Sinner's Lullaby

by AcquiredMadness

[Emison AU] One year Emily Fields is a meek, laid-back girl who enjoyed the little things in life with her girlfriend. The next, she's grown into the skin of a cocky and proud womanizer, feeling the notion that she can do whatever she wants with whoever she wants, fearing zero consequences along the way. That is, until she meets a hard to get blonde who doesn't play by her rules.

4. Prologue III – Georgia, 2012

I truly apologize for writing such long chapters. I tell myself I would quit but my sobriety only lasts for a couple of days before I'm back at square one.

Happy belated birthday, anonymous guest. Sorry that I'm a few days late. Take this as my peace offering.

Prologue III – Georgia, 2012

Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action. Bolded is a flashback or reading. (….) is an indication that time has passed.

Your daughter is dead.

Four words that can destroy a parent's life. Words a parent would never be able to swallow.

His daughter, his only child, his little girl died overseas, fighting for her country. A girl who just started life, a girl who was just experiencing the world. Taken. Whether fatally shot, exploded, drowned, or was stranded by herself, the pain doesn't throb any less. The moment when her life was flashing before her eyes and all she could think about is home and how she was going to die alone in another country without her family would haunt any parent. Especially a parent who has served many tours overseas and made it back unscathed whereas their child only left once and died.

How can you bury your child?

Flying back where it all started, everyone arrives in Rosewood, Pennsylvania for the funeral via Emily's wishes according to the paperwork she filed in an event she didn't make it back. She wanted to be remembered back home. Pam, Paige, and Hanna wear different variations of black funeral attire: Pam in a long, black pea coat, covering her knee-high black dress, stockings, and heels. She wore sunglasses, gloves, and a large church hat that shielded most of her face that she spent all of the morning crying behind.

Paige walks behind her in a V-neck button blouse under a petite black blazer and skinny slacks. She found the hardest time walking in her boots towards the burial site yet the only saving grace she had was to walk with Toby. All she could hear is Emily's voice in her ear. The repetition of her words, saying that she was going to come home. How she promised. Remembering the last conversation she had with her on the phone and how Emily couldn't stop laughing at her describing how bad her day went. She would give anything to hear her laugh again, she would give anything to see her again. They had a promise.

Hanna followed after in her long sleeved black dress that fell right over her gold heels with a slit up the side. Her hair was put up in a braided, low bun and her sunglasses perched on top. She walked, leaning against Caleb due to the previous times of her legs giving out randomly and he having to catch her. He's never seen his girlfriend so tormented before and he tried to do his all to be there for her.

As the women dressed to their specifics, Toby and Wayne wear their Class A uniforms; Toby in navy blue police attire, Wayne in black and gold for the Army. They stand tall and strong for the women although Pam had an arm wrapped around Wayne's side, supporting him as he walked with a cane. Just hours after their initial news, the realization of Emily's death hit him so viciously that he had a stroke and was rushed to the hospital. With all his prior medical complications, doctors didn't think he was going to make it.

And he didn't want to.

He kept flat-lining on the doctors and they had to shock him back to life every time he tried to check out. He failed his duty as a father and felt he didn't deserve to live.

With the memorial being public, only family and close friends were able to attend the burial. Swarms of news reporters, photographers, and grieving strangers, however, watched on from the streets at a distance. Celebrations were praised when news of Emily and another young woman made U.S. history and it made a name for her. The days of the announcement of Special Forces being deployed to war, it wasn't officially public but people knew Emily could be flying out to continue her legacy. But it all came crashing down once the media had a whiff of her tragic demise. People from all over the country were pouring in their support for Wayne, Pam, and Paige, especially. The paparazzi snap pictures of the funeral scene and all Hanna could do is grumble to herself. The one time she would hate pictures being taken of her is the day people would treat one of the worst moments of her life like it was New York Fashion Week.

The ceremony begins as the first row was reserved for Emily's parents, Paige, Hanna, Toby, and Caleb as they listened to the pastor speak. For a good decent amount of time, everyone was quiet except for the occasional sniffling. The zombie-like appearance from everyone in the front row now wearing sunglasses, except Wayne and Toby, set an eerie stillness in the air.

Emily was really dead…and they didn't even have a damn body to have closure.

…..

The service concludes with Pam tightly hugging the folded flag given to her as everyone lingers around and talks for a moment, giving their condolences to the family and girlfriend most importantly. The funeral-goers then hop inside their vehicles and drive over to the Field's home - the place where Emily grew up and they can remember her for the wake.

Food and drinks where served as a light mumble floated around the 1st floor from the kitchen to the backyard. Family members from every side came together for the painful event and tried to make it a commemoration of her life and accomplishments. Paige sits quietly on the couch with her head bowed as Emily's grandmother held her hand. This is the third time they've met and all Wayne's mother wanted to do is wrap her in her arms. They have all taken a loss and while she might be the girlfriend, she was still seen as family.

Paige turns around to see a red Chevrolet Cruze pull up into her driveway behind Emily's car. Pam and Wayne had called her a few days prior to let her know they were coming over to see her and she couldn't be any happier. Since Emily left, the house has been very cold and lonely without her presence and as of right now, she could happily use some company. She shuts off the hose she was using to water the plants in the front yard now that it's starting to get colder. Pam gets out of the driver's seat first, bracing a smile that held nothing but sadness in the eyes.

"Pam! How are you?" Paige walks up to her with a large grin and open arms, squeezing the smaller woman in a tight hug. Wayne stares straight ahead at the back of Emily's car as he gripped his hands together. He was about to relive hell all over again and wasn't sure if he could do it. They decided it would be better if they told Paige in person rather than over the phone. It is no doubt that she's going to need the support and he vowed to Emily that they would watch over her.

"You look good, Paige. You look good." Pam compliments her, staring everywhere but her face. She couldn't bear the idea of small talk knowing that she had a nuke in her back pocket that's going to destroy Paige's whole world. The plan was to sit Paige down and ease her into the news but Pam doesn't know if she can wait that long anymore.

Wayne opens the passenger door and Pam turns to rush to his aid. Paige walks behind, still holding onto her smile as she approaches one of her favorite people.

"Hi, Wayne!" Paige's glow of a beam fades quickly when she sees Pam help him out of the car with a cane used for supporting. "Oh my goodness, are you okay?! What happened!"

Wayne hangs his head as he drapes his arm over the top of the car door. The stinging of tears already redden Pam's face as she watches her husband falter in strength. Paige stands there confused as to why everyone became silent and sorrowful all of a sudden. She shoves her hands into the pockets of her grey button up, sweater cardigan as she waited for someone to speak. The atmosphere suddenly felt so off and it made her feel uneasy.

Wayne pushes out a long exhale before he raises his head to lock eyes with Paige.

"Stop." Paige pulls her hands out and warns him with a wave as she started backing up. Pam opens her mouth to speak but no words come out and that only heightened Paige's alertness. "Please, don't say anything. Please….don't."

"Paige, hunny-" Pam reaches for her but she avoids her touch.

"No. Nonono. Don't."

"We had to come this way." Wayne pushes himself off the door and starts limping towards her. "We couldn't tell you on the phone. We had to be here."

"NO!" Paige angrily screams at them with her eyes full of rage and tears. A few birds sitting on the branches of the tree beside her house fly off into the sky while nearby kids playing in the street stop and stare at the unexpected noise.

Paige runs her hands through her freshly rinsed dark brown hair as she looked around. She felt like baseball stadium lights where shined onto her and it was blinding and nauseating. She takes off in the direction of her front door before she trips over her feet and falls in the middle of her yard, scuffing her hands with dirt and ripping a hole into her jeans. Pam hurries to her side to help when Paige begins dry-heaving. She wanted to throw up the information they were not outright saying but nothing was coming out. She clutches the grass within her grasp as her body tightens while nearby neighbors who were watching started making their way towards the house to make sure everything was okay.

As Paige began her panic attack, a concerned civilian walked up to Wayne to ask what happened and that's when he had to explain the unfortunate news. The shock didn't stay with just Paige, the surrounding bystanders gasped in surprise hearing that Emily had died.

Everyone in that particular street knew Emily. She and Paige were one for throwing neighbor friendly get-togethers especially when the weather was nice and hot. During the summer of 2010, they and a few friends planned a party for the NBA finals. While Paige wasn't a huge fan of basketball, Emily liked it and, that entire summer, was the only thing she was talking about with her co-workers. It started with a private barbeque but once word came out that someone was hosting a playoff party, the private sessions soon turned into an open house with people cooking and bringing beer galore. From wearing jerseys to kids and adults alike playing games in the street, everyone enjoyed themselves before it was time to pile up in the living room and begin yelling at the TV. This lasted for days and it was one of their favorite memories. That's when everyone knew exactly who Emily Fields was.

People did their best to comfort Paige but her head was in such a dark place that she saw everyone as the enemy and started shouting, demanding people to get away from her. Pam cling onto her body with all her might and walked her into the house as Paige continued to scream at the world.

Pam walks up to Wayne with a glass of cold orange juice as he stood in the back of the living room watching everything take place. He thanks her and takes a sip as he rested his weight against his cane. He felt his toes beginning to fall asleep again.

"You know…there is something that happened that Emily didn't want me to tell you about before she left."

Pam jerks her head up at her husband mixed with multiple emotions from his sentence. She watches him take another swallow of his juice before he nodded in the direction of the couch.

"When we were at their house, while you and Paige cooked, Emily was telling about some things that were on her mind."

"What? Like what?" Pam rushed him to get to the point. She really had no energy for suspense or pulling teeth but the sudden reveal of a conversation not only intrigued her but scared her at the same time. "What did she say?"

Wayne glances down at Pam. "She was going to propose when she came back." he enlightens her with a muttered voice. Pam's mouth dropped upon hearing. Although this idea wasn't far-fetched because she knew after six years, someone was bound to pop the question but the fact that Emily didn't tell her, at least, shocked her.

"Do….do we tell her? I mean, what do we do? Does she know?"

"I doubt it but it's not really our place to do anything. We don't know if Em had any plans already set if this happened. I just needed to tell you because…." Wayne stares at his mother talking to Paige, rubbing the girl's shoulder while she spoke. He bit down on his tongue before he raised the rim of his glass back up to his mouth. "I needed to tell you."

Pam wasn't sure if any other news could make her heart ache but the way it sunk hearing about the proposal, absolutely did the job. She, too, looked over in Paige's direction with a heavy heart. Ever since she's seen her, she's been very still. Very quiet. She knows people mourn in various ways but it was almost as if she was sedated.

"With no body, what's the point of doing a burial? All you did was waste $2,000 just to throw dirt on top of it. This is bullshit." Hanna grumbled to herself before she took a swig from her Snapple bottle. While to the average person it would appear that she was drinking Snapple, however, Hanna laced her drink with strong amounts of alcohol and soon Caleb had realized it too.

"Here, gimme that." Caleb extents his hand to grab the bottle but Hanna yanks it from his reach.

"I'm at my fucking best friend's funeral, okay? Today is not the day to be the drink police." she snaps at him with no care about who was around or could hear. "I don't tell you how to cope so don't fucking do it to me. I don't know who the hell you think you are but I'm going to tell you who you're not."

Caleb somberly apologizes, prompting Hanna to murmur something else to herself. She numbed this entire morning with alcohol, drinking the hour she woke up so she could get through the day. And as the liquor heated up her blood, her opinion became more and more audible. She felt like the burial portion was a sham and irrelevant to everything. Emily's body was somewhere in the desert and here they were crying over an empty casket.

…

Multiple footsteps walk in unison down a hard cemented floor. The stillness amplified these simple noises and created the illusion that there were a whole group of people migrating to one area. Soon after, the steps were replaced by the jiggling of keys, followed by the creaking of a door being opened.

Dirty, old, damaged concrete floor.

Cracked and peeling, stained walls full of moss and mold and missing ceiling plaster.

A used and abused twin mattress on the floor with a thin blanket riddled with holes.

The only source of light into the room was through a window facing the hallway on the door. However, it wasn't real glass so if you tried to break it, all you would be doing is tiring yourself.

Emily sits on top of the bed with her legs crossed, tucked into her, staring off into the distance as Majid and two other men step inside. Ever since Romero and Losey's escape, Emily has been holding onto Romero's last words to her.

Volveremos por ti.

After they left, Emily got the beating of a lifetime until another truck arrived to send them running out of their current place. They knew somehow the guys were going to make it back to the base and send the whole military to where they were and they needed a new location. A few men took off in search of Romero and Losey, promising to kill them on sight if they found them.

We'll come back for you.

Emily was tied, gagged, and thrown in the backseat of a van with a gun pointed at her at all times so she couldn't think of any ideas. When brought to her new captive spot, all she could do is pray that they somehow found her. Every day, she would pray for her rescue.

Days became weeks.

Weeks became months.

Taken hostage on November 10th with Romero and Losey escaping on the 22th, it was now February 4th and she was still under Majid's thumb.

Three months later and nobody has ever came back for her.

Three men stand by the door as Majid stood in front of Emily, waiting for her to acknowledge him. The girl he first met was lean, physically fit, tanned, and overall healthy. The girl he stood in front of now was gaunt. The golden color of her skin faded to grey, her body turned on itself due to lack of food and thinned out. Her limbs were gangly and her face unnatural, at this point. Her eyes were sunken with no life, the color of the iris diminished to dull brown as the rest of her face caved in. Dark bags settled into her skin while the bones of her cheeks started to poke out. The fast thinking skill of hers slowed down, movement was sluggish, and system was weakened from to the deficiency of consistent food, water, and physical abuse. Given to her, the ratted shirt and pants given to her hung on her body like clothes on a hanger and her hair lost its glow long ago.

