Chapter 28: Unhappy Birthday

Wasn't long till everyone arrived at the White Tower.  Norman and Marie were already in the private waiting room while everyone else was in the main waiting room.  Matt was pacing up and down the room, wearing out the floor as he waits anxiously.  

"Matt, sit down, I'm getting motion sickness just by watching you." Celena says.  

Matt sighs heavily and flops on one of the chairs, "I'm just ready to see the baby.  And I want Letha to be ok." 

"She'll be fine." Roman says as he goes through his coat pockets and pull out a pack of cigars.  He places the containers in his mouth, wiggling his brows as he digs for a lighter. 

"Nice touch." Peter laughs, but frowns when Roman hands him a cigar and one to Matt.  

"Can we...can we smoke in here?" Peter asks. 

"I'm gonna own the place.  Who's gonna stop us?" Roman scoffs and begins to cut off the end of his cigar and hands the cutter to Peter.  

As the boys light up their cigars, Celena had her own way of celebrating.  She lights up a joint and sighs softly as she lies back against the seat.  

"Dr. Day, Dr. Day, please come to the OR."

Roman and Peter puffs out several clouds of smoke, Roman laughs randomly, "Uncle Roman."

"God help us." Peter mutters.

Celena giggles, "One thing for sure, that little girl is gonna be spoiled rotten.  If it was up to Roman." 

"Only thing this child is gonna be spoiled of...is love." Matt states. 

Peter laughs and turns to Roman, "Anything from D?" He asks.

Roman shakes his head, "Dead end."

"You completely sure she's still even out there?" Peter asks. 

"I know she is. It's like in the fall, you know, the dreams we were having? I see her sometimes in dreams. Not not in dreams. I've been trying it on myself." He says, meaning the 'voodoo' stare.

"What?" Celena frowns at him.

"You?"

"I look into the mirror and I tell myself to see her and things cloud over, but there's light. And the light's an angel, and the angel's her. It's her. And she's trying to tell me something, but...but I can only just hear her. What she's saying is..."

"You must make your heart steel."

Roman sighs, "Where are you? Shelley." He whispers softly to himself. 

"What do you think it means?" Roman asks Peter. 

Peter thinks about what Destiny told him that night when they did the ritual to contact the spirit of Lisa.

"I saw a conversion of his fate line and heart line. Your friend is gonna face the hardest choice of his life, and whoever's in his shadow is gonna share in the consequences."

Celena frowns when that memory flashes in Peter's mind.  

"Can you make yourself cluck like a chicken?" Peter smirks.

Roman scoffs and laughs, "I don't know. In the chapel, you know, when you did what you did how were you not afraid?"

"What? I've never been more afraid of anything in my life." Peter scoffs and place a hand on Roman's shoulder, patting it, "I could have never done it if I hadn't had you there with me.  And you, too, Cell." 

Celena smiles, "We got your back...no matter how stupid." She giggles.  

It still worries Celena, though, with the price it cost Peter to change on the wrong moon.  Destiny has told her that means Peter is at risk of becoming a Vargulf himself...if he continues to change on the wrong moon.  She needs to make sure that won't ever happen. 

"Yeah." Roman laughs. 

They sigh and lean against the couch, laughing and smoking, "Fucking angels." Roman laughs with Peter. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While Matt and Celena were celebrating in the waiting room, neither of them were aware of the trouble that was happening in the maternity delivery room where Letha laid, groaning, and yelling in pain as she clutches her stomach. Something was wrong, Letha knew it. It felt like something was trying to rip it's way out of her.

"It's OK, sweetie. It's OK. It's OK. You're doing great." The nurses around her try to calm her, but she saw through their lies and panic.

A nurse rushes around to search for Dr. Pryce and finds him washing his hands as he prepares himself for delivery.

"Doctor!" The nurse rushes in and Pryce stops when he hears the panic.

