Save Her

Natalie - Chapter 4-1

Natalie - Chapter 4

She had slept soundlessly on her left-hand side with no movement at all, as far as she could tell, for a solid nine hours at least, and yet she felt worn, tired, alone, starving, and sad. Drayden had not yet come to her rescue, obviously, because here she was with her baby, still in the horrible place, in the room meant to be comforting but which was full of staleness and re-used air, boring walls, and no life. Not even a plant. On the floor by the door sits a bowl of oatmeal with blueberries and raspberries next to it and a big glass of orange juice. Her stomach growls immediately upon seeing it, and she can’t help but wonder if it had been the noise of the plate that had awoken her or if it was something else. Had she dreamed at all? Something is wrong with her. Something is off. Her thoughts are cloudy, bouncy, with no rhythm and no predictability. She wants food but doesn’t want to get up. When she finally does, the blueberries will be the first to disappear, and then the oatmeal which is consistently the most fabulous oatmeal she ever had, with just the right amount of creamy sweetness and cinnamon. She would follow that with half the juice and then end it all with the raspberries because having that taste in her mouth until she brushes her teeth — which she contemplates not doing — would be spectacular. If all goes well, a few raspberry seeds will get stuck in her teeth and then she could pull at them with her tongue for entertainment while talking with her interrogator. No! Not her interrogator. Agent Love. That’s her name now. When she’s talking to Agent Love, she’ll secretly pull at the raspberry seeds that will hopefully get perma-stuck in her side teeth. Maybe she’ll bring Agent Love a few raspberries? Would she eat them? Would she shake her head no? Would she graciously accept them? If she refused them, would she politely say ‘No, thank you,’ or would she be cold about it? The thought of Agent Love possibly rejecting her gift of raspberries is enough for her to reject the idea. It sets her mood back to the way it was when she woke up. She’s worn. No sharing raspberries today. Not in the mood she’s in. Not today. No smiling today, Natalie thinks. It’s going to be a long one. It feels like it will not be a good one.

The baby puts pressure on her bladder. It’s sudden, and when it happens, she knows she can’t wait long. She fights the urge to get up and only rises to use the bathroom after determining that she will get back into bed and rest there a little while longer as soon as she’s done. She pees. After she’s done, she sits on the edge of her bed, and instead of following her plan to lay back down, she grasps a handful of blueberries and stuffs them in her mouth. She chews quickly and then grabs a more massive handful and angles her head back and opens her hand carefully over her open mouth until all but one land on her tongue. The one blueberry that escapes hits clumsily off the side of her cheek bounces on her leg and then rolls all the way across the floor to the other side of the room. She grins. “Thought you were gonna get away, huh?” She rubs her baby through her belly while plodding over to the wall that had stopped the runaway blueberry. She squats down, picks it up, blows on it, and pops it in her mouth.

Drayden should have been here by now. Either the worst had happened — which she can’t think about — or they had hidden her so well that finding her was impossible. But no, what was it Agent Love had said at the first interview? Natalie had said that Drayden would find her, and Agent Love had replied, ‘We hope so.’

Natalie tries to estimate how long she’s been a prisoner. Over a month, for sure. She kept track at first, but the in and out of sleep and all the food and the endless interviews and not having natural sunlight had stopped her counting. ‘We hope so,’ Natalie plays back in her head. If they wanted that, then wouldn’t it be easy for them to make that happen? To lure him with her? The way they were taking care of her and her baby proves they have no expectations of Drayden rescuing her. If he can find her, then their confidence tells Natalie that they are somehow ready for him and his powers. She had played things wrong. From day one, she had been acting like the helpless girl who needed the boy to save her. Her faith in her man and his abilities had made her think differently about the situation than she should have. She’s not a helpless woman. She’s never been that way. She’s strong. She’s resilient. She’s an independent woman with a baby to care for. Yes, her lover is amazing, with powers beyond anything real, but he probably needs her to get to him as much as she’s hoping for him to get to her. She can no longer pansy around waiting for her knight in shining armor. Like the blueberry, she would have to attempt an escape. If that is impossible, she will at least have to let Drayden know where she is, somehow. Because even if she does get out on her own, she still has no idea where she is. And it could be anywhere. Literally anywhere.

Natalie fortifies her resolve. She makes the decision then and there to eat what they give her. She won’t lay in bed and stare at the walls. She will get up and do things and plan. She will plan for every eventuality, and she will figure out an escape from this forsaken place.

She eats everything else out of order, rushing to feed her child, and then she showers because she expects Agent Love will want to see her soon. Gone are the woes along with the morning sleep in her eyes, and present is the desire to learn the details about the corners of this building, the lighting, the ceilings, the doors, and the clockwork shifts. She had been relatively ignorant to everything up until now, but that changes today. If escape is imminent — and she has to continue believing that it is — then freedom could happen in a moment and with little time for preparation, because only a fast exit will allow them to escape.

Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed is the new Natalie! No more drudging, staring at nothingness or hoping and waiting without thought. She will be alert, creative, and anticipating. She knows that Drayden is working hard to find her, and so she needs to work hard to be found. Cameras watch her at all times. That limits her ability to snoop as much as she would like. But that’s okay because she’s clever. She’s imaginative. And she’s got the one thing in her armament that makes her impossible to stop: she’s a mother. They absolutely won’t see her coming.

