Chapter 2: Bella Donna.

Anisa lay on the floor unconscious.  Fire swallowed her up. Or, so she thought.

Her limbs were numb and her heart pounded. The room was incredibly hot and breathing was now a chore.

Just give up. He has me now.

From the distance she heard a male's voice.

He is here. Give up. You can't win. You will never win.

Anisa put all her strength into her arms pushing herself up against the crates.

She felt warm liquid swimming down her top. Warm. Metallic. My Blood. 

A man rushed to her aid, Anisa thought the opposite.

"Leave me alone you piece of-" She screamed, the mean continued to examine her. "What are you doing, the fire. Get me out of the FIRE! HE is here! HE wants me dead! Get me out of here! You must be helping him! Get OFF me!"

Anisa tossed everywhere. She was numb yet she wanted to do one thing. Escape. Her nightmares have been going on for hours, she felt like her skin was peeling off, and that her sweat was crimson blood. She was stoned, she felt humiliated and broken. After all, He has her now.

Several hours later, Anisa woke up. Her head hammered in her head. She could hear a silent buzzing. The taste of vomit remained in her mouth. A man was sitting across from her. His face was a blur, there was something in her eyes. It was a mixture of tears and sweat, gross, but she felt relieved that it wasn't blood.

What happened? Her apartment remained un-touched, but Anisa could swear that she saw it up up in flames.

"You were poisoned." The man spoke. She could see him clearer now. He was tanned. He had long messy hair and a stubble.

Anisa looked blankly at him.

"Your dilated pupils and hallucinations, I'm guessing you were drugged with Deathly Nightshade, or "Belladonna!".

Belladonna.. "Pretty in Italian." She thought out loud.

"Yes." He replied. "Deathly nightshade, is a deadly cherry that can kill you if you in-take too many. Years and years ago, the ladies in Italy would eat such berries to make their pupils dilate, so they could look pretty. That's why they called the berried Belladonna. Our guess is that you got some belladonna in your system. Luckily, you must have had a small amount, and your body reacted quickly by throwing them up. Do you know where you could have got belladonna?"

Anisa grumbled curses as she tried to pull herself up.

"The last thing I remember in-taking, was a green drink at the bar below. "

Oh great, I'm here one day and I'm drugged, I should have never taken that drink. I am an ass.

The man look at her, his eyes wide and chocolaty. His clothes were caked with dirt, he looked homeless, but he had cleaning equipment in his pockets.

"Peggy? The one with red hair? She is an odd woman, always on the phone, crying. Lately this month she took a lot of days off for "personal matters." But, where could she have got belladonna? It's practically banished in this part of the country, She's too much of a goody two shoes to have sneaked out and got it, but she is a capable woman."

"I never caught your name." Anisa replied, making her mind up about Peggy. She needs to have a chat with her.

"Desmond Tornez. I am a cleaner her, and your door was ajar, so I went in, this apartment hasn't been occupied for a while! Supposedly, the man owning this apartment died in this very house."

---

Anisa decided not to argue with Peggy. She doubted highly that Peggy poisoned her, although the thought still lingered there.The main evidence she saw to back up Peggy's innocence was that she watched her make the drinks, and saw her make 3 more, the other people that drank them were not showing any effects of poisoning. Anisa excused herself from the man, and went to clean herself up. She took a nice, lengthy shower, releasing herself from sweat, dirt and whatnot.

She put on a fresh pair of clothes, and she straightened her hair. She put on a bit of make-up, and felt her feminine self being restored.

"I need to go to town." She thought out loud.

On her way downstairs, she spotted Peggy at the bar.

"You look good!" She called out.

"Belladonna!" Anisa replied bursting in a fit of giggles.

She saw Peggy was confused. She didn't know what belladonna is. Another point to back up her innocence.

---

It was cold on the streets of Manhattan. The green plants couldn't stand out among the depressing grey of the city. Everywhere you turned, a huge building towered over you like a monster. Fancy new cars were showing off and mocking the poor pedestrians taking public transport . People who inherited wealth liked to show it off. Sometimes it felt un-fair, It wasn't your choice weather to be born wealthy. Sometimes, it was just people who had achieved something in life.

I'd like to settle in, get a good job, have children, a wonderful husband, not in this life anyway.

Exploring deep into the city's heart, she spent more than hours.Luckily her parents left her some inheritance in her bank. Once she withdrew money, she took out a good chunk, and didn't take out more money for a while. The less paper work the better. She got some decors for her home, she also crafted herself a small survival kit. It consisted of a purse with a first-aid kit, different antibiotics, spare cash, matches, small towel and a knife. In her world? You never know when she will need it.

There was a nice rocky beach at the coast of the city. It overlooked green mountains rolling into the distance. The water was too cold to swim in. A nice splash on the face and wash of hands were enough to satisfy Anisa. Her dad used to bring her to the beach or lakes. He used to skip stones, Anisa never got the hang of it. His stones glided on the water, hers always just  plopped in. She wasn't any better now.

Little did a Anisa know, was that she was being watched by a mysterious man, clothed in an expensive suit and white sneakers, hiding in the landscape. 

It was dark by the time she arrived, she went to the back of the building to see if any of the staff remained. She wanted to thank Desmond. She felt an obligation to him. After all, without him, she could have been a dead ends when it came to finding out what happened to her.

"Stop where you are!" A voice called out. It was a male voice. Not Desmond's, he had an Northern American accent. This one was .. British. 

"I said don't move."

She froze. Horrified by the sight of a man clothed in dark clothes, who was pointing a gun at her. His hair was black and recently slicked back. You could still smell the hair gel.

Anisa felt dreamy, was this an effect of belladonna? Was this real?

"Miss Anisa Taylor." He spoke. "What a pleasure to meet you for the first and last time. He told you some much about you. Do you still have your night mares about him? He has great dreams about you. In many ways. Not just your death."

Anisa was disgusted. She knew where this was leading. He did the same thing to her mother.

"Well, I can give you a choice. Come with my into my car peacefully, or have me shoot you and put you into my car. Do you know what I like to call my car? Deathly nightshade." 

Anisa froze and fell back. She was un-able to speak. The knife. Have him come close and reach for the knife.

"I like to collect pretty ladies in my car."

He was close enough. She grabbed her knife from the purse but a shot from the gun rang in her ears.Blood spilled. Lots of it. It wasn't Anisa's blood. She gazed into the darkness and saw a shadow running into the streets. A mysterious person saved her life.