Upon Waking

Frustrated, exhausted and generally drained, Integra sat up in her bed. She drew her knees up to her chest, bunching up some of the satin fabric of the covers and sandwiching it against her body. She wrapped her naked arms around her legs and dug her head in the crevice between her thighs. She heaved a deep sigh into the fabric and felt the heat from her breath warm her face.

Very suddenly she felt a chill, a kind of moist mist began to creep around her and she sat up, alert. The dense air gave her chills and her arms prickled with goose bumps. Her surprised expression quickly turned to one of annoyance bordering on rage. “Stop it,” she said seriously and dryly.

The mist spilled out over the edges of the bed. There were mingled whispers that seemed to be contained within the anomaly, as if tiny voices were rumbling with laughter inside. It was quite visible, red and thick. As it hit the ground it began to take shape, a familiar shape. Within moments it had solidified into the form of Alucard, though he was not dressed in his usual period attire. Instead, he wore a black satin dress shirt, a red tie and black dress pants, finely creased. He looked perfectly modern and his hair was combed back so that it rested neatly behind his head. It was not long and unkempt, but cut rather short so that he had some semblance of bangs up front, ever the unruly bit hanging over his left eye.

“What’s the occasion,” she almost spat, regarding his new look with feigned disinterest. In fact, she was very intrigued. Apart from looking very unlike himself, he looked rather handsome, but she would push those thoughts far back into her mind.

“Why you, of course,” he sneered and bowed deeply, winking at her as he straightened and stood beside the bed with his arms folding behind him. “How did you sleep,” he said with a mischievous smile, knowing very well she hadn’t slept one wink. Her new “weakness” attracted him. Her subtle shudder at the word “sleep” made him want to lick the perspiration from her arms and work his way around her body. He felt himself stir inside with incredible arousal. And the look of her now without her glasses, hair beautifully disheveled, and thin strap of a nightdress hanging over her shoulder so that her cleavage was displayed with little modesty, it took all his will not to feast on that ripe vein in her neck.

She did not allow the way he looked at her nor his words to faze her, though she did reply bitterly, “you’re quite enjoying this aren’t you?” The dark circles under her eyes told the tale of her fatigue.

He clutched his chest in mock pain, a quick look of shock washing over his features before dissipating into a wide, crooked grin. His voice was deep, laced with desire, “I enjoy anything that makes you sweat, my Master,” and he ran his tongue over his upper lip just lightly.

The goose bumps had not left her flesh and though she made a rather disgruntled face at his inappropriately erotic comment, she had to suppress any hint of her own veiled desires. He had been playing with her as of late, hadn’t he? He was reading into her mind, had always been, and had always noted what appealed to her. And now that she was exhibiting some weakness, he was throwing all caution to the wind, pulling out the big guns, putting on an elaborate show. Did he even care what these visions could mean? What was her subconscious or her ancestors, or whatever the hell cause for these images, trying to warn her about? “There’s more to this than a forum for your fantasies,” she stated so bluntly that it almost shocked him.

Sensing her concern, his guardianship kicked in somewhat and he remembered that he was worried for her in spite of his quest. “The answer will only come if you allow the visions to play themselves out,” he replied in almost a whisper, his smile fading so that he too was serious.

“I’m not entirely sure I want to know the answer,” she admitted in spite of herself. She was so tired, however, so prepared to just lie back and let them come, no matter how horrible they might be.

“I’ll stay by your side and hold you when you wake up… shivering,” he mused with a smile, a glimmering white fang showing out over his lower lip. How he longed to hold her now, to take her just as she was, but he held back again. He whispered even more softly than he had before, “I’ll catch you when you fall.”

That last line seemed strange but she put it out of her mind and began to lay down slowly, her head falling comfortably against the soft crush of satin pillows. She let her eyes slip shut. Though she was uncertain of how much he actually cared about her anxiety, she was glad to have him standing guard, and far too weathered to protest. She whispered, “stay if you wish.” However, she really wanted him there and the last thing she felt before she fell prey to the unconscious, sinking feeling of sleep, was the bed moving just to the right of her, as if someone was settling down there. A slight moan of comfort escaped her lips and she was under the Sandman’s spell.

