The Way Back Home

Chapter Forty Two: Addicted

TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter contains mentions of SA.

CHAPTER SONG: "Addicted" by Kelly Clarkson

*Lyrics by Kelly Clarkson, Ben Moody and David Hodges

May 15th 1917,

Lance Corporal William Schofield dreamt, trying to catch up on sleep as he sat in the trenches with his unit... Thankfully, there had been a lull in the battalion's on-goings much to the more restless additions eager to take their shot at the Hun.

The sun was setting and Will felt his eyelids close as he listened to some of his fellow soldiers snoring around him and a few others stood on sentry duty. The young man kept his hand inside his uniform jacket, feeling the lid of his tobacco tin where his personal belongings were contained.

As he drifted off, he heard the familiar voice of his dear friend Thomas Blake and silent tears rolled down his cheeks.

"It's been a minute, mate. I can't thank you enough for being there for Joe when Mum died. She sends you all her love and prayers." Tom's voice was soft and clear as Will descended into his dreams.

"She was a lovely woman, Tom. I'm most honored to have met her and known her... Joe definitely loved and cared for her very much. And... she accepted me when I told her what happened to you." Will wiped away his tears and sniffled.

"There's no reason for her not to accept you, Scho. You're one of the most decent men I've ever known. And Joe wouldn't have been able to endure Mum's death without you and Emmy." Tom restrained his own sob as he prepared himself for what he had to tell his friend. "I know you miss her. I made sure she made it back to her own era unharmed. But there's something else I need to tell you about her, my friend. Something's happened."

"How is she, Tom? How fares my love?" Will perked up at the mention of his beloved girl from the 21st century. A shiver of dread racked over his spine, his skin riddled with goose-bumps. "What do you mean something's happened to her? Tell me... was it Erik?"

That very name left a metallic taste of hatred on his tongue. Anger and protectiveness enflamed his veins like an adrenaline boost borne from an instinct to save her from this monster that had terrorized the woman he loved.

He waited for Tom to answer him, breathing heavily as he kept his burgeoning rage at bay.

"When she returned back to her flat in Virginia... he had a key made to let himself in before she got there. And... he drugged her and took her away..." Tom also felt the fury awaken inside him at the thought of beautiful Emmanuelle being kidnapped by such a vile man. "Erik stole her away... to make her his."

"No...no..." Will denied the very notion of his angel being taken against her wishes by the very man she loathed with all her soul. "No... she'll find her way back to us... she promised us."

"I know, Scho. But... you gotta remember that picture of her on the bier. If she manages to make it back to you and Molly and Joe... she might not be alive." Tom was barely able to speak though his own tears now spilling down his cheeks.

Will was cursed with flashing images of what Tom had told him... and he wanted to kill Erik Baumer, impale him with his bayonet and watch the life leave his soulless eyes. He wanted to tear him apart limb from limb.

He saw Erik's arm around Emmy as he injected her with a needle to her delicate throat...

Erik carrying her unconscious body through the dark, empty hallway of her unit building...