Promise to a Dragon

Chapter Two: New Arrivals

Seras wandered the halls of her new home. It was five in the morning, much too late for a sensible vampire to be out. But Seras wasn't the best example of vampireism. At least her Master was asleep, as were most of the manor's inhabitants.

And so Seras found herself wandering through the seemingly endless halls of the Hellsing mansion, dressed in her night cloths, and no idea where she was going in the least.

Taking a random right, Seras found herself in front of two massive oak doors. Engraved in them was the Hellsing symbol, as well as stags, dogs, and dragons etched in intricate patterns. It was breathtaking woodwork.

She pushed the heavy doors open, though it was easy with her heightened strength.

She gasped at what she saw inside.

Books, books everywhere. A good three stories worth of books in a room the size of a small mall.

Stepping deeper into the chamber, she breathed deeply in the scent of worn pages and leather.

There were thousands upon thousands of books.

Even with no lighting in the room, she could still see perfectly fine. Perks of being a vampire.

Her attention was drawn to one isle in particular. It seemed to hold the oldest books, several kept in glass cases.

Cautiously she made her way toward it. The novels made her grin. Book after book on the occult.

Her eyes ran over the spines of each. Taking up one on vampires, she began to read.

Several hours later, Seras had read all she could on what she was becoming, and still she had only touched the surface, on both being a vampire and the Hellsing library.

She was exhausted. Picking herself up, she made her way back to the basement where her room (and coffin) awaited her.

Thoughts of what she learned ran through her head.

Vampires had been around for centuries, though it is uncertain who the first vampire was or how they even became to be one. Some thought it was a man who sold his soul to the devil, others a warlord who drank his enemies' blood. Others thought they were simply a species that evolved in the same way humans did.

What was know was how to kill them.

Those facts made Seras cringe. Silver was toxic to their bodies, as was garlic but the reaction was more like an allergy than anything else. Sunlight could also be deadly, but the more powerful the vampire, the less sunlight hurt.

A stake to the heart or beheading would kill any normal vampire. But, as with the sunlight, the stronger ones were much harder to kill.

There were several kinds of vampires, as well as categories.

Most were flesh and blood humans that had been turned via bite. There was a small subspecies that instead of drinking blood, they consumed human souls. A great deal of debate existed over these kinds of spectral vampires, on if they were even vampires at all or some kind of ghost.

True vampires, however, only survived on human blood. There were five classes of these vampires, Fledglings, Omegas, Betas, Alphas, and Supremes.

Seras herself was a fledgling. The one who attacked her in Cheddar had been an Omega.

Her master however, was at least an Alpha, perhaps even a Supreme. That class of vampire is near unbeatable, unkillable, and holds more power than any other median.

A median, Seras learned, was any creature of the supernatural realm, be it vampire, werewolf, ghost, ghoul, or witch. Even demons existed.

The new world Seras had entered was certainly terrifying, she realized. There was so much she didn't know, as a human and now.

With grim determination, she decided to learn all she could about this new world and use her knowledge to protect innocent humans.

She had been given this power, this gift, this curse. She was sure as hell going to use it as best she could.

But that would mean having to drink blood.

Seras deflated on herself.

"Alright," she told herself. "How about I try drinking just a few sips of blood. It doesn't even have to be every day. Just start out small. Perhaps just a spoonful once in a while? Give myself time to adjust?" She nodded to herself. "Yes, that sounds good." With a tad bit more confidence, she made her way back to her room.

Unknown to her, a pair of red eyes had watched her the whole time.

Alucard watched his fledgling maker her way down the stone halls, pride swelling in his dead heart.

The deep chime of the doorbell echoed through the Hellsing house. Walter hurried to answer the door, all the while desperately rubbing at a not too inconspicuous blood spot on his uniform. Ms Victoria was once again having trouble drinking and his poor suit payed the price.

Deciding he did all he could for the shirt, the butler opened the door. His eyes widened a bit in surprise. It was a girl, no older than eight,

"Ehm, hello. Might I ask what business you have with Hellsing?"

"Oh good! This is Hellsing. I was a little worried. No one I asked seemed to know. Or maybe they didn't want to talk about this place. It is kinda creepy after all. But I'm here now, so it's okay I suppose. I wonder if it's haunted. Sir? Is this place haunted?"

The child's rambling was already giving Walter a headache, and they had just met.

"My dear, would you please tell me what business you have here?"

The girl perked up, her startlingly familiar blue eyes full of excitement and energy.

