After reaching the closed parking area at LaGuardia Airport, Alex looked around to make sure no one was nearby before taking the Impala out of his inventory. Once again, he was reminded how convenient it was to be a federal agent. After confirming there were no overly curious onlookers around, Alex summoned the Impala from his inventory.
Walking around the car, he opened the doors for Doll and Alessa, helping them get in. After closing the Impala's doors, Alex walked around the car and sat behind the wheel. Starting the engine, he easily turned the steering wheel and pressed the gas pedal. Driving out of the LaGuardia Airport parking lot, Alex tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, humming along to the melody playing on the radio.
Humming the tune, he drove toward the Grand Central Parkway, heading west toward Queens. Doll, sitting in the front passenger seat next to Alex, noticed from the very first moment how different New York was from London.
"I hope there won't be any traffic jams on the way," Alex said, opening the window to stick his hand out.
"Father, have you seen the time?" Alessa asked from the back seat, looking up at Alex.
"It's seven in the morning, my little princess. So what's the problem?" Alex asked, glancing at his daughter in the rearview mirror.
"Exactly — it's seven in the morning on a Monday. I'd sooner believe that Uncle Dean will stop eating junk food and switch to a healthy diet than believe there won't be traffic in New York at this time," Alessa said in a sarcastic tone, rolling her eyes slightly.
Alex raised a finger, wanting to object, but realized he didn't have a single argument that could refute her words. Doll, sitting next to Alex, blinked her gray eyes and turned her gaze away from the window, turning her head toward Alex.
Slightly tilting her head to the side, Doll didn't understand what they were talking about or what "traffic jams" meant. Alex simply shook his head at Doll's questioning look, letting her know she would find out soon enough. Doll nodded and turned her gaze back to the window.
A few minutes later, Alex turned onto the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. And if there was one thing Alex knew for sure, it was that this highway was famous for its constant traffic jams. Continuing along the expressway, the black Impala drove through the neighborhoods of Queens.
At that moment, Alex had to slow down because of the traffic on the highway. Slowing down, Alex lit a cigarette, holding the steering wheel with one hand and watching the cars ahead of them. Doll, meanwhile, admired the low-rise buildings of the Queens neighborhoods.
"Luckily, we only need to stay on the highway," Alex said, flicking the cigarette ash out the window.
"This city is very different from London. Everything here is so… different," Doll said, listening to the noise of cars and streets.
"I'd say it's more lively. And it would be better if it weren't for these garbage trucks passing by us. The stench is just awful," Alex said, wrinkling his face as a garbage truck drove past them.
"Garbage truck? Why are they carrying garbage around the city?" Doll asked, blinking in confusion and looking at the truck Alex mentioned.
"It's their job. They collect garbage around the city and then take it to the landfill," Alex said, closing the window to avoid the unpleasant smell.
Hearing Alex's answer, Doll only tilted her head to the side, learning something new and incomprehensible to her once again. Dozens of questions swirled in her head: what a landfill was, and what happened to the garbage they collected. Noticing Doll's confusion, Alex simply patted her hand, letting her know she shouldn't think about it too much and should learn everything gradually.
Doll nodded and turned her gaze back to continue admiring the views of Queens. Watching Doll, who was examining everything with great interest, Alex wasn't in a hurry. He believed that this slow drive on the highway wasn't too high a price to let Doll see more different sights. Glancing in the rearview mirror, Alex looked at Alessa, who was holding a book on her lap and calmly reading, paying no attention to what was happening around her.
Continuing along the highway, Alex exited to avoid taking the Brooklyn Bridge, not wanting to waste even more time in traffic. Turning onto the road leading to the Manhattan Bridge, Alex leaned forward slightly to see what was ahead. He saw that although the flow of cars wasn't as heavy as on the Brooklyn Bridge, traffic was still slow.
Leaning back, Alex continued forward, driving onto the upper level of the Manhattan Bridge. Calmly maneuvering through the flow of cars, Alex felt the vibrations from the lower level of the bridge, where a subway train roared past with a horrible metallic screech and rumble. Doll pressed herself against the window to see what was happening below and managed to see the fast-moving subway trains.
