Hellsing Fan Fiction ❯ Drowning in Darkness ❯ Shadows and Death ( Chapter 1 )

Drowning in Darkness

By: Lazeralk

Standard disclaimers apply

In the name of God, impure souls of the living dead shall be banished into eternal damnation. Amen.

Part 1

Integra Wingates Hellsing studied the files before her, light reflecting of her glasses. She felt a presence enter the room, a sliding, chill wind snaking down her spine. She did not look up.

"Sit down Arucard. I have a new mission for you."

The chair didn't make a sound; there was no breath to move the air, but she knew he had obeyed her, as he always obeyed her.

"We found out who's behind the freaks production. A Russian scientist developed the chip, basing all his information on the vampire Incognito. You are to infiltrate the facility and kill him, any freaks guarding the compound and anyone else who dares to stand in your way. Destroy any remaining chips and bring me a copy of the design for the archives. Raze the building. Go." She said.

"I need more bullets." Was the only reply, the vampire's smooth tenor reverberating through the room.

"Walter has a box waiting for you."

She reached for the wine glass on her desk and lifted her head. The room was empty save her.

*

Seras Victoria was abominably bored. Her room in the Hellsing house was little more than a stone crypt with a four-poster coffin. Her new position within the `information division' was the most horrendously degrading thing that had ever befallen her. She'd have to ask her master to suggest a change of task forces for her. That, however, would have to wait until he came back from his mission in Russia. In the mean time, she got to sit in her room, drink some blood and sleep until her commanding officer decided to acknowledge her existence.

The poor fool had been absolutely mortified to have a vampire on his team. She sighed, cursing her boredom. She was officially `off-duty' until `further notice', yeah, sure. She might as well settle down to rot for the rest of eternity in that case. She wished desperately for something to happen. Her fingers ached to wield her weapon again, to feel the satisfying kick of the giant gun she'd been given. Walter had forbidden her to practice with it in the shooting range, as the gun she used was the equivalent of an unmounted rocket launcher. The weapon had already been cleaned and polished, the shells loaded and stacked neatly; the only decoration in her dismal room.

Decoration, ah, now there was an idea. She hopped off her bed and pulled open the drawer in her desk. A thick envelope was waiting for her, all of her uncashed paychecks inside. She was a vampire, all her food and shelter was provided for her and she had no use for the money. She'd brought clothes from her apartment in the city and hadn't really though much about getting any more. But now she had a use for it, decorations, why hadn't she thought of that before?

She tucked the envelope into her coat and walked out of her room and up the stairs to the ground level floor. She climbed the stairs to the third where Sir Integra's office was and knocked lightly on the door.

"Enter." Came a voice from within.

She hesitantly pushed it open and walked inside. She wasn't nearly as close to her employer as her master was and she still shook with nerves sometimes. The tall blonde woman was regal and cool; her crisp manner always seemed unfriendly to the fledgling vampire.

"Yes, Victoria?"

"Um…Sir Integra, I just wanted to ask your permission to um…well you see, my room is awfully empty, not that I'm ungrateful to you for letting me stay here, but…well, I thought I might do a bit of decorating. I won't if you don't want me to, it's your house after all…"

"Do what ever you want." Said the head of the Hellsing Organization, cutting her off.

"Oh…um…thank you."

"Is that all?"

"Ah…yes ma'am."

"You may go."

"Yes ma'am…"

She turned on her heel and left the room quickly, hurrying down the stairs and out into the yard. She took one of the company cars into town and headed for the bank to cash her checks.

*

Arucard growled in frustration, he lowered his gun and stared at the smoking ruin of his target. The bodies lay in pieces, blood slowly creeping towards him. Lights and walls were shattered, tables lay broken and forgotten, the other furniture was filled with bullet holes and seeping blood. There was no life left in the place and not a single kill was his.

He turned violently, his power rolling off his figure in waves, smashing anything that lay in his path. Six floors of corpses and ruined rooms, six floors of blood and carnage and none of it was his work. Someone had beaten him to his target and taken it out for him. The vampire was understandably infuriated. With a feral growl, he dissolved into the shadows and made his way back to the Hellsing house. He'd have a word with his master about sending him on pointless missions like this.

*

A shadow crept along the street, moving with a fluid grace that no human could rival and a silence that only the grave could match. The figure watched as a short blond head bobbed among the crowd, weaving her way through the people and into shops, easily lifting the weight of the many bags she carried.

The shadow tracked her movements, noting her blood red eyes and easy strength, watching her talk to the shop keepers and help the few strangers who tripped or had no free hands to open doors. She lifted a piece of sky blue silk and laughed merrily. The shadow retreated then, the little blonde vampire suspecting nothing.

*

The door slammed open, jolting her from her relaxed position at her desk.

"Arucard! What the hell do you think your doing?" she demanded.

"Why did you send me on such a mission?" growled the vampire.

"What on earth are you talking about? I sent you on the mission because I wanted that hellhole destroyed."

"Well, you got it. The place was already in ruins when I got there." He hissed.

"Some one else took it out? Who? Did you see anyone?"

"Then you didn't know?"

Silence.

"I think we may have a problem."

*

A woman screamed, pleading desperately for her attackers to stop, her heels kicking uselessly against the asphalt. The four thugs laughed cruelly, reaching for her with clawed fingers, hissing and flashing their fangs. The streets were dark and deserted, no help was coming, and they all knew it.

