TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter contains depiction of implied SA. Read at your own risk.
CHAPTER SONG: "Again" by Hadley Fraser
"At first, he was charming, if not annoyingly persistent. I'd worked in the Richmond library for a few years already when his family began funding it and he began frequenting it nearly every day." Emmanuelle looked down at the wooden floor as she sat on the edge of William's bed in his train stateroom, the lance corporal listening to her every word as he held her close to his side, one of his large hands holding both of hers in the young woman's lap, his other arm enfolded around her waist.
Emmy found herself sniffling as unshed tears watered her eyes, but she blinked them away as she felt her soldier's empathetic gaze on her, ever patient in his silent presence beside her as she gathered her composure and strength to continue her story. She looked into the ocean depth of his eyes as he lifted both of her hands to his mouth and kissed both sets of her dainty knuckles, not needing to express his encouragement to her with repetitive words of reassurance.
Corporal Will Schofield's love for her was beyond genuine. He was steadfastly true and unconditionally protective of her emotional and physical well-being... And he had articulated as much with every touch, kiss and word spoken to her.
Emmy pushed some her messy strands of her brown hair loosened from her braid behind her ear, a nervous tic Will had noticed she occasionally did when she was flustered or overwhelmed. Will bit his tongue when he felt tempted to whisper some soothing words to her, only settling to continue cradling her small hands in his larger, scarred one... His free arm held her close to his side as she held her head up and cleared her throat to prepare for more talking.
Will imprinted a most tender kiss on her forehead, sighing with silent pride toward this young lady displaying such strength in her vulnerable state, such courage in her desire to confide in him as her confidante and trusting him with such sensitive details as the woman who chose to love him when she deserved a more worthy man than himself...
Emmanuelle choked back more oncoming tears and cleared her throat again so she could keep talking and finally release herself of the devilish demon residing on her shoulder, whispering noxious venom in her ear to discourage and discredit her.
No...not again!
"His name is Erik Baumer, from one of the richest families in Berlin. My library was on the brink of being shut down with low customer attendance and staffing being shortened. He went to college in the States and graduated in Richmond, thanks to studying at the library and he suggested his family lend their patronage to keep everyone employed and business running."
Emmy briefly leaned her head on Will's shoulder before turning to him and placing a kiss on his cheek, allowing her sweet lips to curl into a briefly enlightening smile before they turned down again into a grim set of melancholy expression.
Will remained calm and silent, not wanting to pressure or overwhelm her lest she not want to continue her tale of woe. However trained he was to keep his emotions bottled up as a reserved Englishman, his Emmy was an American spitfire siren of immovable temper and admirable passion whist still possessing a confident dignity about herself; he adored her furthermore for it...
She pressed another kiss to his jawline before she leaned her head on his shoulder again, to bask in her soldier's quiet masculine presence sheltering her and she found the resolve to keep talking.
"He was handsome enough, and most of the girls had eyes for him, fawning over him like he was some sort of Prince Charming. But, I could tell that he was rude and conceited and chauvinistic. Definitely not the type of man for me." Emmy lifted up Will's scarred hand and placed his bare palm to rest on her cheek, the heat of her blush emanating on the lance corporal's healed wound before she removed it and placed a loving kiss on the scar itself. "You're a thousand times the man he'd ever dream of being."
Will found himself sighing with relief in a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. How wonderful it felt to hear her words confirming that she never felt any affection for this man, but she still had more to tell him.
However her story concluded, his love for Emmanuelle Julia Hunterson of the 21st century state of Virginia would never diminish...
"Whenever was with another girl who was interested in him, he seemed bored and couldn't have cared less about their feelings. He began talking to me, bringing me flowers and asking me out nearly every day those first few weeks after he was announced as the library's patron. I always declined politely at first, but pretty soon he started pestering me further during work hours and he also acquired my phone number through my personnel file in the employee applications. I even had to change my number at one point, he just wouldn't stop calling me on the weekends."
