Vincent nodded. "Yes and you are Joe," he resonated.
"It's good to finally meet you."
"I need your help," Vincent said urgently. "I must find my son."
"I promise to help," answered Joe. "But there's something important I need to tell you first."
Vincent looked at Joe in confusion.
"Catherine is alive," Joe revealed.
~*~o~*~
At Gabriel's mansion, the nurse came to him with a grim look of concern. "It's the child," she said. "He's wasting away."
Gabriel looked disturbed when he heard the news. "The child needs his father," said Gabriel as he watched a video of Vincent killing the guards for the upteenth million time. Waving the nurse away with a flick of his hand, Gabriel revealed a rare smile. He had plans to lure Vincent to the baby. He couldn't wait to meet the man who had a thick mane of golden hair and long vicious claws.
He was sure they'd get along famously.
The nurse returned upstairs to the child's room, a small nursery which was bereft of any sort of color or decoration. The baby lay in the middle of the crib, hardly moving. He did not make a single sound. He was staring up at the nurse as though he could see inside her soul. Every time she tried to give him his bottle, the child would refuse the cold rubber nipple. He wasn't thriving - not in the slightest. The child seemed to have given up all hope of survival. His diapers were barely wet as he hardly drank from any of the bottles she offered him. The nurse stared at the infant in worry. If the child died, Gabriel would surely kill her. What could she do to get the little one to eat?
Reaching into the crib, the nurse picked up the tiny baby. He was staring at her with his soulful blue eyes - his father's eyes. The look in the baby's eyes made the nurse feel uneasy. He was no ordinary baby. He was different. Exactly who or WHAT he was, the nurse was not sure. "You must eat," she said as she pressed the nipple into the baby's mouth. The child turned his head as though he didn't want to live.
The nurse sighed as she lay the unresponsive infant back inside his crib. If Gabriel didn't take action soon, they were going to lose the baby. She had been trying to warn him of the baby's health crisis, but Gabriel was too busy watching the same video over and over.
~*~o~*~
"Catherine's alive?!" Vincent cried out.
"She can't be. I held her. I felt her go..." Vincent gasped in disbelief.
"She's definitely alive. And she's been asking for you," said Joe.
"Then take me to her," Vincent insisted.
"Come with me," Joe said as he led Vincent away.
Author's note - Sorry this chapter is rather short, but the next one should be longer and just what you've been waiting for as I plan to reunite Vincent with Catherine.