A/N: I thank all of you so much for your reviews and support! I hope my story continues to please you! And whatever you celebrate or do not celebrate this holiday season, may it be a happy one! I love you guys! :D

I welcome all new and old readers! Please enjoy!

(Song of the Day: Atrium Carceri- The Expedition)

It was extremely early in the morning when I opened my eyes.

The room was completely dark, save for the small sliver of sunrise peeking through the curtains. I stared up at the ceiling for a moment before a smile crept its way across my face, and I rolled over to face the person lying next to me.

Even after we bought a bigger mattress, Miles still loved to sleep in the middle of the bed.

Well, at least I don't wake up on the ground anymore.

I giggled and watched my husband sleep in his natural habitat. He was lying on his chest, face buried against the comfy pillow Sophia bought for him last Christmas and his arms wrapped tightly around said pillow. If it wasn't for the fact that I could see his chest rise and fall, I would've been afraid that he suffocated himself.

The longer I looked at him, the happier I became and I had to stop myself from jumping on the bed and squealing with childish glee.

But, I believe my joy was well deserved.

After all, today was our 3rd year wedding anniversary.

Three years of being married to my best friend!

Three wonderful, beautiful years!

Unable to hold myself back any longer, I scooted towards him and wrapped my arms around his torso, rubbing my face against his warm back and sighing in pure euphoria. And so, I laid there next to him and slowly, the light flowing into the room began to darken and raindrops were soon bouncing against the roof. There is nothing more lovely than staying in bed and listening to the rain fall outside, so my morning went from good to great.

Then, as I was beginning to doze off again, I felt Miles shift and before I knew it, his arms were wrapped securely around me.

I gazed up at him and found him gazing back with a sleepy smile.

"Good morning," I whispered, scooting up so my face was next to his.

"Good morning to you too." He replied, inching closer to kiss me gently.

"Do you know what today is?"

"Hmmmm. Let me think. It is raining outside, you're glowing with excitement, and that question is only asked once a year. Therefore," Miles took my left hand and kissed the two rings on my finger. "It must be our wedding anniversary."

"Correct!" I rewarded him with a big smooch on the lips. "Three years and counting!"

"And have they been wonderful years?" He sat up slightly so his torso was hovering over me and his hands rested on both sides of my head.

"They have been fantastic years." I laughed, reaching up and pulling him down for a long, heartfelt kiss. His stubble tickled my face and I giggled as he began kissing down my neck and shoulders.

"Mi-Miles!" I squealed, playfully swatting him away but to no avail. "T-That tickles!"

"I'm well aware." He smirked, rubbing his cheek against mine and making me erupt into laughter once more. "That's why I'm doing it."

As he bent down to kiss me again, a lightbulb went off in my head and I shot my hand out to stop him.

"Mmphf?!"

"I just remember something! Hold on!" I sat up and crawled out from under him and leant over the side of the bed, pulling up a rectangle blue box with a ribbon on top from under the bed.

"Here we are." I adjusted the ribbon to make sure it was perfect before holding it out towards Miles. "Happy Anniversary, my love!"

He gently took the box from me, undid the ribbon, and popped the lid off.

"What is this?" He held up a long rectangular machine.

"It is portable Smart Scanner. You are always lugging around folders upon folders of papers, so this scanner can help you out. Just run your documents through and you can have all of your research in the palm of your hand!" I grinned and held my arms out in a 'Surprise!' pose. "Do you like it?"

Miles smiled and placed the box and scanner to the side before pulling me into his arms and falling back onto the bed and blowing raspberries against my neck.

"I love it. Thank you, Honey."

We embraced and kissed for a while, and just when I though it couldn't get any better, Miles spoke up.

"I have something for you too." Without getting up or letting go of me, he reached out and grabbed a thick square box hidden between the bed and night table. "Happy Anniversary, Honey."

Curious and ecstatic, I sat up, carefully opened the box, and pulled out a beautiful snow globe with a carousel horse inside.

"Wow," I gasped, inspecting it all over. "It is beautiful."

"There is a knob at the bottom. Give it a few turns and listen."

I did as he asked and "Angel Kisses" by Thad Fiscella filled the room.

I squealed and quickly placed the snow globe on the night table before tackling Miles.

