Gedächtnisschwund
2 - Alptraum : Nightmare
"…No!"
Juni lurched forward, her hand clutching at her shirt. Fingers dug through the fabric into her skin as sweat beaded down her forehead; her lungs ached for the air that was caught in the lump within her throat. Breathing was difficult, and her heart pounded against her ribs painfully.
What was happening…? She attempted to swallow, but her dry mouth made it difficult to do. Why was she feeling like this? This fear was suffocating; like hands were wrapped around her neck and they were growing tighter by the minute. Her limbs felt numb and controlled like a puppet, and she couldn't do anything about it. Helplessness was terrifying.
After a few minutes, she had calmed down. Her heart had returned to its natural BPM, and breathing became much easier. Her obstructed throat cleared, and she could finally swallow the lump that had formed there.
A hand ran through sweaty hair as Juni looked at the clock. 1:14am…Cammy would still be sleeping.
Slipping off the bed, Juni walked towards the window of the small bedroom, her bare feet chilled and her arms shivering. She'd been having these night terrors for days now. Always the same thing…the choking, the feeling of helplessness, the fear and the pain always appeared each night, without fail. Most of the time, she would wake up screaming, and in turn, would wake up Cammy. And no matter how early in the morning it occurred, her caretaker had stayed by her bedside until she calmed down enough to think coherently. And when all was said and done, Cammy didn't leave until Juni went back to sleep.
Every night, it happened.
Perhaps tonight, Juni would let Cammy rest. She was sure she could take care of this by herself. It was the least she could do.
The view from Cammy's bedroom window was not particularly remarkable, but to Juni, the view of the small park and apartment buildings was a significant improvement from the dreary brick wall outside her hospital room. It was still dark, and the flickering light of the streetlamps were the only things illuminating the dimly lit streets. Few people walked past, though after a few days of observation, she knew that in approximately eight to nine hours, there would be crowds of passerby's pushing each other on their way to work.
She, too, would be one of those people today. Cammy had informed her that they would be going to the Delta Red headquarters in the morning. When Juni asked for a reason why, the blonde remained silent.
It was suspicious. Whenever she asked a question, Cammy always answered to the best of her abilities. Not answering this one was odd.
A deep breath, and Juni's body had finally returned to its natural resting state. Perhaps she should return to bed and make another attempt at sleeping. But…there was the chance that she would have another night terror again. Cammy said that they would be frequent, but eventually they would cease.
It would be best if they ceased now.
Visiting the London Underground was a daily, routine thing for many residents of the city. It delivered thousands upon thousands of passengers to and from destination to destination, whether it was to a mall, work, or the comfort of one's home at the end of a long day. Cammy was familiar with taking the tube; she was one of many that took it every day to get to work. Well, actually, she took the tube to Luwanda's house, from where the rest of Delta Red carpooled to the headquarters of Delta Red. After all, how awkward would it be if all someone needed to do to infiltrate the high-security facility was to take the train? Juni, on the other hand, was about to take the tube for the first time, and if she was even slightly nervous about the trip, she did an excellent job at hiding it.
"Cammy, I know trains have been used as a mode of transportation for many hundreds of years," Juni began as they stood on the platform of the station, awaiting the arrival of their train, "But is this really…necessary?"
"What do you mean?" the blonde asked, placing her hands into the pockets of her coat. Unlike most days when she took the tube, today she had forgone her familiar red trench coat and replaced it with a brown leather bomber jacket, trimmed at the collar with fur. She wasn't technically working, was her train of thought, so there really was no need to travel in military fatigues. And Juni didn't have any military fatigues, so she wore a simple sweater with denim trousers. Juni needed a bit more variety in her clothes, Cammy thought, but fashion wasn't that important right now.
"A small, enclosed space, travelling at high speeds, full of people…" Juni continued, pulling the hood of the sweater over her head, "It doesn't seem safe."
Cammy chuckled as the train pulled into the station, slowing to a stop as the crowds on the platform inched towards the opening doors, "Trust me, Juni, the tube is perfectly safe. Thousands of people ride it daily without incident." Grabbing Juni's hand, the blonde skilfully weaved through the masses, pulling her sister behind her until they were both safely within the train car. There was an empty seat by the window, which Cammy motioned for Juni to take.
