Viktor cries out in pain as Shelley pours peroxide down his bare back. She places it the bottle down gently and begins to clean his wounds as it starts to sizzle and foam. Viktor pants shallowly as she leans and rests his head against his wrists.
"You might need a hospital." Shelly gives him a worried look.
"They're still looking for you. We can't risk it." He sighs and looks over his shoulder. Her worried frown still remained. He reaches out and cups her cheek in his hand. She smiles and reaches to touch his hand, savoring the feel of him.
"Ew, are you two gonna kiss?" The boy twists his face in disgust. Viktor and Shelley later learned his name was Jason.
Viktor laughs and rolls his eyes, "She doesn't have cooties." He scoffs.
"All girls have cooties." Jason argues.
Shelley giggles.
"How's your back?" Jason asks.
"The pain is finally going away. But I can't leave it like this." He looks at Shelley and Jason. "Say, Jason, you got a belt or something hard enough to bite down on?"
Jason gets up and runs to the other side of the room and opens the old dryer, "I took this from my dad, he thinks he sold it off." He says as he holds up a knife still in its sheath.
Viktor takes it and removes the knife and holds the sheath, testing it's durability, "This will have to do. Ok." He sighs and rubs his sweaty head. "This wound is gonna kill me. If it gets infected, I'm done for out here. This is gonna look scary, but I swear I'm fine. It's just gonna be very painful for me." Viktor puts his knees up and hugs himself. "Don't be afraid." He looks at Shelley and turns around. He bites down on the sheath hard and concentrates.
Rumbling begins around him and he begins to grunt in pain, biting down hard on the sheath. Shelley gasps as her and Jason watch the wound begin to close up on Viktor's back. Grunting and muffled yelling, Viktor keeps going. The flesh begins to grow and renew as muscles sew itself together. Viktor yells as the bones in his shoulder snap back into place. He grunts and digs his nails into his palm as he continues to heal himself. Finally, he falls backwards as the wound heals.
Panting heavily, the sheath falls out of his mouth and the pain was finally gone. Shelley and Jason kneel over him, checking to make sure he was ok.
"That was so cool!" Jason exclaims.
Viktor wipes his bloody nose and sighs as his eyes roll back in exhaustion. That took a lot out of him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Screaming and gurgling, Celena continues to fight the masked invader as he holds her underwater. Water splashes everywhere as she thrashing in the tub. Her screams echo through the town and make its way to Roman and Peter's ears.
Peter drops the food in his hands and gasps when he hears Celena screaming in his head.
"Celena!" He rushes to the truck and takes off.
Roman snaps his head up as the echo of Celena's screams fill his mind. Fear builds in his heart. Without a word, he takes off out the door, startling Miranda in the process.
Celena pounds on the man's arms and reaches out to stop him in anyway, but she couldn't. Suddenly, her eyes snap open and dilate wide. With the power of the light, she forces the man to fly backwards. Yelling, he hits the wall with a loud thud and slides to the floor. Celena gasps for air as she sits up quickly and cough in fits as her lungs burned. The man shakes out of daze and grabs his knife. Celena snaps her head up as he gets to his feet and suddenly stops him as she holds her hand up. The man grunts as his body freezes from where he stands. He fights for control, but she was too strong. Her eyes were pitched black and angry. The man trembled in fear and fights to escape, but he groans in despair when he realizes this was his end. He watches his own hand that held the knife move till it was close to his face. He yells as he fights more, but still fails.
The lights flicker around her and her form distorts a few times, as if there was another person next to her. Or a soul trying to escape her body. It twitches around, letting out silent shrieking and morphs back into her body. Gasping behind his mask, the figure whimpers in terror from what he just witnessed.
"Fucking pervert." Celena snarls in a distorted voice and with a flick of her hand, the hand that held the knife shoves the knife through his throat till base touched his chin. The man grunts and gurgles as blood pours from the wound and the mouth of his mask, staining the white with red, and then finally, he slides down the wall and goes quiet.
Celena grunts as the powers leave her and whimpers in terror. Her powers were getting stronger. And she didn't know how to stop them. She sat in the tub, hugging herself as the water drains and, finally, screams out to the heavens in horror.
