chapter 9

Chapter 9:

The Hellsing driver turned to me and nodded. "We've arrived," he said, stopping the van.

I hopped out, the crisp night air hitting my face as I took in the area. It was eerily quiet. This was the area of town where people had gone missing… only to turn up half-eaten. Three more Hellsing vans were parked nearby, each one packed with trained soldiers on standby. 

I tapped the mic in my ear as Captain Rodriguez's voice crackled through. "Good luck, Valerie," he said.

"Thanks, Captain," I muttered, scanning the deserted streets with my vampiric senses. Not a single heartbeat or human scent reached me. Nothing but stale air and decay…

I knew from experience so far that that meant I was about to stumble upon some fucked up shit.. 

I made my way down the cracked sidewalk, passing a few dilapidated buildings that looked like they hadn't been touched in years. My first stop was a large, abandoned warehouse. The garage doors were padlocked so this probably wasn't the place where I'd find my monster, but I had to check anyway. 

"Alohomora," I called out while aiming my left hand. The blood gems on my bracelet glowed faintly. The locks all opened and fell to the ground. I pulled open the large garage door, and I stepped inside. This warehouse was locked up tight and completely deserted, not even rats lived here. 

I closed the door behind me and started moving on. "The warehouse is clear." I said while tapping my ear.

"Copy that," Rodriguez's voice came back. "Try the grocery store on your right. The door looks slightly ajar..."

Sure enough, the next building was a small, rundown grocery store. I pushed the door open slowly, the bell overhead ringing faintly. Inside, the shelves were mostly empty, layers of dust and dirt covering everything. 

The thought hit me then, something I hadn't fully processed before. There were far too many abandoned properties and neighborhoods in this world. Back in my old world, sure, you had run-down areas and the occasional empty building, but here? It felt like whole sections of the City were just… deserted sometimes. The more I thought about it, the fewer homeless people I saw on the streets too in this world.

"They're prey," I muttered under my breath. They were easy targets for the creatures that roamed the streets at night in this world.

"Valerie?" Rodriguez's voice pulled me from my thoughts. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, Captain. Just thinking," I replied. I stepped carefully over the discarded cans and broken glass as I made my way through the abandoned grocery store. At first glance, this place looked just as empty as the warehouse, but then something caught my attention. The majority of the floor was covered in dust and cobwebs, except for a narrow, clear path leading to the back of the store. Weird-shaped footprints pressed into the dirt, along with long, wide swaths—like something had been dragging bodies through here repeatedly.

I tapped my mic twice, a silent signal to Captain Rodriguez and the team that I was going radio silent from here on.

My hand slipped into my red coat, fingers wrapping around the cool metal of my revolver. With a flick of my thumb, I silently clicked off the safety and crept forward.

That's when I caught it—the faint, familiar stench of blood. The scent was muted, barely noticeable until now. 

Then I felt the sudden drop in temperature. I stopped in front of a large industrial freezer near the back of the store. That's probably what was muting the smells. The heavy steel door was slightly cracked open, frost creeping along the edges. Despite the store being abandoned, this freezer was still running for some reason. I'm not even sure how, I don't think this place even received power anymore.

I took a deep breath, already knowing what I was going to find behind that door. I nudged it open with my gun. 

It was a grisly scene inside. Human bodies, half-eaten, frozen solid, were piled haphazardly on top of each other like meat in a butcher's shop. 

"Fucking disgusting…" I muttered under my breath. 

I tapped my mic three times, letting Rodriguez know I'd found something major, but I still couldn't break the silence. I knew the monster couldn't be far. No creature goes to the trouble of setting up a feeding ground like this and just leaves. I backed away from the freezer with my gun raised. Alucard always told me to trust my instincts. I glanced around the store, feeling a prickling sensation at the back of my neck. There was that eerie feeling, the one where you just know something's watching you. I let my gaze sweep over the dark corners of the store, and then I saw it.

There was a creature hunched in the shadows, its twisted form would have been barely visible to human eyes—but my eyes weren't human. The creature didn't realize I could see it as it stared at me. 

It looked humanoid, at least from the waist up. The torso and face could have belonged to a handsome man, if it wasn't smeared with dried blood and… other things. But the lower half was something else entirely. From the waist down, it was completely reptilian with jagged green scales that reminded me of an alligator. 

