The air was cold…this was the memory of Manticore that remained in his minds eye as his seemingly lifeless body drifted down the corridors to lay at rest in a room that seemed strangely familiar to him…
Max tossed and turned in her bed as a slow icy feeling crept over her body, starting at her toes and working its way up her body to her neck…
A face looked down as a freezing needle was pressed into his flesh, a convulsion ran throughout his body and all was still again…
Max screamed out in Logan's name, and jumped up in bed to be confronted by his image dancing in front of her eyes…
Colours danced in front of his eyes as he opened them, his body felt so light and he was lifted up…
Max cried and reached out for the dim light that was held before her eyes…
There was a stirring in his belly as his whole body ached for dependency and as he tried to stand he collapsed over again…his mouth felt raw as he threw up on the white tiled floor below…
She dropped back down again and fell into an uneasy sleep, Logan's corpse appearing momentarily in front of her eyes as her dreaming state deepened…
"I never loved you Max"
Max stood in front of Logan, both his nose and side of head bleed slightly as he looked at her with dead eyes…Max tried to hold him but it was simply a phantom…
"I lied Maxy, it was just a spur of the moment thing…I'm sure you can understand, I mean, look at you! Genetically imperfect, and a stupid human being if I ever saw one…I think Cindy did me a favour you know. Spending my life with you, would be a waste"
Max looked in disbelief at this thing made up by her cruel imagination. She felt tears come to her eyes, and she cried out to this pretend-Logan that he was the one who was lying.
"Oh no Maxy, why would I bother lying again…it's such a waste of energy and stop feeling sorry for yourself. You are pathetic. If I am sorry for something I'm sorry for stringing you along for so long…I like to do that with females you know. You aren't the first! 'I love you'…what a joke…hey, think sensibly for a moment, our relationship was slowly developing and then suddenly 'I love you?! Even you can see that it was a bit unrealistic. Oh get over it Max"
Max woke up suddenly with bright light on her face. She got up slowly and pulled the curtains open completely to see the city of Seattle alive and vibrant, with people roaming around freely. Everything seemed so calm…but then the skies clouded over and men burst into her room, one of them Logan who stood next to Cindy. She laughed loudly and ran her fingers across Logan's face. He looked forward into space, not noticing Max at all and as Cindy reached up and kissed him lightly on the lips Max screamed…Cindy reached for a gun and Max watched, her body unable to move as Cindy shot him again…his body dropped to the floor…and Max woke up again.
She was in a cloud sweat, her first instinct was to pinch herself. It was real this time…
Max walked slowly downstairs, her feet treading on the cold stone of the staircase. She turned on the lights, and sat alone on the cold sofa, staring forward at the wall in front. She cried again, her body shivered so she wrapped her dressing gown around her tighter. The air was so cold and smelt rotten…for a moment she froze, her mind told her that the smell was that of rotting flesh…Max edged her face toward the kitchen, and saw that her bin was overflowing and on top was a piece of beef she had used in her stew a fortnight ago…it had started to turn bad. She forced each of her muscles to relax and she got up and closed the door to stifle the smell. Max again collapsed onto the couch and rolled herself up into a ball, falling asleep almost immediately.
The next morning Max tried to shake off the ghosts of the night before, that nightmare had visited her every other night since Logan had died. That had been three weeks ago…everytime she remembered that she asked herself why she was still here, alive and untouched by Manticore. They must know about her involvement with Manticore by now…were they planning something more…another trap for her to walk into just as Logan had done?
She made herself a coffee, she took it upstairs to the bathroom where she ran a hot shower just to wake herself up properly. Max grabbed a hairbrush and, under the hot water, she brushed the years of tangle and mistreatment out to reveal a mass of light brownie hair with a slight wave at the bottom. Max washed it clean, and on climbing out of the shower she put her new contact lenses in, and as she stared again at this stranger who stood in front of her Max asked herself why she had changed her image…was it in memory of Logan? Was it in a vain hope that by making herself look beautiful Logan would somehow come back to her? She walked away from the mirror and sipped at her cup of coffee. She pulled on a loose pair of trousers and a tee shirt, as her memory wondered back to the answer phone message…her sense had said to leave it as a trap laid out by Logan's captors, but her heart…her heart told her to take that chance…if it meant closure…
The false-Logan in her dreams was right though. It had happened too quickly, and a reoccurring though popped into her head as his image returned to her…he knew he was walking into that pre-laid trap. His destiny was to meet up with his family again, whether it be in Manticore or out here…those last few words he had said before he went strange over in finding Cindy again was like a confession he had to get off his chest…like in preparation of what was to come.
Max walked over to the window and looked over the people walking below. She felt the suns warmth on her face and again tears came to her eyes, she knew he was out there…he wouldn't give up that easily…Max smiled at this, and as she looked up at the crystal blue skies another warmth fell upon her, as if she knew she would see him again…Max looked over to the phone by her bed, which too had the recorded message on it. She placed her cup on the side table, dropped onto the sheets and ran her fingers across the cold, plastic surface. She pressed redial, and listened as it ran onto an answer phone message.
