Chapter Text
Emily was lying awake on the stone-cold floor. She could feel blood trickling down her legs but she couldn’t cry anymore. Her eyes were dry but she couldn’t say the same about her anguish. She closed her eyes, trying not to remember him, inside of her, pushing hard and rough, maintaining her by the hair and murmuring “You’re a creature from hell to tempt me filth, slut” His words were anchored in her brain like an open wound. She tried to shut down the unbearable pain she had felt, the throbbing she was still feeling, the impression of being violated, dirty Before, she could even process what was happening. She felt an excruciating pain in her ribs.
“Get up!” Ben Coogan ordered in a harsh voice.
Emily did not budge. The pain was too immense
“I said, get up!” Coogan repeated, kicking her in the ribs once again.
She didn’t move. He seized her by the hair, pulled her upright and said with a cruel smile “We’ll see how good you are under water.” And he pulled her in a freezing cold bathtub, head first. Emily froze, her muscles tightened. She was on fire. It hurt everywhere. She was suffocating. Then out of nowhere, she felt herself breathing again. She was out of it, but Coogan, smiled, looking at her without any emotion and said, “This is your punishment for tempting me. You will no longer feel safe in cold water. Believe me! You’re lucky I don’t kill you. It’s a French-inspired torture, let’s see how you enjoy France now!” And he pulled her head and the rest of body back into the water again…
Emily woke up suddenly, feeling cold. She hated being cold. It reminded her…Visions flooded in her head, blurred and uncleared. Only the feeling of excruciating pain and dirtiness remained. Always, wherever she went, whatever she was doing her body remembered. She looked around for Alison’s reassuring embrace but found nothing but a letter next to her. She took it and read it. She sighed. Of course, Alison had to leave. What was she expecting? A breakfast in bed? She was so stupid! At least, she was going to see her tonight and she was going to take her somewhere. She was excited and fearful at the same time. Since Ben Coogan, she hated surprises. She had a feeling that the blonde was going to go to a swimming pool with her. Alison had mentioned last night how much, she wanted to see her swim. The truth was, Emily had lied that night, she had not swim since that night. She couldn’t swim anymore. She was afraid, terrified even of water. Every night, her mother had to make sure that the water was hot to a boiling point for her to wash. Since, they didn’t have access to hot water anymore, it was a long, and dreadful process for Emily to endure. A swimmer who could not swim. What irony! She had lied about why she smelled of chlorine as well. She had to, even to Ali. Because, even if she could not swim anymore, she could not stay away from a swimming pool. She had been near one and she couldn’t not betray the one who was giving her access even if they weren’t exactly on good terms anymore.
She sighed again and got up. She could still smell Alison’s scent on her, sweet vanilla mingled with coco and it drove her insane. The blonde kept her jacket, so she took another to supress the unbearable sensation of cold. What exactly did the blonde mean by “it feels comforting to have it on”? What exactly was her relationship with the blonde? Ugh! It felt too frustrating to think about it in the morning. She got dressed and walked down the stairs.
“Hello, Emmy,” her mom welcomed with her smile.
“Hi,” Emily grunted, sitting on a chair in the kitchen.
“Do you want any breakfast?” Pam asked.
“Does your idea of breakfast mean dry fucking bread and boiled potatoes again? Emily asked, in a bad mood.
“Language!” Her mother cried. “And, yes, it does. I’m sorry. You know, with the rations…”
“Then, it’s a no.” Emily replied dryly, shakily taking a glass of hot water.
“Bad night?” Pam asked again, as she did every morning.
“We could say that,” Emily mumbled, drinking her water with a grimace.
“Oh, Emmy, who was the friend who was staying with you last night?” Pam asked, raising an eyebrow at her daughter.
Emily sputtered and gasped, spitting out her water. How did she… How would she get out of this one without endangering Alison’s identity? The gears in her brain were spinning endlessly to find an excuse, an idea. Something! Quick Emily, something!
“It was Toby”, she lied, blushing.
“Emily, don’t take me for a fool!” Her mother said sternly. “I heard a girl’s voice screaming your name when you were having a nightmare. Who was it?”
