Wings of Blood and Cruelty
A Hemlock Grove fanfic by Glamoured By-Eric
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.-Friedrich Nietzsche
Chapter 5 - Intoxicated
Peter's evening was spent modeling the suit they had purchased so that Destiny and Lynda could pin up the pant legs and the sleeve length to fit him. It was a secondhand Hugo Boss dark grey, stretch wool blend, 2-button suit with flat front pants. They had also purchased him a gently used black leather belt, a pair of black dress shoes, a black dress shirt, and a silky, tie with a handsome striped pattern that complemented the suit.
No sooner had he taken off the pinned up articles and dressed in his own clothes, than he felt it. His balls tightened. Whether it was Roman or the darkness beneath Hemlock Grove, something was very, very wrong.
"Destiny? Can I use your cell phone?"
"Sure, Sweetie. It's on the counter."
"Thanks," said Peter, walking over to retrieve the phone.
Peter dialed Roman's number, and he didn't pick up. Peter grabbed his mom's keys and announced, "I'm going to see Roman."
Destiny said, "Are you sure that's wise?"
"I need to go. Should have gone earlier today. Something's up."
"Okay, but be careful, Honey Bun."
As he turned to leave, Destiny grabbed his arm with that faraway look she sometimes had on her face. "The two divergent life paths have merged. Be wary."
"Uh, okay," said Peter as his mother rolled her eyes, and he disengaged himself from her grip. "I'll be careful."
Peter turned the car onto Main Street and turned on the radio to an alternative rock station. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" by The Verve came on, and he raised the volume control. He hadn't heard that song since he was a little kid. His mom used to listen to it.
He was sidetracked when he drove by the cemetery and saw all the police cars much like he and his mother had seen earlier at Tom Sworn's location. His body betrayed him again as it always did when he was around law enforcement.
Perhaps this is the source.
He sped up, giving the scene a wide berth.
It took about fifteen minutes for him to drive to the Godfrey estate from Destiny's. He parked out front behind Roman's 1971 red Jaguar and went up the steps to ring the doorbell. He was about to give up when Norman answered the door, holding a bottle of Jack Daniels. It was clear that he'd been drinking heavily, and his next words confirmed it.
"Well, if it isn't the other one who fucked my daughter."
"Uh, I'm looking for Roman. Is he in?"
"He's here somewhere. You are welcome to look. Personally, right now? I don't give a flying fuck." Norman motioned with the hand holding the Jack, and the liquid sloshed around in the bottle as Norman teetered on his feet. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to polish off this bottle."
Norman left the door open as he turned to leave, and Peter walked into the house, closing the door behind him. He decided to check upstairs first, so he walked up the winding stairwell to the second floor and made his way to Roman's room. It was empty. As he turned to go, he heard a baby cry from down the hall and stopped in his tracks.
Somehow he put one foot in front of the other and made his way to the room that the now muffled cries had come from. Through the open door, he saw a blonde woman breast feeding the infant and called, "Letha?"
She turned her eyes away from the baby at the sound of Peter's voice and looked up at him. "Who are you?" she asked.
It wasn't Letha.
"I'm Roman's friend, Peter. Peter Rumancek."
"I'm Amanda Eaton, Michelle's care giver. I just recently started here."
"Michelle?" Peter asked.
"Michelle Godfrey. Roman's daughter. I thought you knew since you are his friend."
Peter walked to the bed and sat down heavily not sure how he'd made it that far. "I've been out of town. I thought both mother and child had died."
"No, she's right here. She's such a beautiful child," she gushed as she readjusted herself when the baby dozed off. "Would you like to hold her for a minute?"
Peter swallowed heavily and raised unsteady arms toward the bundle. Amanda transferred the baby to him, and Peter pulled her close, taking in her scent. Unshed tears shown in his eyes as he looked down at her, making sure she had all her features, and was pleased when she did.
"So, I see you finally made an appearance. You had a tough time getting here, but you made it. Do you remember me talking to you when you were inside your mother and rubbing her tummy for you? You used to wiggle until I found a spot you liked having rubbed."
The tears gently flowed down Peter's cheeks as he continued with a hitch in his voice, "I loved your mother, little one. She was my forever love. How could I not love you too. It was inevitable. Iti dau inima mea, Michelle. Iti dau inima mea."
Amanda looked uncomfortable at Peter's words. When Peter noticed her discomfiture, he said, "It's a long story but Michelle's mother, Letha, was my girlfriend through the majority of her pregnancy."
Remembering Amanda's words of Michelle's paternity earlier made Peter sick. When she still looked uncomfortable, he handed the baby back to her, kissing Michelle gently on the head before relinquishing her.
