Author's Note: Hey guys! It's time for the next update and I hope you're all excited to read what's going to happen next. So, without further ado, here's the next chapter to An Unsaintly Switch.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers, any of its characters, or any of its series. The main idea for this story came from a 2009-2010 storyline of Days of our Lives so the entire plot doesn't belong to me. But, all of the made up character names, places, and details in this story all belong to me!
Beautiful Nightmare
Kimberly opened her eyes and was surprised to find herself lying alone in the safe house. She sat up slowly, stretching her arms above her head, as she released a small yawn. She then looked around the room and was still surprised to find herself lying alone in the room. She tuned into her surroundings, hoping to hear the sounds of the shower running in the bathroom, but when she was answered with nothing but the sound of the vents circulating heat into the room, she grew worried.
"Tommy?" she called out. When she received no reply, she really began to worry.
Kimberly pushed the blankets she was under off herself before sliding out of bed and slowly waddling over to the dresser. She dressed herself as quickly as possible and turned her attention to the coffee table. Tommy's cell phone was nowhere in sight, nor was his duffle bag. Could he have left without telling her?
Growing even more worried by the second, Kimberly quickly made her way into the kitchen and looked around on the counter for any signs of a note. When she found none, her worry had peaked. Something wasn't right. She snatched the keys from the hook by the door and exited the safe house. She had to find one of the nuns and figure out what was going on.
As she entered the stairwell that led to the underground tunnel, she suddenly felt her body growing cold. She shivered as she reached the last step and she shivered even more at the never ending darkness that greeted her. Had the lights gone out or something? The only sources of light were two small red dots on the ceiling from the two deactivated emergency lights. That answered one question. The power hadn't gone off, the lights just weren't on.
Kimberly scooted as far as she could until her right hand was touching the right wall. She then closed her eyes to escape the darkness she was in and began to feel her way down the hallway. She felt like she'd been walking in darkness forever until finally, her hand reached an empty space. She'd made it to the stairwell on the opposite end of the hallway. Kimberly smiled as she opened her eyes and looked up into the empty space. She could see light peeking from underneath a closed door at the top of the stairs. She carefully made her way up and through the door, but what met her on the other side made her want to run back into the dark hall she'd just come from.
The beautiful church that usually greeted her on the other side of the door was nowhere in sight. Kimberly found herself standing in the middle of a cornfield that was engulfed in fire.
"What's going on?" she said in fear. "Where's the convent? Where's Sister Teresa? Where's Tommy!"
Suddenly desiring to return to the safe house, Kimberly turned around and made her way back down the steps. She mentally prepared herself to enter the darkness, but she stopped when she realized that the lights in the hallway had come on. They were flickering, nonetheless, but they were on, which mean she wouldn't have to walk through the darkness. Kimberly smiled happily as she made her way back down the hallway and up the stairs that led to the hallway of the safe house apartments. She smiled when she spotted Tommy's bag lying, abandoned, near the door of the safe house. Kimberly sighed in relief as she opened the door, but what greeted her made her gasp in shock. Kimberly found herself staring into the main hallway of her and Collin's home back in Angel Grove. The main stair case was right in front of her littered with empty boxes and a few of Jacob's toys.
"Okay." Kimberly said raising an eyebrow. "Now, I'm almost positive that I'm dreaming."
"Are you sure about that?" a familiar, chilling voice came. The voice made Kimberly's eyes widen as she released a gasp of shock. Her body suddenly felt colder than it had when she'd walked down that corridor earlier. She was completely terrified of the voice.
"It can't be…" she whispered. "It… just isn't possible."
"Turn around Kimmie." The voice laughed.
Kimberly slowly turned around and felt her knees beginning to shake beneath her. There, in the doorway of her home was Lord Zedd standing proudly with his staff firmly within his grasp. "It's been a long time hasn't it Pink Ranger?"
Kimberly began to panic. This just couldn't be happening. Zedd was supposed to have been destroyed two years ago. He couldn't be standing right before her alive looking even more evil than she could remember.
"How… is this possible?" she managed to mutter.