“I can’t tell you that,” Emily replied, not looking at her mother.
“Why?” Her mother exclaimed, who started getting angry.
“Because, mother…” Emily said calmly. “She prefers remaining anonymous.”
“Are you sure you can trust her?” Her mother asked, worriedly.
“Yes,” Emily said firmly, taking a sip of hot water.
“How come?” Pam asked with caution.
“She defended me yesterday when I broke curfew and they…” Emily gulped, closing her eyes and gripping her ribs.
“Emily, your father didn’t kill himself for you to play daredevil.” Her mother sighed, as her voice broke.
“He didn’t kill himself!” Emily exclaimed, standing abruptly.
“It was his writing, Emily,” her mother agued sadly.
“They forced him! “Emily cried, throwing the chair against the wall. “He would never do that!”
“To protect us, he would,” Pam whispered.
“Really?” Emily laughed, dryly. “What’s the point then? We will be deported anyway. Remember Hitler’s speech, Jude free zone. It’s just a question of time, mother! Now if, you’ll excuse me. I have to go!”
Before her mother could respond, Emily stormed off and slammed the door shut, leaving her mother rooted to the spot.
XXX
Toby was sitting in his office, his forehead pressed against a list of names. He kept checking and re-checking with the register on his left. Slowly, he counted the names, thirty…It was not enough…But he couldn’t risk adding more. He checked again. All of them were supposed to have been in Italy at one point. The Anti-fascism league there had sent false proof. He reread the letter sent by Oscini to explain the symptoms the children had to fake. It had worked very well in Italy. It had saved more than ten thousand children. He sighed. He had to talk to Dr. Kingston. He was going to check that everything was in order when he heard a knock on the door. He quickly concealed all the documents and stood up. A small man with glasses and moustache entered, raising his hand
“Heil Hitler!” He said with gusto.
“Heil Hitler” Toby responded automatically. “Reichführer, what an honour to have you here.”
“Yes, thank you Underschaführer Cavanaugh,” Himmler said sternly. I wanted to make sure that the roundups were taken care of properly, Underschaführer. It is one of the last. Soon Germany will be free of all that vermin. I want you to take care of this one, Cavanaugh. A few of the SS officers will be happy to assist, of course. Have you settled everything with Eichmann?”
“Yes, Reichführer, everything is in order,” Toby responded coldly.
“May I see the list?” Himmler demanded.
“Of course, Reichführer,” Toby replied, taking a register from his desk.
Himmler took the list and frowned. He stared at Toby, mistrust in his eyes.
“This isn’t quite the number we agreed on. At least twenty of them are missing. Care to explain?”
“It is that…” Toby stammered. “We seemed to have problem with the children.”
“What kind of problem?” Himmler exclaimed.
“They went to Italy, years ago, you see,” Toby said, showing the papers. “They seemed to have caught some kind of disease. Highly contagious. K syndrome. You might have heard.”
“Yes, I’ve heard. Filthy little rats” Himmler muttered. “We’ll check on them in any case. We wouldn’t want to let these rats slip, would we? It’s done then,” Himmler grimaced looking at all the officers, with severity. “Then you’ll move directly to Ravensbrück, you’ll take the last train. Underschaführer…”
“Reichführer,” Toby replied raising his hand.
And Himmler was gone. The officers left with Toby didn’t seem quite happy to check on a Jew hospital. Toby fought hard to contain his laugh. This should be fun!
“Let’s go, shall we?” Toby advanced leading the men outside.
“Do we have to, Underschaführer? One of the men asked, fear in his eyes. “I mean… We can leave them there to rot. It wouldn’t make such a difference, would it?”
“You mean, you want to disobey a direct order from the Reichführer, Sturmman Hein?” Toby declared, staring at Hein with faked anger.
“No…No, of course not!” Hein stuttered, blushing.
“Let’s go!” Toby ordered marching in front of his troops.
