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 he least expected 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.)

Previously in My Cure…

Now this is a surprise indeed! – Vadoma thinks amused. – A wonderful song for such an unfitting creature… Dear Rhiannon, I know your darkest secret: are you sure you're not guilty? I can't wait to see how Adam's going to deal with you.

The song comes to an end and Rhiannon feels exhausted. Henry notices this and wonders why, but he doesn't have much time to ponder on any potential theory because Mary suddenly blocks his sight. She stands right in front of him and eyes at him suspiciously.

"Abe is right over there, speaking to Mr Robinson." Henry politely tells her, assuming that she's looking for him.

"I'm not looking for him, Henry." She answers seriously. "In fact, I was looking for you."

Chapter 7:

"For me?" Henry asks naively and amazed. After a couple of seconds, he suddenly realises why. He thinks she's going to chide him in the same way she had chidden Rhiannon the other day. "Dear Mary, stop it already. I don't mean to be rude, but I fear I must tell you that your insistence is almost unbearable and Rhiannon…"

"I do hope so, Henry." She breaks in with joy and a broad smile. "Because you must know that the current situation must be dealt with care and propriety." Her joyful but pushy tone of voice is hard to cope with.

I hate it when she acts like this. – Henry thinks with contained despair. – Why is she so persistent? Can't she just trust us? God!

"You know me, you know how I am." Henry calmly insists to her, trying very hard to be nice to her. "Come on. You can't possibly mistake me for a ruthless, uncaring man."

"I'm not so sure about that. For all I know, you might have lived for centuries and have become a womanizer and none of us can possibly know about that, can't we?" She says playfully, trying not to raise her voice very much, lest we should be accidentally overheard by other guests as we talk about vampires and stuff.

"True," He answers with logic in his voice, but he just won't give up. "but as usual and as it happens with other people, you will have to trust me. Anyway, have I ever given you any reason not to do so? Have I ever been mean to you? Or to anyone?"

"No, not that I know of. Although I know that you didn't like me at the beginning… Rhiannon told me about that." She says as if she were a naughty little child.

"I didn't know you back then and… But anyway, you know exactly why I said so," He swiftly says. "especially bearing in mind that now you know the whole truth about us. Vampire hunting should not be taken lightly. That's what I meant. It's dangerous and any connections might lead to disaster. Would you prefer Abe to be seriously wounded to save you? I bet you wouldn't like that at all. But I respect Abe's wishes and I've come to like you. If he's chosen you, I will not interfere. I trust his wisdom. Can you trust Rhiannon's about us? Can you trust me then? Will you?"

"What do you have in mind, Henry?" She sighs then, defiantly crossing her arms over her chest.

"You mean, as regards Rhiannon?" He asks naively.

"Of course, Henry." She answers quite bored, but Henry knows she's just faking it.

"Let me explain myself first… I love her. We've been living together. I know it's highly unconventional, but I haven't touched her." He insists. Mary just rolls her eyes, but he doesn't care one bit and then he goes on with a mildly aggressive tone of voice. "At the most, I have kissed her a couple of times, but that's it! I don't intend to make her a vampire like me if she doesn't want to, but I want to tell her that I want to spend the rest of our lives – regardless of their length – with her. That's what I want to tell her. I fully understand and respect her nature and her needs. If she wishes to marry me, we shall. If not, that's OK with me." He makes a small pause to check on Mary's reactions. "It may not be for you, but for me it is. Satisfied?"

"Good speech, for the most part." She concludes half-bored. "Of course, I don't agree with you as regards the half-aggressive tone of voice and especially the last bit you've just said, but I guess it'll have to do. Anyway… I was wondering if you'd care to dance with me…" She says joyfully. "at least once?"

"Really?" He asks raising an eyebrow. "Is this some kind of trap or what?"

"Nonsense, Henry. Now dance with me. Do me the favour."

