A Dream

A/N: Hello! Oh my gosh it has been so long! 10 years! I came up with the initial idea for this sequel shortly after finishing A Drink (if you haven't read A Drink by me, that's okay. It introduces the OC Catherine, but beyond that isn't necessary for this story). A lot has happened since then, including multiple attempts to write this sequel previously that were all lost/destroyed before they could be posted.
What brought me back? I found out a friend of mine hadn't watched Hellsing Ultimate OVA yet! So, I nagged and teased and pushed and finally sat down and watched it with him! It was such fun, even better than I remembered, and it reminded me of my old fanfic. Though I'm working on a novel right now, I thought I'd take a little break and revisit my dear Arucard.

A NOTE ON THE SPELLING! PLEASE READ!
Yes, in English it's Dracula and backwards it's Alucard. However, Kouta Hirano is Japanese. The original story is a Japanese manga that was turned into a Japaneses Anime (and then another anime). You may have noticed I called him "Arucard" above. This was not a typo. This is intentional. I will also spell Dracula as Dracura. This is a personal choice and is intended as a tip of my hat and a show of respect to Kouta Hirano and his work and nationality.
TL:DR It's Dracura/Arucard cause it's from Japan.
On with the Story!

Chapter 1 Resurrection

"This is it." Glee banished Herr Siegfried's exhaustion as his calloused fingers clawed at thickly tangled vines. Green and brown lengths of foliage all but completely engulfed the small stone tomb. After a few minutes struggling with the stubborn plants, he set aside his pack, then renewed his attack with a machete.

Sweating and panting, Siegfried steadily removed the overgrowth. Etched into the stone was a familiar crest, a dragon circling three teeth jutting across the width of a shield. Siegfried's chuckle swelled quickly to an echoing roar as he drew two gems from his pocket and placed them in the dragon's eyes. Ancient wards flared briefly then faded as equally old mechanisms began to grind.

Fetid air spilled out into Siegfried's face making him cough as it tugged at blond strands that had escaped his ponytail. Blinking his pale blue eyes, he stepped through the dark doorway weapon raised. Some daylight yet remained, but not a single ray seemed able to pierce this darkness. From the outside, the tomb had seemed barely large enough to house a single coffin, but as Siegfried swept his flashlight around, he saw stairs leading down into the earth.

Grinning, the tall German retreated back outside. "This is really it fraulein Ana!" He could barely contain his delight as he cut the ropes binding the young village woman to a nearby tree. "I really can't thank you enough for telling me of this place. Without your help, I might never have found it." Holding the machete to her throat he kissed her forehead as she sobbed through her gag. "You're going to help me with one more thing, then I'll let you go." He promised her as he had promised repeatedly since her initial attempt to leave him hours ago. Fresh tears spilled from her dark eyes as she was pushed into the tomb.

With encouragement from the machete Ana led the way down the stairs following Siegfried's light. The air grew warmer and more stale as they traveled deeper. Rough cut stone and packed earth was their only scenery. Far above thunder rolled and boomed shaking loose a sprinkling of dust that drew a muffled whimper from Ana. "Don't fret fraulein. This tomb has stood for hundreds of years. It's not going to tumble down today." Even as he said it though, Siegfried felt a clenching in his belly as the sharp crack of lightning unseen was followed almost immediately by another roar of thunder. Fear mingled with excitement as his heart beat a little faster.

Sweat prickled on their skin as the tunnel seemed to stretch on and on. Siegfried was beginning to suspect there might be a second ward on the tomb when abruptly the steps ended in a rough earthen floor and his light glanced over the edges of a stone sarcophagus. "This is it!" Giddy, he repeated his earlier proclamation as he wrapped Ana in a tight hug and kissed her tear streaked cheek. "Hold this." He requested pressing the flashlight into her bound hands.

Startled, Ana gripped it tightly fixing the beam on the graven stone lid as her captor dropped to one knee. "Hold still, we're nearly done. I'm just going to tie your ankles so you don't leave too soon. I have one more task for you, just the one, then you can go home to your mother and father and all your little brothers and sisters." Pausing as he uncoiled a length of rope, Siegfried glanced up at her curiously. "Do you have any siblings?"

Ana stared down at him mutely, her dark eyes proclaiming a less than complimentary assessment of his sanity as clearly as any words could have. With a shrug he began to ramble about his own family as he looped the rope around her ankles. Gathering her nerve, Ana dragged her gaze from the plain stone, tightened her grip on the solid weight of the flashlight, then quickly brought it down on top of Siegfried's skull with all of her strength. The light flared, flickered, and vanished as the sharp noise echoed through the tiny chamber and back up the stairs. A clattering of metal on stone accompanied the machete skidding away. As Siegfried cursed at her and fell back clutching his head, Ana turned and tried to run.

