Shadows

30) Shadows

Daryl sat on his bed, an empty feeling in his chest. On the outside he looked calm, collected even. Inside he was a mess, his thoughts swirling.

Nothing had prepared him for this. He had lost so much but none of it amounted to the pain he felt now.

He had lost his daughter, and basically his wife. Deep down he resented Alicia for killing Sasha. He wanted to scream at her and lash out. After all it was her own fault that she had to go.

He was mad at her for taking that away from her. For taking herself away. He needed her now more than ever.

But a stronger part of him blamed himself. If he hadn't of asked Morgan to take Jordan to Hilltop she wouldn't be dead. Alicia would've never killed Sasha, and they could continue worrying about Negan.

Negan.

Alicia was on her way back to him right now. He was worried sick. Sure he was her father and he would comfort her but he was still evil. He was still the bastard that killed Glenn.

Clenching his jaw, his thoughts fell back to Jordan. Her eyes burned into his brain. The pain of losing a child was damn near unbearable.

He had been so happy when Alicia told him she was pregnant. He wanted nothing more than to meet that baby and be the father he never had.

He had failed. This was his fault.

But it had happened and there was nothing more he could do. His only child was dead and his marriage was falling apart.

He understood now what Carol felt. It seemed like so long ago when Sophia ran away. He remembered all too well the image of Alicia holding the shaking woman on the ground.

Carol was a different person now. Part of him wondered if that would happen to Alicia. She had already made a very rash decision, one she couldn't undo.

Carol had done some pretty shit things as well, and it scared him. He feared his wife turning into the monster her father was. Especially now that she would be alone with him. Her voice rang in his ears.

"You wanted to see how much like my father I could be... well here you fucking go."

He knew it would happen eventually. Ever since he met the woman, he realized she was a fucking time bomb. She had been through so much, even before the fall.

Her brother.

His brows furrowed as he thought back to a conversation they had so long ago. Alicia had a brother. Not Glenn, but an actual bother by blood.

She had only ever mentioned him once. Why? His thoughts raced. And then he remembered, there was one other time she had spoke about him. It was one of the first nights they spent in Alexandria and they were both so drunk he hadn't remembered.

Alicia laughed, the bottle of wine doing its number on her. They were both drunk off their asses.

"God, Alex used to love this shit." She mumbled, staring at the empty bottle of red wine.

"Alex?" He asked, furrowing his brows.

She nodded. "He was my brother. Well... only my half brother." She sighed. "He was the outcome of an affair my dad had."

"What happened to him?" Daryl questioned.

She picked at her hands, looking down at the table. "He had a daughter, Alison. She was named after me. When she was four her babysitter let her out of her sight. She wandered into the road and a drunk driver hit her. They tried to save her but she died on the way to the hospital." She looked up, smiling sadly. "Alex killed the babysitter and the driver. Well... he went to prison and about a month later the guards found him in his cell, four dead body's around him."

"He killed them?" Daryl asked, eyes wide.

She nodded. "When the police asked why he said he did it because he wanted to. He turned into our dad." She looked up at him, her watery eyes staring into his own. "I'm terrified that'll happen to me."

Daryl sighed, shaking his head. What could he do about it? He would love her either way. He couldn't stop loving her, no matter what she did.

From the corner of his eyes he saw something move in the shadows, and swore he saw Merle's face.

"What did I tell you little brother? It'll always just be you."

Daryl threw his cup at the shadow. "Get the fuck outta my head."
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A/N: This is the last chapter of book two! The first chapter of book three is already published. It's called Alicia Smith!