Nevermore
A/N: Ah, last chapter, its been a long ride my dear readers but we have reached the end of the road, enjoy!
"Lucifer, back from the dead?" Sin joked as he turned to look at the biker leaning on the doorway of their bar. The other man sneered at the president from Spain before limping over to the bar, bikers diving out of his way as he passed by.
He had managed to get out of the hospital by threatening several nurses if they didn't allow him to leave. Despite the protests of his body he was glad to be back where he belonged.
"I hear you finally took down the Jackals," Lucifer's hoarse voice commented as he turned to look at Beelzebub who had taken a seat next to him followed by Sin on his other side. The three men looked at each other briefly wondering how they were still alive before the music came to an abrupt stop and a glass being dropped drew their attention to the entrance.
Judas stood with a body in his arms, head hung low while his shoulders shook uncontrollably with rage. Lucifer's piercing gaze shot over to him when he readjusted his hold, the woman's arm falling limply to her side as her hair fell out of her face allowing them to see who it was.
The world seemed to stop as every head snapped over to Lucifer as he rose slowly from the stool near the bar, his jaw clenched to the point where they could hear his teeth grinding against one another.
Beelzebub's jaw dropped open following a string of curses in Spanish by Sin who slammed his fist down upon the wooden surface of the bar.
Lucifer couldn't believe his eyes as he neared the body in Judas' hold, he was hoping that she would open her eyes and spring up out of the bikers hold and tell him it was all a joke. It had to be, this wasn't happening, she was still alive…she had to be.
"Boss-" Judas started as the other biker silenced him with a piercing look.
Judas merely handed her off to Lucifer who took her into his arms with extreme care, her cold skin brushing up against his hand as he resisted the urge to frown. Her bloodied shirt soon stained his own as he turned and walked back into the meeting room, the rest of the Bastards following behind him.
He set Monica down onto the black surface of the table and fixed her bloodied hair before stepping back with a blank face, his eyes however betrayed him. He wasn't alright; he wanted to kill every living thing in the world for taking her from him.
The faces of the bikers around him lost their joyful expression from moments ago; they were replaced by looks of sorrow and rage.
They had just lost another leader.
"Get out," Lucifer ordered looking at the men around him as several members jumped at his tone and rushed out. The ones who remained, however, refused to budge when he turned his smoldering gaze onto them.
"I said get out, you dogs," he growled as several more bikers exited the room afraid of pushing the devil's patience.
Sin merely shook his head in denial and walked out of the room dragging Beelzebub along by the back of his leather jacket, the president of the Wolves had a shocked expression on his face even as he was dragged out of the room, he had just lost his only family member.
The door slammed shut behind them as Judas stared critically at the devil that remained still looking at Monica, his expression unreadable.
"Where was I?" Lucifer's voice whispered as he reached out to caress her cheek, his hand however froze unable to carry out the task.
"Lucifer, this wasn't your fault-"
"Where was I?" he barked cutting Judas off as the other biker stepped back sensing the other was slowly losing control.
"It wasn't the Jackals," Judas mumbled as Lucifer's bloodshot eyes turned on him, instantly the other man found himself backing away as the new leader of the Bastards advanced on him.
"What?" Lucifer snarled grabbing Judas before slamming him up against the wall, the younger biker uttered a groan of pain as he felt the back of his head connect with the wall.
"It was Jack and Lucy, they killed Kiri as well," Judas uttered as Lucifer refused to ease his grip, the other biker could see the turmoil that his boss was going through, he was struggling to hold back his emotions. He didn't tell him where he had found Monica; he wouldn't put it past Lucifer to burn down the Opera House out of pure anger.
Fleur had been the one to hand her body over to Judas; he kept that detail to himself as well. Lucifer couldn't know any of it; no doubt he would turn on Fleur and skin the poor man alive. Judas had kept everything relating to the Opera Populair a secret; the fact that he had been keeping tabs on Monica for the Phantom would never leave his lips.
"I want their heads," Lucifer whispered his eyes blazing; he could feel the grip he had on Judas lessen as the other biker remained in place.