The images came to her almost instantly. She was in the field strewn with bodies and poles holding the impaled. There was no sound, save for the howl of the wind. She was clean of the blood, as it was not raining down. She was acutely aware that all the bodies that had been writhing in agony were dead, decaying. There was no more suffering. The pains of the flesh had mercifully subsided for all those around her. In vain, Integra searched for her father, but something told her to move forward, as there seemed to be a path before her. Looming in the distance, she could make out a great structure, a castle, atop a mountain and the trail was winding up the side of it. She questioned herself vaguely as to how she was ever going to climb up that great distance, but, somehow, she was already climbing towards the entrance almost the second she’d thought of it. Funny how dreams work, and even more peculiar how she knew she was dreaming, yet she had to pay attention.

This castle contained something important, it contained the answer she sought, though she was not even aware of the question. As she reached the summit, the door began to open, red light emerging from within. It seemed to drench the sky so that the clouds looked crimson and she could just make out the faint circular shape of the moon behind them. A figure loomed in the doorway. Integra pushed herself to climb the last few steps, and now the wind seemed to push against her so she had to struggle.

When she finally arrived to the steps leading up to the doorway, she collapsed on her knees. Pain shot up through her body, very real pain and she grimaced. Her blue eyes scanned the figure, who wore a heavy rust-colored coat. It was an older man, with gray hair and dark gray eyes that reminded her of someone. He smirked down at her, seemingly wanting to laugh. Was he mocking her? Before she could ask who he was, his defined facial features began to move as he spoke, “Ah, yes, bow before me. I like that very much, child Integra.”

How strange was the accent, it sounded as if it combined many dialects and tried to assemble them somehow into English. She gave him a quizzical look. Why was he calling her “child”? This angered her, for she was a grown woman. “Who are you,” she croaked out, half from the pain and half from the shock.

Now he did laugh and he gave her the kindest, most sensitive look, his eyes glimmering, as if he felt sorry for her. “He was right, you are to blame, and we all are, yes indeed. Our past shall break our future, child Integra. It shall break us just as it has made us stronger. For our past is not like the past of others, no it is not. Our past has come with us through the years. Our past follows us, it stalks us, serves us, and it will turn on us just as surely. The devil knows no loyalty, and though he lies in chains, he finds other ways to rise. He uses his minions and they do his bidding until he can escape.”
He was speaking so quickly, she found it hard to follow what it was he was saying. He used no names, it was all so vague and she felt her head spin. Devil? Did he mean who she thought he meant? Surely, he must mean Alucard, and thus she asked, “Alucard? You mean Alucard don’t you? How will he turn on us… on me?”

Again the laughter, this time it wrung out and filled the sky, echoing off the very clouds and back upon her so that she felt buried by it, humiliated. But she held firm and watched him, awaiting the answer that did come when his mirth had ceased. “Oh my, the worst thing I ever did my child, Integra. The worst thing I did was to give the devil a name.” And his smile began to widen and she saw fanged canines of pure white. He spoke again, only this time his voice was thick with malice, “yes, a name… my name!”

And he came at her. He seemed to fly from the door, his coat turning into wings. But she was already crawling back. To her surprise, however, the steps she had climbed were gone and she was crawling in frenzy to the edge of a cliff. Her head turned to look back and she felt his breath on her just before she flung herself off the edge. She was falling, falling and nothing had ever been clearer, until…

Her eyes snapped open and she shot up like a bolt into a sitting position, she was breathing heavily and her heart seemed to want to break open her chest. She felt his arms around her, Alucard, and his face very close to her own. His lips were near her right ear and he whispered tenderly, “I caught you.”

She turned to face him and pushed him back, crawling much like she had in the dream, to the other edge of the bed. Her chest heaved with each breath and he seemed confused by the expression on her face, which she calculated must have been shock. “Get away from me... not now… not now,” she said through the breathing as she tried to put the pieces together, the pieces that had come together so perfectly as she fell. “It’s you isn’t it? You will betray me, you will be my end and now I know why.”

His lips curled into that sinister smile and he spoke again, “I would never betray you, my Master. My need for you, my addiction to the blood that flows within you will bind me to you forever, despite the possibility of my chains being broken. But, tell me, why is it that you think I will be your downfall?” He knew very well why, only he wanted to hear it from her lips, and that was the reason for his broad smirk.

