CONTAINS CONTENT:
Sense of threat, unease. Brief mild language.
{{Unedited}}
Vincent followed suit, slipping into his pants.
“You’re going to leave me here?” Marielle asked twisting her fingers together.
“He just revealed that he has no idea where you are… but he’s going to find out. So, you’ll be safe here. But he’s definitely at Valorant,” Vincent was saying as he pulled a shirt over his head.
Marielle leaned out of the bedroom doorway. “He is?”
“Yeah. He’s probably in the building… oh my…” Austin said jerking to a stop after he emerged, dressed, from the bathroom. “So is Hazal.”
Marielle straightened her back, and ran to her laundry basket throwing her jeans and her shirt back on. “I’m coming too, and don’t either of you try and stop me. You can fight him; I’ll go be with Hazal if that’s how it has to be. She’s alone and probably terrified with no one to keep her company.”
Vincent and Austin exchanged looks. “Okay.” They said simultaneously, and all three threw on shoes and rushed to their cars.
“Do we have ear pieces?” Austin asked. Vincent was already handing one to him. “Nice.” He fit it into his ear as he went to his car.
Marielle drove, Vincent watched with Headhunter ready. “Cory probably has backup.”
“He probably does, but if Hazal is still there, I’m sure that he doesn’t know that she is.”
“Would he have back up?” Austin pressed in Vincent’s ear.
“Yeah,” Vincent sighed. “And we won’t know who until we are there. My guess? He’ll only have a few. He’s trying to sneak around right now, not have an arsenal. What he doesn’t know is that we have backup, too.”
“We do?” Austin asked, eyebrow quirked.
The line fuzzed, “Bonjour.”
Austin grinned. “Chamber.”
“Hey, Austin.”
“Alright, lovefest later, focus now,” Vincent said into the piece.
They made it to Valorant in a matter of a few minutes, and after pulling into the parking garage both cars piled out.
With gun ready, Vincent waved a hand behind him. “Walk, walk,” he whispered, the other two obeyed, going silent with their footsteps. They kept behind the parked vehicles for cover.
“I don’t hear anything,” Austin whispered.
“He’s here,” Vincent assured.
Marielle pulled her guns from her arms, and cracked her neck, feeling the relief from no longer having them buzzing around in her skin. “Do we have a plan, here?”
“Well, we know he’s in records… third floor.” Austin gestured with his head.
“This is where Mateo’s forgetfulness really helps situations,” Marielle chuckled, “Several months ago, Liam told Mateo to file lots of information from the storage room. He got distracted and started playing video games. There’s like a ninety nine percent chance that my records and address are not even in the archive.”
“Yeah.” Austin whispered eyeing the building. “But Hazal is…” He gestured with his head to the third floor where the guest rooms were. One of the lights was on. They didn’t need Sherlock Holmes to understand that Hazal was in there and she would likely be in danger if Cory realized, especially after his failing to kill her at the party.
“Okay,” Vincent said. “I think that it’s best if we go in at different places.”
“You want us to split up? Isn’t that like the most common cause of everyone dying in horror films?” Marielle asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.
Chamber slid in behind them, briefly startling her. “I understand what he’s saying,” he said, then he nodded at all of them as they peeked over their shoulders to him. “It’s probably best if Marielle goes in the back, quietly up the stairs, and to Hazal. Austin can go in the side entrance, and Vincent and I go straight for Cory. With any luck, any or all of us will be a surprise and he won’t even know that Marielle or Hazal are here.”
“What do you want me to do, get her out or just stay with her?” Marielle asked.
“I think it’s best for now to just sit with her, quietly; explain the situation.”
Marielle nodded, they saw movement, and fell silent.
Surely enough there was someone waiting down in the courtyard for them. His black clothing and hood revealed that he wasn’t a friend. “Think that he heard us come in?”
“No,” Austin said glancing behind them for anyone who might be approaching. “He’d be looking up here if he did.”
