Hellhounds

The baking noon day sun burned the shattered and broken concrete of the street as I walked though the outskirts of London, Murrfy at my side trotting along enjoying the fresh air. It had been awhile, I thought, since I last let him out of the warehouse. For his own safety I felt it was best to leave him outside the reach of the creatures of the city, besides, the warehouse was large enough, even for him, to get enough exercise should he want it.

As we walked on I glanced at my now bandaged right hand, how the hell was it possible? I mean if I was a Vampire then how could I be, right now, walking through the shinning sun? It made no sense! I had never needed to drink blood, never even felt the need to, I could cross running water which I understood to be impossible for vampires and I could even eat normal food without throwing up…okay unless it was shit food but who doesn’t vomit at that? Admittedly being a Vampire would explain the increase in strength and senses but even so…

In frustration I briefly stopped and made a kick at the collapsing and broken wall of a once apartment complex…the whole building collapsed in on itself and Murrfy barked in protest at the sudden violent out burst.

‘Okay’ I thought begrudgingly ‘I am a monster, no way could a human, of any form, do that.’

Sighing heavily I walked on, casually resting my sword over my right shoulder as I went. I glanced up at the sun, through a pair of dark tinted sunglasses I had found earlier that day, it looked honey brown. Why the hell was I doing this? Okay so I was a Vampire, but did that mean I had to take that…women…up on her offer? Of course not! I had managed fine on my own for a whole month, even if I was a Vampire I hadnt exactly been acting the part had I?

But all the same, with the knowledge that I was indeed a Vampire, I must admit, came a slight measure of uneasiness and fear in the pit of my stomach. What if, just what if, I suddenly snapped or something and went on a feeding frenzy or what if I did something that would badly hurt me or someone else without realizing it or maybe someone, discovering what I was, came after me and managed to kill me, who would take care of Murrfy? Or maybe…maybe…

“ARGH!” I yelled, again kicking a passing building, which collapsed, “I need to stop doing that.” I said to myself as Murrfy started barking again, “At this rate there will be no more buildings left in London worth saving. Come on you mangy mutt lets get moving.”

From the inside of the faded leather trench coat I pulled out the card that Sir Hellsing had left behind. On the plain white card was a coat of arms, a shield split into four sections, two black and two red, with ‘Hellsing’ written above it. On the back were an address and a telephone number. Honestly what was the point of giving me a telephone number? All the phones in London died the day of the attack.

I now made my way towards the address, with luck I should make it there by sunset. I would’ve been able to get there within an hour, but not with Murrfy at my side, and considering I doubted I would ever return to that warehouse, I couldn’t just abandon the animal that had been my loyal and faithful companion all these long weeks. Stopping for a moment I squatted down and started to pet Murrfy, scratching him behind his big floppy ears.

“You don’t think I’m a monster do you boy?” to which he barked happily in response, panting in the heat of the day “Good, didn’t think so. Now come on!” I said grabbing a stick then throwing it as I stood up.

She couldn’t concentrate, not since the run in with the person, William. Even though she was now head of a no longer secret organization that acted more like the countries police force than anything else, she couldn’t get him out of her head. To have the power that he had, the strength and speed and reflex that all the reports showed him to have, and NOT be a Vampire…just what was he?

Sighing heavily she opened the draw of her desk and pulled out a cigar which she lit and began to smoke. Life just wasn’t the same any more, the whole world had changed ever since that day one month ago…even since Walter…violently shaking her head she removed the thoughts of that traitor from her head. The past was the past, she told herself, and no good ever came from dwelling on the past.

Redoubling her vigil she returned to her work, some papers on new transfers from the SAS to Hellsing. Hours past in mundane boredom as she read over paper after paper after more boring papers concerning everything from reports on Ghoul attacks up and down the country, half of which were probably nothing more than paranoia, to trivial things such as her soldiers complaining about their living quarters. For Gods sake, the whole world was in a state of chaos and her own men were complaining about the windows in the barrack creaking in a strong wind and the fact that there was a leak or two in the ceiling.

