Meryl let out a horrid gasp as her eyes flew open. She sat up in bed, catching her breath. The sound of her heart pounding in her ears faded away slowly as she wiped the sweat from her forehead onto the sleeve of her long nightshirt. She shifted her gaze around the room, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness surrounding her. Swiftly she pulled back the sheets, swung her legs out and placed her bare feet on the cold floor. The wood creaked under her as she made her way across the room to the window. She leaned on the windowsill, staring out into the gloomy night. Her breath collected in a small cloud on the pane in front of her.
Even as much as she wished it to be, the dream that had just awoken her was not just a horrible nightmare. It was a memory, an eerily real remembrance that seemed to be haunting her mind. No matter how many years went by, it was still there, and she relived the pain of that day over and over again in the form of that nightmare. It had been a horrible day, the day that December was destroyed. That day all she thought she knew had come crashing down around her, the day that she had been left alone in the world. Her emotions swelled painfully inside of her. As she bit back the tears that threaten to fall, she came to a conclusion:
"I need a drink," Meryl muttered thickly to the window.
Still surrounded by the dark, she turned form the window and made her way across the room. She grabbed a pair of loose fitting sweatpants off the back of a chair and put them on. Then she slipped on her slippers and headed out the door of her room.
The town of Ridelle was small and quiet. The only place to stay there was a quaint tavern in the middle of town. As Meryl walked downstairs from her room into the bar, she realized that it must have been quite late, since only a few stragglers still remained of the earlier crowd. A few shady looking men huddled in the corner, discussing something of importance to them. Another man sat hunched over the bar. He wore a tattered, dirty cloak that masked his face in darkness, and hid his sulking form beneath it. Meryl sat a few seats over from the cloaked man. The bartender, who also happened to be the owner of the tavern, smiled at her as she took her seat at the bar.
"What'll it be, Miss Stryfe?"
"Whatever you recommend, as long as it's got alcohol in it." She could feel the eyes of the cloaked man glance at her as she spoke.
"You got it," said the bartender as he went to get her drink. He came back a few minutes later and placed the drink on the counter in front of her. Meryl reached into her pocket, pulled out some money and placed it on the counter. The bartender pushed it back towards her.
"It's on the house," he said kindly.
Meryl looked up in surprise, and then smiled weakly at him. "Thank you."
The bartender smiled back, turning to the cloaked man to refill his glass.
Meryl took a shot of her drink, letting the bitter liquid glide down her throat. She stared down into her glass, silent as a shadow. As the group from the corner dispersed, one of the men came over to the bar and ordered a drink. She noticed the satellite playing a strange song, one that should have faded long ago into nothingness, yet somehow had been found again.
As the song ended, the DJ began to talk about nothing in particular. The bartender brought the man from the corner his drink, and also brought the cloaked man his, along with a plain looking sandwich.
"And I guess that's why black cats like to meow at night so much." The DJ laughed obnoxiously at his own joke. "And now we go to the latest new updates that actually have some importance! Alrighty then let's what's first..." the DJ cleared his throat and his voice abruptly became more somber. "Funeral services were held today for the 16 victims of the shooting in the town of Norose last week. No arrest has yet been made in this shooting. Any-"
The man from the corner's voice broke in over the DJ's. "Y'know what I heard about those shootin's?"
The bartender turned to him. "What've ya heard, Jim?"
"I heard that it was that outlaw Vash the Stampede that done the killin's. That's what some of the witnesses say anyways."
"Makes sense," said the bartender, nodding in agreement. "He is the one who destroyed July, Augusta, and December. A little town like that would he nothin' to-"
Meryl sighed. "Vash the Stampede did not attack Norose or December."
The two men speaking looked towards Meryl in surprise. The cloaked man halted before he took a bite of the sandwich piece in his hand, and stuck there. "Oh?" Jim said, breaking the awkward silence. "An' how would you know that, missy?"
"Because..." Meryl's confidence faltered. "I- I was there, in Norose. I saw the man who did it, and it was not Vash the Stampede."
The men stared at her in shock. "But how'd you know that it wasn' Vash the Stampede?" Jim asked.
