A minor warning for this chapter, it gets a little violent. Hostile language. View discretion is advised. Enjoy.~
The scent of day air was all around Nimue as she walked along the outdoor mall. She was by herself today, having left Titan at home. The warmth of the Sun was gentle that day, unable to compete with the chilled wind of Earth's surface. Nimue was in a pair of dark green jogging shorts, a light green mid-sleeve shirt, and a grey jogging jacket.
Today was her day to get away, as her boyfriend was out of town, and Titan wasn't with her. While Nimue loved her home and where she was, she could not feel that same love and connection she did with her boyfriend, Gregory. He had become… verbally abusive towards her for no reason in particular aside from the fact that she had gone out and came home at a later time. Yet, he'd insulted her, called her vulgar names, and screamed at her like she were the Devil himself.
While looking around, Nimue found herself drawn to the left side of the mall, towards a candy store. When she entered, she knew exactly why she'd been drawn there. In the center of the store was William Lennox, a woman, and a little girl that was filling a plastic bag full of chocolate. Nimue smiled as she caught sight of Will's arm around the woman, and both of them were watching the little girl adoringly.
"Will," Nimue called.
Will looked over at her and his eyes lit up, "Nim! Hey! Wow, didn't think I'd see you here."
The woman looked over at the older girl. She looked between her and Will.
"How do you two know each other?" she asked.
Nimue chuckled, watching as Will leaned over and whispered something in her ear. Shara's skeptical look turned to one of understanding. A sudden weight pressed against Nimue's leg and she looked down. There stood the little girl. Nimue knelt down, meeting the little girl's blue eyes.
"Hello," she said softly, "My name's Nim. What's your name?"
"I'm Annabelle!" she giggled sweetly, "You're really pretty."
Nim laughed, "Well, you are a cute as a button. I think… you like to play a game like 'Soldier' don't you?"
"Yeah," Annabelle nodded, "Daddy's a sold… soldi-"
"Sound it out," Nim encouraged, "Come on. Sol-"
"Sol," Annabelle repeated.
"-dier."
"-dier."
"Now say it all together." Nim urged.
"Sol-dier. Soldier… Soldier!" Annabelle giggled, "Soldier! Soldier!"
"There you go!" Nim cheered, high-fiving the little girl, "Now you can say big girl words!"
"I can?" Annabelle asked.
"Yeah you can!" exclaimed Nim, "Here. Try 'bellwether'. It's easier than you'd think."
"Bell…" Annabelle mumbled, "I can't say it!"
"Yes, you can." Nim continued to press, "You can, okay? Do what we just did with soldier."
"Bell…" Annabelle tried again, "Bell-weth-er. Bell-wether. Bellwether!"
Annabelle cheered excitedly, screaming in joy of her new 'talent'. Nim laughed and cheered with her. Will and the woman looked at one another.
"H-how did you-?" the woman breathed.
"Oh," Nim laughed, "I used to work with kids all the time. They just seem to like me."
Nim shrugged.
"By the way, I never got your name."
"I'm Shara, Will's wife."
"Shara," Nim repeated. She smiled up at the woman, standing up and parting from Annabelle's parade of pride, "It's nice to meet you. I'm Nimue if you didn't know. Just call me Nim."
"How did you do that?" Will asked finally, "We can't get Annabelle to sound something out for the life of us."
"You have to encourage them, but don't give into pleading," Nim shrugged, "It's hard to explain. Somehow, I can just get kids to, well, listen. My boyfriend says it's a gift."
"Well, you are an absolute angel. Thank you for helping Annabelle," Shara said. She opened her arms and hugged the girl, "And thank you for bringing my Will home."
"Of course," Nim smiled, hugging Shara back. She pulled away from the hug, "Why don't I give you all my number? You can call me anytime."
Will nodded, "Yes, please,"
~o0o~
"Greg, please! Listen to me-!"
Nimue felt a harsh pain spread across her left cheek. She fell back onto the kitchen floor, her boyfriend towering over her.
"You stupid bitch! Who the hell is Will?!"
"I told you! I'm babysitting for him and his wife-"
"Are you fucking him? Is that it?!" Grey screamed at her, "'Cause I can fuck you! I can fuck you so hard, you see stars! Is that what you want?!"
Greg knelt down, shoving Nim hard into the ground. She cried out as her head hit the floor. Greg wrapped his hands around her throat.
"Gregory, listen to me for once!" Nimue shouted. She clawed at his hands with her nails, "It's not like that. It really isn't!"
"You lying fuck!" he tightened his grip on her neck, "Is this what he does? Chokes you out while fucking your lights out? Is that what you fucking want, you slut?!"
"Greg! Stop!" Nimue rasped, "He has a wife and daughter!"
"So that's what you want? A kid? I can give you a fucking kid!"
Nimue's eyes glazed over as Gregory began to put enough pressure on her neck to snap it, however, it wasn't from lack of oxygen. Rage took hold of Nimue's mind, fogging out all common sense she had. Her hands wrapped around Greg's wrists, ripping them away from her neck. She pulled her legs up and kicked Greg away from her. He landed against the wall with a heavy THUD!
Nim climbed back to her feet, gasping for air. She growled at Greg. Grabbing her bag from the counter, she made a run for the door. Titan followed Nim out from the dog door. She opened her Colorado's door where Titan jumped in and Nim followed. She quickly brought her Colorado to life and sped away from the horror house she called "home".
The car was quiet for a moment while Nim gathered her thoughts, panting heavily. Her mind unfogged as she drove along the dirt road.
Nimue's mind fell to restlessness as her autopilot kicked in to drive while she thought. Why had Greg suddenly stopped trusting her? Nim had never done anything to wrong him. It seemed completely out of character for his normal kind and trusting nature. He had always given Nimue some lee way until she got a text from Will asking if she could babysit. Nimue shook her head. She couldn't let this go one. They'd been arguing for three days straight! Sure Grey had hit her before but… that was normal for all couples, wasn't it? That was Nim's understanding. If a man was mad at his woman, he could hit her. That's how her father had been, that's how her uncle had been, that's how her boyfriend had been, so this must have been normal!
Nim was nearly in hysterical sobs by the end of her thought process. She pulled up at Will and Shara's house where she parked. She brought her hand to her mouth, trying to muffle her cries. Titan whined next to her, nudging her gently with his nose. The loyal Newfoundland whined again when his owner didn't acknowledge him. Nim drew in a ragged breath. She shook her head, trying to straighten out her thoughts. She would go home in a few days and talk to Greg, that's how it always went; they always figured things out. Grey gave her flowers, cards, gifts of any sort to say he was sorry.
Nimue always forgave him.
Why wouldn't she? Greg was the love of her life, so why wouldn't she forgive him? Everyone makes mistakes and everyone has flaws - Nim knew that better than anyone. Greg was the only one that loved her for who she was, and Nim knew that. But something didn't seem right with it - the whole 'love' concept seemed so… Nim didn't know the word, but it certainly wasn't right. She sighed again, wiping away her tears defiantly. She would not cry. Crying was for the weak, her father taught her that. Nimue was strong, one of the strongest in her family, so there was no crying for her. Nim didn't deserve to cry, that's what she thought of it.
Tears were just another way of proving you were weak. Nimue knew the punishment for being weak. You were hurt. Nim couldn't wear her heart on her sleeve like her mother had. She refused to be crushed by the world. The only person that could protect her was Greg. She'd make it up to him, some way, she would.
Nim shook her head again, opening her door. She hopped down from her Colorado, Titan following after her.