My Cure

By Denim Jean

Summary: Henry Sturges has secretly never given up hope of finding a cure to his condition. He just may meet someone who has a clue about it when all of them least expect it… at a dear price, of course. (Henry/OC)

Disclaimer: I don't mind not owning Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. I just wish I owned Henry Sturges… :3 (But hope springs eternal. Like him.)

Author's note: I'm mainly using the characters and settings which appear in the movie, just because it's fresher in my mind. I read the book like ages ago… (sigh).

By the way, I will be using italics for thoughts and the rest will be normal speech. Enjoy the show! ;)

Chapter 1:

"I never thought you had such a good company here, Abe."

Henry Sturges venomously utters these words to his dear human friend Abraham Lincoln when he's finally made up his mind to visit him after some years of just sending letters which sentenced some random vampire to the truest, ultimate death. It's a bright Saturday morning and the sunlight shines onto the counter and some groceries. Abe's just staring at Henry and his special sunglasses from behind the counter at the shop he's working alongside Joshua in this lovely town called Springfield.

"Didn't I say no friends… no women?" Henry insists quietly, whispering, referring to Mary Todd, who's just come out of the shop right before Henry has come in.

"I know, I know…" Abe tries to say apologetically, but both of them know he doesn't really mean it. He's fallen head over heels in love with her and he's not leaving her behind, although he perfectly knows this might mean trouble.

"Do women treat you so meanly that you don't recommend their company to our dear Mr Lincoln, Mr …?" A sexy feminine voice playfully sings right behind Henry.

Having said this, Henry immediately turns around too rashly, wild and shocked as if he was under attack and had to get ready to fight back with his fangs. Yes, Henry's a vampire – a good one who only feeds on those who devote their lives to crime and darkness, one who hunts bad vamps and kills them in the blink of an eye.

So, Henry really thought there was no one left in the shop. That's odd, because he would've sworn to himself that he didn't notice anyone else in here… But when he beholds the creature who's just uttered those words, his limbs suddenly relax and he freezes. He has just seen the most dazzling beauty on Earth: a gorgeous girl in her twenties, dark brown hair and eyes, silky crimson lips and a matching wonderful dress, earrings and shoes. Her voice is bewitchingly nice and fit for an angel, but it's obvious that she likes showing her defiance and childish naught through the tone of voice of her utterances. Her smell is rich and sweet… and so unlike everything else he's ever smelled in his lifetime. She's smirking at him right now, raising an eyebrow as she expects him to answer back. Seeing that he just doesn't because he's like thunderstruck, she goes on:

"Not gonna bite you, luv." She says with a husky voice.

But I definitely would… - Henry thinks with lust, but he erases the sinful thought out of his mind immediately. No, he's not like that, although temptation is always lurking around in the shadows of his own mind.

"Mr Sturges. Henry Sturges… And women are shifting creatures. You can never have expectations on them…" Henry whispers back to her quietly and seriously, but politely.

"I couldn't agree more…" She giggles as if she was implying something else. "So… See you tomorrow, Mr Lincoln. I'll come to fetch my order, if it suits you."

"Yes, of course." Abe swiftly replies.

She leaves the shop and Henry can't take his eyes off her when she crosses the threshold, not even as she aimlessly walks down the street.

"Who the hell is this young woman?" Henry asks Abe all of a sudden and with exasperation.

"She's a friend of Mary Todd." Abe answers a bit sheepishly.

"Mary Todd is the bitch who's hunt you down, right?"

"Don't talk about her like that…" Abe answers back with determination and pride.

"I will if you stray from your path." Henry chides him with mildly menacing eyes.

"And you shouldn't speak about these things in public…" Abe replies. "It's incredible. For a second I thought you didn't know she was there, behind you."

"I didn't… I just… Anyway, will you focus?!" Henry is madder at himself right now than at his dear old friend. "What's the name of this female devil anyway?"

"She's not a devil… and she's Miss Rhiannon Belcourt."

