AUTHOR'S NOTE: apparently people actually like my Hellsing stuff. So there's another one in the works for yall. If you didn't already know, there's a prequel to Hellsing, in which Walter is 14 and Alucard takes on a form that looks a LOT like a 13-year-old girl. That is how he looks in this story. Instead of having a full-grown man, Integra deals with Alucard in a teen form (first mistaking him for a girl), one that more matches her own age.

Chapter 1

She stared at the corpse.

It was small, about her size or maybe even smaller. Its skin had shriveled from age, taking on the appearance of gray parchment. Long strands of black hair hung from its dried scalp, all the way to the floor. She wondered if it had kept growing after its unfortunate owner had been locked away to die.

Blood was pounding in her ears. They were coming for her, and soon. But still she couldn't take her eyes off the corpse.

Heavy chains draped were wrapped around its body. Its limbs were triple-bound by thick leather straps, like a crude straitjacket. She looked into the dark holes where its eyes used to be and tried to guess why such a small person required so much restraints. The ends of the straps were nailed to the wall with enormous bolts.

"Are you it?" she asked it. "Are you what's supposed to protect me?"

It didn't answer. Of course.

Calm was returning to her for the moment. Catching her breath, she slumped against the cold wall next to the corpse. They sat side by side, almost like schoolmates on a lazy afternoon were it not for the circumstances.

She hugged her knees. "If this is a joke, father… it's a rather poor one," she muttered to herself." Once again, the corpse said nothing. She turned to it again. "What did you do to deserve this?"

Silence. Its long hair hung almost gracefully. Maybe it was a girl, she thought, studying its petite figure. But what could a little girl have done to call being locked up like this?

"I guess I have to share the cell with you now," she said to it. Grim humor, she knew, but it was better than waiting in this soundless dungeon.

Several minutes passed. Tears threatened to spill out as she thought of the inevitable. She ignored them angrily, but they kept coming.

"It's ridiculous," she said through choked sobs and a dry laugh. "For a moment I thought there was going to be a knight in shining armor down here. Someone who was going to protect me." She imagined the corpse could hear her. "Did you think the same? Is that why you're down here?"

Still no answer. A sneaky tear found its way down her cheek. She buried her face in her arms. "I don't want to die," she heard her own fragile voice. "I really don't…"

The dungeon door burst open. She shrieked and scrambled to find a hiding place, but quickly realized there was none. The light pouring in seemed so bright. Six tall silhouettes appeared. One stepped forward and looked down at her in pure disgust.

"You've been quite the bother, Integra," he said coldly.

She swallowed and stood up. Their eyes met. His were piercing.

"Father wouldn't have allowed this," she said, hoping she felt as strong as she sounded. "That's why he left the organization to me, uncle."

He took a swaggering step toward her. She saw him roll his tongue in his cheeks, as if pondering her words. Then, without warning, he struck her.

The force of his fist sent her sprawling onto to the floor. Her knee scraped against the stone floor. Biting her lip, she refused to give him the satisfaction of crying out.

"If you think I'm going to give Hellsing up to some snot-nosed kid like you," he snarled, "you're wrong!"

"Sir!"

Her uncle turned from her. Some of his men had taken notice of the corpse. "What!" he snapped.

"Looks like some wanker died down here," replied one man. She took the chance to scoot a little further from her uncle. She looked at the door. Was it too far to make a run for?

"Looks like a kid, actually," said another man. "Your brother was a sick man, Lord Richard. Leaving a kid to die like this."

"Arthur was a fool," answered Richard. He approached the corpse and kicked its leg. "Probably forgot about it. If you ask me…"

She ran. It proved to be a mistake. Her uncle spun around and opened fire. She felt the heat of the bullet graze her arm, like a stream of hot flame. Her feet got out from under her and her stumbled. She felt her uncle's boot on her back and fell forward hard.

He shot the floor right in front of her face. She screamed as the sparked burned her face.

"Did you think I missed, Integra?" he asked her, then kicked her in the ribs. His men laughed. He aimed the gun at her head. "You'd be wrong. I'm enjoying this."

