Hellsing Fan Fiction ❯ Integral gets a break ❯ Some clues for the time being ( Chapter 6 )

Drizzle was filling the air, the forerunner of early autumn. Alexander exhaled, his breath enfolding him in milky, transparent puff. He was standing on the platform of the Charing Cross station, having nowhere to go. Golden light from the lanterns showed the way to the exit but he hesitated. The priest would have to wait until morning, until the messenger came. He would spend some of this time in the cafés that open in early hours. Anderson was grateful for their existence, but the prospect of having breakfast in Mc Donald's made him shudder. However it wasn't open yet and he would have to wander the streets until then.

The reason why he was sent to arrive this late at night was bothering him. It was long since he had been sent on such kind of missions. Iscariot was more likely to use him as an exterminator; still Alexander welcomed the change although he despised spying. His nobility had always amused Heinekel”If bullets carry no power to kill you, then this does.” She used to say.

Leaving the railway station, the priest carried on to the old part of the city. He liked it, regardless of the threats, not like he had many, regardless of the country it belonged to or who defended it. The old London was beautiful without people, he admitted. Glancing at the reflection he saw in some shop window he combed his untidy hair in the last attempt to tame it. Absorbed in tranquility of a city asleep, Anderson didn't notice a random, shifting shadow, nor did he spot a glimpse of crimson here and there. His tracker was a master of his work.

The Iscariot agent was now standing in a medium sized square, lit by four lanterns, their golden light being reflected by still green lime trees. A neat fountain sprouted in the middle of the square. He took another look around to be sure he wasn't followed. However the streets remained as hollow as before.

The thing he did notice was a pulse of the cell phone in his pocket. The ring had been set on vibrate for many reasons. First of all it was more discrete; secondly the reaction of the priest wasn't fatal to the device. In fact this cell phone has lasted longer than any other had - three weeks. This was bruised and had suffered a lot though, but it was still functional.

The blonde man produced the thin thing out of his pocket and was trying to push the small receiver button. After several minutes of swearing under his breath, he succeeded sighing with relief. Those modern mobile phones with tiny buttons got on his nerves.

“Yes” he answered holding the gadget elegantly to his ear, commencing to pace around the square which seemed to become smaller with the priest in it.

“Restless aren't we?” murmured a low voice somewhere above the trees. Alucard was crouching on the crest of some Victorian building next to a gargoyle, strangely resembling one himself. The vampire observed his foe knowing he would fight Anderson that night. After all, his presence alone in England was a threat to Hellsing and queen. Perhaps Integral would disagree, but she wasn't there to stop him.

Meanwhile the priest had finished his little conversation. The bullet test Walter had requested would have to wait, obviously, that fanatic was waiting for something and so was he.

A change in the scene brought Alucard out of his ponderings. A man in casual business like clothing approached the lonesome priest. The newcomer was wearing plain gray duster and carried a black briefcase, which caught vampire's eye. This business was rather suspicious looking. First of all nobody used the paladin on such subtle missions, he was a mere pawn, too overtaken by scriptures to think straight, too eager to get himself into a mess. Secondly he drew too much attention.

Wait a minute, attention, that made sense after all, too bad none of the humans saw the outcome, the useless creatures they were, that epithet went to Integral's intelligence service. He had heard his Mistress think about Iscariot spying on her organization for three weeks now, Walter had been doing his best, to no purpose sadly.

The Vatican obviously thought Alexander Anderson would sidetrack the attention from the real threat, and sadly, he did. Alucard suspected that somewhere in this entire goddamned city the real accounts on Hellsing organization were exchanged for a good amount of money.

It was a hypothesis still and vampire was now pondering how to kill two birds with one stone. He wanted to know the contents of the briefcase as well as he craved to know who had sent the mediator. The man in the duster didn't smell nor look familiar; obviously the one who had sent him clearly knew they would be followed. Smart, yet, Alucard had experienced too much of human nature in his longevity. Humans weren't as creative as they would like to think, they repeated their mistakes and each generation stubbornly tried to change the outcome of the same formula.

The vampire had to raid the pair soon, or they would be out of his reach.

Anderson felt an insistent gaze upon him, it felt almost piercing and it wasn't coming from the stranger in front of him. This caused the priest to be on his guard. Very little persons he knew possessed such penetrating sight, and the goddamned creature who slaved for that heathen organization was on the top of the list. Somehow Alexander knew his mission didn't differ from others, even if he was told it to be different. That upset him by some reasons, as if he wasn't trusted to do such a delicate task; it wasn't the first time at that.

“Hello, I guess I was supposed to deliver you this.” The man in duster greeted in a shaky voice. Well the description of the recipient matched: Priest, blonde, tall, thirtyish, large scar on the left cheek, glasses. He also remembered something told of a manic- depressive, but thought it to be a joke.

Anderson observed the person, he seemingly dreaded to approach the priest and therefore left the briefcase somewhat in the middle of the path between both.

Then something happened, the priest was silently awaiting it.

A loud gunshot echoed in the square, all Alexander was able to say betore the bullet hit his frontal bone was - “RUN!” Soon next two bullets embedded in his heart and stomach. That hurt for a moment, but then the feeling was replaced by inexplicable numbness. His partially recovering brain functions could hardly distinguish the vision impulses sent by the paladin's eyes. There was a blur of black, yellow and red. In the back of his mind he registered that something had gone awfully wrong, before his cerebration came to complete shut down.

Silently thanking Walter for his ingenuity, Alucard shifted through the shadows rapidly approaching his other victim, which now was fleeing, its attempt, futile.

Alucard reappeared in front of the stranger, gripping him tightly, towering above him, oppressing this being by his enormous height and petrifying him by his will.

“Don't toss; it is only your mind I desire.” The vampire said grinning sardonically, placing one of his palms over the man's small scull, penetrating his memory, causing his victim's body shake in convulsions from the rough invasion equal to electric shock. However there was little useful information he could find. Alucard continued to mess with the man's thoughts a bit longer then necessary, in order to cause him a slight amnesia.

The vampire was about to finish his work when several bayonets embedded in his back.

He flung around, glancing at the hands of the Big Ben - 10 minutes, not bad, shepherd, not bad, but late as always. Some more bullets found the target, regardless where they hit, the effects should be the same.

The undead took his time examining the briefcase, he didn't touch the locks, but undid the case with his mind, there was nothing worthy, as he had expected. Then he decided to take case holding it gently by the both sides, not to smear some probable fingerprints.

Anderson lay motionless on the ground, healing slowly after the impact. His blood was splattered everywhere. As soon as Alexander regained consciousness, he noticed that his limbs weren't responding. Something just wasn't right, wait, the bullets!!! He snarled at his opponent through gritted teeth, as much as his state allowed him to.

That took the assassins attention, as he turned to the paladin with a devilish gleam in his unhidden eye.

“Priest, your blood is so warm and pure; it would be shame to waste it, just let me know if you mind.” The paladin couldn't do anything else but watch in shock and disgust as the beast lapped the blood zealously off his wounds; it has been a long time before Alucard had tasted warm meal. The vampire was entertained by faint grunts and growls that Anderson managed to breathe out as signs of protest. However in some 3 minutes time the magic moment would be over. The priest would be completely regenerated, and probably wouldn't tolerate the invasion of his personal space, not to mention other things; a bloody smile played on vampires lips. Alucard rose from Alexander's limp body.

“Best regards, Human of Iscariot.” With that he tipped his hat and dissolved in thin air alongside with the case.