Mind's Echo

Eva

The pounding in Eva's head wouldn't be ignored. It wouldn't let her rest. She began to claw her way back toward consciousness. Just before opening her eyes, she felt pressure on her lips.

What ...

Her eyes opened just in time to see Quincy move away from her. She blinked. Then she frowned.

What was he doing? Where am I?

She looked around, taking note of the small, dark room. She was lying on a bed. A very gross bed. She scowled harder. Quincy looked down at her.

"Well, hello, Sleeping Beauty. I guess fairy tales do come true."

She stared at him, eyebrows drawing together. "Sleeping Beauty? I doubt there's anything beautiful about me right now."

"Hmm. I don't know about that" Quincy said, stepping closer to the bed and holding out a hand to her. "Can you stand? You fainted back there. Too much excitement, I believe."

Eva took the hand and slowly got to her feet. She found herself not wanting to release her grasp on Quincy. His hand was warm, with long, tapered fingers. She gingerly touched her head.

"No. It wasn't from the excitement ... I don't think. I had a headache. A really bad one. This pain ...," she murmured, pushing into her still tender temple.

She looked up at him. For a moment, his handsome image blurred and shifted in front of her. She blinked and shook her head, bringing him and the room back into focus.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. It's just ... I've always been prone to headaches, but this was something totally different. I don't know what happened to me out there, but it wasn't normal."

He crossed his arms. "What are you saying? Eva, I'm not one for jumping at shadows, if you haven't figured that out. I think maybe you all are suffering from some kind of toxicity in the air. Probably from the dilapidated state of this building. Mold or something, maybe."

"It's not mold," Eva replied crossly.

Quincy shrugged his leather clad shoulders. "Fine. Whatever it is, it's interfering with my mission."

Eva rolled her eyes. "Heaven forbid ..."

As she watched, Quincy's shoulders straightened up in determination. He walked over to the single window in the room. He shook the iron bars.

"These things are rusted through. And look," he actually pulled one bar from the window, "some of them come right off. We could get out this window, maybe. I don't really want to chance trying to leave the way we came. We'd have to pass the OR, and I'm afraid of what might go down if the others see us, honestly. I have a gun, and I have used it before, but I'd like to avoid that, if possible."

The idea of getting away was very appealing to Eva. "I'll stand watch at the door while you work on removing those bars then," she volunteered.

Ignoring the throbbing in her head, she walked over to the door and opened it a crack. The hall was empty and eerie. Maybe the others were too busy being crazy to thwart Eva and Quincy's grand plan. Hopefully they wouldn't think to come check on them any time soon. Behind her, she heard the quiet sounds of Quincy working on their great escape.

She felt a thrill, knowing she and Quincy would soon be free of the asylum and running off into the night ... together. She knew it was insane to be falling for a stranger, but she couldn't fight the magnetic pull between them. When she thought about what came next, after all this madness, she thought of a future with the dark, good-looking, mysterious man currently cursing at a stubborn iron bar.

A smile played at the corners of her mouth. She knew exactly what he had been doing when she woke up, and what he had meant about fairy tales. That was a kiss she had felt. A kiss to wake the princess. Kinda sweet. Too bad she hadn't been aware enough to enjoy it. Maybe next time ...