"The fact that her name means 'goddess' doesn't mean she's equally heavenly or pure." Henry says slightly bitterly.

"Why are you that mad so suddenly?" Abe asks a bit pissed off and tired.

"It's nothing…" Henry whispers while staring out the window as if he was feeling defeated.

Wet tight dark leather trousers and jacket and a white shirt. A bun. No heels, just muddy boots. And silver sword… A hunter.

"Bloody rain!" Rhiannon complains to herself, whispering to herself in this rainy night. "Great. Now my hairdo is absolutely ruined."

The vampire she's got trapped, wounded and exhausted right beneath her, forced by her to lay flat on the muddy ground beneath her feet, just raises an eyebrow at her comment. Yes, her bun is ruined now, but her comment is purely sarcastic… and she just looks equally sensual.

A lock of her beautiful long dark hair falls right beside her cheek as she quietly exhales. Then, she takes out her silver sword and swiftly chops off the vampire's head, allowing him to meet his true death. Once she's done this, she puts that rebel lock behind her left ear and sighs. She takes the head with one hand and grabs the vamp's foot with the other and takes him to the graveyard, where she digs a grave and buries him.

Now that was amazing… – Henry thinks as he's spying on her. – Her strength doesn't match with a human being's. She's daring and… hot. What the hell am I…?! Focus, Henry! She's obviously a hunter… Is she a vampire as well? That would explain many things, her unusual strength for example. Yesterday at Abe's shop I wasn't able to notice her. Maybe she is… I must find it out for sure.

Henry follows her around town until he loses sight of her near the Todd's house. Henry's lost her sweet peachy scent and has absolutely no idea where she can be right now. He gives up for this night.

Who the hell is she?

The next few days, Henry gets obsessed with Rhiannon. During the day, he acts like the polite civilized man he socially claims himself to be, but he keeps a prudent distance. He walks about town and tries to hang around the places she's in. He doesn't want to be open about this issue, about getting information about Rhiannon, although he's desperate to know more about her. His eagerness and interest might be easily misunderstood in this highly conventional social network. And her beauty is beyond striking. Such impressions are all that he's able to portray in his journal. Little is known about her, except the fact that she temporarily lives with the Todds because she's a close friend of Mary's.

At night, he cloaks himself in the shadows and observes how she proceeds with the hunting. He wonders how she knows about vampires, why she decided to become a hunter and who trained her (or has she just been training on her own?). Too many doubts and hypotheses about her roam freely in his mind…

Rhiannon, you're a mystery to me – Henry thinks –, but I promise I'll get to the bottom of this. I need to find a way to speak to you about this and show you that, even though I'm a vampire myself, I care about humans and goodness in this world.

Several hunting nights go on like this. Henry follows her around town and spies on her with such eagerness and obsession that he even thinks whether she already knows he's around all the time. If she does, she could easily hunt him down (and yet she doesn't), because she's great at what she does. Therefore, Henry decides that it's high time he'd come clean to her. He's got to spill the beans – the sooner, the better.

So, in this hot June night, Rhiannon comes to the Todds' home and climbs the tall tree that leads to her window. The sky is clear and the full moon shines brightly. Everyone's asleep in the house. She easily breaks into her own room and closes the window right after she sighs and gently smiles at the moon.

Henry's still spying on her and, when he witnesses this brief scene, he feels as if his heart would skip a beat. He recognises the feeling. If only his heart was able to beat like before…

"So Mr Sturges, I was sure I would find you here. I'm told you were inquiring after me." Rhiannon gently (but proudly) informs Henry when she crosses the threshold of Abe's shop. "Am I to understand that you wish to speak to me or will you just keep pushing people around and boring them to death speaking about me all the time?"

Her daytime clothes are always perfectly feminine dresses, as it is now the case, so unlike the leather attire she wears at night when she goes out to hunt vamps. The gentle light of this June afternoon enhances her beauty – or that's what Henry believes right now.

"You are clearly exaggerating, dear Miss Belcourt." Henry replies with serenity and seriousness, although seeing her so suddenly startled him. "I've done no such thing."

