WHEN THE SHEERS CUT

CHAPTER ONE

THE BOOGIE MAN

Athena moaned in her sleep, feeling a heated pleasure racing up her spine. She didn't know what was causing the sensation, until she blinked her eyes open and looked down to see her boyfriend's head between her legs.

She tightened her thighs around his head when he licked a particularly sensitive spot. And the pleasure exploded, causing her to stuff her head sideways into her pillow to cry out. Will was only panting a little as he kissed his way back up to her face, "Good morning."

She laughed, "Good morning to you too. What was that for?"

"Figured it was a good way to wake up," he shrugged. "Considering the plans for today."

She frowned, "We got a bit of a trip ahead of us, don't we?" She looked over at her clock and saw it was way early, still dark out. She gazed up at Will with a smirk and shifted her hips, so she hit his erection, drawing a groan out from him. "We still have time before we have to leave."

Will grinned, pressing his lips to her languidly. She opened her legs as he slipped her underwear all the way off of her. He turned her around, so she was on her stomach and tugged off his boxer shorts. He slid deep within her, and she sighed out from the pleasure of being filled up. He pushed her hair off her shoulder and kissed up her neck as he began thrusting in and out of her.

She spread her legs to give him more room to get deeper and bent her head back, "Ugh, fuck, Will..."

"You feel so good," he hissed into her ear as he gained speed.

She felt the world shatter around her as she clenched up, feeling unbelievable pleasure in her body. It was like all the molecules making up her separated and put themselves back together again. She felt him stagger and then shudder inside her, filling her up with heat and love as he panted into her neck.

"What a way to start the day," he joked.

Athena had changed outfits at least three times, going from business, to casual, to too dressed up. She had no idea how to present herself for what she was going to do. But eventually, she realized it didn't matter so much what she wore for the flight. So, she slipped on some jeans and a ratty t-shirt and dragged her suitcase down the stairs.

"Let me get that," Till offered, making his way up the first half of the stairs and taking the suitcase from her.

"Thanks, Till," she smiled, surprised to see him. In the months after everything happened, Diana had cracked and admitted everything to Till. He was understandably really upset, slept on the couch for three weeks before separating from Diana and going to stay with a bachelor friend of his in town. They kept things civil for the sake of Lana. Athena was just relieved that he didn't seem to hate her for being the product of an affair. He had sat her down after everything came out and told her that he had spent seventeen years thinking of her as his daughter, mourning her disappearance, and rejoicing in her return. He told her that as far as he was concerned, she was his daughter.

"So, who's taking you to the airport?" he asked as he set the suitcase on the floor by the front door.

"Emma offered to drive us," she answered, smelling some good food for breakfast coming from the kitchen.

"That's good," he murmured, growing awkward as he walked into the kitchen with Athena where Diana was making waffles. "Smells good," he offered, taking a seat at the table.

The door opened up, revealing Maggie and Emma walking in. Diana had pushed big group breakfast gatherings in the mornings, especially on weekends. Maggie and Emma came over pretty much every morning because they were right next door. Will was often over to get breakfast and take Athena and Emma to school. Sometimes Noah showed up unannounced, dragging Audrey with him. Gustavo was invited but he felt awkward now that everyone knew about Diana and his dad.

"Hey!" Maggie called into the house.

Emma smiled and walked in to give Athena a hug, "Hey, how are you feeling? I can't believe you're actually going through with this."

"I'm just glad it's a three-day weekend, so I don't have to be nervous about missing schoolwork too," Athena shrugged.

"Oh, don't be nervous," Emma tried to assure her gently. "It's going to be fine. You just have to keep up your badass attitude. Don't let anything get to you."

"She's right," Will's voice called out into the house as he walked down the stairs with his own bag. He walked over and gave Athena a kiss on the cheek, "You ready to head out?"

"Breakfast first," Diana's stern voice reached them, the woman pointing her spatula at them threateningly.

Athena rolled her eyes, pulling Will to the table with the others to dig into waffles and fresh fruit Diana had set out.

