Flight of Fancy

There had been no news of David for a long time. Ana didn’t know what was going on. The police were as much at a loss as she was and they had no clue. She kept calling every day, wanting some sort of news, at least some sort of closure, if nothing else. She had pretty much given up hope.

It’s been too long! They should have some information by now.

With all the technology that was at investigators’ disposal, it was hard to believe a person could just vanish. The option had to be considered that David had died, either running from the police or by some other means. If it was running from the police, then there was a big cover-up, which wouldn’t surprise her one little bit. Both she and David felt that the world was run by monsters and the police and army were their mercenaries.

But what do they want with us?

Ana and David were unimportant to the big players. They had no money or influence. The only tool at their disposal was the Internet, where they could share their thoughts about the global elite and a better way of life. Most people discarded it and even ridiculed it, but there were a few others who were either waking up to the great illusion or had known it all along. But they were a huge minority and no threat to the rulers of the world, who just continued doing whatever they wanted, trampling anyone who got in their way, like the Natives protesting the potential poisoning of their water supplies. Some of the people on social media would argue that we need gas and oil and that pipelines were a necessity. If the corporate elite hadn’t been suppressing clean energy for so long, the Earth would already be free of its dependence on oil and gas. Still, most people would rather believe that governments were doing what was best for humanity instead of trying to control people.

‘They wouldn’t do that.’ Of course they would. They would do far worse things than people could possibly imagine.

It was a hard world as it was. Now she had to go through it without David. She couldn’t feel his presence any more. There was a connection between them, but now it felt severed. She couldn’t exactly say that he was dead, but very distant and maybe on his way to another world.

I’ll probably join him.

There didn’t seem much point continuing, especially if David was discovered dead or remained lost. The world was just too cruel. She didn’t want to return to her parents and it didn’t seem right that she stayed with David’s, even though they were a great support for her in this hour of need. After the initial shock, David’s parents had really helped in trying to find David’s whereabouts. Ana’s mother-in-law in particular kept calling various police stations and lawyers to see if anything could be done.

For a while after David’s disappearance, Ana dreamt of David and felt that he was still alive or at least not lost, but now his image was still there, but fading. Once it completely vanished, she would know he would no longer return to her and he inhabited some other realm of existence, where she would try and find him.

Thinking of her in-laws, Ana decided to go downstairs. She went downstairs in her slippers, closing the door behind her, so as not to let their cat out.

“You stay here Liza,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”

She walked into the living room, where her in-laws were watching TV and drinking coffee. Her mother-in-law looked at her with a reserved smile full of sadness.

“Would you like some coffee or tea?” she asked Ana.

“No, thanks,” Ana replied. “I was wondering if you’d like to go to the shops. I need a few bits for myself.”

“Actually,” replied David’s mother, “we could do with a few things from the shops. Come on dad, let’s get ready. We’re going to the shops.”

David’s father, who was half asleep, looked up and replied: “Okay, give me a minute.”

They both got up from the couch and went to the bedroom to get changed. Ana had a smile on her face when she heard her mother-in-law call David’s father ‘dad’ and felt a warmness in her heart yet again for people who were becoming more and more part of her heart and soul.

“I’ll meet you down here in a few minutes,” said Ana. “I’ll just get changed myself.”

“Okay, dear,” replied David’s mother, sticking her head out of the bedroom door with a light and friendly smile on her face.

With that, Ana marched upstairs and thought that if she had to choose, she would choose to remain here with David’s parents.

Jane Kemp was a law enforcement officer through and through. All her life had been devoted to the law being followed and people breaking the rules being punished.

It had been very simple at first. After she had finished her training, she had known exactly what to do. It was all about following the rules and doing all you could to capture the people perpetrating the crimes. Things couldn’t be simpler. The world was black and white. There were good guys upholding the law, and bad guys breaking it. Her job was to keep the world safe and lock the bad guys away. There had been no questions in her mind that she was doing the right thing. She had never questioned the validity of search warrants, arrests or anything like that. Sure, there were some bad apples in law enforcement, but for the most part everyone played for the same team. Or so she had thought.