He silently complies with her wish and they dance together. He's very gentle with her and, although he doesn't dance as daringly as he had done in other occasions with Rhiannon, Mary's heart skips a beat when she realises how good it feels dancing with him. He smells so good – a bit like leather and a moist forest after rainfall. He's serious all the time and Mary wonders whether he only smiles to Rhiannon alone. He's such an experienced dancer and his grip is so strong and decisive… And his dark sunglasses make him so mysterious… She starts to wonder how it might feel to get hugged by him with all the love in the world. She begins to understand how Rhiannon feels about Henry and she suddenly feels weaker.

She also starts to regret being so mean to her lately. She didn't earn it.

In the meantime, Corinthian has been watching Henry and Mary as they have started talking, Mary blocking Henry's view on purpose. That's his cue to proceed, so he takes Rhiannon's hand and takes her out to the back garden, where they can be alone and talk privately for some time, now that Mary is distracting Henry, as originally plotted by both.

"Corinthian," Rhiannon asks him a bit angrily. "what the hell?!"

The night is warm and beautifully lit by a charming moonlight. The sound of cheering is half-muted once they leave the music room behind and Corinthian closes the door behind him. Then, he takes her to an extreme of the veranda. Not even then does he let go off her hand.

"Rhiannon, I have to speak to you." He says with urgency and worry in his voice.

"You can perfectly do that inside." She says sarcastically as she turns around with the intention of going back inside. Corinthian obviously stops her by swiftly pulling her hand to him. She is forced to fling back to his body. She gasps as her body collides with his. He holds her by the small of her back and deeply stares into her eyes as he frowns deeply. Rhiannon's eyes are wide open and she swallows. "What is it?" She whispers genuinely afraid of him for the first time in her entire life.

"I know you." He gently whispers back to her, seriously. "I know you're afraid of me right now. Please, don't be."

She swallows again and doesn't say a word. She just waits for him to break the awkward silence between them. He just doesn't let her go, not yet.

"Mary's told me about Henry and I've also heard some rumours which go around town. I assume they're not true. Are they?" He whispers seriously worried about her.

"No, they're the effects of the mark, as usual. That's all." She whispers sweetly and shyly.

"Don't lie to me. You know I'll be there for you if you need me." He makes a brief pause and then he proceeds with pride and anger. "If he's marred you, I swear I'll…"

"He's not done such a thing!" She exclaims back with pride. "Don't you believe me?"

"Of course I don't. You'd protect him no matter what." He answers angered and hurt, knowing that he's never received such a treatment on her behalf. His grip on her gets tighter. "I don't trust him, Rhiannon. If you want me to believe your word, you'll have to prove it to me."

"How am I supposed to prove it to you?" She says appalled. "He's not touched me! I'm still v… I am not going to show you my… OMG! Corinthian, you're killing me! Enough! Let go off me!" She tries to fight him, but his hold on her is too firm, too strong.

"You're not going anywhere." He whispers using a dark but sexy husky voice.

"What do you want from me?!" She yells at him.

"I want you to leave Springfield." He says seriously and calmly, but not yelling as she's just done, knowing that he's got the ultimate truth. "Come with me. You know it's high time you did it, like many other times before. The ladies are looking meanly at you and the men are getting lustier around you. I've seen it too many times before. Things are starting to change and you know how badly this is going to end eventually. The longer you stay, the worse. It's too dangerous and you know that." He tries to talk sense into her.

"I know." She admits whispering. She's on the verge of crying. Corinthian hates it when it happens. He briefly bites his lower lips when she doesn't look at him.

"Rhiannon, don't cry, please. Please, don't… Look, let me tell you what I think about this, right?" He whispers lovingly. "You've got too involved this time, but it's not a sin. It's normal. I get it. You needed it, you wanted it, you looked for it and finally you had it. You just wish things were different, that the mark would've never existed. You wanted to experience a normal life and that's what you got here… until now." He makes a pause to check on her. Her eyes are moist, her head hangs low and she's definitely sad and hurt. He goes on. "It worked for some time, but you knew this was not meant to last forever. I don't want to chide you or to bring you down now, Rhiannon. Don't misunderstand me." He says gently putting a forefinger beneath her chin and making her look up to him. He had secretly been waiting to do this for some years now… Her wet eyelashes meet his eyes. "But you can't have a normal life. You must leave. You know I only want the best for you. Come with me to the Dream Realm. There you will have all the peace that you deserve to have." He makes a pause and leans his face very slowly to hers. "Forget about these people. You may love them, but they have changed. I'm not trying to chain you. I just want to protect you. That's all. So… come with me, please. Tonight."

