As expected, it went straight to voice mail. At least, that meant he still had it on him. Integra shifts in the throne and holds the phone to her cheek. "Hello Alucard. It hasn't been long since you left but it's been longer than normal for you..." A soft sigh, her fingers clutch the phone. "I don't know what you're doing but you'll finish up. I'm waiting for you. Don't take forever or I'll be cross. Be careful, I... I love you, come back to me." She didn't know what else to say, "See you soon."
It took him a long moment to realize that the horrendous noise was coming from his phone. He fumbled in his pocket for it, pulling it out, and when he got a good look at it, his eyes widened. The beautiful micromechanics were acting haywire, cogs and gears spinning wildly, and the hands of the clock were spinning erratically, sometimes clockwise, sometimes counter clockwise. He stared at this for a moment, before shaking his head and flipping it open. As soon as the phone was flipped open, the sound stopped, and he saw the flashing indicator for one new voice mail. He stared at it for a moment, before dialing his voice mail number and putting the phone to his ear. He half expected nothing to happen, to hear nothing but dead air, but then he heard faint, hissing static, and finally the tone played, the cue for him to put in his voicemail pin. He blinked, and pulled the phone from his ear, putting in the code before putting it back to his ear. So far, so good. ‘You have one new message. Message received [a burst of static].’ He waited patiently. ’Playing message now.’ ”[A burst of static] Alucard. It [distorted, drowned in static] long [incoherent] you left [screeching static, a distorted sound like garbled crying] normal for you…” [A pause of a few beats.] “I don’t know [dead silence, like the call was dropped, then abruptly] finish up. [Garbled hiss] waiting for you. Don’t take forever [short, staccatto burst of static] I’ll be cross. [Hissing static, the next few words are perfectly clear] I love you, come back [A very long stretch of quiet static, then the last word is almost a whisper.] soon.” The phone gave the tone for the message having ended, and Alucard closed his eyes briefly. He hadn’t gotten all of her message, but he knew this… place… had let through what was important. He pulled the phone from his ear with a quiet sigh, saved the voicemail, and hung up, then he immediately dialed his Master’s number. Putting the phone to his ear, he expected it to ring endlessly, or give a busy signal, but instead, her voicemail immediately picked up. He froze for an instant before speaking. When he was done, he hung up, then closed the phone, looking at the gears and cogs and clock hands still spinning erratically. He shook his head and pocketed the phone with an unhappy expression, before moving off down the street to be swallowed up by that dense, unnatural fog.
Voicemail received from [Number Unknown] [Static, a sound like roaring wind, some kind of unrecognizable din in the background] Master. [Burst of static] okay. I'm fine [The static rose, drowning the next words, but faintly, many galloping hooves could be heard, people shouting to the horses] trying... [The next is cut off, and instead a child is heard, a little boy, shouting hoarsely in a different language] I'll come back [a sound like ending metal, the next words are very clear] I promise. [low, quiet static, then softly] I love you. [The sound of an adult man yelling in the language from before, and what is presumably the same boy from before talking back quietly, then the line goes dead.]