"I *kiss* love *kiss* it! Thank you! *kiss* *kiss* so much! *kiss*"

"It's nothing much." He laughed, rolling over so we lay side by side. "Your gift was more thoughtful, I just happen to know one of your favorite piano pieces and put it inside a snow globe."

"But it is the thought that matters, Miles. And I can tell you put a lot of thought into my gift and that is why I love it so much." I brought his hand to my face and kissed his open palm. "I love you, Miles. Thank you for marrying me."

"I should be the one thanking you." He smiled and starting running his fingers through my hair. "I am the twit who was lucky enough to marry someone like you."

"How about we are both lucky, all right?" I sighed, placing my hand on the bare skin peeking from under his shirt, chuckling at how it made him jump slightly. "Did you ever think you'd get married?"

"Hmmm. I want to hear your answer first."

"Alright. Well, honestly, no. I never really talked to anyone until I met you. My initial plan was to finish college, get a job as a musician, and live my life alone. But, after meeting and falling in love with you, I couldn't imagine living life without you by my side." I laughed as Miles gave me a kiss on the nose. "What about you?"

"I guess I fancied the idea once in a while, but it wasn't something I lost sleep over. I figured if I met someone, then great. If I didn't, then being a bachelor wouldn't be so terrible. Then I met you, and when you left for Germany, I told myself when you came back I was going to marry you some day." My heart warmed at his words, and I cuddled closer, listening to his deep voice vibrate in his chest. "Hey, do you want to know a secret?"

"What?" I asked.

"Even before we officially met, I had a tiny crush on you."

"What?!" I gaped at him with pure shock. "Really?!"

"Holy shit. Why so surprised, Short Stack?" He chuckled. "I just thought you were cute, but you never looked up or said anything, so I had a small method of making you do so every day."

"…..That is why you never brought your pencil to class? Seriously?!"

"May~be. It was just a little crush though, I didn't really start liking you until after we became friends. When you burst into the classroom that rainy day, much like the one today," He pointed up to the ceiling. "And you were so frustrated and actually showed some emotion, my crush started to grow a bit and that is the main reason I asked for your number."

"…Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"Because we weren't married then, and I would be too embarrassed to admit that."

"True." I grinned, trailing my fingers up and down his bare back. "Do you remember those days when we just started dating and every time we did something romantic, we'd get all embarrassed and red in the face?"

"Vaguely, but we got past that pretty quickly….with the two year old down the hallway as evidence."

"Yeah." I hummed, deep in thought at his words. "Hey, Miles….do you….want to have another one?"

"Another kid?"

"Mhmm. Both of us were the only child of our families and….I want Ae-cha to know what it is like to have another sibling. And..I…wouldn't mind..having..another…." I trailed off at the end, my cheeks slowing burning up. "So..what do you think?"

Miles' sudden laughter made me jump and I stared at his shining face in wonder.

"Of course I'd love to have another kid running around. Hell, if I had it my way, we'd already have three kids already."

"Three kids in three years?! Holy Hell, Miles!" I laughed, covering my burning face. "But that is good to know, I guess."

"So, when do you want to have our next kid?"

"Ummm." I brought my hands down and thought hard. "I would like our kids to be close in age, so…as soon as possible?"

"Hot Damn!" Miles cheered, peeling off his shirt and rolling us over so he was on top of me. "This anniversary is wrapping up quite nicely!"

"It's only 4 in the morning. The day has barely begun!"

"Exactly!"

However, we did not get very far since moments later someone knocked on the door.

"Mommy? Daddy?" Ae-cha quiet voice came from the other side. "May I come in?"

"J-Just a minute, sweetheart!" I called out, pulling my dress back down and Miles hurried to snatch his shirt off the floor and we quickly composed ourselves before replying "You can come in now!"

The door squeaked open and Ae-cha, who was carrying Annie, scurried into the room and stood at the end of the bed.

"I heard laughing." She stated, looking at the two of us with her big eyes. "Why? I want to play too!"

Miles and I glanced at each other, our cheeks flushed red before laughing to the further confusion of our baby.

"We are just really happy, Cheerio." Miles leaned over and picked her up before placing her on his lap while Annie wiggled out of her grip and pattered over to me. "Today is the day your mommy and I got married."

