Serafina enjoyed seeing the changes in her town over the years. She enjoyed bringing talented individuals in to help speed up its modernization. It had grown to a decent size. She even allowed them to upgrade her home in the past several years. It was no longer that sizable single-roomed building. It was now a rather sizable two-storied mansion. She felt she earned it, and the townspeople insisted. She loved it. It was a two-story white Greek revival architectural style home with columns and giant windows with black shutters. Although the people believed she would never need them, they still made it to usual living standards with restrooms and a kitchen. Most of her time was spent at her home, but she would occasionally be seen around town. In the day, dressed in black, covered from head to toe. But at night, in a simple white dress revealing her arms and legs, but still with a hat and veil. Just in white. Everyone knew it was for her eyes. They didn't question it anymore.
Late one morning, she left her home and made it into town. Sitting in her gazebo, she watched the hustle and bustle of the town while relaxing. Some children made their way over from the orphanage to play near her. All understood the children would be safe if she were sitting outside. The children always ensured to take full advantage of her protection to play outside their orphanage's walls. She would even sometimes play with them, so they always asked her to join. Hoping that would be a day where she would agree. This time they were successful. She agreed and played hide and seek with them when the town's mayor approached her. The mayor was a woman named Juana, who happened to be a great-granddaughter of the Juana she had rescued decades before. She greeted Serafina with her entourage of assistants and guards and asked her to follow them to their town hall to meet with a guest that may have some big business. Serafina agreed. She escorted the children back to the orphanage and followed the mayor to the town hall.
Walking through the town square and past a statue erected only a few years previously, she couldn't help but turn her head to look at it as they passed. Serafina couldn't hold the smirk back from her face. They had made the statue an angel with large wings holding a flame in her hand as though using it to lead the way while the other arm wrapped protectively in front of two children. The angel had her likeness. New rumors about her were that she was a fallen angel. That she was hinting at her history with her coin designs. They also believed this was the reason for her dislike of the church. They thought it wasn't hatred but maybe remorse for having been banished from the light of God. She always found it funny. Just because she did a few good deeds, she was now an angel in their eyes. She knew she was just a monster. But she wouldn't correct them. It was better than them knowing the truth.
Together they walked into the town hall and made it to the meeting room. Serafina was no stranger to the meeting room. She was asked to sit in on town matters many times. She was even given a special entrance and throne-like upholstered chair in the corner where she could observe should she want to. It was to the right and behind the mayor's seat, so everyone else technically looked to the both of them. Serafina never sat in on meetings unless asked, not wanting to interfere so much in their decisions. When she walked in, she noticed an older woman she didn't recognize sitting with a couple of young muscular men on either side at the opposite end of herself and Juana. Although she was in a dark corner where people typically wouldn't notice her entrance, the new woman kept her eyes on Serafina the entire time.
All council members stood up upon Juana's entrance and sat when she did to show their respect. "Thank you for waiting," Juana said as she sat opposite the strangers, "you asked that all members be present, and we now are. You had mentioned building a hotel in town and expanding roads to help in getting more tourists. Is that correct?"
The strange woman didn't even acknowledge Juana and kept her eyes on Serafina. It wasn't a kind look. Even the council members felt uncomfortable. Serafina didn't like the feeling this woman gave her. She was very suspicious of her actual reason for being there. She raised her brow at the strangers questioningly.
Juana cleared her throat to gain the stranger's attention, "Miss Goode, is that correct?"
"You're correct. That's what I said. But I'm sure you know by now that it was all just a pretense to lure your monster out. The bigger the project, the more likely the monster would have to hear the terms. We'll free you all from her corruption. She will no longer impose her rule on your town." Miss Goode and the two men immediately stood and threw little pouches at Serafina.
Serafina stood and easily caught them. Upon her inspection, she noticed they were sachets with a strong scent she hadn't smelled before. It seemed to be a combination of different herbs. She couldn't help herself and took a sniff to try and figure out what it was. That was when she realized her mistake. She felt different. She began having a coughing fit and felt dizzy. She wasn't sure what was happening and swayed on her feet. Stopping herself from falling by gripping the arm of her seat, she dropped the sachets to the ground. But she still couldn't control her coughing.
"Hurry and finish her! It won't last long!" Ms. Goode ordered the two men, who immediately went into action and headed toward Serafina while pulling hatchets from under their suit jackets.
"Stop! What do you think you're doing?" Juana shrieked, "guards! Police! Help!" she and the other council members immediately stood and tried to block them with their bodies to protect Serafina. Juana ran back to Serafina to help her escape the threat in the room.