Peter slams on his breaks, nearly hitting a cop's car as he parks near Destiny's apartment building. His heart was pounding in terror as he gets out and looks at his surroundings. Several deputy cars and the Sheriff's patrol car surrounded the building. Ambulances and a coroner's car. He snaps his head at the familiar sound of Roman's car and snarls. Roman sends him a cold glare and moves to search for Celena. That's all either of them cared about.
Peter rushes to the coroners and sniffs. He smelled blood but it wasn't Celena. He breathes a sigh of relief then snaps his head towards voices. He sees Destiny holding on to a soaked Celena who carried a terrified look and dressed in purple robe. Roman spots her as well. They both walk up to her.
"What happened?" Peter asks as he rushes to them.
"Are you ok?" Roman asks as he reaches and checks Celena.
"She's ok. Some guy in a mask broke into the apartment. He tried to drown her." Destiny said as she gives Peter a knowing look.
Peter and Roman shared a knowing look. A masked figure invaded their minds. From their dreams.
"Where is he?" Roman gives her a furious look.
Destiny nods at the body bag they just packed in the coroner's car, "What's left of him, at least. The cops are asking questions, like, how did the killer slam into the wall and why make a filet out of his throat when he had Celena in the water in an empty apartment?"
Peter rubs his face in worry while Roman's eyes widen in shock.
"I'm not staying here. Now they know where I am, they'll be back." Celena states as she moves out of Destiny's arms and wipes away coming tears.
"Who are 'they'?" Roman asks.
Celena was hesitant, "I don't know."
"We can protect you." Peter protests.
"But who's going to protect you? You all barely made it in time." Celena rubs her head and sighs in distraught. "I saw his mind. He was there. At the trailer park." She looks at Peter and Roman. "He saw us warning that woman at the Wagoneer Oasis. He thought we saw him and something about no witnesses. Something about 'interfering with their mission'." She looks back at Peter. "And they want you to stop. And I was the message." Her voice trembles and sobs softly.
Peter pulls her into his arms and holds her tight, but Roman sends Peter a glare, "I told you we should have left it alone." He growls out
"How can we ignore the dreams, Roman?" Peter scoffs. "We're getting them for a reason."
"If it's endangering Celena, then fuck the dreams. I'm not saving anyone but her." Roman states strongly. "She's staying with me."
"Fuck you." Peter growls.
"I can protect her better than you. I'll hire a whole swat team to protect her." Roman scoffs.
Celena pulls away from Peter, "But how do we know who to trust? That guy I just killed..." She whispers, "He was a schoolteacher from Hemlock Primary. He just transferred last month. I heard someone made an identification. They could be anywhere..." She watches them look around, catching a few people looking at them. "Anyone." She follows their eyes. "They could be working for the police or even Godfrey Industries." Roman snaps his head back to her, "We need to be careful and cautious. We can't trust anyone."
Peter sighs and nods, "Then what do we do? We can't leave you unprotected."
"I'll stay with Roman, even at the White Tower. When I can't be with him, I'll stay with you. But Roman needs to bring me to you. No one else. No escorts." Celena states.
"I can agree to that." Roman says.
"Fine. We stick together." Peter nods, but inside he was battling with the wolf. It was fighting for control. He was angry that this happened in his own home. He's never going to let Celena out his sight. Ever.
(Celena's change of clothes...no belt, no gloves, no jewelry. Just the shirt, pants and shoes)
After helping Celena pack a few bags, Peter watches Roman stuff the bags in his car. He was pissed to see her go to him, but it was for her safety. He tries to reason himself with that.
"This is not right." Peter protests as he sits in his chair, watching Roman.
"It's her choice to stay with me." Roman states as he grabs the last bag.
"She's terrified and so am I. Roman, she's getting stronger and you know it's scaring her to death. Something happened and she's not telling us. You know she is." Peter says.
Roman sighs, "At least, I know not to push her. She'll be safer with me. Until she calms down, I'll talk to her. But, until then, stay the fuck away from her." He snarls.
Peter shoots to his feet and growls lowly, "Fuck you to tell me to do that." He glares at Roman.
"Enough!" Destiny comes storming into the living room. "Think about Celena. She needs you both and you know it."
