Part 6

"Do they suspect anything yet?" A voice buzzed over a radio communicator.

"I don't think anyone human suspects me, but the two vampires are going to be harder to elude. That stupid little fledgling bitch is onto me. I know it." A nervous voice replied back quietly.

"Where are you now?" The voice over the communicator asked.

"I'm at the village with what remains of the troops. I've been ordered to stay here while other soldiers have been deployed to look for the Hellsing troops that went missing. So far I think I've been able to fool the fledgling, but if the master confronts me I'm screwed. He is Hellsing's most powerful weapon after all. He can read the thoughts of humans like we're open books." The voice of the nervous man answered.

"Don't worry. You'll be receiving something to help solve that problem. Be at this location at dawn, and it will be delivered to you by one of our messengers. End transmission before you are seen." The other voice ordered.

*************************************

Seras Victoria stood at the window of her and her master's bedroom. She watched the moon making it's snail's pace crawl across the sky. Her thoughts were full of suspicion and frustration. She knew something about Steadlum wasn't right. But was she thinking this rightfully, or was her angry emotion getting the better of her judgment?

"Careful you do not stare at the moon too long police girl, lest you go completely insane. As I recall that is how the old superstition goes." Said Alucard as he materialized behind his vampire student.

"There's something about Steadlum that isn't right. An entire group of soldiers goes missing, yet he's perfectly unharmed. He said he'd fought off a few ghouls himself, yet he showed no sign of battle distress. His breathing was hard, but it wasn't labored like a soldier who would be out of breath after a fight. And he grew very nervous saying I accused him of something when I hadn't put a question in a directly accusatory manner." Seras paused for a second then continued.

"I could feel great fear in him about something. Like he was hoping he wouldn't have to reveal something or that he hadn't been caught doing something wrong. I think he was afraid I was going to look into his mind and read his thoughts. But I can't do that yet and he knows very well that as a fledgling I've not yet developed that power." She explained.

"No, you've not yet aquired that skill, but the vampire senses do not lie. Those you are learning to use. I've never liked the bastard myself, but as long as he is in our master's favor we can do nothing without order from her. We'll just have to aquire some proof of your suspicisions. Never doubt your senses Seras Victoria. Sometimes they are your greatest ally and strongest weapon. For the moment there is nothing we can do. The sun will soon be rising so you and I must rest for the day."

*************************************

It was daytime when Enrico Maxwell recieved a call. He sat at his desk and picked up the phone. "Erico Maxwell." He said dryly.

"It's Alexander Anderson." He replied.

"Ahhh, Father Anderson. Has Hellsing's pet abomination been dispatched yet?" Maxwell asked.

"No. I'm afraid he's going to be more of a challenge than I thought. This demon is much stronger than any of us could have imagined. The normal tactics don't work on him." Anderson answered.

"What do you mean?" Maxwell enquired with a hint of concern.

"I beheaded the beast. I stuck so many silver blades into him he could not possibly have come back, and yet he did. He regenerated as if I'd done nothing to him. There is something bout this vampire that isn't like all the others. He's a true blood yes, but he's different. No vampire true or fake could survive my silver blades. No vampire has ever come back from being decapitated." Anderson replied in a frustrated tone.

"Hmmmm. I've heard that Hellsing's forefathers did strange things to this nosferatu. Secret experiments that no other human has ever dared perform upon one of the undead. It would appear the rumors are true. But you cannot let that stop you from destroying him. He is one of the deadliest and unholiest of his kind and he must be utterly stamped out. The vatican and the holy father himself are putting all their faith into you Father Anderson. You must not fail." Maxwell said.

"I'll not let ye down Maxwell. As strong as this hellspawn may be, I am stronger because I've got the power of the lord almighty on my side. I will not fail." Anderson proclaimed as he hung up the phone.

