Title: Blinded

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters (excluding OCs), names, places, anything from The Chronicles of Narnia. This story is copyright to the owner and may not be used without permission. I have not affiliated with any of The Chronicles of Narnia cast. Possible quotes that may appear in future chapters rightfully belongs to their owners. All publicly recognized characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: Hello everyone, Bethany here. I'm very disappointed with myself cause I didn't update the story as much as I hoped, and I'll shamefully admit that I have become very tired, and for the most part exhausted since I've entered high school so I slacked off a lot in updating the story. I guess when summer and christmas break/holiday break rolled around, I just decided to rest and take a break from doing work and mostly using my mind. I'm so very sorry for letting you guys down, I'm sorry that I'm not the same old 'Bad Boy' author as I was back in my earlier junior high years where literally every weekday was a weekend and I only had 1 hour of homework. I know I used this excuse a million times, but I'm being honest that I've become very lazy. Yes I am still thinking about ideas for the story, and I've had days where I'm fully pumped up and ready to update another chapter which takes about approximately three days. Again sorry, and Lady Badass I'm very grateful that you continue to comment and even continue following this story so thank you very much, I'm so sorry for being lazy author.

On a more happy note, my summer goal to receive my learners was reached! I know it's a pretty late announcement. (insert sheepish smile)

Thank you for the much welcomed reviews: BeautytheBeast (guest), tuppence123, LadyBadass, Goldensun112 (guest), ThreeDarkAngels, sarahmichellegellarfan1, Lucy-Annabeth Pevensie, writtingmagic

Welcome to the story: xYumikoTsu, Tanjamusen, prizzyfizzyx, xXMissNightOwl626Xx, FireOfInspiration, TiraLu, Pink-Tone, hey-im-a-nerd, .71, sarahmichellegellarfan1, saintsrowfangirl

Sorry for any spelling/grammar errors you may find in this chapter.


Chapter Eleven: Dollface?

The sun hit him in the lightest touch, gradually heating up the insides of his body but he could barely feel the warm sensation on his light skin. His closed eyelids slowly fluttered open, his brown eyes glimmering beautifully against the light. Edmund pursed his lips into a thin line, pulling into a scowl at the sun's glare and shifted so that his head was tilted slightly to the left and his shoulder was facing in the direction where the sun was. He pulled his gaze to the wall from which he was leaning on, that isolated him from the others, the room where Emma was currently resting in.

His fingers curled into the palm of his hand as he remembered Chloe's interrogation and the searing pain that tore through his body, so strong that he fled the room. Now the searing pain had dulled, slowly until he had felt nothing but cold emptiness which immediately shifted into numbness. He was numb. Ever since he had returned to Narnia, he constantly battled with his thoughts. He had constantly ignored and even denied the truth behind Aslan's words enough to ignite a small spark of hope. But he had been fooling himself, he had seen it with his own eyes with the golden lion next to him that numbed a small portion of his pain with his soothing voice. But once Chloe had confronted him, those feelings had come in full effect and shocked him when he actually felt a part of him break.

He gritted his teeth and pried his body away from the wall, the muscles in his arms tightening then his right arms flew in front of him and his large fist met the wooden cabin wall with a harsh sound. He felt his fingers stinging and his knuckles beginning to ache, his fingers on his right hand began to uncurl to press flat against the wall. His left hand came up to mimic his right hand until both hands were pressed flat against the wall as his head bowed in a state of defeat, his breathing rough and uneven.

She's gone he thought to himself, finally coming to the full realization that his dreams of wrapping her small, frail frame in his arms back home were nothing but stupid fantasies. He lifted his head, his eyes gazing at his right hand where the knuckles slowly began bruising and thin, shallow red lines that marked where the peeled skin used to be oozed and dripped with blood. Then he lowered his head again as the memory of Aslan visiting him entered his mind again, and he began to shake his head as if he could shake away the memory. But still, the memory came at him full blast.

He stood on his feet, slowly taking in the tall forest trees, the deep and rich moist ground that shifted slightly as he moved around. He heard the rushing sound of the nearby river,and the rustle of the leaves of the trees that towered over him. The slightest source of light were scatted from one tree to another but he could see that the grass were bejeweled by the tiniest raindrops. Catching a pair of wings from his peripheral vision, he turned and found blue-winged butterfly perched among one of the grass leaves. He felt a small smile tug at the corner of his lips and silently began taking small steps towards it. Once he was close enough, he crouched down and gently brought up his index finger and began probing the butterfly to his outstretched finger. He felt a tickle as the butterfly's tiny legs hesitantly walked unto his finger, he grinned and stood up once again still silently gazing at the butterfly in admiration.