"What was that long metal thing that just passed underneath?" Doll asked, pointing with her finger and turning her head to Alex.
"Those are subway trains. It's another way to get around the city. I'd say you can travel the entire city by subway if you know the routes," Alex said, overtaking the car in front of them.
"That's really convenient. Especially in such a big city," Doll agreed, nodding.
"I wouldn't call it convenient… But look, you can already see the Oldest House from here," Alex said, pointing forward.
Doll looked ahead and saw a very tall gray building without any windows, towering over the other buildings. Doll blinked slightly, carefully examining the outline of the Oldest House on the horizon. Alessa, meanwhile, looked up from her book and raised her gaze to the Oldest House. Seeing the inverted Black Pyramid towering above the Oldest House again, Alessa lowered her eyes.
From the moment the Oldest House became visible, Alex began to feel the intense gaze of The Board watching him, coming from the inverted Black Pyramid. At that moment, he simply wanted to roll his eyes.
Alex had almost forgotten that The Board just wanted to escape this dimension as quickly as possible and avoid becoming food for Chuck, who was preparing his final performance. Stopping thinking about these astral entities, Alex tried to think positively — after helping these beings, he would have his own building.
Cheering himself up with positive thoughts, Alex looked at the phone screen on the dashboard. Seeing a route without traffic, Alex decided to go through Chinatown. As the Impala drove through Chinatown, Doll couldn't help but be surprised by how different this district was from everything else.
Driving through Chinatown, Alex told Doll why this neighborhood looked the way it did. Alex even considered stopping to buy some food, but quickly dismissed the idea so as not to waste any more time. Their trip from the airport had already taken a full hour.
After passing through Chinatown, Alex turned the wheel at an intersection. A couple of minutes later, he reached 33 Thomas Street, where the Oldest House was located. Parking the car as usual on the other side of the street, Alex turned off the engine and stretched slightly.
"Are they going to keep staring at you for much longer?" Alessa asked, putting her book away in her bag and glancing out the window, looking up.
"I felt like a group of perverts was staring at me the entire way. Not a pleasant feeling… But I can understand them," Alex said, walking around the Impala to help Doll out.
"They're just afraid of becoming food. Nothing more," Alessa said, getting out of the Impala last.
"Alessa, all beings have a natural fear of something like that. I've seen it many times. Many hunters who ended up in the Dream couldn't recover for a long time after becoming food for monsters," Doll said in a gentle tone, placing her hand on Alessa's head.
Alessa looked up at her Mom Doll and wanted to express her characteristic opinion that such hunters were weaklings. But one look from Alex was enough for Alessa to simply nod. Alex had nothing against how Alessa viewed people, considering her past. But he didn't want her saying such things in front of Doll.
And Alessa herself perfectly understood that her Mom Doll was a very kind and gentle woman who had seen many broken people. Yet she still offered support to many broken hunters who found themselves in the Hunter's Dream. Alessa lowered her gaze and gently squeezed Doll's hand as they prepared to cross the street. Doll tilted her head once again, trying to understand what that exchange of glances between father and daughter had been about.
"Eh, alright. Let's go. The sooner I start, the sooner I finish. I still need to visit Amara too," Alex said, taking Doll's hand to cross the street.
"How are you going to explain everything to Jessie?" Alessa asked, peeking out from behind Doll's leg.
"The usual way. I'll say something like: 'Hey, I'm your new boss. Cool, right?'" Alex said, giving a thumbs up.
Alessa gave her father a lazy look and immediately shook her head. After crossing the street, Alex approached the entrance to the FBC and calmly pushed the doors open, letting Doll and Alessa go in first. Once inside, Alex once again saw the spacious gray hall. At the end of the hall stood a desk where a woman was sitting, with the words "Federal Bureau of Control" written behind her.
The woman at the desk only briefly raised her head and saw Alex. Nodding in greeting, Alex led Doll and Alessa with him. The appearance of such a tall woman as Doll, with her doll-like face, caused no reaction among the people working at the Bureau — aside from a slight interest in her identity. Thanks to office gossip, everyone at the Bureau already knew who Alex was and what he represented.
