FicWad

All the lights were off except for the spotlight that lit up a small circle on stage. The room was silent as anxiety spread through the audience. Any minute now the star of the evening would take the stage and bewitch them all with her amazing talents.

The raven-haired male looked down at the blue pamphlet in his hands. The little bit of light cast off from the spotlight was just enough for him to read that she would be taking the stage at nine o’clock sharp. He looked at his watch and the hand of the watch was counting off the last minute. Twelve seconds. Eleven seconds. Ten seconds. Now only nine, eight, seven, six…
He looked up, his hazel eyes fixed on the place she would soon appear.

Two. One.

And there she was, floating onto the stage like an apparition. She was beautiful, her long black hair falling freely down past her shoulders and down her back, reaching down to her waist. A deep green dress hugged her perfect hourglass figure, emphasizing every curve and bringing out the color of her equally green eyes.

The beautiful female stopped where the spotlight rested and complete silence weighed down on the audience as they waited in great anticipation. She looked up through thick black lashes, the light reflecting in her perfect green orbs, brought the microphone up to her lips and then the voice of an angel resounded through the auditorium.

Gasps ran through the room as her melodious voice entranced each and every one of the audience members. Words flowed freely from her lips, keeping the attention of her audience. She didn’t need to dance or jump or make charming gestures. She already had the crowd in the palm of her hand.

The hazel-eyed male was fixated on her, her entire being, because he knew that not only did she have an entrancing appearance and a beautiful voice, but she also radiated inner beauty. She was unlike any one else in the world, the universe for that matter… and she was his.

*

The evening air was cold as Marilyn stepped out onto the cold and cracked pavement at the side of the auditorium. Tonight’s show was good. Once again she charmed her audience and had everyone hanging onto her every note, every word that poured from her mouth and every sound she emitted.

Tonight was special for one reason though. He was there.

“Marilyn,” a deep voice said from somewhere deeper in the alley and the raven-haired beauty whipped around at the sound, her eyes meeting another pair of magnificent hazel ones.

The cool night breeze whipped at her hair, but the green-eyed female was oblivious to this fact. The only thing she was aware of was the sudden pounding of her heart inside her chest and the dark male approaching her.

“Gerard,” she breathed out barely above a whisper and then she was in his arms, the male kissing her passionately like they haven’t seen each other in forever.

To Marilyn it felt like it’s been forever even though it’s only been a couple of hours. The street was quiet as the couple almost became reacquainted with one another.

“You were amazing up there,” Gerard spoke quietly when they parted for a few seconds, his hands resting on her waist.

“I missed you,” the female replied gasping for the air around them.

The corners of his mouth tugged up into a smile and he dropped his hands from her sides, taking one of her small hands in one of his own and the couple started walking towards the busier streets of New York City.

“I feel like this should be some old nineteen sixties movie,” Marilyn giggled quietly, the beautiful sound bubbling from her sounding like music to his ears.

“It does feel like that, doesn’t it,” Gerard smiled at her side. “Fortunately it’s not which allows me to take you out to a proper dinner and not some picnic out back in the stable.”

“That would’ve been okay too,” the raven-haired beauty assured him with a small smile leaning up to place a chaste kiss on his cheek.

Gerard couldn’t stop smiling at the beautiful girl, the bearer of his heart.

The couple was just about out of the empty, dark alleyway when they heard footsteps behind them. However, when they looked back there was no one, just an eerie silence. They stepped onto the busy street and walked along the sidewalk, fighting their way through the hundreds of other pedestrians.

The uneasy feeling of someone following them didn’t disappear though and Marilyn could feel panic slowly but surely building up inside of her. Gerard gripped her hand tighter and walked faster. Whoever was following them wasn’t giving up and soon the pair was running down the streets. No one else seemed to take note of their panic or their haste. Everyone just kept on walking and going about their own business.

Their pursuers also picked up speed and seemed to be catching up. By this point, Gerard was practically dragging his girlfriend along. Maybe it was just paranoia, but it sounded like the footsteps coming from behind were increasing by the minute.

They reached a dead end, stopping short in front of a large fence. Marilyn felt like hyperventilating and she looked at Gerard completely panic stricken.

Gerard grabbed her face in his two hands and looked deep into her eyes.

“It’s okay. Marilyn, we’ll be okay. Trust me.”

And with that he pressed his lips firmly to hers for a few brief seconds before he started helping the raven-haired female up and over the fence. Once they were both over and on the other side, they started running again until they realized that they were lost somewhere in Central Park.

Shouting reached their ears, but they couldn’t pin point from which direction the noise was coming from.