"We all do," Judas told him closing his eyes as they landed on Monica's dead body. It was like de-ja-vu all over again, losing her father and mother had been bad enough, now she was gone as well.
Lucifer moved away from him slowly, Judas let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding in as the other man walked over to Monica once more.
Judas watched silently as Lucifer caressed her black hair with a sorrowful smile, he pulled back suddenly as his lips dropped and his hands clenched tightly. He backed away from her body and slammed the door to the meeting room open. Judas followed after him as the bikers that had been waiting outside turned to look at him for orders.
"I want Jack and Lucy dead, I don't care if you're out there the whole night, make them suffer," he told his men as they all nodded and stood from the stools and chairs that they had been sitting on. Lucifer paused as he heard bikes being revved up, the bar suddenly empty as he frowned realizing he would never have Monica there to keep him company.
He walked over to the bar once more and took a seat before the bartender turned to look at him.
"What's it gonna be, hon?" she asked him as his grey eyes turned to look at the woman. She tried her best to smile, she knew he was hurting; the least she could do was try and make him feel better.
"The strongest thing you have," Lucifer replied with a frown as the bartender nodded and turned away from him. Her eyes searched for the particular bottle she was looking for before she remembered the reason she was there in the first place.
"You know, she was the one who gave me this job," the woman confessed turning to look at Lucifer as he stared at her once more with slight curiosity. "No one would accept me, until I crossed paths with her," the brunette added smiling sadly remembering the day she had met Monica.
"She had a thing for going against what was expected," Lucifer replied as the woman set a glass in front of him and poured in the golden liquid, he was about to reach for it when he noticed she put another glass beside it and filled it up as well.
He tilted his head when he observed her take it and look at him, a sad smile placed on her lips as he reached for his own glass.
"To one of the greatest women I ever knew," she murmured as her lips dipped down slightly.
Lucifer noticed this and bowed his head at her before downing the shot at once. She managed a weak laugh upon seeing him scrunch up his nose feeling the back of his throat on fire. She shook her head at the biker before her as she too drank her shot; her reaction to it however was more controlled than his.
"I hope they find them," she told him as Lucifer looked at her once more, a sadistic smile gracing his lips as he thought of the pair that would be dead soon.
"They will," he replied as she refilled the glass for him, he looked at the golden liquid and then at the bartender before directing his gaze out of the window, "the night is still young."
OoOoOoOoOoO
"Lucy, my darling, where are you?" Judas called out as he entered the blond woman's house. He knew she would be here, she wasn't thinking straight. The last thing on her mind after the events that had happened would be to run.
They had already found Jack and currently had him tied up outside on one of their bikes.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are," Sin teased behind Judas as the pair made their way through the large mansion. Every room that they entered was empty, the lights turned off, lifeless.
When they reached her room, however, they found the door locked. Sin's expression brightened up as he stepped back and kicked the door down with one single hit. The hinges gave away and let the door collapse inwardly as the men made their way inside.
They found Lucy cowering in the corner, her arms wrapped around her legs as she sat in the darkness. Her blue eyes stared up at the bikers in her doorway with horror as they made their way towards her shaking form.
"No, I'm sorry!" she cried as Sin cracked his neck in amusement before reaching down and heaving her up.
"Sorry doesn't cut it, perra," he told her, his Spanish accent making her shiver with terror as he began to drag her out of the room. She struggled against him and gripped the doorway when he walked through the threshold.
Her nails dug into the wood in desperation before Sin tugged at her neck mercilessly, her hands being torn off of the doorway. She shrieked when she noticed several of her nails had been lifted up from her fingers, her eyes pooled with tears as she stared at her bleeding hands.
Judas followed after the pair, a smile placed on his lips, he observed Sin pause at the top of the stairs before detaching the woman in his hold from his frame and kicking her down ruthlessly. Lucy cried out as she felt her body drop, the pair at the top of the stairs staring at her blankly while her body crashed down.
"Mierda, she slipped from my grasp," Sin apologized sarcastically turning to look at Judas who was laughing beside him as the two men descended the stairs with humor apparent in their eyes. Lucy's body remained at the bottom, unmoving, as she continued to sob uncontrollably.
