Queen Of The Beasts

29| Strangers Who Once Knew Each Other

If nightmares began with a woman in a suit sitting across from you then this was definitely one. Her bright blonde hair tied up in a tight bun contrasted her olive skin and her dull green eyes seemed void of emotion and thought. We were in a small windowless grey room, sitting at a table. Seemed much like an interrogation room. That thought struck me like lightning, I was here, in this room, but for what?

"you're awake," the woman said, her lips tilting into what might have been a smile.

"who are you?" I bit back.

She interlocked her fingers on the table and leaned forward. "You can call me Agent Joseph."

My brows came together. "agent of what?"

"HIT. I'm sure you know what that is, Hero Inquest for Terrorism."

I grinned at the reality of the situation. Mr. Pow knew this would happen. "I'm not a hero."

She was good, barely showing emotion, but enough to look skeptical. "oh but you sure act like one."

Poker face on. She didn't need to know that she made me uncomfortable. "is this even legal? This is going against my will, against my rights. Where are my friends?"

"your friends are as comfortable as you are. Now, tell me what you have been up to?" as soon as the last syllables left her lips, the green of her eyes seemed to be the only thing I could see, they consumed my sight and forced me into a different world.

It was dark. Nighttime. The moon was setting and a faint glitter of stars filled the night sky. Sitting next to me was Flora. She was smiling widely and yet her eyes glistened with tears. I distinctly remember that image, it was the night we broke into the zoo. The longer I stared at Flora that less she looked like my friend. Her dark eyes grew lighter and her pale skin grew darker. Soon I was staring at Agent Joseph instead of my friend.

My heart sank. I leaned away and felt around for Mr. Pow's boot. When I did grab it and threw it at her, it flew right through her. She shook her head with a sly grin. "ah-ah, that won't work. At least not in your mind."

I froze. "where?"

She hopped off the back of the truck and onto the ground. "we're obviously in your head. These are your memories. And in the mind no one can get hurt-- at least not physically."

I stared down at my hands. They looked as solid as could be. But they didn't feel like it. When I held my hand with the other, I might have just been holding air. "why are we here?"

She looked about then met my eyes. "what have you been up to?" and just the same, I was caught up in her eyes, swirling in a whirlpool of green till I found myself in an alley, with a very hungry tiger. I was looking to Matt, preparing for the leap. He had this crazy look in his eyes; he always had that look in his eyes, like he was ready to face death at any moment. But that fire in his bright blues eyes faded and the color of his eyes melted to a dull green. Soon my friend was a woman in a suit.

"I see you have yourself a little tiger problem." She surveyed the scene, the three faceless men stuck in a moment of my memory.

"what do you want from me?" I practically begged. The questions were building up inside me and I was afraid that if that tower fell I would break as well. "information? Because I don't know who did it either!"

For the first time since I met her I saw her smile, a genuine amused smile. "if I needed information I would never think of asking you. What I do require from you is silence while I work. Dear Rayne, what have you been up to?"

This time I resisted. As much as I could, I tried not to let her suck me to another part of my memory. But that was as difficult as pulling a train. Every tug took something out of. Every time I refused to leave something bit at my mind and struck me with a quick sharp migraine.

"ah-ah, you probably shouldn't do that. You might just lose your memories or worse your mind," came Agent Joseph's voice from somewhere I couldn't see, hear or feel. I gave up all efforts of resisting the moment she said that. I was trapped in my mind, forced to replay the seen. The same. The pains of the past. The joy of memory.

I was back in Emi's truck. We were all together. Laughing, smiling, eating burgers at 1 in the morning. They were frozen in a particular moment, of which, Connor and I met each other's gazes, only to look away a moment later. I wanted that moment to last forever, because I was afraid that if Agent Joseph replaced him I would forget his face for good. When she did I held onto the memory of his smile like I'd never see it again.

"Do you know why we're here, Rayne?" Connor-Now-Agent-Joseph said.

I was numb all over. But I didn't know why. Maybe it was the realization that no matter how much I tried to fight it I couldn't get out of my head. Or maybe it was her, maybe she did something to me. What exactly, I didn't know.

"tell me then," I mumbled, my eyes set on my half bitten vegetable burger.

"because you're a threat," she said, simply. "you and your little rag tag group of friends have been trying your very best. But we don't need it, not your best, not your anything. Stop pretending to be someone you're not. Let the heroes do their job. Here's some good advice, be realistic, be who you are, a dumb teenager."

For someone who was just insulted, I was strangely calm. Sort of sedated. I chuckled. "it's so easy to tell someone to give up, when you haven't been through as much pain as them. Maybe you can see my memories, maybe you know my every little secret, the good, the bad, the ugly. But you don't know the emotions that came with those memories. And that's something that doesn't only belong to me."

"What's a feeling without a reason." She grinned. "you'd be strangers who once knew each other."

The ground opened up and I fell through. The bottom of that pit was a long way ahead, that is if it had a bottom. On and on, I went. Darkness all encompassing.

a/n: i wonder what's gonna happen next? nah jk i'm the author i know what'll happen next. but yeah. in other news, well recently there's this person who always seems to meet my eye. and i don't know what to make of it. i don't really talk to him, but for some reason, everywhere i go we always catch each others gazes. fyi, this is at school. What do you think of that?