"Corinthian, I don't know. I…" She whispers back hesitating. She feels desperate like a child who's hungry for anyone to care for him.

"You know that if you stay with him," He adds also whispering as lovingly as before. "he might change too. I know you don't wanna hear anything about this, but tell me that you've thought about it at least. There's a chance he betrays you. What if he becomes so madly in love with you that he doesn't let you out of the house because of too much jealousy… or even kills you? The mark may transform him into a monster. It surely will… You'd feel guilty for it, Rhiannon. I know you. He'd change and he could hurt you. And you'd still blame yourself for it."

"He'd never do that to me."

"The mark destroys everything, Rhiannon." He insists. "Don't lie to yourself."

"What about you? What if I destroy you if I stay around you?" She asks nervously. "You're already affected by it. You love me – you can't deny it."

"I can't, but you know I met you before you got it." He tells her reminding her of their common story. "I started to love you back then when you saved me, remember? The mark came later. My case is different. My feelings for you are real. They have always been."

"You mean Henry's aren't, right?" She chuckles sadly.

"They may not be real, yeah."

They stare at each other. This last sentence is a toll on her. She falls silent and sighs defeated. Then, she gently closes her eyes and becomes resolute in a sad way.

"I give up, Corinthian." She makes a brief pause. "I give up…"

Then she gently pulls herself from his chest, equally defeated and as if all her strength was gone, and he lets her do it, feeling she's had enough, until he regrets it and swiftly grabs her by her hips and pulls her back to him. The frills of her dress float around her in the warm air of the night. When she stares back at him with a genuine and naïve wondering expression on her face, she lets her lips to hang half open and he gives in to her beauty and whispers to her:

"I'm sorry, Rhiannon. I didn't mean to hurt you. I wish I could make things better." He says trying to soothe her.

Then, he makes his face move forward to meet her soft lips and enjoy them in a way he'd never dared to enjoy before. At the same time, he gently but firmly holds her nape with one hand. She opens her eyes widely in amazement. She's so dumbstruck at the moment that she doesn't do anything. He feels in heaven. On the other hand, she just feels weak and feeble as if she had just woken up from a sweet, quiet, peaceful dream, but she's numb.

When Corinthian withdraws his lips, he stares at her and seeing that her reaction is null, he hesitates as regards what to do and frowns lightly. It's not until she blinks her eyes a couple of times that she reacts. She starts to breathe heavily and then she slaps his face once. A single tear falls on her cheek as she gets rid of his hold on her and leaves the spot saying nothing further. He doesn't say anything either. He just stays frozen on the spot, biting his lower lip. His clenched fists tremble slightly.

As she strides back inside, she almost crashes into Henry under the threshold of the door. He has finally escaped from Mary's grasp and, wondering about Rhiannon's whereabouts, he has started to look for her. He got suspicious and he was obviously right.

"Rhiannon, are you alright?" Henry asks her, still a bit startled but naturally worried about her.

He's got his hands on both sides of her arms. She's got hers on his. Then, he notices her wet eyelashes and Corinthian's presence and takes his own conclusions. He frowns and clenches his teeth, but when he looks back at her, she's got a dark expression on her face, completely devoid of life and hope… Then, she gently gets rid of his arms and makes her way past him into the music room, where all the other guests are drinking and making merry. She walks past them as swiftly as she can, not speaking to anybody, not even to Mary, who calls her attention a couple of times, but Rhiannon doesn't care to answer. It's as if nobody is in the room. Mary's smile fades away as she realises of the damage. She starts to feel truly guilty, although she doesn't know what has happened exactly out there in the back garden. She keeps looking back and forth to Rhiannon as she walks away and to the back garden door from which she's just emerged.

