Unmasked

Chapter 6

Loves End

V's only thought as he stumbled back down the passageways he had come through was that he had to get back to her. He had to see his Evey one more time before he died.

He stumbled, barely catching himself on the wall in his weakened state. He had to keep going. With a great effort he heaved himself back upright, leaving a smear of blood behind on the tunnel wall. He had to see her face again.

When he caught sight of her she jumped up from the bench where she had been waiting. Waiting for him. Just as she always had in the shadow gallery. Waiting for him to come back to her and knowing the moment he crossed the threshold.

"V!" She ran towards him and he thought the mix of relief and fear on her face might've been the most beautiful and heartbreaking thing V had ever seen.

"Oh, God, we have to stop your bleeding," she frantically applied pressure to what wounds she could find through his clothing, but there was no way for her to hold them all.

"Please, don't," his breathing was becoming more labored as the seconds passed, "I'm finished and glad of it."

She shook her head and tears sprang from her eyes, dripping down onto his bloody chest, "Don't say that."

"I told you, only truth," he struggled to take another breath. "For 20 years I sought only this day. Nothing else existed until I saw you. Then everything changed." He took another shaky breath, more shallow this time and it burned his lungs with the effort, "I fell in love with you, Evey like I no longer believed I could."

The tears were flowing freely now as she stared at him, "V, I don't want you to die." She whispered and in her voice he thought he heard her heart crack.

"That's the most beautiful thing you could have ever given me," he took one last look at her before he was pulled into blackness.