He was standing, one hand in mid-air to support the butterfly and the other hand shoved deep in the pocket of his trousers. The grin had fallen into a slight smirk as he watched the wings flutter excitedly. His vision, however, focused onto the golden lion behind the butterfly and his eyebrows narrowed immediately His presence. As Aslan pawed forward, the slight noise of the thin tree branches snapping under the weight of Aslan's body caused the butterfly to spring forward and off Edmund's hand. Edmund's brown eyes followed the butterfly with a small frown until it had disappeared deep into the thick green forest. Edmund lowered his hand and raised a eyebrow, an unsettling feeling rising in the pit of his stomach as he was met with a brief moment of silence from Aslan.

"Edmund," Aslan began deeply and at his troubled tone, Edmund felt the tip of his fingers curl inward toward the palm of his hand, "I came here to warn you. There will be two human girls entering into Narnia and boarding the Dawn Treader. Human girls that will bring forth pieces - unwanted pieces - of your past. One however will bring forth past reminders that you will soon will no longer wanted to be acquainted with."

Edmund held up a large hand, his eyes glimmering with confusion, "What are you saying?" he asked in a deep voice.

"Reminders of a certain red haired girl from your past journey in here," Aslan began to further explain, "Edmund I pray that you do not lose hope but the Alaura, the girl you know and grown to love from your previous journey into Narnia is gone."

And just like that, Edmund felt like buckets of freezing cold water had been dumped on him. He had froze, his shoulders were tense and entire frame had turned rigid with shock and disbelief. His eyes were wide and his breathing had turned ragged. He struggled to breath, feeling as if his heart had dropped to the pit of his stomach while his lung constricted. It was amazing how his entire world had been flipped upside down in a matter of seconds, everything he believed was happening had been met with a cold shock. Everything around felt empty, bitter and cold almost as if the remaining traces Alaura's presence had been wiped. No, his skin felt cold without the memory of her warmth surrounding him.

He blinked a couple times before his vision readjusted on the golden lion then he began to shake his head, "No, that's not possible" he breathed through his clenched teeth, refraining from releasing his anger on Aslan knowing fully well that it wasn't right. Aslan's eyes showed sympathy and despair at the young man before him. Aslan slowly nodded his to the side, gesturing to the rushing river behind them and indicating for him to follow.

Hesitantly, Edmund began to follow after the lion after regaining the feel of his toes. Seeing that Aslan had positioned himself so he was sitting, Edmund joined him on the ground in a crouch so he knees weren't touching the damp ground. He watched carefully as Aslan stretched out a paw, touching the river lightly then pulled back his arm. Edmund slowly followed the lines of the ripples, his eyes narrowing as an image projected itself on the water. His eyes widening slightly as his gaze fell on a petite frame, her small arms wrapped around her frail figure as an attempt to protect herself from the cool breeze. Her beautiful, hazel brown eyes flickering to the side and her velvet red hair bounced off her face and shoulders as she skipped down the steps of the house that seemed to house a hundred people.

His eyes followed hers, finding a couple people laid unconscious or seemingly drunk and clad with little clothes. He let out a short laugh as her face cutely scrunched up in disgust. However, the smile on his face didn't last long. He pulled his eyebrows together as he continued to watch Alaura walk along the sidewalk that was poorly lit by the side lamp posts. He shifted uneasily as her walk continued, each step causing an uneasy stir in the pit of his stomach.

Her eyes were glazed over almost as if she was deep in thought, and his breathing hitched as she looked up her eyes exposing an overwhelming amount of pain and longing and the grip on herself tightened. She was biting down on her lower lip hard, almost drawing blood. She stopped just before a white marked crosswalk, her eyes connecting with something that made her pull her eyebrows together and for her eyes to light up beautifully. She began to cross the road, as she drew closer to the end, her steps faltered and her eyelids dropped in almost disappointment and embarrassment. Suddenly, she froze, then her head snapped to the side in a swift motion and he could see her eyes widening in shock and along with her eyes, her face became illuminated by an external light source. Next, his eyes connected with her slender body laying limp and frail on the cold pavement. Her hair was thrown into a tangled mess, and her face masked with bloody scratches turned deadly pale.

