The Way Back Home

Chapter Thirty: Bring Me to Life

CHAPTER SONG: "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence

April 24th, 1917

Afternoon Express from London to Surrey, England

Lance Corporal William Schofield of the Eighth Devonshire Regiment had fallen into another nightmare and he was immediately aware of doing so by the dread coiling in his stomach and the chill in the air around him.

Only he wasn't alone...

"There's something you need to see, Scho." Tom Blake's soft voice, coated with worry, flowed through Schofield's frenzied subconscious. "It's not about the war, but about our dear Emmy."

"Tom? What is it you mean to show me? And what does this have to with her?" Despite the questions, Schofield knew somewhat about the events about to be shown to him.

"To let you see what you won't be able to protect her from. When she goes back to her own era in 2020. You can't protect her from everything that means her harm." Thomas' usually optimistic cadence was absent as he explained to his comrade.

"Like hell I can't, Blake. I love her more than words can express and if anything happens to her..." He trailed off, not wanting to finish that sentence as both men were presented with a bird's eye perspective of a modest apartment, no doubt belonging to the woman he spoke of regarding his romantic devotion.

The woman in question, Emmanuelle Hunterson walked through her living den, clad in loose pajamas that didn't do her lovely figure justice, but Will deduced they were more for her personal comfort with the limited knowledge he possessed about the female mind.

His Emmy did strike him as the type who never really overindulged herself with meaningless things she didn't have a practical use for...

Both men, invisible from their viewpoint of watching her and Schofield couldn't help but feel intrusive at watching her this way, even in his own dream-vision.

"Just watch what happens, Scho. You're about to see the monster she told you about. The threat she'll have to face herself without your help." Blake sadly explained to him as the stunned older man kept vigilant watch over the young American woman as she drank her red wine inside her small modest kitchen.

Then, Schofield realized... This was the night Emmy had confessed to him in tears, the chain of events that had caused him to explode in an uncharacteristic rage in her presence. And now he was powerless even now to prevent it, and the cruel irony wasn't lost on him, this being in his own nightmare at witnessing for himself his beloved Emmy being subdued this way by this villain...

"No...Blake, we must do something. We need to warn her to get out of here. Protect her." Schofield found himself pleading with his late friend, however in vain the effort was...

"We can't change it, Scho. I'm just showing you something that's already happened. You can't keep Emmy safe here, no matter how much you desire to." Blake whispered before not saying anything further, turning his attention to the fair brunette girl who was now beginning to feel the effects of her drink being tampered with...

Schofield had never hated being so helpless before as he watched her place her hand to her forehead and stumbling away from the kitchen toward her living room sofa, no doubt fighting the urge to pass out. The lance corporal felt his eyes water with sadness and fear at seeing her so vulnerable, wanting more than anything to sweep her up in his arms and carry her out of the apartment and get her to somewhere safe, perhaps to a hospital or the authorities...