I tightened my grip on the revolver and raised it, pointing the barrel right at the monster. It noticed me then, its eyes glinting with malice as it started to chuckle. "What's this? Has an exorcist come to play with me?" it sneered. "They send me a little girl this time? Pathetic!"

I kept my gun trained on it. "I'm no exorcist, and what the hell are you supposed to be?" I asked. He was just plain fucking weird looking. 

The creature's grin widened, and it let out an eerie laugh. "I'm your worst nightmare," it hissed, leaning forwards out of the shadows. "I'm the Devil, girl!"

I raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "Yeah, right," I said. "You know, I've heard about Devil's before, I was just expecting…more." I said honestly. That old magician back in Tepes Castle had been enslaved by a Devil, but it obviously wasn't anything like this one. This one didn't scream cunning trickster, just a feral monster. 

"Bitch!" Without any warning, the Devil snarled and lunged at me! In a mad dash, it tore through shelves and knocked over everything in its path. It wasn't even trying to make itself a harder target to hit…

I took aim and fired off two quick shots with my revolver. The gun barely kicked back in my hand despite the massive rounds it fired. The bullets both found their marks, slamming into the creature's legs with wet, sickening thuds. One of my rounds even tore through its right kneecap. 

It let out a shriek of pain and outrage as it stumbled and skid on its face across the dusty floor. Black blood began to pool on the floor as the so-called "devil" writhed in agony, cursing my very existence. 

His deep, guttural voice echoed through the empty store. "What the hell are those bullets!? How did they breach my beautiful scales!?" he howled, clutching at his wounded legs.

"They're .50 caliber silver bullets," I replied coolly, lowering my gun slightly but keeping it ready, just in case the devil tried something. "As for how they got through your scales, that's probably the holy water I bathe all of my bullets in." I couldn't help but smirk as his rage-filled eyes widened.

"Curse you, bitch!" he spat, black blood dripping from his lips. "I thought you said you weren't an exorcist!"

I shrugged casually. "I don't think the church tolerates my kind any more than yours." Slowly, I stepped closer to the downed creature. 

That's when it hit me—the scent of its blood. The black blood looked foul, like sludge, but it smelled… intoxicating. Way better than disgusting goblin blood had smelled! My mouth watered as I took another breath, savoring the scent. I licked my lips, my thirst rising. 

Integra had sent me out on this emergency mission, and I hadn't had time for dinner. Hell, there hadn't even been any blood bags in the van on the way over. Although, was it really a good idea to drink blood from a creature I knew next to nothing about?

In the back of my mind, I could almost hear Alucard's voice mocking me…

"Don't be a pussy, girl! Blood is blood! Drink up!"

I chuckled to myself. "Eh, good enough for me." I gazed down at the devil hungrily.

I could see the Devil's eyes widen in realization as panic set it. "Wait! Y-You're a vampire!? Why the hell are you attacking me? Shouldn't you understand the plight of a Stray Devil? We both have to feed on humans to survive after all! Cut me a break!"

I tilted my head, tapping my revolver against my thigh thoughtfully. "I'm not sure what a Stray Devil is, but you're not wrong." I fiddled absently with a strand of my long blonde hair, enjoying how his desperation grew with each passing second. "However, I have standards. I don't attack innocent people." I paused for a second, a wicked grin spreading across my face as an old memory surfaced. Well… excluding those three homeless men when I first arrived in London, of course.

The devil's eyes widened even more. He spun around on the floor and tried to drag himself away from me, smearing more black blood across the floor. How wasteful… 

"No! Stay back! You can't—" 

I crouched down beside him, ignoring his pathetic pleas. "Sorry, but you smell too good to pass up. Plus I skipped dinner…" I opened my mouth and my fangs started to extend out. 

"Wait! Wait! I can help you! I can—"

"Don't worry," I whispered with a menacing grin. "This won't hurt… much." That was not true…

And with that, I sank my fangs into his neck. His blood was rich, and more powerful than anything I'd tasted since Alucard's blood. I could tell that it was definitely not human blood I was drinking… but still, it was utterly delicious. 

As I drank from the stray Devil's neck, I couldn't suppress the moan that escaped my lips. The taste of his blood, rich and intoxicating, was overwhelming. He thrashed beneath me, clawing at my arms with a feeble desperation, but I was stronger—far stronger—and held him in place effortlessly, savoring mouthful after mouthful.

