The Child of Seras - by MindAsylum - Anime - http://www.hellsingfanfic.net/hellsingfanfic/The_Child

The Child of Seras

Chapter V

August 16, 2007

I’m writing this because, from what I’m told, I’m going to live for a very long time. I think that since “eternity,” if there is such a thing, awaits me, then I’m going to need some reminder that time is still passing. The sun certainly can’t do that for me anymore, and a clock can only tell so much. A time might come where I’ve lived so long that I won’t be able to tell one year from another. It’s probably good that I keep some kind of record, so as to remind myself that, immortal or not, I am still me. I wonder if anyone will ever read it.

Now that the shock of what I am has started to wear off, I’m beginning to notice how different it is being undead. I have no heartbeat that I can feel, and when I draw breath it’s more out of habit than necessity. My sense of touch has changed little; I can still feel pain, which I tested by pricking a finger, and I also found that my skin healed the moment it was punctured. My eyes and ears have suddenly become disturbingly acute: if I listen hard enough, I can hear the footsteps of people coming down the stairs as far as my room, even though there’s no echo down here. When I turn the lights off in my room, I can still see as if it were plain as day. My skin hasn’t paled like I was expecting, and the only change in my outward appearance are the fangs, and I don’t even notice them until I look in a mirror or bite my tongue accidentally. So, at least from that standpoint, everything is actually better than before

When I got down to my room, mentally exhausted after my ordeal with Sir Hellsing, I was a little surprised to see, in an ice box, with a wine glass and a bowl, a bag of transfusion blood. For the longest time, I just stared at it, puzzled, like it was some kind of riddle I needed to solve. I started thinking about the last meal I had; two cheeseburgers, extra mayo and no lettuce, a large fry, and a Dr. Pepper. I haven’t been undead twenty-four hours, and already I find myself missing processed food. I pushed it in to the icebox and shut the lid, trying to ignore my hunger for the time being, but even as I closed the door behind me and wandered the cold, dark halls, I could feel it pulling at me ever so gently, like a little kid at my side, tugging me by the arm as we pass by a candy store.

Seras, my Master, went on a mission almost immediately after I left Sir Hellsing’s office. Even knowing what I do, it’s hard for me to see her as a vampire. While it’s true that I barely know her at this point, I can already tell that she’s a kind soulI mean, I don’t care what she says: she gave me a second chance, and if I read Sir Hellsing right, got herself into trouble because of it Isn’t that proof enough that she has a heart? Of all the vampires that could have turned me, I’m grateful that it’s her. I can’t wait to get to know her better. She may be my Master, but I hope that won’t prevent us from becoming friends.

I think that Alucard’s gone with her. I’ve only seen him for all of two minutes, and already I can tell he doesn’t like me. There’s something about him I don’t really like either, but I’m not sure what it is. I imagine that, just like I’ll have plenty of time to get to know Seras, I’ll have just as much to figure out why my skin crawls and my gut tightens when he looks at me.
I’m hearing footsteps coming down the stairs. Somehow, I know it’s Seras, so I’d better stop for now. Until tomorrow night.

--

Seras walked down the dank hallway with an unusually brisk walk. Any other night she would have taken her time, since all that awaited her down here was her coffin. But tonight was different. Tonight she had something, or more accurately, someone, that awaited her eagerly enough that he had emerged from his door to greet her halfway down the hall.

“How did it go, Master?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Well enough. It was over in less time than it took to get there. So, how about we go up to gym and get things started?”

Jake looked confused. “You mean you’re not tired, from the mission and all?”

Seras smiled. “Not even a little bit.” She turned and motioned for him to follow. “Come on, now, we’re burning moonlight down here. It’s about 1:00 am, so we should have the gym to ourselves.”

Jake followed, and Seras could tell very easily that beneath his nervousness, he was just as eager to learn as she was to teach. This new sense of purpose elated her as she ascended the steps, hearing her fledgling trail closely behind, no doubt wondering what she had in store for him. It would be this way for a good while; he had much to learn, and unlike her old master, she planned to guide him through ever step of the way.

Seras had spent most of the transit time on her mission thinking on how best to break him in to this line of work. She figured the gym would a good place to get his bearings. Once they arrived, she pushed through the double-doors and found that, to her relief, the gym was empty. Being gawked or glared at by training soldiers wouldn’t help him learn any faster. She walked over to a set of weights on the ground.

“Alright then,” she began, her voice a little more chipper than usual. “Consider this Vampirism 101.”

She began taking off the smaller weights on the crossbar, and adding the largest ones available. She picked up the crossbar effortlessly, eliciting a surprised gasp from Jake. He looked at her as though she had grown horns.

“Your first lesson: know what you can do.” She offered him the crossbar and looked at him expectantly.

Jake just stared at it, unsure of what to do.

“Come on, give it a lift.”

He pointed at it incredulously. “But that has to be at least a eighty kilos! There’s no way I could—“

“Think fast!” she said suddenly, tossing the crossbar to him. The sooner he got over his skepticism, the better. Jake recoiled, but his reflexes were a better than he realized. He fumbled for a moment, but caught it nonetheless. He recovered from his flinch, and looked in awe at the weight in his hands. He blinked a few times, lifting it up and down, still in disbelief.

“Now, see how easy that was? It’s for everybody’s benefit that you know exactly what you’re capable of. Remember, that no matter what, you’re stronger and faster than the strongest, fastest soldier here.”

