Chapter 12
Integra and Walter weren't quite sure how it had happened. They had been in the kitchen, discussing how much of a monumental shit-up this entire scenario was, though in much more eloquent language. When they turned around to look at Alucard, they reeled. He'd disappeared. They didn't know it, but he had slunk off to find Lady.
"…Blast." Integra glowered at the sofa where Alucard should have been sleeping, willing him to slink in through the floor, smirk on his face, going 'Surely you weren't worried about me Integra,' or at least saying something to that effect. She would reply with the usual off-hand remark on his barbarism, and then he would float off, fix everything with Dante, and they could go home and return to 'normal' life.
He didn't appear.
"Very well put, Sir," Walter sighed. "I'll call Seras. She may be able to track him down."
Integra continued to stare at the sofa. The light was filtering through the clear windows, cutting through the air and illuminating every last dust particle. There was nothing out of place in the room. And yet it felt odd. Not quite as it should be. Empty.
"Yes… Yes, have her find him," Integra muttered.
An itchy, uncomfortable feeling blossomed inside of her. Something was seriously wrong. Alucard had always had a habit of floating off when it suited him, but he'd never gone without some indication of when he'd be back. And the seizures he'd had too…
"And Walter," she continued, looking the older gent straight in the eyes.
"Yes ma'am?"
"Make sure she hurries."
"Of course, Sir Integra."
Walter fumbled with the room's phone. After a few attempts, and cross-checking the number with the one Integra had, he gave a sigh.
"She's not picking up. I suppose she might have not seen my message, and wondered off to find me. Sir, I shall go and look for her myself; I'm ever so sorry about all this."
Integra shook her head.
"No, no. It's fine Walter really." She paused, frowning. "Actually, let's go together. I have a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, and I'd rather not let us get separated."
"Ah. Very good, Sir."
They stepped into the elevator together. No sooner had the doors closed than the vent in the roof got torn off and the two Brits got dragged through, struggling against a mass of iron-strong arms.
Lady woke up. It didn't feel like waking though. It felt like she opened her eyes and everything, even her very soul, was covered in treacle. She felt uncomfortable in her own skin, like little beams of heat were flowing through her. When she did touch her skin though, it felt cold.
And that's when she remembered.
"No!" she gasped, sitting up straight, and clutching her neck.
It was completely healed. Lady felt despair fill her up, turning her insides into a cold, squirming, uncomfortable mess of a thing.
"Good afternoon," Alucard purred.
Lady lashed her head up at him.
They were in a small, cluttered, and rather aged room. Thin, threadbare curtains just about managed to blot out most of the sunlight which blared through the muddied, single pane window. Lady was on a cheap bed, with a thin duvet covering her body and a lumpy pillow propping her up. She noted there was a wooden cane resting by the door. A wooden cane she could make good use of against Him. She flicked her eyes to him, and saw he was leaning with his elbows on his knees, and had given himself a different look.
Alucard had shaved a few years off, and his features were sharper and more beautifully terrifying than before. His eyes were now like a hawk's; narrowed dangerously, seeming to see everything, and glowing bloody crimson. As he grinned, his fangs seemed somehow sharper and whiter than they had been, and Lady saw blood which had remained in between them. A pang of fear fled down her spine, and took the breath out of her chest. Knowing your blood had been consumed and actually seeing it in the mouth of a monster were two completely different things entirely. Billowing from the crown of his head, his black hair was now tumbling down his back, a waterfall of black locks, flickering and falling in a way that framed his face perfectly, it seemed to quiver with excitement. Lady stopped herself. That was stupid.
Gone was his heavy red coat and black suit. He'd either been shopping, or clothed himself with some unknowable vampire power. He was now just wearing a black t-shirt, a black pair of jeans, and black trainers.
"I am not much of a fan of today's fashion," he admitted, noticing Lady peering at the outfit, which did not seem right on him, "But, sacrifices have to be made, if we are to stay hidden."