Roman and Peter continue their glare stand-off until Roman grips the bag in his hand and takes off. Celena was waiting for him in the bedroom after she changed her clothes. He opens the door and nods at her to come. She gets up and follows him. He slowly places an arm around her and holds her close, but averts his nose away from her, trying to block her out. They move towards the door, but jump when the new sheriff stands in their way.
"Ms. Banks, I'm Sheriff Michael Chasseur.'
Celena gasps silently at that voice, she remembers from last year when dealing with Clementine Chasseur and heard that voice in her mind. She swallows roughly and tries to hide her guilty face.
"I need to ask you some questions about the perp." He says.
"Any questions needed will have to wait till tomorrow. My girlfriend is very shaken up after tonight. She'll see you when she feels like it." Roman states.
"I understand how you may feel tonight, but I really must talk to you." Michael pleads.
Roman glares at him, but Celena speaks up, "You may ask. Just get it over with." She says as she rubs her nose.
Michael looks over to Roman, giving him the 'talk alone' look, but Roman was saying 'fuck you' till Celena turns to him, "It's ok. Just stay close to me. Please." She begs Roman.
Roman sighs and lets her go to move a few feet away and glares at the Sheriff.
Celena turns to Michael and holds herself as he begins to ask her some questions.
"Ms. Banks, what exactly were you doing before the perp attacked?"
She sighs, "I was taking a bath. I didn't even hear him come in. I'm not even sure how long he was in my apartment. I locked up after Peter left."
"What is your relationship with..." He looks at his notes, "Peter Rumancek?"
"He's my other boyfriend. We're in a polyamory relationship." She shrugs.
Michael arches a brow, "I see. Do you know the perp?"
Celena shakes her head, "I never seen him before in my life."
"But the mask..." He watches her flinch. "You've seen it before." He deduces.
Roman stalks over to them, "Ok, we're done. Anything else is needed, call." He glares at Michael, then gives Celena a gentle look and carefully takes her into his arms, moving his face away from her, "Come on, Cell. Let me take you home." He whispers.
"Ms. Banks, if you can give me any information. Anything. Here's my card." Michael says has he hands her a business card.
She nods and takes it, "I will." She says and walks with Roman as they head outside. Roman helps her into the car and throws her bag into the trunk. Celena looks up and watches Peter as he gives her a pained look. She didn't want to leave him, she wanted the three of them together, like they're suppose to be. Until then, she has to be safe. Roman squeals his tires and zooms off back home.
Miranda was waiting on the couch as they arrived. She looks up to greet Roman with a smile, but her smile drops when she sees Celena with him. She also noticed something was wrong. Especially when she spies the bruises forming around her neck.
"What happened?" She asks in concern.
Roman waves it off and calls out, "Anna?"
Anna walks out of the secret room and walks downstairs, "Yes, Mr. Godfrey?" She asks and looks over to Celena, frowning.
"Could you please set up a guest room for Celena? She'll be staying with us from now on." He says.
She gives him an unsure look and frowns at Celena in caution.
"Now." Roman glares at her.
"Yes, sir." Anna nods and moves to head to one of the spare bedrooms.
Celena slaps his chest, making him grunt, "Be nicer and I'll be happy with the couch." Celena protests.
Roman shakes his head, "No, you need a bed." He states as he puts his foot down and kept it down.
"Bossy asshole." Celena scoffs.
Roman laughs and sighs in relief, "I'm so glad your safe." He says softly.
"What exactly happened?" Miranda asks as she eyes them both, you could smell the jealousy all over her.
Roman looks over to her and sighs deeply, "Celena had her apartment broken into and she was attacked."
Miranda gasps, "Oh, my god! Are you ok?"
"She's fine. Just shaken up." Roman says and turns to look at Celena, "Let's get you some food. Your stomach has been growling throughout the car ride." He guides her towards the kitchen.
Miranda frowns as she watches them head to the kitchen. She scoffs to herself and turns to head to her own room.
Roman had the servants to cook her some creamy courgetti and bacon pasta and grilled chicken. Roman sat with her as she ate and drank some wine. He frowns when her hand shakes as she drinks.
"Celena. What happened?" He asks gently.