"Married?" She gazed up at her dad in confusion.

"Yes, sweetie." I smiled, pointing to the rings on both of our fingers. "Your Daddy and I promised to love each other forever and wear these rings to show that promise."

"Oh!" Ae-cha clapped her hands together and nodded. "So…Mommy and Daddy's birthday?"

"Eh, in a sense it is."

"Yay! Happy Birthday!" She cheered, her adorable enthusiasm and lack of understand brought us to laughter again.

And so all four of us staid in bed all day, telling stories and watching all of the Disney movies on Netflix. Well, Ae-cha and Annie watched Disney movies on Netflix while Miles and I kissed when they weren't looking.

Then, as night came around, we all cuddled up in bed and Ae-cha and Annie drifted off to sleep.

"Happy Anniversary, Short Stack." Miles grinned, kissing me with all the love in the world.

"Happy Anniversary, Ventil Caramel Frappuccino." I giggled, reciprocating the kiss with just as much love.

But, before we could join our baby and puppy in the world of dreams, Miles' work phone vibrated.

"Aren't you going to answer it?" I asked as the phone continued vibration without fail.

"I'll just ignore it."

"What if it is important?"

"Ugggghhhhh. Fine." He carefully slipped his arm out from under Ae-cha and picked up his phone. "Ack, it's an e-mail alert. Let me check on it in my office."

I nodded and lay back down as he left the room.

I figured it was a stupid work offer or something, but when Miles raced back into the room and began getting dressed, I knew it was something big.

"What's wrong?" I crawled out of bed and walked up to him, this hole forming in my heart.

Miles said nothing as he button up his shirt, just handed me a print out of the e-mail:

You don't know me, but I've been a fan for a long time. You getting fired for what you posted on Afghanistan is absolute bullshit. Have to make this quick. They might be monitoring.

I did 2 weeks of software consult at MURKOFF Psychiatric Systems' facilities in Mount Massive. All sorts of NDA's I am very much breaking right now but seriously, fuck those guys.

Terrible things happening there. Don't understand it. Don't believe half the things I saw. Doctors talking about dream therapy going too deep, finding something that had been waiting for them in the mountain. People are being hurt and Murkoff is making money.

It needs to be exposed.

(Young-ja)

Nothing good had ever coming from Father Martin's plans.

Nothing.

Every step we took down that foreboding hallway made the rock in my chest grow larger and larger until I felt it was going to rip out of my chest.

As we reached the end of the dark hallway, a Variant awaited our arrival, bathed in light and pointing to the hallway on the right.

"Only one way out. Only one way." He said, his voice like rusty nails on a chalkboard.

Since he didn't seem hostile, we just politely acknowledged him and hurried on our way. But before we were out of earshot, the Variant said, "How do you know you're not a patient?"

His words sent a chill down my spine, and I thought to myself that maybe we were like the other patients at this point.

Maybe we were beyond the point of no return.

The right hallway was impossibly narrow and had cabinet barricades stacked up every few feet, and I had this odd strange sense of déjà vu.

'Have I…been here before?'

Luckily, Miles apparently had the same thoughts because he halted to a stop and gazed around.

"This hallway looks familiar."

I racked my brain for any possible explanation, and then it hit me like a ton of bricks.

"This must…be..the same hallway…I…came into when…I…entered the asylum, and since I followed your footsteps…then this must…be…how you…got in too."

Miles' never got a chance to reply however since a familiar silhouette crashed through a door at the end of the hallway and let out an ear splitting scream.

"Chris Walker!" Waylon gasped, grabbing the two of us and hiding behind a bookshelf.

We waited with baited breath as the giant eventually passed by us, but not before sniffing the air a few times and almost giving me an ulcer from the stress of waiting.

But he moved on, and the moment he was out of sight, the three of us scurried down the hallway and threw ourselves into the first room we saw, jamming it shut behind us.

That simple door wouldn't stop a tank like Chris Walker, but I hoped we didn't plan on sticking around long enough to see for ourselves.

It appeared to be a conference room with the amount of papers scattered across the table and the broken monitor at the front of the room. A majority of the documents didn't make sense to me, but one did catch my eye.

