Chapter 1

Is she being rescued? Or is she a prisoner once again?

 I was left at the doorstep of a random house, nothing but a card that held a phone number. Still soaking wet when i was rescued from the tank, and bloodied from the struggle once i was out of my prison. I was just waiting for someone to find me.                         

 I didn't wait long until i heard a scream. I flinched, the sound hurting my sensitive ears. I opened my eyes and wished i hadn't. The screaming got louder. I tried to move farther away, but i was already pressed against the door. I covered my ears when the screaming went on but it didn't even muffle the sound. I didn't know that someone could hold their breath that long.

 Someone yelled for the person to stop screaming, and the noise finally stopped. Cautiously, i took my hands away from my ears and opened my eyes again. It was night time but i couldn't see any stars. Porch lights were the only illumination in the night.

 Hand shaking, i held out my hand with the card on it. I remembered one of the people who had rescued me, told me to give this card to the people who lived here. That they would take me in and protect me. Nothing made any sense anymore and i was left alone in my own consciousness, not knowing what to do and afraid.

 There was only one person, one human, that I had let myself trust. He had been the first one to look at me without fear. He had been one of those men who had taken me out of the lab. He had always talked in calm and relaxing tones. But then he left. He dropped me off by this strange house and gave me instructions to give the card to the owner of the house.

 Then he walked away without turning around. Not even to say goodbye. I was alone and scared once again.

 When I held out my hand with the card, a middle aged man suddenly crouched in front of me. I tried to press myself into the front door. Before I could stop myself, a small noise escaped my throat. He had dark but graying hair, his gray eyes looked at me cautiously. His face had a t-shaped scar that looked like a cross on his left temple that ran down his cheek.

 Slowly he took the card from me, trying not to startle me but I was too aware of his movements to relax. He looked the card over and I already knew what it was on it. It was an infinity symbol, a circle in the right loop of the symbol and three tiny stars lining the left side. Below the symbol is two words.

 'Protect her.'

 The man stopped breathing all together and another voice rang out in the night. "What is that thing?" The voice sounded annoyed, a high screech that reminded me of the breaking of glass. It grated on my ears and seemed to rattle into my skull.

 "Shut up, Marybeth," the man said. His voice was low and gravelly. He talked slowly, as if he had all the time in the world. 

 I looked over at the girl who had spoken. She was tall with long, black hair that almost blended into the night. She had her father's gray eyes and a fair complexion. She seemed like a beautiful girl and would if not for annoyed facial features. Next to her stood a boy - her brother, maybe . He was a bit taller than Marybeth, with the same face and color but his hair was a lighter shade of brown and his eyes were a bright, pale blue that reminded me of ice. He held out his arm, as if to protect his sister from me.

 It had started to rain. Thunder clapped in the distance. I felt paralyzed by his gaze. In that moment, I knew that without a doubt, I was helpless and vulnerable. My entire existence depended on this family that seemed frozen in front of me.

 I squeezed my eyes shut, terrified of what would happen next. A hand patted my shoulder and I opened my eyes. The man looked at me with a mixture of compassion, pity, and caution.

 "Let's get out of the rain and inside," he said. Gently, he pulled me up and I realized that I was the shortest of all the people that stood in front of me. I barely reached five feet while everyone looked about five and a half.

 I started shaking.

 The man opened the front door and ushered me inside. He turned the lights on and I dripped water onto the hardwood floor. I was soaked through. My experimental suit was heavy as it absorbed the water. The house seemed small, but inviting. The walls were painted a pretty yellow-gold color, comfy couches facing a fireplace with a TV above it. I've never really been in a house before so it fascinated me.

 I was so preoccupied that I didn't notice that a woman was holding out clothes to me. She must have been the man's wife. I was so confused at first that I just stared. "These are some of my old clothes," she said softly. "They might not fit but at least they're dry."

 Her hands were shaking slightly. She was just afraid of me as I was of her. Slowly, I took the clothes and she told me where the bathroom was to change. Like a machine, I walked into the little bathroom off the hallway and started changing clothes. 

 In the mirror, I saw a small person. She was thin, looking as if she were about to snap in half. Her long dark hair was full of knots and messy looking. She had a pale face that had the expression of a haunted ghost. Emerald green eyes that looked too big for her face looked almost dead and filled with something that could only be described as a loss of hope.

 As the woman had said, the clothes were a little too big for me. Just a loose fitting t-shirt and a gypsy like skirt that pooled at my feet. I had to roll it at the waist a couple times.

 When I was about to open the door to go out, I heard the man talking to his family.

 "I don't know what's going on, but we have been given the instructions to protect that girl," he said. Someone tried to speak but he cut them off. "There's no buts about it. Team two-six-one has given the order and I can't go against them."

 A moment of silence and I held my breath waiting for their response.

 "But dad, who is she?" The girl named Marybeth asked.

 Pause. "I don't know,"

 Quietly, I opened the door and peaked out at the family. They were all standing in a circle. The man rubbing the scar on his cheek.

 "You don't KNOW?" The boy exploded. "A strange girl is sitting on our porch in the middle of the night with nothing but a note to tell you to protect her. You don't think without a second thought to let her in our house, borrow mom's clothes when she might really be some kind of criminal or thief! You don't even have SOME kind of suspicion?"

 His hostility scared me, made me take a step backwards and the floor squeaked below me. All eyes turned on me. Like a deer in headlights, I was once again, frozen and shaking. The man stepped towards me, his hand outstretched towards me and pure terror ran through me. 

 Without thinking, I turned and ran through an archway. I had a vague impression of a kitchen, but all I could think of was to get away, to get where they couldn't reach me. Some place high. I leaped up onto the counter top and jumped again to squeeze myself to be in the space between the top of the cabinets and the ceiling. It was tight, but it was as far as I could go to be away from them.

 Why? Why was I left at this house, with these people. Why couldn't I just go home? I already knew that answer though. I didn't know how to get home.

 The family came running into the kitchen. They looked everywhere until there eyes found me. "Damn, she's fast," Marybeth said, half incredulous, half awed.

 "Hell," the man muttered. "Now look what you've done, son. You've scared her. Everyone get out. I'll try to get her down." Everyone looked uneasy and the boy at least seemed to look embarrassed.

 They filed out to watch from the doorway, which didn't help. The man walked up to the edge of the country below me. "Now look here, I'm sorry about my son scaring you," he said soothingly. "He's just a paranoid person. I won't lie that I'm not skeptical about you or anything and I do have a few questions as to how you got up there, but I WILL protect you."

 His soft, comforting words made tears come to my eyes. They were the first real kind words anyone has said to me so far.

 Lightning flashed through the windows.

 "Why don't you come down from there. You look like you haven't eaten in days. We won't hurt you or anything. I promise,"

 Slowly, I slid down until I was standing on the ground again. The man raised his hand until it lightly patted my head and that was it. I collapsed to the ground in tears. "Thank you," I sobbed. "Thank you."

Author's Note

I wrote this thing on my tablet, so go easy on me :-P