Princess and the Papoose
Chapter 3
One day, the Princess and the Papoose went on a long walk down near a lake. The grass was soft, and the sun was warm, and the water smelled clean and fresh. Before they knew it, they had wandered away from the Kingdom.
While Rain and Bethany spent their morning worrying and searching for answers pertaining to their situation, across the city of Manhattan, a young man was searching for his own answers.
His motives, however, were very different. He sought gain; power, in a very literal sense. In fact, he sought the Ticket sisters. Nobody could even know exactly how or when he obtained knowlege of their whereabouts, but he had, and he knew they were in Manhattan.
Chances were they didn't even know what they had...or that they had anything at all! Or maybe they'd just found it, and it had drawn them to New York.
Either way, he knew what they had, and he wanted it. He would take it, too, without any hesitation or heed to their cries for mercy - there would be cries for mercy. He would make sure of it. And if there wasn't...oh well. Either way, he was going to kill them both. Had to kill them both. That was the only way his plan would work.
Knock knock knock!
"You gonna get that?" Bethany called, eyes glued to the television set.
"Not so sure I should," Rain mumbled, getting up from her comfortable chair to answer the door.
Behind it stood a handsome man, about 30, carrying a thick briefcase and a stack of folders. He smiled when Rain opened the door. "Hello, Rain Ticket?"
"Uh..."
"I'm Doctor Suresh, Mohinder Suresh, we spoke on the phone?" He sounded Indian, and though his skin was accordingly dark, his features looked much more American.
"That's, um..." Rain bit her lip. "That's the thing...I'm having a bit of trouble remembering how I got here."
Dr. Suresh frowned. "Well surely your sister-"
"Bethany doesn't remember anything either."
"Perhaps I can help...may I come in?"
Rain stepped aside. "Yeah! Yes."
He walked through the door, and Rain allowed it to close, then switched the TV off.
"Hey, what up?" Bethany began to protest, but looked up and saw their visitor. "Oh. Hi!"
"Bethany, this is Dr. Suresh. Apparently, I talked to him on the phone."
Greetings were exchanged, and the doctor sat down, gingerly placing his things beside him. "Now, you say you can't remember anything between here and California?"
"Uh, no." Rain answered.
"Then what's the last thing you do remember?"
"Going to bed-my own bed."
"What was the date?"
"Um, monday, August 24th."
"2009?"
"Yes..."
Dr. Suresh jotted a few notes, and nodded. "That doesn't make much sense, considering that was yesterday, and you would have had to be on a plane by dark in order to be here now."
"I know!" Rain exclaimed.
He looked contemplatively up from his notes. "Has anything...unusual been happening to you lately? Do you often wake up somewhere different than where you went to sleep?"
"No. To my recollection, this is the first time. And the other thing!" Rain motioned toward her clothes; changed now to a pink peasant-style top and blue jeans. "These aren't my clothes! Not even my style! I don't have the kind of money it takes for a hotel like this, but I'm signed in under my name!"
"Odd..." He was quiet for a moment. "Anything else? Don't be shy."
Rain and Bethany exchanged 'should we?' glances.
"There was...something kind of weird, right before dinner yesterday." Rain said, slowly.
"Yes?"
"It's...kind of hard to explain..."
"Show me?"
The sisters stared at him for a moment. Why not? They already sounded crazy.
Rain lifted a hand. "I was going like this,"
Bethany mirrored the action, "And I went to touch her..."
Nothing happened.
Rain, without moving her arm, faced Suresh. "And then there was...I dunno. At first I thought someone had rubbed sock feet on the carpet."
"Like a shock?" He guessed.
"Yeah, kind of. But you could see it."
The doctor narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing them. "What were you thinking?"
Rain sighed. "That I must be losing my mind."
"No, before that."
"Before that? Um, I was angry with Bethany, and I was thinking about how I needed to calm down and focus on what matters. Beth?"
Bethany hesitated a moment. "I was thinking about my mother, and how upset I was that she just left us, and how much I wanted her back." She stared at the floor. "I would give any-ow!" She jumped and saw Rain staring; there it was again! That brilliant, mesmerising beam of light traveling between their fingertips.
Dr. Suresh smiled. "There you are. You say yesterday is the first time this happened to you?"
The girls nodded, dumbly, and Rain sighed. "I thought it was a fluke, but..." For some reason, she felt compelled to raise her other hand. Apparently, so did Bethany, and another beam locked between those fingers as well.
