The door opened, and a stern-looking nurse entered the room. She did not paid the patient any heed as she checked the machines and her vitals; the nurse did not even cared that the person on the bed was awake.
She followed the nurse with her eyes until they stopped in a mirror in the room. She stared at it for some time while the nurse bustle around her. Who was that? She slowly turned her head to one side and then to the other without breaking contact with the reflect that did the same as her.
Then, something clicked.
They said it. Something about a surgery. They actually changed her face. She was no longer a doll faced woman that looked innocent and sweet when she dazed off. She had become a woman with sharp features, kind of like an aristocratic with an upright character.
Her blue eyes were still there, her black hair, too. It was longer. Not by much, but definitely longer. The woman in the reflection wasn't her. That woman may have the same eyes and hair as Rei Lee, but it was not Rei Lee. No, it wasn't her. Rei Lee died. They killed her.
She paused to let that thought settle in.
She, then, turned to look at the nurse. Her face was serious, focused, while she changed the bag of whatever they had hung so it would enter her body through the catheter. The nurse was the typical nurse Shadow had: professional, and ordered to never addressed the patient unless it was related to their health.
She didn't think about it. She just did it.
She tore off that catheter and buried it in the nurse's throat. She slid off the bed and let the woman bleed herself on the floor. She searched the cabinets in the room and finally found another patient's robe. She changed out the bloodied one and exited to the deserted hallway.
She quickly walked down the still deserted hallway, aware of the cameras, until she found a doctor's office. She ducked into it, and started another search. She luckily found another robe, one more suitable for her disguise, what with the shoes she took from the nurse. She looked like a medical staff.
However, her disguise would not work forever. She had to be quick.
Getting out of the building was more difficult than she thought, avoiding people as she was. Luckily, there wasn't much personnel roaming around. Or, they hadn't been alerted yet. Either way, she took advantage of the given time, and rushed to the exit as fast as she could without looking suspicious.
Once outside, she didn't dare to take a car and just walked away. She walked for so long, the place only accessible by car. Her legs hurt as she was still in the recovery stage, but she kept moving. Finally the highway was in front of her. She followed it until she reached a city: London.
It seemed they had hoped for her to continue her life from where she left off. She was, but not under their thumb.
It was past midnight when she reached the already lonely streets, and for the first time, she didn't know what to do.
She looked around at the lonely streets. By chance, she found a call girl in a corner and knocked her out to change into her clothes. She kept the nurse's shoes on out of comfort, even if they didn't match with the skimpy dress she was dressed on. At least, the jacket was nice and covered what the dress couldn't.
She continued walking until she found a park. She could finally rest! She slept for a few hours, unable to relax until she knew she was not going to be followed. Few people walked the still dark streets, dawn not peeking yet, as she continued her journey.
Her gut told her to not lose more time, so she began asking for a ride on the highway to Newcastle. She walked as she gestured at the cars passing by to take her. For hours, there was no luck.
When the sun was harshly beating on her, a van finally pulled over. The group of people that gave her the ride was the Peace and Love kind, and gladly took her all the way to Newcastle while pretending to smoke their sickening weed.
The trip shouldn't have taken long, yet they wanted to enjoy the view and what nature offered them. She reigned in her need to kill them and rob their van as they helpfully provided her with a knapsack with clothes, dyed her hair blonde and even gave her a set of green contacts just to make her one of their own.
She arrived at Newcastle two days later in the morning. Time was vital at that moment, and she didn't have much. She almost ran to the University, just to find herself in some sort of musical festival.
"Did you hear? Judd is going to play soon!" A student said excited while she passed by the hippie look-alike.
She followed them and was guided to a huge Hall, proper to give magnificent concerts. Before entering, she paused by a room that had plenty of instruments and she found a cello in it. She hated the red color in it, suddenly missing her white cello. Then again, something told her she needed it, so she grabbed it.
When she entered the Hall, she saw him standing on the stage, looking a bit awkward. She frowned and walked down the stairs, towards the stage. She soon found the reason why he was acting awkward, as if he didn't want to be there. His composition was wrong. It sounded wrong.
She couldn't help walking up the stage, sitting on a spare stool, and positioning the cello in front of her. She hoped it was already tuned or what she was about to do would be in vain. She definitely couldn't keep listening to his incomplete opus. After he stopped, she took a deep breath, and then, the arc touched the strings.
The world around them disappeared, even they themselves disappeared. It was just the sound of the strings from both the piano and the cello. The puzzle finally getting its pieces where they belonged. The world once again had a reason, even when she didn't know what that reason was. But it was there.
There. In the chords of the two instruments mingling, as if they were born to be together. Her body melted, and it became one with the melody. Chords of life and death joined together to create the Requiem of Life. Created by two who turned into one in the process.
This was it.
Everything was right. The melody was right. Her place was right. His place was right. Their music was right. The world was right. They were right. Right for each other.
When the last chord was played, and the final sound ended, it was like being a new person. She was aware of it. She had come to that conclusion days ago. Rei Lee was dead and a new person was born. She just didn't know who she was. She was nameless. Like a newborn.
Her eyes opened and they connected with his. This was it. He had seen through her. Even when she looked different, he knew it was her, so she calmly put the cello back to its case and let things run their own course. This is what they both needed.
Her feet took her out of the Hall. Seconds later, she smiled when she heard footsteps behind her. Then, a hand grabbed her arm. It was warm.
"Rei." He called out. In the end, it was still going to be that name. He had called it, so she couldn't run away from it. She didn't mind. It felt right, like everything else, when it came out of from his lips. "Rei." His voice changed, not so sure as before. Was he regretting it? He didn't see through her? "Rei." He was losing confidence.
Ah. He was just hoping she was the Rei Lee he knew. Unfortunately, that person no longer existed because...
"Rei Lee is dead."
Her words felt right. She no longer hesitated and completely erased her past existence. The man in front couldn't still accept it, looking a bit pale and devastated. She knew she had to explain herself, and she intended to; however, a silhouette at the end of the hallway made her heart skip a beat.
It was Eddie. And, he was not alone.
She knew the others. They were agents. They were coming after Judd because of his connection, as meager as it was, to her.
She gritted her teeth, and quickly pushed Judd inside a classroom. The echo of their footsteps made her know they were going to pass by that classroom. And they would search. They were professionals, after all.
She panicked. If she were alone, she could run away, yet she was not.
Looking up at his surprised eyes, strangely made all her fear disappear. Only determination was left in her. Even though this was not a mission, she was going to succeed as if it was. Besides, she had dragged him into this, and she would keep him as safe as possible.
She put the case down, and took her jacket off, showing the dress from the call girl she decided to use that day. Judd looked aghast when she pushed him into a chair and straddled him, the short dress slipping up her thighs. He had no chance to react to their position as their mouths crashed in a rushed and wet kiss.
She had kissed before, yet this one felt novel, making her deepen it even more while paying attention to the footsteps outside.
A grunt, a sneer and a chuckle let her know they were seen by the group, they paused for a few seconds, and then kept walking. She relaxed and reluctantly stopped the kiss, just to face a flustered Judd under her. His face was the epitome of disbelief and being wronged. She chuckled and rubbed her thumb on his cheek.
"Your face always shows the most interesting emotions, Judd Faez." She whispered. Once again, recognition started to fill his eyes.
Only then, she decided to take off the contacts and show her blue eyes. When she looked back at him, she finally saw what she wanted to see. Recognition. What she didn't expect, though, was the arm around her waist and a hand that pulled her down to start another searing kiss.