DIS.DAIN

It may have been the weather that gave it away.

The sun shone brightly, and although Simi could almost taste the smell of the pink rose sitting in her lap or feel the sand crunching between her toes, she felt cold, and the goosebumps on her forearms were proof that it was anything but warm.

A biting cold almost, as though she were sitting in an air-conditioned room, her feet tightly secure in a pair of socks.

But that was not what she could see; before her was a vast ocean. She stood on the beach, a straw hat shielding her eyes from the sun and a sheer skirt hanging from her waist. She could hear the laughter of her husband and child as they splashed around in the ocean, and the cries of fleeing seagulls as a group of teenagers threw rocks at them.

She leaned back into her hands, watching as her palms squeezed the pure white sand that surrounded her, and yet, she could not feel it.

Ever since the dream a couple of months ago, she had been noticing strange things. She was always cold, had lost her sense of taste and touch, and hallucinated strange people telling her to escape.

But, escape from what?

As far as Simi was concerned, she had a perfect life. A loving husband, a beautiful and healthy son, friends and family that loved her, her dream career- it could not get any better than this. What could she possibly want to escape from?

Her doctor had found nothing wrong in the tests they ran a few weeks back.

“Nothing physical,” he had said.

“Maybe it has something to do with the trauma you experienced when you were younger? What did your psychiatrist have to say about it?”

Simi’s psychiatrist told her that there was nothing to be worried about.

“I just changed your prescription, and this could be as a result of the medication wearing off.”

Her husband simply thought she may have been stressed out with work and being a new mom, and decided to take her to the country for the weekend.

Simi leaned back onto the sand and stared up at the sky. Her hand reached up to the heart-shaped locket hanging around her neck, a locket that had appeared out of thin air one night.

The same night she had the dreams.

Inside the locket was a picture of people she did not recognize. A man stood stiffly, his smile grim. He looked to be in his early sixties, but Simi did not know who this man was. Next to him was a beautiful woman. Her cheeks were sunken and her neck narrow but she smiled- a beautiful smile that seemed to draw Simi further into her gaze. It was obvious that this woman was ill, terminally most likely, but she looked at peace with the world. Simi felt a strong emotional connection with this unknown woman, as though she had known her since the time she was born.

Frustratedly, she released the locket and stretched her arms out onto the sand. Maybe her husband was right- the proposal she had submitted to her boss earlier in the year had taken a lot out of her, and frankly, she was exhausted. She wasn’t sure why she was losing her sense of taste and touch, but she knew that she would be okay. She had people that loved her, people that would do anything for her. She had family that cared and friends that would always be there.

She had a perfect life, so there was nothing for her to be worried about. With a weary smile, she closed her eyes.

-----

“We set off the alarm as a distraction only, end of story!” Kim Young Won growled as he overlooked the group of misfits standing before him. This was their third takedown this week, and with the last two missions falling apart only two minutes after they had begun, he was beginning to wonder why he had brought them along at all. Not only were half of them scared shitless or barely holding on to their humanity, but the remaining few also could not be trusted.

“There’s no setting anything on fire, no spraying of bullets,” Young Won said as he held up his gun.

“No killing of any kind…”

“We understand,” Simon rolled his eyes as he puffed out a ring of smoke. He held the cigarette between his lips and tapped on his watch impatiently.

“We don’t have time for this.”

“I know that Simon, but do I need to remind you what happened last week?” Young Won gritted his teeth and glared at Damon.

“Do you understand?” he asked and Damon rolled his eyes, tired of the repetitive lecture.

“Aye captain.” He said sarcastically and raised both hands in surrender.

“No killing of any kind. Got it.”

“Once you find her, sound the whistle and get her out of there as fast as you can. Remember, it is a gold heart-shaped locket with a keyhole in the back. Everyone else, you hear the whistle, you get out. Capiche?”

There were a series of grunts and mumbles as some people agreed with the plan of action Young Won had laid out, while the untrustworthy few glanced between themselves knowingly.

They all stared at the building as they waited for the signal- like clockwork, the lights went out and everything was dark.

“Let’s go.”

-----

“Mom! Look what I found in the sand,” David ran up to his mother and opened his palms, his lips pulled back into a wide grin. Simi smiled warmly at her son, patting the sand softly out of his hair.

