Come Back to Me

37

Her eyes snapped open as she bolted upright on the bed, taking in the familiar surroundings of her bedroom, her head throbbing with what she could only call a headache from Hell. Looking down beside her, Vanessa picked up her phone to check the time; five thirty in the morning. Too early to go anywhere. Accepting the fact that she probably wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, Vanessa decided to take a shower before she needed to leave.

As she made her way to the bathroom, a wave of déjà vu came over her. Brow furrowed, she shook her head and chalked it up to the migraine she had woken up with. The past few months of the project had taken its toll on her physical health as well as her mental health. It really didn't come as a surprise that she had woken up not feeling great.

The nightmares had also gotten worse over the last few weeks. They hadn't even started until she started her work. If her theory proved to be correct, the man in her dreams knew exactly what she was attempting to do and knew exactly who she was. The only problem now was getting the damn thing to work properly without starting another house fire.

Last nights nightmare, however, had seemed off. Though she couldn't recall the exact details, all she could remember was the sound of a female screaming followed by a voice she hadn't heard before and a lot of commotion. Either her mind was officially breaking under the stress, or for once she was finally able to have a different dream. She hoped it meant that eventually she would stop having such gruesome nightmares altogether soon.

Deciding to worry about it later, Vanessa stepped into the shower and turned the heat as high as it would go; the familiar sting of the water against her skin caused her to shrink back slightly before stepping back into the water; the pain almost pleasurable to her.

"Help!"

Vanessa quickly turned around half expecting to see someone standing behind her. Her heart felt as though it were lodged in her throat when she saw that she was the only one in the room. The voice had sounded so close, yet at the same time so far away. So full of panic...

This was new.

Shaking it off, Vanessa quickly turned off the water and grabbed a towel from the rack beside her.

"I'm definitely going insane," she mumbled to herself, wiping the water from her face.

The familiar feeling of dread and excitement flooded her all at once as she slid down the wall onto the bathroom floor. None of this had gone the way she had hoped it would. She should have had it figured out by now...should have saved him by now. Yet here she was. Her heart felt heavy as she thought of the blond man begging her to help him; of what she would do once that thin veil of glass was finally lifted from in front of them. She could hear his voice as clearly as if he were beside her. A side effect from her project no doubt. Still, it most likely wasn't about to go away until she fixed what needed to be fixed.

Her brow furrowed, determination replacing the pitiful expression she knew she had been wearing. Her bosses wanted to know first thing that she had gotten the damned machine where it was supposed to be to gather their data and run tests before it was officially put on the market. Well, the tests would be done, but they were going to be done by her first. As far as her bosses knew, the machine wasn't due to be completed for another two months at the earliest without any error. Much to her satisfaction, she had worked out the bugs a few weeks ago. Pushing herself up off the floor, her mind made up, she pulled on the clothes she would be needing to make it all work properly.

Getting the leather pants on seemed to be her biggest challenge since she was still wet from the shower; something she always kicked herself for doing still. Next came the cut off Poison top she had found; her goal was to blend in as best she could with the people, to make sure she didn't make a bigger spectacle of herself than what was already about to happen. There was no guarantee where she would end up when she walked through the door, or if she would even be close to where she wanted to be.

Tying up the laces on her combat boots, Vanessa quickly put on her makeup before tossing the items in the small backpack she kept on the floor beside the bathroom sink. This wasn't something she hadn't thought of plenty of times before, but today needed to be the day she left while she had the chance; before her bosses began asking too many questions. If she proved successful in her own mission, she would willingly hand over the device to her bosses once she returned and no one would even know she had left to begin with. Just to be on the safe side, Vanessa went to her desk and wrote down a small note to whoever would find it if things did go wrong. Slinging the bag onto her shoulder she made her way to the basement, her determination growing stronger with every step she took.

Time seemed to move slowly as she approached the basement door, the anticipation growing deep inside her as she turned the handle. Her breathing became heavy, shaky, as she made her way down the stairs, the large black door coming into view. Her hand instantly reached for the watch on her left wrist, making sure it was securely in place. With the flip of a switch the lights came on revealing the computer beside the door.

"Here goes nothing," she murmured as she turned the computer on.

The sounds of the machine coming to life were almost deafening. It never ceased to amaze her that the neighbors never once called the police for a noise complaint. Taking a minute to go over the machine one last time before testing it, Vanessa took one final deep breath as she tried to type in the date of her destination and the location she hoped she would end up at. Her frown deepened as the numbers that showed on the screen stayed locked in place, denying her access to putting in the date she actually wanted.

"What the hell?" she mumbled, her bag falling off her shoulder and onto the floor. "Why are you suddenly not working?"

The date on the screen read out April 10, 1984, nearly four years earlier than when she wanted to go. Her mind froze, wondering what could have gone wrong since the last time she had turned the computer on. There was no one for her to call and when she had tried to reboot the system completely the date still remained the same.

"I don't understand," she whispered again.

Her head throbbed again, the pain from the headache almost sending her to her knees, yet something was telling her to open the door anyway. It was early enough that Dead hadn't even heard of Mayhem yet.

Am I supposed to find him and stop him from joining?

The thought almost made sense. Almost.

Shaking her head, Vanessa made her way over to the door. Worst case scenario was being placed a few miles from her destination leaving her to find it herself. The door opened, the cement wall behind it replaced with a dark void. Taking one last look around her, Vanessa said her silent goodbyes to her home, hoping that the years of work she put into this would pay off. If by some chance she didn't return but ended up succeeding in her mission, she could at least be thankful for that.

"I'm coming," she whispered to herself. "One way or another, I'll make sure you make it out of this alive."

** I have been working on the next few chapters, getting the best ending took some figuring out but we are finally on the right track! More updates will be coming much sooner now that things have gotten figured out! thank you all for all the love and support <3**