She sat, inclined in her seat like a queen, gazing coldly at the window across from her. Her phone was held in her hand, fidgeted this way and that. Elsa drew in a deep breath, her expressions unreadable. Linda had still not called back, not so much as even a message. That was not right. She knew it, she felt it. Taking another look at the clock from where she sat, the time read three in the afternoon. Sighing, she unlocked the phone and dialed Linda's line.
"Sorry, the line you have contacted, cannot be reached", the cold and automated voice of a woman came from the other end. Cannot be reached? Elsa frowned, feeling more and more ominous. She hurriedly reached for her car keys and drove out of her villa, towards that of Linda.
Everywhere was surrounded, cars..people. Sounds of varying degrees filled the streets. From the windshield Elsa saw old women and young men craning their heads, trying to get a look into the villa. Several police cars and an ambulance had been parked at Linda's gate, the uniformed men in black doing their best to stop the people from entering or viewing whatever was going on.
Seeing this scene, Elsa felt her blood run cold. She hurriedly unlocked the car and marched to the gate, ignoring the increasingly aching pain in her heart. She stood before one of the policemen.
"What is going on here?", she asked, her usually casual voice raising a few pitches higher. The man gave her a pitying look, then shook his head. "Are you a friend of the victim, ma'am?", he asked. Victim? What victim? Elsa shook her head, unable to grasp what was going on.
"Yes, Linda...where is Linda?", she held the arm of the man, he gave her an unpleasant stare before rudely shaking her off. Elsa, refusing to believe any harm had come of her only friend, held on to him again. Her eyes had turned red, and she could no longer feel anything. She shook the man. "WHERE IS LINDA?!", she screamed. The policeman tried to get himself rid of her strong grip but found out he could not. He frowned before responding, "Ma'am, Miss Linda is....dead".
ELSA'S POV
Lies... all lies. Look at him, this commonner of a police man, telling me my best...no, only friend had died. He had to be lying right? Simply had to be. I was holding on to him more tightly now, there was a possibility I could crush his bones but I refused to care at the moment. I looked around me once more. The women, they seem to be crying, the men, they seem downcast. No! Why are you all crying and down, who has died? Well, this funny looking cop just told me it's Linda...Linda, funny right? How can that be when I spoke to her not long ago. [She laughs]. Funny cop made another attempt to free his hand but I demanded he make me see Linda or else he should forget about his hand. I know Linda is in there, I just do. She was the ray of light in my life when control by Nick got too much. She was the solitude I indulged in when my darkest thoughts outweighed my brightest. And here this man, [she pushes the policeman away angrily] is, telling me she's dead. GONE!
*
Elsa let go of the man, realizing this was not some scripted television show that put friends to the test. Here, she faced the bitter realities of life. She watched, tear running down her eyes as a group of doctors and policemen wheeled out a body zipped in a bag out of the villa and into the ambulance. Elsa, who always kept her cool under any circumstances, screamed as loud as she possibly could. There, as she watched the body of the woman she had once not known and yet an inexplicable bond had developed get driven away, she realized that she was left with nothing. With none but one. She ran quickly toward the people carefully pushing the stretcher.
"Linda! Linda, what happened? How?" She held on to the bag, her tears endless, inciting the sympathy of all present.
Elsa did not care about the sympathetic glares she was receiving nor the disdainful ones of those who thought she was being a drama queen. A doctor came over and gently separated her from the bag. She watched in horror as the bag was wheeled into the ambulance. Unable to withstand the pain any longer, Elsa collapsed into the hands of the doctor.
***
Her eyes fluttered open but closed as a result of the bright light in the room. Elsa sighed, her eyelashes trembling. She refused to open her eyes and face the brutal reality that awaited her. Linda. She was the second person Elsa had seen when she woke up from the long coma after Nick. She had practically leapt into her arms from sheer joy when she heard the news of her awakening, and when Elsa asked her who she was, she looked so hurt.
"Elsa, come on, it's me", she pointed to her chest, her voice choking. "Remember?". She had shook her head, making Linda take a step back in shock. She stared at the quiet Nick by the side, her gaze searching for answers. Nick took her to the side and explained the situation to her, And Elsa could have sworn she heard her friend break down into tears. Even on the hospital bed, linked to tubes and machines, Elsa knew she wanted to hug this friend she did not know and comfort her.
Everyday after that Linda came to the hospital to visit her, always with a new story to tell.
"Once, we made a graffiti on the campus walls telling the whole school how a lecturer had tried to hit on you and failed so miserably. Haha, you know Elsa, you've always been very brave. He used your grades against you but you stood your grounds, that, is courage". Elsa remembered giving a dull smile. The version of herself Linda was describing she had then come to know was not her any longer. A few days after waking from the long sleep Elsa was sent home under strict conditions. Her freedom had suddenly become limited, and filtering her words around Nick had become a norm lest she made him upset. Nick never was though, he had a supernatural patience for her. And yet Elsa always felt that hint of danger that was embedded into him, from how he walked, talked and even ate. Elsa had began to feel an inate fear towards this husband of hers.
Soon, she began to look forward to all of Elsa's visits. They started out as small talks, however as their relationship progressed, their bond grew. Shoppings, sleepovers and nights out, things Nick would never let her do with anyone else. She truly began to see Linda as a sister, and now...
"You have to eat", Elsa's eyes opened to the cold side profile of the man. He sat on the chair by the bed, reading a paper. Elsa felt short of breath, the hollow feeling in her heart broadening. "Nick, what happened to Linda?", she asked, turning her head away, voice unfeeling. The man took a critical look at her, and spat out two words, "Targeted assassination".