One Hundred Percent

The awakening

In my chemical induced coma, I had no dreams, excepting a short but vivid vision , I'd like to call it, that shook my bones and rattled my entire countenance.

I was on the train, dozing off, almost completely asleep, when I was snatched out of my seat and dragged into the baggage car. I was disoriented for quite a time until just before the baggage car. I screamed and flailed hopelessly as I was lugged across the threshold of the car, but no one came.

I twisted violently to see my captors, and I beheld three burly men, quite obviously and shamelessly smashed. 'How did they get so much alcohol on the train?' I thought as I reeled at the smell of their breath. They were laughing too loud and giggling like little girls as they hushed each other up.

They closed in on me menacingly, and my heart sank to my ankles. The biggest of the men swung a fist at my head and I passed out. I didn't remember much after that, little glimpses, but I had a dim recollection of a train worker coming in and bashing them all up with a suitcase. They weren't hard to knock out, I suppose, as they'd done most of that themselves.

I remember being cold. The train worker said something into a walkie, then he left the room for a few moments, or maybe an hour. I was aching. The worker came back dressed in black, and he was followed by a man the size of Hulk, who I now recognized as Sergio, and a smaller man in khaki slacks and a yellow shirt. It was getting lighter outside, I noticed wearily, and the train had stopped. Sergio lugged me over his shoulder and I was put into the trunk of a car outside a vaguely familiar looking train station.

As soon as I saw daylight again, I bit the first person I saw. I smelled salty sea air and tasted blood. I ran bare and pale down along the road I had thought were tracks while I was on the cliff. I felt something small pierce my shoulder blade and I toppled off the side of the cliff while simultaneously blacking out.

My vision went by rather quickly for so much content. Black for a few more hours, then I was blinking at a bright white light above me.

Thoughts flooded my mind as I awoke. Everything was more focused, more vivid, had more meaning.

"She's waking up," a deep Italian voice warned. "We may need to evacuate any minute, put the entire facility on the lookout. This is becoming more dangerous, far more than we had ever anticipated. If she gets much stronger, she may bring even entire cities down with only a thought."

🔻🔹🔻🔹🔻🔹🔻🔹

I sat up in a powder blue hospital bed. I was dressed in a flowery hospital gown and my hair had been given a buzz cut. I regarded it with disgust and poked at it. A woman gave an alarmed yelp and I turned my head to look at her. She looked Caucasian but I knew she was Italian.

"Doctor Bianchi! She has regained consciousness!" I watched, worried, as a man, Bianchi, I assumed, moved into the room. His eyes widened at the sight of me.

These people knew something I didn't. They were afraid of me. No one had ever been afraid of me. I was the dumb preppy girl who everyone either made fun of or pitied. This was quite the new sensation.

Bianchi turned to a small table by my bedside. I was getting really worked up now, I needed to know what was going on. He turned toward me brandishing a massive needle trying to look calm. He uttered some words in Italian to me, trying to slow my heartbeat or something. I scooted back and fell off the bed.

Struggling to my feet, I saw him scoff and walk around the table to me. "Nichole! Restrain the girl! Señor Tyson will not be happy if we lose or damage her!" Nichole shuffled over, a nervous, mousy woman, though she looked very intelligent. I rushed out of the room, into a well furnished hallway. I knew where to go, somehow. The house was small, remodeled to be a small private hospital for personal functions, and the door was facing south, toward the downtown Florence, Italy.

I headed that direction quickly and held my hospital gown closed as I walked out of self consciousness. The doctor came out of the room impatiently, so I began running. The faster pace made it awkward to hold my gown so I let go and sprinted around corner after corner letting my bum flash as it would until I got to the door. I burst from the house and ran toward the city.

Bianchi was yelling in Italian, something about how did she open the door it was locked. And I was yelling at myself, something about how in the heck did I even understand the man. Sergio and some other goons exited after me in fast pursuit. I ran as fast as I could, which was far faster than I remembered I could.

I was in Florence in no time, stealing items of clothing off of idle clothes lines and donning them while hiding behind houses. I got a few strange looks when I was only in a hospital gown and a pair of baggy denims. I couldn't find a bra so, I just decided I was going to have to stop running so much and find a cleverer way to assure safety from my pursuers.

I began knocking on doors, asking for a few minutes, possibly hours of stay. Most of the people didn't understand a word I said until I found a nice looking house on the beach. I decided it was worth a try, and I knocked politely on the door.

A boy opened it, and his eyes widened when he saw me.

"D'you think I might be able to stay here for a few hours?" I asked cautiously.

"Uh, yeah.. I guess.." He replied in a perfect English, although he had an American accent. It was... much more attractive than Tyson's. The boy was quite attractive too. Score, I thought to myself and walked in.