Chapter 2 – The Man in the Shadows
He had not been sure it was her before he heard her speak.
People were talking about a vigilante. One with a Guy Fawkes mask, one should add. And he was quite curious who would be presumptuous enough to try and take his place.
He had followed the masked figure as long as it had been following the men – and in his mind there was even a moment where he appreciated the beauty and the humour of the act – a case of meta-stalking. He almost smirked under his own mask – almost. But the gravity of the situation prevented him from doing so.
When the new vigilante made the first move he felt admiration. The impostor had skill, grace, technique – talent even. Three men were taken out without much trouble – or hesitation.
However, it was not until the figure spoke that he knew…he knew it was Evey. His Evey. He shuddered in his own cloak.
It was his instinct to help her. Rescue her. But she was doing the rescuing now. Meta-rescue, he thought, and again almost smiled.
When the shot sounded he felt his heart fill with dread. He watched them stand immobile, for what might well have been an eternity.
When the man finally moved – mortally wounded – V felt relief. Relief, for she had won this battle. However, he was aware that the feeling of dread had not left him. In fact, it was a whole new level of dread.
He had made her into a killer.
V watched as she finished. As she retrieved her daggers. She was calm – cold.
He watched as she let the last man go, and he ran in fear. He saw the way the young girl – the girl Evey had been protecting – shrunk away when Evey looked at her.
He recognised this scene. He had been the protagonist of it many, many times. He knew now what Evey Hammond had done.
She had become him.
She disappeared back into the shadows. He knew how to follow. His eyes adjusted back to the dark.
She had an ever-so-slight limp. Her breath was slightly heavier. She reached to her side and brought her hand back so she could see it. Even from his safe distance V could see what it was. Her hand was covered in blood.
Will there be no end to feeling dread tonight?
She soon disappeared into the underground and made her way through the still abandoned railway tunnels. He knew n where she was going to lick her wounds.
She was going home.