“Gerard,” Marilyn barely whispered. “I’m scared.”

The raven-haired male looked at her. He was trying his best to hide his own panic and his own fear, but he felt so hopeless. He would give his life for the beautiful female. If only he knew how to protect her; who or what he was protecting her from.

“I know, babe, but you have to stay strong. Stay positive. We will get out of this,” he tried reassuring her.

The footsteps came closer…closer and even closer.

“Stay right here,” he said, suddenly getting an idea. “I’ll lead them away.”

“What? Gerard, no!” she called out, but he was already gone.

Marilyn sagged down on the ground, wrapping her arms around her pulled up knees and whimpering quietly. She’s never been as scared before in her life and now Gerard was gone and she didn’t know if he was safe and if he was coming back.

No, he was coming back! He had to.

There was a sudden rustle in the bushes to the side and the girl let out a horrified scream…

*

Silence…

It was so quiet.

It’s so dark.

Marilyn’s eyes slowly fluttered open, but she couldn’t see anything. When her eyes adjusted to the darkness after a few moments, she noted that she was in a small 3x4 ft space. There was a small window in the door, letting in a thin sliver of light.

Clearly, whoever had been chasing them had caught them and now they were being held captive.
But why? What did they do? Who were their captors? What did they want? And then there was the most important question.

Where was Gerard? Was he alive?

The raven-haired beauty felt her chest constrict in fear once more and she looked around frantically for a way out of her small ‘cage’. She tried the handle of the door, but of course it wouldn’t budge.

Someone placed a key in the lock and the green-eyed female jumped back in fear. Were they here to kill her? Maybe they liked to torture people first.

It didn’t matter. She needed to find Gerard.

When the man opened the door, he wasn’t expecting Marilyn to jump out of the shadows and attack him. The female somehow managed to knock him out and she ran out of the cubicle, looking around frantically. Where did she go? Left? Right? Straight forward? Where did she even begin looking for the male with hair the color of midnight?

Left.

The female ran, her heart pounding inside her chest until suddenly she ran into someone. It was a burly male who grabbed her firmly by her shoulders, holding her tight.

“Let me go!” Marilyn shouted. “I have to find him! I need to find him before they hurt him!”

More footsteps. More voices. More people.

“What happened? How did she get out?” a deep voice demanded.

“No! No! Let me go!” Marilyn kept yelling desperately. “I have to find him!” she kept on hysterically.

“Quickly, we have to sedate her,” the voice from before stated and the man holding her tightened his grip.

“Please don’t! I have to find Gerard! They’re going to kill him!” she begged, fighting desperately to escape her captor’s grip.

A young woman ran up to the group, handing the doctor a syringe. He approached the frantic female and injected the substance into her bloodstream.

“No! Please…” her voice became slurred and her vision blurry. “I have to save him. I love him…”

“It’s okay, Marilyn. You’re safe,” the doctor’s deep voice soothed her. “You’re safe.”

“Where’s…Gerard?” she barely managed.

“He’s also safe,” he lied in order to keep her calm.

She nodded slowly, her head rolling from side to side as the strong male holding her, picked her up and started to carry her back to her room.

The doctor walked over to the one-way window and watched as they placed the now sedated female back in her cell. She was one of their worst cases. There was never any improvement in her mental condition and she was always experiencing some horrible nightmare. It was sad to see people like that. It was sad to see a beautiful young woman like her have to be kept locked up in order to keep her safe from herself.

Hopefully tomorrow will be one of her better days. Unfortunately she’ll never be able to have a normal life.

“Please keep an eye on her. We don’t want her getting out again and please be gentle with her. We need to try and make this as comfortable as possible for her, for all of them. They’re people just like us,” the doctor said sternly, turning away from the glass.

“What happened to her?” the new nurse wanted to know.

The doctor glanced back at the fragile girl lying on the small bed in her room.

“Young talented singer. She saw her boyfriend being murdered about a year ago and she’s been reliving the nightmare every day since then.”

“That’s…terrible,” the nurse muttered sadly.

He nodded, “Very unfortunate indeed, but this is as much as we can do. We try talking to her, but she doesn’t want to talk about that night. She doesn’t want to talk about anything. Clearly she lost her reason for living that night. Some traumatic experiences do that to people. Some just block it out, others relive it, re-experience every emotion and they never get over it. Some are lucky, but I’m afraid this one might never overcome the ghosts of her past.”

“Fingers crossed,” the nurse said hopefully.

The doctor nodded sullenly, “But we have other patients to tend to as well.”

The pair separated and headed in different directions.

*

I have to get out of here. I have to save him…