Emmy paused a moment as she braced herself to reveal the darker specifics, her body shivering. Will immediately pulled her closer to him, gently pulling her fully onto his lap as though he could shield her from her memories however impossible that was... So long as he could just be there for her, his beloved sweetheart haunted by her past and he longed to give her the life where her coming days were filled with all she sought after for her happiness...
She was beauty, compassion and feminine integrity personified and she deserved nothing short of everything but the world at her feet...
Her head leaned on his chest, his heartbeat vibrating against her ear as her arms wrapped around his neck, and Will placed his chin on the top of her head, dread coiling in his stomach as he sensed her story was about to take a turn for the worst.
Emmy closed her eyes as she listened to William's strengthening heartbeat, syncing her own breaths with the pulsating rhythms within his chest, basking in his quiet protection even more so as his arms enfolded around her shaking form as she tried to control her inhaling of oxygen to calm herself.
Will took a deep breath as he braced himself to speak for the first time in what seemed like hours, but he knew the effort was futile even though he wanted to try for Emmy's sake. "My love, you don't have to say anymore of you don't want to. I don't want to see you harmed, even by your own memories."
She leaned back in his arms, lifting her head up from his chest as she felt his good hand reach behind her and stroke his fingers through her flowing mahogany locks that were now loosened from her proper, era appropriate braid.
Emmy cleared her throat, continuing to maintain her strong façade as she took comfort in his stroking of her tangled hair as though her dark strands were made of silken ribbons. "No, Will. I don't want to hide anything from you. I want to be nothing but honest with you about my past, and you need to know the extent of the baggage I'll always carry with me."
Will opened his mouth to speak again, but she reached up and pressed her tiny fingers to his lips and he softly pressed a kiss to them. He looked down at her with confusion and the shine of wonder as she stifled his effort to talk further.
"I know you mean well, Will, but you need to let me explain everything. I've survived for a long time by myself before we found each other, so you need to trust me when I say need to face my demons that are after me and me alone." Emmy removed her fingers from his lips and she traced the tips of them along his chiseled jaw-line, sculpted as though his features were carved from marble by Michelangelo. "What I'm about to tell you, they cannot be changed or prevented since they already happened. But you're the hero of my present and my future."
William ran his fingers through her brunette tresses again, allowing them to land over her shoulder as he absorbed her words with rapt attention, slowly nodding his head as his forehead pressed down to meet her own, as though they were in their own impenetrable bubble of love and unspoken promises.
She was right and he wouldn't deny her the relief revealing more of her traumas and he mentally noted in his soldier's molded mind of what this woman feared and more information about this villain who preyed on her like she was a trophy to be mounted on a hunter's wall and not a person with needs and wants of her own.
All William Schofield could reach to comprehend was that he would still protect Emmanuelle from danger even though they were away from the front of war-torn France. There was an entirely different monster after her and from a world he knew nothing about...
She leaned back further against him as he was pulled out of his conflicted, brooding thoughts. Will gently maneuvered her more comfortably in his lap, his arms around her and Emmy listened again to his heartbeat as though it was a calming mantra to keep her talking again. He kissed the top of her head, his nose skimming her hair as his eyes closed in momentary bliss, just feeling at peace with the woman he cherished in his arms.
And she continued speaking of her life in her days of future past and Will kept holding her close, ever prepared to comfort her should the recollections become too frightening for Emmy.
"Nearly every day at the library, he would corner me in the empty sections where nobody was around. He wasn't aggressive at first, but he would bother me when I was trying to get things done before the closing of the business day. He would leave flowers or other gifts next to where I kept my personal belongings, like he could buy my affection with material things. I always rejected his invitations to dinner or a family gala where he'd want to have me on his arm like a trophy. He would tell me I was different than any of his other conquests because I 'challenged' him and it was thrilling to him that he would have to chase me like a hunter pursuing a prize stag."
Emmy paused, inhaling a shaking breath as she internally gathered another bout of strength from within herself and from the valiant man cradling her to him. Will himself sighed simultaneously along with her, assuring her without words that she was safe and protected with him.
His scarred hand petted along the length of the chocolate waves of her hair cascading down her back. Her untamed hair alone would make Rapunzel herself green with envy, Will mused to himself to keep his impending anger concealed from the sweet maiden in his shielding hold.
