Hellsing Fan Fiction ❯ San Graal ❯ Proposition ( Chapter 4 )

Seras and her companion still lingered near the train station, but neither seemed to be making a move toward Hellsing manor. So much Argetni could discern from the conversation she trained her ear upon over the distance. The Vatican puppet had only heard of the legendary vampire who policed the British Isles in stories told by his comrades, that much she was certain, and it had to be the stories of Argetni's brutality that kept him from her home.

Good, the priest may be able to convince Seras to leave the country, and if not, forged documents from the leader of the NAPHC with a new mission in some remote American location delivered to their temporary residence would certainly be enough to elicit the desired response from the vampiress.

It was not an appropriate time to duel with Seras. The Americanized vampire still was not a worthy opponent, nor would she ever be, and despite her legendary ruthlessness, Argetni just did not receive any thrill from the hunt of lesser prey.

The moon was lovely this time of the year, high and full in the purple sky. It was truly a pity that the corona of London's lights blurred the natural wonder, but she had grown accustomed to the sight even in her mortal years.

But she was expected at Hellsing Manor this night. Damning the child for choosing such an inopportune time for a meeting, she shoved her hands in her trouser pockets, unable to spend the time she wished in the beautiful night.

Moving through shadows, she was inside her family's home almost immediately, appearing in the office where her master should have been waiting to issue her dismissal for the night, but the office was vacant and the only trace of his scent had to be several hours old.

Tardiness was not typical of her master, but she was beyond worrying over such trivial matters such as the location of one mortal. Still, Aiden's absence bothered her- how dare he make an appointment and then not be awaiting her arrival?

No matter, she had all the time in the world to wait for the boy, and she had already fed during her return from the train station, purposely not hiding the body of her victim so she could use Seras as a scapegoat for the crime if necessary.

Should she wait in her room or in the office? Surely, Aiden had to be somewhere inside the manor- probably in the kitchen preparing a snack while Stephen rested for the night.

But no, she would have sensed his presence or caught his scent as she moved through the shadows of the building. The boy-leader was nowhere inside the house.

Nor was he on the property.

Her thoughts snapped back to the current situation as the telephone buzzed, the frantic ringing painful to vampiric senses. Clearing her throat as she picked up the receiver, she smiled, acting as the elderly Devries, voice cracking as she spoke.

"Dame Hellsing, how may I help you?"

"Devries! Where is he!?!"

Argetni's brow furrowed in contempt- she hated speaking with any of the Radclyffe family, but instead of overly passive while still appearing quite chauvinistic as he usually was Charles was truly distraught.

"Who are you speaking of?"

"Your son! Queen Elizabeth's Emergency Centre called to let me know my daughter was being treated for head trauma and your son was there at the scene of the accident as well! The idiots went out riding after dark or something and NOW look what's happened!"

"Aiden knows better than to wander far from the manor at night. He would never agree to ride the grounds after the sun has set, for he knows too much about supernatural creatures to risk his life in a game with your daughter. Hell, the boy would never agree to riding- he despises horses nearly as much as he despises vampires."

"Dame Hellsing, I speak the truth." She could hear the engine of his car cease its rumbling with a click of keys before the man stepped out and slammed the door. "The medics' report stated that two horses were completely groomed and tacked, and that it was Maddy's that fell upon her as it slipped when it was frightened, hitting her head on the cobblestone below."

"So what do you want me to do about it?"

Radclyffe sighed. He should have known better than to call the Hellsing residence, and should have immediately ended the call when the matriarch answered the phone. She despised him, though for what reason, he could not understand. Both his father and grandfather had been quite instrumental in keeping the Hellsing Organization as its own entity after the imprisonment of Sir Integral nearly a century before, and he himself was always jovial when in the presence of Devries, no matter how much he disliked the woman.

"I can't travel easily anymore; my arthritis is absolutely terrible this time of night."

"Send Aiden to me when you see him. Cheers."

No sooner had Charles Radclyffe ended his conversation with the woman he knew as Aiden's elderly mother did he see the boy standing just outside the hospital's main entrance, cigarette pressed firmly between his lips as he stared in to the distance, not acknowledging the people and cars that passed him.

He was ragged; his hair going in all directions and his trousers covered with mud and God could only know what else, but his breeding still shined through the gruff exterior, his posture and presence that of the noble he was, not a valet or attendant as one ignorant commoner suggested as he passed.

"My word, Aiden!" Radclyffe growled, partially in excitement, but mostly in anger, "What in Hell possessed the two of you to go riding?"

The boy sighed turning his head just slightly to glance at the girl's father, eyes bloodshot from crying since the accident occurred, a gloveless hand gently plucking the smoldering cigarette from his lips.