"What are you doing? The herbs' effects won't last long! We must destroy her now while she's weakened! This is the only way we can get rid of her!" Miss Goode argued.
Juana ignored her and helped Serafina exit from her separate entrance, "Doña, are you alright? I'm sorry. I didn't know she wanted to hurt you. I promise. We would never allow someone like that into town." She stated while gently holding her arms and walking her to a safe spot towards the back of the building. She sat La Doña down in a chair and carefully moved her veil from her face, "Doña, can you hear me?". She was going back to holding her hands while she waited for a response.
Serafina gritted her teeth, her flames had burned the foreign substance from her system fairly quickly, but she didn't want the people to see her eyes. They had seen them glow in the past, but they believed it was a sign of her anger. She wasn't upset with the council. She knew it wasn't their fault. She didn't want them to fear her, thinking she would harm them for this incident. She waited, then once she knew her eyes were fine, she opened her eyes. She looked Juana in the eyes and smiled, "it's alright. I'm alright." Although the people knew of her red eyes, they were still startled at the sight, so Serafina used one hand to put her veil back down and patted Juana's hands to signal her not to worry. She then stood and started making her way back.
"Wait, what if she tries to hurt you again?" Juana tried to stop Serafina.
"The police subdued them," she smiled to Juana as she kept walking.
Juana looked at her, confused, unsure how she knew. But soon, an officer came over and announced the same. That all three had been subdued. They walked back into the meeting room, and the council was glaring at the trio. They had been cuffed with their hands behind their backs to the chairs they were currently sitting in and dragged away from the table. The police removed any possible weapons from the men and placed them on the table away from the trio. But the male officers stepped back, unsure what to do about the woman. None felt comfortable frisking her, especially in front of La Doña. They looked at each other, confused about how to proceed.
"I'll make sure she doesn't have anything else," Juana announced, walking over and roughly patting down the older woman. Upset at having been tricked and endangering their town's guardian. She pulled more sachets, different containers of herbs, and an old book which she placed in the middle of the table.
"We're just trying to help you!" one man yelled while desperately trying to get the manacles off, just like the other man. But the woman never struggled or removed her eyes from Serafina.
"So, your ability makes them loyal to you," the woman stated while narrowing her eyes at Serafina.
"Everyone, leave us alone for a moment," Serafina said, never averting her eyes from the woman and sitting in the mayor's seat at the head of the table where Juana had sat previously.
"Doña, are you sure? We don't want anything to happen to you. We wouldn't forgive ourselves." One of the council members tried to persuade her.
"I'll be alright, don't worry," she smiled and made herself comfortable, crossing her legs and looking over at the strangers.
"Call for us if you need us. We'll be outside," an officer stated. She nodded to them in agreement.
"You know what I am?" she asked the trio after everyone else left the room—removing her hat and veil.
"A bloodsucking monster," one of the men spat.
"Disgusting leech," the other answered.
"Yes, we know you're a vampire," the woman answered, glare still present.
"If you know, then you shouldn't be alive. But here you are. And you also had that sachet that weakened me. I didn't care for that." She answered while leaning back, "so I guess I need to ask what you are. You can't be normal if you had that."
"We won't answer any more of your questions. Just kill us now, monster," the woman said.
"I don't want to kill you," Serafina shrugged.
The room was silent as they all stared at each other. The three strangers were slightly surprised at her response. If they failed to kill a vampire in the past, there was always a fight after. It was expected, and they were prepared for it. She wasn't acting according to the script.
"Are you afraid?" one man taunted.
"First bloodsucker we met who was a coward," the other needled.
The woman remained silent as she looked over the vampire opposite them. She was too calm. She wasn't sure if she knew of their trick, but the fact that she wasn't acting as others typically did, unnerved her. She wanted her boys to shut up. They were being too obvious. But she didn't know how to warn them without the vampire being suspicious.
Serafina grinned in response, "You caught me; I'm a coward. Because I'm a coward, I think I'll kill you from here. Better to be safe than sorry." She allowed her eyes to glow, causing the three to gasp, "But wouldn't this ruin whatever sneaky plans you all are trying to kill me with?"
"I thought your ability was some type of mind manipulation?" the woman questioned.
"I don't need to answer your questions since you won't answer mine. But I think the truth will scare you more, and I like the thought of that. So, no. I have no mind manipulation abilities," she answered with a mischievous smirk.
"Then why are the people so willing to protect you?" one man questioned.
