Poor Atlas!
[Cordelia] I wake to the sound of birdsong and the warmth of the sun shining through the window near my bed. Blinking, I open my eyes to see a pleasant room painted in bright yellow with wooden furniture and large pillows in pastel colors. It all looks like something from a tropical dream of what Heaven might look like. “Atlas,” I call out into the quiet. There is no response. The last thing I remember is the feeling of his arms around me as we… The door creaks open. Suddenly alert, I sit up quickly. Too quickly. My head begins to pound and I suddenly feel like I might be sick with pain from the way my brain feels like jello inside of my skull. “What is wrong with me?” I mumble more to myself than to anyone else. “Where am I?” “You’re here, with me,” a cheery voice calls out. Moving my hands, my eyes take a moment to adjust. “Angelica?” I cannot believe my eyes. “But you disappeared? You’ve been gone for 5 years and I…” “What are you talking about, “ she smiles over her should
[Cordelia]“I can see you are still not convinced,” Angelica walks over to the dresser and pulls out a long sundress and undergarments. “Let’s go find Jude. He’ll help show you the truth.” She helps me get dressed, as my body is fairly unsteady. She tells me that this is normal for me after one of my “episodes.” There are times when my mind shuts down and I go in and out of consciousness for several days or even weeks. This time I had been asleep for a week and a half. “And every time I need to remind you of who you are and what has happened,” she sighs. “You seem to believe your dreams are real and this is a fantasy.” Guiding me gently by the arm, Angelica gives me a grand tour of the island. It is surprisingly close to home, just a short distance from Los Angeles. “Jude’s family has had property here in the Channel Islands for generations,” she explains as she continues to tell me more and more about a fiance I cannot remember going on and on about his merits. With the way her f
[Cordelia]“Are you okay, Cordy,” his face and voice are warm and concerned, but his eyes are cold, and calculating, looking at every element of my face.Forcing my face into a smile I lie. “Everything is fine.”As happy as I am to see Angelica, I cannot trust her. She lied to me with too much ease and sincerity. She was convincing enough that I was starting to believe her, and if I hadn’t had a flash of memory, I may still be convinced. She didn’t betray a single mistake as she gaslit me and tried to convince me that my reality was not true.But maybe she doesn’t know everything she said is a lie. If I have been walking around for who knows how long with some type of amnesia, maybe the same is true for her.
[Atlas]None of this feels real. We’ve been searching for Cordelia for over a month now and still haven’t found any solid leads. The police have started to hint that maybe she doesn’t want to be found, that she disappeared intentionally.Their other suggestion is one I don’t want to think about–that she was taken by whoever poisoned her and that she might already be dead. I refused to believe that. I need to believe that she is still out there, with our baby, somewhere safe but hidden, waiting for me to find her. I’ve placed a framed picture of her on our wedding day next to the bed. Every morning I look at it and wonder how things could have been if I had given that shy girl a chance to love me and be loved in return. She was too young to be getting married, only 19. As a bachelor in my 30s, I should have known better. But my grandfather had wanted the match and when Angelica disappeared, her younger sister seemed to be the best option at the time. I promised myself not to ever
[Atlas]I don’t know whether or not I want to hug my brother or punch him. Somehow he had found a pattern that the police had missed, even though they had been given a month so far to find her. “Why didn’t you offer any of this to the police?” I wonder aloud. “Maybe this could have helped crack the case.”“I tried, but they informed me that all of this surveillance was technically illegal and that none of it would hold up in a court of law.” He shrugged. “I tried there first before coming to discuss all of this with you. I had been…” he pauses before continuing “...hoping that I could help without getting directly involved. If they had just taken my footage I’d…”He doesn’t need to finish his sentence. He probably didn’t want to tell me about his surveillance of Cordelia and me. Considering how bad it makes him look, I can almost understand his motivation. “I also wanted to verify some of my suspicions first before I came to you. So I hired a private investigator.” He explains as he
[Cordelia]It is dark when I open my eyes.I am alone in a room that feels cold, even though I am covered in blankets. As my eyes adjust, I realize it is the same yellow room from before, only now everything is in various shades of gray as the pale moonlight changes everything into the many colors of shadows. The last thing I remember, I was being forced onto a table to be “examined” by Jude. However, I can’t remember anything after that because whatever he did next made the world fade to nothing. I think he tried to hypnotize me. Now that I think about it, maybe he succee
[Cordelia]“Angelica,” I gasp as I let my face go slack and my eyes grow wide. “Where am I? How did I get here?”Angelica slowly changes her own demeanor to match my own, her feline grin softening into something sweeter and less toxic. “Oh you poor sweet dear,” she coos as she takes my arm to gently guide me back towards my room. “Do you not remember where you are? You are home of course.”“Home,” I continue to pretend. “Of course, this must be home because you are here.”“That’s right,” her smile grows larger. “I’m here to take care of you.”I let her tuck me into bed, pulling the covers up to my ch
[Atlas]The early morning air is cold and crisp as Clark and I wait for any sign of “The Angel.” It should have returned two days ago, but something must have delayed it. A feeling of fear and dismay has been gnawing at my nerves the longer this drags out. Something tells me Cordelia needs me, needs us. But we will be unable to do anything if we cannot find what island she is on. Our investigations have narrowed the location down to 6 potential locations either on or near Catalina Island. We tried to go to the police to help, but they couldn’t do anything until we confirmed where she was being held and that she was there under duress. Without those bits of evidence, for all they know she is just hanging around having a nice, sunny vacation. Clark taps my shoulder and points at the horizon. A smallish white boat is moving closer to the dock. As it approaches, the name Angel becomes visible on its bow. Thank God!Clark has readied a micro drone that will attach itself to the boat an