Two Weeks
Two weeks had passed in which I had spent most of my time in my sickroom. I had not seen the elf again, nor Sattler or his boss. Only David visited me every other day.
After I had tried to escape from boredom and inner turmoil after a week, he had taken the pity to bring Uno along when he came by. But that didn't make it much better.
I felt sidelined, unimportant, like a fifth wheel. I wanted out, I wanted to know what was going on, but no one thought it necessary to inform me. Of course not, they had what they wanted now. But then why didn't they let me go?
Again and again I thought of Legolas' last sentence.
Prepare to flee.
I would have done that, but was it coming at all? Shouldn't he have done something within two weeks? And if he hadn't done it by now, how likely was it that it was actually still happening?
With every day that passed, I doubted more and more the motives of the elf. If I had believed at the beginning that we would solve the riddle as a team, I was now almost sure that Legolas had fooled me again. As always. That he was long gone. That he would never free me from this room.
Today was Sunday. I stood at the window and looked out. I had no idea where we were, only that the river was in the immediate proximity I knew, because now and then a tanker passed by. It was something like the warehouse Morag had taken us to.
Morag.
They had just shot him. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I had buried the moment when he had toppled lifelessly over backwards in the most inaccessible corner of my mind. Or, to put it another way, I repressed it. Just like the fear that they might have done the same to Legolas. After all, I hadn't had a chance to explain to him how dangerous this whole association here really was. For an authority, they asked extremely few questions and had their fingers on the trigger even faster.
Well. Maybe they also let me rot in this room. Until they could safely commit me to an mental institution.
There was a knock.
I whirled around. David wasn't on again until tomorrow. So who was that?
The door opened and a nurse came in. I expelled my held breath and turned back to the window. Nothing exciting. What had I been expecting, anyway? After all, the medical staff was changing my bandages and regularly checking to see that I was getting better physically. I had to admit to myself that my arm had not hurt for the last two days. That was an enormous relief, especially when it came to getting to the shampoo in the shower. After all, I didn't need my hands for anything else anyway.
"Today is your lucky day, the bandage is coming off."
I looked at her. "Fully?"
"Yes, you're fully recovered."
"Then you can let me out."
She sighed. "Ina, you know I can't do that."
"It was worth a try."
She nodded and patted the bed. "Sit down."
I did her the favor and watched as she slowly loosened the bandage. Underneath, an ugly crusting from the Betaisodona solution they'd been smearing over the healing wound for the past few days was revealed.
The nurse cleaned my arm until only a pink scar was visible. Then she got up, gathered everything together and said goodbye.
Yawning, I sat cross-legged on the bed and looked out. Just as a plane was passing, there was a loud thud and the lights went out.
In one leap, I was on my feet.
It could have been a power outage, or it might have started. How could it be a coincidence that this was happening right now? After I had been officially declared perfectly fit? Maybe my paranoia was getting the best of me, but I still ran to the closet and pulled out my shoes and the jacket I had worn back at the police station before Sattler had knocked me out with his serum. They had brought them over to me sometime in the last few days so I could put something on when I was cold.
With shaky fingers, I slipped into both, then listened into the silence. From another floor, I heard someone barking orders. Was that Sattler?
I tiptoed up to my bedroom door and put my hand on the handle. Should I? I had tried it once before and had failed because of the guards in front of it.
Trial and error.
I pushed down the handle and opened the door a crack. Where my guards should have been, everything was empty and abandoned. Yesss!
I slipped outside and stood in the dark hallway, bathed in a kind of dim light by a window at its end. The sound of boots thumping down the nearby stairwell made me wince. I had to get out of here fast. If they picked me up, I was screwed. Who knew if this was all Legolas' fault, or if I was just really lucky.
But before I could get moving, I heard a voice, its owner quickly approaching, cutting off my escape route.
Sattler.
"... Am on my way to her right now. Don't worry, I'll... Yes, of course. If you say so..."
Shit, why him of all people? Where to now? I couldn't go left, boots were still drumming through the stairwell on the right. Back to the room? Never. I'd rather get caught.
I felt a draft and my heart stopped for a second when I noticed that someone else was standing with me in that hallway. But it was already too late now.
A hand placed itself over my mouth and I began to fight it, trying to free myself from the relentless grip. "Shht, come with me."
Legolas! I instantly gave up my resistance and he took his hand from my mouth. Together we returned to the room.
Not a second later, Sattler turned the corner. I could see his shadow coming closer and closer as the elf pushed me behind him. He put a finger to his lips and pulled out one of his knives. How had he gotten hold of it? It certainly hadn't been given to him willingly...
Sattler had stopped telephoning in the meantime and had come to a halt directly in front of us. Only the thin wood separated us from each other. Did he know that Legolas was waiting for him in the shadows?
I held my breath.
Sattler pressed against the door so that it slowly swung open and entered. Then everything happened very quickly, and the only thing I could think at that moment was that the elf looked beautiful and terrible at the same time. His movements were smooth like a cat's as he silently slid Sattler's body to the ground and scanned him for weapons.
Seeing the man who had spent the last few weeks threatening me and forcing me to do things I would never have done otherwise lying there was surreal. It should have felt good. But it didn't.
"Is he dead?", I asked quietly.
"No." Legolas stood up and held Sattler's gun out to me.
"What do you want me to do with this?"
"I thought you knew how to use it."
I couldn't help a small laugh. "Sorry, I've never been to a shooting range before."
"A what?"
"Don't worry about it." I took the gun from him and put it in my jacket pocket. How hard could it be to operate? Load, release the safety, shoot. At least that's what my Hollywood movie knowledge told me. "How do we get outside?"
Legolas glanced out into the hallway, but immediately retracted his head. "There are more," he whispered, looking around the room with a hurried look. By now, dusk had fallen, painting a beautiful sunset in to the sky.
"Can you climb?" He sounded urgent and I could guess why: footsteps were approaching from outside again and this time it seemed to be more than one person.
My hands were getting sweaty. "Yes, but not well."
"It's not far. We're on the second floor." He crossed the room and opened the window. It was as quiet outside as it was in here, not even a bird chirping.
My feet didn't move from the spot. I realized that now wasn't the best time to tell Legolas about my fear of heights, but the idea of being about to hang over a precipice made me sick to my stomach. "I can't."
The footsteps came closer. "You must."
Very helpful, truly. I stepped to the window with a racing heart and put my hands on the ledge. How the hell was I supposed to climb down there? Even if I were a gazelle, it wouldn't work.
"Hold on to the stucco elements."
"Easy for you to say!", I hissed.
Hesitantly, I peered outside. Directly below me, maybe a foot and a half away, was a ledge. If I could reach that, it might work. Maybe. If my legs would move.
"Ina, now." I broke out in a cold sweat, but I sat down on the windowsill so there was nothing but air under my legs.
"I'll hold you, but once you're on the ledge, you'll have to keep climbing yourself," the elf informed me.
Great, I thought. And "Good," was all I could get out.
I had to do it. It was a miracle that no one had discovered us yet. Internally I counted to three and then I did it.
Held only by Legolas' arms, I dangled from the second floor and made the mistake of looking down. Immediately I froze inside. Oh God, it was high up. "The stucco elements, Ina."
Legolas's voice brought me back to the here and now, and I turned my eyes away from the abyss. Determined, I let go of his left hand and held on. I also found my grip with my foot.
Step by step I worked my way forward until Legolas let go of my second hand as well. In a moment it was done. From the ledge on which I stood and which probably graced the window on the first floor, I was able to jump.
Another piece and I was standing. Wobbly, but still. Above me I heard something crash and then screams. I gulped and looked up.
The elf had disappeared.
