Olivia jerked out of sleep, panting and sweating allover. She had been having a bad dream. The same nightmare that had tormented her sleep almost every night, for as long as she could remember. She had started having this nightmare since she was just a child, after her mother's death. The nightmare was always the same, and had remained consistent over the years.
In the dream, Olivia was still five years old. The dream began like it always did, with her waking up to the sound of a horrid and ominous, sinister laughter. There was darkness everywhere and Olivia could not see a thing. She heard the sound of the laughter again, and she felt a cold creep up her spine.
"Mother." She whispered, but there was no answer. This made her even more scared. Olivia blindly got on her feet, feeling around in the darkness. Then she suddenly heard a cry of agony. She walked in the direction from which the cry was coming. It was raining heavily and the sound of the thunder claps made her dizzy with fear, but she kept walking, breathing heavily. She walked into a room but she could not see anything. A flash of lightning suddenly shot through the sky, and Olivia saw several men, standing around. They were all dressed in black. One of them was sitting in the middle, holding onto the body of a woman.
"Mother?" Olivia called, stepping forward. She heard a voice speak, but she could not make out what it was saying. Somehow, she immediately recognized it as the owner of the sinister laughter. She became scared.
"Mom!" She cried. And still, there was no reply. "Mom! Mom! Mom!!!" Olivia kept crying frantically. She felt a cold hand creeping up her neck, and she began to struggle, trying to fight the hand off. Suddenly, a blinding flash of light appeared, knocking her out so that she woke up into reality.
Olivia had been having the same dream for years, and every time she did, it had the same effect on her. It always left her pale, covered in cold sweat and shivering. She couldn't understand why she kept having the same reoccurring dream. She couldn't decipher any meaning from it. It was supposed to be like every other nightmare which show up for a night and disappear. But this one kept repeating, every night, as if it had something important to tell her.
Olivia sighed as she reached for the switch and turned on the light. Her hair was allover the place, sticking to her sweaty body and making her itch. Olivia groaned as she tried to salvage the wild locks of hair. She sighed again as she turned to peer at the alarm clock on her bedside table. It was only a few minutes past 4am, and Olivia groaned again, kicking into the air furiously as she flopped back unto the bed. She was frustrated as she knew that she would not be able to get any more sleep. She was never able to get back to sleep whenever she had this nightmare. This sleepless night would have a bad effect on her in the interview she had to attend in the next few hours. She had hoped to be on her best for the interview, but now, she feared she would appear too drowsy and dull, worse part, her eyes could get bulgy. Olivia groaned again. She was tired. Tired of everything.
After loosing her job at the Grand View hotel, Olivia had been to several dozens of interviews. Every time, she had been unable to secure a job. Not even a part-time job! She hadn't been getting any calls from her agent to model either. She had tried calling up her agent several times, but he wasn't picking up.
This wasn't happening to just her. Her best friend Ellie was finding it difficult to secure a job too. The two of them had attended several interviews together, some apart. But yet, they had both failed to get the job even though they were often very qualified for the job.
It had been over two weeks already since they lost their last job at the Grand View hotel, and since then, none of them had been able to secure another job. Olivia could manage on her own for a while longer, but the challenge was her best friend, Ellie. Ellie had to pay for her twin sister's medication which was running out, they had to replace as soon as possible because of how critical Sally's health was. plus the hospital bills were also due. Ellie was beginning to grow restless and anxious, and that was what troubled Olivia the most.
"I have to get a job soon!" Olivia whispered to herself as she turned on her side, trying to get some sleep. It was futile, she remained wide awake. She only became sleepy when the sun began to appear in the horizon. Olivia cursed at herself, at the sun, at that nightmare. She cursed at everything as she grudgingly got out of bed to prepare for the interview.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Olivia was leaving the restaurant where she had just concluded the interview, when her phone began to buzz. She reached into her handbag and fetched the phone, and peering into the screen, she saw that it was Ellie calling. Olivia slid the call to answer it and put the phone to her ear. Before she could even say a word into the speaker, Ellie's frantic voice came through.
"Ollie! Ollie, Sally's medication ran out. I don't know what to do! I don't have a dime on me, and the nurses are insisting that I pay before she gets anymore medication. They are also threatening to kick her out if I do not pay the hospital bills now! Ollie, there's nothing I can do now! They will kick us out now! Sally would die if they kick us out! I don't know what to do! The hospital had agreed to give me a little more time. They agreed to give me time to find the money. I don't know why they are suddenly insisting that I pay the money now... So suddenly..." Ellie kept rambling into the phone. From her voice and the way she was panting, Olivia could tell that Ellie was having a panic attack.
"Ellie! Ellie, Ell, listen to me. Hey, I said listen to me. Are you there?" Olivia called to her best friend gently over the phone.