My body began to react in ways I hadn't expected. My thighs rubbed together unconsciously as an unexpected wave of ecstasy coursed through me. My lips pulled back from his neck, and I moaned louder this time, a shudder ripping through me that left me breathless. My tongue lolled out of my mouth as I panted, feeling the damp spot growing between my legs.

Did I just…? 

The realization hit me and I giggled. My hand instinctively brushed against my chest, my nipples were completely stiff. 

Yep, I just had an orgasm…

I let out a soft laugh, still a little dazed. "Well, that's… a bit embarrassing."

Glancing down, I noticed the devil had stopped moving completely. He was drained dry. 

Mission accomplished, at least. All I needed to do was call Captain Rodriguez and let him know the cleanup crew could start securing the area.

Before I could tap my earpiece, Rodriguez's voice crackled in my ear. "Heads up, Valerie. We've got two unknowns just popped up on the radar heading down the street toward your location. One's huge, built like a bodybuilder, and the other's a tall, busty blonde babe."

I blinked, my mind snapping back to reality. A large bodybuilder and a busty blonde babe? 

Interesting descriptions there, Captain…

I straightened myself out, shaking off the last remnants of the euphoric high from the Stray Devil's blood. I quickly loaded a couple new rounds into my revolver just in case things went sideways with these new arrivals.

"Any idea who they are?" I asked, tapping my earpiece.

"Negative. They're approaching the grocery store now…"

I watched as the two arrivals stepped into the dimly lit grocery store. The captain's description had been spot-on. The man was tall and broad-shouldered with chiseled features and tousled dark hair. The woman was a statuesque blonde with a heart shaped face and a perfect curvy figure.

The pair stiffened the moment they laid eyes on me standing over the Stray Devil's lifeless body. My shirt stained with fresh blood, and a gun in my hand. I cleared my throat and offered a half-hearted wave. "Uh… hey there."

The man ran a hand through his hair, his fingers gripping it in frustration. He let out a small curse. "Damn it. We're too late!"

I tensed at his words, suspicion creeping into my mind. Were these two allies of the Stray Devil I just killed? I subtly adjusted my grip on my revolver.

The woman must've picked up on my wariness, because she quickly stepped forward, her hands raised in what seemed like a gesture of peace. "Hello," she greeted in an almost musical voice. "My name is Kuisha Abaddon, and this is my king, Sairaorg Bael." She gestured to the man beside her, who gave a curt nod. "I take it you were the one who killed Max?" she asked.

I tilted my head. "I didn't know what his name was," I replied honestly. "But yeah, I killed him. Are you his allies?"

Kuisha shook her head. "Nothing of the sort. We were actually hunting Max ourselves," she explained. "We needed to capture him and wring some information out of him that was important to my king." She glanced at Sairaorg, who remained silent, his eyes fixed on the body.

"Why do you call him your 'king'?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Is that some kind of… sex thing?" 

Both Sairaorg and Kuisha snorted in unison. 

Kuisha laughed softly before shaking her head. "No, it's not a 'sex thing,'" she clarified. "In devil society, those who serve a High-Class Devil are referred to as their 'peerage.' Sairaorg is my 'King' because I am in service to him."

I processed that for a moment, my fingers tapping the side of my gun. "So… you're both Devils?" They looked nothing like the one I just killed.

"Yes," Kuisha confirmed. "And from the blood all over you, I'd wager you're a vampire?"

"I'm a dhampir, actually," I corrected, narrowing my eyes slightly. "Valerie Tepes. And no, I'm not related to that disgusting Tepes clan." I added the last part quickly. I didn't need anyone assuming I had any ties to those lunatics.

"Interesting," Kuisha said, her tone genuinely curious. She took a step forward, hands still raised in a non-threatening manner. Despite the calmness in her demeanor, I stayed on edge. Just because these two were different from the Stray Devil I just killed didn't mean I could trust them. The only other devils I'd heard of, up until this point, had both been assholes.

Kuisha noticed my tense posture and paused. "Relax," she said. "We're not here to fight you. We've been tracking Max for weeks now… All for naught it seems." she let out a sigh.

