The Florencia Lozano Homepage - Fan Fiction
Chapter 17
Tukluk ran up to the cell and saw Todd standing there, his arms dangling through the bars.
“Man, am I glad to see you. I haven’t seen anyone in days...I was beginning to think everyone had forgotten I was here...” he said when he noticed someone coming up beside Tukluk.
“Todd?” said a familiar voice in a husky whisper, a voice that haunted him. >
Todd blinked a few times as he stared at her image. She was a lovely vision dressed in white, a beautiful ghost with a soft, wispy fur surrounding her throat, a radiant Arctic spirit with extraordinary dark eyes that beckoned him with angelic brilliance. “A hallucination,” he thought, his mind unable to grasp her sentient being, having seen only her ephemeral likeness in his mind and in his dreams for years. As the image floated toward him he was frightened, and stepped back a little, fearing he’d finally lost his mind.
Tea’s heart and breath stopped. An intense, familiar excitement electrified her as she walked closer. It was always her body that betrayed her.
“Tea?”
Tea smiled and nodded, approaching the cell.
Todd darted forth, thrusting his arms through the bars and yanking her to him, his fingers pressing hard against her firm flesh, clasping her hands, touching her hair...making sure she was real.
“Tea...Tea,” he whispered as he grasped her tightly to him, burying his face in her shoulder. “Tea...oh, my God...Tea...Tea.”
She felt his hot tears against the exposed skin of her neck as he cried openly, his painful sobbing alarming her.
Tukluk approached.
“Todd...listen. Can you remember the sequence used to open up this cell?”
Todd didn’t hear him. His nose and lips brushed her face, kissing her gently, feeling her warm, solid flesh with his mouth as if to taste her and smell her carnal essence. “Tea...Tea...it’s you...”
Reaching up, Tea touched his long hair.
“But...you’re hair? It’s so long. I don’t understand?” she asked, perplexedly.
Todd smiled, wiping his eyes and staring into hers.
“You made me promise not to cut it. Remember?”
Tea pulled away and looked up at him in a panic, then at Tukluk.
“But...that promise...that was years ago!”
“TODD! Todd, come on, man...help me out here! Do you remember the order of the keys?”
Todd held Tea’s hand tightly as he looked over at Tukluk, suddenly remembering where he was.
“Tuk...this is Tea. My Tea...”
“I know, Todd. Listen...we need to get these locks open. Do you remember the order?”
“Locks? Uh...sure...yeah, I think so.”
Staring at the five locks along the cell door, he squeezed Tea against him as they heard another explosion.
“That’s the second explosion I’ve heard like that in the last few minutes,” said Tukluk, looking at Todd. “Todd...I think this place is gonna blow! Now...WHAT THE FUCK WAS THE SEQUENCE!”
“Okay, okay...Let’s see...I knew you’d find me...I think the red key goes into the first lock and the green one into the second...Tea...you’re here,” he said, bringing Tea’s hand to his lips and kissing her palm, rubbing the soft skin against his unshaven face as she stared at him in complete bewilderment. “Tea...you’re here...I knew you’d come for me...”
“What? Todd...what have they done to you?” she asked, reaching up and touching his anguished face.
Tukluk tried the keys and heard the locks turn when a third explosion went off.
“Good...which one is next.”
“The black one...I thin,” he said as he scooped her hair into his hand and kissed it reverently.
Tukluk inserted the black key quickly...but it wouldn’t move.
“Damn! It doesn’t fit!”
“No...the white one! Try the white one...then the black one on the fourth lock.”
Tea jumped nervously as another explosion went off, this one closer than the others.
“Hurry, Todd,” she said, the sound of her voice causing him to smile and pull her closer, kissing her fingertips one at a time.
“I can’t believe your here. I love you...” he whispered in her ear as Tea pulled away, almost frightened by his declaration, sensing he’d experienced some sort of trauma or breakdown.
“What? No! What are you saying, Todd?”
“Okay...that worked,” shouted Tukluk. “One more, Todd, and you’re a free man. Which one?”
Todd stared at the dozens of keys trying to remember the final one.
“It was a gold one.”
“There’s a dozen gold ones on here...they all look the same,” said Tukluk, as an explosion blasted above their heads, causing a shower of concrete to crumble and fall from the ceiling.
“OH MY GOD!” screamed Tea.
Todd pulled her close, covering her head.
“IT WAS A GOLD ONE! FUCK, TRY THEM ALL,” shouted Todd!
The keys tapped loudly against the lock as Tukluk’s shaking hand tried one key after another, but each key seemed to fail. Todd and Tea clung to each other watching as the lock rejected each successive key while another explosion went off above them. A fine, dusty cloud of debris fell all around them as they began to choke and cough and the patter of falling concrete filled the air like a sudden hailstorm.