"Athena, are you scared?" Lana's small voice asked from across the table.

Athena swallowed her bite of waffle, "Not really scared. A bit nervous. But it's something I have to do and the sooner the better. Get it over with."

"There might be press there if they get wind of you coming," Maggie warned her. "It's just gained a second wind now that Stavo and Noah did that book."

"Yeah, but I don't think anyone knows," Will mused, taking a bite of his strawberries.

"Right," Athena agreed. "And if I do see any press getting in my face, I'll just punch them again."

"Oh, God, don't remind me," Diana groaned into her hands, earning muffled laughter from others at the table.

"I barely bruised him," Athena reassured her. "There was no backlash."

"No attacking press," Diana pointed at her sternly. "Okay, young lady?"

"I'll try my best," she quipped, finishing her food.

Soon enough, Will loaded both her and his small suitcases into the back of Emma's car and announced that they were ready to head out for the airport. Athena was glad that Emma was driving them because if Diana had gotten her way, she would be in tears at the airport drop off and make them late for their flight. She was nervous enough to go into a plane again as it was.

The drive to the airport was short and sweet, Emma asking, "Are you absolutely sure you're ready for this?"

"Does it matter?" she asked, gazing out the window.

"Yes, no one is forcing you to do this," Emma pointed out. "This was something you wanted. But that doesn't mean you're actually ready for it."

"I am ready," Athena insisted. "I just want to look him in the eye, get my answers, and tell him to go fuck himself and then get out. Pretty simple, I think."

"Okay," Emma backed off.

"I'll be there for her," Will piped up from the back seat, reaching forward to clasp his hand around Athena's arm, show that he was there for her.

"Here we are," Emma announced as she drove up to the airline drop off for departing. "Be safe. Have some fun too while you're there."

"We'll try," Athena winked at her before pulling her into a side hug and getting out of the car as Will was getting their bags out of the back.

Will kept his hand around her as they made their way through the airport after Emma drove off. He took over the process of checking into their flight and handing over their tickets as Athena's head was somewhere else the whole time. She was so nervous on the plane, Will had even given her a sleeping pill and let her snooze away on his shoulder until they landed in Portland, Oregon.

"How was your two-hour long nap?" he teased Athena when they flagged down a taxi car on the airport curbside. "It'll be my turn on the road."

She smiled lazily and kissed his cheek, "Sure thing. It'll still only be half the time we were on the plane but whatever."

"Where are we meeting this Dido?" Will asked, just a twinge of jealousy in his voice.

"Don't take that tone," Athena chided him teasingly. "Dido and I are only friends now and you and I love each other. She's meeting us at the bagel place where she works, where we will get free food and then hit the road. We have an appointment to make."

"We could have made the appointment tomorrow, so you had time to settle down here before seeing him," Will mentioned, for the fourth time.

She sighed, "I know, but I didn't want to be waiting and anticipating it for too long. This way I have more time to decompress before we're back on a plane."

Kissing her temple, he accepted her reasoning and they stayed quiet until the cab pulled up to a plaza and dropped them off. Athena was admittedly nervous to meet up with her ex-girlfriend with Will in tow. Dido was a brash and crude person. And coming from Athena herself, that meant a great big something. She just hoped Dido and Will didn't rub each other the wrong way, since they'd be spending the weekend in each other's company.

The bell dinged above the door as Will held it open for her, and the first thing she saw was a head of brightly dyed magenta hair. And then she felt the Dido-vice grip around her shoulders. "Oh, my darling Princess, you've returned to the Kingdom!"

Will kept to himself as the girls reunited.

Athena hugged her back, "Only until tomorrow night. But yeah."

Dido pulled back and flipped her crimped hair over and over her shoulders, "Like the new color? Had to do something special for your trip back home."

"I didn't think there was a color on the spectrum that you hadn't tried yet," Athena said. "But I see nothing else has changed. I thought you were going to leave this Popsicle stand for bigger and better things?"