And he knew she wasn't finished yet...
"I hadn't seen the other side of Erik until...until after around three months after we met. The library had closed for the weekend and there weren't any cabs available to take me home. Erik offered to give me a ride home and the sun was already going down, so I accepted without even thinking it through. He asked me how my day was and offered to buy me something to eat...and I didn't notice until it was too late that he had driven us to an abandoned parking lot nowhere near where I lived. He stopped the car and I demanded that he take me home..."
Emmy had to stop again as she looked up at William, anxiously gauging his reaction even though he was ever the master at hiding his emotions. His jaw was clenched, his azure eyes looking away from her and focusing on the floor, his hands trembling as they continued to hold her close ever so gently.
And she continued...
"He locked the car so I couldn't get out...and this darkness overtook his face like he'd become a different person from the stuck-up bully. He climbed on top of me in the passenger seat and put his hand over my mouth...and he took me...again and again... I tried to resist, but he was too strong for me to escape...and he said he'd ensure my termination at the library and he showed me pictures of my mother after he'd hired someone to follow her and said he would hurt her if I told anyone...and my body became his sexual plaything and I forced myself to go along with it...but I never gave him my heart or my soul."
Emmy ceased speaking again the unshed tears now flowing down her burning red face, her lungs aching with the effort to withhold her gasping breaths. She noticed that Will's hands now held her waist as he slowly eased her off his lap and back onto the edge of his bed, his eyes averting from looking at her and his hands withdrawing from touching her any further.
Her heart pounded with painful anxiety as she watched him slowly stand up from the bed, his breathing hitching almost into a low growl. Will went to the water basin by the wall and leaned over it, his hands clutching onto the edges, the veins taut under his skin with the strength of his grip.
"Emmanuelle...I..." He rasped out, holding back an unreleased sob, but unable to form any other coherent words.
Emmy didn't want his pity and she would've rather he cursed her and demanded she leave the room, but he remained silent as the seconds ticked by...
And she still wasn't finished...
The nightmarish flashback her mind had plagued her with when she had recently woken up...
"That dream I was having earlier...I was remembering when I last saw him a couple nights before I left on my trip to London. Erik..." His name was arsenic on her tongue, bile rising in her throat and she forced it back down. "He found my spare key and snuck into my apartment...and he laced my wine with a drug that made my entire body unable to move, my muscles and limbs heavy."
Will stared at her reflection in the mirror above the water basin, tears of rage stinging his reddened eyes, his body shaking with a deep-seated fury he had never experienced before. Each word she spoke of her story fueling the fire of his soldier's instinct to kill an enemy. He thought he had seen all the evil men were capable of, the bloodshed, the loss, the ability to take another human life and simply move on to the next order from his commanding officer.
He had other men's blood on his hands, but the circumstances had been as a soldier battling to preserve his country and territory as an Englishman.
This was different; he wanted to kill this monster who dared to harm the heavenly woman sitting on his bed. Not even her beautiful voice speaking of such vile events could soften the blow of guilt he felt along with the fear for his Emmanuelle.
"And...he took me to my bedroom...and he chloroformed me to sleep so I'd be completely at his mercy. I couldn't move, or scream for help... God knows what he did to me while I was unconscious." Emmy blubbered out that final sentence as the sobs began to reign over her speech. "He won't stop until he possesses me forever, alive or dead, William. He's taken my body and my dignity...and he'll take away everything else of myself until I'm nothing but a lifeless shell if I don't submit to him. He told me as much as he held that damned rag to my nose and mouth...in my own bed!"
Emmy buried her face in her hands, feeling pathetic as she cried into her palms. She heard Will's rasping breaths causing his lungs to constrict as each of her sobs made his heart bleed with sympathy and love for the despairing girl still sat behind him.
The lance corporal's own sobs racked his normally tall stature as he hunched over the basin, his hands removed the glass mirror from the wall before he even realized what he was doing...