"Oh, right! My name's Suriphina Nicolae Avon Hellsing. But you can call me Surri. My full name's much too long to say all the time. I'm not sure why all Hellsings have such long names. My father had a long name too." At the mention of her father the girl's eyes fell. "My parents just died so I'm supposed to live here now."

Walter was shocked into momentary silence. This girl...was a Hellsing?

"I suppose I should bring you to Sir Integra then."

"Ooh, Integra! She's my cousin. Well, my second cousin, same difference."

Walter gazed once again at the girl's cold blue eyes.

Wait, that was it! They were the carbon copy of Integra's! Actually, beside the shoulder length black hair and too pale skin, the girl was the spitting image of Sir Integra. Even with the inky black sky behind her making her look whiter than healthy, she was most surly a Hellsing.

"Alright then, follow me."

The girl grabbed a bright pink suit case that Walter hadn't noticed before and followed after him.

"Sir, yes Sir!" She cried cheerfully.

Walter let out a mental groan. He already knew this girl would be the bane of his existence.

Integra was brought out of her paperwork by a steady knocking at the door.

"Enter."

She was unsurprised to see Walter walk into her office. She was however, shocked to see a young girl follow him inside.

"Sir, this is Suriphina Nicolae Avon Hellsing. She appeared at the door a moment ago claiming that she is to be staying with us."

"Yup, I am." The girl took out a folded piece of paper from her jacket pocket and handed it to Integra.

She raised an eyebrow. It was closed with the Hellsing seal.

Taking her letter opening knife, Integra popped the seal and began reading from the rich cream paper.

Sir Integra,

I am terribly sorry to inform you of this, but your cousin James Richard Veron Hellsing and his wife Rachel have recently been killed in an accident. I am aware you were not close to your cousin, but any family loss is a small tragedy.

James's and Rachel's daughter, however, wasn't at the site of the incident and as such is still with us.

As it turns out, you are the girl's only living relative. So it is then stated by law that you are now her guardian.

The only other option is to send her to an orphanage.

I am sorry you had no prior warning of this, but due to circumstances, Suriphina had to be sent to you immediately.

The Hellsings were murdered. We believe this was some sort of hate crime, and thus the girl would be in danger was well. An investigation is currently underway.

I do hope you agree, for the girl's sake.

All legal information is in an envelope on the girl's person.

Sincerely,

Attorney Patric Jerifton

Integra took a breath and pinched the bridge of her nose.

After a while she looked up and gave the girl a once over. She was tall but rather thin with too pale skin and rich black hair. Her eyes were a mirror of Integra's own.

She wore faded jeans and a blue cotton jacket over a form fitting shirt. Ironically, the shirt said 'Bite Me' in red dripping cursive.

The girl also wore glitter covered black combat boots.

Integra sighed again.

"Walter, prepare a room. It appears we have a new family member."

Surri skipped behind Walter, her suitcase swinging back and for in her hand.

Her wide eyes took in everything. From the antique furniture to the framed paintings.

It was Wonderland to the girl.

Suddenly the butler stopped in front of a rather plain door.

"This will be your room, Suriphina."

"Call me Surri." The girl chirped before waltzing into the room. She froze.

It. Was. BEAUTIFUL!

The room had ivory white walls and dark wood floors. In one corner was a four post canopy bed with cream sheets. In the other was an oak vanity and dresser. She even had a iron balcony!

"Walter! It's beautiful!"

She squealed and hugged the startled butler.

Surri then ran to the bed and jumped onto the silky sheets. She was almost purring with happiness.

Walter decided to take his leave then.

Surri hardly noticed.

She jumped up and ran to the balcony. She could see the entire court yard! It was huge!

She squealed like an excited schoolgirl. Well, she kinda was.

She had to explore!

Surri spun around and ran out the door.

What an adventure!

Integra was looking over the legal papers for her new 'cousin'. She had honestly never knew James. He was the son of her treacherous uncle Richard. Of course James wasn't told the truth of his father's death. Instead he was informed that there was shot by an intruder, or something along those lines. Integra really didn't remember.

As Integra read, she noticed there was something odd about the details of her cousin's death. The couple were at home watching a movie. It happened at night and Suriphina had been sleeping over at a friend's. Supposedly two people broke into the house and killed the late Hellsings.

The wounds were what interested Sir Integra. Throats ripped out and massive lack of blood, as well as pierced hearts.

A shiver ran down Integra's back. These were clear signs of a vampire attack. What could that mean though?

It may be that they were simply Hellsing. The name was widely hated and feared among the vampire community.

But that just didn't feel right. No, these vampires had another motive than just petty revenge.

Integra knew one thing. Things were about to get interesting.