The talk about Emily's presence were the topic of several conversations between Majid and his men. From the idea of selling her to outright killing her and moving on, people wanted to know for how long they were planning on keeping her and, ultimately, what is the end goal. Some even wanted to have their way with her but Majid put a stop to such idea, feeling that raping Emily wouldn't have the same effect as it would with others. It was pointless. Nevertheless, he did know the military was planning something against them and as long as they had her, he would have them by the balls.

So he believed.

Emily continues to stare at the wall as Majid waited for some kind of reaction that never came. He crouches down to her level, face to face with her so that he is in her line of sight.

"My men tell me you've been awfully quiet today. For the past few days, actually. Why is that? What is going on in that little brain of yours, ah?"

Not even a hair follicle swayed on Emily's head when Majid spoke to her. She was completely motionless. One would have thought someone poured cement on top of her and turned her into a statue because there was nothing there. She didn't even blink.

"Are you bored? Don't really have anything to do in here?" he presses on, mockingly. "Well….if you're bored….maybe you should just fuck yourself. Help you relieve stress, you know? Take some edge off."

Emily's distant eyes gradually focus onto Majid in front of her with his wicked smirk of a smile.

"I'm going to fuck myself over your dead body, how would you like that?" An unrecognizable voice responds to him. People would describe Emily's voice as smooth, firm when needed but overall pleasant to listen to. This one was harsh, gravely, and sinister.

Majid pouts with raised eyebrows, surprised at this response from someone who was practically begging him for mercy all the time. "Really? And how would that happen?"

Emily's eyes don't leave his as she pierced into the deepest parts of his soul. It was slightly unnerving seeing how close they were but he brushed it off with sarcastic banter.

"Tell me because now I'm fairly curious about this. How would you do that?"

Emily's eyes narrowed in, staying silent for a few long seconds before she spoke.

"I'm going to kill you." Majid smiles with laughter but her face stayed completely grim delivering her warnings. "I'm going to kill all of you." her eyes slide up towards the three men behind Majid, standing by the door.

"I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, you fat son of a bitch. I'm going to kill you all. Especially the other one with the burned hand, I'm going to butcher him. All of you. It's going to be a slaughter house when I do it."

"You're going to slaughter us?" Majid taunts with his face in a frown. This is the first time Emily has ever threaten them to this extent. She's tried to kill them but never has she outright proclaim her hatred. This was new temperament to them and an interesting one at that.

"I'm going to murder you in front of each other just like you did to me. So, you better kill me because if you don't, it's only a countdown to your deaths." Emily looks over at man on the far right with the red turban, locking him in. "And you, goat-fucker, if you ever touch me again, I'm going to sever your head clean. Rip it off your neck and use it as a hacky sack for my entertainment."

"Why are you so violent today, Fields? It's not even 2pm. Where is your humanity?"

"God left me a long time ago." Emily responds with her eyes never leaving the guard. "He forgot about me. My soul is useless so now so, I have no restrictions when I say I'm going slice his repulsive face off over there and wear it like a fucking batman mask while I kill you…" she shifts back to Majid who looked at her with curiosity. "Slowly and painfully. You're going to wish for immediate death but it will not come to you….because I'm going to torture you first."

Majid's smile fades as he held a glare-down with Emily. He glances her up and down before he snaps at his men. "I think you're a bit hungry. Let's get something into your system, yeah?"

One of the men, move forward with a baggie and a glass jar in his hands. He passes it to Majid who then starts removing things while Emily keeps her eyes on the male with the red turban. She gazes at him with no emotion in her face but everything behind her eyes. He stood still in his spot but felt tremendously uncomfortable. He's never been threatened or intimidated by Emily before and would not hesitate to put her in her place….but the way she stared at him, he couldn't explain the feeling he was experiencing.

She did not take her eyes off him.

"You like sunflower seeds?" Majid asks her as he shook the little baggie into his palm. Out came these tan seeds that looked faintly like pumpkin seeds but smaller and darker. He filled his hand and then took the jar filled with some kind of liquid and propped it in front of her.

"It might not be a full course meal but this is what's on your menu today. Some seeds and something to drink." the liquid sloshed inside the jar as he shook it. "It's some tea, freshly brewed. This is all that we could make so, try to make yourself feel at home."

Majid looks at her some more, seeing how she wouldn't even look his way but it wasn't bothering him anymore. He drops the seeds back into the baggie and places it along with the drink on the floor at Emily's feet. Finished with his time, he stands up and goes to leave while one of the other men kick a rusty bucket full of water bottles to the side. Without anything else, they leave and secure the door behind them to lock Emily back in her space. She waits until she hears their footsteps retreat and completely disappear before she lets out a heavy sigh.

"I'm sorry that you had to see me in that way. These people just…" the words get caught in her throat and she bows her head, feeling drained and a notion of embarrassment. "I'm sorry that you had to hear that. I'll try to have some filter next time because I know how you feel about violence."

Emily glances over her shoulder to see dirty stuffed rabbit in the corner. It was pastel purple with one eye button and a hole torn in the stomach. It was flimsy and dirty and has been there ever since Emily arrived. She nods her head, understanding her actions as she bit the inside of her cheek.

"I know. I'm sorry."

She turns forward and looks at the bag and drink in front of her. It's been a few days since the last time she had something to eat. A lousy sealed bag of crackers that looked like it came from a "Meal Ready to Eat" box. Four crackers to be exactly. They were one of those crackers where you take one bite, it thickens in your mouth as you chew and feel the everlasting need of water to wash it down. Except Emily had no water. She looks in the baggie and sees all the seeds bunched up – had to be about 100 altogether.

Without second thought, Emily lefts the baggie in her mouth and dumps all the seeds inside for maximum consumption. She knew it was smarter to save them but her hunger was so extreme, the idea of letting them sit for an additional ten seconds without being touch was unfathomable.

She chews loudly, letting out a breath of relief to be eating something when theytaste hit her. She slows down the mastication and tightens her face. The seeds tasted like burning marshmallows mixed with gasoline with every bite. It took her a second to understand the flavor when she grabbed the glass jar, spun off the lid, and took a large gulp of the tea.

"UCK!" Emily nearly gags as the liquid went down her throat. She squints down at the jar and observed this so called tea. It was the most wildly bitter tea she's ever had in her life. If she wasn't blinded by thirst she would have checked it out a bit more than to have the tradition notion of what tea was supposed to taste like and anticipate that instead. Feeling she's had enough, she screws the lid back on and tosses the things to the side. At least they gave her some more water.

Emily scoots back a bit until her back was against the wall, sighing again.

Silence…

"For the first time in a while, I actually had a pleasant dream. First time in a long time." Emily speaks aloud, tilting her head to look at the stuffed rabbit leaning in the corner.

"I was at this pool site. I want to say it was a community pool but it was inside and huge. Like Olympic size but it just kept going. Like….like imagine an ocean….in a building. The water and walls just keep going to no end. It was beautiful. Colors I haven't seen in a long time….I can still smell everything as if I was there. Floating in the water, just staring. Then I feel this splash next to me. Like one of those cannonball splashes. I turn to look and it was a kid about eight with one of those snorkels and goggles. He was giggling with this big smile and I can see where he lost a few of his teeth so he had these gaps. I didn't know who he belonged to or where he came from but I looked at him. Really looked at him." she sucks in her bottom lip and turns her face forward, staring at the floor while her nose started to burn.

"He was my son. I knew it – I felt it inside me. Nobody had to tell me, I just…..felt." a hot, uncontainable tear rolls down Emily's face. She didn't know why she suddenly felt so emotional retelling her dream but it was something that overwhelmed her. The feeling was so real that it felt like real life. It was the child she's always wanted, interacting with her in her dream.

"It was a bit odd because I was bigger than him and my feet wasn't touching the floor." she wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. "We were just floating upright as if there was no gravity. I remember picking up him up and he was so beautiful. So beautiful. How the sun shined on his skin, I swear he was sparkling. I remember putting him on my back and just started swimming. Swimming nowhere in particular. Then, I dipped under the surface and started swimming under the water. It was so clear. And I didn't have to worry about breathing because it wasn't an issue. He later hopped off my back and I took off his snorkels and goggles and there was that smile again. He smiled and just swam off. It was like he wanted me to chase after him. So there we were, swimming at this rapid speed, passing fishes, dolphins, sharks, with no worry."

Emily leans her head against the wall and gazed off into space. She lost her current self and slipped into her dream world – Something that became more and more of a habit of hers. In her dream, she was healthy. Glowing, in fact. She was a slightly younger version of herself but somehow older. Everything in that dream was magical and untouched by man's destructive hands. Ever since the accident, Emily has had the unfortunate (or maybe fortunate) pleasure of not seeing a mirror or anything that can show her present state. Yet, she looks at her body and that's all the reflection she needs. She has lost so much weight in the past few months that just one sneeze would give her multiple aches and pains. She didn't need to see herself to know that she probably looked like a monster from a child's nightmare.

"But I won't have any kids…..My generation, my family name, my lineage ends here. With me." Emily sinks back to her reality like a crash from a nice high. "My blood won't run anywhere else. Within a decade or so, the "Fields" will become a name in the growing list of forgotten people because I will die in here."

Emily's attention moves to the rabbit for a few seconds before she rolled her eyes with a scoff. "You know it's true." she states matter-of-factly.

"The military taught me how to use a gun, fundamental hand-to-hand combat, how to be stealthy and basic survival tips. But the military is no secret service that creates Jackie Chans with guns – they teach you the basics of everything with a little dash of advanced knowledge of body limits and techniques. What they didn't teach me how to survive when my body starts eating itself. They didn't teach me how to stop yourself from going insane because of the lack of human contact, something that we, as humans, need to survive. They didn't teach me how withstand capturers who have no regard for anything and are fully in control of your life. No."

Emily shakes her head, disgustedly.

"That's why Shawn was killed unexpectedly. That's why Matthew couldn't handle the stress and killed himself. That's why Isaac was scared to death and showed his colors way too quickly. Military is a "kick-ass" idea where the toughest Americans are fighting 24/7 when in actuality, they sign anyone that walks into their office. Ready or not. And let me tell you something, lots of people who sign up only do it for job security and because they know the military will pay for their education. They're not thinking about combat. Most people sent to war are scared with no real clue of what they're doing. And for those who can run for a longer time, do more than the typical amount of fitness, have a skill set that is above average, they slap the title 'elite' on you. While you may be considered "dangerous" or "a secret weapon", you're not….. That's why Shawn was killed, Matthew killed himself, and Isaac was scared and showed his colors way too quickly."

Emily glances down at her chest. She touches her dog tag that was tucked inside of her shirt as she looks at her wrist. After all this time, she still had Wyler's black and white wristband.

Keep quiet no longer. Act or accept.

She clears her throat, followed by a lick of her lips. Her mouth felt awfully dry and just reminded her of the water she had received earlier. Granted, it's never the water how one would like – cold and quenching. They were purposely very warm or sometimes hot so they wouldn't be enjoyable. Nevertheless, when you're thirsty, you'd drink anything. Emily moves herself forward to walk over to the bucket when she felt this gradual, heavy sensation throughout her body. She pushed through it and stood up when the heavy feeling increased, making her stumble to the side.

It felt like she had been spinning around in a circle and now is trying to walk straight. This sensation similar to being drunk, accompanied with her body feeling heavy, automatically told Emily something was off. There has been times when she's been so tired, so hungry, so thirsty, that she didn't have energy or could hardly stand without feeling faint, but this moment felt different. She finally stumbles her way towards the bucket and grabs the expected warm bottle of water before she took a large swallow and threw herself onto her mattress.

….

180 bpm.

Emily removes her trembling fingers from her neck and throws her hand down beside her. Her heart was racing at a high speed that she shouldn't be experiencing while staying perfectly still. She tried to focus on a stain on the ceiling but every few seconds, it would begin sliding, moving somewhere else. Her vision was unsteady and blurring right in front of her eyes, gaining some kind of dreamy, painting-like edge to it. The sense of detachment was strong, but it didn't feel strange.

"Oh my God…did they drug me?" Emily lethargically slurs out even with the push of effort to speak correctly.

"I dunno. Did they?"

Emily's neck snaps to the direction of the abrupt voice. Her eyes dart around the room and she sees no one. The dread wave of anxiousness spills down Emily's body. She heard that voice clear as day, as if someone was right next to her.

"Who said that?" she asks the air around her as she uses all her strength to stand up. She was completely alone but she knows she heard a voice. It's only been about 10 minutes since she got her water and laid down and now she's starting to hear things.

But that was within her mind that it's only been 10 minutes. In actuality, it's been five hours since she's moved. From the outside looking in, all she's been doing is mumbling mindlessly to herself and sleeping when she's thought to have been daydreaming for a handful of minutes.

See, Majid has put Emily on a schedule she's obviously been unaware of. This routine was designed to weaken her and have no choice but to rely on him for survival. She might have damned him to hell, but she's still living purely by him, whether she liked it or not. So, by starving her, by the time he gives her the seeds and tea, he knows she'll eat and drink it like it was her first cooked meal. And she did. Now, what she's experiencing is what people call a "trip".

Those seeds were actually hallucinogens and the tea were more seeds of the plant, crushed, and placed into boiling water.

Hell's Bells.

Devil's Trumpet.

Jimson Weed.

Datura.

