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Chapter 35: What Could Have Been?

Sophie's P.O.V

"You need to help us!"

"Why do we need to help you?"

"Look stop being selfish arseholes, and think for one minute of your goddamn dead life. If the devil wins all of this is all over."

"Why would the devil make us stop all this?"

"He's the devil, he's an arsehole."

Alex had had a point, a very annoying point, but one we couldn't ignore and that's how one minute the four of us had been standing before the devil himself and then suddenly I was waking up alone and in a very familiar setting. The oil lamps alone gave it away this was the house, my house that I had called home five hundred and twenty two years ago, where my sisters and I would play silly little games while my mother cleaned and my father and brother were out working. It was like waking up from a bizarre dream, but I knew everything had actually happened where I was now had to be an illusion of some kind, it couldn't be happening for real and yet it felt as real as anything I had experienced in life.

"Sophie, come on we need to get going." My sister voice rang out, it was the youngest of my sisters Isabella who was running over to me a large smile plastered on her face as she took my arm and began to pull me towards the door. This must have been the day we'd gone to the markets in search of some interesting things to buy; a new dress, or some small piece of furniture that would be utterly useless but would brighten the room. This was the day I first saw Hal, the day we first spoke to one another.

"Where do you think you are going?" boomed my father's voice as he walked inside the house, no doubt he had been preparing firewood to stoke the fire with. He had been a kind father to us all, but he had a mean streak and this is ultimately why I chose the life I lead. He'd despised Hal, the son of an unknown whore made him not the ideal husband a father would choose for his daughter and when Hal had come to ask for my hand in marriage he became furious shoving Hal out of the house into the dirt, threatening him and then sending me off to a convent. If I wanted the lowest stock of all men then no man shall have me, is what he insisted as he sent me away.

"To the market papa, it's such a lovely day."

Why was I here? This wasn't real, this couldn't be real. I should be in the 21st century not the 16th century; I should be with Hal, Alex and Tom not with my family who should all be dead. I should be a vampire, I shouldn't be human. And then everything seemed to freeze as though I was watching a film and it had been paused, and there he was the devil himself.

"You can change everything; you could choose to not walk out that door, never meet Hal and live an ordinary life."

"But I can still remember everything that has happened." I questioned maybe if I changed my life I would forget, because if I did choose to live a life without Hal remembering a life with him would break my heart.

"Yes, but you'd live a normal life."

"My life wouldn't be normal without him; I'd still remember everything we did together, every moment we shared. No one would be able to replace him and I'd live a very unhappy life." I explained Hal had saved me from a dreary life, he was exciting to be around always looking for the most in life and yet father had forbidden me from seeing him all those years ago which made it so much easier to accept the life I had lived as a vampire. I couldn't see my life without Hal being much of a life at all.

"Decide; a normal life with the possibility of children or the life you have lived with Hal."

Of course he would bring that up, like many I had grown up believing that the life of a woman revolved around bringing up children and like every girl I grew up with I had dreamed up my ideal children. Back then I wouldn't have thought of a world where women had a greater role in the work space, where they could be the sole source of income for a family, but deciding to leave Hal just for the slight possibility that I could have children was idiotic. I'd be leaving behind a world where I wasn't just a second class citizen, where my opinions could be heard and maybe even taken on board.

"Fine, I'll decide." I stated finally figuring everything out in my head I knew exactly what I needed to do. The world came back to life around me as the devil disappeared. "Yes papa it's a great day and it would be spoiled by spending it indoors."

"Very well make sure to be back in time for dinner."

It didn't take long to make it to the market my sister giddily skipped along in front occasionally turning round and trying to make me skip along with her. Although it was a happy day, I'd see Hal for what would be the first time, I knew it would be the last time I would see her or the rest of my family. They'd eventually die and by my hand, I'd ask my sisters whether they wanted to join us and they'd refuse, my father was slain by Hal for sending me away and denying him marriage to me, mother had simply died of shock when she saw how much blood had been spilt in the house.

As we approached the market and we began browsing the stalls we walked passed the florist, this was it the place Hal and I had first seen each other and low and behold there he was minding his own business as he too browsed the stalls until his eyes met mine. He stopped walking and smiled making me smile before my sister dragged me over to another stall breaking our eye contact, I turned to try and see him again but more people had moved to where I had been standing. But I knew he'd appear in a moment introducing himself.

"Excuse me, my Lady but I couldn't help but notice how beautiful you are." I turned round meeting Hal who in his hand held a rose, the first rose he'd ever given me.

"Thank you sir." I accepted the rose that he held out to me as he took my other hand and placed a kiss on it.

"My name is Harry Yorke."

"Sophie Emsworth."


Author's Notes:

Hi hope you have enjoyed the last couple of chapters, the next chapter shall be the last in the series. Thank you again for all the support for this story it had kept me writing it, even if it has taken me a while to upload it, I just wanted to make sure each chapter wasn't rushed and was the best quality so that I could give you all something good to read that warranted all the support that you have given me over the years for this story. For all the regular readers thank you so much for putting up with my slow uploading process, it has meant so much to receive messages asking when the next chapter would be up, showing me how much people actually enjoy this story and I wanted to make it better and better each time I uploaded a chapter. Again thank you so much for reading this fanfiction, and I hope you have enjoyed this chapter.