Never Forget Where You've Been
Moving Statues
Chapter 4: Moving Statues
The pain that seared its way through Alex’s abdomen and chest was unlike anything she had ever experienced before. She doubled up, groaning quietly, the breath stolen from her by the wrenching pain. She wanted desperately to reach Hugue, but the next room was simply too far away. She felt the blood she’d drank, a mere hour before, rising in her throat along with a twisted moan of desperation. She clutched her swollen belly and prayed as the blood painted the white tiles of their hotel bathroom red. She prayed as the room tilted and the tiles rose to meet her, hoping that her unborn children could somehow be rescued. A curious smile painted her lips, even as her head thudded against the tiles, as Hugue rushed into the bathroom. The pain hit a crescendo and crushed her insides as more blood flowed from her mouth, her vision fading into blackness. The last thing she saw, before she lost her senses, was Hugue’s panic-stricken face, backlit by the bathroom light.
Alex awoke some time later, a vaguely familiar burn whispering through her veins. Her entire body ached as though she’d been locked in a battle for her life, and her senses seemed overly active. The single light that cast a dim glow around the room was too much for her eyes and her ears seemed to ring loudly with the silence of the room. She drew in a hissing breath and covered her eyes with her hand. Hugue was immediately alert and by her side, taking her other hand.
“Alexandra, what is it? What’s hurting you?”
“Turn off the light, it’s burning my eyes.”
“Burning?” Hugue rose and turned the light off, casting the room into darkness. He took a moment to let his eyes adjust and was then by her side again. Alex could see him as clearly as if it were merely an overcast afternoon. Raising her arm to touch his cheek, she found her limbs as heavy as lead weights. She let her hand drop back onto the mattress with a dull thump and Hugue’s face blanched a little with worry.
"We must get you to a hospital, Chérie.”
“No! They may give me something that could harm the boys.”
“Chérie, if we don’t take you to a facility you may lose them anyway.”
“No, Hugue, they are fine. They are merely tired.” She rested her hand on her rounded belly, closing her eyes, listening to the tiny heartbeats within her. They were a little faster than normal and she could sense discomfort, but nothing serious. “They are resting, and recuperating. It has taken a lot out of them and me.”
“Chérie, you were screaming in pain and I could not rouse you throughout the ordeal. I had to threaten the hotel manager to keep him from calling the authorities. I’m worried, Alex. Allow me to take you to a hospital.”
“Screaming?” Alex’s mind reeled at this new information and she considered Hugue’s request.
“Alexandra, what if... what if the boys are the reason you are sick?” Alex again considered his comments, listening to the tiny squirming lives in her belly.
“No, love, it wasn’t them. This is an odd case of indigestion.” Hugue raised an eyebrow quizzically at her. “There was something strange about the Methuselah that attacked me. I think you should send word to Lady Catherina. The AX may be experiencing some strange visitors soon.” Hugue regarded her curiously and she sat up to embrace him. He hugged her as tightly as he dared and felt her belly quivering against him. The children had been quite active of late.
“Are you sure you’re all right, Chérie? It was just like watching you become a Crusnik all over again.” Alex pulled him back to arm’s length, examining his shocked features.
“What did you say?” She hoped with everything she had that Hugue was very horribly mistaken
Seras was wandering the darkened corridors at an ungodly hour of the night, when she heard the unmistakable tones of music. She walked on, making her footsteps as quiet as possible on the stone floor. The music grew clearer and though it was a mere murmur in the dark, she could make out the words perfectly.
Time here, all but means nothing just shadows that move ‘cross the walls. They keep me company, but they don’t ask of me; they don’t say nothing at all...
The song was lilting and sad, but she liked the sound of it. She drew up to the person listening and found the raven haired woman they’d met earlier, sitting on one of the window-like openings in the corridor, staring up at the moon. The mournful expression on her face made Seras stop short of actually disturbing her. As she sat in a patch of bright moonlight, her skin seemed deathly pale and she gave the startling impression of a marble statue, randomly perched in the hallway. Seras was about to sink back into the shadows and leave the way she came when the woman’s soft voice broke the silence.
“Good evening, Miss Seras Victoria, was it?” Alex’s memories had been disturbed moments before by the oncoming presence of a Vampire.
“Yes, ma’am.” Alexandra slowly turned to regard her, a weak smile playing in her features.
“You may call me Alexandra, or Alex if you prefer. You needn’t stand on ceremony with me.”
“Thanks, Alex.” Seras returned the smile, a little more brightly than it was received, and searched for something to say as Alex sat and inspected her.
“If you have a question, you may ask it. I don’t bite.” Alex hadn’t probed into her thoughts, but could feel a curious air about the girl and merely assumed that it concerned herself. Her smile broadened slightly at her quiet quip and Seras fidgeted, the toe of her shoe picking at some imaginary speck on the stone floor.
“I was just wondering why a Terran would be awake at this hour.” Seras worried her bottom lip, wondering if she’d already offended her hostess. To Seras’s surprise, her face broke into an unmistakable, genuine, smile.
“A Terran. Terrans are amazing things, aren’t they, Seras? I simply found that my mind was too busy to sleep tonight.” Alex turned her face back up to the moon and Seras realized that somewhere along the way, she’d turned off her music.
“Oh.” Seras watched the woman’s features settle back into sad contemplation.
“You are not limited to one question.” Alexandra didn’t turn to look at the blonde this time.
“Where is your music coming from?” Alexandra moved to pull something from her jacket pocket and for a moment Seras actually tensed, ready for a weapon to be drawn. She shook her head and told herself to relax as the Terran pulled a small metallic rectangle from her pocket, holding it up in the moonlight. There was a pair of earbuds connected to the small object and Seras’s face lit up in recognition.