"Shut up," Judas warned her as he picked her up by the collar of her shirt and started to drag her outside. Her broken nose oozed out blood as the biker pulled her across the fresh coat of snow that had fallen on her driveway.
Jack stared at Lucy's beaten form with fear as he watched the pair of bikers near them once more. They gagged her and bound her arms behind her back just like they had done to him before throwing her on the back of one of the prospect's bike.
The ex-biker shook his head in dismay, they were dead. He closed his eyes as he heard them turn on the motorcycles once more, he didn't open them when the familiar rumbling ceased.
Jack picked his head up knowing the drive had been too short; there was no way they were back at the bar. His eyes landed on the immense building in front of him before his blood ran cold. He noticed only Judas was present along with the two prospects that held Lucy and his body on the back of their bikes. He then noticed they had parked at the back of the large building.
It was the Opera Populair.
Lucy screamed as well through her gag as she struggled against her bindings, she didn't even want to go near the Opera house, she knew the Phantom was waiting inside.
Lucy turned to look at Jack with regret and horror written on her expression, she continued to squirm wishing to be as far away from the building before her.
"Which would you prefer?" Judas asked to no one in particular as Jack's eyes looked everywhere looking for the person that Judas was talking to. Without a warning a black figure stepped out of the shadows, his eyes burning holes into the pair that were tied to the bikes.
Jack uttered a groan when he recognized the figure and began to struggle even more; he was soon stopped by a punch from Judas.
"The boy," the Phantom ordered as Judas nodded and moved over to Jack, the ex-biker shook his head desperately as he screamed in protest. His complaints being muffled out by the gag as Judas gripped his shoulders roughly and forced him to stand.
"Well, Jackie boy, this is where we part," Judas whispered into his ear as he led him over to the Opera Ghost. He hurled Jack forward as the ex-biker stumbled right into the Phantom's waiting hands.
He instantly cringed upon feeling the Phantom constrict his shoulders to the point of crushing them. Jack turned his gaze onto Judas who stood before him, pleading the biker to take him back.
"Make him suffer," Judas told the Phantom as the Opera Ghost nodded and released the gag that had been tied around Jack's head.
"You traitor, you never told Lucifer that you would be handing me off like this," Jack yelled after the retreating form of the biker.
"Now you know why they call me Judas," the other replied with a wicked smile. Lucifer wouldn't be a problem; in fact Judas knew his new leader wouldn't even notice Jack's absence. Not when he had Lucy to torture and kill. In a way, Judas wasn't even betraying Lucifer, he knew Jack would have a painful death at the hands of the Opera Ghost, that was the only reason he had given Jack over.
"You two never saw anything, if a single word leaves your mouths about this I will carve out your still beating hearts and feed them to my dogs," Judas warned the pair of prospects that stared at him with slight fear. Both men nodded hurriedly fearing to upset the biker before them before they drove off trying to ignore the screams of pain that came from Jack before they ceased all together.
Lucy panicked as soon as they neared the bar that she was all too familiar with, she could feel her heart beat faster; she should have killed herself when she had the chance.
"Kick her off," Judas shouted back at the prospect before the other man nodded and shoved Lucy off of the bike. She felt her skin being peeled back as she hit the hard pavement; she couldn't help but cry out due to the pain that she was in.
She remained facedown, her body refusing to move, when she heard the gravel beneath her crunch as footsteps approached her.
She managed to pick her head up and screamed through the gag when she saw Lucifer looming over her with his knife in hand.
"Lucy…it's been too long," his low voice chuckled as he grabbed a fistful of her hair and dragged her over to the bar. Her body kicked and struggled as much as she could as he threw her up the stairs and kicked her inside of the bar.
The bartender from before shuddered at the sight of the woman being dragged into the backroom by the biker, Lucy's tear streaked face pleaded with her own wishing to be free of Lucifer before the door slammed shut behind her.