“Is it possible that it’s an ambush?” Chamber asked.
Vincent winced. “Maybe.” He shook his head after a moment of stroking his chin. “I don’t think that Cory wants to waste resources right now. He’s a little unhinged after losing Tundra, but he’s not stupid. He’s going to want to save whoever he’s conned with him during our final encounter.”
“What if he sees this as our final encounter?” Austin shot back.
Chamber raised a hand as if to shrug. “It’s possible, but unlikely. He’s just trying to torment us right now.” He put that same hand on Austin’s shoulder and gave him a good, reassuring squeeze.
“Okay, Marielle, you go to the back, get up the stairs to Hazal, and be ready to fight.” Marielle nodded.
“I can take out this goon, no noise,” Austin said looking down his barrel at the man who was now sitting on the fountain lip.
“I’m going to talk to Cory,” Vincent said distantly.
“Talk to him?” Marielle scoffed.
“Try to distract him… you get to Hazal, you two be ready to join.” He nodded to Chamber and Austin and both agreed. “Go,” Vincent said making a motion with his pointer and middle finger.
They all went with Marielle to the back entrance behind the cobblestone building, and quietly slipped passed the bridged entry that led to the fountain and the man in wait. Austin broke off from them once they reached the door and helped Marielle slip silently in.
Austin made his way quietly behind the fountain. The oblivious man on the other side was checking his gun. His advantage was that the fountain was a bit noisy, so he bent and quickly removed his shoes, socks, and rolled both pant legs up. Training had taught him how to do such things in about ten seconds. He quietly stepped onto the edge of the fountain, snuck up to him, his foot falls silenced a bit by the sloshing of the liquid in the fountain basin, and stepped into the water – one gentle foot at a time – where he would have a better angle.
Ankle deep in icy liquid, he positioned himself, and broke the guy’s neck in one swift movement, dropping him into the water at his feet. The poor guy never knew it was coming.
He dared to bend down and remove the mask. Another Kiritani double. Wow… Cory really had his fingers in a lot of worlds, and influence with Kingdom. He considered for a moment how interesting it was that Kiritani in this dimension didn’t seem to want any association with Vincent, and seemingly, neither did the Yorus in any other dimension.
Austin went back to his shoes, put them back on, checked his clip, and moved toward the side of the building where he’d be entering, slipping in unnoticed.
However, the moment that he turned into the stairwell, he was met with the barrel of a gun in his face; a masked figure… a woman. Both paused.
***
Marielle went at such a snail’s pace up the stairs to the third floor that she thought her skin was going to peel off from the anxiety it was giving her. She didn’t dare the elevator although there was no doubt that Cory knew that they were there already and he was probably lying in wait.
What he might not know was that Marielle was there, she wasn’t trying to get anywhere near him, and instead she was trying to get to her friend.
She reached the top of the stairs and breathed out slowly through rounded lips as she went to the door. It might make more sense to just go through the wall since opening the door would cause noise and alert Cory or anyone else in the building to her presence… but what did she do when she got to Hazal’s room? She wouldn’t be able to go through the wall again for at least fifty minutes, maybe longer. The best idea was probably to risk opening this door, and go through the wall at Hazal’s room. They’d put her in room three, so she didn’t have that far to travel down the hall once she was out there.
She considered for a moment, records were on the first floor a few doors down from the kitchen. So, unless Cory had decided to go into her office… her eyes widened for a moment. “Guys,” she whispered. “I have personal information on my computer, too,” she explained.
“The offices?” Vincent asked.
“Yeah.”
“Austin, do you copy?” No answer, “Austin…?”
***
The woman holding the gun on him was shaking like a leaf, but Austin continued to stand with his hands up. Normally by now he would have simply dropped, kicked the person’s feet out from under them and wrestled the weapon away, but something was off here. This person was scared? Or… they didn’t want to shoot him.
