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No Time For Regrets I - Seras	By : HimeAndi Category: Hellsing > General Views: 2779 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: All characters and situations from Hellsing & Hellsing Ultimate are property of Hirano Kouta and YoungKingOurs, Japan. I make no money with this work.

Chapter List
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Blue eyes for red. It was not a bad trade, mainly due to the side benefits that came with the color change of her eyes.

Not many people died and were born again. Even fewer had it happen twice.

Red-eyed rebirth and blue-eyed rebirth had been vastly different. She would not have given up either event for anything. The first seemed so long ago now. So very long ago and comparatively gentle, peaceful.

That moment was burned into her brain forever. Her second life had began then. That moment, the moon a silvery blur that she childishly tried to grasp, like a toy, a safety blanket…

That moment when his cold, cold hand touched hers, grasping equally cold fingers with such gentleness, with kindness, a kindness no one would ever suspect lay in that unbeating heart. Even she was not sure if she had felt it, later. He hid it that well.

He bent over and still gently, moved her to lay across his knees, her head cradled to his chest. By now she was numb, cold and so thirsty. She had read later that blood loss caused sufferers to feel thirsty, a desperate move by the body to hydrate, to help kick-start the reproduction of blood. Yes, she had felt it, desperate dry, painful thirst. Thirst she could almost see, pinching her veins, making her lips crack, her eyes feel shrunken like stones in her head, each blink feeling like her eyes were filled with rubber cement that was not yet dry.

“Remember, this was your choice.” He said firmly, yet with a hint of hesitation. His eyes were so red, and they glowed from under the brim of his hat. The glow did not light his face, but already, even then, she knew every inch of it. The curve of his cheek. The line of his jaw. The thin but sensual lips. The smile lines at the sides of his mouth, that crinkled at his eyes as he grinned so wickedly at the Monster who had held her like a shield.

And those beautiful, mad red eyes.

She could not even whimper in reply. She could not protest as be leaned closer then licked the blood trickling down her chin from her face. He nuzzled her cheek; she still was not sure but thought he had kissed her, quick as a bird, soft as a butterfly’s wings.

She blinked at him, her body’s shock stealing her pain. He certainly had not done anything to stop the pain himself, though he could have done so easily. He chuckled, and licked a fresh trickle of blood from her lips.

“This is the part when you close your eyes.” He said with amusement.

Her eyes stayed wide open.

“I see.” He said simply, and then lifted his arm, sliding the oddly pristine white glove off his left hand. He casually bit his wrist and held it to her dry mouth. “Taste the blood, Police Girl. Taste it, and fight your human revulsion.” She obeyed, so thirsty that repulsion was the last thing on her mind, her tongue swiping over the slices his fangs had made in his cold flesh. The blood did not taste like she had expected. It was… like lightning, with a strong undercurrent of loam from a forest floor. She licked again, the blood sinking into her desiccated flesh before she could swallow it, and then licked again, and again. She heard a soft moan, and he pressed his arm closer to her face. Had the moan been hers, or his? She wrapped her lips over the wounds and sucked hard, instinctively stopping the wound from closing.

Yes it was like lightning, crashing into her, the resultant thunder shaking her whole body with a rhythmic beating as if of a Giant’s heart. Only it was her heart, struggling, seeking more blood to force through her shriveled veins. She sucked harder, using the very last of her strength to work her jaws, to try and swallow the cold liquid lightning and loam before her mouth simply absorbed it.

She did not gasp when she felt his fangs pierce her throat, but the first pull as he drew her blood out of her jugular made her dizzy. She retaliated with a fierce pull on his arm. He pressed his tongue to her skin and swallowed leisurely, then sucked another draught from her. It made the dizziness grow worse, each swallow making her eyes darken, her heart struggle harder and harder to keep beating, her lips struggling to seal his torn flesh to her.

He grunted softly, pulling her up while keeping his arm pressed firmly to her mouth. His other hand caressed her side, which she could barely feel now. She whimpered, suddenly afraid; not of him, not of this bloody ritual, but... She felt it, racing down upon her like the bullet that had killed her.

