Until Dawn: Bound by Fate
Chapter 21 of my Until Dawn story, enjoy.
Please note, unlike last episode, the song I recommend for the opening of the episode isn't in this chapter, but the next chapter.
Reviews
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.
Holywoodunderfed: Thanks, well, here we go, yeah, it was hard on her.
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)
thedarkpokemaster: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; yeah, it's been one hell of a ride for her; well, it won't be that easy, it never is.
Now onto the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.
Episode 3 – Chapter 1
On the Previous Episodes of Bound By Fate:
That just made it worse, the expression on Mike's face; he was acting as if he was disappointed, upset, acting as if he was sorry for her.
"Emily, be honest, think about it." He said softly. "We just weren't working, and don't forget what happened that day..."
"Don't remind me." She snapped.
But he continued. "We can't keep doing this, especially if you..."
"So it's my fault!" She yelled. 'Typical, try and turn the blame on me now!'
Mike shook his head vehemently. "I didn't say that."
"Yeah, sure..."
"Look Em." He said, insistent. "I'm not blaming anyone; I'm just trying to explain things."
But she'd heard enough; glowering she spat out her words with all the venom she could muster.
"Just fuck off, Michael."
Then turned and stormed away, refusing to look back at him; refusing to acknowledge the stinging in her eyes, now stronger than ever. Mike watched her go, silently cursing to himself.
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He grabbed her, dragging her back into the shadows, his hand clamping firmly over her mouth.
"Whht thm-Gmt thm fhgg hff mm!" She screamed furiously.
She struggled trying to prise his hand off her mouth, kicking her legs, but he wouldn't yield.
"Save it, Emily." He hissed. "You will need your strength for my plans."
She froze at that, shocked at him knowing her name. But her struggles soon resumed, just as he raised his other hand and injected her neck with the needle he was carrying.
"Hw, whht…!" She yelped before her struggles began to weaken. "Hhh, Hm-N...nh..."
He smirked as she went limp in his grasp, unconscious. Safely storing away the needle he lifted her up, slinging her over his shoulder and carried her down the alleyway towards his car which was waiting, the trunk open, ready to receive her.
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All the same, Ashley couldn't help but notice how she was now alone, in the somewhat cramped confines of the supply closet, with Sam.
'Okay, awkward...'
She thought on Sam's words and, trying to make some form of conversation, spoke. "Um...Well, that thing you said, about knowing the real me?"
"Yeah?" Sam replied.
"Maybe, now is a good time to start...I'd, like to know the real you too." She replied.
Sam laughed lightly at that, but nodded, smiling.
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"Are you crazy!?" Ashley suddenly snapped.
Sam stepped back. "I..."
But Ashley couldn't stop it now, it hurt too much, her mind felt like it was going to explode. "So that's why! That's why you wanted to be my friend!"
"Ash, please..." Sam began, looking shocked and horrified.
"You were just using me all this time!"
"No!" Sam cried; looking horrified.
But Ashley had no time for any more of her lies. "Save it, I don't need any excuses!"
"Ash!" Sam cried out.
But it was no use, Ashley had turned and walked away, now disappearing from sight, ignoring Sam and leaving her alone.
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So, despite the awkwardness still hanging thickly between them, they left the school, heading to Sam's favourite area again. Once there, Sam thought for a moment, before shaking her head.
"Listen, Ash, I...I wanna apologize, about that day." She said.
"You...Me too, I...I'm sorry." Ashley replied, whispering.
Both managed a small smile before hugging each other.
"I just..." Sam began. "It was wrong of me to just, ask you like that, I'm really sorry."
Ashley smiled. "I, I see."
"I kinda rushed it." Sam admitted. "But Ash, I swear, I didn't just..."
Ashley stepped back. "I know, I should've handled it better myself. I thought you just, wanted to be friends with me, for that."
"But I didn't even know what your dad did, until we were friends." Sam pointed out.
Ashley nodded. "Something I should've remembered. Funny how things like that are only remembered...after the fact."
