Chapter 7

Krieg

(A.N.: Sorry this one took so long, it ended up being longer than I expected, and since I was so busy with finals, I just had little time to work on it. But here it is, the last chapter. c: )

Carlisle was running across town, frantically searching for the group of young wolves. His shirt was torn and wrapped around his missing arm as a makeshift bandage. People all around him were running, both towards the source of the chaos in curiosity or away as though being chased by monsters that appeared from the depths of hell.

'Monsters... yes, that's an appropriate term for those nosferatu knock-offs...' Carlisle thought to himself. He knew, as old as he was that there were different levels of vampires. The hunter in red was certainly the highest class he'd ever seen, and the monsters attacking Forks, as powerful as they were, screamed fraud; they didn't even come close to meeting the strength of the red hunter, even though they bore similarities.

'Fake vampires or not,' he thought, 'they're still troublesome.' His thoughts trailed off upon spotting a massive black wolf that he recognized as Sam. Carlisle rushed over to him, "It's too dangerous here now," he called out to Sam, "get your pack out of town while you still can!"

Sam turned his wolfish head to Carlisle, panting heavily. In an instant, he resumed his human form, staggering towards Carlisle. He was covered in wounds, new cuts still freely bleeding from his arms and legs. "It's too late." Sam gasped.

Dread filled Carlisle's heart, "What happened? Where's your pack?"

Sam shook his head, "They've gotten more than half of us, and the other three are close behind me."

Carlisle felt his stomach drop to his feet- what was the thing that whittled the wolf pack down to a mere four? It was not yet evening and he could hardly believe that neither the nosferatu nor the fake vampires were the cause.

"He's coming!" Carlisle heard someone cry out. "Run!" A gray wolf dashed into view, followed closely by darker gray and chocolate colored wolves.

Sam jerked back, turning back into a black wolf to follow the remains of his pack. His furry ears perked up and he barked out a warning to the other three just as a pair of long, silver bayonets flew in from above, imbedding themselves in Sam's back legs. He howled, falling to the ground hunched over his wounded legs. Blood was oozing from the new wounds, and the silver was visibly burning away his flesh.

"There be no escape, ye monsters," an accent-thick voice boomed, "Ashes tae ashes, dust tae dust, an' dust is whit ye're aboot tae become." Father Alexander Anderson slowly closed in on Carlisle and the wolves, his form towering above them all. His face was cloaked in shadow, though his glasses mysteriously reflected light. In both of his large hands were long, silver bayonets, both stained with fresh blood gently dripping into the grass. A crazed grin was present on his face. "We are Iscariot, earthly agents o' divine punishment. Oor mission is tae destroy doon tae thae last wee bit thae fools wha' would oppose oor God. Amen."

The other wolves crouched low to the ground, hackles raised and snarling threateningly. Carlisle tensed, didn't this priest save he and his family earlier? Why was he attacking now?

Anderson laughed, sounding more and more like a madman, and with a booming voice called, "Come Yumie, come Heinkel, thae monsters ain't aboot tae drop deid themselves."

Carlisle heard footsteps behind him, though much softer than he imagined humanly possible. 'It can't be...' he thought, whipping around. The blond priest and Japanese nun were close behind him, the priest having dual pistols drawn and the nun with her now cleaned katana slung over her shoulder. 'I was followed?' Carlisle thought in shock, 'I've... doomed the wolves...'

Yumie swung her katana down, letting the blade clatter carelessly against her surroundings. "I suppose Father'll wanna take that vampire freak," she sneered, "So Heinkel, wanna see who gets more furry fiends?"

"I suppose I can play along with your game." Heinkel replied, snapping in freshly loaded magazines to her pistols.

Carlisle glares, stepping between the wounded wolves and the two women, "Don't you lay a hand on them." He commanded. Suddenly, searing pain shot up from his leg, as though fire was eating away at his muscles and veins. A silver bayonet pierced through his leg, the point of its entry smoking and hissing from his burning flesh. Carlisle grit his teeth, grabbing the blade and pulling it from his leg, the hilt burning his hand. "Blessed blades, huh?" Carlisle muttered, "Is this how the Catholic Church does things now? With violence?" The blessed bayonet clattered to the ground, wisps of smoke from his burnt skin dissipating into the air.

