to watch. These strange Vampires seemed to be the harbinger of trouble.

Blackthorn watched as the one in the red coat seemed to turn to liquid and smoke; he stretched out as inky blackness, red eyeballs appearing all over him. The humans screamed at this monster, dropping their guns and trying to run. Some of the chipped vampires also ran having never encountered something such as he.

The female was killing those that ran. Blackthorn had seen every move the female made. He had seen her move with her super human strength. She had thrust her hand straight through the newly chipped man in an instant. The poor newbie hadn’t even seen her move. But Blackthorn was no ordinary chipped vampire.

The Female was now dragging White by his red tie as she waited for her master to finish. She watched with a smirk as her master sent out demonic hounds to devour Blackthorn’s men. Others just chased them around.

“Master Alucard, didn’t your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?” she spoke as she watched him play around with the vampires before he killed them with an insane laugh.

“Now police girl…you’re not joining in?”

“Don’t want to spoil your fun master. You know how cranky you get if you don’t get a good workout” She smirked at her master as he returned to his normal state.

“True, you know me too well” he laughed, then looked around the room. Blackthorn thought it would best if he left now and so slunk off into the night.

“Where is the seller? Blackthorn?” Alucard snarled. Seras looked around as she held White by his tie.

“He seems to be gone. I’m sorry master”

Alucard seemed to be trying to sense where Blackthorn had slipped out. Seras’s head whipped up as Alucard gave a very angry demonic growl of frustration and confusion.

“I cannot sense the FREAK! They cannot hide from me! You!” Alucard grabbed a tight hold of Mr White making the man whimper as he was pulled towards the No-life-king. Seras was left holding Mr White’s red tie. “How can this be? Speak you pathetic mortal”

White babbled in fear as the vampire lord looked deep inside his mind, but of course White knew nothing of Blackthorn just that he was the contact to buy from. Alucard snarled in displeasure at this, with half a mind to rip out White’s throat. But Seras’s hand on his arm stopped him as she spoke.

“No Master! Sir Integra will want him” White was thrown at Seras as Alucard gave another snarl of displeasure.

“You take him! As you are such the good, loyal, little police girl!” with that scathing sarcastic remark Alucard disappeared through his portal. Seras sighed sadly, Alucard was mad again. She must have been insane to even entertain the thought that he had ever been concerned about her.

Seras tied Mr white up then walked through her own portal as it was nearly dawn she knew she would not be needed anymore this day. She phased right into Sir Integra’s office and was rather surprised not to see her Master there.

“Report Officer” Integra barked, taking a large draw on her cigar.

“We infiltrated the warehouse and disrupted the sale. It seems the warehouse is just a stopping point. They are not produced there. The seller escaped though he is not the creator. This is the buyer” Seras indicated White as she placed him on the floor. He looked fearfully at Integra as if he expected her to grow horns.

“How did the seller escape? Why didn’t Alucard seek him out?” Integra asked

“Seems Master could not sense him” Seras replied to her employer, master, friend, sister. Integra was all this to Seras. She was her commanding officer, to be followed without question. But in reality Seras saw her more as an older sister.

“Explain”

“I don’t know Sir Integra, master did not say way. He left in a huff actually” Seras gave a small smile to which Integra returned with just a slight curl at the corner of her mouth.

“I see. Well-done Seras. Take our guest to the basement. I need to have a word with a certain servant.”

“Yes Sir Integra.” Seras saluted to her commander before picking White and leaving the room.

Seras carried him down though the mansion, passing the oil paintings of previous Hellsing’s that lined the hallways. Each one kept in pristine condition no doubt by Walter. As Seras came to the entrance of the basement levels she saw Walter standing there waiting for her. He stood as always in his butler pose, hands behind his back and almost as if he was standing to attention.

“Ah, Miss Victoria, I see we have a guest” Walter smiled at Seras then turned his gaze on white. His look changed to one that could rival Alucard’s in its intent.

“Yes Walter, No doubt Sir Integra will want to talk to him later. Which one shall I put him in?” She indicated the hall of cells that stretched out before them.

“Well they are all free at the moment. But this one will suffice I think” he opened the cell door, the large metal door creaking as he did so.

Seras walked into the cell seeing it sparsely furnished, she placed White on the small bed before walking back out the door. Walter closed it and turned the key that had been in the door. He took the key out and placed it in his waistcoat pocket in one fluid motion.

“I’d better be getting to bed Walter. I’ll see you tomorrow night” Seras kissed Walter on the cheek before walking down to the darkened end of the corridor, then down another set of stairs to the lowest part. Another hallway spread out before her.

There was a slight difference in this one; the darkness at the other end of the corridor was more intense, more ominous. That way led to Alucard’s chambers. Seems Alucard was still in a foul mood as his aura nearly engulfed the hallway. With a sigh she entered her rooms and walked to her bathroom. It was a bathtub really as of course there was really no need to supply their prisoners with bathing facilities. Walter had been kind enough to find her a bath; it was rather beautiful one at that. It looked almost Victorian in its design. Pearl like basin with gold dragons feet propping it up on the floor.
Steam was rising from the bath and Seras smiled. Good old Walter had made the bath ready for her, even putting in her favourite bath oils. Rose with a tint of lavender scent. She lowered herself into the warm scented liquid and breathed an un-needed exhale in relaxation.

Once she had unwound enough and the water began to cool she got out of the bath and pulled the plug. There were no pipes so the plughole was directly above a drain grate. Seras walked to her wardrobe and pulled out a red chimasole to sleep in and stood before her coffin with slight dread. Her coffin was now black like Alucard’s and now big enough to fit two; she had always been a messy sleeper.

Upon the lid were inscribed words, she wasn’t sure if they had any power like her Masters but she wanted some link to him, to show who she was and whom had sired her.

The child of the bird of Hermes is my name,
I retain my humanity and thus I am tame.

She ran her fingers over the words a moment before lifting the lid and climbing inside the coffin. It was lined with rich blood red silk. She lay there and cuddled up to her pillow before the dawn took her to her nightmares.

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“Servant!”

“You bellowed my Master” Alucard phased through the wall his ever-present smirk on his face. He was without his hat but still wore his red tinted glasses.

“Explain why you did not bring me the seller” Integra was obviously angry with him..but he didn’t care.

“Because I couldn’t sense him my Master” came his smooth reply, but you could hear the frustration bubbling beneath the surface.

“Why?”

“Don’t you think if I knew I would have captured him by now?” His voice laced with sarcasm as he walked to the window, the sky was turning pink as the sun threatened to rise.

“Do not play with me servant or I will put you back where I found you.”

“You have been threatening that since I shot that infernal talking box” his glasses fell from his head as Integra threw her silver ashtray at his head, he leaned down with a sigh to retrieve them. “You really must see someone about that temper of yours”

“Alucard, don’t make me get the gun.”

“ Truthfully I do not know Integra. He should not have been able to hide from me, yet he has. I know not how he would have blocked my senses; only an elder vampire would have been a match for me in mind. Either that or an angel”

“You think he was an angel?” Integral asked, her tone shocked as she dropped her cigar.

“Ha! Hardly.” Alucard laughed he began to phase through the floor as the sun peeked the horizon. He did not fear the sun, he just didn’t like it and it was un-natural for a vampire of the true blood to be awake at this time.

“You talk as if you have seen an angel”

“Perhaps I have, or maybe a fallen one anyway.”

“Alucard one more thing….what is wrong with Seras?”

“That is another thing I do not know. But I will find the answer to both questions” With that Alucard disappeared through the floor and into his coffin for his slumber.

TBC

KITG: wow..long chapter..hope you enjoy it :)