Approaching the security checkpoint, Alex took out his ID before passing through the metal detector together with Doll and Alessa.
"I hope this time I won't have to do that weird loop just for the elevator to appear?" Alessa asked, walking up the stairs and holding Doll's hand.
"Why would you need to do something like that for the elevator to appear?" Doll asked with genuine interest in her voice, looking down at Alessa.
"The Oldest House is a rather unique building with its own rules, and it can rearrange itself inside. I don't even know how spacious this building really is on the inside. I never really had the chance to explore everything here in detail," Alex said, reaching the second floor.
Once on the second floor, Alex saw three paintings hanging in the center. One of them depicted Jessie's face as the Director of the Bureau, dressed in a formal suit. Holding Doll's hand, Alex led her along, realizing he would still have to perform the old ritual for the elevator to appear.
Leading Doll with him, they entered a corridor lined with office rooms where Bureau employees were working. Office workers passing by greeted Alex with smiles. Alex exchanged a few words with the office workers who greeted him.
Even though Alex rarely visited the Oldest House, he saw no reason not to be friendly with those who greeted him. Doll, walking beside Alex, observed all this office routine with considerable interest. Continuing down the corridor, Alex, Doll, and Alessa heard a male voice quietly singing a song.
As they kept walking, they saw a man in a janitor's uniform singing while continuing to mop the floor. Seeing Ahti, a wide smile appeared on Alex's face along with the desire to kick this chatty janitor. Alex hadn't forgotten that it was Ahti who had leaked his number to the Bureau agents, since his personal number was only supposed to be known by Jessie. When Alex was just a few steps away from Ahti, the latter calmly removed his headphones and turned his head with a smile on his face.
"Ah, King… So you've finally come for what's owed to you. That's good. Very good," Ahti said with a strong accent, nodding as he looked at Alex.
"Been a while, Ahti… Should I kick you now or later?" Alex said with a slight smile, while his eyelid twitched slightly.
"Hahaha. Maybe another time. I still need to finish mopping the floor, and you need to deal with them, King," Ahti burst out laughing, pointing his finger at the ceiling.
Alex stared at the laughing Ahti with a blank gaze. A moment later, he simply sighed. Alex had long stopped being angry at Ahti for what he had done. Ahti, having stopped laughing, shifted his gaze to Doll and Alessa and immediately bowed courteously, as was proper.
Seeing Ahti's bow, Doll elegantly curtsied, holding the hem of her dress. Alessa simply nodded in response to Ahti's gesture. After talking with Ahti a little more, Alex wanted to know what was currently happening at the Bureau and if there had been any problems. Leaning on his mop, Ahti began listing what had happened at the Bureau, which ultimately came down to the fact that nothing significant had occurred.
Field agents were still doing their jobs, office workers were still working with documents, and the research department, in its foolishness, had not released any dangerous anomalous objects. Listening to what was happening at the Bureau, Alex nodded, occasionally asking questions. In reality, he was more interested in the fate of Alan Wake and his wife Alice.
"Oi, kirjailija. Kyllä, kyllä. Hän voi nyt oikein hyvin. Saw him recently," Ahti said, switching to his own language and nodding.
"Well, that's good to hear… Then I won't distract you from work any longer. And thanks again," Alex said, shaking Ahti's hand.
Ahti smiled and shook Alex's hand, nodding. After finishing the conversation, Alex led Alessa and Doll further down the corridor. Ahti, watching Alex's group as they walked farther away.
"See you later, kuningas ja kuningatar," Ahti said, waving goodbye to Alex.
Without turning his head, Alex raised his hand and waved slightly in farewell. Doll turned back to look at Ahti and nodded with a gentle smile on her face. After walking through the corridor of office rooms, Alex, Doll, and Alessa made a loop and returned to the balcony on the second floor.
And in the center of the wall where the portraits hung, an elevator with open doors had already appeared. Approaching the elevator, Alex calmly stepped inside together with Doll and Alessa. Alex pressed the only button on the panel, and the elevator doors began to close. As soon as the doors closed, a light melody started playing from the elevator speakers. Folding his arms across his chest, Alex tapped his finger in time with the melody as the elevator continued upward.