Heya Cindy-

Another "interesting" conversation with Billy this morning. He says he's been talking to Dr. Wernicke again for his therapy "in the white place." I'm disturbed by the fact his delusions have only gotten worse with medication, (which isn't in the literature for benzodiazepine.)

In any case, his dead doctor friend is filling his head with German folklore. Apparently the only thing that can kill The Walrider are vampiric butterflies vomited from a demon called "Horerczy." the butterflies suck the breath from people's lips and drink blood from their nipples. They can also take the form of emaciated upright pigs,or sick dogs. So Billy's got that going for him.

You'd mentioned Billy talking about his mother's tattoos before, are any of them by chance tattoos of butterflies? Next time I get outside of the Murkoff firewall, I'm going to look online and see if there's any actual basis in German folklore, or if Billy's making this garbage up from whole cloth.

Would love to compare notes sometime. Wouldn't mind doing it over a glass of wine. ;). Gets lonely up here on Two.

-Kurt

Another piece of the puzzle, it seems.

Cindy's response was stapled to the back of the document:

Hello, Kurt

While I must decline on your generous offer, I did look up some information on this 'Horerczy' of Billy's. Apparently it is some vampire-like creature that opens its large mouth to spew Alps, which another name for The Walrider, in the form of butterflies. These butterflies will suck the breath or soul from humans, then fly back to the Hoerczy and nourish it. Lots of strange things have happened since this project was revived, so Billy may be able to see Wernicke's ghost after all. I'm not sure what to believe at this point, to be honest. Nothing is plain and simple in the end.

-Cindy

I wasn't sure if I could wrap my head around this this information.

'So the only thing that can kill the Walrider…..is the Walrider?'

First we learn the Walrider can shape sift, absorb matter into itself, and now apparently there is a creature that can kill the Walrider?

'Just what was Wernicke and Murkoff thinking? Do they even understand their own creation?'

And the part where Bill said the Horerczy could take the form of pigs. Could….could that be the reason Chris Walker is chasing us? He keeps calling us 'little pigs' and talks about containing something, so…does Walker think we are here to kill the Walrider? Is Billy controlling some of the Variants? And is….Billy somehow controlling us too?

"How do you know you're not a patient?"

"What could possibly possess you to enter this place?"

"I didn't come here to kill someone!" "Then why are you here?"

"The only way to stop this…is to murder Billy."

"Just remember, no one can escape while Billy is alive."

I fell to my knees at the realization and the room became ice cold.

'Is….is that the true reason we are here? Have we become the 'Horerczy'?'

"Young-ja?" Miles voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I slowly turned to see him next to me. "Are you alright?"

"…Yes. I am fine." I shook my head to push away my thoughts for another time. "Let's…keep…going."

There was a vent on the ceiling we crawled through, and after pushing a corpse out of the way, we ended up back in the translucent windowed hallway overlooking the main lobby.

"We're almost there, guys." Waylon grinned, opening a door that led to the elevator and stairway section.

"You're him!" A Variant called out to us. He was standing behind a locked metal gate that led up to the third floor. His raw fingers clung to the metal bars and he pressed his face against them until they left ugly, red indentions.

"I'm guessing you're one of Father Martin's followers." Miles pointed out, approaching the excited man with caution.

"Yes. I'm supposed to tell you—the key to the house of God is in the theatre. Behind the light." The Variant shoved his hand through the metal bars and waved his finger in Miles' face, like he was trying to drive the point home. "In the theatre, behind the light. You have to see the movie. So that's where he left the card. Okay?"

"A card? What do you mean by a ca-?"

"Friends! Children!" Father Martin's voice boomed from the upper floor. "I need your help, where are you?"

"Yes! Coming! I'm coming!" The Variant answered before running off.

"Do….you think…he means…a 'key'?" I offered, looking at up Miles for clarification.

"Probably. Well, we better get moving to the theatre, so we can watch whatever movie and get the damn key."

"Hope they have popcorn." Waylon mumbled under his breath.

Thanks to the directory hanging off to the side, we found the route to the recreation area/theatre easily.

For a moment, we considered giving Father Martin a huge "Fuck you!' and leave, but the entrance to the foyer was blocked off, so we had no choice but to go and receive the key.