"Foolish girl. Did you honestly think you could escape me? You can't escape me just like you'll never escape Zeke. For he and I will always find you."
"How do you know about Zeke?" Kimberly demanded as she clenched her hands into fists at her sides.
"I know everything there is to know!" his voiced boomed in its hoarse cackle. "You may be able to run Kimmie, but you'll never be able to hide. That foolish bodyguard of yours really thought he could protect you. You were a fool to put your lives in the hands of a liar."
"What?" Kimberly said feeling something inside of her snap. "What did you do to Tommy? Where is he!"
Zedd released a roar of laughter before aiming his staff at the staircase. Kimberly screamed as the stair case burst into splinters beside her. She stumbled back as she protectively covered her womb. If there was one thing she was sure of, it was that she was going to protect her child from Zedd. Her thoughts turned away from her baby as she spotted the most horrific thing she'd ever seen. Tommy was lying in a heap on the floor where the staircase had been moments before. He had been badly burned and there was blood everywhere around him that was spilling from several gunshot wounds on his body. His eyes were open, frozen with fear as he stared aimlessly towards her. His skin was pale beneath the various amounts of blood and wounds that covered him. His chest wasn't rising. He was dead.
"Tommy!" she shouted as tears began falling from her eyes. She felt herself caving in as she cried out in distress. This couldn't be happening. He couldn't be dead. He was supposed to always be there for her, protecting her from any harm and danger that dare fall upon her. Yet, there he was right before her eyes, lying in a pool of blood.
"Lord Zedd." Another familiar voice came.
Kimberly looked up and began shaking with fear as Zeke appeared behind Tommy, holding the same gun she'd seen him murder her neighbor with months earlier.
"May I have my revenge?" Zeke said as his lips curved into an evil snarl.
Lord Zedd's laughter roared throughout the house as he turned and exited through the door. "Do as you wish." He commanded. "And be careful not to make too much of a mess."
Zedd disappeared leaving Zeke alone with Kimberly, her unborn child, and Tommy's corpse. Kimberly began to back away from him slowly as he smirked. He began walking towards her as he loaded his gun. He was ready to make his assault. Kimberly's back suddenly met with the wall and she silently cursed herself. What she wouldn't give to be able to morph again. She'd be able to kick Zeke's ass without breaking a nail. However, given the fact that she was pregnant and that she'd passed her powers on to Cassie four years ago, that wasn't going to be happening.
Kimberly began trembling with fear as Zeke closed the space in between them. She swallowed hard as he licked his lips with satisfaction.
"You made a big mistake turning me in." he said. "Every damn cop in the state has my name and face now. And it's all your fault. Tell me Kimberly… what do you think I should do to you?"
"Please…" she whispered. "Please let me go! I'll clear your name if you do! I'll say that I lied and made the whole thing up!"
"Not gonna happen. You see, your dear friend Adam found my mole in the department. He knows everything about me and he knows good and well that I'm after you."
Kimberly began sobbing as she continued to plead with Zeke. However, the minute the barrel of his gone touched her stomach, all tears ceased. She was then greeted by an agonizing pain in her abdomen. The shots rang off the surrounding walls as her body lifelessly sank down to its knees. She then rolled onto her side as everything faded to black.
As she lay there in darkness, Kimberly could suddenly hear someone calling out to her in the distance. She opened her eyes and was greeted by endless darkness. This time, there were no little red lights to ensure her that she was somewhere she could get out of. Now, she was floating in an endless void of nothing with pain filling every fiber of her being. Kimberly suddenly gasped as her hands went to her stomach. Blood stuck to her fingers at the touch which brought tears to her eyes. Zeke had killed her baby. She was dead and so was her baby. She couldn't protect her baby and Tommy couldn't protect her.
Kimberly broke down crying as an indescribable feeling of loss swept over her. This couldn't be happening. She couldn't have lost her baby. She was supposed to have been safe. Tommy promised her that everything would be fine.
