EDITED: 1/25/06 – 1/30/06

Tremble in fear, I have returned!

Sorry this took so long… Exams, holidays, etc. helped hinder the chapter along with just pure laziness… But, it's done!

That little note I wrote is now gone along with the block. Thank you Gaia Faye and SaddenedSoul for kindly slapping me back to my senses!

As you all may well know, Henry, Eileen, etc. and all other related stuff belongs to KONAMI. Also, "The Hardest Part" is owned by Coldplay. Haley and Brad, along with the AntiSacrament concept belong to me.

The warnings are the same: gore, spoilers, a death… blah, blah, blah. You know, those with weak constitutions have to leave the site, yada, yada, yada…Well, surely it won't be too bad…

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The Hardest Part

Chapter Seven: Everything is Torn Apart…

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"So… what did you think of Henry?"

Brad Caulns glanced over to his girlfriend, Eileen, and hid a grimace that tried to form on his handsome face. He wanted to tell her how much he despised Mr. Townshend and the young college student who barely gave him change enough to walk through the door before her mind was set on hating him but he held his tongue long enough to form a 'kind' response. "He was… all right…" he murmured unsurely as to what he wanted to say and what she wanted to hear. The blond was still trying to play his cards right to one day marrying the brunette and to say something that would offend her and her 'friend' would put too much at stake. "That girl… Heather, was it?"

"Haley… Haley Oren," Eileen answered with a big grin, obliviously happy that neither men would be jealous of the other if they became friends. She never wanted to hurt Henry, but she didn't want to harm anyone else, either, so the news that Brad thought somewhat 'well' of the photographer meant a lot to her.

… But why did she feel kind of… sad that Henry barely even spoke throughout the luncheon? Why did she want Henry to be jealous? It baffled her mind immeasurably and she racked on the thought for several minutes as silence entered the car. The lunch didn't exactly go as she had planned; Henry was supposed to openly admit that he didn't like Brad and act possessive of her… and Haley was supposed to sit there in a neutral position, not quite caring that the two men were about to fight over another girl. But none of that happened… the brunet male just sat there, picking at his food depressingly… Brad just talked and laughed with his girlfriend… and the Southern glared heated daggers at the hotel manager the entire time.

…

Why was she so disheartened by her friend's reaction to her beau? Why did she even care if Brad was accepted or not? Yes, she was happy that they 'got along,' but still… the brunette had hoped that Henry would proclaim something that he had kept hidden from her… in front of everyone.

"Eileen?"

The one in question almost jumped in her seat when her thoughts were abruptly cut short by the man driving. Gaining her ground, she gave him an assuring smile before leaning back into her seat, watching the gray scene rush in front of her. The city seemed to stay cold and ashened now. Everything seemed so dismal and quiet as if all life had been sucked from every person and object in Ashfield. It just depressed her, mostly, not being able to see but a few glances of it behind a cloud every once in a while before hiding behind the ashy clouds again.

Henry's mood today hadn't helped her mood either…

"That Henry guy didn't really look to well today, did he?" came a question that if listened to closely, one would pick up the tad bit of triumph seeping in it. However, Eileen didn't catch anything in the tone and just shrugged in response, sighing afterwards. "I wished he at least looked up at me… he has such wonderful eyes…" Eileen murmured sadly and Brad heard the melancholy she was feeling soak the words.

"Oh, well…" he said through gritted teeth as his hands tightened on the steering wheel in anger… He glanced over to his partner to find a trace of love and dissatisfaction glimmering in her emerald eyes.

-

"You bastard! You stole her from me!"

Henry grunted as another punch connected harshly against his stomach, causing him to instinctively lurched forward and protect his lower abdomen. Harsh hisses of breath could be heard from the man now towering above him as the brunet fell to his knees bruised and beaten. He knew (somewhat) why Brad had literally stomped into his apartment and begin to literally beat the living daylights out of him while screaming 'you stole her, you stole her' all the while. He figured it dealt with Eileen and, somehow, someway, Mr. Caulns figured out that the poor photographer had a bit of more 'affection' than he would have liked, deciding that he had to 'reinstate' who Eileen's love belonged to. Although… the pained brunet was trying to come up with an idea at how he could have taken Eileen away from the rich, handsome, though stuck-up man and how Brad found out where he lived!

