Midian Evolution

I went to my own room. Alucard didn’t murmur a word about my choice, just parted company with me by sliding through the floor and vanishing.

So tired.

My coffin didn’t please me nearly as much as I thought it would. I rolled in it restlessly, missing the feel of another body against mine. No, the feel of his body; just anyone wouldn’t do.

I wondered if he knew what he did to me. He was a perverse person; it would figure that he’d make my coffin uncomfortable for me when I’d just gotten used to it.

I finally fell into restless sleep, plagued by the knowledge I should have gone to take my rest with him.

*****************************************************************************

I got up before the sun finished. Because my master had strength against the sun, I could bear a little bit of it, too.

I dressed in a short skirt and a tank top, slid on a pair of trainers, and brushed my hair. I’d left it long by accident, not thinking about how Alucard grew it out. But now, studying my hazy reflection in the mirror, I had to admit I liked it this length. It made me look polished, less like a young girl and more like a woman.

My eyes had a blue ring around the crimson. I blinked, surprised. Suddenly, I felt old. I’d endured a lot in the last few months.

Hunger ate at me. I searched for and found a bag of blood Walter kindly left. After drinking it I felt much better. I left my room and headed for the Hellsing library. I had to do some investigating.

Walter’s heartbeat seemed to echo in the hall. So, I didn’t feel surprise at finding him in the room full of books and scrolls. He turned from a shelf, favored me with a smile. “I thought you might venture in here,” he said.

I liked Walter. He’d acted as my first friend here, my liaison between heaven and hell. He’d answered my questions, fed me, provided me with things I hadn’t realized I needed.

“Hi, Walter,” I answered. “Don’t mind me. I’m just in need of a book.”

“About?” he placed a large tome on a table and gave me his full, undivided attention.

“About myself, hopefully.” I walked to a shelf and scanned titles. Many were in languages I didn’t know. “Even if I were the average draculina, I’m in the dark.”

Walter chuckled at my poor joke, bless him. He slid a particular book toward me. “Start here,” he advised.

We sat opposite one another and I began to read. I waded through a wordy chapter about vampiric habits, finding nothing I hadn’t suspected or already encountered.

“Walter, tell me what a dhampire is, please,” I said, breaking the silence.

Walter looked at me a moment. “A dhampire is the offspring of a vampire and a living person,” he explained. “Your master apparently has never mated a living woman, or he could not claim he’d never created a dhampire.”

“Wait,” I said, holding up my hand. “I’m confused. If vampires are dead, how can they reproduce that way?”

Walter shrugged. “Vampires are mysterious creatures. You are a prime example, Miss Victoria.”

“Walter, a dead man can’t make living sperm,” I protested.

A very faint tinge of red spread on Walter’s cheeks. “If your master can make his heart beat at will,” he said, but he didn’t finish. He didn’t have to finish.

“But, my master is a vampire king,” I said, unconvinced. “He’s unlike any other vampire. He’s superior.” I remembered Helena telling me how fortunate I was to have my master, how I should be loyal to him. I hadn’t at the time, but now I appreciated my sire in vast, immeasurable ways. “I would believe he could do anything, but I wouldn’t believe the same from other vampires, freaks or not.”

Walter continued to measure me with his eyes in silence. Finally, he gave a little sigh. “I’ve never met a dhampire, so I can’t even tell you they exist,” he admitted. “I believe they do, however, which makes the issue a sticky one.”

“All right,” I said, shoving the book away. “If male vampires can make viable sperm, can female vampires get pregnant?”

Walter shook his head. “No. The womb dies.”

“That is grossly unfair!” I threw the nearest thing I could grab, a pencil. It splintered against the stone wall.

Walter bit his lip. “Yes, well, I didn’t make the rules, Miss Victoria.”

“I know, I know.” I got up and paced around, still angry but controlling it. My eye caught on a title I’d seen in school but never really wanted to read. Dracula.

Alucard called me a draculina. A lot of people did. So, did the males get called draculas?

I grabbed the book.

“Careful, it’s old,” Walter cautioned.

More cautiously, I opened it. After a minute or two, I set it down. “God, it’s a dry thing,” I complained. “Why is it in here? Isn’t it fiction?”

“More or less,” Walter said in a mysterious tone. “Dry or not, I suggest you read it.”

I nodded. “May I take it back to my room?”

“Yes.”

I looked for something else. Standing on the stepladder, I reached for an attractively bound book in red. Walter made a small sound. I looked back at him. “What?”

“You have a tattoo.” His almost violet eyes seemed to spark a moment.

“I got it yesterday night at Master’s suggestion,” I told him, a bit angry I hadn’t thought about my tank top riding up. “Old fashioned? Don’t think girls should get tattoos?”

Walter’s stern face crumpled into a strange mixture of humor, disbelief and exasperation. Slowly, he stood and joined me at the shelves. Plucking a book out, he handed it to me. “Miss Victoria, don’t take this the wrong way,” he said, “but your schooling is vastly incomplete.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Yes, I know that. I was raised in an orphanage and didn’t have the benefit of good schooling, Walter.”

Walter put the fiction book in my hands, too, smiling a bit. “Go and read. If you want to talk to me about any of this, come to me while the sun is still up.” He checked his watch. “We don’t have time for a private talk right now.”

Having already felt the tingle of approaching night, I nodded at him. My instincts told me I was missing something big, and that Walter could help me. But, I couldn’t have a secretive conversation with him now. My master should be getting up at any moment.

“Thanks, Walter,” I said softly. “You’re a real friend to me.”

He smiled back. “Take a friend’s advice, then. Leave your hair that length. It’s very pretty.”

*************************************************************************************

After putting the books in my room, I went to visit Sir Integra. She busily typed away on a laptop, furiously smoked, and shot me only a glance upon my rude entrance. “Something on your mind, Seras?” she asked, her voice not unkind.

“A few things,” I admitted. “I was wondering about clothing.”

Sir Integra stopped typing. “Clothing?”

“Yes. Master creates his own, but I don’t like to do that. In fact, I can’t do that, yet.”

“Ah.” Integra stubbed out her cigar. “I can’t say I blame you. And, you’ve started to shy away from your uniform. You realize I don’t expect you to wear that now?”

“Why not?”

“Because, although you work for Hellsing, you’re undead. You have a different way of existing.” She closed her laptop, giving me her attention. A slight but genuine smile inched out on her lips. “Would you like to go clothes shopping?”

“Like, a girls’ day?” I asked, feeling excited.

She laughed shortly. “I don’t know what that is, Seras. I was raised by men in a house full of men.”

“I’ve never had anything like that, either,” I sighed. “Seems silly, but sort of…tempting.”

She eyed me closely. “You know,” she said slowly. “I make my own schedule. I haven’t bought a dress for my own wedding, either.”

Now hopeful, I couldn’t resist bouncing on the balls of my feet. “You didn’t plan on doing the fancy stuff, Sir?”

“No, I despise women’s clothing. Walter is lucky I decided not to marry him in a tuxedo.” She lit another cigar. “Tell you what, Seras; let me arrange for a car. We’ll go to the closest, nicest shopping district and have a little fun.”

“No men?” I asked.

“No men,” she affirmed. “What do we need them for?”