The Evil Within: The Detective

The Fiancé

The Fiancé

At first Joseph was simply froze then slowly he began to kiss me back. He shifted slightly, pulling me into his lap, as one arm found its way around my waist and the other lined my neck. My fingers wound themselves into his hair, deepening the kiss. It didn't last very long and we both seemed to pull back at the same time, but our foreheads stayed pressed together.

For a moment we simply sat in silence, just breathing, before Joseph pulled back. When I finally looked at him he was normal and I couldn't stop the tears from falling. "Joseph..." I barely managed to say.

He didn't say anything, but gently wiped my tears away. "Why are you crying, Em?" He asked me and I laughed, which only confused him more. "Em, what's..." He started to say as he looked around, but he stopped abruptly at what he saw.

He looked back at me, his expression a mix of confusion and concern. "Emily, did something happen or is this still..."

"STEM? Yes." I interrupted gently since he seemed to want the answer.

"How did you...? How long have I...?" He started to say then stopped himself each time.

"A little over three months and I came to find you. I knew you couldn't be dead." I buried my face in his shoulder and he held me gently.

"Dead? Who told you that?" Joseph asked.

"Sebastian Castellanos." I informed him.

"Seb did? Why?" Joseph asked me.

"I don't know. He probably thought you were dead." I said with a shake of my head. There was a pause where he simply held me tightly before he spoke again.

"By the way, Em, what are you covered in?" He asked me, holding up his gloved hand now covered with slime. I had to laugh just a little bit as I stood.

"You don't want to know." I told him and he nodded once before standing up as well.

"Alright, but you shouldn't stay in those clothes. Come on, let's find something dry for you to wear." Joseph said before he went and picked up the ax. He rested it over his shoulder and drew his gun with his free hand.

"Here, give me the ax." I requested, pulling it from him. It was surprisingly heavy, almost to heavy for me, but I held onto it tightly.

"Emily..." Joseph started to object.

"No, you shoot better with both hands. You've told me so and I've seen it with my own eyes when you take me shooting. So I'll just hold onto this for now and I'll give it to you when you need it. Okay?" I said and he sighed.

"You're as headstrong as ever. Alright, then. Come on." He nodded at the easiest way up, a path made by the broken roof, and we started walking. I was surprised to find we reached the surface fairly quickly, considering how far I had fallen.

Looking around I realized we were a layer or two of buildings down from where I had woken up. I glanced at Joseph who was staring at the destruction. "I saw the city before and I knew how bad it was, but..." He trailed off.

"I know if looks like this here but it doesn't look like this in the real world. Nothing changed, at all. Even the apartment is the same... Well, maybe there's a new picture or two..." I said, trying to reassure him.

He gave me a look. "I was gone three months and there are only one or two new paintings?" He asked as we started waking again.

"Okay, maybe it's more like six or seven." I admitted and he laughed.

"More like eleven or twelve." He muttered, and I smiled.

"I'm not that bad. Oh look, there's a mall. That might be a good place to find clothes." I said and Joseph nodded.