The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster) (Completed)

RE: The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster)

Emile was stunned while Joseph and Heller battled it out, she could almost always tell who spoke by the pitch of his voice and the pain in his words. She swallowed hard around the fear in her throat, twisting her hands against her binds uselessly. When Joseph sprang though and tossed her the keys she was torn; run away and be safe but leave Joseph, or stay and be in harm but stay with Joseph. Her mind raced at the thought of leaving the only person she called a friend, and the person who wanted to rip her throat out, behind. But without her sight she could hear it in his voice.

Emile had heard where the keys had fallen, she had listened carefully. Limping over as quickly as she could she dropped to her knees and twisted her body to search the ground with her only working hand. When the cold metal touched her trembling fingers she snatched up the keys and began to cycle through them, trying each against the lock. When she found the right one it took her a few long moments with the agony shooting from her broken wrist to undo the cuffs. She let out a breath of relief as the metal dropped. Emile finally was drawn back into the rest of her surroundings once her hands were free, his voice echoing around her. She stalled, blinking her crystalline eyes in a daze. "N-no... you're lying..." Her voice was shaking, even as he screamed out in pain.

She stood there as he screamed in pain, and part of her wanted to stay and see how it ended, the part of her that only saw that body as Heller. The part that thought Joseph was just a lie to torment her. Thankfully, Emile shook out those thoughts and quickly skirted off into the darkness, listening to Heller and Joseph's screams as a reference point to where she did not want to be. She made it to the outside wall, her shoulder clipping it with a string of curses and a line of tears. Now she only had to find the door.

RE: The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster)

Heller's laughter followed her through the darkness, the harsh mockery twisted by pain and madness until it sounded more like a madman's deranged cackling then any sane man's amusement. "He always wanted kids, didn't he? Always thought how great it would be to have a little son, so he wouldn't have to kidnap a kid just to ram his cock up a tight little ass! God knows you wouldn't have fucking noticed, not even when your pride and joy is learning to suck his daddy's-" the words cut off in a strangled cry, Joseph's hands wrapped tightly around Heller's throat. "Told...you...shut..fuck...up," he gasped out, slamming their body down onto the floor and gritting his teeth against the stabbing pain in his arm. One arm tore itself away, and his gun was in his hand. "I said stop running!" Heller shouted, the gunshot echoing within the empty warehouse.

Emile blindly stumbled along the wall, but the first door she found had heavy chains wrapped tightly around its handle and a large padlock preventing her from leaving. The keys proved useless, her fumbling attempts to find one that worked accomplishing nothing but giving Heller something to aim at. At the last moment something spoiled his aim, the bullet slamming into the wall beside Emile and sending chips of concrete scattering against her. "Get back here bitch! Run!" Another hoarse cry of pain, another shot rang out fired wildly into the air. "Take it!" Joseph suddenly shouted, something metal striking the floor several feet away from Emile; the gun lay upon the floor now, Heller snarling angrily as he forced himself back up to his feet. "Coming for you cunt! Maybe I'll put a brat in your belly and fuck her myself! Just like your dear old Dennis!"

RE: The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster)

Emile jumped at his words, her hands coming to rest over her ears as a whimper left her throat. No. This... no. Not her Dennis. "No... no..." She whispered this words frantically, as her fingers moved to the lock. Her nails and useless keys scraped against the metal, her voice echoed across the room like a beacon as she tried and tired again to get the keys to fit anything. A strangled sob left her split lip, tears rolling down her eyes. The padlocks were too much for the blind woman. The keys fumbled from her trembling fingers to clang onto the ground, causing sound to invade her ears in a million different points.

The gunshot rang next, hitting only inches away from her head before she nearly collapsed next to the keys. Every portion of her body rebelling against the idea of moving again. Another metallic click did not help Emile's condition as she tried to cover her head, before she realized what he'd thrown. Her eyes flew wide before searching for the gun. Her hand came around the warmed metal and she clutched it to her chest, before figuring out how to hold it. "No. Fuck you. You're wrong. Fucking wrong." She only whispered her words, no strength or belief behind them. She knew he was right, everything pointed to it. Even her heart was telling her so.

She nearly lost grip of the gun in those moments, before she quickly gripped it and pointed out into the darkness.

