Waking up is the easy part, it's what happens after you wake up that's hard.

The sunlight breaks through the translucent blinds and warms my face with its rays. I can hear the birds' waking song outside the window and my mind pulls me from my dream. I open my eyes and stare up at the ceiling to let them adjust to the brightening room. A light chill crosses my bare arms and I turn my head to the other side of the bed.

A lump of blankets cocoon the body to my right, leaving me bare and unprotected to the morning chill. I sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed, my bare feet touch the cold ground and I am once again reminded as to how cold Canadian mornings really are. I let out a light groan as my body begins to wake up and adjust to the cold winter morning. My gaze falls upon the translucent grey drapes that cover the bay window by the side of the bed and I smile shortly. I stand and uncover the window of its coverings to let the morning light stream into the room, hoping to wake the lump laying on the other side of the bed.

A light groan echoes from the lump as it begins to stir, I turn to see it slowly moving from side to side, trying to find the perfect spot to keep the light out and return to sleep. She really can sleep through anything. A smile curls upon my face and I decide to venture to the bathroom to clean up for the day.

I take a glance at my reflection in the mirror as I walk by, but something makes me stop to take another look. I'm not one to usually stop and stare at myself in the mirror for long periods of time, but today, something seemed different. Different. Or... rather off. I turn to fully face the mirror now, I lean in closer to it, inspecting my facial features closely. My reflection, my face, something, seemed off. Whether it was the purple-ish blue bruise beginning to form around my left eye, or the racoon mask of messed up mascara that painted my face, I could tell that Charlie and I would have to have a talk about what happened yesterday - because I remember nothing of what happened, but by judging my mug, something surely went down. But what?

The sound of the TV turning on startles me slightly and I quickly fling open the bathroom door to check up on the lump in the bed. I release a sigh of relief as I see the body within the cocoon of blankets clutching the TV remote closely, trying hard not to let too much bare skin be exposed to the chill in the air. I shake my head with disapproval, I forgot we left the remote on the bedside table, within her grasp. I close the bathroom door and then continue with my morning routine.

"Hey, I see you've finally awoken from your slumber." I emerge from the bathroom with a smirk on my face, seeing my roommate out of her cocoon of blankets. "Did you have a good night sleep?" I ask with a sarcastic tone as I make my way over to the bed, she shares a look with me and grunts in reply before she flips a bird my way. "That good huh?" I laugh lightly and watch as she enters into the bathroom.

My gaze shifts towards the television as a scene from a news helicopter flashes on the screen. A news caster's voice rings into the room and my heart sinks a little as they mention my roommate's name.

"Charlie Time is a wanted suspect in multiple offenses that occurred yesterday, any information on the whereabouts of the suspect is greatly appreciated, a reminder to the general public to not attempt to contain the suspect without proper authority as they may be extremely dangerous and unpredictable."

I lunge for the remote and I quickly turn the television off, hoping that Charlie did not hear her name bellowing from the TV's stereo system. I hear the bathroom door creak open and I lounge back onto the bed, pretending to be reading the magazine I snatched from the nightstand next to the bed on my side.

"You know that you're reading that upside down right?" Charlie's voice makes me look up at her, her eyes look unamused at me and I know she knows that I am hiding something, but she could care less about what it is.

"Of course I do," I reply, flipping the magazine around so that it is facing the right-side-up. "Haven't you heard, reading things upside down strengthens your brain and makes you smarter."

"Oh really?" Her left brow raises slightly, but I know she's not buying it. "And you need to strengthen your brain because...?" Her eyes remain on me as she makes her way towards her side of the bed.

"No reason," I shrug and close the magazine slowly. "Should I not want to strengthen my brain?" I carefully eye Charlie as she sits down next to me, her crimson hair drapes over my shoulder as she leans over to retrieve the magazine from me.

"No," she replies, pulling the magazine from my hands. "I think you're smart enough already, no need to strengthen it anymore." Charlie leans back to her section of the bed and opens the magazine to read for herself.

"Was that a compliment?" I smirk slightly, I can smell her lavender perfume from where I sit, it always makes me smile.

"You're smart, you can figure it out." She replies shortly, not really wanting to give anything away. I kinda liked that about her, she's mysterious like that. "Anything good on the TV?" She places the magazine down to pick up the TV remote and turn the television on.

"Uh... I don't-" I stop shortly as the TV screen flickers on. The station is still on the news channel, right where I left it. Scenes of children visiting the homes of the old and retired show on the screen and Charlie shuts the television off.

