Chapter Text
[๐]
Victor didn't believe in love until he met Grace. The day he smelled her for the first time, he knew his life was complete. Her smell had a unique flavor, sweet and dreamy, and every inhalation sent him on a wild ride through time and space.ย
It was something he'd never forget. It was something that made his blood turn to fire in his veins, made his body sweat through the cracks of his skin. She was his morning sun, and he'd worship her like one, if only she'd see past the scar tissue, the golden glint of his eyes, and the tremendous size that he was.ย
"Grace, please stop running away, I am not going to harm you, I've already given you my word!" His voice, although smooth, was loud and revibrated through the long and endless dim-lit corridors of Rhodes Hill, catching up to her faster than he himself.ย
"I can smell your fear, little Grace, but you don't have anything to fear." The silence was stifling until suddenly, the overhead speakers crackled to life and through them played some classical piano tunes.ย
He knew exactly where she was.ย
"My sweet little dove." His lips twisted into a toothy smile, pausing all movement for a brief time before wiping away the smile and resuming the hunt, quickening his pace.ย
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When he entered the main level office, Grace was gone but not missed.ย
Victor smiled again, his snakeskin duster creaking slightly as he bent over to lean on the counter and gaze at the security footage playing on the twin monitors. The counter in this particular office was not reinforced by any means, so it quaked ever-so-slightly under the doctor's weight.ย
He drummed his thick fingers atop the smooth surface, his rings clacking, and slowly reached out to the monitor's screen to touch the panicked image of his beloved.ย
"Don't fret any more, my little Grace, you will soon learn the truth about who you are and how much you mean โ to me." The monstrous man angled his head to one side and traced over the cracks of his lips with his forked tongue, failing to wipe away the sinuous slick of saliva quick enough, his whole hand now pressing flush to the screen.ย
His venomous saliva was boiling now. With every lick and flick of his tongue, every smallest opening of his lips, the steam coiling up inside seeped through.ย
"It is becoming stronger because of you, Grace." He mumbled before a low guttural groan left his lips, a hand carefully clutching his own throat as he straightened out his shoulders and left the slightly cramped room.ย
He did all he could to keep the parasite "satisfied", tried his best to get Grace to see what was right in front of her, but he was losing control. The parasite wanted more. It wanted to taste, to feel, to experience what Grace was put on this plane of existence for. Victor simply wanted to hold her, to kiss her tears away and give her the perfect life. Her disobedience was preventing that.ย
One taste, one touch, one single little experience, wasn't going to be enough.ย