章 37: Vanessa Redfield and John Wick
John walked back along the VIP suite's corridor. His destination was his room on the 3rd floor. He met several old acquaintances along the way.
"Good afternoon, John. Glad seeing you back, although you need a haircut." said a fat old man in a sweatshirt, smiling at him. He was trying to unlock his room's door.
"It's summer, Jeff. I need a break and you need to lose weight," answered John while smiling back.
"Ha ha... funny," answered Jeff, sarcastically. "Let's have a meal before you go."
"Sure." agreed John while walking toward the elevator.
"John... Wick, ohh... my... you lookin' good these days." greeted a sexy black lady, only wearing a loose bathrobe and lingerie standing in front of her room, trying to flirt him.
"You too, Sammy. How's Dean doing?" smiled John, without slowing his pace, avoiding her roaming fingers.
"Uggh... he's boring, we broke up last year," replied Sammy while rolling her eyes. She went to her room after realizing John Wick wasn't allured at all by her body.
He continued walking until he reached the elevator and pushed the number 3 button, where his room was at. After he entered the elevator, there was an old cleaning lady coming along while pushing a stroller filled with cleaning tools.
"Mr. Wick. How's your day?" asked the old lady standing next to him while punching the button to the bottom-most floor.
"Good as always, Paula. Glad to see you still working here," answered John. He never forgets to smile, showing off his bright teeth. The door soon closed and the elevator moved down to the third floor.
"You need to shave once in a while, Mr. Wick. You know woman loved to see her man being clean, don't you?" teased Paula. John didn't know how to respond except just awkwardly chuckling. Her expression brightened suddenly as she recalled something. She asked again, "Oh... right. How many years has it been?"
"Hmm... Probably, 3 years?" answered John after thinking a bit. John moved away from Raccoon City three years ago because of his current job was demanding more of his time, unlike before.
"No, you dumbass. I'm not talking about that. Your married life. Seeing your bright expression, you must be so happy marrying her, aren't you?"
John suddenly froze for a split second, but he still maintained his facade. Paula didn't even notice a slight change in the atmosphere.
Ding!
"Ohh... this is where we have to split it seems," said John after the door fully opened. As he got out of the elevator, he waved and bid her a farewell while still facing her, "Let's talk more later, Paula."
"You know where to find me. Say hello to Vanessa for me." and then, the door closed.
John turned around and walked toward his room. He was still as calm as ever. Some acquaintances also greeted him on this floor. And John keeps smiling, hiding the turmoil in his heart, while he greeted back and had a small talk.
He opened his door and locked it once he got in. He stood there, without moving staring at the empty room and silent room. The curtain on the windows was pulled down, dimming the light in the room.
How long has it been? Eight years? Silence and emptiness, he was getting used to both of them. Suddenly he flopped down on his butt. He leaned on the door and muttered, "She... She died...?"
The last word was both an answer and a question for himself. His head was still facing down and staring at the carpeted floor, the facade was over.
He was drowned in the sorrow of losing his... friend. John stood and walked to a nearby chair and placed the letter on the circular desk next to it. He loosened the button on his collar and played with the lamp on the table, turning it on and off by pulling the cord.
Click, Click
Click, Click.
Click, Click.
Click, Click.
After a while, he takes the letter and observed it before opening it carefully without damaging the envelope. The content of the envelope was several letters, filled with Vanessa's handwriting. He started reading it.
"Dear John, my dear friend. You must be surprised that I contacted you after a long time. You still remember my long-life wish, right? You see, I'm on a trip right now with my husband and son to find it."
The content of the letter didn't differ that much from the story so far. Vanessa describes her trip across the world and ends up in a small town in Congo. Over there, her husband, Viktor met a group of traders that knew the information about Wakanda.
However, her years of experience as an Assassin and mercenary taught her to always keep on guard. She found that something was wrong with the so-called traders and prepared for the worst. If there's anything wrong happened, she hoped that John would protect her son until he could stand on his own.
However, John's expression didn't change at all after reading it.
"That's not it..." He threw away the letters, scattering it on the floor. He was in denial. "That's not what you want me to know..."
He walked toward a small compartment near the bed. It was a small fridge containing beverages. He took out a whiskey, specially prepared for him, and took a sip right from the bottle.
He kept thinking about the letters scattering on the floors.
'There is something missing. Vanessa never sends a letter just for a mere request like that.'
He kept thinking about her, her behavior, her secret, all of it. Suddenly, his head turned clear. He looked at the envelope on the desk. That's it. The envelope. Vanessa always writes on the envelope instead of the paper. Always saying that it was bad for the environment to waste paper.
'And there's only one way to read it.' He reached into his bag, taking a small torchlight, and set it to UV light mode.
He spread the envelope and slowly tearing the glued sides down. The envelope was now turned back into a plain paper only with the word "To J." written on it.
He directed the UV light toward the paper and sentences upon sentences could be seen clearly on it. The content was clearly much different from the scattering letters under the floor.