Emily's eyes drifted to the toy rabbit and, to her surprise, it was blue. She intently stared at it now confused. It's always been light purple but now it's randomly blue? Deep blue? As she continued to observe it, the toy began growing in size, going from a small children's stuffed animal, to the dimension of a full size teddy bear that you win at carnivals.

"What the hell…" Emily watched, nearly paralyzed as the rabbit began levitating. It starting floating towards Emily's direction, steadily changing colors like a glow-

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Emily turns to the door being cautiously opened as if someone was secretly checking in. A few seconds later, Romero's head pops through.

"Ooooh shit…" Emily rolls onto her side as she attempts to stand but her limbs were striking against her at the moment. "Ooooh shit. You came back."

Romero walks inside the room, still wearing the same clothes Emily last saw him wearing. Almost surprised, he looks down at her, confused. "Woah. What the hell happened to you?"

"I was left behind with these bitches, that's what the hell happened." Emily staggers in his direction to the point she almost fell against him. She grabs a hold of his shirt and tries her hardest to speak clearly now that her incoherent mumbling is getting out of control. "Where is Erik? We gotta go…we gotta go before we get caught."

"You need a smoke?" Romero asks, however, it seemed more like a definitive statement than a question. Through her incredibly dry mouth, the sudden urge to smoke overwhelmed her. Although she's tried in the past, Emily was never one for smoking nor has she done it recently. But the need for nicotine derailed her current thoughts on leaving and made her agree although she wanted to say no.

A common trait of Datura.

"Yeah…" she compellingly decides. Romero digs into his pants pocket and passes Emily a blue lighter as he pulls out an already lit cigarette. As if her body was moving without her control, her hand reaches up to her right ear where a brand new cigarette was tucked. She grabs it in-between her two fingers and flicks the lighter to light but the flame kept going out. Her frustration arises with every failure and she felt herself becoming irritated that she couldn't get the lighter to work.

"We gotta get out of here, Isaac. We gotta go now." she finally sparks a flame and burns the end of the cigarette before putting it in her mouth and glancing up. Romero, who once stood in front of her, vanished into thin air and she was alone again.

"Isaac? Isaac?" she calls out for him as if there was a place he could hide in such a small room. The slight twinge of panic seeped into her as she turned around, hoping her rescue was there.

"Isa….Wha….What?"

The once empty room that Emily was subjected to for months was filled with everyone she's ever known in her life. Friends, peers from college and high school, and all kinds of people she hasn't seen in years.

"What's up, Em? It's been a while!" a young guy smiles at her, giving her a high five.

"Jeremy..." Emily returns the light smile as he rubs her shoulders, eventually walking past her to talk to another person at this 'party'.

As happy as he seemed, Jeremy has been dead for the past 10 years.

Though, it didn't seem off to Emily. As far as she knew, this was 100% real. Even though logic would state obviously otherwise, at no point did Emily think she was tripping. Everything was her reality. Romero really did come to rescue her as he promised, it's just that she lost him in this sea of people that he invited with him. Emily continues smoking her cigarette, ultimately finding herself in a circle of past friends. She stands with them and chats for a minute with small talk, completely oblivious to the fact that she's been held hostage in the middle of the desert. One of them ask for a smoke and in reflex, Emily reaches up to her ear and pulls another unlit cigarette. How was her ear suddenly a reloading pack?

"Oh yeah, turn that up! I love that song!" a voice amid the crowd calls out. A few seconds later, music is cranked from a black iPod music player that was on the floor against a wall.

The 70's disco tune adds the feel-good ambience as the nearly group of 50 people start side-stepping and singing at the same time, making it look like a true party.

"To behold, to your soul is ecstasy. You will find - other kind - that has been in search of you. Many lives have brought you to – recognize, it's your life, now in review."

Everyone's singing voices mesh into an angelic harmony as if they were a choir and it immediately put Emily at ease. All her worries, her doubts, her fear had subdued at that second and she felt like she was floating among soft clouds, high in the bright and vibrant sky. Being a lover of old school music, Wayne's Earth, Wind & Fire's "Fantasy" record was something he used to play often when she was younger and it just brought her to a world far from her own.

A world of fantasy.

A small tap against Emily's back makes her turn around and out of everything abnormal, this sight actually surprised her.

"Hey."

Emily pulls the cigarette out of her mouth. "Maya? Hi-hey. Hey."

An older Maya stands before Emily and she's stunned, to say the least. She hasn't seen her since senior year of high school back in 2005. Before Paige, Emily history with Maya was pretty solid. She is the one she thanks for bringing her to the light of understanding her true self during her times of confusion and doubt as a teen. They had dated for three years during high school and Emily thought they were set for a future as high school sweethearts. Unfortunately, when senior year came, they realized that they wouldn't be able to follow each other as they hoped. With Emily getting scholarships for swimming and wanting to go towards California, Maya was being pulled in another direction for school in another state. They stayed together until after graduation where they went their separate ways with no animosity or bad blood between them. She's seen her on Facebook a couple times during their college years but Paige wasn't so keen on exes on social media.

"I'm so sorry…"

"Sorry about what?"

"Sometimes, I wish that things could have been better for us." Maya tilts her head, her long, black hair cascading over her shoulder as she gazes at Emily with mournful eyes. "We were just sent too far apart…"

Emily gives a sad yet appreciative closed lipped smile, tossing her cigarette on the floor and putting it out with her foot. "You know, that's kind of funny to me. How I went to California and you Georgia. Then, years later, I would move to Columbus while you're in Atlanta. Just two hours away from each other."

"Maybe it was fate." Maya challenges, causing Emily to look up at her. They both stood quiet for a moment before Emily shook her head. She needed a way out of this conversation fast before Paige walks in and starts speculating with accusations. She pulls another cigarette from her ear and lights it.

"But I hope you're doing well. You look good."

"…I hope your soul is at rest, Emily. No matter what happened, I still love you and will never forget you."

Emily cocked her head as her smoke rested at the corner of her mouth. "Huh?"

Maya takes one more glance at her before she turned around and began walking away. Emily reaches out for her arm, needing clarification of what she meant, when the second she touched her, Maya's whole arm turned into sand and fell to the ground.

"What the fuck?"

Within that next instant, everyone around Emily disintegrated and became mounds of sand on the floor. The cigarette and lighter she held in her possession vanished as well as the music that was once playing. The bright and happy room faded back into the dark and cold cell. She was alone again.

"NOOOOOO!"

The piercing shriek shakes Emily, making her spin around to locate the sound. Her eyes have a hard time focusing on what she was seeing. The purple toy rabbit was holding its face, sobbing loudly behind its plush paws. Her forehead creases with her brows furrowed as she watched in disbelief. The rabbit looked like an animation in real life like how cartoons were depicted in Who Framed Roger Rabbit or Space Jam.

"My baby! I can't leave my baby!"

Emily gasps. Even away from civilization for so long, that voice was undeniable. She ran up to the rabbit, not knowing where to put her hands or how to even touch it as they continued crying.

"God, please! Please! Why burden me with such a heavy weight like this?! Why take Emily from me?!"

"Mom! I'm right here!" Emily urgently calls out to the voice in a panic. The rabbit slumps into the corner, sitting with head bowed and long ears covering its wet eyes. Their little chest caves in and out with their heavy breathing as Emily's eyes wildly search its body.

"Mom! Mommy! I'm here!"

The room door swings open and Emily's head jerks towards its direction. Two of Majid's men appear and, without thinking, she jumps to her feet and runs up to them.

"Where is Isaac?! What did you to do him?!"

One of the men steps with a thrust of his hands and tosses the contents from a bucket he held at her. Emily instantly drops to the floor, ducking out of the way from the sudden action. Hearing soft patter hitting the floor, Emily wonders what she avoided. She didn't hear a splash so she knows it wasn't water or some kind of liquid. She turns to look over her shoulder when her eyes bulge in horror. From roaches to spiders and everything in between, hundreds of insects scurry across the floor next to her. Emily let's out a distraught scream as her vision morphs these tiny bugs into large insects, gradually multiplying by the second. She runs towards the guards in distress when they push her back into the room with a hard shove, forcing her to stumble back and crush a few beetles under her heel. Emily starts hyperventilating, picking up her feet in high knee strides as she skips over to a small corner of the room where no bugs crawled.

"PLEASE! HELP ME!" She presses her back against the wall while standing on the tips of her toes. The floor seemed to move as it was covered in all things brown and fast. If there was one thing Emily hated the most, it would be bugs of any kind. That fear is what drives her to keep everything clean, especially during the hot days back at home. All it would take is for her to see one creepy crawler and she would think about it the whole day. Even if she killed it, she wouldn't be able to lay down without feeling that crawling sensation on her skin. Now she was surrounded by them and she felt like she was going to burst out of her hot skin.

"I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY - I WON'T THREATEN YOU AGAIN! PLEASE!"

The man with the bucket scoffs and walks back out into the hallway while the one in the red turban goes to close the door.

"DON'T LEAVE ME, PLEASE!" Emily begs with her knees shaking under her. The guard pauses for a second and then pushes open the door, now walking in. The sick sounds of insects being crunched under his boots makes Emily's stomach churn as he makes his way inside the room. A temporary sense of relief washes over her before he turns to the other corner of the room towards the toy and picks it up.

"No…" Emily's stomach drops as watches the guard head to the door with the now normal rabbit in his grasp. "Nononono! Don't take her, please! SHE'S ALL I HAVE! NO! LEAVE HER!"

Emily's whole body trembles with the ability to do absolutely nothing. She hopelessly screams with all the power in her throat while the door closes behind the men with a loud slam. As they walked away, they shut off the hallway lights that were the only source of illumination Emily had, making the entire room dark, leaving her with her cries.

…

From the moment we're born and able to communicate, we are taught right from wrong. We are given boundaries and standards and they become our morals of life. But what makes us turn away from our morals? When faced with adversity, what makes us keep them? Where does that moment lie when we no longer recognize ourselves? When is that change?

But God is faithful; He will not suffer you to be tempted beyond that which ye are able to bear, but with the temptation will also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. First Corinthians, verse 10, line 13.

I remember that line clear in my mind, hearing my father recite it to me whenever I came to him overwhelmed. Isaac repeated it as well.

He says he doesn't give us more than we can carry. If he brings us to it, it'll bring us through it.

Days I spent in the cold, huddling in the corner because the pain in my stomach became crippling to my body.

Days I spent crying.

Days I spent screaming.

Screaming at him.

They said you cannot question the Great One but the dryness of my throat, the burning of my eyes, the numbness of my feet couldn't bear the thought of not having any answers. If he's watching over me, why is he watching me starve? Why is he watching me being dragged down wet floors when I'm too weak to fight back? Why is he watching me be beaten by these men who receive joy from hearing me collapse and struggle to breathe?

Where is that faithfulness to me?

In the darkness of the void, a head is bowed, hand extended while the other one is held behind him. It's the morning star – Lucifer.

He wants a dance.

The songs being played becomes a ballad. A love song. While his hand is tightly gripped around my waist with the other tangled in mine, he whispers promises in my ear.

What makes us turn away from our morals? When faced with adversity, what makes us keep them? Where does that moment lie when we no longer recognize ourselves? When is that change?

When do we snap?

Jingles of keys sound behind the door before it's opened. Two different men from two days ago enter but Emily doesn't look up to see their faces. She keeps her head lowered as she sits on top of her mattress with her chin rested on her knees. The ground covered full of insects laid still next to her as she quietly muttered to herself; the hell she went through in the dark with one of her fears showed on her face. However, looking in, you would see the hell was only in her head. The bugs around her were plastics, dumped into a bucket, and tossed at her. While she screamed, begging for help, all the men could do is laugh at her because she was holding herself up in a corner, eye darting wildly across the floor at fake bugs. Only her hallucinations created them as real. Coming down from her trip, her vision has yet came back to normal. Her pupils were still dilated and sight was blurred as parts of her body would randomly tremble uncontrollably.

"Get up." one of them demand through his harsh accent. Emily doesn't budge a muscle but continues to mumble lowly. The guard's non-existent patience grows thin within seconds and he stomps his way towards her.

"I said get up."

It was as if Emily was ignoring his whole presence by the time he crouched down to her level to glare at her.

"As you glide, in your stride, with the wind as you fly away. Give a smile from your lips and say-"

"Get…up."

Emily's left hand slides over her mason jar that sat right beside her as she keeps her eyes at the floor. "-I am free. Yes, I'm free, now I'm on my way…"

"I say get up!" The guard stuns a hard smack across her face, making her eyes fly open in action.

"DON'T YOU TOUCH ME!" With a defying yell, Emily grips the largest broken piece of the mason glass and swiftly slices the guard's throat. While left by herself in the darkness, Emily stumbled her way to her bed when she accidentally knocked over the jar, glass and tea spilling everywhere. As she came back to her senses, it was then she knew that was her chance. This was her way out.

The guard reaches for his neck in agony while Emily drops the glass that was cutting into her palm and lunges for the gun secured around the man's waist. Before he could react by moving out the way, Emily shoots him twice at point blank range, jerking backwards with every blow because of how weak she is to resist the kickback. She blinks several times to try to clarify her vision but she still couldn't focus with everything shifting in blurs.

Another man rushes into the room, cocking his gun to fire when Emily shoots a few rounds at him as well. She misses every attempt, hitting the wall and door as the guard ducks himself from her aim when she finally catches him in the chest. She keeps pulling the trigger, making him stagger back with the bullets piercing through his torso when he slumps against the wall, dead.

