Chapter Seven: Persuasion

The vivid image of her sleeping form aroused him with a hungry excitement. He constantly monitored her heart rate and breathing, which was slow, deep and even. He kept a close watch on her, making sure everything went according to plan. She couldn't leave because he wouldn't allow it. And she didn't want to.

Although he was surprised at how she began to fight against him so quickly and with cunning innocence. He knew she wouldn't stay with him forever.

But something had to be done.

His seductive persuasion would be but a distant echo if it could not be executed in a timely fashion.


A tall, lean figure carefully observed the young man and woman's interactions together as he stayed silhouetted in the far corner, yet also shrouded by the room's dim light. He shifted uncomfortably on the balls of his feet, licking the parched dryness from his cracked lips, anxiously wondering when he should let himself be known. He had already seen too much.

"There's no use hiding anymore, Jack. I know you're here."

Shit.

Jack emerged from the shadows, each careful step towards Jensen marked with evident hesitancy in his stride.

Jensen turned to face him, his eyes raked over the other man with ravenous jealousy, hungrily anticipating this dangerous encounter between them. He saw concern glimmer from within the crystalline blue orbs of Jack's eyes as they glazed over Tru's seemingly lifeless body.

If he didn't know better, he would've readily assumed she was dead.

But she wasn't.

He knew better than that. It wasn't in Jensen's interest or character to kill her. Only to see her suffer. To make her suffer.

"I wouldn't even bother if I were you," Jensen sneered venomously, as if he were suddenly able to read the frantic thoughts running through Jack's mind. "She won't wake unless I tell her to."

"I'm not here to play mind games, Jensen," Jack spat angrily. "What is she still doing here? Why won't you let her go?"

Jensen cackled mechanically. "That's not my choice to make," he told Jack. "Only hers."

A pause.

"She knows why she's here."

"And why is that?"

"Because she wants to be, Jack. This place is just as real to her as the one her physical body resides in. You told her yourself that I'm still a part of her. Are you going back on your word?"

"Never."

"Well, then, it seems to me as though she'll be here until she can be quenched of her ripe desire for me. You don't have a say in the choices she makes here."

"But I can't stand to see her suffer like this," Jack objected. "I can't stand to see her baby suffer like this."

"Our baby," Jensen stated emphatically, "won't suffer."

"Just out of curiosity, Jensen," Jack spewed icily, "what are you planning to do with those vials of blood kept in that locked drawer?"

Jack gave a haphazard gesture to the drawers next to the bed.

Jensen froze.

But only for a moment.

His anger came to a boiling point, which ferociously augmented inside of him.

"That's not your concern."

"Of course it isn't," Jack replied sardonically. "Just let me speak to her."

A wicked smile creased over the corners of Jensen's dead lips.

"Be my guest."

Jack felt his stomach churn as he saw Jensen lean over Tru, pressing a passionless kiss against her soft lips as if she were a princess being awakened from a deep sleep.

But he was not her prince.

He was only her temptation. Temptation that led to a dangerous persuasion of the frightening kind. The poison which seduced the innocence from her pure soul.

He shook her shoulder gently.

"Tru," he whispered, as her eyes began to flutter open.

But only just.

"There's someone here to see you."

Tru's hand blindly groped for Jensen's arm, clutching it so tightly that her fingernails could've drawn blood. Jensen made no move to stop it, savoring the intense pain she fed him with her fear.

A blurry-looking Jack swam into view.

She shivered.

"Who are you?"


Rockabye, rockabye, rockabye, baby.

The small room was cool and comfortable as Tru moved back and forth to a silent rhythm in a rocking chair in the middle of the room.

She glanced ruefully at the delicate bundle she held in her arms, wrapped in store-bought baby blankets, which were a creamy off-white with pink embroidered lettering spelling out "It's A Girl" in the far right-hand corner.

"Kira Elise, born December 30th, 2005," read the birth certificate on the wall to her right.

Tru had wanted to use her mother's first name as her daughter's middle name in tribute and loving memory. She wanted to honor her mother, especially since they shared the gift of life with each of their respective callings. Tru felt she owed her that much.

"Are you coming to bed anytime soon?" Jack's voice brought her out of her dreamy reverie. He was standing beside her now, his hand offering her shoulder a gentle caress, which she didn't even seem to notice.

"No, not yet," Tru replied distractedly, still focused on the bundle in her arms as she continued to rock back and forth. He could not reach her because it was like she was imprisoned in an entirely different realm.

Some altered reality.

Just her and the baby.

Her baby.

"You can't stay like this forever, Tru. She'll be fine. You need to get some rest."

"Can't sleep," Tru objected, starting to rock even faster. "It's my job to protect her. It's my job…"

Silent tears of protest fell from puffy, swollen eyes.