After she began working for the FBI, she met a nice young man, a fellow agent. His name was Jose Gonzales and he was as career oriented as she was. He understood that the job was the most important thing in the world, it was their sacred duty. She couldn’t believe she had found a person who shared her passion and convictions. Life with Jose seemed perfect. Even though they didn’t spend much time together because of work, the time they did share was blissful. Before Jose, Jane had been a virgin, had never been with a man, in fact. When she and Jose started going out, it was hard for her to open up, hard for her to put her trust into someone, especially a man. But he was patient. He was willing to give her all the time in the world. He would listen to her going on and on about her job as she was trying to avoid talking about anything even remotely personal. All the time, he waited and listened. But once she gave herself to him physically and he didn’t go away, she felt this was someone she could trust. She began opening up to him and still he didn’t go away. He appeared to love her more and more with everything she had told him.

‘I love you,’ he would tell her, when she had just shared something deeply personal with him, like the bullying she had received in school or about being a virgin. With each sentence she uttered, he seemed to adore her more. She really felt like he was her guardian angel.

Jose was as devoted to his job as she was and he wanted to uphold the law to the letter. There was no grey ground for Jose. The law was the law. He never questioned it. That was why Jane was so surprised when Jose seemed upset one evening when they were having dinner. He was asking her if she really trusted the FBI and if she thought their boss Steven Keffler was a bit strange. While Jane had always felt Keffler was a bit creepy, she ignored the impulse because impulses weren’t scientific and merely went by Keffler’s track record, which seemed impressive. She had told Jose that, but he hadn’t appeared satisfied. He asked her what she would do if she saw a child being used against his will for experiments. She told him that it is against the law to use children or any other human being in that way and that she would do all she could to get the child to safety. That seemed to make Jose happy and the rest of their dinner was fairly uneventful and peaceful. They had even made love that night, with Jose being even more passionate and attentive to her needs than usual. He had caressed and licked her nipples so tenderly that she became wet, then played with her clitoris, until she could almost feel herself exploding. She had begged him to go inside, but he continued to arouse her more. Just when she had felt her vagina was going to explode with pleasure, he entered her and she had had an orgasm unlike any before. Afterwards, he told her he loved her, then became pensive. She asked him what he was thinking.

‘Do you think I’m a good man?’ he had asked her.

‘Of course,’ Jane replied. ‘You’re my guardian angel and the best lover in the world.’

He smiled, though his mind seemed distant again, as if thinking about something serious.

‘What if somebody told you I was a bad man?’ he had asked. ‘What if somebody you trusted told you I was a bad man.’

’There’s nobody I trust more than you,’ Jane had comforted him.

There had been silence and Jane stared at him, waiting for him to get his thoughts out. There had obviously been something troubling him.

‘Whatever anyone tells you about me,’ he had said, ‘don’t believe them. You know you can trust me and you know I’d never do anything I didn’t feel was right.’

Jane had started getting worried: ‘What do you mean Jose? You’re starting to scare me.’

He had smiled gently then and took her hand into his. ‘Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t matter. Just promise me you won’t believe what anyone else tells you about me.’

She had been thinking about pressing further, but his smile had unarmed her. In any case, she could always ask him some other day. Unfortunately, there would be no other days for them.

The events that followed that strange night were still beyond her abilities to explain and what followed was something that even her nightmares would fall short. She had never seen Jose after that. When she had gotten home from work, Jose hadn’t been there, but that wasn’t unusual. Jose had often worked late, as did she. Soon after, she received a phone call to come into the office. Nobody had told her anything. She thought it was something to do with a case she’d been working on. As soon as she came into the office, they pulled her into the interrogation room, where Keffler personally asked her all sorts of questions about Jose. Where was he? What was he planning? Keffler had told her terrible things. Jose had supposedly kidnapped a child from a hospital and was on the run from the law. Keffler had wanted to know where Jose was. He had been convinced Jane knew his whereabouts. Jane’s mind was spinning. Jose, a criminal!? Jose’s talking from the previous night had been starting to make sense. Once she had been allowed to go home, she had noticed that she was being followed. She hadn’t cared. There had been nothing to hide. After a few days, they had found Jose and killed him. It had been the worst day of her life. Her life had been so confusing. What was right and what was wrong? She couldn’t believe Jose could be a criminal, yet on the other hand she couldn’t go against the general opinion and the evidence against Jose that she had personally seen.

Her faith in law enforcement had been shaken, however she had remained firm. She had thrown herself into her work and it had soon paid off. Keffler had offered her a new position in a new and more important agency and she had accepted. She had rekindled her passion for her work. At first, everything had seemed perfect, but there had been rumours of improprieties happening at the very highest echelon. Again, she had ignored all of it. This was her job and there couldn’t be so many rotten apples as the rumours suggested.