The bikers and waitresses within the bar shuddered endlessly every time Lucy's screams echoed through the bar. A small trickle of blood was starting to creep out from beneath the door as time passed, they could hear a body hitting the walls over and over again, no doubt Lucifer was hurling her from one surface to the other.
"When is he going to stop?" Beelzebub asked grimly as the door shook from the force of the Lucy's body being thrown against it, more blood oozed out of the bottom of the door. It had been hours since anyone had dared to go near the room.
They could faintly hear Lucy's whimpers before a sickening crack reached their ears.
"He's far from done, he barely started to break her bones, the perra deserves that and more," Sin replied looking at the young biker in front of him. Beelzebub shifted uncomfortably when Sin answered his question, he didn't think anyone capable of torturing another human being like that.
Several more cracks followed before Lucy began to scream again, the sound shaking the very walls around the room as the waitresses rushed to get the drinks to the disturbed bikers that sat completely still.
The bartender glanced at the door worriedly; she would hate to get on Lucifer's bad side. She jumped followed by everyone else when the door started to splinter due to the collision Lucy had just made with it.
Vlad glanced at the room briefly before placing a reassuring hand on Greed's shoulder, the younger man shivered when a disturbing sound reached their ears.
"He's cutting off her skin, it should be over soon…she'll bleed out," Sin informed the men before him, several glanced somewhere else not really wishing to know the information while others closed their eyes trying to block out the sounds that came from within the room.
A mocking laugh reached their ears before Lucy's screams returned full force, the smell of burning flesh reaching their noses as several men stepped out and vomited over the railing of the bar in disgust.
"Oh god, what is he doing to her?" Beelzebub choked standing as well and rushing outside after gagging, he had never witnessed something like that.
Sin closed his eyes and leaned back on his chair before drinking his shot of tequila with a pleased expression on his face, Lucifer didn't disappoint, he had expected the biker to go softer on the woman.
The sound of Lucy's body being thrown once more reached their ears before they were surrounded with a calm silence. Every eye shot towards the backdoor as Lucifer stepped through, his face blood splattered as he walked through the bar.
No one dared to make eye contact with him, his jacket dripped with fresh blood, the heart that he held in the palm of his hand however made several waitresses faint and drop the drinks they were carrying.
Lucifer stopped in front of the fireplace, his expression far from peaceful as he let the ruby organ fall from his hand into the flames below. Sin stared at his back waiting for him to move, to say something, to give an indication that he was still breathing. Lucifer finally came to his senses as he walked over to the table where his most trusted bikers sat at.
Sin stood as the new president of the Bastards approached him, the rest of the bikers glancing at the pair unsure of what was going to happen as Lucifer halted in front of the Spaniard.
A brief moment passed before Sin threw his arms around the man in front of him and pulled him into a tight embrace. Lucifer did the same as his head fell on Sin's shoulder staining the other man with blood, he didn't pay any attention to it.
"You would have made Felix proud," Sin whispered into the other man's ear sensing Lucifer's inner demons. The other man let out a shaky breath upon hearing what Sin had just told him, he feared that he had failed Felix and in doing so failed the club.
"Come, let's get all of this off of you," the Spaniard added grimly leading Lucifer out of the bar, "get rid of the body and clean off the blood," he called back to the other bikers who merely nodded as the pair left.
The bartender shuddered as two bikers dragged out a burned mass of flesh and bones that she assumed as Lucy through the bar before driving off no doubt to dispose of the body.
"We're going to have to bury her tomorrow," Greed commented looking at the meeting room where he knew Monica's body was. Several other men nodded in agreement before the bartender walked over and offered them all another round of their preferred shot.
Before any of them knew it they had all fallen asleep against the tables and chairs. There wasn't a single biker awake; they had even forgotten to lock the door.
A light breeze settled over them as the door opened quietly and shut silently. A lone figure made its way through the bar, her feather light footsteps went by undetected as she opened the door to the meeting room and walked over Monica's body.
She ran a hand over the dead biker's face brushing away a strand of blood matted hair before she stepped back and analyzed her intently. A hand touched the side of her neck as the woman closed her eyes and saw what the young biker had gone through in her short life.