"Dear John, my love. If you read this, it means that I didn't make it. I wanted to apologize to you, for what I have done, and for what we have become. I knew that you hated me for my choice. I'm sorry that I ran away from you. But, you left me no choice and you knew it as well."
John's heart was torn apart after reading the first part of the letter. Back in the day, when Vanessa was still active as the Continental's assassin and mercenary, they fell in love with each other.
They were always together, during missions or a break. Then one day, she wanted them to quit their job and lived as a normal family. However, Vanessa finds out that John was a part of an organization she deeply hated. She wanted him to quit, but John refused because they will hunt him down if he suddenly quit.
Vanessa decided that they need a break, she left Raccoon City and returned home at Illinois. There was no contact between them after that. Then, 10 months later, she told him that she was getting married in two months either with or without him.
She made him choose between her or his job, and John choose his job. John was saddened by it, but he didn't have any choice and continued his work at the new place.
John never forgot about her and still loved her dearly, he never intrudes on her new life anymore. The past was the past, he had the chance and crushed it to pieces. He broke both of her heart and his own.
"And soon, he was born. My Edward, my lovely son. But there was something wrong with him. He breathed and still had a pulse on him, but there's no crying, no sound, no response, it felt like he was dead. That was when I use it, you know, my power."
Suddenly, the story took a sudden turn. John focused all of his attention on the paper he held.
"I saw his soul, it was in an incomplete state, and crumbling bit by bit. When I peer into it, something looked back at me. It's not my son. It's something else, much powerful. That was when I knew, that my newborn son will soon vanish. I decided to make a choice. A choice that I would choose to do even if I was faced with the same situation a million times more. I split more than half of my soul and transferred into him."
John was shocked by the content of the letter. He continued to read the other part that was written on the other side.
"I had to stop his soul from crumbling away, even if it cost my life. It was a success, the soul stopped itself from vanishing and slowly healing itself with the support of my soul. However, it was my soul's turn to start crumbling from the side effect after splitting it, thankfully it was slow. Day by day, my body keeps deteriorating, I keep trying to ease it with my power, but it was useless. I had doctors to check my 'illness'. They said that if it continues, I couldn't even live to see Edward celebrate his 10th birthday."
When his eyes moved toward the next part, it widened with shock. His hand trembled and the letter fell on the ground. He ran out of his room and take the elevator down toward the parking lot.
Thankfully, he had already done some research and found out where that kid lived. His car sped up toward the apartment where Edward live.
Edward lived in an apartment complex, Downtown, near Raccoon Park. He recalled the continuation of the letters.
"If I didn't make it, please protect him. If he chose our way, please lead him. I knew that you hated me, for what I have done."
He wiped the tears that were bubbling in his eyes. He stepped on the brake and went into the apartment. He arrived in front of the door, where Edward and his relatives lived. He recalled the very last part of the letters.
"I won't expect you to forgive me either. Please, I beg you, not for me. But for him, for your son." On the corner of the letter was the last sentence, "I will always love you. Goodbye."
John Wick's hand slowly moved towards the door's handle.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Why did you take so long?" I complained while opening the door.
"Sorry, we met Barry on the way. He has something to tell you." On the other side of the door was Claire, apologizing while holding a small pot of round cactus. Behind her were Chris and Barry carrying the groceries. The cactus was actually a gift from Barry to commemorate the uniting of our family.
"Here, place it near the window so it can get some nutrition," asked Claire while placing the cactus on my hand. She moved to the kitchen and instructed the two grown-up men to store the groceries.
I placed before the window sill and raised the curtain to let more sunlight come through. But, my eyes suddenly focused on a car that was moving away from our building.
'Isn't that John Wick's car? What's he doing here?'
Well, whatever it is, not my business. Raccoon City wasn't big enough like Kansas City. It's not odd for us to meet each other, coincidentally.
After they were done storing the groceries, they asked me to sit on the only chair this apartment has, next to the sofa.
"We have a surprise for you," said Chris, leading the conversation.
"It's not a surprise if I know I will have a surprise after you said that you have a surprise for me," I replied.
"What...?" Barry's and Chris's mind abruptly entwined together.
Edward used Supriseception! It's super-effective! Chris and Barry were confused! They hurt themselves in their confusion!
"Anyway, you will be surprised and happy after what we're going to show you." Claire nudged both of them out of their confusion. And started counting, "1... 2..."
Then, together they yelled while showing an admittance letter, "YOU'RE GOING TO SCHOOL!"
Ah... Edward is Confused! It hurt himself in his confusion!
クリエイターの想い 
NightHowl
NightHowl Some of you might expect it, but anyway... TADAAAAAA!
I know it's kinda cliche, but it's not bad for your health consuming cliche story once in a while.
The whole 'Like, I'm your father' thing still needs to be hold up for now.
The next part would be about grinding and school life, then the outbreak.
So what do you think?
Is it taking too long?
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