The Silk Moth Dream (Season 1 Complete)

EPISODE 16: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS

Pain ravages behind Fiona's eyelids as she tries to force them open. She must have fallen asleep in a weird position, because her legs are cramping up and she's losing feeling in her hands. When she reaches to stretch out her fingers and get the blood circulating, a cold metal digs into her wrists — handcuffs.

Fiona snaps awake. Despite the sluggish lethargy in her body, her heart is pounding and her blood is roaring in her ears. Cold fear slithers down her spine as she struggles against the handcuffs, the metal giving nothing away.

"Abin," she whispers frantically, eyes searching for any shapes in the dark. "Abin, where are you?" She scans the darkness around her, feeling the hard dirt beneath her legs and cool draft breezing through her cardigan. As her eyes start to adjust, she notices the concrete space in front of her — a storage room — and vague shapes scattered throughout the room.

Finally, she spots a particularly lanky and human-shaped lump in the dark, as well as the shot of silver hair. "Abin, wake up," Fiona says desperately, her stomach sinking as she takes in the way that he's slumped. The shape is motionless but she knows it's him.

"Wake up," Fiona repeats, unable to keep the quiver out of her voice. How did they get here? She tries to remember anything before the cold and pain. Lush greenery... something about... sister-in-laws? Abin's hand on her wrist, the way he looked at her...

"Fiona?" Abin mumbles, starting to stir. Weak coughs rack his body as he tries to get up, only to notice the handcuffs behind his back. "What's going on?"

"Thank God," Fiona says, almost wanting to cry. She swallows the lump in her throat. "Do you remember anything? My head hurts..."

Abin struggles against his cuffs once more before deflating. "I..." He clears his throat. "All I remember is walking through the garden."

Fiona feels the cold sweat of nausea. This whole road trip, she's been on survival mode, trying her best to stay under radar from both Left Behind and the government. She runs through the plans in her head before sleeping, triple-checks the locks, and never goes anywhere without checking over her shoulder multiple times. And she's been good at it, because that's what she's had to do since her mom died in OP-PALINURUS. Maybe even since she watched her father die, slowly but all at once, when she was seven. Fiona's been in survival mode every second of every day for as long as she can remember, and there's no time to think about anything else other than what's next. But this. Fiona has no idea how they got here and for once, her usually strategic-mind is coming up blank.

"What do we do?" Her voice sounds so small in the icy room.

Abin is silent for a moment. She tries to see his face in the dark, but all she can see is a tall figure bound to a post. Suddenly, the figure straightens. "I still have some paper scraps in my pocket."

Fiona tries to focus despite the dizzy fog in her head. "I appreciate that you've got that but I really don't want to die in some explosion while tied to a random pole."

"No," Abin says, his voice strained as he wiggles around. "If I could just—" He grunts as he leans over, throwing himself to the ground.

"What are you doing?" Fiona winces.

Abin doesn't respond. He continues to wriggle around for a moment before sitting back up victoriously. There's a soft glow for a moment. And suddenly, his shadowy figure stands and stretches, hands free.

He's next to her in a second, crouching over her and whispering a small prayer. Abin's face looks weary and tired, but otherwise unscathed. It must have only been a few hours since they've been out. Fiona feels a small warmth around her wrists, before the shackles click off with a metallic clang.