When Mina ascended the stairs smelling the frying bacon and eggs and the distinct aroma of coffee brewing, she swallowed feeling a burning in the back of her throat. Making her way, following the scent she found Walter sitting at a wooden table in the kitchen a cup of tea in one hand the paper in the other. He was looking intently at it but as she approached she noticed the glaze over his eyes shift and she knew he heard her. She smiled to herself and sat on the other side of the table folding her hands relaxed in front of her.
"Good morning Walter." She said looking at the back of the paper. There were headlines of a serial killer on the loose, she thought perhaps here in England things would be different but the knowledge that it was just as bad here made her feel more comfortable somehow.
He put down the paper with a false act of surprise that made her smile more. "Ahh...Miss. I mean Mina. Good morning." The formal smile was so practiced she wondered if he remembered what it was like to truly feel anything. The scars of battle often numbed a person. She was lucky most of her scars faded in time.
She leaned forward as a maid placed a plate of food in front of her. Staring intently at the butler. "Walter, can I ask you a question?"
He placed the paper down pressing it into perfect folds. "Of course."
Laying her chin on the back of her hands she played with the scrambled eggs in front of her still looking at him. "How long were you a hunter?"
The slight widening of his eyes said he was surprised that she figured it out. The corner of his mouth twitched but he was a mask of perfect civility again. "Since I was a child, barely a teenager. I have served the Hellsing family all my life."
"Why?" She asked then shoveled a forkful of eggs grimacing and swallowed hard without chewing.
A curious expression passed over his serene facade. "Because it is my duty and who I am Miss Mina…as you said. I am a weapon. It is my purpose, I have no other reason to exist."
She smiled pushing the plate forward. "Then you and I are the same. I only wish we could have fought together side by side...Walter." She got up and walked out of the kitchen.
*
Walking along the dark corridors of the darkest part of the basement Walter opened a large metal door with the remnants of a bloodseal that had been broken long ago. As he stepped in, he barely noticed that the room was pitch black or that it was very cold. He walked straight knowing that the feeling of dread was merely a reaction to the creature that lay within the room.
"Walter, how nice to see you. Is this a social visit or have you come with a new weapon?" The voice rose to a fevered pitch. "Or perhaps there is someone or thing that needs killing."
Walter stopped his expression calm his hands relaxed at his side as a small light appeared on the other end of the long cavernous dungeon. "I have no weapon..... and as of now there is no mission but..."
"You've come to tell me of our new recruit. Yes, I've seen her. Very nice." Then as Walter blinked he was standing face to face with him. His glasses hiding his eyes his hat left beside the throne like chair sitting in the large empty blackness.
"Alucard, Sir Integra expects you to keep an eye on her for now."
He turned around his coat flaring in the windless room. "Master.." Walter heard him barely whisper. "I sense nothing about the girl." He said in a matter of fact way.
Walter cleared his throat. "Despite that, the order stands. After what happened with Saras she isn't taking chances again."
For those who have never seen what true despair is, and most haven't the subtle differences of the cold and heartless vampire cannot be read by most. Walter had grown up with Alucard had fought beside him against countless enemies and had become the closet thing the vampire had to a friend. Now staring at the back of him he could see his rage and sorrow pulled to the surface, his once "child" Saras Victoria. She had resisted becoming a true Draculina and in doing so had pushed her hunger to its brink. Until one day she was driven mad by it and Alucard was forced to kill her to save Integra's life. Walter wasn't sure if it had been anyone else would he have killed her.
"Fine." Alucard said finally and disappeared melting into the shadows.