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tampered2007-02-11 03:10 am
snarky-padre-v.livejournal.com) wrote in tampered2007-02-11 03:10 am
Log;Complete
When; February 10th, sometime at night before? after? the Alessa/LV log.
Rating;PG-17? drama, occult, & gore.
Characters; Alessa Gillespie![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
alessalearnt,Father Vincentsnarky_padre_v,Walter Sullivanholy_assumption and Fox Mulderm1jac0ge0
dont see how the last two are involved? read on...you will.
Summary;IN light of the sad event of Henry's death you'd think Alessa and Vincent could finally settle their differences....
Log;
Alessa lay on the bed she had shared with Henry, her eyes red and puffy from all of the crying she had been doing. The plushie Vincent had given to her made in the likeness of Henry was held close to her, and the ring Henry had given her was on her ring finger proudly. It had been a very long couple of days...
She didn't think she could cry anymore. The pain was so great that she wanted to scream, and her anger was so great that she wanted to go out and kill Walter, but she knew she couldn't. To do so would be too harsh and unrational. For now, she had to keep things together. Keep them together until Xulchibara finished resting. She had to be the leader for now, even though the pain was great...even greater than the fire, it seemed. She suddenly knew how her mother must have felt. She did indeed feel....broken. Just like Dahlia.
---
'Them' didn't seem to consist of much more than Vincent, right now. Where was Scarab? He didn't know. He assumed she might have gone back to the psychic before all of this had gone down.
He was still lying on the floor of the mansion, in the library, on the spot where Lobsel Vith had cremated Henry.
Dirty with soot, and still wearing his clothes. They looked rumpled. He looked haggard. He wasn't asleep now though. He just...didn't look like he particularly had any great urge to do anything other than lay where he was.
---
Alessa sighed, sitting up, running a hand through her hair. She set the stuffed animal against the pillows, situating it so that it would appear to be comfortable. She wanted to grieve forever, but she knew it wasn't good. She had to be strong right now.Best go see what Vincent is up to, she thought, rising from the bed.
As she strode through the corridors towards the library, her mind drifted. She had sensed the Yellow God's presence when it delivered Henry's body to the manor to be cremated. She knew she should have been present, but the thought of seeing Henry's mangled body, and seeing it be burnt, no less, was too much to bear. Now it was over. His body was gone, and he was in Paradise. She could only hope that when her - no, their daughter - opened the door to Paradise, that Henry would be there waiting for her. She knew now that even if Henry could not really father her children, that he would be the father anyway. He had died for her, and for their future children, after all. It only seemed right.
Alessa opened the library door slowly, the wooden door creaking. For a moment she thought she would see the remains of her beloved, but there was only a white intricate urn in place of where Henry's body must have been. Alessa entered the room slowly. Vincent was the only one present in the room; his shoulders were slumped, and he looked awful. She approached him cautiously, finally placing herself beside him. There was silence...she didn't feel like talking just yet. Her mark burned slightly in the presence of Vincent, and it made her feel a bit more alive.
---
"Did you...do you need anything, Lady?" Vincent asked, a little hoarsely. "I...there was a box. I took...I took the liberty of putting them...him..in an urn. More...d-dignified, I guess." his lip quivered, and he turned away. After all, he should be strong, he supposed. And she, she had been WITH him, all that time.
Her pain was bound to be greater than his own, although he could not begin to comprehend a pain any greater than the one he felt now.
All the moreso because he knew, with certainty, that Walter had undeniably planned something like this.
If Henry had not come to him, Walter would have come here, defiled this place. Henry and Walter simply could not BE in the same world together. Their hatred, polarity was just too strong for it to be anything other.
Walter had finally posted something on the network, but he wasn't sure he should mention that to Alessa. Grief beat anger, in the long run.
---
"No....I don't need anything," she said, her voice coming out hoarse. Her eyes fell on the urn, and she couldn't seem to take her eyes off of it. Slowly, very slowly, almost as if she were doing it in slow motion, Alessa reached out and took the urn carefully in her hands, cradling it against her chest. "Thank you, Vincent...th-thank you."
