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Message: <blockquote data-quote="GuardianLurker" data-source="post: 3097782" data-attributes="member: 786">Dye Job (Round 2: Match 4)Dye JobLike every other day for the past few weeks of her vacation, Melissa woke up in her featherbed comfortably rested. As always, the Indian breakfast she was served was absolutely delicious, if a little different from what her American-bred tastes were used to. Today was a beach day for Melissa. When she had arrived at the resort, she had done all the touristy things in the area, running around busily, with a sense that this couldn't last. After all, whoever plans on winning the lottery? She had, and though she still couldn't believe it sometimes, Melissa had come to accept that her dream vacation would end only when she wanted it to. So she had settled into a semi-routine. Some days were market days, some days were tourist days, some were hiking days, and some, like today, were beach days. It was an idyllic life, a far cry from the stressed rat-race she had been living. If that could have been called living. She felt more alive now after having left her old life behind.Melissa almost always woke up thinking about this, and like always, she resolved to put it away, and focus on relaxing. Today was a beach day. The breeze was a little strong, so she wouldn't be sunbathing, but with a tank-top, shorts, sandals, and drink, she could relax with a good book. She dressed, and left to go to the beach. She passed people in the hallways, but noone acknowledged each other for more than a brief smile - privacy was an overwhelming priority at the resort, and one of the reasons Melissa had selected it.The beach, as always, was absolutely gorgeous. But today, something was different. Very different. A penguin was walking on the beach, right towards Melissa. Penguins do not belong on South Indian beaches, so Melissa was very curious. As it approached, <a href="http://www.enworld.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=26111" target="_blank">she squatted down to examine it more closely, other people walking behind her to set up their beach umbrellas and chairs.</a> The penguin advanced a little more, then cocked its head at her and said quite distinctly - "You Me Seen. Doors Cliffs Argo." And then it exploded into a fine mist that soaked Melissa from head to toe. In the mist, she briefly saw a <a href="http://www.enworld.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=26109" target="_blank">misty, glowing figure of a man holding a sword across his body, looking at a marble slab that she also knew was a mirror, though she saw nothing reflected in it.</a> It scared her. Exploding penguins and mysterious visions are prone to do that. So she tried to wake up. It was the first nightmare she had had at the resort, but she had had many nightmares in her other life. Melissa concentrated hard, willing that peculiar sense of detachment and calm that would free her from the nightmare.But it didn't work. Annoyed for the first time in her idyllic vacation, Melissa stormed off to the concierge. It took her a great deal of doing, annoying her even more, but she finally managed to catch the attention of him."You have a problem. I don't know what was wrong with my food this morning - either something spoiled, or someone decided it'd be fun to put a hallucinogen in it. I just saw a talking exploding penguin. I'll be in my room, send me a doctor. I want to be sure nothing's wrong with me. And fix whatever the problem is!" The somewhat startled concierge just nodded his head."I'm sorry for your trouble, ma'am. I'll make sure the problem is taken care of. Please don't let this minor incident mar your stay here. I'll send the doctor up as soon he arrives."Melissa growled acknowledgement, and stalked off to her room, intending to change her clothes. As she stepped into her room from the empty hallway, she noticed her clothes were completely dry. A little sticky in some spots, but even those vanished as she was examining them. Still, her beach day was now ruined. Melissa decided to make the day a hiking day instead. Maybe some exercise would work off some of her anger. She changed into a fresh tank top, jeans, and sneakers, clothes she would never have dared to wear over in the States, back in her old life. The armor always had to be up, she always had to be lady-like in both attitude and dress, she always had to look her best. But here, she could relax, all those pressures behind her.Besides, she had an urgent need to get out and do things. Exploding penguins aside, she felt great. However, better to be safe and sure. She'd just drink a little water and wait for the doctor. Unfortunately, she was out of ice, so she'd have to go to the ice machine to get some. As she was filling the ice bucket, she heard the elevator doors ding, followed by the fading sound of footsteps marching in unison. Curious, she peeked around the corner, filled ice bucket in hand. Three tall men wearing black suits, black shoes, and black fedoras were approaching her door. As she watched, two took position to either side of her doorway, their dark eyeshades gleaming in the fluorescent lighting. Somehow, when all three pulled guns with long barrels from under their jackets, she wasn't surprised. Nor was she surprised when the third man in black kicked her door down, and all three charged into her room. Melissa dropped the ice bucket and ran to the stairwell.She yanked open the stairwell door, and flew down the stairs, leaping entire flights at a time. As she yanked the bottom door open, she heard the door above her crash into the wall. Without pausing, she ran through the empty lobby. Instead of hiking through the empty countryside, she'd have to run to the market and hide in the crowds there. But the market was empty. She had forgotten that today was a religious holiday, and the market shut down. It was one of the reasons she had decided on a beach day. She stopped and looked around. Without the stalls and people, there was very little cover. Everything that had been hidden was revealed, even the old mural saying "See Argo Cliffs and Experience Adventure!" Off in the distance, she could she the dust plume of a car. Then she caught a whiff of chemicals. It wasn't what she would have preferred, but it was probably her only choice for places to hide. Melissa ran up one of the many alleys, following the smell as she had before. Eventually, she came to the dye vats. <a href="http://www.enworld.