Taken... Again

I thought I was safe after I left the hospital because I put everything that happened or did not happen behind me. I felt like a new person as I recovered and started leading the normal life I had before it all began.

I was, once again, a normal person. Or at least, as normal as a person like me could ever be…

I was no longer engaging in conspiracy theories. 

I was back to watching brainrot videos from my best friend, reading some questionable fan fiction and binge-watching terrible TV shows. I did not check the news anymore, let alone go to the dark corners of the web for hidden details.

I also led a straightforward daily life. 

I was no longer drinking, and I embraced a healthy lifestyle with yoga and meditation. My breakfast no longer consisted of coffee strong enough to give an elephant the energy of a psychotic child. 

I only drank herbal tea with honey. 

In addition, I started eating regular meals. I had forgotten that I was quite a whiz in the kitchen. I found my passion for delicious food reignited. When I could, I experimented with new recipes and ingredients. 

It was quite thrilling.

When it came to work, I was no longer late and lethargic. 

I was so focused that I completed and published two projects in an unrealistic timeframe. 

I was focused to the point I felt like I was a main character in one of those unrealistic dramas where the main character has the IQ of an even more fictional character than themselves. 

In other words, I was thriving as a normie. 

I did not engage in anything that was not my business. 

Every time I felt the tendrils of curiosity coming out like little alien antennas, I squashed them quickly. I turned that energy into something else. I became so good at redirecting my attention that I felt like a different person.

I did not even care about the news about the new High Priest when I saw the notification. It was none of my business. I did not even think about Sister Agatha. In fact, after being discharged from the hospital, I did not see her again. 

To the new me, she was a figment of my imagination. 

I was no longer that Catherine. 

I was just simple Kate.

I was content with not knowing.

I thought that my life was going to continue peacefully 

Then, it happened.

It was on a Friday. 

I was all done with my week's work, and I did not plan on taking on new tasks. So, I decided to go out for lunch instead of taking the usual bland fare from the office kitchen. I thought I could even have a midday glass of rosé with my loaded Caesar salad. 

(Okay, so maybe I lied about quitting alcohol completely.)

I wanted to go to my favourite little bistro. I walked because of my fitness goals (and my need to beat my snobbish friends who counted steps like it was money). I thought it was going to be a pleasant afternoon with some laughs.

How wrong I was…

I cannot explain exactly how it happened. 

It was in broad daylight, with people walking and driving as I walked along the road. I was surrounded by countless people, yet I had never been more alone among the unseeing and uncaring eyes. 

I remember a black SUV pulling up next to me. I was wearing my headphones so I could listen to music during my walk and solo lunch. However, I still noticed how near the vehicle was because it stopped right next to the sidewalk. 

The backdoor opened.

I wanted to step away in case someone had decided to alight illegally along the road. I mean, it was none of my business. I am not a police officer. However, as I started to back away, I felt a sting at the side of my neck. 

I felt my body lose strength as I was pushed into the vehicle. The last thought in my mind before I lost consciousness was 'I really should stop using noise-cancelling headphones in public'. 

Then, there was nothing. 

I do not know how long I was unconscious because of the vivid dreams and nightmares I experienced before I regained some awareness. The dreams were something out of a movie that used most of their budget on special visual effects and not enough on the story.

For the most part, I felt like I was floating in space. Logically, I know it would have been dark, but it was not. Everything was so clear and detailed. I seemed to float through myriads of stars which shone in all kinds of colours. 

I looked at them in awe as I whizzed through the galaxies, the brightness blurring before me. In the distance, I could see the glows of various planets, stars and moons… Some were beckoning to me while others made me feel dread. 

When I turned from the spectacle of the open space, I realised I was in some kind of vessel, perhaps a spaceship. 

I did not have time to look around because I was startled as I came face to face with a creature. It was humanoid, but the almost glowing cerulean skin and the large eyes that seemed to hold stars indicated it was no human.

Soft yellow hair covered the eerie but chiselled head and cascaded down its face. Despite my fear, there was a certain kind of beauty in this creature. Like an entranced fool, I lifted my hand towards it before dropping it after realising how stupid such an action would be. 

"Who are you?" I asked it. 

The creature stepped closer to me. 

"I am you," It answered. "I have always been you."

"What?" I asked, stunned. 

The creature reached a slender hand to me and plunged it right into my chest. The sensation was like fire, as if molten metal was pouring into my chest. It was excruciating in a way that went beyond the physical.

I screamed. 

The scream seemed to get lost in the vastness of space before I heard it. When the sound came out, it was guttural, pained and hoarse. My throat hurt. I tried to move and escape the pain somehow, but I was trapped. 

"I think she might be allergic to the sedative. She has been screaming for hours," Someone spoke from somewhere. "I told you it was not safe to use on an unknown subject."

"There is nothing wrong with the sedative. It is safe, especially for women," The answer came as a retort. "It is just a bad interaction with the knockout drugs those thugs used on her. She is going to be fine after a while."

I lost consciousness again.