Chapter Sixteen

The smell of pizza forced its way into their nostrils wetting their appetites further.

They had parked, and despite noticing possible threats, Igor had decided it would be better to go inside where the public was.

Delancey's Pizza had been around for more than a hundred years in Seattle at this point in time; rightfully so, they had a thin crusted, wood fired oven pizza. It wasn't just about it having the freshest dough around, but the crispiness of the ingredients and dominance of the flavorful sauces kept an ongoing fan base that transcended time. The love for the original recipes and their consistency was passed from generation to generation of locals and chefs alike. The pizza wasn't truly Italian but was a hybrid of love between Americans and Italians.

Maisie's favorite pizza was a classic thin crusted, garlic crispy pepperoni pizza. The sauce had fresh tomatoes, onions, roasted garlic, Italian basil, oregano, and was seasoned with a dash of sugar, salt, and pepper. Their original dough left to rise for twenty four hours, given time to mature.

Igor got to enjoy pizza rarely, when the Masters were in the mood to share.

It was pretty busy when they had arrived, and it was just about lunch time. There were four Cooks working on making pizzas behind the wooden counter. The place was set up so you can see them making your pizza.

It was either fortunate or unfortunate that all but one table was full of patrons. They were able to find a place to sit, led by their hostess, but the wait time for their food would take longer. They were sat in a dingy corner, and the dining room was loud. That's what they got for going there at lunch time.

"Here's your water and menus." The hostess smiled.

"Thank you." said Dash who winked; Igor nodded, and Maisie smiled back.

"Sure, your server will be right with you!" Their hostess was cute, she had tied up straight blond hair, blue eyes, and was wearing a small apron and casual clothing with the shop's logo.

The delicious smell overridden their senses and their stomachs growled with a direct fierceness.

Dash started to click his nails on the table after six minutes of waiting.

"They could at least get our order." He said. The service was slow due to the lunch rush.

Maisie had her hand on her face, regretting the decision to bring her younger brother. She understood he was hungry, but he could be overdramatic sometimes. She had wanted to spend time with him and Igor, but mostly Igor. Her parents usually didn't approve her being alone with Igor, when they were away, despite her adult age, she was expected to listen as long as she stayed in their house. She had another option to bring their mom or older brother but decided against it because Dash usually was the easiest to convince.

Dash has been dumped by every girl he had been with (four at one time) previously, and he was just loafing around the house during his break from school, and when Maisie told him she was going to go check out the old bookstore, he leapt at the opportunity, despite not really liking to read books. He didn't really mind his sister's company, and liked to get out of the house, and loved going into the city.

"Hello, do you guys know what you would like to order? I'm very sorry for the wait." Maisie looked up, and saw that their server was a clean shaven young man with trimmed black hair, brown eyes and a smile as white as pearls.

"That's okay, I would like the pepperoni pizza please." Maisie said.

"What size would you like?" He said back.

"Large, please, we are sharing." Igor nodded again, he wasn't to really talk to people or other Genalucards outside of the house, and that included people of public service. It was not all that common for a full service restaurant to use Genalucards as servers. They were costly to maintain, as they were bought but needed to be housed and fed, and that could be expensive. It was still common place to pay servers badly and for them to rely on tips, even in Seattle. Their current server was a poorer human male, a target for solicitation by the White Angels, but Maisie was not a part of that anymore.

"Is that all?" Dash was pondering if he should order something extra but decided against it.

"Yes, thank you." Dash said.

After a fairly long wait, the food finally got there, and the siblings scarfed it down, besides a single slice; which Maisie had spared for Igor. He was still hungry after the succulent slab but was going to have to wait for 'servant lunch' at the mansion. Their father had decided there really wasn't a point to not keeping them fed when it kept the Genalucards far more efficient and healthy, because they were stronger and could concentrate better.

The Lennox siblings still decided to tip pretty well despite the poorer service. They weren't as in need of their money and what was the point in money if you couldn't spend it?

As soon as they left the pizza place, despite Igor not sensing anyone watching them earlier in the pizza shop; he felt goosebumps and the hair on the back of his neck had stood up. There was indeed something wrong; a white van with no markings was situated next to their Escalade. Which wouldn't of been super odd if he hadn't seen it before, but it was the same van that kidnapped him and took him to be brainwashed.

"What's wrong Igor?" Maisie took his right shoulder and shook him. He was staring intently at the vehicle.

"That van. It was the one the White Angels had used."

"How do you know?" Maisie was alarmed.

"Right how do you know?" Dash was concerned too.

"There was originally slight cosmetic damage to their side bumper. I noticed it before." His attention to detail tended to be on the higher side as far as the Alucards went.

"It could be a coincidence."

