Chapter 42: To A Pulp.

Austin walked through the woods, heading back to the farm. Wayne had asked him to do a sweep of the woods to check if there were any creepers around. An arrow was loaded in his bow, and he glanced around, making sure his eyes were alert.

He didn't know what it was, but something didn't feel right, something just felt wrong. His footsteps quickened, and he walked out of the trees. He was met by Sarah's grinning face, he took a step back, shocked by her sudden appearance.

"How did the sweep go?" She asked.

"Fine," He grunted back and Sarah continued to smile at him.

"I've got to go and find Dean, but I found this," She held out a diamond necklace. "This was Ally's mom's. I found it buried in the grass by her grave. I remember Ally had taken it off her mom after she came out of the barn."

"Oh, thanks," Sarah place it in Austin's hand, then walked off. Austin smiled, realizing this would make her really happy, and make this day even better for her.

Austin saw the cabin they had picked out, and he walked up the back steps. He pushed open the door, and placed his crossbow down on the floor. He stared down at the necklace, then carried on down the hallway. He opened their bedroom door and saw it was empty.

"Ally!" He called out, then he opened the kid's bedroom door. "Ally!" He opened the bathroom door just to check, but she wasn't in there. "Ally!" He stepped out into the lounge, and saw she wasn't there. A shiver shot down his spine, and he headed towards the kitchen. "Ally-" He froze. "No..." The necklace fell from his hand, and he felt himself begin to choke on the sob that tore from his lips. He saw her slummed down on the kitchen floor, blood pouring from her stomach, her head hanging lifeless. "NO!" He ran forward, landing on his knees in front of her. He reached out and lifted her head up, her skin cold under his palm. "No no no no no no no no no," His fingers flew to her neck and he tried to feel for a pulse, but he couldn't feel one. "NO!" He snatched her up into his arms and stumbled to his feet. He flew out of the door, screaming for help at the top of his burning lungs. "CAL!" His voice boomed, rocked with a wave of frantic sobs. All he could see was her lifeless body in his arms.

One of the cabin doors flew open and Jaime came running out. Her eyes widened. "CAL!" She screeched, and she raced inside the cabin. Austin looked over at the farmhouse, and he saw Frederick step out. His eyes landed on him, and Austin took off running up the embankment.

"What happened!" Mary got up off the chair swing, and Frederick ran inside. Austin followed him inside, and they ended up in one of the downstairs bedrooms. Austin put her down on the bed, and Cal and Alice came racing into the room.

"Oh my god!" Alice screamed, and she barreled towards the bed.

"DO SOMETHING!" Austin cried, and Cal began to feel for a pulse. Jaime appeared next to him, tears falling from her eyes.

"I-Is she breathing," Jaime whimpered.

"WHY AREN'T YOU DOING ANYTHING," Austin swung his fist at the wall, and the skin on his knuckles split, blood pouring from the cuts. Wayne came storming into the room, and he took in the scene before him. He saw the crimson blood on the white sheets, and he saw the pale form of Ally lying on the bed.

"W-What the hell HAPPENED!" Wayne's voice ripped through the room like a whip.

"I-I just walked into our cabin," Austin whimpered, his whole body shaking uncontrollably. "S-She w-was j-just," Austin choked back a sob. "Lying there b-bleeding o-out...I-I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!" Austin exploded, and Wayne grabbed him before he could take another swing at the wall.

"It's a stab wound," Alice said, fighting off her tears.

Austin whole body went from shaking with sobs, to rocking in anger. He ignored the pain in his hand, he only focused on the pain in his chest. His hammering heart, suddenly felt tight, like it was going to break. He stared down at her lifeless body, and he watched Cal and Frederick tend to her wound.

"MOMMY!" Jess screeched, and Austin whipped his head around to see Jess, Nevil and Billy standing there. Jess ran towards the bed, but Austin reached out and grabbed her. Austin held her close, and she cried into the crook of his neck. He glanced back and saw Nevil was crying, and he slowly walked over to the bed. Jaime reached out and stopped him. She picked him up and let him cry into her neck. Derek stepped in and Billy ran into his arms, crying.

Austin absorbed all the cries and they burned his ears. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to do to make everything better again. Ally always knew what to do. The silent tears fell from his eyes, and he stared at her pale face.