As we entered the billiards room, I could see hear "Cristofori's Dream" by David Lanz playing in the distance, and I had a nagging feeling that we were supposed to follow it to the source.

"This..way!" I slid down broken floorboard into the hole in the ground while Miles and Waylon hurried after me.

The hole dropped down into what seemed to be an abandoned, isolated boiler room, but the sound of the piano growing louder told me otherwise. There was a rusty ladder in the middle of the room, so we climbed up it and found a very narrow passageway to the next room. With our backs plastered to the wall, the three of us slowly made our way across.

Once we reached the end, Miles hopped down first before catching me then Waylon. I don't think Waylon is used to jumping into someone's arms because he almost kicked Miles in the head on his way down. The piano music was drifting from the adjacent door, and the three of us slowly crept up to the tiny window and peeked inside.

Illuminated only by candle light, a Variant sat with his back to us, playing the ivory keys with such grace and skill that I wondered if he was a musician prior to his admittance here.

Suddenly, the Variant stopped and blew out the candles, engulfing the room in complete darkness. I thought we scared him off but, I could feel air blowing against my face and nudged Miles to turn on the camcorder's night vision.

The Variant was two inches from my face, his eyes clear as glass and his face covered in stiches and fake skin. Then, after blowing another puff of air, he walked away and I had the urge to throw up.

"What the hell?" Waylon breathed, placing his hands on my shoulder and steering me away from the door.

The next room we waltzed into looked like a prop room for plays and operas, so that was a good sign that we were headed in the right direction.

Then, another hole in the wall appeared and we jumped down into a room full of chairs and dead bodies.

"Think this is it?" Waylon asked, pulling two batteries out of a guard's coat pocket and changing them out with his old ones.

"Possibly. Look," Miles pointed to the piano that Variant was playing a moment before. "I guess he was leading us here."

The keys were layered in dust, and no matter how many times I rubbed a key, the dust wouldn't go away.

Suddenly, a bright light shot out from the other side of the room and a picture began to play on the old projection screen hanging from the ceiling.

An old time theatre countdown flashed across the screen before a voice boomed from the speakers.

A familiar voice.

"…exit interview recorded December 27, 1985 in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Clearance Sierra Alpha. Subject Dr. Rudolph Wernicke. 14866."

This was the audio file I heard in the Basement!

Then images of the Morphogenic Engine appeared on the screen, and I had to advent my eyes as the infernal buzzing clawed through my brain once more.

Like before, Wernicke and the reporter talked about the Nazi experiments and Project Walrider, and I could still see those ancient photos of patients strapped to theirs beds with lead tumors covering each inch of their bodies.

"Didn't realize they had "Doctor Lovestrange" on file here." Miles muttered, recording the interview with a pained expression. Then as fast as lighting, he collapsed to the ground and clutched his head for dear life.

"Miles!" Waylon and I flew to his side and tried to calm him down, but it seemed he was listening to something we couldn't.

"It's…like swarming insects in my head." He groaned, his nails digging into his skull as if physical pain could override the mental pain. "Rorschach tests….the patients' screams…the Morphogenic Engine…I can feel…."

"What is are you talking about, Miles?! Snap out of it!" Waylon smacked Miles' hard across the face, and then Miles went completely silent.

For a moment, I thought Waylon knocked him out, but Miles' fist sent Waylon tumbling into a pile of chairs and called him an "ass hat", assuring me that my husband was alright.

"What…happened?" I reached out and took his hand in mine, trying to soothe him.

"I…don't know.." He touched his forehead gingerly. "My headaches are getting worse. Heh. Maybe this is what Father Martin wants. To finally drive me off the deep end."

I wanted to say something, but Waylon collected himself from the pile of rubble and rejoined us.

"You're welcome, y'know." He grumbled, rubbing the bump on his head.

"Well, we watched the movie, so let's go get the key and get the fuck out of here."

The further we went into the theatre, the more dead bodies we found. All of them were positioned at tables and had cups or plates postioned in front of them like someone was playing house with their bodies.

There was a small winding staircase in the corner that probably led up to the projection room, so we walked towards it.

"Watch your step." Miles said, as we tip toed up the rickety thing.

It opened up to a long hallway of lockers, some which were occupied.

"You have to find Wernicke." One of the occupants whispered. "It is the only way."