"Because I've protected and played with almost everyone in this town when they were children. Hell, half of this council descended from orphans I've sponsored and supported. The mayor wouldn't have even been born if I didn't save her great-grandmother more than a century ago." She shrugged, "I suppose it's just gratitude?"
The three were surprised. Unbelieving until she brought her hand up and held a flame while maintaining her calm posture. They couldn't help jumping when they saw it. Frightened but also confused. From their investigation, they believed she was controlling the people of this town somehow. They were sure that once they incapacitated her, the people would regain themselves and possibly even help them. They didn't expect the people to protect her. They had never been in this situation before. They were not prepared for this situation at all.
Serafina lightly flicked her flame at the younger of the men. It was a small flame. She had also practiced enough with the Volturi to have it burn just the way she wanted. She was allowing it only to burn his coat. But his screams were real as he felt the heat against his skin.
"Stop! Leave him alone!" the other man begged.
"Ready to talk now?" Serafina asked.
"Yes, please! Please don't hurt my boys!" the woman also began to plead.
Serafina couldn't help chuckling, "he's alright. It was just his coat. Maybe I singed his arm hair as well. But he'll be fine. Now tell me how you know about vampires. Are you something unnatural as well? You smell human to me. Your hearts beat like normal humans too. They're beating very fast now. I'd try to relax; I don't think that's healthy for you."
"We're human. Normal humans," the woman stated.
"You know what vampires are. You came to a town with sachets able to incapacitate a vampire. We can't forget your hatchets. I'm fairly certain you were ready to hack me to death after I was powerless. I'm slightly confused about how those hatchets would've worked, though." Serafina thought aloud, getting up and walking over to a hatchet on the table, running her finger over its edge, and noticing blood. She inhaled sharply and watched it heal. How was this possible? She looked up to the three with brows furrowed in confusion.
"We're normal humans. We know about your kind so that we can exterminate your kind." The woman said, "we're exterminators, or sometimes we're called hunters."
"You exterminate vampires?" Serafina asked in surprise.
"Not just vampires. Any monsters that get too full of themselves and impose their evil selves on good honest people," the younger man without a coat proudly announced.
"Never heard of a good monster living in a town full of people unless they were using them as cattle." The other man said.
"They have no idea what you are, do they?" the woman asked.
"No," she shook her head while inspecting the hatchet further. She was running her finger along the side, noticing the difference between the edge and the hatchet itself. She only now realized that the sharpened edge was white. She saw it in the beginning but only believed it was discolored from sharpening. Now she realized it was a different material altogether.
"And you never had an incident near them?" the woman questioned.
Serafina walked over with the hatchet. The men began struggling at her approach, but more so when she approached the woman. She ran the hatchet along the woman's cheekbone. Not hard enough to hurt, but enough to draw blood. The older woman never flinched, meeting Serafina's eyes the entire time. Serafina grinned as she sat on the table just in front of the trio. To prove she did break the skin, she ran her finger along the tiny blood trail and held it in front of them so they could see. Then she sniffed it, "ooh, that does smell good." She stated while observing the blood, "so inviting." She swallowed the saliva pooling in her mouth at the thought of feeding on this deliciously scented blood.
The trio kept their eyes on her with bated breaths.
"That must be the trick. Did you do something to your blood beforehand? Is it tainted in some way?" she chuckled. Wiping the blood droplet on the woman's coat, "you almost had me. But as you can see, I have restraint. So, to answer your question- no. I never had an incident near them."
The trio froze. They had no other backup plan. They looked up at the vampire, unsure of how to proceed. But she was looking back at them. She wasn't slaughtering them, as her kind would typically try to do.
"I'm assuming the name you used was fake. Why would they suspect someone with a name like Goode?" Serafina chuckled, "Can I get your family's name? You all can call me Miss Hart, or you can call me Doña; I don't mind either one," she winked at the woman.
The young men gritted their teeth and glared at Serafina. But the woman knew they were in no position to be rude, so she calmly responded, "We're the Hellsings. I'm Vera, and these are my boys, Vincent," She gestured to the young man to her right, "and Vance." She gestured to the young man who no longer had a jacket, "It seems we were given false information for our hunt. I'm sorry. Can we discuss things in a civilized manner, Miss Hart?"
"Isn't that what we've been doing?" Serafina grinned and sat back at the other end of the table. She kept the hatchet with her, enjoying playing with it, "Now, I'm more than willing to let you all go, but I want to discuss your line of work a bit more. I also want to know what information you were given about me. And from who."
"As long as you know, not all trade secrets can be revealed," Vera answered.
"We'll see," Serafina answered with a grin.