Don't cry, she thought, but the tears came out anyway. She thought she was done crying for now, but it seemed that she still had a few more tears to shed. In any other instance, she would have been very embarrassed. She always did her best to make sure that Vincent viewed her as a strong individual, not someone who was weak. But now it didn't even matter. They had both lost someone dear to them, and she couldn't hold her petty grudge any longer. Vincent was, for right now anyway, the only one she had left.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, wiping her eyes furiously. "I've never...felt this sort of pain before...."
She took a deep breath, slowly gaining self control again.
----
"I..." Vincent got up, awkwardly. His limbs were stiff. He'd been lying on the floor for hours now. "should probably get cleaned up." he finished lamely, uncomfortable in her presence."I'm all sweaty a-a-and sooty."
There was no need to mention- the soot had most likely been Henry, once. Well, part of what was left of him anyway. "I thought...I mean. We should have a wake...o-or something." he swallowed hard. "Maybe Rosiel will let us have it a-at the cathedral. I mean...W-." He had been about to say something about Walter having been allowed to stay in the Cathedral, but that would just make things awkward again.
He sniffled. Resettled his glasses more comfortably on the bridge of his nose. "I'll make some food, if you want it. S-something light, I expect." he headed for the bathroom.
---
"Wait a minute," she called out. "Don't go...not yet." She wasn't entirely sure why she wanted Vincent to stay, but she didn't want to be alone either. Being alone only made Henry's absence hurt greater. "....we can get food later. I'm not all that hungry anyway."
She moved a few strands of dark hair out of her eyes. "There's a few things we need to talk about....I'm not angry or anything....not at you, anyway." She said this last bit meaningfully, letting him know that she was very angry at Walter, although it was probably unneeded.
---
Vincent fidgeted.
"I don't see why not. If I had never agreed to perform that ritual....if I had never given him that kind of...confidence..." Vincent's turn to cry now, full of if onlies. Not all of them were rational, either.
He did not want Alessa's forgiveness. Maybe she didn't even remember just how much he had loved Henry too, or had just tried to forget about it. That too, lay unbidden amongst Vincent's alleged 'guilt', everyone I ever love dies. If I had never dared to love him, even if it never was fulfilled, maybe he'd still be alive...
---
Alessa really didn't know what to say. It was easy to comfort another girl while in tears, but she had never seen another man cry - there was one instance, but she was determined to remain quiet about that incident. It was far too personal for anyone's ears. "You did what you had to, Vincent...I don't blame you. Walter is at fault. He's the one who did it." She didn't voice the fact that she blamed herself. That if she had talked to Henry, had tried to find out what was wrong...
"...we can't let our plans die. Henry's death....it's complicated things, but we can't give up. We have to hold things together until Xulchibara is strong enough to return to us. He'll be back soon, I know it," she murmured. "We have to stick together."
---
Vincent clamped his eyes closed so hard he saw phosphenes, lifting his face heavenward, as though trying to pour the tears back into their glands by gravity alone.
He bit his lip.
Calmed.
Finally, he was ready to look at her again. "Did he..? did you..? I mean...." he sort of indicated her belly. "is She still coming? you and Henry..I mean...?"
Just...say it, Vincent.
---
She looked away, her grip on the urn which contained Henry's remains tightening. "......we tried. But we couldn't...." She stopped, took a deep breath, then tried again. "The abuse I suffered as a child has made it impossible for me to bear children. Henry and I tried many, many times, but nothing's happened. Xulchibara's power could very well have made it work, but due to his absence..." She trailed off, leaving the sentence hanging.
No. God isn't here yet, she sent the message to him mentally. I don't know what we're going to do now. But the Red One will know what to do. We just have to be patient.
