Hellsing Fan Fiction ❯ Dread Nothing ❯ Search and Destroy ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Litter and dry leaves skittered loudly as the bike pulled up, though the sound of them was drowned out almost completely by that of the machine’s powerful engine. It was a sleek beast of a bike, all gleaming chrome and black and red, and its rider made it swerve dramatically before bringing it to a stop. One foot, clad in a heavy leather boot, flipped the kickstand down before lowering to the asphalt as the rider dismounted.

She was a petite woman, her appearance seemingly at odds with the large machine she used for transportation, though there was something about her that exuded confidence. She was dressed simply in a white fitted shirt and black trousers, though from her belt hung various weapons and clips of ammo and, slung across her back on a leather strap, she carried the one weapon she would never be caught without, the rocket launcher that bore her mother’s name.

Lady glanced about her, gloved hands instinctively moving to hover over her guns. Strange noises echoed from somewhere beyond the building before her, and the shadows thrown out by the moon and solitary street lamp seemed to move and twist in unnatural ways.

Still, there were no devils in sight. She concluded that they must be inside, or underground. That was probably best; there was less chance of causing a disturbance to the local population. That was, if the creatures had left anyone in the area alive.

She frowned slightly, hoping that she had arrived in time to minimise the damage of such an infestation. The flight from the U.S. alone had taken long enough…

She sighed and forced herself to relax, letting a small smile slip onto her lips as she began to stride forward, drawing a small handgun as she went. At least it shouldn’t be too tough a job, she thought to herself, entering the building through its small, half hidden front entrance.

Behind her, the shadows closed in, slithering over the tarmac with the barest of whispers and enveloping the street in darkness.

---

“Master?” Her voice was quiet, but seemed too loud for the silent evening. He didn’t look round, but greeted her anyway. When he spoke his voice didn’t sound as incongruous as she felt hers did; he belonged to the night, so that even his voice seemed to blend with the long, darkening shadows.

“Good evening, police girl.”

She frowned and stepped up beside him. His eyes flicked briefly sideways, took in her mildly irritated expression, and lowered once more. She sighed quietly and took a seat on the stone step at his side. Even after all this time he still insisted on calling her “police girl”. She had begun to suspect that he only did it to annoy her.

“I have a name, you know,” she said. “Seras Victoria, remember?”

“I know what your name is,” he said, but did not look at her again. She felt her sense of irritation rising, and she glared at the side of his head. “Here,” he said, rummaging into an inside pocket of his coat and producing a full blood pack. He tossed it to her, and Seras fumbled to catch it. He took out a second for himself, and began to drink.

“Master…?”

“I have a name as well, you know,” he said silkily, “police girl.”

Seras’ eyes became quite round, and she looked down to the blood packet in her hands.

“I… wh-” she tried to reply, but Alucard interrupted her.

“Well now, it seems that my master wants to see us.” He flicked his eyes up and to the right, as if his mind was elsewhere, then nodded. He returned his attention to the girl at his side. “We wouldn’t want to keep her waiting, now would we?”

His coat rustled like dead leaves as he rose to his feet. She held the blood bag in one hand and moved to stand up also, but lifted her eyes to find her master proffering one white-gloved hand to help her. She blinked, and glanced in confusion from his hand to his face. He raised an eyebrow, and she thought she saw the corner of his mouth curl upwards. After a moment’s hesitation, she placed her hand in his and stood up, allowing him to help her to her feet.

“Shall we, then?” He smirked at her and began to walk forward, but before Seras could fall in step he had faded into the evening, leaving the younger vampire in the garden alone.

---

Sir Integral was standing in front of her desk when Seras arrived. Alucard was already there, leaning nonchalantly against the wall, head down and with his hat obscuring most of his face, his arms folded. Integral’s face was its usual pensive mask, though she did at least acknowledge Seras’ presence with a small nod as the girl entered.

“I’m sorry,” Seras stammered, hastily closing the door behind her. “I got here as quickly as I could.”

“Not quite true,” Alucard muttered, but both Seras and Integral chose to ignore him.

“Seras, I’m glad you could make it,” the older woman said, her voice calm and friendly, in her own restrained sort of way. She moved behind her desk and sat down, taking a cigar from the box and placing it between her lips. She paused for a moment to light it, then inhaled, lowering the cigar to blow out a narrow stream of smoke before continuing. “I won’t beat about the bush,” she said. “We’ve received word from various inner city authorities of a number of situations that require the attention of our Organisation. It seems several buildings in the city are under attack from… creatures.”

Alucard looked up at this. “Freaks?”

Integral fixed him with a level gaze. “I don’t know,” she replied. “That’s what we need to find out. No one seems to know just what these things are.” Seras thought she could detect a hint of irritation in the woman’s voice. “Everyone who’s tried to find out has been killed in the process.”

Seras winced. “So… this mission is just reconnaissance?” she asked.

Integral shifted her attention from Alucard to the girl. “Not at all,” she replied, her eyebrows arching gently as she leaned back in her seat. “I want you to go in and find out what we’re dealing with, and then, as soon as you can, destroy them all.”

Seras gasped. “What? In every one of the affected buildings?” she queried.

Integral smiled, a slow, crooked smile. “Well,” she said. “That is your mission, after all: search and destroy.”