"Are you sure?" She asks boldly, raising an eyebrow. "Mary can confirm this. I think you've been quite careless, but that's just my opinion anyway. Our neighbours are mad about you. And Mary gets all the bullets for me as regards this issue, poor girl." She and Abe chuckle a bit. "And she obviously feels responsible for it, somehow. That's why she's organised a ball and…" She takes a letter out of her bag and hands it to Henry in a perfectly polite way, smiling broadly. "… she wishes you to attend. You may just have the perfect opportunity to speak to me then, before you make the entire town go mad."

Once she's said this, Henry takes the invitation from her hand while he stares deeply into her eyes. She answers his gaze in the same way, intensely, daringly. Then silence sets in and it doesn't really feel uncomfortable as it's usually expected to be.

The chance to speak to her that I was hoping for is finally here. – Henry thinks.

Henry swallows and then she turns around and leaves the shop.

"What was that, Henry?" Abe finally whispers to his dear friend.

"What was what?" Henry asks back a bit naively, not knowing what he's talking about.

"Do you really fancy her?"

"No!" Henry replies aggressively.

"And yet every single word she's uttered is pregnant by this meaning." Abe smirks at him.

"Stop it this instant!" Henry threatens him. His eyes are glowing behind his dark glasses. Abe's just lucky that this shield made of dark-coloured glass is set right before Henry's eyes. If not, he'd definitely fear the look in them. "And erase this bloody smirk from your face! Abraham, I swear to God that if you don't stop, I'll…"

"You'll what? Bore me to death as you speak about her?" Abe smiles and makes a crucial pause while Henry clenches his teeth. "Anyway, why were you asking about her in town? What do you want to know about her?"

Dear journal,

As I'm writing, I feel the burden of conventions. Society is a ruthless network of ill-intentioned people. My fear has eventually become true: now everyone takes for granted that I am deeply 'interested' in Rhiannon in a romantic sense of the word. I shouldn't have inquired so much about her around town. I should've let it go and hit the road, as I usually do. She is obviously going to mean trouble for me – not because of social conventions, of course. The fact that she is a vampire hunter and that I keep spying on her may lead me straight to the grave and yet I have to know her. I have to tell her the truth. And I fear I need to know her truth as well.

I still need to find a way to tell her that, even though I'm a soulless vampire, I still care for my humanity. I'm good and I want to help her to defeat and erase all the evil from the surface of the Earth. That I hope she doesn't hate me for feeding on human blood, but only from criminals and loathsome people. I hope she'll understand.

"I'm glad you came, Mr Sturges!" Mary Todd greets Henry when he arrives. She's naturally overexcited about this, poor child – the tone of voice she's using betrays her. She's like an open book. "Please come in and have a drink."

She's obviously nervous. Abe, Joshua and William enter right behind him. Then Henry politely thanks her. Mary greets Abe and she feels a lot more comfortable, although it's quite obvious that they really like each other but they haven't told each other yet about it. Rhiannon is looking at the scene from the top of the stairs and smiles tenderly as she thinks of poor Mary and her sheepish attempts at bringing two young people together, namely Henry Sturges and herself.

Good Mary, if only you knew the truth! – Rhiannon thinks – But I really welcome your naïve attempts at making me feel absolutely normal. They feel so good… But you can't play on broken strings, dear Mary.

Rhiannon's smile does not fade away, not even when Henry chances to look up the stairs and accidentally spots her. He becomes instantly thunderstruck by the sight of her: she's wearing pearls and a heavenly sweet banana-yellow dress which displays her graceful neck. When their eyes meet, she decides to come down the stairs to meet him face to face. Thus, she makes her way down the stairs in an imposing, mighty and self-conscious way as if she were a luxurious ship making its glorious entrance at a port. Soft music is currently being played by a string quartet and a piano and the soft, night breeze comes in through the door so gently that it makes you think you're already in paradise.

