ISFNE Chapter 15

Eric POV

I'd seen the inspiration strike her and had known immediately all was lost. I tried to distract her but she'd already figured out her loophole and had begun fading quickly. Despite my best efforts I felt tears begin to prick at my eyes when she disappeared completely. I'd lost her. She was as good as dead. She'd stop up our conversation sucking more of her energy. She'd eventually give birth and I'd feel our connection stretch thin, I'd maybe be able to speak with her briefly and then I'd have to feel her die from however many miles away and let her take what was left of my soul with her. And my child. I clenched my fist at that, I would never even get to meet my child. Damnations I had to find Faith, I refused to be twice widowed this young. And I would probably never be given the blessing of another mate either. I didn't know if I would want to. I'd ruined two beautiful girls' lives and ended up killing both of them if I already considered Faith dead. Maybe it was best I never condemn another to the same fate. I'd have a war on my hands for sure with the passing of my title but- I stopped short and let a pained sob escape and took a deep breath. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the necklace in it. Faith's locket. Faith wasn't dead yet. I repeated that to myself a few times and sat down at my desk pulling out the journal and a calendar. I was going to get to her and return that locket to it's owner.

Marissa POV

"MARISSA I'VE GOT HER!" Max yelled from the other room. I came sprinting and found him on his laptop with airport security footage he'd hacked. There in the corner of the screen was Faith in her blue hoodie. He switched cameras and we watched as she walked up to a man with her ticket and had a conversation with her back to the camera. "Hold on, I'll get her," Max said toggling between a few different cameras before we found a side view of her in the background. We watched as she traded tickets with the man, walked up to the check-in desk and said something to the attendant who then waved her through.

"How-how did she do that?" I asked.

"Same way she got past you. Eric's power," Max said. "That's why you felt his signature when you fell asleep."

"That's…insane," I whispered.

"Yeah, kinda," Max responded. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, unfortunately this means we can't track a money trail either, she didn't use a phony ID or anything, she flew as someone else."

"So what do we know?"

"I think we know she's state-side."

"Great so that narrows it to-"

"Almost 320 million people."

"It's a lot less that 7.4 billion?" I said trying to sound upbeat.

"Well when you put it like that it sounds like a huge discovery." He said smiling slightly, "Although I was fairly certain from the beginning that was where she'd go back to. Mortal's like what they know."

"Well now you're almost sure."

"Yeah," he said with a sigh, "Almost…"

"So what's our next move?" I asked quietly.

"Well, I'm trying to figure that out really. I mean we don't really know that much. We can maybe assume she's in the states but we can't be positive because there's no way to track her. We also know she's alone for now, she's pregnant-" he stopped short and I could immediately tell that he had an idea.

"What about that, Max? What does that mean?"

"I think we should take that trip you mentioned. Eric could do with some company again."

Grams POV

Allison was ill and Simon was gone for the weekend with Carly. She'd stopped her shifts much earlier than anticipated and was now staying in bed. She insisted it was a cold or the flu, nothing awful but I worried it was nothing of the sort. She'd been slowing down considerably over the past month and Simon and I had definitely noticed. I'd tasked Simon with telling her to take it easy but she was stubborn as they came. How someone so sweet and soft-spoken could be so headstrong I had no clue, but she'd been determined to stay working until she'd literally collapsed trying to get out of bed. She'd been weak and nauseated and had thrown-up anything other than soup. I'd confined her to her room and refused to let her do anything until Simon got back today. I'd called to ask him about the severity and he'd assured me that keeping her in bed was the best course of action until he got back and could assess her state.

I heard the apartment door open as I was doing the dishes and could tell Simon was back by the thud of his backpack hitting the floor. I got up from my chair as Simon rounded the corner to the living area, cleaning his glasses and then placing them back.

"You're back early," I commented.

"Carly and I broke up," he said dismissively, "How is she?"

"I don't know; she's eating a little but she's still in an awful state. Are you sure we shouldn't take her into the hospital?"

"I'll check but there's no reason to panic, it could even just be a really bad bout of morning sickness," he said calmly, leaving to climb the stairs to see Allison.

I couldn't make those two out. They seemed to be getting along well enough during their time together in the stores, but there was still a tension between them I couldn't quite figure out. I'd be lying if I didn't entertain the idea of getting the two together. She was younger than him, no doubt, but she was mature beyond her years, and so sweet and loving. She was a match for Simon's wit and though he would never admit it to himself, Simon was falling for her, and if he wasn't already, he would. Call it intuition or the fact that I'd raised the boy, but I knew him and could read him like a book.