Toby directed the SS groups towards the Jew hospital. Fear was turning his stomach upside down. His fear of failing the mission was mixed with the fear of leaving Emily and her mom by themselves. Who would protect them if he wasn’t there? To top it all, he would be telling Vivian Darkbloom that he would be far away. He had to see Emily tonight, one last night. What a fool, Toby! He thought. She could never love you the way you do. And it was clear to him that she had a crush on Vivian Darkbloom. He didn’t like that at all. She was unpredictable, to say the least, and was good at lying. But, she had apparently saved the brunette from Coogan and Kahn, and damn, he was grateful for that! So, he would ask her to protect Emily. There was no risk with her in charge. After all, he promised Emily’s father to protect them, no matter what the costs were. And he was the last to see Lt. Fields. He didn’t like to think about what happened there. If Emily ever knew, she would never be able to forgive him.
They approached the hospital in ranks. At least, what they called the hospital. It was a bunch of destroyed buildings and Toby knew that the inside was dirty and unhealthy. The patients lied on dirty mattresses. He saw Dr. Kingston from afar and made a small hand gesture of a bird taking flight, barely noticeable if you didn’t pay attention. Dr. Kingston nodded curtly as Toby approached him.
“We want to see the children!” He ordered with a curt voice.
“I’m afraid it’s impossible,” Dr. Kingston said.
“You disobey an order, Jew?” Toby exclaimed with anger.
“Underschaführer…”
“I demand to see the hospital!” Toby ordered.
“Very well, Underschaführer.” Dr Kingston conceded.
Toby entered the hospital with the rest. He saw dozens of adult patients, lying on dirty mattress, who were suffering from hunger or who were too beaten to get up. He stared at them with fake disgust. That was the hardest thing he had to do, while the others laughed, spit and hissed insults. He had to endure seeing those people in pain and not do anything about it, worst of all, sacrifice them in order the have the count.
“Take them all!” He ordered his officers. “They are not sick. Let’s see if “Arbeit macht frei””
The officers obeyed, laughing, while the Kingston tried to protest.
“You do not want to push me, Jew!” Toby threatened through gritted teeth. “Now, the children. Stay there and make sure none of them escape.”
The officers nodded pushing and forcing the patients to stand up. Toby heard some whining and crying and he cringed
“Sorry about that, Dr. Kingston, but I have to,” he said looking, sadly at the man next to him.
“I know,” the man replied, darkly. “We agreed on that.”
They walked towards a closed room and Dr. Kingston screamed.
“See, Underschaführer, how they are coughing. This might be tuberculosis for all we know, you don’t want to catch that.”
Toby heard deep coughs and spitting. He laughed. The children were well instructed. He faked fear and said to his companions “Let’s go, may they rot here.”
“What about him? We can take him, Underschaführer,” one of his men said, pointing towards the doctor.
“No, we can’t, idiot!” Toby barked. “He may have been in contact with them. Hear how they are coughing, do you want to catch that, Stuurman?”
Wild fear invaded the man’s eyes and Toby had to supress a laugh. The plan was working exactly as they predicted so far. He had to admit that Vivian Darkbloom was a mastermind when it came to lies, deceit, and manipulation. Then, he looked at all the innocent victims held by his men and lost his joy. The victims had agreed to the plan to save the children, but he was bringing them to die in long and painful agony. Suddenly, he did not want to laugh anymore but he regained his harsh composure and barked.
“Let’s get to the Jewish headquarters and finish this roundup and then prepare the next one. We are not going to sacrifice one day of work for these rats.”
He hoped that Mrs. Fields and Emily were far from home.
XXX
Emily was running as fast as she could, head down, tears cascading down her cheeks. Memories of her dad were flooding inside her head. She remembered how he taught her to swim for the first time and said “Jump”. She sobbed harder. He could not have killed himself! He would never do that! Her brave and fearless dad… She ran until she found herself in front of a beautiful house with flowers. She hesitated for one second and knocked on the door.
A woman with reddish hair and a squared jaw responded. When she saw Emily her jaw tightened and her eyes narrowed.
“I told you not to come in here anymore. I’m not like you, disgusting piece of…” The woman sneered nastily.