“Because I have let myself plunge into this distasteful bond with you. I have let you…” But she couldn’t finish the sentence, as he was coming closer. This had to be the meaning of her visions, but who was that man that attacked her, and why was he calling her “child?” Before she could think, she was lying back again and Alucard was atop her and she cursed herself for the moisture building between her thighs and the hardness of her nipples, one breast exposed to air. He had already helped the strap down so that he could massage it gently. And he kept those crimson eyes on her face, his own dipping down, that long tongue extending to lick the moisture from between her breasts, from the side of the one he held and fondled.

A breath of pleasure escaped her lips and her shocked expression had long fallen into one of desire and pleasure. She let her head fall further back, arch back on her neck, and her eyes were closed. Her voice was laced with desire, quiet and low, “stop it, don’t do this. This is not the right time.”

“This is the perfect time,” he spoke softly. He studied the breast he had been playing with, teasing the nipple just lightly, lapping at it, and savoring the taste of her fear and anxiety as if it were a fine cuisine. She was delicious to him and he felt that twitch of the fang, longing for the taste of her blood, blood he saw pulsing there. He dipped in suddenly to suckle at the nipple, taking it between his teeth and biting on it softly until he felt her twitch beneath him and take in a sharp gasp. He took that chance to wrap his other arm around the small of her back, just above her hip and crush her to him tightly. His desire was pulsing against her and she felt it through the thin fabric of her nightgown, dangerously close to her womanhood that felt moist and begged for release.

A moan she could not help to stop escaped her and her body began to writhe against him. His sucking and playing became rougher, riding a wave within her body, chills becoming sharper and tenser. She felt as if she was shaking, and some parts of her were. He lifted his head and, as he let his hand replace his mouth, he ripped the other strap of her nightgown with his teeth, moving the fabric aside to expose her other breast. Another quick dip and he was sucking on that one with new fervor.

Her moans became turbulent, a bit louder; her breathing was frantic. He felt her flat stomach move in and out against him with the breathing and he found that strangely arousing as well. All of her aroused him, every minute detail, the smallest habit or expression. And, though it would surely extend his sweet torment, this was all he would do for tonight. He would make her climax, surely, but he would not veer from her upper body. Though, he did sense she wanted more from the way she moved against him, desperate for another form of release. Ah, but not yet, he had to keep her pure. If she was to be his eternal bride, there could be no taking of her virginity. That scent, however, the moisture that was spilling there, was nearly driving him out of his mind and he took that out on her breasts, working them much harder than he should. But there were no complaints from her as she breathed and moaned and pushed against him, reaching that pivotal point.

She would regret not pushing him away more firmly later, but for now she let him do as he pleased. Oddly enough, it pleased her as well. She was surprised he’d made her peak from just playing with her breasts. She wanted more, she almost ordered him, demanded him to do more, but that could not be. She had to think, had to remember the dream, the warning. But Integra was lost in waves of pleasure, lost with only erotic thoughts in her mind, erotic thoughts of her vampiric servant. “You monster,” she whispered, half moaning as the orgasm threatened to make her scream.

Those words from her lips nearly made him ruin his plans and take her virginity swiftly and roughly, just to show her what a monster he could be. “I do love to hear you talk dirty, Master,” he teased, whispering into her breast, pausing only to say that and going quickly back to work. He didn’t have to work long for she began to shudder and she bit her lower lip, in an attempt to shield the sound of that last loud whine. After it was done she felt as if she had sunk into her sheets and her breathing began to even out. She felt the perspiration on her forehead, and trickling down the rest of her body. He was still on top of her, watching her with that grin that she wanted to be sickened by, but found herself only further allured.

She furrowed her brows and let those blue orbs scrutinize him before she spoke, “get off of me and go away. I don’t want you here.”

His expression never faltered, though he had to admit to himself her words stung him slightly, “Goodnight Integra.”

He dissolved into that same mist that had come to her and he spilled out over her body, sending more chills through her, then over the edge of the bed. And soon after that, she felt his presence was no longer in her immediate vicinity. She sighed, relieved, her head still spinning from the dream and the encounter. She was half aware of her nudity but sluggish in doing anything about it, instead she left herself exposed. He was right, after all, she had wanted it, wanted it from the moment he’d come into her room, wanted it every night before then. That had to be the message of her visions. Her desire and Alucard’s knowledge of her desire would be the downfall of the Hellsing Organization, the downfall of Integral Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing. Or was it something else?

To be continued...