Rhiannon then opens the front door and exits on her own. She walks as if she was in her hunting leather outfit: with coldness, determination and a deathly glare in her eyes. Her nice dress and the pearls in her hairdo can't soften up the entire picture at all. She's just too changed now, as if there's no turning back… Her curls daringly bounce up and down as she makes her way out.

It's not until she's reached the pavement that Henry appears running behind her, trying to stop her. No matter how loud he calls her or the number of times he says her name, she just doesn't turn around or answer in any way. She doesn't pay attention, she just keeps on walking.

"Rhiannon, stop please!" Henry yells at her worried, but it's useless. "What has Corinthian told you? Why are you like this? Hey…"

He has to stand in front of her and hold her arms firmly to be able to stop her.

"Rhiannon, what's wrong?" He naively asks.

She starts to lightly shake her head and frowns.

I can't do this. – Rhiannon thinks as calmly and rationally as she can manage. – It would destroy him. It will destroy me as well… Corinthian is right. And I hate it… I can't do this to him. I have to remove the note from my chest as soon as possible so that I don't regret what I'm going to do. This is over.

I'm sorry, Henry. This is going to hurt.

"Henry, I…" Rhiannon whispers back to him with tenderness, trying to minimise the damage, but her trembling voice betrays her true intentions. She hesitates and Henry decides to take the lead.

"Look. I don't know what the hell Corinthian is up to. The only thing I know is that I love you, Rhiannon." He says for no reason at all, as if he was a mere simpleton and with an eager straightforwardness. He smiles at her and chuckles lightly. "There's nothing in this world that would stop me from feeling that way about you. I don't care if he's made you cry. I don't care if Mary has anything to do with it. I'm sick of them already! They're anxiously waiting for us to care, can't you see? I'm sick of playing fair with them. Let's ignore them! I don't give a fuck. I don't care if you're an angel and I'm a vampire. I don't care for anything or anyone but you!... Will you marry me?" He asks out of the blue, smiling at her.

It's the question she had always wanted to hear and somehow she had expected a more romantic scene and environment, with more flowers or candles, or anything… She had pictured the scene in her mind's eye and rehearsed it over and over again like a play during the course of many sleepless nights since she was a child; she knew that she'd be glad and overexcited about it, that she'd fling her arms around this potential groom's neck and kiss him, but now her romantic notions seem to have vanished. She can't even remotely feel any of that excitement she had imagined. It's gone for good. Her poor heart feels hurt instead. She doesn't feel really dizzy because of love or desire, just a little bit; she does not need to clutch her heart because the urgent necessity to reject him so that she can shield him from harm is too overwhelming. She's glad to see him proposing to her, but she's torn apart at the same time.

"Henry," She whispers kindly to him.

All of a sudden, Joshua's voice interrupts the scene. He's obviously in panic.

"Henry! Rhiannon!" Joshua nervously yells at them from the doorstep of the Robinson's house. Abe and Mary are standing right behind him with worried faces. "Come quickly! They've taken William!"

"What?!" Both Rhiannon and Henry ask.

They come back and then Joshua tries to calm down and speak his mind out:

"T-they t-took William." He says nervously and stammering a bit.

"Who did it?!" Henry asks him.

"I was talking to a lady and then… He said he had met someone. But… I didn't see them… Well, they've left this note. That's what I've found when I was looking for him."

He shows the aforesaid note to Henry and Rhiannon. Abe and Mary have already read it. Someone has kidnapped William and asks Henry, Abe and Rhiannon to come for him down south asap.

"Signed… A." Henry whispers and frowns heavily.

"Is 'A' the vampire I'm thinking of?" Rhiannon whispers worried to Henry.

"You bet." He whispers growling. "I knew the moment would arrive soon… Come on, let's go and save him."

"What?!" Mary exclaims. "Now?!"

All of them turn around to stare at her.

"You're not coming, Mary." Abe calmly and kindly tells her. Her jaw drops. Next, the rest of the group get going.

"We can take my wagon. Let's go." Joshua tells Rhiannon and Henry.