He froze, his breathing stopped altogether and the sound of his heart resonated loudly. His heart thumped wildly within his chest, and he grimaced as he felt his chest actually aching. His hand found the moist soil and he dug his fingernails hard into the ground as he struggled to breath. He tore his eyes away from the sight and closed it, but still, he couldn't rid the image of Alaura's unconscious figure laying helplessly on the pavement. He could still see the sickening sight of her blood soaking the ends of her hair, and the side of her wrist that laid nearest to her head. What's worst was that he almost didn't recognize that fact that she was heavily bleeding to death mistaking her blood as the rest of her tangled hair. He let out a choked gasp, his chest heaving as his lung filled with air.

"No, that's not possible," Edmund growled and clenched his teeth, "She's not gone" he more so told to reassure his own self as he felt Alaura's warmth presence that constantly hovered around him suddenly turn into a cold blanket of snow, "She can't be."

Aslan gave him on look that told him everything that he was denying. Alaura was gone. He took one last look of Alaura before her form was ultimately covered by another form among a forming crowd. Bright red and blue lights flooded the image then he found himself staring numbly at the water. It took a couple of seconds before he regained feeling in his legs and then he pushed himself off the ground. His chest felt hollow, it was like someone had shot a bullet straight through his chest.

He walked over to a large tree and seated himself on the ground, both legs pulled up with his arms resting on his knees. From the corner of his eye he could see Aslan staring him in concern but spoke no words which he was thankful for. Shock froze him in place, how simple words can have a big impact and how quickly things changes within seconds. Both seemed to work in unison, and for him they worked together only to bring him damage and destruction. The back of his head touched the bark of the large tree he was leaning against for support and his hands found themselves in fists. Only seconds ago, the memory of Alaura was alive, her presence still embraced him. Now nothing encased him, nothing but the cold. Even his emotions abandoned him. He was just numb, and he was fine with that. He didn't want his emotions to return, he didn't want the pain, anguish and longing. He didn't want the aftershock of things. With that, he unknowingly phased into a state of denial.

The aftershock was brutal, he absolutely despised being so vulnerable. He hated every single emotion that made an unwanted return. To him, emotions made everything more real. He hated the fact that he found himself easily giving into his emotions, it was the only thing he could trust. But it only brought him more pain. His greed to be better than his own brother led to betraying his own family, his own flesh and blood. His love and trust towards Chloe ended with him with a broken heart. His love and affection for Alaura ended with more undeniable pain. It wasn't until now, he realized how conniving emotions were, they manipulated his mind every single time.

His lips pulled up into a playful smirk and his eyes darkened within seconds. The incident with Alaura only proved an ongoing conclusion in his life, you get attached you get burnt. He needed to stop playing with fire. He needed to stop what ignites the sparks that leads to a full blown fire. So he closed his eyes and turned off the switch to his emotions.


She could see his mouth moving, directly words towards her but her ears didn't pick up anything. She studied the way the police officer's eyebrows pull together with concern written over his face. His forest green eyes hardened and then he tilted his head to the side, speaking to the person beside him. Her eyes flitted from them towards the window across the room where the blue and red lights from the emergency vehicles continued to enter the room.

Her back began to ache from being pressed up against the wall. Her arms were wound around her legs which were pulled up to her chest, her hands clutching tightly to each other. Her hair was a mess, the ends of her hair were tangled with each other and the fabric of her clothing were wrinkled, the top button of her jeans still remained unbuttoned. She hadn't moved since the police flooded into the room to find her crouched against the wall, her hands in her hair and her breathing heavy. It took them a few minutes to get her breathing back to normal, only for them to struggle against her as she stood up, screaming from the top of her lungs and trying to kick the razor across the room. After they had grasped her arms and forced her back down on the ground, they repeated to calm her down.

"Sweetie, you need to tell us your name" a young police woman said gently. She only stared back in response, the police woman sighed and looked at her partner who was crouched down in front of her and studying her with his bright green eyes.

He began to reach towards her, panic immediately flooded in her veins and her breathing accelerated. She began to push against the wall, her legs kicking out in front of her as she placed her hands in front of her. She began crying, "No! Don't touch me! Get away from me! Please!" tears forming in her eyes and through her clouded vision she saw the young man's eyes widen in alarm, his hands flapping as she tried to reassure her he meant no harm.

