The sound of the alarm at eight am made Emma's heart skip a beat. She stretched her legs and arms, feeling her body rather tensed as her eyelids struggled to open. She hadn't slept that much during night for a very good reason: Lying next to Walsh for more than seven hours was not a thing to take lightly, much less when she had the suspicion that he wanted her dead.
Emma turned herself, heaving a deep sigh of relief after noticing that Walsh was not there. The series of sounds coming from the bathroom indicated that he was about to take a shower.
She gazed at the white ceiling. When had all that happened? How did all that mess began? Now it wasn't only about hiding her relationship with Killian, but also about trying to figure out if Walsh was the man they had been looking for all those months.
Bloody hell. What's going to happen now? I need a solution. Emma thought, quickly realizing she had just used Killian's famous phrase.
A matter of seconds later, her phone vibrated. She had just received a text -an urgent one, to be precise- from the man she had been thinking about.
-We need to talk ASAP.
-Ok. Meet me at the porch in ten
Quickly, the blondie put on a dressing gown, tied her hair, and went downstairs, arriving to the meeting point just in time. It was the perfect place for a last minute reunion; no one was close enough to see them.
A few moments later, Killian showed up with an "I have bad news" face.
"Hey. What is it?" She asked.
He lowered his head slightly "There was nothing in his computer, Swan. Absolutely none of the documents you told me about were there"
Emma frowned at the same time she looked away, confused. "No... I saw them! I saw the proprietorship file! Everything was there!"
"Love, I believe you" he told her, trying to calm her down "But I'm afraid that Walsh deleted everything before I could take a look. I've got nothing"
She turned her eyes back to him "Does this mean that he knew you were going to break into his studio?"
"I don't want to be pessimist but I think so"
"What do we do now?"
"For the moment, act as usual. We need to remain calmed, alright?"
Emma nodded "Alright..."
"Hey, we'll figure this out. I promise we'll find a way to put an end to this mess"
She hugged him, letting her face sink between his neck an his shoulder. Killian embraced her too as he caressed her back.
They stayed like that for a moment before returning to "the ugly reality", as they both referred to when they had to pretend to have zero feelings for each other.
After showering and dressing herself, Emma headed to the dining room, stopping in her tracks as soon as her eyes sighted Walsh placing some dishes on the table.
"Morning, honey" Walsh said smiley.
"Morning" she replied oddly, analyzing the bunch of food in front of her "What's all this? It's Sunday. Josephine doesn't work today"
"Ah, she didn't do any of this. It was me. Come, sit down" he explained, looking at one of the chairs.
Emma smiled awkwardly before taking a sit. He sat as well, a grin still on his face "Walsh... What's all this about?"
"A special occasion deserves a special breakfast, don't you think?" he replied as he gave Emma a glass filled with carrot juice.
And then it hit her.
"Our anniversary" she said shocked.
"You didn't forget about it, did you?"
Emma shook her head "No, I just... You know how drowsy I am in the mornings, always forgetting things"
Walsh grinned "It's okay, Emma" he leaned forward and kissed her "Happy anniversary"
"Happy anniversary" she said with a smile, not really feeling her words.
He pecked at her cheek before lifting up his glass "To us".
Emma took her glass as well and clinked it with his before drinking. After sipping it, Walsh started to eat. She did the same, but couldn't shake away that odd sensation. Walsh had never cooked breakfast for her, not even on her birthday or previous anniversaries either. He'd always rather take her to a restaurant and let others do the job. What had changed this time?
Not even five minutes had gone by that Emma started to feel strange. She couldn't explain it, but it was a mix between dizziness, extreme tiredness and a sudden shakiness in all of her extremities.
"Walsh, I'm not feeling well..." She said with difficulty before quickly falling off the chair and hitting the ground. Emma began to panic as she realized that she wasn't able to move any part of her body.
Her husband, slowly and calmly, placed his fork on the dish, cleaned his mouth with a napkin and knelt next to Emma.