"…We?" Lady quizzed, clutching the duvet tightly, her nails almost piercing it. "I don't remember ever being a part of a 'we' with you."
Alucard carried on watching her, silent. Lady was going to carry on, throwing every insult at him she could possibly think of, but she chose not to. She needed to be clever. Fury and force weren't going to help her get out of this mess.
They remained in silence for a short while. Lady could feel the difference in her body already: her throat was parched; everything she saw was brighter, more vivid, and much more real; and her irritability had gone from a niggling voice in her head to a full blown fury that she was struggling to reign in.
"That's what happens," Alucard piped in, "Whatever you were like before, it's going to be amplified to such an intense amount now that you're one of us." His voice was full of a sick joy, but it wasn't mocking, and it was the same with his face. "You'll learn to embrace it though. Once you've tasted human blood and felt the power rushing-"
Lady growled, and launched at him with a new found speed and strength that she was barely able to control. Though he could have easily held her off, or dodged out of the way, he let her tackle him off the chair and grasp his throat, nails digging in as she attempted to choke the life out of him.
"I hate you," she snarled, teeth barred and face inches from his as she carried on clawing at his throat. "And I will never embrace being a filthy, blood-obsessed monster."
The corner of Alucard's mouth crept up slowly.
"You already are," he stated.
Patty skipped down the street, half singing some pop song she was currently addicted to. As a young girl with a penchant for girly things, she had every right to skip down a street in such a fashion. She was also very aware of this fact. Because of this, she was very irritated when a car, which was mowing ferociously down the road, almost crashed into her.
Out of the car clambered a platinum blonde woman, donning a smart, well-tailored suit, and round spectacles. She was breathless, panicked, and looked extremely pissed off.
"Little girl," she gabbled, clawing at the pavement to help her scramble out of the car faster, "Please, if you see a man with black hair and red eyes, tell him that Integra and Walter are-"
She was cut off by two men appearing from the car which she was trying to get away from, grabbing her and yanking her down the street.
Patty watched with terrified eyes as one of the men punched her in the stomach, causing her to keel over and cough up blood. Two more men, struggling to carry an unconscious elderly man and another blonde, who she could have sworn she recognised, also scuttled out of the car, growling and swearing like sailors.
In an attempt to get away, Integra, with a battle cry of 'Bloody arse holes', kicked one of the assailants in the crotch and he keeled over like a domino, falling onto the floor with a pathetic groan. The other, shocked by Integra's furious antic, let out his own battle cry, along the lines of 'you crazy bitch', and grabbed a fist full of her hair. Lashing out with her elbow, which was apparently rather pointy, she managed to crack into his ribs, knocking the air out of him. He released her from shock. Integra staggered away, lunging at one of the other goons who had Walter. The goon saw her coming. With one fell swoop, he back-handed her right across the face. Her glasses got knocked from her face and she keeled over from the force, smashing her head pretty hard on the pavement.
Patty was shaking, watching all this from behind some bins which she had ducked behind. Integra gave her one last pleading look before unconsciousness took her.
The kidnappers didn't notice Patty. They bundled Walter and Integra away, dragging them into the maze of alleyways that spread through the city like a lymph system. They didn't notice her terrified face. They didn't notice her ruined dress. They didn't notice the phone she had been talking down.
"Trish, where are you…?" Dante grunted down the phone, "I left my keys in Lady's apartment, and I can't get in there or in my office. Call me, okay?"
Lethys looked up at him with apologetic eyes.
"Sorry," she said automatically.
Dante gave her a lop-sided grin as he hung up.
"Don't apologise, it's pointless. And anyway, it's not your fault is it?"
She shrugged.
"I guess. But still."
"Still what?" Dante smiled, crossing his arms and puffing up his chest. "Really, you worry too much."
Lethys grinned up at him.
"Yeah, I know. It's kinda like… I don't know. I guess I've just got a lot to worry about."
Dante patted her on the back.
"Don't worry kid, things get easier. And anyway, we've got to go find these werewolves…er, Demons…whatever."
