SUBJECT: RED PART 1

What happens to fairytales that don't get their happy ending? What happens when the character falls into shadow? Would they become unfortunate tragedies then? The princess, elegant and fair, is never saved and becomes something cruel and inhuman. Misfortune would hold her eyes and enchanting sorrow carried her words, no longer able to sing and bring the world to life with her voice. People have died around her and all she can do is smile sadly and move on with those regrets.

This is what Kim believed to be true when she first gazed upon Anna a couple of months back. She could remember her face and thought it was beautiful, a face that was fitting to be a princess of an old fable. It wasn't right though. Her red eyes were just too wild with murder and sinister dread. It dried up her throat and prevented her from screaming when this woman came from the darkness is a blur of white shadows. The smell of fresh blood was soon followed with its warmth that splashed on her face.

Kim was attacked by a vampire...only to be saved by something much worse. A walking tragedy.

She descended fast with her white dress and blonde hair fluttered around her. In the dark, she saw the helpless woman using all her strength to try and keep the ravenous vampire off her, pushing against her shoulders. Anna pointed her fingers out in front just as she landed and drove her whole hand straight through the vampire's chest. She smashed her heart under her fingers and killed her in a solid and silent instant. No muss, no fuss, no harm.

As the body dropped to the side, blood fell on the woman's face and tainted Anna's white dress with crimson. Breathless and still terrified, she wasn't even sure if she was safe now with the wild look Anna had within her own ruby gaze.

Twilight had taken over and the Hellsing troops were using the time to load up supplies for a long night of dispatching ghouls. It was an ordinary mission but also the first test run for their new captain, a man who had taken Gareth's role after his death.

Anna stood near the building and watched quietly as the troops ran into the awaiting vehicle and were just about to head off, Seras including. The young child still refused to drink but it wasn't obvious to everyone else just yet. It was though to her master's keen eyes and she could tell that Seras was getting weaker. At the moment, Anna wasn't entirely worried since it was a well-known fact to her that vampires can survive on small doses of blood at a time. They can even survive for a couple of months without having a single drop. Anna did it herself when she first turned, but if it wasn't for Alucard's persistence, she was sure she would've died a long time ago.

"What's a vampire doing out here?" a new and somewhat hostile voice said to her.

Anna turned around and saw Steadler sauntering over to her, the man who had taken Gareth's position. Now, the thing was about that remark is that it sounded unfriendly and sharp. There was no mistaking that cocked smirk on his face either that made Anna a bit on edge. It was because of his arrogant persona that she didn't particularly like him all that much. Anna couldn't explain it but...he just seemed very odd to her.

"I'm only here to see Seras Victoria off. That's all." Anna kept her eyes forward and didn't give him the satisfaction of knowing that he was bothering her. She peered her eyes up at him and spoke with a voice that was steady, calm, but still very polite. Her poise nature was merely out of habit though and not respect. "I can leave if you feel uncomfortable with me being here."

At the time, Seras had noticed Steadler talking to Anna and stopped to stare at them. She was curious but soon became bewildered when the man reached his hand out to her and lifted her chin to force her eyes on him. He was way to close to her. Close enough that it can be considered dangerous for him.

Steadler smirked but Anna was unfazed by his forceful attempt. "You may be a monster but you still probably long for a man in your bed, right?"

Anna blinked a few and gently pulled herself away from him. "I don't have a bed. I have a coffin that only fits one. And besides...why would you lay with a walking corpse?" She was still polite but her voice came off sharp and refined, all with a graceful smile too that made Steadler stumble a bit and turn soundless.

She brushed past him and walked over to Seras who looked like she was frozen in her spot. Her eyes were wide and she appeared slightly panicked for a moment. It seemed to fade though when she saw Anna's smile slowly go back to normal and not seem so sharply intimidating anymore. Initially, Seras was worried because there was no doubt in her mind that Alucard would've killed that fool for saying something like that to her. Nothing happened though so it's assumed that he wasn't in Anna's shadow at the moment of the interaction.

Seras took a long breath and let it out, closing her eyes briefly to try and calm herself down. "Miss Anna...are you alright?"

Anna reached up and patted Seras's head. "It's not the first time people had treated me harshly and it certainly won't be the last either. It matters not though so don't worry about it." She smiled but it looked a bit sad. It quickly covered it up though by obscuring Seras's eyes buy ruffling her hair. Anna's hand was cold but the loving and honest gesture was warm. It made Seras smile. "Watch out for yourself, Seras."

Her face heated up and burn red like she was laying under the sun once more. "Y-Yes, Mistress! I-I mean...Miss Anna!" She stuttered out her words by accident and it only made her blush more.