"I'm glad you could make it." That's how Rhiannon welcomes him: with a bold sentence, literally fit for the occasion but uttered with irony and displaying half a naughty smirk on her face. She's obviously trying to veil it, but she's not completely successful at it. "Now I'm sure the entire town can go on gossiping about us. Poor things! What would they do without you, Mr Sturges?"

"I'm quite sure they enjoy you a lot more than me, Miss Belcourt." Henry states quite formally.

"And I'm sure they couldn't possibly pick on any other social weakling like you, Mr Sturges." She answers back and leaves the spot to attend some other guests in the house.

Henry can't help but wondering where the hell this sharp tongue and mind of hers come from. No other girl or woman has ever talked to him like that. But Henry has bigger issues to attend to right now… Rhiannon is talking to an old lady when suddenly a white-haired tall young man with even darker glasses than his approaches her and they start talking quite amiably. Well, more than that actually. Henry feels as if they already know each other. Her smile broadens in a manner he's never seen before and it feels so warm and heart-felt that Henry freezes on the spot. Then, this young well-built man gets her hand, gently kisses it, she chuckles and then he leads her to the dance floor, right at the centre of the room. Henry makes his way past some other guests and stares at the scene developing right before his glass-veiled eyes as if he just couldn't believe it. They dance wonderfully.

Oh-oh… What's this? – Henry thinks. – Why should I care if someone else enjoys her smiles and makes her happy? Why am I suddenly feeling jealous? Why do I feel the need to hate this young man, who I have obviously never met and who could perfectly be a good man? Why do I clench my teeth so badly as if I couldn't stop myself? And why does he wear dark glasses… like me?

"So, aren't you going to introduce me to this splendid young man, Rhiannon?" Mr Todd, Mary's father, gently and happily asks her when the song finishes and they stop dancing. Henry is overhearing the conversation. He's barely standing at a few feet's distance.

"Mr Todd," She politely says. "this is my friend, Corinthian…" She makes a slight pause. "Corinthian… Morphine. Corinthian, this is Mary's father, Mr Todd."

"Mr Morphine, what a curious surname, isn't it?" Mr Todd points out. "Never mind me! My sense of humour is not very sharp, but I don't care at all! May I invite you to have a whiskey with me, Mr Morphine. I want you to tell me how you met this little angel, dear Miss Belcourt."

"I'll be delighted, Mr Todd. I see you're the perfect host: generous, amiable and cheerful. Springfield is lucky to have you." Corinthian answers in a perfect polite way which makes Rhiannon smile tenderly.

"Oh, Lord! What a glorious depiction you make of me! If I was a young lady, I'd be dying to get your attention, Mr Morphine!" Mr Todd cheerfully says and he swiftly takes Corinthian away to get the aforesaid whiskey. "You're a highly interesting specimen amongst men, believe me."

Rhiannon stares at them as they leave her alone. Then, Henry approaches her from behind and says:

"I see you enjoy his company very much, Miss Belcourt." He says with no undertone.

"Are you suddenly jealous, Mr Sturges?" She says smiling.

"No, I just comment on a perfectly clear fact. Is he your fiancé?" He asks quite normally, although he's irrationally expecting her to answer negatively.

Rhiannon just chuckles and shakes her head amused by the comment.

"What? Have I just made a fool of myself?" Henry suddenly smiles at her.

"Yes, you have." She says as she smiles back at him.

"Then, why… Forgive me for my straightforwardness, but" Henry swiftly adds. "why is he here? I mean… Why are you so close? And why do Mary and the entire town believe that you and I…?"

"They can say whatever they want, Mr Sturges. You shouldn't pay any heed if I were you." She lovingly tells him. That attitude strikes him as odd, since she had always treated him daringly and defiantly until now. "Corinthian used to work for my father in New York. That's how we met years ago. That's why we're quite close. And yes, Mary invited him because I specifically told her." Then her eyes get naughty again, set on his.

Henry then stares at her and he just can't see where this conversation is going.

