Artificial Heart

39

Prisha couldn't believe it. Who the hell ends stairs halfway up a building?

There was no window she could climb through. Nothing she could climb onto. It simply ended in midair. And she was still two stories up! She looked down to the alleyway and its hard pavement. Too far. Definitely too far. No bush here. A bicycle was leaning up against the opposite building. People walked past on the busy path ahead. Nobody noticed her. No men in black had arrived to meet her.

There was a window but it would involve walking along a very precarious-looking ledge. Much smaller and dangerous than the last. At the sound of commotion from above, Prisha pulled back into the wall, trying to conceal herself in the shadows. A man peered down.

'I see her!' Then he was over the rail and climbing down. The heaviness of his footsteps reverberated through the metal of the stairs. 'Stop running! It's dangerous here! You need to stop running!'

Prisha chewed her lip as she glanced over towards the window again. When she looked back, he was already halfway towards her. A second man was following him. Prisha's mind seemed to leave her body as she climbed up on the rail and stepped onto the window ledge. Like she did the last time, she flattened herself out against the wall, fingers digging into the brick.

What was wrong with her? Why was she doing this?

She could hear the man shouting from above. 'Stop! Stop right there! You're going to fall!'

Prisha looked down between her feet. The ground moved sickeningly. She turned away with a wince, focusing on her feet instead, making sure she found purchase in the brick. She felt like a frickin' spider. How was she doing this? This was incredible! Her foot slipped. Her heart lurched. She grabbed onto the wall for dear life.

'Stop!' came the man's voice again.

He was close now. Only a level above. He leapt down the last few steps. Making the stairs shake and rattle. And then he was there. Blonde hair. Dark eyes. Young. Fit. There was a gun at his hip.

He reached out his hand, his forehead screwed up. 'Come back. There's no way. It's too dangerous.'

Prisha didn't answer. She couldn't answer. If she lost focus, she might fall. He climbed over the rail. He studied the window ledge and thought better of it.

He held out his hand again. 'We're not going to hurt you.'

Go back or go forward? The window was just there. It wasn't far. But it was further away than the stairs. The window was open. Curtains flapped. Carefully, she sidled closer, inch by inch. She was making it. She was doing it.

'Stop!' the man called again. 'There's no point. There are men already inside the building. They are waiting for you.'

Prisha kept going. She was almost there!

She froze at the sound of a crack! Prisha blinked, confused. She was about to move on when the ledge slumped. Prisha cried out, digging her fingers hard into the brick until it hurt. Her cheek, her chest and belly were crushed up against the wall. She cried out again as the ledge started breaking away entirely from the building.

The man was shouting now. 'She's falling!'

Prisha shrieked as she felt herself tilt, as her feet slipped.

'ALF!' Some of the ledge fell away. She heard it smash against the ground. 'ALF! HELP!'

She didn't know why she was calling for him. Panic. Instinct. Stupidity. Whatever! The man was calling for her. He shouted something up to the man above.

'ALF!' she screamed

Her fingers slipped. Then she was falling. She must have screamed, though it was hard to know anything but the feel of her beating heart and the wall pulling away and the thought of the hard pavement turning her into spaghetti.