Walter's face was glued to the bright computer screen while he typed vigorously on the keys. He was so engrossed in his work that he didn't notice red mist slowly circling the dark corner behind him. It morphed into this tall womanly figure with hair sweeping the ground and dragging behind her as she walked. Her footsteps were utterly soundless and her presence went unnoticed for a long time. She reached her long white fingers out to him and gently touched his shoulder, promptly making the elderly man jump slightly but then immediately sigh and relax.

"Don't scare me like that, Anna." Walter turned around in his chair to stare up at her. "I'm not as young as I use to be so I don't think my heart can survive a fright."

Anna's lips parted slightly and it gave her a very innocent and wide-eyed appearance. She blinked a couple of times before giving him this big smile that showed off her sharp white teeth. "What are you talking about? You would never die from something like that, Walter."

He sighed with a hint of a grin on his face. "I'm glad you came when you did though," he said and looked back to the monitor. "There's something I would like to show you."

Anna lifted her head and looked to the screen that had a video playing upon it. It was slightly blurry but it obviously showed a man standing in the middle of an empty room, nothing around but himself. There was then a loud gunshot and his body abruptly crumbled to the ground. Dead still.

She gasped sharply and covered her agape mouth with her hand. She didn't know what to say much less what she had witnessed. It stunned her silent and she just stood there for a second before finding her words once more. "But...this... Walter, what is this?" she finally managed to spew out through fragments of broken sentences.

"It's a snuff film. It's when death is filmed and usually put online for others to see. Look here though. This film had a very special guest." He enhanced the video and zoomed in, showing a very obvious coat of arms. The Hellsing family crest.

Anna sighed deeply and kneeled down eye-level with the desk. "Oh, dear..." she muttered and ran her hand over her chin. "That's going to be quite the problem. Have you already told Sir Integra about this?"

He nodded. "I have."

Anna found it hard to wrap her head around things like snuff films and can't believe that people would get a thrill out of seeing others die. Back then, death was always an unfortunate circumstance and frowned upon by others. It was something that everyone had in common and were equally afraid of. Even after all these years, she thought vampires were the only species that actually enjoyed death and found it euphoric, even longing for it after a couple of centuries of immortality. She's no stranger to that feeling and neither was Alucard.

Speaking of the devil though, a sudden dark and creaking voice echoed within the large room that drew their attention away to find the source. "There is something so human about finding delight in the deaths of one's fellow men." They saw Alucard's frame dip from the ceiling and slowly spiral down to his feet, almost as soundless as Anna was. "Walter."

"What can I do for you, Alucard?"

He grinned and held up his silver pistol. "This gun is fine for killing cheep vampires, but I want something bigger," he said with deep malice within his voice that couldn't disguise his itching excitement. It made Anna cast him a worried glance, as she already knew what he meant by that. A means to take out Anderson when he appeared again. And he most certainly will.

"Certainly, sir. I got just the thing in mind for you," Walter answered back.

"I look forward to it." He strolled past them and marched out of the room.

Anna hurried behind him with concerning words right at the tip of her tongue. "Alucard." Her voice made him stop in the middle of the hall but he didn't turn around just yet.

"You know we can't help them, Anna. We both belong to a world of shadows. Their world of choices was not meant for us to interfere with," he said.

"So you're saying we are just to sit around?" she was disheartened slightly but understood where he was coming from with that statement. It's true that it's not her place but doing nothing just made her feel worse. People's only crime is their greed and curiosity which always turns into something sinister, as what happened to her when people accused her of being a witch, but in the end...they were right about that.

Alucard looked over his shoulder and saw Anna frowning at him, something odd swimming in her red eyes that perfectly matched his. It made a smirk automatically crawl to his face. "My dear Anna, you've always had a very human-likeness, even in death. But that side has been quite prominent lately, hasn't it?" He stepped right up close to her.

Color rushed back to Anna's pale face and burned a bright scarlet like she was alive once again. Clearly, the idea just now dawned on her and she instantly looked away to begin fiddling with a lock of her blonde hair. "I'm sorry if it bothers you. It's, uh...I..." Her frown only deepened when she didn't know what to say.

Alucard's smirk slowly became more of a genuine smile, though it still had that mischievous feeling about it. "Anna. I have known you from life all the way to death. This is who you are and what I have come to cherish most about you." He reached his large white hand over her head and caressed her. Her hair was like silk and fell through his fingertips like water. "It has always been interesting and never once boring."

