Marcel sat there, parked on the side of the road and held Vinny until she was asleep and that upsetting smell of fear left her. Then he buckled her back in and pulled a blanket from the second row of seats to cover her. He needed to get her back to her full self again or she wasn't going to stand a chance when things began to repeat themselves once more.

Marcel was getting fully tired of this, and it showed on his grim face as he pulled away from the curb and continued driving toward where he stayed these days. I hope I remain strong when the tears start. There's only so much distress an alpha can smell on an omega before they break, regardless of how good their self control.

x

Vinny's eyes opened to reveal a nice bed canopy over her head instead of the roof of a vehicle. She wasn't home in what used to be nonna's bed and neither did she recognize where she was. Even so, Vinny didn't feel any actual danger. She sat up slowly, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and tried to srart separating herself from the nightmares in her head.

The first piece of furniture to really draw her eyes was the massive wardrobe against the wall at the foot of her bed. Vinny walked curiously to it and found an array of styles filling the thing. Except, as she was looking at each garment it became disturbingly clear they'd all be perfect fits. "I wasn't sure what sort of things you'd be into wearing this time. I never am, so I just keep an up to date wardrobe full of all kinds of styles."

Vinny spun to see Dr. Elijah's friend Marcel, standing in the doorway with his arms crossed. "Could you not uh... wear your cologne so thick?" Vinny finally sound bravery to address part of what was bothering her. "It's...a little overwhelming when you're closer. It was insane, last night. I practically fainted." You did faint. If you were an omega, it could be argued that you succumbed to the Voice. Except, you aren't so...you were really tired and his cologne was overstated. Calm yourself, Vinny.

"I don't wear cologne." Marcel replied. "At least nothing with any notes stronger than a hint of cedar."

"Right." Vinny felt her skepticism at the entire situation rising up within her again. "How do this unconventional therapy you offer work?"

"Well...I make you remember everything you've forgotten, to put it rather frankly." He uncrossed his arms and stepped closer in a way that didn't raise any alarm in Vinny. "Maybe we should start with the fact you think you're beta."

Vinny pursed her lips. "It's basic biology. If you don't present by the time you're twenty, you never will. Maybe I'm beta, because I do get scents sometimes off people I know are alpha. But I'm probably just hum-"

"Down, omega." Vinny cut herself off mid-sentence and sat in the chair he'd thrust at her. Wait, what the fuck-

"You just startled me. That's hardly-"

"Come here." Vinny got up and went to his side, and what was more she couldn't bring herself to feel any annoyance about it either. What the fuck-

"Do you know the Voice is, Vinny?" Marcel asied quietly, more softly. "It's something an alpha can do, a quality he can project into his voice. Or she. It only works on omegas. Not other alphas, betas, not humans. Just omegas."

"I think I'd know if I was an omega." Vinny finally tried, a little annoyed at last. "It's not something you just fail to notice, Marcel." She crossed her arms at him. "And I'm almost twenty-four years old. It's just too late-"

"I don't want to make you do anything absurd, Vinny. But I will if that's what it takes. First and foremost, you need to realize what you are. This isn't my first time convincing you of this. It always works out better to do this bit first."

Vinny just stared him down, defiant of what he was trying to convince her was truth. "Alright Vinny. I can safely assume you're Italian because I knew your nonna and Morselli is definitely an Italian name." His voice dropped several octaves again and took on a strong rumble. "Tell me the secret recipe to your nonna's carpaccio."

Vinny opened to scoff and laugh him off. "You start with thinly sliced prosciutto but nonna always also used fish-" Marcel held up a hand and Vinny felt a cold horror wash over her. It was true. The Voice had worked. She'd never betray the secret of the family recipes like that otherwise. Reacting from a place of anger, Vinny flashed out one hand and slapped Marcel across the cheek. It didn't budge him from his spot at all as he allowed her this.