The old gypsy saw the death of the biker's parents, the death of her child, the difficulties that she had faced with the men asleep outside. The old woman stepped back and removed her hand from the dead body before her with an audible gasp, she couldn't fathom how the woman had managed to go through all of that and maintain her sanity.
"You poor child," the gypsy whispered before she made up her mind.
Her arms picked Monica's body up from the table and carried her carefully; the gypsy frowned when she felt blood dampen her clothes. She walked through the bar once more and left without a soul realizing that she had just taken Monica's body.
"You deserved a better life," the gypsy whispered at the body in her hold before disappearing into the shadows. Come morning they would realize that they were missing the young woman in her arms, until then she would take her time in going back.
After all, the carnival left the next day, by then it would be too late.
The moon shined down on the old gypsy and the bloodied woman in her hold as she made her way through the empty streets of Paris.
She was past the point of no return.
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
The Phantom stared down at the dead body beneath him; his hands ached from having beaten the boy to death. He peeled off the bloodied gloves with disgust and tossed them aside, having killed him had done little to appease him.
He crouched near the river that ran through the lair and washed the crimson splatters from his face; his hands shook uncontrollably as he realized how quiet it was now that his muse was gone.
He rubbed the bride of his nose in irritation as he rose and walked back stepping over Jack's mutilated body. The ex-bikers screams still echoed through his mind, he had killed many people over the years but he had never thought of them after they had been dealt with.
The pleas that had come from the boy refused to let him be, he was sure that they would haunt him in his dreams. He glanced sideways at the body before walking over and disposing of it, the sooner he got it out of his sight the better.
Time seemed to have stopped for the Opera Ghost as he walked back to the lair; the cold stone walls around him did little to calm his thoughts. The picture of his muse dying in his arms wouldn't leave him; he paused and leaned up against the wall in despair holding his head trying to forget. He wanted to erase her memory from his mind, to forget she even existed.
'I love you for who you truly are, nothing more and nothing less…' her voice echoed around him as he shook his head, he couldn't possibly live without her. Her presence lingered everywhere he went, he couldn't stop himself from thinking about her.
He reached the lair and stumbled over to the table where several sheets of music were messily placed along with his bloodied mask. His hand swept across the surface unable to bear the sight of her blood as the mask crashed down and skidded beneath the organ.
'I don't want to hide anything from you anymore…and I don't want you to either…' he held his head once more as her soft voice surfaced in his thoughts. He tried to tell himself that he wasn't hiding anything when he let the mask remain beneath his organ.
His legs led him towards his room, his hand wrapped around the ruby door knob before he remembered she had touched it hours before her death. He frowned and let go as if it were on fire as soon as the door was open.
His eyes adjusted to the darkness around him as he slipped his boots off and shrugged off the bloodied jacket he had around him. His shirt soon followed as he threw it across the room never wanting to lay his eyes on it as he let his body fall down on his bed.
He turned away from the other side of his bed once he felt her feather like touch; he knew it as his mind playing tricks on him. He wondered how he would get through the rest of the day or rather the rest of his life without her there to comfort and welcome him with a smile no matter how bad her day had been.
"Why did you listen?" he sang mournfully changing the lyrics to 'No One Would Listen,' he would have preferred to live a lifetime of solitude if it meant saving her life. He should have distanced himself from her when he had the chance. His mind instantly reminded him that he couldn't have even if he had wanted to.
A strange feeling settled over him as he glanced down at his bare chest and frowned upon realizing what it had been.
'I know it's not much,' she had told him, her cheeks flush with embarrassment. The Phantom gripped the golden cross in one hand and closed his eyes unable to shake her memory. 'It belonged to my father, it's just a piece of gold I know, but it means the world to me," he frowned realizing that it was the only thing that he had.
He would never part with the piece of jewelry, he had promised to take care of it, no matter how much it hurt to have it so close to his heart.
He closed his eyes once more in regret; he knew her arrival had been too good to be true. She hadn't left him like Christine had but she had certainly managed to wound him more than the soprano had. The Opera Ghost couldn't help but miss the woman, her absence was more agonizing than Christine's had been.