"We are here to help you," a gentle but firm voice told her and she stopped pressing herself against the wall to look up at the police woman, "We mean absolutely no harm."

"I don't need your help" she said weakly, her arms wrapping around herself, "Go away."

"That man who was in the room with you is still out there, with the man out there you are still in much danger," the young woman argued softly with her, "You know better than anyone else what he is capable of, he could still be running around committing those heinous acts to other people, other young woman like yourself. Are you willing to continue letting this dangerous young man run free?"

The thought of him showing up at her front door scared her to the core, she could still remember his wolfish grin as he had her pinned up against the skin still prickled with the stain of his touch. The feeling of being thrown back against the wall under the strength of his muscles still sent a cold shock to her frozen body. The malicious stare she met with as he towered over her that left her completely open and vulnerable to his wishes. The muscles surrounding her hips tightened considerably as she remembered the way he tugged on the hoops of her jeans, tugging her hips to meet his. Remembering the slightest skin to skin contact caused tears to spring in her eyes, and her hands that were rolled into fists to rub against each other.

She heard the slightest inhale from the woman in front of her and she dropped her mouth open, "I don't want to think of him," she whimpered and met their softened gazes, "I want nothing to do with him. I don't want to face him, I-I..." she broke off as more tears began to rapidly fall down her cheeks.

"We understand that you're not ready to talk," the woman said to her in a soft voice, "But we do need to move you to where your mother was contacted to stand and wait for you. In the fifteen minutes we've contacted her, we know that she's terribly worried about you."

She began to furiously wipe the tears that had fallen from her eyes, her eyes hardening slightly at the mention of her mother, "You've contacted my mother? Why?"

This time the man stepped forward, this time he was carefully in keeping in his distance, "Routine work. She has the right to know what happened to her child in the seconds she was away."

She fell silent, her fingers twisting over one another as anxiety played with the insides of her stomach. She nibbled lightly on her lower lip, at the same time she was eyeing both the woman and man's weary, and tuckered out expression and for a moment she felt guilt stab at her. There were dark circles under their eyes, both the corners of their eyes were pulled down slightly and their eyes shone with exhaustion. She glanced quickly over at the clock that hung on the wall opposite of her, watching as the long arm moved slightly to show that a minute as passed. The clock read a little over midnight, probably an hour since their supposed shift end.

"Alright" she whispered in defeat and began to stand up, avoiding both their shocked and pleased expression, "Let's go."

The lady began to lead the way out of the building, and timidly she followed behind her aware of her male partner behind her and scrutinizing her every shifted uncomfortably, she craned her neck to look back slightly and quickly his gaze met hers with a questioning eyebrow quirked up. She snapped her head back and settled for wrapping her long arms around herself and inched herself closer to the woman whom she felt more at ease with.

Her breath got caught in her throat as they entered the main room, it was crawling with police officers. Immediately she felt the atmosphere drop to a bone chilling temperature and for a moment she was thankful that the two officers that were with her weren't as cold and unyielding as the officers stationed in the main room. They were barking out in a rough and raspy voice orders and yelling loudly to those who were eventually being detained, questions. She almost froze in her step however as dark, cold and harsh eyes of those detained met her form with a scowl pulling at the corner of their lips.

She swallowed harshly and pushed forward in her steps, her eyes once again filling with tears. The stares never seemed to falter, instead they grew intense causing the air around her to become thick. She began to stagger in her steps, her vision slowly clouding over from her tears and her lungs seemed to struggle with taking in air. Before she knew it, her knees buckled then gave up causing her to fall harshly on her knees and her palms which she threw out to sting with momentary pain. She heaved out choked sob and tears fell rapidly to the cold pavement below her. She curled her fingers together as she envisioned the dark stares they threw at her, one seemed show less cruelty than the other but they all had one thing in common, they all had promised her one thing. To them she was a large red target, no matter how far they're confined, how far away she is from them, they were coming after her and they were bringing what became her worst nightmare, Blake.


Her eyes following the exhausted form of her mother who was pacing rapidly across the room, her eyes were meeting everything else in the room except her. Her lone form huddled against the arm of the couch with her legs pulled up so her knees were barely grazing her chest. She felt anger bubble inside her at the fact that her mother was speaking about her and acting as if she herself wasn't in the same room as her. Either way she remained quiet, her eyes trained on the television from which she lowered the volume slightly so she could see her mother's conversation.

