Beth could hear her name being said, but it was hazy.
"Come on Bethie, you need to wake up before those Dixon boys tear the house apart." Beth could've sworn that her father was the one talking. She wanted to open her eyes except it was a struggle. It was like a veil of darkness surrounded her. She started focusing on the voice talking to her and willing herself to wake up. The more she focused the more she could feel the veil lifting. A minute later Beth opened her eyes and immediately winced at their sensitivity to the light.
"There's my little goddess. I'm glad you're back to the world of the living" her father told her kindly.
"How long have I been out?" Beth felt disorientated. Between the conversation with Persephone and then waking to her concerned father she couldn't put the pieces together of what exactly happened.
"You must've had a vision, minutes after you passed out, you didn't wake up for two days. Can you stand?" her father helped pull back the comforter to assist her in sitting up.
""I think so, is Daryl downstairs?" Beth knew he would be going crazy. If roles were reversed she'd be throwing a hissy fit.
"No, I sent him and Merle to check the snares. Their energy was making the guests uncomfortable," Herschel explained.
That made sense to Beth. If she were a stranger and seeing the two rough looking men with anxiety rolling off of them she'd feel uneasy too. With that thought in mind, Beth decided it was high time to head downstairs so she could greet her boys when they came back. Her father helped her as she walked downstairs. He let her know that he was going to fetch Maggie and Otis who were with the horses so they could see her.
Not even ten seconds after her father had left the group of strangers stumbled into the living room from the kitchen. Beth was unsure of how to greet them especially since she didn't know the exact status of that little boy. She didn't want to step out of line with a callous comment. It didn't matter though because one of the two men that had radiated darkness in the clearing had shoved her against the wall, his hand curling around her throat and pointed a gun at her forehead.
"Just what the fuck are you? How'd you fix that little boy?" the man snarled.
Even if Beth had wanted to it was impossible to answer with the way he was squeezing her windpipe. The other man that had entered the clearing with him looked pleased with the confrontation, whereas the women with them didn't look so sure.
"Shane, let go of her. She saved Carl and that's all that matters" The boy's mother begged.
Beth briefly wondered why the mother was present, but the father and what she assumed was the grandfather were not.
"I'm not gonna let this bitch go until we have answers to our questions" Shane's grip tightened as he spoke to that little boy's mother.
Beth could feel her vision getting hazy and little dots started dancing around in her vision. All of a sudden Shane's grip loosened completely and Beth began greedily gasping for air. She rubbed her neck and knew without a doubt that there would be bruises later.
"You better not fucking put your hands on her again or I'll cut 'em off" Daryl threatened. Usually, Beth would tell him that threats wouldn't solve anything but she figured this man needed to be intimidated.
"I'll do what I need to do to that little bitch if it means protecting my family," That man clearly couldn't sense the dangerous territory he was treading into. Hell hounds were notoriously loyal and protective. Threatening someone they've dedicated their loyalty to was a huge mistake.
"Best listen to little brother. He won't be the only one fucking with your ugly mug if you touch the girl" Merle looked delighted in the fact he was getting a free pass on threatening the man. The more the man spoke though it became harder for Beth to conjure up any kind of sympathy for him.
The man sneered and looked like he wanted to say something else, but the little boy must've heard the commotion and came barreling down the stairs. He pushed through the little crowd gathered and even managed to slip past the Dixon brothers.
He crouched in front of Beth, "Miss, are you alright? Uncle Shane didn't hurt you did he?" The boy looked genuinely concerned his uncle had injured her in some way. While she wasn't fond of his uncle she didn't want him to worry about her retaliating either.
"I'm fine, just a misunderstanding is all. How are you feeling?" Beth usually would have just put her hand on his arm to check with a quick healing pulse, but after the last healing session she figured she should take a small break from using her magic.
"I feel tons better. What's your name and how'd you fix me up so quickly? My dad told me I was shot." The boy exuberantly questioned her.
