If anyone has read my older work, you will know about Circe. The fearsome seductress who lives only in dreams because her body in the real world is trapped in a coma. I took that idea and went with it here.
The Team must save the Architect after a horrible car accident plunges her mind into a deep coma.
This has nothing at all to do with my "Four Lovers, Rivals, A Week at this Level, or Dream Series." Independent.
Take place right after the Fischer inception.
The Mistress of the Maze
~ "Arthur." Cobb said over the phone. The Point Man picking up on the Extractor's tone.
"What?" Arthur asked. Sensing something was deeply wrong.
"I need you to try and remain calm." Cobb's voice was steady and even. The kind of voice that had practiced before having to deliver bad news.
"What is it? What's happened?" Arthur asked. His voice wavering slightly.
"Miles called me a few minuets ago from Paris. Ariadne..." Cobb sighed. Exhausted. "Ariadne was in a car accident."
"Cobb." Arthur said his voice cold. His blood tuning to ice. He said the Extractor's name as a warning.
"Miles said she's still alive, but... he said it's very bad."
"Cobb." Arthur said again. His tone that same angry warning.
"Several cars involved. Fatalities." Cobb finished. His voice reverent. "Happened this morning on her way to the airport. Her cab was struck twice during an accident on the bridge, it flew over the barrier and into the water. The driver was killed."
"What hospital is she at?" Arthur said working on auto pilot. His voice not even sounding like his own.
"Arthur... the doctors said..." Cobb tried to finish the bad news.
"What hospital is she at?" Arthur shouted into the phone.
~ A few hours earlier, Ariadne got into an old fashioned cab. It was a part of the cities efforts to step up the romance of Paris. Bringing back old cabs form the fifties. The wide luxurious sedans were a perfect ride to tour the city. One that the Architect was glad she had picked as her transport to the airport. One last tour of this beautiful city. An elegant way to say goodbye for the summer.
She had been invited by the Team to come for a visit Stateside. Cobb had a job waiting for her and she was anxious to see the others again. She had barely heard from them once the Fischer inception happened. Arthur calling her occasionally, helpful little reminders to keep a low profile for a while. Cobb offering her more work if she wanted it. Saito wiring her a generous amount of money.
It was a gorgeous day out and she told her congenial little driver to take the long way. He complied easily. Driving past all the most beautiful sights of Paris.
The driver spoke in fast clipped French about a rouge driver that cut them off on the way to the bridge. Swearing at the fast little euro car. She had laughed as he apologized for his profane language. Explaining how people didn't know how to drive.
The crash seemed happened in slow motion. The rouge car plowed into two other cars as Ariadne's cab drove onto the bridge. Her driver swerved to avoid a panicked driver ahead of them. Trying to make way for the toppling cars.
First it was three, then they quickly collided into five. Hitting and wrecking each other with furious speed. Tossing them upward like toys.
Her driver stopped artfully onto the shoulder of the bridge. Out of reach.
With a jarring bang that shook her to her bones, a car behind the cab, crashed into them.
She hadn't worn a seat belt. Her body practically tossed into the front seat. The age of the cab, the fact it was made of strong sturdy metal, protected them.
She was taking deep panicked breathes as she tired to stay calm. Her body course with raw adrenaline. Making her heart speed up to quick. Survival mode.
Her driver groaned and slowly sat up. He had hit his head on the steering wheel. Blood coming from his temple.
He had asked if she was alright. Both of them not paying attention to the horrible wreck, still happening in front of them.
He didn't have time to answer as a large truck barreled onto the bridge. Oblivious or panicked by the pileup of flaming wreckage.
She screamed as the truck plowed into them. Crushing the driver into a pulp of blood and tissue. Making his face look like freshly ground hamburger meat.
Shattering glass and sharp ugly metal cut her body and face as the truck drove off the bridge, the old cab welded onto it's grill by the sheer force of the impact. She felt the cab hitting the water. The shock of cold rushing water taking her under.
The cab broke free of the truck. It's metal, once protective, was now a death trap. She was sinking. She felt warm sticky blood on her face as she was taken under by the river.
~ Then she remembered nothing at all. She was freed of the pain. Of the fear. She could no longer feel the cold water around her.
She only remembered dreams.