Letting out a shuddering breath, Celena wipes her mouth, "I was getting into the bathtub. Just trying to relax. Before I knew it, I had my head in the water. This guy...he was so determined to kill me." She thinks back when she was underwater and looking at the guy in the mask. "He was planning to make it look like an accident. That's their M.O...I think. Then...all of the sudden, like an instinct, the powers came forth and he's flying back. But...I lost control." She frowns and looks at him. "It was like another force was inside me. It didn't feel evil. But it didn't feel nice either. It felt...protective. And very angry. Before I knew it, the guy stabs himself in the throat and I gained control back. It was terrifying." She trembles and nibbles on her nails.
Roman reaches and rubs her back, "You're safe now. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. I promise." He leans closer, but stops and jumps back. He licks his lips and sighs. He keeps forgetting to stay away from her, to protect her, but he's aching bad to kiss her and fuck her.
"Let's get you to bed." He says and gets up.
Celena shudders as she sits on the bed Roman had set up for her. She was already dressed in a white tracksuit and had warm socks on. She hugs her legs as she sits in the middle of the bed as she thinks about what happened over and over. Feeling the force inside her. It was so dark, yet carried light around it. She couldn't explain it. She was 100% sure she didn't feel any evil from it but it still scared her. Losing control scares her. She sighs and moves to get off bed and moves to a mirror. She exams her neck. Seeing large bruises on her skin. She never felt more terrified than being so close to death. But leaving Roman and Peter was more terrifying than death itself. She reaches out and moves the mirror around.
"LET ME OUT!" Suddenly her reflection morphs into a dark reflection of herself. The figure carried long black hair, pitch black eyes with a glowing sapphire ring around the iris.
Celena jumps back and falls to the floor. She sobs as she backs away till her back his the bed. She cries softly and hugs herself. What was happening to her?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hours later, everyone was asleep in their beds. Peter could barely sleep. Without Celena next to him, he had to wait till he was exhausted enough to pass out. Roman slept a door away from Celena as she sleeps in her own bed. She twitches against the sheets as the dreams invade her mind. She begins to see the Mask again. Everything was flashing before her eyes. There was a house. A plane. A kid riding a small bike. A truck coming towards him.
Roman gasps as he's jolted awake. He sits up and rubs his face. He hated having these dreams. Why do they continue when he just wants everything back to normal? What was the universe telling him?
He gets up out of bed and walks towards Celena's room. He quietly opens the door and sees her in bed. He sighs in relief, but frowns when he looks at the nursey door. He opens the door and shuts it behind him. But when he opens the other door, he's welcomed by the sounds of his baby wailing. The baby stands in her crib, tears pouring down her face. He didn't know what to do, so he tries to fix some formula to feed it, but the baby suddenly stops crying and points at the door. At the same time, the doorbell rings. Roman was speechless at what he just saw. How did she know? He quickly leaves and locks up the nursey.
He gasps when he runs into a sleepy Celena, "Hey, are you ok?" He asks as he shuts the door.
Celena frowns when she caught the sight of another door in that room, but says nothing about it, "I know you had another dream. I did, too."
Roman sighs and nods. They both snap their heads to the door as it rings again. Roman walks down the stairs with Celena and stayed behind him. Roman opens the door and sees it was Peter.
"Uh, the white mask from the dreams. Same as the guy who attacked Celena. I think he killed the family, the one at the gorge, and he killed that woman and her kid that night at the Wagoneer Oasis. And...and the kid on the tricycle...if they're are more, then this isn't over. One of them is gonna run over the kid."
"So what are you saying?"
"These people are going around making these murders look like accidents. Look at what that did to Celena. He was gonna make it look like she drowned in her tub." Peter points out.
"Why?" Roman wanted to know answers, not what's already in his head.
"I don't know. That's why I'm standing in the last place that either of us want to be right now." Peter glares at Roman. "The kid on the tricycles, he was looking up at something. If we could figure out what that was..."
Roman cuts him off, "What do you want?" He demands.
Peter sighs softly, "All of last year, Destiny kept telling me to pay attention to the dreams, and I didn't. That's why everything went bad."
"Well, if you're trying to make up for skipping out on me like a coward, then duly noted." Roman mutters.
Celena smacks his shoulder, "Just listen."
"I was a coward." Peter swallows hard. "I tell myself the reason of leaving is to help us. Help find answers to this...bond we carry. But...I honestly just couldn't bear being there if I ever lost Celena."