"What, Mr Sturges? Let me come just clean to you…" She whispers using a hot husky voice that makes the hairs at the back of his neck stand on end. He swallows as she gets a bit closer, fearing that she'll make the first step and admitting that she's a vampire hunter right on the spot. "I have a wicked plan…" Oh-oh, here she goes. "… to end all this nonsensical gossip about you and me: that's why I brought him over, to make them fall head over heels in love with him. No offense, but he's a better suitor than you." She says playfully and naughtily. "You can't stand a chance against him. He's perfectly lovely and nice."

When she finishes talking, he sighs internally, relieved that she didn't speak about vampires in the middle of this highly-crowded party. For a second, he had thought she would.

"You look relieved, Mr Sturges. I knew you don't really fancy me." She says with pride.

Even though that's not the true reason, he doesn't correct her. Not yet, at least.

"Miss Belcourt, does he know your purpose at least?"

"Sure. I know I can be quite cruel and straightforward sometimes (I should control my temperament better, I know)," She says using a soft voice, which strangely cracks at the end of the sentence as if she was having second thoughts and she finishes it off as if it were a mere whisper. "but I'd never be that bad…"

"May I just ask you why you have such a sharp-edged tongue when you talk to me?"

"That's how I am." She just chuckles and leaves him alone because the pianist requires her immediate attention.

He just wants Corinthian and her to sing along while the musicians play Broken Strings, by Nelly Furtado and James Morrison*1. They sing beautifully and, although the song is about broken hearts, the audience is beyond delighted to listen to their powerful voices and lyrics. Henry wonders how far Rhiannon is willing to go tonight to make the people in Springfield believe that Corinthian is pursuing her and her affection. It's more than obvious that she has planned all this: his coming, his charming attitude, her blinding smiles and all the dancing and singing with him. Henry finds himself wishing he could sing along with her.

"She will be greatly missed around here, don't you think, Mr Sturges?" Catherine Todd, Mary's mother, whispers to Henry when he's in de midst of his thinking and pondering.

"What do you mean, Mrs Todd?" Henry asks point blank.

"Well, isn't it obvious? She was telling everyone a few minutes ago that her intention is to go back to New York…" She points out. "… where Mr Morphine lives and works."

Having said this, she shuts up and leaves Henry alone. Then, Corinthian insists Rhiannon to sing on her own one of his favourite songs: Holding out for a Hero, by Frou Frou*2. It's pointless to say that all the guests are thrilled to witness such a lovely unwed couple flirt like this in such an open, chaste and charming way. Therefore, Rhiannon sings the song that Corinthian requests with a slight blushing on her cheeks. Her voice bewitchingly thunders in the room and Henry even feels as if the vibration from her vocal chords can be felt on the floor and walls, trembling due to her might and numbing splendour.

Is she really going to New York? – Henry thinks. – Or is it just part of her naughty performance? Why does this sudden news blast feel like a heavy toll on my chest? Why do I have the feeling that I'm just a little puppet for her tonight? She's definitely smart, a lot smarter than any other young lady in this country. I've never witnessed such a thing in my entire life.

If she left, I'd never have the chance to listen to her wonderful voice again…

Once she's done singing, the audience claps their hands enthusiastically and Rhiannon blushes a bit. Then, she turns around and tells the piano player to proceed like before. When she leaves him, she looks for Corinthian, but he's busy attending a huge multitude of female fans who have madly fallen in love with him already. Far from jealous, she just chuckles and shakes her head lightly.

"Is the plan going as you expected?" Henry suddenly startles her.

"Sure. You don't need to worry." She says matter-of-factly. The piano music overwhelmingly fills the room, but her voice is second to no other sound around her.

"May I have this dance, Miss Belcourt?" He gently offers his hand to her as he says this.

