*The Chronicles of F.R.E.E. Earth's Knight - Ruth Watson* Part 2 - NARTHWICH

Chapter Eleven - Facade

After they had been told the whole story, Sawyer was filled in on what he didn't already know, I was facing a deathly silence from Hewitt, Ashdown and Sawyer. Their faces stuck with mouths open in disbelief, disgust, sympathy, anger, and sadness. I shuffled on my feet, ashamed, half expecting them to shunt me for being a killer.
Hewitt was the first to speak after a long, pregnant pause. She turned her head to Green. "Oh my god!"
Green had cried silently throughout, burying her face in her hands and blocking her ears when I told them about her and Stainton. She was shaking after the haunting memories were brought forward.
"Green," Hewitt rose to her feet. "Oh, you poor, poor girl!"
She dashed to Green and pulled her into a tight hug.
Ashdown was staring at me, tears staining her face. "It all makes sense. You... You always avoided talking about it. I thought it had been a savage beast attack or something, but that?!"
I hung my head.
"Watson, why are you telling us this?" Hewitt sniffed deeply, keeping an arm around Green.
"Green wants to return to Ozryn to find Perkins and get him back here in time to be her date for the wedding," Goodwin said for me, rising and holding my hand, giving me some much needed support. "Originally, Watson wanted to bring back Hodgson but..." Goodwin trailed off, looking at me with her brow furrowed.
My head snapped up. "Shit... Alpin!" I hissed.
Guilt and remorse made me sink to my knees. Would Alpin want to come with too? I would then need to tell him as well. What do I say to him? How would he react to finding out what happened?  How can I face Hodgson after having such strong feelings for him for so long? Especially now I had feelings for someone else?
I felt two arms frame my shoulders, knowing one belonged to Goodwin, but I didn't know who the other arm belonged to until they spoke.
"Watson," Dean said. "You don't have to tell him everything if you don't want to, but you know it will be better in the long run if you do."
I shook my head. My boyfriend was going to think I'm a murderer, a savage killer. He wasn't going to want me any more.
"Watson, you're shaking." Goodwin hushed. "Don't worry about it now."
I looked up at her, my lip trembling as I tried to hold back the sobs.
"He's going to hate me..." I whispered.
"No!" Goodwin clutched me to her. "No, don't you think like that! He loves you! He told you himself."
I shook my head again, closing my eyes.
"Watson..." I heard Sawyer say slowly.
I opened my eyes, but everyone was staring at the wall behind me. I turned round.
Dragonwrath was glowing again. A sheer silver radiated from it, much brighter than it had back in the forest before the Razorsnare.
I slowly got up and took it off the hooks. The glow faded away again. I looked at it, completely bewildered, before spinning round to Dean.
"Why does it do that?" Dean whispered.
"It's done that before?" Ashdown asked.
"Yeah, it did it just before we heard Sugos scream." Dean took slow steps towards me. She reached out her hand to touch it. "Watson, back then, in the forest, what were you feeling?"
"Um, Disgusted? Ashamed? Resentful?" I thought aloud, trying to think back to how I felt.
"And how did you feel just then?"
"Pretty much the same," I said quietly, looking at the blade. "Why?"
"Just trying to work something out," Dean said, thoughtfully. "It seems to glow either when there's danger, or it seems to be more connected to you..."
"Is that possible?" I asked, looking at Ashdown.
"That's not like any normal sword, Watson..." She said.
"Moreno did say to you that Dragonwrath was your biggest clue, didn't she?" Green asked.
"Yes, she did." I looked back down at the weapon, totally lost.
Before anyone could say anything else, there came a knock on the door, making us all jump violently. I pulled Dragonwrath's sheath onto my back and opened the door.
"Hey, baby!" Alpin grinned at me.
His grin dropped when he saw my face. His eyes travelled to the sword poking out over my shoulder, to Goodwin, Sawyer and Deans shocked and sad expressions then finally landed on Ashdown, Hewitts and Green's tear stained faces.
He cleared his throat awkwardly, "uh, is everything ok? What's happened?"
I looked around at everyone. "Oh, no-nothing....