I could see the genuine pain in Kuisha's and Sairaorg's eyes. Whatever information this Stray Devil had must've been incredibly important to them. Their sad expressions were enough to make me feel a bit guilty—not for killing Max, of course. He was a monster that deserved his fate. 

After dealing with horrible vampires most of my life, I liked to think of myself as a pretty good judge of character, and these two devils weren't giving off any bad vibes to me. If anything, they seemed to be around my age, and I figured this could be an opportunity to make two more friends and, perhaps, get some proper intel on Devil society. Integra was always happy to get more information on supernatural threats, after all.

I lowered my gun, deciding to take a chance. "Look," I started, "I might have a way to get the information you need…"

Sairaorg's eyes flickered with a mix of hope and skepticism. "How?" he asked. "He's completely dead. And once a devil dies, even with our Evil Pieces, there's no way to bring them back."

I shook my head. "I don't even know what those 'Evil Pieces' are," I admitted. "But when Nosferatu—true vampires—drain someone of all their blood and life force, we take a piece of them inside of us. My father, Alucard, is able to completely absorb a person's memories and experiences by doing this." I hesitated for a moment, feeling the weight of what I was offering. "I've never done it myself, but I could… learn, with enough time. I could try to access Max's memories and find out what you both want to know from them."

Both devils perked up at my offer. Kuisha was the first to speak. "I've never heard of vampires having such an ability," she admitted.

I couldn't help but smirk a little. "That's because you've probably only dealt with weak vampires," I replied. "The ones who aren't directly descended from the originals, like Dracula." I carefully omitted the part where I was Dracula's blood daughter. Trust had to be earned, and these two weren't quite there yet. I wasn't about to lay all my cards on the table with Devils I'd just met, no matter how chill they seemed.

Sairaorg took a deep breath, and gave me a small, grateful smile. "If you could do that, then I would be in your debt. What I need to know… it's very personal," he admitted.

He started to explain, and I listened carefully. He spoke about his mother, and how she had contracted some kind of disease that only devils could get. But Sairaorg was suspicious of the circumstances and thinks the disease might actually have been a poison or curse. Apparently, Max used to be a member of Sairaorg's mother's peerage. As soon as she fell ill, Max had fled without a trace mysteriously. Sairaorg suspects that Max knew what really happened to his mother. 

I couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for him. It wasn't easy to see someone close to you suffer, and not knowing the truth about it was even worse. I might have been able to heal this disease with my Healing Grail—but once again, I kept my mouth shut. Trust needed to be earned, and that was something I wasn't ready to offer yet.

"Alright," I said, extending my hand. "I'll do my best to find out what Max knew."

Sairaorg clasped my hand firmly, the gratitude clear in his eyes. "Thank you, Valerie."

Kuisha stepped forward, pulling out a sleek phone and tapping on it before offering it to me. "Here's our contact information. Sairaorg isn't… particularly good at demonic communication spells, so he just uses a regular phone to keep in touch with everyone." She shot him an amused look, and I caught Sairaorg rolling his eyes in response.

I chuckled as I took the phone, adding their number to my own contacts. It felt almost surreal to be casually trading phone numbers with Devils, but here we were. Once we were done, Kuisha slipped her phone back into her pocket and turned her attention back to me.

"So, Valerie," Kuisha asked, a hint of curiosity in her voice. "What were you doing out here in the first place?"

"Me?" I shrugged. "I work for an organization called Hellsing. We mostly hunt down evil vampires, but we'll go after other monsters if it means protecting the citizens of Britain." I glanced down at Max's lifeless body. "Honestly, I didn't even know what Max was when I started tracking him down. He was just being sloppy and left a trail of half-eaten bodies across London."

Both Sairaorg and Kuisha exchanged a look, and then they turned back to me, a shared expression of regret on their faces.

"We're sorry for that," Sairaorg said, his voice genuinely apologetic. "A Stray Devil is a Devil servant who has abandoned their master and gone rogue. When that happens, they often lose control of their power, their desires… and become something twisted."

Kuisha sighed and folded her arms. "Devils are bound to their king by magic and loyalty. When that bond is severed, especially by a deliberate act of treachery, it can cause a sort of madness. Their power becomes unstable, their desires unrestrained, and without the guidance of their king, they lose their sanity."

I wasn't entirely sure how much I bought that explanation, but I let it go for now. It's not like I had any counter-information to argue against what they told me. And frankly, trying to out-debate two devils about their own society wasn't exactly on my to-do list tonight. 