"Ye seem like ae pretty knowledgeable fiend," Anderson chuckled, "Mus' be pretty old. Tae old, in mah opinion." He slammed his two bayonets together, sending sparks flying, "In thae name o' God, ye'll be sent tae burn in Hell. Amen."

As if on cue, the nun and priest muttered a quick "Amen" and lunged forward. With a sinister gleam, Yumie's katana whistled through the air, cutting down the male gray wolf. The wolf, Paul released a high pitched whine, snapping his maw at the attacking nun. Yumie snorted, easily stepping out of the wolf's bite range and bringing her blade down on his head. The steel easily tore through his skull, letting blood splatter onto Yumie's face and the grass below.

The chocolate-coated wolf, Quil, howled in rage, leaping at Yumie from behind, snapping his powerful jaws. He was stopped short by a silver bullet expertly hitting his head, erupting out from the other side. His body fell heavily to the ground.

"You should vatch your back, Yumie," Heinke laughed, gently blowing the muzzle of her smoking pistol, "Vouldn't vant to get bitten by a mangy mutt now, zey haff rabies."

Yumie smirked, tossing her blade at Heinkel, the katana just missing her and imbedding into the head of the massive black wolf behind her with a sickening squelch. "I can't bother to watch both of our backs, Heinkel, I've got yours if you got mine."

Leah crouched low to the ground, not even daring to growl in her throat. Her eyes were wide with terror; each of her pack members had fallen so easily- was it even worth it to attempt to run? Her muscles trembled, and the second the blond priest turned her attention on the small gray wolf, she bolted, narrowly dodging a trail of bullets at her hind feet.

Carlisle watched the carnage, shaking his head in disbelief, 'Run as fast as your legs can take you, Leah...' he thought while watching the beautiful gray wolf streak off being closely pursued by Heinkel and Yumie. He grit his teeth, glaring at the remaining priest. "You won't be forgiven for this." Carlisle mumbled, clenching his fist, "You can't be forgiven."

"Whit's tha'?" Anderson laughed, "Forgiveness? From a freak? Doon make me laugh!" he swung his arms in a wide arc, clashing his bayonets together to create a cross, "In thae name o' God, all ye undeid freaks'll be vanquished."

Carlisle narrowed his eyes, "So that's how it'll be, huh?" he murmured. 'If there truly is a god, pleas let the children get to safety,' he prayed to himself.

"Edward..." Bella gasped, "What... what are they?"

It only took moments for Edward, Bella, and Alice to be surrounded by a ring of ghouls. Many of them also looked like ordinary people from Forks, though all of their eyes were sunken in. Rasping breath came from their gaping mouths, and their ashen flesh was rotting, some chunks dangling off their bodies or missing entirely.

Victoria laughed, flashing her now very prominent fangs. "You can't win this one, kids; I'm a vampire on a completely different level than you!"

Edward glared, crouching down and picking up a stray metal pipe off the ground, holding it out much like a fencer would a sword. "Alice, Bella, stay close to me." He whispered softly. Wish a hardened gaze, he pointed the pipe at Victoria, "Have you really sunk so low as to use brainwashed tools instead of fighting yourself?"

Victoria's stance faltered, but she recovered quickly, "Sinking low? Nonsense! I just now have the ability to make people my servants, though I can understand that a weaker vampire like yourself would think of it as cheating." She flicked a lock of fiery red hair back, "If you can handle these ghouls, I'll grant you the honor of dying by my hands." She snapped her fingers, cuing the circle of ghouls to close in on the trio. Edward grit his teeth, swinging the makeshift weapon at the closest ghoul. It hit squarely on its head, and with Edward's superhuman strength, cause the pipe to cave in the ghoul's head, spurting blood everywhere. As it fell to the ground, two more took its place, slowly lurching closer to the group. Edward used his speed and strength to his advantage, fending off any ghoul that came too close, noting to his dismay that most of the ghouls he attacked got back to their feet despite his puncturing their gut or rending off a limb.

Victoria laughed, "Try all you want, these ghouls can't feel pain! You know nothing of the real monsters of the night!"

Edward panted, looking around at the circle of ghouls. He was sure that he landed critical blows; most of the ghouls were bloody, their arms and legs twisted and broken, and even one or two with their internal organs threatening to spill out.

