A/N: I am soooooooooo sorry this took so long! For those of you who waited, thank you so much! You rock!

Alright here's the deal with this, and this is important!!! THE BOLD ITALICS ARE WHAT IT SAYS ON VAUGHN'S PROPHECY!! READ THOSE WORDS!! DO NOT SKIP OVER THEM OR YOU WILL MISS A HUGE PLOT POINT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lol ok on that note, enjoy the chapter (even though I definitely think it's the weakest in this fic so far)  and please review. :-)

Oh, one more thing- the prophecy is written in Italian at first. I don't know a word of the language, I used an online translator. Forgive me for how horribly wrong it probably is. Lol.

***

Written in Blood Part Four~ "Sure to Fade"

I never really know
A killer from a savior
'Til I break at the bend
We're here and now.
Will we ever be again
Cause I have found
All that shimmers in 
this world is sure to fade
~ Fuel~ "Shimmer"

Syd POV

"Oh... my... God..." I whispered, blinking furiously in hopes that what I was seeing was a figment of my imagination. No such luck.

I glanced carefully over at Vaughn for a reaction, but he showed nothing. He simply unwrapped the paper towel from his hand. It was now soaked with his blood. He brought it to the parchment and rubbed it carefully over the blank spaces. Gradually but amazingly, the rest of the words began to appear.

I leaned over his shoulder as we read the words. Scrawled in the familiar Italian hand, they looked as though they were written in a hurry, as though Rambaldi had wanted to get out the words as quickly as possible.

Questo uomo illustrato qui su questa pagina sarà sopportato entro l'undicesimo mese, quando il vento glassato riflette il coolness amaro del suo futuro passato e distante.

Disprezzato dalle perdite da lungamente fa, la diffidenza sarà il suo fortress; rabbia, la sua distruzione crescente.

Il suo cuore sanctified soltanto da amore immortal dato a e guadagnato da quello abbastanza forte per ottenerlo.

Questa donna è lei, l'uno che la sua rabbia burning sarà acquietata dalla sua passione undying, poichè il suo rancore è facilitato da suo. Affronteranno insieme i pericoli mortali di questo mondo; combatteranno congiuntamente all'estremità victorious.

Tuttavia, la sua nerezza mai d'espansione, unbeknownst, continuare a fiorire ed impel lui per portare sull'estremità acrimonious. La sua anima macchierà per sempre la sua carne, lui il executioner dell'amore che ha sigillato le giunture del suo cuore.

La sua punizione sarà di vagare la terra per tutti gli suoi anni, isolata e stinging degli scars a sinistra entro gli decadi tutto il troppo crudeli.

Slowly, I pieced together the words in English in my mind. Vaughn was doing the same, his brow furrowed. As the meaning of the writings came together, my heart began to pound. "It's..." I trailed off, trying to find a word to describe the meaning. "It's... bullshit."

"It has to be..." Vaughn agreed as he finished translating.

Shock and disbelief were surging through my system, but I tried to shove them away. "It is," I confirmed. "Just like mine was."

For another moment, neither of us said anything, trying to convince ourselves that my words were true. Then he turned his head and looked hard at me, his green eyes deep with sincerity. "So what do we do?"

I sighed and shook my head, closing my eyes to think for a minute. "We can't report this to Kendall... especially not Kendall. He'll just do to you what they did to me. And there's no way in hell we're putting up with that."

"So you're saying we just..."

"Let it go," I agreed. "This stays between us until we figure something out."

He looked at me for a second, as if unsure. Then he nodded. "Okay."

The sudden silence was overwhelming.

Then, pinching the corner of the parchment between his thumb and index finger, he carefully moved it off the counter and brought it to his mantel. He set it there hidden slyly under a leather bound dictionary.

When he was done, he turned to face me. I instinctively shoved an imaginary hair behind my ear then jammed my hands into my jean pockets and averted my gaze to the floor. Another minute went by before either of us said anything.

"So..." Vaughn finally spoke up. "It's late... want to sleep?"

