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{Wake me up inside
Wake me up inside
Call my name and save me from the dark
Bid my blood to run
Before I come undone
Save me from the nothing I've become...}
Lita stirred restlessly in her bed, the blanket tangling in her legs and feet.
She turned over onto her back, pulling the blanket up over her head. Although she'd slept about seven hours, it had not been a restful sleep - on the contrary, it had been quite a fitful one. She'd been plagued by memories and dreams of what had happened during the wee hours of the morning - and by what had happened the night previous.
It was no use. She tossed the blanket aside, wincing as the lightness of the room blinded her somewhat. Her bedroom was never bright in the early mornings, as it wasn't on the eastern portion of her apartment. Instead, she got sunlight filtering in through the curtains during the late morning. She hated it regardless.
"Ugh...What the hell?" Lita muttered, and she forced herself up and out of bed. She figured she might as well get up and start breakfast - complete with coffee, of course - since it was pretty obvious she wouldn't be getting back to sleep anyway.
Her dog, Cody, rose from his spot in a corner of the room - he had a doggy bed over there - as she rose and padded to the small kitchen. He was a doberman, and Lita had gotten him nine years earlier from a nearby shelter. She'd had him for just about as long as she'd been living here, ever since moving out of her parents' house at eighteen.
Quietly, she filled the dog's dish and water bowl, then prepared a pot of coffee for herself.
The redhead switched on the small portable radio she kept above the refridgerator as she waited for the brew to percolate. But she couldn't sto thinking about what had happened at four that morning...
She'd easily figured out that Edge had to have been the one to attack Christian - but why? If the tall, mysterious blond man was simply a mugger, surely he would have taken her purse, or at least her wallet. But he hadn't - he'd apologized profusely and had left her alone.
She'd grabbed a small can of mace out of her purse when he'd loosened his grip on her. Despite the fact that mace was illegal, she would have used it had she not seen his face...
Lita mentally replayed the incident, and something suddenly hit her. It hadn't really registered last night, probably due to her shock.
Edge had stated that he'd thought she was someone else - which meant that he'd meant to attack someone regardless - another woman. Because, although it had been pretty dark, there was no way the blond had mistaken her for a man...
The redhead frowned as she rose from the kitchen table, deciding to quickly throw some breakfast together so she could set out to work.
She was going to do a little private investigating...
*
Less than an hour later, Lita was in her five-year-old Toyota Corolla, on her way to a friend's house. She needed access to a computer to do her detective work.
As she reached her destination - the Hardy residence - she put the car in park in the driveway and hurriedly left the car, rushing up to the front of the house.
She rang the doorbell, and the door opened soon after, a young man with shaggy Manic Panic-dyed blue hair smiling out at her.
"Hey, Li..." he said with a smile, his bright green eyes merry as he held the door open wider for her to enter.
"Hi, Jeff," she replied, and her best friend's dog - a boxer named Liger - suddenly appeared and jumped up on her. "Hi to you, too, Liger..." She stooped a little to allow the friendly canine to lick her face, then straightened back up.
"What's up?" The man was curious, as Lita hadn't divulged him, and he knew her well enough to know when something was going on - and when there was something she wasn't telling him.
"Um...Jeff, I need to use your computer," the redhead replied, deliberately ignoring the deeper meaning she knew was there.
"Sure thing," he said, and he led her to the living room, where he and his older brother - and roommate - Matt, kept their PC.
As she followed her friend into the room, Lita found herself glad that Matt wasn't home, as she didn't feel quite as comfortable with him as she did with Jeff - despite their friendship.
"Li...is something wrong?"
"Hmm?"
"You just seem a little - I dunno - I know you...I can tell something's wrong..." Jeff said. "What happened?" he asked, turning back to face her as he switched on the computer.
Lita bit her lip, then sighed and raked a hand through her long hair nervously.
"Okay, I'll tell you," she began, "but you have to promise me you won't freak out or do anything stupid..."
The young man arched an eyebrow as he gave her a strange look.
Then, slowly, the redhead began to explain...