There's A Fine Line Between Coincidence & Fate ✓

Chapter 43

I fade in and out of consciousness, the blood loss causing me to hallucinate. I swear at one point I watched Jack come through the cell doors. "You gotta get up Peg." He says, crouching down next to me.

"I don't think I can Jack." I say, my voice raspy. "I'm dying. I can feel it."

"No, you're not. Dying isn't like this. When you die... well, there's a lot more... certainty. I knew the moment that wind blew through the room that I wasn't going to be making it out of there alive."

"That was the worse day of my life." I say, looking down at the blood-soaked sand.

"I know. I also know that you let it drag you down for way too long. You went years without telling Ma or Pa. You know that wasn't fair Peg."

"I know. I know it was selfish. But they didn't have to see you like that. They didn't have to hear you scream and beg for your life. And you died for what? We killed him and he ended up coming back anyway. He's here, again, having drained the life force of 3 other idiots instead this time."

"And you got to live and have this beautiful life because of my sacrifices. You got to give me a niece and nephew."

"And they'll never get to meet the second most important person in my life."

"Wow, hurtful. I remember the days when I was the most important person." He says with his traditional trademark smirk.

"Don't take too much offense. It's not like I replaced you with Edward." We both laugh at that, before I start coughing up blood.

"You gotta save your strength Peggy. He's almost here."

"Who's almost here?"

"Ardeth. They're coming for you. Alex has been leaving clues."

"That boy is too smart for his own good."

"Sounds like someone else I know." I smile as my eyes begin to droop.

"I'm just going to rest my eyes here for a bit."

"Don't you dare die on Peg. Rest and when you wake, he'll be here." Jack said before I lost consciousness.

*Ardeth's POV*

We arrive on Philae and immediately notice that they're gone. While Rick and Evy search for Alex's next clue, I'm hunting for any sign of Peggy. Just when I'm about to give up, I notice a figure gliding along the walls of the side of the entrance to the temple... and I swear it looks like her brother, Jack.

Pulling my sword from its holster, I follow this figure down the halls, to the very back of the ruins. It's quiet, eerily so, and the wind starts rushing through, flooding the place with the smell of the river. I hear a moan, like someone's in pain and I take off down the hall, skidding to a halt at an entrance to a side room. I feel the blood leave my face as I take in the scene before me.

Laying there, in a puddle of her own blood, was my wife.