For peets sake, these were men who had fought in the worst living conditions in the world, many living in them for months and a time and they were complaining about a little noise and water! Honestly! After finally finishing the last of the paper work she stubbed out the butt of her cigar. That was something else that had changed, no longer did she simple light a cigar to have it lit, she actually smoked them as you’re meant to smoke a cigar and she found that she needed to now days.

Pulling out another from her desk she lit it. Only by the blinding light of the lighters flame did she realize just how late it had gotten. Looking at the clock on her table she saw that it was already eight o’clock.

‘Bloody hell,’ she thought as she finished lighting the cigar, ‘this is why I need a new butler, at least then I will have someone to keep track of time.’

Standing up she walked over to the door and switched on the lights, which blinded her for a second. Once her eyes adapted to the sudden brightness she looked around her recently rebuild and refurbished office. The house that her ancestors had built as beyond repair but, thankfully, there had been several sets of blueprints stored in several offshore locations in case something like this did happen, there had also been enough money in the various accounts to rebuilt the mansion several times over. That way, even if the mansion was levelled to the ground it could be rebuild to its original design.

However, Sir Integra Hellsing was not one for repeating passed mistakes. Though it might seem over kill after the defeat of the Millennium Origination, Integra had installed state of the art new security systems that would turn the mansion into a veritable fortress should there be even a hint of an attack against it. With SAM and AA sites placed liberally throughout the grounds and on mansions roof to defend against any possible air attack, as well as countless claymore mines placed in the grounds, all to be activated with a single flip of a switch in the central control room placed in the very heart of the mansion.

That isn’t including a whole foot of steel reinforcement in every last one of the walls and doors of the place, two foot around the control room. Not to mention an intricate web of over three hundred automated machinegun positions both inside and outside the building armed with the rounds that made Alucards Casull so dangerous. Oh yes, thought Integra returning to her desk, she learned from past mistakes, her families mansion was a mansion no more, but rather a castle build and run but for a singular purpose, to protect England and her Queen. It was then, as she sat there contemplating her families’ new heritage that she received a rather interesting intercom from the front gate.

The six guards couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Only moments before a dishevelled stranger wearing sunglasses a black t-shirt, unbuttoned blue dress shirt, faded green trousers tucked into faded black military issue combat boots with a large well fitted black leather trench coat walked up to the front gates of the Hellsing manor, casually carrying a black sheathed straight sword over his right shoulder, kept in place by a roughly bandaged right hand, with a massive black English Mastiff, claming to have been personally invited to the manor by Sir Hellsing herself. Who the hell was this guy kidding?!

“What?” asked one of the guards nonplussed, staring at the man before them, who sighed and repeated what he had just said.

“Open the gates. I am here to see Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing; she came to me yesterday offering me a job to work for her. Here,” he said reaching for something inside is coat, at which all six men aimed their large automatic machineguns directly at him; three aimed at his head the other three at his heart. Sighing again the man ignored the guns and pulled out a small white card which he held out to them, “, she gave me this.”

One of the guards quickly grabbed the card and looked at it, it was most certainly one of Hellsings, and the only way to get it was from Sir Hellsing herself. They all looked at the man and his massive dog, who was now sitting next to his master, panting happily away.

“Call her if you like; tell her William is here to see her.”

The head guard stepped back and walked over to the heavily armoured security booth to the right of the entrance. Clicking the intercom he informed Sir Hellsing about the stranger claiming to know her. The moment he said the name ‘William’ she yelled at him to let the man in…without an escort! When he clarified the order she simply told him to tell the man to ‘follow his nose.’ Follow his nose?! What was she on about? But, then again he was not one for questioning a superiors order so that is what he reported to the man.

“Follow my nose? What the hell does that mean?”

“I don’t know sir,” said the confused guard, “if you would like I could give you an escort.”

Sighing in resentment I said not to bother, didn’t want him to get in trouble by going against his orders. Walking past the six confused men and into the large front garden I wondered what the hell Sir Integra wanted me to prove by tracking her scent, she obviously knew I could so why bother having me prove it just for the sake of it. Shaking it off as noting more than a powerful women’s self-gratification I walked, Murrfy at my side, up the stone steps and into the large entrance hall of the Hellsing Mansion, admittedly taken aback by the weight and thickness of the doors, even on ball bearing hinges that I heard spinning away.