Lethys groaned.
"That can never, never be a good thing."
"Nope, but it's gotta be done," Dante sighed.
"…Is it really just you then…?" Lethys asked, peering up at the demon hunter.
Dante tilted his head.
"Is it just me what?"
"That can do what you do?"
"Which is…?"
"…I don't really know. I mean. You're not human, right?"
"I guess, so, yeah," Dante grunted, turning away from her.
"But… You're not like, um. You're not like other demons, right?"
"Yeah, that's about right."
"…That's good. I like it," she smiled.
Dante turned around, one eyebrow raised in interest.
"Oh?" He smirked. "You like it, huh?"
Lethys nodded, oblivious to his tone of voice that implied a whole different meaning. Dante chuckled, shaking his head.
"…Speaking of not being human, you're an elf, yeah?"
Lethys nodded.
"The woman who kidnapped you… She said you're the last. Is that true?"
Lethys peered up at him then looked away. She opened her mouth to speak, before closing it again.
"…I'm not the last. I mean, there are thousands, even hundreds or thousands of others," she finally answered. "It's just… They keep to themselves, or so I hear. I mean. They live in either a different world, like the demons do, or underground. I'm not sure which."
"You're not sure?"
"My parents never really told me. They just said 'They're more trouble than they're worth. And ridiculously stuck up. It's best to stay away.' And so I have done."
"Where are your parents?"
"They're travelling around Europe," she sighed. "And decided that I 'need to become more independent', so took nothing with them which would let me contact them."
Dante whistled in awe.
"And I thought my 'rents were bad."
Lethys shrugged.
"You gotta let them go and make their own mistakes, right?" She grinned. "Can't baby them forever."
Dante smirked.
"I'd say that's about right."
They trawled down the streets in silence for a short while, just happy to have a little bit of peace in between the business and drama of the last few weeks.
"Say… You don't have a gun, do you?" Dante asked, coming to a standstill.
"Um… No."
"I'm not giving her one," Morrison stated, plodding down the street towards them.
Patty was tailing him with skittish movements. Lethys jumped, having not spotted them approaching.
"What's up with her?" Dante asked. Patty stuck her tongue out at him, and Dante raised an eyebrow. "Nevermind… Looks like she's fine."
"She saw some people getting kidnapped. She's a bit shook up," he mumbled. "I had to listen to it all on the phone, so I went to pick her up, to check if she was okay."
"I'm FINE," she cried, sticking her nose in the air. "I called the police, so there."
Dante rolled his eyes. The police were all idiots.
"Hey Morrison," he started, ignoring the scoff Patty made when she realised he was changing subjects. "Can you go and ask Lady if it was werewolves or demons at the cafe? I need to go and check something."
"Check what, Dante?" Morrison asked, brushing off his jumper to stave off the drops of rain that had started splattering on him.
"Oh, it's nothing important but-"
"Dante. Check what?" Morrison got sterner.
"Okay, we've got a bunch of ex-werewolves who are now demons or something to that effect, running around the city." When Morrison gave him a lost look, Dante nodded at Lethys. "She'll explain. I'm gunna go scope the city – check for any trouble."
Morrison waited a moment before nodding.
"Yeah, that's a good idea."
"Oh, and if you see Trish, get her to give me a call could you? She went to go find some info on Weres, but now I can't get a hold of her."
"Sure thing Dante."
As Dante leapt onto the roof of the nearest building, Patty and Lethys and Morrison stood, not quite sure where to go, in the middle of the street. Morrison took off his hat and wiped his brow with the back of his wrist.
"Sounds like we're up to our neck in trouble again, eh…?"
Seras choked. She was bound by chains, and trapped in some dark, dank room; an old prison cell. She pulled against the chains, but they were gripping hooks in the walls, and set fast.
"Bloody hell," she muttered. "What a mess."
"You're awake then?" Called out another female voice.
Seras peered across the room, noticing movement she hadn't before.