Gripping the mirror by both edges, Will lifted it above his head and he smashed it against the basin repeatedly, seeing red-colored visions of sweet Emmanuelle, a hardworking woman who adored her job, being trapped underneath this disgusting wretch of a human being, even though he hadn't been able to place a face to the man himself, but it mattered not. Will smashed the mirror again as he imagined her smothered screams of paralyzing fright ringing in his ears. This fiend looming over her in her own bedroom, the one place where she deserved to sleep safe and undisturbed, and tranquilized her into quiet slumber against her wishes, his shadow darkening her peaceful aura and his rancid breath coated with unsatisfied lust tainting her pure skin and heavenly lips as she drowned in the whirlpool of a drug induced haze...
A primal scream erupted from the enraged soldier as he momentarily forgot the presence of the sobbing woman perched still on his bed, his face buried in his hands.
The shards of glass fell to the wooden floor around his feet as Will removed his hands from his face and mouth and he saw his distorted reflection among the broken pieces...
He breathed in and out heavily as his pulse began to calm and his heartbeat slowed to its regular vibration. The scarlet cloud left his vision and he saw regular color...
Good God... What on earth had he done?
Emmy...!
Emmy...
Ever so slowly, he turned around, expecting her to be gone, having fled from the room in fear of this uncharacteristic rage boiling inside  him.
And there she sat, the tormented angel who had poured out the darkest of her secrets to him... beautifully broken as her evergreen eyes locked on him, her back arched straight as she stood up and slowly approached him, dried tears caking her pink tinged cheeks.
"Em...Emmanuelle...words cannot express..." Will stuttered out his words as this courageous girl who wasn't afraid of his display of sudden madness. "Just the thought of you... being hurt... I cannot tell you how sorry I am, my beloved. Please forgive my outburst."
She took more steps toward him as he watched her look into his eyes, no more fear or uncertainty in her eyes as she enfolded her arms around his neck, her head on his shoulder as she stood on her tiptoes. Will gasped in shock at her action of embracing him but his arms automatically went around her to pull her close to his chest. His chin rested atop of her head, the soapy aroma of her hair washing earlier that morning gracing his senses and further calming the soldier.
"It's alright, my prince." Emmy reached up to kiss his neck, inhaling his pinewood scented cologne and closing her eyes against the collar of his blue uniform tunic. "I know you would never hurt me...and we best not forget that I also have blood stains on my hands that will never wash off...from Ecoust. I'm a sinful woman who doesn't deserve your loving touches after the things I've done with him. I can still feel his hands all over me sometimes, when I should've saved myself for the man who will truly treasure me. But I've been reduced to a filthy slut, sleeping around to keep my job."
"Emmanuelle, please do not speak of yourself in such a manner. I won't hear of it." Will moved his hands to her neck, caressing her rosy cheeks with his thumbs. "From the moment I first saw you, I knew you to be a most spirited and strong lady, fairer than the flowers abounding Flanders fields and purer than the whitest clouds in the sky."
"But if anyone here knew...I'd be called a whore, unclean and tarnished." Emmy found herself babbling to him with her worry of other's people's perception of her in this era, knowing the standards for women's reputations were much stricter than in 2020.
"My love, we may be away from the front, but that doesn't mean I'll stop protecting you, either from cruel words aimed at you, or from anyone who tries to hurt you." A horrifying thought came to his mind and he voiced it aloud before deliberating on how to word it clearly. "If this Erik is still in your era, I can't protect you there, a hundred years forward. If you remain here, I can ensure your safety."
"But, I can't control it, going back to my time. It could happen at any moment. I could suddenly black out and wake up back in 2020...and when that happens, I need to bring him down, Will. If I don't return eventually, he may turn his focus onto another innocent girl...or he might go through on his threat to hurt my mom, and I can't let that happen." Emmy reached up and ran her small fingers through his soft dark waves of brown hair curled on his pale forehead. "I couldn't live with myself if somebody else got hurt and I was able to stop him."
"But, darling..." Will tried again to argue, but words failed him again. This was beyond his understanding and he stared into her eyes as though Emmy had all the answers to so many questions in his head.
