A Stop for the Night, Part 3 (Hae-Ri)
The scenario of Hae-Ri's dream was a familiar one. She was in a large, enclosed warehouse with no way to get out. It was much like being trapped inside a windowless cube of a structure. It has been a few days since this place came up in her dreams, as she kept herself too busy, pushing herself to exhaustion, just to collapse every night with her mind too tired to torture her.
This place was always blazing with fire. A sea of orange flames and dark smoke, not a single spot was untouched by it. Though she was standing in the midst of the indoors bonfire, she never felt the heat.
The huge space was empty other than a pole in the middle of the room. A human form, unrecognizable, already burnt to the bone and faceless, was tied to the single pole that stood in a sea of fire. A very familiar bullet pendant was hanging from a ball chain around his blackened neck, resting on the still chest. She was always too late.
The wretched image from the morgue haunted her. Though she did feel that he deserved a last goodbye from someone who cherished him, she soon came to regret lifting the white sheet off his scorched, deformed body. She wished this wasn't the last image she had of him in her mind, that this wasn't their last memory. How fortunate would she have been if the last memory she had of him could be the last time they were together, at that restaurant with the other bereaved families of B357, watching the broadcasted impeachment of the president companionably.
Ever since that day she couldn't shake off the image of their final moment together in the morgue. It made her shy away from it in an attempt to block it out completely. Some things were better left unseen. Though she wasn't usually queasy, it was an entirely different story when the person lying lifeless in front of you, after going through such a horrible, painful death, is someone you know, someone you deeply care for.
It would be safe to say that she hasn't been handling his passing in the healthiest way, choosing quite consciously the path of denial, chasing away any unwelcome thoughts. She couldn't bring herself to come to terms with his absence, and felt her heart was too brittle to force herself to deal with it head-on, fearing she will crumble away while trying. She didn't allow anyone to try and console her, she refused any attempt to give her advice or to try to make her talk about it or cry, claiming that it would be better if she let it all out. She felt her grief was too private to let anyone meddle with it. Losing someone so prematurely, while looking forward to what the future had in store for the two of you, made it so much more painful. Losing something you wanted before you had the chance to make it yours was very nearly insufferable. Blocking it out was the easiest, the safest and the quickest, and to hell with what everybody else had to say about the matter.
She chased sad thoughts out of her mind as soon as they popped up, busying herself, making herself think of something else or at nothing at all. She was getting really good at it too, and could lock those emotions into "drawers" in her mind almost perfectly when she didn't want to deal with something. If she didn't put a lock on the drawers, she truly believed that she wouldn't be able to function at all. But much like any drawer, metaphorical or otherwise, when you fill them beyond their capacity, they overflow.
Not once was she caught off guard and found herself miserably crying for hours, fighting tears that just kept coming like a flood, until she was completely drained. Though the recovery from those moments was by no means easy, with an after-effect that lasted for days, she didn't mind the reality check. Breaking down made her feel like she was letting him know that he was still missed, very miserably missed.
Being so exhausted that she didn't even take a minute to fall asleep, she didn't expect this dream to make an appearance. It was unusual for her to dream in this situation at all. Even so, the nightmare attacked, but this time it was different. The burning warehouse was still the same, an ocean of angry flames all around, and she in the midst without feeling the heat. A metal pole was in the middle of the room, and a human form wearing a bullet locket was tied to it. This time, though, the form looked different. Finally, she wasn't too late.
Dal-Geon was alive. She tried to take a step in his direction, but was frozen in place. She tried to call out to him, but no sound came out. In her frustration, she cried silently as she looked at him burn, and could do nothing but stand there and watch. He had a look of desperation that never changed on his face, and was sweating as if he was melting away. All she could hear was his panting, breathing heavily as smoke filled his lungs, whimpering in pain.
The panting became harder and louder, when an abrupt sound made her jump, her eyes flying open. She turned around half asleep to the source of the noise behind her, and found her captor with his back to her, panting in a very familiar way. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, the connection for the change in her dream was made. She turned back around, wiped her tears on her makeshift blanket, and went back to sleep, feeling more that just a little shaky.
The car was bouncing up and down quite furiously, making her injured foot move uncomfortably beneath her, the pain pulling her out of her sleep. Surprisingly, she felt very rested, and though still a bit groggy, she felt fresh and sharp, her head completely clear. If she did dream after waking up from the nightmare, she didn't remember it
The sky was still dark when she woke up, forgetting where she was and how she got there for just a moment as her senses were taking their time, slowly coming back to her. She looked around, and, intending to move the hair out of her face, pulled her bound hand from under her makeshift-blanket, just to be restrained immediately. She looked down at the shiny metal that made her one with the car, and sighed. Stealing a look in the rearview mirror to check on her rogue companion, she was just in time to catch him look away, pulling his hat further down, as if it could go any lower.
The drive turned smoother as they finally got off the mountain and onto the paved road, which she was grateful for. Though it was a stroke of luck that she was practically fasting yesterday, after he watered and fed her last night, today was quite a different story. Her bladder did not enjoy the bumpy ride, but it was more forgiving to the asphalt. It still wasn't at the point that it was urgent, but she dreaded the moment she would no longer be able to hold it in.
