By Raven
�You have one chance, Mr. Crow, to accomplish this mission. You must stop her, or all will be lost for us. Do not fail me, Mr. Crow, or you will suffer the fate that is planned for her.�
�Annie, can you hear me? Annie, if you can, you need to try and open your eyes.�
�Everything is so fuzzy. Why can�t I open my eyes?�
�Slowly, Annie. You have been asleep for a while.�
�Bright light. Oh, it hurts my eyes!�
�Annie, what do you remember about the accident?�
�My name isn�t Annie, it�s Raven.�
�Annie, don�t try and talk. You still have a ventilator tube in your throat. Annie, listen to me. We are going to give you something to help you sleep. When you wake up, the tube will be out of your throat.�
�Well, hello, Annie. How are you feeling? My name is Monica. I will be your day nurse.�
�It hurts.�
�I know. Your throat is going to be sore for a while. Here. The doctor said that you could have some ice chips. He will be in shortly.�
�Hello, Annie.� came the voice from just out of visual range. �My name is Dr. Robbins. I have been treating you since your accident. What do you remember?�
�Annie? Accident? My name is Raven.� �What accident?�
�Well, Annie, approximately five weeks ago, you were in an accident that was the direct result of a cerebral hemorrhage. Do you know what that is?�
�Cerebral hemorrhage? That�s not possible! I can�t get those!� �Isn�t that when a blood vessel bursts in your brain?�
�Yes, Annie, that is right. Now, Annie, what do you remember?�
�What am I supposed to remember?�
�Okay, Annie, let�s start from the beginning. Do you know where you are?�
�I can assume in a hospital.�
�That�s good, Annie. Now, where do you live?�
�I live at 1532 West 46th Street, Number 12, Manhattan, New York.�
�Good! Do you remember what you do for work?�
�No.�
�Well, you work for one of the uptown publishing houses as a proof reader. Do you know what year it is?�
�Yeah. Well, maybe not. I think that it is 1986.�
�Good! That is very good! Now, who is president?�
�Reagan. Don�t ask me about the Vice President. I can never remember him.�
�Well, that�s enough for now. You get some rest.�
�She has some holes in her memory but that is to be expected.�
�Why is it so dark in here?�
�Hi, honey! You don�t want to turn the light on, love.�
�Who are you?�
�Babe, the doctor said that you have a few memory gaps, but it will come back in time.�
�Who are you?�
�I�m Jack, remember? Your fiancee.�
�Fianc�, like hell! I ain�t ever getting married.� �Why is it so bloody dark in here?�
�Thats because the light will hurt you, babe.
You don�t remember you have XP.�
�XP? What the hell is that?�
�Xeroderma Pigmentosa. It means that light from the sun can kill you, even too much incandescent light. You are the oldest XP survivor at twenty-six. Most kids that don�t find out until too late are vegetables by now.
�You need to rest more, babe. I will be back tomorrow. Give me a kiss.�
�Okay, Annie, you need to try and sit up for me.�
�Why does it hurt so much?�
�You need to let me do most of the work, Annie. The accident already compounded you initial problem.�
�I know this guy is just doing his job, but this is ridiculous.�
�Just a little more. That�s right, now sit up.�
�My legs! I can�t feel my legs! What happened? Why can�t I walk?�
�Easy, Annie, calm down.�
Dr. Robbins to green three, stat.
