Twisted Returns

"Lorraine."

The name comes out clear and beautiful, the way her body still is.

She stands about twenty feet away, back to me. Her hair is still healthy and shiny, gently falling over her shoulders. Her tiny frame still stands tall and strong.

Then I realize that I might just be seeing things. That I see her only because I want to so badly.

I have to know.

I break free from Dean's grip, into the white training room. It then occurs to me that I'm probably not supposed to be here. But I don't care. Besides, I'm the princess of this castle. What can they possibly do to me anyways?

I run to the girl. I have to touch her, make sure she's real. And then I have to see her face.

"Lorraine." I call again. She still doesn't turn. It is then when I get that sinking feeling in my stomach. Because it's not her. She's dead.

Yet I still have to reach out. I lightly tap her on the shoulder. When she turns, I expect to see a stranger's face.

But that's not what I get.

Chocolate brown eyes. framed by thick lashes. Prominent nose. Thin lips. Heart shaped face.

It's her.

"Lorraine!" I'm speechless after that. I reach out to wrap my arms around her. At first she stiffens. And then she returns the embrace.

"Hi," she says simply.

"You... hospital. Dead..."

"Slow down," she says, brushing her hair over her ear in that familiar way. "What are you trying to say?"

"The hospital was bombed," I say, stating the obvious. "And you were supposed to be there... Blown up."

"But I'm not."

Her short, straightforward answers begin to frustrate me. But that's what makes her Lorraine. And at the same time, I admire her for it. "Why? How?"

"I escaped. To here, obviously."

"I - what about Nicole?" I ask, panic arising again.

"Don't worry," she assures me. "I've got it covered. She's safe."

"She's here? With you?"

Lorraine looks at me like I'm crazy for even considering that. Which I may was well be. "No fucking way. This is no place for a baby. No, I asked Ashlee to take her back to her room. The residential wing wasn't attacked. She's safe."

"But you're not. Not if you're going out into war like this!" I nearly yell at her. "And you trust Ashlee to protect your baby?"

"She might not have been the best choice," she says, "but she was there when I needed her."

And I wasn't. But then again, I wouldn't be able to have a baby with me anyways. I'm too much of a target.

The emergency bell screeches. "A temporary hospital has been set up on the sixth floor. room A."

"That's where I have to go," Lorraine tells me. "To help transfer the survivors and equipment over."

When she says survivors, I think about the casualties. No one I know was in the hospital... that I know of. Of course, Andrew works there. And though it should matter, it doesn't matter as much as Lorraine had.

"There's a list of deaths in the Hall..." I say. I know because I check everyday, fearing that it will be filled with the names of people I love. "We should check. Just in case."

"I highly doubt that anyone we know will be on it," Lorraine says. "The rest of the Terrans are stationed out in front. The hospital is at the back. So I'm sure none of them were caught in the explosion."

"I still think we should," I tell her I look at Dean, who still stands patiently by the door. I know that he will agree with me. "It can't hurt to look."

Lorraine examines a small cut on her thumb. "You have no idea how much it actually can."

----

Torture. That's what this is.

Dean and I are stuck in our room. We're supposed to stay here until the danger passes. It doesn't make sense, because no matter what, we are always in danger.

I take it to mean "until the temporary hospital is functional". But who knows how long it could take to move everything? Everything that wasn't destroyed, that is.

To pass the time, I theorize about the Forbidden Legends book. Obsess over it actually. What could be so important that Marigold has to hide it from me, her own daughter?

"Maybe it's for your own safety," Dean suggests when I tell him this. "Like how they're supposed to lock up Amber for her own safety. Maybe there are some things that you're better off not knowing."

"I have to know though," I tell him. "I feel like it has something to do with me."

"Not everything is about you," he says quietly. So quietly, in fact, that I would not have been able to hear it through human ears.

I don't answer because it's obvious that I wasn't supposed to hear it. And because it's the first negative thing he's said to me. Ever.

The worst part is that he's right. Though this war might have been my fault, the world still does not revolve around me. Even if I kind of want it to.

The emergency bell screeches and Marigold's voice is broadcasted. "The temporary hospital is now functional. If you are in need of medical services, please report to room A, sixth floor, now. Thank you for your patience."

"Let's go," Dean says, getting up.

"What?" I say. "To get medical assistance?"

"No. To look at the list."

The Hall is filled with people waiting to look at the list. They need to know if their loved ones are still alive.

Most days I wait in line like a normal person (though people insist I move up anyways), but today I don't care. I head straight to the front.

The list is just a single sheet of paper. But it works kind of like touch screen devices do on Earth. It is continuously being updated with new names. I scroll through, starting at the point of the hospital bombing. It's all strangers, names I don't know. I make it almost to the end of the list.

And I nearly faint when I see three names I recognize.