ISFNE Chapter 7

Allison POV

I imagined a doorway back to our bond as I walked out of the room, the moment I did though I felt the wind go out of me and I blacked out, falling back into my nightmare, pinned to the bed, naked, with Eric on top of me.

"Faith, why keep working against me? I don't want this fighting. Why can't you join me? Save yourself the pain."

"It isn't right!" I pleaded.

pleasure, Faith, it can all be pleasure...

"NO, NEVER. I WILL NEVER STOP FIGHTING YOU!", I bellowed with all I had in me.

He tried to fuzzy my mind again, I felt his power like a blanket of cotton trying to put out my thoughts, trying to seduce me; I refused to fall under it again.

"Faith, there's no point in resisting," he said kissing down my neck, "Though you won't admit it, there's a part of you that likes this, wants me to finish what I've started. Why do you feel so compelled to fight me on everything?"

"I wouldn't if it didn't go against every moral fiber in my being!"

"Violet..."

"I HATE YOU," I screamed out with utter contempt, my thrashing renewed though I knew from experience, I couldn't change this dream; it always followed the same path.

He tried to kiss me coaxingly though I twisted my head away and tried to lash out with my legs which he easily intercepted and settled himself between.

God please, this can't be how it ends…again I pleaded, why can't I change it?

"Come on, wake up!" I opened my eyes as something shook me and squinted in the brightly lit room, so very different from where I'd just been. I was warm and comfortable, but it was so bright. Everything was fuzzy as I tried to wake up more fully but I was quickly tensed and snapped to attention as I realized first, that I felt a body pressed up to mine and second, I was almost completely naked. Eric. It hadn't been a dream. Our meeting had – I didn't bother finishing the thought. Frenzied with fear I lashed out with a kick to the shins, earning me a yelp of pain, and thrashed myself away from his grasp sitting up panting in utter fear as I took in the completely unfamiliar surroundings including a very unfamiliar figure sitting up in the bed next to me, rubbing his shin with a grimace. What was going on?

Simon POV

I woke up peacefully around nine o'clock as I usually did any day of the week. I'd lucked out with classes that all started after ten so sleeping in was a luxury I had on a daily basis. As I slowly became more alert I realized I wasn't alone in my bed and that my arm was draped over a girl whom I was snuggled up to quite nicely. Ah, yes, the girl from the bookstore last night. Thankfully, she'd warmed up during the night and was sleeping peacefully. What had been her name? Alyssa? Alaina? …no, Allison. Yes, Allison. But I remembered that small moment of seeming clarity where she'd questioned my use of that name, so it was probably false. But why? I took the opportunity to study her more closely. She had chestnut brown hair splayed across one of my pillows, thick lashes, a slight frown, and a smattering of pale freckles on even paler skin. She was short and thin in a somewhat unhealthy way and though the body pressed up against me was lovely in its own regard, she was by no means curvy, especially as she was worryingly thin. My attention was drawn to where my arm had fallen and I pulled back the covered gently, so as not to wake her as I looked at what I was feeling. My arm fell over her hip and rested lightly against her abdomen but it felt almost like… and as I looked, I confirmed my suspicion; it was still fairly early but I could recognize it with some certainty. My attention was drawn away as the girl started tossing and turning, eventually escalating into thrashing as she continued to whimper "no" over and over with more and more fear in her voice. I shook her gently, "Wake up. Wake up it's just a nightmare," I said.

She seemed to feel nothing so I tried with more vigor. "Come on, wake up!" I said a little louder. Her whimpering stopped and I felt her begin to rouse and suddenly go stiff as a board. Before I could say anything she began to struggle, throwing herself away from me, kicking blindly and hitting me square in the shin. I yelped as she moved away and sat up on the edge of the bed, covers pulled to her chin, breathing heavily and eyes frenzied as she looked at me in terror.

I sat up with a wince and started rubbing my shin, "Good Lord, woman, that hurt."

"You're not Eric," she said, her voice shaking slightly.

"Who?" I asked in confusion, grabbing my glasses off of the side table and looking back at her.

"Who are you? What am I doing here? What's going on? Why can't I remember anything? Why am I in the SAME BED AS YOU ALMOST NAKED?" she rapid fired questions, her voice slowly escalating in panic.

"Whoa, whoa too many questions," I said rolling out of the bed to grab the thermometer I'd left on the dresser, limping slightly, "Temperature first, then talk," I said holding it out to her. She looked slightly confused but took it from me cautiously and did as I asked. I grabbed my sweater from last night off the ground and handed it to her, motioning for the thermometer as I heard it beep. She gave it to me, still obviously confused about the whole ordeal as I checked it. 97 degrees - finally within a healthy range. I heard her put on the proffered sweater as I put the thermometer back on the dresser and, after hearing her settle, sat down near her on the edge of the bed.

