One uneventful week passed with the people of the Van Dort household slowly managing to forget the anxiety of the previous night and ease back into their regular lives once more. Routines were picked up again and everyone returned to their regular jobs, all but Victor, that is. Despite the dissipating tension, he refused to leave Victoria's side for longer than a minute, even if it meant neglecting his floundering fish business.

All were beginning to worry, especially Victoria. She feared that if they weren't careful, Victor's newly obsessive need to protect her all hours of the day would consume him. So after a couple of days of persistent urging, she finally managed to convince her husband to return to the office. Now, as Victor prepares to leave his home, Victoria could see his hands shivering slightly.

"Dear, there is nothing to be nervous about. I'll be fine," she assured him. Victor looked into her eyes, lines of worry running deep in his forehead.

"I do no feel comfortable leaving you, Victoria, especially when the servants are gone for the day. You will be all alone in this big mansion with no one to protect you."

Victoria bit her lip, a habit of hers when her confidence wavered. It was true, with their staff out visiting family, she would be alone all day and well into the night. Still, she could not let that fact prevent him from returning to his normal routine, especially when his health came into question. She squared her shoulders and put on a brave face.

"I will be alright, Victor. I assure you I will. Now will you please go to work," she cajoled him. Victor put on the wounded look Victoria learned he reserved for when she would get him to do something against his will, sort of as a way to make her feel guilty. She hated to admit it, but it worked tremendously, and today was no exception.

"But if it will ease your worry, why don't you try to leave an hour early," she suggested, at which Victor's face lit up immediately. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"I'll be home at seven instead of eight," he replied into her neck, his breath tickling her slightly and causing her to giggle. Not knowing what he had done but enjoying it immensely, Victor pulled away from her enough to look into her eyes and smile. He bent down and gave her a gentle kiss goodbye.

"Until then, my love," he told her as he reluctantly pulled away and gathered his coat and hat.

"Until then," Victoria responded. Then with another quick kiss, Victor placed his hat on top of his head and headed out the door. Victoria scurried over to the window in the parlor and gazed out of it to watch Victor's carriage roll slowly down the street towards the fish market, sighing slightly as it disappeared into the distance. Maybe she should have let him stay home. He only left a brief moment ago and already she could feel loneliness creep into her.

It's for his own good, she reminded herself, feeling guilty for even thinking such a selfish thought. Besides, seven o'clock would come soon enough if she just kept herself busy. With that thought in mind, Victoria headed off towards her and her husband's special room, ready to spend a quiet, peaceful day all alone.

Victoria's initial thoughts had been incorrect, much to her dissatisfaction. The day had crept by slower than ever, with her wandering about the mansion aimlessly and sewing scarf after scarf. She was just about to finish her third one when she heard the grandfather clock chime six times and sighed gratefully. Just one more hour before Victor would return home and her day of agony would end.

As she put the finishes touches on her final scarf, Victoria began to feel an ominous darkness seemingly consume the room. She rushed over to a window and looked up at the sky, which she realized was now completely overshadowed by thick, dark clouds. It was only a matter of seconds before loud thunder crashed and a heavy rain began to pour down on the little town.

As if my mood wasn't bleak enough, she thought sarcastically as she returned to her seat and resumed her project. Under normal circumstances she would have enjoyed this weather, but that was only when Victor was home and she could snuggle up close to him by the fire. At the moment, all she could do was hope the weather didn't delay him.

With the third scarf finished now, Victoria figured that she might as well knit up matching mittens, and maybe socks if she had time; anything to keep her eyes from wandering towards the clock in an attempt to will time to go faster. She picked up her sewing material, when to her immense surprise she heard the front door open and close.

He must have come home early due to the storm, Victoria assumed as she tossed her project aside. She could feel her heart soar as she flew out of her chair, out of the room and down the hall to the foyer to greet her greatly missed husband.

Much to her disappointment, however, she arrived at the foyer and found it to be empty, as if no one had entered the house at all.

"Victor," she called out timidly, not enjoying the familiar feeling forming in her stomach. "Victor, are you home?" When nothing but silence greeted her, Victoria began to believe that she just imagined the whole thing out of her anticipation.

She was about to head back to her room, when out of nowhere, she felt strong arms wrap around her a literally squeeze the breath out of her. Immediately she knew it wasn't Victor, for he would never be this rough with her. There was only one sick conclusion she could come to.

"Hello again, my dear," she heard the all too familiar voice hiss into her ear. "It seems we meet again."

"Let go of me," Victoria demanded, her voice strained from his death grip. Her demand, however, was only met with a cackle.

