Chapter 14- A vision
Bell watched from the side door mirror as Ragon faded into the distance. She could still hear his words, telling her that he loved her; in that moment she knew she felt the same. She wished that she could go back and tell him how she felt, but it was too late now. Still, she only had to wait a few hours before Ryder's transformation was complete, and then they would be together again.
Suddenly a shiver ran up her body. Her hands and feet were tingling and she felt dizzy. As she let the sensation take over, it began to transverse her extremities, slowly advancing its hold of her, until she was numb all over, as though completely disassociated from her body. She had been looking out the window, watching the scenery blur past as the night hastened, when she went rigid and her eyes widened. Had she not been looking out the window, Sameth would have seen that one of her eyes had turned green, but he continued to drive, completely oblivious to her condition.
She was transfixed, seeing something other than the rush of trees or the blur of houses as the moon began its ascent into the night sky. No longer was she in the car, but standing in a cold dark room that she recognised: Ragon's family mausoleum. There was muffled screaming coming from somewhere. She turned and gasped. In front of her, tied to the same stone bench that she had slept on all those months ago, was her: Bell. She looked at herself dumbfounded, and saw someone advancing on the restrained version of herself. In the darkness of the tomb it was impossible to make out who was walking towards her. Then suddenly a large silver knife was bought into focus, as the man continued to move towards her, she suddenly knew who he was: Sameth. In Sameth's left hand was the long silver blade, and there was a look of malice in his eyes that she had not seen before. Looking back at herself, she recognised a dull metallic grey tape placed around her mouth; it was the same gaffe tape that Sameth had used on Patrick all those nights ago, to stop him from singing. Then suddenly he spoke, and she listened.
"I'm doing you a kindness," he said, continuing to move closer to her...
"You all right Bell?" Sameth asked from the driver's position, pulling her from her vision.
Bell's face had turned white; she didn't know how, but she had just had a vision. She thought back to the version of herself tied to the bench and looked down at the clothes she was wearing. It was the same outfit, the same dark blue skinny legged jeans and long black button up top.
Shit, she thought to herself. But why would Sameth want to hurt her?
"Bell?" Sameth asked again, recalling her to the current place and time as he turned to look at her.
His voice was not the same calm cool voice it had been earlier, there was an edge to it, one that gave Bell a shiver, completely different to the one that had preceded her vision.
"Where are we going?" Bell asked finally.
"To a hotel; remember?" Sameth replied, continuing to drive.
Until now, Bell hadn't been paying much attention to where they were driving. But now as she looked out of the window, she was desperate to know where she was. She needed a plan. She didn't know why Sameth wanted to hurt her, but she knew that her vision was no day dream. For a moment she thought that he was perhaps trying to evoke a response to get her to freeze time, so as to allow her to practise using her powers. But the way he had looked at her in the tomb; his eyes had been empty and cold in her vision and she didn't think he would be able to fake that look of malice. She considered trying to stop time now. But if she were somehow able to do this, what would happen? What if only Sameth froze, than they would crash, and that might kill her before he got the chance to. Trying to remain calm, she surreptitiously unbuckled her seat belt, pretending to turn up the radio as she did so.
"Oh wow!" Bell said, feigning excitement, "can you pull over for a moment?"
Sameth looked at her confused. She was pointing to a large green vending machine next to a closed service station.
"Just there, it's one of those movie rental booths. I have been dying to watch this new series on HBO, we might as well have something to entertain us," she said.
Sameth frowned, but pulled over.
"Do you mind grabbing a couple of dollars," Bell said, reaching for the car handle and beginning to open it. "I think I have seen Ragon throw some change in the console, I'll meet you there."
Instantly Sameth began searching for coins, and Bell exited the car, moving quickly over to the movie rental machine, and glancing back at the car to check on Sameth's progress. The moment she had turned back to the machine she broke into a run. She didn't know where the hell she was going to go; she just knew that she had to get as far away as possible. The adrenaline which had been pumping through her veins since her vision, aided in her flight. She was running as fast as she could, making her way behind the service station, when suddenly the sound of a car door slamming broke her concentration.
"Bell?" Sameth's voice screamed from over near the car.
Instantly Bell paused, hiding behind a large dumpster that serviced the petrol station. She was panting loudly, and she clasped her hand over her mouth, desperate to muffle her breathing.
"Bell, where are you?" Sameth yelled again, from where he was standing at the green vending machine.
A few moments of silence followed this, and Bell tried hard to concentrate. Perhaps if she could manage to stop time again it would give her a chance to get away from him.
"Come out, come out, where ever you are," his voice cooed.
Bell froze. From where she crouched on the floor behind the rubbish bin, she had seen someone walking nearby. She watched as he blurred into a neighbouring bush, clearly searching it for her. This was it; her chance to get away. If she got back to the road, she might be able to flag down a car. Moving slowly at first, she inched around the service station, careful not to make a noise. Soon she was facing Ragon's car, and for a moment she wondered if Sameth had perhaps left the keys in the ignition. The road was no more than 30 seconds fast sprint from her. Seeing the head lights of a car on the road, she broke into a run, desperate to get close enough to the road to be seen. Instantly Bell began racing along the rocky ground that lead back to the road. She was waving her hands in the air, fighting the urge to start screaming, but desperate to be seen by the driver. Before she could reach the road however, the car had sped away, and she watched the red of the tail lights fade into the distance. She was about to plan her next move when something hard hit her in the back of the head, and she fell down, striking the hard pavement with a loud thud. The last thing she saw before she blacked out was Sameth reaching down and picking her up, a grim look of determination plastered on his face.
***
When Bell finally came to, it was to the feeling of tight binds being wrapping around her ankles. She tried to speak, but felt sticky tape wrap around her mouth, silencing her. Her eyes were dulling in and out of focus, but finally they pulled a handsome blonde face into view: Sameth. Blinking a few times, Bell looked puzzled up at him, and then the events before she had been struck came crashing back to her. Her head rolled around groggily, and she felt the cool hard stone underneath her. Instantly she knew where she was: Ragon's family mausoleum. Her vision had come true. As Sameth secured the last knot, Bell watched him move back, admiring his handy work. Just then he noticed that she was awake, and he smiled at her.