The gun begins clicking with no ammo when Emily realizes she used up everything to kill these two guards. With no obstacles left and a wide open door, she scrambles to her feet and starts running. She has no idea where to go or how to get out but she keeps her feet moving, hoping that an opportunity will present itself to her. Speeding through hallway she goes, she sees a flight of stairs doing downwards and she wastes no time taking them. A part of her told her that she should be smarter and sneak but the last time that happened, it didn't go well in her favor.

The blurs became worse with the quick and sudden movements as her feet flies down the steps, holding onto the railing for support.

When she jumps the finally step and hits the lower floor, she races down another hall when a foot extended itself before her, causing Emily to tumble and skid across the hard floor. Another man who was answering to the sound of gun shots saw Emily running down the stairs at a high speed and decided to simply trip her, knowing that it'll for sure slow her down. Emily tries to get up when she's met by a rigid boot kicking her right upside her face.

Like a TV being turned off, all she saw was darkness.

She rolls over, holding her face from a throbbing pain that has never healed since the first time she's gotten beaten. The guard doesn't let up after one hit when he decides to give Emily a piece of his mind.

Every punch, every kick hurt. But after a few seconds of feeling everything, it dulled out to the point she felt…nothing.

The overbearing sense of diminishing hope rocked her harder than any strike she'd ever receive. At that moment, Emily knew it the countdown has already started as she began to get tired and felt the urge to let go.

I tried…

I really tried…

My parents are going to die when they find out. My dad first, then my mom a step after…

I'm never going to see Paige again…

I'm never going to get married…

I'm never going to have kids…

This is it…He's really going to kill me…

I'm so sorry, God…

I tried so much to hold on…I don't want to die…

Please, forgive me…

Please, forgive me.

….

"Musíme jít."

"Dej mi vteřinku."

"Ona je pravděpodobně už mrtvý, pojďme!"

"Cítím se slabý puls.…"

"Cezar!"

"Pomoz mi zvednout!"

"Vy jste kurva vážně? Nepřišli jsme sem zachránit slečnu v nesnázích1"

"Drž hubu a pomoz mi! Vím, co mám kurva dělat!"

...

"Životně důležité orgány jsou dobré, všechno je v pořádku."

"Mějte na paměti, že máme další kolo čištění asi za hodinu. "

"Ano, lékař."

The muffled voices come to her as if it was being filtered. She felt groggy, tired, and not sure of what was happening. The language being spoken was foreign but different from the ones she was used to hearing. There was a consistent beeping that kept going off but she couldn't tell what it was.

Where am I...? Is this the afterlife...? Am...Am I in heaven?

Her eyes flicker open weakly after a few attempts of her rolling back shut before she is met with total darkness.

"Víš, mohl bych opravdu jít za dvoulůžkový čokoládové muffin, právě teď."

The voices around her started to clear up gradually as she heard moans and chuckling. She tried to make sense of everything but her mind was so hazy and muddled, she couldn't quite hold onto a simple thought. More laughter is sounded besides her and now Emily's anxiety started to rise. She couldn't recall her last memory and now hearing even more people with foreign accents without the ability to see was scaring her for possibly what's to come.

Emily tries to lift her arms but it seemingly took a lot of willpower to do so. A small groan escaped her mouth as she unsteadily raises her hand to her face.

"Woah, tam je pohyb."

"Probudila se dřív, než se očekávalo."

A hand is placed on Emily's arm and like a switch, Emily was kicked into defense mode. She gathered up all her energy to swat at the hand while she tried to jump up. However, the moment she jerked in sudden movement, voices started getting louder and one hand turned to eight hands.

Emily started using everything she had but the people around her were stronger and kept pressing her into the plush object underneath her. Her groans turn into panting as she now hears the once constant beeping sound getting faster and faster.

Where the hell am I?!

"Emily! I need you to calm down." A stern yet calming male voice speaks to her. That was the first time in months that she's heard anyone call her by her first name. The men she was with only referred her to her last because that's the only name they knew. But this man, who seemed to have an American accent, called her Emily.

She halts in her reistance, now trying to catch her breath.

"Release her, she is no threat." the voice commands and within that same instant, the abundance of hands that held her down were removed from her body. "Everyone leave. Dim the lights while you go. Katrina…please bring back a bowl."

As this unknown man directed whoever was around her, Emily couldn't help but think to herself. Did the military finally find her? Was she rescued? Why couldn't she see anything? She rushes her hands to her face to remove whatever was shielding her eyes when the man urged her to wait. With the lack of following rules she's been portraying for so long, something about this man made her listen. She didn't know if it was the reassurance in his voice or the fact that he didn't sound like "them" but she followed his orders. It wasn't until she heard a closing of a door when the man told her she was able to take off her blindfold.

Without hesitation, Emily yanks the blindfold off her eyes and to her surprise everything was dark and had a faint haze to it. An older man dressed dapper in a tailored suit stood before her with what could be made out to be a smile. She glanced down at herself and saw she was dressed in a gown with all kinds of things on her that were hooked up to machines nearby. It seemed to be that she was in some kind of hospital room.

"Your eyes will be sore for a little while, that's why I had the lights lowered."

Emily clears her throat as she adjusts herself in her bed, blinking a few times to get rid of the cloudiness. "Who are you?"

"I am behind the team that rescued you." the man placed his hands inside his pants pockets with the small smile still light on his face.

Emily almost took that answer until shook her head, making the correlation of two plus two not equaling five. "You're not the military…you all were speaking another language."

The man holds his composure, staring at Emily for a few seconds before he walked towards her side of the bed. Emily's defenses jumped with him getting close to her and he felt it. He raises his hands up in sincerity.

"I'm going to gradually sit you up with this button. Will you be okay with that?"

Emily keeps her eyes on him before she gives a silent nod of approval. As told, he presses a button on the side of the bed that raises the upper part so she went from laying down to sitting upright. When the man walks off to the side to grab a chair, Emily took a notice of her surroundings. The room she was in did not look like the typical hospital room one would be used to. With the dim lights, she can still see how advanced it was, resembling more of a luxury showroom than anything else. The floor was a spotless, marble white with a matching white ceiling and soft tan, designed walls. All the ceiling lights were circular, LED fixtures and the furniture were grey and white to compliment the rest of the room's color choice. The man rolled up a seat next to Emily, gaining her attention again.

"Your name is Emily Fields. You are member of the elite 75th ranger regiment who are currently doing a tour in Afghanistan with Special Operations. You and four others were attacked and then kidnapped by a group of rebels where, as time went by, you were the only person left in their grasp."

While the information he gave her was not mind-blowing, Emily still was surprised that he knew such things about her. That is, until she reached up for her neck with her other hand, touching the dog tag that she still wore.

That's probably why.

There is a knock on the door before it opened, entering a young woman in red scrubs with the curved sides and neckline of the top being black. Her feathered, shoulder length, black hair shook as she walked towards them with a small, saran-wrapped bowl. Upon making eye contact with Emily, she smiled at her.

"Good afternoon, Emily. I'm glad to see that you're awake." she welcomed her with a sweet voice that held a small trace of an accent. Although she couldn't pinpoint exactly where the accent is from, all Emily could do is stare at her as the girl handed the bowl to the man. He inspects it as the supposed nurse takes a glimpse at Emily again. Emily's eyes never leaves hers as they held onto each other's gazes for a few moments.

"Thank you, Katrina." the man nodded, gaining a nod back from her. She gives one more glance at Emily with almost a shy smile before she turns and walks to the door and out of the room.

It's been so long since Emily has seen another woman, let alone a person other than her capturers, she couldn't help but stare. It was as if her brain was processing information that she hadn't been used to in a while. Her ears pick up the sound of unwrapping when she turned back to the man with the bowl in his hands.

"For you." He raises the bowl to Emily's eye level. "Fresh fruits."

Emily's mouth instantly begins to water like a starving dog. Slices of watermelon, bananas, strawberries, pears, mangoes, kiwis, fruits she's only seen in her dreams was right in front of her. Instead of questioning it as one should, she grabs the bowl and picks out a juicy, plump pineapple square and tosses it into her mouth with such quickness. With just one chew, her eyes rolled back as she tasted the sweet juices on her tongue. The flavor of the freshness was so intense that she felt like she was seconds from crying. The man smiled happily, watching her eat after knowing it's probably been a while since she's had something so pleasant.

"The condition we found you in was horrific, to say the least." he continues on explaining. "Several broken bones and major bruising that crippled some of your abilities. You were dehydrated and starved to the point parts of your body was on their way of shutting down. If we didn't get to you when we did, you would have died from internal bleeding. As of right now, you've been in a coma for a little over a week."

After picking another fruit, her vision starts clearing up and she is really able to get a detailed look of who was talking to her. The salt and pepper combed back hair and beard he had told Emily that the man before her had to be over 40 years old. His light green eyes were inviting but there was some kind of authoritative energy about him. She peeps over to the rest of the room once more. There was some kind of monitor on the wall in front of them. It was a rounded rectangle that had a visual 3d model of CAT scan, highlighting different parts of the face with red, yellow, and orange colors.

Was that supposed to be her?

"We performed multiple surgeries on you such as fixing your broken nose and assessing to your eye." he leans over to the small dresser beside the bed and opened one of the drawers, reaching for a mirror he then handed to Emily. "It appeared that sometime before we came, you have received a near fatal attack. Your attacker caused blunt trauma to your eyes which was something we had to get to quickly."

Taking ahold of the personal mirror, Emily gasps at the sight of what she saw. While her face was still somewhat swollen and bandaged, her eyes were drastically different from how she's always had them. Her right eye was still dark brown whereas her left was grey with a splash of light brown mixed on the side.

"The iris of the eye is like a blanket with loose pigmentation scattered along its back side, which is very dark, and then along its front side, which is lighter. The trauma you received was so brunt, it dispersed the pigment you had, making your eye alter in color. With this sudden diffuse of melanin, it turned the impacted eye grey while still having your true color of brown splashed within. Those areas are the parts that didn't get to fade. They still hold your original pigmentation."

The man points to the monitor on the wall with a clicker, showing a close up photographed still of her eyes during the vitrectomy surgery, also known as removing blood from behind the eyes.

"Although your real eye color is dark brown, the trauma lessened the deep pigmentation along with completely discarding it everywhere else. We call this partial heterochromia. Luckily your vision was spared in the process."

Emily's eyes were glued to the monitor as she slowly chewed on her watermelon. She couldn't believe what she was hearing or seeing. She was unrecognizable from her reflection and her eyes on the screen didn't even look like hers. If her hatred for Majid wasn't on a dangerously high level, it certainly was now.

"If you do not like it, we can schedule a correction surgery to change the color to match your other eye. It won't happen right away, though. You still need to heal." the man informs her, seeing the stunned look on her face.

Emily shakes her head, trying to understand everything from the injuries to the food to her current location and to this mysterious man himself. She takes a handful of small fruits, popping them in her mouth before she spoke, not caring about etiquette. "Where am I? Who are you? What…" she chews a few more times before she swallows. "What is going on?"

The man twists his mouth to the side and grabs a hold of Emily's hand as he looks into her eyes. She reflectively flinched back by the sudden sympathetic gesture but then relaxed back into herself, seeing she wasn't in any danger. Hopefully.

"The information I'm going to brief you on is going to sound unbelievable but I need you to know that my words are true."

Emily slowly nods.

"…You are dead."

"Dead?" Emily nearly chokes out in shock.

"Yes. Emily Fields is dead. The military called your death late of last year."

"Wh-wha….what's today?"

"Today is Thursday, February 16th, 2012."

Emily's eyes drop down to the fruit bowl she held, nearly speechless. She's always wondered what the military was going to do with her still being out there. With Romero and Losey leading the way, she was certain they were not going to give up the hunt. Her heart suddenly jumps.

Oh my God, they pronounced me dead. They told everyone I died.

"But…the news around your death wasn't as innocent as seems."

A sudden eyebrow is raised on Emily's behalf, not liking the chill she just got. "What do you mean not as innocent?"

"Let's just say you had loyalty to the force….but they didn't have loyalty to you. At the end of the day, their only best interest is their own and always has been."

With the ambiguous riddle to match the ambiguous man, Emily is left dumbfounded at what he was trying to relay to her. She opened her mouth to give her response but was only sputtering out noises for the lack of words coming to her.

"This has come as a shock to you, I am aware, but this could be a blessing in disguise."

Emily's face jerks up at the man, baffled at how he could even out together such words. Her death has come as a blessing? To who?!

"How many people wish to start their lives anew? Just leave everything in the past and start again? With you being dead to the world, you have this opportunity to have another redo at life. To be whoever you want."

"And do what? I would have absolutely nothing."

"Oh contraire, little one." the man tightens his grasp on Emily's warm hand, holding it snug within his own as he smiles at her. "We will take care of you. We will nurse you back to health and make you stronger than you've ever been before."

"Wait…." Emily stops him before he could make his sales pitch. "What happened to the men inside that compound? Majid and his people."

"We raided that place. Killed most of them."

"You killed Majid?"

"Unfortunately not. He was one of the few that got away."

As odd as it might sound, as a part of Emily was frustrated that Majid wasn't dead, an even larger part of her was satisfied with the thought of him being alive. She made a promise and she would want nothing more than to carry it out personally.

"But Emily, this is a golden opportunity that has been presented to you." he reminds her with a hint of persuasion and urgency for an answer. "Nevertheless, it is merely an option. You can stay here and live a new life without worrying about all the regrets and burdens from before or…you can go back home."

"I'm sorry, I…I can't leave my family behind." Emily shoots down the offer, knowing this would be the obvious answer whether she was declared dead or not. "I have a girlfriend that I love and had plans to propose. I can't just walk away from that. I have to go home."