Bella had her hands clasped over her mouth looking slightly green. Her legs were shaking, but she didn't dare cling to Edward for support- he needed all the concentration he could muster.

Alice screamed, jostling Bella from her daze and catching Edward's attention. Several ghouls that Edward overlooked were pulling her away from the other two, cutting in long gashes into her arms with their jagged nails. Alice flailed wildly, attempting to kick off the ghouls.

Edward reacted immediately, darting back and swinging the pipe at the first ghoul that was attacking Alice. The force of the blow tore its head off, and it slumped to the ground. Several more ghouls grabbed onto Alice in place of the ghoul Edward decapitated, covering her body in their swarming mass. One opened its jaw impossibly wide, a rotting breath hanging in the air for a moment, then, with its jagged teeth, clamped its jaws down on Alice's collarbone. Alice shrieked as more ghouls joined in tearing away chinks of flesh with their teeth. Edward swung the metal pipe frantically, trying to throw the ghouls off of Alice. Alice's cries increased in pitch, and soon the ghouls completely obscured her from Edward's view.

"Bastards!" Edward yelled, tossing the pipe aside. He pried away a ghoul with his bare hands, flinging it aside. Then another, and another.

Victoria snapped her fingers, and the ghouls ceased their devouring of Alice's body, stepping away from it. There wasn't much left of her but a corpse torn to pieces, several organs missing and an arm separated from her body. Her neck was ripped open, and bone was nearly visible.

Edward's stomach lurched, and he stared at the remains of Alice in disbelief. Bella was silently weeping on the ground, her legs no longer able to support her. Victoria laughed triumphantly, "Now do you understand the power of a real vampire?"

"A real vampire?" A deep voice cooed, "Don't make me laugh, you poor imitation."

Victoria scowled, "Who said that?!" she barked.

In a flash, a row of ghouls suddenly had gaping holes blown through their chests, and the exploded into ash. The young vampire, Seras Victoria held onto a massive cannon twice as long as she was tall, the muzzle still smoking.

"Who the hell are you?!" Victoria snarled.

"I'm from the Hellsing Organization." Seras replied. She opened up the back of her enormous cannon ejecting the smoking shell of her previous round. A second warhead was loaded in and the cannon snapped shut and was aimed at Victoria.

"H-Hellsing?" Victoria stammered, "As in, that vampire hunter Van Helsing?"

"That's exactly right," the deep voice answered. Alucard appeared next to Seras, as though he materialized from the shadows themselves, "We're the monsters that hunt the other monsters." A cocky grin was plastered on his face, and his eyes were, as always, covered by his extraordinarily reflective sunglasses.

"Police Girl." Alucard directed at Seras.

Seras snapped to attention, "Yes master?"

"Take out the garbage, they're an eyesore."

Seras nodded, uttering a quick "Yes master!" before swinging her cannon around, aiming at the group of ghouls. Victoria scowled, hands trembling with anger, "Do you honestly believe I'll let you get away with this? I'm a modified, a powerful vampire!" Victoria was immediately silenced by another row of ghouls exploding from the middle and crumbling into dust.

Victoria took a hesitant step backwards, "H-how... how can my ghouls be taken down so easily?!"

"Don't bother running," Alucard laughed, "It won't save you."

Victoria glares at the cocky vampire, her eyes darting around for an escape route. The idea suddenly clicked in her head. She snapped her fingers, "You there, move!" she yelled at her ghouls. They obediently parted, leaving an opening between herself and Bella. She darted forward, wrapping her arm around Bella's neck, dragging her back.

"Bella!" Edward exclaimed, rushing over to her. A pair of ghouls grabbed his arms and knocked him over, pinning him to the ground.

"Edward..." Bella whimpered, tears in her eyes.

"There, see? You wouldn't dare shoot at me with a hostage, now would you?" Victoria cackled, "Just let me go, and the girl will get off without a scratch, I promise."

Bella extended an arm out, reaching to Edward, "Edward... please, help..." she could barely croak.

Edward struggled under the weight of the ghouls steadily piling on top of him, "Bella! Hold on!"

Alucard grinned, "Police girl, there were no survivors."

