Heal: Horizons ~ A Sequel

Chapter 4: Crossed A Line

    I struggled to wriggle free from the person's grasp until they shushed me. "Calm down... It's just me." My mother's voice whispered. "We need to stay quiet if we're going to get out of this place. I knew you'd come around and I'm so proud of you for-"

    "Mom, I'm not going anywhere... Please just stay, don't do this! Things will get even worse then they already are. People will die. Do you really want that?" I questioned.

   There was a long, silent pause. "Fine. I'm trying to help you but you keep wanting to make the wrong decision, Arabella. That's all on you. I can only do so much."

    It was too dark in the room to tell, but I'm sure she was tearing up. Her voice sounded shaken and defeated. Without warning, she hugged me tightly. "I just got you back... I hate to leave you like this. Please stay safe, Bells. I love you so much."

             "I love you too, Mom."

  She then slowly opened the door and left me all alone in the dark room to think about what had just happened. I may have just lost my mom. Again.

    I didn't even want to consider it, but what if she was right? The look in her eyes when she had told me yesterday, the desperation written all over her face; something like that can't just be for nothing. Plus, with the eminent war, there's always the possibility that I'd never see her again. That absolutely terrified me.

    I finally realized I'd been sitting in that dark room for far too long, so I let myself out. Since it was still super early, I decided to go back to the room and cuddle up with Negan. My heart hurt so much from departing with my mom that only Negan would make me feel better at this point.

    I walked peacefully by myself. The sanctuary seemed dead silent all around me... until an alarm went off over the intercom.

    That alarm had two possible meanings: A. There's an intruder. B. Someone left the compound without permission.

    Clearly, it was B. And it was my mother. "Shit!" I whispered to myself.

    "All residents must be in their rooms. Again, all residents must be in their rooms." A voice announced on the same intercom. I knew Negan had to have been awake by now, and he was probably going batshit crazy since I wasn't in the room.

    I had to see if my mom was okay though. Negan's men were probably throwing her in the cells already, so I ran and ran until I could find them.

    I even ran outside. Rain was pouring down along with the dark, early morning sky which was making it hard to see. Thankfully, I caught them just in time. There were several men closing in on my mother. They all had guns pointed straight at her. "Lower your guns, NOW!" I yelled.

    Being Negan's girlfriend, they obviously had no choice but to listen to me. That's just one of the many perks I have!

    They obeyed my orders and remained in their positions surrounding her. Before I could open my mouth, someone began whistling from outside of the huddle. Everyone knew that whistle all too well, it was Negan.

    "What in the ever loving  fuck are you doin' out here, darlin'?" His tone was menacing, one he almost never had with me. Normally, his voice was gentle when it came to me so I knew he was beyond pissed. He had Lucille perched up on his shoulder as usual.

    "I-I can explain Negan just-" Surprise, surprise... He didn't let me finish my sentence.

    "No I think I have pretty damn good idea of what's goin' on. Mama Bear over here came to try to take her daughter back didn't she?... Tell me, are you on that asshole's side, lady? Because I just can't bring myself to believe that you comin' here was some big fuckin' coincidence." He growled.

    I had no clue what to say or do, so I waited for my mother to answer his questions he had for her. There was almost no point in lying. "Yes, Negan. I am on Rick's side." She answered.

    Negan then switched his gaze to me, slowly approaching me as he did so. "Is that why you're out here at the ass crack of dawn too? To leave with her?" He asked me.

    "No, Negan. I wasn't leaving-"
    "Then what the FUCK are you doing huh? You better not be lying to me!" He got in my face and yelled.
    "I'm not lying to you! Maybe if you'd actually let me talk, than we wouldn't even need to be having this damn conversation now would we?"

     Behind closed doors, my attitude would not have been such a problem. But even I knew I crossed a line by yelling at Negan in front of his men. A heavy silence fell over everyone. It didn't help that the thunder and rain seemed to make the situation more intense than it already was.

     "Simon, take her mom to the cells. Don't hurt the lady." Negan began, never taking his eyes off of me. "And as for you, sweetheart.. Well we're going to have to have a little talk." With that, he grabbed my arm with such a harsh and painful grip that I couldn't pull away.

    "Negan, you're hurting me!" I whined. He only loosened his grip just a little, but he continued to pull me inside. Negan was never this rough with me. We'd gotten into a few arguments in the past, sure. They were never to the point where he would blow up in my face like that though. It made me wonder what he had in store for me.

    After a long and quiet walk, we reached our room. My clothes were drenched and I was freezing as I waited for whatever punishment he was going to give me. I never had a reason to be scared of him until now.

    Negan was pacing on the other end of the room, contemplating what to do. "You fucking knew that she was on Rick's side the whole time?" He asked in a low voice. If anything, he actually sounded kind of hurt by it.

    "Yes." I squeaked. My head was hung low.
    "Why didn't you tell me?" Somehow he still seemed calm.
    "Because I know how you can get, Negan. I love you, but I just... Didn't know what you would do to my mom."

    He paused and stared at me for a good 10 seconds. For once, Negan had no idea what to say. I still didn't make any eye contact with him.

    Instead of replying, he went into the bathroom and turned on the hot shower. Then he came back into the room. "Come on. You're shivering. You need to get out of those wet clothes." He still didn't bother looking up at me.

    I slowly made my way passed him and into the bathroom. Admittedly, I was confused as to why he just stopped to get me in the shower mid-argument. Plus he didn't even punish me like I thought he would. Negan was acting so strange that I didn't even know what to think at this point.

    Before stepping into the bathroom completely, I turned to look at him. "You just go ahead and do that, I need to do some fuckin' thinking." He said, rubbing his face. Then, he turned and left the room, slamming the door behind him.