She kept her head down. He shot the floor again. "Do you know how long twenty years are? No, of course you don't. You're still young. But let me tell you, twenty years is a long, long time." A heavy boot stepped on her wounded arm and pressed. "But you won't live to see it." She heard the gun cock and squeezed her eyes shut. "Too bad."

Father, please…

"Sir!"

She opened her eyes.

"What do you want now!"

She stared at the floor. It was spotted with her blood. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something move.

"Sir, look!"

The boot on her arm lifted. But she stayed down. Something was different, but she didn't dare investigate. Suddenly, she heard more gunshots. It was as if someone panicked. She lifted her head slightly and shook strands of hair out of her face.

The child corpse was down on all fours licking her blood off the floor.

Her eyes widened as she rose, suddenly unconcerned with her uncle. As she watched, two of the men opened fire on it. It struck its body, one bullet even hit its head, leaving smoking holes all across its torso. It ignored them and continued to lick with its long, red tongue. She could see that it was enjoying itself.

"Shoot it!" her uncle shouted. Guns were drawn. "Give Integra and escort for her trip to hell! Shoot it!"

Gunfire filled the dungeon, flashing like lightning. Instinctively, she crawled to the nearest corner and stayed there as they men pummeled the corpse with bullets. Finally, an eternity later, it lifted its head. The silence was heavy.

Then it moved.

It moved so fast that she couldn't follow its path. It flew, bounced off the walls like a ricochet, as if unbound by the laws of physics. She couldn't see it, only the trails of movement it left behind.

A man lost his head. She saw the blood fly but not what had caused it. More shots were fired as the decapitated body collapsed. No one was looking at her now. The remaining men aimed their guns frantically in all directions, but found no target. Her uncle gritted his teeth as another of his men fell.

They're afraid, she saw with satisfaction.

Within a minute's time, the creature had killed off all five of her uncle's thugs. They fell in a heap on the floor. It dropped to the floor between her and her uncle, severed straps and chains still hanging from its body.

Shakily, her uncle raised his gun. The creature cut off his fingers before his could fire. Screams filled the room.

Then, as if suddenly uninterested with its latest victim, it turned around and faced her.

It was a child, about her age, with jet black hair as long as hers. Its face had filled out with new skin, smooth if a little gray. A pair of large eyes colored blood-red studied her up and down. Its features were delicate and pretty, as were its slender arms and legs. But those slender limbs torn through thick chains and leather, she reminded herself.

It took a step toward her. Her whole body tensed up as the smell of blood filled her nose. She looked behind it at the pile of newly-dead bodies, probably still warm. Common sense told her that she was going to die after all.

She was too afraid to move as the creature dropped down to all fours again in front of her. It looked at her, left then right, then split its face in a wide grin, showing a mouthful of fangs.

A Median, she realized with a shudder.

"You are definitely that man's daughter," it said in a silky voice.

Over its shoulder, she saw her uncle raise his gun with his good hand. He was shaking, trembling and barely standing, but he was a man pushed to desperation.

"Hellsing…" she heard him growl, "…is mine!"

He fired. She cringed. The creature moved in front of her with lightning speed and the bullet buried itself in its shoulder. Shock overcame her uncle's face.

Something cold touched her hand. She looked down. It was a bloody gun. The creature was looking at her, as if waiting for her to make a decision. She picked it up. It nodded approvingly and offered its shoulder. She propped the gun on it.

Her uncle's eyes widened.

She fired.

"Tell me," it whispered to her. "Are you particularly attached to him?"

Hazily, she shook her head and fired again.

"Good," it said. "It's been a very long time since I've had a fresh meal."

The next thing she remembered, the creature was on top of her uncle, sinking its fangs into his neck while he was still struggling. She heard the sound of blood flowing out of her uncle and into the creature's gullet.

Why, father? She thought as the gun suddenly became very heavy. She let it fall to the floor with a weighty "clunk".

Why?

TBC…