“Please, Paige, I just want to see the swimming pool. Please, one last time…”
“You’re lucky Lucas is not here,” Paige responded with an evil smile forming on her lips. “You missed me, didn’t you?”
“Why would I miss someone who cannot accept who she is?” Emily replied coldly.
“Careful Em, you would not want me to tell everyone that you are obsessing over me. That’s sick and that’s deportation for you and your mommy.” Paige warned, getting an inch closer to Emily.
Paige smiled and kissed Emily’s jaw, then her neck. Without warning, she seized Emily’s face and kissed her roughly, inserting her tongue into Emily’s mouth. Emily pushed her away.
“You said you were not like me. You made your choice by marrying Lucas.” Emily said unaffected, staring into Paige’s eyes.
“And what should I have done? Be disgraced and live like you, an outsider, filth? Dad would have never accepted it, nor will I. It doesn’t mean that we can’t have fun while you’re here. Paige said, approaching Emily with a horny smile.
“You’re a coward” Emily stated firmly, pushing Paige away again.
“Fine,” Paige said with a smirk. “You’re not worth it anyway. Too whiney for my taste. You said you wanted to see the swimming pool. Come, then!”
Emily followed Paige inside the house. A large swimming pool was in the interior veranda. It told Emily how rich Lucas was. But she resented Paige for marrying him. Not because she loved her still but because Emily hated people who did not assume who they were and hid behind lies, while she was starving and getting beaten up. Paige moved behind Emily and said in a sweet voice.
“You said you wanted to see the swimming pool. Happy pool day!” And she took Emily by the hair and pulled her head into the water.
Emily froze, trying to breathe but water was filling her lungs. She tried to move desperately but Paige was holding her in a strong grip, maintaining her head under the surface. Emily shuddered and panicked. She was cold, she had to get out, had to. Memories flooded. Ben, pushing her, drowning her in icy water and then, he was waking her up with hot tea or coffee, only to start again several minutes later. When she finally accepted that she was going to die she felt air filling her lungs again. Paige was still holding her. She pushed Emily against the wall and before the brunette had time to breathe, her former lover kissed her harshly, maintaining a strong grip on Emily’s arms, probably bruising them.
Emily had to muster all the courage she had to get away from Paige. She pushed her so hard that she fell on the swimming pool floor. Emily ran for her life. She vaguely heard Paige say, “You’re going to pay for that one, bitch!” She had one thought in her head “Find Ali.”
XXX
7:30, Alison was waiting with her brother Jason for Cavanaugh to bring the kids. She had a black wig on and was growing impatient. She was worried that the mission failed and that Toby got caught somehow, and above all, she was afraid for Emily. They had rounded Emily’s neighbourhood today. What if she had been caught? Alison was frozen at the mere thought of her brunette being caught. Though, she reasoned with herself, Cavanaugh was never going to let that happened. She nervously tapped her fingers on the wooden carving near the airport. A private plane was waiting. Alison knew people in the English and American Airforce who were ready to save children, victims of the atrocity of the Third Reich. They were supposed to land hush hush when The German was occupied to bombard London, lead the children directly to an underground shelter, and the officers would bring them to their new families. The blonde had corresponded for months and months to organize these operations. There was one every month. She had chosen the families through her connection with MI6. She had to make sure they were trustworthy.
“Relax,” her brother said, squeezing his sister’s shoulders. “I’m sure everything’s “A Okay”.”
“I know,” Alison whispered, but continuing tapping her fingers.
“Then what’s going on?” Her brother asked, concerned.
“I’m worried about…” Alison started, staring into her brother’s eyes.
“Emily…” Jason finished, sighing. “Toby would not let anything happen to her.”
“Still…” Alison responded hesitantly.
“Speaking of Emily…” Jason said, taking a piece of paper out of his pocket. “There you go, this is Coogan’s report of Emily’s incident.”
“Thanks,” Alison said, taking the piece of paper.
“Are you sure, you want to read it A… I mean Vivian? This is nasty.” Jason said with a grimace of deep disgust.
