Chapter 8: Revelations and Nightmares

Anne's POV

We kept following Clem when I wanted to ask Chris something.

"Baby?" I asked him and he looked at me.

"Yeah?" He replied.

"When Carver was at the cabin, he mentioned you had blood red eyes. Is it true?" I asked him.

He slowed his pace and so did I.

"If I show you my eyes, promise me you won't make fun of them." He said. "I promise." I said.

He then removed his sunglasses and showed me his eyes. "They're beautiful." I said. "Thanks." He said.

We then looked to see Clem stray from the path.

"Go on ahead, sweetie. I'll ask Emmy to keep me company." He told me, his voice cracking, and I figured he wanted to cry. Emily came over to his side as I walked over to Clem.

Chris's POV

As Emmy came to my side, she could see the sadness in my eyes and opened her arms. I fell into them and started sobbing. She knew I wasn't crying about Coleen, but my past.

"It's okay, bro. Let it out." I heard her say and I obliged. I knew I wouldn't be able to show Anne my eyes without crying.

"I knew it would happen if I showed her." I managed to say through sobs.

"Let me call for Tess." She said and I nodded my head.

"Tess, can you come over here real quick?" She asked and I heard Tess approaching. She didn't have to ask why I was crying. She just embraced me.

"Every fucking night I wake up remembering how bad it was for me, Tessie. I can still hear their voices to this day." I said as I kept crying into her chest.

"Shh, shh. I'm here." She said as I wrapped around her tighter.

"I don't know why I can't show them without bursting to tears." I said.

"They're not gonna hurt you, Chris. Anne, Emmy, and I are here for you." She told me. "I know. It still hurts so much to think about what they did to me." I said.

"Chris? Are you alright?" I heard Sarah ask me.

"No, Sarah. He isn't." Tess replied, since I was in no condition to talk.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"If we tell you, promise us you won't say a thing to anyone." Emily said. "I promise." Sarah said. "If something's wrong with him, we all deserve to know." Carlos said. "Okay. But none of this goes back to Anne. Clear?" Tess asked, and everyone nodded their heads.

"It's about Chris's eyes. They're blood red." Tess said and Rebecca went wide eyed.

"Carver mentioned that." She said.

"Yes. And because of his eye color, he was constantly attacked by bullies. Only Emily and I were there to protect him at school. He would tell our parents, but Carver never believed him. My mom did and always did what she could to comfort him. One day, Emily and I weren't there for him and he was viciously attacked. He had to go to the ER one day. He nearly died, and would have if paramedics hadn't arrived." Tess said. I looked at everyone to see they had looks of horror on their faces.

"We were so scared that he wasn't gonna make it. But we were so relieved when we found out he was gonna be alright. Tess, Coleen, and I ran into the room to see him. We were so happy when he smiled at us. After that day, he wore his sunglasses and always refused to take them off. After a couple of days, the teachers all stopped trying to get him to take them off." Emily added.

Sarah walked over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'm so sorry to hear that." She said.

"Yeah. No one should have to deal with that kind of abuse." Luke said.

"Thanks, guys. You have no idea how good that makes me feel." I said as Anne and Clem were coming back. Nick had a devastated look on his face. We all walked over and saw Pete's corpse.

Jesus...

"I'm so sorry, Nick." Tess said as he hugged her.

We all kept walking after that.

Anne's POV

I looked at Chris and saw he looked a little down. So I decided to surprise him and kiss him to try and make him feel better. At first he blushed, but then he smiled and kissed me right back.

"Mission accomplished." I thought to myself.

"Hey, Chris, can we talk to you for a sec?" Nick called for him and I pouted as he walked over to them. I walked over to a tree to wait for him so we could kiss again. Suddenly, I felt something wrap around my ankle, then the next thing I know, I ended up hanging upside down, screaming.

"GAH! GODDAMN IT! WHAT THE FUCK! WHY AM I STUCK ON THIS GODDAMN TREE?!" I furiously asked.

Chris's POV

I looked at Tess with shock. "When the fuck did this happen?" I asked after seeing the positive pregnancy test.

"Not long after Carlos and all them arrived at Howe's." She replied.

I then turned my eyes to glare at Nick. "What the fuck were you-?" I started when I heard Anne screaming.

I went wide eyed and ran back to where she was when I looked up and laughed.

"Just hanging out, baby?" I joked, making everyone laugh.

"Very funny… Now GET ME DOWN!" She demanded.

"Okay. But remember you asked for it. Emily, I'll cut her down and you catch her." I said then climbed to the where Anne was hanging. Emily walked underneath Anne and I cut her down.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" I heard Anne scream as Emily held held arms open for her. She fell right into her arms, but they both still fell to the ground. I climbed down as Tess helped them both to their feet. After that little fun was over, we decided to keep moving.

Anne's POV

After a few more hours, I looked up to see it was getting dark.

"We should stop for the night." I said.

"I'm with Anne. I need to rest." Bec agreed. Carlos looked hesitant, but Luke spoke up.

"Alright. You guys get some rest. I'll take watch." He said.

"You sure, Luke?" Chris asked. "I'm sure, man." Luke replied. Chris just shrugged and set up his sleeping bag next to mine. I lay still in my sleeping bag for a few minutes. Then I felt my eye start to droop and then fell asleep.

I heard what sounded like waves crashing which told me I was near water. I then heard chuckling and turned around. I saw the kids that bullied me were forcing me towards the cliff. "Please, don't do this." I pleaded, to no avail.

"We just want to have a little fun, Cyclops." One of them said as four of them grabbed my arms and legs.

"NO! PLEASE! DON'T DO THIS!" I screamed, but they threw me over the edge. I screamed as I fell.

"NOOOOOO!" I screamed, hyperventilating as I woke up.

"Baby?" Chris asked me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Just had a nightmare, that's all." I told him.

"Talk to me about it in the morning, okay?" He asked and I nodded my head.

"Could I crawl into your sleeping bag with you?" I asked him and he smiled.

"Of course." He replied and I crawled out of my sleeping bag and into his. We placed our arms around each other and fell asleep.

That's chapter eight. Review and I'll post more chapters.