"I don't recognize her," her mother said in a firm voice, "I don't recognize my own daughter. She's shut herself off from the world, either she's locked up in her room or she's locked up in the bathroom. I haven't seen her properly stand up in weeks, it's like her knees are practically glued to her upper chest. I knew that boy was trouble, I just knew it. It's partially my fault for not enforcing strict rules, she wouldn't have become so attached to the boy, he wouldn't have tried to force himself upon her, he wouldn't have traumatized her-"

She clenched her teeth but refused to say anything, mainly because she knew her mother was right but she couldn't help but feel her mother's satisfaction at the fact that she was right about him. She could practically see the pride oozing from her with little smiley face drawn on them. She bit down hard on her lip, pulling her arms up so they were crossed on her knees. She lowered her face so her mouth was covered, feeling the energy being drained from her. She couldn't recognize herself either.

"Maybe you're right, she's need to get out there and socialize," her mother bobbed her head, her eyes still narrowed with determination, "Socialize with people who's been through the same thing as she as. She needs to know that she's not alone. Yeah, don't worry I'll sign her up for group therapy-"

Her head snapped up and she practically flew from the couch, "What?!" she yelled startling her mother to the point where she almost dropped the phone, "Group therapy?!"

Shocked was plastered on her mother's face, complete shock, "You can't send me to group therapy sessions. You can't."

Her mother regained her composure, she muttered a quick goodbye to the person on the other end of the phone then disconnected the line. Her lips were turned downward in disappointment, "You need this honey. You're not recovering, you're barely yourself, you're shutting me out of all people out-"

"You can't treat me like I'm broken," she hissed through her teeth trying to put up a tough facade but she could her mask slipping, "I'm not broken mom."

"You flinch whenever I open the door, you stare at every window as if a hurricane will suddenly come in and break the glass," her mother began to ramble, "You keep the light open at night because the dark terrifies you, even the slightest shadow will make you freeze! You need this, you need this-"

She didn't bother to stay and listen to her mother, instead she spun on her heels and stormed over to the front door and threw it open. Ignoring her mother's cries telling her to come back, she stepped through the doorway and shut the door. Her feet beginning to fall into a sprint, gliding her blindly through the street. Her eyes were still fierce with determination, but the frown on her lips were slowly slipping downward into a pout. She didn't realize what she had done until she met the glare of the night. She stopped suddenly, her heart beginning to race as she took in the fact that the only source of light was above her. She stood under the lamp post, visible to any lurking predators. She staggered to the side, her eyes scanning wildly for anyone or anything then she reached her arm to the side to touch the lamp post desperate for any sense of security.

"Ah, my dear sweet Alaura," she froze, her spine straightening and her breath hitching, "I thought we were done playing hide and seek."

She turned her neck, her foot stepping back as his form appeared from the cloak of darkness. His bright green eyes sparkling with mischief as he met her form and a cruel smirk came up unto his face. She began to shake her head, pulling her hand back from the lamp post and clutching it to her chest. He only grinned widely at her action and took one predatory step forward.

"No," she breathed out, "No!" she spun around harshly on her heels.

"No! Stop!" she kept crying out, feeling his dark presence looming over her. She could barely hear herself over the pounding of her soles against the pavement but she heard clearly his dark booming laugh, almost chiding her for thinking she could actually escape. Her lung burned and felt like it could collapse at any second, her legs began to quiver and her steps began to falter. She rounded the corners and slammed hard into someone's firm chest, she gasped and pulled back before a warm muscular arm came around her waist, "No!"

She violently thrashed against his hold, "Let me go!" her fists began pounding against their chest.

She heard low male grunts of pain, "Stop it!" a warm voice ordered but she refused only growing stronger in her attacks, "Stop it Alaura!" he growled. His hands came up and grasped her wrists preventing her from making contact with his chest.

"Look at me!" he growled but she kept her eyes focused on the pavement, he released one of her wrists and grasped her chin, roughly pulling her chin up so her eyes met his warm, brown ones. Immediately she went limp in his hold, her breathing coming out in a whoosh this time her heart racing from an unknown thrill rather than fear.

His large, rough thumb caressed the side of her face almost lovingly, his eyes softening as he gazed down at her, "You're safe, I won't let anything happen to you" he promised her in a dark alluring voice. Almost immediately her hand came up to touch his hand that was stroking her cheek, and his hand stilled at the loving gesture at her touch. Her fingers curled around his hand, her teeth catching her lower lip and slowly his forehead met hers, his dark eyes still staring loving down at her that made her breathing stop all together.