RE: The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster)

The grunts of pain and fury slowed, until only the man's labored breathing could be heard over the slow, steady dripping. "Ha...ha...ha ha ha..." Heller began, the laughter growing in volume as he watched her struggle with the gun, point it out at the darkness in his vague direction. "Go ahead then," he said quietly. "Use it." Footsteps began to echo through the warehouse, slowly approaching Emile. "The terrified little blind girl, all alone in the world, raped and tortured by the only man she trusted. I know you want to kill me, little girl. But you're not going to kill Joseph."

"No, don't listen to him," came the other voice, Joseph's voice, gasping out the words as pain and his shared mind tried to force him into silence. "You...you have to stop him, have to do it. Don't let me stop you."

"Isn't he so fucking noble? Your only friend in the world, the only one willing to reach into your darkness and offer you a candle," Heller chuckled, their feet moving forward with shared, if twisted, purpose. "You're not strong enough to kill him. Not clever enough to stop Dennis from killing kids, not good enough to keep me away. He's all you have, and you're too weak to throw that away."

"I don't matter, Emile! I'm sorry, I'm doing everything I can, but he-"

"Yes, do it, because even if you do I still win, because I forced you to kill your love," Heller laughed. The footsteps stopped, his voice was coming from directly before her, the gun leveled at his chest. Suddenly his hand was on the gun, both of them shouting. "Do it!"

RE: The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster)

Emile's wrist hated the weight of the gun, she could feel the way it was bending in the wrong direction, the bone pressing up against her skin in a way it shouldn't. Her leg's trembled from the weight of her defeated body, the cool air touching her bare skin. The scarps of clothing left swaying from her thin frame. His voice was all she could focus on, all she could hear. The steady dripping of water caused the already loud pounding in her skull to grow louder. She could feel herself swaying from the blows to the head and the loss of blood, and most of all the sick feeling in her gut from both his words and the knowledge of part of him inside of her. "I don't want to kill anyone." She said with only the slightly tremble in her voice. It was true though, she had no desire to kill him.

Their conflicting voices caused a whimper to leave her, it was too much for her shaken mind. She could feel herself lose grip on the gun, could feel her body swaying dangerously to the left. But his hands grasped her's tightly, causing pain to shoot up her wrist. Their combined yelling caused her to yelp and pull back from him, yanking the gun from his grip and pushing her body up against the wall. Pain shot down from her shoulder and she screamed out. Emile indeed squeezed the trigger, but she wasn't aiming at his chest after she'd pulled back, but his legs. Without her sight she couldn't know for sure if she'd gotten him.

The bang from the gun shook her frame and nearly knocked her from her feet. The loud noise causing her headache to come back in full force. She stumbled from him, gun now hanging from her good hand as she moved along the wall. Hands getting cut on bends in the metal, searching for a window or another door with less locks. The keys forgotten where Joseph (or Heller) had been.

As much as she wanted Joseph to be alive and unharmed, she knew better. If she could get out, she would try to get help.

RE: The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster)

The man shouted as the gun roared, pain, despair, fury and joy ringing out in a single demonic cry. A body fell to the floor behind her as she ran, the bullet having struck his leg and glanced off of the bone. The man's legs no longer held him up as he fell, occasional words coming through the shouts. "You're weak! Keep running, don't look back! You'll never be safe! I'm coming for you! I'll stop him, keep going! I'm sorry! I win! I win!"

At last she could feel another door, by blessed miracle the single door Heller had left unblocked in case he needed to run. The door burst open beneath her frantic pounding and she was outside, bare feet scratched by gravel and dirt as the sun once more fell upon her sightless eyes. Nature was all she could hear, faint birdsong surrounding the abandoned building even as his cries faded into the distance. She ran stumbling for what seemed like hours, occasionally striking a tree or nearly collapsing upon a root, only knowing that she must go on, before voices, rough male voices arguing over whether the deer had gone east or west when one of them noticed her.

"Because you couldn't track a-Holy fuck!" Footsteps coming towards her and the shuffling of clothing, a jacket suddenly thrown over her bleeding form. "Jesus Christ lady, what the fuck happened? There anyone chasing you?"

"Hey, hey Rick, I know her, she's that girl that vanished, the one the cop grabbed. I'm getting my phone, Jesus."