�Let go of me.�
�Just relax, Annie. Everything will be all right. You just need to relax.�
�No more needles, you bastard!�
�The orderly has a concussion and a broken arm. You didn�t say that she was that strong, even with the suppressors.�
�How long is this going to take, Mr. Crow?�
�As long as it takes for it to end.�
�Okay, Annie, let�s get you back into the wheel chair.�
�This is bull shit. I am stronger then they think.�
�You know, Annie, you are really amazing. You have more upper body muscle strength then would be expected. Five weeks in a coma and bed rest and you still can haul yourself around like it was nothing.�
�Lots of practice, I guess. Now, let�s get me out of here.� �So hungry! I eat and eat, but it does nothing for me.� �You know, the doctor hasn�t explained why sounds are so sharp.�
�Annie, he says it is from the accident and the trauma you suffered. You should still be in the hospital instead of getting ready to go home tomorrow. Let�s get you back to your room, so that you can get some sleep.�
�Is the house ready?�
�Yes. Everything has been set. For all intents and purposes, she will never know the difference.�
�What about the others?�
�They won�t be anywhere near her. She has not had contact in quite a while.�
�Yeah, a real long time.�
�Good morning, Annie. How do you feel? My name is Doctor Sidney Rains. Dr Robbins referred you to us after the accident, because you seemed to have issues since you returned home. Now, lets get started. Your fianc� has already had his appointment earlier today.�
�Damn, this wheel chair is uncomfortable.� Why, doc, does everybody insist on calling me Annie? It�s not even my name.�
�Then what would you like to be called?�
�Call me Raven.�
�I�m sorry, Annie. I can�t do that. That is the name you have given the heroine in the novel you were writing.�
�Novel? What the hell is he talking about? I�m not a writer!�
�How about I call you by you first name, then. Katherine.�
�Whatever.�
�So, Katherine, what do you remember from before the accident.�
�Not a lot, Dr. Rains. I do remember that going into the sun could be fatal, but aside from that I have no clue. I mean, I don�t even remember how I ended up living in this damn chair.�
�Well, Katherine, that is an easy one. You were born with a neurological birth defect called Spina bifida. Which means that at birth, part of your spine was not encased in the vertebra as it should be. You have had many subsequent operations, and that is why you can feel the two metal rods on either side of your spinal column.�
�He�s looking at his notebook again. What is he hiding? Pain! Pain does not exist!�
She tried reading Rains. The chip works just as we planned it to.
�Annie, I need you to sit still and keep the mask on. We are checking you for blood clots. You passed out while at your psychiatrist�s office. With you recent medical conditions, he called for an ambulance. We are going to give you a blood thinner, just in case there is a clot.�
�No, don�t! Tied down, can�t concentrate. No! won�t black o u t...�
Increase the chemicals and the neural interference.
�Annie, you need to get off the couch. It�s been three months. The printing house has been calling all week to see if you have finished the manuscript that they sent you. Come on, you need to take the pills that Dr. Rains prescribed. They will make you feel better. Come on, Annie, please?�
Jack, why do you have to always look at me like that. You make me feel like a little girl that has been naughty. I don�t want to take them, they make me feel funny.�
�Here, Annie, I even brought you a soda and a sandwich. I know you don�t want to eat anymore then you have to, to take the pills, but you have to. I just can�t stand watching you hurting yourself.�
�I�m sorry, Jack. I�m just not hungry. I don�t know why.� �God, what is that smell? Why doesn�t food smell that good? Why won�t my ears stop ringing?
�Happy New Year, Annie. It�s been eight months since you woke up from your accident.�
�Thanks, Dr. Robbins. Congratulations on the birth of your daughter.�
�Thank you, Annie. So, are you happy? Jack told me you got the news yesterday.�
�Yes, doctor, I am. I can�t believe it! I�m going to have a baby.�
�You know, Annie, I never knew you were such a good cook. What kind of sausages are these?�
�Blood sausages. I have been a student of different national dishes for years.� �I just can�t tell you that I got five times the blood I needed to make these, and drank the rest. I have to be losing my mind.�
�I know, Mr. Lazarus, this wasn�t supposed to happen. I have tried to convince her to abort the child. I think that this though will help our cause. She is forgetting about what is outside the apartment, and embracing the domesticity.�
�Do not fail me. If she does not succumb and end her own life before the year ends, then it will be you that dies. I will not let this creature ruin all that I have wrought. She will have more power soon, and will not be able to be stopped. Her life must end at her own hands.�
�I understand, sir, and I obey.�
�Who was on the phone, Jack?�
�Oh it was just a wrong number, some Mr. Le Claire. How are you feeling, sweetheart?�
�Fine, honey. I�m just real tired all of a sudden.�
�Well, you should be. You were up all night again.�
�I can�t help it. The nights are too beautiful, and I can�t stay inside all the time.�
�Honey, do you need anything?�
�No, Jack. You can go to the office. Oh, and bring me back some Szechuan from China dragon.�
�What�s going on here? Hungry. Must feed. Have to find something to drink. No, mustn�t drink the blood again. Why am I doing this? What is happening to me? Am I losing my mind?�
�Okay, Annie, I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that you seem to be real anemic. The good news is that the baby is fine. We are going to need to give you a transfusion though. I want to admit you to the hospital. I am really surprised that you haven�t collapsed from the anemia.