"Mary, for Christ's sake," Abe asks her amazed. "did you think for a second that I'd let you come with us to save William?"

"But Rhiannon's going!" Mary exclaims appalled, as if her original plans for the night had been thwarted – although they haven't (completely at least), but she doesn't know that, of course. She hasn't spoken to Corinthian yet. Anyway, she just wishes she could be part of the group. But she'll never be. She's just a normal young woman.

"Yes, because she's been trained to fight against vampires. You're not. So I don't want you anywhere near, understand?" Abe gets really serious.

Mary nods and falls silent. They part after giving each other a chaste kiss.

Our vampire hunting favourite group has a long way ahead.

As they travel using Joshua's wagon, Henry chances to shot a glance or two at Rhiannon every now and then. He's obviously nervous because she's not given him an answer. He doesn't want to push her, not now of course. Rhiannon just frowns as she stares at the night sky. She didn't have time to change her clothes (just to get her sword), so she'll be fighting in a dress unless she manages to think of something. It's quite clear that she's thinking about the impending fight against Adam and his vampire minions. They need to focus or else William (or themselves) could be in serious danger during the fight. Henry notices this and stops thinking about Rhiannon in romantic terms – or at least he tries hard not to.

I wonder what she's thinking right now. – Henry thinks with lust. – I want to know what she thinks about me, about my proposal of marriage. I just can't wait to have a moment of privacy with her to talk about it! I wish Adam had chosen some other time to bother us. Nice timing, man… God, I hate him so much!

After some hours (and following Henry's directions), they arrive at Adam's headquarters: a huge white mansion with a superb veranda on the front lawn. There's also a magnificent garden which is obviously well taken care of.

"Who does he think he is? A king or what?" Rhiannon whispers amazed but proud.

Henry just chuckles lightly at her comment.

"OK, let's stick to the plan." Abe whispers to all of them. They nod.

Then, Rhiannon rips her long skirt off so that it's not so long and it doesn't bother her while fighting. She also makes a cut on one side so that she can move her legs better. In addition, she takes her high-heeled shoes off. The three men just stare at her raising an eyebrow.

"Ready to go." She says with determination as she takes the lead.

"Let's go." Henry says serious as hell as they're about to enter through the front door.

Abe knocks the door down and then Rhiannon, Henry and he enter, weapons visibly in hand. The wooden door makes a crushing noise as it falls on the floor. Then, dead silence.

"No politeness then, I suppose." Adam's dark voice suddenly says mocking them from the darkness in the back of this huge parlour.

"No offense, but you don't deserve any." Henry answers back seriously and angrily.

"Where's William?" Abe asks enraged.

"All in due time, dear young hunter." Adam chuckles lightly then. "You got a nice team here, huh Henry? A young reckless man and a… woman." He says savouring the last word too much.

Rhiannon just rolls her eyes at the comment.

"I heard you killed Jack…" Adam's voice darkens as he says so.

"I did." Abe answers with pride and rage.

"Good for you." Adam swiftly replies. "But you'll have to pay for that, of course."

"Glad to chop your head off as well." Abe swiftly answers back with a smirk on his face.

Adam laughs wholeheartedly.

"Watch out…" Henry says frowning.

The next thing they know is a large group of vampires emerge from the dark corners of the parlour and attack them. Abe swiftly deals with those who come from the left with his swinging axe; Rhiannon spreads her wings and kills those who approach from the right with her shining silver sword; and Henry takes care to shoot all those who come straight from the centre of the room with his guns. Their training proves itself efficient since they manage to kill every single vamp, but no matter how good they are, more and more vampires come out and attack them. It's as if there were an endless lot of them eagerly waiting to throw themselves on them and bite and kill them. Henry's quite sure that Adam's given strict orders about this fight and he'd swear Adam's promised a juicy reward or something. He has never seen so many vampires who endeavour so hard to accomplish something…

Abe, Henry and Rhiannon are starting to get tired and they're all breathing quite hard due to the huge effort they're forced to make right now. At one given point, no more vampires come out to attack them. Rhiannon, Henry and Abe gather.

