New beginning

She opened her eyes slowly and everything around her seemed to be blurred and moving. She wanted to know where she was. But all she knew that there was blood filling her mouth. Her body was stiff and she couldn't move. There! There were faces in the distance. There were voices, but she couldn't understand a single word. Suddenly the pain returned, made her cough. The voices got louder and seemingly in panic. Again she coughed, vomiting blood. The pain got too intense and she drifted into unconsciousness. Some time there was nothing. Nothing but strange and blurred memories. She opened her eyes again and she could hear a constant beeping and something on her face. She could hardly move her hands and all she saw looking at the ceiling was white. White all around her. Her memories came back, gooey like honey. There was Aidens voice, calling her in vain. "Clara!" The she was shot. A scream, pain, everything went black. She couldn't remember what happened next or how she got here. Clara tried to sit up, but her chest was wrapped with tight bandages. But much more gruesome than the constant pain was the writing on the wall straight ahead: "Blume – New York."

"Oh God..." The injured woman sunk back into her pillow and tried not to panic. Why was she here? Who brought her here? And why was she in New York? The feeling of sickness got more intense, as she thought about Blume. They seemed to have her fixes, but why? Why didn't they let her die? Every inch of her body was full of pain and the process of healing was just tiering. As she woke up one morning, a woman was standing still in front of her bed, watching her sleep. Her blood red lips curled into something like a smile, which most certainly wasn't friendly. "Clara Lille, right?" The woman watched every move with piercing blue eyes. Her brown hair was pinned up and her dark blue suit fitted her stiff attitude. Clara would have loved to negate that it was her, but there wouldn't be any use to it. So she just nodded. "So far so good." The woman smiled again. "I'm Mrs. Monrose." She took a step forward and stood beneath Claras bed. "We know who you are and you will work for us. You'll do what you always do." Now her smile got more arrogant. "Just do a little hacking. We will give you the playground and you give us information." They planed to improve the ctOS 2.0 version they were currently working on, in New York, before it would be released. It was a nice coincident that Clara was shot and they got to know about her situation. "You shouldn't refuse this offer. We have everything about you. Your biometric data, pictures of every inch of you face and your bra size." Seemingly amused the woman laughed. "I wouldn't recommend to run away. We will find you." Even if the ctOS wasn't fully installed in this city or others, Blume knew how to get the informations they needed. And they would know where she was, when they search for her. Mrs. Monrose turned to walk away, but stopped for a brief moment. "Get well soon." Then she left Clara alone with her pain and fear.

She was a damn prisoner of this system. She had no other choice than to do, what they wanted her to do. Even if Blume couldn't prove that she committed a crime, they would find their way to dispose her. "God dammit", she mumbled to herself. For a moment she really thought she escaped. Perhaps it would have been easier if the Chicago's South Club members would have killed her. But now she was here and she lived. Her thoughts wandered back to Aiden and she asked herself what happened after he found her nearly dead. Some days later she learned about the black outs in Chicago, which were sold as success for the ctOS and were seen ans test to proof the firewalls were stable, which they weren't Clara supposed. She couldn't imagine that Ray and Aiden together didn't bite their way through the walls. But she had to sit here and wait till here wounds closed and healed. Mrs. Monrose didn't fail in informing her every single time she came to visit Clara, that she now was in dept and that she wouldn't get a chance to escape them. When she was healthy enough to sit and move her hands and arms, Mrs. Monrose brought her a laptop and she had to work for them. It felt so humiliating to work for this company which she always tried to destroy, which she tried to stand up against. But till now she didn't see a path leading her out of this trap. Clara had the knowledge and they knew that she was an acquaintance of Aiden, so they wanted to test their new security systems and make it hacker proof. And if there was any correspondents between Clara and Aiden, they wouldn't let go until they got him. Whatever happened she mustn't contact Aiden. How could there be a way out here? She tried to work her way around the security mechanism of her network, trying to leave no trace as she searched for more information. If the hacker wanted to get to the important information, she inevitably had to attack high security areas. As her body got better she was transferred to an working facility with rooms to live in. Till now Clara wasn't allowed to leave this place, but Mrs. Monrose promised that she soon would be able to walk around town freely. Well she would have to see how much she could believe her words. And also when she was allowed to roam around, they wouldn't take their electronic eyes off of her. It was sure that they just wanted Aiden to contact her. But whatever she did, she tried to leave no traces. Her new room as ok. Nothing beautiful but better than being in the hospital. She had a quiet big bed and what she needed for work, a bath and a small kitchen corner. Soon she noticed the small cameras nearly everywhere. It wasn't a good feeling being watched by this bastards. The days passed by and she had the feeling to go numb. What she would do, when she could get into the main system. Being able to go out and see more than just this white walls seemed to be her only silver lining. But nice Mrs. Monrose came back and gave her an mobile phone which would make tracking her a piece of cake. Even if she threw it away, they would find her with all this cameras installed in this city. Clara had no other choice to accept her destiny. Her nights were full of nightmares in which she saw Aiden, again and again, being shot. Then she realized that it was her, who was shot and woke up dripping with sweat and tears. Her bullet wounds seemed to hurt more than before each time. Now way could she forget the live she left behind. There still was this tiny piece of hope buried deep inside her, that she would be able to talk to Aiden again some day. If he would forgive her? Would they be able to work together again? He came after her, wanted to save her... She mostly spend her free time walking around the city without any place to go, any people to meet. Clara didn't want to engage with the people working for Blume.

