Chapter 5.
The young man leaned against the wall as he waited for her to arrive. The night was slightly cool, what with being close to the mountains. He brushed aside a lock of his black hair and frowned, wishing she would hurry. He'd be rather upset if she couldn't show tonight..something that wasn't a rare occurrence. Something caught his attention in this distance, and he held his breath to listen. Yes, someone was coming. He peeked his head around the corner and grinned slightly, despise himself. It was her.
She ran as fast as the silent night would allow her, trying not to make too much noise from her footfalls. She rounded a corner and sighed with relief; there was the corner, finally. She unconsciously fixed her hair and straightened her clothes out as she slowed to a walk.
"Vincent! Are you there..?" She said softly into the darkness.
"Yes, Lucricia..I'm right here. Come" She did as commanded and walked into the small ally, grinning as she saw the tall, raven haired man.
"I'm sorry it took me so long, Vince..Hojo wanted to work late tonight, though…I would've tried sooner, bu-" Vincent cut her off with a finger pressed softly against her lips as he smiled.
"It's quite all right, my dear. I'm just glad you finally made it.." He said, as he took her by her slender waist and drew her to him. God, how he loved the way she felt against him…how he loved this woman.
She giggled softly and pulled away from him, taking a few steps back. "So, what shall we do tonight?"
He eyed her for a moment and laughed; she was the only person that could make him do so. "Oh, I don' t know, Lucrecia..what is there to do in this awful little town?" He paused, to see what he reaction was. She simply grinned up at him, obviously making him choose their actions for the night. "We could go to my room at the Inn, you know. Find something to do there..what do you think?" Her eyes brightened at the idea.
"Sounds like a plan to me…let's go." She grabbed his hand and dragged him through the streets, eying the mansion a bit nervously. "What do you think he'd do if he found us out, Vincent?"
He peered at the Mansion himself and frowned. "I don't know, Lucrecia..let us hope he never does." She nodded her head and walked up to the Inn door.
"Do you think they'd tell him, if they saw us, Vincent? The Innkeeper, I mean.." She looked worriedly at the Inn and then to Vincent, her blue eyes slightly frightened.
"No. I don't think so. Anyways, would Professor Hojo waste his time on such lowly beings, when he could be researching this project of his?" He smiled inwardly, seeing that he had quelled her fears. The tall man opened the door and allowed her in first, then closed it behind them.
"C'mon, lets go." She nodded her head and followed him up the stairs to his room. He led her inside by his hand and smiled. "Here at last..just you and I, my love."
"Yes, just you and I.." She pulled him to her by his belt and kissed him softly, wrapping her small arms around his neck. She broke the kiss and moved her arms to his waist, nestling her head on his chest. "Vincent, I love you so much.."
His sky blue eyes misted for a moment as he heard her says that, and he kissed her hair soft brown hair gently "I love you too, Lucrecia.."
Feeling a bit embarrassed by her show of emotions, she pushed him away and onto his bed, grinning. The mischievous girl walked over and straddled the man.
"So let's use this time alone, shall we?"
Vincent laughed and nodded his consent. "I see no reason not to.." he said, as he pulled her down to him to kiss her.
What happened from that moment on, would change both of their lives forever.
* * *
Outside, a man with oily black hair and black rimmed glasses sneered. His Lucrecia! Going into that Inn with that..that stupid mute of a Turk! He seethed. Oh, how he hated other human beings. But yes, the both of them would get their rewards. He chuckled softly, thinking of what experiments he could perform on the silent Turk. He decided he'd wait outside until the little slut of a scientist came out of the building. What a surprise the both of them would get.
He looked at his watch and cursed. How long did it take for them to have their little fun? Finally, the door to the Inn cracked open a minute and a sliver of light pooled outside. He watched in anticipation and grinned maliciously when the two figures emerged. Both had their hair tousled which angered him quite a bit. He pushed the thought in the back of his head for the moment, though. He had matters to attend to.