*************************************

Back in Romania Ferguson stood speaking with Sir Integra via cell phone. "I'm sorry sir. We've yet to find the missing soldiers. I can't understand how an entire group of men disappears off the face of the Earth. The only man accounted for was Steadlum. He was found hiding in a group of brush. But no others have been recovered." He said.

"Damnit. I can't send any more men at this moment. I'm short enough here as it is. These damn FREAKS!" Integra shouted. She took in a deep breath to regain her composure. "Continue the search. These men have families and the last thing I need is to tell those families that their sons and husbands have vanished forever while in my service. Telling wives and mothers that the men they loved have died in the line of duty is hard enough." She continued.

"We're doing all we can sir. We'll find those men one way or another. They can't have just disappeared for good. But we're going to need more ammo and weapons. Much of our stocks have been depleted in our most recent battles." Ferguson requested.

"Fresh stocks are being sent to you as I speak. There is also a delivery for Officer Seras from Walter. He's chosen a new weapon for her that he feels will be quite useful in her battles. The shipments will arrive at nightfall. God and her majesty be with you. Amen." Integra said hanging up the phone.

"We need God more than ever in these bleak times. Amen." Ferguson said putting his phone away.

*************************************

Alucard and Seras remained perfectly still in their death like slumber. He layed perfectly horizontal while Seras clung to him like a child with its favorite security blanket. Humans would have looked upon the scene as vulgar and perverse. But the codes and morals of vampires were very different from those of humans. What one side saw as forbidden, the other side saw as perfectly normal. As the sun began to set, the two vampires could feel the energy of their unlife coursing through them once more. As always Alucard was the first to wake followed by Seras. They exited the coffin and made their way to the main entrance of the castle.

"Ferguson and the soldiers are here." Alucard said as he sensed the familiar presense of the human forces. He and Seras went to meet their mortal comrades.

Ferguson entered the castle. "A shipment of fresh ammo and weapons just arrived a little while ago. And there is something for you Officer Seras from Walter. A new weapon of some sort he said would be of great aid to you in combat." He said.

"For me? I wonder what it is." Seras pondered out loud.

"Whatever it is it's big that's for sure. The men are bringing it in now. After the delivery I'm sending out more troops to look for the missing soldiers. For some strange reason there doesn't seem to be any FREAK activity tonight. No reports of attacks and no reports of sitings by villagers either. But to be on the safe side the men will be armed in case we run into trouble. Shall I leave any men here to guard the castle?" Ferguson asked.

"No. Seras Victoria and I are quite capable of taking care of any trouble that should happen to find its way here." Alucard answered.

"Very well. Men, we are to continue the search. Look everywhere and leave no stone unturned. Even if you've searched a place a dozen times, search it again." Ferguson ordered as he and the troops left the castle.

Seras looked at the huge case that held her new weapon. "What in the world could this thing be?" She asked herself.

"Open it up and see for yourself police girl." Alucard said a bit curious himself as to what the thing could be.

Seras opened the case and found a weapon of near monstrous proportions. Her jaw nearly dropped to the ground when she saw just how big it really was. "Walter has go to be joking! I can't carry that thing around!" Seras thought to herself.

"Walter does love doing things on a grand scale. Besides, I think it rather suits you." Alucard replied.

Seras looked at the rather tall weapon and then found a white envelope taped to the barrel.

"Miss Victoria,

This is the Harconnen Canon. It uses two types of amunition, and I think you will find it most useful against the FREAKS. Enough anmunition has been encluded for several combat missions. Also, I've enclosed fresh ammo for your master's guns as well.

Highest Regards,

Walter"

"He does think of everything doesn't he police girl?" Alucard asked.

"I guess he does master. It's a good thing I am undead. This bloody thing's bigger than I am." Seras said.

"You'll master the thing soon enough. And speaking of which since we're not needed at the moment we'll put this time to good use. I told you before we arrived here that you were going to learn how to fly. Come with me." Alucard ordered firmly.

Seras obediently followed her master as they began climbing a long and winding stairway that led to higher parts of the castle. As they made their way Alucard stopped and looked at one of the balconies. His expression suddenly became grave at the site.

