AN: It took sooner then I thought it would to get this chapter up, so I hope it's good. However, it's not as long as the last one was.
Allison stood by while Benny spoke with Mark on the payphone. Nearly two hours had passed since the disaster at the park. Mimi, Mark, Emily and Penny had taken Paul to the hospital, and had been there ever since. Meanwhile, Maureen, Joanne, Collins, Benny and Allison had taken it upon themselves to find out what had became of Roger, who had once again disappeared. At this point in time, Benny had called up the hospital to exchange information with Mark. It was only after Benny had hung up that Allison spoke.
"What's the news?" she asked. Benny let out a sigh before replying.
"The official story that the cops are telling everyone is that all that stuff that happened at the Halloween Bash was nothing more then a Halloween prank that got out of hand. That's probably for the best. I don't think the rest of New York's ready to know what really happened. Come to think of it, they might never be ready."
"Benny… what about that other man?" Allison asked hesitantly, partially unwilling to hear the answer. "Paul, I mean. Did the doctors say….?" It took a while for Benny to reply.
"They said that… when the tree branch hit him, the impact caused some of his ribs to snap. A few of the ribs ended up piercing his lung. The punctures are all in very bad places. There's not much they can do for him." Allison grimaced at the thought. She'd only met Paul for a few moments, but in that small amount of time, she'd already started to like him.
"And Roger? Has anyone found him yet?"
"Actually…." Benny paused before continuing, and Allison could not overlook his pained expression. "Maureen and Joanne contacted Mark a few minutes before I did. They found his abandoned leather jacket hanging from a street sign not too long ago. Mark hasn't gotten the courage to tell Mimi yet. She hasn't spoken a word since he went after Kain." The two were quiet for a long moment, letting sorrow set in.
"Come on," Benny sighed, trying to keep his voice level. "We'd better keep on looking. There might still be hope." Allison rubbed her eyes and started to follow, but stopped when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. There was something sprawled out beneath a nearby tree, partially hidden by a pile of fallen leaves. Letting curiosity overtake her, she approached the leaf pile, and let out a gasp when she saw what it was.
"Benny!" she cried urgently. "Hurry, get the blanket out of the Range Rover!"
The Bohemians all exited the elevator in the industrial high-rise, immediately making their way down the hall to the home of Benny and Allison. It had taken a while for everyone to get the message, but eventually, everyone had been told that Benny wanted everyone over, saying he had something they should see firsthand.
Mark and Mimi were the first ones to reach the door, but waited until the others had joined them. Collins was moving the slowest, since he was doing his best to not disturb Rodolfo, who had fallen asleep on the cab ride over.
Once everyone was gathered together, Mark knocked on the door, which was answered almost immediately by Allison. Without a word, she led them through the apartment and into the sitting room. Inside the sitting room, Benny stood silently by the wall, smiling gently upon seeing them before glancing back at the loveseat, and the figure currently sitting there, who was clearly completely unclothed under the thick blanket that had been wrapped around his bare body.
"ROGER!" The musician had been hanging his head, staring at the floor with a blank expression on his face. At the sound of his name being screamed, he slowly started to look up. But he'd barely had time to raise his head before Mimi had launched herself at him, hugging him with enough strength to leave bruises on his arms, and covering every inch of his face with kisses. When her kisses had migrated to his lips, he began to tenderly respond to the caresses, slowly lifting an arm to hold her close while keeping the other hand occupied at keeping the blanket wrapped around his body.
"We found him over by the Queensboro Bridge," Benny explained. "He was pretty out of it, but alive. I'm just glad we had that blanket with us. Otherwise, he might have frozen to death out there." Emitting a sob of relief, Mimi pulled back slightly to gaze at his face, letting out a gasp when she took note of his eyes.
"Roger," she whispered. "Your eyes. They're normal." Immediately, a spark of knowing flashed in Roger's green eyes. Taking her hand in his, he drew her fingers to his mouth to rest them on his perfectly normal teeth.
"I figured," he croaked, an instant smile stretching across his face. Within moments, they had pulled each other into another kiss.
"How's that possible?" Joanne gaped. "How was he cured?"
"Does it matter?" Maureen laughed in delight, jumping forward to hug her friend. "He's back! Our Roger's back to normal! That's all I need to know right now!"
"Maureen," Roger grunted as Maureen tightened her hug. "Come on, I'm still sore from the fight with Kain."