So he had come after all, she thought whilst smoking her recently lit cigar, why? It was made clear last night that he didn’t want to join them, so what had changed? It did not mater she would find out soon enough…or perhaps not so soon. She smiled wickedly to herself as she thought about how lost her guest was about to become in a Mansion that completely smelled like her, a test as it were, to see just how good his senses really was. Though even she didn’t realize what her servant was going to do to the poor man.

“That little BITCH!”

This is why she didn’t want me to have an escort, that little, underhanded, tricky bitch of a witch! She knew that the whole mansion smelled like her, she knew my nose would be useless here, she knew it and she used it! Damn her, damn her to hell! It would be a miracle if I managed to find the exit again let alone her! My lost status was not helped by the fact that almost all of the hallways in this place seemed to look the same, even though they all carried different paintings and tapestries it was still very difficult to visually distinguish a difference between any of them.

“I swear to whatever Gods or Goddess’s are listening to me that by the end of this night the last of the Hellsings will be NO MORE!”

As I kept on walking I started to mark the routes I had taken, by cutting an arrow in the direction I was heading into the wall. To my eternal dismay that plan failed, for these halls seemed to have a mind of their own and even though I never turned the corners in a way that would make my circle my own tracks I still, somehow, ended up going around in circles.

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS PLACE!?”

I yelled as I passed an arrow with three slashes underneath it, markers to determine how many times I repeatedly walked passed the place. Giving an animalistic roar of frustration I kicked the wall and then yelled in pain and clutch my throbbing foot as I jumped up and down on the spot.

“What the hell was that?!” I said as I stared at the wall that was far stronger than stone should be.

Pulling out my sword I scrapped away the plaster and mould of a small area of wall until shinning steel was revealed. Tapping it to see how thick it was it made no sound; that wasn’t good. She had reinforced the walls with more than a foot of steel and the doors too no doubt, that would explain the weight and thickness of the entrance doors.

“Great! Oh sod this I’m resting for a minute.” I sat down against the wall, Murrfy next to me.

I looked up and down the hall and after a minute noticed something, it was darker than it should have been. For about a fifteen foot distance either way form me the hall was as it should have been, but then suddenly it darkened, so much so that I couldn’t even see the lights on the ceiling or walls. Now that wasn’t right, I thought standing up; someone other than Sir Integra was messing with me. Thinking quickly I figured there was only one thing to do, bypass the darkness.

Hitting the floor with my foot a few times I heard the lovely sound of ‘thud, thud’. So the floors weren’t steel…and if the floor wasn’t steel then that would mean that…I looked up with a truly evil smile on my face. Telling Murrfy to sit and stay I moved a few feet away from him, this was one thing I loved about the animal it was highly obedient; whoever his original owner was knew how to train dogs.

Alucard had awoken to the smell of that human, what was he doing here? Sliding open his coffins lid he stepped out, his cloths appearing from the shadows as he did so. He didn’t know what the human was doing walking around his Masters new home unescorted but he was going to have some fun with him. Disappearing into the shadows he soon found the two walking along one of the first floor hallways, the human, William, complaining about the constant smell of his Master in the mansion.

Keeping his form hidden within the shadows he made it so that every so often the human and his pet would walk through one of his shadow portals. This had to be done very carefully to avoid the human realizing what was happening. However, because of centuries of experience he was well accomplished at this trick, even if it had been awhile since he last used it.

Alucard was quite amused with the results of his practical joke, gaining small amounts of twisted joy from the humans’ frustration and anger and his lack of progress. It really had been too long since he last messed with a human and he did enjoy so.

For over two hours he messed with the two, never losing his amusement. That was until the human stopped and looked around. Alucard watched as he saw the human thump the floor with his foot, what was he doing? He thought as he saw him look up with a smile that should not have been on his face. No, he couldn’t really be thinking of…

I jumped, at full force and speed. I jumped up through the floor and onto the next level. Finally! I thought it had been strange that in the whole of the level I was on I never once found a set of stairs. Someone, or rather something, had been messing with me but they never expected me to simply jump. Ha, I thought, eat that you son of a bitch.

“Just what the blooming hell is going on…oh its’ you.”