"I'm still working on that," Dido muttered before turning her calculating stare to Will. "So, this is Pretty Boy?"

Will gave Athena a mock-glare, "Always a nickname." He extended his hand out to Dido, "I'm really named Will."

Dido circled him instead of taking his hand, running her eyes up and down his form with thought. "Hmmm. What makes you worthy of our girl here?"

Will, smartly, kept his mouth shut. She's not our girl, she's my girl.

Athena, however, laughed, "He's already my boyfriend, Dido. And both of my brothers have given him their approval already."

Dido's eyes widened with humor, "I still can't believe that you found not one, but two secret families since last year. You have had one crazy ride, girl. And you're just making it crazier with this visit thing."

Athena sighed. That made ten people telling her she didn't have to do what she was about to do. She was tired of hearing it. "I know it may seem like it's too soon. But we're going to be done with High School soon. Then it'll be college and Will and I are still deciding if we're going to go with New York or North Carolina. Who knows when I'll get another chance to do this and until I do, I'll always be wondering why, why, why."

Dido gave her and Will a suspicious look, "You're planning college around this kid?"

Will was obviously offended, "Life is short. We talked about it and neither of us see the point of spending time apart. And we'll decide the geography of it all together."

Dido narrowed her eyes at him, "But-"

"Dido," Athena cut her off sternly, "you know what happened in Lakewood, twice. We all know that life is too short, and I know I want to spend my life with Will. Because I love him. And that is the end of the conversation."

Dido kept up her own stern stare for a few moments before finally nodding, "Fine. We should grab breakfast and get on the road. We have an appointment. At Oregon State Penitentiary."

Athena was quiet for most of their second transportation. Will did take a small cat nap in the back seat while Dido drove them, but for the most part kept his arm around Athena's shoulders and offered her his silent comfort for the better part of the hour they were in the car on the way to Salem, Oregon.

When she saw the barbed wire fences of Oregon State Penitentiary, she shuddered.

But Dido smiled as she parked the car, "Well, look at that. Ten minutes to spare before you have to check in with Administration."

Athena peered up to check the clock and saw it was indeed ten till noon. So, she took the time to take a deep breath and let it out slowly. She almost wanted to tell Dido to turn around and take them all back to Portland. She had almost forgotten what his face looked like. She had almost reached a point in her life where he didn't cross her mind, or a random childhood memory of when they were happy didn't float through her. But that hadn't happened yet. Him and his crime still plagued her and tainted her past. And she didn't want it to have a hold on her future. That was just for her.

She clamored out of the car and strut up to the building when the clock struck 11:59. After checking in and getting her visitor badge, she waited on pins and needles for her and other visitors to be let in. Will rubbed her shoulders from behind her and whispered, "It's going to be okay. I'll be right out here waiting for you."

"We both will be," Dido corrected softly.

Athena couldn't speak. She felt like her tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth. So, she just nodded to them and followed the small group of other visitors inside. It looked almost just like it did in the movies. A row of windows with phones and hard plastic chairs. She showed a guard her badge with the name of the person she was visiting on it and he gruffly grunted and pointed to the window at the end of the row.

She felt as if she were about to walk to the gallows. So, she walked as slowly as possible. When she saw his face, her lungs felt like they froze under and her heart felt like ice. He looked the same as he did the last time she saw him. Right before she left the house for that damned job interview. He had given her a bottle of water – because being the doting father she thought he was, he knew she got dry mouth when she was nervous – and a kiss on the cheek before wishing her luck out the door.

The only thing different about him was the new uniform – prison jumpsuit. But there he was, as composed as always – Alonzo Contos.

She tried to hide her shaking as she took her seat and loudly scooted forward. She covertly wiped her hand on her jeans before grabbing the phone and holding it to her ear. She refused to greet him though. He would make the first move. Not her.

Slowly, with wheels turning in his eyes, he picked up his own phone and spoke lowly, "You have no idea how happy I am to see you, Nanna."