With unhuman like grace, he slipped out of the shadows and advanced on the couple. The two chatted merrily, but he would put a stop to that. Now.
"So, my dear, dear Lucrecia..what have we here?" he said in his oily voice, which was tinged with a coldness not many could match.
Both of the lovers froze at the sound of that voice. It couldn't be. It just couldn't be! How!? Lucrecia slowly turned herself around and swallowed, shaking violently. Vincent did the same, but he managed to retain his stoic appearance. "H-Hojo..I..this isn't how it looks..really, it isn't. We just wanted to have a chat." The girl licked her lips as she continued, knowing the both of them would pay dearly for what had transpired. " I, uh, I don't get a lot of contact with other people, and it-"
"Stop lying to me right now, you little slut. Go back to the Mansion. I will deal with you later.." he grew horribly angry as he watched the girl stand there, unsure of what to do. She turned her wide eyes to Vincent, who didn't turn to look at her. He kept his blue eyes on the man before them. Hojo could have killed them both right then, but he needed this woman…and he'd have fun with this Turk. " I said GO!" She turned and ran back towards the Mansion, the tears streaming hotly down her cheeks.
Vincent tore his gaze away from Hojo as he watched Lucrecia run, and his jaw twitched with the anger he was feeling. How dare he speak to his love as if she were some piece of trash found on the streets of Midgar. He turned his piercing eyes back to Hojo and simply stood there. He was at a major disadvantage; He had left his gun inside. He silently cursed at himself. He was torn away from his thoughts as he heard a sickening laughter.
"Haha…hahahha…I hope the both of you realize what you've gotten yourselves into. It all means more fun for me, of course. Know this, though. You will pay for your actions, Valentine. And you, fool, will live with it all of your life." Hojo was slowly approaching Vincent as he said all this, and he was pulling out a syringe at the same time.
Vincent was completely unaware of the needle waiting to pierce his skin as Hojo came to stand right in front of him. The smell of the mans breath was almost unbearable, but he with stood it.
"And Lucrecia..ah, yes, dear Lucrecia…she will suffer the most lonely and painful death one could ever imagine!" Hojo screamed as he jammed the needle into Vincent's abdomen.
Vincent doubled over and everything went black as he heard the cynical laughter in the background, slowly fading away as the blackness swept over him. But one thought remained. One and one alone.
Lucrecia.
· * *
He moaned and tried to roll over to shield his eyes from the bright light, but found he couldn't. In spite of the bright lights, and of his brain screaming at him, he opened his eyes and waited for them to adjust. In the meantime, he took in his surrounding by what he could feel. The room he was in was cold, as was what he was laying on. What was it, anyways? Metal? Yes, indeed, it was metal. And those things around his wrists and ankles? Chains. Where was he…? And what was he doing here? His eyes had adjusted by now, and so he looked around. He could see he was in a small white room, strapped down to a table. On one of the walls there was a large window. He winced as his head throbbed. What was that annoying sound? Machines…yes, they were machines. What was he doing here!? All he could remember was seeing someone running away, and something horrible that had happened……Lucrecia! He remembered now. The whole thing..the two making love, and then walking outside only to find Hojo. Hojo walking up to him and stabbing him with a syringe. His mind raced. He was in his lab for sure, probably on an operating table. But what of Lucrecia? He was scared to think of it. He strained his muscles to break free of the chains, but winced as he felt needles that were stuck in him. God, he had to get out! The raven-haired man ignored the pain of the needles and tried, but to no avail. He let out a sigh of defeat and looked around, wondering what he could do.
How could he have been so stupid! He let the only thing he loved, the only being he loved, be taken away by some cynical scientist! How he loathed himself.
Vincent snapped his eyes over to the side of the room as a door opened up, and in walked Professor Hojo. This was the one man he loathed the most. The one man that had ruined everything in such a small amount of time. His once placid face now turned to one of hatred.