"Master, are you all right? Is something wrong?" Seras asked.

"Nothing you need to be concerned with. We're almost there." He said. His voice was low and very much different than his usual tone. Seras didn't understand what it was about this particular vantage point that could have caused such a sudden change in her master's mood, but she would not press the matter. Tonight she had to learn how to fly as frightening a prospect as it appeared to be.

The pair soon reached their destination. Alucard led Seras to a place of the castle that had a walk way of about ten feet. Seras gulped when she looked down at how far the drop off really was. Hearing her master call her to attention she turned and set her eyes squarely upon him.

"The act of flying requires great concentration. You must clear your mind of everything, and focus strictly upon what I tell you. While the fall certainly won't kill you, it will be rather painful if you hit the ground from this far up. As far as you are concerned I am the only thing that matters at this moment. My image, my voice are the only things you focus upon from this point until I say otherwise. Understood?" Alucard demanded.

"Yes master." Seras replied obediently.

"Now clear your mind of all distraction. The mission, the castle, the outside world for that matter does not exist for the moment. If your mind is somewhere else, you will not be able to concentrate soley upon my instructions. I expect your head to empty of all distraction. You are to concentrate upon my voice, and listen to every word I say." The elder vampire commanded.

Seras nodded and kept her eyes on her master. She watched him walk a quarter of the length of the bridge. He motioned for her to walk to the same spot which she did quickly. She kept her eyes trained upon Alucard as he began to speak.

"Several abilities of the vampire are rooted in the power of the mind; control of the winds, dominance over the beasts of the Earth. The ability to fly is no different." He began.

"You must envision your body as having absolutely no weight. You have no more mass than that of a bird's feather. If you keep to the fact that your body is solid you will never leave the ground. Humans hold to the law of gravity which keeps them bound to the surface. Our kind have the power to manipulate that law and in truth defy it." The elder vampire continued as if he were some sort of college proffesor giving a lecture to his class.

Seras listened intently to Alucard's every word trying to take them all in. She watched as he closed his eyes.

"This is something you will learn later...summoning the winds." He said as a breeze that seemed to come out of nowhere started to blow softly whipping Seras's hair back and fourth. She watched in amazement as Alucard's body began to slowly rise upward. For a moment his body rose several feet off the ground. He simply hovered and then slowly descended back to the stone surface.

"How can I do that? I've always been taught to believe gravity is the strongest force that keeps my feet on the ground. That would be..."

"Ouch!" Seras exclaimed feeling a rather unpleasent thump on her head. She looked up to see a rather stern pair of ruby eyes glaring at her.

"The next time you lose focus you'll get the same only harder. Now concentrate as I told you to. Keep to your human belief, and we'll be here all night." Alucard said with a bit of a growl.

"Yes master." Seras replied sheepishly rubbing the top of her head.

"Now close your eyes and concentrate. Remember to envision yourself exactly as I told you to." Alucard ordered.

Seras closed her eyes. She tried imagining her body as a feather, but her human logic stubbornly told her it was impossible for solid mass to leave the ground. But not wanting to have her head thumped again and risk ending up on the castle floor the hard way, she began to try overriding her human logic. She tried envisioning her body as nothing more than a transparent outline.

"No mass, no weight. I have absolutely no mass at all." Seras thought to herself.

She kept the vision she chose in her head but found she wasn't going anywhere. She opened her eyes in frustration. "I don't get it. I envisoned myself light as a feather, and I'm not going anywhere." She protested.

"I'm not going to stand here and spell it out for you police girl. You watched me hovering. Figure it out for yourself." Alucard said with a tone of indifference to his pupil's problem.

It donned on her just why she hadn't been going anywhere. "Up you ninny. You have to think up." She thought scoldingly to herself.

"But master, I can't summon the winds." Seras said.

"I told you that isn't something you need to be concerned about right now. Now close your eyes and try again." Alucard commanded.

