Hi there!
I know this is a ridiculously short chapter, but we all have to start somewhere, right? It's been almost a full year since I touched this story, and, going back, I've been debating over whether I ought to finish it or not. So, with that said, I'm going to take small steps into completing it to the best of my ability. I don't know where this second book will go, but I hope I can somehow do the original some justice (if it does indeed deserve some). I like the idea of Tin-Tin's head being taken over by her evil half-uncle, and I just wish I had written that "brilliance" into something better than this!! Thanks for reading everyone, it means so much to me.
I write for myself, but I keep writing for my reviewers :)
Angelina
"Tin-Tin, why don't you try and get some rest?" Virgil suggests after another long conversation and quite a few tears from my end. I didn't add that I was related to this man - The Hood - or that he was after International Rescue, but he did pry for some more details.
Sometimes this certain quality of Virgil bugs me. He's always just so damn calm all the time, so levelheaded and grounded, that he never flies off the handle. There's a murderer in my head that almost ended his life and all he can do is tell me to get some sleep.
What the hell is up with that?
I grit my teeth and take a breath to keep from jumping down his throat. It's certainly not what either of us needs right now. "Easier said than done, I'd imagine."
"But you'll try, won't you? We've already been up most of the night."
I nod. "For you, Virgil, but only for you." I sigh and pull the blankets up around myself, feeling my weary limbs already beginning to relax.
He leans over and brushes his soft lips against my forehead sweetly before sliding down beside me in the dark. "Goodnight, Tin-Tin."
"Goodnight, Virgil." The words 'I love you' were on the tip of my tongue, but considering I had come quite close to killing him that night, I wasn't sure they quite fit. I didn't want to pressure him into returning them.
I felt his arm slide around me and welcomed it, moving in closer to his warmth.
I'm still not sure how I deserved someone like him, but at this moment, I was so glad I was his.
"Tin-Tin? Tin-Tin, wake up!"
The hands. The strong, strong hands. I can feel them, they're on my arms, holding me down, shaking me back and forth. There's a voice too... it's screaming at me, louder and louder, as if afraid that I'm not listening. Or that I can't hear.
"Tin-Tin!"
"No...!" I wail, voice scratchy and heavy with sleep. "No, no, leave me alone, please just leave me alone!" I thrash away from the hands, crying, screaming, tossing and turning and sweating with the effort of staying away from the hands.
"Tin-Tin, you're dreaming! Wake up!"
Dreaming. I don't know the meaning of the word. Not at this point, not at this stage. The Hood has me, he's holding me so tight, shaking me, calling me...
"Tin-Tin, wake up! It's just a nightmare!"
Nightmare. Now that's a word I know.Eyes flying open, I blink once, twice, three times, and finally focus on the shadow in the room. Not The Hood. Not Belah Gaat. Virgil. My Virgil.
"Tin-Tin?" His voice is soft now, sitting down beside me on the bed. "Tin-Tin, are you okay?"
I have grown to hate that question with a passion that almost rivals the passion I have for who's asking it.
I croak, sounding like a frog with a nasty cold, and swallow the contents of the glass of water he hands me as if I've been out in the hot Lake Anasta sun.Oh, what a memory. Another vacation that The Hood brought to an end. I nod then, wiping the small droplets off my lips with the back of my hand. I can't seem to get them to part long enough to speak.
"That must have been some nightmare. You almost knocked me full out of bed!" He tries to make light of the situation, but I can't find the humor in it.
After a pregnant pause, the silence filled just with one concerned gaze meeting one sleepy one, I clear my throat. "What time is it?"
"Almost seven. You certainly weren't asleep long. You must have been tired, and drifted off right away."
I just nod once more, putting my head back down on the pillow. I wish I could just sleep peacefully, without my mind being corrupted, or without dreaming of it, even. It had been a long night, and not for a good reason, either.
He pushes the covers off of himself and gets out of bed, stretching and pushing his rumpled hair out of his eyes. If I had not been in such a dire mood, I would have admired his half-naked form, clad in just boxer shorts, wandering around the room as he collected his things for a shower and shave.
Had this been a regular morning on a regular vacation, I'd have been organizing myself for my own shower. But I was so tired that I couldn't bring myself to bother, sure he wouldn't mind if I went home in my pajamas.
Of course, I was not going to go to the airport in my little lace nightie, thank you very much.
A few more minutes of sleep, I decided. Just a few, now that I have to wait for Virgil to get out of the shower anyway...
I drifted off, the warm breeze that fluttered the curtains brushing my hair out of my eyes and cooling my face.
"Thought you could avoid me, didn't you?"