"Ah, you've finally awoken, I see. Good then. No fun to do research, if the specimen is asleep." He laughed gaily as he pressed some buttons on some machines and then finally sat down in a chair. "Now then, Valentine, we both know I've never much liked you..but now, I simply hate you. And to express that, I'm going to try something new with you. But in any case, before we start, I'd like to update you on your dear Lucrecia, since you shan't be seeing her any more after this. Well, she's pregnant. With your child. See, you've been out for a few weeks. Any ways, she has…agreed to let me use this child for the Jenova Project. Now, I will inject this child with Jenova cells as it grows. This will most likely poison your beloved, but she is not aware of that. And she also thinks she shall be able to see and hold the child. Only way I could get her to agree to this. Genius, isn't it? And to top it all off, this magnificent child shall be considered mine. Because he –will- be magnificent. And I cannot have you taking credit for this, now can I? No. Well, with all of that explained, time to start, Valentine!"
For the first time he could remember, he let the tears roll down his cheeks. He could have done something. He could have. He could have taken her away. But, no. She insisted on staying and helping with the project. His child. His child was going to be used as Hojo's toy. And Lucrecia. His beautiful, smart, perfect Lucrecia. So unaware of what was to come.
Right then, he wanted to die. He wanted to just give up and die. But, once again, no. Hojo would not allow him that luxury. And also at that moment, he swore to himself. Hojo would pay. Somehow.
· * *
Vincent bolted up and was breathing rapidly. Realizing it was only a dream, he sank back down into the soft pillows and sighed, running a hand over his face. The pale moonlight filtered in through the clear glass of the window and was splayed across his covers. He had that dream every night. It haunted him, that memory. Laying back on his pillow, he thought of his love once again. The woman that he swore to revenge. Even as he promised he would try to forget her, he found that she would never really leave his mind.
He couldn't imagine what tortures the poor woman must have gone through, until her body finally just gave up. Closing his eyes tightly, he exhaled and crossed his hands over his hard stomach. Perhaps sleep would take him. Perhaps.
* * *
Vincent woke to a rude fist being slammed into his head. Slowly, the man opened his crimson eyes and focused on the spiky haired youth. "Cloud..what time is it?"
"Time to go, Vince! That's what time….c'mon, get your ass up. We need to go eat and then finally we can leave." After making sure the older man was awake, Cloud busted out of the room and went downstairs to devour the wonderful breakfast Shera had prepared.
Vincent took a while longer. Why was he so tired? He didn't much care. He had gotten a good nights sleep. He pushed himself up on his elbows and peered around the room, frowning. Looking to the window, he took note of the pale sunlight. Just a short while after dawn. Good then. He slid out of bed and ran a rough hand through his long raven coloured hair as he walked out into the hall.
On hearing Vincent's arrival, Shera set down his plate of food on the table and waited on him. Cid simply rolled his eyes as he smoked that seemingly eternal cigarette of his. Cloud didn't really seem to notice as he continued stuffing food into his mouth.
"Good Morning, Vincent. Eat all you want. We've plenty here." Shera commented happily. Vincent took his seat and nodded his thanks, picking at the food carefully.
"So, you guys gonna borrow my baby, huh? I suppose that's okay..you two actually stay tonight?" Vincent cast his eyes over to Cloud and frowned. The boy wouldn't be able to wait another day.
"No, Cid. We'll be leaving soon after breakfast. I don't think Cloud can contain himself for another day." Vincent smirked as he saw Cloud snap his head over in Vincent's direction.
"Keep your mouth shut, Vincent. Can't help if I wanna go right now."
"Yea, yea, I know. I was only kidding, anyways.
"….Right…..all right, well, I'll be heading upstairs to get ready! It was great, Shera. Thanks. And you too, Cid. You have no idea how much this means to me!" He jumped out of his chair and trotted upstairs. They all three shook their heads. He was an odd one.
"So, Cid..explain the rules for your little baby."
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Okay, so this chap was a little..sad, wouldn't you say? Haha. I really wanted to capture what those two felt, so, I dunno. Reviews, please!