Jake set down the weights gently and scratched the back of his head. “And to think, PE used to be my worst subject.”

“No need for push ups, laps, or aerobics to keep it up.” She said thoughtfully. “Be mindful of it, now; a firm handshake could put someone in the ER.”

“I’ll have to remember that.” Said Jake, looking at his hands as if they were something alien to him.s

“Well, since that’s out of the way, let’s do something fun.” She guided him over to a mat and took her boots off. Jake mimicked her, doubtless not very unsure where she was going with this. Seras noticed that he was about four inches taller than her, though considering how green he was, it didn’t matter much. She stood about two meters from him on the mat, and raised her fists in a boxer’s pose. “Put up your dukes.”

His face screwed in confusion. “Huh?”

She smiled and explained. “If you’re going to be a soldier, you’re going to have to learn to fight.”

“But from you?”

“You can’t expect a human to teach a vampire such things; that would be a disaster waiting to happen. Besides, it’s just practice. So, don’t be shy and show me what you got.”

It took a while, but slowly, Jake began to get the hang of it. The hardest thing was getting him not to be so gentle with her. That and whenever he got too close to her, he would suddenly freeze up out of embarrassment. He got over that after about the sixth time his face hit the mat. It wasn’t that he was slow; in fact, Seras would even say he was a natural. He just had this habit, one that he needed to break if he was to fight for Hellsing.

Seras helped him off the ground. “Not bad for the first time, but you really need to stop holding back. You didn’t press the attack near as hard as you could have.”

He grimaced, and said quietly, like a scolded child. “I’m sorry, Master. I’ll try to--”

“Hey now,” she cut him off with a smile and pushed his glance back to her. “Let’s have none of that. We’ve got plenty of time to work on it, ok?” She winked playfully.

Jake blushed a moment, and then, for the first time since she had known him, he smiled back.

“Ok, Master.”

Seras stretched and let out a fang-bearing yawn. “Well, dawn’s approaching. We’d better get some sleep. Tomorrow we’ll start on shooting.”

Jake began pulling of his gloves, and Seras saw that on the tips of all of his fingers, were little gray scars, about the size of small coins. Jake must have caught her looking at them, and let his arms go to his sides, obscuring her view.

“I didn’t mean to stare.”

“Don’t worry, I get that a lot. I put my hands on a stove top when I was little. Singed the skin right off.”

Something bothered Seras about this story. Maybe it was the dismissive way he told it, or the barely perceptible crack in his voice. Or perhaps, most of all, it was that he himself seemed to believe it so readily while something in Seras told her otherwise. Still, it wasn’t her place to pry.

“Doesn’t sound like fun.” said Seras, trying to keep any suspicion out of her voice.

“It wasn’t,” again, that slight crack. “My Dad rushed me to the emergency ward, and they had to scrape the burnt skin off with a file.”

His story was detailed and perfectly plausible. Why should she question it? Why should she even think any more on the matter, cracking voice or not?

“While we’re on the subject,” she began, “you have family or friends that would be looking for you, right?”

“No.” he said simply. “About a week after I got these scars, they died in a car crash. I made it out with a broken leg.” He cleared his throat, as though something caught in it. “No one should be looking for me.”

“...Oh” she replied, not sure how else to react. “I’m sorry.”

He waved a hand dismissively. “It was a long time ago.”

“I lost my parents when I was young, too.” Seras admitted. “It wasn’t a car crash, though. But that’s a story for another time. Let’s hit the dirt. You’ve worn me out.”

He nodded, and they stepped down into the basement. Seras idly wondered why Jake didn’t ask about her own scars. She was sure he’d seen them at his “walk-in.” He was probably too embarrassed. She hoped he would never have to find out what—or more precisely, who—was the source of that story.

But just like the loss of her family, it was a story for another time.

Seras turned to open her door, adding just before she went inside: “Get plenty of sleep. Tomorrow, we’ll be going to the shooting range. Ever shot a gun before?”

“I’ve never even seen one, outside of movies.” he admitted.

“Well, that’s going to have to change. Goodnight, Jake.”

“I look forward to it. Goodnight, Master.”

Seras closed her door and was getting ready to undress, when she felt a familiar, cold tingle.

“Why don’t you tuck him in and kiss him goodnight while you’re at it?” said a deep voice.

Seras’ brow furrowed in annoyance and sighed. “So my methods are a little different than yours. He is my fledgling after all. I’m just making the transition a little easier, that’s all.”

“Police girl, what you’re doing is coddling him.” He remarked dryly from the chair he sat upon

She grinded her teeth and ignored her old nickname. “Well, I can’t just throw everything at him at once and expect results, can I?”

Alucard smiled cruelly. “It worked for you.”

“Only because I knew how to hold my own already.” Seras pointed out, “Jake doesn’t have any experience at all with fighting anything, even with humans. Plus, like you said before, he’s young. I can’t put too much on him at once.”

“All reasons you should never have turned him in the first place.” he said in flat, even tone.

Seras’ voice rose involuntarily. She walked into the bathroom, speaking through her teeth. “Well, if you don’t have any more ‘helpful’ advice on the matter, goodnight.”

Alucard’s smile widened. Try as she might, getting angry only encouraged him. Thus, she was surprised, and a little disturbed, when Alucard tilted his hat, bowed mockishly, and left.

“Goodnight, police girl.”

“And stop calling me that!” she shouted after him.

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