Now, here she was, in a country she could hardly pronounce, following orders that were not only bordering on bending the law, but were outright criminal. She had followed Dawson’s and presumably Keffler’s commands because that was what agents did, but when they got home, she would hand in her badge and try to make a fresh start, maybe do some private investigating. Everything Jose had been saying was true.

How could I ever doubt you?!

Jose had told her that they would try to convince her of certain things and besmirch his character, but she couldn’t believe that it would go to such depths of depravity and corruption. It was now clear to her that most of the system was corrupt.

Or maybe it’s just Dawson?

Dawson was the one giving the commands. She didn’t know what Keffler was telling him, but she felt Dawson was trying to do whatever he could to get an arrest, even if it meant using illicit means. There was probably something behind it, otherwise Dawson would have been recalled, so there must be some agency conspiracy as well.

Law enforcement meant everything to Jane Kemp and now for the first time in a very long while she felt her reason for living was slipping away. Even after Jose died, she managed to pick herself up because there was something to rely on, something she had always relied on. But now it seemed that Jose was the one she should have been relying on, not her love of the job, which had obviously already been rotten. Jose had seen it before she had.

How blind I’ve been.

It didn’t matter if it was Dawson or Keffler. If it was Dawson, somebody was turning a blind eye and letting him get away with it and basically condoning criminal activity by the agency.

This is not what I’ve been taught.

She had been pushed right to the end of her wits. First, the marijuana planting, then the arrest of David. It was true that he was probably hiding something, but was this really the best way to deal with it? This was not the law enforcement she had fallen in love with. This was just doing everything to get results, even if it meant bypassing the law.

As it was, she was still everything she was supposed to be doing, but she wasn’t happy about it.

Not one little bit!

At the moment, she was watching the camera surveillance from David’s family’s farm. There was nothing going on. The incident with the dog was quite scary, though. Even though she felt quite capable of dealing with the animal, there was still an element of uncertainty. Also, for her benefit or for something else, Dawson didn’t do anything to help her in that situation. Either he felt she was equipped to deal with the beast herself and not cause a commotion, or he simply wanted her to get hurt. Dawson also seemed to derive some sick pleasure from putting her on camera surveillance duty all the time. She was getting much more time than Glenn and Laura. She wouldn’t mind ordinarily, but she felt Dawson had ulterior motives.

Maybe he feels threatened.

It was quite possible. This was his first big mission and he had never been in charge of anything before, so it made perfect sense. Jane was bewildered that Dawson was chosen in the first place, but considering her recent experience, it was logical that they would look for somebody who was power hungry and easily corruptible, instead of doing everything by the book like she did.

Is there any way to save our law enforcement?

Her intuition told her the corruption was spread deep and wide, but she couldn’t be sure without evidence. It was possible that there were only a few people wreaking havoc and that there were already people put in place trying to resolve the situation. But it just seemed so evident and out in the open. Keffler was clearly showing to all his agents that the rules of the games had changed and they didn’t have to follow the law any longer.

She prayed to God that she was wrong about all of it, but her intuition and the piling evidence were telling her otherwise. Society as she knew it was crumbling all around her and all her beliefs were being challenged.

Even spying on this poor family seemed wrong. Their son and husband was missing and the last thing they needed was some law enforcement agents watching their every move. She saw movement on the camera observing the front door. The whole family was coming down the stairs. It looked like they were preparing to go somewhere. They were standing outside the car, with David’s father presumably looking for his car keys and probably swearing. Then it appeared he found them and he unlocked the car. Jane thought about the situation for a moment.

Should I? Fuck it, I’m still an agent.

She picked up her phone and called Dawson.

“They’re on the move,” she said. “All of them. It looks like they’re going out with the car.”

She hung up and got ready.

As soon as Dawson hung up the telephone, his mind was buzzing. It was action time again. Jane was going to call the rest of the team and they would meet by the car. Ever since they planted the cameras on the farm only a short while ago, they were prepared to go inside the house quickly and install a surveillance system. The cameras were so small, it would take only a small nook or a light fixture to hide its whereabouts. Hopefully, no lightbulb would go out in the time they needed to spy on the family, otherwise the cameras might be discovered.

