Thank you so much for all the reviews. Wow, seven for my first attempt. It made me a very very happy person.
Anyway it motivated me to write a second chapter quickly and I hope it will meet all your expectations.
xxx
SURVIVAL – CHAPTER 2
Cold.
Aching.
Uncomfortable.
Nauseous.
Mouth dry.
Where…where am I?
Forcing herself to break away completely from the clutches of unconsciousness that threatened to overwhelm her once again, she groaned and tried to open her eyes.
Nothing…just utter blackness in front of her.
What's going on here…am I blind…how did I get here?
A multitude of thoughts tumbled through her mind in quick procession. Then upon realizing that she could not remember how she got to wherever she was a sudden burst of fear followed.
Blinking her eyes a couple of times she stretched out a hand, her whole body protested at this sudden movement of a limb, and waved it in front of her.
I can see the outline of my fingers…so it must be the room that is dark.
To calm herself she took a couple of deep breaths and decided to start investigating her surroundings.
With her free hand she explored the area around her, trying to determine as to whether there was something, anything close at hand. When her hand did not connect with anything solid she proceeded to touch with her fingertips the surface that she was laying on – cold cement.
Feeling her strength slowly returning to her body she took a decision to at least make an attempt at standing or, at the very least, sitting up. Rolling on her side she pushed forcefully with both hands against the floor. She had barely reached something that might resemble a sitting position when she felt herself loosing all control over her motor functions; it resulted in her tumbling back to the ground unceremoniously.
Cursing under her breath at her lack of strength she laid in the same position for a little while, feeling slightly sorry for herself, before resolving to change her tactics, at least for the time being. Pushing herself up on her elbows she tried to crawl forward, to see if she could not maybe find something to heave herself up against. She had barely crossed a small distance when her one leg suddenly went taut and refused to continue onwards.
"What the hell?" she muttered and moved backwards until she was once again at her original spot. Refusing to give in to the limitation that had been inflicted on her body she clenched her teeth and used all of her strength to force herself into an upright position. When the world suddenly threatened to start spinning around her she closed her eyes and tried to steady her breathing in an attempt to steady herself.
After a while it seemed to work and uttering a soft sigh of relieve she opened her eyes again. Whether it was maybe her eyes that had adjusted to the darkness or real light that had invaded her surrounding area she had no idea but she was now able to make out the very faint outlines of the area around her.
It appeared that she was in a room barely bigger than the bathroom at her home and that there was nothing else in the room except herself and a door at the opposite end of the place.
Shaking her head, confused once again as to why she was in this strange place to begin with, she tried once again to stand up, to walk over to the door that might lead her to some answers, but found one of her legs giving in underneath her. Luckily this time, maybe she was more prepared for it the second time round, she fell to the ground more gracefully.
Feeling her temper flaring up she uttered a loud sound of disgust and slammed her fists against the floor before pushing herself into a sitting position once again. With her hands she started exploring her legs in an attempt at determining what the cause of the restriction on her mobility was.
It took only a couple of seconds for her hands to connect with something that felt like metal and that was surrounding her one ankle. Frowning at this unexpectedness she continued onwards with her exploration and after a little while her fingertips was able to discover the distinct outlines of a chain running from the metal thing that was embracing her leg to wherever its end was supposed to go to.
Not trusting what she had just felt she moved into a position that will enable her to see the guilty leg more closely and was rewarded with the sight of a solid metal cuff encircling her leg and with a thick metal chain running from it directly to the closest wall only a few feet away from her.
"What in heavens name is going on here!" she nearly yelled out of utter frustration, "And how did I get to end-up in this madhouse!"
How did I get here? Think Parker, think.
She knew that her mind was still suffering from whatever affected her in the first place, causing her to struggle to think clearly, but not willing to wait until she was better she forced herself to painstakingly start with the retracing of her steps, right to her very last memory.
Jarod phoned…
Muttered his usual incomprehensible words…
Felt my pathetic excuse for an ulcer taking me for a ride again shortly afterwards…
Told Sydney that I was going to leave early…
Drove home without any incident…
Entered the house and saw that everything was still in their usual place…
Phoned Sydney to tell him that I was fine…
Listened to my voice messages…
Fell asleep on the sofa…
For a second she could not remember anything that might have happened after that and no matter how she strained her mind no more memories were forthcoming.
Just as she was about to give up and take her frustration out on the chain that was holding her in place the image of a very familiar man suddenly entered her mind.
Lyle? What does that psychotic flesh eating SOB brother of mine have to do with all of this?
And then suddenly, without warning, the rest of her memories started assaulting her without any mercy.
The hand over her mouth…fighting a loosing battle…Jarod phoning…trying to reach the phone but…he was suddenly on top of her…too strong…couldn't break free.
