*The Chronicles of F.R.E.E. Atania's Knight - Raquel Festow* Part 1

Chapter 20 - Dilemma

*Darren Hodgson POV*

I should have just kept my mouth shut. How could I have been so stupid?! I should have just lied to Watson and just kept it as the psycho ex girlfriend, but Jenny had pushed me to such a point that all I could focus on was trying to show Watson that Jenny never meant anything and that she was the only one for me. It completely came out wrong though.
When I had pulled Jenny into the other carriage, she was all over me. Hands were everywhere, her body leaning against me, her lips caressing my cheek. I felt so disgusted that she thought I would still like her. I was feeling dirty wherever she touched me and I was very concious that Watson would be seeing this, so I tried not to react to her touch and keep away, but she kept pushing herself onto me.
It got me so fucking angry when she told me that we could now start being a proper couple, rent our own flat together, go out every night. But the thing that got me the most was, "we can have kids now."
No! No fucking way! The only person I would ever start a family with would be Watson!
I saw red and when I tried to push her away she started calling Watson every name under the sun. Slut, whore, bitch, psychopath. Then the worst part:
"I know you're only with her because she's easy and was there at the right time."
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!
I flipped. I started being totally honest with her for the first time ever and BOY did it feel good to tell her exactly how I felt about her.
"No, Jenny! You were the one who was easy. In fact, you were so easy it became boring. You and the rest of those sluts I got with. But you just wouldn't go away. You kept stalking and being all over me all. The. Time! Don't you realise that I didn't just sleep with you? I slept with loads of other girls! But I still kept you around because, back then, I felt sorry for you. But then I was taken away, and my whole life got turned upside down. There were girls like you there. Everywhere. But Watson was the only one who stood out from the crowd. She was feisty, she was brave, she was everything a man is looking for as his future wife. Above all she was exciting! She is the only one for me. You? You are nothing compared to her!"
She then put her hands around my neck cooing and saying "you don't mean that, baby." I got so fucking angry, I hit her. I actually hit her!
When I stormed back into the carriage, I was too angry with Jenny to really focus on anything else. Hunter asked me what was wrong and I told him. But when Raquel told me she had a connection with me, I lost it completely. I needed Watson to know I never had a connection with her. That Jenny was nothing in my life and that she was the only one for me, but Watson took a U turn and started taking Jenny's side. I mean I cheated on her, not Watson. Watson was the one who changed me. Didn't she see that?! Why was she sticking up for her?
Then it hit me. She had been cheated on by Alpin. But she knew I wasn't like him... Right?
We were now back at Dean's cafe after Rebecca had finally managed to get hold of Watson. Watson hadn't answered any of my calls at all. She had been ignoring us for hours, so when she did finally answer and Rebecca walked off to try and talk to her, I was so relieved she was ok.
Thing is, Watson must have said something to her, as she was being very distant and subdued. She wasn't even responding to Natalia.
"Rebecca, come and listen to this!" Natalia squealed, excitedly. "Xavier just told me they do a yearly gathering to commemorate us!"
Rebecca didn't even react, she was just sitting on the sofa in Dean and Hewitt's small living room upstairs and staring into the distance. Her phone started ringing and she just looked at the screen before placing it down next to her, not bothering to answer.
"Is that Watson?" I asked her.
She just shook her head. Didn't even glance my way or acknowledge me.
"My love, are you alright?" Natalia was looking very concerned for her wife. She got up off the floor where she was sitting with Clara and Xavier and sat beside Rebecca, placing her head onto her shoulder. "Tell me what's the matter."
Rebecca looked at her for a moment before returning to staring into space. Natalia frowned at me.
Her phone started to ring again, so this time I picked it up. It was Asuna.
"Heya, Asuna." I said, trying to sound cheerful but failing.
"Oh, hi Hodgson. Is Rebecca there?"
"She is, but she's a little... Busy. What's up?" I said, looking at Rebecca.
"Oh, well it was the update on the chreek plates. There's something on Earth that's damaging them, but we don't know what. So instead we have looked into getting some old fashioned Portal Bracelets to you. But there's some bad news." Asuna's voice sounded wary and strained.
"Right. What is that, then?" I asked, slowly, dreading the answer.
"We need chreek reed rods, but all the fields in Atania were destroyed." She said. Her voice sounded thick and I swear I could hear her sniffing.