"Look at me, Tru," Jack urged, kneeling in front of her as she reluctantly met his worried gaze. "You're doing the best you can. No one said this would be easy. You can do this, Tru. I know you can. Just promise me you'll try not to beat yourself up about this. I don't want you to over-exert yourself, so that you have another panic attack and end up in the hospital again."

He wiped a fallen tear from her rosy cheek as he caressed it with the back of his hand.

"Promise me," he whispered.

"I promise."

Satisfied, Jack stood up and gently placed a tender kiss on Tru's forehead. He said goodnight to Tru and her baby and then left the two alone in the middle of the room amidst the darkness of the unsuspecting night.


It wasn't long before the baby started to cry again.

"Shhh," Tru soothed, whispering comforting nothings to her, "it's okay. Mommy's here. Are you hungry? Hmmm?"

She carefully lifted her shirt with a free hand, deftly undoing the clasp of her bra, which released her aching breasts.

Guiding the baby's face closer to an aching breast, she sighed, leaning her head back against the chair for a much-anticipated short doze as she let the baby nurse.

"And what am I now, Tru?" an all-too familiar voice echoed from beside her. "What kind of mother won't let a father hold his own daughter?"

"Go away," Tru spat sourly. "She's nursing."

"And how long will that excuse be good for?"

"It's not an excuse. You're dead! And I need to be able to move on with my life now. I have full custody of her, Jensen. Nothing you say or do will change that."

His seductive persuasion was wearing down.

"Maybe not, Tru," he breathed, running his moist lips in a trail of light kisses along the side of her neck and hearing a low, satisfied moan escape from her lips. "But I'll still be around."

And, as sudden as he had come, he left, leaving no discernible evidence of his presence in his wake as the early morning sun crept above the horizon, melting away the temptations of the unsuspecting night with a new day.


Tru awoke with a start and screamed into the piercing black of the night, not surprised to find herself sweating profusely.

She stared fixedly at her stomach as Jack began to stir beside her. Much to her relief, she was still pregnant, the fetus sheltered in the safety of her womb.

She wasn't crazy, she reasoned. But she had to be sure.

Had it only been a dream?

But why had it felt so real? Like it was coming? Like to have this oddly vivid dream pass over the boundaries that separated dreams and fantasy from life and the cold, hard reality that came with it.

"Tru, are you okay?"

Her rapid breathing was finally returning to normal.

"Strange dream," she whispered back. "Jack, I don't think I'm ready for this."

"I think you are," he told her, pulling her close and pressing a kiss into her hair. "But you'll know. You're almost through the roughest phase. You'll get through it no matter what it takes. You're too stubborn to give up now. How do you think I first fell in love with you?"

Tru gave him a reassuring half-smile.

A few more weeks had passed since the horrific incident with the blood on the mirror. She'd gone to see her doctor who had performed all of the necessary tests and an ultrasound at the 10-week mark. Now the second trimester of her pregnancy was fast-approaching. She had almost made it one-third of the way through. She'd soon be entering her fourth month when the gender of her baby would be revealed. But something was telling her that her dream could very likely come true.

She could feel it.

Jack let Tru snuggle even closer to him, absentmindedly weaving his fingers through the intricate weave of her soft curls as she pressed fervently against his chest.

Wrapping his arms around her, he asked, "Have you tried making peace with it?"

"No."

"Try."

"But I…" she began to object when she felt a slight fluttering come from within her.

A kick.

It was a sign.

Tru suddenly felt an overwhelmingly warm sense of calm wash over her.

"Hi, baby," she whispered softly, letting her fingers glide carefully across her stomach. "I'm Tru. I'm your mother."

Author's Note: And here we are at yet another end. I actually had a really hard time deciding on the title for this chapter. I tried out 3 or 4 different options, but this one felt very appropriate to me. Some quick notes on a few things: For starters, I thought it was important as well as necessary to bring Jack back into Tru's unconscious state as I really, really wanted to have a "showdown" of sorts between Jensen and Jack. Sounded pretty awesome to me! Second, I was DYING to do a "pre-baby" baby scene, which I'm using to foreshadow Tru's relationship with her baby in the coming trilogy as well as to hint at some signs of her spiraling down into a very serious post-partum depression. This chapter was a bit longer than most probably due in part to the baby scene. I was actually going to extend this chapter even further, but I didn't feel it was necessary now and that will carry over into the next chapter. One more thing is that I want to emphasize how important psychology is in this fic. I want to emphasize the question of "How far can a person spiral downward into mayhem and depression and still have them come out strong in the end?"

On a side-note, more apologies if I don't get my review replies out in the timeliest of fashions. With finals coming up next week and starting summer school the week after, I'm not sure how much time I will have left! Once again, I'd like to thank ALL those who have reviewed and stuck with me religiously throughout the course of this story (you know who you are!). You guys are my inspiration for writing. Thank you!!

This chapter is dedicated to my friend Habita. Congrats on your college graduation and best of luck with your future endeavors, wherever they may lead you to.