Chapter 48: Stay

Roughly an hour later…

After I had had another good crying session over Emily, I was physically and emotionally exhausted, and wanted nothing more than to climb into bed and pass out.

But I had wanted to get the rest of the story out, so that Zak knew everything.

The police had been able to find Emily's body, and so we were able to have a funeral and proper burial for her.

My only regret looking back, is that I was there when they pulled Emily's body from the river.

Friends and neighbours had quietly suggested to Seth that I shouldn't be there, but he either was in too much shock to realize, or simply didn't care.

After everything was over, Seth had stayed with me for a few months, but when unexplained things started happening – noises, doors opening and closing, things being moved – and I started having nightmares every night, he had had enough.

I had come home from school one day, just a few days after it had started up again in the fall, to find a woman from Child Protective Services, coming to take me to a foster home.

I was devastated, and angry.

I didn't want to leave the house I had grown up in. The house where all my memories of my parents and Emily were.

And I didn't want to leave my school and lose all my friends.

But because I was still only 14, I had no choice.

I didn't seem to have trouble getting into foster homes, like some older children did, but they never lasted.

I think the longest I was with one family was about four months.

The paranormal activity had followed me wherever I went, and at the time, I hadn't known it was Emily because she had never shown herself to me.

I figured I had lost my mind.

When I was around 16, and had been in a few foster homes up to this point, I had had enough.

The foster family I had been with at the time were awful people, how they even ended up becoming foster parents, I never knew.

They thought they were better than everyone else just because they both had good jobs, and made a fair bit of money.

They held parties constantly, where even more snobby rich people would come over, each trying to outshine everyone else.

One night, when I had decided enough was enough, I had snuck into my foster parents bedroom and stolen money from both their wallets.

Not a moment to be proud of, and even to this day, it still upsets me at times.

But I try to tell myself it worked out for the better.

I had taken enough money to get a plane ticket to Ottawa, somewhere I had always wanted to visit, online. I packed up what little I owned, then snuck out of the house and took a bus to the airport.

Upon arriving in Ottawa, I found a shelter for women who were abused and needed a place to stay until they got back on their feet.

I didn't want to lie about such a terrible thing, so I told the truth. I had no family, no home, and very little money.

Emily must have been looking over me that day, because the caretaker at the shelter, Caroline, had a heart of gold.

She said she'd let me stay in a room, for as long as I needed, as long as I enrolled in school. She also wouldn't call Child Protective Services on me.

So I enrolled in the nearby High School.

I felt I owed her some sort of compensation for her kindness, so I offered my services to help clean and care for the shelter.

I also offered babysitting services to the single mothers during the evenings and on weekends, to give them breaks and allow them to run errands, etc.

A few of them even paid me what little they could, though I insisted they didn't have to.

The paranormal activity didn't seem to be as bad while I lived at the shelter, maybe because I was in a good place.

As time went on and I had met Cheryl in school, eventually I had to fess up to how I was living, since she always wondered why she could never come over to "my house".

After telling her my story, at least parts of it, she talked to her parents and they gladly let me move in.

Now that I had a proper home, I forced myself to get a job, part time at a fast food joint, in order to start saving up money.

I knew I couldn't live with Cheryl's family forever.

Time went by, and I continued to work at the fast food joint up until I graduated High School.

After that, I took on a better paying job as a waitress at "Don Cherry's" restaurant, and worked there for a few years.

The rest, Zak already knew.

And now, for the first time in my life, someone, finally, knew everything about me.

When I had finished my tale, my voice slightly hoarse from all the talking and crying, Zak was shocked and dumbfounded.

He said that anyone who ever said I wasn't strong, was blind.

And just as I had been about to ask how he felt about it all – I was still afraid he was going to leave me – he took my hands, pulled me up from my chair, and pulled me over to sit, sideways, on his lap, and tightly wrapped his arms around me.

I had found myself with tears in my eyes again, but not tears of sadness, tears of joy.

This man now knew everything about me.

My early dealings with death, my years of not having a single person to count on, my encounters with paranormal activity, all the oddities that make me so different from most 32-year-old women.

And he was still here.

He didn't blame me, he understood, he cared, and he still wanted me in his life.

I nestled in closer to him, resting my head on his shoulder and resting one hand on his chest, and closed my eyes.

For the first time in my life, I finally felt like I had found a place where I belonged.

And that was with Zak.

Half an hour later…

I stirred slightly when I felt myself being gently laid down on a bed.

I opened my eyes, a bit sleepily, and saw Zak leaving over me.

The clock on the nightstand read 6:30am.

He smiled slightly at me when he saw me looking at him.

"Go back to sleep doll, you need to rest," Zak said softly, leaning down and gently kissed my forehead. "I'll come ba-" Zak started, but I cut him off.

"Don't leave…stay with me…" I said softly.

Zak looked shocked.

"I'm still having nightmares about Poveglia…you probably won't get much sleep if I stayed here…" Zak said softly.

I don't know how I knew it, but I felt that if he stayed with me, I would be as much of a comfort to him as he was to me.

"I want you to stay…please?" I asked softly.

Zak seemed to hesitate, glancing around the room.

I knew what he was thinking.

Where would he sleep?

"We can share the bed," I said softly.

Zak looked at me in shock again.

"Are you sure…?" Zak asked.

I nodded.

It was getting harder to keep my eyes open.

"I trust you…" I said softly.

"I don't know if I trust myself…especially with you in short shorts," Zak said with a slight smile, clearly teasing me.

I felt my face flush despite my exhaustion.

Before I could say anything else, I felt Zak kiss my forehead again.

"Let me go change into something more comfortable, I'll be right back, okay?" Zak asked.

I smiled slightly and nodded.

"Thank you…" I said, letting my eyes close.

"No problem doll," Zak said softly.

The next thing I knew, I felt slow and careful movements on the bed behind me.

I forced myself to open my eyes and looked back over my shoulder, and saw Zak lying down on his back.

He had changed his shirt and put on a pair of men's pyjama pants.

He looked tense.

"Just me," he said softly.

I smiled a bit as I turned over and then proceeded to snuggle up along side him, resting my head on his chest and wrapping an arm around him, and absentmindedly, draped one of my legs over his.

Normally I would die of embarrassment before I'd snuggle like this with a man, but I was so tired, and still felt emotional.

I needed the contact.

I needed to know Zak was there.

His entire body went ridged.

"I trust you Zak…besides…unless you want to have your way with a passed out woman, I have nothing to worry about…" I said quietly, teasing him.

Zak laughed quietly.

I felt his body start to relax, and felt his arm wrap around me as he tilted his head toward mine, lightly kissing my forehead.

"Alright, you win. There's no fun in that," Zak said quietly.

I smiled to myself and closed my eyes as Zak pulled a blanket up over us.

"But doll…if you wake up to find…'Zak Jr.' at attention, you better not blame me," Zak said slyly.

I knew he was just teasing me.

But I also knew it could be a possibility.

"Zak…" I mumbled shyly, turning my head toward his chest more to hide my face.

Zak laughed quietly and I felt him kiss my forehead again, his lips lingering for a bit against my skin.

"Sweet dreams sweetheart," Zak whispered.

I could sense he was exhausted too.

"Sweet dreams Zak," I whispered.

Authors Note: Phew! I'm so glad to have Alicia's past out in the open now. Should make for some more fun times ahead with Alicia and Zak. :)

Hope you enjoyed the update!