Hellsing Fan Fiction ❯ Drowning in Darkness ❯ The Plot Thickens ( Chapter 5 )

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 5

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Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, it really makes my feel special. This chapter is for you.

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Malikai, once more seated before his computer, pulled out the napkin with the bloodstain and carefully squeezed it to get a drop of the precious fluid onto a microscope slide. He flattened it with another piece of glass and slid it into a small box specially designed for it. He wrote `Seras' on the top and tucked the box into an envelope.

He'd analyze it later.

*

"So Shadow, tell us about yourself."

"No."

"Look, Wraith-girl, we need to know about why you're hunting this vamp. Anything you can tell us might be a clue. The older the vamp the crazier, and they like to leave their own special calling cards." Said Arucard.

"Wraith girl?" asked Shadow throwing him a strange look.

"You're a shadow wraith aren't you?"

"No, I'm a Shadow Walker. Shadow wraiths are human myths. You do have a point however so be silent. I will only explain this once." She sat gracefully in an over stuffed chair in Integra's office. Arucard and Seras were there as well, also seated around the heavy piece of wood. Walter stood by the door, ever patient.

"My people are Shadow Walkers because that is what we do. We walk shadows, or rather the space in between the worlds. Your world extends infinitely in all directions, and yet is contained not by space of physical limitations but by a force of power that separates realities. In truth all universes occupy the same space, which is indefinite. A thin barrier made of the substance of time is the only thing dividing this world and thousands of others. There is space between those barriers because to share a barrier would result in the worlds eventually merging. This space is both guarded and inhabited by my people. We are born of shadows and cannot die, just as shadows can never truly die, simply fade and then reappear. Do you follow so far?" She asked, shifting uncomfortably at the thought of bearing all her secrets.

Arucard nodded, so did Integra and Walter. Seras was not so lucky. The curses of being blonde.

"I said before that a name is a human concept that we don't bother with, this is because we are highly psychic. We have no need of names when we can simply project the image of the person we are talking about in each other's minds. Words are used only when necessary as entire concepts can be shared mind to mind in the blink of an eye. By our laws only certain shadows are allowed to cross the barriers into mortal worlds. I am one of them. We research each world, and keep a vast archive. There are two levels to the Shadow Realm, the Shallows and the Deep. The Shallows are accessible to vampires and certain humans who possess the talent. No non-Shadow Walker has ever passes into the Deep. Ever. Now, this next concept I'm going to explain is very important, the very basis of my hunt." She said, she took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts and turning them into words that a creature that had grown up on such a pitiful form of expression could grasp.

"Unlike your society, we have no monetary system. We don't trade, we don't manufacture and distribute. We simply create. Within the Shadow Realm one's will rules all things. If something is needed, we will it into existence and it becomes an extension of ourselves, dependent on our life force and the coherent thought to maintain its existence." She seemed to stress the words `dependent' and `extension', as if they were fundamentally important.

"If a shadow fades then all the things it has created fade as well, understand? They fade and cease to be because there is no longer a will to support them."

She looked around the room and watched Arucard nod, Integra rub the bridge of her nose, Walter smiled a little and Seras just looked lost.

"I was away, on assignment for the Library when it happened. In this world actually, but researching calligraphy in Japan. I was gone for a total of five days before I returned to the Deep, there was nothing. My whole civilization had been wiped out. There was nothing in the darkness, save my room and the things inside it that I had created for myself. All of my people are gone, my home is gone. My friends and family have faded, and with them all traces of their existence."

There was a ringing silence after that, Shadow closed her ebony eyes, the muscles in her face tightening with a pain she would not voice.

"You really think a vampire could have wiped out your whole race?" asked Arucard looking at her as if he doubted her words.

"My people are not warriors Arucard, only those who are sent Beyond receive any training in combat. Our purpose was to keep mortals from crossing from one world to another and that was all."

"I'm so sorry for you Miss Shadow." Whispered Seras, who at least understood the pain of loosing something close to the heart.

"Thank you Miss Seras." She whispered in return, pulling her hip length obsidian tresses over her shoulder and carefully braiding it. She stroked her hair with long slender fingers, over and over in a nervous cycle.

"I don't know of any vampire that could possibly have done that, even with five days of eternal night." Said Arucard, a finger tapping his chin thoughtfully.

"Perhaps if I could go into the Shadow Realm and taste the energy there. Any thing that could kill all of your people-"

"No, they aren't dead. You can't kill a Shadow Walker, it isn't possible. They've faded and are somehow being kept from coming back. Some magic is keeping them from reforming." Said Shadow harshly.

"Magic huh? Sounds like fun. Some one as powerful as that would make my ideal opponent." Said Arucard as he cackled with mad delight.

Integra rolled her eyes.

*

"This is it?"

"Yeah, it's fresh too." Replied Malikai.

"Good. With your findings we could be very rich men indeed. Keep your cover Olsen."

"Yes sir."

"Good night then."

"Good night." Said Malikai to the car as it moved down the alleyway.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and headed back to the street corner to call a cab. He'd analyzed Seras' blood and was still numb with the results. No vampire had a right to be what she was, and he'd see her destroyed if it was the last thing he did. Besides, he did care for the girl, she was better of destroyed than in the hands of his master.

*

Walter stood, stretching his long legs without really moving before walking to the open cabinet in his room. The Hellsing retainer was off duty and he knew he should be sleeping, God knew he needed it. But he couldn't close his eyes for more than a few minutes at a time. He pulled his gloves out of the cabinet and put them on, his fingers flexing and feeling the wires hidden in them.

Something bad was coming, he could feel it.

*

Seras Victoria was deeply troubled. Something was wrong with her and she didn't know what it was. She thought of going to Malikai, but no, she couldn't do that. She didn't want to risk her relationship with him. She'd thought of asking her master, but no, he'd just laugh at her. She didn't know Sir Integra well enough to have a girl talk with, and Walter was simply out of the question.

So she lay awake in her bed, staring at the roof of her coffin and did nothing.

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Shadow was in one of the many training room, her slender figure sat cross-legged in the middle of a large padded mat, hovering three feet above the floor. He long blades hovered next to her, the hilt just below her open palms. The swords were shaped like katanas with the exception of the hilts. They were of a similar design to police batons, a short stick to grip attached to a long piece that braced along the underside of the forearm.

Her eyes were closed, her breathing very even. Her body was motionless, no sense of movement from her other than her breathing, as if only her lungs were real and alive and the rest of her was dead.

Arucard walked into the room, knowing that his master was silently proud of him for using the door like a normal sane person would, and watched her for a moment before pulling a Beretta out of his coat and throwing it at her. Her hand snapped out and grabbed it by the barrel, and only then did she turn to look at him.

He drew his own gun, the Hellsing .454 Jackal and aimed it casually at her head.

"Come Shadow, fight with me. The bullets are lead."

Shadow smiled and aimed her own weapon, the blades at her side vanishing as if they never were.

"As you wish."

End part 5