---
Vincent was known for his fluctuating faith, the poor lost soul that he was. He'd believe and then he wouldn't, even though he had probably seen more proof in his lifetime than any man of the cloth ever had.
Right now the idea of a baby without a father's seed made no sense to him, in spite of all the followers of the Thorned One he had met in his time here.
He laughed,desperately, crazily. The laugh of a man threatening to go mad in his despair. "Then it was all for nothing," he said, without hope, "no one can create life from ashes, not even you, Lady."
Actually, there were the ash children in the Underground, but monsters weren't exactly life, now were they....
---
Alessa's face darkened, then, and she rose to her feet, gently placing Henry's remains on a desk with books upon it. She strode across the room, determination in her stride. She narrowed her blue eyes at him in one look, and slapped Vincent across the face as hard as she could.
"Get ahold of yourself!" She snapped. "There is still a way. What about the Thorned King? He was born of a mortal woman and a god. There are plenty of stories that I have read during my time in this City that say that children can indeed be born from a god. So what, the prophecy was off a bit. The prophecy never said anything about me nearly getting burnt to death, or the Serpent being killed by someone possessed by Valtiel, now, did it?
Sometimes prophecies don't go the way they're originally written....we're in a different time, and we're going to have to make do with what we have. We can't give up on God! We've waited far too long for Paradise to be open, and I refuse to give up! If we gave up, then Henry would have died for nothing!!!! We have to keep going, Vincent! If we don't, we'll let Scarab, Henry, and Xulchibara down. We can't do that. We just can't. We're a family, and we're going to accomplish this!
So stop this blasphemy and pull yourself together!!" She finished, her voice sounding louder and harsher than she had intended. She really hadn't meant to hit him, but he was on the verge of hysteria. Someone had to keep a clear head.
---
He was weeping again, and looking at her, incredulous. Well, looking in her direction, anyway. His glasses were blotched with tearstains again, so he probably couldn't see all that well out of them.
The side of his face pink with the imprint of her hand. "Alright," he said, "so what do we do now?S-s-some kind of wake is in order, anyway. People will miss him...." he stopped himself from going on another crying jag. "..b-besides us. But what then? what of Xuchilbara? He...I mean...Rosiel got me out of Walter's room. And Lobsel Vith and I, we..." he paused. She had not yet met with Lobsel Vith. If- IF!-Xuchilbara returned, there was no guarantee He would like or approve of this brother god.
"I haven't exactly been true to our faith. What if He doesn't want me here?"
Vincent was often in trouble, but as usual he worried about his status when the Master returned. would Alessa vouch for him, or was this finally the time he had shamed himself too much?
----
"A wake is a good idea." Alessa's voice was quiet now, and she fixed Vincent with a determined stare. "Xulchibara still has need for you. So long as you do not denounce him, as I almost did, he will have use for you. You've always been a wandering sheep, Vincent. Xulchibara knows that. It's why he hasn't made you leave yet. He'll understand." She sighed. "I'll even talk to him for you if you want me to."
---
"I wouldn't denounce him," Vincent scoffed. "if only he wasn't stronger than I am, I would kick his preternatural ass for abandoning us for as long as he has...but I wouldn't denounce him." he chuckled, "he'd kill me if I did, anyway. This Mark. I doubt very much it just washes off."
He sighed. "He's probably been out carousing it up with someone else. You can't say as that never bothered you, Lady." he smiled a dark little smile, "I certainly know it upset you to know he was with me. and...if it's any consolation, yes. Yes when you shut me out and it was just the three of you it hurt like nothing has ever hurt me before." He held back tears again, looked at her at little angrily, "does that make you happy? You had Henry...and you will always have Xuchilbara.
I've only ever borrowed Him, and I shall never know what it was to hold Henry as you did."
---
"......you don't know what you're talking about," she hissed, storming past him, her fury practically tangible. If Vincent was going to be like that, and wallow in his own self-pity, then fine. She would let him. She'd do what she needed to do. She would keep on going. Henry's love had taught her that much....that she couldn't give up. And she wouldn't. She wouldn't give up on the dream they shared. Never. Not for as long as she lived.