"You're stronger than this," he murmured and she closed her eyes at his voice, "You knew this already, you don't need me to tell you"

She froze suddenly when she heard something snapping loudly under the pressure of someone's feet. Slowly, she moved to turn around and immediately her eyes found him. Under the light of a street lamp post, a wolfish smile still in place and the dark glint in his eyes only seemed to glow brighter. She gulped nervously, her form backing away from him expecting for her to bump into the warm chest she had bumped into only moments ago but was stunned still when her back only met with the cold chill of the night. Her chest lifted lightly as she breathed in deeply, her fingers curling inward as the wind blew strands of her hair against her face.

"So broken" he stated in a teasing voice while his grin only grew wider, "So pretty, so naive, so innocent, so...broken"

"I am not broken" she whispered heatedly, "No! I am not broken" she repeated once again while tears sprung in her eyes. And once again, he took another step towards her and once again she took another step back.


The smell of sweet lavender filled her nostrils, and very slowly she opened her eyes, taking a moment so that her eyes adjusted to the brightness of the room. It took her a moment to realize that her hands were tightly clutching the comforter of her bed. Her eyebrows furrowed together, and she painstakingly, slowly began to loosen her grip on it. She let out a breath, lifting her head up from her pillow and her heart sinking with crushing defeat as her mind began to process the events that went around as she slept.

Finally, she pulled herself up into a comfortable sitting position, one arm on the mattress while the other found itself tangled with her hair. Her eyes closed once again, and immediately images of icy blue eyes dark with hunger for revenge, the determination that shone brightly at her that told her that no force in the entire universe will inhibit him from fulfilling his promise to her. Her eyes squeezed tighter together and a whimper escaped from her lips, and the hand in her hair had moved to press against her eyes. She tried to suppress crushing feelings of hopelessness and defeat as she came to realize and eventually accept that the life she had lived before she stumble on the boat was was life built around lies. She had been strung up in a life built around the idea that she could have a perfect life, the people who cared about her ended up pitying the sad and pathetic life she had once lived before and ultimately forgot when she was involved in a car accident. She had lived a life that wasn't hers to live in the first place. She couldn't suppress the fact that her dreams weren't just imaginary, they had reoccur frequently, scared her relentless despite the time and day, she frighteningly remembered every single, vivid detail. But those dreams weren't just dreams, they weren't just nightmares, they were memories of the nightmare that was her life before the accident.

A creak came from the door and immediately she reopened her eyes and fixated her gaze on the silhouette that emerged from the doorway, and her breathing froze altogether. Her eyes widened, and despite her control, blood rushed to her cheeks, painting them with a light, rosy color. His strong broad form emerged from the shadow of the door, his shoulders were set back, his back straight drawing out the firm chest he sported. His brown tunic outlined his biceps, proving to everyone he was indeed very muscular. One large hand was on the doorknob and the other was shoved into the pockets of his trousers, his brown hair was tousled, falling against the curve of his eyebrows. His lips were set into a frown, his jaw was tight and his beautiful, dark brown eyes unmistakably held a glimmer of anger.

She was frozen into her position, as she came to a blunt realization that the guy who soothed and calmed every nerve in her body but at the same time set it lit with fire was right in front her. Edmund came to a sudden halt, his frown deepening at the sight of her awake, but deeply distraught form. His hand reluctantly released the doorknob, and his eyes held an overwhelming amount of desire. Desire not to be in the same room as her, as if he was mentally cursing himself at his timing.

It took her sometime to note the exhaustion that seem to radiate off him, defeat that matched hers perfectly but most importantly, she felt the bone chilling hardness and coldness that wrapped around him entirely, one that she remembered hadn't been there before she had wound up in bed. She continued to stare at him despite the fact that he was openly glaring at her by this point, despite the heartache she currently bore that they were back at square one of their complicated relationship. She sucked in a deep breath and dared herself to look at him in the eyes, and her heart fell, plummeting almost over a hundred meters as she caught the guarded and closed off look in his eyes.

"I think I liked it better when you were unconscious" Edmund growled under his breath, her eyes widened considerably and immediately drew her head down. He remained standing by the door, and feeling threatened under his glare, she began to maneuver herself out of the bed. Pulling her hand that rested on the mattress, she began to push the blankets that pooled around her waist, and currently made her squirm from heat it accumulated in the process.