Henry's harsh panting was all that met his ears for a moment or two, but then his strangled hiss accompanied the labored breaths as the hotel manager abhorrently grabbed his short, brown hair, forcing the slightly younger man to tilt his head back so their eyes could meet. Grimacing as if male kneeling before him was a dirty and disgusting lowlife, Brad leaned down close enough to where Henry could feel the heated breath against his sweaty skin. "I don't see why Eileen associates with you… I have so much more than you; looks… popularity among the famous… money," he sneered maliciously as he gleefully noted the flinch twitch across those emerald eyes. Chuckling lowly, the taller man brought his other hand up so his fingers could ghost across the photographer's chin almost adoringly. "Just about the only thing you have that I would die for… are those pretty little eyes of yours. They show so much emotion; more than I bet you wish to give away. I remember at that little 'luncheon' Eileen begged me to have with you and your… friend…" Brad hissed almost poisonously, recalling the vehement glares he kept getting from the student. But, he banished them completely, deciding that this quaint little mind game was so much more… fun. Grinning mischievously, he continued to torment his victim by pulling cruelly at the locks of hair in his strong grip. "Oh, how I wanted to rip those precious eyes from you so that they could be mine! Not even Eileen has such beautiful eyes…" Henry growled at the insult towards Eileen though it was more so to the 'weird compliments' he was receiving about his orbs. He kept quiet, though, knowing that Brad was more than capable of snapping into a powerful rage if provoked.

"But other than your eyes… I hate everything about you! It's your eyes that keep Eileen attached to you!" Brad yelled frustratingly, teeth clenched firmly as he remembered his girlfriend's furious words being screamed at him from the other end of the phone. It was his entire fault… this stupid man's fault that Eileen was angry at him! That she was now fuming at her mouth because her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend made the decision to tell her his opinion of her poor friend. He tugged harder on his captive's hair, earning a yelp of pain and surprise from the younger male. The hotel manager waited just a few seconds more before grinning insanely at the thought of getting rid of those perfect verdant eyes.

"…Maybe…" the blond began almost timidly, as if he were talking to a weeping child, "I'll beat those eyes out of you… then Eileen won't care for you anymore! She'll hate you just as much as I hate you! "

With that said, he raised his fist to punch Henry's cheek. Shutting his eyes tightly, the brunet braced himself, too frightened to fight back… since he was too scared to dare hurt someone Eileen loved. The tense silence prickled uneasily at his mind and he quietly awaited the pain that was to come…

But… it never came… Instead, there was a sickening gurgle sound coming from slightly above him and Henry risked a glance long enough to see blood pouring from Brad's mouth. Almost shrieking, he jerked away from the crimson fluid, feeling the dread that was occupied his mind when he wandered through the bloodied hallways and horrible forests of the Conjurer's 'imaginary world,' waiting for some grotesque creature to come and end the torture. The look of torment and panic as blood and life was drained from Brad stayed with him as his widened blue eyes watched Henry's alarmed one until the two orbs glazed over. As the corpse fell to the ground with a corpulent thud, Henry noticed the end of a blue trench coat shifted just a few inches away from him…

"Stupid Heretic…" said a familiar sounding young woman with a man's voice in the background of the words. The brunet immediately picked up on the male voice, remembering the last words he heard from the madman.

Walter… Oh, God, it was Walter…

Whimpering slightly as the familiar ache returned to his head, Henry slipped back a ways from the new figure standing before, intimidation and fear creeping along his back with its long, sharp claws just grazing at the skin. He shuddered, half of his mind screaming at him to run for his life while the other retorted by saying he wouldn't get too far. Memories of what had occurred almost a year ago freshly popped back in his mind and the brunet felt that same grim feeling that he would be murdered by a madman proclaiming his apartment was his Mother…

"Henry… Receiver of Wisdom…"

Henry's head jerked upward to yell to go to Hell, but his eyes met with a person that though wore the blood-stained blue coat, had almost no resemblance to Walter Sullivan at all. The only other thing he found were those cold, almost childish green eyes gazing at him affectionately as mottled spots of sanguine dotted the pale skin of her face. Remembering that those orbs were supposed to be a dark-chocolate brown, his surprise finally leaped out of him.