"Oh... That's not good..." I couldn't hide the disappointment in my voice.
"We're trying to source any that may have some old ones that could possibly be useful. Otherwise it may be a while before we get you out of there." She sounded very apologetic and upset that we were stuck here with no means of getting back for a while.
I sighed. "Right. Thanks for the update Asuna. Let's hope there'll be some good news coming our way soon, yeah?"
"Here's hoping. Bye Hodgson."
Asuna disconnected the call and I looked at Rebecca, who still hadn't moved.
"Beccs. That was Asuna, they said they're trying to source out some old fashioned Portal Bracelets for us to use. They would make new ones but the chreek fields in Atania all got destroyed." I told her.
Nothing. Not even a blink. I looked to Natalia who was looking very concerned now. She got onto her knees in front of Rebecca and cupped her face with her hands.
"My love, what is it? Please. Tell me!" She begged.
Rebecca finally seemed to snap out of it and sat back, removing her face from Natalia's hands.
"I'm going back to the Tavern." She murmured and before anyone could answer, she disappeared down the stairs.
"Shall I go after her?" I asked Natalia, jutting my thumb in Rebecca's direction.
Natalia shook her head. "She goes like this when she's worried about something. I think Ruth must have said something hurtful to her. Last time she went like this, was after the war on Atania and we got told that Raquel had been sent away by Portal Bracelet."
I blanched and looked at Clara and Xavier. "Do you still have those bracelets?" I asked, quickly.
They nodded. Clara stood up and went to their temporary bedroom. She returned with an old Portal Bracelet. It looked like a crown of white thorns. There was what looked to be white, think sticks all weaving themselves around each other. I held out my hand for it to take a closer look. I looked eagerly at Natalia.
"Do you think it will work?"
Natalia's face fell and she shook her head. "That's one long chreek reed, not multiple ones. That chreek reed has been used and can't be used again."
"Fuck!" I hissed, glaring down at it like all this was its fault.
I got to my feet and sat down where Rebecca had been sitting. I took out my phone and looked at the photos I had of Watson. I felt so guilty but I tried to hold it in.
"Shall we have an Emotional Release?" Clara asked. "I think it will really help us after today."
I shook my head. "No thanks, I don't feel up for it."
"It'll help, Hodgson." Xavier said to me, smiling. "It really does get all of your feelings out of you."
I sighed. "I know how you do them. I don't think it's for me."
"I'll join you both, but I think we need a bigger space." Natalia said, looking around. "There isn't enough room in here."
"We'll be careful." Clara said, moving the coffee table out of the way.
I suddenly realised they were actually going to go ahead with it, so decided I better get out of there while I still had the chance.
"I'll check on Dean and Hewitt." I said, quickly, launching to my feet and heading down the stairs.
I reached the bottom and saw Dean leaning against the kitchen side, her hands wrapped over the edges, taking slow, deep breathes.
"You alright, Dean?" I asked, coming into the kitchen and sitting on the counter opposite her.
She nodded. "Yeah, I'm alright. Just been one busy day!" She gave me a wry smile.
"Is it all over now, then? Are you closed?"
She nodded again and pushed herself away from the counter. "Yeah. We shut at three because we open at six in the morning. It was crazy today. I think I'm gonna have to get some help in here soon if it carries on."
"Yeah, but they wouldn't be able to cook the food like you do. You're exceptional." I winked at her and got down from the counter.
She grinned. "Yes, but Jenn can come in here and help me out. What's the matter with Rebecca? She came down not long ago. She looked like she was about to start crying."
She gave me a worried look and I shrugged.
"I don't know." I told her, sadly. "I think Watson took her anger at me out on Rebecca. I feel like a fucking idiot, Dean."
Dean nodded. "You need to be careful! Watson went through just as much as we all did in Astrovia, remember?"
I let out a sigh. "I love her so much, Dean. The way Jenny was putting herself all over me, just got me so fucking angry, that I just couldn't see past that. Then when Watson started taking her side, I just lost it."
Dean hummed and started spraying the counter down when there was shrill screaming and bellowing coming from up stairs. Dean stared at me in horror, but I shook my head at her.
"Emotional Release." I quipped, jerking my head to the stairs. "I wouldn't go up there if I were you."
Dean didn't look too happy about it at all. "Fuck sake. Do they really have to do that here?!"
