A/N: Don't own Hellsing but, like everyone else, wish I did. Poor college kid, so please don't sue!!! Oh, and this disclaimer is for the rest of the chapters!

A Different Meeting

Hunger drives us all,

For some, it consumes.

God, Romania is beautiful Seras Victoria thought as she walked steadily through the woods. I'd forgotten how lovely the evenings here were.

Ahead of her loomed the castle surrounded by a high stone wall, looking the same as the last time she saw it. It was in very good shape still, too, especially considering how old the structure was. Seras was surprised no one had claimed it as their own. Though the looks she had received from the villagers when she told them her destination showed they were obviously afraid of it. She had no idea why. It was just a dusty, crumbling piece of masonry that had managed to survive mostly intact.

Still, as she approached the grounds, the air seemed to grow colder.

Alucard was standing at one of the large windows in the master bedroom, taking in the moon slowly rising over the snow capped mountains. He was bored, and a little hungry. Few travelers had come near his castle lately and he would soon be forced to go into the village. Not that he would or could be harmed by that rabble, but it was a nuisance to have to go find food. Suddenly he sensed humans around his castle.

There were two. One smelled like a male and the other female. Decisions, decisions he thought. He finally decided to attack the male first and capture the female to save as a snack. Grinning insanely, Alucard vanished to pursue the hunt and quench his hunger.

Meanwhile, Seras stood in the courtyard of the large structure. She was undecided on what to see first. To her right was a chapel in desperate need of repair. The steeple had fallen in, all the stained glass windows were broken, and the stone entrance was crumbling. To her left were the stables, which appeared to be relatively intact. There remained only the main portion of the building. The structure was three stories tall, with large glass windows on every floor. Two large oak doors, flanked by a pair of marble columns, made up the entrance to the castle.

Finally deciding on seeing the stables, she strolled leisurely toward the building. As she entered, Seras realized it was bigger than she thought. There were several dozen stalls stretching along both sides of the walls. Also, plenty of room had been afforded at the far end of the structure for the carriages and groom lodgings.

Suddenly Seras heard an ear piercing shriek, like someone was screaming for their life. She ran outside, thankful for the gun at her side. She couldn't tell where the sound had come from until another shriek was heard, this one more terrifying then the last. As if the person were in the grips of death.

Pinpointing the noises as having come from the chapel, Seras cautiously moved across the courtyard toward the building. On closer inspection, the chapel looked even more decrepit. The walls were in as bad a shape as the entrance, while the roof had sunken in on itself. The doors were rotten and looked about ready to fall off their hinges. There was enough of a gap between the doors for her to peer through and what she saw filled her with terror

Standing among the rotting pews, apparently basking in the light of the moon and reveling in the death of its victim, was a man. Or something that appeared to be a man. She could only see the outline of the figure in the moonlight, standing over whom she assumed was the person who had screamed. The person on the ground wasn't moving, and didn't seem to be breathing either.

But Seras watched with horror as the still form on the ground started to rise to its feet. She choked back a scream as the man stepped into the moonlight.

He wasn't a man anymore, but more like a walking, rotting corpse. His skin was drooping off his face and his eyes were empty, as if he had no soul. The creature started walking, or rather, stumbling toward the figure still cloaked in darkness.

The person standing in the moonlight pulled out a large gun and aimed it at the corpse/man. Seras instantly realized what he was going to do and the screams that had been welling up inside her burst forth. The figure with the gun jerked his head at her and she saw for the first time that he had blood red eyes. Then a shot was heard and something akin to primal fear kicked in, urging Seras to run. But where? She decided on the castle. She may be able to hide somewhere until daybreak, and then make her escape.

Slamming through the massive wooden doors, she skidded on the stone floor and nearly crashed into one of the wooden banisters of the grand staircase. Seras looked wildly for a direction to run and noticed that the main entrance was huge! The staircase had been built in the center of the room and apparently led to the second floor. On both sides of the main hall, several corridors lead off into darkness. Whichever way she went, the decision would be permanent. She decided to keep to the downstairs, leading to a quicker, and less dangerous, escape later.

There was a hall to her far left and she ran toward it. She had just made in into the darkened passage when the main doors were slammed shut, making her stop in her tracks. Slowly Seras turned around, not daring to breathe and unable to move.

Standing there, still holding the large gun, was the man, or whatever he was. He was scanning the hall and seemed to be sniffing the air. Slowly those red eyes settled in her direction and her feet were suddenly able to move.

Seras took advantage of her newfound mobility and ran down the hall, searching for an open door. There! A door to her right had been left ajar, just wide enough for her to squeeze in. As she slid into the room, she caught a glimpse of someone walking down the hall toward her.

Seras quickly looked around, taking in her surroundings. It appeared to be a sitting room, with several decaying chairs settled around a large table. Apparently, ladies of old had used the room to sow and chat away the time. However, now was not the time to think of such things. At the moment, she couldn't get her heart to stop pounding. That man, or whatever he was, had seen her! She needed to find a hiding place and fast!

Suddenly Seras had the horrible feeling of being watched. Eyes were staring, taking in her body and scent.

Alucard watched her realization to his presence, a wicked grin playing across his face. How many years had it been since a mortal had come into his castle willingly? Smelling her scent, he suddenly realized that it smelled familiar. Where had he met her before? He would have remembered a beautiful woman such as this, so the meeting had to have been years ago, when she was younger.

No matter. He was going to have fun with her one way or another.