Leticia

by Lindsay Anne Kendal

  “It’s OK, please don’t work yourself up, you need to rest and get your strength back. I don’t like seeing you like this.”

  “I’ll be alright, I have you back,” he smiled.

  “Luke listen, me and you... we...”

  “Don’t say anything yet, I know we haven’t seen each other for a year or so, but... well let’s just... let’s talk tomorrow.”

  His eyes started to close, I wanted desperately to wake him up, but that would be cruel. I turned silent until he was fully asleep, then pulled the duvet over him a little more. As I was about to leave the room, Nancy knocked and walked in. She looked over at Luke and saw him sleeping.

  “I’ve made him some sandwiches,” she whispered. “But I wrapped them just in case he was asleep.”

  “Thank you.”

  She placed them on the bedside table, then walked out with me.

  “Where’s Jackson?” I asked.

  “In his room. Leticia, listen, you may find he’ll go very quiet. Please don’t be off with him. Your ex-lover is here and Jackson feels out of place... like a fifth wheel. He knows your history with Luke and he wouldn’t be normal if this didn’t bother him.”

  “He shouldn’t feel like that, I haven’t seen or spoken with Luke in nine years.”

  “I know, but how would you feel? He’s just so scared of losing you.”

  “He shouldn’t be. I’m going to speak to him, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “OK,” she half smiled.

  When I walked in Jackson’s room I found him on his bed. He turned to look at me for a brief second then took to staring at the ceiling.

  “Are you OK?” I asked, acting like I didn't know what was wrong with him.

  “I’m fine.”

  I sat on the bed beside him. “Don’t tell lies, talk to me Jackson.”

  “I’m just tired, and... shocked I think. I was expecting to either find the lab abandoned or have one hell of a fight. I didn't expect to find Luke. I have a million questions running through my head and I don’t have an answer to any.”

  “That make’s two of us.”

  “How is he?”

  “He’s asleep.”

  “It will do him good.”

  “You know, he was talking to me a little bit just then... he said, he knew he hadn’t seen me for a year or so... he hasn’t got a clue how long he’s been there or how long I’ve been gone. I don’t know how he’s going to react when I tell him.”

  “Jesus, you might want to ask him what year he thinks it is. You’ll know what you’re dealing with better then.”

  “Yeah I know,” I sighed. “Right, I’ll let you get some sleep.”

  “No, wait... will you stay with me?”

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea tonight,” I said standing.

  “I don’t mean for sex Leticia, I just want you close.”

  “I can’t, not tonight. I need some time on my own.”

  He didn't respond he just nodded. I kissed his cheek before leaving the room.

  Chapter 34

  I think I managed to get around two hours sleep. I spent most of the night tossing and turning, and checking in on Luke. He’d slept all night or at least what had been left of it. He’d even been asleep while we were driving back from Milton Keynes. He would feel better for it and I hoped once he started eating properly again, he would make a speedy recovery.

  I looked at the clock, it was now 10a.m. After deciding to get out of bed and get dress, I made my way downstairs. Luke, Nancy and Tristan were in the kitchen. Luke looked better already, there was some colour in his cheeks and the dark circles that were under his eyes yesterday had faded slightly. As soon as I walked in his eyes were on me.

  “Oh, good morning Leticia,” Nancy smiled. “Did you sleep at all?”

  “Not much?”

  “Oh dear, are you OK?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine... where’s Jackson?”

  “I don’t know, he came down about an hour ago and told me he was going for a walk.”

  “On his own, with all this going on. He went berserk when I went out alone.”

  “Yeah but you still did it,” Tristan commented.

  “Nobody asked for your input,” I said, pulling a face at him.

  “Do you want some breakfast?” Nancy asked me. “We’ve all eaten.”

  “No thanks, I’m really not hungry.”

  She nodded then turned silent; I turned my attention to Luke. He was nice and clean now, and Tristan had given him some clothes.

  “Can we talk?” He asked me.

  “Yes sure.”

  “Can we take a walk?”

  Nancy looked at me a little worried, but I paid no attention to her. “Yes, come on.” I told him.

  We left the house and started walking into one of the open fields. I looked around hoping to catch a glimpse of Jackson, but he was nowhere in sight.

  “You look really well,” Luke told me, interrupting my little search. “As beautiful as ever.”

  “I don’t know what to say to that.”

  “You never could accept a compliment.”

  We stopped next to a fence, leaning against it.

  “Luke I need to know everything that happened.”

  “What... right now?”

  “Yes. You have no idea what’s been going on here the last couple of months. I need to know who’s behind it and why they’re doing it.”

  “OK... then can we talk about us?”

  “Luke, there is no us.”

  “Maybe not now but...”

  “Please just tell me what happened. Start at the beginning.”

  We sat down in the grass; he took a deep breath before talking.