She was dying, right there, right then. And a Vampire was drinking her blood, while she tried to drink his, and the moon shone down over his shoulders, making his hair look blue, his skin glowing silver…

She had awakened in a bed, panting needlessly for air due to that stupid nightmare. She blinked as the last thing she remembered hit her; being shot and then…

She sat up and lifted her pajama top up, blinking at her utterly whole right breast. Not a sign of a bullet hole was visible, no puckered scar, no tender flesh, nothing. How long had she been unconscious, possibly in a coma for this much healing to have taken place? She tugged the top back down and sighed, then heard an amused little sound right beside her.

There he was, smirking at her almost fondly. Had he seen her…

She wailed and waved her arms wildly as she realized by that smirk he had seen her lift her shirt just then… how embarrassing!

“How does it feel?” he asked her, confusingly. She blinked.

“Pardon?”

“How does it feel, being dead?” She cringed back into the pillows, eyes widening.

“Being… dead? But… what?” He titled his head to the side and frowned slightly.

“Odd. Never brought one over that ended up addled before… Maybe I was too slow to share my blood…”

“I am not addled! I am in shock! And I am not dead, obviously! I mean look at me!” She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted at him. His eyes widened a little, before he stood then bent at the waist, eyes boring into hers.

“You look at you first.” He reached out without looking and grasped a hand mirror on the bedside table, then handed it to her. His eyes never seemed to blink, that glow she had seen now gone. Yet, his eyes were still so beautiful. So deep, and clear, set in a face with such pale skin…

She took the mirror and glanced at it. Yes, it was just her. Blue eyes, blonde hair, pale skin…

No, not pale. White skin. Nothing as white as he was, but pale as if she had been very ill for months, or never been in the sun for a year. “Have I been a long time… recovering…” her… her teeth… she pulled the mirror closer, slowly pulling her lips back, even as her tongue confirmed what she had seen.

Her canine teeth were elongated, upper and lower. And they were sharp, she cut her tongue touching them. Her eyes went out of focus then she forced herself to look again.

Blue eyes… with a hint of red in the pupils. Blonde hair which was much finer, had more body than before, and was oddly paler, like her skin. Her white, near bloodless skin. Fangs worthy of Count Dracula himself…

“Oh fuck… I’m a vampire.” Her voice had no inflection as she stared at the mirror until he took it from her slack fingers and set it aside.

“Oh fuck… you’re a vampire.” He said and then laughed. “That is what I promised, and that is what I did. I made you like me… well, something like me. Nothing else on this earth is quite like me. You have not answered me. How does it feel, being dead?”

“I dunno, I feel the same!” she gulped. He nodded.

“Not for long. You have a lot to learn. You’ve been dead since last night. I am a little surprised that you are not thirsty. Must be because I am so old and I gave you all of my blood, after I stopped drinking yours. I was quite ravenous after that, let me tell you.” He stood back as she stared at him, trying to understand, to accept this. He tilted his head like a curious dog might and reached out with his ridiculously long arm and took her right hand. He knelt beside the bed and placed her hand over his chest, while snuggling his right hand between her breasts in a fashion that held not a hint of sexuality. Since that… vampire masquerading as a priest had fondled her quite violently, she was rather surprised at herself for not shrieking and shoving his hand away.

She never had never, would question her unswerving trust in him. It simply was. She could not say when it came to life, maybe when he stood up and regenerated after having hundreds of bullets rip him to pieces, or maybe when he flat ignored his target to speak to her, offer her some compensation for what he was about to do. No matter. He could ask anything of her, do anything to her, and she would obey. It was that simple.

“You are now undead, Police Girl. Do you feel this heart of mine?” He had asked. She shook her head. No, she felt nothing, other than his quietly taking a breath so he could speak. Obviously he did not need the air for anything else. “And I feel nothing under my hand either. Listen. It is so quiet, isn’t it?”

Yes, it was. She realized suddenly that the imperceptible sounds of a normal human body was utterly absent, the sounds no human ever noticed because it was simply part of the world from cradle to grave…

Unless one cheats the grave as she had done.

No soft whoosh of blood in her ears. No sounds of muscles and tendons adjusting as she breathed. No heartbeat making her body shift slightly every few seconds.

There was also an absolute absence of pain, pain she had not realized she always felt until it was gone. No aching muscles, no bruises on an arm or a leg, no painful tension in her neck or shoulders. Just a strangely delightful lightness. And energy. She felt giddy suddenly.