Edmund drew his eyebrows together when she didn't respond to his sentence and instead decided to remove herself from her bed with stiff, awkward and timid movements. He smirked when he spotted a look of frustration that dawn over her face as she realized that more sheets were weaved between, under and over her legs. She looked up him, her nose crinkling at him before huffing and deciding to kick the sheets from the rest of her legs.

Ignoring the fact that he decided to stand idly by the door rather than help her out, she began to peel the sheets that had stuck to her legs. Her eyes darting to her bare, exposed arms, a second had sunk in before she retracted her arm. Her eyes focusing only on the puckered pink lines etched on both her wrists. They were faint, but to her eyes, they glowed almost mockingly at her. Her eyes briefly flitted up to Edmund, whose eyebrows only furrowed deeper and whose mouth fell into a small frown and choosing, much to her annoyance, to take small steps toward her. Like in her dream, she scooted back as he came forward, and Edmund froze in his steps at her sudden rejection of his help.

"Emma?" he said in a low and very threatening voice, "What's the matter?" his voice held little to no concern, but rather dripped with annoyance.

"Nothing" she squeaked and mentally face palmed herself for being so incapable of lying. His gaze only grew treacherous at her withdrawal, and took another step towards her, "I thought you preferred standing next to the door" she muttered under her breath to herself.

"Emma, come here" he commanded in a strict and unyielding tone. Her eyes snapped up at him, a nervous expression written on her face and a timid smile pulling at the corner of her lips.

"Where's my coat? Who dressed me?" she began to ramble, "Where's the tunic I had before?" her words came out rushed and Edmund froze, his eyes tracing every movement she made as she pulled her arms to her chest almost hugging herself. His eyes moved up to her wide eyes that were holding an overwhelming amount of anxiety, and mistrust.

He sighed almost in exasperation, he took another step forward and crouched so he was at eye level with her. She snapped her mouth shut and swallowed harshly, "Would you stop rambling for a moment and tell me what's wrong?" he almost demanded.

"Why do you assume that's something wrong?" she asked quietly, and his eyes grew strict once again. Suddenly, his hand began to reach towards her and her eyes widened and she squeaked loudly as she successfully dodged at his attempt to grasp her arm. The coldness that wrapped around him grew thicker and slowly he rose to his feet, reminding her of his strong, towering form. She let out a inaudible gasp and successfully managed to kicked the remaining sheets from her legs and scramble to her feet, while grasping the sheets so it rose with her. He made another attempt to grab her, in a panic she threw the sheets over him.

She winced as he exclaimed rather heatedly, "What the hell Emma?" and tore the sheets fluidly from his face and glared at her. Her eyes still connected with his, she tried to jump off the bed and make an attempt to dodge his extended arm and run out the door. Tried, was the key word, her feet found itself caught in between the sheet and she found the wooden ground was alarmingly growing larger in image.

His hand managed to grasp one of her flailing arms, the other arm coming up to wrap around her waist. Her abdomen hitting his right shoulder, and her free hand that wasn't in Edmund's grasp found its hand situated on his other shoulder. He let out a grunt as her body fell against him, almost immediately she pulled away and nervously turned her head, mentally preparing herself as she met with his cold and frigid glare. Her knees weakened, and she felt her body slowly drifting down until she was at a level where his head had to tilt slightly down just to stare at her. Her mind began to swirl with confusion, and she found herself wondering why she suddenly herself so affected by him and his presence, why his empty glare and guarded expression seem to cause her so much heartache, why her body reacted so strongly towards him, and why even in her dreams something pushed her, telling her she needed him when her mind only seemed to recall meeting him just a couple of weeks ago.

Her hand tightened her grasp on his shoulder as her body seemed to lack the strength to support itself. She tilted her head to the side, sighing to herself and biting her lower lip when she felt his arm tighten around her waist. His hand that was wrapped around her arm tugged her so her head flew to the side and up so she was looking up at his face. Her breath catching as her nose slightly brushed his.

"What the hell Emma?" he growled angrily, and she pulled away slightly, "Why are you acting like this?"

Her eyes suddenly flashed with anger, "Why am I acting like this? Why are you acting like this?!" she hissed through her teeth, watching as he clamped his mouth shut but his nostrils flared with anger, "Why are you acting like I'm suddenly a waste of time? Why are you acting so distant? Why are you acting like you care about me when you've obviously let up a facade that you don't?"