"Yes." Ellie replied, still panting.
"Now, take a deep breath. You hear me? Just take a deep breath, do it so I can hear you." Olivia instructed, pausing to let Ellie take the breath. When she heard the latter breath in, she continued. "Now, breath out." She instructed. Ellie obeyed again. "Lean against a wall, or better still, if there's a seat around there, please sit down. Tell me when you do." Olivia said. After a moment, Ellie's voice came through softly.
"I found a chair. I'm sitting down now." She said.
"Good. Now tell me, where are you right now? Are you still at the hospital?" Olivia asked.
"Yes." Ellie replied simply.
"Good. I will be there soon! Do not move, remain where you are. Wait until I get there. Do you hear me?" Olivia said.
"Yes." Ellie replied again.
Olivia quickly ended the call and hurriedly waved down a taxi.
When Olivia got to the hospital, she looked in Sally's room and everywhere in the lobby, but could not find Ellie. She quickly dialed Ellie's number, and when the latter picked up, Olivia asked.
"Where are you?"
"I'm with a doctor. Doctor Marcus. We are on our way to Sally's room now." Ellie replied. She was sounding better now, more relaxed.
Olivia went back up to Sally's ward, and there she met Ellie standing at the door with a doctor. The doctor had golden blonde hair, he stood a good six feet and his body was very well built. He didn't look like a doctor at all. He looked like a super model, or a movie star. He had a perfect face for billboards and magazine covers.
As Olivia began to approach them, the doctor turned around to look at her and his bright grey eyes sent Olivia's heart thumping awkwardly fast. She quickly looked away, fixing her gaze on Ellie as she covered the rest of the distance between them.
Ellie smiled up at her when she joined her.
"Ollie, you are here at least." She said gleefully. "Here, let me introduce you to doctor Marcus. He saved Sally today." Ellie said, motioning at the handsome doctor. "Doctor Marcus, this is my best friend Olivia, but I call her Ollie."
"Hi Olivia." The doctor said, reaching out his hand as he noticed Olivia's reluctance. His fine face broke into a warm smile that made his eyes glow, sending Olivia's pulse fluttering even more. Something about his warm look and smile seemed so familiar. Olivia could not place it. But she thought, if she had seen this strikingly handsome face before, there was no way that she could forget it. She was thinking so much that she did not realize that she had been staring at doctor Marcus for a while, without taking his hand. Olivia kicked herself mentally as she took his handshake.
"Hi, doctor. Nice meeting you." Olivia replied, looking into his face, even though his smile was messing with her sanity. "I don't think I have seen you around here before, doctor." She added. Doctor Marcus' smile widened until his slitted eyes almost disappeared in his face.
"No, I've not been around. I'm new here. Just got transferred over the weekend." He replied, maintaining his dazzling smile. Olivia groaned inwardly. 'God! Why did he have to smile so much?' She wondered.
"He is like a divine intervention! He got here just in time to save Sally. If it weren't for him, Sally and I would have been put out of the hospital by now." Ellie said. "He is now in charge of Sally, and he has given me more time to gather the payment. He has even approved her medication on loan." She told Olivia excitedly.
"Thank you doctor. For saving my friend." Olivia said to Marcus, avoiding his eyes.
"Oh, don't mention. My mission is to save lives, and that is what I must do." He said, grinning. "I'll be on my way now. See you girls around. Bye Miss Ellie, Miss Olivia." He said dismissively, then he turned around walked away.
As Marcus walked away, he wondered within himself why he had not been assigned to Olivia. If Devon and his legion were involved in this, and Olivia was somehow connected to them, why had he been assigned to protect the sick girl, Sally, instead of Olivia?
He had not expected to meet Olivia on this mission. The last time he had seen her was on the night of her mother's death. But even then, he had not been assigned to protect her, but her mother's boyfriend, Lloyd. He had only saved her life while protecting Lloyd. It had not been part of his mission.
And now, after several years, he meets Olivia again. And once again, she was in a dangerous situation, but like before, it is not his mission to protect her. Marcus wondered, If it wasn't in Olivia's destiny to be under his protection, then why did their paths keep crossing? Why was she always in trouble whenever he showed up?
Marcus decided to keep waiting for further directives, but in the mean time, he would keep Olivia within his sight. Whatever Devon was up to, he would not let Olivia get caught up in it.
Marcus wondered if Devon recognized Olivia. He doubted that. If Devon had recognized Olivia as the little girl from many years ago, the girl who had escaped him once, he would have surely killed her by now, especially as she was unprotected. Marcus hoped that it would remain that way, until he figured out what fate had in store for Olivia. Until then, he would protect her in his little ways, even if it wasn't part of his mission.