Alessa practically ran to her room, back to its peaceful comforting walls, tears filling her eyes as she did so. She rounded the corner, ready to burst through her door to collapse on the bed she had shared with Henry, but stopped dead in her tracks. Her blue eyes widened as she stared at the object impaled outside her bedroom door. She froze in shock as her eyes moved over the note attached, and let out a scream. A scream of pain, hysteria, and anger. She collapsed to her knees and hit the floor, screaming at the top of her lungs. She couldn't stop now that she started.
---
Vincent had been pissed. Misconstrued once again, or was this just the Lady's usual form of snobbery? Thinking he as her servant or whatever he appeared to be to her had no right to his feelings for Xuchilbara or for Henry...
Yeah, well. He sniffled. Wiped his eyes.
He had had enough of it.
Maybe he was done here. Heart on his sleeve, and only to have it snubbed for the nth time?
He would see to a place. Tomorrow. All those empty apartments... there was bound to be a place for him somewhere.
And then Alessa started screaming.
The animosity took a backseat; this was his Lady and it was up to him to see to her.
He ran into the room.
And stopped short. Not again....
One of the powers the Conjurer had was a sort of shadowstepping; he had seen Henry use it in the club that night when Rayne and Dornez had attacked them. And apparently he had used it both to dump Henry's corpse here, and now this other, equally grisly 'gift'.
Vincent had noticed when he'd idly checked the network that someone, probably the Army surgeon Pierce, had mentioned that Agent Mulder was missing, presumed gone snooping after Walter.
Vincent groaned, let out a nervous giggle, groaned again. Why, he's not missing at all, there he is! Vincent thought crazily.
Mulder had said he'd stake his head on the odds that Xuchilbara wasn't going to come back.
So, maybe this was some sort of good news?
There was a bloodstained piece of paper. Walter had left a note.
"Don't say I never did you any favors." it read.
What was far far worse was what was written on the brow of agent Mulder's decapitated head; the numbers 22/21
Rating;PG-17? drama, occult, & gore.
Characters; Alessa Gillespie
alessalearnt,Father Vincentsnarky_padre_v,Walter Sullivanholy_assumption and Fox Mulderm1jac0ge0dont see how the last two are involved? read on...you will.
Summary;IN light of the sad event of Henry's death you'd think Alessa and Vincent could finally settle their differences....
Log;
Alessa lay on the bed she had shared with Henry, her eyes red and puffy from all of the crying she had been doing. The plushie Vincent had given to her made in the likeness of Henry was held close to her, and the ring Henry had given her was on her ring finger proudly. It had been a very long couple of days...
She didn't think she could cry anymore. The pain was so great that she wanted to scream, and her anger was so great that she wanted to go out and kill Walter, but she knew she couldn't. To do so would be too harsh and unrational. For now, she had to keep things together. Keep them together until Xulchibara finished resting. She had to be the leader for now, even though the pain was great...even greater than the fire, it seemed. She suddenly knew how her mother must have felt. She did indeed feel....broken. Just like Dahlia.
---
'Them' didn't seem to consist of much more than Vincent, right now. Where was Scarab? He didn't know. He assumed she might have gone back to the psychic before all of this had gone down.
He was still lying on the floor of the mansion, in the library, on the spot where Lobsel Vith had cremated Henry.
Dirty with soot, and still wearing his clothes. They looked rumpled. He looked haggard. He wasn't asleep now though. He just...didn't look like he particularly had any great urge to do anything other than lay where he was.
---
Alessa sighed, sitting up, running a hand through her hair. She set the stuffed animal against the pillows, situating it so that it would appear to be comfortable. She wanted to grieve forever, but she knew it wasn't good. She had to be strong right now.Best go see what Vincent is up to, she thought, rising from the bed.