"Haley!"

A horrible grin toothily came across the girl's face, and Henry shuddered in fear of the intimidation and evil in it. Blood dripped sluggishly onto the corpse lying distortedly at her feet and all the while the woman dared not move. She just watched him desirably, as if he were some cute pet in a shop window waiting to be sold to a warm home, but instead of feeling some kind of happy feeling, Henry felt as if the 'child' watching him wanted to impale him on a spike. Though, instead of a spike or a spear in her hand, a large butcher's knife was clutched in her lithe grip, the steel tainted by Brad Caulns' blood.

The Receiver of Wisdom could only stare in terrible awe at the possessed child as one question transiently flickered in his mind: What happened to her?

No longer could Henry find any trace of gentleness or rebelliousness usually evident in her smile; instead, he found a cold pleasure in her eyes and smiled that was stimulated by the torture of others… namely, those He had hurt and killed. It was almost haunting, seeing her peer at him the way she was with her strange emerald eyes glinting with childish ambitions that she had never even perceived in her naïve mind until… He had returned… with nothing more to fuel him than the enjoyment that He would experience when the Mother Reborn's and the Receiver of Wisdom's stained His hands like all the other victims' had. However, the aura that Henry vaguely picked up on signaled that maybe…

He would enjoy Henry's death far more than all the others combined.

With that horrid revelation sticking grossly to his mind, the Receiver felt an icy shiver shock his spine as he reluctantly remembered all of the deaths he had seen done by the man in the coat. He remembered holding Cynthia as her eyes went dark and lifeless, watching Jasper burn and scream, staring upon Andrew's dead, floating corpse in the water… and trying so hard to find some way to help Richard as volts of white electricity convulsed through his body. Helpless… he was helpless to help even himself now. He had no nearby weapon of object to fight with since he could hardly bring himself to shift his weight anymore and he felt that couldn't bear the thought of hurting Haley… even if Walter now possessed her…

"We meet again, Receiver…Though, I would have liked to be in my own body, but seeing as you destroyed it-"

"Get out of her!" retorted the other.

Haley stopped, staring all the while at the brunet kneeling below her after he yelled at her. Not even feeling that it was worth avenging the interruption he had so deliberately added in, she raised the knife, feeling that it was time to finally end the war. And then, she would go and find the Mother Reborn… Eileen Galvin…the only other Sacrament that had eluded His attempts before with the help of the 'little, innocent' version of Himself and with the Receiver's help which forced Him to find the AntiSacrament while taking the risk that she would banish Him into oblivion… His own Hell, frozen with stabbing flames of fire and thoughts of how much wrong He had done to those who had fallen to their deaths by His hand… But He had gained her trust… compassion… and soon…

He would have her heart…

But first, He must deal with the Twenty-First Sacrament, and He would do so through the AntiSacrament's body…

"No… I don't think I will… You see, though I have admired your fiery determination and selfless sympathy for others, I hate you… more than that stupid Heretic that thought that he would be the one who would undo you…" she said spitefully, eyeing the corpse lying face-down as it idly welled sanguine from the nape wound. "But, fortunately, my sweet AntiSacrament hated him just as much, so I decided to help her with Her anger issue…I hope that maybe She'll see this and stop fighting Me…She'll see that I am capable of making Her life… better… and that I will make sure that She stays in this world to fulfill Her rightful Destiny!" She grinned wickedly, noting the glint of confusion forming in the emerald irises staring at her shockingly. Henry was bewildered to say the least, but there was the insane malice still manifesting in the now verdant slits glaring at him causing him to stand his ground and wait for some more cultish crap bellow from the two intertwined voices speaking it. "You're mad…" the brunet whispered softly to the girl who was still readied to strike. He couldn't help but feel sorry for Haley, who was being forced out mentally only to watch herself about to kill someone she knew.