"We all got a bit emotional trying to help Ashdown and Sawyer plan their wedding..." Green said, putting her arm around Ashdown who was still sitting in the armchair.
He tipped his head back, opening his mouth, then slowly lowered it making a silent 'uh-huh'. Not really believing her. "Why are you wearing that?" He asked me, pointing to Dragonwrath.
"I was readjusting it a little," I lied. I took his hand and pulled him inside, closed the door behind him then moved to sit with him on the sofa. "H-how's it going?"
Everyone else started to find something to do. Sawyer sat back down at the table, Ashdown sat on his lap. Hewit and Dean started to clean the kitchen, Green was going around collecting the glasses and Goodwin was sitting at the table, thinking.
Alpin watched them all, a little confused, but he shook it off and focused on me, his wide grin back.
"It's going alright. I'm absolutely shattered." He put his arm around me, and pulled me closer, making my head rest on his shoulder.
I closed my eyes peacefully, trying to think of how I could tell him about Ozryn without him running for the hills, then...
"Training was tough today, Needham's really putting us through our paces..."
My eyes shot open. He didn't know that I had been to see Needham. That I knew he hadn't been to training for a few days, and definitely wasn't there today. I noticed the others stopped in their tracks too, obviously noticing Alpin's blatant lie.
I decided to go along with it. "Oh, hun. They are pushing you too hard, I think. Especially after coming back from a long excursion like we have. What does he get you to do?"
I wanted to see how far he would push it. As soon as he left, I was going to be sitting with the girls to get their opinions on it.
"Duelling against each other mostly. It's not fair really. I'm an Axe wielder, the others are mostly just one handed swordsmen.."
I cocked an eyebrow, but didn't lift my head from his shoulder. I didn't want my expressions to give me away.
"What is it that Needham is training you for, exactly?"
"He wants to start building up supplies and resources from the surrounding forests." Alpin said.
"What does Needham do when you're doing all this training?"
"Watches us mostly, or disappears inside."
I nodded, shutting my eyes. "So, where were you today?"
"I was on the training fields." He said nonchalantly.
My eyes opened and narrowed. "And before then?"
"I've been on the training fields all week, babe." He rubbed my arm. "Why?"
"Just wondering. He just seems to be planning something bigger than just a small resources hunt..."
He seemed to latch onto that. "You know, that's what I've been saying to the others!" He moved and I knew he was looking down at me, so I moved my head to look back at him.
"What have you been up to today?" He smiled, sweetly. My stomach turned.
"I went to collect Dragonwrath, Green got some new books, and then I came home..." I didn't want to mention Needham and our little discussion. I wanted to find out what he was up to.
"It's great you've gone out! Why didn't you come and see me?"
I looked away and got up. "I thought you'd be busy. I didn't want to interrupt." I walked to the table and stole a glance at the others.
Sawyer had his arms crossed, glaring at Alpin. The girls were all looking sympathetically at me, with glimpses of suspicion mixed with anger crossing their faces when they looked at Alpin. I picked up the bottle and a glass, filling it before I turned to him.
"Did you want one?" I asked him.
He was looking at the others uncomfortably. He shook his head and stood up. "I think I'll head off, actually. I've got another early start tomorrow and I obviously interrupted something. You must be tired, too, after your first outing."
I nodded and smiled slightly. He came over and pecked me on the cheek, whispering "I love you" before dipping his head at the others and leaving, closing the door quietly behind him.
I put my glass back down on the table.
"Yeah, I think I don't think he'll be coming with us." I said quietly to the others.
"He clocked on that we knew he was lying," Dean said. "He didn't stay very long."
"Why would he be lying though?" I wondered. I looked at Sawyer. "Sawyer, you've been acting weird since... you know..." I rolled my hand and he raised his eyebrows. "Do you know what he's up to?"
Sawyer sighed and looked down at his crossed arms, before relaxing. "Alpin is known for.. playing the field." He said slowly.
I opened my mouth to say something, then shut it again quickly.
"When you and him 'got together' -" he air quoted " - I warned him not to fuck about this time."
"So, that's what that 'man talk' was about." It was my turn to air quote.