Once again Seras closed her eyes and concentrated. She heard the voice of her master deep in her mind. "I will call up the winds to lift you, but you must be the one to actually leave the ground."

Seras concentrated carefully on the vision of herself being nothing more than a transperancy with the weight of a piece of thin paper. Then she began to think the word 'up' over and over. Slowly but surely her feet began to leave the ground. One inch at a time her body lifted upward.

"Good. Now stop yourself." Alucard ordered to his fledgling mentally. The moment the command was given Seras stopped rising and simply hovered in place.

"Now come down the way you went up." He said.

Seras began to lower back to the Earth. She felt quite the sense of accomplishment at having managed to lift off the ground once she learned the trick to it. But her celebration was cut short by her master's voice.

"Don't be in a hurry to congratulate yourself. You learned to get off the ground, but now you have to learn how to navigate. That takes much more concentration until you are used to it." Said the master. "Now leave the ground again and stop when I tell you to."

Seras did as she was told. She concentrated hard and began to leave the ground until Alucard commanded her to stop. She was a good ten feet off the ground.

"Now open your eyes but remained focused on what you're doing."

Seras slowly opened her eyes and kept looking straight ahead. She waited for her master's next instruction. "Now very slowly start to tilt your body until you're flat on your stomach. Raise your hands over your head as if you're about to dive. If you have to bend at the waist, and then carefully stretch your legs out until you're completely horizontal." Alucard said.

Seras slowly raised her hands over her head bringing them a closed V shape then carefully started to bend at the waist. She extended one leg and then the other until her body was straight but in a horizontal position.

"Now, carefully move your arms to your sides, but don't move too quickly lest you end up with your head stuck in the nearest tree." Alucard ordered.

Seras started moving her hands to her side when she began to feel herself move foward. As much as the movement suprised her she knew to lose focus would mean she'd end up flat on her face on the ground. Of all the humliating things to happen right in front of her master, this would have been pretty high on the list.

"Now extend your right arm and curve your waist at a slight angle."

Seras did so and started to move her body in the direction her arm followed. Upon Alucard's instruction she then turned herself so that she faced foward again, then did the same thing with her left arm. She did this several times turning right and left. Then slowly she used her arms to turn herself completely around so that she faced the castle walls.

"Good. Now make yourself vertical again and come back down. I think that's enough flying instruction for the moment." Alucard said.

"That's all?" Seras asked somewhat disapointedly as she landed.

"For tonight, yes. You've learned how to get off the ground and navigate in one spot. The next time you'll be applying what you've learned and this time you'll actually be moving greater distances. But there is something else you need to practice. Come." The elder vampire answered gesturing for his student to follow him.

As they made their way back down to the main level of the castle, Alucard again passed the balcony that caused his sudden change in mood earlier. He stopped and found himself just looking at the spot. Seras watched him with a bewildered expression wondering what it was about this place that fascinated her master so.

Alucard shook his head and forced himself to look away from the balcony. Seras was brimming with curiosity as to why this one spot caused such change in her master's mood. But knowing it was something he did not care to talk about with her, she kept her mouth closed. He began walking again. Seras kept a quick pace to keep up with him. He seemed anxious to get away from the very place that caused him to stop. If there was one thing Seras Victoria understood well, it was the fact that her master was a very complicated being.

The two made their way to their bedroom. "You need to practice transporting yourself using the void. It's the same principle as flying, mind over matter. You can approach it one of two ways. You can either imagine the wall as simply being a transpearant layer that you can walk through easily. Or you can imagine yourself that way and walk through the wall. I need some time to myself. I want you to practice until I call for you." Alucard said and left the room.

*************************************

Now that Seras was preoccupied, Alucard made his way via his portal back to the balcony where he'd stopped twice before. He approached the balcony with a sense of apprehension. That was something Alucard was not accustomed to feeling. Usually he was never apprehensive about anything. "I promised myself I'd never return to this spot." He thought as he slowly walked onto the half oval structure.