His mind jumped at the chance to remind him of all the times he had compared her to Christine, it seemed to emphasize on his muse's expressions during those times. The hurt look that crossed her eyes, the downward dip in her lips, the sigh that followed realizing that she would never be able to step out of the soprano's shadow.
"I'm here because I care! I'm not here to become a prima donna or the ballerina of the century, and I would never ask such a thing from you! I'm not here to steal your music or your operas…and I'm certainly not here to give you false hopes! I could have left if I wanted to! We're not all the same! And for the last time…I'm not Christine!" The Phantom flinched at the memory of Monica yelling at him that night; he had never viewed her as anything but another soprano out to take everything from him.
He had realized that she had never wanted anything from him; she had never asked for something from him, she had even denied his gifts. Her sharp voice had reprimanded him on the subject several times before it had finally sunk in.
He couldn't believe how blind he'd been, she had been standing before him the whole time wishing for his acceptance and he had still been sulking on Christine. He had opened up to her but it had been too late, death was already taking her away from him.
"I want you, not the Phantom," her soothing voice rang in his ears. That statement alone would torment him for years to come; he had always shown her his darker side. There wasn't a time when he could recall himself soothing her, asking for her forgiveness after one of his outbursts. He had always been the Phantom to her, she deserved better than having him scold her for something that even he considered meaningless.
Even then she had accepted him; her face had brightened up every time he spoke to her after one of their arguments. The hopeful look returned to her eyes when he acknowledged her existence after hours of refusing to direct his attention to her. She even blamed herself for upsetting him when the blame had been entirely his.
How he missed the woman already, always forgiving, always accepting, always there.
The Phantom cursed himself for treating her so horribly. He should have treated her like he had once done with Christine, praised her for being by his side after everything they had been through.
He recalled her eyes filling with sadness when he had refused to say anything after she had run his routine through until exhaustion. He had noted the way her shoulders dropped when he had turned away from her and headed down to the lair. She had walked dejectedly to the swan room that same night without him giving her so much as a second glance before falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
He had walked in after he had made sure she was sound asleep, the dark bruises on her arms and legs proved how much she had worked to get every step right. She had given him everything and he had never once appreciated her for it.
The praise that she had longed to hear from him never escaped his lips; he had sat next to her that night and watched as she slept. Her chest rose up and down calmly despite the trials that he had put her through, he would never understand how her body didn't break or give up on her.
He had started to lose sleep after that night, the pained expressions that she made after ever jump started to make him wince and cringe, the fact that she never complained made his blood seethe. He was pushing her too hard and she refused to tell him, to finally complain about something.
It was only then that he started to have respect for her and guilt started to creep in. He realized how ungrateful he was to her; the Opera Populair wouldn't even be running if she had never shown up.
The Phantom groaned realizing how much of a bastard he had been to her and rolled over once more. His hand brushed over the empty space next to him on the bed, she would never return to him. Her loud footsteps in the catacombs would never calm his nerves; her pouting face would never meet his amused expression when he denied her request to sit next to him on the organ before he gave in.
'I love you, Erik,' her hushed voice teased his ear, he turned hopeful to find her there, he knew better. He dropped his head back onto the pillow and sighed, life had no meaning now. The fire that had been ignited within him once more with her presence had been extinguished the moment she stopped breathing.
His mind had suddenly run blank when it came to composing; the angel of music had died with his muse.
The image of Fleur carrying her lifeless body away from him would not leave him. Her blood didn't seem to wash away with the clear water of the river.
He closed his eyes once more and refused to open them. Sooner or later sleep would take over him, even then he doubted he would find peace.
In the end nothing he could have done would have been able to save her, her fate had been decided the moment their paths first crossed. The Phantom found himself erasing every memory he had of her, he would make sure he never allowed anyone else to get close to him; a painful tune escaped his lips as he tried to forget his dead muse.
"No one would listen, no one but you..."
Thoughts, questions, concerns? Let me know, I cant exactly say review anymore so...comment! :D Adieu, my dears!