Dawson rushed outside with his bag containing a laptop and a few other pieces of equipment. It was a good thing they were ready for this occasion, otherwise he was bound to forget something. When he arrived downstairs, the team was already in the car, sitting in their usual places, rearing to go, by the looks of it. Dawson sat in the car and away they went.

It was only a short drive, but Jane filled him in anyway in the usual succinct way so common with law enforcement agents: “The family appears to have gone out shopping. They had some carrier bags with them. We should have at least thirty minutes of time before they return, but just in case, we’ll try to be quicker than that.”

Dawson seemed satisfied with her report: “Was there anything else?”

Jane thought for a second, then replied: “The uncle might be an issue. He lives a few miles away, but the farm and all the buildings are actually his. He comes to the estate sporadically and very unpredictably. I’ve tried establishing some kind of pattern, but he doesn’t seem to have a clear schedule. There’s no way to predict whether he’ll arrive or not, but I suggest we keep one person outside, by the entrance to the farm, so that he or she can distract him while the team has the chance to get out.”

Again, Jane was putting in her own two cents’ worth and it was really starting to bug Dawson. He was going to wait by the car anyway and keep an eye on the team and the surroundings anyway.

Keep your opinion to yourself!

Instead of saying that, he replied: “Yes, I’ll stay by the car and keep a lookout. I’ll also watch the camera feed and advise you if necessary. This time, we’ll park by the farm, so we can do it more quickly. We’ll just have to take the risk that someone might see us. Agree?”

He could see Jane biting her lip, thinking of saying something else, but she kept it to herself.

Good. Let’s keep it that way.

Jane then said something to Glenn’s ear, which Dawson didn’t hear.

“What was that, Jane?” he asked.

“It’s not important, sir,” she replied.

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Dawson insisted.

Jane hesitated only for a moment, but it was evident to Dawson, before she replied: “I just told him that we need to be careful of not letting the cat out when we do the top floor. It’s a small detail, but if the cat escapes downstairs, we could have a hard time recovering her and our plan could go down the drain.”

Dawson merely nodded, but under the surface he was boiling. The fact that Jane was slowly but surely showing her true colours of being a better agent than him was really playing havoc with his fragile ego.

Laura veered the car off the main road and onto a small back road, which also connected to the family farm. After about fifteen seconds, she turned towards the farm and parked the car. The team rushed out of the car, apparently knowing exactly what to do and where to go. It was no problem for them to pick locks. They were trained in everything and anything.

Glenn quickly dealt with the front door and inside they went. Dawson was looking at everything through the cameras mounted on their clothes. He was hoping the uncle wouldn’t show up this time and ruin their mission. If he did, Dawson would distract the uncle himself and let the team get out of the house safely and without being seen. If anyone asked, the agents were merely looking around the area for the escaped prisoner. It wasn’t far-fetched that he would return home to his family. Dawson was nervously glancing at his watch and around him to see if anyone was coming or watching. Everything seemed to be clear. He checked on the agents as well and they were doing their job with the efficiency of a group of piranhas eating their prey.

Still no sign of the uncle. Good.

The family would also stay out shopping for a while and hopefully they didn’t forget anything at home. It appeared like this would be the first easier job they did. They deserved a break and he deserved some success. This might help them capture David more quickly and make Dawson the hero he deserved to be and get him the promotion to a position of more power.

It looked like the team was wrapping up their mission and they were all scurrying back to the entrance. As they got there, they formed a line and got out of the house. Glenn turned around because he had to relock the house, a task which took him only about ten seconds. Dawson was still looking around nervously, wishing for a clean getaway, with no witnesses. Glenn finished and the team quickly dashed towards the car. Dawson spotted the family dog near the piggery, but it merely looked at the strangers and wagged its tail.

Stupid animal.

The agents were safely back in the car and Laura quickly turned them around and got them back on the road.

It appeared that they had got away without anyone noticing their presence. Or so they thought.

As Ana entered her apartment upon returning from the shopping, she felt something strange. She didn’t know what exactly it was, but it was there. It was almost as if somebody was watching her. She thought she was going crazy from all that had been going on the last few days.

You’re just imagining things.

Usually, she trusted her instincts, but sometimes, under moments of great stress, they did betray her. She saw her cat come from the bedroom, looking quite agitated, which was unusual. Usually the cat would come greet her, push her head against Ana’s legs and start purring loudly. This time, the cat looked around with big eyes. Liza was usually like that is there was some bird outside or something had caught her eye.