“How did you get those?” Alison asked, eluding Jason’s statement.
“I may or may not have threatened him,” Jason answered with a satisfied smile. “Whatever, you plan to do to him, make sure, he suffers…”
“I thought you disagreed with my involvement with Emily.” Alison said surprised, raising an eyebrow at him.
“Well, I don’t anymore. This girl needs our help. It does not mean that we have to act irrationally.”
Alison ignored her brother’s comment. Her relationship with Em was her business. She acted on impulse and impulses were irrational by nature. She knew it was dangerous, but she didn’t care. If it caused her own loss she did not care, as long as she was able to stay with the brunette.
Suddenly, she saw a silhouette running towards her, a silhouette that was too thin to be Toby’s. Before she could even register what happened she felt the wind knocked out of her by a tight embrace. She smelt a scent that she recognized too well… Emily.
“What the…” Jason swore loudly.
But Alison didn’t hear him. The brunette was shivering hard, breathing unevenly, her hair and face were wet by both tears and water. She squeezed Ali so hard that the blonde knew something had happened to her. The brunette was sobbing uncontrollably. Alison softly caressed Emily’s hair and waited several minutes before forcing Emily to look at her. Alison and Jason gasped. The brunette was as white as a sheet, she was trembling from head to foot and her lips were blue, a blue that contrasted with her pallor. Alison, fearfully inspected Emily’s arms and anger flared through her body. Deep blue bruises were showing, recent ones…
“Who did this?” Alison asked coldly, anger mounting inside of her.” Emily! Tell me!”
“Vivian, white doves…” Her brother pointed towards the mist.
Jason wrapped Emily with his jacket to stop her from shivering and his sister wrapped her securely into a tight embrace to give her warmth to her. The brunette nuzzled into Ali’s neck.
She looked through the mist and saw Toby’s silhouette with small children in ragged clothes following him.
“Mission’s done.” Toby said.
He frowned, recognizing Emily in Vivian Darkbloom’s arms.
“What…” He started.
“Where is my mom?” One of the kids asked, crying.
Several similar cries followed and soon, many children were crying.
“Remember what your mommy told you, last time you saw her?” Alison asked softly, looking at all the children.
“She said that we might have to go away, because we are not safe.” One of the kids piped up.
“That’s what we are doing,” Jason said, ruffling one of the kids’ hair.
“Then why isn’t Mama coming with us?” The kid insisted.
“Because, we can’t save everyone,” Alison whispered sadly, tightening her grip on Emily who was still nuzzled in her neck, shivering.
“Are people going to be nice to us there?” One of the kids asked worriedly.
“I guarantee you that no one will be bad to you anymore!” Alison replied firmly.
“Why isn’t this lady,” A blonde kid pointed at Emily, “coming with us?”
“Yes, she’s been nice to us. That lady has… She has been bringing us some food for us to eat. She needs to be saved.” Another kid added.
“I know,” Alison responded with a dry chuckle. “But, as I said, we can’t save everyone. Now get along, follow the man in the black suit. Don’t worry, he won’t hurt you. It will be like the game of coughing, get in the plane.”
A few kids looked fearful but the bravest and the oldest took their hands and helped them to get into the plane. Alison nodded curtly to the agent who helped the last kids to get in.
A few minutes later, the plane was just a small figure in the distance. As soon as the plane was out of sight Toby marched towards Emily, disentangle her from Alison, took a quick look at her and both Toby and Jason groaned. Alison had no idea what was going on and she hated this, so she demanded.
“What the hell is going on?”
“Someone tried to drown her.” Toby muttered, furious. “Who did this to you?”
“Paige did,” Emily said in a croaked voice.
“Dammit, Em!” Toby yelled. “Why did you go and see Paige in the first place?”
“I had to,” Emily tried to explain, crying again. “The swimming pool, I can’t seem to stay away, even after…”
“Shut up!” Alison ordered. “You’re upsetting her!”
Toby wanted to retort but Jason stopped him. He looked towards his sister and Toby weighing the situation. Both were glaring at each other with dislike.
