"Tanira! Wake up!"
The voice came from far away, but it pulled me out of my torpor.
"Wake up, they're gonna – " There was the sound of a hard blow, and the voice was silenced. I heard the door to my room open. Someone was coming in. I couldn't open my eyes, weariness keeping them closed.
It was daytime, I could feel it, lethargy dulling my senses and mind, and making my muscles feeble. My gun was on my night stand, where it always was, and drifting between sleep and waking, I prepared to launch myself at my gun and draw a bead on whoever it was that had invaded my innermost sanctuary.
There was the sound of a click, and what sounded like rope being pulled taut. Gathering all my strength, I pushed myself off the bed, opened my eyes and rolled to my night stand. There was a thwock, and something whizzed past me. As I recall it, the next moment, I had my gun up and aimed at the interloper.
My vision was blurry and I was dizzy as all Hell, but I managed to keep my gun on her. All I could see as my head spun and my eyes struggled to stay open, was the vague shape of a platinum blonde haired woman wearing a trench coat. She was holding some kind of rifle or something I couldn't make out. With one hand, she pulled a lever on the weapon, then shifted her grip back to its trigger.
What I clearly saw though, was her other hand gripping the cord to pull the shutter open.
"Drop the gun."
I remember hesitating, being unable to think straight. I must have said something like "Fuck you!"
"If you shoot, either I pull these shutters open myself, or I'll do it when I fall. Feel like looking at a beautiful midday sun?"
Oh God no, not the sun, anything but the sun. I only remember vague bits and pieces about what happened, but I do recall that I forgot all about my gun and brought up my other hand in a useless protective gesture as sheer terror took hold of me. "No, please, no! Please, not the sun!"
Much as I tried to forget it afterward, I begged and whimpered, reduced to a pleading sack of fear and panic.
"Drop the gun then. Do it."
I could do nothing else than obey.
In my blurred vision, I saw her bare her teeth in a broad smile. "Thank you." Then she brought the weapon up and with a clack, released the trigger mechanism.