I went back to scrubbing at the dishes, trying to listen for any bit of conversation from Simon's room but no such luck. I wished for her sake that the rest of her pregnancy would go smoothly and be over quickly. She was family now after all.

Allison POV

I was startle from my reading by Simon coming into the room. "You're back early," I said softly.

"Well I wasn't going to waste any time in coming back to say 'I told you so'," he said, irritation coloring his tone. "What were you thinking?" he asked with rebuke, as he began rolling up his sleeves. "I told you to slow down."

"I'm fine, really, it's probably just a cold or the flu," I said with as much energy as I could muster. In truth, I knew it wasn't. It had come on so suddenly during the past few days that it wasn't natural. I'd had sudden and crippling fatigue, I'd been vomiting and felt nauseated non-stop. Grams fed me soup which was all I could keep down but none of it was helping me. I could almost feel my children siphoning off of me, stealing the nutrients my body needed, sucking all the energy I had to give. It was frightening and my body was rebelling against itself not knowing how to get rid of what it deemed a parasite. The past few times it had even rejected the soup. Of course, Simon or any other doctor couldn't know any of this. It would be lunacy to them.

I was startled as Simon put his hand on my forehead and pulled back reflexively but he followed my moment undeterred and then grabbed the thermometer from the side-table. "You're not showing an awful fever from what I can tell, but you're sweating," he said more to himself than me. "Use this," he said handing me the thermometer.

"It was 99 yesterday, it's just a-"

"Just do it," he said brusquely.

I complied and handed it back the moment it beeped. He frowned.

He took my hand and searched my wrist for a pulse and checked his watch to time it.

"Simon, this is completely unnecessary, just-" I tried to persuade him attempting to tug my wrist away, not liking how much attention he was showing.

"Indulge me," he snapped not letting me budge, "I don't like you making light of this, Allison, this is serious."

I didn't respond but laid silent as he timed me for fifteen seconds, which might as well have been fifteen minutes for how long it seemed to take. "Your heart rate is up quite a bit," he stated, breaking the silence, "but it's nothing out of the ordinary."

I wanted to say 'I told you so' but I was too wary of what he might do or say next. He was still holding onto my wrist and I carefully pulled back my hand, thankful that he let go this time, and cradled it to my chest.

"I'm taking you to the clinic," he said with finality.

"I-" I tried to interject.

"No arguments," he said cutting me off as he got out his phone to look up the number, "Don't move," he said walking out of the room.

I covered my face with my hands; why was he so invested? He was supposed to not care, he was supposed to hate me, yet he'd stuck to neither of those. Why couldn't I get him to stop? I'd tried to warm up thinking he maybe only liked the challenge but that had only encouraged him. I'd tried distancing myself but he refused to let me. Why was he paying me any mind? What was I doing wrong?

Simon POV

The weekend with Carly had gone about as well as expected. What I hadn't told anyone is that though we'd excitedly booked it in advance, as it drew closer we became less and less enthused about going. We'd tried to have fun but had mutually ending the relationship by the end of it. I personally had been relieved. I hadn't realized how much of a charade it had been for my roommates until that weekend. Then Grams had called about Allison and I had my out. We both had packed up early and I'd dropped Carly off on the way home.

They had an appointment open tomorrow which I quickly took. I made my way to the kitchen, passing Grams who was opening a can of soup for Allison.

"How is she?"

I sighed, "I don't know. What I can measure is not giving me a lot of answers and most of it is conflicting. I made her an appointment at the clinic."

"But how is she doing?" she said turning up the heat on the stove.

"She's determined to not be sick but I've never seen her looking worse. She continues to reject my help which is always irritating," I said feeling defeated. "What am I doing wrong? I'm just so frustrated with her not letting me do anything for her. I just want us to be friends but she seems to wish we were still strangers."

She came and put her arm around me comfortingly, "She's scared, Simon," Grams said gently.

"Of me?"

"Of anyone who concerns themselves with her."

"But, why? Is she just that independent? That doesn't seem like her," I said in confusion.

"My guess, and it's a guess mind you," Grams said, "Is that she's been betrayed before. She's probably taking every precaution to never allow it again. And what is her solution?"

"Trust no one," I completed her thought. "But she trusts you."

"I hate to say it, Simon, but I don't pose as much of a threat to her as you, and it took her long enough with me."

That made everything click. Why she was scared of me, why she was so nervous, why she wouldn't trust. Her PTSD. Grams' insight was almost a bit too incisive, for by making everything clear, it hurt all the more. "But how do I change that?"