"I need everyone to leave the room," Frederick said, his voice calm.

"NO!" Jess cried out, and Austin held her tighter.

"We need to do things that aren't going to be something that you want to see," Frederick gave Austin a look, which he knew it meant they needed to perform some kind of surgery on her. He nodded his head, and they all walked out of the room. The door shut behind him, and he walked over to the lounge. He placed Jess down on the couch, and crouched down in front of her.

"I-Is she going to be okay?" She whimpered, her voice barely audible. Nevil and Billy sat down next to her, and he looked at Jaime, Wayne and Derek. Jaime seemed to shake herself off, and she crouched down next to Austin.

"She's going to be fine. They just need sometime to make her better. What you need to do, is stay here, and keep strong. No more tears," Jaime reached out and wiped away the tears from Nevil's face. "Just think about all the happy times, don't even think about the bad. You just wait here, and in no time you'll be able to go inside and see your mommy."

Jaime got to her feet, and she stared down at Austin, then nodded towards the door.

"I'll stay with them," Derek said, and Austin followed Jaime and Wayne out onto the porch. Austin wiped away his tears, and he didn't care that he was a trembling mess.

"I want to know who did this!" He snapped, and Jaime sat down on the steps. Wayne took his hat from his head, and ran a shaky hand through his hair.

"Craig," Jaime whispered.

"What?"

"It has to be Craig," Jaime said, getting to her feet. "He's a creep, and he's had his eyes on Ally since he got here. I knew we should never have let him stay, along with Michelle. After everything at the park..."

"What happened at the park?" Wayne demanded, and everyone else walked over, crowding around the porch.

"What's going on?" Lucas asked.

"Ally's been stabbed," Wayne explained, and everyone gasped.

"Who did it!" Trish snapped, and Jaime's eyes scanned the crowd of people, then she looked back at Austin.

"Looks who's not here," Jaime's voice was hoarse, and Austin looked at everyone, then realized Craig was missing. "Where is he!?" Jaime shrieked her eyes burning into Michelle's.

"Jaime we don't know it was him," Wayne grabbed her arm, and she shook violently out of his hold.

"Of course it was him. He's a creep. He's been leering around Ally ever since he got here! He tried to kiss me at the park, and when I pulled away he attacked me!" She yelled. "Luckily Gregory came before he could do any damage!"

Austin looked away, and his eyes narrowed in on movement by the cabins. His fingers curled into fists, and he saw it was Craig. Austin took off, jumping over the wooden railings of the porch. He ignored everybody shouting at him to come back. He just ran straight for him. He tackled him to the ground, and he heard the air leave his lungs.

"YOU FUCKIN' BASTARD!" Austin boomed, and he punched him hard in the face. Strong arms grabbed his shoulders, and he was pulled away by Ronny and Dean. Lucas helped Craig to his feet, and Craig spat the blood from his mouth.

"What the hell!" He snapped. "What the fuck did I do?"

"What did you do," Austin let out a sickening laugh. "YOU STABBED MY WIFE!" Austin struggled against Ronny and Dean's hold, and it only fueled his anger.

"What! No I didn't!" He shouted, then his eyes locked with Jaime's. "But I do remember seeing you going into her cabin after Austin and the kids had left."

"What!" Jaime's voice was shrill. "Are you fuckin' kidding me!"

"No, I'm just saying what I saw," He shrugged his shoulders and Jaime looked around to see everyone was looking at her.

"You guys can't seriously think I did this!" Jaime stared them all down, then her eyes landed on Craig's.

"You were the one that blamed Craig," Michelle spoke up from the crowd, and Jaime spun around and went for her. Gregory reached out, and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Stop!" He snapped, and she cried out, pushing herself out of his hold. She stepped closer to Craig.

"You did this," She growled pointing her finger at him. "Don't you dare try and pin this on me. She's my cousin, I wouldn't do that," Jaime eye's landed on his belt, and she saw his knife, and she saw the fresh blood on it. "Ha! Are you serious!" She swiped the knife from his belt. "You forgot to clean your fuckin' knife."

Craig punched Jaime hard in the face, and sent her flying to the ground. Austin yanked himself from Ronny, and Dean's hold, taking Craig to the ground. He started to punch him over and over again.

And this time, no one stopped him.

...