"I was going to accept your proposal for her hand in marriage, Sir Radclyffe, but I wanted to see if she really wished to marry me when I turned eighteen, and I believed that she would find it more romantic to be proposed to while hacking through the park. . . . I don't really know why. . . ."

Another blood-laced tear slipped from the corner of his eye, but this time Aiden decided not to catch it with his fingers before someone could see the slight discoloration. Hell with what the world thought of what he could possibly be- the blood stained tears could be from his own head trauma, for all the passersby could know.

"How is she then?" The words were whispered as the man stepped closer, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, leading him back inside the hospital. Carelessly, the cigarette fell to the ground, smoldering on the pavement as the boy followed, his line of vision not lifting from its position toward the ground.

"Maddy's in a coma. . . . .she'll probably be mentally challenged after this. She hit her head very hard- too hard. . . ." Another blood-laced tear trailed down the boy's cheek, this time his left hand was quick to remove its presence from his face as he sniffled, looking at Sir Radclyffe with tears welling in his eyes. "I said I was her husband so she could be admitted to surgery immediately to do whatever it is they do to try to restore brain functions. So she's admitted under the name Dame Madelen Hellsing, if you're confused by her paperwork."

"No, it's quite all right. You'll be married to her eventually if she pulls through. . . . .she might as well reap some of the benefits of being a Hellsing when she truly needs them."

Together the men walked through the narrow hallways and rode the various lifts that brought them to the intensive care unit where Madelen had been placed, the silence painful as the moments passed.

Nurses hurried from room to room to check upon the patients, not even noticing the two men that passed through their workspace.

"I want to make this up to you somehow. . . . .to make it right for Maddy."

The brightly lit white walled hallway seemed to extend infinitely as the elder man and child-leader continued toward their destination, Aiden stopping just outside the room where Madelen was being kept. His comment was not acknowledged; he would push the subject again when Sir Radclyffe had his wits about him.

A quick glance in the direction of the girl was all Aiden needed- the sight of one in near death due to his own hand was too much for him to accept. He had never even watched his mother kill her victims, nor did he ever ask for specifics of how battles were won or lost against the creatures the Organization fought.

Instead, he had to force the waves of nausea back as he stared at her father, his tutor, his mentor in the Knights of the Round, the only man he could trust.

He had surely just broken all possible trust Radclyffe could have placed in the boy by harming his daughter then lying about the injury. Then again, if the medics had accepted the story, why would Sir Radclyffe doubt it?

"There is nothing to do, really, Aiden. I do not feel it would be fair to you to promise yourself to my daughter if she will be mentally challenged after this incident, so I don't want you to speak of that nonsense again."

Leaning against the wall with eyes closed, the boy-leader only nodded. He was obviously ill; skin now ashen as the nausea tried to overtake his senses once again. "But I must to do something for Madelen at least. I'll pay for her hospitalization and rehabilitation."

"We have just as much wealth as your family, if not more. Finances will not be a concern." Radclyffe sighed, stepping past the boy into the room where his daughter laid, strawberry hair laying softly around her bandaged head. For a man in his situation, Charles Radclyffe was quite composed as he smoothed his daughter's bangs from her forehead, revealing a large bruise just above her right eye, not flinching at her visible injuries or the life support tubes from her nose and mouth. "Really, Aiden, there is nothing you can do."

The boy remained outside the room, unable to bring himself to stare at the girl he had harmed so close, as if somehow she would be able to accuse him in her current state.

"I'll give you the army you want."

Charles froze upon hearing those words. Certainly, he had wished that Aiden would promise Hellsing's support for his organization when the time was appropriate, but not now. The boy-leader was not thinking, and brash decisions were always regretted in their combined fields. "Aiden, please. . ."

"Hellsing will restore you or whoever the hell you wish to power. We'll be your personal mercenaries. Just give me adequate time to falsify the true objectives of the mission for my men. . . .they won't be too keen about knowing that they're not in service of country anymore."

"You do understand the repercussions of allying yourself with me. You could lose your titles and your land, everything that you've grown accustomed to. You may even be killed as a terrorist, my boy. You know what the government likes to do to those of your blood."

"I don't care."

The elder man's face twisted with emotion. He couldn't accept the boy's offer during the emotional outcry of a teenager, yet it seemed inappropriate to let something so important rest on the boy's conscious.

Closing his eyes as he nodded, hand still resting on his daughter's forehead, Charles whispered low, knowing that the boy, and only the boy, would be able to hear his words.

"Your initiation begins tomorrow. Be inside my library at sunset."