"You don't get to call me that," she hissed. She had sworn to herself that she wouldn't get heated, that she wouldn't let him get to her. That she wouldn't show him that he could get to her. "No one calls me that anymore."

"Did those – people – change your name to Julia, then?" he snarled, his calm demeanor warping.

She kept her face as calm as possible, "Jules. And no. We arranged it, so I'd keep the name Athena since I'd been answering to it for years. But my last name is Tyler. Like it was when I was born. Before you stole me."

"We saved you," he leaned forward, nose almost pressing into the glass. "Those people didn't love you. They didn't want you; they had their child. You were always meant to be ours."

Athena coldly stared at him and leaned back in her chair, clutching the phone in her clammy hand, "You can't possibly believe that you can justify what you did, to me."

"We didn't do what we did to hurt you." For a moment as he said so, he looked like the father she once thought he was. He looked sincere. "We did it for us. Gretchen and I were desperate for our family to become whole. And when we found you, we knew that you were part of it."

In disbelief, she shook her head to herself. "How can you look at me right now and not be sorry? How could you live with yourself for what you two did? You wanted a child more than anything but it was only too easy to steal one away from someone else!"

"Because they didn't deserve you!" He shouted. He was given a warning smack by a passing guard behind him and quieted. "You were conceived by a moral crime! The moment your mother told me that Diana woman had an affair and didn't want you, I knew we had to save you from them. That they would always treat you like the mistake you were to them. Are you really telling me that I should feel sorry for what we did to them?"

"Forget about what you did to them, what about me!?" Athena's voice cracked as she asked one of the questions that had been plaguing her for a year. She blinked rapidly when she felt her eyes misting. "What about what you did to me? Did you think about that when you took me? Did you think about that while you were raising me? Lying to me every day about everything, right down to my real name."

He pursed his lips, contemplative. And he was quiet for a long sixty seconds. And when he spoke, he spoke slowly and thoughtfully. "The connection was instant, the moment we saw you. When Gretchen came to me to tell me that she had found our daughter, I thought she was crazy. But I humored her. And then I saw you. And you came to me in that park. Came to us. You held your hand out for me to take. All on your own. You wanted to be with us. So, we made it happen."

A bitter smile swept upon her lips as she stared into his dark void eyes, "It's funny. I had the visitation application since January. All filled out. But it took me a while to submit it. And then everything happened with Kieran and I decided that we all needed to move on from all the horrible things that had happened to us. And for me – that included you. So, I arranged this. To get my answers once and for all. And now I'm looking at you and I'm not sure I want to know anymore and open up a whole new can of worms to try and clean up."

"Athena," he breathed her name with affection, "you can ask me anything you want, and I won't ever lie to you. But you have to understand that they record our conversations here. This is a maximum-security prison."

Sifting through the haze of questions, she landed on one that would serve everyone to know the truth about. "Did you know Piper Shaw?"

He pursed his lips thoughtfully, "I believe that she interviewed me last year. I got many requests, but I was struck with her letter particularly. She sounded the most sympathetic without seeming delusional."

Athena scoffed. "We found out that along with the psych teacher, Kristen Lang, that kept trying to pry into my psyche and incriminate me for Kieran's murder spree, you were at Blessed Sisters at the same time as Piper Shaw. Are you seriously going to try and convince me that it's just a coincidence? That the man who kidnapped me from his wife's hometown, happened to live there in the same orphanage as the women who came to Lakewood to go on a killing spree?"

"I was only at Blessed Sisters for all of three months when I was a child, Athena," he answered in such a careful yet carefree tone that she believed he was presenting the truth to lie. To lie to her face. "And I was much older than Piper Shaw. I was almost aged out. I moved around so much in the system, met and left so many other people. You can't expect me to remember them all."

She sighed, "I get it. They record these conversations and if you admit that you remember and possibly was in contact with a serial killer, it implicates you in worse crimes than kidnapping."