"Well, either way, we probably should leave." Igor said, trying to herd them to the vehicle, opening the door to the back seat, checking for anything else suspicious. The Lennox family servants were all trained in the art of observation.

He didn't see any signs of tampering, regarding the doors, under the hood of the Escalade, or the tires.

"Let's get in and get going." He had a reason to be concerned.

When they started to drive out and back home, the white van was indeed following them. They lived thirty minutes away from Seattle in a suburban neighborhood.

On the way home:

"Hey I see that van had started to follow us pretty soon after we left the parking lot." Igor warned Maisie and Dash.

"For how long?" Dash said, who was a little spooked now.

"Ten minutes now."

"That's weird, we'll have to see how much longer they follow us and then try to shake them."

"Should I notify the team?" Igor was talking about their team of Genalucard servants at home, and because of the Lennox family wealth and status, the family had an emergency plan if something like this were to happen.

"I'm not yet convinced it's necessary, Igor." Maisie said whilst watching the white van out the window.

"It never hurts to be too careful, miss." He was especially protective of her.

After another ten minutes, Igor asked again.

"Shouldn't we notify them Miss?"

"I guess if we have to." That irked Igor, her safety was in jeopardy and she wasn't as concerned as him about it.

"Alright will do." He used the touchscreen he had on the dashboard to call 'The A team.' Which was a play on the recently remade movie series 'A team' which was Mr. Lennox's favorite action movie series, but in this case it was a joke.

"Your location?" A male voice responded. It was the head servant of the Lennox mansion, Edmund.

"We are ten minutes from the mansion."

"Alright, what is the issue at hand?"

"There's a van following us."

"How long have they been on your tail, did you see if they would be shook?"

"20 minutes, but we haven't tried to shake them."

"Then how can you be so sure this isn't a coincidence, they're trying to drive to a nearby neighborhood?" He said, sounding a little annoyed.

"We wanted you to know. I wanted you to know." Igor said.

"Try to shake them first, but keep us on the phone."

"Thanks, Edmund." Igor said, pulling the van over the nearest exit as soon as it was safe.

The white van didn't pull over with them.

"They didn't pull over with us." Igor said, almost disappointed he was wrong.

"I'll be hanging up now, but it is better to be safe than sorry. Have a good day. See you around." Edmund clicked the phone off.

"The white angels have our address unfortunately. I don't see why they would need to follow us home." Maisie said.

"Is that why you weren't worried?" Igor blurred, kind of mad.

"Well you could of said something to me! I thought you trusted me." Igor was not a happy camper.

"I wasn't going to disagree with you about the possibility of a threat like that one, People don't necessarily like my father." Maisie said.

"Well you could of still said something to ease mine and Dash's worries."

"They did follow us awhile." Dash said.

"There was still a potential threat, I don't see the issue here." Maisie said, further annoying Igor, making him feel butthurt and conflicted.

"I will continue to try and protect you and your family for as long as I live." Igor said.

"Such dedication. I haven't heard anything like that from another Alucard." Said Dash, confused.

"I'm Maisie's Alucard. I'm cut from a different cloth." Igor replied.

"Woof, like do you actually care about us?" Dash said.

"I am bound by my duties." Igor said, trying not to indicate any romantic inclination.

"Like you like like my sister?"

"Please lay off him about it, Dash. I realize you like everything that can walk on two legs, but I'm not sure about Igor here." Maisie said; which stung because he obviously liked her, who he kissed, passionately, but he knew the family wasn't supposed to know.

"That's a little harsh even for you Maisie."

"I said lay off." She commanded. Dash shut up after that.

They had taken a detour due to pulling off on a side road exit, but were finally home.

Igor opened both Dash and Maisie's doors.

Igor walked them to the front door of the Mansion, ringed the bell and typed in a key code. Then he went to go put the car away.

Maisie and Dash both went their separate ways into the house after a brief silence in the car.

Igor went back in the house, and Maisie called him with her bell. He went to her room not exactly beaming with happiness.

"Please be careful what you say and about how passionate you are about it." She said.

Igor frowned, hunched over his red eyes shining, almost with tears of frustration. He knew he had to be secretive but he definitely felt a fire towards the Lennox family, but mostly specifically towards Maisie, but he would definitely help the rest of them out because he loved her.

"Please don't let suspicion arise, especially with my parents, I don't want them to sell you off!" Maisie was about to cry herself.

"But- I wanted to protect you!" Tears started to stream down his face, and his nails were trying to tear out of his gloves again. Igor was very conflicted. He was to lead a very scrupulous life and no one was to know his feelings about anything. He should of known better, he knew he was a slave to humanity. The unfortunate part was that Maisie put a glimmer of hope in his life, and was basically holding it in a cage, barely ablaze. His passion had nowhere to go.