"Yes…..I completely understand." he gives her a soft smile but Emily can tell he was probably disappointed for some reason. He rises to his feet, letting go of Emily's hand and fixes his suit. "We will keep you just for a while longer before we discharge you. Now that you're awake, we can run some tests and get you moving during physical therapy to make sure your up to a least somewhat normal. I'm going to bring the doctor back inside so he can explain in-depth everything to you."

Emily silently eats as she watches the man push the roller chair back to its original place before making his way to the door. Halfway in that direction, he stops with his back facing her.

"But….the offer will still stand after you leave. Seven days. If you go back and life isn't the way you wished it to be and need more details of things you thought you knew, you can call us and we will take care of you, just as I promised. You won't have to pay a dime. Just come as you are. You'll be still allowed to keep in contact with your folks but your way of living will be different. For the better. But after those days are up, we will be gone. Indefinitely."

"Why me? Why are you willing to do this? What's the hidden print here?" Emily just couldn't understand what the sudden want for her was. She was a normal American civilian, called to do a duty and then was kidnapped for months. Some random people, who she still has no idea who anyone is other than a girl named Katrina, raided the location she was in and rescued her. Now she's God knows where, in a hospital bed with all kinds of healing injuries, eating a fruit salad with two different eye colors from a beating that almost killed her, and an odd man trying to put her in some kind of witness protection program.

What the hell is going on?

The man turned his head, looking over his shoulder at Emily who sat confused with a mouth full of strawberries. "There is no hidden print, Emily. One man's trash is simply another man's diamonds. The military didn't see your worth. We do."

With the cryptic, vague answer that puzzled Emily for the second time even more than before, the man walks to the door, leaving her alone for about ten seconds before a younger man walked in with black scrubs.

"Welcome, Emily! Glad to see you awake and eating. I'm Dr. Graham."

…

As the man had said, Emily was kept within the establishment for a couple days and was pampered the entire time. She was fed the most delicious food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as working with the nurses to get her back on her feet. When she wasn't drugged up on pain meds, she was very apprehensive most of the time being around other people. Everything seemed too good to be true and she was waiting for the rug to be pulled from underneath her – To be held captive with another set of people or for this to be some dream that she has yet to wake up from. She's had a few violent outbursts from different situations putting her on fight or flight mode but the people handled her well instead of smacking her like she's been used to.

On the day of her discharge, Emily was driven to another location a few miles away, leading to some kind of airfield. She was accompanied by the older man and a few other people when he gave his farewells. Before she was escorted on a private jet to fly her back to Georgia, she was given a business card and $300 in U.S. cash. The white card had nothing but a golden, shimmering number on it as the man reiterated the deal to her.

Seven days and then they're gone indefinitely.

The money was given just as a parting gift to get her from where she lands to her home since she had nothing but new yet simple clothes on her back and tennis shoes on her feet. He shakes her hand firmly one last time before she was walked up the stairs and onto the plane.

…..

Getting off the jet and driven to a public part of Columbus, Georgia, Emily was dropped off by a local shopping outlet mall before the car disappeared into the day traffic of the street.

That's when everything came rushing into her at sonic speed.

The noise of cars honking, people surrounding her, talking and laughing loudly, and the overall movement of the city during afternoon hours overwhelmed her senses. She felt like she was placed in a pot of boiling water and didn't know what to do. Something as simple as getting a taxi was a daunting task for her, putting her on the verge of having a mental breakdown. She limps herself towards the nearest open establishment, not caring what it is, and bursts through the entrance doors, gaining every person to gawk at her bizarre behavior. Her panting started becoming full blown hyperventilation as she stumbles herself to an open booth and tosses herself into the seat. Her shaky hands reach up to remove her sunglasses but decides halfway to keep them on and run her hands through her hair.

"….Welcome to Wendy's, ma'am, are you alright?" a teenage girl working at the fast food joint cautiously approaches Emily as everyone continues to stare at her, jumping to the conclusion that she's probably on drugs. Too occupied on trying to get herself together, Emily ignores the girl's greeting, turning her face away from her as she began to cry. The last thing she wanted to do is become emotional in public but she couldn't withstand everything around her.

It was too loud.

It was too crowded.

It was too bright.

She just wanted to go home.

The girl walks away from Emily as she scooted farther into the booth, closer to the wall. She tucks her face into her arm on top of the table to hide from everything.

"You're okay, you're okay, you're okay, you're okay." she fretfully mumbles to herself. "You're free. You can go home. You just need to go home. Call Paige and she can pick you up. Call Paige…call Paige….what's….what's Paige's number?"

Emily starts bouncing her leg up and down as she hits a road block. She's always known Paige's number and has after all these years but suddenly, she couldn't string together the 10 digits.

"What's Paige's number? C'mon, Emily, you know this! What's Paige's number! 6….650….650-93….650-93…9?"

Emily hears the squishing of fabric in front of her and freezes. She gradually lifts her head, just enough for her eyes to see that a young girl in a uniform sitting in front of her with a cardboard holder and a small cup. Seeing the girl softly smiled reminded her of Katrina, polite yet seemingly shy.

"I thought you could use some water and a few fries."

Emily slowly sits up and looks her, not moving else more.

"I just wanted to know if you were okay. You seemed….upset about something. Is someone hurting you?"

Emily takes a deep breath, swallowing down hard. "I…I need a taxi back home."

"Okay." the girl understandably nods her head as she pulls out her phone from her back pocket. "I can call you an uber."

"Uber? No, I need a cab."

"Oh no, uber is a cab. It's a cheaper driving service that can take you to where you-"

"I said I need a cab." Emily repeats with a stern and impatient voice. "Please."

The girl nods again, this time more cautiously as she stares at Emily through her sunglasses. "Cab it is. Whatever you'd like."

Still feeling bad for Emily and her current distressed state, she gives her the fries and small water on her purchase. She had just taken her break when Emily came in and found it in her heart that she had to help her. They wait about 15 minutes for a cab to arrive when Emily quietly thanks the girl and walks out to the car.

"Where to, miss?" the southern driver rests his arm on the passenger seat as he turns and looks at Emily in the backseat for directions. She opens her mouth to speak but is felt speechless once again. She couldn't remember Paige's number and now she couldn't recall her own address.

"I, uh….I live by the base…"

"You live at Fort Benning?"

"Nono. I live close to."

"Alright…do you have an address I can put in?"

Emily looks down at the red Nike tennis shoes on her feet, the ones given to her by those nameless people. "I don't know exactly…the address…"

The driver checks a good look at Emily. He didn't know whether she was high, lost, or dealing with some other personal issue but the teeth pulling wasn't the most exciting game to play. He can't drive if he doesn't have a location and the last thing he wants to do is drop her off somewhere else and something ends up happening to her.

"Is there a street you remember? A landmark? Maybe a Walmart nearby or somethin'? Maybe a Target? Hospital?"

"Publix." the hazy images start coming back to Emily.

"A Publix. Okay, there's three. You got one on Macon Road, one on Bradley Park, and one off Schomburg Road – which one is it?"

"Spring Ridge Court." Emily nearly blurts out, catching the driver off guard a little.

"I don't think there is a Publix on Spring Ridge. That's a residential area, sweetheart."

"I live on Spring Ridge Court." she states again, almost saying it in confirmation to herself. "I don't exactly remember the number but I live there."

"Good, good. That's something I can work with." he turns and resets the computer information in his cab before he drove off the sidewalk, merging into the street.

….

The driver took her to the neighborhood that Emily lived in and played, "Which House Is It?" as they slowly creeped by every house until Emily recognized her own. She felt her heart flutter just by seeing the front of her house, something she thought she'd never see again.

"Alright, that'll come out to $19.22." the driver points to the fare counter as he pulls up at the curb. Emily digs into her pocket, pulling out a hundred dollar bill.

"Do you have change for a hundred?"

The man glances over his shoulder to look at the money before he turns back towards where he stashed his change. "Uhmm…I should-"

"Whatever. Just take it." Emily hands him the bill as he stares at it, hesitant to accept.

"Are you sure, miss….?"

"Money has absolutely no value to me right now. Keep it." Emily insisted before he took it from her and she hopped out of the backseat. The driver thanks her greatly before he pulls out, leaving Emily standing by her front yard. Every memory she had started flooding back to her in massive waves as she walks up to her doorstep. Her car was still in the driveway but Paige's was missing. She had no plan on how she was going to arrive to Paige with her thinking she was dead but with her being out, this gave her some time to prepare.

She approaches her porch and looks around. The flowers that she and Paige worked on to make their yard look appealing had withered and died and it broke Emily's heart inside. She could only imagined how Paige coped with the news. She takes a few steps by one of the porch chairs that they had and pushes it to the side. In case of emergencies, Emily always had a spare key outside and by the look of things, nothing has really changed. Taking a deep breath, Emily puts the key inside the door lock and twists it open, unlocking the entrance to her home.

Walking inside the empty house, Emily's emotions skyrocketed. She closes the door behind her and stands silently, breathing in a deep inhale of the "home" scent that lingered. She takes in everything in front her before she falls to her knees. She's overcame so much in the past few months.

Being kidnapped.

Watching her friends brutally die in front of her.

Being beaten and starved every day.

Losing hope and giving up after holding on with all her might until the last second.

Now, she's finally home.

She crawls a few feet before she is able to stand up again. She keeps all the joyful tears to herself as she walks down the hallway, towards the kitchen. Most things were just as she left it last year. She brushes her hand against the wall as she made her way to the living room. Everything was so quiet but…there were a few things missing…

Emily's body shakes out of surprise with a loud audible gasp as another gasp is heard with the scrambling of feet hitting the floor.

"Who the fuck are you?!" A brunette, seeming to be in her mid-twenties, jumps from the couch in an immediate fighting stance as she screams at Emily's presence.

For a split moment, Emily had thought she walked into the wrong house but that thought quickly left her when she stood her ground, gawking at this stranger in her home.

"Who the fuck are you?!"

"What do you mean who the fuck am I? You're the one that broke into this house!"

"This is my house!"

"Alright," the girl wags her finger at Emily, grabbing her phone with her eyes never leaving her. "I don't know what of narcotics you're on, bitch, but you have ten seconds to get off this property or else I'm calling the police on your crazy ass."

With no time for this unnecessary drama, Emily begins walking around, shaking her head, to find her house phone to put an end to this.

"Where's Paige?"

"Paige? What the hell do you have to do with my girlfriend?"

"GIRLFRIEND?!" Emily nearly chokes as she spins around to face the girl so fast that she nearly slipped.

"I didn't fucking stutter!"

Emily stares at her with wild, wide eyes through her shades. Some chick who was a few inches shorter than her and looked about her age was telling her that Paige was her girlfriend in her house.

That's what she was noticing as she was walking into the living room. The pictures of her and her and Paige were missing. The pictures they've had in the same spot since they've brought the house were moved.

"I'm the fucking owner of this goddamn house, bitch!"

"That's impossible…" the girl stood slightly confused but mostly defensive. "Paige owns this house. The only person who lived here died last year."

"Do I look fucking dead to you?" Emily rips off her glasses, holding the girl in intense eye contact as her voice deepened with rage. The girl's defenses dropped within seconds upon seeing Emily's unshielded face.

It couldn't be.

The Emily she's seen in pictures was tanned, tall, fit, and had a glow to her as if she was a model – or at least could be. While she was still tall, this Emily was more of a creamy pale, gangly thin and looked sick, more than anything. With her face sunken in, she looked like a completely different person.

"Oh my God." the girl lowers her voice, frozen in literal fear. "Uhm…Paige…Paige and I…I mean, there is nothing…" she tumbles under her words as she wrings her phone in her hands, nervously with Emily's glare starting to burn rays of heat onto her skin.

"Paige isn't really my girlfriend. I…I just said that to establish some kind of dominance because I didn't know who you were and you just walked in."

"How long?" Emily breathed harshly in question.

"W...We didn't-"

"Girl..." Emily drops her head in an attempt to calm herself though her blood was boiling hot enough to make her skin warm to the touch. "I have the strength of a silverback gorilla right now and will not hesitate to beat your fucking ass. Your mouth better start moving in the next two seconds before I CRACK IT IN HALF!"

"A month!" she quickly utters out as Emily menacing walked towards her, making her stumble backwards with a hand up. Right there Emily stops. Within her, she hoped that she was overreacting and this girl was honestly a nobody trying to "protect" the house but two words had lifted the seal of one of her biggest fears.

"It wasn't planned, I swear. It was just that I was helping her- being there during the dark times of your...your death and...it just happened."

"What...just...happened?"

"A kiss…"

Emily's eyes scan up and down the girl's body before it landed back at her face, narrowing them with a deadly sharp stare.

"And….a few other….things..." she confesses from the sudden spotlight Emily put her in. Being a ranger, she knows Emily is stronger than her, quicker than her, and most likely 100 times more lethal than she could ever be so she played it safe and aired out anything Emily asked of her. There was a chance she wasn't going to make it out the front door without Emily pouncing on her, leaving her best bet to tell the truth and pray for some kind of intervention.

"You did it here?" Emily points down with her voice now unsteady and whisper-like, almost if she was about to cry tears of anger. "In my home?"

"I'm so-"

"DID YOU?!"

"Yes."

Emily's hands begin trembling at her side as her wide eyes lock onto the random girl like a target. The girl glanced down and she saw Emily's shades shaking in her grasp. Her nerves went from defensive to terrified within that same minute, not knowing what was about to happen in the next few seconds until there is a noise towards the front of the house. A door opens and closes with footsteps soon trailing down the hallway. With a few bags in her hands from a quick run to the local store, Paige walks into the living but gradually comes to a halt when she sees the back of a stranger in her house.