Kimberly gasped as the voice called out to her again. Suddenly, a white light broke through the darkness and began shining in the distance. Kimberly stared at the light as her tears reduced to mere streams. She suddenly felt something solid beneath her like a floor. She pushed herself, weakly, onto her feet as the voice called out to her again. The voice was coming from the light. She'd always heard people speaking about that light at the end of the tunnel that will always pull you out of darkness. If that light meant she was no longer going to have deal with the pain of losing her baby, then she was going towards it. Suddenly feeling lighter, Kimberly began running towards the light as the voice called out to her again. The closer she got the voice, the more familiar it began to sound. Suddenly, she'd reached the light and she ran through it without any hesitations.
When the white light faded away, Kimberly was greeted by a dark room and a glowing blue light. She also felt like she'd put on some extra weight. She clenched her eyes shut, fearful of the darkness she was in, and she began to scream. Suddenly, the voice that had been calling out to her earlier was calling out to her again. Only this time, she could feel a set of strong hands on her shoulders.
"Kimberly!" the voice shouted. "Kimberly wake up! Come on! Wake up!"
Wake up? Kimberly suddenly remembered her thoughts when she'd entered the corridor of her house earlier. She remembered acknowledging that she was dreaming. It was all a dream and she'd forgotten. The sight of Zedd had scared her into believing that her nightmare was real. So, if she was dreaming, none of what happened had happened. She was alive, her child was alive, and… Tommy!
Kimberly's eyes shot open and she was met with the eyes of a terrified Tommy. She pushed herself upright on the bed as she began to catch her breath. Tommy's hands released her shoulders as one began to stroke her back comfortingly. She was finally awake.
"Kim?" he said after a few seconds of her heavy breathing. "Are you alright?"
Kimberly broke down in tears before throwing her arms around Tommy's neck, squeezing him to her in a tight hug. Tommy held onto her, rocking her gently as he whispered soothing words to her.
"It was a nightmare Kim…" he said. "It wasn't real."
"He killed you…" she managed to say through choked sobs. "Zedd let Zeke kill you… and then he killed me and my baby!"
Kimberly's cries worsened as Tommy tried to soothe her. "Kimberly, I'm fine. Look at me. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere. Zeke isn't here and I won't let him hurt you or your baby. I promised that I'd protect you and I never break a promise. Now… who's Zedd?"
Kimberly's eyes widened. Had she really brought him up?
"Did I say Zedd?"
"Yeah. You said Zedd let Zeke kill you. Who is he?"
"A… guy from my past."
"You don't pick the best guys to associate with do you?" Tommy said jokingly.
Kimberly managed to laugh as she wiped away her remaining tears. "Guess not. And I didn't pick Zedd, he was always after me. But he isn't important."
"Do you wanna talk about your nightmare?" he asked. "You nearly gave me a heart attack when you shouted my name out of nowhere."
Kimberly looked down at the sheets. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."
"I'm glad you did because who knows what could've happen had I not tried to wake you up. You sleep like a mummy, you know that?"
Kimberly smiled as she placed a hand on his knees. "You look tired." She commented as he stared back at her with heavy eyelids.
"Well, it is three in the morning."
"Why don't you go to sleep?" she said sadly as she looked down at the sheets.
"After that dream you just had? I don't think so. I'm gonna stay up till you fall back asleep."
Kimberly shrugged as she lied down and pulled the covers back over her. She stared at the white wall in front of her as fear slowly began to creep up on her.
"You know Tommy? You can… lie down here if you'd like. Who knows? I may just have another nightmare again, and it would be comforting to have you here to wake me out of it."
Kimberly lay there waiting for a reply. When she received none, she grew worried. Perhaps she'd said the wrong thing? Turning over to find out why he hadn't answered, she giggled. Tommy had fallen asleep as soon as she'd turned over. He was sitting upright as though he was on guard duty, but his eyes were shut tightly as he snored softly.
Sitting up carefully so she wouldn't wake him, she gently pushed him down onto the mattress so his head could rest on the extra pillow on her bed. She then draped the comforter over him to keep him covered.
"Goodnight Tommy." She whispered before lying down to attempt to sleep once again.
Author's Note: And so ends another chapter! I hope you all liked it! The next one is coming soon, so leave a review and sit tight until the next update is in your e-mail inboxes!
