PART 4

Loubar! He’s alive! His name and face raced into her head immediately. She couldn’t help but recall his chilling words. Think of me every time you look at Tyler. Those eight little words had completely altered her life and were etched into her soul. Angie's face blanched as a shiver ran down her spine and she broke into a sweat. She frantically scrolled down to see if there was any more to the note. There wasn’t.

"What's wrong, Ang?" Rollie questioned as he looked at Angie with concern. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Angie just blinked at him, not comprehending what he asked. She was startled into action when she noticed Rollie walking towards her. She slammed the notebook shut with more force than necessary; to prevent him from getting a look at the message.

"Wha.. Oh, it's nothing, Rol. Just an email telling me my apartment was broken into. The super scared the guy off," Angie said nervously. She hated lying to Rollie, especially now but… Could he tell she was lying? She fervently hoped not. Besides, it wasn’t really lying. She just wasn’t telling the whole story.

"I told you, you should move out of that place. It's not a good area for a single female to live. Besides, with what I pay you, you should be able to afford a nice place," he teased.

"Are you saying my apartment's not nice?" Angie replied, joining in the friendly banter.

"Who, me? Never," he said vehemently.

*****

Several hours later, they finished their long and uneventful return to New York. She persuaded Rollie to let the cab take him home first. He wanted to see her to her apartment to ensure everything was fine but reluctantly agreed to her request. He sighed inwardly, he always did had a hard time denying her anything.

The minute the loft’s door shut behind Rollie she began rummaging around in her bag for her cell phone. She dialed her own number. It rang four times then the answering machine clicked on. Thinking that the fumigation process might be finished at her friend’s place, she disconnected the call and tried Natalia’s number. Her friend answered on the second ring.

"Hello," said a muffled voice.

"Natalia, it’s me, Angie. I’m coming over. Now."

"Uh, sure. See you in a few." The line went dead.

Instantly, she gave the cab driver the correct address and sat back for the ride. The entire ride there, Angie gnawed at her lower lip, fidgeted and twisted the strap of the bag. All clear signs that she was worried about something.

****

Natalia buzzed Angie into the building, but still looked through the peephole before opening her apartment door. She flew open the door to greet Angie with a hug and dragged Angie into the apartment. Angie’s jaw dropped at her friend’s appearance. Her left cheek was noticeably puffy, swollen and was several shades of purple, black and blue. Natalia also possessed a black eye that had swollen shut. Both hands were covered in surgical tape, implying that several fingers were broken and taped together so they would heal properly.

Natalia shut the door behind them and locked it using all three locks. Two of the locks were shiny and quite stiff to operate. They were definitely new. Glancing around, Angie saw new locks on all the windows. The shiny black bars on the window were a recent addition, as well.

"Boy, we make a pair don’t we. I thought I looked bad, but you look pretty awful yourself, Angie. I thought you were just going to shoot on location for a few days." Natalia said.

"I know. I was, ah., caught in an avalanche."

Her friend arched an eyebrow and looked very interested in knowing what happened

"I’ll tell you all about it later. It’s not important right now. I want to know what happened to you."

"I don’t know, it’s kind of hazy. Come on, let’s go into the living room and I’ll tell you what I can recall. " Natalia led the way into the seating area and waited for Angie to take a chair before resuming. This time, when she spoke, her voice was different than usual; it was distant. It was like she was talking about someone else. Natalia’s eyes became unfocused and glazed over. Angie recognized these actions as signs of self-preservation, otherwise it would be as painful to tell the story as it was to live through the original event.

"I was asleep when someone broke in through the fire escape window. I heard a noise and woke up to find someone looming over me. Before I could scream, they had their hand over my mouth and throat, cutting off my air supply. I tried to fight but couldn’t. They gagged me with duct tape, then tied my hands behind my back and tied my ankles together."

Angie’s eyes went to the mentioned body parts. She could see raw patches of skin and scabs around her mouth, and wrists, souvenirs of the harsh bindings.

"Then he injected me with something. It was some sort of drug. The doctors don’t know exactly what was used. They’re going to run some tests." Natalia shrugged gracefully. "I don’t really remember anything after that. I know they kept going behind me and whispering something in my ear. I couldn’t understand anything they said though. The guy hit me a lot too. Once, he hit me so hard in the mouth, I felt my teeth loosen. They fixed them temporarily at the hospital, but I have to see a specialist next week."

Natalia lifted both hands and started examining her fingers. "I don’t know what they did to my hands to cause all this damage. Every finger was broken and my knuckles were all inflamed and red. There’s a chance I’ll regain full use of them

She dropped her hands back into her lap and bit back a sob.

"Every once and a while, they would leave me and start destroying your living room. I warn you, it’s pretty bad still but some friends went to clean it up so the worst of it is dealt with. It was really weird. The pillows were slashed and the stuffing thrown around the room. The contents of the fridge were emptied onto the floor. Your bicycle tires were cut and all sorts of other damage but he didn’t touch your computer stuff.

I guess it was three hours later before the person left. I have never been so scared in my life. I’m just glad they left the front door open when they left. One of your neighbors noticed your cat wandering around the building. He was returning Chiops and saw the mess. He called the police. How did you even know about it? I know you didn’t read my note. Obviously you haven’t been to your apartment yet." Natalia nodded towards the luggage left by the closet.

"Do you know who it was? Do the police have any suspects?" Angie asked, refusing to change the subject.

"No, not at all. I didn’t really get a good look at the person. I’m not even sure if it was a man or a woman because they were wearing some type of mask. All I know for sure is that they were strong."

"Now, what happen to you? You look different. Not just the bruises, but there’s something different in your eyes. Did you meet someone?’

"Later, I gotta go." Angie exited the apartment leaving a confused and bewildered Natalia to stare after her departing figure.

****

Outside, she considered talking a cab to her place but decided to walk. As she made her way through the city, she was overwhelmed with guilt. It was her fault Natalia was injured. She might not have been the one who hit her but she was still responsible. Just like shooting Rollie. She might not have been aiming for him but she was the one that pulled the trigger. Lying to him just compounded the guilt. She thought about confessing to him. And tell Mira so she’d know this wasn’t some random attack. That would be the logical thing to do, but for some unknown reason, she just couldn’t tell them.

Before she knew it, she was standing outside her apartment building. She went straight inside. She hesitated briefly outside her door, then inserted her key in the lock. She turned the knob, opened the door and walked in. The smell almost overpowered her. It was a hideous combination of cleaning fluid, perfume and alcohol. She dumped her stuff in the entranceway. Her cat, having heard the door open, rushed to greet his master. Angie picked Chiops up, and stroked him as she walked around surveying the damage.

Once in the living room she paused, bent down, released the cat and picked a photograph off the floor. The frame was in bad condition, and all the glass had been shattered but the picture seemed to survive intact. She brushed the remaining glass shards off and looked at the photo. It was one taken many years earlier. It was of her, her father and Rollie on their first film together. They looked so happy then. Still clutching the picture, she sat on the end of her couch, pulled her knees up to her chin. Silent tears rolled down her face. She wished she could re-capture the joy of that time. Would her life ever be normal again?