He nodded. "He likes to brag to the rest of us about who he had been with and how many he had in one night." Sawyer rolled his eyes, his words made me feel sick.
"You think he's doing it to me?" I asked him, barely able to make a sound.
"I don't know exactly, but I have a strong feeling he is." Sawyer wrapped his arms around Ashdown, giving me a regretful look. "I'm sorry, Watson. I should have told you what he was like before anything happened."
I shook my head. "Don't worry about it." I looked at the glass I had filled up, deciding whether to drink it or not. I had such a mixture of different emotions running through me, I couldn't focus. I was starting to regret everything I had ever done with Alpin, wishing I had waited. I hated myself for giving myself up so easily, but there was nothing I could do now. The deed had been done.
"I'm going to bed," I sighed, abandoning my wine and heading for my bedroom. "Good night all."
"Night," I heard them all say back to me.
I closed the door behind me and fell face first onto the bed. It had all been a lie. Every 'I love you' that had come out of his mouth was total bullshit. I was so angry, but at the same time relieved that I wouldn't have to tell my story to another person. What was he up to? Did I really think he was cheating on me? At the moment it was more the fact that he was lying and covering something up. Cheating was the only thing I could think of that would drive him to do that. Also, did I really want to find out the truth?
I sighed and rolled onto my back.
"Hodgson," I whispered. "I'm so sorry..."

I hardly slept, just kept tossing and turning, trying to clear away all the negative emotions that were nagging at me. Eventually, I gave in and got up. I got dressed and headed for the bathroom.
After I was done in there, I went to get a glass of water. The sofa came into my view and I stopped dead.
Sawyer was still here, sitting on the sofa, with Ashdown fast asleep laying her head on his lap. He heard me approach and twisted his neck to see me.
He gave me a stretched smile. "Sorry, someone fell asleep before we could leave. I didn't want to wake her."
I chuckled slightly making my way to the sink. I picked up a couple of glasses and the jug.
"Want a drink?" I asked him.
"Yes, please." Came his reply after he stifled a yawn.
I handed him his glass before taking a seat in the armchair.
"Are you ok?" He asked me.
"Yeah, I'm ok. Just... Don't know what to think, really." I admitted.
Sawyer huffed. "Listen... If he does turn out to be..." He gave me a strange look. "You know... Come and tell me. I'll give him the beating of a lifetime!"
I let out a noise that was half shock and half humour. "If he is doing that, I don't think there'll be enough time for me to tell you before I give him what he deserves."
Sawyer nodded. "I know. But I'd really like to get a few hits in if I could."
"Why?" I was slightly bemused by his behaviour. I knew he didn't like Alpin, but why did I feel like he was trying to protect me?
"He's pissed me off since our journey started." He growled, looking angry. "When we set off, he was trying to drag me into some lads banter. Made me sick!"
"Lads banter?" I raised an eyebrow. "How does that differ from a 'man talk'?"
"Lads banter is where he was being a cocky shit, pointing out your... features..." He blushed slightly as he said it.
"Ahhh," I raised my head slowly, understanding what he meant now. "So basically, he was checking me out and commenting to you about it."
"A little more than that," He huffed and I raised my glass to take a drink of water. "I'm not going to go into it, so I'll let you figure out what way his banter went. But the way he spoke about you, like he saw you like a piece of meat."
I choked. He had been talking about me like that?! Sawyer didn't notice and kept talking.
"He was talking like that all the way to Swindmore. Suddenly, you were both together."
I hung my head, ashamed with myself. I had let myself fall for his fake charm. It was obvious now he had never loved me, just wanted a piece of me. I had been used. My heart clenched.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I whispered.
Sawyer looked guilty. "I didn't actually think he would act on it. I thought he was being all talk. I wish I had now, but you probably wouldn't have believed me anyway. I was the only other male in the group, so you would have thought I was joining in with it all, and been weird around me and not trusted me. You girls always think boys are all the same."
I felt like an idiot. I had never given into anyone when I was back at home, boys would try but I would force them to wait and I had fun doing it that way. I kept that same attitude with Hodgson too, made him wait and work for it, but never got the chance to act on it. Why now? Why had I let myself fall for some stupid, good looking, womanising wanker?!