Growling every German and English profanity he had ever learned, Siegfried grasped blindly at the ropes ends and yanked. Luck was with him, the loop catching his sacrifice's feet enough to send her sprawling with a muffled cry. On hands and knees, he scrambled forward through the dark feeling his way up her body until his fingers closed around her throat. "Stupid bitch. I would have let you go, but nein. You couldn't wait. You couldn't help me one last time." In his fury, he smacked her head against the steps as she clawed at his face before going very still. "Shit! Don't be dead!" Blindly he fumbled for her pulse and put an ear to her breast. Her heart still beat.

Gasping with relief, Siegfried felt around for his pack and drew out a lighter. Blood oozed from his scalp and down his face as he recovered his flashlight. To his delight it still worked, and he pressed a kiss to the warm metal. "Mwa! Zat is German craftsmanship!" He bragged as he tucked away his lighter and examined Ana. More blood was running from the back of her skull beginning to drip down the steps. Grimacing at the stabbing pain in his own head, he kicked her in the ribs knocking her down to the rough stone floor.

Softly, Siegfried whistled a tune from his childhood as he hauled the unconscious woman forward and laid her across the sarcophagus. "I could have sliced your palm and sent you on your way, but you had to make things difficult." He complained as he retrieved his machete. "Stupid sow." Keen metal sliced smoothly through tender flesh and a fountain of red spurted toward the ceiling, spraying Siegfried and turning the light a lurid shade of scarlet. "Wake Countess! Drink! And let us go together to slay a dragon!" Siegfried cried excitedly as he backed away.

Stone ground against stone. An eerie shadow light streaked with scarlet began to rise as Ana gurgled unconsciously, drowning in her own blood. Lightning exploded, piercing the earth, cracking the lid of the sarcophagus, and rendering Siegfried deaf and blind. When he was able to see again he was greeted by the sight of a withered husk of a woman hunched over Ana's weakly convulsing body. Rain was pouring down into the tomb hissing as it struck the scorched earth.

Siegfried watched in awe as life seemed to flow from Ana into the woman he had sought his entire adult life. Dark wrinkled flesh grew smooth and pale as fine ivory. Her sunken eyes blinked and grew fresh and bright. Even the blood that had spilled on the ground was not wasted; it flowed and raced toward her vanished where it touched her flesh. Withered lips became soft and full forming a smile as she finished her first feast in centuries.

"What is your name, so that I may thank you properly?" Elizabeth Bathory asked. Shadows swirled around her naked body forming an elaborate gown of black lace and garnet silks.

"Siegfried Countess. My name is Siegfried." He could barely whisper the words, but there was no doubt she heard him even over the raging storm.

"You have done me a great service Siegfried. Name your reward." Elizabeth murmured in a voice as warm as a funeral pyre.

"Great Lady. Share with me the blessing of your blood." Siegfried gazed at her with ardent desire as she glided on flickering shadows towards him.

Laughing, Elizabeth circled him. "You wish to be a vampire? Why?"

Dizziness mingled with the throbbing ache in his head as Siegfried tried to keep his gaze on her. "Power. So I can slay a dragon like in the old stories."

Again Elizabeth's laughter surrounded him, bouncing off the stone walls with growing mockery. "Are there even any dragons left in this tawdry little world?"

"There must be! Somewhere! I will find them once I'm powerful enough to slay them!" Siegfried cried loudly though the effort made him grimace.

"I may know where one is." Elizabeth offered teasingly, slowing to a stop a few steps above him. The rains seemed hardly to touch her or rather, she seemed to drink it in as she had taken in every drop of blood from the village girl.

"Tell me! Please!" Siegfried dropped to his knees as water soaked his clothing, washed the blood from his hair.

"You ask too much hero. Power or knowledge. You can't have both." Elizabeth taunted him, her shadowy shape settling into a solid form. If not for her eyes, a fool might almost mistake her for human.

"Please Countess! I will give you anything! Everything I have in return! Everything I am! I will serve you!" Siegfried pleaded.

"Serve me always til the end of days or your true death?" Elizabeth asked, her soft voice carrying through the roar of the storm as she held out a hand toward him.

"Yes! Anything!" Without hesitation Siegfried agreed to her terms, took hold of her hand and kissed it. Her smile widened impossibly as she pulled him up, sharp fangs parting in anticipation. "Give me the power, help me find my dragon, and I will slay it in your name Countess and serve you always." Siegfried vowed. A heartbeat later her teeth tore into his throat.

A/N: So, cause I'm watching/recently finished rewatching the OVA, this sequel has more of that feel. It's so much darker and more intense than the mainstream Hellsing series, in my opinion. I'm thinking of doing a rewrite of A Drink with the OVA in mind to make the sequel feel a little smoother (also because omg it's been 10 years and I am a much better writer now than I was back then . . .at least, I think I am).
*a couple more years later*
P.S. Uhm. . . well...I forgot what I was going to do. Oops. Ideas anyone? Credit will be given of course.