Realization dawned on him, slowly. “Kirra?” he dared, gently.
The woman reached up, unmasking herself. Austin’s face contorted in anguish, hers did as well as Skye fell into his arms and wept, dropping her pistol to her side. Austin fell against her as well, bringing her close. “You’re dead,” she breathed into his chest.
“So are you,” he replied holding her for a moment, and for a brief period everything made sense to him. Vincent, and his decisions, and why. He shook his head, gently took her shoulders and pulled back looking at her, taking her in. She was alive and beautiful, not the body in the ground not fifty feet away. She looked distinguishably healthy compared to the others from Vincent’s world, and Austin had a brief memory of Vincent saying that she and Efia had never gotten ill. She was among the few immune.
Their eyes found one another and she didn’t need to speak at all for him to understand what she was telling him. “You loved me in Vincent’s dimension, too,” he realized. “Even after you knew that I-”
She nodded. “I’m a fool,” she replied, her bottom lip trembling. She tucked her lip in, but her tears were unbidden.
“No,” he breathed, embracing her again. “You were hopeful.”
“You’re everything that I always hoped that he’d be,” she whispered, sobbing into his chest. “He…was a monster. He- he…” She shook, telling him everything that he needed to know about Tundra’s treatment of her. He’d definitely assaulted her. A quick glance down at her gloved hands briefly revealed her wrists, there were marks there; old scars. He knew those marks well. They were freezer burns. Kirra couldn’t heal herself. She’d probably kept this from everyone else from embarrassment.
He exhaled raggedly before he hushed her and stroked the back of her red head. “Hush now… he’s gone. He can never hurt you again. Marielle killed him. It’s going to be okay.”
She crumbled against his chest. “Cory’s going to kill me,” she heaved.
Austin took in a deep breath and shook his head, “No, he’s not,” he whispered. Then he pulled back stepping away from her. “You’re already dead.” He lifted his pistol and fired two shots into the wall adjacent to her head. She had tensed and closed her eyes, but when she opened them again, she realized what he’d done. “Guys, I just killed Skye,” he said clicking back into his earpiece. He had a feeling that Cory could hear them somehow.
“Roger that,” Vincent replied, sadly.
Austin pulled Skye to him again, and held her for a beat recognizing that this was probably the last time that he’d ever feel the warmth of her skin. She let him, savoring the touch that she thought that she’d never feel once again. Tundra had used her, and done horrible things to her, yet somehow, she could never help herself. She’d be able to now. “Get far away from the building so no one hears you, go back home, and run. We’re going to blow Valorant there in a few weeks. Go back now, and run. Viper and Omen did, find them and be safe.”
She nodded, squeezing him more tightly. He sighed, dreamily wishing for a moment that he were still that man who would have pressed her against the wall. But no, he wanted to protect her with every fiber of his being. “Go,” he whispered.
“I’ll never see you again,” she replied, another round of tears threatening to roll down her face.
“But you’ll be alive. And I love Marielle,” he reminded. “I want life for you.” He gestured with his hand out the door that he’d just come from a few minutes before. “Who else is with him?” he asked, stopping her halfway out the door.
“No one now,” she replied and disappeared into the night.
He watched her for a moment in the doorway to make sure that she got safely far away from the building. Then he closed the door.
The next step was to get to records where hopefully he’d find Chamber and Vincent. If not, he’d need to make his way up to the offices.
***
Marielle pushed her way through the door into room three where she found Hazal standing guardedly with a pistol in her hand. The moment that she saw Marielle, she dropped the gun and threw her arms around Marielle, who shushed her.
“I know, I know,” Hazal whispered, indicating that she already knew that she needed to be quiet. “I was so scared.”
Marielle gently took her wrist, and pulled her to the bed where the two sat and Marielle quickly turned the light off, plunging them into darkness. The faint glow of Hazal’s red eye gave Marielle an anchor in the dark.