RE: The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster)

Emile stumbled the moment the door opened. She breathed in heaps of fresh air like a person surfacing after drowning. But she did not stop to relish in her escape, continuing to move she could admit she had no idea where she was, branches tore at her bared feet and legs, stones digging into the soft vulnerable part of the underside of her feet. After what seemed like an hour or so, her frantic half running limp slowed into a speed walking hobble. Her body still gave up on her from time to time, she would collapse into the dirt and heave for a few minutes, the heat from the sun blazing down on her pale skin, her throat dry from her escape and her blood-loss slowly turning into nausea.

Voices spoke near her and fear jammed her throat shut. Is it Heller? She asked herself, but no. The voices' were not right. They were happy, no pain, perhaps only slight irritation. She huddled herself against a tree as they came never the less, their boots crunching over branches and leaves as easily as the pipe had crushed her wrist. She slunk into herself when the clothing covered her. "Y-yeah." She managed before the second one spoke. She swallowed hard, but she was parched.

Emile blinked her blind eyes up at the males, shame coming to rest on her shoulders. "H-he... is really hurt." She managed to get out, to the surprise of both of the strangers. "Warehouse. Back there," she waved her arm in the direction she came from. "He.. he may still be there." She continued, unable to see the shared looks.

"Lady, we're gonna call the cops, and we're gonna get you to a hospital and they'll deal with him. Kay?" She felt his hand rest on her slim, twisted wrist and she cried out softly, yanking away from the man, who quickly reached his hands up defensively. "No no. I don't wanna hurt ya'. Just... let's calm down. Here, it's water." Emile could feel the cold of a water bottle being pressed into her good hand. She took it hesitantly, fumbling with the lid before she took small drinks.

To her side she could hear the second male speaking to the 911 operator.

RE: The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster)

"Yeah, this bleeding girl just showed up out of the woods, north of town a couple of miles off of the freeway. I think she's the one from the news, the one who got kidnapped, she said there was someone after her. No, we haven't seen anyone else, but she's torn up pretty bad. Some sick son of a bitch really did a number on her...Alright," the man lowered the phone, looking towards his companion. "Cops'll be here in a few minutes, we need to get her back to the road so they can pick her up."

"Got it," the other answered, his hands gently falling upon Emile's shoulders. "We're gonna get you out of here, ok?" he said in a soothing voice, starting to guide her through the darkness. "It's just a couple of miles, can you walk that? Come here Rick, give me a hand with her." Emile soon found herself supported between the two men, their journey slow until cars could be heard from ahead, men shouting, dogs barking. Suddenly they had emerged from the forest, standing amidst a half-dozen police cars and a pair of ambulances as officers and K-9s began to scatter out into the woods.

"Fuck!" came Morric's voice, his familiar presence before her and taking her in his arms. "It's alright Emile, it's over now, we'll get you out of here. Medic!" he called out, and someone soon responded. A needle pricked Emile's arm, and delightful oblivion began to claim her as the morphine chased away the pain. The next several hours were a blur of voices and faraway pain, engines rumbling as she was driven away and the flow of blood upon her skin as wounds were cleaned. There were no familiar voices, not any more, not even the hope of hearing Joseph filled with concern for her.

At last the pain slowly began to reappear; no longer as severe, but enough to brig her mind out of the drugged fog it had lain in. She was lying in a hospital bed, several IV tubes sticking from her arm. Her wounds had been carefully cleaned and bandaged, her entire chest and stomach wrapped up tightly along with her shoulder. Someone could be heard outside, a quiet disagreement over whether she was strong enough to receive visitors. The argument abruptly ended as the door opened, footsteps echoing as someone entered the room. "I have one question," came Kinsman's hated voice, all signs of his usual personal mirth gone. "Where is Heller?"

RE: The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster)

Emile wafted in and out of consciousness over the preceding hours. She refused to sleep on her own accord though, trying to stay awake for as long as she could. Not be treated like some doll that had been beaten and thrown out. Her awareness demanded them speak to her plainly, though she did not ask much. When her body finally demanded she rest, she fought, but it was no use. The soothing feel of the bumps on the road as they drove her back to the hospital rocked her to sleep the same as a mother would a child. At first it was all dark and soothing, then slowly a burning sensation began coursing from her shoulder, then her wrist. Her mind told her this was pain she was feeling, and she accepted that. Thinking back to the night she had, she wasn't surprised.