“You will be weaker by day, but the myths are wrong about many things. You can walk in the daylight if you wish, and not be set ablaze. As you already have seen, you cast a reflection, and will cast a shadow as well. The rest… is more fun to discover for yourself, so I will let you learn as I did, by experimenting.

“Now Police Girl, you have been assigned by your Police superiors, to join Hellsing. Hellsing hunts and destroys vampires, and as our Master says, the best hunters of vampires are other vampires. Get dressed and come upstairs.” His calm almost kindly voice was suddenly hard.

She would rarely hear that kindly tone of voice again.

She knew the myths of course. She had read some cheesy vampire novels *Though Dracula had bored her too much to get too far into it), and other silly horror novels. She had seen countless movies about Vampires.

Yet placing herself into these stories was too hard. As he had told her she had to learn by experimenting, or really, simply doing. And it was time to try to learn. No time for regrets.

She dressed in a uniform that had been laid out for her, or most of one; there was not much to it once it was buttoned and settled around her, and moved up some seriously spooky stairs, emerging into an elegant mansion. She was instantly overwhelmed by scents; furniture polish, flowers, gunpowder both fresh and spent and clinging to clothing, food smells which made her stomach hurt slightly, petrol… and people.

Make that humans. Her body set that term straight in her mind. Humans, and they smelled so individual. Each of them was a mélange of scents in their own right. It was so distracting.

“Police Girl, pull your head out of your ass and get outside. You have a lot of work to do.” he said with more than a hint of mockery as he appeared behind her. She jumped and whirled, but barely caught more than a glimpse of red before he was gone again. She rubbed her head and moved to obey.

“My Master is so… strange. He’s not human, I was right about that… was it only last night?” She said softly, little realizing that her voice was too soft to be heard even if someone had their ear to her lips. Too soft for anyone but he that is.

Still, she felt a warm… something as the word “Master” fell from her lips. It, like calling these beings Humans, felt perfect. Comfortable. Right. He was her Master. They were humans. She was his servant, and human no longer. Her soul quailed at the last part but… acceptance would come for that. She had no idea how to act like a vampire, so she would be human for a little while longer.

She found a blonde woman and an older gentleman waiting for her on the plush manicured lawn. She hurried over to the pair and then saluted.

“Her instincts serve her well already. Seras Victoria, isn’t it? I am Sir Integra Hellsing, and this is Walter C. Dornez, my butler, assistant and part-time Trashman. You already know Alucard, the current Trashman.” The woman said in a cultured voice. She nodded and smiled warmly at the woman and the older gentleman.

“Pleased to meet you, Sir Hellsing, Mr. Dornez. I am Seras Victoria, and I hope I can help here with Hellsing.” How she could be of help was beyond her, she had no idea what she was to do. Hunt vampires, Master had said…

“You may call me Walter, Miss Victoria. I am sure you will be a fine addition to Hellsing, all things considered. I am to show you the equipment that we use, assign you some materials, and brief you on tactics and methods of killing Midians. If you would be so kind. Sir Integra, if I may?”

“Yes, please Walter. Alucard, will you be joining them?” Integra asked, voice quiet, yet firm, incredibly authorative.

Alucard… his name was Alucard… she turned to look at him as he pondered. His face was near obscured by sunglasses and the same broad-brimmed hat he had worn before. He nodded slowly.

“Yes I think I will. Walter has never had to train a vampire before. He will accidentally reinforce human behaviors in her. Once he has briefed her, I will explain further about what is pertinent.” He said, voice as slow and drawling as Integra’s. She felt a tiny frown tug her face. Integra was obviously human, but there was such a striking similarity between her Master and the woman. She could not put her finger on it just yet…

“Come then, Alucard, Miss Victoria.” Mr. …Walter said, voice sounding amused. He led them to an outbuilding, styled quite similar to the manor house, and then stood at attention, forcing her to do the same out of habit.

“Midians, as you have experienced, are hard to destroy. Hellsing uses a variety of weaponry do achieve the goal of their silencing. As a vampire, you should know that the same weaknesses the Freaks and Ghouls have you share. Hellsing takes precautions for Alucard already, so helping you handle your weapons won’t be a hardship.”