"Speaking of whom…" Mark glanced at Roger questioningly. Mark didn't need to continue. Roger knew instantly what his best friend wanted to know.
"Gone," Roger replied simply. "He's gone for good. The sunlight killed him."
"What is going on in here!?" Everyone in the room jumped at the sound of a new voice crying out. Standing in the doorway was Mr. Grey.
"Allison, I saw everything on the news about some sort of Halloween prank, and that someone had been taken to the hospital because of it. I had to come over and see if you were…." Mr. Grey stopped in mid-sentence upon recognizing the Bohemians. "You! I remember you people! You were those people who were at the Life Café that one night! What are you doing here?! It's bad enough I had to watch your boorish displays that night, but to come into the home of my daughter and son-in-law…with one of you completely unclad…" Roger self-consciously pulled the blanket closer around him while Mr. Grey's ranting continued. "Absolutely disgraceful. If you don't leave this place immediately, I'll…"
"Daddy, that's enough!" Allison interrupted, looking suddenly angry. "These people are here because Benny and I invited them."
"Invited them?" Mr. Grey looked completely shocked.
"You see that man there?" Allison pointed over at Roger. "Benny and I were at that Halloween Bash, Daddy, and we were caught up in the prank ourselves. This man risked his life in order to save us. If it wasn't for him, we'd both be dead right now. And if you'd notice, he's been through a lot tonight. He needs you to leave him be, so we can pay him back for saving us by letting him rest."
"He saved you?" Mr. Grey echoed.
"Yes, he did," Allison replied. "Now if you please, Daddy. Everyone here has been through a lot tonight. I'd appreciate it if you went home so we could all get some rest." After a brief pause, Mr. Grey relented. Once her father had left the apartment, Allison turned smiling at the other Bohemians, who were all looking back at her in surprise.
"All right, who are you, and what have you done to that rich snob who insulted me at the spa resort in Texas?" Emily quipped. Allison just smiled wider in response before directing her attention back to Roger, who had shifted himself to lie down on the couch, allowing Mimi to hold his head on her lap. A soft, contented smile graced his face as she tenderly weaved her fingers through his hair and stroked his rough cheek.
"I'll bet you must be hungry," Allison surmised. "Would you like anything, Roger?"
"Right now, I just want to sleep," Roger answered, letting out a tiny sigh as he leaned into Mimi's touch. "But… maybe later… I could go for a large order of fries, a nice cold beer, and a juicy bacon cheeseburger. Extra bacon."
"I'll see what I can do," Allison promised. However, Roger didn't hear her. He had already drifted off into a deep, peaceful, dreamless sleep, lulled by the feeling of Mimi's closeness and the second chance at life he'd somehow been given.
Roger hesitated for a moment, standing in the doorway of the hospital room. Nana was looking a lot better then she did when she was first admitted. If it wasn't for the nearly-healed cuts on her face, she would have looked the same as she always did. Letting out a deep sigh while running a hand down his face, he stepped up to her bedside, dropping into a nearby chair. The faint squeak of the cushioned seat conforming to his weight seemed to alert Nana to his presence, for she opened her eyes soon afterwards.
"I was told you wanted to see me," Roger spoke in a way that seemed to ask for confirmation. And it was a fact that the request confused him. He'd have thought that Emily would have been the one the elderly woman would have asked for, given their history together.
"That's right," Nana replied. "I have a book on the table over there. Could you hand it to me? There's something I wanted to show you." Roger did as Nana asked. taking note of how old the book appeared as he handed it over. "It belonged to my great grandmother," Nana explained, confirming the book's age while flipping through the pages. "It's been kept safe by my family since her death. On the day I met up with Kain, this is what I was on my way over to show you." Nana paused before handing it back to Roger, pointing to one of the pages. "This was him, wasn't it?" Roger's eyebrows shot up as he glanced at the lifelike sketch of Kain that had been drawn in the diary.
"Yeah. That's him," Roger nodded. "Does that mean your great grandmother…?"
"No. Not really. That sketch was drawn from the description of another woman, who my great grandmother encountered in the tavern her family owned. Her name was Abigail Belmont. My great grandmother was so enthralled with Abigail's story, that she chronicled it within this diary. Abigail couldn't do it herself, for she had never been formally educated in literacy, and couldn't even write her own name. But Abigail was the one who fought Kain generations ago, after her own sister had been killed by the vampire. It had taken her years to self-train herself to the point when she was strong and skilled enough to take him on, but she eventually sealed him up, using charms and seals meant to last forever."