"Don't worry, alright?" the blonde reassured as she held onto a bar affixed to the seat as the doors closed and the train slowly began to move forward, "I do this every day."
Juni nodded, but Cammy could tell she wouldn't stop worrying until they arrived at their destination. Her sister was a bit of a worrywart, not to the point of paranoia, but Cammy thought it probably had something to do with the books Juni was reading. Apparently, everything was dangerous given the right circumstances, and Juni had taken it upon herself to ensure no such disaster happened. Just the night before, she expressed her worries over travelling by train, as she had read a book in which the train station ended up being a portal to another world, and then inevitably crashed and killed most of the main characters. Cammy spent quite some time afterwards explaining that the Chronicles of Narnia involved creatures that hadn't been scientifically proven, and as such, was only a work of fantasy.
So, Juni was a little impressionable. She did just wake up with no memories and no semblance of a personality, so it made sense for her to pick things up from her day to day life. And considering for the past few weeks, the only things Juni interacted with was Punch, Cammy and countless books, well…no one said it would be easy. And really, it wasn't their biggest problem.
Cammy was snapped out of her thoughts when she felt someone step beside her, their hands reaching towards the same bar she had been holding onto.
"Oh, thank you so much, dear,"
The blonde looked around and blinked as Juni nodded quietly and took her place beside Cammy as an elderly passenger made herself comfortable in the seat that had just been vacated. That was…surprising. Did Juni just offer her seat to another passenger? Cammy smiled, watching as her sister focused her gaze at her shoes.
"It was nice of you to give your seat to the lady," she remarked, as Juni's shoulder twitched slightly. Cammy assumed it was a shrug, but Juni still had a hard time expressing herself, so it could've been anything.
"It was logical," was the quiet reply, "The chances of me falling while standing on a moving object is significantly less than hers..."
"It was still a nice gesture to have given it to her,"
Juni said nothing else, turning her head away from Cammy as her face became partially obscured by the shadow of her hood. Cammy smiled slightly as she shook her head, turning her gaze back towards the direction of the various advertisements that littered the train car. There were only five stations between her, well, their apartment and Luwanda's, so the trip really shouldn't take too long.
And after a few minutes, the doors of the train opened as Cammy pulled Juni out of the car.
"See? Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"
The other girl remained silent as she followed Cammy up the stairs leading to the station's exit.
"…I suppose not."
With another smirk, Cammy tilted her head towards a street, motioning for Juni to follow her, "Luwanda lives down here,"
"All the buildings here are taller than the ones in the near vicinity of our own," Juni remarked in slight awe as her hood fell off from staring up at the countless skyscrapers that surrounded them. Cammy had to tug on her hand to return her attention to walking.
"Well, we're in that part of London with the tall buildings," Cammy answered, nearly dragging her sister towards Luwanda's building. But Juni didn't seem like she was interested in moving.
"Cammy, I want to look at the buildings,"
"Juni, we have to meet Luwanda before we can go to HQ,"
"But I want to see the buildings."
With an exasperated sigh, the blonde looped her arm around Juni's shoulder, momentarily catching her attention.
"You do realize that Luwanda lives in one of them, right? And we're going up to her house to meet her?"
Brown eyes grew wide, "We are?"
A genuine nod later, and Juni allowed herself to be led towards Lita Luwanda's high-rise flat. Hands in the pockets of her coat, Cammy tried not to notice her sister's weary posture. As if she hadn't slept properly the night before. Juni yawned quietly as they rode in silence up the elevator, rubbing her eyes with her hands.
"Are you alright, Juni?"
"Mmh…" was the reply.
"You don't seem fine to me."
"I am fine."
"Did you sleep last night?"
A pause, "I did."
"How many hours?"
"…three hours and fifteen minutes."
Cammy sighed. She knew it. Juni had a nightmare again. By the time Cammy had woken up and rushed into the bedroom, Juni was already awake, shivering in fear, brown eyes filled with horror and hopelessness. The first night it happened, the blonde had been shocked that the nightmares had begun so quickly. Although Cammy herself experienced nightmares herself, they didn't start until her first encounter with Shadaloo operatives.
In fact, said Shadaloo operative was another Doll.
But Juni had only been out for a little over a month, and her nightmares had already begun?
