Introduction to
"Love Shall Not Be Lost Forever"
Beauty and the Beast - Short Novel Fandom
The setting for "Love Shall Not Be Lost Forever" takes place a short time after Jacob's Naming Ceremony, after Vincent has rescued his son out of Gabriel's clutches. The timeline excludes the last two episodes of the actual series which began an entirely new storyline before the series was abruptly cancelled. The short novel is meant to re-unite Vincent with his one true love while attempting to keep it true to the series.
While I working out the sequencing out of the last chapters, I've also revised some of my previously posted chapters based on your feedback and helpful criticisms posted and through emails - thanks for the support and encouragement.
For those unfamiliar with the Final Season or just want to refresh themselves, below is a brief summary of the events which happened in the saga episodes. If you are familiar with the Final Season, just skip ahead to Chapter 1.
The Rest is Silence
Following the twisted lies Paracelcus tried to make Vincent believe about his birth, Vincent becomes mentally unbalanced as he starts to loose an inner battle with his dark beastly side.
Delusional, he breaks into Catherine's apartment and collapses and Catherine spends three days with him trying to get him through the madness. He eventually returns below, but the deliriums continue again, and this time, fearing for the safety of his "family" against himself, he flees to the dark caves below to struggle with his madness alone. Father, Catherine and several others follow him down into the caves but it is Catherine who goes in alone to risking her very life to confront the demons that are slowly killing Vincent in front of her.
Lover's Be Lost, Part 1 & 2
Vincent nearly dies in the caves below battling his mental demons, but Catherine rescues him.
Meanwhile, Assistant District Attorney Joe Maxwell meets with a lawyer by the name of Patrick Hanlin who Joe knew in college though never considered a friend. Hanlin works for Malloy, Davidson and HNT, a big corporate trust firm with ties into most big development enterprises. Hanlin gives Joe a mysterious encoded black book containing information he tells Joe is "bigger, bigger than he could ever imagine" and will reveal what that meant once he's safely out of the country on his own terms. But Hanlin never gets the chance and is killed in a car bomb explosion which injures Joe severely.
In the hospital, Joe gives Catherine the book for safekeeping. Catherine tries to investigate the importance of the book. She gives a copy to District Attorney John Moreno, and then secretly asked for help from Elliot Burch and leaves the book with him.
Catherine learns she is pregnant with Vincent's child but because Vincent is still quite ill and recovering from his illness, including some severe memory loss, Catherine is unable to find a way to tell him. Also, Vincent has now lost his empathic bond with Catherine, no longer being able to sense her presence or when she is in danger.
Catherine is kidnapped violently from a police parking structure in the middle of the day and as she attempts to flee, Vincent who has lost his bond with her, has no idea she's in danger. As Catherine attempts to escape she runs into District Attorney John Moreno and her relief turns into a nightmare when she realizes the District Attorney is dirty.
Catherine is held in a warehouse where she is given drugs in an attempt to get her to tell them what she did with the book and who else she might have talked to about it. While being held captive, Catherine is able to send a pipe message down below and through this Vincent is able to locate her, but not in time to rescue her. She is whisked away in a car and vanishes.
Six months later Catherine is still missing. Vincent, Joe Maxwell and Elliot Burch have been trying to find her without luck.
Meanwhile, her abductor figures out the baby Catherine is carrying belongs to Vincent who was caught on video tape when Vincent had initially tried to rescue her. He decides to keep Catherine alive so he can take her baby.
A warning is sent to Elliot Burch when one of his luxury resorts goes up in flames and two hundred people are killed and Elliot suspects it is directly linked to Catherine's disappearance.
Joe is suspended from the D.A.'s office by his boss John Moreno, citing Joe's obsession to find Cathy has impacted his ability to function at his job. Joe argues with Moreno, but the suspension stands.