“Um, excuse me… Midians? I do not think I’ve heard the term… you mean vampires, right?” She asked a little timidly, but she had never been afraid of asking questions. How else could she learn, be prepared in life if she did not ask things of others?

“She has only just risen, Walter. And she died less than 120 seconds after I started feeding her my blood. There has not been time to explain… anything. Plus, I am concerned that she’s addled. I may have been a bit late in starting her change; she’s been a bit slow on the uptake.” He murmured. She rounded on him, shocked.

“I already told you, I am not addled! I was shocked and according to you I did die last night and now I am here in this ¼ of a uniform and being told about Midians and ohhhh!” he was grinning widely, every tooth in his mouth sharp as a dagger. “You’re teasing me!”

“I see, Alucard; she can be a little slow at that. Let us hope the “shock” wears off soon. As I was saying, Miss Victoria, Midians is a colloquial term for various once-human and non-human beings. Vampires, ghouls, werewolves, zombies, various shape-shifters, and a handful of other usually undead beings fall under the term. Freaks are a little different though the principle in destroying them is the same.

“Most of these creatures share a dislike for silver and blessed holy things such as crosses, and holy water. While most people ‘know’ werewolves hate wolfsbane, it also can keep vampires and ghouls at bay.”

“Ah I see. Maybe, sometime long ago, these Midians came from one source then…” She mused, absorbing the information quickly. Walter’s eyebrow went up. So did his.

“I am impressed Police Girl, very impressed. Yes, most Midians have the same vulnerabilities, but do not grow complacent about this news. As in anything, there are no absolutes. For instance…” He moved to a wall where a crucifix hung and casually removed it from its hook. He walked back and handed it to her. Without thinking, she took it from him. It had not seemed to adversely affect him to touch it…

Her fingers stung slightly. She frowned and turned it over in her hands, unaware of the significant look exchanged over her head between the two men with her. She obeyed the odd urge to sniff it; her mind filled in information she had not even asked for, certainly would not have thought of as a human.

She smelled great age in the wood, decades of incense, oil, sunlight and of all things blood wafting from the wood. The Christ was exquisitely rendered, His tortured body quite gruesome, and made of silver. Warily she touched His face, wondering if she would feel pain, or even be struck dead for her blasphemy. After all, she was undead, and according to legend, was now unholy.

Yet she felt nothing, really. Another mild stinging in her gloved fingertip was all. Still… she carefully used her teeth to tug her glove off and tucked it in a pocket, then tried again. He had said she would discover by doing, right?

The sting was worse, for a second or so. She held her finger to His face then slowly ran the tip over His twisted form. Really, it was… not bad. Just strange. She sniffed the crucifix again then looked up to see two very incredulous men staring at her.

Well, one man and one vampire.

“Does it hurt, Police Girl?” He asked, eyes peering at her over his glasses avidly, like an excited dog waiting for her to toss a toy. Walter looked almost as curious and eager beside him.

“Well no, Master. It stings a little. But the sting fades after a few seconds. Should it hurt me, hurt us?” She asked, confused. She knew it had not done anything to him, or if it had he had ignored it. She could ignore the minor irritation of silver if this was all it did to her, sting like touching her tongue to a weak 9v battery.

“I would have to assume not, Police Girl. No, it does not hurt me, but I am not an infant like you are. And as I said before, I am not like those Midians out there. Neither, it seems, are you.” He sounded pleased. Walter took the cross back and re-hung it, looking a hint nervous. He must be Anglican, not Catholic. She was pretty much faithless herself. God had allowed horrors to visit her life over and over; she refused to let Him fail her anymore.

“That… is lovely to hear, Police Girl. Magnificent, but be careful, my Draculina. God will bring battle to your doorstep if you are too loud about your little declaration of war with him!” He purred. She frowned and turned her head away, not realizing he had read her thoughts as Walter continued his lessons.

Mainly she was to assist in extermination of the “Scourge of the Land” using blessed bullets wrapped in holy silver cladding, usually with exploding tips (Or mercury rounds in the case of werewolves, who she was informed had a tendency when shot to flee so fast even Alucard had trouble following them, but would die within days from the mercury poisoning even if he could not track them to their dens.) She was shown her personal weapons, a very long barreled sniper rifle, which fired a .50mm round (A bit huge for sniping but whatever) a pair of snub nosed .38’s and was promised a new gun soon, one to be made just for her, once they had a chance to observe her and see what she would need to carry.