"Um, yeah. My name's Seras. Who are you?"
"I'm Trish."
"Where are we?"
"I don't know," Trish sighed. "I don't know where we are and I don't know what demon crap they've got on these chains, but they're really burning my skin. And my whole body feels like it's on fire."
Seras frowned. The chains weren't hurting her at all. And then, it hit her. She should be able to see perfectly clearly in the dark, but she could barely make out the form of the blonde on the other side of the cell.
"Really? Mine feel fine. But," she felt a dull crackle of something inside of her, something she'd never felt before, "I do feel weird. Maybe they drugged us?"
"Nah, drugs wouldn't affect me. Plus, whoever it was who kidnapped me just smashed a massive wooden pole into the back of my head; why do that AND drug us? And why would drugs make me feel so damn hungry?"
Seras realised her hunger had gone too.
"Wait… Wait a minute. Do your teeth feel like they're grinding into your jaw…?"
"…Yes."
"And… And your stomach, it's screaming at you, right? And your throat feels like it has never felt water?"
"Okay, what's your point…?"
Seras reeled.
"I think your chains are silver."
"Right, but… Oh," Trish's voice fell and she snapped to attention. "OH. You're a vampire, aren't you?"
"Yes…"
"…Well. This is a monumental shit-up."
"Yeah, that's sums it up pretty well," Seras sighed. She pulled at the chains, and through the small crack of light that was creeping in through the bars of the cell, she saw they did appear to be silver. "When did I bite you…?"
"What…? You didn't bite me," Trish exhaled, shaking her head.
"I didn't?" Seras questioned, genuinly shocked. "Then how are you...?"
"No, you see, I used to be a demon. Me and my friend, well, colleague, Dante, we've got ourselves into a bit of a mess. We think there's someone, or some people, who are switching the powers of supernatural creatures."
"Dante?" Seras breathed, her mind racing.
"Yeah."
Trish filled in Seras on the details of Lethys and all that had taken place in the last few weeks. When she reached the bit with Alucard, Seras started squirming.
"So. The little blonde vampire. I'm guessing that's you?" Trish asked, her eyes locking on Seras through the darkness. Seras nodded. "Well, I'm sorry to have to tell you, but you're not a vampire anymore. You're a demon."
Seras's insides jarred as she took it all in. 'Out of the frying pan and into the fire' she thought, groaning internally.
"Just try something for me," Trish continued, ignoring the face of disgust that Seras was unintentionally pulling. "I can produce lightning; that's my demonic power. If you produce enough, and melt the chains, you should be able to get free. Can you give it a shot?"
Seras looked up. So that was what the uncomfortable crackly feeling was.
"Uh, sure I guess… Actually, I have no idea how to even begin."
Trish chuckled.
"I'm sorry, I probably should have explained. Right," she shifted to sit more comfortably. "You can feel that jitteriness inside of you, yes?"
"Yeah…?"
"Right, well, you just kind of have to channel it through to your hands."
Seras's face fell, and she slouched further onto the dank floor.
"That doesn't really help."
"Just try it," Trish snapped, feeling something stir in her which wanted to rip Seras's head off. Then it settled. "Ah… I'm guessing that was part of The Hunger then…?"
Seras nodded. Then she set about trying to wish electricity to beam out of her hands.
Half an hour later, and after a lot of swearing and shouting, Trish had finally managed to get Seras to summon lightning. It wasn't much, but after a while she really managed to crank up the energy, focusing it all on the chains and getting them to reach a scorching 900 degrees, melting them light butter.
"Right, now let me out," Trish commanded.
Seras did as she was told, and Trish let out a breath of relief, rubbing her arms where the silver had scorched her. The wounds healed fast, but slow for a vampire.
"…I guess I'm this hungry for a reason, hm…?" She spoke, her voice low with disapproval.
"Yeah, well, shut up," Seras growled, charging up to the bars.
She grabbed one of them, and shot out as much lightning as she physically could. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. Though the bars began to glow bright, it wasn't enough to melt through.