“What is it Liza?” Ana said softly. “What are you getting so worked up for?”

Liza looked at Ana nervously then pushed her head against Ana’s hand and Ana convinced herself that everything was normal. The shopping trip had brought her back to life slightly, but every time she saw anything familiar, memories of David came flooding back. Something as silly as seeing the couch they usually sat on together and watched their shows would bring back a wave of emotion and it took all her strength to keep it together.

She decided to put the shopping away, which she did meticulously albeit slightly absentmindedly. Once that was complete, she made herself something to eat and watched a bit of television. She and David didn’t watch a lot of TV because it seemed to run people’s lives and turned you somewhat into a zombie. Some people cared so much about their favourite shows that it seemed they loved these shows more than actual people. It was sad but Ana and David both felt it was a deliberate attempt at dumbing down the population. As long as you kept people entertained and they had enough to eat, most of them would be satisfied and wouldn’t question the society that created this kind of miserable existence.

After some time reading and spending browsing the Internet, Ana had a shower and decided to turn in for the night. It was still early, but she couldn’t stay focused on any task.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to sleep.

She knew it would be hard to fall asleep because David’s smell was still inside the bed, inside the sheets and anywhere she turned her head. Everything reminded her of him and drove her brain to work overtime even during night time.

After a nice calming hot shower she lay in bed, wishing for a nourishing sleep to take her away and make her forget her woes at least for a few hours. There was still a feeling in her head telling her that something was off, that she was being watched. She had felt the same way once when there was a ghost in a house where she and David had lived. The ghost had given her quite a scare, but eventually she learned how to live and cope with it and it left her in peace. She had never before felt anything similar in this house.

Strange.

With that thought, Ana went to bed.

As Ana’s head dropped on the pillow, her brain was again working overtime, trying to make sense of everything.

I’ll never fall asleep.

Every time it was like this, she knew it would be almost impossible to get any rest. Eventually, exhaustion might lull her to a slight rest for an hour or so, but she doubted that she would be refreshed in the morning. She couldn’t remember the last time she had slept well. The night before they took David, they had had an argument and she could hardly sleep a wink and after that...

Let’s just say, it hasn’t gotten better.

She tried to stop her mind from delving too deep and analysing too much the current situation, but her night brain usually had a will of its own and it would never listen to her pleas. It was in this state that her consciousness slipped away from her and she wandered into a dreamless sleep at first, then appeared to wake up. But it wasn’t exactly like waking up. It was as if she had wondered into another dimension.

Her dreams were sometimes very vivid. She could usually feel when they were more than dreams. For some of them, she gathered they were either past lives or some similar experiences. After doing some research online, she could actually find similar instances and even characters as in her dreams. Those dreams had been very vivid. This one had a similar feel to it, but was somehow different. It was as if she was living it, but in another way it was also very surreal. At first, she was surrounded by white light. It was almost like being in a room where the walls were painted all white and without furniture, but she could tell this space had no walls and the white colour was some kind of light source.

Where am I?

She was in this space a few moments, wondering what was going on, then the scenery started changing. All of a sudden, she found herself in a forest. There was a deep fog in the distance.

It’s coming closer!

She felt her heart starting to beat faster and she could also feel that she wasn’t alone. There was some kind of presence in here with her, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on who or what it was, whether it was malevolent or benevolent.

She looked around the forest, as far as she could see. There were trees without any leaves, so it appeared to be either Winter or late Autumn, but she wasn’t cold. She felt comfortably warm, however she didn’t feel comfortable in the uncertainty of the situation. The trees were huge in stature, either oaks or something similar, with branches inviting her to climb them.

Then... There was a howl in the distance. Was this the presence she was feeling? She had never been a fan of dogs, had always preferred cats, but somehow wolves were different. They carried special significance to the Native Americans, who she liked to read about and even follow some of their rituals. The wolf was a strong symbol in their culture and she waited if she would hear the howl again. In a way, she was curious to see where this would take her, however she was also afraid.

What if this is real in some way?

There was no howl for a few minutes, then she started walking towards the fog for some reason. She was seeing less and less around her, but something was drawing her in that direction. Then... She could hear something. It was close by.

It sounded like a twig breaking. Something must have stepped on it. Something...

