AN: As always, I do not own V or anyone else in his universe---but I wish I did have access to V. Also, I have used various parts of the movie script to meld everything together------
I also wish to thank Vampirlovr91 who is co-authoring this work of fanfiction with me-----please enjoy, and do remember to leave a review or two!
' NIGHTFEARS '
Prologue/ Chapter 1
The eyes watched from the darkness as the two fingermen strolled up the alleyway looking for any poor soul that was out past Norsefire's ten o'clock curfew. The hunger was finally beginning to weaken the strength that had held the monster at bay for so long.. Taking a deep breath, the figure moved silently, following them into the shadows.
Chapter 1
Chief Inspector Eric Finch looked at the homicide photos laying across his desk. It wasn't bad enough that he had to deal with Norsefire's poor excuse of a government and their even poorer excuse of a party leader in Peter Creedy, but now, he had to deal with something else beside the terrorist know only as 'V'. He had seen the terrorist's work before----bodies covered in their own vomit, and a single Scarlet Carson rose lying either on the body, or close to it. So far three murders were linked to V, and Finch thought he had two more to add to the total, but these new photos did not show V's handiwork. These had their throats ripped out and their entrails thrown across each body. He exhaled a long drawn out breath, pulled his pipe from his jacket pocket, packed it with cherry tobacco and lit up. Soon wisps of smoke curled around his head as he puffed contentedly.
" Any news, Inspector?" Dominic Stone, Finch's partner of five years asked entering the office.
Finch looked up at the young man. " I think we may have another 'Jack the Ripper' on our hands, Dom."
" What makes you say that, Inspector?" He questioned hanging his jacket across the chair, and pouring himself a cup of coffee." Chief?" He motioned the cup toward Finch.
" No thanks." Finch replied, looking at the photos once again. " The motis operandi is completely different." He paused laying the photos beside each other. " We know that codename V works primarily off of injections capable of killing someone quickly or, " he looked at Dominic, " prolonging death--- however as he sees fit."
" What about the knives?"
Finch pulled several other pictures from a folder marked Jordan Tower and laid them beside the ones he had been studying earlier. " Clean cuts. You can see them here, and here." He pointed to neck gashes on several men." Those were done by well honed blades."
Stone studied the pictures. " They'd have to be to do that kind of damage with a single draw across the throat."
" Right." Finch agreed, " Now, look at these."
" Bloody hell....." Stone mumbled as he looked at the gruesome photos in front of him. " Looks like some kind of wild animal got hold of them."
" Almost like a huge dog."
" But whoever saw a wild dog leave a body so intact?"
" Precisely." Finch said, " This is something new, different."
" Any idea what kinda sicko would do this, Chief?"
" Not a clue." Finch replied as he grabbed his trench coat and shrugged into it. " I need you to drop me somewhere on the way out, Dominic."
" Sure. Where to?" Stone asked grabbing the keys to his car.
" The underground tunnels near Victoria Station." Finch replied as they left the office, heading for the elevator. Stone looked at his friend as they exited the building into the parking lot.
" Chief, we've searched those tunnels a million times and found nothing----what makes you so sure you will now?" Dominic asked as he unlocked the car doors.
" Call it a hunch, Dominic." Finch replied pulling the door to and fasten his seatbelt.
" I hope you're right, Chief."
" So am I Dominic, so am I."
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" So it's really going to happen." Evey said as she looked around the train car packed full of fertilizer and explosives.
" Only if you want it to." V replied tilting his head toward her.
" Is this a trick, V?" Evey questioned, turning to him.
" No more lies, no more tricks, Evey, only truth. " He replied. " You made me see that it is not my right to pull this lever. The world that I live in will no longer exist after tonight. A new world will be welcomed by the sunrise tomorrow morning-------that will be your world." He left the train and started down the cement platform.
" V! Where are you going?" Evey watched as he walked away from her, then stopped, looking back over his shoulder.
" To meet my maker and repay him in kind for all that he's done." He replied turning.
" V!" Evey called after him. " Wait! You don't have to do this------we can leave here----together." She caught his hand and stopped him, looking up into the dark eye slits of the mask.
" You were right about me, Evey. I have no tree waiting for me. The only thing I deserve, is waiting for me at the end of that tunnel." He looked into her eyes.
" That's not true." She whispered as her hands reached up and pulled the mask to her, catching the porcelain lips with hers in a gentle kiss.
V stood looking at her, a thousand emotions flowing through him all at once as his hands rested gently on Evey's hips. " I can't." The words broke the silence and Evey's heart dropped as she watched him jump from the cement and make his way down the tracks. Hanging her head, she turned back to where a bench sat, and slowly made her way toward it.
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Finch waved the torch in front of him as he walked down the deserted underground tunnel, his gun at the ready. He had walked a few feet when the first shot rang out. Quickening his pace, he hurried further into the tunnel.
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The liquid pooled into the puddles combining with the water giving it a pink tinge as it collected and overflowed into one after the other. Eventually, as more blood collected, it began to follow by a pattern laid into the cement, beginning a journey underground to a place last seen hundreds of years ago----to a time, people knew of only in legend and myth----a time when monsters walked the earth. Hundreds of feet below Victoria Station, within distance of V's Shadow Gallery, a breath was taken as the life giving liquid flowed from above and across the lips of a pale, shadowy figure. The mouth opened slowly as the blood trickled into the orifice and eyes as black as night focused within the darkness. The figure stirred as strength began to slowly return. Struggling, it rose weakly, smelling the air---the scent of copper hung heavily. Forcing the stone lid from the sarcophagi, a withered hand grasp hold of the box's edge and pulled itself up. Finding the blood that trickled from above, a mouth greedily pushed under it. Sometime later, satisfying its primal need, it rose from the stone box, and began up the stairs to freedom.