Beth heard the front door open and the remaining members of her family entered the living room. Her father must've heard the boy's question because he nodded in her direction. She figured that meant it was alright to tell these folks the truth. She just hoped they didn't think she was crazy or anything.
"Well, my name is Beth. Over there is my father Hershel and my sister Maggie." Beth paused when trying to figure out to how to introduce the Dixon brothers. She knew she was in love with Daryl and that he felt the same, but she also knew mortals had a tendency to label relationships like theirs.
"Over there is my boyfriend Daryl and his brother Merle. And as to your other question, I healed you so fast because I'm a descendant of Persephone." Beth knew this information was going to cause a commotion. All at once several questions flew her way and she had trouble tracking who asked them.
"Whoa, so you're pretty much a super hero? That is so cool!"
"What kind of nut-job are you? You think you're related to a God and dating a man old enough to be your daddy?"
"Are all of you related to God's?"
Before any more questions could be asked Beth held her hand up to stop them.
"I wouldn't know about super hero, but I do have abilities like healing because of my relation to Persephone. I don't really appreciate being called a nut-job, and Daryl isn't nearly as old as my daddy. As for all of us, just Maggie and I are related. My dad is a prophet and can see visions of the future and both Daryl and Merle are descendants of hell hounds." Beth knew her explanation didn't fully cover everything about their situation, but she's known her entire life and she still doesn't fully know all the details.
"Are we really going to listen to this bitch? Clearly the end of the world was the perfect excuse for her pedophile boyfriend to break her out of the loony bin" Shane snarled.
Beth didn't like the way he put her or her family down and stepped up until she was in his face.
"Listen, I don't care if you believe me or not but you will not disrespect me or my family in my home" Beth hoped she sounded intimidating. She's never had to stand up to people like this before. Generally the intimidating vibes the Dixon brothers gave off convinced people to treat them with respect.
"You ain't nothin' but a little whore. I ain't ever gonna respect you," Shane responded as he stepped closer into her face.
Beth was surprised when it was the little boy's father to step in between them and not the Dixon brothers. Though, both brothers were doing a piss poor job of concealing their anger towards the brunette man.
"Stop Shane, I believe this girl. The only thing I care about is that she saved my son without asking for anything in return other than respect. We can act civilized." The man turned and faced her with an apologetic look, "I'm sorry about Shane. It's been rough on us out there. If you don't mind could our families stay here if we follow your terms?"
Beth shifted from foot to foot. This wasn't a decision that she got to make. This was something her entire family should decide. She liked most of the group except for Shane and the slightly overweight man standing next to the younger girl.
"We'll give you a trial run, but you follow our rules." Hershel told them.
Beth was relieved that her daddy made the decision for them. She wasn't sure what she would have decided.
"Thank you so much sir. Where have my manners gone? I haven't even introduced myself. I'm Rick Grimes, over there is my wife Lori and my son Carl."
With that the rest of the group introduced themselves. Apparently the older man Dale wasn't Carl's grandfather like Beth originally assumed. Then they had Andrea and Shane who were the only two unattached adults outside of Dale. The Pelletier family rounded out the group with Carol, Sophia, and Ed.
At least Beth had names to go with the faces of the strangers now. She prayed Ed and Shane's darkness wasn't anything dangerous. She knew everyone else could sense it in her family and were on high alert around the two.
That night Beth was braiding her hair anxiously while she waited for Daryl to join her. Apparently, all of the men in the household were getting acquainted with the men from the Atlanta group.
She really loved the children and the women had seemed lovely, quiet but very kind. Beth knew she wasn't the best judge of character. She wanted to see the very best in everyone. For instance, she had really believed Jimmy Blake had been a good person and a good friend. He turned out to be a hunter that had been recruited by castors to get close to her. His attempt to kidnap her failed and had shaken her confidence in her own judgment. After that incident she swore to herself that she would be more guarded around strangers.