Punched to a pulp. That was the only word that could be used to describe what Craig had looked like after Austin had finished with him. His knuckles had been stitched and wrapped up by Frederick, and Wayne, Lucas, Ronny, and Dean had burnt Craig's body.

Just like that.

Austin was sat at Ally's bedside, and his eyes were burning with tears. He had his elbow resting on the wooden arm of the chair and his chin resting in the palm of his hand. Alice was off checking over Jaime, and stitching up the cut on her face. Austin had no idea what had come over him. The second Craig had punched Jaime, he just flipped, finding the last amount of strength inside of him, and he just lost it. He had to die.

Austin gazed over Ally's pale, sweaty form. Cal had said that her sweating was a good sign, it meant her body was functioning to heal itself. He just wanted her to wake up. He had plans for their first night in the cabin. They would make love together, after a long time of waiting, but that wasn't going to happen now.

He sighed, and rubbed his face with his palm. He was tired, and he'd just sent Jess, Nevil and Billy from the room, telling them to go to sleep. He needed sleep, but he couldn't sleep without Ally there. He needed her.

He chewed on his bottom lip, and swallowed the sob threatening to break from his lips. Hot tears fell from his eyes and burnt a trail down his face. Nathan was being looked after by Sarah, and Austin couldn't be more grateful for everyone's support. He needed it more than he'd ever admit.

Austin still couldn't get the image out of his head...walking into their cabin and seeing her there...against the wall...her lifeless body slummed forward...it was so much worse than after she'd given birth to Nathan, because she had passed out, but this time, she must have felt so much pain before her body gave out, and he hated that he hadn't been there to stop it.

A sharp intake of breath filled the room, and Austin watched Ally shift on the bed. He could see her eyes moving underneath her lids, but she didn't open her eyes. He flew off the chair, and landed on his knees by the bed. He reached out his trembling hands, and gripped onto her cold hand.

"A-Ally," He croaked, his voice rough from all the shouting and crying. He kissed the back of her hand, then held her hand against his cheek.

Ally moved again, and Austin saw her arms flood with goosebumps. He began to rub her arm, attempting to warm her up, but she hissed again, still not opening her eyes.

"Ally...please...open your eyes," He begged, and he sat up on the bed. He reached out his hand and gently brushed his fingertips against her cheek. "Wake up..."

He waited, and he waited, continuing to kiss the back of her hand. He let out a frustrated cry, and his eyes burned into her face. She had to wake up. He needed to hear her voice.

She shifted again, then a cry escaped her lips. Austin watched her eyes moving under her lids, then they slowly began to open. He saw the immediate pain flood her eyes, and he let go of her hand, as she screamed out in pain. She looked around confused, and gasping for air. Her eyes landed on Austin, and a shrill cry came from her lips.

Austin gently scooped her into his lap, being careful not to hurt her, but he just needed to hold her. She wrapped her whole body around him, and cried into his neck. Austin wrapped his arm around her, then he buried his other hand into the back of her hair. He kissed the side of her head, and he felt her tears soaking his neck, but he just held her tighter.

"I-I'm sorry," She whimpered, and Austin pulled away, staring into her eyes.

"What are you sorry for?" He asked, and he rested his forehead against hers.

"I-I should've listened to you about Craig," More tears fell from her eyes, and he reached up and wiped them away.

"You don't need to be sorry. That prick is gone now," He growled, and she stared down at his bandaged hands.

"Y-You killed him," She croaked, and she stared up at him, her eyes filling with more tears.

"Don't you dare cry for him."

"I'm not...A-Austin, you didn't need to do that," She whispered.

"I'd do anything for you," He whispered back. "I-I couldn't let him get away with it. He almost took you away from me..."

She reached up and rested her hands on the sides of his neck. She winced slightly at the pain in her stomach, but she pushed it away. She pulled him closer, and kissed him gently on the lips. She went to pull away, but Austin buried his hands into her hair, and deepened the kiss.

Ally moaned, then stiffened against him in pain. Austin pulled away, and gazed at her.

"I need to get Cal, let him know you're awake," He whispered, and she nodded her head. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"Me too."

AN: Holy cow! You guys are amazing. I'm glad I know that so many of you want me to carry on, so obviously I am. Thank you so much, all of your reviews made me smile :) Please review this one. So, Craig met his end, and in the next chapter, unexpected guests arrive on the farm...

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