As she strode through the corridors towards the library, her mind drifted. She had sensed the Yellow God's presence when it delivered Henry's body to the manor to be cremated. She knew she should have been present, but the thought of seeing Henry's mangled body, and seeing it be burnt, no less, was too much to bear. Now it was over. His body was gone, and he was in Paradise. She could only hope that when her - no, their daughter - opened the door to Paradise, that Henry would be there waiting for her. She knew now that even if Henry could not really father her children, that he would be the father anyway. He had died for her, and for their future children, after all. It only seemed right.
Alessa opened the library door slowly, the wooden door creaking. For a moment she thought she would see the remains of her beloved, but there was only a white intricate urn in place of where Henry's body must have been. Alessa entered the room slowly. Vincent was the only one present in the room; his shoulders were slumped, and he looked awful. She approached him cautiously, finally placing herself beside him. There was silence...she didn't feel like talking just yet. Her mark burned slightly in the presence of Vincent, and it made her feel a bit more alive.
---
"Did you...do you need anything, Lady?" Vincent asked, a little hoarsely. "I...there was a box. I took...I took the liberty of putting them...him..in an urn. More...d-dignified, I guess." his lip quivered, and he turned away. After all, he should be strong, he supposed. And she, she had been WITH him, all that time.
Her pain was bound to be greater than his own, although he could not begin to comprehend a pain any greater than the one he felt now.
All the moreso because he knew, with certainty, that Walter had undeniably planned something like this.
If Henry had not come to him, Walter would have come here, defiled this place. Henry and Walter simply could not BE in the same world together. Their hatred, polarity was just too strong for it to be anything other.
Walter had finally posted something on the network, but he wasn't sure he should mention that to Alessa. Grief beat anger, in the long run.
---
"No....I don't need anything," she said, her voice coming out hoarse. Her eyes fell on the urn, and she couldn't seem to take her eyes off of it. Slowly, very slowly, almost as if she were doing it in slow motion, Alessa reached out and took the urn carefully in her hands, cradling it against her chest. "Thank you, Vincent...th-thank you."
Don't cry, she thought, but the tears came out anyway. She thought she was done crying for now, but it seemed that she still had a few more tears to shed. In any other instance, she would have been very embarrassed. She always did her best to make sure that Vincent viewed her as a strong individual, not someone who was weak. But now it didn't even matter. They had both lost someone dear to them, and she couldn't hold her petty grudge any longer. Vincent was, for right now anyway, the only one she had left.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, wiping her eyes furiously. "I've never...felt this sort of pain before...."
She took a deep breath, slowly gaining self control again.
----
"I..." Vincent got up, awkwardly. His limbs were stiff. He'd been lying on the floor for hours now. "should probably get cleaned up." he finished lamely, uncomfortable in her presence."I'm all sweaty a-a-and sooty."
There was no need to mention- the soot had most likely been Henry, once. Well, part of what was left of him anyway. "I thought...I mean. We should have a wake...o-or something." he swallowed hard. "Maybe Rosiel will let us have it a-at the cathedral. I mean...W-." He had been about to say something about Walter having been allowed to stay in the Cathedral, but that would just make things awkward again.
He sniffled. Resettled his glasses more comfortably on the bridge of his nose. "I'll make some food, if you want it. S-something light, I expect." he headed for the bathroom.
---
"Wait a minute," she called out. "Don't go...not yet." She wasn't entirely sure why she wanted Vincent to stay, but she didn't want to be alone either. Being alone only made Henry's absence hurt greater. "....we can get food later. I'm not all that hungry anyway."
She moved a few strands of dark hair out of her eyes. "There's a few things we need to talk about....I'm not angry or anything....not at you, anyway." She said this last bit meaningfully, letting him know that she was very angry at Walter, although it was probably unneeded.
---
Vincent fidgeted.
"I don't see why not. If I had never agreed to perform that ritual....if I had never given him that kind of...confidence..." Vincent's turn to cry now, full of if onlies. Not all of them were rational, either.