A slight glint in her eyes showed that the other consciousness in the body was not taking this scene too quietly and a brief relieved smile traced Henry's lips. The Southern was rebelling, not all too happy that her emotions were messed with and manipulated but he was concerned that Walter would grow tired and annoyed with her logic and do away with so that He could fully control the AntiSacrament's corpulent form and use it for His needs. However, the man in the coat showed a wavering strength when the form He occupied fell to her knees.

The hand with the knife gripped in it shook terribly as Haley used what little control she had at the moment to throw it across the room where it banged against the wall before dropping to the floor. She began to pant, the physical form becoming exhausted as Haley took control, having thwarted Walter's presence long enough to possess her body. Nonetheless, the blond was fighting for control again, making the girl use all of her energy which left her holding her stomach and breaths becoming close to hyperventilation. Glancing up at Henry's frightened face, he saw that her eyes had reverted back to brown though they were dark with pain. The girl was struggling with the other entity in her mind and Haley knew she only had a few seconds before the relentless grip of the Conjurer returned…

"S-save…. Eileen!" she screamed pleadingly before clutching the sides of her head as the aching stab of Walter's aggression became more for her to bear. He was tearing her rebellious soul apart and with it, He was clawing unyieldingly at her hurt heart… All she could bring herself to do was help Henry get out of the Room before the blond slapped her back into the dark void of sub-consciousness and use her physical body despite how much it infuriated her at how weak she was compared to Him.

Green eyes flickered stoically to find the Receiver of Wisdom still kneeling there, watching her intently before standing up helplessly and jogging to the door. He stopped for a second or two, gazing hopelessly at his possessed friend who was now being forced to return to her feet. "You can break him, Haley… I know you can…" and with that, he proceeded to jogging out the door and down the hall, hoping that he would gain some ground between him and Walter so that he could set up a 'defense' for Eileen and him…

… While Walter moved the body throughout South Ashfield Heights, Haley felt the love and pity she had felt before for Walter swell for only a moment as she watched him follow Henry out of the building before it quelled itself back into her breast. Closing her eyes and accepting defeat, she succumb to this new Fate and wondered silently if she would fade into the Receiver some time soon so that the pain of the Conjurer's betrayal might go away… or that-.

… But she could only hope for such a merciful ending…

-

Eileen had jerked at the abrupt pounding on her apartment door and she grimaced, thinking that it might be Brad and his stupid antics to make her forgive him. Sometimes he just didn't understand that she needed time to calm and compose herself enough to where she wouldn't lash out at the blond hotel manager if he even said one wrong word. Hoping that her absence at the door would make him believe that she wasn't home, Eileen waited for the man to leave.

"Eileen! Open up!"

It wasn't Brad's voice… in fact, it sounded similar to Henry's… Walking up to the door, she looked out the peephole to find a panting, bruised, and frantic Henry Townshend standing at the door. She gasped at how pale and sweaty he was but what caught her attention the most were the traces of blood she found along his clothes and skin. "What happened-" she began but was interrupted by the brunet's rushing into the room and hurried motions to find something. Appalled at his sudden actions, she felt the previous anger at Brad direct itself at Henry and the brunette stomped over to him. At the time, he was searching the coat closet in an almost panicking manner.

"Henry Townshend, you'd better tell me what the Hell is going on here!" she hissed at his back. Stopping his search for whatever it was he was looking for, Henry turned around towards Eileen with an expression of pure cold fear on his face. All fury dissipated immediately and her hand found itself to his cheek. Sympathy and comfort glimmered in her emerald and for a moment Henry felt compelled just to lean down and kiss her. But, reluctantly, he held back since one terrifying fact still stuck out in his mind like frost stinging his back poisonously; Walter was alive.