She reached down and laced her fingers with Hazal’s. “I sense so much fear in you, Marielle,” Hazal whispered, putting her arms around her friend.
They continued in hushed tones. “I was also scared, for you.”
“For the future, too.”
She nodded “Let’s talk about something positive,” she whispered, resting her head against Hazal’s shoulder.
“Your birthday is tomorrow.” Hazal said.
Marielle cocked her head to the side, realizing it was after midnight now, so technically Hazal was right. Both her and Austin’s birthdays were tomorrow. She was also taken aback that Hazal had remembered. “It is, yeah.”
“What do you want for a gift?”
She squeezed Hazal’s hand again. “Just your friendship.”
It was dark but as both women’s eyes were adjusting, Marielle could see Hazal turn her head toward her. “You have it.”
“I’m sorry we left you here.”
“No, it was the best sleep I’ve had in months,” she replied with a soft smile that couldn’t be seen in the dark, but Marielle heard it.
She put the temple of her head to Hazal’s and the two practiced deep breathing and listening, quietly. “Guys, I have Hazal,” she whispered. “She’s safe.”
“Copy that,” Austin replied, quietly.
***
Austin was moving swiftly, but quietly the way he’d been trained to do, footfalls almost disappearing long before each shoe encountered the ground. He came up behind Chamber who threw a glance at Austin over his left shoulder.
“Can you do something like what you did when Harbor attacked?” he asked, reminding them of how they had tricked Harbor when one had disappeared just as the other appeared, confusing the man long enough for them to gain the higher ground in that battle.
Chamber sighed and threw a glance to Vincent who was on the other side of the door to records. There was a glass panel in the door and Vincent was peeking through it. There was movement, but Vincent knew Cory and his tricks. This could be Mirror Image.
“Actually, I do have an idea…” Vincent said.
The other two looked to him, eyes wide as they awaited his words.
***
Vincent entered the room where several file cabinets full of envelopes, notes, dates, diary entries, journals, information on past agents, and more were held and paused on the other side of the closed door. He left the lines open on purpose so that the others could hear the conversation. Cory wouldn’t know this. Vincent took in a shaky breath and swallowed, trying to wet his dry throat. “Cory?” He said low.
A low, ironic chuckle came from an aisle over. “Yeah, Vincent, what is it?” the reply came casually.
“What’s it like now that you’ve lost Tundra, and so many of your loyal followers? How does it feel to know that everything is slipping away from you and that you’re going to lose?”
Cory shook his head, and now Vincent could see him over the top of a row of books on the shelf that separated the two. “Is that what this is about? You came to gloat when I’m about to figure out where Marielle lives?” He pulled his pistol from the back of his pants, his muscles tensing in his right arm as he pointed it in Vincent’s direction, while his eyes were scanning a manila envelope. “She’s not here, is she? You’re not that stupid.”
“You don’t win all of the battles that you start,” Vincent retorted, training Headhunter on him as well. He paused, trying to decide whether this was Cory, or his shadow, and if it was his shadow, firing Headhunter now could alert the real Cory to Chamber and Austin and they might be in trouble, then.
“Oh? Are you suggesting that I didn’t follow you through your time scar, kidnap, devour, and accidentally kill all the other copies of your whore that you left wide open for me? That I didn’t try to use her to sew the dimensional rift together? That I didn’t drink her until she did every last thing that I wanted?”
Rage burned in Vincent’s chest, depleting him of mental strength for a moment at Cory’s words. He could only imagine how Austin and Marielle must be feeling listening in on this. He heard a soft sob that he assumed was Marielle. He ignored it, and pressed on. “So, Tundra didn’t know that you had her?” Vincent confirmed.
“Of course he didn’t know, moron.”
Vincent’s hand trembled a little. He turned his spine to steel. “I wonder how he would feel?”
Cory plucked another file from the filing cabinet that he stood by and began to leaf through that one. He shrugged a shoulder. “He can rage in hell for all I care.”
