Safe Haven
Chapter one
The space between being asleep and being awake was the most sacred of spaces for Ariadne. It was the time when she could remember that it had all just been a dream, or the minutes she could spend preparing herself for whatever was coming. But either way it was hers. Nobody could pierce it, nobody and nothing could touch her.
As she woke slowly her eyes felt extraordinary heavy as though something rested atop of them. There was a cold pressure on her forehead yet her body was filled with a peaceful warmth as if a blanket was covering her skin even though she knew there was not. She blinked her eyes open and was forced to squint as the bright sun flooded them blinding her momentarily. She noted, cringing slightly, the pins and needles that painfully tickled her foot which had been tucked up beneath her body before sleep had claimed her. She sat up slightly picking her head up from where it had been resting against the cool window and stretched out as she leant back against the seat.
Ariadne took a deep breath, her lungs filling with clean air and she couldn't stop the small smile that tugged at the corners of her lips. Turning her achy neck to peer through the window she took in the landscape before her, trees and slopes. Arching her head to see over the seats in front of her she realised that most of the people who had gotten on the bus with her in Paris must have already gotten off. Lifting her hips slightly she pulled a crumpled map from her back pocket and sighed gratefully when she realised the bus was yet to reach her own stop. She traced the bus route on the map with her finger all the way back to Paris and frowned as her heart began to race a little faster. Taking a calming breath she moved her gaze to beyond the window pane once again. She had left it behind, it was okay, everything was fine.
It was only then that she realised she had slept – but infinitely more importantly she had slept without dreaming. Eames, Arthur and Dom had all told her that her natural dreams would stop after a lot of dreaming but they never had. In fact they'd done almost the complete opposite. For a moment she was hit forcefully with a flashes of images that plagued her dreams and knocked the breath from her lungs. She shook her head before folding the map back up haphazardly and shoving it in the pocket of the seat before her. Forget it.
The sun seemed to shine brighter outside of Paris than in the city. Cleaner. She let it warm her skin as she allowed her eyes to slide closed and continued to take as much air into her lungs as possible. She was getting good at avoiding panic attacks – too good as some would say but she was thankful that most of the time she was able to hold herself back from completely toppling over the edge, she'd done enough free falling for one lifetime after all. She would have to ring Miles she noted and let him know that she had already began the journey to South Port. She knew very little of the town or why it had been chosen. All she knew is that Dom and Arthur and Eames would be there, and Miles. She was unsure about Yusuf, and doubted Saito would be there – she didn't even know if the powerful man was still in contact with Dom or Arthur or anyone. Hell she didn't know if Dom and Arthur were even in contact. Or Arthur and Eames. She knew nothing.
Ariadne forced herself to push away the bitterness that washed over her, feeling like a child once again – she was supposed to be an adult, she was supposed to be fine, great in fact, proud of all they'd accomplished, of the success that she'd been a part of. After all there had been no guarantee, not even any slight mention of or impression that she would hear from the team again. It wasn't until several weeks after she'd returned to Paris from the states that she realised she had been expecting something. A call, just to check in, just to see if everything was okay. But no, nothing had come, no calls, no emails, not a text, not even a message through Miles. Nothing. She had stood in front of her old professor many times, lingered back behind class to give him the chance. She felt stupid now, foolish.
And yet it had happened after all.
Nine months after inception, after the job that had changed everything in her world, Miles had delivered her the message that the team was getting back together. A reunion as such she had supposed. It was to happen in three days' time and Miles was going to drive her to the small town it they were all convening in. South Port. She would have to explain how she was getting there instead, make something up. She was getting good at it after all, covering up, making up, lying. Ariadne screwed her eyes up tighter. She had no idea how it had all gotten so bad. When it had happened. When her entire world had crumbled around her, yet she knew was still living in-between levels in her head to notice the destruction of her own reality. Her skin prickled at the thoughts as her mind reeled remembering what had caused her early departure from Paris. Her escape,
Her hands shook and it was only then that she noticed the blood. Ariadne felt her eyes well as she took in the red stains on her fingers as her heart forced itself into her throat making it almost impossible for her to take a breath. She could hear her heart beat, she could hear the wheezing air attempting to reach her lungs. Her fingers trembled with the latch on the gate, where had her steady hands gone? The hands that delicately sliced board and built worlds of precise measurement. The hands that had learned to slide a needle under her skin without breaking the vein. The hands that had held a gun steady enough to…
She pulled herself away from her thoughts. It was not the time. Finally she managed to undo the latch and the gate was flung open. For a moment she wondered where everyone else was, it wasn't that late, too early for everyone to be in bed, the sun had barely left the sky. Had they not heard? Had they not heard her scream or cry or run down the hall, down the stairs. She pushed her hair, much longer than normal, away from her face and gripped the small bag that was in her hand.
Goosebumps had erupted on her skin when she'd left the building and her bare feet felt as if shards of glass were slicing through the skin when she stepped onto the bitumen her eyes focused on a house at the end of the street. Her breaths came in gasps and she cursed the dress she wore that was tight around her thighs, barely allowing her to run as fast as she needed to. She had to go faster, had to get there quicker, before…..
Her foot splashed into a puddle of water – a remnant of the heavy rain that had belted Paris all afternoon. Her body felt colder than it had ever been and she just managed to see the footprint she left behind. Ariadne stopped where she was ready to vomit. The bile surged up her throat and she felt tears wash down her cheeks. The young architect turn to see the trail she had left behind. Her eyes followed the red footprints that tracked her journey, which would be easy enough to follow. The panic poisoned her veins. She gasped before beginning to scrub her foot against the road in the puddle – the water turning red, with blood she remembered grimly. She ended up seated on the road her fingers rubbing at her skin. She stood a moment later and felt relief wash over her. Her eyes glanced up back to the apartment, the place she'd called home for several months, she had to go. She had to run. And she did. She ran not leaving a trace behind.
As the doorway came closer to her vision she felt her shoulders shake. She felt her eyes well and the tears rush much faster. Her body began to shake and her knees weakened. She had to get there, had to keep going. There was a light on she noted and her fingers gripped at the door.
Sobs wracked her body as she banged at the door, she pleaded for it open, pleaded for them to see her, hear her, open the door. When a woman appeared her eyes widening in horror Ariadne began to cry in earnest. It was too much, there was too much adrenaline in her body. Suddenly she found herself wrapped in arms and was being pulled over the threshold.
"Oh my gosh, what on earth happened?" the woman was how she thought Miles' wife would look. In fact that was why she had stopped and said hello to one of her new neighbours all those months ago. She was tall, her hair white, with kind eyes and a strong back bone. She closed the door behind them and pulled Ariadne into the kitchen. Ariadne was unsure if she had spoken any more words. She knew that there were jumbled sentences spilling from her own lips but knew they didn't make sense. Nothing did. How had this happened?
This story is based on safe haven (a movie, although originally a book) there's some scenes quite similar and some parts of the story not in the movie at all, but it deserves credit for the inspiration!
Hope you enjoy. Please review because the next chapter being written riiiiight now! Thanks for reading.