How in heaven's name was she supposed to go about it? They were in the middle of the desert, not even a tree in sight, nary a bush, not to mention any facilities. And, as she possessed the questionable title of "captive", her captor was sure to keep a tight eye on her while she was at it. Though that was absolutely dreadful, that wasn't even her biggest problem. How on earth was she to go outside with her damned ankle acting up? Though it was much better after resting for the night, it was still damn painful and restricting. Mortified by the thought of needing someone's help to do her business, and not just any someone - her potentially deviant kidnapper, she was truly miserable.
Hae-Ri was thoroughly bored by the drive that seemed as if it would last forever. She tried counting camels, but lost count after reaching 36, 37 or 38. She also tried to count cars, but got bored after the third one, seeing as cars didn't come as often as camels in this godforsaken part of Kiria. Trying to focus on something else, hoping that the call of nature will be hung up if she just ignored it, she surveyed her captor. He looked like a grade A paranoid, checking every mirror repeatedly as if he was being chased. Thinking back on yesterday, when they really were chased and almost killed in either a gunfight or a car crash, she rather appreciated him being on his toes. If nothing else, this guy was useful in that sense. She did wonder, however, whether those guys were after her, or actually after him, and couldn't decide which was likelier.
The front tire of the limo that she was riding yesterday was definitely hit by a bullet. The car was brand new, state of the art, befitting a Sheikh, and yet they experience a blowout. The car, not to mention the tires, couldn't be more than a few months old. It didn't have enough mileage on it to cause this kind of wear. Though it was hot, they weren't driving for so long that the excessive heat will cause the rubber to degrade and make it explode, and besides, she was sure the tires were well designed to fit this kind of climate. The Sheikh could definitely afford the upgrade. Another unlikely explanation was too low or too high air pressure. In this day and age, the car announced it itself when the air pressure was off. The guards that escorted her would have surely known if this was the cause, but the way they acted made it very clear that the blowout was caused by an unrelated, and even more so, unexpected cause. Someone was definitely after her, yet her captor looked as if he was the one being chased. He looked thoroughly rogue, befitting the dictionary description of a deserter going MIA. Though it looked like this man had every intention to protect her from harm, god knows for what reason and price, it also seemed quite possible that he was putting her in even greater danger.
She had no idea where they were, the desert seeming as sandy and yellow as ever, with nothing much to help her distinguish this part of the desert from another part of it. Though she wasn't able to accurately make mental notes of their route, she settled for keeping in mind the general direction in which they were going, though going up and down the mountains somewhat threw her off course. She knew they were heading west at first, then took an exit off the highway heading north. After that there were not many turns, and the general direction remained north-ish, until her captor got off the paved road and went haywire up a mountain and into a clump of bushes. Seeing as the sun was now rising in the distance to their right, they were currently heading north-east. She knew that going due north meant getting farther away from any major metropolitan. If they were nearing the border, the only things they were going to find were more camels and little to no infrastructure.
Riding quietly on the endless road that was becoming more and more unkempt as they went on, finally she spotted signs of civilization. A large structure appeared a few hundred meters to their left. The big sign in Arabic at the front read "Abu-Ali Department Store". She thought about speaking up, asking him to make a stop for her to use the bathroom. Though she could still hold it in for a while more, she thought this chance was too good to pass on. She opened her mouth to speak just as the road curved, bringing them closer to the store, revealing another side of the structure, and the sign stating the working hours in big black letters. "Saturday-Thursday - 7AM-10PM, Friday - Closed".
Damn it all to hell.
She felt defeated and was starting to get annoyed. It was just her luck, not surprising at all. In fact, she thought it would have been extremely surprising if something did go her way after the last 20 hours or so, that seemed to revolve around throwing her off track. She assumed that by this point, she should be grateful for still being alive. Feeling a growing need to just scream her lungs out as an outlet for her frustration, she barely noticed when again her captor decided to get off the road and into another uneven, bouncy path that was more suited to camels than to motor vehicles. Feeling every pebble under the wheels, she wrapped he free hand around a fistful of the jacket that rested next to her, and debated with herself as to the appropriate time to speak up. Just a little more, she told herself, at the next bush.
At first, it didn't seem like her captor was heading anywhere in particular. There was nothing other than sand and dunes in sight, when suddenly they drove by a three stories house in the middle of nowhere, and then, after a while, another one. As they got further away from the little houses, she began to feel uneasy as they passes a cluster of tents, and then another, and then several others, rather than solid houses. Feeling her limit nearing, she curled her toes absentmindedly, which made her feel like her foot was hit by bolt of lightning. The pain took her mind off her unattended need for a while, as a looming gray building appeared in the distance, which seemed to be her captor's destination, as he was suddenly racing forward at a higher speed. She couldn't decide what would be better, going slower to ease the rocking of the car and her bladder, or just charge forward and end this hellish ride.