"Nightshade. Have you heard about it? It's a drug that paralyzes most parts of your body until you can't move"
Emma felt a sensation of fear running through her spine as her panicky eyes moved from Walsh to her glass.
And then she understood it. He had put the drug in her drink and she had stupidly drank it all.
Walsh smiled, taking her cautiously in his arms and carrying her upstairs. He placed her on their bed as he sat next to her, stroking her head with his cold hand.
She tried to scream, but her voice seemed to have faded along with the sensation of her extremities. There was nothing else she could do. Nothing but to watch Walsh do whatever he wanted to her.
"It's okay" he said in an odd soothing way, his hand still on her skin "This will end soon, I promise. But first, I want to explain why I'm doing this. You need to know before you're gone"
Emma felt her eyes teary as Walsh stood up, pacing around the room as he played with his anxious hands.
"When your father introduced us I had no interest in you, I must confess. You were... Boring. But one day I had lunch with Mr. Benson, one of your dad's lawyers and good friend of mine, and he told me how the Swans's business worked. He knew the reason why I'd gotten close to David; I was an ambitious man, I wanted a high position in the company and to have lots of money, but he explained to me that it was unlikely to happen unless I raced for the biggest prize: you"
She gazed at him with displeasure as he went on.
"He offered me his help on the matter. He would put my name on the contract in secret, justifying it, when the time came, by saying that someone needed to respond in your name if you were no longer here. It was an attractive offer, I couldn't just turn it down"
Walsh smiled and looked through the window. "So, I played the part. I asked you out, gained your trust, and became your husband in less than a year. It was so, so easy. All that remained was to kill you so I could have the assets for myself, and of course give Benson his part. I decided to wait some time so it wasn't too obvious, I didn't want people to find out that I was behind all of it. But when I finally had the chance... You ruined everything. You survived the first attempt"
Emma recalled the night when the intruder trespassed her house, when she was forced to fight him and end with his life.
"But that wasn't the worst part, oh no. My problems began when you brought that bodyguard to protect you. And he gave me quite some headaches. Not only did he manage to keep away the ones I hired to kill you, but he became your goddamn lover"
Emma felt a nod in her throat. He knew? Walsh knew about them?
"I'm not an idiot, Emma. You really thought I wouldn't find out? For heaven's sake the yearning looks and the tension between you two can be perceived from miles!" Walsh yelled, making her feel scared "And because of that, I want him to suffer as well. So when I finish you, my dear, I'm gonna blame it on him. I'm gonna tell the police he killed you. Don't worry, I have a prepared strategy, the cops are gonna buy it and your precious Killian will spend the rest of his days in prison"
Emma was now feeling rage inside her, but it remained contained as she wasn't able to manifest it.
Walsh leaned closer to Emma and took the pillow next to her "I'll just have to wait some time, you know, the funeral needs to happen and I must put a suffering widower face in front of everyone for a while... And then, I shall claim what belongs to me. Your dad's gonna hate me, that's certainly happening, but it won't matter because he won't be able to do anything"
Emma felt the tears falling down, running through her cheek and leaving a wet trace.
"I hired others to do the job because I hate to get my hands dirty, but since no one succeeded I realized that if you want something to be done properly you must do it yourself"
Walsh smiled before pressing the pillow against her face. Emma was starting to feel the lack of oxygen in her lungs as her arms and legs were struggling to fight. She knew it was all over; breathing was no longer possible and since she couldn't move, there was no way in which she could come out of that alive.
That was going to be it; her life was fading away as Emma Swan closed her eyes, picturing one last time her parents, her best friends and her Killian.
And then a long silence reigned in the room.
==========
Gosh, I'm a terrible person. Not only I'm updating super slow but also leave the chapter in a cliffhanger... Although I kinda like cliffhangers hehe.
News!!: The Bodyguard is heading towards its end! A few more chapters and it will be over!
Stay tuned to see what happens next... ;)