Dear Delilah West

Chapter Ten

I wake up briefly to a silent house. The blinds are up, revealing weak morning light filtering in. But my sore and cramped muscles tell me that I have been here for at least one day, maybe two. I hear faint breathing somewhere to my right and turn my head to find Missy lying on a mattress next to me. I smile, out of relief, and happiness, before rolling over and drifting back into deep, blissful unconsciousness.

********************************

The next time I wake, it is to find a wild thunderstorm raging on outside, heavy rain crashing down onto the roof and windows, and an empty mattress beside me. I listen for a moment, and hear, above the roaring and howling of the horrid weather, quiet voices emitting from the kitchen.

I drag myself up off of the couch, stumbling and almost collapsing onto the ground when I put weight on my sore muscles for the first time in days. I attempt to stretch, trying to rid myself of the painful cramps, and eventually succeed. I am now left with limbs that ache and feel heavier than blocks of lead. Oh well – there’s nothing I can do about that.

I limp out to the kitchen to find a very welcoming sight. Missy and Regina are seated at the small wooden table, talking, with cups of tea in their hands. They both look up at the sound of my approach, and Regina’s face spreads into a warm smile. She sets her cup on the table.

“Great to see you up and about, Sam,” she says. “How do you feel?”

“Sore,” I reply. Then I look to Missy.

She smiles at me, but it is not as sincere as Regina’s. I sense that there is something wrong – I can feel it in the air.

“Hey,” she says. “Glad to see that you’re okay.”

“Same to you,” I reply. “I really thought that something terrible had happened to you.”

She laughs, without humour. “It almost did. I was that close to be caught, I swear – closer than last time, in the elevator.”

“Really?”

She nods. “Yeah. It was a complete fluke that I got away. I am seriously reconsidering my religious beliefs – which are nothing, at the moment. But I am… very, very lucky.”

“What happened to you?” I ask her. “Tell me everything.”

Missy nods slowly, considering. “Okay.”

“I’ll make you some tea,” Regina says to me, rising out of her chair. “I’ve heard this already.”

“Thanks,” I say. Then I turn back to Missy. She clears her throat before beginning.

“Okay, so I went up in the vent, and replaced the cover, and started moving as silently as I could.”

“Yeah,” I say. She glares at me, and I shut my mouth.

“It took ages. There wasn’t any light in the pipes, obviously, so I had to stop at every room with a light to try and read the map. It was terribly difficult, considering the fact that almost none of the rooms had lights on. But I managed to reach Regina’s husband after about two hours.”

“You did? What did he say?”

Missy gives me a look. “Seriously! Shut up!”

“Sorry, sorry,” I mumble.

She sighs, and shakes her head in exasperation.

“So,” she continues, “I got to him. Patrick, his name is. A very intelligent man. Very observant. He had some information for me. He told me that Delilah had been there, in that building. That he knew her.”

I frowned. “What? But that doesn't make any sense! That’s impossible!”

Missy looks at her hands, and takes a deep breath before speaking. She doesn't look at me as she does so.

“Are you ready, Sam?”

“For what?” I ask.

“I have something to tell you,” she says. “Something that may shock you, something that may disorient you. Something you may not believe. Something big.”

I start to feel slightly nervous. “What?” I ask, almost whispering. What has she found out?

Missy finally looks up. I can feel the tension in the air, reverberating in the silence. When she opens her mouth to speak, it seems as if she does so in slow motion. My heart thumps in my chest, threatening to burst.

“Delilah,” she says. “She’s still alive.”