I gave her a wry smile. "It's their culture, Dean. You can't stop it sadly." I watched her start scrubbing, furiously, at the side, hearing the screams from upstairs. "Can I help with anything?" I offered, wanting to keep myself busy.
"Sure, you can help Jenn set up in the main room for tomorrow if you'd like?" She smiled up at me but cringed when we heard a particularly loud roar from Xavier.
I couldn't stop myself from chuckling and went into the main room.
"Alright, Hewitt. What you need me to do, boss?" I quipped, looking around the room.
Hewitt looked up from the cash register. "Oh you're amazing! Could you wipe all the tables down before making a big table for everyone? We're having you all round, minus Edwards and Ryder, for a meal tonight."
I saluted and started doing as I was told. There was another loud scream and Hewitt looked up at the ceiling.
"Please tell me they're not doing what I think they're doing." She groaned.
I laughed. "They're doing exactly what you think they're doing."
She groaned louder. "I hope I can concentrate. Have you heard from Watson?"
I shook my head, picking up the table I had just wiped down and repositioning it. "No. She doesn't want to speak to me, Hewitt. I've fucked up big time." I told her sadly, feeling overwhelmingly guilty.
Hewitt hummed. "Yes, well."
She gave me a hard look just as my phone started ringing. It was Watson!
"Baby?!" I answered, so eager to hear her voice and apologise.
"Hodgson, are you with Rebecca?" She asked, her voice void.
I felt my heart plummet. "N-No, she went back to the hotel on her own."
There was a sniff from her end. "Oh Hodgson. I said something awful to her! She was telling me that she had had a word with you and that you were really upset, then that she hadn't seen me angry since Mournstead. She asked me what it would take to speak to her again, and I told her to die!" She started sobbing down the phone.
I tensed. "Baby, she knows you wouldn't mean that!" I said to her, clenching my eyes shut. 'Just like I didn't mean what I said to you' I thought.
"I-I hope so. I-I didn't mean it. And I'm so sorry. I just got so angry that you were telling me you cheated on her, then you said you were glad you did."
I cringed. "Baby, I didn't mean it like that. I-I got angry because she just wouldn't leave me alone. All I wanted was a nice day out with everyone and she had to fucking come along and ruin it. Then Raquel with her Aura bullshit just pushed me over the edge."
"I don't think it's bullshit, anymore, Darren." She said, softly. I felt a wave of relief and happiness course through me as she says my first name. "Hunter took us to visit Goodwin and she was going on about Aura's and speaking to Goodwin as if she was still there. I got really angry at her... but... She proved me wrong."
"What did she do?" I asked, perching myself against the table.
"She told me about memories only Goodwin and I would know about. The day I broke the sofa in Ozryn. The day I got my arse kicked by Goodwin before breaking the swing." She started laughing. "Our welcome party in Swindmore." She started laughing harder. "That was the funniest day of my life. It was amazing to hear her coming out with it all."
I let my face crack into a smile. She was happy again. She was my Watson. "Where are you?"
"Croydon. Hunter has just introduced us to Theo, Goodwin's brother. He looks so much like her, Darren. Although, he is typical Croydon hood, know what I'm sayin' Bruv?" She put on a funny accent and I laughed.
"Im very surprised they got to you so bloody quickly. We were searching for you and then everywhere when Rebecca finally managed to get hold of you... I'm sorry I hurt you, baby. I love you more than anything in the whole entire Realms put together." I sighed, bowing my head.
"I know, babe. I love you too." She whispered through the phone.
I remembered my conversation with Asuna. "Oh, I spoke with Asuna. She said that there's something here that's fucking with the chreek plates so they're sourcing some Portal Bracelets for us. They would make new ones, but the chreek fields in Atania were set on fire."
She hummed back, listening carefully.
"So at the moment, she's having to call around and ask if anyone had any that she can get over to us. So they may still be a while."
Just then, the door to the kitchen opened and Natalia came in, crying.
"Hold on, baby." I said to Watson, before taking the phone from my ear and looking expectantly at Natalia.
"I can't get hold of Rebecca." She said, shaking from worry. "Can you take me back so I can speak to her?"
I nodded and put the phone back to my ear. "Listen, baby. I have to go, Natalia wants to be taken back to the hotel because Rebecca is now the one giving us all the silent treatment."