I looked up again and smiled, then nodded. "Okay."

He beckoned me into his room and rummaged through a drawer. His hands emerged with some folded fabrics between them. Sweat pants and a gray t-shirt. He handed them to me. "Bathroom's right down the hall," he instructed softly, gesturing.

"Ok."

After changing in the bathroom, I stepped quietly into the bedroom and found Vaughn lying, seemingly asleep, on the bed, darkness cloaking him.

Silently, I climbed up next to him and pulled the comforter over me. I turned on my side to face Vaughn, surprised to realize that his green eyes, one still slightly bruised and swollen, were staring back at me.

"You should sleep," I whispered to him, feeling like an overprotective mother worried about her chicken pox- ridden toddler.  

This man illustrated here upon this page shall be born within the eleventh month, when the frosted wind reflects the bitter coolness of his past and distant future.

"I'm okay..." he insisted quietly, finding my hand under the covers.

I stared at him another minute, the rush of emotions that had been brewing in me all night reflected in his eyes. Slowly, I leaned forward and let my lips softly touch his, then leaned back as his arms closed around me.

Scorned by losses from long ago, distrust shall be his fortress; anger, his growing destruction.

His heart shall only be sanctified by immortal love given to and gained by the one strong enough to obtain it.

My mind ran through the events of the day as I gave him a small smile and closed my eyes. This was surreal. Just this morning, I'd been excited about sitting in the same movie theater as him. Now we were here... and I can't describe everything I'm feeling.

I was insanely happy. I was happy and... overwhelmed. My life is not happy. This is a fact I've come to terms with after twenty-eight years of denial. My life doesn't have rewards for my struggles, and fairy tail endings exist for me only in memories of childhood books.

Yet there I was, lying beside this wonderful, perfect man who loved me in return, even though the blood that runs through my veins comes directly from a woman who took so much from him. He should hate me, but he doesn't. And the exuberance I gain from that confuses me.

This woman is she, the One. Her burning anger shall be quelled by his undying passion, as his resentment is eased by hers. Together they shall face this world's mortal dangers; they shall fight hand in hand to the victorious end.

There was only one thought bothering me, only one thing that could penetrate the force of joy I held. The prophecy. The one that we had decoded just an hour ago. Using Vaughn's blood. Vaughn's blood. That's what scared me the most about it. How could it truly be BS? The man shown and described on it had revealed the words... with his blood.  His blood.

And what it had said about us... about what would happen to us. But... it couldn't be true, could it? There was no way... no way in hell what it said was going to happen... could actually happen.

However, his ever expanding darkness will, unbeknownst, continue to bloom, and it will impel him to bring upon the acrimonious end. Her blood will stain his flesh forever, he the executioner of the love that sealed the seams of his heart.

We hadn't spoken the words yet, but I knew. I knew that Vaughn loved me and I loved him, just as the prophecy said.

But the prophecy also said... that he would... he would kill me. That his anger about what my mother did to his family would grow so greatly that it would eventually lead him to murder me. The thought seemed preposterous. But what were we supposed to believe?

This is Vaughn we're talking about... your friend, your confidant... your guardian angel. I told myself this over and over as I drifted off to sleep, yet somehow I was still uneasy. Something about the words... something about this whole situation... would not settle with me.

"Syd..." I heard Vaughn mutter softly in his state of almost-sleep, and his arms tightened around my waist. I looked over at him again. This was ridiculous. There was no way in hell that the person lying next to me, making me feel so safe and protected, could ever intentionally hurt me.

And with those thoughts in mind and images of Vaughn peaceful resting form in my head, I finally drifted off into a hazy state of unconsciousness.

His punishment shall be to roam the earth for all his years, isolated and stinging of the scars left by all too cruel decades. 

***

A/N: Alright you probably all want to kill me now because of that beautiful little prophecy... congrats to those of you who guessed beforehand what it predicted. Please review will negative or positive, constructive criticism is always good, especially since I know this wasn't my best chapter ever. Lol.