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 13 - The Order of Things
Roman woke later to the sound of whimpering. Glancing at Michelle on his stomach, who was still sleeping, he realized when the sound repeated that it was coming from across the room and not from his daughter. He rose up, taking the baby with him, placed his feet on the floor and crossed the room to the crib. Placing Michelle in her bed, he looked down at Amanda and watched her as she slept fitfully in the rocking chair.
Amanda's eyelids were moving back and forth so he realized she was dreaming. Feeling kind of bad that he had fallen asleep in her bed, he approached her rocker and slid his hands under her thighs and back, lifting her up gently and trying not to wake her up. Across the room, he laid her gently on the bed, removed her shoes, and placed a lightweight throw over her.
As he leaned over her, he was touched by her beauty. He lowered his hand, brushed the hair from her cheek and found her cheek wet.
Amanda cried as her dream woke her up at a particularly horrifying place. Her baby.
Startled by Roman, she made another little noise and moved away from him.
"Sorry, sorry," Roman said quickly. "I didn't mean to startle you. I just moved you over here to make you more comfortable."
Sitting up, Amanda cried even more.
"Don't cry. Seriously, it was my fault you were sleeping in the rocker in the first place."
Roman grabbed the tissue box from the night stand, handed it to her, and sat down beside her.
"Roman, it's not you. It's just... " she started, then cried again.
Roman felt awkward as to what to do to help but finally drew her to him until her head was tucked into his shoulder, and his arm was around her shoulders. When she finally grew quiet, he said, "Talk to me,"
She raised her head and looked up at him. "I'm not usually so weak. I've just been holding everything in for so long. I never took the time to grieve."
"For your child?"
She nodded. She kept looking into his eyes, blinked, and then asked, "Can I trust you, Roman? With my truth? I mean really trust you? Only one other person has my confidence."
"Of course you can," he reassured her. "What is it?"
"You promise you won't think any less of me if I do? I want to keep my position here."
"Yes, of course," he replied. His curiosity was now peaked.
"Like you and Peter, I am different from others. My blood is not entirely human."
"You know about me? About Peter?" asked Roman in surprise.
She nodded, "Upir and wolf. Don't worry. I will keep that to myself."
"We'd appreciate that." Roman commented.
Amanda continued, "When I discovered I was pregnant last year, I went to a doctor in Philadelphia for my prenatal care. On one of my visits, I was given an injection that I was told was a vitamin supplement. When I awoke, I was in a room with four white walls, a bed and bathroom facilities. I was kept there through my pregnancy where they constantly took blood and skin samples from me. The orderlies were brutal, but one man came for visits to speak with me during the months I stayed there. He kept asking me the same thing. 'What are you'?"
"Who was this man?" asked Roman.
"I don't know his name, but he asked me to call him, Father. He was a priest, you see, an older man with white hair parted in the middle, always dressed impeccably in black. His most distinguishing adornment was a silver cross about five inches long which hung from a long chain around his neck."
"He was always polite to a fault, but there was an underlying... steeliness about him. He didn't care about me at all. Nor my child. When I went into labor, they strapped me to a bed so that I couldn't escape, and took my baby, my son, from me without letting me see him. I had a rather difficult labor and was fairly weak for days. After a week, they told me he had died of SIDS. I was devastated."
Amanda had looked away from Roman during her story, but looked back up at him, tearing up again. "I never got to hold him."
"I can't imagine how awful that must have been for you. I lost my sister and cousin recently. It is difficult losing those you care about. Did they let you go or did you escape? "
"I escaped. I kneed one of my jailors in the balls, then kicked him in the head. Laid him completely out, then grabbed his keys, locked him in the room, got through the door and made it out of the building without getting caught."
"That would certainly do the job, but it seems like it was a little too easy. Are you sure they didn't let you go."
"No, they didn't. I had an advantage as long as I was not restrained."
"Where did you go after that?"
"I performed slight of hand on street corners for money until I had enough for a bus ticket. Then I left town and ended up here. I found Mr. Mason, your lawyer, and explained what had happened to me. He took on my case for free. He's helping me find out more about what happened to me and to try to get my son back."
"But I thought you said..." began Roman when she cut him off.
"I know. I know. But just as I went out the door, they had found me." She stopped, and her lip trembled slightly. "There was no time for me to check to make sure, but I thought I heard my son cry. I left anyway."
