(Chapter 11)

Hard to Watch

Vivina sat on the park swing alone in the deserted playground. She shivered slightly as a painfully cold breeze whipped by. This place was so extremely creepy at night she could hardly believe children played here during the day. She glanced down at her cell phone to check the time. If he doesn't get here in five more...

Suddenly the dim light from the flickering street light was blocked out. She glanced up to see Reno leaning against the one of the swing set's poles. "Shit! How did you... I didn't hear a..." before she could finish her sentence. He was on the other side of her sitting in the swing next to her. "What the f..."

He laughed and swung his legs out as he began to swing slightly. He stopped himself after a few seconds and glanced over at her. "Watch this." He cupped her cheek lightly with his hand and suddenly they were both standing near the metal slide. Vivina glanced around at her surroundings then back up at Reno. To his surprise a wide grin spread over her face.

"Sweet!" She even laughed slightly. Reno wished Vincent could be there to see her smile and hear her soft laugh. "Can he do that too?"

He didn't have to ask who she was talking about. He shook his head no. "Vince's thing is his agility. He could probably run almost as fast as I can teleport. There's two others that we know of, but I haven't seen either of them in...what fifteen years now probably." He touched her again and they were sitting in his car.

"Wow." she smiled again. "So...fifteen years?! You guys must also be..."

"Immortal." Reno finished with a grin. He reclined his seat and looked up at the sky through his sunroof. Vivina just stared out the window at the creepy park.

"So are you and the donut eater official and exclusive and shit?" he asked glancing down at her. She scoffed at his question but didn't give an answer. He reached over and poked her in the side.

"Hey it's not like your friend is making any effort..." she turned her attention back out the window were she could now see two stray cats playing near the jungle gym.

"He can't! He doesn't want to hurt you. You're his type Vivina. His demon's favorite kind of food." Reno chuckled softly. "I knew it had to be something..."

"What?" she shot him a confused look.

"Each one of us has our own specific type of person that gives us the urge to feed. Maybe it's in your blood or just your personal scent, I don't know, but that one element will drive us literally insane over you. Watching from a distance is fine... it's kind of like being on a diet and walking by that delicious looking cake in the grocery store that you wanna just eat so bad, but can't cause it'd ruin everything... Well, this situation is a little more severe since eating a human has a little more impact than eating a cake, but you get it right?" He sat up slightly so he could look her in the eyes.

She had to laugh a little at his explanation, but nodded. "Yeah... I guess I understand. But you said you knew it had to be something..." She wanted to know exactly what he meant by that.

"Vincent's not the type to get all obsessed over a girl for no reason. Not anymore anyways. The last time I saw him he was solely devoted to his first love that passed away. He's not the type to just up and find someone else just like that and forget all about Lucrecia. His ex."

Vivina nodded again. "Yes... That's where he first saw me anyways...at the cemetery." She thought back to that moment noting how completely oblivious she had been to his presence there. She smirked. "I must have looked like a complete basket case then..."

"I wouldn't have mattered what you were doing, Vivina. When we find our type, nothing can stop it from drawing us in." Suddenly all the humor and nonchalant tone was gone from his voice. She stared into his eyes for a while before looking away.

"So...Yuffie's not your type then." She said quietly her tone made it seem like that was a bad thing. Reno was quick to correct her.

"That's a good thing. She's not my type, but it doesn't mean I'm not attracted to her at all or that I don't feel for her, cause I sorta kinda do. On top of that at least I can be around her without worrying about if I'm going to hurt her or worse kill her. I wouldn't want that... "

"But you will hurt her. Once she finds out that you're not getting any old..." She turned to look at him to see his reaction to that. She was surprised to find him grimacing slightly.

"It's selfish, I know. But... should it come down to it. There's a way normal humans can become like us." he said in a softer voice. Almost as if he were afraid someone would hear such a thing.

"How?" She had to clear her throat after sounding so interested.

"I don't know." Reno chuckled slightly. "But I was normal once, and look at me! So... if she truly wants to be with me forever. I mean, if she totally wants to give up human life all together and become a monster, then I'd try to find a way for her."

Vivina just nodded. Silence took over for a while. Reno watched her carefully as she thought over all the information he'd just given her. "So..." she started softly. There was another long pause and he didn't rush her. "So, there's nothing you can do to go back to normal..."

He sighed softly. "No..."

She sighed heavily. She felt bad for them, she really did, but instead of seeing more humans being turned into monsters she'd rather hear him say he would try to find a way to cure their curse and turn them back into humans.

Feeling a bit safer after talking with Reno, Vivina went back to her apartment and once again distanced herself from Officer Preston. Though he was still persistent, he was also just as patient with her.

Vincent watched through the snowflakes as Paine dropped Vivina off at her apartment after their day together. She stood by her door for a while watching the huge flakes under the street light. He bit his lip turning his eyes to the snow covered ground. It'll never happen...

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Winter turned colder bringing a white, but very icy Christmas. Despite the unsafe weather, Vivina's family still insisted she join them and she did. They were better to her than she thought they would have been. They even had gifts for her sitting under their over decorated tree. She almost felt like she was a child again for a moment...

...and then winter turned into spring then the spring warmed into summer again. Vivina found herself putting flowers on his grave marking the one year anniversary of his death. Of course it was night as usual. She didn't want to risk the chance of running into one of Squall's relatives out here. She'd let them have it if she did. They acted like the victims, but she knew that she was the one hurting...she was the one missing him the most.

