The Heart's Content

Chapter 111

It was in the wee hours of the morning, before the sun came up and it was still dark when Vaggie awoke to sound of metal jingling. At first she thought she was dreaming but then she had loud clang that knocked her wide awake. Getting up from the cage floor, she saw Mr. Pentious and Husk standing by the open door. On the ground she could see the discarded prosthetic legs that MR. Pentious had always used and next to them was his long, black,serpent tail which he had used to pick the lock to her prison.

"Mr. Pentious what are you doing?" She asked him confused.

"Shh!" He hushed her with a hiss. "I'm getting you and Husk out of here."

"Why?"

"Because I know realize the truth. You and Husk were right all along, Valentino doesn't care anybody but himself and now he's gone completely mad."

"What do you mean?"

"He's going to try to kill Rosie, Vaggie." Husk said. "And Angel and Beth and anyone else he deems a threat to his power."

"Oh my God!"

"You two must get out of here!" Mr. Pentious said. "You must warn them! And leave this place!"

"We can't." Vaggie said. "Not without our souls!"

"You need not worry, I've hidden them. Valentino made the mistake of assuming I'd never betray him and so he never cared if I saw where he kept our souls. The contract keeps me from freeing them but Valentino can't use them if he can't find them. I don't how much time you all have, but it should be enough to warn your loved ones and maybe even free yourselves with their love. Now hurry."

Vaggie quickly got up and quietly stepped out of the cage. She and Husk then quietly headed for the exit but Mr. Pentious didn't follow.

"Aren't you going to come with us?" Vaggie asked him.

"No. I still have to try to release those poor young lovers in the tank, not to mention someone has to stay behind and keep Valentino at bay."

"Mr. Pentious you can't, he'll kill you when he finds out what you've done."

"If he does, so be it. It's what I deserve, unlike you two, I was a willing accomplice."

"But you didn't understand what you were doing. He manipulated you. He lied to you."

"Doesn't change the fact that I went along with everything of my own free will. He never had to force me like he did you two. And...And I'm afraid there's more to my sins than just that. I...I helped him escape that psychiatric ward Rosie put him in years ago."

"You what?!?" Husk cried.

"I was empathetic to the patients there because I thought they were all like me, misunderstood outcasts who the world declared wrong because they were different. So I would write to them, and I told them what I was because I knew no one would believe them. It was just to let them know that they weren't alone in the world. But when Valentino received my letter he must've sensed my vulnerability and decided to use it to his advantage. He wrote me back many times, saying he could help me find a place in the world. That he'd be my friend and give me a home and that he was just like me. I believed him and that's why I helped him. Words cannot begin to describe the regret I feel for what I've done and I know that I can't ever do anything to make up for it but I can at the very least try."

"Oh Mr. Pentious." Vaggie said expressing compassion for him.

"No time for goodbyes sweet fairy. Just go. Leave. Before he wakes up."

In the end, Husk and Vaggie had to reluctantly escape without him. Doing everything they could not to make a sound, the two of them ran to the cabaret as fast as they could. Mr. Pentious watched them until they made it safely across the street, then he slithered to where Charlie and Alastor were being kept.