It was funny, Anna could tell that he was trying to be gentle but his hand was still rough enough to bobble her head back and forth. "Thank you." She grabbed his hand and held onto it. "Though I already know your feelings, It's always pleasurable to hear them from your own mouth."

At the time, Walter came out of the room and looked around before spotting Alucard and Anna still in the hallway. "Good, you're still here. Anna, it appears something had happened and we need you to do something for us."

Anna blinked and turned to him. "What is it?"

Darkness bloomed within the world with flashes of bright light coming from inside the old building that the Hellsing troops stood beside. The sound of loud gunfire had been going on for a couple of minutes now. Things took a turn for the worse though when they figured out that they were being secretly filmed by hidden cameras. It was live too and going straight to a local channel for everyone to see. The troops had their hands full so no one could spare the time to search for the mole that was concealed inside.

Fargason waited patiently and glanced over to the darkened alleyway behind him, seeing Anna's whitened figure emerge from the gloom. "Anna." he greeted with a small nod of the head. "You got here rather quickly."

They had to call Anna since they knew she would get it done swiftly without any fuss. She had always been a bit easier to work with then Alucard when it came to quick and easy jobs. Anna had actually preferred these kinds of jobs more than the drawn-out ones.

"I came as fast as I could," she answered back and stood beside him. She looked up at the building and could hear the gunfire still loud and clear, red hot and in the heat of battle. "Goodness...that is turned into quite a mess." Anna crossed her arms over her chest and took in a deep breath. "So...you need me to find the one behind the cameras?"

"If you would. We need it done fast too."

She shook her head very slowly and stared silently at the building. She scanned the multiple floors with her eyes until they began to glow ominously in the dark, shifting to various shades of scarlet that gave off an enchanting look. "I can find him in three minutes or less." Her voice even dropped a bit and turned serious. "Now, if you would excuse me."

She walked towards the building and headed inside the front entrance, melting into the darkness until she couldn't be seen anymore.

As predicted, the mole was hidden in the lowest part of the building, in the basement where Anna found him. He had all his equipment set up and it truly looked like he was down there for a long time, waiting for something to happen. That struck her as weird and definitely raised some red flags about the mission as a whole. She couldn't help but feel as if the whole thing was a setup. If you think about it, it would be to impossible for someone to sneak in during an assault and set up cameras all around the place, especially with ghouls roaming the halls and armed with weapons. No matter how much you look at it, it was like a plan to lure Hellsing out in the open. Was it though?

Was it really a trap?

Seras walked out of the building after doing her final sweep, making sure there were no more stragglers left inside. She looked over and spotted Steadler. "Captain Steadler," she called and approached him.

"What do you want?" he said mockingly towards her and didn't even turn around at first.

Seras clenched her jaw but tried her best to keep calm. "How did you know that the targets were waiting for us on the third floor? Why didn't you bother to share this information with the forward unit?" she questioned him.

Steadler scoffed and turned around to face her, stepping right up into her personal space. "You and Anna really do think you're hot shit, don't you?" His hand slid right up to her face and he actively began to provoke her. "How would you like to suck my blood? Or do you want something else?"

Seras's eyes went wide and she swallowed her anger down her throat, only to choke on it. She went blind and all she could see was bright red before her eyes, flaming hot and tasting like blood when she bit down on her tongue. She instantly tightened up her muscles in an attempt to keep her arms at her side and not lash out at him. She wanted to though. She wanted to wrap her fingers around his throat and tear his skin apart until she saw blood.

She had never wanted to kill someone this badly before.

Steadler snickered at how much Seras was struggling when he suddenly felt a hand pull against his shoulder. "The hell do you want-" he whipped his head around and froze in a dead instant. His heart turned cold from Anna's piercing vermilion gaze that burned like unending hellfire. Her face was calm, yes, but something was definitely scratching at the surface of that cool exterior. Something he knew he shouldn't poke at anymore.

Anna tilted her head to the side and gently pulled him away from her. "I don't care what you say to me or how to treat me, but...don't let me hear you say anything like that to Seras again. Do I make myself clear?" Her tall frame loomed high over his head and her voice became unfamiliar. It was stern and serious like a threat. Was she actually threatening him though? He couldn't tell by her words alone but his body sure was reacting like it was.

Steadler cleaned his throat and lifted his arms in a defensive manner. "Yes, ma'am," he rolled his eyes and walked away from the two vampires.

After a solid minute of silence, Seras spoke up but seemed very unsure of herself. "Miss Anna...doesn't this whole situation seems strange to you?"

Anna proceeded to stab her eyes into Steadler's back before finally looking away to address the question. "It's because there is..."