Vincent smirked. “You care,” he insisted. “Or you wouldn’t be here now taunting us.”
“Is that what you think I’m doing, taunting you?” Cory bellowed, but it clipped off. “No, just going to add number six to my list of Marielle’s on my counter,” he said with a wide grin and a heated, proud flash in Vincent’s direction. He could partially see Vincent, but he froze when Vincent chuckled in his throat. It was a proud sound… something that he wished that he could reel back in because it told Cory that he’d missed something. “There are others, aren’t there?” Cory asked. Then there was an eerie pause. “I missed one,” he said to the air, then he looked down, tossing the folder to the ground and starting on a new one. “Not a problem, Vincent… I’ll just make sure to go back and find her,” he said flatly, edging it with a heavy, annoyed sigh.
“You won’t,” Vincent hissed.
“I think we both know what happens when you underestimate me, so…”
Vincent jumped on that. “I never underestimated you, Cory. I always knew that you were a skilled agent and a natural born leader,-” a pregnant pause, “-but you’re a real piece of work.” Cory made a sound like a strangled laugh that died in his chest. “You know now that you possess that cure. You could be saving millions.”
Cory turned a page. “Why didn’t you do it?”
Vincent took in a deep breath of air, and let it out slowly. “I initially thought that I was protecting you,” he said.
Cory chortled, “protecting me?”
“Oui. I thought that if everyone knew they’d hurt you and Finola to get it.” Cory paused and looked up, his eyes looking like they were reading an invisible marquee, his expression like he was assessing the truthfulness of Vinent’s words. “You didn’t give it to Tundra,” Vincent added, making the sting deeper.
Cory scoffed. “He was a good little dog, he knew that I had it and was going to give it to him after he did what he’d been asked.”
“Kidnap Marielle?”
“Yeah, boi.”
“Then kill me?”
Cory shook his head, “I told you, Vincent. I have no plans of killing you…” he briefly flashed Vincent his glassy eyes. “No, you get to live, boyo.” He turned another page. “With the knowledge that I’m going to bleed you dry of that cure in your veins after I’ve used Marielle to fix the dimensional gap.” He shrugged the shoulder attached to the hand holding the gun. Cory’s eyes wandered back to Vincent. “You could help, you know? You could just tell me the answer.” Vincent sneered, his upper lip threatening to pull back and reveal teeth. “I know that you know how to do it, and you wasted my other option… oh, sure, I could trust that you’re actually telling me the truth and try to find more Tala’s in other dimensions. But after what you pulled this way is more fun.” He flashed his gaze to Vincent again, “You know all of it, don’t you?”
“Of course I know how to do it, Cory.”
“Then why didn’t you help us in the first place?”
“Because I knew that you’d kill the woman that I love,” Vincent said through his teeth. “That’s the thing, Cory… that’s the whole story. There is no actual way to do it permanently, you’ll only kill her and anyone else that you try to use again, and again. I could sit here and rattle off the equations, the codes, the things that you would have to do, and it would still only bring you lightyears away,” he hissed. “Your dimension is dying, so you’re all desperate, but there is no other way. You could be home. You could be manufacturing that cure running through your veins. Instead, you’ve turned this into a war between us.”
“You started that war when you murdered my family!” Cory barked, and it split the silence of the night in two.
“Your family who were all killers?” Cory’s lip twitched. Vincent scoffed. “Maybe I did underestimate you,” Vincent said, “I never realized how much of a psychopath you were.”
Cory looked distant for a moment; a soft smile moved over his innocent face. “Funny, I was going to say the same thing about you,” he growled, then he turned to look directly into Vincent’s eyes. “So, we both got to be disappointed.” He let go of that folder, and it slapped against the ground, and came slowly around the aisle to face Vincent, pistol still trained on his face. For a moment the mask slipped like the last time they saw each other, and Cory had admitted that It was really good to see him again and his next words came out sincere, he was a completely different man for a second. “I would have done anything for you,” Cory rasped and even though there was no evidence of tears, they were threatening to make an appearance. “You were a brother to me.”
