Insider

Nineteen

The moment where I wished time stopped.  He learned this type of dancing from his mother, and now he was teaching me.  We were dancing as one.  "I wish this could last forever!" I whispered, twirling around with my arms outstretched.  Those blue eyes I looked into sparkled and were filled with light and happiness. If you looked at just those blue eyes, you would never guess the amount of pain he endured in his time on this world.  "I love you," I whispered.

Oliver smiled at me, "I love you too, Liss."  As the light began to fade, I saw a last glimpse of everything I imagined.  Papa was there, holding his arms around my mother and Oliver.  They were happy, and my heart felt light.

Before darkness clouded my vision, I called, "I'll be okay,"  I don't know if they heard me, but I like to think they did.  

The next colour I saw was crimson- wet, cold crimson was pooled around me.  It was my blood, and all I could do was watch myself bleed out.  I needed to get out of here, and I frantically tugges at the binds around my wrists.  No weapons were in the room, and the chair I was tied to was kicked on its side, preventing movement.  I wondered if anyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. saw my texts, and if they could somehow track where Crimson Night had been; that was my only option at this point, I decided.

But, merely a minute later a tall figure entered the room.  From my angle, I couldn't make out their face- they were clad in a Crimson Night jacket, carrying a bag.  What on Earth could they possibly do to hurt me now?  Here goes... I thought, grimacing as the person pulled something silver out of the bag.

My wrists were untied, so were my legs.  I gasped in relief, collapsing further forward, unable to support myself.  I rolled onto my back and locked eyes with Tobias.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I whispered, stumbling into a standing position.

He grabbed the bag and tossed it across the room, in it were some of my old clothes, and my knife.  Gruffly, he said, "I didn't know Trish would do that to our child."

"Neither did I-"

"Take care of her, Sarah.  Promise me you'll take care of her." he pleaded, eyes watering.  "Tell her I love her very much,"

"What-"

Tobias stepped closer and told me, "I'll leave the door unlocked.  You can find your way, and get back to doing the right thing.  We had a good run, Sarah, I respect you."

He was letting me go.  Tobias was letting me go.  Before I could find any words, he was walking towards the door.  "Wait!" I ordered, voice sharp as a knife.

He turned.

"I'm Elissa," I said, and smiled my crooked smile.

"Elissa... that's a pretty name."  And then he was gone.

Heart pounding like a jackhammer, I fumbled through the clothes in the bag.  Flannel, leather jacket, jeans, combat boots, hat, scarf.  I put the clothes on, tying the scarf around my mouth and nose to not draw attention to my shit show of a face.  In the jeans I found a roll of twenty-dollar bills, I didn't bother to count how much.  Grabbing my knife, I darted out the door, a bat out of hell.  No one was in the hall, but I heard footsteps.  I knew what to do, and I pried open a vent.  Crawling through the cramped space, I thought back to all the times I did this before.  That was when I was running away.  Now, I was running to something.  I think I liked the latter better.  

I could tell I was heading towards an exit based on the airflow and incline of the vents.  Just as I found my ticket out, a deafening and familiar sound rang through the building.  Clean and precise, it occurred once and stopped dead a moment later.  My heart dropped, I froze.  

I liked Tobias, he was a good man.

Moments later, I kicked open one vent and felt the rustle of cold November wind against my legs.  A ten-foot drop separated me from the ground, I had no choice but to jump.  "Fuck!" I screamed, landing awkwardly on my side.  Nothing was broken, and the leather jacket prevented scrapes, though.  The alleyway I was in was empty, thank goodness.  I tried to walk nonchalantly as not to draw any more attention to myself.

Night was fading, the darkness leaving.  The ground was wet with a November rain, but the sun would dry it out.  I was in a quiet uptown of Washington or Alexandria, small houses and brick apartments were crammed along sidewalks and a one-way street.  Pink and purple brushstrokes streamed across the once dark sky, and a small gold orb was rising in the East.  I was far enough away from the building, I could blend in without being spotted.  Underneath my make-shift face mask, I beamed.  That's how it felt, I was actually beaming.  Because I had proved to myself that I could survive.

I broke into a run, faster and faster.  No one was on the streets to judge.  I ran and felt my body energize again.  I ran and let warm tears wash away cold blood.  I ran because I was sad and happy at the same time.  

I had no idea where I was going, but I ran anyway.