Women in Black

Women in Black

Chapter One

Where do you work?

Who’s your current employer?

It seems that the questions never stop. They are always flowing out of peoples curious mouths. Why is it that they need to know? Is it a life or death question? Does the balance of the universe depend on the answer to where I work? No, it doesn’t. So when people ask me this question, I do get a little pissed off. Maybe it’s only me and I over react, but the extent of some peoples nosiness is astonishing.

“And the company you work for is?” The man swiped his shirt sleeve under his nose and snorted. I tried to put the nicest smile I could manage at the moment. I had already tried to explain to him that where I work is classified information. None of his business. It’s no required for you to know this, you just want to be the biggest pain in my ass. Congratulations because you have done it.

“I’m sorry that’s irrelevant. I just need to ask you a few questions,” I said and smiled at the disgusting man in front of me. If only the people mindlessly wondering around this shop knew where half the things they were buying came from.

“Ma’am I’m sorry. We aren’t answering questions today. Unless you can give me some information,” the man said and started picking his nose. Gross, is he mining for gold or something?

“Well, I can give you that information if you just answer my easy little questions,” I said and about barfed when the finger that was just in his nose went to his mouth…barf. The man seemed to have a contemplating look on his face. “Okay, follow me.”

He lead me to the back of the store that held some supplies and cockroaches, rats, and many other disgusting things. The smell was fowl and I had to plug my nose to stop myself from puking.

“You know that you can’t have these things in your store,” I stated and suddenly I was grabbed and hit over the head with a heavy object. Darkness started to take over my vision and the last thing I saw was the mans hands on me, pulling me somewhere. My body wouldn’t respond to my panicking mind. Soon it succumbed to the darkness too.

~*~

“Rayne? Rayne!”

A voice broke through the nothingness I was in. My body felt weightless. Like I was floating on water, the sea creatures and other things threatening to drag me under and never release me.

Something nudged my arm. I could feel the seaweed grabbing on my arm, slowly wrapping itself around me and pulling me under. Suddenly the seaweed wasn’t seaweed ,but a tentacles. Water splashed on my face as I went under and took in a huge breathe of water.

“Rayne!”

Breath. Breath. I wasn’t in water anymore. No seaweed was pulling me under, threatening my life. White sheets covered my body and an IV was stuck in my arm. How long have I been here? My mother was at the side of my bed, her hand clasped around mine and her tears soaking my hand.

“Mom,” I croaked. Her brown eyes looked up, all bloodshot and glistening with tears. Her face was creased in worry, but lightening when she see’s me sitting up and talking.

“Oh honey. They thought you were going to be in a coma,” her grip tightened on my hand and a tear slid down her face. I hate seeing my mom in pain. I would do anything for her. She is the reason why I’m alive. There is a reason I’m so protective of her, why I don’t ever want to see her in any type of pain, or emotional hurt.

“I’m okay mom. What happened?” I asked. A grave look passed over my mom’s face.

“You’re not okay…you almost died. Rayne I couldn’t bare to lose you,” another few tears rolled down her face and I reached out my arm to find it was too weak to move. “A big truck crashed into. You were driving and…your whole care is smashed. Rayne, please never do this again.” She started sobbing and a doctor came in offering her a box of tissues. He checked a couple of the machines surrounding me and wrote on his clipboard.

“Wow, amazing recovery,” the doctor commented. He came over by my bed and gave my mom a pat on the back. Whether it was supposed to be reassuring or comforting, I wanted to be the one comforting her right now. “She’s is going to be just fine Mrs. Emerson. I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to leave the room for a second while I check our Rayne.”

My mom nodded understandingly and stood up from her chair by my bed. The tears had slowed and she wiped some remaining tears and smiled at me before the door closed firmly behind her.

“What do you remember Rayne?” He asked. I strained to remember what happened. Memories were coming up foggy and disoriented. I knew the car crash wasn’t what actually happened, but I couldn’t remember what did happen.

“I wasn’t in a car crash,” I said. The doctor nodded and wrote it down on his clipboard. What is on that clipboard? It dawned on me that I may not be talking to a friend, but an enemy. Nothing told me that this man was on my side, or that he wasn’t going to hurt me. In the state of weakness I’m in I cant defend myself. “Before I say anything else, how do I know I can trust you.”

“Smart girl,” the doctor complimented. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a badge. The badge was so familiar yet I couldn’t place it. It’s design, which had the colors on the American flag and the fifty stars in a circle around the number 51. Hazy memories were flooding my mind. “Trust me. I’m one of your comrades, you could say. You’re suffering temporary memory loss. The group SuperNova attacked you and tried to kill you-”

“Stop,” my head was killing me and images on things that were unreal, unhuman, filled my mind. Images that weren’t mine, but my father’s. The creatures abducting me, hurting me, testing me. It was too much. Strength returned to my arms and I clamped my hands over my face. “No, no, no. Stop it!”

“Rayne calm down. You’re okay. Someone found you before they could kill you,” the doctor, funny I didn’t even know his name, tried to calm me. He’s wrong, they did something worse than kill me. They gave me all my fathers memories.