“You were one to me,” Vincent replied, slowly realizing that this was not him.
The two men stared at one another for a moment as Cory shoved his free hand into his jean pockets. The war in Cory’s eyes evident; he loved Vincent, he hated Vincent. “Then why did this happen?”
“Maybe it’s like Chamber says sometimes. Maybe some things are just… fate.”
Cory hummed his response, and looked down between them, slipping into some memory. There were many good ones to choose from.
“Where are you now?”
Cory shrugged. “I’m around,” he whispered with a slight eyeroll. His favorite response. Vincent thought that it was interesting that he could sense the change in Cory since the last time they saw one another. He had been cocky then, but now his real feelings were showing. He was losing this war and maybe he sensed it; knew it. Either way, he’d lost Austin, and Vincent knew that had taken a toll on him emotionally. The three men that Cory might have once called brothers – Austin, himself, and Hazal – had all but gone in different ways and Cory looked tired. There was a pause. “Does Marielle know?” He didn’t need to tack on about everything you’ve done.
Vincent felt tears prick the corners of his eyes. “She knows,” he assured.
“Oh, Vincent,” Marielle’s whisper came through his ear.
“Then let me…” Cory took a step toward him, “let me turn the question back on you. How does it feel, Vincent? How does it feel to know that your plan failed and that she is desperately in love with Austin Rancor?” Vincent briefly closed his eyes, although he kept his gun trained on Cory’s face despite knowing that it would do nothing. “What did you do all of this for?”
Vincent’s hand trembled and Headhunter started to drop a little, but he raised it with both hands as sweat beaded his brow and tears formed. “I- I hardly know anymore,” Vincent admitted.
Cory put his free hand into his pocket. “You want to have a real conversation… turn that microphone off. I think you should know something,” he taunted. Then he gestured with the tip of the pistol. “Do it.”
Vincent wasn’t afraid, but he reached down. “Sorry, Chamber,” he whispered; he switched off.
Cory hummed, “You and you,” he said with a silent, ironic chuckle. “I’m surprised you didn’t come here to marry yourself.”
“I thought about it,” Vincent said flatly. “But I have no idea who would wear the dress.”
Cory scoffed, “he would, of course,” he reminded him of the Halloween party.
Vincent cocked an eyebrow. “None of them know the depths of your betrayal, do they? That you and I were working on this together?” Vincent slowly shook his head from side to side, “and that you abandoned me to die to be with her?” Vincent shook his head again. Cory dug something out of his bottom teeth and looked off for a moment, then met eyes with Vincent again. “I want to tell you something that will definitely change everything for you, and the new you is going to have to decide just how long you’re going to keep this from Masin.” Vincent tensed his jaw as he awaited the bomb. “You can’t get her pregnant, Vincent.” He lifted a finger, “or, what I should say is- you can. But the baby won’t survive.”
Vincent’s eyes grew dark. “What?”
“It was something that I figured out on my way to come find you. My original plan was to have my fun with her, and make sure that each one was pregnant with my child, not yours,” he explained with a soft smirk. “At first, I thought it was me. I watched as twice in a row she conceived- we both know how she feels about babies, and how desperately she wants to be a mother; she wasn’t going to get rid of it,-” he shook his head, “-but each time within ten weeks the baby died. So, I urged Austin…” he left that lingering too, and Vincent’s eyes filled with tears that drained quickly, although he showed no signs of crying as he imagined, unbidden what each of her doubles must have gone through. “Same thing,” Cory finished. “I ran some tests. I don’t know what it is, Vincent. But we can’t cross breed.”
Vincent dragged a shaky hand down his face. “What if the reason is because you’re all-”
“Sick? No, Vincent. I’m cured.”