I clenched my fist, staring at nothing until Sawyer moved and I focused on him. Sawyer was gazing down at Ashdown, brushing her hair off her face and I hatched my plan. I was going to catch him. I was going to catch the fucker in the act. That way I'll be able to let it go, move on quicker, forget about him easier. At least, I hoped I would. And I was hoping Sawyer would help me do it.
"Sawyer. How would you like to help me?" I said, smirking.
"Help you do what?"
"Catch that fucker out?" My smirk turned evil and Sawyer cocked his eyebrow.
"Does that mean I'll be able to get a swing at him?" He dipped his head, his eyes fixed on me trying to work out if I was being serious.
"Yup," I popped the P.
"Deal!" He said loudly, making Ashdown jump. "Oh shit! Sorry, baby."
"What's got you so excited?" She mumbled sleepily.
"We're teaming together to find out what Alpin's up to." I quipped.
"Oh ok." She chuckled. She sat up and stretched. "Can I come?" She smirked.
"Sure, why not?" I laughed.
The sunrise was starting to creep in through the windows.
"We better go now before we miss him." Sawyer said.
"Right," I nodded and got up. I went to the bedroom to pick up Dragonwrath and met the couple by the door.
"Ready?" I asked and they nodded. "Let's do this!"

We kept to the shadows as we entered the town, keeping close to the walls of the shops as we headed for the Hall. The morning light was still very dim and cast a pink tinge over everything it touched. I noticed that the town was looking a lot more built up since I left almost four weeks ago. The residents had pretty much finished rebuilding after the Mournestrike attack and it was back to the way it had been before, even more so. There was the addition of more flowers to the towns shops, all of which had been given a fresh lick of paint. It made me feel proud to be a part of such a wonderful community.
We got to the Hall and sat beside some barrels, out of view of the main door. The guards slept in the barracks which was located in a side building adjacent to the Hall, so the main door was the only way in and out. We sat in silence and patiently waited.
We waited for a good few hours. The townsfolk started waking and emerging from their houses. Shops started to open, and the high street soon filled with people. We decided to rethink where we were sitting and headed to the nearby book shop. It was Green's favourite shop and mine too. The young girl, ironically called Booker, owned it and she had rewritten well known novels in her own words for people to borrow and read whenever they liked. You could find any book you wanted in there. Cookery books, hobby books, history books (although this was based on British history and I doubted it was all correct and factual), then tons and tons of novels. She had rewritten the Twilight Saga, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, all of the Charles Dickens classics, and more. However, because she had written them all from memory, there were some parts of the novels that would be missing, but it still filled the void.
Upon entering the shop, I headed for the bookshelf that was under the shop's window, so I was able to keep an eye out. Ashdown dragged Sawyer to the hobby section, stating she wanted to find a book on bunting patterns.
"Morning, Watson!" Booker called out to me. I raised my hand to her in greeting, then picked up a random book, pretending to read it while actually focusing on the Hall entrance.
"Morning," I called back over my shoulder. "We won't be staying long, Booker, I'm just doing some spying at the moment." I admitted truthfully.
She laughed. "Don't let me stop you." She joined me by the bookcase. "Who are we spying on?" Taking a look outside.
I gave her a sneaky smirk. "Alpin."
Her eyebrows rose. "Why Alpin? Aren't you going out with him?" She asked, confused.
"Yup," I popped the P. "But he's telling us one thing, and doing another, and been caught out. So I want to find out what he's been doing."
Sawyer looked over Ashdown at me, frowning. He was wondering why I was telling Booker all this.
"Don't worry, Sawyer. Booker can be trusted. She won't tell anyone." I assured him.
"Basically meaning that no one else comes into this shop apart from her and Green," Booker filled in, chuckling.
I went back to pretending to read, then the door to the hall opened and out came Alpin.
"He's on the move!" I hissed to Ashdown and Sawyer who dashed to my side to watch.
Alpin had been caught up in conversation with someone. He quickly shook them off by making an excuse but before he could take another step, he looked like was being called back by someone holding open the Hall door. We couldn't see who it was, but Alpin seemed to be making another excuse to them, trying to get rid of them, looking frustrated and annoyed.