�Okay, Annie, I just want you to lay back and let the blood flow.�
�Dreams, all dreams. Why? Can�t be, humans don�t live that long. Humans don�t hunt other humans for food. I�m losing my mind. So warm all over, feel so much.�
�You fool! I told you under no circumstances were you to give her blood! You are going to need to increase the other drugs, now triple them!�
�But, Mr Crow, the child is taking too much from her.�
�Let it, damn it. If she dies in birth, then so be it. I am so close now. Why did I get this damn assignment?�
�So, Annie, what brings you to my office today?�
�Well, Dr. Rains, I keep hearing these voices, mostly when I am asleep. The thing that is weird about it though is the language they are speaking. I think it�s old, real old. I think I can repeat some of it if you like, Dr. Rains.�
�Why don�t you try, Annie.�
�It goes something like this. I don�t know what language it is, but I seem to be able to speak it.
�Well, Annie, it sounds like it is Gaelic.�
�That is the weird thing, Dr. Rains. I don�t remember learning that language, or French, Spanish or Japanese, but I seem to understand them all.�
�Well, Annie, I am not sure what to tell you. Jack said that when he first met you, that you were working as a transcriptionist for the U.N. You only quit there because your department was going to a day schedule.�
�Rains, what is going on? Is the chip failing?�
�No, Jack, it isn�t. We never accounted for her natural language talent. I sold her the U.N. story and she seems to believe it.�
�Damn it, Sid, this can�t be good.�
�I can increase the chemicals, Jack, that will help.�
�Sid, if you do that, will it be safe for the baby?�
�I don�t know, Jack. her biochemistry is so different. Jack, I have a serious question for you. Are you falling in love with her?�
�No, Sid, I am not, but I am going to keep the child, whatever the outcome.� [I wasn�t able to get my mate pregnant. I will not leave the child here. It�s my insurance policy. I will be damned if I let Lazarus kill me when it�s done here like the rest of those fools. They think they are going to get some big reward. A bullet in the back of the head, if they are lucky. I am not going to be one of the unlucky ones!]
�Okay, Annie, you need to push! I can see the baby�s head. One more big push, here it comes. It�s a boy, Annie!�
�Annie, we need to put him in the incubator, he is a little small. You just lay here and rest.�
�Yes, her blood is flowing into the collection bags. She is so doped up, she isn�t noticing the feeling. We will have enough to sustain the child soon. Her own regeneration seems to be working overtime. We will be able to transport soon as the child is stable. The child has all her traits without the solar condition. He is too small to test the other factors yet.�
�Good, Mr. Crow. Bring the child, and dispose of the others. She may have not taken her own life, but the child can still be used to our advantage.�
�Thank you, sir. Crow out.�
�What�s that noise? Child crying, my child crying! My child! Must save my child! They want to hurt my baby! Pain! Must move! Must save him!�
�Jack, she�s moving, and she ain�t happy. She is off the table and, oh shit, she�s walking! Jack, what was that noise? No human could ever make a noise like that.�
�That�s because she isn�t human. She never was.� �Here, take this. I�m going to get the boy. Meet me at the door.�
�Come on, little one. We need to leave. You are the key. Lazarus said so. Your mother is going to destroy them to reach you. You are the one thing she has wanted all her life. Portal is open. Time to go to your new home.� �Annie, I need him to live. Lazarus will kill me. I promise I will always care and love him. I�ve named him Thomas Xavier like we agreed.�
�No, you won�t take my baby!! You�ll die before you take him from me!!!�
�Raven, NO! Let him go!�
�Who are you, that you would stop me from keeping my child?�
�My name is Gideon, Raven, and now you must SLEEP and FORGET. �
�Frankie, I�ve found her. She looks pretty badly beaten. Remmy, this place is pretty trashed. I can�t find any bottles either.�
�Don�t worry, I�ll feed her. Come on, mon chere, wake up a little. You need to drink.�
�Where am I?�
Raven was taking her report to the Prime Minister, when the memory engram caught up with her with a feeling that she had never truly experienced before. A Chronoquake of the most violent nature. She had not seen through Crow�s deception. If she had killed herself, then every other thing that had ever happened would have not existed.
She stood there watching as Robin and the very office took on a translucentness that shook as time once again adjusted. Her head was splitting and the room was spinning. She knew that feeling, but what was real, Raven or Annie? She had to warn them. Crow was loose, that meant he had survived. He had nearly convinced her that she was a normal. What now what was his plan?
She has ruptured a blood vessel in her brain.
Right now is it best if she rest?...