The window of time to escape tightens because her baby is growing more rapidly, and she’s much less mobile every new day. Oh, how she wishes she had done something when they first brought her in. She was much smaller then. Now, she’s already having difficulty tying her own shoes.

It takes a full hour for Agent Love to request her. During that time, Natalie envisions the doorways throughout the complex on the way to her interrogation room. There are eight total in two different directions. She notes how many times the heating vent turned on — six — with each episode lasting approximately eight minutes, then off for five, then on for another eight. It must be cold outside. Maybe they’re not as deep into the ground as she initially thought. She could be in Russia, Alaska, Greenland, or anywhere — at least she’s now thinking about the possibilities. That being the case, she’s determined to keep all options open. And it doesn’t matter to her, anyway. He can find her no matter where they are on the planet. Any of those countries would be fine as long as she can somehow pinpoint where exactly she is and then send him some sort of signal. That’s the first order of business. She needs her location, and then she needs to figure out a way to communicate it out to the world, in a way that Drayden could hear her.

She sits across from her familiar interviewer and can’t help but to smile at her new plan. Agent Love looks up at her, then down to that annoying notepad with the scribbles and writings, and then back up at Natalie. Natalie notices she looks much better than she did when they ended things yesterday, and she was just about to tell her so, but Agent Love surprises her by beating her to the punch.

“You look very nice,” Agent Love says. “You’re practically glowing.”

“Why, thank you, Agent Love. I hope you’re feeling better,” Natalie says. Agent Love nods once. There’s no smile, but the nod is satisfactory. It’s acknowledgment. Natalie can live with the acknowledgment for now. Agent Love looks down at her notes from the day before and flips to a clean page.

“He returned the same night as the cafe,” Agent Love says.

“Yes, he did.” Natalie sighs and smiles. It’s a good memory for her. Once she revisits often. “He surprised me by coming back so quickly. I mean, I knew he liked me, but when he left, I wondered for hours if I had talked too much, or if my endless questions were too overbearing. He said he was having a difficult time not thinking about me. Well, that’s not exactly how it happened. Let me back up a bit for you. I need to start with Livia. Oh, and my parents. She’s home safe, yes? Livia? She’s good?”

“Yes.” Agent Love’s answer was curt and came quickly, almost too soon for Natalie’s tastes.

“That’s good. I mean I’m glad she’s home. She’s a worrier, you know. You wouldn’t think it to look at her, what with her multi-colored hair and random piercings, but she’s the most caring doll you’ll ever know.”

“After Drayden left the cafe with you, where did he go?”

“Back to the states, but I didn’t know that until about a week later when he told me about his abilities. Can you do me a favor and bring in a picture of Livia? I miss her so, and I think a picture of her would really help me to feel better about being trapped here. Could you do that for me, Agent Love?”

“Maybe. Why did Drayden go back to the states? What reason did he tell you?”

“He saved a boy. He’s a hero many times over, that’s why I can’t understand how you think it’s a good thing to capture him. He did nothing wrong. Don’t you know that? Do you really believe he would hurt anybody?”

“So he left England, saved a boy, and then went back to be with you? What boy did he save?” She sounded doubtful, almost uninterested as if Drayden had lied about this to Natalie and she had bought it hook, line and sinker.

“A boy was kidnapped in one of the American states — I can’t remember which one — but he read about it on his phone and knew he could help. He used to get those Amber alerts sent to his phone wirelessly. He’s much more anonymous now, and I guarantee there are a lot of children around the world and other people in need who are not getting help because my Drayden can’t come out of hiding. I’ll bet when you joined this horrible organization, wherever this place is, I’ll bet you thought you were signing up for the betterment of your country. Or maybe the betterment of our world. I think you truly meant to be of some help, but I can’t for the life of my baby or me see what good you can do by bringing Drayden in. He believes his powers are better off not having, and his brother, Reginald, thought so, too. Do you really trust your people so much as to give them what Drayden has? I hope not. Speaking of hope, can you do me a favor and make sure the picture of Livia is recent? Your little agency here hasn’t exactly made me trust them so much. I’m sure you know what I mean.”

Agent Love doesn’t answer.

“What are you, like seven to ten years from full retirement benefits?” Natalie asks. “Is that thought fleeting, or does it consume your nights when you are out of this place? Drayden can help you, too, Agent Love. He can get you out and hide you. He’s an expert at that now. And you’re smart, I’m sure, so all you’d have to do is lie low, wait out your years until they forgot about you or until new bosses came in and focused on another weapon. This place is the worst! I can see it in your eyes that you hate it. It must feel like such a trap to you! I’ve only been here just over a month, and already I’m getting so stir crazy. And to have to come here every single day. Every day always the same. Every day the same plain walls, the same plain water, the same bad lighting. I really don’t know what I’d do. What a state of denial I’d have to put myself in. Just look at me now. I’m showered clean, and that helps — it really does — but still I’m trapped. And you’re trapped as well! Oh my gosh,” Natalie says as if just now realizing, “you’re trapped as well.” The sentence finishes with a finality that deadens the air. Agent Love holds Natalie’s eye contact. “How about that picture of Livia? Can you please somehow make sure I know it isn’t from last year and maybe put a newspaper in it somehow or some other clever way that dates it recently?”