There was another pause, but then, both girls smiled and hugged again. They were just glad to have done this and finally, they could say, much to their relief, they were reconciled at last.
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Turning to face Sam at last, Ashley felt her face heat up. "The truth is Sam, I...I like girls and, and for some time now, I've...I've been feeling kinda strange around and I soon realized I had a crush on you and..."
Sam's eyes widened. "A...a crush, or…?"
"It started out a crush; but it's grown. I, I love you Sam, I'm sure of it, I'm in love with you." Ashley blurted out, unable to hold it back anymore.
Sam's eyes were wide, clearly shocked.
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Jess smiled to herself, glad that another day of school was over; casually crossing the road, heading to the nearby coffee shop. She barely had any time to react when she heard the screech of tyres, she turned, eyes wide, to see the car barrelling towards her, with no chance of stopping. Jess inhaled sharply, fully expecting the car to hit her, for this to be her death.
"Holy shit, JESS!"
She cried out as Matt suddenly tackled her, making them both tumble along the ground, on the sidewalk, causing some rips and tears in their clothes, but they escaped, the car narrowly missed them and sped onwards.
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"You have a reputation, Mike and I'm not about to let Hannah get hurt." Josh insisted.
"I know that, I don't want to see her get hurt either." Mike explained. "Look, as I said to Hannah. What happened with me before, all that with Emily. None of it was real, it just took we all this time to figure it out."
Josh narrowed his eyes. "So, what, you're saying that..."
"Yes." Mike said quickly. "I actually care about Hannah; I want this to be real. I care about her and I want this to work. I won't to make the effort to make this work."
Josh sighed; he could see by Mike's expression that he was actually serious, he was telling the truth.
Relenting at last he nodded. "Alright Mike, alright. But remember, if you do anything to hurt Hannah..."
"I got it, Josh, don't worry." Mike replied.
Josh nodded and they finally went their separate ways; that expected talk having gone far better than either of them ever thought it would.
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"Just stop it!" Sam cried out, finally dropping the bombshell. "You're not my real dad anyway and she's not my mother, not my real mother!"
The silence that followed after that was so thick with tension Ashley almost felt suffocated by it. She shuddered, looking from Sam, to Thomas, to Lisa. Unsure what to say, yet wishing someone would say something
Finally Thomas broke the silence with a defeated sounding. "You know?"
"Yes!"
"That's, you..." Lisa stammered, eyes wide.
Sam shook her head, now on her feet. "You lied to me, for years, you've lied to me…!"
"Sam!" Ashley tried to calm her down.
Lisa also pleaded. "Sam, please."
But Sam was beyond reason now it seemed. "What am I supposed to think, huh, knowing that...that's I'm not…!"
"Sam-"
But whatever Thomas had to say was left unsaid, for Sam stormed out of the room at that point, leaving yet another deafening silence behind her.
Sam swallowed nervously as Ashley gently guided her into the living room. She still couldn't believe she actually exploded like that, it was, frightening.
'But still, after everything that happened...' She thought. 'Now, it's out in the open, now I-I need the truth. Whatever it may be.'
She spotted Thomas and Lisa Giddings sitting waiting for them but neither of them said a word until Ashley guided Sam over to the opposite sofa. Smoothing their dresses, both girls sat down and finally, after sharing a worried look with Lisa, Thomas spoke.
"Sam, you were right, we should never have hidden things from you." He remarked. "It's just, we didn't know how to explain to you...But that is hardly an excuse."
Lisa bit her lip. "Sam, even with all this, we still...we care for you and we..."
Sam shook her head. "I just wanna hear the truth...Who are my parents, why am I with you...what happened?"
"This isn't easy." Lisa replied. "Are you sure that-"
Already sensing her question, Sam grabbed Ashley's hand. "Ashley stays."
Ashley nodded at that and Thomas sighed.
"Of course...Alright then..." He seemed to ponder for a moment. "First, you should know, your birth name was Samantha Dawson. As for what happened, we'll have to go back a good number of years..."
The look on his face immediately told Sam this wouldn't be pleasant, but she had to know. Seeing this, Ashley squeezed her hand, reassuring her.