"You all right?" Henry asks Abe and Rhiannon almost out of breath (it's not that he needs it that much, but anyway…).

"Fine." Both swiftly reply.

"Nice show!" Adam's voice breaks in as he emerges from the shadows clapping his hands alongside Vadoma, who's firmly holding William and smiling broadly. "I knew this would be just like a little entertainment for you… Anyway, I hope you won't be jealous if I request this young lady a dance, huh Henry?"

"What?" Rhiannon asks blatantly as she raises an eyebrow.

Henry clenches his teeth and fists madly. Rhiannon soon realises of what's going on.

"Henry, relax." Rhiannon whispers seriously to him so that he's the only one who can listen to her. "He's doing it on purpose. He must know about us. Just chill out. Don't let him tease you, will you?"

"She's such a lovely, gorgeous creature…" Adam goes on enjoying the words and the reaction he gets from Henry. "So straightforward and wild as well! I didn't expect that… like the fact that she's an angel. I must admit I'm amazed! I had never had the chance to see an angel…"

Adam's been staring indecently at her all the time. The way she's cut her dress doesn't help at all. She just crosses her arms over chest defiantly.

"I must say she's indecently attractive…" He whispers lustily as he takes a couple of steps closer. Vadoma frowns lightly. Rhiannon notices this and stares at her.

"Oh, no… Over my dead body!" Henry yells at him with such anger and rage that it startles Rhiannon. He positions himself between Adam and her, aiming his gun at him.

"But you're already dead, my dear Henry…" Adam says smirking at him.

"You perfectly know what I mean." Henry whispers back darkly.

"You have nothing to fear, Henry." Adam goes on patronizingly. "I just want to see her a bit closer…"

"Either you freeze on the spot or you get a silver shot in your head." Henry warns him threateningly. His dark sunglasses slowly slide some millimetres down his nose so that now he can cast the overwhelming evil look in his eyes onto Adam's. The latter just chuckles lightly. "You know I'm not joking."

Henry… – Rhiannon suddenly thinks quite weakly, letting her feelings for him lead the way. – Don't do this, please. Because later I won't dare to tell you I'm leaving. I already don't want to and you're making this a lot more difficult… If only I could've… Oh, Henry! I wish we could be alone and share one last moment of true bliss with you.

And yes, I'd let you do anything to me…

"You really love her, don't you?" Adam says amused.

Henry doesn't answer. He just clenches his teeth quite madly. Rhiannon's heart starts to annoy her and she starts to feel dizzy. She swallows once.

Good God, not now… I need to focus on something else or stop this nonsense immediately.

That's when she glances at Abe and they start to make little silent signals so that they can at least save poor William from Vadoma's grasp.

"Good," Rhiannon's voice breaks in. "I'm sick of all this crap already. I'm quite sure you didn't make us come here to talk about me, am I right?" She says pretending to be really annoyed. She is, but she fakes the intensity of the emotion in her voice. As she says so, she slowly moves to Henry's side. She looks at him, straight at his face. "God, please, Henry, relax. He shouldn't be able to get the worst of you and you know that." She whispers to him, but she tries to say it so that Adam can also hear it. In the meantime, Abe has blended into the shadows of the room. "Henry…" She whispers lovingly, seeing that he's not paying attention to anything she tells him.

"Oh, isn't this lovely?" Adam says amused beyond doubt. "The goddess of your idolatry is trying to soothe you! Isn't that charming?"

"I'm bored." Rhiannon says pretending to be bored. "Have you got any more vamps I can kill at least while you two waste time and words talking about me?" She asks daringly, which makes Adam laugh wholeheartedly again.

"Sharp tongue…" Adam says lustily. "I like it! I'm gonna have fun with you tonight."

This sets Henry on edge. He's more than ready (and eager) to shoot at him and straightens his pose. Rhiannon then sighs.