Vincent’s head hung. “You’re lying.”
“Am I?” Cory nodded dismissively. “I guess you’ll find out at some point.” Cory rubbed his bottom lip, a sly smile spreading over his lips. “But Austin. Virile… from her world… he can give her what she truly wants. That family.”
“Stop talking,” Vincent said.
“You’ve done all of this for nothing, Vincent. It’s all make believe, all of it. You’re playing house.”
“Her love isn’t.”
Cory nodded as if agreeing. “We’ll see.” There was a silent moment. “But you have no home. You have no family. You won’t have any offspring.” He smirked, cruelly. “I’ll bet you won’t tell her. You’ll just keep pretending.” Vincent kept his expression straight even though tears were running silently to his chin. “Droch chrích ort,” he said under his breath. Vincent knew this to mean something like “bad ending for you.” Cory looked off as if he heard something. “That’s my cue.” He whispered and vanished, leaving Vincent alone with his thoughts and the knowledge that everyone heard part of that conversation.
***
All at once Austin and Chamber burst into Marielle’s office where Cory was sitting at her computer, the light from the screen illuminating his fair face in the darkness.
Then the side wall of the room became a vortex and both Chamber and Austin had to hold back to not get sucked into the hole that had formed.
Austin clung to the door and tried to throw some ice, but Cory was in the portal and gone before he had the chance.
The swirling vortex zipped itself shut and all was calm.
“He’s gone,” Chamber said into the ear pieces, Vincent having switched it back on the moment Cory disappeared.
Austin ran to the computer. It didn’t look like Cory had found anything useful. He sighed with relief. “Looks like we’re clear, too. There are several files open, none of them have her address, but it’s clear that he was looking for it.” His eyes flashed to a tab; he wasn’t sure why it had caught his attention. All it said was VYSE.
They all met up outside her office, where Hazal squeezed Marielle’s hand with a sigh of relief. Apparently, Cory never even knew that Hazal was in the building.
Everyone went home, Austin came back with Marielle and Vincent and went back to the couch… the couch that he had kissed Marielle on, where he’d tasted her soul. The couch that he knew that she had wild fantasies about him on the night he tried to seduce her, and tried to force himself not to replay Cory’s words over and over again. How does it feel, Vincent? How does it feel to know that your plan failed and that she is desperately in love with Austin Rancor?
-Oh, darling, you love me…
He got no reply. They were already asleep and he couldn’t be with her, but at least he could protect her and infiltrate her dreams or nightmares if necessary to help her… or if she called him just because she wanted him there…sometimes he knew that she did want him there.
He dragged his thoughts to what had happened at Valorant with Kirra, inwardly thanking God that in a strange, small way he got to say goodbye and once again he found himself awake with the knowledge that he understood Vincent. He got it. It all clicked, now.
He waited in the darkness for Marielle to call out for him in her dreams. When she did, he entered her nightmares and destroyed Tundra without even waking Vincent, though he knew that he was holding Marielle close.
In the dream, he could see puffs of smoke come from his mouth in the freezing cold. He remembered how the ice bit at him, and how it nearly killed her. He snuck up behind Tundra and slit his throat, a brilliant ribbon of scarlet dancing on the air before it pooled around his body on the ground. He turned to Marielle after making sure the monster was dead. “Why didn’t you just reach into him and pull his heart out when we actually encountered him?” he asked looking down at the distorted image of himself.
Marielle narrowed her eyes in thought. “It never even occurred to me until just now,” she realized. He nodded. That made sense. She shuddered.
Austin left her dream when she turned to him in the street standing over Tundra’s body, mouthed thank you, and turned back around, hugging herself and rubbing her own shoulders.
Austin took in a breath as he pulled himself out of the dream and awake before he did something stupid like go to her. He turned onto his side, finding Felix half dangled over the couch but somehow asleep. He fluffed the throw pillow.
Killing yourself is a weird pastime.