It all seemed like a distant memory. She could however relive it every moment. The times she laughed with him, her loving husband. Her friend, who was more of a soul sister. The image of all three of them together started to fade as reality dawned on her.
She was hiding behind the crates. She could see the silhouette of the giant of a man who was out to hunt her. She had forgotten how many days it has been since she started running. Her body had almost given up; but she was holding on to her determination to escape from this hell.
He had spotted her! She threw the crates towards him to slow him down and took the first door she saw. It opened into an alley that led to the main road. She ran. She stopped an auto and asked the passengers to take her aboard and told them how that man was after her. They took pity on her state and allowed her to.
The giant man saw her getting into the auto and hurriedly took control of another auto and chased after her. She pleaded with the driver to drive faster. He tried his best. But with the traffic, he was unable to. As the auto came to a halt, she got down and ran again.
That man was only a few vehicles behind and was trying hard to spot her. She found a small secret exit to the subway station and climbed down the pole. She could feel his hawk eyes trying to spot her. She landed near some stairways. Amidst the darkness, she saw a small platform and a door next to it. She hopped on to the platform and opened the door. It opened into the railway tracks.
"What if I boarded a train..."
"Goddamn it! The platform is on the other side. The train gates won't open from this side. Waiting on the platform could be risky. The cameras could spot me..."
As she stood there wondering about the next course of action, she heard footsteps. It sounded like a parade was approaching her. She closed the door, held onto the door handle and balanced herself on the small platform, to avoid being spotted.
Many of them had donned a Victorian attire. It seemed like they were heading to some play. She let them pass one after the other, and stayed hidden. She suddenly saw a familiar face. The man in a security uniform. It was Peter!
"Peter...", she called out in a feeble voice.
He heard it. He looked around trying to see who called out to him. He stood there, letting the others pass, and tried to get some vision in the darkness. He looked deeper into the direction she was in.
She slowly got down the platform and headed towards him.
"Oh my God! It's you! You're alive!", he almost screamed. He stared at her. Even with the stains, he noticed the white hospital gown she had on.
"Where have you been??"
"I..."; she collapsed before she could even finish her sentence. He held her, put her arms around his shoulder and took her into an alley within the subway. She could see a door towards the end. It opened into his small apartment. He laid her gently on the bed, told her to get some sleep before he rushed out.
She heard the door close after him as she drowned into slumber. She woke up after what seemed liked days, but was only a few hours. He was not back. She noticed that the front door was locked from the outside.
She looked around the apartment. From the looks of it, she realized that he was part of yet another undercover mission. She had known Peter since the time she knew her husband. They were partners for a long time till both started taking up undercover missions.
She decided to take a bath. She couldn't wait to get rid of that goddamn hospital gown. She tried to drown her worries, temporarily so, in that hot tub. The hot water was soothing for her mind and body.
That excruciating pain on her lower back was still bothering her. After drying herself, she looked for something to wear. Peter only had sets of the same uniforms in his wardrobe. She grabbed one and wore it.
She walked out to the main room and stood in front of the mirror. She lifted her shirt up to see the wound that was causing her so much pain. As she was staring at it and thinking of a way to fix it, she felt a pair of eyes staring at it. Peter was back!
She immediately tried to cover it, but he had seen it. He knew something wasn't right.
"Show me now!"
She lay on the bed with her face down as she lifted her shirt slightly, revealing the wound for him to examine.
Peter saw the bullet that was stuck deep into her skin; what shocked him was that it was frozen! There was no trace of any blood. He also noticed scars that seemed to run all over her back and stomach. Some of these scars were healed naturally. He could see the blood clot. The others were frozen!
He reached for his medical kit and tried to get the bullet out. As he cut the wound open, he noticed that tiny ice shards appeared on her skin and healed it almost as quickly as he cut it!
"What the hell have they done to her!"
A feeling of dread overcame him. After an hour's struggle, with the help of boiling water & hot oil, he somehow managed to pull the bullet out.
"Tell me, where were you all this time?"
" I don't know...", she said before breaking into tears.
Peter stroked her head and consoled her. He knew that he had to get some special equipment to test what mutations were going on in her body. He told her to get some rest and also to eat some food. He promised to be back soon.
She realized how hungry she was only at the mention of food. She quickly grabbed some bread and ate it up. She felt much better.
Thanks to Peter, she was relieved from the pain as well.
Now that her body and mind felt relaxed, she began to get some visions of the place she was held captive. She looked for some pen and paper to note it down while she still remembered it. Looking through the drawers, she instead found an envelope, addressed to Peter, from...her husband!
Tears rolled down her cheeks as she read the letter. She then wiped her tears, found the gun that was hidden under the desk, broke the front door lock and stormed out.
Peter was back and was worried to see the door ajar. He ran in, looked for her. She wasn't around. He noticed the letter on the desk. He knew what had happened.
"Shit!" he exclaimed, before running out to find her.
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You can find the whole series here: Dreaming it up
Disclaimer: I do take some creative liberty to formulate it into a readable post.
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