"Please, someone help me!"

One of the men opened his jaws wide and smashed her throat with a single bite, nearly severing her head. The others laughed, ripping limbs from the body and greedily drinking the hot, fresh blood. The light above them flickered and died, they didn't care. A sharp whistling sound cut the air and the four young vampires joined their victim, pieces of their bodies falling heavily to the ground, the river of blood making a solid backdrop for the macabre collage of severed flesh.

The light flicked back on and a shadow dissolved into shadow.

*

"Sir Integra, we have another one. The sixth this week, actually." Said Walter calmly as he presented a few black and white photos to his employer. She studied them silently, flipping through a mound of files on her desk.

"All the victims have been confirmed vampires, ghouls or victims of the victims. It seems someone has decided to take our noble cause as their own."

"Thirty-nine vampires, sixty-two ghouls, and twenty normal humans dead. Arucard! Come here!" called Integra.

The vampire entered through the wall, his red coat flapping around his ankles.

"Take a look at these. Did the people in Russia look like this?" She asked, handing him the stack of photos.

Walter poured her a new glass of wine while they watched him flip through the photos, his expression changing from anger to delight.

"You know, I was pretty angry that someone else was taking all my fun away, but hunting this new hunter may be just the thing I need." He said, tossing the pictures back on the desk.

"The bodies in Russia looked the same, it's one killer. He uses some sort of long blade, probably made of the same stuff as my bullets. See if any of the churches have given out any large blessed crosses. Maybe we can find out exactly what kind of weapon we're dealing with."

"Already done, and we didn't find a thing. Though I think if the blades were made of melted down crosses, the bodies would be dust. But how are they dead at all if it weren't?" said Walter, now very confused.

"A new type of metal that can kill the undead with out turning them to dust? This could be very bad or very good. Arucard, take Victoria and find this person. I want him in Hellsing. If you can't convert him, kill him." Said Integra, folding her hands before her.

"Why am I taking the police girl?" asked Arucard.

"Because the girl's been bored out of her mind. She came to me today and asked if she could decorate her room. Just take her, and I'll have a word with her superiors."

Arucard left the same way he'd come in, through the wall.

*

Seras had just finished hanging her new light blue curtains over her bricked in windows when her master glided in through the ceiling.

"Get ready to go police girl, we have a mission." He said, still slightly irritated that he had to bring her at all.

"Where are we going master?" she asked, quickly changing into her Hellsing uniform and strapping her bag of ammo to her back. She lifted her huge gun and slung it over her shoulder.

"Around town. We're looking for some fun." He said, the prospect of a hunt bringing a psychotic smile to his face.

"Oh…should I get a different gun then? We don't want people to run screaming at the sight of me." She said, looking at the near five-foot barrel of her weapon.

"Here." He said, pulling his old gun from the depths of his coat and handing it to her. She placed her gun and the ammo box back on the wall and pulled a felt coat out of her closet. The coat was a pepper gray and had black fur trim, reached to her knees and buttoned all the way down. She took the gun her master offered and tucked it in to the inside breast pocket. The coat was loose enough in the chest that it didn't show too much.

"Ready." She declared with a smile.

Arucard resisted the urge to roll his eyes, even though she couldn't see them behind his highly reflective glasses.

"Lets go, police girl."

They walked out of the mansion and all the way into town, not bothering with a car. Seras told him about her new superior and how he blatantly ignored her and how she wanted to go back on a mobile task force, and where she'd gotten her new curtains. She told him she was going to put a mirror over her dresser and get some nick-knacks to make her room a little cheerier.

He listened calmly, not saying anything and wondering if he'd made a mistake in making her a vampire. She was so happy, so full of life, he wondered if she'd grow cold and sad over the years, never aging, always hiding in the shadows, hunting the living and the dead alike. He wondered if she'd ever find happiness now that she was a member of Hellsing, if she'd ever find love.

They reached the end of the street and turned into an ally that led behind the shops. The noise of the streets beyond was nothing but a low hum to any mortal's ears, the same as it always was to the ears of a vampire.

A group of men and women stood around in the darkness, their skin a sickly white. They turned to the two strangers and began to spread out, forming a circle around the two.

"Who are you?" asked one, a piece of pipe in his skeletal hands.

"I don't give my name to scum." Replied Arucard smoothly.

"I know who you are. You're that bitch Hellsing's pet vamp. You took out my brother's coven." Hissed another, a chain thumping against his leg impatiently.

"He's the one? Big Red? He doesn't look like much." Sneered a third.

-On my count police girl.- whispered Arucard in her mind.

-Yes master.- she replied, her fingers aching for the gun in her coat.

"Kill `em!"

-Now!-

They both drew their guns at the same time, their movements in perfect sync, facing away from each other. They fired, turned opposite each other and fired again. They quickly made their way around in a circle, killing all of them.

"That was strange." Said Seras.

"You noticed it too did you?" asked Arucard, glancing around the now quiet alley.

The heavy shadows around them suddenly lifted and sounds of the street assaulted their ears in full force. The light from the back of the shops shined brighter and the feeling of being watched dissipated.

"Let's go police girl."

"But- aren't we looking for something?" asked Seras.

"We found it."

"Oh."

*

End part 1