As promised here is Part Two to the previous chapter. I hope you all enjoy the read at your leisure, I know I enjoyed reading it. I largely took parts from a previous incarnation of this story and edited it to fit in with this version you see before you. And if I might add I do a lot of research on details even if it's something small like the name of a weapon , someone's birthday or the color of a character's eyes. I like to try and be authentic as possible, it helps make the story feel more real.
She wakes up in a field of flowers on the edge of a sea-side vista. The waves crash softly against a cliff, sending the smell of salt wafting through the air. On her body she's wearing a long white dress, built for the summer heat. The flowers are all white as well, daisies that add a pleasant smell to the morning air. The grass tickles her sensitive bare feet. The sky is as blue as she's ever seen it and the shining sun bright and cheery. After wandering around the field for awhile she picks a pile of daisies and sits near the cliff to weave together chains. The waves gently splashing onto the shore below soothe her and send waves of tranquility floating into the peaceful atmosphere. Seagulls fly past, soaring on the breeze and looking for something tasty to eat. They find it in the form of fish that swim a little too close to the surface; screeching happily the seagulls fly away to eat and savor their meal. For a moment the thought of how she got here crosses her mind but after a moment she brushes it away and continues entwining the daisies. Soon she makes enough to loop around her wrists, throat, and head, jewelry of the finest quality and a crown to boot. Nothing could ruin such a perfect day.
Getting bored now that this activity is done with she stands up and looks around. She spots a peculiarity that wasn't there before. A single red flower, in the middle of a patch of white. Further adding to the oddness is that this flower is a rose, and not a daisy like all the others. Step by step she walks towards it, hand held outstretched to pick it. The moment her hand touches the flower thorns pierce her hand and the rose turns to ash. She shouts at the sudden pain in her hand and cradles it close to her chest. With each drop of red a ripple of wind spreads outward, towards every other flower in the field. All the daisies turn to roses that drip blood from their stems. She notices the birds have gone silent, their cries of triumph no longer ringing in her ears. The wind has picked up, bringing in storm clouds that chase away the sun and blue sky. The sea turns angry, lashing itself against the cliff as if trying to reach her.
The flowers wrapped around her limbs crumble to ash and fly away with the wind. Rain now comes down in torrents, soaking her down to the bone and leaving nothing but misery in its wake. She cannot see but a few feet in front of her in any direction. The field now seems isolated and cut off from the rest of the surrounding area. Turning towards the edge of the field, the cliff at her back, she spots a dark figure. Wearing all black and cloaked in shadow it stands there, watching, waiting. She holds out her hand to it, pleading for help with eyes alone. Taking a step towards it the figure vanishes only to re-appear closer and closer with each flash of lightning from the storm. Kassie stumbles backwards until it materializes a step away. Nothing can be seen under the cloak except glowing red eyes.
The figure lifts up a clothed arm and points a solitary gloved finger in her direction. Voices fill her head, tendrils slithering about finding nooks and crannies to shout from. They are dry and scrape together like sandpaper on stone. They overwhelm her senses until she falls to the ground motionless, a figure in suspended animation. The whole vision goes dark, blacker than the void it came from.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Kassie startles awake, feeling drained from a strange dream she doesn't remember and the long hours of sleep. She sits up in the hospital bed, propping herself up with a mountain of pillows. The man from the day before Kaidan is still there. He's covered in a blanket, sleeping in a chair next to her bed. She was happy he stayed, he was the one person she trusted to keep her safe especially after he rescued her from drowning. He seemed to be the kind of person to give you the shirt off his back from the little time she'd spent with him so far.
The sun shone in through the window, marking it as an early morning. Kassie yawned and started stretching, getting all her sore muscles moving and protesting such treatment. A knock at the door interrupts her morning ritual, simultaneously waking up Kaidan and startling her. A human female nurse opens the door, bringing with her a tray of food. She whispers good morning and sets the tray on the table attached to the bed before leaving to finish her rounds. Kassie perks up at the first bit of real food she can remember having in ages.
She spots an apple and devours it skin and all. Eggs, toast, sausage, bacon, oatmeal, all go down the hatch without a moments pause. A minute later she regrets eating so fast as the nausea sets in. She doesn't puke, but comes close several times. After everything is finished she looks up at Kaidan who is still shaking off the heaviness of sleep. She clears her throat, alerting Kaidan to the fact she too is awake.
"I promised you the rest of the story when I woke up, I'm awake now," She grins at the obviousness of her statement.
Kaidan nods his head and leans forward, gesturing for her to continue.
"Like I was saying last night, I never knew where I was. I remember more of what happened before that though, what they wanted. They were keeping me hidden for something big, I got impressions of someone they thought of as The Boss. A man they were waiting to take me to. They thought of me as nothing more than a payday, an object to keep in the dark until it was time to come out and play. They felt so cold, every time they grabbed me to put the blindfold on it was like taking a bath in ice water. It took hours to get warm again.
There was one day though, early in the beginning after I woke up, before those two creatures took me, that I thought was really strange. They left me in some sort of lab, whoever woke me up. I don't think they expected me to wander around, all the lights were off and I could hardly see my hand in front of my face. It was deserted, no one around but the security cameras. I think whoever was there went to sleep, everything was dimmed down but still on. There was a place though, a room I stumbled onto before I headed back to the one I'd left in case someone noticed I was gone. It was weird, like a surgical experimentation room but combined with so much more..."
The room is almost a mirror image of hers, except it contains operating room equipment and research stations, computers and endless amounts of tech, the sort one would use on an injured person. A body lies on an operating table in the center of the room, unmoving and the source of all the beeps from the heart monitor. They come few and far between, struggling to keep a rhythm going. From what she could see Kassie thinks it's a woman, she looks like a badly sewn together jigsaw puzzle. She looks around the room for any sign of other people, but no one is around. She creeps closer, curiosity overcoming the flight instinct. There's something about this woman that feels important, something that needs to be unleashed.
Rising up on the side of the table she sees a woman with carrot colored hair in a tight bun, eyes closed as if sleeping, machines forcing her chest to be rising and falling with long, slow, drawn out breaths, spaced far enough apart that you can hardly tell there's a breath at all. Tubes lead in and out of various veins, pumping in who knows what.
"Why do they keep you here next to me? What did you do to be stuck here in this place, operated on like a lab animal?" Kassie whispers into the empty room.
She reaches towards the woman and lightly touches her hand. Her skin is cold to the touch, as if the blood flow to her extremities had slowed down to a dangerously low level. Kassie feels energy start to flow through her into the area she is touching, causing it and her hand to glow with a dark golden light. It pulsates and dances, freeing itself to burrow under to whatever task it senses must be finished. On the monitor the heart rate becomes more steady, no longer a thready and weak pulse, but a stable beat that thumps loudly in her ears. The ragged breaths even out as well, strong and courageous as they should be. Kassie stares down in surprise and fascination at their shared mystery.
"Who are you?"
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"I ran back to my room before anyone saw me. I left just in time as not a minute later two people came into the room to check on the woman. I think they were in charge of the both of us, they were talking about making sure I was moved to the next secure location and that everything was on schedule for some sort of inspection by whoever was paying for everything on the subject, the woman on the table."
Kaidan couldn't believe what he was hearing. Whoever had kidnapped the girl was into some seriously illegal shit. Borderline black market from the sounds of it. Could be somewhere in the Terminus Systems, less risk of getting caught in a lawless section of space. He was about to ask a question when the next sentence from the mouth of the girl in front of him froze him to his chair.
"You wouldn't happen to know anyone by the name of Shepard, would you?"