"Uhm...who did you bring over, Ashlynn?"

Emily's face tensed up at the sound of her voice. In all those months left in captivity, Paige's voice is what gave Emily the strength to get by every day. Not in one hundred lifetimes would she believe the thought of her one day being triggered with rage just by hearing her breathe the same air she was in. She slowly turns around to face Paige with unadulterated disgust smeared all over.

"Ashlynn...?"

Getting a good look at this stranger, Paige gasps, clutching her chest while the bags she once held crashed onto the floor.

"EMILY!" she chokes out in total astonishment before her weak legs ran over to her presumably dead girlfriend, arms out and ready for the tightest embrace of her life. "EMILY, OH MY GO-"

Emily's hand smacks against Paige's chest to stop her from getting close. All the joy turned to confusion as tears flew down her face. Emily casually lowers her hand, takes her sunglasses and nesting them at the top of her head, coolly and quietly. She was livid. But the scariest thing to her was that she was so furious that she remained calm.

"Ashlynn…" she called out to the girl who now had a name without even looking at her, keeping her eyes down at the floor. "Get out-"

Without Emily being able to finish pronounce 'out', Ashlynn grabbed her jacket that was draped over the top of the couch and rushed her way past her and Paige, making sure she moved practically against the wall to make sure Emily wouldn't suddenly lunge at her. Paige watches on puzzled by the sudden scene as she sniffled, hugging herself before she glanced back at Emily and her fragile appearance.

"Emil-"

"You're cheating on me?"

The placement of such words stunned the speech right out of Paige as she stared at Emily with her mouth slight agape. Although one second, the silence told Emily everything she never wanted to know. Her eyes drift over to the bags Paige had dropped and slowly strode over to it, scooping her hand into one of the white bags to pull out a can of corn. She tosses the can in the air and lets it land back into her palm as she pressed her lips together. This happens a few times before she tilted her head at Paige with squinted eyes.

"Were you going to cook for her?"

"N-No, I-"

Emily swings her arm, hurling the aluminum can with all her power and sent it speeding out of their living room window like a baseball, shattering the glass with a large hole remaining as the corn lands somewhere in the backyard.

"EMILY!" Paige wheezes out in terror as the sound of raining glass falls all over the floor.

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME, PAIGE?! IN MY HOUSE?!" the calm and collect demeanor flies out of Emily's body as she marches up to Paige, ripping the sunglasses out of her hair and slamming it to the ground with a roar that rocked her off her feet. "AFTER EVERYTHING WE BUILT TOGETHER, YOU FUCKING CHEATED ON ME?! ON ME?!"

She throws her hands out and instinctively goes to choke her but stops herself halfway. Her hawk-like grip shakes violently as she leaves them in the air, inches away from Paige's neck while Paige frightfully stares at Emily in her eyes. Her heart sinks to her feet when she sees the discoloration of her left eye, making Emily look like a completely different person in her wrath. Emily drops her hands, letting out a frustrated shout while she twists her body away from Paige to resist the sweet temptation.

Paige's hands unconsciously fly up to her neck while gasping, never been so close to Emily actually physically assaulting her. "Emily, I thought you were dead!"

"So that gives you a green light to fuck other people!?" Emily spins back on her heels to stand face to face with her once again.

"No! There is nothing between us! I-I-I-I don't feel anything! She's just been here for me during this hard time!"

"BULLSHIT!"

"Emily! I thought you died on me! Everyone did! She's been nice enough to help me cope over you! I was losing my mind over here!"

"YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT LOSING YOUR MIND TRULY FEELS LIKE!" Emily shoves a finger into Paige's face, now her whole body visibly shaking. She felt out of breath. She felt out of control. With every second, strips of her humanity was dissolving and she knew it was soon before she did something that will be damaging to both of them.

"The bitch told me! You guys fucked in my house! My home! It's only been three months and you're already fucking other people and you have the BALLS to say that you're coping?!"

"No! It-"

"If you died, it would take me years to get over you! YEARS!" Emily backs up, her anger starting to become masked with sadness. "I wouldn't even look at another woman let alone leave the house! I would be in such a deep spiral of depression, it would probably kill me! Because I loved you and you were my soulmate! It would destroy everything that made me, me if you died! The world….everything, everyone would mean nothing to me!"

Paige's chest caves in as she tries to control her breathing. She's still wrapping her head around the notion that Emily was actually standing right in front of her after being told she was killed in action. Who else knew about this? How did she get home? What happened overseas?!

"I don't believe this…" Emily turns around, putting her head in her heads as she lowered her voice to a hushed mumble. "I should have died. I should have let kill me. I should have let them kill me…"

Paige cautiously walks up behind Emily, wanting but afraid to touch her as if she was a wild, untrained animal that could snap and attack any moment. "Emily….what happened to you?" she places a gentle hand on Emily's shoulder before she raised her voice again.

"I stayed alive for you! They took me from my truck-blew it up!" Emily turns around to look in Paige's sympathetic eyes with her own wide and aggressive. "They blew up my truck, ripped me and my guys out and kidnapped us. They took us to this hidden cave and BEAT US. Everyday! I watched them kill one of my own! Shot him right in the face! Then watched my friend kill himself right in front of me! They wanted to kill us all and I fought-"

Emily wipes her mouth as spit started flying out due to the anger building up again.

"I fought for my life. Even when I knew I was going to die, even when I knew I wanted to give up, I didn't. For you. I had to get back come to you. Through all the pain, the suffering, I fought! I cursed God for leaving me and just when I thought it was finally over, mysteriously, there was a way out. But! Looks like he came with a comeback! The last laugh! You literally FUCKED another girl in my house!" Emily throws her hands out to point at Paige before she slammed them into her thighs.

No matter how many times she says it, she can't get over the simple fact that this was happening to her. Paige, of all people, was the last person she thought would cheat on her. She gave her so much love, so much respect, so much of anything she's ever wanted. Even when Paige had her moments of skepticism and wanted Emily to cut ties with her ex or people she didn't like/trust, Emily complied to it with no pushback. Just to show Paige that she has nothing to hide and wants nobody but her. Nevertheless, all it took was a death notification and a handful of weeks before she's allows herself to fall for one of the biggest traps in the game. She let someone "be there" for her, be the shoulder to cry on when she needed it, all while the other person is using it as an opportunity to slide in and be the knight in shining armor.

She couldn't believe this was happening.

"I should have went out guns blazing. If I would have known this shit you were pulling while I was out there going insane, I would have went and took as many people as I could with me before they fucking pumped my body with bullets."

"Don't talk like that!"

"I SHOULD HAVE." Emily turns and yells in Paige's face, backing her up into a wall. "I WISH WHEN THEY HAD A GUN IN MY FACE, THEY WOULD HAVE JUST PULLED THE FUCKING TRIGGER. BECAUSE THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN EASIER THAN THE DEATH YOU JUST GAVE ME!"

Paige silently sobs as she couldn't stop looking in Emily's left eye, watching tears roll down her cheeks. It looked like she was wearing some kind of special effects contacts and it scared her along with all the words she was saying. It was so foreign, she didn't know Emily could even think of such sentences.

"Emily, please…" Paige reaches up for Emily's face slowly with just the need to hold her. To feel her. To be with her again. "I just got you back. Can we just-"

Emily disgustedly smacks Paige's hands away from her, walking off. "You better call somebody, maybe that slut or someone to stay with because all of your shit is leaving in the next hour. I don't give a damn if you stay at a homeless shelter tonight."

"Em!"

"And most of this isn't even your shit because I fucking paid for EVERYTHING IN THIS HOUSE! EVERYTHING!" Emily walks up to a large, colorful abstract painting they hung on their living room wall. "THIS PAINTING? I BROUGHT IT!" she rips it down, destroying the glass and frame all over their hardwood floor.

"THIS BOOKSHELF!" she crunches the glass under her shoes as she approaches a small black shelf they had with a row of books she enjoyed reading. Emily brings down her fist and hammers the wood right off the wall, with everything crashing down. "I BROUGHT IT AND PUT IT TOGETHER!"

Paige stands in frozen horror as Emily stomps past the mess she's created and goes to one of their little display on a small table they had. She picks up a 3d glass cube that had a hologram-like portrait of them inside.

"THIS 3D GLASS THAT WE GOT IN VEGAS?! THAT COSTED $200?! I FUCKING BROUGHT IT!" she launches it into the floor, chipping a piece of the hardwood among the explosion with the powerful force she had behind it. All the noise and chaos was too much for Paige and she makes a b-line for the stairs to leave but it wasn't long before Emily followed right after her.

"Oh, you want to go upstairs?! Okay! Let's see what I brought upstairs because I know just about 96% of the stuff is mines!" Emily marches up the stairs in step behind Paige as Paige cried to herself, wishing this madness, this screaming and terrorizing could end. She felt like she was in a nightmare within a nightmare.

"You barely bring in enough to pay the mortgage." Emily reminds her. "What, $1300 every two weeks? I've been supportive. I've told you I love you and not to worry about it. That you'll get that job someday, that you'll get that position someday. I make enough money to pick up the difference, even get a bit fancy with it and buy you things. Buy you that TV, buy you that brand new computer. Whenever you needed something, I'd buy it for you because I love you and want to make life comfortable for us."

Paige walks into their master bedroom with her hands on her face, not knowing what to do now that she was there with Emily still yelling at her.

"Then you have some girl, laying on my bed! Laying on my couch! Using my kitchen, my silverware, my plates, my cups! THIS WHOLE HOUSE AND EVERYTHING IN IT IS UNDER MY NAME AND YOU DO THIS TO ME!"

"We had a funeral!" Paige finally pushes back with her voice raising to match Emily's level. "A memorial, people setting up vigils, every major news station across America was grieving for you! Emily, they said you were dead! I was bearing this alone!"

"I DON'T GIVE A FUCKING RAT'S ASS WHAT THEY SAID!" Emily moves to her with a menacing step. Paige was pretty sure the whole neighborhood was hearing Emily's screams and were either ready to call the cops or eating popcorn outside the window.

What happened between her and Ashlynn was never intentional. After weeks and weeks of such an angry and dark state, Ashlynn made herself that person who wanted to look out for her, being there for whatever she needed. One night of sitting mindlessly on the bed, with no desire to leave it, Ashlynn stayed by her side and did her best to get Paige's mind of things. And it worked. Ashlynn had said something that, for the first time in a while, made her laugh. Sometime later, before they knew it, the feeling of loneliness guided the next move that would be the catalyst of this bomb within Emily.

"Why don't you get it?! Why don't you get it?!" Emily walks up to Paige, compelling her to nervously pace backwards. Without any warning, Emily thrusts her hand out and grips Paige's neck, pushing her against their bedroom wall forcibly. "WHY DON'T YOU GET IT?! I LOVED YOU!"

"Emily!" Paige gasps out as she clawed away at Emily's bruised hand, trying to yank her off but Emily's strength was unbeatable with this moment of adrenaline.

"I wanted to make a life with you! I wanted to have kids with you! To have a family and create a future together! It was supposed to be us and you threw it away!"

"I can't breathe!"

"You threw it away!" Emily unconsciously tightens her grip, thumping the back of Paige's head against the wall as her eyes scan her girlfriend's face. "Not me! Not me!"

Paige swallows down thickly as her eyes bulge and legs buckle. She goes from trying to peel Emily's hand from her neck to trying to push her off. Words struggle from her mouth as a battle between talking and breathing take place. Finally, Emily let's go and Paige inhales a deep gasp as she crouches over, hacking.

"What...what the hell! Don't you EVER put your hands on me!" Paige shoves Emily backwards but hardly has her stumbling back. Emily keeps her ferocious eyes on Paige still trying to compose herself from the sudden attack. It doesn't even click to her what she just did but with her spinning mind, she refused to stop until Paige understood the severity of her actions.

"You don't get it..." she shakes her head. "You don't fucking get it."

She swiftly walks away from Paige and heads to their master bathroom. Everything was nearly exactly as she left it when it came to her things when she rips open the door of their medicine cabinet and grabs one of her pain medications. She unscrews the cap and dumps all the pills out onto the counter, not caring if some fell on the floor or in the sink. She tosses the bottle behind her and within those tablets stuffed inside, she grabbed the engagement ring she hid, knowing through Paige's cleaning sprees, she would never find it. She blows the chalk reside off the diamond before she stomps right out.

"After the deployment was done with and I came back home, I was going to propose to you, you dumb bitch!" Emily pants in a mixture between resentment and sorrow wrapped in one. Paige's eyes slowly focus on the ring pinched between Emily's fingers with the biggest look of astonishment right after seeing Emily again.

"Fourteen karat white gold band, three rounded diamonds in the center with more diamonds on the side! And that's without the tax and fees added! $2,400 I spent!" Paige's mouth didn't seem to leave the floor as Emily closed her eyes, furiously shaking her head. "All of this because I loved you, you stupid, stupid, stupid CUNT!"

"Em, listen to me….I swear to you that it was one time and meant nothing."

"Then where are my pictures?! I don't see a damn picture of me anywhere! Where are they?!"

"I took them down because it hurt to see your smile knowing you were gone! You were everywhere I looked and all it did was reminded me of what I lost. I couldn't bare it!"

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Emily shouts at the top of her lungs as she stomps her feet, scaring Paige. "GRAB YOUR SHIT AND GET OUT! I DON'T CARE WHERE YOU GO. YOU HAVE ONE FUCKING HOUR."