Rain looked up from the beam long enough to glance at her sister, and as soon as their gazes met, Rain noticed something peculiar; Bethany's eyes looked a shocking blue color. Both of the sisters had dark hazel eyes. Not blue.
The beams suddenly died down, but Rain felt odd. Refreshed. Fit. Ready. She looked back to Dr. Suresh, who was staring, mouth slightly agape.
"Your eyes," Bethany said, "they're...blue?"
"So are yours," Rain answered.
"How strange," Dr. Suresh commented. "Do you feel any different?"
"Yes," they both said at once.
"I feel healthy. Even strong." Rain told him.
Suresh was silent a moment. "...is that all?"
"W-I don't know!" Rain exclaimed. "It's not like it's something I'm very familiar with!"
"You gave me a rather different impression on the phone."
"Well I don't exactly remember that, either!"
"Are you certain? You know, you wouldn't be the first people to give me a false-"
"Well I'm sorry if by some random series of events we just happened to be in the hotel room of someone who scammed you, Dr. Suresh, but we have our own problems!" Rain's voice got so loud that it rattled the lamp on the bed stand.
Bethany touched her sister's arm. "Sis, chill..."
Rain closed her mouth and sat down. "Sorry."
Dr. Suresh looked slightly taken-aback. He raised his eyebrows. "That's quite alright, Miss Ticket. Um," He reached for his briefcase. "If I could just run some tests-"
Knock knock knock!
The room fell silent.
"Expecting someone?" Suresh finally asked, quietly.
"Don' t know what to expect." Bethany mumbled, while her sister got up.
"Can I help you?" Rain asked as she opened the door.
Bethany's posture straightened. "Rain, I need to tell you something!"
"Don't be rude!" Rain retorted. "I'm sorry, what did you say?...Well, that's funny, Dr. Suresh is already here..." She opened the door the rest of the way. "Doctor, this man claims that he is Dr. Suresh. Would someone please clarify?"
Suresh number 1 stood up suddenly and pointed a finger at the American Dr. Suresh standing at the door. "You! Rain, this man is a murderer, do not let him inside!"
"Me? You're the murderer!" Suresh 2 exclaimed.
Bethany looked at him suddenly. "He's lying!"
"You're right," 2 said, with a sigh. "I am." He flicked his wrist and pointed toward Suresh 1, like he was using his brain to attack him.
The (apparently real) Dr. Suresh braced himself like he was frightened...but nothing happened.
Fake Suresh stared, incredulously, and repeated the movement.
Rain glanced about after realizing that the intruder had no gun, then made a dive for the phone. Dr. Suresh darted across the room and seemed to be attempting ot restrain his identity thief. Rain snatched the phone from the receiver, trembling, and clutched desperately to it. She jabbed the 9 key, but suddenly cried out in pain as a horrible sensation traveled from her hand up her arm; her finger had pushed the button completely into the phone and broken every electronic on it's way through. Or rather...Rain's finger had. She retracted her arm from the destroyed appliance and observed in silent horror as blood trickled from the wound on to the floor and night stand.
Her moment of shock was broken into when a body slammed into her, knocking them both into the wall.
"Bethany stop him!" Came Dr. Suresh's voice, just inches from Rain's ear.
"Ahh..." Bethany stood in a panic, inches behind their alleged murderer, unable to budge an inch.
Within seconds, he was out the door and running. Suresh quickly removed himself from the floor and offered a helping hand to Rain; his muscles were tense.
"Who was that?" Bethany asked, coming out of her stupor.
The doctor sighed heavily. "He goes by 'Sylar'."
"You're not going to just leave us alone, are you?" Rain asked Dr. Suresh as he pulled the last of his things together. "I mean, I don't even know why we're here! What if we have another blackout? What if Sylar comes back?"
"I don't see that there's much else I can do!" Suresh stated. "Until I get the results of your blood tests, I can't even be sure why Sylar's after you."
"Well, can't we come stay...I don't know, someplace else? With you, maybe? I just don't feel safe or comfortable here."
"I'm sure hotel security would be happy to-"
"No, that's just it. I am not whoever the manager believes I am. Rain and Bethany Ticket are not some bazillionares who stay in five-star hotels and order room service. Rain and Bethany Ticket live in a two-room apartment in San Jacinto, California. I work at Starbucks, I drive a ratty old car that wouldn't cut it at a monster truck rally! I can't even afford the drapes in this place."
Suresh looked torn. Finally, he said, "Why don't you just wait here. Just until tomorrow evening. I should have your results then."
"Buh-"
"I'll see you tomorrow, Miss Ticket." Then he was out the door. Rain huffed and let her shoulders sag.