"Please, I don't...I don't want it. Please! Please, please!" She needed help, why weren't they helping her.

"Stay still!"

"Please! Ah! Ah!" Letha screams as something was tearing its way out of her.

Dr. Pryce rushes to witness what was happening. He watches in horror as blood pours out between her legs, spilling all over the black tile.

Letha's scream of pain echoes through the halls and towards the waiting room. Peter jerks up from Celena's lap and stumbles towards the door.

"Peter?" Celena sits up fast as she watches the horror build on his face.

"Hey, what's going on?" Roman asks and moves to stand next to them.

Matt jumps out of his seat, worried for what Peter could be sensing.

They all snap their heads to the door once the P.A. blares an alert.

"Code omega. Code omega. Maternity one. All available staff report." The P.A. blares. All four of them realize they were talking about Letha.

Norman rushed to the delivery room and felt his heart shatter at the sight of his daughter lying lifeless on table with blood dripping down her legs.

"Sir, uh, there's a disruption in the OR." A nurse rushes as he finds Dr. Pryce mourning outside the OR.

"It doesn't matter." He says sadly.

"Sir?"

"Just tell him where to find me." Pryce says as he moves away to prepare himself for Norman.

"Maternity one. Cancel omega. Patient is deceased. Security, clear the area."

Celena's heart drops into her stomach as she gasps in shock and covers her mouth, muffling a sob. Roman sobs and walks to a wall, sliding down as he buries his head in his arms. Matt and Peter stood frozen at the door. Matt refused to believe she was dead.

"No. No!" He shouts and runs to find her.

"Matt!" Celena cries.

Roman snaps his head up with tears rolling down his face and gets up quickly to follow. Celena, Peter and Roman rush to catch up to Matt.

"I thought she'd be safe...safe with you." They found Norman carrying Letha's body, blood trailing where he carried her as he stood with a broken look, begging Pryce to save her. Celena covers her mouth in horror.

"It was unavoidable."

"Do it. Bring her back." He says strongly, furious that this happened.

"Norman...perhaps you should sit down." Pryce tries to calm him, but it was no good.

"No, no. You need to bring her back. I'm ordering you to bring her back!" Norman shouts.

"She suffered a massive post-partum embolism. I'm sorry, but..." Norman harshly cuts him off.

"Look, just bring her back. You think... I'm being irrational. Oh, but I'm not. Look, I'm in full possession of my faculties. Just bring her back. I'll make you rich beyond your wildest dreams." Norman bribes him.

"Norman..."

"You'll do it?"

"She's too old. I may have more luck with the baby."

"Fuck the baby. SHE'S my baby." Norman snarls then sobs as he holds tightly to Letha.

Matt gasps through his tears, he could hear her. He could still hear her.

"Matt...baby...my baby..." Her weak voice echoes in his head.

"She's still in there. She's still in there." He whispers till his voice begins to rise.

"Take her back." Pryce orders one of the nurses, but Norman pulls Letha back into his arms.

"Don't fucking touch her! Nobody touches my daughter!" Norman yells.

"NORMAN, SHE'S STILL ALIVE!" Matt shouts.

Everyone turns to him, confused.

"What?" Norman gasps.

"I can hear her." Matt says.

"Matt!" Celena frowns.

Matt turns towards Celena, "We can save her! We can heal her. You know we can."

"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Norman snarls.

Pryce's eyes widen in realization, "You...are like her?" He asks Matt as he points to Celena.

"Matt, are you serious that you can help Letha?" Roman asks with hope as tears fall down his red cheeks.

Matt looks at Celena with wide, begging eyes and tears falling down his cheeks, "We lost Andrew because of me. I'm not going to lose anyone else. We can do it." He states determinedly.

Celena sighs in defeat. He was right, they could heal her, but it will be very risky. Not just them, but for Letha as well, "Yeah...yeah we can do it." She turns to everyone.

Matt sighs and turns to Norman, "Mr. Godfrey...please...let me save her."