"Damn. Must be iron," Trish hissed. "I never could produce enough heat to melt through it."
Seras sighed, leaning against the bar despondently.
"I'm sorry. I guess if I drank more you might be able to slink through as a shadow, but…"
Trish snapped her head up.
"Hey, don't worry about it. We'll get out of here, you'll see."
Seras nodded glumly.
"It's time we got you some food," Alucard smirked.
Lady scrambled up off the floor, backing up and standing on the other side of the room, glowering at him.
"I don't want your 'food'. I want to be a human," she growled.
"This is the second creature I've made who's said that. But this time I can do whatever I want to make you drink; no Integra holding me back," he pondered, smiling with his fangs glinting as the sliver of sunlight bounced off them.
Lady felt a shiver of fear creep up her spine, and she backed further into the worn old chest of drawers behind her.
Alucard stood up to his full height, almost hitting his head on the ceiling.
"You will follow me, Lady," he commanded.
Though she didn't want to, something within Lady couldn't disobey his command, and as he began to saunter out of the room, her legs began moving by themselves – she followed.
As she did, however, she grabbed the cane from beside the door. He had already rounded the corner as she stepped into the corridor, so with a quick movement, she snapped it in half, giving herself a make-shift stake. She slid in into the side of her shorts, and covered it up with her shirt.
"Ah..."
Alucard had stepped outside, and though it was overcast with a few droplets of rain, there was not enough cloud cover to shield Lady from the sun's merciless glare. He turned to face her.
"Shall we…?"
Lady was about to protest, knowing the sun would burn her, but when she peered through the doorway, thick, grey, billowing clouds were building up in the sky, truly choking out all remnants of sunlight. Looking at Alucard with wide eyes, she hesitated.
"…Fine," she gave in after a moment. "If you make the cloud disappear, at least I'll burst into flames. It'll be a hell of a lot less painful than being here with you."
Alucard' mouth twitched. He strode out without a word. Lady was compelled, through no fault of her own, to follow him.
It just so happened, and unknown to them all, that the street of the motel that Alucard had rented a room of was also the same street as Morrison, Patty and Lethys had been stood on. Alucard bounded down the street. Lady stalked him, miserable. Morrison and Patty plodded down as Lethys explained what had gone down at the café. The two sides neared each other.
Alucard was the first to spot the others, just as the rain began to fall. He recognised Patty and Morrison from the diner. Lethys, he didn't recognise, but he could smell her blood more strongly than the other two. And he knew she was different immediately.
He noted that the little girl asked to leave while she went to look at dresses in a shop, wanting to avoid the bad weather. Morrison agreed. Alucard smirked. He could always hunt her down afterwards, if he wanted. Soon after, he noted Lady picking up on them, and recognising them. 'Oh god, Morrison and Lethys', she revealed to him through a simple thought. Alucard smirked. They were a good three blocks or so away –she was picking up her abilities fast.
'Good,' he thought. 'More fun for me.'
"This is stupid," she muttered, and Alucard stopped walking. He could feel her relief already. "Just take me where you want to take me. There's no point wandering around the city for half the day. I'm tired."
"Oh really…? And are you sure it has nothing to do with the man and woman you just recognised, strolling right towards us?"
Lady choked on a breath.
"Well, Lady, why don't we go and say hello…?" He proposed, eyebrow shooting into his forehead. "I mean, it would only be fair to, before I kill them."
"Wh-what?" Lady cried, feeling the blood pounding through her, stress causing adrenaline to course through her body.
"They know I attacked you, and I'm in the process of getting rid of witnesses who can reveal my presence here to some soon-to-be very pissed off English Aristocracy."
"…Wait-"
"Oh yes. The entire reason I turned you was because you had seen me here. I could have just killed you, yes, but in such a public place as a hospital, I'd have even more witnesses to deal with."