"They're being awfully quiet…" Alex said calmly, stopping his finger tapping.
"I can assume, dear Hunter… that these entities waiting for you preferred to wait for a personal meeting rather than interrupt your conversation with your friend," Doll said thoughtfully, turning her head toward Alex.
Alex looked at Doll and nodded slightly, realizing her words were correct. During his previous visit to the Oldest House, The Board had constantly tried to speak with him, causing him headaches. Relaxing a little, Alex felt the elevator stop with its characteristic ding.
The elevator doors began to open, revealing where they had arrived. When the doors fully opened, Alex, Doll, and Alessa saw a gray space in front of them, with the inverted Black Pyramid at the far end. At that moment, black marble platforms began rising from below, forming a long bridge that stretched all the way to the Black Pyramid.
"Welcome / We have been waiting for you / Time to complete the deal," came a mixture of distorted voices that resonated with the space itself.
"Yeah, yeah. I know. And hello to you too," Alex said, stepping out of the elevator and onto the black marble bridge.
Exiting the elevator, Alex began looking around, examining this dimension where The Board resided. Walking along the black bridge, Alex could only click his tongue at the fact that The Board existed in such an empty space with nothing in it.
Stopping his inspection, Alex shifted his gaze back to the Black Pyramid that represented The Board. Slowly walking along the marble bridge, Alex ignored the voices of The Board, which continued speaking to him as he approached. Rubbing his forehead from the headache, Alex got close enough to the inverted Black Pyramid and looked up.
"Do you still want to leave, or would you prefer to stay?" Alex asked, lighting a cigarette and looking at The Board.
"The collective decision has been made / Departure is necessary / Decision to avoid danger," came The Board's collective voice, emanating from the Black Pyramid.
"Then as we agreed. The Oldest House is mine, and you leave? Agreed?" Alex said, exhaling cigarette smoke.
"Payment was discussed / Agreement has been reached / You own it," The Board's voice confirmed the terms of the deal between them.
Hearing The Board's confirmation, Alex couldn't hide the smile on his face and almost clapped his hands in a good mood. Alex hadn't even started doing anything yet, but he was already making plans for the Oldest House, including moving the entire building to Orario. Alessa, the little pragmatic adult, thought this was hardly good payment for her father helping these entities.
Only Doll remained calm, watching The Board with interest. Doll's gray eyes carefully observed The Board, and she saw tangled lines resembling strings wrapped around the inverted Black Pyramid.
Stopping rejoicing over his payment, Alex snapped his fingers, creating his clone to help The Board leave this dimension, and then become The Board himself so that Chuck wouldn't notice anything. Upon learning why he had been summoned, Alex's clone simply sighed heavily and lit a cigarette.
"I'm too young for this shit, original. And now am I supposed to start talking like these idiots?" Sloth said lazily, pointing his finger at the Black Pyramid.
"Do whatever you want. Just don't mess it up. I don't want Chuck to start getting distracted from writing his finale," Alex said calmly, looking at Sloth.
"Fine. Give me 5… No, 10 minutes. And I'll send these idiots to another dimension where they belong," Sloth said, tapping his finger on his chin while staring intently at The Board.
"Just don't forget to close the passage. I don't need The Hiss from another universe breaking into my Oldest House," Alex said, taking Doll's hand and preparing to leave.
"I may be lazy, but I'm definitely not stupid, original," Sloth said, giving Alex a lazy look.
"That's why I'm reminding you, Sloth," Alex said, waving his hand as he left with Doll and Alessa.
Sloth watched Alex walk away and, with a blank gaze, raised his hand to show him the middle finger. Lowering his hand, Sloth shifted his gaze to The Board and took a drag from his cigarette. Exhaling the smoke, Sloth decided to get to work.
Meanwhile, Alex calmly walked along the black marble bridge with a slight smile on his face, holding Doll's hand. Reaching the elevator, Alex calmly stepped inside together with Doll and Alessa. Alex pressed the button, and the elevator doors began to close. As soon as the doors closed, Alessa shifted her gaze to her father, who was practically bouncing in place.