All of a sudden, Abe knocks Vadoma down and kills her with his axe. William gets free of her hold on him. Adam turns his head to see what's going on, but it's too late to do anything. Abe is taking William back outside. Vadoma is already dead for good. Then, Rhiannon gets the chance to throw her sword directly at him, but Adam leans back just a bit so that she misses him. The silver sword gets stuck on the wall behind Adam. Rhiannon clenches her teeth as Adam turns his head back to Henry and her. He's not smiling anymore… His stern expression is deadly and blood-chilling. This makes Henry refocus and stop being jealous.

"You did this on purpose, didn't you, sweetheart?" Adam whispers darkly to Rhiannon.

"I may." She answers back with pride.

"You're real good… You really got me distracted now." He concludes.

"I know…" Rhiannon answers with cheek.

"Are Abe and William safe now?" Henry whispers to her, still aiming at Adam, just in case.

"Yes, they're waiting for us outside, on the wagon. Let's go." Rhiannon adds whispering.

"But we're not done." Henry insists angrily.

"Henry," Rhiannon whispers seriously to Henry. "it's over. We've got what we wanted. Remember we came here to save William. Let's go."

"We can bring him down. We can…" Henry goes on, whispering eagerly to her.

"Henry, please. Listen to me. We're exhausted right now. It's… It's not worth a try. He's not done a single physical effort right now. He'd kill you. You can't stand a chance right now." She tries to convince him.

"A private conversation, I see." Adam tries to break in. "May I join you?"

"No," Rhiannon swiftly answers with pride. "you may not. You're disgusting. I hate you. We got what we wanted. We're leaving. End of the conversation." She says as she turns around and starts walking to the door. "Henry, are you coming with me or not?" She asks mildly angrily at him when she realises he's not following her. He doesn't answer. "Henry…"

"I need to do this, Rhiannon… I…" Henry answers kindly whispering to her without looking at her.

"This is nonsense, Henry…" She bursts out.

"Oh, good! An argument!" Adam exclaims thrilled about it. "My two favourite lovebirds are having a fight right now…"

Rhiannon rolls her eyes and sighs while Henry still aims at him and frowns.

"Oh, don't mind me. Just go on, please. I didn't mean to interrupt or anything." Adam fakes a polite voice very well.

"Go with them, Rhiannon. I'm staying." Henry whispers to her seriously.

"Are…" She hesitates to say what she's thinking, but she eventually does. "Are you mad?"

"I said go." He repeats in the same tone of voice.

"I'm not leaving you behind." She says truly worried. "Henry, please, you can't be serious!"

"I SAID GO!" He yells at her angrily as he turns his head to her to look at her over his shoulder.

Rhiannon gasps and clutches her heart. She's feeling a bit dizzy again. Accidentally she takes a step back, but once she's taken it, she realises she just feels too scared of Henry. His blood-shot eyes are even crazier, scarier and more threatening than Adam's. She's never seen that expression in his eyes before. Her pupils shiver lightly and she leaves her lips aimlessly parted. She feels some sort of lightning in her spine which makes her feel incredibly weak. She can't believe she's slowly walking backwards without even noticing it. When she reaches the door, she swiftly turns around and flees to the wagon.

Once she's out, Henry stares back at Adam.

"You've been very rude to her, Henry. I would've…" Adam playfully says.

"You would've nothing with her, Adam." Henry replies enraged. "Your lusty staring on her is plainly sinful and I'm gonna kill you for it."

"You may kill me, but I doubt she'll let you come any closer when you get home. If she's there, of course…" Adam takes pride in saying this. "Especially not after that deadly look you've just casted on her."

"Shut up right now!" Henry yells madly at him.

"I think you won't tell me that again when you know I have something important to tell you." Adam says seriously, which is quite odd in him.

"I didn't come here to chat with you, Adam!"

"It's about Rhiannon. Something I'm sure you don't know."

"You? Do you think you know her more than I do?!" Henry exclaims with sarcasm. "You must be joking! Why should I believe any words you say anyway?"

"Because the information I have about her is so sinful and juicy that every single vampire, werewolf, demon or anything of the sort adores her for it."

They fall silent.