Breathing heavily, Vinny began to shout at him. "Get out! Get out!" She attempted to shove him from the doorway so she could shut and lock it, all just to feel better. Feel safe. It wasn't until her movement grew truly desperate and fear began to creep into her once more that he gently took the step back on his own. Vinny slammed his doorframe and locked it before she began dragging all the furniture in the room in front of the door. Only when she felt confident Marcel could not get in did Vinny relax enough to collapse to the floor and start crying.

I'm a fucking omega on top of all of this bullshit. I'm a fucking omega and I'm probably trapped in this house with that guy. Did I just get human trafficked by Dr. Elijah? Bastard. Mind whirling, Vinny shook on the floor as she craved nothing more than the comforting touch of her late mother or father or the warm embrace of her nonna. Oddly enough, it was this warm feeling that made Vinny pause just long enough to realize she wasn't alone.

Glancing up through her tears, Vinny was greeted with the sight of her grandfather, her namesake. He smiled warmly at her and crouched there in front of her with no difficulties like he used to have. "Nonno Vincent?" He radiated warmth and a soft, comforting light from this close.

"You aren't crazy, nipote. Please, stop thinking you are. It pains my heart, Vinny." He gently grabbed at his chest as if having another of the heart attacks that killed him. Strange as it was as, this blew any doubt from Vinny's mind that he wasn't real or was something malicious pretending to be Nonno Vincent.

So Vinny scowled, wiping the tears from her cheeks as she reverted to her Italian roots, the warmth seeping into her heart as she breathed a sigh that was true relief. "Non รจ divertente!" She scolded him for making such a joke at this time. A thought occurred almost immediately afterwards and Vinny spoke again, a bit hesitantly. "Nonno, sei un angelo?"

"No, I'm..." He stopped. "I guess you could call this state of being angel. But its not heaven here, at least not like the Christian church would describe it. But it is very peaceful and loving." He gently picked her hands up and Vinny was amazed as she took in his wrinkled features, drinking in a face she hadn't seen for a long time. His face was so full of love and caring that Vinny burst into tears again. I have to take him in while I can. Memory fades so fast where it really matters. Nonno Vincent brushed away the salty tracks with one large thumb. "Oh pippi." He shook the sadness from his face and Vinny was glad. Nonno was a happy man. He didn't sour his face with such expressions even when he lay dying in pain.

"There's something I need you to know. And I was allowed here to tell you." He took on a serious tone. "You are cursed, child. Your nonna was doing what she could to get rid of it, to free you from your pursuers and your trapped existence. But she was murdered, pippi. Murder, not a suicide. She wasn't crazy either." He paused. "The next bit wasn't easy for me to decide because I care for you deeply, Vinny. But you should also know this life isn't your first. I'm going to leave you a dream of a place and I need you to go there and find what you left for yourself. You aren't going to die this time, pippi." He pressed his forehead to her own own. "Please...for an old man. Go find it. Arm yourself and let no one close until you figure it out for yourself and decide what all of it means about your future."

Nonno Vincent pulled back and kissed her forehead causing a spreading tingling in her temple. She saw behind her closed eyelids an old house. Old, old. Like ancient. There was a placque in front of it as if it were an exhibit in a museum. Then she opened her eyes to find nonno gone. Oddly enough, his absence filled her with determination and the void in her chest he'd left at his death felt full of love. "Alright, nonno. I love you." Vinny curled up on the floor facing the window out into the New Orlean nights and drifted to sleep, holding tight to the mental image and struggling to figure out why it was oh so familiar.

At the moment of sleep Vinny was struck with a certainty that had her thanking her history professor. That was a Scandinavian structure, from the height of Viking pillaging. Definitely a museum, too. Which means I know where to start looking tomorrow.

Sleep was a bit more blessed than Vinny thought and she welcomed it with open arms as weary and hungry as she was. She dreamed of growing up in the Italian countryside with her parents and grandparents.