"You may," Alessa said calmly, looking at Alex.
At that moment, Alex burst into loud laughter and grabbed Doll, spinning her around in the elevator. Doll didn't understand what was happening or why Alex's mood had suddenly improved so much. But seeing his joyful smile, Doll smiled tenderly and allowed Alex to spin her.
Stopping spinning Doll, Alex set her back down on the floor and hugged her tightly, kissing her on the cheek. He was in an extremely good mood that was hard to ruin. And as soon as the euphoria from obtaining the Oldest House passed, Alex realized that he would still have to work, and now even more so to keep an eye on the FBC. Thinking about this, Alex simply waved it off — after all, that's how he had been doing this job before.
Soon the elevator arrived at the floor where the Director's office was located. Once on the right floor, Alex, Doll, and Alessa exited the elevator. In front of them stretched a long corridor with a small reception area containing sofas for visitors and vases with flowers. A bit further was a security checkpoint with two guards.
Noticing Alex's arrival, the guards quickly verified his identity through their system and simply nodded in greeting. Walking along the red carpet that stretched all the way to the Director's office, Alex thought about the look on Jessie's face when she learned he had become her new boss. Chuckling slightly, Alex nodded to the secretary and pushed open the office doors. Jessie, who was sitting at her desk at that moment, heard the sound of the opening doors and looked up.
"I was already thinking you decided to stay at Hellsing and that the Bureau would lose a very valuable agent," Jessie said, folding her arms across her chest and leaning back in her chair.
"Yeah, sure, I'll believe that. They made me work in Hellsing no less than here," Alex said, rolling his eyes as he sat down in the chair in front of the desk.
"I see. You brought a new girl with you. Must have been really hard working," Jessie said in a sarcastic tone, looking at Doll.
"This is Doll, and it's a rather long story," Alex said, waving his hand.
"Doll? That's quite a strange name. Although her face really does look doll-like," Jessie said, raising an eyebrow and shifting her gaze from Alex to Doll.
Alex pursed his lips and looked at Jessie with sarcasm in his eyes. Noticing Alex's look, Jessie blinked slightly, thinking she had guessed correctly. Alex took Doll's hand and lifted it so Jessie could see for herself. Seeing Doll's hand, Jessie was immediately surprised to see the doll-like hand.
Jessie immediately had a question about what was going on. She had seen many anomalous objects, Objects of Power, and even monsters kept in a special department inside the Oldest House. But she had never seen anyone like Doll, who was literally a living doll.
"Now I'm even more curious about what happened to you in England," Jessie said in an intrigued tone.
"A lot. It's impossible to tell everything at once," Alex said, lowering Doll's hand and looking at Jessie with a smile.
"Well, I'm ready to listen. My eyes are already hurting from these documents. So spill it, I'm not in a hurry," Jessie said, waving her hand to show she had time.
"If we're talking about the important parts, I was one of the people who destroyed the British aircraft carrier Eagle. I killed the remnants of Millennium. And then the Queen of Britain herself knighted me as a Knight of the Faith and a Knight of the Round Table. She also approved my marriage to the Countess of Hellsing," Alex said with a cheerful smile, looking at Jessie.
With each word Alex spoke, Jessie's facial expression gradually changed — from surprise to shock. Even hearing that Alex was one of those who destroyed the British aircraft carrier Eagle made Jessie feel a headache. But the fact that he had been knighted and had become Integra Hellsing's husband made Jessie sigh heavily. Jessie placed her palms on her face, massaging it slightly.
Alex didn't stop there; he continued telling her more, watching Jessie's reaction. While Alex was talking, Doll stood up from her chair and walked over to Alessa, who was sitting on the sofa at the far end of the office. Doll approached Alessa and sat down next to her so as not to interfere with Alex's conversation.
Jessie realized that if it weren't for Polaris, to whom she was connected, she would probably have had a nervous breakdown. Even the fact that the famous Dracula turned out to be a woman made Jessie start massaging her temples and reach for the bottom drawer of her desk. Opening the bottom drawer, Jessie took out an almost empty bottle of whiskey and poured herself a glass.