He did not want Alessa's forgiveness. Maybe she didn't even remember just how much he had loved Henry too, or had just tried to forget about it. That too, lay unbidden amongst Vincent's alleged 'guilt', everyone I ever love dies. If I had never dared to love him, even if it never was fulfilled, maybe he'd still be alive...
---
Alessa really didn't know what to say. It was easy to comfort another girl while in tears, but she had never seen another man cry - there was one instance, but she was determined to remain quiet about that incident. It was far too personal for anyone's ears. "You did what you had to, Vincent...I don't blame you. Walter is at fault. He's the one who did it." She didn't voice the fact that she blamed herself. That if she had talked to Henry, had tried to find out what was wrong...
"...we can't let our plans die. Henry's death....it's complicated things, but we can't give up. We have to hold things together until Xulchibara is strong enough to return to us. He'll be back soon, I know it," she murmured. "We have to stick together."
---
Vincent clamped his eyes closed so hard he saw phosphenes, lifting his face heavenward, as though trying to pour the tears back into their glands by gravity alone.
He bit his lip.
Calmed.
Finally, he was ready to look at her again. "Did he..? did you..? I mean...." he sort of indicated her belly. "is She still coming? you and Henry..I mean...?"
Just...say it, Vincent.
---
She looked away, her grip on the urn which contained Henry's remains tightening. "......we tried. But we couldn't...." She stopped, took a deep breath, then tried again. "The abuse I suffered as a child has made it impossible for me to bear children. Henry and I tried many, many times, but nothing's happened. Xulchibara's power could very well have made it work, but due to his absence..." She trailed off, leaving the sentence hanging.
No. God isn't here yet, she sent the message to him mentally. I don't know what we're going to do now. But the Red One will know what to do. We just have to be patient.
---
Vincent was known for his fluctuating faith, the poor lost soul that he was. He'd believe and then he wouldn't, even though he had probably seen more proof in his lifetime than any man of the cloth ever had.
Right now the idea of a baby without a father's seed made no sense to him, in spite of all the followers of the Thorned One he had met in his time here.
He laughed,desperately, crazily. The laugh of a man threatening to go mad in his despair. "Then it was all for nothing," he said, without hope, "no one can create life from ashes, not even you, Lady."
Actually, there were the ash children in the Underground, but monsters weren't exactly life, now were they....
---
Alessa's face darkened, then, and she rose to her feet, gently placing Henry's remains on a desk with books upon it. She strode across the room, determination in her stride. She narrowed her blue eyes at him in one look, and slapped Vincent across the face as hard as she could.
"Get ahold of yourself!" She snapped. "There is still a way. What about the Thorned King? He was born of a mortal woman and a god. There are plenty of stories that I have read during my time in this City that say that children can indeed be born from a god. So what, the prophecy was off a bit. The prophecy never said anything about me nearly getting burnt to death, or the Serpent being killed by someone possessed by Valtiel, now, did it?
Sometimes prophecies don't go the way they're originally written....we're in a different time, and we're going to have to make do with what we have. We can't give up on God! We've waited far too long for Paradise to be open, and I refuse to give up! If we gave up, then Henry would have died for nothing!!!! We have to keep going, Vincent! If we don't, we'll let Scarab, Henry, and Xulchibara down. We can't do that. We just can't. We're a family, and we're going to accomplish this!
So stop this blasphemy and pull yourself together!!" She finished, her voice sounding louder and harsher than she had intended. She really hadn't meant to hit him, but he was on the verge of hysteria. Someone had to keep a clear head.
---
He was weeping again, and looking at her, incredulous. Well, looking in her direction, anyway. His glasses were blotched with tearstains again, so he probably couldn't see all that well out of them.