"Is that an mp3 player?” The player was scuffed and dented, having suffered the ravages of time and being buried, but Alex had managed to salvage it.
“Yes. I thought you would remember. They were made around the time you were changed, weren’t they?” Seras’s face flushed at her question, the hairs on her neck standing on end as she realized that the woman sitting before her knew more about her than she’d suspected.
“How do you know that?” Seras’s voice came out a little colder than she intended it to.
“Forgive me, I didn’t mean to startle you with the depth of my knowledge. I am the AX’s bookkeeper. Lady Catherina’s bookkeeper. It is my duty to research, catalog, and collect information about our friends and foes. It was my job to find out as much as I could about you and the rest of the remaining members of Hellsing before your arrival.” Alex turned to look at her, regarding her with a friendly expression.
“Oh.” Seras suddenly felt stupid for the fear that she felt mere moments before. “I guess I should have figured that you’d research a group that was previously marked an enemy of the Vatican.” Seras flashed Alex a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of her neck as she chuckled nervously.
“Don’t worry yourself. The Vatican is different now. Since the Vatican is a political and religious power speaking on behalf of the Terran population, it can no longer afford to condemn those who do not share the exact same beliefs. We are ultimately fighting for the same goal: to protect Terrans from Methuselah and Vampires. The way we worship, whether we worship, and who we worship is no longer of any significance. I bet Hellsing never thought it would see the day.”
“I didn’t think I’d see the day.” Seras chuckled and Alex smiled sadly at her youthful cheer. She wondered if she’d ever regain a carefree feeling about life, or if she’d live out the rest of her impossibly long life wishing things had been different.
“How old are you, Seras?” Seras started at the question as if Alex had screamed at her, regarding the floor as she thought. “Never mind. Forgive me, that wasn’t very polite of me.”
“No, it’s okay. I just don’t always like to think of how many lifetimes have passed, stretching out behind me like dead weight. I hate realizing that I’m old.” Seras’s chuckle filled the space between them again. She had no idea how much Alexandra empathized with her.
“Age is beauty, my dear. We have nothing in this world but time. Time with which to come to grips with what we are.” Alex stood, her eyes still heaven bound. “It’s so silly. I used to look up at the darkening sky each night and pray for something to happen. Anything, so that I wouldn’t live a normal life span, because I’d never be able to accomplish all I wanted to accomplish in such a short amount of time.” Alex turned to grace the blonde with an anguished smile, her eyes glistening in the dim light.
“Alexandra?” Seras sounded so small and far away, dismayed at the obvious turn for the worse in Alex’s mood.
“Yes, Seras Victoria.”
“Are you all right?” Alex’s smile disappeared and once again Seras had the impression of a statue, or perhaps a large doll. It felt as though Alex were wearing a mask of placidity, her eyes the only indication that there was something wrong.
“Such an odd question, but one I hear almost everyday. I suppose I’m as all right as I ever will be.” She forced her face into yet another unconvincing expression, hoping to quell Seras’s fears.
“Are you unhappy, Alex?”
“Unhappy? Oh, Seras...” Alex heaved a great sigh as if she were shifting a great burden that lay, unseen, on her shoulders. “I haven’t know happiness in ten years.”
“Ten years? What happened ten years ago?” Alex regarded her and Seras felt the unmistakable feeling of her mind being gently, quietly probed. She flushed slightly and closed off the more intimate memories that always seemed to surface, unbidden, whenever someone tried to look into her mind, but was too startled to really put up a complete barricade.
“Ten years ago, someone put out the light that brought happiness to my world, Seras. He is gone, and with him, my ability to remember myself. I can’t, for the life of me, feel the warmth of this world any longer. Do I seem like a doll, still? Yes, Mother once said that of me. She said I’d returned to her a soulless doll. That was just after he was taken from me. I hadn’t the will to move on my own. I refused food and drink, I couldn’t take care of my children. In the end, I began wasting away, and I was too weak to move even if I had regained the will power.”
“That sounds so awful.” Seras’s face was sunken with a look of sympathetic anguish.
“It was awful. It’s taken me so long to recover from it, that I think I shall forever carry the burden of his absence as a fresh wound. Mother finally coaxed me from bed with my own children. Their frightened faces dragged me from bed and for them, I found the will to live again. The love of my children, and the love I have for my children, is my saving grace. I would destroy this world to protect them.” Alex’s features brightened as she sent mental images of her children to Seras, a very intimate exchange, one Seras was flattered to be part of.
“They are lovely, Alex.” Seras’s easygoing and cheerful manner reminded her of her children.
“Yes. They are my reason for being. They are the only thing that still brings me happiness, even if it is but a shadow of what I was once capable of feeling.”
“Thank you for sharing them with me, Lady Alexandra.”
“You are most welcome, Seras Victoria. I must learn to welcome the interaction of others, or I will become the statue you saw, shifting through the dark hallways of the Vatican for the rest of my days. Forgive me, but I think I have found the sleep I sought hours ago; I’m feeling quite tired.” Seras was slightly relieved to hear that Alex was ready for bed. She didn’t want to inadvertently dredge up anymore sore memories for the gentle woman and she was also relieved to hear that all she’d searched her mind for was an impression of herself.
“Not at all! Sleep well, Alex!” Seras beamed and waved at Alex as she turned to go.
“Thank you, Seras. Sleep well yourself, because tomorrow I will come looking for you and the rest of your team at sunset. Tomorrow, we will start training.”
Seras watched the raven haired keeper of the AX fade into the shadows, her steps carrying her silently down the stone corridor and away from the blonde as she marveled over the stifling silence left in her wake.