Roman sighs, satisfied that Peter finally admitted it, but he wasn't happy. He honestly hated fighting with Peter. He hated being so angry with him.
"You were my only friend. And I shouldn't have abandoned you and Cell. And I'm sorry. To both of you." Peter looks down in shame.
Roman sighs, he finally got what he wanted, a true apology, but he still needs time.
"All right." Peter mutters and walks away as Roman was quiet.
Celena pulls on Roman's shirt, "Talk to him." She whispers.
Roman swallows his pride and walks out to catch him, "Peter. The thing the kid was looking at...It was a plane."
"He's right. It looked Old-fashioned, biplane, or whatever." Celena says.
Roman nods, "It was pulling a green banner, too, flying really low."
Peter nods, "Thank you."
Celena walks up to him and hugs him tight. Peter sighs and holds her close. Breathing her in.
"I miss you." He whispers.
"I know. I love you." She says against his neck.
"I love you, too." Peter says and looks up at Roman, "Please keep her safe for me."
Roman nods.
Peter slowly and painfully lets her go and cups her face to kiss her passionately. He sighs against her lips and pulls away.
"I'll see you tomorrow." He kisses her forehead and walks back to his truck as Celena walks back inside.
"Peter. Good luck." Roman says and walks back inside with Celena.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Viktor rests his head over Shelley's lap and she strokes his face and caresses his hair. She sighs softly, so happy he was ok. But it still worried her. She looks up as Jason crawls through the window again and she sees him carrying some stuff. Shelley gently wakes Viktor up and helps him sit up.
"I got you guys a drink." He says.
Jason hands them both two bottles of soda. Shelley struggles to open hers and sighs as she looks at her hands. Viktor opens his and hands it to her. Trading bottles. She smiles at him and begins to guzzle down her drink.
"Wow! You're really thirsty." Jason exclaims.
Shelley quickly stops and blushes. Ashamed of how animalistic she must look like.
Jason takes one of Shelley's bandaged hands, "These things on your hands are dirty. I can make new ones out of my Mom's t-shirt." He offers.
"I rather just have normal hands." Shelley thinks, but gasps when she realizes that Viktor heard her.
"It's ok. I know." Viktor whispers.
Jason begins to cut his mom's shirt up, but Viktor stops him and looks at Shelley, "I know you want to be normal. I can't give you all, but I can give half...if you let me." He offers.
Shelley frowns at him, and gasps when he begins to unwrap her hands. She snatches her hands away, shaking her head.
"No."
"It's ok, Shelley. Look." Jason sits and begins to take off her shoe and sock. He shows her his deformed toe. "The doctor said he could cut if off. Mom doesn't want to pay for it. I like it anyway. It's my toe." He smiles.
Shelley gives him a small smile and nods to Viktor. He slowly begins to unwrap both of her hands. Exposing her rotted hands with pus leaking out. Her nails were rotten as well.
"Oh, baby." He whispers.
Shelley sniffles as tears form in her eyes.
"Don't cry, Shelley." Jason says and wipes her tears away.
Viktor slowly takes her hands into his and holds them close, "Will you let me?" He asks.
Shelley gasps when she realizes what he was asking, "Could you?"
He gives her a smile, "Say the word."
"Yes." She smiles.
Viktor closes his eyes and rumbling begins again. Jason watches in wonder as Shelley's hands begin to change. It didn't hurt much, but when Shelley opened her eyes. She was welcomed of the site of healthy hands. Blood was working back and forth in her veins. She could feel the nerves. Everything was working. She moves her new fingers and gasps. She sobs happily and hugs Viktor tightly. She pulls away and begins to feel his face. Truly feel him for the first time.
"I love you." He whispers.
Shelley gasps softly and smiles, her braces shinning in the moonlight, "I love you, too."
Viktor smiles back and holds her close.
Olivia calls Norman in the middle of the night, crying. After they have sex, Norman invites her to go with him to Brazil. Olivia leaves to go to the bathroom, and admires her latest work in the bathtub. Marie's dead body.
*Still having trouble uploading my GIFS. I don't understand why this is happening. Anyway, hope you guys like this chapter. Lots of love! ~Song~