"Athena," he whispered, "you know me better than to think I am a killer. I am your father."

She harshly shook her head at him, "No, you're not. You're not legally, or by blood, or by heart. You're a criminal."

"I know, and I own up to that," he admitted. "But I am still your father. I am still the man who raised you, taught you how to skate, how to drive, comforted you when you hurt yourself, put a roof over your head and cooked you baklava to celebrate every good grade, trophy, award or certificate. That is who I am, no matter where we are now."

"It doesn't matter that you did all of that," she told him. "Because you'll always have committed the crime first. Before all of that. And it will have always tainted every happy memory."

If she hadn't been paying attention, she would have missed how his face hardened. Even after he masked it with calm the next second. "That can't be all you came here for."

She schooled her own features carefully. She had learned from him after all.

"Go ahead. Ask me anything," he tried to encourage her.

She sighed, only one more question floating to her lips, "Did you really love me?"

This time, she knew the emotion crossing his face was sincere. "Oh, Athena, yes. You may be hurt and confused about our family, but to me that is what we are and always were. You are my daughter. I love you. I would slit my throat if it meant you were safe. You have no idea what I went through in here while you were in Lakewood, knowing I couldn't be there to protect you while people were getting killed left and right. My heart was in my throat when the press reported that you were shot and in the ICU for days. I was terrified that you wouldn't wake up, and you would die in that hospital bed. I would have burned the whole world down to save you. I prayed every single day that God would spare you. And when I heard you recovered; it was the best day of my life short of the day our family was finally whole. And that is the absolute truth. Other than your mother, you are the most important person in my life."

She had been holding her breath for most of the end of his speech and hadn't realized until she let it out once he paused.

He leaned closer, pressing his fingers to the glass, "We loved with a love that was more than love."

Athena leaned on her elbows on the table, holding the phone to her ear limper, "You always used to say that about you and mo—Gretchen."

He didn't comment on her slip, "It always applies to your mother and me. But I think it applies to all of us. The bond of parent and child is deeper than any love in the world. And there isn't anything a parent wouldn't endure for their child. That is what I felt and feel for you as my daughter regardless of blood or the law."

She didn't know what part of what he was saying overwhelmed her so much. But all of the sudden all the emotions on the spectrum washed over her at once and the tears started falling from her eyes. She could see the watery image of the man that was once her father seeming concerned. But all she could do was say with a crack in her voice, "I can't do this," and hang up the phone and march away from him and out of the room.

She didn't hear him calling her name through the soundproof glass as she walked away from him. And she didn't see the utterly heartbroken look on his face as he stared listlessly through the glass at her empty chair.

Will was quick to his feet when Athena burst through the doors and out of the building, following her with Dido on his heels, "Athena?"

She didn't stop until she practically ran into the back of Dido's car and burst into sobs, crouching down on the ground. The world felt like it was closing in on her. Tunnel vision. All the sounds clouded and far away. Lungs growing tighter as she tried to breathe.

She was startled when she felt Will's arms around her, but instantly relaxed and felt safe now that he was there with her. His voice became clearer and clearer as he spoke to her, "Athena? Breathe, baby, you're okay. Just focus on breathing. Slowly. Deep breaths."

They had found a rhythm in recent times. Although her panic attacks were further and farther from the last, they still happened occasionally. And when they did, Will – if he was with her – would take her in his arms and guide her breathing with his.

He put her hand on his chest and slowed down his breaths, breathing deeper and deeper with each one and guiding her to match him. Soon enough, she was breathing steady with him. And then steadily breathing on her own. Sagging, she laid her head on his shoulder, letting out a sigh.

He wiped at her tears and asked, "What happened in there? Did he say something?"

"Well of course he said something," Dido cut in.

Will gave her a withering glare, "I'm asking Athena." He turned back to her and pulled her head up to face him, "What was it?"

Mouth dry, she licked at her lips and tried to produce enough spit to speak. But her voice still came out raspy and tear-filled when she told him, "He said he loves me. That he really does love me as his daughter. That that part of it wasn't a lie. And I believe him."

