Caught Unaware

Chapter 37

LOCATION: UNKNOWN

For the second time in her life, Amelia woke up feeling as though she had the worst hangover she'd ever experienced. She was thirsty, her tongue thick and dry like a lump of clay that sat heavily in her mouth and her throat felt cracked and dusty. The light of the new day shined blindingly into her eyes, making her reluctant to even try opening them to her new surroundings.

It took a few moments to realize she wasn't bound to anything but lying on the ground, somewhere quiet and warm. Slowly, Amelia turned her head and pressed her forehead to the ground in an effort to avoid the glaring sun that was burning through her eyelids. Reluctant evermore, she cracked open her eyelids and quickly blinked, bringing her unbound hands to the sides of her body to push her self onto her knees before cradling her head.

A hand touched her shoulder gently and the smell of jasmine or sandlewood filled her nose as she, with her squinting eyes, looked up into a friendly, weathered face of an elderly woman who had spotted the poor girl on the pavement and assumed the worst.

"My dear," the woman's surprisingly silky voice flowed from her ancient lips. "Do you need to make a phone call for help?"

Amelia struggled to focus her eyes by rubbing them viciously with her fingers and forcing her eyes to adjust to the light as she answered.

"Please, ma'am, if you would have some water?"

"Oh, of course, darling. Give me a moment to find it in my bag...oh! Here it is." The older lady handed Amelia a bottle of Evian water.

"Oh, that's good," Amelia gasped as she screwed the lid of the bottle back on. The woman waved her hand and shook her head when Amelia offered to return it.

"What day is it?" Amelia asked, still sitting onto the ground.

"Why, it's Tuesday, dear. I do believe we should call the authorities. You seem to be in a great deal of trouble," the silky voice wavered in concern.

Amelia was dumbfounded. She had lost at least two days. There was nothing in her head, no recollection of the days that were missing between her being tranquilized at the lab in Venezuela and ending up here on the street.

Her heart began to pound in her chest and she began to panic. Was it over? Was Casey alright? Amelia struggled to get to her feet despite the graceful but insistent protests emitting from the elderly woman beside her.

"Now, dear, you really must-"

"I apologize," Amelia turned to the woman, all trace of dazed and confused erased from her now panic features. She clenched and unclenched her hands, rubbing her fingernail against her thumb in a nervous habit she hadn't demonstrated since her youth.

"Do you know where I am? What street or neighborhood?"

"Why, you're right next to Dodger Stadium, are you--"

"Is that close to Echo Park?" Amelia interrupted.

"You are IN Echo Park." the woman answered patiently, obviously resigning to answering her questions before trying to get any useful information out of her.

"But is it near where Case-... Oh!" Amelia turned and looked around in frustration.

"Wait!" Amelia whipped back around to the older woman. "Buy More. Where am I in relation to the Buy More? The one in Burbank?"

"Oh, I don't travel much to that part of Burbank very often. If you need to get there, I will pay a cab for you to go. As long as you have someone there that can help you?" The woman prompted with her question.