"Continue to give her every reason to trust you, and if you do betray her trust, acknowledge and fix it. That's all you can do. Just continue to extend the olive branch."

"Since when did you become such an expert, Grams?" I said grudgingly.

"I've been around a bit longer than you," she teased back, "Why don't you take her this soup?"

Allison POV

I looked up again as Simon reentered the room ready to play nice until I saw that he was holding a bowl of soup. I went on immediate alert. He sat on the edge of the bed by me and held out the bowl to me.

"You should eat something," he said.

"I can't keep anything down anymore, it's pointless," I said my stomach giving a well-timed growl.

"You should at least try. It's just broth, so it should stay down, if it doesn't we have other problems on our hands."

I reluctantly took the bowl and started sipping it as we sat in silence. I didn't really want to start any conversation that would make him stay longer but I was determined to be civil. He thankfully saved me the trouble.

"I've been meaning to ask if you've thought of any names," he said.

"Well, I've come up with quite a few. I'm working on organizing them into good first and middle name pairs."

"Are you hoping for anything in particular? Identical, fraternal, boys, girls?"

"I'm preparing for any combination. Two girl names, two boy names, so we'll see I guess." That is if I lived to name them, or if they lived as well. How could they not though, when they were being strengthened everyday by the energy they siphoned off of me. I'd make a note with the names I guess, to be opened in case of my death. I shuddered a little at that. I didn't want to die, especially knowing how agonizing it was going to be based on my current state. But I also wanted with all of my being to never be Eric's captive again. It was a rock and a hard place to be sure, but I'd made my decision. There seemed to be no going back.

"Alice, did you hear me?" Simon asked in concern, startling me out of my thoughts. I felt my face heat in embarrassment.

"No, I'm sorry, I got caught up in my thoughts. What was the question?"

"I just asked about the names. I could definitely recommend 'Simon' it's served me quite well," he said with a teasing smile.

"No, you're going to have wait like everyone else," I answered looking down at my hands. Then nausea came over me like a punch in the gut. Not now, I thought to myself, throw up when Simon's gone. My body, of course, paid no heed. I reached down for the trash can that was by the bedside and dry-heaved, trying to throw up what little I'd just eaten. I suddenly felt Simon's hands gently gather my hair away from my face as I retched. It was embarrassing to be certain but all the pain made it hard to care in the moment.

Simon POV

As soon as I saw her go for the garbage can, college instinct kicked in. I carefully gathered her hair away from her face as I had for a few girls in my early college days. It took her a few minutes to settle and she ended up keeping the broth down, but it was obviously a struggle. She pulled away arching her back so her hair slid out of my hands before going limp with exhaustion. I moved to catch her but she shrugged my hand off and laid back down herself, panting with the exertion and pain. I tried not to let it phase me and gently smoothed her hair away from her face feeling her flinch away as I did so.

"Hey, it's fine, it's just me," I said gently, "I'm going to get you a cold cloth real quick, okay?"

She only gave a small moan in response and as she turned away I thought I caught a glimpse of a bruise on her neck, but it was so faint I could be mistaken.

As soon as I got outside the room I sighed, taking off my glasses and rubbing the bridge of my nose before replacing them. I couldn't win with her. Everything I did was something for her to avoid and shy from no matter how harmless. It was getting more noticeable and intentional. The few seconds she had let me take her pulse had been the longest contact she'd probably ever allowed me and she'd still been resistant. I just had to stay persistent in showing her I meant no harm, but how long would it take for her to trust me?

A/N: Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading the chapter. I'm currently living abroad and the wifi only works like 40% of the time at best and so while my netflix buffers for the 16,000,000th time I'm left with no choice but to occupy myself by writing. So you're getting much more consistent updates and you can thank sketchy wifi for that. Idk I really hope you are enjoying the story, I know it seems like it's taking a super long and random detour but I PROMISE it all has a very specific purpose but it needs a lot of time to develop. TRUST ME PLEASE?! Idk I'm just really worried cuz this story isn't getting as much traffic or feedback as the first part did...I'm paranoid though. BUT DON'T THINK IT MEANS I DON'T APPRECIATE YOU PEOPLE THAT ARE HERE CUZ I LOVE YOU SO SO MUCH OKAY? I DON'T WANT TO APPEAR UNGRATEFUL IN ANY WAY. Sorry, that was weird and rant-y and if you actually read it all I love you even more (shhh don't tell the other readers). Okay byyeee idk why I wrote this note. -allisonfreedman