It concerned Cammy that Juni would have to deal with her amnesia, and the nightmares, at the same time. It had been difficult to cope with memory loss by itself, and if the nightmares Juni was having was anything like the ones she had, then having both consecutively would definitely strain her mind.
The elevator chimed as it slowed to a stop, the sign above the door reading 17. The two exited as Cammy tilted her head to the left, motioning for Juni to follow her as she walked down the apartment hallway, which Juni obediently did. The apartment number was 1711.
"…Cammy, what's she doing?"
The younger blonde sighed, scratching the back of her head with an embarrassed chuckle as they stood in front of Lita Luwanda's flat. "I…really don't know."
Luwanda blinked, before turning her gaze back to the outstretched hand, mere centimeters away from her face.
"I have read that one offers their hand to a stranger upon meeting them for the first time," Juni muttered, her fingers twitching as they felt the air Luwanda exhaled, "Is this incorrect?"
"Not quite," Luwanda said as friendly as she could, pushing Juni's hand down to chest level, "When you offer your hand for a handshake, don't bring it too close to the other person's face. That's an invasion of personal space." Juni nodded robotically. "And you put your hand at this height; bend the elbow like this…"
And after a moment, the once-intrusive hand was in proper hand-shaking position.
"This…is correct?"
"Exactly," was the reply, before the older blonde finally accepted Juni's hand in a firm handshake, "…we'll work on the shaking part later. Come in; we have some time before we hit HQ."
The lieutenant stepped aside, tilting her head in a gesturing motion for her two guests to come in. Cammy had been at Luwanda's flat countless times, and even spent most of her nights crashing at her friend's house, especially if she was too tired for the trek home after a long mission. Without a second thought, she walked into the home, haphazardly kicking her boots off by the door. Juni, on the other hand, was a little more hesitant and followed slowly, untying the laces of her shoes and neatly placing them by the wall before proceeding inside.
"Hey look at that," Luwanda said with a smirk as she closed the door, "Like a good houseguest. You could learn something from her, eh, Cammy?"
"Bugger off," she replied, blowing a raspberry as she flopped down on the sofa, propping her feet on the coffee table.
"It's so tall!" The two blondes turned to each other, before looking at Juni, who by that time had pressed herself against the large wall of windows of the apartment, "Everything looks small…" she turned her head towards Cammy, "May we live here?"
"Juni, we have our own house!" Cammy replied as Luwanda stifled a giggle, "Our house is good enough, isn't it?"
"Our home is not as tall as this one and not as large," came the answer, as Juni remained fixed to her spot, "The residents upstairs enjoy moving their furniture on a daily basis, and the residents in the unit to our right enjoy reproducing on a daily basis, too."
"Juni!"
"…am I incorrect?" By this time, Luwanda had burst out in complete laughter, causing the orange-haired amnesiac to tilt her head slightly in confusion, "Maybe I was incorrect."
"Heavens, Juni, you can't just point things like that out to people!" Cammy replied, her cheeks flushing pink at the mere thought of what activity their supposedly rambunctious neighbours could be doing, "It's impolite!"
"Oh…I will keep my observations to myself, then…" Juni muttered to herself, before turning her attention back towards the view from the window.
Luwanda snorted, controlling her laughter into a small giggle, "Maybe you should move out, Cammy. Your little sardine tin can't be big enough for two people."
"We're not talking about this right now," the younger blonde crossed her arms with a huff, "Besides, it's almost time to leave for HQ."
"Oh bloody hell; it's half-past eleven. We should get moving before traffic sets in. That's a pain in the arse I never want to have."
It took ten minutes to pry Juni away from the window with the promise of a larger window on a taller building.
Juni pulled the blindfold that covered her eyes down to her neck. Blinking a few times, her eyes quickly adjusted to her sudden change of vision. Everything was dim and bleary. Metal surrounded her, panels upon panels of silver bolted securely to the walls, floor, and even the ceiling. There was not a single trace of furniture or decoration. Her heart began to beat fast as her head began to spin; a nauseating feeling washed over her entire body. Falling to one knee, Juni placed a hand on her forehead, brows furrowed in confusion at her surroundings.
Like a prison cell.
"...Cammy...? Why...doesn't this room have any windows...?"
