Elias woke again to the taste of copper on his tongue.
The roar of traffic and horns hit him first. His ears rang with it, the sound vibrating inside his skull. The smell was wrong and sweet like gasoline and chemicals mixed together.
He quickly opened his eyes. But, they opened just in time for a sharp blast of jarring lights, making him shut them back instantly.
A moment later though, he opened them once again.
The light was still there but not as alarming anymore. His vision slowly swam into focus.
He was strapped into the driver's seat of a luxury car, leather tight against his shoulders. It seemed he was out at sea as he was facing a spanse ocean and the lights were the city lights across the bridge he was on. The car was however shaky and Elias quickly leaned over to see what was wrong.
What he saw nearly made his heart jump.
The car was suspended over the jagged tear of a half-collapsed suspension bridge. Ahead, the bridge loomed far closer than it should have and the guardrail rushed up to meet him.
He was actually half hanging on the bridge and would plunge headlong into the seas any moment from now on.
Just then, the horn of an oncoming cargo truck roared from behind, growing louder and closer. Smoke stung his nostrils at its approach and he moved instinctively to avoid getting hit by it.
He seized the wheel, twisting hard as the tires slid across the asphalt. But momentum was a merciless thing. The metal railing split like tin, and then the ground was gone. The car tipped nose-first into empty air.
Both he and the car quickly fell head long at a high speed.
The water around splashed at intervals threatening to spill into the car at any moment from then. Glass shattered around him as the luxury frame twisted and fell, icy spray rising to meet him.
He instinctively pulled at the belts to get out but he found them locked in place. When he looked down, he realized why. He was strapped to the car and bound tightly.
At that moment, salt water crashed into the cabin, flooding fast and the water quickly rushed to his head, making his vision blurry again.
Just then, his gaze fell on the cracked rear view and his spine chilled.
There was a reflection in it.
But, that was not his face.
Before he could make sense of it though, the cold closed in, dragging him down. Bubbles clawed toward the surface as darkness pulled him under.
***
Elias woke up with a start.
There was a sudden sound of metal scraping against the floor and a second later, a voice floated into his ears.
"You're awake? Wait, let me get you some water."
Sounds of feet shuffling about soon drifted into his ears and he slowly opened his eyes weakly.
The world slowly returned to him in fragments. It was a bright room with the antiseptic tang of disinfectant, and the slow rhythm of a monitor's beeping. Elias's body felt sluggish, heavy as if he had been sunk in ice for days, but his mind was sharp. He instantly took in the details of his surroundings.
A young lady, clearly still in her early twenties, sat beside the bed, pouring water from a jug into a glass. She wore a casual flowery silk gown that reached her ankles yet she didn't look shabby or out of place. Her brown hair cascaded down her shoulders accentuating her soft facial features, and made her look ethereal.
Her movements were steady and deliberate yet he noticed that tension radiated from the set of her shoulders. Her lips were pulled together tightly and she looked displeased but she still had that soft temperament.
Her eyes flicked up as she noticed he had sat up on the bed. She stretched the glass of water out for him to take but Elias merely stared back with no expression. He also didn't reach out to collect the glass.
When she saw this, she frowned imperceptibly and she tossed the glass on the bedside table casually.
"Fine. You can choose not to drink anything from me."
Her tone however sharpened as she continued, "But, I want to know what the hell you were thinking!"
Elias looked at her dumbly in confusion.
He didn't know this woman nor did he understand what she was getting at. So, he chose to keep quiet, adopting the 'silent one never goes wrong' attitude.
But, his silence only seemed to anger the woman and her grim look descended even further.
She sneered coldly, "Do you really like her that much? Enough to throw yourself off a bridge for her?"
Elias's brows furrowed instantly.
Something was definitely amiss. He remembered that the extraction team had suddenly turned their backs on him and the lab exploded.
How had he suddenly become a fool who threw himself off a bridge for a woman?
Still, he didn't answer. Speaking without intel was a rookie's mistake.
His silence only served as gasoline on the lady's frustration.
"At least say something!" She barked, standing up sharply.
She was getting really incensed and her gentle temperament seemed to disappear at that moment. Still, Elias kept quiet like a mute.
She scoffed. "You've embarrassed me and this family enough! Do you really think I didn't know all you were doing with that secretary of yours and when you couldn't have her, you pull this stunt?!"
She was breathing harder now, voice fraying under the strain. Then, just as quickly, she pulled it back, her tone cooling, and becoming something controlled.
"Fine. If that's what you want, I'll give it to you. When you're recovered, the legal team will contact you. We'll end this farce of a marriage."
She turned toward the door, but paused with her hand on the frame.
"You'll get what you want, Sebastian Grant."