A/N: Penny Dreadful is and will always be one of my favourite shows. However, the finale saddened me (to say the least. It made me sob for thirty minutes so I think it did more than "sadden" me) and I wanted to write an alternate ending and continuation of this amazing story. That is what this is. It may not be updated very frequently but I hope to eventually complete a fully-fledged version of season 4. Just a quick disclaimer: the first half of dialogue is pulled directly from the show, but the rest is mine. Thank you so much, and I hope you enjoy!

There she waited, at the end of the corridor bathed in ghostly candlelight. She stared ahead at the barren wall as Ethan unbolted the door and stepped inside. Vanessa appeared as a heavenly phantom to him – draped in an ivory gown, her unbound raven hair cascading to her waist. Ethan padded towards her. Each of his footsteps against the white, tiled floor echoed through the room.

However, as Vanessa turned to face him, Ethan was taken aback. Her eyes were sunken and ringed with the deepest violet. Swollen veins were visible beneath the flowing sleeves of her dress. Her figure was painfully thin. Ethan imagined Dracula, the vile creature who had ensnared the woman before him, snapping each of her delicate limbs like twigs.

"It hurts me more than I thought it would… seeing you." Vanessa said steadily.

"You need to come with me, now." Ethan replied, glancing at the door behind him.

"And go where?" Her brow furrowed. "They will hunt me to the end of days."

"I can protect you."

"No, you can't. No one can."

He stepped towards her. "Then we'll fight him."

"It's not him, it's me. Look at me." Vanessa raised her arms, her sleeves hanging from them like gossamers. "This is what I am. And this is what I've done – brought this terrible darkness to the world."

"Vanessa… please."

"Vanessa…" She murmured, pondering her own name. "And where is she? When did we lose her, Ethan? She was standing in a quiet room, gazing up at a cross. She reached out, took it from the wall… and put it in the fire. And then she was lost. And so alone."

"You are not alone. You never were." Ethan closed the space between them. "I have stood at the very edge. I have looked into the abyss. If I'd taken one more step, I would have fallen. But no matter how far I ran away from God, He was still waiting ahead."

"Not for me."

"For us all." He whispered.

Vanessa paused. "My battle must end. You know that. Or there will never be peace on Earth."

"Your battle will never end. As long as this goddamn world exists, there will be bloodshed and evil. But we can resist it. We can walk away from it. You told me. We can lock the doors and walk away forever."

Vanessa grimaced. "There's no walking away from what I am. It was foretold, Ethan. All light will end and the world will live in darkness."

"Fuck prophecy. Fuck everything." He grabbed her by the shoulders, tears spilling onto his cheeks. "I love you. You cannot leave me. You cannot surrender."

Vanessa shut her eyes and squeezed his hand in her own. The beautiful woman Ethan loved, once so powerful and fearless, so resilient and bold, reduced to this. A creature drained of blood and hope.

"Come with me." Ethan pleaded.

As he reached for her face, Vanessa simply turned her tear-stained cheek to him. How could he reach her? Was it possible to send a beacon of love to someone so battered on the tides of grief?

He inhaled deeply. "Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven."

Her eyelids slowly fluttered open, her lashes thick with tears. It was disbelief that flickered in her blue eyes as she stared at him.

"Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses." Vanessa began mouthing along to the reverberating sound of Ethan's voice.

Sobbing softly, she joined him in prayer, "As we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom, and the Power and the Glory, for ever and ever."

Silence flooded the cavernous room. Hundreds of candles lined the walls and their quivering flames seemed to grow still in anticipation. Lupus Dei and the Mother of Evil. This very moment in time was presaged. The scribblings of supposed madmen and the visions of clairvoyants all forewarned of this. Ethan did not believe in prophecy, but when he breathed in time with Vanessa, he believed in everything.

"Amen." They uttered.

Vanessa's head slumped against Ethan's chest. He stroked her locks of ebony hair, revelling in her closeness – the feeling, the scent, the quality of her which had been absent from his life for the past several months.

Gently, he asked, "What do you choose? Him, or God?"

She raised her gaze to meet his. Ethan fought the urge to kiss her lips, her dampened cheeks, her paper-thin eyelids, her forehead, and wrap her in his arms. He wanted so desperately for her to never again be victim to the torment she had known.

Vanessa Ives smiled tearfully.

"I choose our Lord."