Chapter 21

The evening sunlight crossed the sky in colorful waves, breaking through the clouds. Sam sat on the bench in the courtyard, watching the sunset. She and David had been at the Sanctuary for over a month now. She knew she was not alone, she could feel his concern as he came closer. She did not respond to his approach.

Henry walked up behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders, he bent down and kissed her on her cheek gently.

She smiled warmly embracing the tenderness of his kiss. She watched him sit on the bench next to her.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" Henry asked her. He thought about the past few days. He was sure she was avoiding him.

"I needed to deal with things," she replied. She turned her gaze to the trees behind him. "I'm really sorry I hurt you the other day. I really didn't mean to."

"I know it was an accident." Henry concentrated on her face, the sunlight was fading but he could see the deep sadness in her brown eyes. "What's the matter?"

"I want you to know what happened." She looked around the yard, glad no one else was near them. They were alone; she could feel his concern and compassion.

He placed his hand on hers, which lay on her knee. He knew she would tell him eventually, but chose not to rush her.

"Six years ago," she started, "I became friends with Patrick," pausing, "Gallagher. We dated for a couple of months. I thought I could trust him. I told him what I could do." Her gaze changed direction. Memories flooded her head along with many emotions. "He took me and David. I didn't know anything about the Cabal, or even about other abnormals." Her eyes welled up with tears. "He treated me like property, telling me that we would always be together, that I would never be beyond his reach."

Henry sat quietly and listened to Sam as she continued. Tears began to flow.

"When he had us then, he kept us separated. I knew David was there, I could feel him. He had us for almost five months." She drifted into her memories. She began to stare off.

"How did you get away from him?" Henry asked.

"One day one of his men came in the room. He touched me." Sam breathed deeply. "He wanted to hurt me. I didn't know what I could do. All I knew was that I was an empath. I had no idea that I could hurt anyone." She was consumed with the memories now. "I didn't want to hurt him. Honest. I just wanted him to stop."

Henry continued to listen to her. He could see the pain in her face, the anguish in her voice.

"I killed him. I watched him die. He just sat there, staring at nothing." She started to cry uncontrollably. "Henry, I killed him!"

He placed his arm around her, pulling her close to him. He couldn't imagine how she felt at that moment.

"I took his keys. I found David." Drawing in a shaky breath, she continued. "I had to kill 4 people to get out. I took their lives from them."

"Sam," Henry started. "That was a long time ago."

"I know," she paused. "Henry, I've killed 37 people." She felt ashamed to admit this to him. She knew she couldn't hide from the truth and needed him to know.

Henry shifted on the bench to face her directly. Placing his hands atop of hers, he could only imagine the pain she was in.

"There's more," tears still flowing, "Patrick took something from me. I can't get it back. Those two missing days," pausing silently she looked into Henry's eyes. She felt how saddened and worried he had become. "I have to tell you, but it will change everything."

"Sam, nothing you can say will change the way I feel about you," he told her. "I've never had this type of bond with anyone before."

"I haven't either," swallowing, she caught her breath. "I feel so comfortable when I'm around you. It's like I've always known you. I don't want it to change but I know it will."

"Please tell me," Henry waited.

Sam couldn't look at him as she finished explaining. She looked off to the side of him at the trees.

"I don't even know how to tell you," she paused. "Dr. Magnus checked twice." Sam was terrified to tell him, but knew she must. "I'm pregnant."

Henry looked at Sam; he could see the deep sadness in her eyes. It saddened him deeply to see her this way.

"That doesn't change the way I feel about you," he said softly. Placing his hand under her chin, he raised her face to look at his, "I'll be right here for you."

Sam nodded her head slightly acknowledging him. She was unsure what to do next as she was full of emotions, both hers and Henry's. They overwhelmed her, her eyes welled with tears. She turned to look away, but Henry stopped her.

He gently wrapped his arm around her shoulders, seeing she was torn inside, allowing her to burry her face in his shirt and cry. He thought about the last month, how they had become such close friends and spent as much time together as they could. David had told him that they seemed inseparable, until the past few days. He now understood why she began to draw away from him.

Sam's tears ran dry. Sniffing, her breathing was labored from crying. She slowly calmed herself.

"Have you told David?"

"No, not yet," she looked at the grass.

"Do you want me to be there with you?"

"No, I need to tell him myself," she looked up at him, "I'll be okay."

Lightening struck outside the main tower. A loud clap of thunder shook the grounds of the Sanctuary. The rain poured hard enough to hear throughout the building. Sam sat on the bed watching David pace the room.

"David, you need to calm down," she told him.

He ignored his sister. He heard a window break a few rooms over from the hail.

"David!" she yelled. "Stop!" she got up off the bed. Taking hold of his hands, she looked into his eyes. "Please stop David." She didn't have to hear the storm outside to know how he was feeling inside. He was angrier than she'd ever seen him. The room was filled with a mix of emotions, making her queasy.

"How could he?" David shook his head in disbelief. "How could he do that to you? If he weren't dead, I'd kill him!"

"David, please calm down, there's something else." Sam took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm pregnant."

She watched him stop in his tracks, frozen from what he'd heard. Not only did she have to tell him what Gallagher had done to her, but the fact that she was pregnant from it. She knew he would have a difficult time with this since he had been trying to protect her from this man for the last six years.

David walked to the chair in the back of the room to sit down. Taking some time to think about what his sister told him, he held his head in his hands. Tears rolled down his cheeks.

"I'm okay, David," she told him, sitting in the chair beside him. She could feel more rage slowly building within her brother. "David?"

"What?" he snapped at her. Catching himself, "I'm sorry," he apologized. "You're sure?"

"Yes, Dr. Magnus checked twice."

"What are you going to do?"

"Dr. Magnus said I should stay here, not return to the cabin. I think she's right. If you want to go back you can, well, if you feel its safe now, but I'll be staying for a while."

"You're going to keep it?"

"I'm taking it one day at a time, but I'm done with killing." Stretching her neck from side to side she could feel the tension in the room, she was feeling exhausted. This had been a day full of emotions, she was ready to sleep.