Perfect Imperfections

Chapter 24: I WIN

The effect of the Valium has long come and gone and now I feel a pulsing pain everywhere. I wish I had taken that beer. I crane my neck to see my fellow captive. Now that Elizabeth is no longer blocking my view, I can see her better. My eyes are already used to the darkness after all the house in which I live is covered in darkness 24/7 so I don't need to struggle to see.

Her auburn hair covers most of her face so I can't see it clearly. Her injured leg is crudely tied up with a dirty cloth to stop the bleeding. Her hands and legs are also bound infront of her. My eyes immediately recognize an empty thigh holster strapped to her jeans that is caked in dried blood.

She must be a cop. Surely a cop will know how to get us out of here but how am I going to wake her up? And then I find the perfect way to do so.

I flip myself over like a fish out of water multiple times until my back faces the cop. I probably look pathetic doing this but I don't care because survival always favours the fittest not the good looking. I wiggle my fingers around the cop's sticky thighs feeling around for the gaping gun shot wound until I find it. I do the most logical thing I can think of. I push one of my fingers into the wound and the cop wakes up howling in pain.

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Rukelle Savannah watched her daughter push herself on the swing. First, from soft slow thrusts to fast ones until Rachael is almost performing a whole revolution around the swing. Her auburn hair swayed with the wind and her little teeth flashed in a big smile. Rukelle's heart tugged in her chest. How had she survived this long without her daughter?

Rukelle called out to her daughter when she was finally off the swing and Rachael turned towards her mother, sprinted and enveloped her in a big hug.

The scene changed and Rukelle now watched her daughter dance ballet on a stage. Her auburn hair was tied into a double ponytail. She was clad in a flowery pink tutu. Rachael's tutu danced around as she twirled around on the stage. Rachael took an appreciative bow at the end of her performance and the audience cheered. Benjamin smiled at their daughter besides her and for once Rukelle forgot about her mistakes. For once, Rukelle was..... happy.

And then Rukelle woke up with a howl. The pain in her leg could bring an adult elephant to tears. She gritted her teeth to stifle yet a second scream that bubbled in her throat. Rukelle's wandering eyes settled on a stick-thin woman who was peering at her with gray eyes. She had that same thousand yard stare that she had seen on Emilia the first time they had met. Archer also occasionally got that look.

Rukelle removed the duct tape from the woman's mouth with her bound hands and the woman began pouring out a mini-essay. 

"We need to get ready. He is coming and he is armed. They already took Elizabeth. He is coming back for us. I need your help to fight him. Please, you need to help me." The woman was panicking to the point of hyperventilating.

Rukelle's mind was processing things too slowly. "He? They? Coming back?"

The memories from last night hit her full force and she nearly passed out again from the splitting headache that began to build behind her eyelids. Rukelle seemed to realize something else.

"You-you are Victoria. You are not dead. I'm not going crazy right?" Rukelle asked.

"No time for questions right now. I will answer all of them when this is all over." Victoria replied. "Untie my hands."

Rukelle quickly complied and got to work on the zip ties on Victoria's hands and after a few tries she got Victoria free. Victoria shook her hands to get movement back into her hands and then got to work on the bounds on Rukelle's hands.
                 
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