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=26112" target="_blank">There were three people working on dying the cloth, but they hadn't seemed to have noticed her.</a> Looking around, she didn't see anyplace to hide. There was a small pile of cloth, but the workers would definitely notice her if she tried to hide in the pile. As they would if she tried to hide in the dye vats themselves, which were too small and shallow anyway. Her mind racing, Melissa realized that only left one of the large preparation and soaking tubs. She eased herself into an otherwise empty one, hugging the tub wall under one of the platforms the workers stood on when stirring the cloth.Her heartbeat pounding in her ears, Melissa wondered if she had managed to lose her pursuers. She knew that they had seen her run into the alleyway. But there were so many twists and turns that she could have lost them. How long should she wait? 5 minutes? 10? Could she wait in the chemical vat that long? Then she heard the sound of feet, all running in unison. She couldn't see them emerge from the alleyway, but she could see five of the men in black advance to the far side of the enclosure and take up guard positions. Behind her, she could hear others do the same. One man in black went to talk to the workers.Melissa couldn't hear what was said, but when the worker standing in the dye vat started gesturing wildly and pointing her way, she ducked her head underwater, leaving only her nostrils above, one of her favorite childhood tricks. She waited, and heard the one in charge come over. Tensely, she waited longer, and longer, having trouble keeping her breath light and even. Eventually, the men in black left, and she raised her head out of the water. Melissa listened a little more closely, not moving. After another seeming eternity she heard something move behind her, and saw one of the workers wave goodbye to the man in black who had been hiding, trying to ambush her.Shortly after that, one of the workers came over with a long pole and stood on the platform, stirring the chemicals in the tub. "You Them Waited Out. That Good Is. Perseverance Shows. Cliffs East Are. Alley Large Follow, Edge Town Road Right. You Luck Have." With that the worker stepped off the platform, and all three vanished. Melissa climbed out of the tub, and ran up the alleyway the worker had told her about. It led her out of the town quickly, and met up with a road. She turned right, and east, with the early afternoon sun behind her, and settled into her long distance jog.As her feet pounded the dusty and overgrown road, Melissa thought about everything that had happened since she woke up that morning. She felt better, despite the chemical bath which she was sure had bleached her hair blonde. Questions ran through her mind - Why did the penguin talk the same way the worker did? Who did the men in black work for? Why did they want to kill or kidnap her? What was the glowing man in the vision? What were the Argo Cliffs, and why were they special?She kept running, and kept running the questions through her mind. But she didn't have any answers, nor discover any. As she ran, she climbed higher and higher into the hills surrounding the town. The road twisted and turned its way up and over the hillsides. Eventually, it led her to a small outcropping of rock that thrust its way out over a deep, dark river hundreds of feet below at the bottom of a chasm-like ravine. At one end of the bare spot that must have once been a parking area, stood a rusty scaffolding surrounded by scrawny trees. The scaffolding supported a pulley on two steel cables that ran over the ravine and to a spot on the opposing cliffs of the ravine wall. Looking closely, there seemed to be a ledge, with a path up to the top of the cliff. The path apparently lead to an old shack, probably a gift shop. There was also a harness with a rope attached to it. The other end of the rope was wound around a winch. Melissa tugged on the rope, and more of it unwound from the winch, which turned freely.As she finished her inspection, Melissa wiped her forehead; the back of her hand came away covered with a thick sticky fluid, not normal sweat. She had another vision, but this time she could make out that the man was kneeling, holding a bouquet of her favorite flowers, while a child hugged him. Melissa would have sworn the vision didn't last long, but when it ended, the sun was beginning to set, and she could see the plume of the men in black's car starting to make the next to last turn.There wasn't much option; the cable slide was the only way out. Melissa scrambled into the harness, snapping the buckles together and tightening the straps. As she tightened the last one, the car pulled up, and the original trio of men in black got out. The leader called out. "You Stop! You Us Come! You Restplace Stay!"But Melissa didn't listen, <a href="http://www.enworld.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=26110" target="_blank">and ran forward, leaping off the cliff</a>. As she whirred down the cable, escaping to the ledge on the other side, another vision, even clearer, came to her. The man was black-haired with tears streaming from his familiar face, holding the bouquet in his left hand where a wedding band caught the light. His right hand was hugging a small 5-year old boy who was crying as well. The marble slab was a gravestone. A fancy one with a picture mounted behind some glass. At first Melissa couldn't make out the picture. But then she realized she knew whose face was shown. How could she have forgotten her own husband and son? Sobbing, tears clouding her vision, Melissa could make out the end of the cable.The ledge was a spot of miscolored moss on the cliff wall.</blockquote>

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