  “I thought everything was going well at first. Both the scientists were intrigued and genuinely wanted to help. After they had a sample of your blood they got straight to work; they really believed you were ill, and they wanted to save your life. They kept me updated every step of the way, and I provided them with anything they needed. Charles was a very pleasant man, he was always asking how you were, and wanted me to send you his regards. He was a family man, he spoke to his wife and children every day and kept a photograph of them all on his desk. He came over to find a miracle cure and his family were so proud of him. Anyway, Roger was pleasant, but very intense. He would get very worked up and have to go out of the lab for a cigarette if things weren’t going the way he wanted them too. However, he also had a good laugh with people, and he and Charles got on very well.

  “After a few weeks though, things changed. Charles was becoming stressed, and Roger, he was hardly sleeping, he was agitated, which I just put down to lack of sleep...”

  “Didn’t you let these guys have a break?” I asked.

  “Of course I did, but they wouldn’t leave the lab. In the end they both ended up sleeping there. Roger would have a nap every now and again and fill himself with coffee and carry on working. I was getting worried about them both. I mean, Charles even stopped calling his family. When I approached them about it, they said they were OK, but that they thought they were close to finding the cure and they were frightened of stopping. I believed them; I had no reason not to.”

  “Are you trying to tell me the scientists are behind this?”

  “I remember the last time I spoke to you. I told you we were close... I was going to call you later that evening and ask if you would let me take you for a meal... I was about to leave the lab. I remember walking down the hallway towards the exit... then I knew nothing until I woke up strapped to that bed... the difference then was that I had silver chains wrapped around me too. Charles and Roger were standing next to me; they had hooked me up to all sorts of machines, there were wires and pressure pads all over me. Charles had a needle in his hand, he injected me with what I later found out was your blood. Only a little bit, they didn’t have much of it left. Within a few minutes everywhere the silver touched me... started to... sting, burn, I felt like I’d had acid spilled on me... but I felt
strong, everything changed. I could hear people talking in the streets; I could smell every chemical in the lab... all my senses were heightened Leticia...”

  “Now you know how I feel every day.”

  “Nobody should feel like that, it’s not right, it’s not...”

  “Normal? Human? God you’re so predictable, you’re so closed minded; tunnel visioned, who are you to say what is right? You’re not God. God created everything on this earth and that includes me... so there’s jack shit wrong with me.”

  “Do these people know what you are?” he asked, examining my face.

  “Yeah they do.”

  “And they’re not scared of you?” His eyes went wide.

  “No they’re not. Now can we get back to what happened?”

  “Fine. I fought like mad, trying to get free, but I was locked down too tight and the silver was hurting so badly... in the end I gave up, they were talking amongst themselves, taking notes of my temperature, and other readings from the machines. I think it all lasted about twenty minutes at most, but God, it felt like hours. When the effects were wearing off, that’s when everything went from bad to worse; I honestly thought I was dying. My skin felt like it was on fire, my head was banging and sick... I’ve never felt so sick in my life. I had so much going on at the same time, stomach ache, muscle cramps, dry mouth... I thought “this is it, I’m going to die”. I remember begging them for water but neither of them listened to me. Then I passed out... When I woke up again the chains had been removed, the machines were gone, but I was still fastened to the bed by the restraints.

  “It was almost dark; there were no lights on in the room. I shouted and shouted for someone... anyone... but nobody came. I needed food and water. I was so hungry and dehydrated.”

  “Did anyone come?”

  “Not until the next morning. Charles set up a drip to keep me hydrated and he did allow me to have some water and bread. Other than that, I didn’t get anything...”

  “Have you been there ever since?”

  “Pretty much, they would occasionally lock me in one of larger storage rooms so I could, as they put it, “get some exercise”. I say occasionally, but I think it was once a week or something like that. To be honest I lost track of time.”

  “Why did they keep you like that?”

  “They kept injecting me; they’d done something to your blood, I don’t know what, maybe they watered it down. They were saying they wanted to increase the potency gradually and monitor its effects. Then one night I could hear them shouting and fighting. They had no blood left. But then later on that night they were restocked. I thought maybe they’d asked you for another vial.”

  “I was attacked, rather brutally; I was knocked unconscious. Maybe that’s when they took my blood...” I explained. “I was covered in cuts and bruises, so I can’t say I noticed any needle marks, I wasn’t looking for them either; but it took longer than usual for me to heal. So it would make sense, extreme blood loss takes longer to recover from, even for me.”

  “I can’t believe they attacked you,” he growled, standing. “I swear to God I didn't know about it.”

  “I believe you.”

  He went quiet for a moment, trying to calm himself. I looked in the direction of the house. Jackson stood by his car looking over at us.

  “Can we go back to the house?” I asked Luke. “It looks like it’s going to rain. We can sit in one of the rooms on our own and talk.”

  In honesty, I just wanted to be close to Jackson again so he didn't start thinking things were going on with us. He nodded and walked with me. Once Jackson saw us coming over he went inside. We sat in the smaller living room; at first he tried to sit next to me, but I think he saw how uncomfortable I was and quickly moved.

  “Can you carry on?” I asked.

  “OK...Erm, there isn’t that much to tell now really. They increased the level of blood they gave me and monitored all the results. In the end, I got used to the feelings I experienced when the effects were wearing off. That carried on for months. Eventually they realized that when they hadn’t tampered with your blood, they only had to inject an extremely small amount for things inside me to change...”