Then she was led to the firing range… despite the late hour and how dark it was. She took up the sniper rifle as told and sighted, squinting in the dark. The targets were there, but so hard to see in the dark. She fired and heard him tsk behind her. She frowned as the target was reeled back, showing how lame her results were. She had barely been able to see it though!

“No. This won’t do. You’re shooting all wrong. Watch.” He pulled his pistol out, and she gaped at it. It was massive; she had seen pictures of guns like this. This was a Casull .454! The thing was still bigger and obviously heavier than any pistol she had ever seen. The brushed steel shone softly in the moonlight, and she could make out that there was lettering on the barrel…

“Watch, Police Girl!” he snapped, shaking her from her slobbering admiration of the gun. She glanced towards where he was aiming, puzzled.

“But, there is no target set up Master…”

“Yes there is. It is a kilometer away. Can’t you see it?” he said tightly then froze for a second before turning his head to look at her. She blinked when he fired while catching her eyes with his, not looking towards the target at all. The gun did not jump in his hand; she was amazed because she knew that the gun’s shells were some of the most powerful shells in existence for their size. Yet he held all thirty-pounds standard at arms length without any seeming effort, and that same weight did not move a millimeter when he squeezed the trigger.

Sure enough the target was brought back to them via a golf cart and he had hit it with deadly precision. She slumped.

“But how did you do that? I can barely see a hundred yards in the darkness…”

“We all have a third eye, even humans do, but like you are doing, they ignore it. You must open that eye and let it guide you fleshly eyes. It will become clear soon, and then it will be second nature for you, simple, reflex. Until then, save the bullets. Come with me.” He strode off, his long legs eating the ground at a pace she was hard pressed to match.

Then suddenly her legs seemed to loosen, and she caught up easily, though she instinctively stayed slightly behind him and to his left. She heard a pleased sound from him and smiled.

He paused at the wall of the Manor and then looked at her searchingly. “Hmm, no… not yet.” He said musingly then slid an arm around her waist. She noticed the length of that arm; he could easily wrap his fingers around his own upper calf without bending his back, that’s how long his arms were. It was both freakish, and perfect at the same time.

How odd. Was her brain as altered as her silent heart? So many things were happening, changing, some of the new things she learned felt and seemed so normal that she felt a little impatient having them explained to her, while others made her reel in shock. She had no idea what any concept would make her feel either.

He held her loosely as he set a foot to the wall then swung his other foot ahead of the first and began walking up the aged stones as if he were on the ground. She felt her eyes widen like saucers at this and glanced down to the receding ground warily before eyeing him. His lips were curved in amusement. But more disturbing was the fact that his coat, his hat, even his hair were acting as if he were still vertical, not walking smoothly horizontal, parallel to the ground.

“Um, can I do this too?” She asked timidly. Oh damn. She really had to find a new tone of voice for her questions. “And, how are you doing this anyway?”

“First yes, one day you can do this too, but not yet. You’re far too human yet. And second, I can do this because I refuse God’s laws. All of them. I do as I please, as do all our kind. That is why we must be destroyed to the last one. It is unseemly to avoid Nature’s laws as we do. Gravity is just a minor law though. Breaking its bonds is simple. You will see.” He did not seem to care that he was speaking of the end of their race… of his and her existence being ended along with the others out there. She felt a strange chill at it, as if she had been told her days were numbered. If they were the last two, would he kill her then himself? Could he kill her so easily after making her like this in a moment of compassion like he had?

She knew without asking that he could… and he would.

He gathered himself slightly and jumped to the roof, covered in sheets of beautifully tarnished copper and steeply pitched to a central spine along the length of the Manor’s roof. He held her still, though not closely. She hung like a doll in his arm, holding it as her feet dangled while he strolled to the spine of the metal roofing then stood on it casually, as if it were utterly normal to be forty-feet in the air, perched on a spot a cat would have shunned as too narrow to be safe.