Tears continue to fall down Norman's cheeks, but he slowly gives his daughter up and places her in his arms.

Matt gently puts her down on the ground, but holds her in his arms, "You're gonna be ok, baby. I'm gonna make you better. I promise. You're not gonna die."

Celena sighs, "This is really going to hurt." She warns as she kneels on the floor with him.

"I know. But we have to." Matt swallows roughly.

Celena nods and takes a deep breath as she places her hands onto Letha's body.

"Come back to me, baby." Matt whispers and closes his eyes as, together, they call the power of the stone.

Norman jumps as he begins to hear rumbling build. Pryce watches with curiosity, wondering just how powerful they were. Peter and Roman watches carefully, seeing the blood trickling down their noses. But, suddenly, the rumbling begins to build and grow louder. As if the whole building was shaking from a small earthquake. The four men jump at the feel of the vibrations under their feet. Several instruments were rattling and practically jumping off the shelves and tables.

Celena didn't know what was happening, but soon, darkness took over her. In fact, it took over the whole building!

"What the fuck?!" Norman gasps as the four of them stood in the dark.

Suddenly, a light began to glow. Peter and Roman both gasp as they watch a small, but bright light floating in between Matt and Celena. Almost sapphire.

"Look." Roman gasps.

Norman's eyes widen in shock as the light begins to grow. Pryce couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"It can't be." He whispers, recognizing the familiarity of the light.

Roman moves around Matt and Celena with caution, he squats down, "Celena?" He was afraid if he did anything, something might happen to Celena or Matt.

Suddenly, Matt and Celena's eyes snap open and the light was shining brighter in their eyes. Roman jumps backs and gasps as soft singing was heard. Humming. It was faint, but everyone could hear it coming from the light. Peter's eyes widen when Celena slowly begins to float in the air and Matt's arms fall limp against Letha's body and slides her out of his arms to float with Celena. They hovered in arched positions several feet in the air. The light seemed to be pulling them in the air, holding on to them with no gravity supporting them. The singing grew stronger as whispering blends in. Peter frowns at the indescribably voices. It wasn't any language he's ever heard of. Soon, the light floats slowly down and lands gently on Letha's body. Covering her entire form, making her glow. The rumbling begins again and soon, Letha's color was coming back. Norman sobs softly as he watches the light heal his daughter. After it was done, the light floats back up and divides itself to take over Matt and Celena's body. Making them shine like sapphire.

Norman's eyes widen, "She must shine. Shine like the moon." Francis' voice echoes from the past. It wasn't his daughter Francis was talking about. It was Celena!

The light moves and begins to change. It forms itself into a ring of light in front of Roman and Peter.  An Ouroboros.  Roman's eyes widen at the sight.

Finally, the light fades into their bodies and the power comes back on. Matt and Celena float back down and fall on the ground softly as the rumbling grows faint, then stops altogether. Norman gasps and rushes to his daughter first.

"Baby? Letha? Can you hear me?"

Pryce kneels and checks her vitals, "My god! She's alive!" He gasps in wonder.

Peter exclaims in Romani, making them all snap their heads to him. They watch him hold on to Celena's body as she jerks violently over the floor as if she were having a massive seizure. Roman rushes and helps Matt as he experiences the same.

"Put them on their sides, hold on to them and don't let them hurt themselves." Pryce gives instructions to Roman and Peter as he gets up and rushes to a phone.

Pryce calls for help and Diazepam for them, but Norman was more concerned for his daughter. He picks her up as they bring three tables and rolls them all out.

After examining them all, Pryce stands and explains everything to Norman, Roman, and Peter.

"Letha's injures have healed tremendously, but she still suffered quite a bit of blood loss. We're having transfusions done right now for her. She's stable. For now. Until she wakes...the news about...the baby...will be devastating for her. We will need to help her through this." He sighs and turns to Roman and Peter. "As for Mathew and Celena, there's no easier way to say this. Whatever they did for Letha, it sent them both into a coma. Their brain waves are strong but stressed. They're responsive and that's good. To wake up...it's up to them."

