Just Us

family reunion

Something cold & wet hits my face.  I hear a voice but it sounds muffled.  I try to open my eyes but they feel like lead, i try to move my hands but they won't budge.  Another wave of cold wetness hits my face & my eyes pop open.  The brightness of the room is blinding.  I'm in an all white conference room with a long table surrounded by chairs, i know this place very well.  Back over the rainbow, exactly where i wanted to be.  All the chairs were empty except the one at the head of the table.

" hello  baby girl, sorry for getting water on your pretty dress but daddy had to cut nap time short." He says smiling that creepy smile that never reaches his eyes.  I've had nightmares about that smile.

" took you long enough, I was starting to think you forgot about me." He laughs & walks over to me, kneeling down he stares into my eyes, those eyes that look just like mine.  He takes a towel & wipes the water off my face.

"We need to make sure your nice & pretty, we have company coming."

" where are the others?"

" oh don't worry about them, I have  very special plans for your little friends, especially Dani, I don't deal very well with betrayal.  You might want to keep that in mind." He slaps me so hard I start to see stars.  Despite the pain throbbing on the side of my face, I laugh.

" you're getting soft in your old age, I remember your slaps being a lot harder."

" I was just warming up, have to be at my best when I snap your little boyfriend neck! Yeah, I know about that, stupid girl, I taught you better than that." The thought of him hurting Laurent bothered me way more than I'd like to admit, but my face remained like stone, if he saw even a tiny sign of weakness, Laurent will be dead before I could blink, if he isn't already.  He stands up & walks back to the table.

" why did you leave me Nicole."

" is this the part where I break down & confess my undying love for you & we hug it out?  If it is, you're wasting your time.  You took my life from me, you beat me, you isolated me just so you could control me & force me to kill for your love.  Then you leave me for dead at the first sign of trouble."

" I forced you!!?? Is that the lie you've been telling yourself all these years?  I gave you everything you could ever want, I didn't abuse you, I trained you to be tough, to be the best! I saw the look in your eyes when I gave you that gun, the beauty of your first kill, I didn't force you to do anything.  When that job went bad I came for you, they told me you were dead.  I mourned the loss of my only daughter to find out later that she's still alive & hiding from me!  How do you think that makes me feel?". He slams his first down on the table so hard the chairs shake.

" You killed my mother!  You took away the only person in this world that ever gave a fuck about me. As far as im concerned you can keep mourning because you killed your only daughter a long time ago!  so no, I don't give a dam about your fucking feelings you cold hearted piece of shit!" He stood up with a look that matched my own, somebody was going to die today & it was NOT going to be me.  Before he could take another step I heard the door behind me slam & a voice that shook my soul to it's very core.

" that's enough Julian, do not lay another finger on her, leave us alone please."

That voice, the way she said his name, the only person in the world that calls my father by his  government without getting their throat slit.  I can smell her perfume as she comes closer.  He leaves the room giving me one last smirk before slamming the door.  Suddenly my hands are being untied & I rub my wrists where the ropes left red gashes.  She steps in front of me & I'm afraid to look up.  My whole world came crashing down around me.  This can't be real...... I have to be dreaming....... Standing before me is my mother!