“You want to see a swimming pool, I’ll bring you to see one,” Alison said softly.
“I don’t think this is a good idea!” Toby objected.
“I agree, you have no idea…” Jason nodded.
“You’re on his side now. Since when?” Alison exclaimed, angrily.
“You’ve no idea of the situation.” Jason argued.
“Tell me then…” Alison retorted.
“Is the water hot?” Emily asked in a timid voice.
“What?” Alison said, puzzled.
“Is the water in the swimming pool hot?” Emily repeated, softly.
“Yes, I’ll make sure of that,” Alison assured, squeezing Emily’s shoulder.
“Even so, Em…” Toby protested.
“I want to try, for you.” Emily responded solely for Alison. “Besides, I miss it.”
“Em…” Toby protested again.
“This is not your decision to make in any case, Tobs. For God’s sake, I’m not asking you what you are doing here and how you know Vivian when you pretended you didn’t. So, trust me.” Emily replied shorty.
Alison had no idea what was going on but, for once, she could not care less. The brunette said she would swim for her, and only for her, and that made Alison happy beyond belief. It made her hot and bothered as well because of the sultry tone she had used to respond to her. This woman was going to be the death of her. She was sweet and sexy without realizing it. Smiling timidly, she took the brunette’s hand and led her to her brother’s car. Toby came along.
“I didn’t invite you, did I?” Alison said in her bitchy tone.
“I’m leaving tonight, for Ravensbrück. I need to say goodbye to her.”
“Good, we need someone in the camps.” Alison replied matter of factly.
“Why do you need someone in the camps? What do you plan there?” Toby asked, curiously.
“Nothing that is your concern, yet.” Alison replied, watching Emily. “Is her mother safe?”
“Yes, Jenna hid her,” Toby replied, shortly.
“Good.” The blonde replied, sitting next to Emily.
The brunette’s head fell naturally on Ali’s shoulder. The blonde caressed her face slowly, sighing in relief and contentment. She had craved for Emily’s soft skin all day. Toby sat at the front with Jason. Neither of them really talked during the drive. They all listened to Emily’s laboured breathing with worry. The closer they got to the swimming pool, the more laboured it was.
“You don’t have to do this if you don’t feel like it,” Alison said softly.
“I have to face my fear one day.” Emily stammered through short breathes.
“Will you ever explain?” Alison asked softly while caressing the brunette’s hair.
“One day,” Emily whispered, her voice muffled by Alison’s neck.
“It tickles,” Alison giggled.
Emily giggled back and the atmosphere in the car seemed to lighten. Jason was beyond puzzled. He had never heard his sister giggle even when she was little. This Emily girl was really something! He realized that he felt the need to protect her from harm. He was also afraid that Alison would be the cause of it somehow. They arrived at their destination. Jason stopped the car and got out. Alison and Emily got out after him, Toby behind them, hiding Emily from sight.
“Where are we?” Emily asked.
“Jason’s high-school, he gives meetings there. That’s why we have the keys,” Alison answered, taking Emily’s hand.
Jason opened the door and they walked through the dark hallways. Jason directed them to a door on the left and opened it.
“There you are, a swimming pool.” He said to Emily, smiling. “Vivian has brought you a swimsuit. You can change over there.”
Emily was mesmerized and afraid by the swimming pool. She was attracted to it, but her memories pulled her away. She was working like a magnet, opposite forces, going back and forth. Come to think of it, it was a bit like her relationship with Alison. Attracting but full of doubts and fears. She hesitated, remembering Ben’s words but chose for one night to forget. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and took Alison’s hand to get changed. Alison, puzzled, followed suite. The last thing she wanted was to get in a room with a naked Emily and yet, she craved to see how toned and muscular Emily was. Stop it, Alison!