And for some reason, I felt the Variant wasn't addressing me or Waylon.

But Miles.

I held his hand tighter at the thought.

'No one is going to take him away from me. No one.'

After crawling under a few tables, the projection room came into sight. Yet before Miles could lay a hand on the knob, it flew open and a Variant screamed at us before slamming it shut.

"Thanks for the heart attack." Miles hissed, clutching his chest like the rest of us were doing.

"So what now?" Waylon wheezed. "The door is locked and-."

In the distance, the sound of another door opening could be heard and when we peeked around the corner, we spotted the 'peek-a-boo' Variant run down the hallway.

"There's our entrance, I guess." Miles stated, pushing Waylon forward.

Turns out the door led out to a partially destroyed balcony, and I could see the entrance to the projection room on the other side.

"Looks like we have to slide against the wall again."

And so we did, with much distain.

Once we were all safely on the other balcony, Miles immediately spotted the key to the 3rd floor and snatched it up.

We hurried back down to the theatre room, only for one of the barricaded doors to slam open and one of the Twins trudged inside with a machete; Miles had to slam his hand over Waylon's and my mouth to keep us from screaming bloody murder.

Staying in the shadows, we watched the hairy Twin inspect the room bit by bit until he was far away from the door. Once that happened, Miles pushed us forward and we stampeded towards the open door and up the stairs until we found ourselves back in the elevator area.

Except the other Twin happened to be waiting there, as if he was expecting us.

Easing Waylon and me behind him, Miles slowly walked towards the metal door, never taking his eyes off the Twin. He unlocked it quickly and shoved us inside before slamming the door shut behind him.

We scurried up the stairs to find more blood arrows and Father Martin's followers waiting us. The two followers locked two of the three doors behind them before walking away, I guess to ensure we didn't stray from Father Martin's path.

The lone door opened up to a large kitchen, probably the most organized looking one of all I've come across. On the right side, there was a pair of double doors, and when we opened it up, we found ourselves in a dark, dining room with a Variant staring out the floor-to-ceiling window at the raging storm.

And for some reason…I could hear prayer hymns echoing down the hallway.

I gulped in fear and squeezed Miles' hand.

'It sounds like a sacrifice is about to be made. I just hope it's not us.'

The window Variant glanced at us before gesturing to an open door on the left.

It led out to another hallway, and as we made our way down it, we discovered these were patient rooms.

And every single occupant was kneeling and clasping their hands together in prayer.

"It's getting louder…" Miles whispered, his hand going to his head. "Whatever Father Martin was preparing for, it's getting ready to start…"

With every Variant we found, the chanting grew louder and louder.

Then, as we reached a room with the shattered window and rain pouring in, a Variant actually said his prayer aloud.

"I am an unworthy supplicant, who can serve our lord only by feeding our lord. Please take me, Walrider. Let my shepherd's Apostle see it and spread it with his lies for a greater truth. Your time upon the world has come. My flesh longs for your beautiful wraith. My blood is filled with you and waiting to be set free. This is my prayer. Write your gospel in my flesh."

"Is there about to be a mass suicide?" Waylon gasped.

"Maybe or Father Martian's version of the rapture." Miles said before climbing on the broken window still and holding his hand out for me to take.

As we slid against the brick wall, the harsh rain drenched us to the bone, and I struggled to keep my footing on the slippery landing.

I wanted to kiss the carpet when we jumped into the next window, but I just settled for clinging to Miles'.

We had landed in another prayer room, but what caught my attention was the bloody writing on the hallway outside.

GOD HATES SICKNESS

"We must be getting close." Miles guided us down the hallway, finding more writing with every turn we took.

GOD HATES MONEY

GOD HATES LIARS

Then, we reached the closed doors of the chapel and the Twins stood on either side, staring at us with indifference.

"Right on time." The hairy one said.

"Father Martin is waiting for you,….Witness."

Whatever awaited us on the other side of that door, I could only hope it would spare us and let us return to our families.

Holding on tight to Miles and looking up at Waylon, the Twins slowly opened the double doors and we entered the chapel.

A/N: Guess what happens in the next chapter? hehehe~ Look forward to the next chapter! Thank you so much for reading my fanfic! :D