He looked down at the peacefully flowing river many hundreds of feet below. As he stared down at the tranquil waters a name began to play in his head. "Elizebeta." He thought as memories from centuries past began to resurface. His eyes closed and he saw the vision of a lovely young woman standing at the balcony clutching a blood stained piece of parchment in her trembling hands.

*************************************

"This cannot be! This cannot be!" The woman named Elizebeta cried over and over. A group of older men stood before her.

"I am afraid it is true your highness. The prince was slain in battle." One said.

"No! It's a lie! My husband lives! He must live!" Exclaimed the princess. Her hopes were quickly silenced when a priest bearing a helmet and sword emerged from the group.

"I am sorry princess Elizebeta. But here are his sword and helmet. They were found next to his body." The priest replied solemly.

Elizebeta fell to her knees wailing pitifully. "Go! Leave me alone!" She screamed. The small crowd quickly dispersed leaving the shaken princess to grieve on her own. As she wept her tears fell upon the cold stone ground. "Vlad, my beloved...gone." She sobbed.

As if the images were being viewed on a video player, the scene seemed to fast foward. This time Alucard could see himself returning to the castle. His armor was soaked in blood. He was minus his sword and helmet. His face was twisted in confusion not knowing how his weapon and head gear had vanished.

"My lord! Hurry to the chapel! Something terrible has happened!" A captain of the guard shouted. Alucard watched himself run with near inhuman speed as a sickening feeling rushed over him. He stopped at the entrance to the chapel, his eyes wide with horror. What he saw drained the blood from his face causing it to turn ghostly white. There was Elizebeta...dead.

He watched himself running as fast as he could to the body of his fallen bride. Possesively he gathered her into his arms holding her tightly. Hot tears began to sting his eyes as they fell like rain drops onto her lifeless face. Alucard raised his head to the sky howling both in rage and sorrow.

"Elizebeta! NO!" He wailed as he cradled her lifeless body in his arms. Her clothes clung to her as they were soaked with water. Her hair, once a long river of dark silken curls were now mussed and tangled. Her mournful husband held tightly to her refusing anyone to come near her.

"What happened to her? Who has done this to my bride! Answer me!"

A priest stepped foward. "She has done this to herself my son. The princess took her own life."

"No! That's a lie! She would never have done such a thing! Someone murdered her!" The past form of Alucard barked with rage.

The priest swallowed nervously trying to make the prince see reason. "Some of the nobles went to her and told her that you had been killed in battle. They brought your sword and helmet as proof. She was distressed upon hearing this news." The priest motioned to a young man holding a piece of parchment.

"This was brought to the princess by the nobles. It was discovered upon the balcony before the princess's body was found in the river. She lept to her own death because she believed you were dead." The priest answered.

*************************************

Seras in the meantime had been practicing with the void as her master had instructed her. All the while a deep seeded sense of concern for the elder vampire continued to grow within her. It was rare that Alucard was anything other than his usual cocky, arrogant yet very charming self. The exception of course being when he was destroying the FREAKS or other vampires. Then he displayed his trademark psychotic, 'kill em all' attitude. She was just re-emerging through the bedroom wall when she heard her master's voice in her head summoning her to him.

She decided she'd show him how well she was mastering the use of the portal. Perhaps that would bring Alucard back to his old self.

"I did it! Master I've finally gotten the hang of the void!" She exclaimed happily. But when she arrived to the spot where Alucard had summoned her, she saw no joy in her master's face.

"Master?" She asked, her voice quickly softening.

"Come to me Seras." Alucard said in a very hushed tone. Seras walked to where the elder vampire stood. She could see that he was emotionally shaken.

"Master, what is it about this spot that causes this change in you? I'm worried about you." Seras said. The sincereity of her voice was without question. And the look in her crimson orbs only accented that fact.

"After I left Romania for England, I swore I'd never again return to this part of the castle. I thought I'd buried away the memories of my past...my human past." Alucard began.