Finally, Thomas began to speak again.
"It all started when we were in high school...with my best friend, Darren Dawson." He sighed. "Back then, he was one of many, who was infatuated with easily the most popular girl in school...Megan Smith."
Lisa then spoke up. "Megan and I were friends, we spent a lot of time together. One thing she hated, was that very popularity, she hated being put on a pedestal. But Darren, although he was infatuated with her...didn't do that."
Thomas nodded. "His emotions towards her were more...direct, from the heart, not exactly...worshipping the popular girl as, having strong romantic feelings for a girl in a regular teenage high school way."
Sam bit her lip, hearing this. She now knew her real name, her real parents names, apparently how they met and yet she couldn't understand it. The Giddings had been friends with her parents, yet they were the ones who raised her for so long. They never even mentioned them, she couldn't understand why.
"I was one of the few, who didn't have their eyes on Megan Smith." Thomas continued. "That was because, I'd already fallen for Lisa..."
Lisa took her husband's hand at this point, smiling softly.
He nodded and continued. "And like any good friends, Darren and I supported each other. He had my back, when I went to Lisa...and I did the same for him, when he went to Megan. Before we knew it, we were all hanging out together, two happy couples. Those, were probably the best days. I wonder sometimes..."
"If we knew what was to come, would we have been so eager, would we have taken the risk." Lisa explained.
A lengthy pause followed.
Seeing the expressions on Thomas and Lisa's faces, Sam shifted, playing with the skirt of her dress.
"Then, then what happened?"
Lisa picked up the story. "After school we started focusing on the future. But still always made time for each other...In just a year after school, Darren and Megan were married. We were surprised, but didn't really think anything of it, at the time."
"We didn't get married until we finished university; then we were married and started working...Darren and Megan tried but, that was when the cracks first started to appear." Thomas remarked. "They began fighting, about, everything really. Not just arguing but..."
Sam tensed, inhaling sharply. "They, he...who..."
Thomas shook his head. "It's hard to say who started it, it wasn't your typical abusive marriage...each gave as good as they got."
"We were so scared; it soon got so bad that they, they wouldn't even hide their anger at each other, in front of others." Lisa added. "Even when Thomas and I were around for dinner, they'd sit there, glaring at each other...But then, something happened, a year into the marriage."
Sam knew right away what they were referring to. "Me."
"Yes." Lisa confirmed. "Megan found out she was pregnant and...amazingly, for the whole pregnancy and even, months after that...things seemed happy again for them, we thought, maybe it would work after all...But it didn't."
Thomas sighed sadly. "You were only about, three or four months old Sam...Darren and Megan got into another argument and...this was the worst yet, they...the police..."
He struggled to say it; but Sam realized, with horrible clarity what he was trying to say.
She froze, eyes wide, shocked.
"My...My father, killed my mother?"
Thomas nodded. "Yes; he was arrested and, and has been in jail ever since...When we heard what happened, we blamed ourselves, for thinking things were better."
"We couldn't just leave you. Not after all that; so...we did everything we could to ensure we adopted you." Lisa explained. "We wanted you to have a chance, a good life...not be scared at the thought of you out there, adopted by some, unknown couple..."
Sam did not reply to that and another length pause followed, before finally Thomas bowed his head.
"So, there you have it Sam, that's...that's the truth, about your past. That's why we adopted you and why, for all these years, we've struggled to decide if we should tell you the truth, or not."
Sam shook her head, eyes still wide; she felt breathless, everything whirling around in her head as she tried in vain to process it all.
"Where, what happened to mom, is she…?"
Lisa shook her head sadly. "We...we never got the chance to find out. I'm so sorry Sam."
Ashley gently reached for Sam's hand again, worried for her, seeing her looking so pale, so, out of it. But Sam gently brushed her off, standing up.
"Sam..." She began.
Shaking her head Sam replied. "I...I need to go lie down..."
Still trying to process everything Sam headed upstairs to bedroom, leaving Ashley and the Giddings sitting in the living room; an air of unease filling them all.
End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.