"Give them the best treatment. You do all you can for them both." Norman demands. "They saved my daughter. You better save them." Norman glares at Pryce.

Pryce nods, "They'll all be taken care of. This time, I promise you, Norman. Truly." He sighs, "I had no idea this was going to happen to Letha. But she's fine and I have checked. No permanent damages were made to affect...future plans for her. When she's ready, she can have more children."

Norman said nothing. He turns away and walks down the hallway to his daughter's room. Mathew was in the next bed in the room, per Norman's request. Norman sighs and sits next to his daughter's bed, but looks over to Matt. Thinking about the time he invited him to dinner. Remember how hesitant he was with questions.

"So, all this time. The accident." He thinks about when Roman had that car accident, and by some miracle, they all managed to avoid falling off the cliff. "You, Celena, and Viktor being siblings." He begins to think about what Dr. Charisse said when she did background checks on all three. How there was suspicion about their relations. How Viktor's fingerprints came up with nothing. "The nosebleeds." He thinks about when Viktor had a nosebleed when Olivia fainted at the library. "All of it was lies. But that's ok. You had your reasons." Norman looks up at the ceiling and rotates his neck. "I never gave you a chance because...after what happened to Letha. I just wanted to protect her. I looked at you and saw a punk kid who...probably always had his head up his ass and fucked around. But..." He begins to laugh. "I saw myself. I saw me in you. And I never thought you would be good enough for my daughter. Even when she..." Laughing. "When she told me all about the things you did. For her and other people. How you want to be a doctor." He laughs once more, wiping the tears away in his eyes. "I still saw me." He clears his throat. "But you did one thing that I couldn't do. You saved her life. You healed her right before my eyes. You protected my daughter when I couldn't. So..." He sighs. "That tells me that you are right for her. You'll protect her when I can't. You'll be there for her. You showed me that I can trust you. When you wake up, you may see my daughter whenever you want and be with her with my blessing." He sighs and shuts off the tape player he had hidden in his hand, rewinds it and gets up to place it on the table next to Matt.

Roman and Peter both stood in the private room with Celena as she laid on the bed with wires attached to her body, "Was it like this when I was in the coma?" Roman couldn't help but ask.

Peter sighs, "I think this is worse." He mutters.

Roman moves and sits in a chair next to Celena, "Your mom told me that Celena never left my side. She stayed as much as she could. For me." He swallows roughly. "No one has ever cared so much about me." He chokes on his words. "Except Shelley. My mom..." He scoffs and bites his tongue. "She's gonna get through this. She's gonna wake up."

Peter sniffles and wipes coming tears away, swallowing roughly. He nods and moves to the other chair, "She'll wake up and yell at us. Call you an asshole and me a perv."

Roman sniffles and chuckles, "'Roman, you asshole.'" He mimics Celena's voice.

Peter snorts and laughs, "'Peter, stop growling. You sound like you're gargling broken glass'." He mimics her voice, worse than Roman.

Both laugh but soon, the laughter fades. Roman rubs his nose and sniffles, "You think that light we saw...was the same one Celena saw when she...became...you know?"

Peter rubs his face and beard with both hands, "I don't know. It's possible. My god, though. That singing wasn't anything I ever heard before." Peter looks over to Roman with a frown, "Did you hear that whispering?"

Roman leans forward, resting his elbow on his knees, "I thought it only was me. I could barely make it out."

Peter thinks back, remembering when Celena was covered with the light. Trying to remember the whispers.

"I think I caught a few things. None of it was in English, but...there's one word that I know...Trinity."

"Trinity?" Roman asks.

Peter speaks in Romani, then switches to English, "It means three that are one."

Roman frowns and leans back against the chair as he begins to think.