She stares at his dark glasses and she swears she can catch a glimpse of his eyes. Then, she politely and silently accepts his offer. Once she puts her hand in his, he leads her to the centre of the dance floor. Henry makes sure that Corinthian sees them. He puts his free hand right behind the small of her back and swings her through the air. Her dress slightly rustles as they spin. Henry likes the sound of it and he doesn't know why but he feels like dancing more daringly with her. It's obvious that she sees his intentions, but she doesn't take it badly. It's like a challenge for her. She just raises an eyebrow at him and giggles as he leads her while dancing. He's a better dancing partner than Corinthian, that's clear by now. He's got something that Corinthian doesn't have… Henry's style is a lot more sensual. She really enjoys dancing with him, quite as much as the other guests.

"Your smile is bewitching. Are you feeling happy right now, Miss Belcourt?" Henry asks whispering as he locks is eyes into hers.

"Absolutely." She uses that husky voice he adores. "I really enjoy your jealousy." She says raising an eyebrow.

"You're a Machiavellian mind, dear Miss Belcourt. You enjoy playing with men."

"Oh, yes, and you let me do it… And now what?" She says a bit naughtily. "You're ruining my show! Look at all the gossipers around town making small talk about us right now. How should I disentangle this mess you're creating by dancing like this with me?" She makes as if she's thinking about a great master plan, he makes her spin and then she gasps and says thrilled as if she's just had a brilliant idea: "I know!" Henry is startled because she makes her body almost collide with his, her face is suddenly right in front of his, barely at a couple of inches' distance. Her hands are resting on his shoulders and he's holding her by her waist. Her smell is amazingly powerful at this short distance. She makes sure he's staring directly at her eyes and says: "Then I should make sure that someone sees me steal a kiss from him…" Then, she just smirks at him and leaves him alone, growing roots in the centre of the dance floor, frozen by her straightforwardness.

She makes her way through the crowd with the intention to snatch Corinthian and take him to a private area, maybe the back garden or the kitchen, no matter what and kiss him while someone 'accidentally' sees them. Nevertheless, she doesn't notice that Henry's rushing to get her before she performs the dirty deed: he grabs her right wrist and forces her to follow him to the back garden without saying a word. She can't believe this… She's appalled by his sudden reaction and lets her jaw fall slightly.

Once they're outside in the back garden, he closes the door with vehemence and makes her back forcefully crush the wall right beside the aforesaid door. He puts his hands on either side of her body, not allowing her to escape anywhere.

"What do you think you're doing?!" She asks him enraged.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing!" He answers also in anger.

"You're mad! Now let me go!" She puts her hands on his chest and tries to push him from her. She doesn't use all her strength, although she's angry with him.

"OK, go and kiss him if you want! For all I care…" He clenches his teeth angrily, but then he asks her point-blank. "But do you even love him?"

"No, of course not." She says matter-of-factly.

"Then, why are you pushing this whole thing onto him?"

"He agreed to help me. He'll gladly do it! And yes, for all you care, you should leave me alone."

His body gets tense as a response to her angry words. He knows this private conversation is not what he was precisely looking for before he came here. He locks his eyes into hers and hesitates…

But she doesn't.

"Henry Sturges," She whispers with a husky voice, this time with a deadly twinge. Both of their faces are quite close to one another right now, barely at a two or three inches' distance. "I know who you truly are. Or should I say 'what' you are?"

Henry freezes on the spot for a couple of seconds.

"You're a vampire." She decisively adds.

Then, he swallows and speaks his mind as seriously and deadly as her.

"And I know who you really are, Rhiannon Belcourt."

She laughs wholeheartedly then, a bit malevolently.

"I doubt it, luv." She says smirking at him. "Who am I?"

"I know you're a vampire hunter." He says seriously.

"I am." She admits as if she's having fun right now. "And I'm so much more than that… Some women are real shifting creatures… And you are the nosey guy that hangs around every night I go hunting."

"You noticed me, didn't you?" He says slightly amazed to know the truth about it. "I knew it!" Then, he smiles a bit before he proceeds. "At the beginning I thought you were a vampire like me. Your strength is beyond human, so it doesn't make sense to ask you whether you're human or not. But when I touched your hand tonight while dancing, I realised that your skin is not ice-cold like mine… What are you then?"