"Ok, Darren. I'll speak to you later then. Let me know if you hear from her, ok?" She said to me.
"I will. Love you!" I put the phone down and got off the table. "We'll be back soon, alright?" I said to Hewitt who smiled, sadly, and nodded.
I took Natalia's hand and led her out of the cafe through the back.
"I'm worried about her, Darren." Natalia squeaked, playing with her hair in a nervous manner with her free hand. "This isn't like her to ignore calls."
"I know it's not." I said, feeling like something was really wrong in the pit of my stomach. "We'll get to the bottom of this, don't worry."
We came out of the alley, just as Sawyer arrived with Ashdown in his car. I waved at him and started to pull Natalia in the direction of the hotel but he beeped the horn to call us over. He wound the the window.
"Hodgson, come here." He called out.
I headed to the window. "What's up, Sawyer? Look we have to-"
"Why is Rebecca walking around on her own?" He asked me.
My blood ran cold. "What? She told us she was going to the hotel!" I exclaimed.
"Well she isn't, she's heading down the road towards the A124!" He said.
"Shit!" I looked at Natalia, feeling panicked. Rebecca wasn't used to our Realm. The A124 road gets very busy at this time of day with commuters trying to get home. There'd be a shit load of people and cars and buses... She could get hurt! "Sawyer, can you take us there?"
"Course. Hop in." He unlocked the doors and I swung the back door open, shoving Natalia in the back seat.
"What's going on? Darren, you're scaring me!" Natalia squeaked, her body shaking.
"We need to get to Rebecca before anything happens." I explained quickly, putting Natalia's seat belt over her while Sawyer swung the car round to head back to where he saw Rebecca. "She doesn't know her way around here. We already lost Raquel today, but she was with Hunter who knows how to get around. Rebecca doesn't. Don't worry, we'll get to her before anything happens. I promise."
"Oh fuck sake!" Sawyer cursed as he stopped the car. "Fucking rush hour!"
I looked out of the window. There were hundreds of people bustling around in all directions, most were taking risks and running across the road. Buses were holding back the traffic as they stopped to let commuters on and off. It was chaos.
"Keep an eye out for Rebecca!" I told the others, and we were all looking out of the windows, searching everywhere. Being at a stand still, though, meant that Rebecca could be moving further away from us and we couldn't see her.
Cars around us were beeping impatiently, wanting to move. Poor Natalia was panicking, hyperventilating like she did back when Rebecca and Watson had collapsed in her hut. She was frantically calling out Rebecca's name and looking everywhere she could.
Finally, Sawyer was able to move the car again but only got a few metres before being at a stand still again.
"This is ridiculous!" Sawyer roared, impatiently.
We heard sirens from behind us and an ambulance and a police car sped past us.
"Great, now someone's got run over. Hodg, you might be better getting out with Ashdown and searching for her on foot. Natalia you stay with me. It gets crazy out there." Sawyer instructed and we nodded, Ashdown and I flinging open the car doors and climbing out.
We both ran to the safety of the path and started pushing our way through the crowds, calling out Rebecca's name.
My phone started ringing and I looked down to see it was Watson.
I answered the phone. "Not now, baby! Rebecca was seen by Sawyer walking towards the A124. We have to find her. I'll call you back."
"NO! WAIT!" It was Hunter that answered.
"Hunter?" I shouted over the noise. "What are-"
"Somethings wrong with Raquel and Watson!" He cried out through the phone in a panicky voice. "They both clutched at their chests and fainted. We've had to call an ambulance! They're not waking up."
"Oh please god, no!" I breathed, looking up to the flashing blue lights.
"Hodgson! What's wrong with them?!" Hunter screamed down the phone.
"STAY WITH THEM!" I shouted down the phone, running as fast as I could into the road towards the ambulance. "DO NOT LEAVE THEIR SIDE WHAT EVER YOU DO!"
I put the phone down on him and focused on the flashing blue lights, all the while praying with every part of my being that it wasn't Rebecca.
"Please!" I whispered, breathlessly as I got to the ambulance. "Please, don't be her!"
"CLEAR!" I heard someone shout before hearing them use a defibrillator. I rounded the corner, fear and dread pulsing through my body. I saw a large grey sack on the floor with a silver hilt protruding from the opening. Flashing red and silver.
"NOOOOOO!"