The side of his face pink with the imprint of her hand. "Alright," he said, "so what do we do now?S-s-some kind of wake is in order, anyway. People will miss him...." he stopped himself from going on another crying jag. "..b-besides us. But what then? what of Xuchilbara? He...I mean...Rosiel got me out of Walter's room. And Lobsel Vith and I, we..." he paused. She had not yet met with Lobsel Vith. If- IF!-Xuchilbara returned, there was no guarantee He would like or approve of this brother god.
"I haven't exactly been true to our faith. What if He doesn't want me here?"
Vincent was often in trouble, but as usual he worried about his status when the Master returned. would Alessa vouch for him, or was this finally the time he had shamed himself too much?
----
"A wake is a good idea." Alessa's voice was quiet now, and she fixed Vincent with a determined stare. "Xulchibara still has need for you. So long as you do not denounce him, as I almost did, he will have use for you. You've always been a wandering sheep, Vincent. Xulchibara knows that. It's why he hasn't made you leave yet. He'll understand." She sighed. "I'll even talk to him for you if you want me to."
---
"I wouldn't denounce him," Vincent scoffed. "if only he wasn't stronger than I am, I would kick his preternatural ass for abandoning us for as long as he has...but I wouldn't denounce him." he chuckled, "he'd kill me if I did, anyway. This Mark. I doubt very much it just washes off."
He sighed. "He's probably been out carousing it up with someone else. You can't say as that never bothered you, Lady." he smiled a dark little smile, "I certainly know it upset you to know he was with me. and...if it's any consolation, yes. Yes when you shut me out and it was just the three of you it hurt like nothing has ever hurt me before." He held back tears again, looked at her at little angrily, "does that make you happy? You had Henry...and you will always have Xuchilbara.
I've only ever borrowed Him, and I shall never know what it was to hold Henry as you did."
---
"......you don't know what you're talking about," she hissed, storming past him, her fury practically tangible. If Vincent was going to be like that, and wallow in his own self-pity, then fine. She would let him. She'd do what she needed to do. She would keep on going. Henry's love had taught her that much....that she couldn't give up. And she wouldn't. She wouldn't give up on the dream they shared. Never. Not for as long as she lived.
Alessa practically ran to her room, back to its peaceful comforting walls, tears filling her eyes as she did so. She rounded the corner, ready to burst through her door to collapse on the bed she had shared with Henry, but stopped dead in her tracks. Her blue eyes widened as she stared at the object impaled outside her bedroom door. She froze in shock as her eyes moved over the note attached, and let out a scream. A scream of pain, hysteria, and anger. She collapsed to her knees and hit the floor, screaming at the top of her lungs. She couldn't stop now that she started.
---
Vincent had been pissed. Misconstrued once again, or was this just the Lady's usual form of snobbery? Thinking he as her servant or whatever he appeared to be to her had no right to his feelings for Xuchilbara or for Henry...
Yeah, well. He sniffled. Wiped his eyes.
He had had enough of it.
Maybe he was done here. Heart on his sleeve, and only to have it snubbed for the nth time?
He would see to a place. Tomorrow. All those empty apartments... there was bound to be a place for him somewhere.
And then Alessa started screaming.
The animosity took a backseat; this was his Lady and it was up to him to see to her.
He ran into the room.
And stopped short. Not again....
One of the powers the Conjurer had was a sort of shadowstepping; he had seen Henry use it in the club that night when Rayne and Dornez had attacked them. And apparently he had used it both to dump Henry's corpse here, and now this other, equally grisly 'gift'.
Vincent had noticed when he'd idly checked the network that someone, probably the Army surgeon Pierce, had mentioned that Agent Mulder was missing, presumed gone snooping after Walter.
Vincent groaned, let out a nervous giggle, groaned again. Why, he's not missing at all, there he is! Vincent thought crazily.
Mulder had said he'd stake his head on the odds that Xuchilbara wasn't going to come back.
So, maybe this was some sort of good news?
There was a bloodstained piece of paper. Walter had left a note.
"Don't say I never did you any favors." it read.
What was far far worse was what was written on the brow of agent Mulder's decapitated head; the numbers 22/21