“Impressive!” Simi said as she poked the shell resting in his hands. Hearing his mother’s praises, David nodded, his eyes beaming as he placed the shell carefully on the sand next to his mother’s legs. Just as easily as he had been infatuated with the sea creature, he had discarded it and picked up his shovel, eager to build the biggest sandcastle the world had ever seen.

Simi looked behind her son to see her husband walking up to them, a warm glass of water in his hands. He handed it to her and Simi retrieved it gratefully, gulping it down in two seconds. He lowered himself onto the sand next to her and planted a kiss on her lips. She smiled into the kiss, returning it quickly, before turning her gaze back to her son.

“How are you feeling?” she heard her husband ask and she smiled, nodding her head reassuringly to let him know that she was fine. He pulled her into his arms and Simi leaned her head on his shoulder, melting into his embrace. Although Simi could only remember how warm his touches had felt, she wished desperately that she could feel him once again.

“I’m here to get you!” She heard a strange voice say, and her head shot up. She stared at her husband, who looked at her in confusion with a raised brow.

“Everything okay?” He asked, the worry evident in his voice.

“You didn’t hear that?” Simi looked at him in shock, as she had heard the voice clear as day. However, the confusion only grew more apparent on her husband’s face. Simi glanced around briefly, only to realize that there was no one else but her husband and her son sitting within a few meters of her.

“Come on Shola, please wake up!”

Simi’s head began to pound as the voice became louder and more vivid. She shut her eyes tightly and shook her head, as though trying to shake the voice out of her mind. She was pulled into her husband’s embrace tightly, her heart beating rapidly, and although her eyes were closed, she felt dizzy.

It was as if someone were vigorously shaking her body.

“Please Shola. Wake up!”

Suddenly, Simi opened her eyes and all she could see was darkness. Her husband and her child were gone, and she was alone.

Simi was scared.

She wanted her husband and her child back. She wanted to see them and hold them close. Was she losing her sense of sight as well? She didn’t like this feeling of emptiness. It was as if she was floating in a void; an empty wormhole that would swallow her very existence.

“Come on, my love. Come back to me.” Simi heard the voice say again and suddenly, the wormhole was pulling her in. She could hear her bones breaking and although she could not feel it, she was terrified.

Did I die?

Is that why these strange things had been happening?

As the wormhole swallowed her very existence, a memory that she had long forgotten resurfaced in her mind. A man, one that she had not met before, was holding his hand out to her with a smile on his face. He was very handsome with striking features and gorgeous black hair. His eyes were a beady brown that glistened in the sunlight, and her name sounded like honey rolling off his tongue.

“Shola!”

Simi jerked up in the bed, gasping desperately for air.

What? Where am I?

A man stared back at her, tears rolling down his cheek. He embraced her, almost desperately, and choked on his words as he struggled to spit them out.

“I thought I would never see you again.” The man cried into her shoulder, but Simi did not know who this man was. She was confused and did not understand why he was holding her. Where was her son? Her husband? Why was she sitting on a hard bed, half-naked in a dark room, with a strange man embracing her as though he knew her?

The man pulled away from the hug and for the first time, Simi saw his face.

It was the same man she had seen in her dreams, the one with striking features. He smiled softly at her and placed a palm on her head while touching his forehead with hers. She could tell that he was bursting with joy and happiness and unfortunately for him, all Simi could feel was confused.

“Who are you?” Simi asked him carefully, her voice croaked as though she hadn’t had a sip of water for weeks.

“Where,” Simi swallowed, trying desperately to force her words out.

“Where am I?”

“We don’t have time,” The man said with a soft smile, almost as though he had expected Simi’s reaction. He pulled a long-sleeved dress over her head, and she instantly felt warmer. He held out his palm to her then, his actions gentle.

“Do you trust me?”

Simi clearly did not know who this man was but for some odd reason, she felt a sense of familiarity with him. As she reached her palm out to take his, almost unhesitantly, she instantly felt that she could trust him. Who was this man? Where was she? Why did her husband and her child disappear? What was happening?

“It’s okay,” The man said as he held on to her hand firmly. He leaned forward, and Simi gazed into his eyes as though in a trance.

He had her husband’s eyes.

“You’re safe now.”