17Evey awoke with the sound of the heavy wooden door being opened, announcing the arrival of V in the Shadow Gallery. Still a little sleepy, she checked the watch, perched on one of the many piles of books by the bed, and saw that was little past four in the morning. What was V doing until this hour?
After stretching and yawning, Evey tried in vain go back to sleep. She could hear V's rushed footsteps around the stoned floor of the Gallery and the sounds of doors being opened and closed wich, besides not allowing her to sleep, nurtured a feeling of curiosity hard to resist. That wasn't like the other nights when she didn't even hear V arrive, something was going on.
After a brief silence, she heard V talking to someone. Evey could tell he wasn't talking to himself because of the evident tone of concern in his voice. Knowing sleep was now an impossible objective, Evey reached for the lamp by the bed, dressed a robe and crept out of her bedroom silent as a cat, towards the sound of V's voice.
As soon she opened the door that leaded to the main chamber of the Shadow Gallery, Evey saw V coming out of a small side room, that she knew it was used to store some censored itens - paintings, books, old movies - and even some supplies like cleaning products and canned food. He saw her right after he had closed the room's door and stood still for a moment, like he had forgotten Evey was a 'guest' in the Shadow Gallery, but quickly regained his usual opponent self:
' Evey, I belive I awoke you. I am sorry.'
'It's al right.' Evey was beginning to have a bad feeling about all this. V's voice had a sincere tone of concern, but there was something else she couldn't put her finger on, but it made her regret a little the fact she came out of her bedroom to investigate V's actions. It was like he was feeling anxious about something in that room – a characteristic that wasn't like V at all. That thought was soon pushed aside by a small bow followed by V's usual calm voice:
'Evey, I was going to let the introductions for tomorrow, but since you are awake and alert, would you like to help me make our new guest more comfortable in the Shadow Gallery?'