"Just trust me, Will. It'll be alright." Emmy looked up at her hero as he towered over her petite height, and he bent down to kiss her rosebud lips. "We might wanna clean up this mess so they don't throw us off the train."
The lance corporal briefly smiled down at her before bending lower to meet her height, his arms enfolding around her waist and he lifted her up off her feet and she released a small squeal of surprise as she placed her hands on his shoulders. "My sweetest Emmy, we'll be arriving in London before the end of the day today; then we'll catch a shorter express to Surrey where Molly and the girls will meet us tonight."
Emmy pressed her forehead to his as he held her up against him, her hands playing with his hair as her feet dangling several inches off the ground as he carried her away from the shards of glass on the floor and placed her next to the bed. "I can't wait to meet them, Will. I just hope they'll like me."
Will opened his mouth to respond, but the sound of Emmy's stomach growling interrupted him. She held her hands to her abdomen as though she were embarrassed. He went to her side again and took her hand within his, her palm brushing against the scar embedded on his own hand. "The mirror can wait. Right now, my lovely one requires nourishment, especially since you skipped breakfast."
He kissed her hand as she pulled them both to their feet and led him to the door, a childlike giggle bubbling in her chest as they exited the disorganized room and out to the train corridor to the dining car for some lunch...
All the emotions shared between them that morning certainly left the two lovers hungry in both mind and body as they made it closer to the home front.
And for the first time since enlistment, William Schofield found himself not completely hating the idea of seeing home again.
.
.
Lieutenant Joseph Blake of the 2nd Devonshire Regiment was one hundred percent certain he was dreaming. And he knew more than anything in that moment that he shouldn't be there at all.
Emmanuelle Julia Hunterson was getting married in mere hours and tonight was the eve of the ceremony. And he stood at the threshold of her room, watching as her back was to him, the gorgeous object of his admiration wearing her bridal dress and surveying herself in the mirror.
The veil was thin patterned gossamer of the whitest lace, stitched with pale petals of cherry blossoms, no doubt as a tribute to his dear brother, the heavenly ivory brightness contrasting sharply with her dark tresses of silky brown hair, also braided with various flowers of the spring season.
He had imagined her being wed underneath the Blake family tree orchard, pink petals raining down on her as she said her vows to the groom...and he had no right to imagine such a scene since she was marrying Will Schofield, a man more than deserving of her love and dedication.
And Joseph standing to be the supportive best man...that was why he had no idea what the hell he was doing there!
Damn it all to hell!
She sensed his presence as the guilt washed over him like a cold tidal wave and she turned around, emitting a surprised gasp as he lingered at the threshold still. She was frozen in her spot like a startled doe staring down a rifle, her jade eyes accusatory and he held no blame towards her for such a reaction as he stepped over into the room and closed the door behind him.
He knew this was most improper, but he didn't care. He couldn't hold it in anymore. He had to tell her what laid in his heart since the day they met...
Joseph was the first to speak, his fingers wringing with the stringed piece of jewelry he intended to present to her. "You look beautiful, heartbreakingly so, Emmy. Though you always look beautiful."
He looked down at the floor at her bare feet as she removed the veil from her head, her hands careful not to ruin the wreath of flowers that crowned the accessory as the final touch of her attire as she would walk down the aisle.
"What are you doing here, Joseph?" Her voice was soft as she questioned, where she sounded exhausted rather than irritated at his presence.
"I brought you this." He held up in his hand William's St. Christopher medallion for her to see, the metal chain dangling from his fingers.
"I thought that was lost! Thank you so much." She smiled brightly at him as she reached out to take it from him...but he pulled it away. Her lips turned down into a frown as her gorgeous green eyes darkened with annoyance toward her friend. "Please give it back, Joe."
"I just need to say something first." The besotted lieutenant never took his eyes off the woman in front of him as he stepped closer to her while holding the medallion behind his back. She wrung the veil in her hands, petals of apple blossom pink floating to the floor.
"I know what you're going to say. Please don't." Her hands now squeezed the wreath of the veil, her body tensing up and he yearned to take her in his arms and soothe her stress. He wanted to make this as easy as possible for her.