"Fuck me!" Roman said.
"Am I a terrible mother? I'm pretty sure they still have my son."
"No, no. Of course not. I think you were wise to just get out with your life. Don't beat yourself up for believing what they told you about your son being dead. Just be glad you are here now to fight for him. We'll find him."
"Oh no, I didn't mean to ask for your help. I just wanted someone to confide in about this. I needed a friend."
"You have friends now. I think Peter would also be on board with us helping you. I'll let Mason know that I'm backing you. That should speed things up."
"He's already looking in on the Order."
"The Order? What is that?" frowned Roman.
"I overhead the orderlies; they actually called the priest, Bishop. Bishop or priest or whoever he is mentioned the Order, but I didn't catch the rest of it. Anyway, Mr. Mason is looking into LOD, LLC. That was printed on the glass door to the entrance of the building in which I was being held."
Roman jerked at the name as his mouth dropped open.
"What's wrong?" asked Amanda, pulling back slightly.
"I think that is the name of the corporation that my uncle just sold his half of the company to. They're my new business partners. I'll have to talk more about this with him. I'm also meeting with the head of the Institute on Tuesday." He paused then remembered something, "You mentioned an advantage earlier. What advantage?" ask Roman.
She pulled away from Roman and was gone. Looking around in surprise, he saw her sitting in the rocking chair again.
"How in the hell did you do that?" asked Roman.
She stood up and glided across the room and was right in front of Roman. It was effortless and quick. Done in the blink of an eye.
"That is a handy skill to have," smiled Roman, sounding very impressed. "Just what are you, Amanda?"
"I am an Elemental," she replied, smiling sheepishly.
Michael Chasseur picked the lock and let himself in through the back door into the kitchen of the Godfrey mansion. He crept through several rooms but halted when he saw the lighted foyer. He managed a peek around the corner and saw a bodyguard was seated by the door, reading the newspaper. He swore silently to himself and decided to see if there was another way up. Finding the back staircase, he hadn't gone two stairs before one of them creaked. He heard the bodyguard coming and hid in a nearby closet.
The bodyguard passed by him with his gun drawn, but he decided it was too risky to try to go for him and perhaps wake the entire household in the process. When the guard was finished checking things out, Michael let himself out the way he had come in.
He would have to come up with a different plan. At least he knew the layout of the house a little better.
The following morning, Roman called the cleaning company to have the house on Elm Street cleaned up to ready it for his mother. He also called the movers to come and collect his mother's belongings. Least he could do was to pack up her shit and have most of it ready for her. He dreaded talking to his uncle about the moving van.
He stopped by Amanda's room. She was up and feeding the baby. He paused and waved good morning. When the baby woke up needing attention last night, he had gone to his own room after they had talked.
The Hulk was gone, and Frozone was now on guard duty as Roman passed him on the way to the kitchen.
"Smith, right?" asked Roman.
"Yeah," replied Smith.
"My mother will be by today to pick up her things. I've got a moving van coming as well. I don't want my mother anywhere near the baby. She's your priority today."
Smith nodded.
Opening the fridge in the kitchen, Roman pulled out a petite sirloin steak, unwrapped it and ate it raw, careful not to cut his own lower lips with his new fangs. He cleaned up and grabbed the morning paper.
DEVIL DOG BACK! was the headline.
Roman voiced as he started to read, "Shit!" He immediately called Peter.
"Yeah," answered Peter.
"Have you seen the morning paper?"
"No, I just woke up," he said.
"Two murders last night by the so-called Devil Dog. They say he is back. What are we going to do?"
"Shit! This is not fucking happening!" exclaimed Peter. "They'll be gunning for me again. At least I have an alibi."
"Did they care about an alibi last time? We can't hide you in the same place. Christina knows the location."
"I think we need to go visit Tom Sworn in the hospital. He's seen her. Maybe he can help in some way," suggested Peter. "I'm drawing a blank here otherwise."
"Okay, we can go to the hospital and see what Tom has to say. I'll swing by and pick you up."
"What about your bodyguards?"
"There is only one here today. I'll slip out the back door. He won't even know that I'm gone."
"Okay, see you then."
A/N:
The music for the closing credits would be Muse: Madness.