She was unaware when she had slipped from consciousness, but awoke to the dark. The cold had left her fingers numb, she was certain at least two of them were broken. She tasted copper and felt the dried blood on her face, all she could think of was Gabriel. The tears quaked in her eyes, breathing deeply she held them at bay. Oh, she was certain it was his voice calling to her, "Gabriel…" she whispered, turning her head and rolling her eyes past her shoulder. Linderman sat, legs crossed, beside her.
"Not quite, darling, though he is on the list." he exclaimed, slapping his knees and standing back up. "It must have hurt to have your little heart broken." he mocked, smirking in front of her. "Then again, you're not much to look at are you?" she snarled at him, and turned her face away. "You're not cooperating!" he bellowed, slamming his hands into the arms of the chair, sending it, and Addien, into the air. He pulled his face in close to hers and uttered in a low mumble, almost inaudible "I could make this so much harder." Addien drew back and spit into his face, her saliva gliding down his cheek. "Have it your way." he barked, grabbing the chair and tossing it into the middle of the room.
Standing in front of her he tore her bra from her chest, exposing her breasts as the oxygen stopped sudden in her lungs. Addien's eyes were wide as she struggled and squirmed in the chair, desperate to get away. His hands moved slowly over her, he forced his fingered past her belt and tugged on the lace of her panties. "This is all you ever really wanted!" he shouted, unzipping her pants and exposing her legs. "Why didn't you just ask Gabriel to fuck you?" he leaning his face down and biting the band of elastic "That's all you want." he growled, thrusting his fingers inside her. Addien pushed her knees together, pulling with all her might on the handcuffs on her legs. She could feel his fingers inside her, as he reached around and gripped her ass.
Something cracked, she had broken a foot loose, and before Linderman could react she drove her foot into his jaw, sending him flying backwards. Addien quickly struggled to get the second free, but he recovered too quickly. Linderman laughed; licking his fingers he brought his hand to her face slapping her hard. Addien felt her face burn hot as blood vessels exploded inside her cheek, the bruise was already forming. "You're progressing!" he remarked, cackling. Grabbing a wad of her hair in his hand he drug her back against the wall. "Just a while longer." he whispered harshly into her ear, trailing his tongue up the side of her face.
--
Gabriel sat silent in his bedroom, every sound was amplified, and every movement seemed to crash around him. Rebecka had called and left messages, but he had no intention of replying. In his hand his gripped the small package Addien had left for him in her apartment, which he had found earlier. He had read the front a hundred times already and still couldn't bring himself to break the seal, tears dripped down his face, staining the paper, and blotting the ink. 'Don't open until I'm gone.' it read, in Addien's clumsy cursive. Gabriel drew in a deep breath and forced the package open, from inside a small pile of papers fluttered out, along with an unlabeled CD.
He slid his finger over the smooth, hard plastic and let his eyes slowly drift closed as he gathered the papers into his hand. The first page was a poem, the second a playlist, the third – a handwritten letter from Addien, he could spot her writing anywhere, and he missed her. It washes over him as he straightened his glasses upon his face and read the poem in silence; it was "Photograph" by Andrea Gibson. He could feel the tears gliding gently down his face as he read it over in his mind "I wish I was a photographyou carried like a future in your pocket…"he wiped his face with the sleeve of his grey cardigan "I still love you like moons love the planets they circle aroundlike children love recess bells…" Gabriel could almost hear Addien's voice, tucking his knees into his chest he crumpled the paper over his heart and lay back on his bed. "I think of happy, when I think of you." he repeated, little sobs escaping between each vowel.
The sun was sinking low behind the trees and Gabriel felt trapped within the walls of the apartment, he grabbed his keys and slammed the door, rushing past Addien's old apartment door; eyes squeezed shut. The air was refreshing, he breathed in deep, trying to exhale all the pain that had built up inside him so quickly, trying to forget how empty he felt without her here, how blind he had been for so many years. He turned the corner in front of his father's old watch repair shop; he let himself it, just to clear his head, just to get a little work done.
An hour had passed before he even realized, fixing the right pieces in, the small watch sprung to life again, Gabriel felt the weight of a smile tug on the sides of his lips, and he dropped his eyes, "I can still fix things." he whispered, knowing he was only half right. It was too late for customers, but the door bells still jingled as someone entered. Gabriel turned, magnifying glasses still snug to his face "May I help you?" he asked, as calm and friendly as he could muster. He would much rather have been left alone.
"I hope so, Mr. Gray." the man replied, letting himself in, and walking toward Gabriel, a book tucked tightly under his arm.
Gabriel scanned over the stranger, focusing in on his wristwatch. "I can fix it." he stated, touching the face with his finger, letting the light reflect off its surface. The man tipped his head –
"My watch isn't broken." But Gabriel furrowed his brows at him.
"Actually, it is." he turned over his hand to accept the piece as the man slowly slipped it from his wrist. "The watch is running two seconds slow." Gabriel said, holding the face up to his ear.The man looked at him in disbelief "It's just a talent I have… knowing how parts, should work." Gabriel added, as he began to work. Gabriel went on to explain where the parts originated from as the stranger looked on intently over his shoulder. Handing the fixed watch back to him, he looked up, something changed in the room's atmosphere, and he knew… "You didn't come here for the watch…" Gabriel said slowly, removing his glasses.
The man smiled "I came here to find you, Gabriel. My name is Chandra Suresh, a geneticist… and I have a theory about human evolution, and I believe you, are a part of it." He concluded, taking the book from under his arm and extending it to Gabriel. "Read it, and if you'd like to talk more, I've written my phone number and address inside." With that, Chandra smiled lightly and made his way to the door, leaving without another sound.