Tyrant (Lazaretto Sequel)

eight

April 12, 2094

CAMILA

The next morning I awoke in a hotel bed next to Normani. The sun crept through the partially closed curtains, a vertical line of sunlight beaming into the dark room. I took a deep breath and rolled over to face the window. Through the small opening in the curtains, I could see someone walking around their room across the street. I could only see them when they crossed my line of vision through the curtains, but they seemed to be in a panic. They were walking back and forth, almost like they were pacing. For some reason the person sparked my interest, and I slowly got out of the bed so that I wouldn't wake Normani.

The cool carpet felt lush against my feet as I walked over to the curtains and gently pulled them apart to see the person, who I then figured out was a woman, pick up a vase and smash it against the ground. I gasped lightly at the sight. Her back was to me as it was impossible to see her face. She then proceeded to walk over to the fire place and sweep everything off of the mantle and watched as it all crashed to the floor below. She was angry. Her shoulders were moving up and down quickly to match her heavy breathing. I saw her take something out of her pocket and examine it momentarily before slipping it back into confinement. Her hands grasped her long brown hair in desperation, and I wondered what she was so worked up over. Not like it was any of my business, anyway. I felt guilty for even watching her melt down, but I couldn't seem to look away. Just then, the mystery woman turned around almost like she knew I had been watching her. My heart skipped a beat, and my chest ached as I could have sworn I was met with a pair of glowing neon eyes.

"What are you doing up so early?" Normani asked groggily as she turned and buried her head in her pillow to avoid the sunlight. I quickly let go of the curtain and let it fall back into its previous position. Before I turned around to answer her, I looked back across the street to see that she was nowhere in sight.

"I was just going on a run. Don't wait up. I'll be back later," I returned as I made my way into the bathroom to freshen up and change my clothes.

Normani mumbled something of an "okay" and a "be careful" as she pulled the covers tighter around herself and fell back asleep within minutes. I changed into different clothes before grabbing a light breakfast from the hotel lobby, exiting the place through the revolving door and found myself outside. I held my hand up to block the sun from my eyes as I looked up to the window where I saw the woman just minutes ago. There was still no sight of her. I sighed as a turned right and began jogging at a slow pace to get my muscles warmed up. It was true what everyone said about New York. It was indeed the city that never slept. The clock in the hotel room showed that it was just a little past seven in the morning, but with the amount of people and cars in the streets you would have thought it was rush hour traffic.

I began to pick up the pace as I felt my breathing even out. There was nothing like the feeling I got from running. There were so many elements that made it an indescribable feeling. The wind in my hair, the movement of my arms and legs working together in sync to propel my body forward, the sweat running down my body at the hard work it was producing, the way my lungs filled with new air each breath, the tingling feeling that rushed over my body after I had stopped. Running was an escape for me. Sure, books were too, but there was only so much that they could do. I felt free and alive. Each time my foot came in contact with the ground it sent a volt of electricity through my veins, and it felt like nothing in the world could stop me. That was, until I ran into someone. He was thanking the curbside barista and as he backed away I ran straight into him, causing him to spill his hot coffee on his jacket.

"I am so sorry," I apologized as the man tried wiping the coffee off of him, but quickly stopped when he realized it was no use. His jacket was ruined. "Here, let me buy you a new one." I offered.