Lorna heard breathing. It felt divine in the soft, comfortable, double bed... unlike her soul: dirty, sullied and impure. She dozily snuggled up to Kara, feeling warm with her next to her own smaller, more fragile body- warm from finally feeling safe and secure, warm from being away from Ryan and his sick, twisted, evil mind. She also felt a neutral dullness, a product of all that had been going on for the best part of a year. Lorna'a heart sang with gladness: she would have been slowly starting to burn inside by this time of day, not quite so long ago.
Why did I ever start taking the little bastards?Lorna thought. For the first time since her "second" life, she regretted what she had done in her "previous" existence. All of the one night stands, all the drugs, her prostitution.... Lorna felt her eyes moisten as prickles of pain flowed from her hear to the rest of her body. What also hit her with full force was how lonely she felt- since her "rebirth," the only original friend she had was Pepper, and there was only so much they could do together... and now she was gone from her life, at first only a few towns away, and then an eternity..... to here, this prison. She ran a hand through her tangled hair. What on Earth possessed her to go and make love to a woman? Was she a lesbian? No, that couldn't be right... what about all those blasted men she had slept with? In any case, how could she live as a sexual partner to an alien that was more endowed than virtually any woman on Earth, in a country she was a stranger to, a city she was unfamiliar with. She was trapped.....
Lorna stealthily slid out of Kara's bed, and silently put her clothes on. Ever since her second chance, she had been determined not to make the same mistakes again, and to try and to put right any of her previous mistakes if that was possible...... She looked at Kara's sleeping body, tears distorting the image, stinging her eyes. As she left, her breathing became pained as yet more emotions came up to choke her heart. She reached the apartment door, barely able to keep control of herself. She closed the door, and quickly moved down the stairs. As soon as she was outside she put on the balaclava, and started to run. She didn't care where she went, as long as it was as far away from this hellish existence that had been thrusted onto her. She bitterly wept, the tears evaporating on contact of the stream of air streaming into her face. She realised with a start that she was travelling far faster than her previous record- and she wasn't even near straining. As she continued out of the city at speeds that were shocking her, she realised that it was after a good ten minutes she was starting to feel the lactic acid burn in her legs, her heart drum madly in her chest, and her lungs explode with over-use.
Lorna stopped, panting, breathless, aching, sore, dripping with sweat, and feeling much better for herself. Her mouth was dry- where was a glass of water when you needed one? She heard in the distance a low rumble. As she turned to look behind her down the long, lonely highway, she recognised it as a motorbike.
It was a tatty, worn looking machine based on the knocks and scrathes, but clearly had it's engine replaced with something more powerful, and the roar told Lorna that it was lovingly kept in pristine condition. Lorna squinted against the sunlight as she gazed at the nearing vehicle. She looked on as the machine pulled up beside her. It was only when the rider took his helmet off that her jaw slackened and her stomach knotted with fear.
The Arions had found her.
"So, Miss Black, we meet again, eh?" It was the bruiser who had caught her in mid-leap in Queen Victoria's Park. Without hesitating, she started to sprint back to LA. She realised that even if she could repeat her last performance, it would take close to fifteen minutes to back to the outskirts. She started to pound the ground harder, heart rapping away, muscles screaming, soul gripped with controlled fear. She never wavered from her course, when the bike suddenly drew beside her, the engine screaming to keep the machine parallel with her. Lorna realised that this was her chance- she stopped dead.
As she felt the painful jolts of her reversing her "enhanced" speed to a stop stab bluntly into her, she saw the Arion carry on like a bullet. When he eventually stopped, there was some considerable distance between them. Now came the next part of Lorna's plan. She had used the time to regain her breath, and to prime her muscles. With mind focused, and soul ready, She sprinted at maximum "enhanced," her life-force energies shifting and pulsing around in her body. As soon as was almost at the now accelerating Arion, She jumped up higher than she had ever done before. This startled the rider, who unprepared for this, lost control of his bike. As soon as feet landed onto the hard tarmac floor, she groaned in pain as she felt the shock waves explode in her body. She continued, her speed impaired by the minor injuries to herself. She couldn't maintain this, not the way she was hurting. As she neared the city, her heart felt a little happier- if only she could get there... If only.....