I'll Be Seeing You {RadioDust}

Chapter 57

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Friday, August 10th, 1923
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After their rest spanning just over an hour, Anthony having fallen asleep too, they got up at nearly four in the afternoon.
With Alastor sitting at his desk now, Anthony stayed sitting on the bed with his legs crossed and hair a bit of a mess from his lover playing with it again. That seemed to be how these things went. Alastor would always wake up first and then be left to run his fingers gently through Anthony's hair, not having the heart to wake him from his slumber.

"So, b'fore we came up here, y' mentioned somethin' about the note? Probably shoulda talked about that b'fore we slept-"
The blonde said as he leaned back against the wall.

Alastor had left his initial drawing of what he'd seen of the entity, back at Rosie's house, but that's as fine. The horrific image was still very much engraved into his mind, so he could redraw it for the purpose of showing Anthony.
"Yes... the note."
He began, picking up the piece of paper he'd left on his desk and handing it back over to his lover.
"You asked who it was from earlier. It was the shadow."
He stated rather simply, yet with confidence.
"It all makes sense if you think about it, there's nothing and no one else that it could have been."

Anthony took the page and looked it over, tilting his head at the marks at the bottom, counting them out in his head; twice to make sure he didn't miscount.
"I guess it does, but the marks? What's with those? Weren't there seventeen on the tree? There's only sixteen here."
He said, looking at Alastor again.
"Do they mean somethin'?"

Alastor nodded again, watching as Anthony counted the marks and then supposedly counted them again, his eyes looking back over them.
"Yes, I know. I have a feeling that it counted bringing my knife back for me as one of its little 'favors'. Although, I never asked it to. I suppose to get more of these little favors... I'll have to- well, I'm sure you know what I'll have to do."

Anthony had to think that over for a moment, looking at the marks again and then back to Alastor with a shake of his head.
"Oh god, no..."
He sighed, handing the page back, making sure to keep his voice down just in case Amélie was within earshot.
"A life for a favor? That doesn't seem fair..."

"Whether it's fair or not, this entity makes and lives by its own rules I'm afraid."
Alastor nodded, taking the note back and carefully folding it up before putting it away in one of the drawers of the desk.
"Regardless, I have sixteen favors remaining, given that I take no more lives."

"We gotta work somethin' out, Al..."
The blonde replied, an expression of nothing but pure worry and a hint of fear laid out on his face.
"Takin' a life ain't somethin' t' be taken lightly..."

Standing from his seat at the desk, Alastor moved over to sit beside Anthony on the bed, gently taking his hand.
"I understand that, Anthony."
He began, looking to the ground.
"But... addictions are difficult to break out of. I fear that... it may worsen."

Anthony took Alastor's hand and squeezed lightly.
"At least have a reason. Like the seamstress. She let some awful shit happen t' Molly. Lawrence was a piece o' shit anyway so even if he wasn't messin' with my family, I still woulda offed 'im 'cause he was hurtin' innocent people who done no wrong."
He said, looking into his lover's eyes as he brought his other hand up to cup his cheek.
"I can't be here all the time yet t' make sure ya stay outta trouble. I don't want ya gettin' caught or somethin'. Y' know I'll bail your ass out as soon as I hear about it, but I'm scared that... I won't hear 'bout it in time... y' know?"

Alastor was silent for a moment.
Up until a certain point, his kills had been nothing short of spontaneous. Rushes of a desire to kill in that moment of time- they were never too planned out. However, lately, in the past two years specifically, his style of killing had changed somewhat. His thought process too. Like with Mr. Cormier and the spices at the butcher's, those were intentional, yet thought out. So, perhaps it was a good thing that he was changing? He couldn't say for sure. Then again... perhaps the long, torturous death he gave Cormier was not simply a means to an end, but something that Alastor would only continue to delve into?