Only a minute of awareness passed before footsteps echoed in her personal room. She winced slightly, before opening her eyes and blinking against her darkness. Emile tried to listen carefully to him as he spoke, tried to understand his words, but it took a few moments. Moments allowing him to become impatient. She cleared her throat weakly as she tried to sit up slightly, causing a fresh wave of pain to rush through her. "I don't know." She said softly, her voice cracking slightly. She continued to speak though. "I don't even know where he took me. Or if he'd even still be there." Turning her head to Kinsman she blinked, his unpleasantness wafting off of him like a sort of aura. "It was a warehouse. Empty. Echoes."

Emile tried to explain before the door opened again. Loud steps echoes into the room. "You will leave Ms. Burns alone, Lieutenant," spoke Gary. "She needs rest, if you couldn't tell, she's been through quite a bit. You can ask your questions tomorrow." His voice was strong, but Emile raised a little hand, waving him down.

"It's.. okay. I am sorry Kinsman, but I do not know where he is."

RE: The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster)

"He is not still there," Kinsman muttered, a touch of bitterness in his voice. "Oh he was there, certainly. Your blood and his are all over the place, and judging from the equipment we found I suspect there would have been very little of you left had you not somehow managed an escape." He glanced towards the lawyer, promptly decided he was simply beneath his notice at the moment, and turned back to Emile. "I suppose the press will enjoy themselves nevertheless, probably more so then if you had died. The bogeygirl's second escape from the Bogeyman himself. There is no doubt about it any more; Heller's apartment was searched thoroughly and we found a few...trophies of his activities, including one from Dennis, and far more then we expected as well. I suspect it will be months before we track down every body.

"Oh, and we found a few of Dennis' secrets as well. It is always rather gratifying to be proven right, especially when it comes to criminal scum. I can't imagine how anyone could do those sorts of things to children but the evidence is incontrovertible. Heller wasn't the only one who liked to keep trophies of his conquests. And so we no longer need your testimony in that particular area. As a matter of fact," Kinsman paused, going through a brief mental checklist before he smiled. "I believe all of the mysteries you are involved in have been satisfactorily solved. Dennis' crimes, why he was killed, your capture at Heller's hands. I suppose we still don't quite know why he acted in this way, but I'll be sure to ask once we have recaptured him."

"So congratulations, Ms. Burns," Kinsman said, a touch of the old humor starting to reappear in his voice. "You wanted to be left alone by the police, and now you will be. Your statement of the events in the warehouse and hospital will be taken, but if you don't know where Heller is or where he intends to go, then you are no longer of any use to us. I suppose you could attempt to enter the witness protection program, but even then there is little you could offer to make the expense worth it. So congratulations, Ms. Burns," he said with a dark chuckle before turning away, his footsteps taking him out of the room and down the hallway.

RE: The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster)

Emile sat there, silently, taking in his words. Not a violent person by nature the overwhelming urge to put a bullet through Kinsman's forehead was slowly becoming too much for her to handle. But instead of hurting him- as she was bound to her bed by an IV- she instead cracked. "Fuck you! Fuck all of you worthless scum! I was gone for fucking hours and you could do nothing! Worthless! All of you! You will not say one more bad word about Dennis! I swear to fucking god--" Emile bit her tongue then, shoulders trembling with obvious rage. She took a moment before continuing, her voice trembling slightly with each new word; "I was just raped, tortured and nearly dead and you have the fucking audacity to waltz in here and say I'm now worth being protected? I fucking hope you choke and die you bag of filth."

From then, she was silent. She could not see the shocked look on Gary's face, nor the patients and staff passing by the room who heard her outbursts. And even when Gary approached to lay a comforting hand on her arm, she shook him off.

The rest of her stay at the hospital was quite similar. Doctors would ask her questions and she would give them short, to-the-point answers, no explanations. When the police came to ask her of what happened, she was nearly a mute. Giving what information she had to to finish what had to be done, quickly. Though soon the doctors who were stations on her mental well-being deemed Emile was not fit to reenter a functioning society. Emile was to be diagnosed and processed, but kept as an in-patient. Once this was made clear, the woman refused to speak all together.