Peter needed to find more answers. But he knew he wasn't going to find them in Hemlock Grove. His heart begins to crack as he decides silently that if he was going to find the answers the three of them seek, he needed to find outside help.

Suddenly, Norman walks into the room with a sullen look.

He sighs softly, "Letha is awake."

Roman sits up, relieved, but afraid of what's going to be said next.

"First thing she asked was about the baby." Norman scratches his brow. "She kicked me out of the room after I finally told her. They had to sedate her."

Peter rubs his mouth and sighs heavily and Roman rubs his thumb over his lips as he looks back at Celena.

"Any changes with her?" Norman asks.

Peter shakes his head, "No."

Norman sighs softly, "She and her friend Matt are very brave."

Peter sniffles and nods, agreeing with him. Roman sighs and reaches to take Celena's hand in his, holding it gently. Peter does the same and holds her other hand. Norman watches them both, seeing the need in their eyes. He could see the love they had for her. But, in his world, only one can be with her. Unknowingly, they're both with her. Just separate. To balance and keep jealousy out. And they don't even realize it.

Roman is the first to let go and stands up to place a kiss on her forehead, "I'll be back soon, ok, baby?" He whispers. He stands up straight and turns to Norman. "I'm gonna go check on Letha." He says.

Norman nods and pats his back, then turns to Peter. He watches him play with Celena's fingers and sighs softly. "You know you can't tell anyone about her. Or me." Peter warns.

Norman chuckles, "Who would believe me anyway?" He sighs and leans on the bed. "How did this even happen?" He scoffs.

Peter smacks his lips, "How much do you know about the incident in Seattle, Washington three years ago?"

Norman thinks back and frowns in confusion, "The gas explosion and the mass hysteria?"

Peter slowly points at Celena and Norman's eyes widen in shock.

"It wasn't completely her. She said there were two more like her. One was Matt's cousin, his real cousin. He...went crazy. Insane with power. He leveled the city and killed a lot of people. Including one who was in their group. Matt, Viktor and Celena were the only ones who could stop him. He was too far gone to be saved. Like a rabid animal. Matt will probably tell you this, but he was the one who put him down."

"So, that's what he was talking about before he healed Letha. How he lost someone. It was his family." Norman puts it together.

"Yeah. But, before labeling him as a killer, listen to his side. Ok?"

"After what he did for Letha, killer is far from what I'm thinking. Savior is more like it." Norman smiles crookedly.

"Celena is scared to death if anyone finds out about her. If the government had a whiff of what she could do..."

"They'll turn her into a lab rat. Don't worry. We won't let that happen...to either of you." Norman assures him.

Peter nods, flashing a quick, small smile of his own, till the door opens. Lynda and Destiny pace inside.

"How is she? Roman called us." Lynda says as she moves to place a hand over Celena's forehead, stroking her like a loving parent.

"Still don't know when she's gonna wake up," Peter mutters.

"I'll leave your three alone. I should go back and check on Letha." Norman turns and leaves them.

Destiny sighs and takes Celena's hand, stroking it softly, "She'll wake up. Her mind just needs to reset."

Peter moves when Lynda moves away and leans to kiss her forehead, brushing her hair away. He whispers Romani to her, declaring his love to her and leans to kiss her soft lips. Cupping her face in his, careful with the oxygen tubes and wires attached to her. When he pulls away, he stands to face his family.

"We need to go."

Destiny frowns in confusion, "You're running from her?" She scoffs.

"I need to find answers about all of this. The connection. The Trinity. I'm not going to be able to find it here. Destiny, you said that the Sanskritic tribe is familiar with the legends." Peter states and catches Destiny's frown when he said the word 'Trinity'.

"Yes, but...the family might know a few of the last of the Sanskritic. Peter, you can't leave her if you guys are connected. The separation will be unbearable. For all three of you. As much as I am against with you being connected to a upir, but...can't fight fate." Destiny says.