It was just one of this days, on which she walked trough a park, watched people enjoy themselves. A small picture of Aiden on a newspaper caught her attention. Beneath it was everything written he was accused of doing. The voice beside her nearly made her jump. "Clara?" She turned her head and saw the hacker she really admired. "You're alive..." He didn't sound convinced. He had been sure, that she died the day she was shot. And now the young woman stood here in front of him. "Ray..." Clara mumbled and remembered that she was under surveillance. After digging in her pockets, she found a piece of paper and a pen, hectically wrote some words for the other hacker. 'They're watching me. Do you know a place without cameras?' Ray didn't know who she was talking about, but only nodded and started to search for a safe place. Not sure what she could do with her mobile she bought a bag of gummy bears and ripped it open. Carefully the woman with shaved hair placed the mobile device in them and made sure they wouldn't be able to hear anything the two of them talked about. Ray pointed out a place they could go without being seen and she followed him.

Clara sat down beside him and didn't know what to say. "You're alive." He said again, now convinced that it really was her. She seemed to be well, besides being tired and maybe a bit worn out. "Yes, I'm alive..." She touched her shoulder without realizing it. They sat there in silence for a minute. "Who's watching you? And why are you here?" Raymond started to talk again, watching her carefully. It was a strange situation seeing this girl who he believed was dead. A deep sigh escaped her. "Well...I'm working for Blume." He got the same expression, she had expected. "Really? You're working for them? By choice?" Clara lowered her head and shook her head. "No, not really by choice." Slowly and with shaking hands she told him what happened. "Oh man... you're fucked up..." She closed her eyes and nodded. "I am. But I will escape this shit. Somehow... someday." Than she turned her attention to Ray. "And what happened to you two? I saw the reports about the blackouts in Chicago and such, but I'm sure not more than half of it was true." The man with dreadlocks smirked. "Media only told bullshit." Clara watched him. She liked that man. Not only because he was a great hacker but also because he was a great human. "Yes I thought that." T-Bone straitened. "I can't tell you everything now, but you will get the short version." After he told her what had happened, finishing with the dead of Damien she had to think about it for a minute. So much happened after she got into this damn trouble. "And how did you get here?" "Well after Aiden made this big mess out of Chicago, I had to be careful as well. I erased my data from their System and left some footprints in different cities I've never been to. But than this damned rat got my ass." Clara raised her eyebrows. "Really? The same rat I think you're talking about? I thought he was dead already. Or at least left the city." But Ray shook his head. "No, he was pretty alive. He tried to play games with me and even got some help from Blume. And now I know why." It was hard for him to talk about it, but he continued. "You remember the black out 2003? Eleven people died... and his brother was one of them. He didn't forgive me." "Oh shit..." The DJ was eccentric as hell and batshit crazy as well. "Yeah... I got help from Frewer and we followed him into his lair. Tried to play fucking games with me. This little asshole tried to gas me. But how you see... he didn't get me. It was a close one though." Clara bit her lip. "So he is dead now?" Ray nodded. "Well seems like it. But I had to hide for a while and came here. I think Aiden also left Chicago, but I'm not sure of that." Ray smirked again. "But we both know that I will return to this city sooner or later." Clara pushed her piercing with her tongue. "I would love to come with you." Ray grinned. "You know that I like to kick Blume's ass, don't you? Together we get you out." Claras eyes got bigger. "Really? You will help me?" He knew what they were capable of. He patted her shoulder. "Shouldn't everyone be given a second chance? Well I think I'm not flawless as well. And Aiden isn't perfect as well. I'm sure he will give you another chance." "Thanks." She smiled at him, deeply moved by his words. "So next week, same time same spot?" Clara thought about it and nodded. "I have to go now..." She stood up, but turned again to him, before she walked away. "Be careful."

The week went by. Time seemed too long. She tried to blend in and work as nothing happened. At night she lay awake, thinking about all the people she loved, she met and got used to. The woman didn't know what Ray had in mind, but she didn't doubt that he he was smart enough to get her out of there.