Chapter 25

A/N: It's been almost a year since I posted to this story. I've finally gained my muse back for it, and I'm going to take it off of it's hiatus status.

I appreciate all of the reviews I've gotten, and they are what has motivated me to continue with this story. In my mind it never ended, but putting it to paper became quite difficult.

Anyways, I hope you all like it. It's certainly been much anticipated. Chapter twenty-five.

ANNABELLE

Annabelle shut the door to their bedroom behind her quietly, so as not to wake sleeping Lyla. As soon as she shut the door, she turned to face her husband. They met eyes for one moment, before Daryl took several quick steps towards Annabelle. He reached towards her and grabbed her hand and pulled her into his chest. He was soaking wet, but Annabelle didn't mind at all. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her head into his chest. She could hear his heart pounding, and hear the shaky breaths he was taking in.

She pulled away from him, worry painted on her face. She looked up at Daryl's face, and gently lifted one of her hands to push his wet hair out of his eyes. As soon as she could look clearly into his eyes, Daryl immediately pulled her into him and kissed her. It took her off guard at first. His intensity made her spine tingle and her heart skip a beat. He clutched her tightly to him, and Annabelle held on just as tight. She could tell from this kiss that whatever was going on, it wasn't good.

He broke their kiss only to move his lips to her forehead. He held them there for a moment, before he pulled away from her.

Daryl pushed the hair out of Annabelle's face, and held her face in his hands. His hands were freezing from being outside in the pouring rain, but Annabelle hardly noticed. The look he had in his eyes was what was making her feel a chill deep within her bones.

"I love you." Daryl told her quietly, his cerulean gaze never leaving hers. "I love you very much."

"I love you too." Annabelle immediately told him. "What's happened out there? Why are you acting this way? You're frightening me."

"I'm going to keep us safe. You, me, Lyla. I will do everything in my power to make sure that we are safe." He stated to her. He ran his fingers through her hair frantically for a moment, his eyes looking over her like he had forgotten her beauty suddenly.

"I know you will, baby, I know." Annabelle replied to him. "You don't have to tell me that." She raised her hands to his damp hair and gently ran her fingers through it, trying to soothe him. "But what you should tell me is what's got you so freaked out."

Daryl exhaled heavily at her words, and took a step back from her. Annabelle watched as he crossed the room to their dresser, and opened the drawer. He pulled out one of their spare white sheets, and as soon as he did Annabelle felt the dread she'd been suppressing rise up in her stomach.

She had seen the men carry the body from the backyard and onto the porch. She had recognized the poor old man's face. Mr. Burke. She'd held some hope that perhaps he was alive, despite all of the blood on his clothes. But now, seeing her husband take the white sheet, she realized the truth of the situation.

"Mr. Burke is dead, isn't he?" Annabelle asked quietly. As she asked the question, their bedroom lit up with light, and there was another ear shattering thunderclap. As if on cue, Lyla immediately started crying. Annabelle crossed the room to the child and lifted her out of the crib. She held the girl close to her chest and gently rubbed her back while she cried.

Daryl stood with his back turned away from Annabelle as she held onto their daughter. He clutched the sheet in his hands and stared down at the white fabric. He didn't respond to her question, and the only sounds to be heard were of the rain on the roof and Lyla's cries.

"Daryl?" Annabelle pressed again.

"Yeah. He's dead." Daryl finally stated, as he stared down at the sheet.

"How did it happen?" Annabelle pressed on.

"Looks like someone sliced his throat open. Let him bleed out and turn." Daryl continued.

Annabelle let the words sink in for a moment, and the longer she did, the more shocked she began to feel. Someone had been murdered inside of the walls of Haven. She didn't say anything, because there were no words. She could understand now why Daryl had been so shaken. They had just brought a child into this world. They'd thought this place was safe. Now there was a murderer on the loose.

Annabelle had felt that her family was so safe only hours ago. Hell, they'd been safe for months within the walls of haven. And now that they'd brought a child into the world this happened. Annabelle's eyes drifted down to Lyla and her ears focused on the girls cries. What if Mr. Burke wasn't the only victim? What if there were more of them wandering outside? Were they still safe here?