Peter shakes his head, "I don't plan to stay gone long and I will stay in touch. Mom, you know we gotta do this."

Lynda sighs and walks up to her son, stroking his face, "I know, baby. If you say we go, we go. We'll come back for her when it's time."

Peter nods, his heart begins to crack at every step her took away from Celena. He had to do this. When he was packing with his mom, he felt tears fall down his cheeks.

Lynda watches her son's heart break and her own cracks with his. It was so hard for a mother to watch her son be broken when all she wants to do is to heal him. But she can't.

"Hey, come sit next your mom." She walks to the couch and pats a spot.

Peter stops packing the boxes and moves to walk over to Lynda and sit in the chair next to her.

She sighs softly, "You know when I was pregnant with you, Nic had a vision that he was holding a baby and the baby was peeing on him and the pee was coming out as one red silk ribbon after the other. And that's how he knew you were gonna have a long and full life." She chuckles softly and smiles, but soon her smile slowly fades, "And it filled him up with so much sadness, because in a life that's long and well lived, there's gonna be pain and darkness that can't be understood by those who live day to day like it's any other." She reaches over to hold his hand, "You love her. She loves you. You'll be together again before you know it. This fate, this destiny the three of you have, it's going to be a long roller coaster of emotions. Love, jealousy, and fights. And these are all good things." She reaches and strokes his face as she gets up to hug him tight.

Soon, the car was packed up and the trailer was empty. All that left now was Peter and memories. Every room he went by reminded him of Celena. The bedroom where they made love since they met. How he held her in his arms and feel her body against his. Watching her sleep next to him. She looked like an angel. Her laughter echoes around him as if it was a ghost of the past. The kitchen where they shared meals together. He moves to the bathroom and stares at himself in the mirror. He was tired of seeing this person in front of him. So, he reaches for a pair of scissors and decides to make a change.

Hours have passed and Roman was back home. He missed his sister so much. With Celena in the hospital and Letha was in mourning, he didn't have anyone to talk to. Destiny continued to give him disappointments. He sat in Shelley's empty room. After the cops raided her room, Olivia had her stuff put in storage. But he suspected that she wasn't counting on Shelley coming back. He was her golden child in her eyes. And he hated it as much as he hated her.

Speak of the devil, Olivia walks into the room with a worried look. Roman didn't even have the energy to roll his eyes. All he could think was about Shelley, Celena, and Peter. He couldn't have Shelley until she came back. He knew she was still alive out there...just hiding. With Viktor. Celena...his heart broke more as she came to his thoughts. He wanted her to be awake and holding him to chase the demons away. Peter...where was he? Why hasn't he heard from him yet? His best friend.

"Darling, tell me what you need." Olivia says softly.

"Celena....and Peter." Roman says with a broken look.

Olivia sighs and nods. Honestly, hating to see her poor son suffer, but she must put up with his needs till it was time. She must be patience, but she was running out of that.

So, she fulfilled his wish and drove him to Peter's trailer. While Roman rushes inside, she stayed outside and smokes a cigarette, thinking about the time when she was a child. How she met a gypsy when she was 13 in the 1800s. She remembers the excitement he gave her and the painful heartbreak when he robbed her blind. She thought he would love her, even with her deformity she carried. The tail. How she loathed her tail. So, after what he did, she cut it off and almost died, till her father saved her. But the gypsy did leave one thing for her...a child. But she sent the child away. Like a candle in the wind, the child disappeared from her life.

When Roman took his first step into the trailer, he freezes in shock as he sees that the trailer was cleared out. He searched all over, but there was no sign of Peter, Lynda. Nothing left of them. He did find hair in the bathroom sink. Peter's hair. He walks slowly into the living in pure shock. Everything was tumbling down inside him. He felt such betrayal. Such anger and agony rolling into one. He falls to his knees and sobs, screaming out in anguish to the heavens.  

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