The person who had been calling him back turned out to be Needham when he came out from the doorway and stormed towards Alpin. I was surprised to see Needham actually looking angry. I had never seen him angry before, and, judging by the way he was advancing on Alpin right now, he was furious. Alpin was giving him a cocky attitude back, looking like he was making snide remarks. He was acting like... well, like a rebellious teenager.
Alpin and Needham's raised voices could be heard from within the shop now, but we couldn't work out what was being said at all. They were both getting into each other's faces, sizing each other up, starting to shove at each other.
"Oh my god, are they going to fight?!" Booker gasped.
It certainly looked like it. Thing is, Needham would definitely lose because he wasn't as fit as Alpin. His chubby appearance with jolly demeanour against Alpin's good looking, muscly presence. Suddenly, Needham must have said something that pushed Alpin over the edge, because he pulled his arm back and punched Needham right in the face. Needham fell to the floor, his nose bleeding, glaring up at Alpin. He slowly got to his feet, gave Alpin a warning (this was judging by the way he was pointing his finger at him), then spun round and went back inside the Hall.
A crowd had gathered around them both while they had been arguing. Alpin looked around at the gathering, before making a cocky comment and walking off, away from the Hall.
I put the book back, grabbed Ashdown and burst out of the shop, keeping to the walls of the shops as we rushed to keep him in view. He was striding along so quickly, Ashdown and I had to jog. We stopped when we got to the restaurant at the end of the high street and Alpin turned right.
"Is he going to visit you?" Ashdown hissed at me, out of breath.
We ran across the high street and, hiding by Ashdowns forge, we watched him take another right behind the row of shops.
"Obviously not." I gasped and ran to the next corner to get a better view. He stopped and looked back, making me duck back behind the corner for a moment, before risking another peek.
He walked up to a house and went inside. I flattened myself back against the wall and sank to the floor. My heart was pounding, forcing the blood around my body after having to run, and because I was about to find out what he was up to. Ashdown and Sawyer knelt beside me.
"What should I do?" I asked them, breathing heavily.
"That's up to you, but I think you have two options." Sawyer huffed. "One, wait until he emerges and confront him. Two, walk in on him and catch him doing whatever he is doing."
My stomach flipped over at that thought. I looked at Ashdown.
"We will stand by your side, whatever you decide." She soothed.
I shook my head. "I need to do it alone, but please stay close in case I need you."
They nodded and I stood up. I chose option two. I was going to catch him, rather than confront him and be told another string of lies.
I marched up to the house, Ashdown and Sawyer right behind me, and opened the door.
Alpin stood shirtless facing a wall. He looked back over his shoulder when I opened the door and the blood seemed to leave his face. A small figure peered round from behind him, a girl with long red hair, her bright blue eyes widened as she saw me standing in the doorway.
"Thank god!" She squeaked and ducked out from behind him, running to me before wrapping her arms around me. "Thank you! Thank you so much! I thought no one would hear me!!"
I froze, completely confused. The girl let me go and hid behind me.
"Alpin... What's going on here?" I demanded, starting to shake at the scene that had unfolded before me.
Alpin turned his body to my direction. At first he looked amazed, but then he smirked. He didn't say anything, instead, he strode past me and the girl and shut the door.
"Nothing was going on." He said innocently, still facing the door. He locked it and slowly turned back to us. "It's just getting started."
I pushed the girl back away from us and faced him, adrenaline pulsing through my body. Very slowly, he started to take steps towards me, a sly, evil smirk upon his face. I raised my arm to unsheath Dragonwrath, but he smacked me hard across the face, causing me to be thrown to the ground with my head spinning from the blow. I tried to stand, but staggered from dizziness and fell back to my knees.
All I could do was concentrate on Alpins movements and force myself to stay concious. He stood over me for a few seconds before side stepping me and heading towards the girl.
"No," I heard her squeak. "Please, don't! Not again!"
I felt a burst of hot fury course through me and I spun myself around on the floor to stop him from whatever he was doing to the girl.