Emily turns and leaves the master room, slamming the door behind her and jogs down the stairs. She felt dizzy. All she saw was a haze of red and knew she was at dangerous levels now. Pocketing the ring, she goes into kitchen and yanks open the fridge doors. All that screaming made her throat immensely dry and she needed something. Something cold.

She grabs a single bottle of beer, two left from a four pack Paige brought, and decided this was perfect for her needs. She cracks it open using her hand and the ends of her shirt and lets the cap fall on the floor. As she walks back to the living room, taking down a large gulp, she plops herself down one her single, recliner seat. At this point, Emily didn't know what to do but to just sit and try to cool down. She knew it was impossible but she had to somehow, for her own safety.

…..

Two Natural Ice's and a glass of Hennessy later, Emily is leaned back into her chair, staring off into space. It's been nearly an hour and a half when Paige finally comes to her, balling her eyes out while she sitting at Emily's feet, begging.

Being so far at the moment, Emily doesn't look at her, let alone even know she's there. It was if the whole world was muted in her distant thoughts and she didn't know where she was. She was suspended in time. Finally a few minutes into sulking on the floor before her, Emily's dead eyes come back into focus, glancing down at Paige who just suddenly appeared.

"…What the fuck are you still doing here?"

"Emily, please." Paige wipes her eyes, trying to make her case while Emily takes another swig of her glass. "We don't have to do this. We don't have to do any of this. I love you. I always have and would never purposely go to destroy that. Your death rocked me in ways I don't know I could be rocked. I thought that was it for me, that I couldn't feel anything. What happened with Ashlynn and I was nothing. Nothing but loneliness. Missing you so much that I was going out of my mind. I knew that all hope was lost. Now you're back in my life and there is nothing I want more in this world but you, baby. I love you."

Emily sucks on one of the ice cubes in her glass as she silently stared at her now ex. An uncomfortable silence it was as Paige hoped that with time to calm down and an opportunity to prove herself that they wouldn't have to make such a drastic change in their lives.

"I hope you die." Emily finally speaks through her still yet irritated voice. "I really hope on your way driving to that slut's house, which you're probably going to anyways, you get into a massive car accident and die right on the side of the road. Just you. Nobody else."

Emily raises her glass to her lips and takes yet another sip of her brandy that has been whispering sweet nothings into her ears, numbing her brain for the time being. Paige brings her hands up to cover her face as she now started heavily sobbing harder than before.

"And don't you even think to call my parents, you whore. You are forbidden from having any kind of contact with them. When I'm ready, I'm going to see them in person myself." Emily pushes herself off the couch and steps over Paige like she was beneath her, swallowing down the rest of her liquor.

"If I find out you're talking to anyone from my side, family or friends, I'm going to kick your sorry ass. I will have you fucking jumped, play with me if you want to."

Paige reaches for Emily's ankles, desperately wanting to hold onto her when Emily jerks her leg out of her grasp.

"I couldn't call them even if I wanted to. They're not here." Paige sniffles as she stayed dejectedly on the floor.

Emily turns her head. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"They left. Went to the Philippines. Something to do with your mom's mother? I don't really know but I know they left about four days ago."

Emily's eyes drift away to the side as she thinks for a moment. Something to do with her grandmother. They don't fly back home often but with Emily being "dead", habits could change. With Paige already gone back and forth stuffing her things into her car, Emily grabs her remaining large, multicolored suitcase that stood by the bottom of the staircase and rolled it all the way to the front. Paige had no choice but to somberly follow after as Emily actively kicked her out of the house they made a home together. Kicked her out of the life they've created. Kicked her out everything she's ever known and sacrificed to be with her.

Emily pushed the suitcase over the threshold onto the porch and waited for Paige to walk out before she slammed the door shut. She didn't move much after that, just standing in place, breathing.

Realizing what just happened.

Everything she imagined coming home would be like….

Was just that.

An imagination.

Emily glances down at her hand and sees Wyler's black and white wristband she still wore – something she refused anyone to remove from her. Looking at it for a few seconds, she takes the tightly gripped glass in her hand and chucks it a nearby mirror that hung on the wall, bringing it down to break all over the floor. The feeling of loss of control made Emily feel like a wild animal but she couldn't help her impulses. She wanted to destroy everything around her or else she wouldn't find peace.

And that she did.

The Tasmanian devil arose in Emily and anything that was within reach she knocked down, broke, and/or shattered. Picture frames, shelves, appliances, plates, antiques, anything. Things were tossed when Emily came into the kitchen and threw a cookbook that they had hanging around. The pages flew open and dropped an object from inside. This temporarily stopped Emily and gained her attention at the black foreign object that laid on the mess of a floor. She walked up to it slowly and took notice of its shape before she remembered.

She bent down and picked up the gun she had hidden for security purposes, just in case. If something were to ever occur, nobody would find a weapon inside a hollowed out cookbook. She stared at the glock for a few moments before she checked inside the magazine.

Full clip.

She slides the magazine back in place as she lets the gun balance in her palm, feeling the weight of it before she abruptly punted the cookbook away from her.

…

Two hours later, there Emily sat.

With the gun on the table to her left and the her house phone in her right hand, Emily sits at her dining room table in front of her laptop that she had in Afghanistan but ended up finding in a box of her stuff that the Military had sent back after her "death". Her glassy eyes accompany the slight sway she had after finishing the entire bottle of Hennessy, surrounded by broken chaos.

She takes her time in scrolling through the phone's contacts until she found the particular number she was looking for. She hits dial and brings it to her ear to listen to the call ring.

"This is Hanna Marin and you have reached my voicemail. Leave your information and I'll get to you as soon as I see it. Bye!"

Emily hangs up the phone. She didn't want to get a stupid voicemail, she wanted to talk to her friend. The phone didn't even ring before going to voicemail so it made her wonder if her phone was off or if she was busy.

She redials.

"This is Hanna Marin and you have reached my voicemail."

Redial.

"This is Hanna Marin and you have reached my voicemail."

Emily groans as she listens to the voicemail play out before a beep sounded.

"Answer your damn phone, Hanna." she grumbles in a drunken, low voice before she hung up. She scratches her head before she dropped her hands onto her lap. She ponders for a second before she brought up the phone again for another option.

Ring….

Ring….

Ring….

Ring….

Ring….

"Hello, this is Toby Cavanaugh's phone and unfortunately I am unable to answer your call. I'm either on the job or doing something that has me away from my phone. If you leave a contact, I'll call you back as soon as possible. Thanks."

Emily hangs up. Zero out of two so far. She tiredly scrolls again before she calls someone else.

Ring…

Ring…

Ri-

"Oh shit." Emily quickly hangs up the phone. Without thinking about it, she called Haynes' phone, completely forgetting he was still on deployment. Emily lightly flings the phone onto the table top before her eyes glanced over to her computer. The screen sat on Facebook, specifically her mother's page to see she's been inactive for months with the only newer activity being that one of her distant family members tagging her in something.

Emily's feet stumble over each other as she's shoved into a room with her arms tied behind her back and blindfold shielding her eyes. She has no idea what to expect but a single light, dark chuckle made every follicle on her body raise.

Emily grabs the ends of her laptop and forcibly propels it off the table, making it flip over the edge and smack onto the ground as her breathing gets heavier.

"Run."

Emily panics and twists her body in the same direction they pushed her in from. Before she could even get her fifth step in, a solid thump caught her in her back, making her trip and hit the floor. More laughing was heard along with some kind of bouncing besides her. If her thinking wasn't far off, the way she was knocked off her feet and the noise made afterwards sounded like a ball. A thick, dense ball at that.

"Get up!"

Emily struggles getting back up to her feet after the attack when another ball is aimed at her stomach, causing her to cave in and fall right back onto the ground.

Blind dodgeball. That's what this was.

Emily grits her teeth as she instinctively grabbed the gun beside her. Holding her head, she tried to block out the flashbacks that kept overplaying in her head but she couldn't stop them. She can still smell the rooms, feel the coldness of the floor beneath her hands, the taste the iron of the blood on her lips. She just needed it to stop. She needed Majid to flee from her thoughts but he wouldn't. It was as if he was right next to her, forcing her eyelids open to watch the tapes of her misery.

Emily holds herself up against a wall, trembling in her loose fitting clothes as she kept her defenses up. Her breath comes out unsteady and terrified as she moves her head around to hear her surroundings. To her surprise, a fist ripples through her stomach, buckling her legs as she falls knees first. If organs could be rearranged just from one blow, Emily was certain her intestines were obliterated if not sent flying in different directions.

Emily's teeth clatter in exasperation while her fingers dug into her scalp to stop the imagery. Without ways to properly cope, Emily belts out a long, infuriated yell as hard as her lungs could handle.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" One of the guards shout alongside Emily right by her ear, mocking her anguish with laughter afterwards. He stretches out his fingers as he looked down at her curling up into a helpless ball before he reaches down and grabs her by her hair, pulling her up to her feet whether she could stand or not. He pushes her in the direction of the other men standing by before her weakness gave in and made her collapsed halfway.

Everything flashed like an epilepsy-inducing light show. Memory after memory bombed and disintegrated her mind to the point she felt like she was back in prison, never leaving captivity. Her hand swiftly presses the cold, heavy barrel to her temple as tears stained her face and dropped off her chin. She sniffled through her runny nose as she looked up to the ceiling, silently begging for a way out of this hell. She's home but she's still trapped and it wasn't fair. She wanted to die. She wanted to finally let go when she was brought back like some cruel joke. Her thinking was through tunnel vision right now and any clear minded decision was clouded by sweet yet sinister voices in her head telling her to do it - like a juicy, red apple of escape laced with the poison of death.

Emily's hand began to sweat immensely as she struggled to keep the gun straight. Her sight blurred before her and all she could hear was her wheezing.

She had to do this. There is no other way out.

"What's up, Em? It's been a while!" a young guy smiles at her, giving her a high five.

Emily spins around and she's surrounded with about 50 friendly faces she's seen throughout her life.

"Remember when we were in Mrs. Neeley's class and I had that black gum that stained everyone's teeth?" another past male friend placed a hand on Emily's shoulder while laughing. "Oh man! You didn't talk to me for like a week!"

The guy suddenly twisted like a tabletop before he was replaced by someone else smiling.

"Swimming with you was so fun in college, Em! We kicked ass!"

The former college peer spun as well, like a character selection screen on a video game when you shifted through different people to play with.

"You got into the Rangers regiment?! That's what the fuck I'm talking about!"

Spin.

"Let's do Tuesday again, alright!"

Spin.

"Can you believe we're adults now? Felt like yesterday we were freshmen in high school."

Spin.

"YOU CAN'T SERVE TWO GODS! You have to serve just one!" Majid holds up a finger with strands of his hair falling in his face.

Spin.

"Em…" Maya cocks her head as she carefully observed Emily's erratic behavior. "What's wrong?"

Spin.

Wyler pinches his brows together with his sudden appearance. The side of his face was blown out yet all motor skills were fully intact. He reaches out for her with a concerned look on his face. "Emily. Don't follow me."

Emily shakily gasps out with a hard shudder and drops the gun, clattering against the floor. She puts her rocky hands onto her chest as she pants. The sight of Matthew scared the hell of out her because it was as if he was right in front of her. The constant tug-of-war, back and forth, good vs evil, right vs wrong made the complexity level of her situation grow by 80%.

She wanted to die.

But a part of her didn't.

But she wanted to die.

She wanted the pain to go away.

She wanted the voices to stop.

She wanted the images to stop flickering.

She wanted to dead Paige for betraying her.

She wanted to dead Majid from her remembrance.

But she couldn't.

She swallows down hard and stares at the grey walls before her. Never has she felt so low but she needed just one moment…one moment to think. One moment of a silver lining in all of this.

Her eyes drift to the house phone that she threw on top of the table and slowly leaned for it. She didn't know exactly what she was doing or how to even get to where she wanted, but it was worth a try. The final attempt to reach out for the branch above her while she constantly dipped under in the sweeping tides.

267…Emily began dialing. It was like a song, she remembered. There's a high possibility the number changed but she had to try. Just in case. With the ten digits now written on the screen, Emily gawked at it for what felt like an extremely long time before she pressed call.

Ring…

Emily quickly hit end call before the second ring could sound. The screen erased the number and all Emily could do is just sit there.

Silently.

Redial.

Ring….

Ring….

Ring….

"Hello?"

The only thing that comes out from Emily's end was her harsh breathing. She didn't think her tears would fall this fast at the mere resonance of a voice. Even with a low chance of this working, Emily hit it big.

"Hello?" the voice asked again for confirmation that nobody was there so they could hang up.

"Maya…" Emily's weak voice finally answers.

"Who am I speaking with?" Maya asks politely with a hint of suspicion due to how her name was spoken. It didn't seem like your everyday phone call.

Emily bows her head and starts to cry, unable to hold back any of her overwhelming emotions anymore. All she's ever been doing is staying strong but she couldn't anymore. It was impossible. And while it wasn't the best idea to begin sobbing with the phone pressed to your ear, Emily couldn't help it.

Maya continues to stay on the phone instead of ending it, curious to see how this was going to play out. Surely it was some kind of prank call by one of her friends being childish.

"Maya, help me."

Maya rolls her eyes as she leans back into her couch, enjoying her private time snuggled watching Netflix documentaries. "Help you with what?"

"It's me….it's me, Emily."

Okay. This isn't funny anymore.

"No, it's not." Maya's tone changed to a more serious manner. "Emily died months ago."

The pained sobbing continues on the other end which causes Maya to sit up straight.

"You know, it's not funny to play games like that. Do something else to pass your time, jerk off."

