Welcome home

Welcome home.

Chapter 1: The discovery.

The elevator doors opened slowly with one pair of legs stood still inside. Once the doors had finished parting ways, the two legs made a sudden move. One feminine shoe followed the other and walked down the hallway towards the office of Nathan Petrelli. It was emotionally nostalgic: walking down that hallway, just like she had done two years earlier, day after day, hour after hour. The smell of magnolias still lingered, even though now, it appeared, they had been replaced by tulips. Everything else was the same, however. The rug under her shoes still felt as thick and comfortable as it had before, and it was at the end of this rug that she had reached her destination. The shoes once again stood still side by side. She hesitated for a few seconds before deciding to lift her right arm, make a fist and hit the door to alert the occupier of the room – yet something prevented her hand reaching the hard surface. She turned her head to her left having noticed the corner table nearby, which along with the vase of tulips, also held a framed photograph on top. The girl's eyes fixated on two out of five people that smiled happily in the picture – Nathan and herself. Suddenly her mind flashed back to the last time she remembered them both being together: two years ago, in the room right opposite her.

Two years earlier.

Nathan Petrelli was nervous. He fumbled as he tried to fix his tie, making irritated noises as he continuously failed. The noises were loud enough to make her appear.

"Do you need some help there Mr Congressman?" she said with only her head poking through the doorway. A smile appeared on Nathan's face, with not a trace of the frustration that had been there a second ago. She does that to me he thought to himself.

"I think it might help." He replied. She smiled back at him and brought the rest of herself into the room. Face to face with Nathan, she took charge of the tie and slid the mess he had made off around his neck. She placed the two ends one in each hand and flipped it over the back of his head and back around his neck. She concentrated on the job at hand, but nonetheless felt Nathan's eyes burning into her. She ignored it with all her might and luckily, within seconds, she had successfully made up the tie. She smartened him up then stepped back wiping her hands against one another.

"There. Perfect!" she proclaimed. She let out a sweet, but slightly nervous laugh. Nathan stared at her and smiled at her cuteness.

"Thanks. I really can count on you for anything." He said. She smiled at him then turned away walking up to Nathan's desk. A cardboard folder lay on top ready to be picked up. She did so, admiring it before turning back to her boss and holding it out in front of him.

"Go get 'em tiger!" Nathan took the folder from her fingers and looked down at it, then looked back up at her.

"How can you possibly not come with me tonight?" He asked.

"I told you. My thesis doesn't write itself." She giggled.

"You write too much. This is your doing. You should come and share it with me." She led the way out of the room, collecting Nathan's coat and scarf, and headed down the hallway towards the elevator. "You hired me to do this for you, it's my job. I've written loads of speeches for you already." Nathan caught up and now walked beside her.

"Right, but you do realise this is the life changing speech. The speech to end, or …. begin, all speeches." She laughed at him as she reached the elevator and pushed the button.

"Ha! Ha! Now I remember why you hired me." The sound of the elevator arriving could be heard, as Nathan step in front of her.

"I'm serious." She looked into his eyes and could see the sincerity: she knew how much he cared about her. "You do more for me than I could ever ask." The sound of the elevator bell interrupted the moment.

"I'll be watching." She handed Nathan his coat and scarf. He nodded and stepped inside the elevator. He pressed the button and as the doors closed in they smiled back at one another. He slipped in a quick wink:

"I'll miss you." He said. She turned back to the office with her hands in her back pockets laughing.

"No you won't." She said.

Three hours later.

The television blared out in the dim lit office: And now candidate Nathan Petrelli steps up to make his closing speech … A smile beamed across her face as she watched the man whose tie she had help fix only three hours ago, walk up to the podium to read the words she had chosen for him. She held her Biro pen firmly in her hand as she sat listening intently. She would have made no hesitation to be there with her party, if it hadn't been for the hand in of her thesis in three days time. Three days she thought away from Nathan. No chance to congratulate him on his good job.

Her concentration was disrupted by the flickering of the table lamp next to her. She got up off the sofa and went to inspect it. It continued to flash violently and she decided it was time for a new bulb. She walked over to a nearby cabinet and searched for one. Once discovered, she walked back over to the lamp and began restoring it. She switched the lamp off and unplugged it from the mains ensuring she would not electrocute herself. She reached into the hole of the lampshade and fished for the defunct bulb. Once taken out, she took the fresh bulb and slowly screwed it into place. A flash of light sparked right before her eyes. Electric soared through her body. She passed out.

She awoke to find carpet lying next to her. Disorientated, she struggled to sit up, but when she did she made it just in time to catch the end of Nathan's speech. It had only been six minutes, but she could have sworn it had been hours. What the hell happened? She asked herself. Looking up she noticed the lamp that had attacked her – the light was shining bright, but had she even turned the lamp back on? No. I couldn't have. There was no time. She got up off of the floor and went to inspect the lamp further. Check - the lamp was still switched to off. Check … the lamp was still unplugged. That's impossible. She daren't have touched it again. Completely freaked out at this point all she could think of was to gather her things and leave. She collected her work and was going to switch off the television – but she thought better than to do that. Instead, she fled the scene and went home.

Once she had arrived, she immediately made her way to the bathroom, to clean up and go to bed. There was no chance of continuing her thesis tonight, not in this state of shock. She approached the bathroom and walked to the sink. The water ran heavily and she splashed her face with relief. It felt good and refreshing and slowly calmed her down. She reached for a hand towel and wiped her face down, taking in a deep breath. She was about to walk away to bed when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Stepping close to the mirror to take a better look, she noticed a distinct streak of white blonde down the right side of her hair. She looked even closer not believing what she was seeing. "What the …?" She touched it softly. It was real, all her own hair. Was this from the shock? Stunned, she crept backwards then left the bathroom to proceed to her bedroom. Once there, she cautiously switched her bedside lamp on, climbed into her bed and sat upright. Staring straight ahead she tried to make sense of it all. She felt scared and confused. This was just a freak accident. A truly freakish accident! Deciding not to assess the situation further she concluded that she would benefit more from some rest. She turned her head to the lamp and without warning, it turned off … all by itself.