But the scene changed before my eyes. I was no longer looking at Alpin, but Stainton, naked and pinning Green to the wall holding a knife to her throat. It was happening all over again. I clenched my eyes shut, trying to shake the images away, hearing the girls desperate plea's as she was being violated, but it wasn't her voice I was hearing. I was hearing Green's. I clamped my hands over my ears, squeezing my eyes shut so tightly, little dots were dancing against the back of my eyelids from the pressure.
"Not again!" I whispered. "Not again! Please!"
Her plea's turned to screams that shook through my entire body. It was like I was hearing fingernails scrape across a blackboard. I cringed, not wanting to relive that night over again.
"Get up." I heard a small voice whisper to me.
I opened my eyes, staring at the ground. Who was that?
"Ruth, get up! Help her!" The small voice said, even louder.
I breathed heavily, pushing the fear and sadness away and letting it be replaced with hatred and anger. I reached up, removed Dragonwrath from the baldric and held it in front of me towards Alpin, who was trying to force the girl to sit on a dresser so he could lift her legs.
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER!" I bellowed at him, taking a few long strides forward, placing my hand on his shoulder and throwing him away from the girl.
I stepped in front of her and held my weapon at the ready.
"Waston, don't make this difficult for yourself, baby." He snidely commented, cocking his eyebrow and looking amused.
I laughed, humourlessly. "Make this difficult for me? You sure are full of yourself, aren't you?!" I relaxed Dragonwrath slightly so I could see his full body. He had no weapons on him from what I could see, so why was he being so arrogant as if he felt he was invincible. I took up defense again while I talked. "You thought I wouldn't find out? I did try to visit you yesterday, but you hadn't been seen at training for three fucking days! You hardly ever came to visit me while I was in the infirmary, even though it's practically right next to the training grounds where you supposedly 'were training'. I have a funny feeling this isn't the only girl that you've forced yourself on! Am I the only one who gave you permission, Alpin?" I spat.
His good looks morphed into an ugly scowl at my accusation. He made a move towards me, but I used my blade to hold him back. He assessed the situation for a while, then smirked again.
"Baby, I saved your life, remember. Are you really going to kill me...?"
Oh, he was going down that route was he?! My arms shook so violently from the fury inside me, I had to take a breath to calm myself down.
This was what Alpin had been waiting for though, and strode forward, grabbing my arm pulling me closer to him. He grabbed my hands and fought with me to take Dragonwrath.
I made a snide smirk at him and let the sword go. For a split second he looked triumphant and was about to swing the blade onto me, but suddenly got dragged down as the weight of it grew and it fell to the floor like two polar opposites of a magnet. No matter how hard he tried to pick it up, he couldn't even move it.
I raised my leg and kicked him in the collarbone away from me and Dragonwrath. He fell back onto the floor, looking confused and now terrified at what I was now going to do.
"You always made sure you were known to the others as a hot shot with the girls..." I took a slow step towards him. "You gloated about how many you 'had', but didn't tell them the truth." I took another step and slowly bent to pick Dragonwrath off the floor, keeping my eyes on him the whole time. "None of those girls actually wanted you, did they? You would use all different types of ways to get what you wanted." I took another step and he started scrambling back, away from me, on the floor. His back hit the front door and he started hyperventilating in fear.
"No, please, baby!" He begged, tears falling from his eyes. "Wh-what are you going to do?"
I towered over him, looking down my nose at his pathetic, whimpering, cowering appearance with his pleading, puppy dog eyes fixed on me and my blade. I leant forward and placed my hand on the door. He cried out, raising his arms to shield himself from the blow he thought he was about to receive. But instead I unlocked the door.
He opened his eyes looking up at me, confused.
"There's someone who wants to see you," I said, cocking my head to one side.
Without waiting for him to move, I yanked the door open causing him to yelp as his fingers got caught under it.
"Sawyer?" I called out. "He's all yours. I'm done with him!"
Sawyer came through the door, cracking his knuckles and aggressively advancing at Alpin. I watched him with an amused face before walking over to the red haired girl, who was still sitting on the dresser and putting an arm around her.
"He won't hurt you anymore," I whispered gently to her, helping her to her feet and guiding her to the door where Ashdown stood. "Let's get you out of here."
Ashdown replaced my arm and took over taking her away from the situation.