Despair flooded through her now, overpowering the stress and fury. She itched to grab the stake and ram it through his bastard-heart. Screaming at her, her mind demanded that he die, blood trailing all over the pavement.
And then another desire kicked in. To drink the blood of his that she so desperately wanted to spill. Alucard's grin widened.
"If you touch one hair on their heads," Lady warned, glowering up at him.
"You'll what…?" He mocked, leering down at her with flashing eyes. "There is nothing you can do, and you know it."
Lady shrunk down, but remained glaring at him.
"…Lady…?" Morrison called, as he neared.
Lethys looked up to where Morrison was peering. She noticed Alucard blinding red eyes immediately and drew back. Grabbing Morrison's arm, she tried to stop him.
"What's wrong Lethys?" He grumbled, looking at the girl with lost eyes.
"That man with Lady… He's a-"
Lethys didn't get to finish her sentence. Lady was clawing at Alucard's arm, trying to stop him nearing the pair, whereas Morrison was charging up to them, completely ignoring her.
"Hey, I know you," Morrison began, recognising Alucard from Dante's description. "You're… Wait. You're the one who attacked Dante aren't… WAIT. You didn't just attack him, but…"
Morrison lashed his eyes from Alucard to Lady and back again. Lady was furious, desperate, and almost every emotion in between. She had just about managed to deal with the situation up until then, but the distraught, confused look on Morrison's face was crushing her inside. Lethys was just frozen, twitching nervously every few seconds.
"That's two out of your little cabal I've managed to, hm... Ravage. I shouldn't think there's many of you left to deal with, now is there…? You, and this girl here. That, ah, Patty is it? She'll be next after you two. And then that delectable blonde woman as well," he drawled, his wicked smile playing about his face. "And next time I meet Dante, I'll put him in his grave for good."
The rain was pouring down now. Thick sheets of the stuff thundered from the heavens, spilling over the pavements, flowing into drains, sloshing down buildings. They were all soon soaked through, as they stood, tense, watching each other carefully. Lethys was the first to make a move.
A/N;; This chapter was originally going to be a lot longer, but I figured it's harder to follow what's going on with so many setting changes all in one big chunk, so I'm breaking it down.
Plus, it means I can update faster, and that's always good :'D
Thank you for the reviews (:D For some reason I can't reply, but I did read them.
I realise the last chapter was dreadfully confusing. I forgot you guys don't know of my plan, so while I know what's going on, you're still all stuck in mind-fuck land, and for that I apologise xD
Also, Trish and Morrison and Patty are probably a bit out of character. In fact, a lot of them are. It's been a while since I've watched DMC (and I've gone and leant the DVDs to my friend, like a right bloody tool) so I don't really have any refs for them for a lil' while.
And sorry for all the ranting authors notes. I get a bit excited and hyper when I'm about to post, so I tend to ramble on and on and it's irritating xD
So, again, I'm sorry :I
Thanks for ready, really. You all make my life :B
[e]
A/N 2 ;;
Okay, I've got a couple of reviews in, and I would jsut like to clear up something. I do realise a lot of the main characters have been changed and such, and I KNOW that's practically a sin fanfiction-wise, but I would just like to say that I have a plan xD
It may not sound like an important thing, but it means I still have everything under control, and, without giving out too much away, it's still possible for them all to return to normal. To be honest, it's blaringly obvious what I'm going to do, so I'm surprised no one's thought of it (Though, you may have and I just don't know.)
Please bear with me while I churn out the next few chapters, which I'm hoping will start to clear up this mess. It's important plot-wise, but I can see it's really pissed a few people off xD
I don't want to end up like THOSE people who go and ruin all universes and fandoms and the fanfiction spirals out of control and get set on fire by an angry mob of people.
So yeah,
Don't worry yo.
It's aaaaall a part of a plan.
And in my defence, isn't over-the-top plot lines and end of the world-esque goings on part of the charm of both series? (Okay, maybe there isn't QUITE so much all going on at one, but that should calm down too soon.)
Again, I apologise, but bear with me.