They Know Me

BLAME

My head and my body ached. Afraid, and unsure of what I'd see, I started to open my eyes, but they burned and I quickly closed them. Very slowly, I tried to open them again. Except for the almost total darkness, a tiny light glinted to my right, like a small, lit candle. But I couldn't tell. My vision was too blurred.

Under me was something cold and hard. I tried to shift my weight to get more comfortable, but even the slightest movement was wrenching. Unsure if my attack had just happened, or if it had been hours before, my mind sluggishly played back the events at the bridge, and settled on one. Instinctively, my hand went to my stomach ...!

No tackiness of blood. Impossible – because something had happened!

Everything was just like before, except ...

Trying to concentrate against a stronger fear about to take over, I struggled to focus.

The pain had been real and I'd seen him ... my attacker. I hadn't dredged him up from nothing. That, I knew. What I was not certain of ... the mysterious person inside the bridge ... he wasn't Zil – or, had Zil used the darkness to mask his appearance and concealed his voice so I wouldn't know, and to finally frighten me away?

I started to get up to leave, but it hurt too much and I laid back.

I was about to try to move again, but a slight noise in the stillness caught my attention. Indistinct at first, I realized what it was ... footsteps! Someone was coming toward me.

Afraid he'd returned to finish what he'd started, I remained still, though my blurry eyes strained to see what I could. Knowing how vulnerable I was, and with my body wracked with pain, I was still determined not to fall victim to further assault. I'd fight my hardest to escape – even without my flashlight there to use as a weapon. I tensed ...

I was startled by a soft, unfamiliar man's voice breaking the stillness. "You've been hurt."

My realization that he wasn't the attacker wasn't immediate and I started to painfully move away.

"You must remain still." He sounded almost – nervous.

I paused. "Who are you?"

"A friend of the one who rescued you."

"Make it so she cannot hear," whispered another person – in a French accent!

Squinting to see Zil, I was stopped by something feathery tickling my face ... and I was all of a sudden very drowsy so that holding my eyes open was a chore. I felt myself lying back onto the hard surface beneath me.

Behind me, quiet, muffled voices started – then something uncomfortable gently touched my hand. I wanted to pull away but didn't have the strength to. Slowly, almost reluctantly, it withdrew, leaving behind its icy feel on my skin. Then something that smelled strongly of lavender passed my nose ... left me ... returned ... and repeated.

My body began to involuntarily relax. Telling myself to resist the pleasant dizziness, and to keep my mind clear to figure out a way to escape, I was distracted by the sound of soft humming.

It was soothing and I wanted to sleep – but I couldn't get past the brink. The humming ceased and unintelligible, fragmented, and endlessly drawn-out words began, making the throbbing in my head return and worsen.

I opened my drowsy eyes. I wanted to see where I was, and those with me, Zil undoubtedly being one of them. They no longer burned, but I was surrounded by such darkness that knowing if my eyesight had been restored was impossible. I turned my chin to my right to search for anything I might see, and something slowly came into view. Gradually, my eyes adjusted and I could see it was a light. As I watched, the strange light started to glow, and in a slow repetition, began to change its hue from white to orange, and then back again. Then, in a freakish imitation of a kaleidoscope, grayish-looking objects began to move slowly before it, switching images from normal to fiendish, but lingering on the latter.