Music To My Soul

Ch. 14

Anderson:

I get a text from Tim that once I read it, my skin went to stone and my heart froze. He said that he was trapped in a room made of stone with a barred window. 

" Maria, Tim got locked into the tower. He didn't tell me why, but from what you've told me, that's where he is. Do you know where the tower is?" 

" In the King's private wing of the castle. Only he has access to it. Anyone caught going anywhere near it are told to leave and if you try to push it, you get killed. The Tower of Roses is off limits to everyone but the King." 

" The Tower of Roses?" 

" Not very original, true, but it did hold prisoner the most beloved Queen we as a race had." 

" That's fair, I guess. Can it be scaled?" 

" From the outside? I've never seen it attempted so I don't know, and besides, didn't the Prince say the window was barred over?" 

" He did, but he did mention a small hand could slip in between the bars. All we need is to go during the daytime, ironically, so everyone there will be asleep. I'll be able to scale the side with the window, you can latch onto my shadow, and slip in between the bars. From there all you need to do is phase through the door, and unlock it from the other side." 

" Um, padre, it held a vampire queen, the Kings truest equal. I think it would be made impossible to be able to use vampire powers on." 

" Fuck, you're right. Damn it! Then what?" 

" Well, there is a solution, but it takes serious balls and a lot of people to do." 

" And that would be?" 

" Lay siege on the caste at dawn. Iscariot could go in, and kill everyone, save for Flint of course, and once they're all dead, you could go to the King's private wing, and with a good swift kick, the door will pop off it's hinges." 

" That is ballsy, but it just might be what we need. Romania is an Iscariot domain, and we do have more right to it than Hellsing, but I worry about getting my boss on board with it." 

" You get to kill the King, save your Prince Charming, and get to be the white knight in shining armor." 

" And I can safely assume all you want is amenity for you and Flint?" 

" Yep. Flint is my Mate. We have a love deeper than any river and bigger than any Texas sky."

" I can respect that. Fine, you got a deal. Now, what?"

" Now, you go rally the troops. Send the poor boy a message saying you'll be on your way, just hold out." 

I did just that as I left Maria in my room. She knew if I wasn't with her, she didn't leave my room and the wards I did made sure of that. I went to Maxwell's office, and found him reading over the annual financial reports, and the only reason I knew that was because he had a glass of wine and a cigarillo burning in an ashtray. I knock lightly to alert him to me, and he barely glances over his glasses before he smiles a small bit. 

" Oh good, a healthy distraction. What do you need, Anderson?" 

" I need your help with a situation that is currently underway and it could mean the life of an innocent." 

" Well, by all means, talk to me. What's going on?" 

" I need permission to take with me roughly 100 Iscariot's finest to lay siege on Alucard's castle in Romania. I have a mole on the inside who can lead us to it that I can trust." 

" And just why would I sanction such a suicide quest?!"

" Do you remember how Alucard had taken a human as a Mate?" 

" Yes. Timothy Kelly was his name, right?" 

" He's the innocent. Alucard has him locked away in a tower where he will die. He's grown so possessive and dangerously abusive it could mean death for a soul trying to go down the path of redemption and to be raised from perdition." 

" So you want to go save him? Why the extra soldiers?" 

" It is a vampire's castle full of other members of court and the like. I doubt I can handle all that on my own." 

" True. Even you have limits to your abilities. What makes you think it'll work?" 

" It has to, Maxwell. Tim is counting on me here." 

" And just why is he? You barely know him." 

I swallow a lump of fear, and now, it came down to me telling him the truth. 

" I hadn't been completely honest. I've been seeing Tim as a friend for a while, and up until recently, that's all we were, but he's grown on me, and-" 

" Anderson, you can't tell me you love the boy, do you? He's young enough to be your son!" 

" I know there's a huge age gap! I am an adult and so is he, and I have never felt like this with anyone else in my 56 years! He is a sweetheart with a big heart and a sunny disposition and he sadly fell in love with an abusive, manipulative, crooked bastard who doesn't deserve him. I fell for him hard, and when we got into that fight, it damn near killed me to have ever seen him be that angry. I was a mess, you fucking remember that! Just, please, let me have this one last battle, one last fight, and I'll retire permanently and sit on a beach in California where I will never pick up my blade ever again!" 

" Yes, you were a rather ugly mess. Fine, if you want to take 100 Elites to do this, then thats fine. Make sure you bring Heinkel and yumiko with you. I'll never hear the end of it if you don't." 

" Great! You call them into order and I'll meet them at the truck yard." 

" Good. This mole you have, are they human?" 

" What's it matter? A mole and vampiric traitor is good as dead, and if they're on our side, then what's it matter?" 

" Fair point. Godspeed, and when he gets here, he'll have to be medically looked over, you understand this, right?" 

I knew what he was hinting at, and I shutter at the thought. Poor Tim, subject to the whims and whiles of that damnable beast. I just hope for Tim's sake that Alucard still holds some true love in his heart not to do it. I go back to my room, fill Maria in, and sent her to go grab Flint so he could be safe and away from the skirmish. I go to sleep with a quick message to Tim and with hope and fear in my heart.