"By the look on your face, I'd say you're surprised." Adam makes a crucial pause. "But I bet that you'll be flabbergasted by the time I tell you what it's about."

"Stop it. I don't trust you." Henry says enraged.

"I'm gonna tell you anyway. You've been fooled, friend."

"I'm not your friend."

"Right. Fair enough. But let me tell you I envy her."

"Why?"

"Because she's fooled you and played with you in a way I'd never be able to do it. God, I adore her for that!" Adam chuckles a bit. "To think you've fancied her, you've let her stay in your house, you've trusted your life to her, and you've fallen in love with her… the most luscious and yet most deceitful creature in this world or the next! You, Henry, who feed from criminals' and delinquents' blood, have praised her like a saint and yet she's darker than Satan himself!"

"Enough!"

"The look in your eyes is too curious to let it go, Henry. Let me do you a favour: I'll tell you her most dreadful sin… I promise I will end your misery by telling you the truth about her. And then you can do with her as you think best…"

Adam knows Henry only feeds from those who sin, so he's implying he should drain her.

"I'd never kill her!" Henry yells clearly offended.

"You will want to after you know."

They fall silent.

"She," Adam enjoys this part in which he's got Henry's full attention. "your beautiful and charming angel, went to see her aunt/uncle Desire to give her/him her heart and then she killed her/him as a revenge for killing her father… And for the mark, I suppose. (Yes, I also know about that.) Did you know about this?"

Adam lets the new information soak in. Henry's dumbstruck. She never told him she killed her aunt/uncle. She just told him she'd visited her/him to gave her/him her heart and then… She's been elusive and constantly withholding personal information. Was she telling him the truth back then? Only partially, maybe… Anyway, should he trust Adam?

"Do you have any proof of what you say?" Henry asks seriously.

"I don't, but the demons I have spoken with say they do. You can ask them yourself if you're interested." Adam adds playfully. "It's like the greatest and darkest secret ever in the whole history in the world of supernatural creatures… and the greatest crime! And I assume you know she can be brought down by the Three Grey Women… As you may know already, they avenge those whose blood has been spilled by a relative. Or you may kill her yourself for fooling you. Killing her own aunt/uncle for revenge… They say it was really nasty, what she did and how she did it… Beware, Henry. She's a lot more dangerous than you think she is. All dark creatures admire her for that…"

Henry goes out of Adam's mansion unharmed but equally stern like before. He doesn't say a word when he approaches the wagon and Joshua drives them back home to Springfield. When Abe asks him about Adam and whether he's been able to bring him down or not, he just shakes his head mildly and falls into a stage of deep thinking. He frowns so heavily that no one else dares to say a word. Something's gone obviously wrong, but they fear to ask.

On the other hand, Rhiannon would love to speak to him about everything. She wants to make sure he's not mad at her like before (she'd truly panic if he looked at her with those eyes again). She also wants to make sure that he's back his good old gentle self. She wants to chide him for yelling at her and to tell him she loves him… But she can't just now. She needs some privacy before she can speak her mind to him.

The mark has led me to believe my feelings for her were real. – Henry thinks on their way back. – I've been misled, blind. She may have lied to me. Why does she kill vampires anyway? She's never told me. She keeps almost everything to herself… I have to find out the truth. I have to investigate a bit further. If she's such a great danger and a criminal, she must be brought down.

To think I've just proposed to her tonight…

Hi there!

So… this is it. Did you enjoy it?

The next chapter is going to be crucial. I've been waiting for this moment since the very first line I wrote! ;) I just hope it'll turn out as hot and intense as I picture it in my mind's eye (as young Hamlet would put it).

Anyway, I forgot to tell you (a few chapters ago) that the heart-ripping technique is the same as in Once upon a Time. The only thing I want to point out is that yes, I love the series, but the scriptwriters are not really cool. Let me explain: I do hope they don't think they've invented this stuff about ripping hearts, mainly because I read about it long ago in The Passion by Jeanette Winterson. (I really recommend reading it! It's all about desire and how some people deal with it.)

Please read and review! :)

Luv,

Denim Jean