X.2 | Clouds | Bonus Scenes

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This chapter takes a peek at some of the alternative timelines that exists somewhere in between and all around the plot... Thank you to all the lovely readers and commenters that made this possible! And I'm still collecting ideas for further scenes, so I might update this chapter once in a while.

1 | The one in which Espira's crimes are punished mercilessly.

Pandora's hands were shaking as she pulled the metal cap from the vial and broke the seal.

One more dose was all it would take. One last time she would force the poison down the sleeping President's throat. She had never wanted to kill him. But his reign of terror had to end. The atrocities he had committed, the horror she had to live with every day – it was too much to bear. She would become a murderer if only it meant that this insanity would stop.

"Freeze!"

With a shriek of surprise, she dropped the vial. It hit the floor and cracked, the yellowish liquid seeping into the carpet. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and at the same time, she felt like it sank. It was over. She had failed.

"Turn around slowly, hands up where I can see them," the voice behind her commanded.

As Pandora turned around, she came face to face with a shadow. A woman stood before her, clad in black head to toe, her face half concealed by a dark, mirrored visor. The weapon she held pointed at her looked odd – sleek and black, with two narrow blueish lines lighting up along the sides with a soft, pulsing glow. She figured the woman must have been with Special Forces. Somebody from the Agency of Internal Affairs perhaps, sent to keep the President safe.

Safe from people like her.

"Are you here to kill me?" Pandora whispered.

"No," the woman replied.

Her head turned slightly and she looked past Pandora, to the man sleeping on the bed. She had drugged him with sleeping pills to make sure he'd be out while she administered the last dose.

"I am here for him."

Pandora's back straightened. Perhaps this person was on her side, after all, whoever had sent them.

"Who are you? Internal Affairs?"

"No. I'm with... the Fashion Police."

Pandora gasped in surprise. "You... you really exist... and you came!"

Sobbing from relief, she collapsed on her knees before the stranger. "You really came! Oh thank you, thank you so much!"

The stranger ignored her. She stepped over to the bed and looked down at Espira.

"Frederic Espira. Your apartment is an eyesore and you shall be arrested for the crimes of atrocious taste in furniture, pretentiously calling worthless random heirlooms 'vintage antiques', and putting gold tassels on beige curtains. Furthermore, you have violated numerous articles of The Dress Code, by wearing several clashing shades of blue at the same time, socks in sandals, and combinations of velour and velvet."

Espira moaned in his sleep, much like anyone awake expressed their despair when they entered his apartment or beheld his wardrobe.

The woman ignored the fact that the man was sleeping, rolled him over to his side and cuffed his hands behind his back.

On the floor, Pandora continued to sob quiet tears of joy and relief. It was finally over.

"It's alright, ma'am," the Fashion Policewoman nodded at her. "You'll be alright from now on. Just steer clear of warm hues. They don't go at all with your skin tone."

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