Destined

Fifty Three

When I was ten years old, I lived in a big city. The kind that relied on subways and taxi services to get around. My dad was an investigative journalist, my mother a high power attorney, and me, their good little girl in fifth grade. We were the perfect family. And I was happy. I was naive, and believed everything was sunshine and rainbows. I was sheltered and protected and I had never known pain.

That was until I fell out of a tree and broke my leg. Now that was the most excruciating pain I had ever experienced. I could tell that my bone had broken and moved out of proportion. At least that's what it felt like. I remember seeing my leg swell. I remember crying, screaming for my mother. I don't even remember why I was in the tree, what I was trying to do, but I remember the pain.

That injury made me avoid all kinds of sports. It's safe to say I was slightly traumatized. I was in the hospital for three weeks, and then on bed rest for a couple more. My friends came by with my homework sometimes. Then my mum had me homeschooled for a couple of months. At some point, I'd believed I'd never walk again. Even though the bone had been properly set and had actually been a pretty bad crack than a full blown break. You explain the difference to a ten year old.

Anyway, I realized now that I was wrong. That pain, was nothing compared to what I felt the moment Professor Darke caught me, holding me down, his body hovering over me. Sorry, I've skipped ahead. Let me go back a few minutes. To when I woke up in a strange bed. My head was pounding. My wrists were pulsing, as blood rushed through my veins. After being restrained for who knows how long, they were seriously sore.

I sat up slowly, confused and disoriented for a moment. I touched my head, flinching at the soreness of it. My fingers came back tinged with red. I must have hit it pretty bad.

I looked around. I was in a bedroom. Literally. I was in a room that had a bed, and nothing else. I checked myself immediately. I was still dressed, a welcome sign. He hadn't touched me. But where was he?

Not wanting to stick around to find out, I gingerly stood up, careful not to make any sound. The door was open, and I managed to make my way out to it. In the hallway, still no sign of him, so I made my way to the living room. His laptop sat on the sofa, a video paused. Even from where I stood, I knew what he was watching. Me. I could see the outline of my room.

I inched closer and saw myself seated on the edge of my bed. Vince was in my chair. We were talking. I couldn't even recall what day it was due to the number of times Vince and I had spent time talking in my room. I reached his laptop, and after looking around again, I started tinkering with it.

I found at least ten videos, all saved under the name Kristina. Without watching them, I attached them all and sent them to my email, and then deleted them. First thing I had to do when I got home was find that camera. And then view these videos. I needed to know exactly how much he'd seen. I don't know why, I can't explain it to you even now, but I will tell you, those videos actually came in handy, you'll see why later.

After that, when I realized that the laptop did indeed have internet connection, I realized we couldn't be far from a tower. And where there was a tower, there was likely people in some distance.

I looked at the door and realized, for the first time, it was bright outside. Meaning it had definitely been night time last time I'd been awake because I hadn't been able to see any light. Now, what were the chances that door was unlocked? Slowly, I made my way to it, becoming faster the closer I got to it. And then it flew open and all my hopes got squashed.

"You're awake," Professor Darke closed the door behind him.

The last time he'd stood between me and a door, hadn't ended well for him. Sadly, I doubted we'd have the same result this time.