The Devil in the Form of Those That Follow: Calamitous

CHAPTER ONE

"I can focus on positives..."

"So, how have you been?" Lana asked him as she put her bag down beside her.

"Well, better now with you here darling," Vincent said. Lana set her hand on the desk, so Vincent took it and held it in his, which were cuffed together. "Now, have you published it yet?"

"Yeah. They wanted to publish it immediately. I mean, 'Best Selling Author Becomes Her Character'. That's gonna sell a lot," she explained to him.

"Did you bring me a copy like you promised?"

"Of course," She took her hand away from him and looked through her bag, and pulled out a book with her side profile's silhouette on it. She put it in Vincent's hands.

As Vincent read a random page, he smiled, but a few tears fell from his eyes.

"I still can't believe I did this to you," he mumbled, "I don't know how you forgave me."

"I wouldn't say I've forgiven you fully, you know, since it's only been four months since we got out," It had been late February, and most of them were still struggling to accept it was over. They had gotten used to that life.

"I'm just here to check you're getting better," she added.

"I'm just glad it didn't get too far," He looked at her for a moment before wiping away his tears. She seemed to be shocked at his statement, but she didn't say anything. "How are you and Tommy?" he asked. It hurt him just to say his name. While he wouldn't ever do something as extreme as he had done, he was still in love with Lana.

"We haven't gone completely official, but we've been on a few dates here and there," She blushed just thinking about him. She took the book and put it back. She had to let it sit with security a few days before letting him have it.

"He is good to you, right?" He knew that was a dumb question. Why wouldn't Tommy be good to her? He was perfect, "Oh, and don't forget to give that to security."

"Of course he's good to me. One time, he got so nervous because he had walked in on me brushing my teeth. I don't know why he felt so bad. I guess his parents didn't like it when he did that. But, he kept apologizing for a week straight," Lana smiled, "And don't worry, I won't forget."

"How's everyone else? I'm guessing they still haven't forgiven me,"

Lana put her arms back on the desk, "No, they haven't. Some of them still get a bit agitated with me for convincing them to not press charges. I mean, you still are serving time, so... They don't even know I'm coming to see you every week."

"Did they like the book?"

"It was half and half. Some of them didn't like that I shared some bits of our personal lives with it, but they started to like it after I announced I'd be taking them to France with the money I make from it. It's already sold 200 copies in the first week. I know that doesn't sound like much, but it's amazing,"

"When are you going to France?" Vincent sat up straight now.

"I think around late September or early October. Beatrix is sort of... nevermind. It's not important,"

They both looked around for a minute. Vincent didn't care to ask about Beatrix. He still didn't like her, kidnapped or not.

"So has anything happened in your life? I know I haven't been here in a bit with all the book stuff," Lana asked to break the silence.

"Same old. Leo always bothers me and other people, so he's gotten beat a few times," He paused a bit before continuing, "And the only thing they've gotten on Carmen and Nixon is that Carmen's car was found in a ditch in Pennsylvania," He slammed the table, "Fucking bastards." The people that were monitoring the conversation through the window started to walk in, but Lana shook her head at them, assuring them it was fine.