Chapter 66 What happened?

Chapter 66 What happened?
Vincent

I felt more horrified than confused when I opened my eyes in the garden again. Oh please, no. This would be the fifth time.

“You're awake.” I whipped my head to the side when I heard her voice again. She was squatting near the blossoming flowerbed, the flower in her hair matching the white patterned gown she had on and a bright smile spread on her face.

I sat up on the ground immediately and took a look around the large colourful garden. No. It was going to happen again. He was going to show up again and I couldn't let that happen.

“What do you think? Pretty, right?” I glanced back at her again as she plucked up a few lilies gently from their branches. I shook my head and stood up. 

“We have to go!”

“What do you mean?”

“We have to go. He's coming. He's going to…”

We both looked towards the sky when a dark cloud started to loom over the garden. Oh no. The flowers started to wilt and by the time I glanced back at her, we weren't in the garden anymore. We were in a large field, dark clouds looming over us and the very man I'd been dreading to see standing in front of my mother.

I stumbled forward when I saw that it was a guillotine stationed beside her battered body this time.

“Are you ready or do you want me to do it for you?” I glanced down at the gun that was suddenly in my hand, then the state of my own body.

I was sweating, kneeling on the ground and putting on those dark blue jeans I vividly remember from that night. My stomach twisted into a knot when he stepped towards her to pull her head into the guillotine. 

“Are you ready or do you want me to do it for you?”

I tried to move but couldn't. “No. Please.”

“Are you ready?!”

“No.” He raised the lever to pull the knife further upwards. I started writhing desperately on the ground where my body was glued to.

“Are you ready?!”

“No! Please!”

He let go with a sinister smile and let out a cackle as her head fell off and rolled over to my knees, bloodied and all.

I reached out for it immediately, teary-eyed, or at least tried to. “Mom.”

Her eyes flashed open right then and glared as she muttered. “You did this to me.”



I was in a dark abyss when I opened my eyes again. Everywhere was quiet and almost peaceful until I felt something grab me from behind. 

I lashed out before I could figure out what it is. 

I felt it again, though, and lashed until I heard a soft voice. I whipped my head around in the dark space. “Mom?”

No response. Just a soft carress on my hand and a sudden ring that made me flinch. Wait… that was… that was a phone ringing.

A phone was ringing? 

Where? Where am I? 

Am I alive right now?

I suddenly felt that carress on my arm again and was about to figure out exactly why it stung this time when my eyes came in contact with a very bright light. 

I winced immediately at the sheer intensity. The fuck. What was that? 

I pulled my eyes open again, slowly this time, to realise that it was actually an overhead light attached to a white ceiling I couldn't quite place immediately.

A white ceiling. Where am I?

I managed to move my head around as I took in the similarly white walls and bare furniture around the room. 

My body felt heavy and I could barely piece together my memories before I heard that soft voice again. “Y-you’re awake.”

I moved my head to the side to see who it was. Her. Ariel. It took me a moment to remember who she was.

“Hmm…” I groaned.

What happened? Where am I? And how did I get here?

I glanced down at my arm when I felt that soft caress again. So it was her. What is she doing? She's… 

I moved my other hand as fast as I could to grab hers when I saw the syringe in her hand. “What are you doing?”

Fuck. Even I recognised how slurred that sounded. And my throat. Fuck, it was so dry.

“What is in that?”

I was starting to remember things slowly.

“Antibiotics... and painkillers.”

I pulled my arm away and tried to sit up. I could remember the accident now. That attack at St Valerio and the meeting between Kael and Ariel at the park.

I slapped the syringe away from her hand. "Antibiotics, uh?”

“Did you give me anything else?” I only thought to ask after a second. 

“No… I mean, yes. Not me though. Kael. He gave you some fluids through an IV bag after he stitched you up and then some antibiotics. He's the one who told me to give you this.”

My blood ran cold as she picked up the syringe. “He gave me fluids?” Then I registered the rest of her statement. He stitched me up?

I glanced down at my half-naked body to indeed see a clean, non-bloodied bandage around my torso and immediately felt a dull ache spread across my abdomen, like it had been waiting for me to notice it.

I glanced around the room again and tried to stand up immediately. Fuck. What does that mean? He stitched me up even though he was selling me out to the enemy and could have killed me?

The fuck?

Ariel reached out to support me when I failed to get up. “W-what are you doing?”

“I should be asking you that? Where am I? What happened? I was in your car and then i passed out…”

“Yes. Then I called Kael because I didn't know what to do. He's the one that told me to bring you here, to my apartment, and he stitched you up. That's all.”

I tried to see past the obvious panic in her eyes. "This is your apartment?”

“Yes. Is there something wrong?” A lot. 

First, I should get dressed and get out of here.

A loud ring went throughout the apartment before I could figure out how to do that. We both froze.

“Who is that?”

“Probably Kael. I called and told him you were awake.”

Oh fuck no.