"It's not a facade" he said in a firm, and steady voice.

"Well it's not a good facade if you recall how you've treated me a couple of weeks ago" she stated. He released his grip on her arm, and removed his arm that rested on her waist and instead used them to push her back so she was sitting on her knees on the bed.

With her arms now pressed up against her chest and her narrowed eyes piercing straight at Edmund who decided to turn his back on her, she spoke once again, "You say you don't care, you don't care what happens to me or to anyone for that matter. Excluding Lucy, I can read you better than anyone else and I think you're only lying to yourself that you don't care," she took a deep breath her voice softening when she realize that Edmund had tensed up, "You do care-"

She was cut off when Edmund snapped, "I don't care, Emma."

"Then something must have happened because what other reasons would there be for you to always come to my aid, to take care of me, to make sure I'm okay!" she snapped back at him then she closed her eyes and struggled to regain control of her emotions knowing fully well that she was pushing Edmund's buttons, "Why else would you have agreed to help me train to defend myself, why else would you have taken me to safety after the auctioning? Explain to me Edmund, please, because my head has never spun so much before in my entire life before the acci-" she closed her lips before the word had managed to slip out of her mouth.

Edmund stiffened even more, if that were possible and turned to look at her, "I did care, did Emma. I don't anymore. I should have learned the hard way once before but I ignored it, now it came back to bite me in the butt. In my lifetime, I've only come to know that caring in my books is not worth it" he explained to her harshly, oblivious to the way that her tears pricked with tears, and to the way her body froze stunned by his answer, "I told you before that I should have been protecting the people from me rather than the obvious enemy. I'm sorry you had to learn the hard way."

She could feel her heart slowly crushing, her blood slowly running cold as she stared at him. The Edmund she was looking at wasn't the Edmund from her dreams, it was the Edmund she met and slowly grown accustom to on the ship. It scared her how dangerously different the Edmund who stood in front of her, glaring at her with a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips with no sense of remorse as he finished explaining to her. Almost as if he enjoyed seeing her distraught and hopeless.

"I need fresh air" she breathed, her hand running through her hair and standing up. She glanced at him briefly and swiftly brushed past him freezing when she heard him say.

"Now that I've answered your questions, it's time you answered mine," he murmured, swiftly turning her around with one hand than grasping her chin to pull her head up so she could lock eyes with him, "It's only fair, right Dollface?" her eyes almost squinted in disgust by her new pet name.

She attempted to rip her head from his grasp but it only lead to her biting down on her lip to prevent herself from saying something as he only tightened his grip.

"Care to tell me about the accident that threw your mind into a whirlwind of questions?" he hummed.

She froze entirely, then she ripped off his hand with her hand and stormed out of the cabin.


A/N: Confused? Don't worry because even I'm confused. I'm sorry if this story is causing you confusing, haha. Basically this chapter shows the aftermath of Edmund accepting the fact that Alaura is most likely gone, it's kinda understandable. The two people he ended up caring about, it was implied in this chapter that it was Chloe and Alaura, things ended badly with them. So he realized that throwing care out of the window would result in less pain, and less stuff to deal with. Any who, to clear up more confusion, this Edmund that you see towards the end of the chapter kinda reflects the Edmund that Chloe met however more damaged. So this is the development I was working towards in Edmund's character.

Now Emma, so Emma finally realized that the guy in her dreams had all along been Edmund. Now this is gonna to be recognized in the next chapters. Emma at this point has become reacquainted with some of Alaura's traits, her timidness, her quietness, etc... Emma also finally realized that her current life has been nothing but lies, finally right? She knows that everything about her is broken which is why I reintroduced some of Alaura's traits, because in my mind, Alaura is beautifully broken. If you read Bad Boy, you know that Aslan brought her to Narnia because she was broken. From this point on, this is the Edmund you'll be dealing with unless I screw up on the character :).

What can you expect in the next chapter? Hopefully the continuation of Chloe's and Lucy's conversation from the chapter before, so some more questions about Chloe being answered.

By the way, how do you like Edmund's new pet name? Which one do you guys like, Princess, Dollface, or Little Red? Just to mention, Dollface is to symbolize the "new" Edmund.

Can you do me a favour? See that POST REVIEW button? Can you click it?

- Forever Bethany