She supposed somehow Will understood why that part of her conversation with Alonzo Contos was what set her off. Because he didn't question her or ask her anything else. He just hugged her to him and stroked her hair until it seemed she was calm enough to get back into the car and head back to Portland. And she slept the trip off in the backseat, head in Will's lap.

The sun was still up, and the rest of the day was still ahead of them when Dido pulled up to her house. She assured them that her single father wasn't going to be home until late, so they'd have privacy. If Athena didn't feel like seeing more people while she was still raw from seeing her not-father. Dido immediately set Athena up on the couch in the living room with DVDs of Family Guy to amuse her and Will while she disappeared into the kitchen to make something for lunch.

Will was quiet, waited for her to speak first.

"He wasn't supposed to look the same," she whispered. "He wasn't supposed to look just like how I remembered him. When I thought he was my father."

"And then he tells you that he loves you as your father, and you believe he was being sincere," Will filled in the rest for her. "You wanted him to look and be the monster that matches what he did."

Tearfully, she nodded. "I didn't want him to be the same man I remembered as my father. Because he isn't. Neither is Gretchen my mother. But they look the same. And somehow in their warped minds, they really did love me as their daughter. I just can't combine the two together. My parents, and these criminals. It's too hard."

"I'm sorry," was all Will could say. He couldn't say he understood. He couldn't say he knew. But he could tell he was sorry for what these people had put her through. "But you've done it. Maybe you didn't get everything you wanted out of it. But at least you got it over with."

"I just want to go back home now," she said.

"Just one night and by lunch tomorrow we'll be getting stuffed with food by Diana," he tried to cheer her up.

And the quip about Diana did make her smile. "I don't think it's just him. Kieran's trial is coming up. And I just keep thinking..."

She trailed off, staring ahead. And Will brought her into his side and asked, "Thinking... what?"

"Thinking that maybe it's still not over," she told him her worst fears. "What if there's more? What if there's something else? I mean, we thought Piper was working alone at first. And then the killings started again. What if Kieran wasn't alone either, had a friend or protege or something? What if we never escape?"

Before she could work herself into another panic attack, Will hugged her close and assured her, "That's not going to happen. If Kieran had someone else working with him, we'd know by now. He would have rubbed that in our faces when he thought he won. It's over. Piper is dead, and Kieran is in jail."

"Here, here," Dido cheered as she walked into the room with a cooling tray of chicken nuggets. They all tucked into the food and made small talk to distract Athena from her ordeal. She didn't want to think about it anymore. So, she tore her attention between catching up with Dido, eating her food, and ignoring the thoughts of Alonzo nagging at the back of her mind.

The rest of day passed by in a blur. Dido tried to encourage Athena to come out to the city with her to meet up with some old friends, but she was decidedly in favor of staying in. She just felt like she couldn't focus on anything else yet. She was too shaken up by her encounter with her 'father.'

Dido understood and went out alone, saying she'd pass along her love to the others. She and Will broke into Dido's freezer and raided it for ice cream while using her Netflix account to watch old sitcoms before finally falling asleep in each other's arms on the pull-out couch.

"Are you sure you can't just skip school or something? Stay longer?"

Athena laughed at Dido's question as she drove her and Will to the airport the next day, "No, this is senior year. It's more important than ever to impress. For college."

Dido scoffed, "Like I don't know that schools are vying for the Lakewood survivor and heroes to come to them to boost their notoriety."

"Regardless, we can't just skip," Athena said.

Dido pouted as she pulled up to the drop-off, "I'll miss you. Again."

"I'll miss you too," Athena promised with a quick hug before she and will were on their plane and back off to Lakewood.

Hey guys, here I am with the Halloween episode of Scream for you all. As you all know, the series itself was cancelled and is getting rebooted. But I plan on carrying Athena's story into a different show. Hopefully, you'll still be interested in reading.

PLEASE REVIEW!

RegalGirl94