Welcome to a Nightmare

Chapter 55: What a Knight

Wilby leads the way back to the house. He stops occasionally to ensure that David is following. His tail is also wagging, seemingly happy that they managed to rescue someone in distress.

Meanwhile, his master's mood is anything but happy or excited. David internally struggles over whether he should be doing this or not. He's carrying the scarily thin woman through the woods and back to his house... a woman who was wanted for murder. He should have just left the woman there and called the police. Plus, what would Kathryn think if she came home to see another woman in their house. Might be the final nail in the coffin of their marriage. He was fully expecting for one of his neighbours to notice that he's carrying an unconscious woman along the sidewalk and alert everyone, but everything remains quiet... much to his disappointment.

However, as they approach the house, David looks down at the woman a few times and noticed how frightening her appearance looked when examined more closely. Her face appeared shrunken and shallow, meaning that she'd been starved and the dark circles under her eyes indicated deep stress and lack of sleep. She was still beautiful, looked very delicate and if something touched, her entire face would shatter. It also scared him how easy she was to carry, like skin and bones. This woman had been through hell.

He couldn't let her appearance fool him. She was likely dangerous and possibly unstable if she'd escaped from the hospital. Possible conditions roll around in his head of what would drive her to kill. Usually, people with mental illness were the victims rather than the aggressors, Kathryn had told him that a long time ago and as he carried her up the steps to the house, the more he believed his wife's words.

What made him question his judgement even further is the way the woman sighed and leaned her head into his chest for support, looking for comfort and warmth. She even smiles contently and grabs a section of his leather jacket, wanting to hold on.

The man fumbles for his keys and ends up having to put the woman on her feet to free one of his hands for the task. She nearly crumples down onto the porch, but he keeps her one arm around his shoulder to prevent this from happening.

When he finally gets the door open, Wilby bounds inside while David is forced to scoop the woman up again. He brings her over to the couch and lays her down. He then goes to grab a few blankets.

"Keep an eye on her," he tells Wilby before going to the linen closet upstairs. His dog loyally sits down next to the couch and obeys the command.

Once he's alone, David wonders if he should be doing this. Kathryn's words come back into his head.

"You'll always be the knight in shining armour. The man who has to save everyone... it's just that I'm afraid one day someone is going to take advantage of that and stab you in the back."

She'd said this when he insisted on buying a homeless man a hot meal and some coffee when the two of them were shopping downtown. While Kathryn had smiled and also gave the man some money for a taxi and take him to the nearest homeless shelter (homelessness and supporting programs were plentiful in this kind of city) she expressed her worry that one day David won't be able to save someone, and it will crush him. Or he'll help the wrong person and end up hurt. In the world they lived in, the latter was more likely, and he was just too good for it.

He sighs. Whether this woman was dangerous or not, he couldn't let her stay out in the cold and freeze to death. He could never live it down. Perhaps his wife's prediction will not come true tonight.

When he comes back downstairs, Wilby is staring intently at the woman, having not moved since his master left. The pup seemed to trust this person more than his master and David did always trust his dog's instincts. If old Wilby wasn't afraid, then neither should he.

He lays several blankets over the woman's thin frame and props a pillow under her head. He then builds a fire in the fireplace to keep the place warm and then goes to make some cocoa.

Wilby does not leave the woman's side and while his master is in the next room, he leans forward and licks the woman's face.

She groans and tries to turn away, but the English Shepherd continues to shower her with his affectionate and slobbery kisses.

"Cut it out," she mutters, burying her face under the covers to avoid the love from the canine.

Wilby stands and pants happily, his tail going a million miles a minute. He nudges his snout into the blankets and gives a small grunt to get the woman's attention.

Eventually, she relents and emerges from her blanket cocoon to see this animal.

"Okay, okay, you win," she says.

While she is confused as to where she is, it's kind of become a habit these past few days to wake up in different places and she decides to focus on the dog.

"Where did you come from pretty boy?" she asks, giving him many scratches, the blankets hanging off her shoulders. Wilby continues to kiss her face and is very pleased with himself having found a new friend.

David walks into the room with two mugs of cocoa and is shocked to see the woman awake and giving affection to his dog. Apparently, the feeling is mutual, and Wilby's tail is going to fly off in excitement.

"Oh, you're awake," he says.

The woman looks over, her smile dropping from her face like a rock and anxiety filling her body. Swallowing hard, she shifts to the end of the couch, worried about what the man will say next.

Instead, he walks over, puts the cup on the coffee table and then sits on the other end of the room in one of his easy chairs.

The two humans sit in silence. The only sounds are the fire crackling, the wind outside, Wilby's panting and the clock on the mantle ticking away the minutes. The quiet and awkwardness lengthen between them and they look off to random places in the room to avoid making eye contact.

"I hope you're okay with hot chocolate," he says quietly, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Thank you," the woman says. She reaches over and takes the mug. The sheer warmth from the drink gives her comfort and reassurance that he wasn't going to hurt her. He looked familiar, but she couldn't place his face just yet.

"So, I may as well ask as it's the elephant in the room... who are you?"

"I'm... Belle," she answers.

"Belle?" he says. Something in his mind went off like a light was suddenly switched on, but he doesn't know why. Sure, she shares the name of a popular movie character, but it shouldn't mean anything... should it? Yet he feels like he knows her. "What a... nice name."

"Thank you," she says.

"My name is David. David Nolan."

They go into silence again.

After another lengthened time, he continues.

"Can I ask, what happened to you? How did you end up in the woods? Do you know what's happening in the city right now? Do you know who you are?"

Belle swallows. Her mind is trying to piece together what has happened and there's a gap there. She knows that she's wanted for a crime she did not commit and that Henry and Crystal are probably in trouble too, but HIM was not human... he... it was a monster and she had killed in self-defence. How could she explain any of this to him without sounding like the crazy person Fiona had said she was.

"It's a long story," she answers. "A long and complicated story.

"It's okay, I've got plenty of time," he says, settling in, knowing it was going to be a long night and an even longer day to figure out how to get himself out of this mess.