RE: The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster)

Several days passed as Emile's wounds healed, as the questions became intolerable, as the doctors muttered and shook their heads while the police who had known her looked in worriedly. Press came in when they could slip by her guards, but the questions were always the same. did you know he was like this? Was there anything between you two? What did he say when he raped you? Do you know where he is now? Some were nicer and more sensitive then others, but ultimately they all wanted one thing; the story.

Occasionally she watched the news or overheard it from another room, and the hunt for the Bogeyman was all they could speak of. His apartment had been searched thoroughly, more than enough evidence found to convict him as the Bogeyman as well as connect him to two dozen other murders. A constant rehashing of his history was played, which they were finding out was mostly fabricated to get him into the police force, as well as his exemplary police record. Interviews from those who knew him, Franco angrily declaring on camera that he didn't believe a word of it while others claimed to have suspected all along. The investigations into Dennis Kohr, weeping parents who learned of their child's fate for the first time. Emile's story was told and retold, with each day's story lending more and more credence to the theory that she had been driven mad by the trauma.

The hunt continued as the days passed, and still there was no sign of Heller. No more bodies had surfaced, no witnesses to his departure or any tips that proved to be anything but nonsense. At last the police were forced to admit that he must have slipped through their net, that he was at large in another city or state. Police around the country were warned and put on their guard as the FBI began their own investigation. Wherever Heller was, they all agreed, they would find him.


It was the middle of the night and she had been asleep, her dreams haunted, when the sound of a door opening brought her back into awareness. The door closed quietly again, quiet footsteps bringing someone to the foot of the bed. "Emile?" Joseph whispered. Was she awake? Easier if she wasn't, better for her if he simply vanished and never reappeared. But he'd had to see her one last time.

RE: The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster)

The longer she was silent, the more she believed being mute wasn't so bad. It still hurt each time a reporter got into her room, pushing the smelly hand-held mic into her face, their palms sweating from getting into the building. The worst part was listening to the denials and the crying parents. Sometimes, those same parents would come to her new home-- the ward-- hand bang on the glass window separating her from the rest of the hospital. 'You bitch, how could you not have known? You let him kill our babies. Were you in on it too?' By that point they were usually dragged away, none willing to go easily, all wanting to fight and maybe kill her. Emile knew that death would just be the easy way out, and she deserved nothing but the constant pain of reminders. She had to have known, somewhere along the line she had to have realized he was... what he was.

That night tears swayed her into her nightmares, once again she was in the warehouse, Heller was laughing and she couldn't see him, couldn't feel him. The blankets she was wrapped in acting like a vice to hold her to the bed, panic rose and finally-- the door creaked. Her eyes snapped open and she whimpered, looking towards the doorway. It was late, she could hear the nighttime activities of the city from her window, she could tell from the stillness of the hospital outside her window.

His voice trapped her to her bed once again. "...n-..no..." Her voice was weak from not being used, barely audible over her panic'd breathing. Her large eyes blinked at him, boring straight into his face unknowingly. Although fear could not touch those void eyes of hers, it could change her body language. Her small pale hand reached out to the small bed table next to her, looking for her alarm. "..no...no..."

RE: The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster)

"Emile, no, please it's me not...he's not here," Joseph said hurriedly as she began to reach for the call button, the signal that would bring the entire hospital down upon him. "I figured out how he was holding me back, it doesn't always work but..." There was a pause, and when he spoke again his voice was full of sorrow and defeat. "It doesn't matter. I shouldn't have come, this was a mistake, I just...

"I'm sorry, Emile," he said finally, his voice still quiet. "I know that doesn't begin to atone for what I've done, for what he's done, but...I never wanted to hurt you. Never, from the moment I met you, did I ever want to do anything but keep you safe. I thought I could keep you safe from him too, but I was wrong. I'm sorry...I..." For a moment he was on the verge of telling her, expressing the feeling that had strengthened and damned him ever since the night that snow had fallen in the city. "...I just wanted you to know that," he muttered; saying it now would only cut her even deeper. "...That's all. I shouldn't have come here," he murmured again, footsteps in the dark slowly taking him away from her.

"It doesn't matter what he said," he said quietly, the door opening as he began to leave. "I promise, you'll never have to fear him again.