Annabelle was pulled back to reality by Daryl's voice. "We're going to move Mr. Burke and go examine the crime scene." Daryl stated. He took the sheet out of the drawer and shut it quickly. "You can explain Mr. Burke passed away, but don't say anything else just yet. We don't know who did this. Everyone is a suspect."

"Do you think there are more of them out there?"

"I don't know, but if there are you can handle them. Maggie's here too. Your dad. Beth." Daryl told her.

Annabelle nodded and felt her priorities shift. For a long time now she had been complacent. She hadn't killed a walker since her last venture outside of the walls when she'd been kidnapped by the marauders. Now that she'd had Lyla, she would need to step up again. The killer in Annabelle had stayed dormant for some time. With a murderer on the loose she would need to step up again. Her eyes traveled to the corner of the room, where her bow sat waiting. It had been untouched for so long. Annabelle had a feeling it was time to pick it up again.

Annabelle nodded at Daryl's words, and he crossed the room back towards her. He leaned down to her and kissed her forehead gently before he walked to the door of the room and opened it. He shut the door behind him and Annabelle heard him descend down the stairs.

Lyla had finally stopped crying and was cooing gently in Annabelle's arms. With the knowledge she had just gained from her husband, Annabelle suddenly felt very unsafe. Annabelle set Lyla down on her bed for a moment, before she walked over to the bedside table and opened the drawer. Inside, her handgun sat amongst several miscellaneous objects. She took the gun, checked it was fully loaded, and then hid it on her person. She wasn't about to become a victim.

Once the gun was safely hidden away, Annabelle picked up Lyla and carried her downstairs.

DARYL

Daryl walked up to Mr. Burke's house, shining his flashlight on the front door as they approached. Behind him, Rick and Glenn shone their lights on the surroundings. It was still raining, lighter than before though.

They tried the front door to his house, but it was locked.

"The murderer got in somehow." Rick stated. "Let's see if they opened a window."

They walked the perimeter of the house, and eventually they came upon the sliding glass door around the back of the house. It was wide open. Daryl walked up to the door and stepped gently around the drips of blood coming out the back door. He walked into the house, and inspected the door.

"There's no blood on the door. The killer must've opened it, maybe to let Mr. Burke leave when he came back." Daryl stated.

They continued into the house, and split up to check all the rooms. They checked to see if the killer was still there, but it seemed they were alone in the house.

"There's a window open in the kitchen." Glenn stated as they regrouped. "The floor is completely soaked, and it looks as if whoever opened it opened it from the outside. That's probably how they got in." They followed the trail of water droplets to Mr. Burke's bedroom. The bed was completely soaked with blood.

"He died here." Rick stated. "Sliced his throat open when he was asleep."

The blood went to the back door, and then out to his backyard. There was also blood leading from the bed to the sink. The sink they found stained with blood, where the killer had presumably cleaned off after killing him. There was another trail leading to the backyard, where Mr. Burke had wandered outside. They followed the trail to the backyard, but the rain had washed away any traceable trail. They looked around for a bit longer, before they headed to the town hall.

Daryl explained finding Mr. Burke to Sean and Michael, and then explained what they had found at Mr. Burke's home. Sean and Michael exchanged glances between each other, and then looked across at Daryl, Glenn, and Rick.

"This is about the worst thing that could happen to this community." Michael stated. "Do we know yet if there's been any other victims?"

"Haven't found any yet." Daryl replied.

"We'll do a roll call at first light. Send people around to account for everyone." Logan continued.

Michael nodded before he crossed his arms over his chest and sighed heavily. "How the hell did this happen? How could we be so foolish?"

"Someone must've slipped through our examination process. Murders usually have a way of doing that. Whoever it is will likely be charming, maybe even considered friendly. It's possible it's an outcast but more than likely not. It's easier to blend in when no one suspects you. It's only a matter of time until word spreads. People will panic." Sean added.

"We're going to have to enforce a curfew. No one moves after sunset." Michael immediately declared.