Vincent was well aware that it had happened around this time. He'd actually put in a request for this entire week and the next week off so that he could watch over her. He couldn't resist being there at the cemetery to witness her reaction, and was relieved to see how well she'd kept herself together this time. She laid the flowers down with a small smile on her face and sat down Indian style on the ground in front the grave. She closed her eyes for a while and appeared to be praying. She opened her eyes and stood up turning away from the grave and walking back towards the police car that had brought her.

Vincent forgot himself and hopped out from behind the tombstone he was hiding behind. A stick snapped loudly under his weight. He cringed as Vivina immediately stopped and spun around. He slipped behind a tree.

"Is that you?" she asked walking closer to where he was hiding. Vincent strategically slid around the tree as she was walking close, successfully staying out of view but clumsily snapping more twigs as he did so. A warm, sticky breeze carried her scent to his nostrils. He held his breath and closed his eyes.

"Vincent?" Vivina moved away from him and looked around at the tombstone he had been standing behind. She glanced down and saw the name Lucrecia Crescent. She remembered hearing the name Lucrecia from Reno. It wasn't a very common name so she knew this must be the right grave. "I know you're here, Vincent." she said while staring at the angle shaped grave. He didn't move, he didn't even breathe. She could know all she wanted to, he was not about to be seen.

"It's been one year..."

Vincent swallowed hard, he knew how sick that must make him seem. He couldn't help his obsession with her. It was either kill and eat her or obsess over her and he'd rather not kill her.

"I'm glad Reno explained everything... because I'd be really confused right now..." She smirked and looked over at the tree she knew he was behind. Vincent tensed up as if he could feel her gaze through the tree. "That's really all I ever wanted from you... was to know why you did this." She took a few steps towards the tree. Vincent prepared himself to run. She took the last few steps that brought her within an arms distance of the tree. "Vincent." she said firmly. He let out a sigh and came out from behind the tree to face her. She took a few steps back, shocked at what she saw. He was actually in normal clothes consisting of a short sleeved buttoned down black shirt and a pair of black jeans. His golden claw had been painted black in order to make it a little less noticeable. The humidity has his hair looking a bit thicker, hanging down his back in dark waves. Shorter pieces of his long black mane framed his strikingly pale face. His cheekbones were reddened slightly from sun exposure. Not that he enjoyed being outside, but he had to watch her. He was so much more handsome than she initially remembered him being. And if it wasn't for the fact that she had indeed gone exclusive with the officer, she would have taken the risk and dove into his arms again.

"Vivina?" a voice called.

Both of them tensed as they heard a car door slam. She shot him an apologetic look as she walked towards him. She stopped just a few inches in front of him. He shuddered and dropped his eyes to the ground. She eyed him carefully not wanting to forget just how beautiful he was. It could be another six months or more before she ever faced him again, if ever... Feeling her eyes analyze him, he couldn't help but to look up at her again.

"Viv? Babe?" his voice sounded a little too close this time. Vivina held eye contact with him for a few more seconds before brushing past him. She purposely brushed the back of her hand against his human hand as she passed by. Vincent drew in a sharp breath and was almost ready to speak, but she was already walking away with him.

"Are you ok?" he heard the officer ask her.

"Yeah I'm fine, let's go." she responded. He turned around in time to see her walking hand in hand with the officer to his car where they paused for what seemed like the longest embrace he'd ever had to watch.

"I know everyone says this, but... I think he'd be happy to see you moving on." Baralai said as he started the car. Vivina smiled slightly.

"I know."

He brought her to her apartment and dropped her off so he could finish his shift. He worked more hours now that he had been paying for both her rent and his own. She felt bad counting on him like that, but still no one would hire her and she wasn't ready to move in with him just yet. As soon as he rolled off her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. It wasn't unlike him to call her right after they parted so she expected it to be him.

"Hey..." she said softly.

Vincent sucked in a sharp breath.

"Hello?" she pulled the phone away from her face to look at the number on the screen. She gasped slightly. "Vincent?"

He was still leaning up against that tree frozen by the affect her scent had on him. How he was even able to call her like this was beyond him.

"Vincent." she said more firmly. "If you don't say anything I'm going to hang up."

Her threat when right over his head as he stood in silence.

"Goodbye Vin..."

"No..." he spoke suddenly and then there was another period of silence. "I...I'm sorry, Vivina...but I...will always...watch." with that said he cut the line abruptly.

The sound of the sudden click made her jump slightly. Well at least it was confirmed... She thought as she tossed her phone aside. A small smirk tugged at her lips as she wondered how long he'd be able to watch her with officer Preston before he eventually gave in and interfered.

Vincent closed his eyes trying to ignore the pain twisting his heart. He would have to let her go... He'd have to watch her find someone else. He'd have to watch her walk down the aisle to join another man at the altar. He'd see her with her stomach swollen with the life of another man's child inside her. He'd notice the first grey strand life would stain her hair with. He'd be watching her children too. He knew that after all her mistakes, she'd be a better parent and raise level headed successful young adults. He'd see her first grandchild. He swallowed hard as he thoughts progressed. He'd still be watching as old age took its toll on her. He'd watch her funeral from afar. His eyes shifted to Lucrecia tomb stone. And when she was buried he'd spend every day watching over it until he could feel her soul enter the world through a new being. However, he could never interfere again. At least that is what he would keep telling himself.