"But if he was sealed, how did he get out?" Roger questioned.
"That is a very good question, and it puzzled me as well. But at my request, Officer Kurtz did some research on the cargo that was on the ship that was being unloaded by that longshoreman, Kain's first victim after being released. As it would happen, that cargo ship was carrying a shipment meant to be taken to a museum here in New York. The artifacts had been taken from an estate in Romania, one that could be traced back to the Belmont family."
"And Kain's prison was mixed in, wasn't it?" Roger frowned.
"The police report that was filed when the longshoreman's body was found stated that one of the crates had fallen into the water. It can be assumed that the seal on Kain's prison was broken when that happened."
"So that answers the question to how Kain got here," Roger concluded. "But that doesn't explain why you said you could only tell me about this. The others would have wanted to hear, too." Nana's smile widened.
"The reason for that, Roger, is that there is more to the story. When I was looking through the diary, I found something that made me believe Kain's greatest mistake was targeting you."
"What do you mean?"
"Tell me Roger. What do you think helped you regain control of your mind?"
"What kind of question is that?" Roger blinked. "I just couldn't hurt Mimi."
"Yes, I know. And that is a big part of it. More importantly, it's why I believe you were reverted back to a mortal. You were so willing to sacrifice yourself to keep your loved ones safe, that the darkness in your soul, which had fueled the transformation in the first place, was overpowered. And when the darkness was weakened, the hold of the vampire on you was broken.
"But as for how you regained control of your mind, I think there was another side to it. I believe your love was combined with another force, one you weren't even aware of. Together, they helped you regain control. And if Kain was aware of the source of that other force, if he knew who you were, I don't think he'd have been quite so eager in targeting you. In fact, I believe he would have avoided you if he could."
"I don't get it."
"It's right here." Nana reached for the diary and turned to another page. "You see, Roger, my great grandmother included another sketch in her diary. One of Abigail Belmont herself. I dare say you'd find it most interesting." When Nana reached the right page, she passed the diary back over to Roger, so he could see the sketch of Abigail Belmont. The moment he saw it, he could barely believe it. The sketch was of a tall woman in clothing typical of a man in her time period, including a longhunter shirt and breeches. On her left hand, which was covered in a thick gauntlet, a falcon of some sort was perched. But what really made Roger stare was Abigail's facial features. The confident smile residing above her strong jaw, featuring a cleft chin, was framed by a set of high cheekbones. And her hair, which fell down to her shoulders, had a slight wave to it, but near the ends, the wave was replaced by a distinct curl. In fact, Roger's immediate impression was that she almost looked like a female version of himself!
"Can't be," Roger gaped up at Nana, looking for affirmation.
"Later on in the diary," Nana replied, "It states how Abigail Belmont went on to marry a man whose surname was Davis. Perhaps it's just a coincidence. After all, Davis is a rather common name. But still, I suppose it is possible."
Roger just continued to stare at the sketch of Abigail Belmont. Was it possible? Was this woman really his ancestor? But when he pulled his eyes away from the diary to question Nana further, he found that the old woman had drifted off to sleep again, leaving him with his thoughts and unanswered questions.
When Roger left the hospital, he'd made up his mind to relate everything he'd learned about Kain's origins to Mimi and his friends, along with Nana's theory about how he'd managed to become a mortal again. After all, they had all been wondering those things just as much as he had been. But as to his possible connecton to Abigail Belmont, that would remain a secret between Nana and himself. Nana had clearly felt that only Roger had a right to know that, and if that was how she felt, then he'd have to trust her judgement and keep it that way.
AN: How'd you like it? Should that last scene have been cut? It wasn't part of the original plan, but the idea came to me as I was writing this story out, and it seemed like a good idea, so I had to include it.
I also want to thank LiveLoveRENT, as well as jenn51421 from the Internet Movie Database for actually answering my questions about Roger's appearence, such as what his hair could be described as (I couldn't figure out if it was more wavy or curly) and whether or not he had high cheekbones. I admit I may not have phrased my question all that well, but most of the people who replied could have been a wee bit nicer/more helpful, instead of just calling me lazy and stuff. But rant aside.
I'd say the story could pretty much end here, but there will be one more chapter. Mainly, it exists to keep a promice I made to LiveLoveRENT a while back. But there will be ties to the main story, so it will fit.