27

**Xander**

"I'm going to catch you," I say as I chase Nikki around her backyard.

 Life has been blissful for the last couple of days, we've been spending a lot of time together getting to know each other. With Aiden's case now in court and his girlfriend dead, we can now get back to our normal lives. Something I've been looking forward to for a while. I hide behind a pillar and wait for her to approach, she sneaks to the door and slides it open, she peeks into the house and once she lets her guard down, I jump out and grab her from behind.

She screams and I carry her into the house, "I got you now, baby, there is no escaping."

"Put me down, Xander," she laughs.

I spank her ass and continue walking up the stairs, "I can't do that, baby."

She groans, and she stops struggling, I assume she's given up, I get to our room, and I put her down on the bed, her eyes are closed.

"Baby?"

She doesn't respond, I shake her, calling for her to wake up. My heart starts beating hard against my chest, what's happening to her?

"Nikki, please, wake up," I beg as I shake her by her shoulders.

"It's too late, son," I hear a voice say.

No, not him.

"You killed her," the voice says, "Everything you touch dies."

Her body turns to dust, and I jump off the bed, "Who are you and what do you want from me?"

Everything in the room disappears, and I'm left in the dark, I hear footsteps coming from behind me and I turn around ready to defend myself.

"You've already forgotten all about me, son," the voice says as the footsteps get louder, "This is why I told you to stay away from women.”

"Dad?"

The man comes out of the shadows, and I look at the man in the eyes.

"What do you want from me?"

My father gives me a wide Cheshire grin, his pale skin, beaming under the dim light that was coming from a window, "Oh son, you know what I want. I want your soul."

He lunges at me and gets on top of me, and he pins me to the ground, I'm screaming, trying to push him off me, but he's too strong. I look at his face, but his face has changed; he’s got sharp teeth, no eyes, and a long tongue.

“This isn’t real,” I whisper.

"Oh really?”
 
I look beside me and see Jo-Anne looking at me with an evil smirk on her face.

"You’re going to die, Xander, all because you couldn’t leave it alone, you just open your big mouth and tell your stupid girl about our plan.”

“This isn’t real,” I say to myself, this can’t be real.

Jo-Anne begins to laugh, and this monster is trying to get its filthy tongue in my mouth. I turn my head from side to side and try to get my hands up from the ground, with all the strength I get on hand loose and throw a punch, which only pisses it off. I punch it repeatedly and again, as I begin to overpower it, I continue to punch it.

“Xander, stop,” I hear a voice in the distance.

“No!”

I carry on punching it, feeling my knuckles break as I crush its skull in with my fits. I don’t want to stop, I can’t stop. I feel something grab me, and I’m pulled back, I open my eyes, and I’m surrounded by my men in nurses' uniforms.

“He’s awake,” one of them says.

Breathless, I try to push them off me, but they’ve got me pinned. At the corner of my eyes, I can see Nikki and Charles, they look terrified. I immediately calmed down and the nurses released me.

“We need to get a psychiatrist in here, as soon as possible, he’s probably got PTSD,” one of the nurses said.

“Most likely, I’ll page Doctor Brook,’ another says.

Two nurses leave the room and take Nikki and Charles with them.

“Where am I?” I croaked out; my throat felt dry.

“Hospital, you’ve been in a coma for a week,” a brunette nurse reply, "You don't remember?"

Comma? Hospital? How?

I shake my head. 

The other nurse hands me a glass of water and I take it, but my hands are shaking, he takes the glass and helps me drink.

 “You were shot in the chest, close to the heart," she continues.

 Oh my gosh.

 Nikki and Charles entered my room, and Nikki rushed to my side.

"Oh, Xander," she cries, "I'm so glad you're okay."

I put my hand over hers, and she cries as she kisses my hand, "I'm so sorry."
 
I shush her, "It's okay baby, it's not your fault, okay."

"I shouldn't have -

 I shush her again, "Hey, stop it, come here."

She gets onto the bed, and she lies her head on my chest, I wince in pain, but I tell her not to move. I need this, we both need this. I rub her back as she continues to cry into my chest. I missed holding her in my arms, just feeling her skin on mine and breathing the same air as her. Even though she looked like she hadn't slept in a while, she looked just as gorgeous as the last time I saw her. 

I look over at Charles, and he's crying too, I feel a tear rolling down my cheek.

 "Thank you," he says as he walks to my bed. He looked horrible, and I knew no matter what Damien said, Charles wasn't going to rest until I woke up. He would fight demons and angels just to keep me alive if he could. 

I chuckle, "For what?"

"For coming back to us," he sniffs and wipes his tears.

 "You know I can't abandon you, both of you,' I say, I kiss Nikki's head.

"I don't know what I would do if you died Xander, honestly, we were so scared, I was scared." Charles confesses.

"You know how stubborn I am, I wouldn't go down without a fight." 

 "Now I know how you felt when I was in the hospital," Charles says with a laugh, wiping his tears.

 "Karma's a bitch," I chuckle, and Charles laughs.

"I just have one question, though. What happened?"

Nikki and Charles both look at each other, and they turn to look at me. 

"You don't remember?"

"Why do you think I'm asking?" I say as shift on my bed.