"Why should I tell you, pray?" She says defiantly.

"Right. It's not my business really…" He whispers back. "Does Corinthian know? I bet he does."

Rhiannon crosses her arms and stares at him with a proud and angry expression on her face, as if telling him that he's asking too many questions.

"Oh, come on! I know that those dark glasses he's wearing are not normal. Like mine. They're not meant to be fashionable. They serve a purpose, right? What is it?"

"You have no right to ask about it." She says angrily.

"Well, in fact I do." Henry pushes her as he leans a bit closer to her. "You come to this town, where I was peacefully living by the way, you unexpectedly hunt vampires down and kill them although I was doing quite fine until you arrived here… You definitely know quite a few things about me, more than I'd love to admit, but then you refuse to tell me anything about you when I ask. A bit unfair, isn't it?"

"Dear Mr Sturges, if someone told you that life should be fair, this person blatantly lied to you." She says bitterly.

They fall silent. This sentence can be related to too many bad memories from the past, both Henry's and Rhiannon's. Henry can see how she bites her lower lip and doesn't look straight at him right now, as if she's already regretting having said that. He can sense how these same words have hurt her as much as they have hurt him.

"Corinthian wears those glasses because he's got no eyes. Well, not regular eyes." Rhiannon suddenly whispers back, with a twinge of sadness in her voice. "He's… Anyway… Don't even think of defying him, Mr Sturges. I wouldn't mess up with someone who's a lot older and more powerful than you." She says deadly seriously.

"What do you mean 'older than me'?" Now he's keenly interested. "Who is he?"

"Ask this very same question to your darkest nightmares, Mr Sturges." She uses that sexy husky voice again that spurs his animal instincts. "I bet they can answer this question better than me."

They fall silent again. Henry fears to ask any further now. He's truly afraid now. If this man is older and more powerful than him, he must be an extremely fearful thing to behold. The mere knowledge of his condition might mean dementia for Henry – or that's the feeling he gets right now. So he just stares blankly at her inviting, half-parted lips.

"And now tell me, Mr Know It All:" She says using the same deadly husky voice as before. "why haven't I beaten you and hunted you down yet?"

They fall silent as they stare at one another for some seconds. Henry does not dare to say a word.

"Because…" She suddenly uses a softer and gentler tone of voice, so unlike before. Any words would sound lovely and charming with his heavenly voice. She's staring right into his eyes as if she could reach his soul (if he had any, of course), which leave Henry dumbstruck. "… I know that, even though you're a pain in the ass, I know that deep within you're good, Henry… if you allow me to use your name."

Hi there!

I'm Denim Jean and, as you may have probably noticed, I'm a huge fan of Henry Sturges. ;) Anyway, I'm also a great (secret) fan of Avali in deviantart. I just love her portraits of him… :3 I'm also a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which is quite obvious, because Rhiannon has been partially 'buffied' by me and my determination to have a strong female character.

In addition, let me just briefly mention that I don't own any of the songs which I mention in this chapter and the subsequent ones. I don't own Corinthian either, he belongs to… (drum roll)… I'm not telling you yet. I need it to build up the suspense in the story, but if you're an avid reader you might know who he really is and that he appears… in a comic series. ;) No more clues for the time being.

Anyway, Rhiannon was called after a Fleetwood Mac song. The lyrics (and Miss Buffy Summers) inspired me into 'frankensteining' her. ;) Do you like her?

I hope you enjoy this fanfic as much as I do!

Luv,

Denim Jean

Notes:

*1: Yeah, I know… :( Forgive me. Let's just pretend that the songs I'm gonna use existed back then. (By the way, I recommend to search for the songs in Youtube or Spotify and play them while you read.)

*2: I also like the version by Jennifer Saunders, for the Shrek 2 movie; but Frou Frou's version is a lot more sensual. I envision Rhiannon's version to be an unplugged/acoustic version of the song, for obvious reasons.