"Because I... I've seen the real Vash the Stampede before. And even though that man from Norose looked like Vash, it wasn't really him."
An arid stillness hung in the room. The bartender swallowed slowly. "Well, I'm very sorry to hear that you had to witness that..."
Meryl stayed silent. It took all of her willpower to stop her emotions from showing.
'Did you know any of the people who died in Norose or December?"
A flash of painful images stung Meryl's mind. "No, no one—"
"Wait a minute," interjected Jim. "D'ya mean t'say that you're also in December when it was destroyed?"
Meryl flinched. "Y-yes, I was."
"So... that man from Norose... the Vash impostor... is he the one who destroyed December, too?"
Meryl bowed her head, trying to hide the sorrow in her eyes. "Yes," she said dejectedly.
The bartender glared angrily at the man from the corner. "Knock it off will ya Jim—!"
The sound of porcelain scrapping wood entered Meryl's ears. She suddenly noticed that the area of the bar in front of her was now occupied by a plate- with the cloaked man's untouched sandwich on it.
"Here, take it. You seem like you need this more than I do..." Meryl stared at the plate. "If you eat it, it'll make you feel better..." The cloaked man's voice was cracked and raspy, as if he had spent too much time in the desert swallowing sand. Meryl looked up in time to watch the man place some crumpled bills on the bar and head out the front door to the street beyond.
The bartender let out a huff. "Well, now..." he said questioningly, turning away from the door.
Meryl kept staring at the closed door, her mind trying to decipher the strange feeling of deja-vu that had just assailed her at the sound of the man's voice. Forcefully she turned her eyes away from the door to the sandwich that now sat on the counter in front of her. She picked up a piece and scrutinized it.
"Wouldn't eat that if I was you," came Jim's voice. "Might be... poisoned."
Meryl decided she's take her chances and bit into it. She chewed it slowly, her mind still trying to process the voice of the cloaked man. The sandwich was quite plain tasting she realized. The bread seemed soggy, and the filling wasn't really to her liking.
The filling...
Meryl's eyes widened and a look of shock prevailed over her face. The bartender looked at Meryl's changed expression and frowned.
"Miss Stryfe, are you okay?"
"Salmon..." It was the last word Meryl uttered before she leaped off her chair and raced out the door.
The bartender blinked in confusion. "Well, I missed something, that's for sure..."
The night was cool, serene. The world was lit with the silvery glow of the moons as they made their nightly trek across the deep blue sky. The only thing that stirred in the blanket of silence was a man, trudging through town. He made his way toward the open desert, a slight feeling of guilt plaguing his tormented heart. He wished that he could have stayed here longer, but he knew that was impossible. He was an outsider, an exile to society, sentenced to wander aimlessly for eternity. He went anywhere, and stayed nowhere long. This was the sentence he placed upon himself for what he had done.
"Vash!"
Impulsively, he stopped. It was the same voice that had driven him out of the bar, the one he knew he had to get away from. But now, there was nowhere to run...
Slowly, he turned.
She stood there, illuminated by the moonlight, the silver glow reflecting in her dark eyes.
"Excuse me?" he said, trying his hardest to keep his voice steady.
"Were you really going to leave without saying anything?" Her hushed voice resonated with pain and frustration.
"What do you mean?" He said, feigning innocence.
She sighed, "Vash..."
"What? You think I'm Vash? I'm not Vash." His voice sounded so foreign that he almost believed himself. He turned away from her and began to walk away. He should be gone by now. He was putting her in danger by just even speaking to her.
"That is such a load of crap and you know it!" the velocity of her voice staggered him. He stopped, but did not turn to face her again.
"Why do you think that I'm Vash the Stampede?"
There was silence for a moment. "The sandwich you gave me..." her voice was so quiet it was almost inaudible. "It was salmon. That's your favorite kind..." she trailed off.
He stood in shock. She remembered that? He swallowed his emotions and asked, "Why do you want to find Vash so badly?"
"Because..." She sighed. "I need to tell him something. Something important."
There was silence between the two. He waited, seeing if she would say anything.
"Vash... Millie's dead," Meryl managed to choke out.