"I need only say it once, Emmy. And you need to hear the words aloud, even though I'm breaking my pledge." Joseph braced himself to speak again, fighting back the nausea and dread twisting him every way. How he deserved a hail of fire from her for what he was about to say. "I'm in love with you, and I've half a mind to beg you not to walk down that aisle tomorrow, but you deserve to be happy in any way you desire."
He walked toward her closer, carefully reaching around with the medallion and latching it to hang around her neck, the gold metal face resting on her delicate bosom.
"Joseph, it's not about deserving happiness. It's about being truthful to yourself, no matter if it hurts you or others around you. I know you love me, but say what you really want to say to me in this moment." Emmy looked right up into his deep blue eyes, now dark with his pupils dilating with temptation toward her. Her wedding veil fell to the floor at her feet.
The only sounds in the room were the trembling of both of them breathing, waiting for the other to act. Joseph spoke again, his voice rumbling with long repressed passion. "Come away with me tonight. I'll take you anywhere in the world you want to go. I can provide for you and keep you safe with my life, Emmanuelle. I want your face to be the first thing I open my eyes to in the morning and the last when I go to sleep at night. I want to hold you in my arms and comfort you when you're scared or upset, care for and tend to you when you're injured or ill. I want to make love to you after we exchange our own marriage vows under the trees of my mother's cherry orchard, and I want to feel our unborn child growing within you, the evidence of our union. That's what I want to say to you."
Emmy absorbed his words as he backed away a few steps out of her proximity, awaiting to see what she would do. Joseph watched the lovely, conflicted emotions wash over her angelic features, anticipating her to say something as she opened her mouth to speak. She stepped over the discarded veil, on the way of sabotaging her wedding to a truly good man... green burning into blue as their eyes remained connected.
Joseph dared to hold out his hand for her to take. If she did, they would leave together tonight for a destination he knew not yet, but he didn't care. And the betrayal of his friend Will Schofield was impossible to ignore and the disapproving voice of Tom at his actions in his subconscious.
But he cared not about propriety or honor... He needed to live, to feel alive again...
His hand was open to Emmy, his heart racing as her hand, still adorned with a stunning engagement ring of subtle beauty to compliment its bearer, reached out to place into his... Her fingertips brushed against his palm...
Ever the blushing runaway bride like the romance novels she loved.
Would she dare do it? Elope with him, start a new life with him...?
Joseph Blake opened his eyes as his dream shattered, the same one he'd had for the last few nights. The morning bugle sounded through the air to awaken him and his men as he forced himself out of his bed and began to dress for the day ahead. Even though he was due to hear about his application for compassionate leave after receiving a letter from his mother about Will Schofield writing to her about Tom.
The ebony haired lieutenant looked over to his personal belongings on the small wooden table by his bed. A framed photograph of his dear mother and Tom and himself in one of their rare photos together and his heart lurched at the sight and a deep sadness flowed through him which disappeared completely as his eyes focused on something else on the table, something he hadn't viewed before.
A black and white photograph of a lovely dark haired woman in a wedding dress...with the exact likeness of the woman he loved unrequitedly but with all the feelings left within him following the loss of his brother, a loss she had filled with each moment she had been in his presence and his thoughts.
Emmanuelle Hunterson in an Edwardian bridal gown, photographed and framed and placed amongst his belongings. What on earth did this mean? Who was she about to marry, if this woman was indeed her? Was she in danger? Had Will Schofield survived long enough to retrieve her from the hospital?
As he prepared for the tasks laid ahead for him in the day, he made it his goal later that night to write both William and Emmanuelle and make sure they were both safe. The dream he had just awoken from lingered in the back of his mind and made him feel like even more of a shaming cad, a cuckold, a Lothario stealing away another man's bride.
Joseph knew that was all it would be for him with his relationship with Emmy to extend beyond friendship, nearly almost losing her trust in trying to kiss her at the hospital. No matter the pain it cost him, he had to place her first, like the man his mother raised him to be...
If she ever came to him in the future, it would be on her own terms. No matter her choice, he would love her still, ever and always.