While Emily got changed she stared avidly, not being able to prevent herself. She felt like a pervert but Emily was gorgeous. She had her back turned to Alison so that the blonde had an impeccable view of Emily’s backside and long-toned legs. She felt her mouth water and thoughts, very inappropriate thoughts, were starting to fill her mind. She imagined herself kissing every inch of Emily’s perfect mocha skin. She imagined the brunette moaning and writhing underneath her touch. She kept asking herself what kissing her would feel like. She put a stop to these fantasies when she heard Emily say, “I’m done.”
“Let’s go and swim, mermaid.” Alison smiled, taking a full view of Emily’s body. Damn, this girl was flawless. She could not help but notice a long scar under Emily’s stomach. She had a feeling that Coogan was to blame. She was going to kill him and seriously enjoy it. She took Emily’s hand and brought her to the pool.
“Remember, if you don’t…” Alison started.
“I’ll be fine, if the water is hot. I’ll just have to jump,” she answered in a false cheerful tone.
She squeezed Alison’s hand tighter, however, biting her lips, trying once again to block the memories. Alison’s simple presence was helping her a great deal. Not tha she would ever tell her that though. She marched towards the pool, still holding Ali’s hand. She froze for several minutes while Alison was patiently waiting and Jason and Toby watching apprehensively. Then, without warning, she took a deep breath, let go of Alison’s hand and jump into the water.
Relief coursed through her body. The water was warm and inviting. Though she was still immensely scared and frozen for more than ten minutes. Memories, his words coming back to her like a bullet… She forced herself to move, fighting the paralysis of her body. Little by little, she was reassured by the warmth of the water and her old instincts kicked in. And, she swam.
Alison was mesmerized by the view. The brunette seemed in her element. She glided through the water effortlessly, like it was the most natural thing in the world. She was fast and gracious. Alison could not help but smile at the view. It was the most poetic thing she had ever seen. No poet could truly write the beauty of Emily at that moment. A true mermaid and she was doing it for her, Alison DiLaurentis.
“She truly is a mermaid, isn’t she?” Jason smiled.
“Hey, eyes off! And yes, she is,” Alison said unable to stop looking at her mermaid.
An hour later, Alison dropped Emily off at her house. She told her brother to wait a little as Toby got out of the car.
“I’m leaving tonight, to Ravensbrück,” he said to Emily while Alison retreated to give them privacy.
“I’m going to miss you. Be careful there!” Emily said, hugging Toby as tears fell down her cheeks.
“Oh, I’ll be okay. Besides, you have Vivian to watch over you now.”
“I’m gonna miss you anyway. I don’t know when I’ll see you again,” Emily sniffed into Toby’s shoulder.
“Let’s hope I’ll never see you there!” Toby growled, letting go of Emily. “Goodbye, Emily!” And he got back to the car.
Alison approached Emily and sadly said, “I’m sorry about Toby but he’ll be safe there, and a great asset for us. But I know he was your friend.”
“Damn cover!“ Emily muttered angrily. “I suppose you can’t stay either.”
“No,” Alison answered with more sadness. “I have to be with mom and dad tonight. And we’re spending the weekend at the Berghof.”
“Great!” Emily mumbled and before Alison could say anything, she had gone back to her house. Alison wanted to chase her, to say that she wanted to spend the weekend with her but she stayed there, unable to move. Out of fear? Out of sadness?
Suddenly she felt a movement in front of her and felt two hands grab her cheeks. Before she could say a word, she felt soft lips kissing her. A floral scent mixed with chlorine. The sensation was amazing. It sent sparks into Alison’s whole body. Fire ignited into her lower stomach. She felt a throbbing between her legs, beating at the same rhythm as her heart. But, before she could respond or linger on the sensation, it was gone.
“I’m sorry,” she heard Emily say. “You’re not like me.”
“No, I’m not like you but we are friends, Emily,” she whispered. “Only friends.”
“Only friends.” she heard the brunette whisper back. “I just want you to remember me while you’re gone.”
And Alison DiLaurentis got back to her car, more confused than before. Was she supposed to enjoy the kiss if they were only friends? And why on earth did she still feel Emily’s lips on hers, if they were only friends. Reason dictated her to stay away from this girl but her heart was beating at the same rhythm as Emily Fields’. Which one of them should she listened to?