“I… think I see. Is that why the cross and silver did not hurt you? Or me?” she asked curiously, avoiding the death talk and focusing on his explanation of his, their abilities. He nodded, though she thought she saw a flash of surprise over his face. His glasses were slid down his nose so his red eyes could be seen, glowing softly again.

“Had you any faith, the idol would have harmed you, purely because of your own guilty heart. Even if, unlikely as it would be, you find faith again, remember that the holy things cannot kill you. Hurt, yes. Kill no. Only men can kill monsters, Police Girl. Men, and women.” Idol? Oh he meant the Christ on the crucifix, right. Odd to call it an idol.

He slung her around easily and carefully, setting her feet on the spine with him. “Since you are just a baby, if you slip I will catch you before you hit the ground. But you must learn of what you can do on your own. So, walk to the far side.”

She gulped and froze in sheer terror, arms spreading with a snap for balance. “No. you do not need such gestures. Let your arms relax.” He said sternly. She almost shook her head but his eyes flashed, along with his fangs; he was not going to be patient with her after her utter failure at the range. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, pretending she was on solid ground and let her arms drop. Her body did not wobble at all, and she realized again that her heart was not beating. Two days ago being here would have had her heart near breaking her ribs as it beat like mad. That beating heart would have added to a loss of balance, she suddenly realized.

“Walk to the far side. Right.”

“Walk, do not mince. You’re no tightrope walker. You are a Vampire. Now go, or I’ll leave you here to learn about what the sun will feel like. Just because you can endure it does not mean you will enjoy it, Police Girl. Baby Vampires find it most painful, though not deadly.” He said firmly. She ground her teeth at this threat and started off. At first she did mince along, but the ease of the task soon revealed itself to her and within a few steps, she took a proper stride, then another.

“Oh. I see. It’s not so hard, really. It’s still a little scary though.” She muttered as she walked. She was not entirely trusting of her reflexes, but she made it to the far wall and paused. She turned and smiled brilliantly, rewarded with a brief flash of his return smile.

“Shall I come back?”

“Of course. At a run.” He said smoothly.

Oh shit. Really? She froze again and gulped needlessly for air. She had to force the air out of her lungs as her body no longer had an impulse to do it on its own.

Dammit. Ok. Run. Sure. Piece of cake. She gathered herself and sprinted back to him, barely pulling up in time to not barrel into his body. He steadied her as her momentum nearly forced her to the side.

“Well done, though learning your speed should be a matter handled on the ground for now. My apologies. Now then. Come this way.” He turned and led her to a spot where the wings of the manor jutted out at a right angle to the main house, then simply flowed down to the wings roof, a floor below and just as narrow as the main roof. He turned and held a hand out to her.

“This may be too soon. Jump, and if you slip I will stop you from falling. You need to trust me, and yourself, Police Girl.” She felt prickles of cold as she stared at the slick moss covered spine and then looked at him. He looked a bit bored really, not encouraging, not discouraging. Just bored with such mundane tasks as teaching her these things.

Well fine. She would do it and be sure he did not need to help her. She gathered herself a little, then relaxed again. She did not need to gather herself, actually. Just jump; just… jump.

She leapt lightly, landing right in front of him and grabbing his arms as her boots sought purchase on the mossy slick metal under her feet. He did not grasp her arms to steady her, but his very stillness helped her regain her balance.

“All right. That is enough for now. Walter has gathered some materials for you to read. I suggest you absorb them; he will likely give you a quiz on it later.” She blinked; materials and a quiz? Damn that did not sound fun. Still, getting off the roof did sound fun. He scooped her up in both arms this time and jumped to the ground. Obviously while gravity did not affect him, wind did as his Inverness fluttered around them rather like wings. She resisted the urge to grab onto him as they fell, and was quite proud of herself for staying still and at least looking calm. He landed so lightly she was stunned. After all, he was quite tall and carrying her weight in his arms but he landed lighter than a butterfly on a flower.

He set her down and nodded. “Follow your nose to Walter. Good Evening Police Girl. I will wake you tomorrow, if you do not rise early enough on your own.” His voice was mocking, as if he would have to wake a child for the school bus. She scowled.

“My name is Seras Victoria, Master.”