As the birth draws near, Vincent senses the child's existence and is eventually drawn to where she is being held. But he is too late the thwart the evil plans already in play. The baby is taken from Catherine right after delivery and Catherine is given a lethal dose of Morphine and left behind while her killer escapes with the baby via helicopter. Vincent, following the baby's heartbeat, is drawn up to the rooftop just as the helicopter departs and Vincent gets a good look at her killer.
Catherine somehow manages to climb up onto the roof and collapses into Vincent's arms. She tells him about the child before dying.
Walk Slowly
Vincent brings Catherine's body back to her apartment and grieves over her until he is forced to leave her and return to the Tunnels as dawn breaks. He tells Father he found her, but was too late to save her.
Joe Maxwell, still suspended from the D.A.'s offices arrives at Catherine's apartment while the coroner's team is still there and independently seeks the assistance of an expert profile investigator named Diana Bennett, to help with the case.
Joe and Catherine's friend Jenny arrange the funeral service for Catherine after realizing Cathy had no other living family left.
Vincent, grieving goes back to Catherine's apartment and retrieved a book. While there, Diana Bennett shows and Vincent sees her through the window. Diana realizes someone had been in the apartment and removed the book from Cathy's nightstand. She also finds a book given to Catherine signed Vincent.
Diana informs Joe that Catherine had been pregnant and had delivered a child shortly before her death. She questions Joe about Catherine's personal life and suspects Joe may have also been in love with her. From Joe, she learns about Elliot Burch. She also questions Joe about someone named Vincent from personal affects found in Catherine's apartment.
Diana confronts Elliot but gets no where.
Meanwhile, Vincent, still grieving returns to the cave he had retreated to and once again battles his beastly self, but wins when he finds Catherine's necklace lost in the dirt and then in sees a vision of his son.
Everyone from Below and Above, except for Vincent attends Catherine's funeral. Diana Bennett and her team take pictures of the mourners. Vincent's visits Cathy's grave later that night.
Nevermore
More determined than ever to find Catherine's killer, Vincent, Elliot Burch, Joe and profile investigator Diana Bennett each make separate plans. Meanwhile, Vincent contemplates revealing himself to Elliot, hoping he is willing to help him.
As Elliot independently probes deeper into Catherine's death, mysterious forces begin attacking his financial empire.
Vincent reveals himself to Elliot and tells him the location where Catherine was killed and also tells him he's seen the face of her murderer, but doesn't know his name.
Burch in turn tells Joe Maxwell, who is still suspended. He also tries to warn Joe that John Moreno, this District Attorney, is dirty though Joe doesn't believe him at first. Only later, after confronting Moreno in his office late at night does he find out the truth, but because of his suspension his hands are tied to do anything about it.
The head of Burch's private investigation team is murdered and left as a warning to Burch. Later Burch meets with Vincent late at night in the Carousal House in Central Park. Burch tells Vincent about Moreno being dirty. Vincent reveals to Burch that Catherine has a child and that her killer kidnapped him.
Diana discovers the secret tunnel under Catherine's apartment. Vincent orders the tunnel to be sealed up.
Moreno, suspecting Maxwell had gotten information from Burch, tells his boss, and when Burch again goes to meet Vincent in the Carousal House in Central Park, he is ambushed by Moreno. Vincent saves Elliot just in time, but is shot by Moreno. Vincent kills Moreno. Elliot gets a good look at Vincent for the first time, before Vincent flees back into the Tunnels.
Snow
Vincent dreams a strange dream about a blizzard coming down into the Tunnels and wakes up in his chamber running a fever. He is told Father removed two bullets from Vincent's chest. Vincent is very weak and has lost a lot of blood but fears danger is approaching.
The man who killed Catherine and now is raising her infant son, sends an assassin by the name of Snow to track down and kill Vincent. Snow wears a special ring very similar to Catherine's killer.
Meanwhile, profile investigator Diana Bennett investigates the tunnels further eventually coming out at the Central Park exit, whose door was exploded open by the assassin Snow. There she finds a chunk of cement with Vincent's name on it.