"He's alive, Eileen… He's been alive this whole time," he said, grabbing her upper arms in a fearful grip while trying to accentuate what was wrong. It took a full second for her to gain an understanding and, like Henry, her face blanched and gained a horrible expression. "No…" she shook her head in disbelief, backing up away from him until her back met the wall. The numbers etched into her back seared against the wood, causing her to groan in pain. But before she knew anymore of it, Eileen found herself in Henry's protective embrace, away from the 'evil' wall. "… I don't want to see you hurt…" he trembled out softly, a warm wetness dripping onto her neck where his face was buried. "I-I… d-don't want you… t-to die…I… I…"

Eileen smiled gently, turning her head to kiss Henry's cheek before rubbing his back as he sobbed. Though she had never seen him like this, she supposed the only thing she could do was stand there and show him that she cared about him, too. "Brad… he came to South Ash-Ashfield… and he's dead… He killed him… I-I'm sorry…"

Shock found her and it only made her dread feel worse. Walter had already killed someone…? And it just happened to be Brad? Tears leaked from her eyes and she shook her head. "No… he can't… I shouldn't… I yelled at him… b-before… Oh, God…" she whimpered in disbelief before sobbing into Henry's shoulder. Guilt stabbed at her heaving heart repeatedly, yelling at her for being so inconsiderate of Brad and his feelings… She didn't know why Brad had gone to Room 302… didn't want to know why for she knew that she would unearth something she would regret ever finding out about.

So she contented herself by sobbing and gripping at Henry's shoulder blades as something struck her hard…

'That means…'

Footsteps echoed in the hallway and Henry tilted his head upwards enough to listen, his own tears dissolving into awareness. As it reverberated just a few feet behind the door, he felt his heart thump loudly along with it in sync. He was dreading the outcome… dreaded the possibility that he might have to kill Haley in order to destroy Walter… or Eileen and himself would become part of the corrupted world along with the others before them as guilty, decaying corpses slithering and hovering heavily about, reaching out for some innocent victim (if another even came along) to vent out their pain…

Eileen's sobs became harsh, panicked pants as she also picked up on the noise and she buried her face farther into his neck, unable to bring herself to let him go.

His hand began to throb once more, similar to the episode that had surprisingly occurred before Brad had charged into the Room… but this was a much milder form of the excruciating pain he had experienced. This one was withstand-able and the photographer presumed that the worse of these foreign problems happening in his body were over…

Well… that was the main thought until he felt another presence in the room and heard Eileen's gasp of horror. He felt her cling to him, fear and panic apparent with the clawing motions of her fingers. Henry looked over at Haley's wildly grinning face as she leered at the two embracing Sacraments before directing her main attention to Eileen's terrified façade. It seemed that she was delighted by this obvious reaction and, personally, Henry felt that Walter was enjoying a bit too much for his tastes.

"We meet again… Mother." The title seemed to almost slither out of her mouth as if it were a distasteful flavor tainting it, as if they were the enemy and not the way it truly was since a year ago. The brunet felt a tinge of offensiveness at the 'remark' and he growled in response while detaching himself from the brunette who still watched the AntiSacrament's form with widened eyes. After his unbinding movement was accomplished, the Receiver stepped in front of the Mother Reborn and held out an arm to shield her. The Conjurer was watched this sign of affection and protectiveness with perverse pleasure before concluding to churn the emotions just a bit more in order to see what more she could utilize against them.

"You're helpless, Receiver. Trying to save a woman who could no better protect you than Temptation or Source could without even a weapon. Poor AntiSacrament, do You see how pathetic he is? And to think… You're his Shadow; You will disappear because his pitying existence. You will die because he just barely manages to escape death more times than needed or expected. He's a fool that needs to done away with… Along with the Mother Reborn…"

Haley stepped menacingly forward, causing Eileen to move backwards in response. Henry joggled his gaze between them while contemplating what he should do. Finally, he came up with a unique yet risky strategy that would be affective enough to get the brunette out of the way of danger and, with some precision, he could get out of the enclosed space himself to buy enough time to figure out something.

But… if he did die… He twisted his head enough to see Eileen glance at him hopefully as the malicious, possessed girl advanced further to them. He gave her a soft, comforting smile, making sure that she got enough to figure out what he was about to do…

"I love you, Eileen…"

And with that stunning, untimely proclamation of adoration said, he steadied himself before lunging at Haley… no, Walter with all his weight and strength.

-

End of Chapter Seven

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I think that's it. If there's anything else, just tell me please. Reviews are always nice, ya know…