“Officer Seras Victoria, to be exact. Rapid promotions seem to go to some children’s heads, it seems.” He disappeared, leaving her oddly furious. She was not a child, she was the youngest person to ever be accepted into Police Special Forces, one of the youngest women ever to graduate Police Academy in Britain and he was mocking her?

“Oh bother.” She growled and headed off to find Walter and start her study.

She actually found the material fascinating. The papers were copies of originals, coded on colored paper so she would tell what to take seriously. Vampire lore which had been found to be useless or in many cases downright silly was on pink paper (As if punishing the words for arranging themselves into stupidity.) More lore with better accuracy was on a soft yellow that would not hurt her eyes, or so Walter had said, bafflingly. And the real stuff, the useful information was on parchment, creamy and stiff, quite dignified. Obviously these words knew better than to be stupid.

“I suggest you start with the nonsense, so you know what to stop believing and what is useless in our missions, then move to the less unlikely, finishing with the real verified information, Miss Victoria. By the way… have you ever read Bram Stoker’s Dracula?”

“No. It was kind of slow for me.” She admitted. “Why, is it under pink, yellow, or parchment?” She smiled indulgently.

“Oh… I would say it’s a mix. Some would be yellow, but much of it would be parchment.” He said very seriously. “I have a copy that you should read. It will not bore you this time, I assure you.” He moved around the table she was sitting at and moved to the shelves of books. Of course her ‘lessons’ were taking place in a library. She wrinkled her nose at the thought of the book; she had not been scared by it even though she had been told it was horrifying by the other kids at the orphanage.

Of course, if she had known vampires existed after all, she probably would have been scared to death. Hell, maybe it would scare her now…

“Ah here we are. This is a facsimile of the original item I want you to read.” Walter said rather cheerfully as he handed her a largish portfolio of loose papers, not a book. She lifted a brow.

“Uhm, this is not a book, Walter Sir.”

“No, Miss Victoria. It is gathered papers from the journals of Jonathan Harker, his wife Mina Harker, John Seward, Lucy Westrena, Abraham Van Hellsing… And Dracula himself, though mainly he annotated and filled in blanks.”

She stared at him, trying not to laugh. He looked so serious! “You mean to tell me…”

“Oh yes Miss Victoria. I am being quite serious. Stoker was given some but not all these papers by Mr. Harker, in an attempt to warn the world of the danger it was in. Professor Van Hellsing and Dracula refused to let it come out as a serious work however. It was heavily abridged, and in the end sounds like a fictitious story, but it is not.

“It did happen, and one day, you will understand why you needed to read it. For now, read the other papers, and absorb them quickly. Now, I think it is time for something to eat, don’t you agree?” He looked a hint wary as he said the last bit, about eating.

She nodded numbly, gathering the sheaf of colored papers and the portfolio then following him to a dining room so large her parents house would have fit inside twice. She winced and shoved that line of thought aside violently as she sat where Walter indicated. She was not sure if she was hungry though. Her stomach felt funny. Kind of empty but not like hunger really. Just a need of some sort, an urge to fill the emptiness.

Still she perked as a soup tureen was set before her, with a simple tomato bisque inside. She did not notice Walter’s gaze as she tried a spoonful.

She frowned. It tasted… well… strange. It even smelled strange. Not bad, but sort of wrong. She swallowed reluctantly and nearly gagged. It almost felt like she had tried to swallow too big a mouthful of something. She touched her throat; it was not swollen and she felt no pain there at all. So why the trouble swallowing?

“Is it to your liking, Miss Victoria?” Walter asked with perfect casualness. She nodded and went to work; though it tasted so strange, it did sort of help the emptiness. Sort of. But she wanted something else. Something hotter, smoother, more… more something.

The swallowing problem meat she could not eat much, apologizing to Walter about it and asking to be led to her rooms. She was led back downstairs to her surprise, and into the room she had woken up in.

“Uh… why am I in a basement?” She asked, glancing about with a sudden feeling of claustrophobia. Being underground, the room had no windows. There was a small nicely appointed bath behind a door, and a wardrobe, the cushy bed and some tables and chairs, but it was dark and close and dammit it was in the basement!

