LETTERS FROM HELLSING V

The tall man stepped over the headless corpse of my attacker and stood in front of me, a puzzled look on his face.

"The children..." I wheezed, unable to take a real breath as the flagpole was pressing against my diaphragm. "The children..." I tried again "In there." I said attempting to gesture with my arms. They felt like lead.

The man nodded once then, placing one hand on my shoulder and gripping the pole with the other, pulled the bloody object from my body.

Dear God, it hurt.

Without the flagpole’s support, my knees buckled and I began to fall. Gently, the man eased me to the ground to one side of the podium.

"That looks bad." I heard a voice say. I became aware of other people in the room. There were several men dressed in combat gear with ski masks over their faces. "SWAT team" I assumed and wondered they would think of this scene and my strange rescuer.

They weren’t even fazed. One man with a medical bag strode up to me pulling out a pressure bandage as he examined my wound. "Hold this here." he said placing my hand over the bandage. "That’s it, your going to be just fine."

"Liar" I thought. He looked up at the tall man and shook his head a fraction. Sometimes I hate being right. The medic’s hand strayed to his sidearm. The tall man glared at him and medic’s hand dropped to his side.

Another man strode up to my rescuer. "Any other survivors?" he asked.

"Children" I burbled a bit louder now that the pressure was off of my diaphragm. The new man avoided looking directly at me staring at the podium instead. You’d think they had never seen a woman bleeding to death from a flagpole wound before.

"In there." my rescuer said pushing the heavy podium aside with a flick of his arm. The new man walked up, tried the knob, then knocked on the door.

"Anybody in there? It’s safe to come out now."

"Who is it? Are you the good guys?"

"The what?" the man said.

"The lady said we mustn’t come out until she or the good guys said it was OK. So, are you a good guy?"

The man seemed totally taken aback. "Well, yes, I am a good guy, I suppose." He said reaching again for the doorknob.

"Prove it."

"What?"

"How do we know you’re the good guys? Prove that you’re the good guys."

"Oh, um, how do I do that?" he asked

There was a brief whispered conversation behind the door, then silence. "We don’t know."

There seemed to be an impasse. I couldn’t help laughing a little but it really hurt. "My heroes, thwarted by five children in a closet." The medic looked down at me meeting my eyes for the first time. They were smiling but sad.

More whispers from behind the door. "Is the lady still here?" They asked.

"Yes" I said.

"Hey lady, is it safe to come out? Is he the good guys?"

I laughed again and locked gazes with the tall man who was looking at me with a thoughtful, puzzled expression. Perhaps he was wondering why I wasn’t dead yet. I wondered that myself. I smiled at him. "Yes, he’s the ‘good guys’, I think."

"Are all the monsters gone?"

"I’m not quite sure..." I said still looking at the man. He gave me an amused smile revealing very sharp teeth. "but I think it will be OK to come out now."

I knew I should be afraid of him but found myself liking him despite the warning bells ringing in my head. What was he? Not human, that’s for certain.

"Please," I said to him "don’t let them see me like this."

Eyes never leaving mine, he removed his overcoat and placed it over me like a blanket. "Why did you do that?" he asked kneeling beside me.

"What?" I asked.

"Hit him." Said the man.

"Well...he was going to kill you and I..." I trailed off, hindsight making that statement ridiculous.

"Not necessary." he said.

"I didn’t know what you were." I said.

"Still foolish." He chided.

"Perhaps" I said.

He looked as if he were going to speak again when the closet door flew open. Five pairs of eyes peered fearfully out upon the wreckage. The tall man stood up, moving to one side so that the children could see me.

"It’s OK." I said. "You can come out. These men will take you to safety."

My little boy ran over to me. "Your hurt." he said taking my hand.

"Not too bad." I lied. "These men will help me. You go with the others now."

"No!" he said. "I won’t leave you!"

"I need you to go with the others." I said. He shook his head. "You are brave. You are my helper. Please help the other children be brave too." My head was spinning now and the boy looked as if he were going to refuse. "Please God," I prayed "don’t let me die in front of him."

The tall man knelt down on the other side of me and looked at the boy. "You are a brave boy" he said. "and the lady is hurt. Will you please help the other children while we take care of her?"

I felt that strange fog again as he spoke those words. A compulsion to obey. Perhaps it was the blood loss but the words kept bouncing around like an echo in my head even after he stopped speaking. To my astonishment, the boy nodded to the man, squeezed my hand, then walked over to the other children who were being herded out the door. I looked up at the tall "man" again. What was he really?

"Go with the children and come back with a Gurney." He said to the medic who was standing behind him fidgeting with the holster of his gun.

"But.." he said, gesturing towards me.

"She’s as good as dead. We both know that" The tall man snapped. The medic looked over at me horrified. Like I didn’t already know. Oddly, I didn’t really care that much anyway. The children were safe and my head was spinning in a pleasant way as if I were a bit drunk and I could hear singing from far away. Old hymns, I loved old hymns. I began quietly singing along.

"Your job is with the living. It’s my job to deal with the dead."

"Precious memories, how they linger" I murmured peacefully.

"But sir," the other man continued his hand on his gun. Odd thing for a medic to do. Oh well.

"So I cherish the Old Rugged Cross..."

"Leave us." The tall man commanded and we were alone.

"Human," he said. "it’s time to listen."

I looked at him but he was not looking at me. He was looking at the flagpole with the cross.

"Thank you." I said. "For the children." I began to cry. "I promised..."

"I know. You'r welcome. You are going to die soon." He said matter of factually.

"I know." I said.

"Do you want to die?"

"Not really"

"I can save you."

Fear washed over me like a cold slap of water. The music stopped.

"No, not that." I said horrified at the thought of what he might turn me into.

"You prefer to die?"

"If that is His will."

"Why did you do it?" He asked quietly. His puzzled expression had returned. "What made you stand and fight?"

"It was the right thing to do."

"It was stupid." He said. "Foolish!"

"Giving up would have been stupid." I said. "You proved that by saving us."

"Then why give up now? Why not let me save you?"

Good question. "I don’t know why but I can feel it. It’s not his will that I become like you. It’s... well... your... wrong..." I reached up and touched his lapel. "I’m sorry."

He smiled. "I am not easily offended."

He looked over at the cross again then back at me. "And if it were his will that you live?"

"His will be done."

"Will you trust me?" He asked looking deep into my eyes. There was no fog this time, only the question. I felt no fear.

"Trust me" The quiet voice whispered.

I returned his steady stare and smiled. "Of course I trust you. You’re the good guys right?"

He smiled back. "And you shall be my Angel."