"Goodbye, Emile."

RE: The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster)

Her fingers halted in their search. His voice was so sincere... so calm. But Heller could still be under the surface, waiting for a moment to break through and kill her. Fear continued to course through her, even as she watched him. Her alarm was no where near her fingers, their search futile without her eyes. And resorting to screaming help didn't seem appealing for a throat that hadn't been used in quite some time. His voice drew her back as she listened to every word, every apology within the apology. "It does matter." Was what she finally said, even after his footsteps retreated away from her.

Sitting up in the bed, the blind woman reached for him, unable to stop herself. Needing the comfort of something familiar now that even Morric wouldn't come see her. "You're going to kill yourself, aren't you?" She questioned, her voice tinted with the fear she no longer needed to hide. Was this real? Was he just a voice in her head? Was she actually crazy? It was all very likely to be true. Even though she knew this was very likely, her mind would never be able to recreate Joseph to this extent, the voice would always be Heller's whispering in her ear, telling her she as going to die before waking up covered in sweat. This had to be him.

"Please don't leave yet. Just... not yet."

RE: The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster)

The footsteps stopped, the door still hanging open as Joseph stood in the doorway staring out into the hall. He should walk out. It was the only way he could keep her safe, the only way to be sure that his darkness would never threaten her again. The longer he stayed, the harder it would be to do what had to be done. And yet he wanted to stay, wanted to be with her for just a few more moments. "Alright," he said quietly, stepping back into the room and closing the door once more. "Not yet."

Slowly he turned to look at her again, wincing in sympathetic pain as he saw the bandages still wrapped about her. The wounds had mostly healed now, but every scar he saw upon her felt like another cut into his own flesh, a stab into his own heart. Slowly, hesitantly he took a few steps towards her and reached out, his fingers brushing up against her own extended hand. "I'm sorry," he whispered again, not knowing what else to say. What else was there to say, what words existed that would wipe away the pain and sorrow he had caused her? "Is..Is there anything I can do before..." he fell silent, not quite willing to speak it in front of her. "If I can do it, I will."

RE: The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster)

A small, sad smile graced her features, lighting them in a way that hadn't been done since before she'd met Heller all those days ago in her home. His hand was warm under her slightly chilled finger tips, and she grasped his hands with a sort of urgency she couldn't understand. Emile exhaled softly, pushing back the pain caused by the hands she was holding and trying to focus on how strong those hands were. How naive she had been when she'd first felt those hands. "Tell me how you did it," Emile requested in a gentle voice, as if whispering so no one could hear her. Even though his skin felt solid under her fingers, she couldn't rule out the possibility she was having an elaborate dream. "How you're holding him down so well now." She further clarified.

In reality she knew she just wanted to listen to Joseph speak to her, good old Joseph who every morning would tell her to mind her head. Who never held details back, who she trusted with her life as it fell apart. Those days were behind her, no longer would she let anyone into her home-- if she ever did go home. She swallowed hard in the silence of her room. "They -- the police, they have orders to capture you, but Kinsman told them to bring you in dead or alive... when you don't feel it's safe you must go," Emile squeezed her eyes together. "As much as I... I... I fucking hate the part of you that did this to me, I..." She chewed on her words, before another sad smile touched her lips. "I trust you, love you maybe even. As sick as that is."

RE: The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster)

Joseph's warm hands wrapped around hers, trying to comfort someone who he'd harmed so terribly. "I'm so sorry," he whispered again, something he didn't think he would be able to say enough times. But all the words in the world wouldn't erase what he had done, wouldn't heal the twisted scars upon her stomach or the deeper wounds within her soul. It was a few moments before he spoke again, his voice hesitant as he tried to explain something that had no words to it. "It's...it's sort of like he and I are in a room together, a room with one window that has the world behind it. If you can't reach the window you can't reach the world. And what I did...what he did when..." he paused, trying to come up with something. "I...moved the window. And until he finds it, he can't get out. But...but he will. Just like I did."