Straightening up and standing, Peter said, "Thank you for allowing me to hold her. Would you happen to know where I might find Roman?"
"Last time that I saw him, he was heading to the kitchen to get something to eat."
Chin was taking a piss after his fifth cup of coffee when Nose came hurrying into the men's rest room with some news.
"Sheriff! The lab results are back. The feds expedited the testing."
"Okay, I'll be there in a minute."
When he was finished, he exited the rest room and went down the hall toward Tom's room and the doctor standing there.
"Sheriff?" asked the doctor.
"Yeah, that's me. What you got for me?"
"The substance found in the wound is embalming fluid, confirming what our coroner told us the substance was in your officer's wounds."
"...the fuck. Embalming fluid? How the hell did that get in there?"
The doctor looked pleased with himself, "We think that the animal that bit Mr. Sworn and killed your deputy had been consuming a corpse and had ingested the fluid in the process and then transferred it to your victims."
Nose said, heading for the lined trash can, "I think I'm gonna be sick."
Peter found Roman on the floor in the kitchen with an empty bottle of whiskey next to him. He was passed out cold and looked like he had been crying.
"Jesus, Roman."
Just as quickly, he balled his fists to keep from lifting him up and beating the crap out of him like he wanted to do. He held his temper in because he needed to hear Roman's side of the story, and hitting someone when they were down was bad form. Instead he knelt down and tried to wake him up, tapping his face with the back of his hand.
"Roman, wake up, man. We need to get you to bed."
"Wha... ? Peter?" he asked in recognition. Then joy and a weak smile crossed his face, "You came back. I knew you wouldn't leave me. You're... what the fuck... ? Your head. It's all kinds of fucked up."
"I'll tell you later. Right now we need to get you to bed. Can you stand up?"
Roman sat up, and the room started spinning. He laid back down and closed his eyes. "In a minute. Spinning. Spinning."
Peter found a trash can under the sink and grabbed it. He knew they'd probably need it.
He managed to get Roman in a seated position when Peter had to grab the trash can as Roman threw up the alcohol in his stomach. With Roman feeling a little better afterwards, Peter was able to get Roman up and to his feet. Peter led him to the lift instead of trying the stairs and managed to get them to the second floor without incident. Once inside Roman's room, Peter got Roman onto the bed and pulled off Roman's shoes, his belt, and also his cell phone from his pants pocket. He pulled up the sheet over Roman and then called his cousin.
"Destiny," she replied.
"Destiny, it's Peter. Roman's pretty messed up. I think I'm going to stay here tonight. Can you tell my mother?"
"Sure, honey. Anything else?"
"Yeah, tell her the baby's still alive. Her name is Michelle."
"Oh goody. You know how I love babies. I can't wait to meet her."
"She looks just like Letha, except she is red and wrinkly. She smells fantastic."
"Okay, I'll tell Lynda. Night, Peter."
"Night," switched off Peter.
Peter removed his shoes and took the other side of Roman's spacious bed. He was too weary to think any further about the way it might look if someone saw them together. Roman had a lot to explain, and he planned to get the truth out of him tomorrow.
He looked at the high ceiling for awhile and then the next thing he knew, it was morning, and Roman was staring at him. Both were on their sides facing each other.
Roman broke the silence as he wrinkled his nose up, "You smell like a mangy dog."
Peter answered, "You smell like booze vomit."
Roman smiled. "So, did someone mistake your head for a lawn? You look like someone applied a weed eater on and about your head."
"Very funny. No. I was in mourning, and it seemed like a good idea at the time."
"You stay here all night?" asked Roman.
"Yeah," replied Peter. "You were kind of a mess last night, numb nuts. You would have woken up in your own vomit on the kitchen floor if not for me."
"Thanks, but it was probably more than what I deserved."
They were both silent a moment, and then Peter said, "I met Michelle last night. She's beautiful. How is she still alive? I thought both of them died."
"So did I, but apparently, my mother arranged for her to be brought here without anyone but Dr. Pryce knowing about it."
"Where is your mother? I didn't see her last night. I bet she is happy that Norman is apparently living here now."
"I sent her away, Peter. She won't be coming back. My eighteenth birthday was yesterday. I now own everything. She can't control me any longer. No one does. Not anymore."
"How was she controlling you?"
Roman looked at Peter as he sat up. "Can I tell you something in the strictest of confidence similar to how I promised not to reveal that you are a werewolf?"
"Sure," Peter answered, sitting up and facing Roman more fully. "But right now I am more interested in hearing how you are Michelle's father."
AN:
Saint Motel - Balsa Wood Bones would be playing at the end of this chapter.
Iti dau inima mea = Romani for "I give you my heart"