"So…" I started, "I think we have a few questions to settle between us."

"I'd say so," she was looking at me warily. My sweater would have fallen around mid-thigh had she stood but in her seated position it bunched at her hips and she'd balled the excess sleeves in her fist which were pressed against her face. She'd relaxed her death-grip on the sheets and now let them pool in her lap effectively hiding what wasn't covered by my sweater. In short, she actually looked kind of cute but very on edge. I couldn't exactly blame her though.

"You passed out in front of the store last night and my grandmother took you in, probably thinking you just needed to warm up indoors a little. I found you in a dazed state, under a thin blanket, and progressively succumbing to the effects of hypothermia."

"Hypothermia?" she whispered in disbelief.

"You read at 85 degrees."

She had no response but stunned silence. I took it as my cue to continue. "I, thankfully, have learned what to do in that sort of case. Your clothes were soaked through, they're folded right over there," I said pointing at the desk to her left, "and the way to best combat hypothermia is gradual heat, skin to skin contact being best." I stated, wrapping up the explanation. "That should answer all of your questions."

"Um, yes, it does…I guess," she said hands falling into her lap and her gaze following, "Wait, you didn't say who you are," she said peeking up at me.

"Not Eric apparently?" I said in amusement. She paled considerably at that comment; apparently Eric wasn't a joking matter. Interested, I saw my opportunity to pry subtly about some of my own questions. "I'm Simon Timmons, I'm in my second year of medical school at the University. The question is, who are you, Allison?"

She was caught off guard, "Um, well you already know my name…"

"I don't think I do, actually," I said knowing that I was going on only a small idea, I might be wrong but by the discomfort in her look I knew I was onto something.

"I…what do you mean, you obviously just said-"

"But Allison isn't your name is it?"

"What leads you to believe that?"

"I tried to address you multiple times by it yesterday and you not only didn't respond to it but you looked me in the eye and asked who 'Allison' was at one point."

Now she was panicking. Not exactly what I'd been angling for. Oh well, might as well press the advantage.

"Is there a reason I can't know your name?"

"Mr. Timmons I just, I can't give it," she said faintly.

"What are you hiding?"

"Nothing, I just don't want to give my name out."

"What's in a name?"

"A lot more information than you would think," she said quietly.

There was a long pause in our conversation as I weighed my ability to pursue the theory that was slowly coming together for me.

"Well, I think I already have the information I need," I said casually. She met my gaze warily at that comment. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion, almost daring me to try my theory. You know nothing about me, her eyes told me. I shrugged, I know more than you think. "You're running from whoever put you in this situation. There's a million different motivations I could theorize about, but what I know is you're running from someone you know very intimately," an angry blush burned in her cheeks, a sure sign that she understood my double meaning, but she stayed silent – so I decided to take my shot. "You're running from the father of that child."

Eric POV

Toying with Faith had been fun for a while, it was very enlightening for certain, to get to know who it was I was matched with, but it quickly became tiring. I couldn't even touch her because of her crucifix and her whole demeanor was so foreign and opposing to mine that my attentions were putting her very much on guard and making her wary of me. I tried to establish some basis of friendship or at least repartee but she was so unused to any sort of interest that she withdrew even more. Faith was completely undiscovered, it was both easy and difficult to see why. She was diminutive, she hung back and did not assert herself needlessly, and though she was beautiful if anyone took the time to notice, it wasn't the shallow, conventional type of beauty that would draw stares. It was subtle, it was the way her eyes would meet yours, the way her hair would fall over her shoulder. She wasn't shapely, but she carried herself with assurance, quiet as it was; she wasn't bold, but her actions and words set her apart. But she was so worth discovering, I couldn't believe that no one had already. I wanted to think her naïve, but she wasn't, she was smart and intuitive. She was merely uncorrupted and inexperienced. She deserved better than me, definitely better than any of her other possible mates. That is the only way I am able to justify anything and everything I put her through, it was a lesser of two evils, though I tried valiantly to never let her know of the other evil that was trying to obtain her.

I sat back and reread my latest entry. Progress was slow with recording our history, but slow was better than nothing. Slow at least took my mind off of the days that seemed to crawl by; slow let me channel every thought of her into something productive. I'd pressed pause on hunting Faith down for the last two weeks I'd been back, but no new information was revealing itself to me, I still had no idea what I was working with, where to even start. Hopefully revelation would come soon as I continued to sift through the memories I had. The clues were there I just had to find them.