"Maya, please." Emily urged within her beg as if her time was running out. "I'm not dead. I'm…here. I made it back and I need you. I need you, please."

A chill rocketed throughout Maya's body, sending every hair up and goosebumps arising unlike anything she's ever felt before. Nobody on this planet can imitate that voice. That voice she's listened to for years. That voice that's she's heard different variations of: sadness, excitement anguish, lust, worriedness, anger, she knew them all. Nobody on this planet can replicate that voice.

"Where are you?"

…..

It's been two and a half hours since Emily last spoke with Maya before hanging up. Without saying much, she gave her address and Maya vowed that she would be on her way as soon as possible. During that time frame of waiting, Emily felt still and numb. She was ordered not to do anything and that command she took. With the GPS plugged in and car started, Maya flew herself together to grab a few items before she hopped into her vehicle and got onto the highway of the Atlanta night. This was extremely surreal. She often asked herself if this was real. Was she really driving to Columbus? To see an "undead" Emily? Was she really doing this? Was this a dream?

Seven at night with the sun long gone, Emily is pulled out of her daze when the doorbell rings. She glances over to the front door from her living room and raises to her feet, still unsteady from the drunken stupor she put herself in prior. It takes her a minute to bypass all the things on the floor to eventually reach the front.

Twisting the knob and opening the door, Emily's and Maya's hearts dropped but for different reasons. Since 2005, Emily hasn't seen Maya yet her presence before her, that wasn't a figment of her imagination, was a lot to handle. She had hardly aged, still looking as radiant as their youthful years but with a more matured vibe that spoke for itself. In her dark grey Savannah State hoodie and black skinnies that were just tossed on, Maya looked up at Emily with tears in her eyes. She rushes up to her and wraps Emily in her arms just as every author writes lovers reuniting in a story. How poets describe the feeling of that connection in a writing. How music serenades the harmony in a song. How directors portray old hearts in a movie.

Emily holds Maya's petite body against her own as if she was trying to dissolve into her warmth. Maya cradles the back of her head as Emily buries her face deep inside their hug. They could have been standing there for 20 seconds or 20 minutes, it didn't matter to either one of them because they didn't want to let go. After some time passes, they separate with Maya's hands automatically sliding up to Emily's warm face. Tears stream down as Emily leaned her cheek into her hands, gazing at her as tortured and scared soul.

"What did they do to you?" Maya bares out a whisper as she looked from Emily's eyes to her gaunt face. She has always been a stronger build than her has but as of right now, it seemed like Emily was trying to take her place in size.

"…Bad things…" Emily admits in a small, fragile voice as she weakens by the second. Every piece of anger was being replaced with the hurt that was being masked over and all she wanted right now was to be held after so long of not being touched.

"I should have never left you."

"Wh…what?"

"I shouldn't have let distance get in-between us. I should have never left you. The whole thing with Paige was a mistake. Everything." Emily rambles at a quickened pace through her tears. "I should have kept in touch. You're the only one right for me, not her. Not her. She didn't know me like you did. You would have never betrayed-"

"Wait, wait, slow down, slow down." Maya shakes her head to process everything at once. She knows this was their first reunion and emotions are heightened along with an underlying sense of excitement but Emily was speeding through her words like she only had seconds to say them.

"Where is Paige?"

"…I kicked her out."

"Why? Why did you kick her out?"

Emily's already heavy heart sunk to the floor having to say these words out loud after everything she's been through. Her mouth twists into a frown as Maya waits for her to speak.

"She cheated on me. I came home and found some other girl he…here."

Maya's closes her eyes painfully as she listens to Emily's hitched breathing. For as long as she knew, she found out that Emily started seeing other people within her first year of college. She wasn't upset or anything because they did go their separate ways but it did sting seeing her happy smiles with someone else. She would admit from time to time she would check up on Emily but that stopped within two years' time when she found herself unable to access Emily's social media pages. Around then, Paige would see them having small chats here and there and wasn't a big fan of it now that her and Emily were becoming more serious. She then told Emily that she would feel more comfortable if she cut connections with her. Just out of compliance and lack of fighting/suspicion, Emily consented, unfriending and unfollowing Maya everywhere so all she would have is a private screen whenever she visited again.

Now here they were, Paige out of the picture and Maya back in.

She let out a deep sigh, before rose onto her toes, bringing Emily's forehead to hers.

"I'm not going to let you go through this alone. I'm not…..I'm gonna take care of you, okay?"

….

5 Days Later…..

Since that night of Emily touching down back home and calling her ex, Maya did everything Paige failed to do. The first night was the hardest. Emily wouldn't sleep but when she finally did, she was riddled with nightmares that would make her physically jolt out of her skin. Luckily, Maya had just the right patience to help Emily. From helping her shower, soothing her episodes, feeding her, and cleaning up the mess she created in her spouts of anger, Maya did everything she could to keep Emily at ease. It was one of the most difficult, heartbreaking moments of her life – seeing someone she loved dearly and hardly recognizing them. She would always fall back on how Emily used to be but this Emily was completely different. Sensitive to sudden light, sensitive to sudden touches, fighting demons within herself that she couldn't pick up a sword and help slay them herself.

They kept this their little secret while they hid out in the house.

However, Maya abruptly upped and left her life to tend to Emily and it came with consequences. Her current boss was someone she wasn't so keen on prior to everything and knew asking for time off would create an issue. No matter how much she would beg to cash in her vacation time now, the employer would give her all kinds of pushback, barely allowing her a few days to handle her business and come back if she still wanted a job.

No matter how many times Emily asked her to leave her job, to leave Atlanta and to stay with her, Maya couldn't despite desperately wanting to. But Emily's cloudy judgement couldn't understand why she couldn't switch gears on the fly with her.

In the guest room where they've been staying, it was 3 in the morning and there they laid under the sheets with Emily's eyes not leaving Maya. They've been pressed up on each other, Maya stroking her face ever so softly in the silence of the night while Emily wallowed under her touch, staring at her.

"Marry me." Emily whispers, barely blinking an eye. Maya, however, was completely caught off-guard, slowing her strokes down as she raised a brow.

"What?"

"We could get married. Go through life the way it should have been…"

"Em…Emily, you don't mean that-"

"I do. I'm dead serious." Emily pulls away from Maya's hands and leans over to the edge of the bed where the nightstand stood. She opens one of the drawers, fumbling inside when she comes back up.

"We could do it. All you have to say is yes and all of this will be yours."

Maya's eyes catch the glint of some kind of object in Emily's grasp. She leans forward and sees a diamond ring, quickly glancing back up at Emily's face – honest yet wanting. She didn't care that her plans were to propose to Paige. She didn't care who or where the ring was "supposed" to go. Being $2400, she has the ability to make up her mind at any given moment. And at this moment, she knew where she wanted it.

"I know how you're feeling – needing that emotional security again that you lost but…this is a big thing. This is more than saying you want to date again. This….this is marriage."

"I deserve you, Maya." Emily voice gradually gets louder with her face pinched with brewing frustration. "After everything I've been though, I think I know what I want!"

"Nonono." Maya quickly reached for Emily's hand, rubbing circles on the back as she cooed her with soft speaking. "We don't have to go there. We don't have to go there." she repeats in a soothing manner, keeping Emily's eyes on hers.

"Don't cave into it. Don't cave. We don't have to go there."

The rapid growing emotion of overwhelming irritation that would arising from the slightest discomfort started to ease back down with the gentle touch and reassurance. Emily inhales and exhales quietly and to herself until she felt in control again.

Her face has always been still. Calm. Her brown eyes observant and taking in the whole scene before making the move to speak. That's one thing Emily liked. The calmness. No matter how angry she would get, Maya would always be calm.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shout at you."

"I know, baby girl. I know."

The day of her last time with Emily, Maya wanted to bring Emily with her but knew there was somewhere else she should be.

"Why haven't you called your parents, Em?" Maya asked softly as she sat next to Emily at the dining table, eating the food that she had cooked for them. She watches Emily take her time to chew with absolutely no rush before she swallowed and proceeded to speak.

"I wasn't ready." she simply responded before she took another spoonful of the rice and beans.

Maya treaded carefully, not wanting to push Emily with questions. "What is ready for you?"

"I didn't want them to see me in….that state. That state of aggression and madness and loss of control. I didn't want to scare them or make them change their perception of me."

"They're you're parents, babe. They've seen all kinds of sides to you. Nothing would change."

"Not like that." Emily shakes her head. "Nobody has ever seen me like that…..not even myself."

"…Well…you know when you're ready. But I think you should call them now, let them know that you're here. Go see them."

"I will."

Maya continued to watch Emily eat, resting her tilted head on the palm of her hand. Time kept on spinning until it was time for Maya to head on the road in order to keep the only job she had so she was able to maintain her lifestyle of living. While she would love to steal Emily away and be with her, she knew where she was on the totem pole. The only people who knew of Emily's presence was her and Paige. Not even her family or her closest friends. For the betterment of her health, Maya urged Emily to call someone so they can see her. Emily knew she was right and knew she was going to do it so she yes'd her to death until it was actually time for her to leave.

"Let me get out of here before I end up homeless." Maya joked as they stood next to the front door.

"There's still time." Emily offered. "You can say screw it and come here."

"Em-"

"I mean, what is in Atlanta, anyways? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Just because they have the CNN building doesn't mean the city is of any importance."

Maya chuckles with a smile at Emily's final attempts to keep her before she reaches up, placing a hand on the side of Emily face as she kissed her goodbye. Emily held onto that kiss, keeping their lips pressed for as long as she could before they pulled apart. They gazed at one another one last time before Emily leaned in for another kiss. Maya slides down from Emily's face and into her hands as they interlock them, pulling away from each other again.

"Get in contact with your parents, Em. Right away. You're better now. You can do it."

"I'm going to see them in person, don't worry."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Maya slightly swings their hands side to side as she held their eye contact. "Baby, call me if you need someone to help you settle down. Do not let yourself cave in. No matter how easy it seems, don't do it, you hear me?"

"Thank you." Emily says on beat with her sentence ending. A sad smile makes way on Maya's face before she kissed Emily's hand.

"You're very welcome."

…..

Emily stretches out her arms and back as she walked into the kitchen, grabbing a yogurt from the fridge. She thought about ways of contacting her parents, whether by phone or facebook message for them to call her. She knew it was going to cause a hysteria and she is just about ready for it…..she thinks. Never would she imagined that settling back into her life would be so difficult, so demanding and she wasn't sure what to really do with herself at this point. She may be alive but she was still dead in many places, whether legally or inside her heart.

She shuffles to her utensil drawer when her eyes glanced father down the counter. She grabbed a spoon and then moved over to where her attention was drawn. A single white card laying by itself. Emily picks it up when she sees the shimmer of the gold numbers once plated on it fading drastically.

She could still make out the full number but with the way it appears to be disappearing, she was going to be stuck with half a number in a couple of hours.

"The offer will still stand after you leave. Seven days. If you go back and life isn't the way you wished it to be and need more details of things you thought you knew, you can call us."

Need more details of things you thought you knew.

Emily pondered on that sentence for a good while. While being caught up with Maya, Emily cannot hide the fact of the things that happened to her before then. How a random man basically stated out her life facts as if it was some kind of specs sheet and how he knew of the military and their lack of "innocence and loyalty" towards her.

She waves the card between her fingers, eyes squinted, before she went and grabbed her home phone. She inspected the card with it up to her face as she punched in the numbers.

A little bit of curiosity wouldn't hurt anyone.

Ring…

"Hello." a female voice answers nearly immediately which took Emily back some. She couldn't tell if this was a real person or an automated system but she pressed on anyway.

"Hi, I'm calling because I have been told some information that I was able to later follow up on out of curiosity of just…learning more, I guess. So….yeah..." Emily awkwardly ends herself, not knowing where or how to describe from there. Going in blind, she realized she should have went through a practice run.

"One moment." the professional voice responded. "Thank you for your call, Emily."

Emily cocks her head, pulling back to look at the phone as if it had a camera before she placed it back to her ear. "How did you know my name?"

"I thought I proved to you that we knew beyond your name, Emily." a familiar older gruff replaced the smoothness of the operator's voice. "Allow me to express how nice is it to hear from you again."

She did it…

She finally escaped.

But at what cost?

I know you may be feeling multiple emotions right now and I am fully ready to embrace all of them. Whatever is on your mind let it out.

Now, as many of you guys know, I have another fic that is within the last two chapters that I need to finish. You guessed it. Trouaville. Seeing that you guys have the entire prologue to digest, I'm going to hop back to 2015 Philadelphia where another universe of Emison lives. But just for a moment. So this is your notice of a small break before I update this story again. I've already written a monstrous 60k+ words for these past three updates which is something I hope you guys can hold onto.

As you can see, there are many gaps in this update. While you have some answers, there are even more questions being asked now. That's where your theories come in. Don't hesitant to write your own as you try to figure what exactly is going on. You might just be onto something.

There is no such thing as a long review so don't worry about length. There is a lot to swallow here.

Maybe, just maybe, the videos I've put together on my profile description makes more sense...maybe.

The year 2016 will be the next time we see Emily again. I wonder what she's up to…

And for the Guest who asked for a future "Emison line", Luckily, I have one to share.

"Then why do you keep looking at my lips while I talk? Because I have no shame in saying that I can't help but to look at yours. The way words slip off your tongue and how your bottom lip pouts the way it does…it's mesmerizing. So forgive me if I stare…Ms. DiLaurentis."

Get ready for Ms, DiLaurentis herself in the next chapter ;)