"Hello? This is Max Guevara, I'm guessing that you know who I am and where I live…I want to meet with you, please call back"
Max tossed and turned in her bed as a slow icy feeling crept over her body, starting at her toes and working its way up her body to her neck…
A face looked down as a freezing needle was pressed into his flesh, a convulsion ran throughout his body and all was still again…
Max screamed out in Logan's name, and jumped up in bed to be confronted by his image dancing in front of her eyes…
Colours danced in front of his eyes as he opened them, his body felt so light and he was lifted up…
Max cried and reached out for the dim light that was held before her eyes…
There was a stirring in his belly as his whole body ached for dependency and as he tried to stand he collapsed over again…his mouth felt raw as he threw up on the white tiled floor below…
She dropped back down again and fell into an uneasy sleep, Logan's corpse appearing momentarily in front of her eyes as her dreaming state deepened…
"I never loved you Max"
Max stood in front of Logan, both his nose and side of head bleed slightly as he looked at her with dead eyes…Max tried to hold him but it was simply a phantom…
"I lied Maxy, it was just a spur of the moment thing…I'm sure you can understand, I mean, look at you! Genetically imperfect, and a stupid human being if I ever saw one…I think Cindy did me a favour you know. Spending my life with you, would be a waste"
Max looked in disbelief at this thing made up by her cruel imagination. She felt tears come to her eyes, and she cried out to this pretend-Logan that he was the one who was lying.
"Oh no Maxy, why would I bother lying again…it's such a waste of energy and stop feeling sorry for yourself. You are pathetic. If I am sorry for something I'm sorry for stringing you along for so long…I like to do that with females you know. You aren't the first! 'I love you'…what a joke…hey, think sensibly for a moment, our relationship was slowly developing and then suddenly 'I love you?! Even you can see that it was a bit unrealistic. Oh get over it Max"
Max woke up suddenly with bright light on her face. She got up slowly and pulled the curtains open completely to see the city of Seattle alive and vibrant, with people roaming around freely. Everything seemed so calm…but then the skies clouded over and men burst into her room, one of them Logan who stood next to Cindy. She laughed loudly and ran her fingers across Logan's face. He looked forward into space, not noticing Max at all and as Cindy reached up and kissed him lightly on the lips Max screamed…Cindy reached for a gun and Max watched, her body unable to move as Cindy shot him again…his body dropped to the floor…and Max woke up again.
She was in a cloud sweat, her first instinct was to pinch herself. It was real this time…
Max walked slowly downstairs, her feet treading on the cold stone of the staircase. She turned on the lights, and sat alone on the cold sofa, staring forward at the wall in front. She cried again, her body shivered so she wrapped her dressing gown around her tighter. The air was so cold and smelt rotten…for a moment she froze, her mind told her that the smell was that of rotting flesh…Max edged her face toward the kitchen, and saw that her bin was overflowing and on top was a piece of beef she had used in her stew a fortnight ago…it had started to turn bad. She forced each of her muscles to relax and she got up and closed the door to stifle the smell. Max again collapsed onto the couch and rolled herself up into a ball, falling asleep almost immediately.
The next morning Max tried to shake off the ghosts of the night before, that nightmare had visited her every other night since Logan had died. That had been three weeks ago…everytime she remembered that she asked herself why she was still here, alive and untouched by Manticore. They must know about her involvement with Manticore by now…were they planning something more…another trap for her to walk into just as Logan had done?
She made herself a coffee, she took it upstairs to the bathroom where she ran a hot shower just to wake herself up properly. Max grabbed a hairbrush and, under the hot water, she brushed the years of tangle and mistreatment out to reveal a mass of light brownie hair with a slight wave at the bottom. Max washed it clean, and on climbing out of the shower she put her new contact lenses in, and as she stared again at this stranger who stood in front of her Max asked herself why she had changed her image…was it in memory of Logan? Was it in a vain hope that by making herself look beautiful Logan would somehow come back to her? She walked away from the mirror and sipped at her cup of coffee. She pulled on a loose pair of trousers and a tee shirt, as her memory wondered back to the answer phone message…her sense had said to leave it as a trap laid out by Logan's captors, but her heart…her heart told her to take that chance…if it meant closure…
The false-Logan in her dreams was right though. It had happened too quickly, and a reoccurring though popped into her head as his image returned to her…he knew he was walking into that pre-laid trap. His destiny was to meet up with his family again, whether it be in Manticore or out here…those last few words he had said before he went strange over in finding Cindy again was like a confession he had to get off his chest…like in preparation of what was to come.
Max walked over to the window and looked over the people walking below. She felt the suns warmth on her face and again tears came to her eyes, she knew he was out there…he wouldn't give up that easily…Max smiled at this, and as she looked up at the crystal blue skies another warmth fell upon her, as if she knew she would see him again…Max looked over to the phone by her bed, which too had the recorded message on it. She placed her cup on the side table, dropped onto the sheets and ran her fingers across the cold, plastic surface. She pressed redial, and listened as it ran onto an answer phone message.
"Hello? This is Max Guevara, I'm guessing that you know who I am and where I live…I want to meet with you, please call back"