Allison POV

I gaped at the man in utter horror as he put my worst fear into words. "NO," I exclaimed shakily, though it seemed to be the only thing I could utter. "No," I tried again, my voice turning into a whimper as I repeated it again, stuffing my face into the sleeves of the sweater. "I'm..I can't, I can't be pregnant," I wept.

The poor guy, who was now confronted with a crying girl, made an effort to calm me, rubbing my back gently. "I'm sorry, I mean you must be three or four months in."

I tried to reign myself in, sitting up and taking control of my breathing, looking over at him, "I (hic) I mean you haven't (sob) pointed out anything I didn't already suspect (deep breath). It just feels like…" I swallowed another wave of tears and whispered softly, "Like my life is ending."

There was a long pause before he finally stood, "You should get some more rest, you're still recovering. If not, the bathroom is down the hallway on the left if you'd like to shower or anything."

I nodded despondently as he left, and melted into a bout of muffled tears as I laid down again. What was I going to do?

Eric POV

I opened up to the bond again after speaking to Faith a day ago, I figured I could check in to see what I could glean from Faith's daily activities, though I could only guess what she was doing. The moment I did I was hit with an overwhelming wave of sadness and fear. What could she possibly be encountering?

Faith? I tried tentatively.

Go away, I am not in the mood, she snapped.

Are you ever? I sulked. She was crying, again. In a heartbreaking way she couldn't contain, let alone hide. Faith what is wrong? Are you alright?

She cut off communication and stemmed her emotional output. It was much weaker, I could barely register it and she had pulled the plug on communicating with me for now. What the hell had happened to her in the past twelve hours to make her so upset? And afraid? She was so afraid…

With luck I could find out in the halfway room soon enough, still I hated to have to depend on her whim or the whim of her unconscious. Sure, I'd made it so if she dreamed of me she'd find herself in the room, but now that she knew how it worked, she would easily be able to leave, maybe even shut the whole thing down with the power she had. I sighed, she really never made anything easy.

Simon POV

I walked downstairs to the kitchen to find Grams had made some pancakes for the morning; I loved that about staying at the bookstore, I could always count on Grams for a great breakfast.

"Simon! How is she?" she said in concern bringing a plate of pancakes over as I sat down at the table.

"Recovering just fine. She had a bit of a scare this morning, kicked me in the shin pretty good," I said.

"I'm so glad," she said, relieved. "Obviously not about her kicking you, but recovering," she continued with a wink as she sat down across from me with her mug of coffee cupped in both hands.

I started digging into my plate of pancakes before posing my next question, "Grams, why did you take her in instead of calling 911?"

She hesitated, "I thought she might be drunk the way she passed out like that and, well, you know how dangerous the city could get for her at night," she finally explained.

It made a lot of sense really, I couldn't blame Grams on that account. She couldn't have known how serious Allison's situation was. "Well, it gets better," I said, "She's running from someone and she's pregnant."

"She is?"

"Yep."

I continued to eat my pancakes as Grams sipped her coffee contemplatively. I had grabbed a second helping and sat down again when she finally responded. "Simon, I want to offer her a job."

I dropped my fork and looked at her in astonishment, "WHAT?"

"I want to offer her a job," she repeated. "I've been needing more help for the bookstore anyways."

"That's what I'm here for, Grams," I argued.

"Simon, you're busy with school, you just aren't around as much anymore, that's okay."

"Grams, finals are only next week and then it's summer."

"And you're going to be taking a summer course-"

"For a month! I've still got time to help you."

"Simon, it's okay, I don't want you to feel obligated. You're doing amazing with med school and I don't need you being torn over here constantly. I need someone to help around more constantly, keeping track of our stock, running the register, odds and ends. You are still a part of this, I just want to expand slightly."

"Then put out an ad! Interview! Grams, you don't know anything about this girl!"

"Neither do you," she said calmly, "I have a feeling about this, Simon."

"I don't trust her, you shouldn't either."

"Simon, if you assume the worst of people, you are going to see the worst in people. You don't even know if she's going to accept the job for goodness sakes! Besides, this will help her. She's going to need help getting on her feet if she's pregnant."

"Grams, she's a total stranger."

"Well, that sounds like something you can work on," she said getting up and clearing the dishes. This was not a fight I was going to win. God bless her, but when Grams was set on something, she didn't budge often. Then again, neither did I.