After you place the three shards into the stained glass windows, for a moment they glow, battling against the wildly flickering gaslight up above, but ultimately they hold none the less. It’s hard to know if that’s because it’s right or not for sure, but it at least isn’t immediately rejected either.
The lights, real electric lights, finally seem to turn on to illuminate the rooms. And this time, instead of the shadows forming on the walls, you see it, them, standing in the room with you, though they seem perfectly oblivious to your presence. Vincent, in the outfit he’s been wearing all this time standing in the doorway of the kitchen, looking towards Gracie within it. He looks a bit dazed already, though not completely out of it either, clearly trying to stay calm during what is assuredly an argument with Gracie. Or perhaps a one sided one, given the rage that’s clear as day on the face of Gracie herself. Her makeup is already smudged, presumably from crying earlier that day, but right now she only appears to be furious, sharp yellow eyes glowering at him from just a few steps away.
“You know how badly I’ve wanted a child with you, even just one, and I know god damn well that you’ve been the one praying it never happens! That it CAN’T happen, isn’t that right? Is that it!?”
Vincent’s face doesn’t give away his emotions fully, but it’s clear the words have some effect anyways, because he opens his mouth to deny it instead of letting her keep going.
“No, of course not, I’ve never prayed for-,” he starts to assure.
“THEN WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!?” Gracie screams, shoving Vincent in the chest hard enough that he seems to instinctively takes a step backwards instead of taking it, which only further seems to anger Gracie. “Did you POISON me to cause this? Have you been stressing me out of my MIND just for this? I can’t fucking take this anymore, Vincent!”
And it appeared that she really couldn’t, because a moment later, Gracie has a knife coming at Vincent’s neck as he’s standing still that he only barely managed to bring a hand up to partially at the last second, turning a would-be stab into a slice instead across his wedding ring and the side of his neck.
You only have a moment to register the fact that Vincent himself is bleeding with a look of sheer panic on his face, before the world seems to melt a bit, reality distorting as you hear Vincent’s panicked breathing quicken faster and faster. You can still make out the forms of both people, but it’s hard to pick up on the details of each other them, as it seems that Gracie takes another swing at Vincent with a scream of anger that he manages to catch this time, seeming to be attempting to wrestle the knife away from her.
And then the amount of blood increases. It’s hard to tell if it’s on purpose, initially, or if in trying to get the knife away it was an accident. But after the first time, it’s clear that you see Vincent holding the knife entirely himself, as he stabs it into Gracie again, and again, and again, and again, and again. There’s a level of violence to the movement you’ve truly never seen from him before. But after the sixth stab, Gracie finally collapses on the ground, and Vincent drops the knife, clearly still hyperventilating as he takes in the scene of what’s just happened.
The world starts to clear, a bit, but there’s still that smeared residue everywhere you look. Shakily, Vincent seems to get ahold of himself enough to kneel down next to Gracie, shaky hands attempting to stop some of the bleeding in vain. But it’s never enough. Of course you knew how all of this would end.
As the illusion of Vincent and Gracie disappear from the room, you’re left with only the view of the portraits of the two of them changed yet again to reflect this view of reality, as well as with one another.
And with that, the projection promptly ends.