Her words dug into his heart, ripped away at the resolve he had forced himself to build. He didn't notice the tear starting to slide down his cheek as he tried to find the words, wished he knew what to say that wouldn't only hurt her even more when he vanished. "I...they can't...I wish I could be someone worthy of that trust," he said slowly, his hands squeezing hers tightly. "Someone you could...love. Someone able to admit that he..." the words caught in his throat. He couldn't tell her, wasn't someone who deserved to tell her. "But...I can't be. As long as he's here, I can't be near you. And there's...there's only one way to be sure that he never gets the chance again. I would rather die then let him hurt you again," he whispered.

RE: The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster)

Her nod was all she could do to accept his apologies. Not yet could Emile voice her forgiveness-- love was another thing entirely -- but forgiveness was off the table. His voice faded in and out as he skimmed over the details of her assault. "I've come to... accept what happened to me," she spoke softly, Emile's thin fingers reached up to move over the still present bandage across her shoulder, something that they all believed would never heal properly. The lines across her stomach were just that now, deep scars that would (later in life) fade into prinkish purple lines that were barely noticeable. "You don't have to ignore it for my sake." She finally finished.

Feeling Joseph's hand squeeze her own she copied the movement, reaching out to him with her second hand. Her mind once more called it a lie, an illusion drawn out by her loneliness. "You are worthy of my trust, Joseph. I... I know the others think I'm crazy but I know that who did this to me was not you. But I also understand why you'll have to go, I just wish that you don't die over this. I really don't think I would be able to take the news." She added as an afterthought, although her voice was drawn, as if she hadn't really meant to speak it aloud.

Her fingers clamped over his tightly. "But I was right wasn't I? You did come for me, you did help me escape him. My trust wasn't misplaced."

RE: The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster)

"I wish you didn't have to accept it," Joseph murmured; every word he spoke was drawing a little more out of him, releasing more of his feelings. The more he spoke the closer he came to saying something that would make the approaching end all the more painful and terrifying, and yet he couldn't stop himself. "I wish it had never happened. It never should have happened. Even if I did come I came too late, I was too weak to stop him from doing this to you." He wanted to hold her, to take her in his arms and whisper that everything would be alright, that no matter what happened he would always be there to protect her. But that would be a lie, a cruel lie that would become monstrous the moment his control slipped and he once more walked free.

"It has to be this way," he finally said, his hands squeezing hers even tighter as he tried to make her understand, tried to make her see the pain he was helping her avoid instead of the pain he would cause. "I have to stop him. Even if I let them take me, they'll do it after a trial and months of waiting, when all anyone can think of will be what happened. Even if I'm gone you won't be safe, not while they constantly tell the world who you are. If it ends..." he paused, gathering the courage to say it. "The sooner it ends, the sooner people will forget. The sooner you'll be able to have the life that was stolen." The sooner you can forget about me.[/i]

RE: The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster)

Emile shut her eyes for a moment as he spoke, her shoulders sagging. He was right. Of course he was right. She was so damned selfish to see he was in pain because of this all too. Her hands grasped his tightly, pulling him with all the strength her good arm could-- her wrist finally healed too. She wrapped her other arm around him as well as she could in a mockery of a hug. Tightly clinging to his body for long moments before she let him go, allowing herself to breathe once more. "We all wish many things. I wish I still had my eyes. Dennis was around but not... not... what he was." She managed weakly, voice wavering. Even now she didn't want to believe it.

"I know. I know." Her hand slipped from his, to make the break easier, her mind fought. She curled her fingers into her bed sheets while his words continued to spew. "I know... it's better for both of us if he... he... dies. The only con is you'll have to die too." She smiled bitterly down at her lap, though she could not see it. "I'll try," She says after a long pause of chewing on her bottom lip in thought. "To stay strong. For you, I mean. I would be letting him win if I just... gave up now. It would be what he wanted." She nodded firmly. And although his last words were unspoken, she knew he wanted to say them. She wanted to tell him she could never forget him, but that would only add to his misery, and his last hours on Earth shouldn't be filled with pain-- no matter who he carried along in that body.

RE: The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster)

"Emile," he whispered, trying to hold himself back. She understood, or at least he thought she did, and if he stayed any longer he doubted his courage would hold. The best thing for them both was for him to walk out right now and do as he planned, do what had to be done so that there could be no doubt that he was dead. No theories, no legends, no way to avoid the conclusion that he had taken his own life and that the Bogeyman's story was over. Joseph did not do this. Instead he found himself leaning forward to wrap Emile in his arms, carefully avoiding her wounds even as he kissed her deeply.

