Lovely gardens to wander around and look at grass. Yey grass!

::Sally and her two children huddle under an umbrella as soft snow falls around them. She's already told the children several times that Daddy is coming, but he's just been held up somehow.::

(Don't do this, Dante...)

::Dante shows up on the other side of the gardens. He runs towards the right gate, but it's going to take him a few minutes to get there.::

::Finally Dante's wife gives in.::

"Looks like he's forgotten."

(Again.)

::Sally sighs and puts a hand on her son and daughter's backs while one of them holds the umbrella.::

"We're just going to have to go to De Luca's without him. Come along, children. Don't cry, it's okay. Daddy's work is very important. Come on."

::She leads them away.::

::Dante arrives to find that his family are gone. He kicks at a pile of snow and curses, seeing how late he is on his pocket watch. Wiping the snow off a bench, he sinks down onto the wet seat to catch his breath, holding his face in his hands. He feels like such a let down - he is a let down. All he ever does is disappoint his family.::

"Sal..."

::He sighs.::

(I'm sorry.)

::The sounds of the city die down and silence after a moment. Snow stops falling. Horse-drawn carraiges stop mid-trot. Aurellia appears in front of Dante and speaks his name softly.::

"Dante."

"Sal?"

::Dante's on his feet, but the disappointment on his face is obvious when he sees that the woman is not his wife.::

"Oh. I thought you were someone else."

"You thought I was Sally, your wife. It's all right."

::Aurellia smiles.::

"Do you know her? Did you see her? Here? Did she leave a message?"

"No, to all of those questions. Dante, I have some grave news. Tonight you are going to die. You are going to be attacked."

::Dante frowns, wondering who this crazy woman is and how she could even think he'd believe she knew such a thing.::

(Better show him.)

"You will walk through those gates."

::She points towards the gates. Dante will then feel like it's actually happening, though it's all a vision. He gets up and walks through the gates.::

"Go into that alley; which is a short cut to where you were supposed to go with your family."

::And he goes.::

"And there, it will happen."

::Dante finds himself surrounded suddenly by women with huge teeth. They hiss and leer at him. Panic rises and he tries to run, but they catch him easily and descend upon him, tearing off his clothes and then devouring his flesh, lapping up the blood like water. The pain is agonising. Just before a vampire tears his throat out, the vision ends. Dante will know that this is truly the future.::

::Crying out in shock, Dante backs away from the gates.::

"What happened? Oh my God!"

"It is the future, Dante. Even if you leave other gates, it will inevitably happen to you. Tonight. But I can stop it."

::Dante spins around and grabs Aurellia by the shoulders.::

"How? How?"

"You must come with me and replace the man that your soul has travelled on to in the next life. You must send him back in your place to have the death instead of you. And you then have his life."

"But... my wife, my kids... I can't leave them!"

"Dante, you are going to leave them one way or another. You're going to die."

"N-no! I don't believe you. I'm not leaving them, in any way or form. I'm not dying nor am I coming with you and sending some... some lunk back to take my place. Get away from me!"

(Why has The Source assigned me the difficult ones?)

"Very well."

(Another job for one of the others.)

::She disappears.::

::Paz walks up behind Dante and taps him on the shoulder.::

::Dante turns around, surprised.::

::Which Paz uses to his advantage. He suckerpunches the man really hard, knocking him out. He then lifts him over his shoulder and returns to the portal.::