The Truth Will set you Free or Crush You

Audrey woke, bolted from her bed, and emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet. Wiping her mouth, she got to her feet flushing the toilet before finishing washing up.

Leaning against the door frame, she wondered what bus had hit her. She refused to call into work sick two days in a row, though she still felt like crap. The only thing she could compare it to was the morning following the night she'd graduated from academy and gone on a bar crawl with her roommate.

Grabbing a handful of soda crackers, she finished getting ready. She headed out the door, deciding it was definitely time to stop eating cupcakes for breakfast. Leaving her car keys in her pocket, she chose to walk because her jeans were fitting a little tighter today. She checked her watch, and found she had time to make one stop before going to work. She should make sure there was nothing wrong with her; she couldn't afford to get sick.

Nathan sat as his desk staring at the wooden surface, hating what was happening but knowing there was nothing he could do. Before work he'd stopped by the Haven Herald to talk to the brothers. They had been surprisingly helpful, confirming that the same thing had happened over and over again with no pattern to the occurrences other than the deaths. The only difference was that this time it had been the mayor. He'd been murdered by his jealous wife.

The file spread across his desk made him want to throw up. Dave and Vince had tracked this - the light and subsequent phenomena - since they took possession of the Herald in the late forties.

There were names and dates of the Guardians deaths, and then about two months later the death of the heir's mothers. It had not been obvious at first, but over time the Teagues had been able to link the births within the next month when the child, now all grown up, died just before the light appeared once more.

There were too many connections to say this was a coincidence. Worst of all, his name was present on the list and now Audrey would pay for it.

The last time the light had appeared was thirty-five years ago, just after the head of the chamber of commerce died and about two months later he'd been born. Apparently, his fate had been sealed, the old woman had done something to Audrey last night, and if the pattern held true Audrey would give birth to his child in within the next two months.

The problem was according to the file none of the mothers survived the birth. That was going to change. There was no way he would let Audrey die.

Casting a glance at Audrey, he saw dark circles under her eyes and he knew. He had held out some small hope he was wrong, that last night hadn't happened.

Swallowing he drew a breath. "How are you feeling today?"

Audrey got to her feet. "Fine, I guess, just tired." Her lips curled into a smile, but it never reached her eyes.

Crossing to stand in front of her, Nathan laid his hands on her shoulders and fought not pull back at the potency of the warmth radiating off her. "No, you're not fine. What's wrong? Talk to me." She needed the contact as much as he did; it seemed to steady her. He could feel her heartbeat slowing as his fingers brushed the pulse in her neck.

Audrey was surprised by the intensity of Nathan's emotions, but she didn't step away. She had never seen him like this. She also knew she owed him the truth, no matter how insane it was. And she knew he would believe her; this was Haven. The two of them had seen enough strange things to know life here was anything but normal.

"I'm pregnant. Julia could hear a heartbeat. That means I'm over ten weeks." The words tumble out almost falling over one another. It felt good to tell someone else, to share this insane news. It made her feel like she wasn't entirely crazy.

Nathan flinched and took a step back, dropping his hands limply. He opened his mouth and closed it a few time before managing to get the words out.

"What are you going to do?"

Audrey shrugged. "I have no idea. Women have been doing this for years, though may be not quite this way."

Her words chilled him. "What do you mean, 'not quite this way'?"

"I haven't been with anyone the whole time I've been here. There's no way I could be that far along. I know this is Haven, but this takes the prize." Audrey laid her hand on his chest; touching him helped ground her in the midst of this crazy day. She was so tired of fighting this thing between them – whatever it was, she stepped closer, craving the feel his arms around her. Something had changed in the past few days, she couldn't put it in words but she did want things to go back to what they had been.

But Nathan stepped back and gestured with his chin outside the office window. "This isn't the place to be talking about this." Everyone suddenly turned and tried to look busy but Audrey knew they had been watching.

"Let's talk about this somewhere else where we don't have an audience."