The kiss went on and on before he pulled away, his forehead resting gently against hers. "I...I'm sorry," he said quietly, feeling absurd even as he did. "I shouldn't have done that, not now, not when it's so close to the end. Not after what he did But I...I had to. Just once. I had to let you know what I felt before I died." His arms began to fall away from her, though their faces remained close. "I know you can stay strong, Emile. You're the strongest person I know, strong enough to never surrender no matter what happens." His hand rose to caress her cheek, trying to comfort her. "Stay alive, Emile. Stay strong. Never be afraid again. Soon he'll be nothing but a bad dream."

RE: The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster)

She had tilted her head up at the utterance of her name, an old habit she'd just broken herself from doing. Suddenly she felt very warm, very... alive. Two things the dingy hospital room could not provide her as she wallowed in her pain. It took only a second for her to realize he was kissing her, and she knew it was Joseph because she'd never had a kiss quite like it. Heller had been insistent and pushy, with one goal in mind. Joseph was... gentle, kind... like she had screamed at Heller when he was hurting her. Tilting her head slightly she allowed Joseph to deepen the kiss from his angle, fingers grasping at his back gently. Not wanting to let go, now knowing for a fact he couldn't be a dream.

His breath padded across her cheek and she just smiled. "No Joseph. Thank you." Her lips were rosy from the friction. Emile let her hands move over his cheek once before falling to the side. How long has he been in here for? Her mind questioned. Her fingers rose on their own accord to grasp his along her cheek, her pale hand was trembling, she noted silently as she did so. Opening her sightless eyes and willing herself to see the face of the man who simultaneously tried to kill her, and tried to save her. "I will. I promise I will." Emile swore softly, even though knowing he would be leaving soon was starting to wear her down. Once again the thought of never leaving the hospital came to mind.

RE: The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster)

His face was rough and scratchy beneath her soft fingers, days of stubble masking his face. And yet she could feel the wetness tracing down his cheeks, the tears that were starting to flow more freely as they drew ever closer to their final moment. His own hand slipped around the back of her head, softly holding her as he kissed her again. How sweet it would be to simply stay here, forever safe and peaceful, without the madness inside him and the darkness of the world corrupting them. For a few moments he was on the verge of doing so, remaining until the morning sun rose and they came to take him away. "Emile," he whispered, trying to soothe away her pain. "I love-"

A noise outside, his body stiffened. Someone whistling as they approached down the hallway, a soft, sad song as the unseen intruder wheeled a cart down the hospital's hall. A janitor, making his nightly rounds, there was a chance he would walk right by the room but he didn't dare take the chance. And if the hospital was starting to awake, then he had only a few moments. "I'm sorry," he whispered once more, still gently holding her against him. "I have to go now. If I stay...I don't think I'll ever be able to make myself leave." He pulled away, his warmth leaving her as he stood up from the bed. "Get out of this place, please," he murmured. "Please don't let him keep you here. I'd like to think that one day..you'll be able to laugh about cannibals and frighten waitresses again."

RE: The Killer and The Victim (I_Am_Nobody x CyanideDisaster)

At the warm wet tears against her fingers, the few she was holding back managed to squeeze their way out. Leaving trails of sorrow on her face as he kissed her a second time. The soft kiss of Joseph, kind and sweet. Nothing insistent or angry. Her ears perked at her name as he drew back from her. Emile knew what his words were going to be, but it wasn't as satisfying without hearing them uttered. But she realized she would live, because she promised him and he didn't need to say them. Her arms tightened as he stalled though, pulling out the length of the embrace for as long as she could before his arms loosened around her. "I won't let him hold me here." She said, confidently, though whispered.

"Next time I'm out for dinner, whoever I'm with, I'll talk about cannibals. Promise." She smiled weakly as she felt his warmth leave her side. Her shoulders sagging against the cold air of the room. Tilting her head to the side slightly she let out a gentle sigh, as if purifying her lungs from the dread of Heller. "I love you Joseph. Please don't drag it out." She didn't know if he was still there or not, nor did she care. The words had to be spoken that night.

A half minute later the janitor peeked in the room, seeing Emile sitting up he muttered an apology, and continued on his way down the hall. He missed the tears on her pale cheeks.