Vash's eyes widened in disbelief. He turned around violently towards Meryl. "What?"
Meryl bowed her head slightly. "She was with me in December and didn't make it out before..." again she couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence.
Vash gaped at her. "But, you told the people at the bar you didn't know anyone who—"
"I lied, Vash," she let herself vent some of her built up aggravation. "I didn't want their pity."
"Oh, but you do want mine?" An ember of frustration flickered within Vash as well.
Meryl's eyes flashed with venom. "You want to know what happened? Millie wasn't killed when the city was destroyed. Your... charlatan shot her. Once in the shoulder and in each leg and probably in other places that I didn't have time to notice!"
That's almost exactly like I shot him... Vash thought in horror.
"Knives..." he snarled quietly.
There was silence for a moment. "I thought so..." Vash looked at Meryl as she spoke, a painful expression glazed in her eyes. He sighed and turned away again.
"I thought I did it, Meryl. I thought I had been able to stop him without having to sink to his level. I told my self I was going to get back to town with him as fast as possible and was not going to stop. But eventually I became so exhausted that I had to rest. I guess... I guess I fell asleep, I really don't know. But what I do know is that when I woke up, Knives was standing there, with both of our guns with him and my red coat, all of which I had left behind. He turned to me slightly, and smiled... That was all I saw before I blacked out. He must've hit me on the head while I was asleep, and I didn't even notice. Then, I heard his voice in my head, saying, 'You will pay for underestimating me, Vash. As your punishment, I will make your life a living hell.'" Vash paused. "Everything he's done since has been just that: punishment."
Neither one said anything for a while. There was nothing they felt they could.
"I-I got a letter," Meryl began out of the silence. "From my boss. It said that Vash the Stampede was caught and that I should return to the main office immediately." Vash turned to her, a questioning look in his eyes. "But when I looked at the date, I realized that it wasn't possible, because you had still with us then. So I sent my boss a letter saying so. A few weeks later, I got another letter instructing Millie and myself to return there. And I sent him another reply, saying that I would stay there and wait for you to come back. I received one final letter telling us to go back to the main office." Meryl sighed. "I kept the first two letters from Millie, since I didn't want her to loose hope," Sadness reeled within her again. "I guess, maybe I should've..." Her voice was much more somber. "That's why we were in December when it was destroyed."
"How did you know that they didn't mess up the date or something?" Vash asked incredulously.
"Because... I just knew, Vash," Meryl said.
Silence reigned over the moonlit figures. Meryl lowered her eyes. "So, what are you going to do now, Vash?"
Vash closed his eyes and breathed out slowly. "What do you expect me to do, Meryl?"
Meryl looked back up at him, and her old confidence seemed to return to her momentarily. "You know what."
Vash frowned. Of course he knew. He was expected to find his brother and stop him. The real question was how...
"You're the only one who can stop him, Vash," Meryl said, her voice becoming quiet again. "If you don't, more people might end up like Millie..."
"How do you know I won't mess up again?" Vash challenged calmly.
"Because," said Meryl, a fiery look beginning to burn in her eyes. "I'm coming with you."
Vash started in shock. "What? You can't! It's too dangerous!"
"You really think I care, Vash? And besides, I saw once before and he didn't kill me then. Maybe I can be that lucky again."
"But—" Vash insisted.
"I am coming with you and that's final!" Meryl shouted in his face.
Vash staggered backwards. "Y-yes ma'am!"
Meryl calmed herself down. "I don't want to loose you again."
Vash smiled. "You won't. I promise."
OMG Im so so so so so so so so (SOOOOOOOOOOO) sorry about the long delay! I had no idea that this would take me so friggin long! But, its finally finish and that's all that matters right? I could rant about what happened in the past 2 months that caused this delay, but its boring so I wont bore u. Oh and I hope that none of u read my reviews before reading this chapter, cuz a certain person gave away the identity of Vash's imposter... nice job Rune (lol). And yes I must thank trigirl48 for her review, cuz its what inspired me to finish this today! High five! ooooo see? That's all ya'lls incentive to review, cuz it makes me feel luved! And I know that ppl are actually reading this. So... go! Now! Before u forget! ;-P