There was a knock on Raj's door.
Not unusual, given the fact that over the last few weeks, about half of Scout City had shown up at his house to offer him their condolences, but something about this knock, in particular, made Raj freeze in his tracks and reach for the knife he had begun to carry with him everywhere.
"Hello?" he asked warily. "Who's there?"
The only response was a slightly louder, more urgent knock, and Raj sighed. If the pig man had finally come to kill him like he killed his husband, he might as well get it over with now.
When he opened the door, however, there was no pig man, no Instrumentalist—only Vincent, pale and trembling and leaning heavily against the wall for support.
"I'm sorry," Vincent gasped, wide eyes staring into Raj's. "I'm sorry, Raj, I'm so sorry, I didn't know where else to go, he—I—"
"Vincent," Raj interrupted softly. "What happened?"
Vincent was covered in blood, most of which Raj suspected was not his own, and breathing heavily, holding onto the doorframe to steady himself. "Voltaire—" Vincent spluttered. "Raj, please—I don't—he said—"
He stumbled into Raj then, unable to keep himself upright any longer, and clung to him like a lifeline. Raj tried his best not to flinch at the contact.
There was something terribly wrong with Vincent, of that Raj was sure. There was no other explanation for his behavior, for the strange puppet, for all the blood—oh, God, so much blood…
He supposed he should be terrified, nearly defenseless and all alone with the man who had already attacked him once, but somehow, he was more scared for Vincent than he was scared of him. Maybe it was the way Vincent looked at him, like Raj was the only person in the world who might help him, who might understand.
Slowly, carefully, Raj led Vincent inside the house, wrapped a warm blanket around his trembling shoulders, and held him close as he sobbed in Raj's arms.
Later, he would clean the blood from Vincent's pale skin, trying not to think about the bodies it must have come from. Later, he would lie awake and wonder if there was anything he could have done, if there was any way to save Vincent from this terrible curse.
For now, all he could do was hold Vincent close, trying to protect him from the darkness that lurked within him—and to protect Scout City from Vincent.