"How will we enforce it?" Daryl questioned. "Between increasing the patrols in the outer rim, adding the walls to the outer rim, and increasing patrols to the inner walls, we're a little low on extra manpower."

"We'll make due." Michael replied. "We'll have to. I can't have another one of these killings."

Daryl nodded in understanding, and Michael continued. "I want you all to do everything in your power to find out who did this."

Daryl nodded, and so did the other men. This town didn't need to have its faith shaken. People had begun to feel safe here. Daryl could only imagine what would happen if these killings continued. But besides that, Daryl had his own motivations for wanting to take control of this case. Mr. Burke had wandered dangerously close to his house and to his family. Daryl finally had everything that he wanted. He wasn't about to lose it now. And he didn't want to risk someone else botching the job and putting his family in danger.

When the men exited the town hall, Rick fell into step with Daryl.

"Meet me tomorrow morning at my house, and we'll go investigate."

By the time Daryl returned home it was the early hours of the morning, and his house was empty of its guests. Daryl worked his way upstairs to find his wife and child sleeping quietly. As he walked into the room, he locked the door behind him. He shrugged his crossbow off his shoulder and his boots off his feet as he finally readied himself for bed. Before he walked toward the bathroom he stopped at the crib and looked down at Lyla.

He could see himself in her. As well as his wife. He had never imagined that he would be a father, let alone the father of Annabelle's child. For as long as he could remember, this had been his impossible dream. A desire that he had thought would never be realized. Yet finally, here it was.

But if Daryl knew anything, it was that life had a habit of stripping away everything he held dear. So of course as soon as he had everything he wanted another danger would come.

Daryl ran the back of his finger gently down the small child's arm, earning a small twitch of her fingers in response. He smiled just slightly at the innocence before him before he turned to the bathroom. He showered quickly and towel dried his hair before he finally slid into bed next to Annabelle. He moved toward her and gently hooked an arm around her waist before pulling her against his chest. Daryl sighed heavily as he felt her back pressed against him. The world seemed simpler when she was in his arms.

She spoke immediately when he touched her, so he knew that she must've been awake. "What time is it?" She asked.

"Early." He answered quietly. "Go to sleep, love."

"Did you find the murderer?" She asked quietly.

"No." Daryl finally answered after a moment's hesitation. "But we will soon."

Annabelle rolled over to face Daryl. He felt her hands on his chest as she snuggled under his chin. "Do you think it will happen again?"

In the dark Daryl couldn't make out his wife's face clearly. But he didn't need to see her face to know she was afraid. He could hear it in her voice, in the way her fingers touched him in the dark.

"I don't know." He lied. He was almost certain another one would happen. But he didn't want to worry her. They were supposed to be happy right now. They had a beautiful baby girl, friends and family. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Daryl could have yelled his frustration to the world. He was tired of seeing Annabelle afraid, tired of being afraid himself. But he didn't yell. Instead he said, "It'll be alright. We'll figure it out."

"I know." Annabelle answered softly. "You always have a way of making things right."

Daryl felt his chest fill with warmth at her praise, and her confidence in him made him feel more sure in himself. He wanted nothing more than to make someplace safe for his family. He'd been working hard to do that for her since she'd come back into his life. Daryl felt her breath tickle his neck as she sighed heavily, and as she did Daryl tightened his arms around her. He closed his eyes and felt exhaustion immediately tug at him. But no sooner had he shut his eyes than Lyla began to fuss.

"Don't say a word." Annabelle whispered. "Maybe she'll go back to sleep."

Silence permeated the room for a moment before the girl erupted into shrieks. Annabelle rolled out of bed and immediately went to Lyla to feed her. And as the newborn screeched for food at four in the morning, Daryl felt the full weight of his responsibility fall on his shoulders. Screams like that outside these walls were a dinner bell. And if they didn't find the murderer soon, inside the walls could soon be just as deadly.

A/N: Thank you all! More to come very soon. Please leave me a review, I would love to get some feedback for the story. Where do you think I'm taking this? Who is the killer? And who's next on his/her list to die?