Vengeful Memories

Chapter Two

My mind is filled with screaming until I realise that the room reverberates with it. The dread and fear that was putting my body on edge when I was with the monster had faded, leaving me shaky and exhausted.

With that, my mouth shuts, cracking my jaw along the way with a resounding thwack. I seek to touch the spot on my jaw where it now ached but nothing happens. Panicked, I snap my head towards my arms. My wrists and ankles have been cuffed and locked to the frame of the bed beside my previous keeper of dangling chains.

Looking around the room, the silence that accompanies its emptiness unnerves me. I've  adapted to the perpetual noise of being tormented. Even when I'm not, my guards would occupy the gap when she wasn't wailing. My heart wells at the thought of the girls own torture being placed on hold. She's safe, she's safe.

For now. A sobering assessment.

How did I survive? The smoke of the monster, I felt it feeding off me, assaulting me unnaturally. I couldn't do anything to resist it, I was being absorbed into its black vortex.

It wanted me.

It wanted to devour me and consume me until - I don't even know what the aftermath would be if it succeeded. Would it have been my death or would I have been caught in whatever world that horror had clambered out from?

A tendril of fear slithers through my body.

I wouldn't be here if the smoke had taken what it called for, so who rescued me?

My head began to throb.

I am so tired of questions.

Sighing, I release the questions and close my eyes to rejoice in the delightful feeling of laying down. Oh my, I will never take my bed for granted again. That is if I will get to see it again. Forgetting my last reflection, I rest. Releasing my mind into the place I have often travelled to during my time in this concrete cage.

Velvet black sky, diamond stars.

The midnight breeze spinning around my body in an intimate dance of nature and wildness. It slips through my outreaching fingers, grasping for the air, longing for the wind to take me away.

Its icy fingers brushing—cheek, lips, nose, cheek, teasing me.

The wind howls with laughter and dances away.

My body plunges into the snow.

Sinking, falling, soaring. The world has flipped and I'm amongst a sea of diamonds, caressing the velvet.

My old friend has captured me, seized my soul. Teaching me the steps to nature and wildness. Holding me, lifting me, embracing me.

My body is lighter, freer.

And I forget — forget the questions, the mysteries, the aching and the sadness, the past, the future and most of all the present.

***

Lavender fills my vision once again.

It's withdrawing and I crave to reach it, the most wonderful shade of violet.

And quickly they are eyes framed by heavy black lashes. The rest of the face was concealed by a black mask.

I gulp.

"We need to take you out of here Aissa."

And I choke.

"Shadow?!" I yelp. Surprise and confusion streaking through my mind. Shadow betrays no emotion.

More questions. What a shock.

"How do you know my name?" What a fantastic question to ask, out of everything, you ask that. No, why have you helped me? No, who has captured me? No, can you point me to the exit perhaps? My mouth needs to catch up with my brain.

My hands are being tugged at and then each of my feet and suddenly I'm loose.

"Your files, I have worked over them extensively."

I bolt upwards with the vigour and dexterity I had before I was a captive here. Shadow must have mended my body, assuming he rescued me from that monster.

I point at Shadow accusingly.

"Look. I don't recognise you from my past and I absolutely don't trust you. I appreciate that you have helped me while I've been in here. Healing me and keeping me alive. I also realise there is shit going on around me that I have no inkling about, so you may be genuinely helping me right now. Who knows this might be a test or some ridiculous ploy to make me one of you. But I will not sit on my ass and turn down your potential aid. I've got a 50/50 chance of this working out. So just give me my clothes and weapon back and we can go."

Shadow bends down without breaking eye contact, picks up a bundle of clothing and hands it to me.

"So I don't have to convince you I'm on your team and that we have seldom time before Ms Arquette comes back?" Shadow asks sceptically.

"No, you don't." I reply while I put on the same uniform Shadow wears over the stained underwear I've been wearing for god knows how long.

During my time here I was only authorised a thin pair of basic skin coloured underwear and a basic wireless sports bra of the same colour. Not that the colour has remained the same, it's mangy and splotchy looking. I was allowed to be sprayed down by a high-pressure hose and let to drip dry sparingly through the week.

No soap, deodorant or perfume allowed, unfortunately. Thankfully my last oh-so refreshing hose down was, what I assume, only a few days ago, so I shouldn't stink too badly.

"We never recovered your sword when we captured you. It was never actually found." Shadow tells me as he hands me a handgun.

I tentatively grab it from him and raise an eyebrow.

"Your files on me never informed you that I don't know how to handle a gun right?"

Shadows head tilts.

"It suggests you are skilful at hand to hand combat, weapons and your powers are astoundingly strong. I understood that incorporated the operation of guns. I must be mistaken."

I shrug pointing the barrel away from me and towards the ground, "You assumed correctly."

I make certain that the safety is on, remove the magazine of the handgun, inspect the chamber and insert the magazine again. I proceed to slide it into the inbuilt holster of my pants on the side of my hip.

"Well, I'm pleased to see you won't be assuming to not know how to handle a handgun and shoot me promptly in the back." Shadow chuckles before turning towards the door.

My mouth is gaping wide open. "You—" I stammer, "Oh you sly devil." I point another accusing finger at Shadow's back, "I like you."

Shadow doesn't turn around to respond and I shake my head. Shadow disappears through the door and around the corner. I reach out to his energy and latch on, getting lost is not on my to-do list.

I follow his pulsing energy through passages, hallways and narrow spaces in hidden rooms. Not once do we run into anyone and not once have I seen Shadow in front of me, I've only felt his lingering presence.

I notice we are in a maze-like building. There's no windows or natural light, just bright buzzing bulbs swinging from the ceiling. Maybe we are underground.

Everything is stainless steel. Heavy steel doors held up by thick steel walls. The interiors of the rooms vary from sleek black computers and coloured cables, steel desks and steel chairs, steel shelves piled with unmarked steel boxes.

Steel, steel, steel. Cold, unnerving and practical. Just like the White Lady herself — or Ms Arquette, that's what Shadow had called her.

It forces me to wonder where she is, where anybody is in fact.