"It seems to me that you're not in any position to give commands, Victoria. Now, what say you and I head upstairs and we can get done what we both know what's been coming?"

"You'll have to kill me first," Victoria spat back, sick and tired of being tortured by the man. She picked up her foot and dug her heel into Barkis' foot as hard as she could, but this only caused him to squeeze her tighter and tighter. Finally, the lack of oxygen left her weak and she lay rather listless in his arms.

"I'm afraid that is no longer going to work, my dear. I'm through with stalling. Tonight what is rightfully mine is going to belong to me again if I have your cooperation or not. Now be a good little girl and join me upstairs or I will be forced to drag you. Agreed?"

Victoria, who was somewhat dizzy from what had just taken place, knew she had no choice but to comply, so to avoid further pain, she began to take steps towards the stairs. Barkis, who still had his arms wrapped tightly around her and showed no signs of letting go, mimicked her steps and followed her.

"Good girl," he praised her as if she was a puppy. "And try not to fret too much, love. It will all be over sooner than you think."

Victor sighed with frustration as he gazed at the mounds of paper work that sat before him. The employee that usually assisted him with those matters hadn't bothered to show up to work that day (or for the last few days for that matter), leaving him to try and figure it out on his own, one of the last things Victor had wanted to do that day.

"Besides leaving Victoria," he said aloud to the empty room. He sighed once more and gazed at his pocket watch for the hundredth time. Six o'clock. Just one more hour and he would be one his way home to the one he loved. He couldn't wait.

Victor picked up another form and began to skim over it. He knew it was written in English, it had to be, but he couldn't for the life of him concentrate long enough to understand what the words were trying to tell him. After a few more seconds, he tossed it aside.

"That's it," he resolved as he gathered his coat and hat. He knew he promised Victoria he would stay until seven, but he just couldn't take it anymore. He knew if he spent one more second staring at those menial forms, he would surely go mad.

Victor was about a foot away from the door when a swarm of crows suddenly fluttered about him. Startled beyond belief, he let out sort of a yelp sound and threw his hands over his head. When everything stood silent once more, he opened his eyes and looked about him to find that he was still standing in his office, only two others had joined him. Now, standing before him were Emily and Elder Gutknecht.

"Victor we have some terrible news," Emily said without bothering to greet him. Her straightforwardness immediately alarmed Victor as he worried eyes darted questioningly between the pair.

"Well, what is it," he asked in an alarmed tone, knowing from the looks on their faces that it had something to do with Barkis.

"Well, did it seem rather odd to you that Barkis would give up the book so easily," Elder Gutknecht questioned, holding up the Dark Magic book for further emphasis.

"Yes it did," Victor responded quickly in his urgency to discover what brought them here.

"We may have figured out why," Emily said as she turned to Elder Gutknecht and opened the book in his arms. She flipped rapidly through pages until she found the spot she wanted.

"Look at this," she gestured. "It looks like he ripped out a couple of pages of the book before he returned it to us." Victor gulped, fear gripping his heart.

"W-What pages," he asked, his voice trembling. Elder Gutknecht sighed before responded.

"The pages containing instructions on how to perform a forbidden spell called, 'Ein Leben für ein Leben,' or 'A Life for a Life'. It's a very, very powerful spell, and if performed correctly, could take the life of another and return it to that person, rendering them invincible in the process."

Victor could have sworn he was about to faint, but he quickly gathered himself and tried to grasp the situation.

"Barkis means to kill Victoria…."

"So that he may live forever," Emily concluded.

"And he could strike at any time now, so we must hurry and warn your wife," the elder insisted. Victor could feel himself turn a couple shades paler at his words.

"Oh my word, Victoria! She is at home alone! What if he…" he couldn't even finish his sentence. Wordlessly, he took off out of the office and towards his carriage, Emily and Elder Gutknecht following closely behind him.

"Back to my house," Victor barked to the driver, "and hurry!" The instant his friends joined him in the carriage, the driver took off as fast as he could down the road toward the Van Dort mansion. Houses went by in a frenzied blur, but to Victor the ride couldn't possibly be taking any longer. He squeezed his eyes shut and with every fiber of him tried to will the carriage to go faster and prayed that his dear wife was alright.

Forgive me once again for not rereading this chapter to correct any mistakes. Yo soy muy sleepy right now and I doubt I would catch them anyway! I promise I'll try to write the next chapter during normal hours, it's just that I usually get my best inspirations at night! Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter anyway, and reviews are, as always, greatly appreciated! Adios!

P.S. I just realized I made a terrible pun with that whole "floundering fish market" in the first sentence! Sorry : )