And then…
"You know you are really beautiful when you are angry."
LYLE!
"Oh my god," her hand went automatically to her mouth as the full implications of her situation was revealed.
Lyle…it was…it was Lyle that attacked me.
All of her anger and frustration started pouring to the foreground and out of sheer hopelessness – and a deep sense of fear for the unknown future – she started pulling at the chain that was keeping her a prisoner and at the same time yelling into the thin air.
"Lyle! I know you are here somewhere you psychotherapy-needing…murderous… no-good…crazy-"
The semi-dark room was suddenly lightened up brightly, causing her to stop her actions in order to shield her eyes for protection.
Out of nowhere a ghostly voice penetrated the prison, mocking her with every word that was spoken.
"There used to be a princess, her father was in charge of a mighty kingdom. One day the princess' long-lost brother showed up at the palace. He was smitten with the idea of having such a beautiful, enchanted woman for his sister but alas…she refused to have anything to do with him…to give him what was due to him. Instead she promised her heart to a child-hood friend, a mere peasant that had grown up to be her father's archenemy. He told her a lot of lies…lies about her father, the King, and especially lies about her brother. As a result she decided to follow her heart, to turn her back on her brother, and she actually started to believe everything that this mere simpleton was whispering in her ear."
A pause followed before the voice continued in a softer, but clearly dangerous, tone, "But no more! The brother refused to give up on his sister. He decided that he will make her embrace the truth again, no matter the cost, and together they will get to rule the kingdom for eternity and beyond till-"
"What do you want from me Lyle!" she yelled out, anger and fear took turns intaking possession ofher face.
"You."
xxx
"This is Sydney," the older man answered his phone in his normal fashion. He had been working late in his office at the Centre in order to catch up with some outstanding paperwork and was just about to call it a day when the phone in his office started ringing.
"Good day Sir. This is Officer McDonough speaking. I apologize for phoning you at such a later hour but your details are written on a piece of paper I'm holding here in my hand."
Frowning, unsure as to what it was all about, Sydney put a couple of scribbled-on pages away in an official looking file before replying, "Yes Officer. What can I do for you?"
"Sir…uh…I don't know quite how to say this…uh…I assume you know a Miss M Parker?"
Fear and concern started tugging at the corner of Sydney's heart at the possible reason why the police would be phoning him regarding his colleague and friend but after a little while he decided to take the easiest route and to assume that maybe she went for a ride in her car, after she spoke to him earlier on that night, and that she was most probably caught speeding. After all it would not be the first time that she had done something like that and on a couple of occasions before, even since the supposedly death of her father, Mr Parker, she had contacted him whenever she was arrested for excessive speeding. Every time he had went to the police station to bail her out, had even tried to lecture her a couple of times on her driving habits, but each time she had just pushed his advice to one side with some sarcastic or snide remark about him that must stop being so over-protective of her.
Realizing that his thoughts had started to drift he coughed once before asking, "What is this all about Officer?"
The man on the other side of the line remained quiet for a few seconds before finally saying in his best attempt at a gentle and sympathetic voice, "Sir it is with uttermost regret that I must inform you that your friend's house exploded a couple of hours ago. The cause is yet undetermined. The fire department and police were summonsed by a mysterious caller that refused to be identified. Upon reaching the site there was basically nothing to be done and upon further investigation we discovered a badly burned body. Uh…one of the neighbors, an elderly man, identified the body as belonging to that of a Ms M Parker and he gave us your contact number. Apparently some time ago the victim gave him your number in case of any emergency and –"
Without bothering to listen to the rest of the conversation Sydney hung up the phone.
For a while he sat in silence, not moving except for the color in his face and fingertips that was slowing draining away to be replaced by a sickly ash-whiteness.
He could not believe it; he did not want to believe that she might actually be gone. He knew that on many occasions she had shared her fear with him. She was concerned that with her father gone and Raines being in control of the Centre her life was in jeopardy but she also admitted to him that she had no idea as to what to do or where to go. After all it was not as if she could just packed up and left and hope that the Centre would never try to find her or even worse give the order that she was to be considered expendable.
When he had suggested once that maybe she mentioned this to Jarod the next time that he phoned she openly laughed in his face and refused to even discuss the matter any further.
Shaking his head, almost like he was trying to deny what he had just been told, Sydney tried to stand up but immediately sank back into his chair.
"Surely she can't be dead…not her. Not Catherine's daughter," he whispered over and over again while a pair of salty tears rolled down his cheeks.
xxx
Somewhere, not far from Sydney, a pair of child-like eyes was looking down from behind an air-vent.
"Daughter scared. Sydney sad. Daughter in danger," an odd-looking man mumbled before turning around and making his way back to the heart, the inner darkness, of the Centre where he had been staying since he was but a small boy.