Seras blinked, "M-master?"

"To allow even one freak to escape is unthinkable; the girl she's holding is already dead."

Bella's eyes widened. Surely this was a bluff, right?

Seras looked conflicted, shaking her head, "But master... she's just..."

"She's a plaything for the other vampire," Alucard said, grinning at Edward's death glare, "She's as good as dead."

Edward grit his teeth- this red clad vampire meant to sacrifice Bella? He'd pay dearly. 'At the moment,' he noted, 'at least the girl looks like she has a heart.'

Seras was staring down at her feet, her cannon barely lifted up. "But master..."

"Shoot her, Police Girl! That's an order!" Alucard yelled.

Seras' eyes flashed red for an instant, and she brought up the massive Harkonnen, aiming it at Victoria and Bella.

Victoria's eyes widened, "Impossible," she gasped, pushing Bella forward as the cannon fired, The enormous warhead tore through Bella, not slowing for a moment as it clipped Victoria in the side.

Edward's world stopped completely, shattered into pieces. He roared in agony, tearing the ghouls off his back and crushing their heads into the ground. He darted forward, collapsing on the ground next to Bella and cradling the remains of her body.

Victoria's leg was shaky, and her arm was blasted several yards away from her body. Her eyes were wide and unfocused, rapidly darting around, "Gotta... get away..." she panted, "Gotta... run!" she spun around, nearly staggering to the ground as she darted away.

Something inside her clicked. She barely got a few yards away when her eyes widened even further, and suddenly, she burst into flames. She let out an agonizing shriek, flailing her arms around in a futile attempt to kill the flames. Her hands and legs began to flake and crumble into ash, and soon, her screeches died out, and her body fell apart into smoldering soot.

Edward was sobbing freely, stroking Bella's face. Blood was streaked on her cheeks, matting her hair and dribbling out of her mouth. Tears were still present in her blank, staring eyes.

Alucard stepped towards Edward, drawing his sleek black handgun. He pressed the Jackal against Edward's head, "You're all pitiful excuses of vampires; no familiars, you can't walk through walls, you can't regenerate lost limbs... unbelievably weak."

Edward didn't respond, merely gazing off into space while still cradling Bella.

Alucard tilted his head, staring at Edward' thoughtfully for a moment, then pulled the trigger. In a bang, Edward crumpled over, his now headless body still gingerly clinging to Bella.

Alucard twirled the Jackal back, holstering it in his coat. "Mission accomplished," he muttered to no one in particular. He turned to Seras, "Get our things ready, Police Girl. I want to be on the way back to London by sunrise."

"Yes master!" Seras replied, darting back to the hotel they stayed in.

Alucard stared at the blood and ash that littered the ground around him. "I didn't even need to release any restrictions on them. Pathetic." He spat before he too began to follow Seras back to the hotel. "Those Vatican dogs are probably mopping up any leftovers, no point in looking around for more freaks."

The town was nearly wipes out from the ghoul's attack, but it didn't concern Alucard. "Integra won't mind this mess. If she does, that just means more paperwork and gray hairs for her." He mumbled with a slight chuckle.

'This trip was incredibly short, almost worthless,' Alucard thought, 'After all, even though there were so many vampires, even the human soldiers could have handled ones as weak as these.'

Back in the hidden zeppelin, two gloved hands were clapping together, applauding the scenes broadcasted on numerous screens.

"Vonderful. Absolutely vonderful," the Major laughed. "Ah yes, ve vill haff to see zat grander vampires are produced for you to kill, von't ve, Alucard?"

The entire siege in Forks was broadcasted to him in the aircraft, as well as to other figures behind him.

The Major clapped his hands, "Vell, enough of zis, out plans are nearly ready." He spun around in his chair, addressing the individuals standing behind him. "Obersturmfuhrer, ve need your abilities to hijack ze battleship Eagle, und zen ze Deus Ex Machina vill be ready."

There was a quick "Jawohl!" indicating that his first lieutenant understood her mission. The Major smiled, "Mein freundes... ve are about to begin our operation. Mein freundes... let England feel our Krieg."

(A.N.: hoo boy, I finally finished it. This is, quite honestly, the longest thing I've ever written. And the first fanfic I completed. Give me a hand, why don't ya? )