As he grabbed his coat, Nathan offered his hand to Audrey, pausing only to grab the file off him desk. She took it, allowing him to lead her out into the fall sunshine. Moving on autopilot, she climbed into the truck when Nathan opened the passenger door, not even protesting when he helped her inside before crossing over to the driver's door.

They drove for a few minutes. Audrey wondered if Nathan had a destination in mind, when he turned around and headed out of town. A few minutes later they arrived at the cliff edge where they met all those months ago.

For a few minutes they sat there in silence, staring out over the ocean. Reaching out, she took his hand wrapping hers around it. She needed to feel him, to tell herself that this was real. Outside she could hear the surf, and it made her remember that this was Nathan, and as long as he was here, she could make it through anything. She needed him to know that.

"What does this mean?" She asked at the same time he said, "Where do we go from here?"

Nathan squeezed her hand. "What do you want this to mean?"

Finally he looked at her and she wasn't sure how to interpret his expression. "I don't know. All I know is that I have a person growing inside me and I have haven't done any of the necessary actions for that to occur. For all I know it could be yours."

Audrey knew as soon as she said the words that she'd hurt him. Reaching out, she touched his cheek.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that.

"It gets stranger." Nathan's voice was rough. "Should have told you a long time ago.I feel your touch. Only you. Your fingers on my cheek, your arm where it brushes my chest."

"That's…" Audrey trailed off because she didn't know how to respond.

"I don't want to lose you." Nathan said it almost shyly.

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere. I'm just pregnant."

"No, you don't understand; this child is mine. Last night there was an old woman. She said we had been chosen, what that means I have no idea." He closed his eyes reaching for her hand. "You conceived last night at the homestead and the pregnancy will be over in less than two months. It's happened before; the Teagues were unusually forthcoming. Even gave me this file."

"Whoa there tiger, who says this is your baby?"

He opened his eyes to look at Audrey. "Sometimes you just know, Audrey. I know this baby is mine."

Audrey dropped her eyes and asked him with a teasing, nervous tone. "So you're telling me that last night you took me up to the homestead to get me pregnant?"

"No, that's not it at all. I had no idea what that light meant. That story I told you last night about the Guardian? It's true. The light has show up for as long as anyone can remember, the deaths too. It all seems to be connected." He ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated. "I understand if you never want to see me again, but-" He passed the file over. "I don't see any other possibility. This is my child and it will kill you."

Audrey grabbed his face between her hands, forcing him to meet her eyes. "Hey, I just told you, I'm not going anywhere. Just give me a few minutes to process all this," she told him as she took the file. "I don't care what's happened before. Those other women aren't me. Now give me a few minutes to read this over before you fall on your sword."

Fifteen minutes later, Audrey's mind was spinning from the information contained in Nathan's file. Without a doubt she had a time bomb ticking inside her, but there was no way she could kill this child, no matter what might happen to her. There had to be a way to make sure both of them lived.

She looked over at Nathan whose shoulders were slumped as he stared out over the cliff-edge, his hands resting on the wheel. She could feel the guilt coming off him in waves but as unsure as she felt about these events, Audrey knew this wasn't his fault.

She could feel the distance growing between them, felt he was slipping away. Audrey needed to make sure he knew she didn't blame him; she couldn't lose him, especially not now..

Reaching out, she took his hand. "We'll get through this. Together. Let's go talk to Julia. She might have suggestions, information that can help keep both of us safe.

He looked down at their linked hands, but still didn't move she made the first move.

She started to pull away, but Nathan relaxed and wrapped his arms around her and she knew things would be all right.

There are two more chapters posted on my site if you would like to check them out Google my penname and you will find me. I love to hear from you whether you liked it or loved it. :0P

I have also posted the first chapter of an original novel on fictionpress under the same penname if you would like to check that out as well. If there is enough interest I will post more.

Also I have published two original pieces of work on Kindle you can find a link to them on my website as well.