Lizzie

"Lizzie?" a voice above me muttered, a halfhearted call for me to come back to consciousness.

Slowly, I awoke feeling again the pain that I had sheltered from in my deluded dreams. I moaned and looked out at the darkness.

"Where is this?" I asked weakly.

"I don't know really, some kind of underground prison. Listen, do you know who you are?"

Who I was? Who was I? I tried to remember. My name was Lizzie, or at least this man thought so, but who was I really, where was I from, what had happened? No, no, all I could feel was pain, my head was heavy, and I fell to the floor.

"I am Lizzie," I asserted.

"Yes," he said, cradling my body is his thin arms, stroking my brow, "What else do you know?"

"I…I," I said, but there was nothing, a great emptiness was all I could feel, "What happened to me?"

A sigh was laid heavy on my ear.

"You were hurt," he said.

"Oh," I said, that, at least, made sense, but I wanted to know more, "How? Why? By whom?"

The man was crying now and did not answer.

"What is wrong?" I asked.

"We are being used," he sobbed.

"Used?"

"Yes, they are trying to get Melian to quit the presidential race," he said.

I did not know how this had anything to do with us, so I just remained still. I enjoyed the warmth of his body and the comfort of his caresses. I lay my head against his chest and closed my eyes and made a noise rather like the purr of a contented cat.

"They are threatening to kill us or worse, if she does not, but Morgoth never keeps his promises. I wonder if she will give in. There is no way out. We will never escape."

I nodded. It did not really matter now. There was nothing either of us could do. He had just said so, so it was best that we just get used to living here. It was not so bad. This man was very kind, and his voice was like music. I just wished I could make him happy. He seemed so sad. I lifted my head up and kissed him gently.

"I wonder if I'll ever see her again," he said, more to himself than to me.

I stayed perfectly still trying to decipher his features in the dark.

"She, she was so beautiful, like a pool of sunlight in my dull gray life, but now it has all gone dark."

"I am sorry," I said, wondering if all this was my fault. I could not remember. He pulled me closer and started to cry again.