Chapter 7: The Talk
(Annie's POV)
The next time I woke up I heard a baby crying. I groaned and sat up before stumbling out of the room. I was really weak and could barely walk but made it to the living room.
It was Christmas, that much was apparent. Everyone was in the living room and they were surrounding a baby.
"Geez Gabi, how much have I missed?" I choked out. My throat was dry and scratchy and it hurt to talk. Hell it hurt to do anything, I had to lean up against a wall just to remain standing.
"Annie!" She exclaimed quietly and ran over to me. She pulled me into a tight hug and I returned the favor. I could hear her crying. "I'm so glad your back."
"Hey, no crying. It's Christmas, save the tears for later. I do however want to know who that adorable little girl is over there…" I said pointing to the baby. Gabi smiled.
"That is your niece, well cousin… niece and cousin… either way you are related to her so it works." Gabi told me. My eyes widened.
"Are you serious!" I exclaimed as I slowly made my way over to where Sam was holding her. "But she is way to cute to belong to either of you!"
"Hey now!" Sam teased. I laughed a little and looked at the little girl.
"Annie, this is Ellie…" Gabi said. She was so adorable.
The moment was ruined however when Dean walked into the room. John was with him. I sucked in my breath and let the anger and tears pulse through my veins. When Dean saw me his eyes saddened. I didn't understand why… he didn't love me… why did he look so sad? Maybe he hadn't wanted me to come back…
He walked over to me and I took a step back which made me run into Sam. I turned around and apologized.
"Annie…" Dean whispered. He acted like he had missed me.
"No… please don't, I don't want to hurt over you anymore…" I whispered.
"Baby you don't have to hurt anymore… you are back! Everything can go back to how it was…" He told me softly.
"No it can't… you don't love me…" I said blankly. Everyone in the room looked at me like I was insane.
"Why do you think that?" Dean asked. He sounded hurt.
I knew the reason why. Just because Memorian took away something you desperately hoped would still be didn't mean that you would forget him and what he did to you. But I couldn't believe Dean. God knows I wanted to. But because of Memorian it was impossible.
The back of my head was screaming to just believe him. But it was almost like I was possessed again and I had no control over what I actually did or said when it came to Dean. And it was hurting him.
I felt a tear fall down my face and I looked to the ground.
"Annie… why don't you believe me?" He asked again.
"Because I don't have a choice…" I whispered. This made everyone else worry about me even more.
Gabi came over and whispered something to me. "Why don't you two go to the back or something… this sounds like personal stuff."
Dean must have heard. "I like that idea." He said. I didn't really have much to protest so I made my way back to Sam and Gabi's room with Dean close behind me.
He shut the door behind me and I sat down on the bed and brought my knees to my chest.
"What is going on? You always have a choice, why can't you believe me?" He asked.
I let myself cry into my knees. I felt like a five year old who had gotten scolded for taking a piece of candy.
"I told you…" I whispered. He kneeled down next to me and tried to take my hands. For a while I was reluctant but he wasn't giving up so I gave in.
His hands felt so good on mine, but even though I loved the feeling, I didn't believe that he did as well.
I looked up at him and into his eyes. They were so full of hurt and anger. They lacked their old sparkle and shine that I always had loved to see.
"What did they do to you?" He asked sadly. I shook my head.
"It wasn't them… it was him…" I said.
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(Dean's POV)
Some guy had done this to her? They had made her believe I didn't love her? I swear I was so angry and I wanted to kill him. But more then anything I wanted to pull her into my arms and never let go. I wanted her to know that I still loved her and I needed her. My life was literally empty without her there and I couldn't take it.
"What happened?" I asked. I tried to stay calm but it came out harsh.
"He is so evil…" She whispered. She had lost her train of thought completely and even though I shouldn't have, I used this as my chance. I brought myself to sit next to her and collected her into my arms. She settled there for a moment but then she looked up at me with her eyes wide in terror and tried to push me away.
I didn't know what was going on but I wasn't about to lose her twice. Instead of giving into her demands to let go I grabbed her small wrists and pulled her back to me.
"Don't do this to me!" She pleaded. "Please, I will get out of your life forever… just don't make me believe something that I know can't be true!"
She was trying to yell, but her voice was so far gone that it only came out in a high cracked whisper. She was shaking as I held onto her and still fighting for me to let go.
"Annie stop! Please… how can you believe that I don't love you? What did this guy do to you?" I asked. Her crying ceased and she relaxed into me a little bit but she was still shaking.
"Memorian…" She whispered. "He told me you couldn't ever love me after I had been gone so long. He told me you moved on. He told me you stopped loving me…" She said quietly.
"Why do you believe that?" I asked her sadly.
"Because he made me… he is Memorian…" She said. "He isn't human… he is a powerful evil being who takes what you are most afraid of and makes you believe it is true… He found me… and now I don't have a choice…"
Her worst fear was that I didn't love her. And now she had no choice but to believe it.
"Is there anyway to reverse this?" I asked. She nodded.
"Killing him…." She told me.
"Then that's what I have to do…" I said. She let me hold her for a little while longer before coming back to her new sense of misguided reality.
Annie pulled away from me and backed off. I clenched my jaw and tried not to cry. I needed to be strong for her. I needed to kill this thing.
"Annie, I know you don't think I love you. Now no matter how wrong that is, I just need to know if you still trust me." I told her.
"I still love you… no matter what I believe, I still love you. So I trust you." She said. One more tear fell down her grief written face.
"Good, because I am going to need your help to kill this thing…" I said. She looked up and me and smiled a little.
Her smile may have been broken, and it may not have been much, but I had missed it.
"Anything… I hate feeling like this…" She said.
"I hate seeing you like this… God I missed you so much…" I said as I tried to reach out to her. She inched back and I took a deep breath. "Right, you don't believe me, got it… Why don't we go back out with everyone else? You need to eat and I'm pretty hungry to."
She nodded and got up. She wouldn't let me help her, so she had to lean against the walls half of the time in order to stay standing. This wasn't right.
My Annie was strong, and fearless. She only cried when she was in extreme distress and handled any kind of problem well. My Annie was sarcastic and sweet. She always smiled and did what was right by everyone.
This wasn't the same girl, but somewhere in her eyes and in her smile, I found my Annie again, now I just had to get her to come out.
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(Annie's POV)
Dean was right, I did need to eat. I hadn't eaten a full meal in months. In the realm I may have had a cracker or something maybe 2 times a day… hardly enough to keep me going.
After we all ate I went to take a shower. When I got dressed I looked at myself in the mirror.
I looked like I had been on drugs or something for years. My clothes didn't fit, by eyes were red and my face was splotchy. I didn't even know myself anymore.
I was glad to be home. Gabi and I had actually gotten to talk about everything just like we used to. Things hadn't changed between us. Sam was still a sweetheart, and Ellie was adorable. You could tell that little girl ran everyone's lives. Even Deans.
But this time, I felt like the outsider. I mean I had been gone for over a year…. Everything had changed. I thought coming back would be easy, but it was one of the hardest things I had ever faced.