"I guess not." She mutters and places the remote between us, "I'm hungry, I'm going to make some eggs, you want anything?" Charlie slips off of the bed and then turns to me.

"Yeah, I could eat." I reply blankly and turn my head to the window.

"Cool," I hear her steps walk away from me and I close my eyes. What happened yesterday? Why can't I remember anything?  I lean my head back against the wall and exhale some air. I wonder if she remembers anything about it. I turn my head back around to face the kitchen area where Charlie went to make some eggs, would she tell me if she knew anything?  I turn my head to face the ceiling and I close my eyes. Should I be concerned?

"Are you going to wake up or am I going to eat all of this myself?" Charlie's voice and sharp jabs to my shoulder jolts me from my slumber. I blink a few times and sit up straight on the bed.

"Sorry, did I fall asleep again?" I turn to my roommate and rub the sleep from my eyes. I can see that she's holding a plate of scrambled eggs in one hand, with two forks in their other hand.

"Yeah, but it was only a little cat nap." Her lips curl up into a smile and she nods her head towards the balcony, "wanna eat these out on the deck? It looks like the sun is finally out, should be quite nice around now."

"Okay." I smile and stand to my feet. I follow Charlie out to the balcony and take the seat across from her. "These eggs sure smell good," I comment as I fold my napkin in my lap. "Did you put anything special in here?"

"Only my blood, sweat, and tears." Charlie laughs, "and a sprinkle of love of course."

"Ah, my favourite. Blood and love, the most two important ingredients of any successful dish." I smile with a light hearted tone. I reach to grab one of the forks and Charlie follows my lead, we casually clink the forks together, like two swordsman fighting in an intense battle, before we each pierce a lump of egg with the prongs of our forks.

I bring the bite to my mouth and savour it dearly. I could eat Charlie's cooking all day. It may be just scrambled eggs, but it is so good. I look up to see Charlie staring at me - or at least in my general direction. I swallow quickly and put my fork down cautiously.

"Is something wrong?" I question, her eyes searching around me. I cock my head back to try to see if I can see the same thing she sees, but I feel a sudden yank of my shirt as Charlie pulls my attention back to them.

"I think someone's watching us," I can see her eyes narrow as she lowers her voice and whispers. What? Someone is watching us? That must be some really boring program, who would want to watch us?- My train of thought is thrown off track as Charlie forcibly grabs and drags me inside, shutting the door loudly behind us.

"The heck was that about?" I raise my voice at her, "mind giving me a heads up the next time you do that?" I huff, Charlie looks at me and I can see worry in her eyes. And suddenly the annoyance in me fades and turns to worry too.

"Shush!" She places a finger to my mouth and suddenly my heart begins to race. What the hell is going on-

BANG

BANG

BANG

A loud pounding at the front door makes my heart skip a beat and I jump. Charlie gets in front of me and I can tell that she is trying to be protective over me.

"POLICE! Open up!" A man's voice calls from the other side of the door and I can see Charlie tense up. Why are the cops here? Is it because of what was on the TV? "Open up right now or else we are going to come in by force!" The assumed officer's voice calls out once again, I look to Charlie as if to ask what we should do.

"You trust me right?" Charlie speaks calmly, her gaze locked onto the front door.

"Yeah, of course I do." I reply, confused by her unwillingness to shift her gaze.

"Good," Charlie replies casually as she exhales a bit of air, "please forgive me."

"Forgive you for what-?" A loud and sudden shot rings out and makes me jump, a jolting pain shoots through my leg and I wince with pain. I look down and see a red blotch forming on my left pant leg and my eyes widen. I look up to see Charlie holding a silver pistol in her right hand.

A louder bang startles me more as the front door is bashed open and a swarm of officers flood the little air bnb that we had rented.

"Drop the weapon or we'll shoot!" The officer's voice echoes in my ears, I look to Charlie and then to the officers and then back at Charlie.

The officers' orders begin to muffle in my ears as the pain from the gun shot demands all of my attention. My eyes begin to swell with tears, and I lean back against the nightstand.

Why is this happening? What happened yesterday that this was the result?

I close my eyes slowly, my lids feel too heavy to keep open. It's probably the shock, but my leg feels cold.

"Mary! Stay awake!" I open my eyes to see Charlie's face inches from mine, I can feel her shake me, or at least try to - while the officers try to pry her from me. It was supposed to be a regular morning like any other. What happened?

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2031 words for this chapter.

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