"I don't understand." Seras interjected.

"When I was still mortal, I was married to a woman whom in my eyes was the most fair prize in all of Romania. Her name was Elizebeta. She is the only human woman I ever truly loved. She was the one person who gave light to what for me was an existence of darkness even before I became a vampire." Alucard replied.

He paused taking in a long breath and then exhaling. It was one of the rare occassions the vampire actually bothered with the act of breathing despite the fact he did not need to breathe. Then he continued. "She knew of the troubles my people faced because of the Turks and the treacherous nobles who held favor with them. She knew that what I had to do in order to protect the country and its people. She accepted this. There were times when I thought I would lose what little humanity I had left after dispatching my enemies and watching brave young men protecting their country die around me. It was only when I saw her gentle smile greeting me in the castle hall, her sweet voice trying to offer me comfort that kept alive what little light there was left in my soul." He said.

Seras could see the pain in Alucard's eyes. She could feel that pain within him through their bond. Alucard looked down at the river. His voice began to quiver as he spoke. "Those same nobles hated me. Hated me because I wanted Romania free from the Sultan's control. They wanted it to remain in his grasp so they could keep their wealth and their titles. They somehow had my sword and helmet brought to the castle. While I was in the midst of feverish battle I lost my helmet and my sword was knocked from my hand. I managed to find another blade but noticed that my own had gone missing along with my helmet. I know how they'd been stolen from me and brought back to the castle and put into the hands of those same self serving traitors who wanted to destroy me. They knew Elizebeta was everything to me." Alucard explained.

"What happened?" Seras asked timidly.

"They took my helmet and sword along with a forged note to the princess telling her I had been slain in battle. My helmet and sword shown to her as proof of my death. They told her the objects had been found next to my body. When I returned to the castle guards called me to the chapel. There lay her river soaked body. The priest told me that the news of her husband's death was too much for her to bear. It was from this balcony that she lept into the river below." The elder vampire finished.

Seras felt a wave of sorrow within her heart. "Master, I'm so sorry..." She said reaching out her hand and placing it atop his.

"Their deciet took her from me. They took from me the only light I had left. From that moment on, I no longer cared." Alucard said. A single crimson drop he'd fought to hold back finally forced its way from his left eye and streaked down his cheek. It continued to fall far below into the river.

"That night I lost what little humanity I had left, and it was the nobels who paid dearly for that loss. I had them all gathered, their servants, their wives, all of them. Then I had every last one of them impaled." Alucard said with a slight growl fiercely wiping away the bloody streak on his face.

Seras gasped at hearing the ghastly fate of her master's enemies. The shock turned to resignation knowing this was her master. It was who he'd always been even before the embrace of eternal darkness. But within her still somewhat human heart she could understand even if she could not with all good concicous condone his actions.

"That night I no longer cared about the fate of humanity. That night I embraced the night for all eternity. I swore that not even the grave would keep me from avenging her death. Had I known what would become my fate..."

"Master...the sun will be rising soon." Seras interjected suddenly.

"It's not polite to interrupt your master police girl." Alucard said with somewhat of a stern voice.

"I'm sorry master. I just can't see you like this. It's just not natural." Seras replied.

"Nothing about me is natural Seras Victoria. But for all your inexperience, you've some wisdom. I should not show myself to you like this. It sets a bad example for you. As you have pointed out the sun will be rising soon. We should prepare for the day's rest." Alucard said.

"But master," Seras replied feeling somewhat dejected. "I've finally gotten the hang of using the portal and you've said nothing of it at all."

"You can rest knowing your master is pleased you've finally learned to use that power." Alucard said plainly.

Seras smiled to herself. Then she suddenly felt a thump on her head.

"Ow! What the bloody hell was that for?" She protested.

"That was for interrupting me." Alucard said. His voice had a slight hint of sarcasm within it as he left. He was returning to his abnormal self once more.

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