With the business side of things mostly settled, I felt a bit of boldness creeping in. Maybe it was the lingering rush from my recent meal or just the fact that I was standing between two ridiculously attractive devils, but… I decided to try flirting a little.

"So," I started, trying to keep my voice casual, "do either of you two come to places like this often?" I flashed what I hoped was a charming smile, but inwardly, I cringed right after the words came out of my mouth. 

Oh God, that was terrible…

Kuisha chuckled in a way that made my embarrassment spike. "Actually, yes," she replied. "We do come to places like this quite often. Stray devils usually choose rundown human locations to hide out in. The worse the area, the easier it is to avoid attention for them."

"Right," I said, trying to sound like I knew that already. "Makes sense..." 

She continued, "Taking down stray devils and recovering their Evil Pieces is also a good way to make money in the underworld. The Devil Kings who lost their pieces them will often pay handsomely for their recovery."

I glanced down at Max's lifeless body, an idea forming. There was probably an Evil Piece inside this guy, and that piece originally belonged to Sairaorg's mother. She'd probably want it back once she was cured of her disease. I couldn't help but smirk a little. "So… how much for his Evil Piece?" I asked, a hint of cheekiness slipping into my voice.

Sairaorg and Kuisha exchanged a look—one that felt almost like they were communicating silently. Then, as if they had rehearsed it, they both slowly leaned closer to me. I was caught off guard by their sudden shift in demeanor.

"...We're a little strapped for cash at the moment," Kuisha said, her voice lowering into a seductive purr as she took hold of my arm and pressed it close to her chest. The warmth of her skin through the thin fabric made my heart jump a little. "Could you… give us a bit of a discount?" she asked, tilting her head cutely and fluttering her eyelashes at me.

"Yeah, it would mean a lot to us," Sairaorg added, leaning in close to my other side. His deep voice was almost a whisper in my ear. "And of course, we'd owe you another favor in return…"

I could feel my face heating up as they boxed me in with their flirtatious smiles. I tried to play it cool, but all I managed was an awkward sputter as I nodded. "Uh, y-yeah, sure. I mean… I'll give you a discount."

Kuisha's smirk widened, and I couldn't tell if she was just pleased or holding back laughter at how easily I caved. She pulled out a checkbook from… somewhere. Honestly, I didn't even know where she was keeping it. I didn't see a purse or pocket or anything on her very tight outfit. She scribbled on the check and handed it to me. 

I glanced down at the amount. 

20,000 British pounds.

That was a couple of months' worth of my salary in one go. I couldn't help but feel pretty pleased with the outcome—despite being fairly sure I just got scammed by these two…

Kuisha's eyes twinkled with amusement. "Your attempt at flirting was cute, especially for someone with obviously no experience at it," she said, a teasing grin on her face. 

I felt the heat rush to my cheeks and knew I was blushing like an idiot. "Hey, I—" I started to protest, but she waved it off with another laugh.

"We'd love to stick around and tease you more," she continued, "but unfortunately, the rest of Sairaorg's peerage is waiting for us back in the underworld. We have to train for an upcoming Rating Game."

"Good luck?" I offered, my confusion probably showing on my face. I had no idea what a Rating Game was.

Sairaorg turned to me with a confident smirk. "We'll be sure to keep in contact, little dhampir," he said with a wink and a chuckle of his own.

I couldn't help rolling my eyes a little.

They both walked over to Max's lifeless body, and Kuisha began muttering some sort of incantation in a language I didn't recognize. Symbols lit up on the floor beneath all three of them. A second later, they vanished, leaving me standing there alone in the now-empty grocery store.

I let out a huff and pocketed the check. "That was definitely an interesting experience," I muttered to myself. Not exactly how I thought my night would go, but then again, working for Hellsing meant nothing ever really went as planned. Sure, Integra might be annoyed that I couldn't bring back a devil's body for research, but hopefully, she'd be happy that I made some new acquaintances… maybe even friends? I was getting pretty good at that lately.

I tapped my earpiece. "Captain Rodriguez, everything's clear," I reported. "The cleanup team can move in and handle the evidence and the human bodies."

"Copy that, Valerie," Rodriguez replied. "You can head back to the Van for a debrief."

"On my way."

XXX