Vincent still weak and with his wounds re-opening, must confront Snow in a deadly cat and mouse game as Vincent leads Snow away from the community into some isolated unstable tunnels below. Snow tries to lure Vincent out with the ring but in the end he doesn't succeed when the cave roof collapses on top of him. And although Vincent never learns the name of the assassin, from him he learns the name of Catherine's killer: Gabriel.
Vincent is now in possession of the assassin's ring.
Beggar's Comet
Vincent contacts Elliot again. They meet secretly aboard a ship called the Compass Rose. Elliot Birch tells Vincent he's close to financial ruin as forces continue to professional squeeze him. Vincent gives Elliot the ring he took off the assassin and tells Elliot the man responsible for all Elliot financial trouble is named Gabriel. Elliot contemplates backing out, fearing he won't be able to win or survive, but eventually, reluctantly agrees to continue to help Vincent.
Joe, now promoted to the office of the District Attorney following Moreno's death, is faced with charging Elliot Burch with the death of Moreno after evidence points to Elliot as the prime suspect. Burch is jailed but refuses to tell anyone, including his lawyers what happened at the Carousal House the night Moreno was killed.
Elliot is bailed out by Jonathan Pope, one of Gabriel's aids, and is taken to Catherine grave for a secret meeting with Gabriel himself who gives Elliot the choice of having all his power restored if he betrays Vincent or join Catherine in her grave.
Meanwhile, profile investigator Diana Bennett has been doing a lot of investigating on her own having already discovered the secret tunnels under Catherine's apartment and strongly suspects this Vincent person is the father of Catherine's baby and has been her protector. Some of her theories she shared with Joe earlier, though Joe mostly dismisses them, still believing the case has more to do with the black notebook Patrick Hanlin had given him.
Diana begins to suspect Vincent may eventually turn up at Catherine's grave from personal affects she found in Catherine's apartment and stakes out the grave.
Elliot meets with Vincent again on the Compass Rose with the intent of betraying Vincent, but at the last minute he can't go through with it and warns Vincent. Elliot jumps in front of a snipers bullet to save Vincent, as severely wounded, gives Vincent back the ring. A few seconds later, the Compass Rose explodes.
While Diana stakes out the cemetery, Vincent suddenly appears and collapses on Catherine's grave.
A Time To Heal
Diana cares for Vincent for three days in her loft apartment after finding him collapsed on Catherine's grave. When Vincent eventually comes to his senses, he slowly tells Diana about himself and Catherine, about Gabriel and about his son. Vincent then returns to the Tunnels. She is filled with compassion for Vincent and his plight.
But Diana is now faced with a conflict of interest as Joe Maxwell continues to press her for answers in her investigation as Diana now tries to keep Vincent's identity a secret.
In the Forests of the Night
Rolley, a music protégé who used to be part of the Tunnel World below as a child, but ran away and as a young adult became addicted to heroin, returns to the Tunnels after being shot trying to rob a convenience store. Father and Vincent try to help him recover and kick his habit.
Vincent, angry, frustrated and loosing hope he will ever be able to find his son, takes his aggression out by destroying a drug lab which he only learns later from Diana belonged to Gabriel. Vincent and Diana argue as Diana tries to convince Vincent to let her help him.
After the lab is destroyed, Maxwell suspects Cathy's "protector" may have been involved and pressures Diana for answers. Diana tries to convince Joe that Vincent was just someone Cathy had made up, as a way of coping after she'd been attacked. Maxwell is not convinced and tells Diana that Catherine was "the sanest person he'd ever known," and intends to get to the bottom of this mystery with or without Diana's help.
Gabriel realizes Vincent is the one that destroyed his drug lab.
Rolley finally returns to the Tunnels for good and after over a decade of self abuse and guilt, finally starts playing the piano again, injecting Vincent with much needed hope that all things could be possible.
Vincent finally entrust Diana with Snow's ring.