She stopped dead in her tracks and waited again. The fog was now so dense that she could only see about ten feet in either direction. It seemed like something moved to her right. She turned her head to see. At first, nothing appeared to be there. Then, out of the fog and the looming darkness came a huge creature. It was hard to tell what it was at first glance, but as it approached, she could make out the outline of a canine creature.

Wolf!

The wolf approached and in a few seconds it was in full sight of her, just ten feet away from her. She could just see it. It was close enough that if it decided to jump, it would have her in an instant. She couldn’t move anyway. The wolf watched her with curious eyes, neither vicious nor happy, just exploring her face. The creature wasn’t wagging its tail, so she couldn’t tell what it was going to do. For the time being, it merely continued to watch her as she stood frozen in both fear and fascination of the magnificent creature. They grey wolf was slightly bigger than usually, with almost human-like eyes, extremely intelligent to behold and it felt as if they were drilling into Ana’s soul.

What does it want from me?

As Ana had this thought, the wolf turned around, turned its head to look at Ana again, then headed towards the trees in the distance and into the fog. Its trot was slow, almost inviting Ana to follow. The magical incantation had been broken and her legs and feet were free to move again.

Should I follow it?

Ana knew that trying to debate this with herself logically would make no sense. In fact, nothing in this dream (or whatever it was) made any sense whatsoever. She decided that she would again listen to her heart. Her feet started moving on their own, even before she completely made up her mind. She followed in the wolf’s direction. In only a few seconds, she could see the silhouette of the animal in the distance. The fog had cleared somewhat and she could now see better. The wolf was standing still, as if waiting for her and inviting her to follow. As Ana got nearer the wolf disappeared behind a big oak tree and Ana picked up the pace so as not to lose track of it. When she got to the tree and turned the corner in the same direction as the creature, she was once more blinded by the white light that had greeted her when she first fell into her sleep. She put her hand on her eyes, to protect her vision from the light, but soon enough she could remove the hand, as her eyesight was getting used to the new surroundings.

The setting was the same as before – as if standing in the middle of a room painted white. The light had an almost touchable quality to it and it did give the illusion of an enclosed space, even though Ana’s intuition told her that was far from the truth.

What am I doing here again?

As soon as she thought this, there came a reply: “Welcome Ana, to the space between.”

“The space between?” was Ana’s inquisitive reply. “Where is this place?”

“It’s a bit difficult to explain,” said the voice. “But don’t worry. All will be revealed in due time.”

“Why did you bring me here?” asked Ana. She now somehow sensed that she wasn’t dreaming this, but that something important was going on.

“I know you’ve been sensing that David was far from you and I can tell you that you were right.”

“David!” cried Ana. “Where is he?! What have you done with him?!”

“Ha ha,” the voice laughed good-heartedly. “Fear not, Ana. David is perfectly safe. He is fine and he can’t wait to see you.”

“Where is he? When can I see him?” Ana was impatient.

“It’s almost time. Everything is almost ready. You must get everything ready as well. You must tell David’s family to be ready to leave.”

“Leave?” Ana inquired. “Leave where?”

“This place is no longer safe,” explained the voice. “You and David’s parents must move, otherwise there could be dire consequences.”

Dire. What could he possibly mean?

“It doesn’t matter now anyway,” continued the voice. “You must convince David’s parents t be ready to leave with David when he comes to get all of you.”

“He’s coming for us?!” was Ana’s excited reply.

“Yes,” said the gentle voice, which reminded Ana of those nice old voices reading fairy tales on old cassette tapes she used to have when she was a girl. “David will come for you soon. I don’t know exactly when yet, but you must get everything ready for you to leave at once. Leave every material possession behind. You won’t need clothes, pans, CDs, books or things like that. Merely bring yourself and anything you can’t part with, like your pets.”

“So it’s best to stay at home for the next few days?” Ana asked.

“Yes,” answered the voice. “Stay close to home, but don’t worry about it too much. By all means, if you need to go out, go. The timelines will make sure you’re at home when David arrives.”

Ana was just thinking what else to ask the voice, but all of a sudden a strange dizziness came over her and she needed to close her eyes. Once she reopened them, there was darkness and the occasional flashes of light, almost like a migraine was piercing her head. After closing her eyes again, she tried opening them again. This time there was no pain, only the familiar surroundings of her bedroom. She was lying in bed. It was morning and the early morning light was creeping through the blinds.