"Take her back to the house and get the others to help her out." I told Ashdown.
I stopped and looked back at Sawyer pounding his fists into Alpin, feeling very satisfied that another rapist is getting what they deserved. A thought then struck me. Why was he and Needham arguing earlier?
"Sawyer, that's enough!" I shouted at him.
Sawyer got off Alpin, who was bleeding profusely from the head, sporting a huge black eye and a chipped tooth.
"Wow, you really went for it, huh?" I chortled.
I gave Sawyer an impressed nod of approval at his work of art. Sawyer was breathing very heavily, still hunched up ready for another fight, but I patted his shoulder to calm him.
"Let's take him to the Hall and let Needham decide his fate." I smirked down at Alpin before turning to leave.

Sawyer and I frog marched Alpin down the high street, keeping our eyes fixed on our destination, the Hall. People parted to let us through, staring at us as we passed and whispers followed us along our path, some even cheered seeing Alpin finally getting his comeuppance. We were just about to get to the door when we heard someone cry out behind us.
"Alpin!" A girl with long blonde hair, a tight fitting blue dress with baby blue cardigan was running up the high street towards us.
She reached us and she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him close. She loosened her hold, but kept her arms around his neck, checking him over.
"Oh my god, are you ok, baby? Oh, look at your eye." She noticed Sawyer and I standing watching her. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" She spat at us.
A crowd started to gather round us. 'God, this is like high school!' I thought to myself.
"Who are you?" I snarled at her.
"I'm his girlfriend," She proudly announced, flicking her hair back.
"Oh, is that right?" I folded my arms, raising my eyebrows and gazing at the two of them. "I think you'll find the correct term is victim."
"Who the fuck are you?" She copied me by folding her arms and glared poisonously at me.
"I was his girlfriend until a few moments ago, when I caught him forcing himself on another girl!" I said matter-of-factly.
"LIAR!" She screamed at me.
I raised my eyebrows, keeping my calm demeanour. This girl was one of those psycho types it seems.
"My baby would never do that!" She looked lovingly at Alpin, who gave her a void look back.
"He's been caught in the act, yet you still stick up for him?" Sawyer grunted in disbelief.
"I know him better than anyone," She shouted at him.
"What is going on?!" Needham appeared from behind the Hall's main door.
He saw Sawyer and I standing there defensively, then looked at the girl mollycoddling Alpin. Upon seeing the state Alpin was in, Needham's face lit up and he grinned widely, looking extremely satisfied.
"Serves you fucking right, you tosser!" He shouted at Alpin before turning to Sawyer and me. "You found out he was with another girl then?" He asked me, gesturing towards the girl.
"Ohhh, I found out alright." I said, angrily. "Even the two of us weren't enough for him, it seems, and he decided to force himself on other girls too!"
Needham's face went livid. He opened the doors to the hall and called for the guards to come. Four guards appeared immediately, throwing the girl off Alpin and taking him inside.
"Take him to the dungeons until I decide what to do with him." Needham ordered. He then turned to the girl.
"You are not to visit him, you are not even allowed to write him letters. Forget about him and move on to someone else!" He instructed her, but she was too busy glaring daggers at me.
I withdrew Dragonwrath, and cast her a bored look.
"You can try..." I warned her.
She made an annoyed scream and took off down the high street, pushing people out of the way. I watched her go, but my eyes got distracted when I noticed Sugo standing in the crowd.
Sugo hadn't noticed me staring at her, and made her way back to her shop after watching the psycho-bitch storm off.
Needham approached me and put a hand on my shoulder.
"After I saw you yesterday, I tried to find out what he was up to. I caught him sitting at the restaurant with that girl. Her name's Bowers. They've not been together very long from what I understand." Needham explained. "I confronted him about it this morning when he left -"
"Yes, we saw. We were also trying to find out what he was up to this morning. We saw you both having an argument, then he punched you," Sawyer growled.
"That's why I wanted to bring him back so you could get your own back." I chipped in.
"Why don't we discuss this in my office?" Needham said, gesturing to the door.
Sawyer made to follow the gesture, but I held back.