Finally, there was a loud click and they heard the cylinder drop as the lock turned.
Tukluk pushed back the door and Todd came rushing out. Tea gasped as he pulled her into his arms, embracing her with the speed and ferocity of a wild tornado. Overwhelmed by the contact, his body weakened and he fell to his knees, taking her down with him, groaning into her shoulder with a painful cry.
“I knew you wouldn’t forget me. Tea...Tea...I’m so sorry for everything...I was such a jerk in Maine. I’m an idiot...you know that. I’ll make everything up to you...I promise...I love you...” he rambled as tears flowed down his face.
Tea was reeling with confusion. Her fingers kept running through his long hair, a puzzled expression on her face.
“Maine? But...that was so long ago...”
“How’s Starr? And Vicki? She had the cancer...please tell me she’s not dead...” he said, his lips caressing her forehead, kissing the top of her head as he rocked her against him.
“Dead? Vicki’s fine as far as I know...she beat that years ago. And Starr’s fine...but...you know that...”
“That’s good,” he said, crushing her against him. “You feel so good...you smell so good...oh, Tea... I thought I’d die here and never see you again, never touch you again...”
“COME ON, LET’S GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE,” shouted Tukluk, as he started running toward the stairway. Todd jumped up, grabbing Tea’s hand and pulling her along in her confusion.
As they got near the stairs, Tukluk suddenly stopped and turned to Todd.
“That’s his room,” he said, pointing at the door.
Todd hesitated a bit, then ran inside, followed by Tukluk and Tea.
The room was cold. All the medical equipment had been turned off and a body lay on the bed beneath a white, wrinkled sheet.
They all stood quietly as the blasts outside got louder and closer, and Todd approached the bed. Todd turned to Tea and beckoned her, holding out his hand. When Tea came up beside him, Todd bent over and pulled back the sheet.
Todd lay there, pale and lifeless before her. Her eyes filled with tears as she gasped, looking from one Todd to another in bewilderment.
“But...but...how? How can this be? How...he’s...you...he’s you,” she kept saying, her eyes fixed on the corpse that looked exactly like the man standing beside her. Tea reached down and touched his hair, his scar, his cold, hard flesh, then pulled away.
“He’s dead! But...but...this is impossible. He’s you,” she said, looking up at Todd.
“No, he’s not me,” said Todd, taking her into his arms and holding her against him. “He’s not me. I’m me. I’m me, Tea...and...I love you!”
“What? You don’t! What’s going on, Todd?” Tea asked anxiously.
As they stood quietly another explosion rocked the building and the buzzing of fire alarms started going off everywhere. They ran out of the room and noticed the hall was quickly filling up with thick, black smoke coming from above them.
“FUCK! THEY’VE SET THE PLACE ON FIRE,” shouted Tukluk, looking around for an exit. “COME ON, THIS WAY!”
The alarms screamed in their ears as they ran quickly behind Tukluk searching the labyrinth of hallways for an exit, the smoke following them like a bloodhound as they coughed and choked on the fumes. They came to a door but when Todd bent to open it, it was locked tight.
“HELL! IT’S LOCKED!”
The smoke was getting thicker and making it difficult to see as Tea fell against Todd, beginning to lose consciousness.
“Hold on, baby...we’re getting out of here.”
Tukluk and Todd hurled themselves against the door, but it wouldn’t budge. A second attempt did nothing. When they looked back they saw a ball of fire barreling down the hallway like a dragon, it’s fiery tongue devouring all the oxygen in its path, coming right for them. Tea felt the scorching heat approaching and screamed, hiding her face as Todd and Tukluk tried once more taking a few steps back and hitting the door hard with all their strength. Finally, it popped open. Todd grabbed Tea and they jumped out the door as the fire hit the air and exploded behind them, the propulsion hurling them upward, high into the air and onto a large snowdrift.
“TEA!” shouted Todd, his head jerking up and looking around for her. “TEA!”
“I’m here, querido...I’m fine,” said Tea lying beside Tukluk, her face covered with fresh snow as she lay in the snow bank looking up at the building totally engulfed in flames behind them.
They got up and started running away from the institute. When they looked back, all the buildings were burning, the flames shooting high into the sky like fiery rockets.
Tea stumbled to the icy ground in exhaustion as Todd fell beside her, panting and holding her tightly to him. Tukluk breathed hard as he watched the blaze shooting upwards and heard a series of explosions...obliterating everything.
*****
2003 Copyright by Trog
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