Secrets of a Roughwood (Vincent ValentineXOC) Romance

Chapter 21

Storymode

The rest of the week went by in a blissful blur. Reece's head was positively flying high in the clouds and every night, after finally getting Lucy to sleep, she would tiptoe quietly down the straight, dark hall to Vincent's room. He always heard her coming, even if it was 2 a.m. before Lucy went down, and no matter how silent she tried to be. As soon as she would approach the open door he was waiting for her to come to bed, wide awake.

"How the hell you always know I'm coming down the hall? I'm bein' as quiet as a ninja."

"Ninja? I hear your heartbeat…and your not nearly as silent as you think."

"Hmph…Lucy's toy train nearly gave me a heart attack, did you hear that? My heart attacking?!"

His deep laugh vibrated in his chest which made Reece smile every time. Vincent's personality became more vibrant with each oppressing day, something that was completely penetrating the Valentine mask everyone else on Gaia had come accustomed to.

Sometimes at night, Reece was met with a sleepy glance and lazy smirk as Vincent pulled back the sheets for her to enter….

And other times she was met with an insatiable hunger and lustful glare that could barely be contained until the door was closed.

Reece always knew it was coming too. The entire day would be spent with playful teasing and desirable light touches meant to only make her smile. Reece could be washing the dishes and Vincent would come up behind her with his hands on her hips, mouth on her ear that would have her brain short circuiting and nerves sending much anticipated signals to places she had never given much thought to. It would end as it began, quickly and silently, with him disappearing behind the wall to the next room as if he had never been there in the first place. Reece would be dumbfounded… but smiling just the same. In fact, Reece had never smiled so much in her entire life….

She wasn't smiling one Tuesday afternoon though….

Before bed the night before, Vincent had convinced her into facing her fears and entering that damned room. Not only that, but he had also convinced her that it would be good for her to go down the stairs…. And down the hall…. And into the lab.

And for some odd reason, she had listened to him. Let him convince her!

And now she stood, shaking like a leaf beside Vincent's crossed arms , facing that very door that led to her nightmares with her hand on the doorknob.

"You know I'm not gonna be able to sleep tonight, right?"

"Mmmm… Figured."

"Why should I do this again?"

"So it won't have a hold of you."

"My fear?"

"Mmmmm…. And so you can sweep past the door frame."

His smirk was met with a glare as she sighed and turned the knob….

The room was just as it was a few weeks ago, with a new thin layer of dust covering the furniture. Reece locked her eyes on the passageway entrance and tried to tell her feet to move. Lucy was asleep a few doors down, much to the relief of her parents. Reece had no reason NOT to do this… so why couldn't she make her feet move.

"Vincent…."

Her small voice of complete fear was heard and Vincent's arms encircled her in seconds. "Okay…. Not today…"

The color had drained from Reece's face and her trembling had more than doubled since the door was opened. Vincent pried her white knuckles from the round door knob while his golden arm held her tight around her midsection. He quickly shut the door as her breathing came out in panicked gasps. "I apologize, I shouldn't have…. Oh, Reece."

She had slid from his grasp and was now on the floor heaving, with both hands placed firmly on each temple, spasms wracking her entire body. In one full swoop, just as before, Vincent pulled her into the safety of his arms, but this time headed for his bedroom for her to unravel…..

…

Vincent thought of the events that took place that day as he stood low in the Shinra basement, underneath the living room floor in a dungeon that held triggering memories for them both. Alone, he had begun removing the fear and paranoia that had led many to insanity in the blessed basement and almost aided the complete annihilation of the planet.

Vincent turned over boxes, emptying papers upon papers of experiments, Shinra lies and unkept promises. His day had been spent doing this same thing.

Dump. Briefly scan. Remove anything of value. Destroy. Repeat.

Reece knew he was doing good down below, but he knew she felt guilty for not joining him in the purge of Hojo, and more recently Deepground's, torture chamber.

The day was coming to a close and Vincent was on his last few boxes when the contents on one particular box covered the floor with photographs of scientists past, most gently propelling in their decent before landing on the dust covered floor. Vincent saw Hojo, Lucrecia, and even himself in several that almost caused his work to hault, but the only picture that made him truly stop was one of the Rocket Science department.

Cid.

Young Cid.

He couldn't have been more than 18 or 19 when the picture had been taken. He was smiling with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, along with others in the group that looked similar in posture and fashion. One woman stood close to Cid and it almost appeared as if Cid had his arm redoing around her, something another scientist was blocking by standing too close and in front. Vincent gently blew the dirt off and stuck the photo in his pocket before stacking the box and heading back up the staircase….