"Actually, Needham. Could Sawyer tell you the gist of what happened and I'll fill the details in when I come back? I need to do something quickly."
Needham nodded and disappeared inside with Sawyer.
I spun on my heel, and jogged to Sugo's apothecary. I stood outside the door, took a deep breath and entered the shop.
It wasn't very big, only shelves lined the walls with the numerous bottles positioned on one side, and jars of ingredients on the other, with a long desk at the back that had some weird looking objects lined along it. Sugo had her back to me, standing behind the desk.
"I'll be with you in a moment," She sang, grinding something in a mortar and pestle.
I slowly walked through the shop to the desk, looking at the bottles which all held the different colour potions and all of them were labelled with brief descriptions underneath them.
Green potions were labelled 'HEALING POTION - FOR USE FOR ANYTHING FROM CUTS AND BRUISES TO BROKEN BONES'.
The red potions were labelled 'ENERGY POTION - FOR USE WHEN AN ENERGY BOOST IS REQUIRED OR SUFFERING A LACK OF SLEEP'.
I quickly realised there was a lot more available, I only knew of five. Red, green, orange, purple and blue, although I only knew what three of them did. I took the opportunity to find out now. Orange was labelled 'RAZORSNARE ANTIDOTE POTION - FOR IMMEDIATE USE AFTER RAZORSNARE STING. MUST BE USED WITHIN TWO MINUTES OF BEING STUNG.'
Blue was labelled 'VISUAL REMEDY POTION - FOR USE TO RESTORE SIGHT AFTER VISUAL IMPAIRMENT.'
But the purple one threw me completely. 'AMICA IGNIS POTION - FOR USE TO RESTORE SELF CONSCIOUSNESS AFTER ALTERCATION WITH AMICA IGNIS.'
"The fuck is an Amica Ignis?" I murmured to myself.
Making a mental note to ask the others about it later, I approached the front of the desk and watched Sugo finish what she was doing. She added some more dry ingredients to the mortar and pestle, ground it into a fine dust, then tipped it into a small bottle. She jammed a cork in it and picked it up.
As she started shaking it, she turned to see who had entered her shop and the bottle flew out of her hand and smashed on the wall behind her.
I looked at the mess behind her then raised my eyebrows at her, but she was just staring at me, amazed that I was actually there.
"You lagging?" I asked her and she snapped back to reality.
"Sorry, I... I just can't believe you're here... and speaking to me..." She shuffled from one leg to the other, looking around very uncomfortably.
"Well, I figured now I can talk, I can finally find out who you really are." I folded my arms, making a determined face.
Her awkwardness doubled after I spoke. She was avoiding my gaze and playing with the hem of her top.
"W-what do you mean?"
"You know exactly what I mean," I snarled at her. "You were at the funeral, you wore a suit, you wore makeup, you may have been able to make yourself look younger somehow, but that. Was. YOU!" I slammed my hands on the desk, making her jump.
"Ok!" She waved her hands in front of her, trying to calm me down. "Ok, yes."
"Yes?" I took my hands off the desk and backed off slightly. "What do you mean 'yes'?"
"Yes... That was me..." She mumbled, looking down.
"I FUCKING KNEW IT!" I bellowed at her and leapt over the desk, grabbing her shoulders. "Who are you? What do you want? Why were you at the funeral? How comes you've got younger? What did you mean 'I found you'?"
"Whoa, whoa! Ruth, calm down!" she said to me and I released her shoulders and backed away, astonished and frightened.
"How do you know my name?!" I breathed.
"Look, we can't talk here, someone will hear us." Sugo sighed. "I will visit you this evening at your house then we will discuss everything then, ok?"
I scowled at her. "You promise?" I growled through gritted teeth.
"Yes, I swear to you, Ruth. I will come and we will talk about everything tonight." She gave me a sincere look.
"Fine," I leapt back over the desk and walked to the exit. "Be there by sun down, Sugo! If you're not there, I will come and find you!"
"Oh, Ruth?" Sugo called as I reached the door. I looked back at her. "Don't call me Sugo, call me Asuna."

*A/N - Hi everyone! So this is where shit really gets real for Watson and her friends. How are you finding it? Leave me a comment :* love to you all xxx