“Vampires can endure sunlight, true, but note the word “endure”. Even Alucard dislikes it, and he much more than one night old. You would become quite uncomfortable quickly in a room above stairs, even with blackout windows, Miss Victoria.” Walter said patiently. She looked at him then nodded sadly. He bowed and left her to study.

She did get immersed in the reading, doing as the butler had suggested and reading the silly stuff first. And some of it was incredibly silly. Imagine being obsessed with counting seeds on a windowsill, so obsessed that you cannot move away even when you’re surrounded by people wanting to kill you! Or rising from a suicides grave, because you had killed yourself? Or wearing garlic strands to keep the “vile undead” away from you, vampires who supposedly could not even get into your home without an invite? If they could not get in, then how come so many people supposedly died and often became vampires themselves?

“Didn’t these poor people realize they were contradicting themselves with this stuff?” she muttered as she set the pink sheets aside for the yellow ones.

“No they did not Police Girl. They were frightened weaklings scared of their own shadows who made up silly legends with which to comfort themselves since their god had refused to do it for them.” He loomed up behind her, silent as the shadows he emerged from.

She half screamed and clutched the sheaf of paper to her chest, then whirled to glare at him. He ignored her as she went from startled and slightly pissed to amazed and slightly afraid. Where had he come from, the door was closed and locked. Yet there he was; sitting in the chair next to her and looking through the pink papers with a highly disgusted look on his face. He was not wearing the hat or the sunglasses right now, so his distain was clear to see.

“I don’t think God had anything to do with it, really.” She said, and then winced as his eyes moved to hers with a strange emotion in them.

“God had everything to do with it. These idiots who created this nonsense started a craze of murder and desecration of graves that continues today, and it all started with priests claiming to have heard the word of god telling them to destroy the devils minions on earth. Most of the ‘vampires’ they dealt with were poor humans buried prematurely,” He paused as something almost like he was pained flashed across his face, which was gone instantly, “humans with mental illness or congenital illnesses that made them crave blood or they would die. They dug up bodies left and right and when they found someone not decaying as they thought they should be, pinned them to the ground with stakes and cut off their heads, or worse, burned their corpses and buried the ashes at a crossroads for the Devil to come and claim them. Ludicrous, and utterly disrespectful.

“You do not understand I see. These humans had been taught by their churches that in order to rise on judgment day, a human’s mortal remains must be complete, as complete as possible. That was why grave robbery was so heinous, and why their crimes against their own was and is still so heinous. They were driven on by priests and con men seeking mere mortal money, and those charlatans got plenty of money for their acts, Police Girl. Disgusting!”

His pale face was now dead white, eyes blazing. He seemed to be taking this very personally. She bit her lip then jerked slightly as her fangs near went through her flesh.

“I did not understand. These papers said nothing of all that. It’s really horrible!” She said, his anger shared by her now that she knew the truth. He was silent, eyes suddenly far away.

“I tr… some people tried to stop the madness, but the peasants are ever in love with their stupidity and superstition. Nothing could make them relinquish it, nothing.” She blinked; his voice was quiet, but now heavily inflected with some accent, maybe… yes, kind of like Romanian? She sat very still as he rapidly moved the sheets through his hands, and realized he was reading them, reading so fast that it looked like he was merely scanning and moving the top sheet to the bottom to look at the next, until he was done, in under a minute.

“Utter nonsense. I hope Walter explained that this is rubbish? To be ignored the moment you have set it aside?” He held the sheaf up and to her added shock the paper caught fire, burning with unnatural swiftness until he flicked his fingers and nothing but fine ash was left. She nodded quickly.

“Oh yes he did, and even if he had not I knew it was stupid, even if it is sad.” She assured him. He eyed her then nodded.

“Good. It was your comment that interested me, after all. You did see, as through a glass darkly.” He smirked a little as she felt her eyes widen; was that a biblical paraphrase coming from an atheist vampire?

“No, not an atheist, Police Girl. I was raised Orthodox, and converted to Catholic not long before I died. But… god and I have been enemies since…” he suddenly rose and walked to the door. She turned and then gaped as he walked right through the stout English oak like it was not even there. She grinned; it should have scared her, but she thought it was cool. Really cool.

“That is why wearing garlic was so silly!” She laughed.

She was almost shocked to hear his return laugh through the door.
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No Time For Regrets I - Seras