Daryl's entrance into the bedroom shook Beth from her pessimistic thoughts. He looked exhausted, but she knew the past few days had been crazy. Between her being unwell and the intrusion of these people Daryl's guard was up.
"Hey, you okay?" she murmured as he crawled into bed.
"'M fine. You feeling okay? Not gonna go running off into the night are ya?" Daryl spoke into her shoulder.
If she hadn't felt him smirking she would have assumed he was upset with her instead of just teasing her.
"I don't know. Do I have a reason to run off?" Beth turned so she could face him.
She always slept easier when she could listen to his heartbeat. Even after sleeping for two days she was still exhausted. It didn't help that her hand that she used to attempt to heal Merle was singed. The concoction she made herself take always left her drowsy.
"You ain't got no reason to run girl. But I do need you to promise me somthin'" Daryl looked unsure of what he was going to say next. That was so unlike him. Usually he just said whatever he wanted.
"What is it?" She was intrigued. She knew he was tense, but chalked it up to the madness that had occurred over the past few days. Clearly, whatever he was going to tell her was causing most of this tension.
"Most of that group is okay people, but I want you to stick by my side for a few days. And I never want you alone with that Shane dude or Ed. I don't trust 'em" Daryl explained.
"I can do that. Do you really think they're dangerous?" Beth had picked up bad vibes and darkness off of the two men as well. She just hoped she was overreacting.
"I ain't gonna take a chance. Not when it's your safety at risk" Daryl kissed her forehead.
Beth snuggled her face into his chest. There was no reason to continue that conversation. She knew how he felt about the situation. She would stick by his side. Who knows, she might use the promise to her advantage and finally convince Daryl to help her harvest some plants.
It had been almost two weeks since the Atlanta group had moved in. For the most part, the entire group assimilated into living in the giant farm house. All except Shane and Ed, which hadn't been that shocking to Beth.
Once they were introduced, Dale and Otis had quickly become close friends. They liked playing chess and talking about old television shows. Beth always smiled when she saw them together.
Merle and Andrea were doing this awkward flirting thing, but Beth found it precious. Big bad Merle had a crush. Beth talked occasionally with Daryl about it and he agreed with her.
As for Carl and Sophia those two followed Beth everywhere. They dubbed her the real life super hero and always wanted a glance of her super-secret powers. At first Beth was bewildered that anyone would want to see her powers let alone praise her for having them, but now she was used to her two little shadows following her everywhere.
It was early in the morning and Beth wanted to drag Daryl along to help her pull some mint leaves. They were coming in harvest and she liked to keep a full stock for healing emergencies.
They couldn't even leave the house before they heard an argument between the members of the Atlanta group.
"We need to make a fuckin' run. I volunteer but I need an extra set of hands" Shane yelled.
"Why? We have enough supplies. It ain't like we're short of anything here" Rick yelled back.
Beth wanted to intervene and tell Shane that a run really wasn't necessary. If she needed to, she would tap into her powers to grow extra vegetables and the hunting in this area was good. She knew he would scoff at her words, he was still skeptical of her story even after an in depth explanation of everything. Everyone else seemed to buy it or at least they weren't as open with their skepticism.
Beth could feel the tension between the two men and felt like they were arguing over much more than a supply run. It didn't matter because Merle volunteered to babysit Shane while he went on the run.
Beth figured Merle only offered so Shane wouldn't want to go, but unfortunately Shane agreed and they planned to head out in a few days. They wanted to map local areas they should hit first.
The only thing Beth knew was that she had a bad feeling about this run.
A/N: It's been a rough week, but as always I'm super blessed with the most amazing beta. Jazznsmoke is a literal angel. Not only does she put up with my whining and horrible grammar, but she is always encouraging my updates. So, this one is for you Jazz.
And a huge thank you to all the readers and reviewers of this story. I appreciate all of you.
Disclaimer: I don't own TWD or any of its characters