  “Well wouldn’t that have made sense anyway?”

  “I guess, but that’s what they did anyway. After a while, I couldn’t tell you exactly how long; they seemed to get excited. They spent less and less time at the lab and left me alone for days at a time. Sometimes they would sedate me, so god knows how long I was out of it. I was so weak, it didn't matter what I did I couldn’t get free. I thought I was going to die in there... I probably would have if you and Jackson hadn’t gotten me out. Anyway... a few weeks ago things changed dramatically. Roger seemed panic stricken, and Charles, he just disappeared. I’ve not seen or heard of him for a long time. Maybe he went back to his family and Roger was pissed off about it...”

  The door opened and Jackson walked in. “Charles is dead,” he told Luke. “We found his body half decomposed in one of the storage rooms.”

  “Have you been listening in?” I asked.

  “I heard the last part of your conversation, nothing more.”

  “Charles is dead?” Luke repeated. “How? What... what happened to him?”

  “He appears to have been shot, his body was stuffed into a locker,” Jackson told him rather bluntly.

  “Jesus, no wonder Roger was in such a state.”

  “When was the last time you saw Roger?”

  “I’m not sure, it was a while ago. Other men have been coming in. Not scientists more like homeless people. They came in the room I was in a few times but none of them would help me, they just laughed at me and walked out,” He told us. “How did you know I was there by the way? How long have you been looking for me?”

  Jackson looked at me for a moment, a sympathetic look spread across his face and he decided to leave us alone again.

  “Luke, there are things you don’t know... a lot of things... I don’t know if you’ll want to hear them right now...”

  “Just tell me, I need to know, I need to try and understand everything.”

  I took a deep breath. “OK, well, I noticed before you said we hadn’t seen each other for about a year.”

  “Yes.”

  “Luke, sweet... it’s been... nine years.”

  “What? Leticia that’s not funny.”

  “We last saw each other in 2001. It’s now 2010. Nine years.”

  “But... how... oh my god. I feel sick.” He walked over to the window breathing heavily.

  “What else don’t I know?”

  “We weren’t looking for you, in fact... we thought it was you doing all this to us...”

  “What! Doing all what?”

  “Sit down and I’ll start at the beginning.” I waited for a few minutes, just to give him time to calm down. “I waited for you to contact me about the cure, I know we kept in touch, but then you stopped calling. I went to the lab and Charles told me that basically you wanted nothing to do with me and that I should leave you alone. I tried calling you, texting you, emailing... everything, and you never replied. I thought you’d turned against me. Then I was attacked... and the guys said you had sent them...”

  He didn't speak, but then he didn’t have to; his eyes welled up with tears and he tried his hardest to fight them back. I told him everything. From the being followed to the attempted indecent assault, watching his reactions carefully. He looked shocked, disgusted and heartbroken. I explained everything in detail, about living in isolation, moving here and meeting my new friends. The only thing I didn’t tell him was that I was now in a relationship with Jackson. I didn’t want to hurt him even more at the moment.

  We were talking for hours. Nancy had popped her head around the door and shortly after brought us drinks and some snacks. Jackson had checked in on us, just to make sure we were both OK. I ended up in tears myself at some points, which of course made him fifty times worse. But he wanted to know.

  “So, after
the incident with Tristan you came to the lab looking for answers, instead you found me,” he sighed.

  “I’m glad we found you, please don’t think any different. Besides, I know more now than I did before, you’ve helped a lot and I appreciate it more than you could possibly imagine. I know it mustn’t have been easy talking about all that.”

  “No it wasn’t but... it wasn’t easy for you either. I think the hardest thing... what I’m having difficulty getting my head around, is the fact it’s been nine years... nine years Leticia. Nearly a decade of my life... just gone. How am I supposed to deal with that, how do I accept it?”

  “I don’t know. I think you need to let everything calm down first, get your health back and then take each day as it comes. That’s what I did. I spent eight years alone, isolated...”

  “You’re immortal Leticia, I’m not,” He shot. “Jesus, how long did I spend sedated? I swear it felt like a year, maybe just over. I’ve lost out on so much time.”

  “I might be immortal, but that’s still a long time Luke, and think of it this way. I was awake the whole eight years, every single day. It almost drove me insane. So don’t for one minute think I don’t know how it feels.”

  “I’m not saying that, but you have forever to make up for it. I don’t.”

  “I know...”

  “I’ve lost everything, my friends, business, my life and the woman I love.”

  “Luke...”

  “Don’t try and make me feel better, nothing you could say would make this any easier.”

  “Do you want me to give you some time on your own?” I asked, standing.

  “No, I think I’ve had enough of that. Please don’t leave me.”

  I sat down again, only this time next to him. I was about to speak, although I didn't really know what to say, when he wrapped his arms around my waist and cuddled into me. My heart went out to him, at the end of the day this was someone I was once very close to, who I cared for so deeply. To see him in this state upset me greatly.

  “Do you still hate me?” He asked, almost whispering.

  “No, how could I? I admit for a long time I did, I thought it was you that had turned against me... but now... I feel guilty for thinking that.”