Chimes at Midnight
Vincent dreams strange dreams about death.
Diana makes inquiries into Snow's ring which tips Gabriel off that she knows Vincent.
Diana is abducted, blindfolded and taken to Gabriel's secret estate where she is told Vincent's child is dying and wants her to convince Vincent to give himself up. She contacts Vincent and even though, he knows it's a trap, agrees to give himself up.
After Diana gives Vincent the message, she's now on the run from Gabriel's men feels she can no longer trust the police to help either suspecting Gabriel has several men in the police department also looking for her. But she also thinks she has a lead to finding Gabriel's estate, an unusual old tile pattern she noticed on the floor in the estate when she'd been abducted earlier.
When she doesn't hear back from Vincent, she gets worried and goes back down into the Tunnels to try and contact him. Tunnel sentries spot her.
Diana is then brought down to the Tunnels where she meets Father and Jamie. She tells them what happened to Vincent. She also tells Father she is cut off from her loft and her gun. Father gives Diana Catherine's gun, which Cathy had given him a long time ago when they had trouble in the Tunnel World by a band a renegade outsiders.
Father decides to take Diana's sketch of the tile pattern himself and hand deliver it Joe Maxwell. He tells Joe it's from Diana and when Joe asks why he should believe him, Father tells him because Catherine would want him to. Joe does a mass circulation of the tile pattern.
Meanwhile, Vincent is held in an electrified cage in the basement of Gabriel's secret estate. Samples of Vincent's blood are taken, but the doctor informs Gabriel they are an incompatible match for a transfusion Gabriel thinks will save the baby. Vincent tells Gabriel the baby doesn't need a transfusion, he need his father. Eventually Gabriel agree to let Vincent have contact with his son and for the first time though caged, Vincent is able to see and hold Catherine's child.
Invictus
After Vincent is able to hold his son, the baby makes a miraculous recovery.
When Gabriel comes to tell him the news, Vincent already knows, explaining to Gabriel about the bond shared between him and his son, something Gabriel will never have.
Gabriel then tries to convince Vincent to join him, explaining he can give the child unimaginable power, but Vincent refuses. Gabriel threatens to sever the bond by killing Vincent and Vincent explains, even in death, the bond can never die.
Diana is tailed by Helpers who bring her down to the Tunnels where she meets Father and Jamie. She tells them Vincent gave himself up to Gabriel because his son is dying. She also tells Father she is cut off from her loft and her gun. Father gives Diana Catherine's gun, which Cathy had given him a long time ago when they had trouble in the Tunnel World by a band of renegade outsiders.
Father decides to take Diana's sketch of the tile pattern himself and hand deliver it Joe Maxwell. He tells Joe it's from Diana and when Joe asks why he should believe him, Father tells him because Catherine would want him to. Joe does a mass circulation of the tile pattern.
Later, Joe meets Diana in the museum and Helpers stop an assassin from killing them both. Joe gets a lead on the tiles and while he organizing a raid, tells Joe she'll do what she can to slow Gabriel down, knowing he'll be tipped off by a dirty cop.
With the help of Father, Diana gets into Gabriel's estate through the secret tunnels just as Gabriel eventually decides to suffocate the baby, rather than let Vincent have his son back. Vincent senses Gabriel's intent, and in a last ditch effort, breaks free of the electrified cage causing a power outage in the entire estate.
He confronts Gabriel in the nursery just as Gabriel is about to suffocate his son and slashes Gabriel across he face. About to strike him down, Diana arrives and stops Vincent from killing him. She then tells him to take the baby into the tunnels where Father is waiting for him. Vincent leaves.
Gabriel thanks Diana and tells her it will only be a matter of time before he gets the baby back because of his power. Diana tells him "Not this time" and shoots him straight through the heart with Catherine's own gun.
Vincent returns to the Tunnel world and units with Father. Later they hold a special Naming Ceremony, Diana is invited to. Vincent names the baby, Jacob, after Father.