This man who's holding me—-
Something tells me I've already seen his face. The image of it is there. I can practically feel it scratching the back of my mind. I've seen it. I've seen it, dammit. But why can't I remember it? I feel like I'm knocking my head repeatedly against a wall of blankness—-
Knock. KNOCK. KNOOOOOOCK.
But the wall just wouldn't come down.
Even when I give it my all—-
Even when I bang on it with my mental fists and butt-head it until I feel my brain's about to explode—-
The pain is too much, and I'm crying out before I realize what I'm doing.
Up. Down. Up. Do—-
The world stops moving.
He stops moving.
And then I feel myself being lifted up.
Up, up, up—-
Until I'm looking into the bright red eyes of my captor.
A scream of terror threatens to crawl out of my throat, but my lips have only begun to part when everything goes dark...and then I'm spiraling out of my nightmare—-
A dream? It was just a dream?
I crash back into consciousness, and my eyes fly wide open.
A dream? Was it truly a dream?
I shoot up to a sitting position, heart hammering, body shivering and sweating at the same time—-
A dream, I tell myself feverishly.
It's just a dream.
It really is just a dream.
But it's a dream that the past gave birth to—-
Because now I remember.
The man with red eyes who stabbed me—-
It's the same man I remember carrying me in his arms—-
Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down.
The same man who laid me down in a pool of blood.
KEIA DISCHARGES ME sometime after lunch the next day, but I still find myself killing time in the infirmary's lobby for about half an hour before the detectives finally arrive.
Henry has grey hair and is a heavy smoker while his female colleague, Alice, has her dark locks ruthlessly tied back in a chignon. They ask numerous questions about the man who's stabbed me, and I answer with as much detail as I can without telling them about my dreams. Until I can be completely sure of what I've seen, there's no point telling anyone about it.
The whole thing lasts over an hour, with Alice also doing amazingly quick work as she creates a composite sketch of my attacker, and when we're all done, I'm more than a little stunned at how professional both of them are.
This is far from my first rodeo with police interviews, after all, and the ones who handled my case back in California had been assholes in uniform. I had a nice face, therefore I was a bitch. I was the only one alive in a room full of dead people; ergo, I must've killed all of them.
Henry and Alice, however, are the complete opposites. There were no wisecracks about my past. No snide comments about my face or figure. They simply did their job, period, and my shock over this must've shown on my face because Alice suddenly smiles at me and says, "Professor Lucious told us to take care of you, and so rest assured that's exactly what we're going to do."
My stupid heart skips a beat upon hearing that, but I manage to keep my voice even as I thank the detectives for their assistance.
Nia and the doctor both nag me about the interview, and I see the two girls exchange knowing looks when I get to the bit about the professor.
Hmph.
These two obviously think it's proof that the professor cares for me, and sure, he cares, alright...
But what he only cares about is getting me in his bed because, like it or not, he still thinks I'm an 'intriguing little thing'.
When it's time to finally head back to our suite, I tell Nia I'd like to spend a bit of time in the library, and just like I expected, it's the kind of L-word that scares the other girl the most. She's already profusely shaking her head even before I finish inviting her, and I barely manage to keep a straight face as I wave her off.
I turn to Keia, intending to say goodbye myself, but the older woman forestalls my words by asking if she can speak to me in her consultation room.
"Uh...sure." I follow her inside, and as soon as she closes the door I ask right away, "Am I dying?"
The redhead quickly shakes her head. "No, of course not. Seriously, Halyna. Be a little less pessimistic, will you?"
"I could," I allow, "but it's just not my style."
Keia rolls her eyes. "In any case..." She takes her seat behind her desk and shows me what I can only assume are results from the tests she ran on me. "This was just forwarded to me, and..."
She taps pointedly on the part that says TOXICOLOGY, and I straighten in my seat. "Are you saying I was poisoned?"
THE DOCTOR'S LIPS TIGHTEN. "Unfortunately, yes. An inordinate amount of toxins has been detected in your bloodstream, but while the tests are unable to pinpoint how or when such substances have entered your body, the results are pretty conclusive. You have been poisoned, and I'd like to ask if you can think of any possible incident when this may have happened."