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" Why won't you die?!" Peter Creedy cried emptying the remaining five bullets into V's chest as he walked toward him, pausing only momentarily.
" Behind this mask, Mr. Creedy, there is more than flesh, behind this mask there is an idea.....and ideas.....are... bullet proof!" V's hands closed around Creedy's neck as he lifted him off the ground and against the gate behind him. Within seconds, the sound of bones could be heard popping and twisting, and V watched as the body fell to the cement. He moved away, reaching under his cape to remove the chest plate from his suit of armor, letting it slide from his hand onto the floor with a loud thunk. V struggled to catch his breath as he slammed into the white-tiled wall, leaving a wash of blood behind him. He had to make it back to Evey-----he would not rest until he told her he loved her, even if it was too late. Pushing forward, he began retracing his steps back to the train.
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Eyes closed as the scent of copper flooded the mind's senses, drawing it closer to the spot. Rounding a nearby corner, the mouth opened and fangs appeared as the eyes lay upon bodies scattered across the cement. Exhaling, the figure moved quickly and began feeding, sedating the hunger that painfully clawed at the withered body. In minutes, five bodies lay drained of blood, and a hand wiped excess from a fully sedated mouth as dark eyes glanced into the watery reflection by one of the bodies. Victoria St. Malet looked upon herself for the first time in hundreds of years. Her youthful hands traveling to a soft, slim face surrounded by black hair. She touched her flesh in disbelief----how was this possible? It was told her kind were never reflected in a mirror or water----that was the reason there were no mirrors present anywhere around a vampire's lair. Another lie? Drawing her slim body from the cement , she sniffed the air-----the scent that had awaken her hung heavily, it's coppery smell drawing her like a bee to a rose. She picked the skirt of her black dress up, and began to follow the aroma.
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Evey glanced at the train........how long had V been gone? She had no way of knowing, and lowered her head just as he turned the corner, his hat falling from his head as he leaned into the wall. Looking up, he saw Evey hurrying toward him, and walked to meet her, only to collapse in her arms.
" I have to get the bleeding stopped." She pressed on the oozing holes in his chest, her eyes welling with tears.
" No, I'm done for, and glad of it." He raised his head slightly as his breath came in gasps.
" V, no......."
" Remember, Evey, no more lies, no more tricks....... only truth." He paused, taking a shallow breath. " For twenty years, I lived only for this day, nothing else mattered........then I fell in love with you Evey, like I never thought I could again........."
" I don't want you to die, V........." Evey cried softly as she hung onto him, willing her strength to make him live.
" That's …...the.....most wonderful......thing....you could …...have said to me....." His words trailed off.
" V? V?!" She cried as she shook him gently, " No.....V........" She laid her head on his chest and sobbed.
Victoria watched from the shadows at the scene unfolding before her. It was here the scent was drawing her to. It was emanating from the figure laying on the ground by the female. She watched closely as the woman rose to her feet after several minutes, and began dragging the body toward the open train doors. It took some time for the man to be laid upon a table made from square packages that lined the inside of the train. Victoria smiled to herself----it would have taken her only seconds to have the body in position. She watched as the young woman left the car, wiping her hands on her clothes and disappeared around the corner. Making sure the girl was gone, Victoria moved from her hiding place and approached. Looking inside, she saw the dark clad figure laying silently, his gloved hands resting across his waist. She approached cautiously, the copper smell drawing her to him. Bearing her fangs, she leaned in close as her hands reached for the high collar so she could bare his neck ----it was then she heard the faint heartbeat. He was still alive! How? After all the blood he had lost!? Her teeth receded as she stepped from the body just as a sound drew her attention. In seconds, she was once again safely tucked behind a wall, deep in the shadows.
Evey approached the train car with dozens of V's Scarlet Carson roses in her arms. She would give him the funeral he most desired. Carefully, she placed them around his head and torso, then reaching down, she kissed him one final time on the lips. With her hand on the throttle control, she sighed heavily.
" Hold it right there. " A voice broke the silence, and Evey looked up to find Finch with his gun pointed straight at her. " You're Evey Hammond, aren't you? And that's...... " Finch paused, "It's finished then."
" It's almost time....." Evey, looked at Inspector Finch.
" Move away from there---don't touch that lever." Finch ordered.
" No." She answered, her eyes locking with his.
" Why?"
" Because he was right. The people need more that a building to hold onto ." She looked at him. " They need hope." Her hand closed around the handle as Finch lowered his gun.
Evey stepped from the car as it began moving away. " Tell me Mr. Finch, do you like music?"
Finch looked at her. " I suppose so."
Victoria watched as the woman placed her arm through his and walked away, disappearing into the shadows. Throwing herself into the air, she caught the moving bomb in a matter of seconds and was standing before the body looking, wondering what made him so different from other mortals. Gently, she reached down and picked the limp body up and disappeared from the train.