"Alright, enough. A little more and I'll definitely have a nervous breakdown. And as luck would have it, my whiskey has run out," Jessie said, placing the empty bottle on the table and draining the glass of whiskey.
"Here, a small souvenir from England," Alex said, placing a bottle of whiskey on the table.
"How sweet of you. I hope this isn't some cheap whiskey?" Jessie asked, picking up the bottle.
"Not cheap. One and a half thousand per bottle. Integra drinks it often, so I took a couple of cases," Alex said, shrugging.
Just as she was about to open the bottle of whiskey, Jessie froze upon hearing the price. Blinking slightly, she looked down at the bottle and then at Alex, thinking she must have misheard. But seeing Alex's expression, she realized she was currently holding a bottle of aged scotch worth one and a half thousand dollars.
Alex rolled his eyes at Jessie's frozen state, opened the bottle for her himself, and poured her a glass. Noticing what Alex had done, Jessie quickly hid the bottle of scotch in the bottom drawer of her desk. She had no intention of touching this bottle anytime soon.
"So this is what British aristocrats drink. It really does have an expensive taste," Jessie said, savoring the scotch.
"With your salary, you can afford such a pleasure," Alex said, shrugging and lazily leaning back in his chair.
"Says Mr. Death, who married a countess. Do the other girls know what you've done? Or are you planning to hide it?" Jessie said, rolling her eyes at Alex's words.
"They know, of course. And Integra also knows about the others," Alex said cheerfully, reaching for a cigarette.
"How have you not been killed yet? Oh right, you're Death, it's not that easy to kill you. Hahaha," Jessie said with a theatrical laugh, pointing at Alex with the hand holding the glass of scotch.
"I already told you, technically I'm not Death," Alex said, chuckling slightly at Jessie's words.
"Yeah, yeah, I remember. The other you is Death now. I know," Jessie said, waving her hand to show she remembered.
"If you want, I'll share a couple of my secrets with you. You'll find it quite interesting," Alex said, holding an unlit cigarette between his fingers.
"I doubt anything will surprise me more than the fact that you're apparently Death. So go ahead," Jessie said, leaning back in her chair and crossing her legs.
"I'm your new boss. The Oldest House now fully belongs to me," Alex said cheerfully, watching Jessie's reaction to his words.
Hearing Alex's words, Jessie blinked, once again thinking she must have misheard. Leaning forward, Jessie set her empty glass on the table and stood up from her desk. Looking at Alex, Jessie felt another shock. And once again, Polaris helped Jessie stay sane and not break down. Taking a deep breath, Jessie sat back down in her chair and folded her hands under her chin.
"How?" Jessie asked the important question that interested her most at that moment.
"It's very simple. These idiots wanted to escape this reality. And they couldn't do it without outside help. So they literally begged me to help them. And in exchange for helping them, I received the Oldest House," Alex began to explain, tapping his finger on the table.
"Let's assume that's true. And how did you help them? I also don't think they would ask Death for help. No matter how you look at it, they would definitely be afraid to make contact with you," Jessie said, staring intently into Alex's eyes.
Alex looked into Jessie's eyes and thought that he should probably tell her who he really was. Alex waved his hand, asking Jessie to lean closer. Squinting, Jessie leaned closer to Alex, not understanding what he wanted to do. When Jessie leaned close enough, Alex touched her forehead with his finger, transferring all the necessary information to her.
Alex trusted Jessie, and since she now technically worked for him, he wanted her to know everything. At that moment, a flood of information rushed into Jessie's head, which Polaris helped her process. Jessie leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Alex calmly waited for Jessie to recover from such a large amount of information.
To be continued...
(Once again, I thought I could fit everything into one chapter. And in the end, they told me again, no. I already thought that in one chapter, Alex would visit the Oldest House, talk to Jesse, and visit Amara. Oh well. If it didn't work out, so it didn't work out. Next, we have a return to the Bunker, followed by a visit to Amara. I think I wanted to say something else, but oh well. I'll go eat. Peace, love, and where am I? Help! (Editor))
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