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     A year had passed and yet not one of Trina's friends had seen or heard from her since she moved into her new apartment.  The truth was, she had not left her apartment in all this time. It was no fault but her own because lately her days and nights had reversed.  She'd be finding her stride starting her day, just as most people were calling it a day and going to bed Trina was wide awake.   
     Trina occupied the third floor of an apartment building, a building that was occupied with the quietest people on earth.  Trina did not notice them and they did the same in return. For all good reason, Trina Forbes just didn't exist any longer. 
     Trina never heard a sound, smelled any cooking nor ran into her neighbors in the hallways, ever.  This building seemed virtually empty, a modern ghost town, right in the middle of downtown. The only reason she knew there were others was because there was never any parking.  This particular apartment was offered to Trina by a friend, someone who needed to "disappear" for a while.  When Trina was given the offer to move in a year ago, she jumped at the chance to live here rent free, until her friend returned.  
     Thank goodness we had recently experienced a world wide pandemic, as it made it much easier for a girl to "hide inside" without others asking too many questions. The curtains were always drawn closed during the day in order to block the sun's rays from ruining her sleep.  She had installed "black-out" shades six months ago which made the apartment pitch black in the dead of the afternoon.  Trina loved walking around the apartment in this artificial darkness, she said it felt "Other worldly."   The darkness inside her apartment mirrored what she was hiding from the world.
     Trina had stopped communicating with her closest friends. Most had problems of their own and weren't too bothered when Trina would cancel plans.  The pictures on social media weren't as important since the pandemic. No one really paid attention to the fact that the world had stopped.  No one had seen Trina in over a year.  Trina's decision to stay inside this past year was something she had not planned on doing.  In fact, she missed her daily interactions with everyone terribly.  Trina tried to come up with a way to go outside, but each attempt only ended in disaster.
     The sun had set and it was close to 9pm. Trina perched herself on her vanity countertop to paint her toes.  Sitting on the top of the vanity was by far her favorite place to talk to herself.  The big open mirror and bright light overhead was enough to brighten her mood.  She murmured, "Everyone has a flaw and is broken I suppose."  Trina very carefully applied the top coat of bright pink polish to her toes.  She wiggled each toe while adjusting her aim. She was a perfectionist.  "Lets get one thing straight, I am a stunningly beautiful woman."  Trina smiled in the mirror.  "Yeah, keep telling yourself that."  She smiled to herself with humor still intact. 
     One would agree that Trina was a stunningly beautiful woman, but in her own perfect way she knew she was flawed. 
     This pension of hers for being locked up inside does not mean she's letting herself fall apart.  Quite the contrary, our girl is a beautiful temperamental soul that has to have everything just right and in its proper place.  Yes, she may be sensitive to her flaws, but most things can be overcome. There is no way Trina Forbes would ever go a day without dressing up and spending an hour picking out the perfect outfit.  
     There were many demons facing Trina. None were heavier than the backwards love-triangle in which she found herself immersed and drowning. She had sworn to herself and those who would listen that there would be no sliding backwards with her convictions.  She undressed and poured herself an extremely hot cup of tea she wasn't sure why the water in her drinks had to be scalding. Scalding it must be.  Flipping off her heels she stared at her nakedness in wonder.  "My poor feet."  She whispered in a hoarse tone.  Trina had a curious way about her. She was convinced she had everyone fooled. 


Next Chapter

Two doctors with clipboards were taking feverish notes of Trinas actions.  When one said, "She thinks she's alone in a post pandemic apartment downtown." Nothing could be further from the truth.  Trina was 16 stories underground in a secret military bunker.  She was brought here by her father, Dr. Levitz Forbes, a world renowned biologist in charge of an NSA offshoot investigating remote learning.  Apparently, Trina was blessed with the ability to psychically eavesdrop on others from a remote location. 
     Trina was moved to this underground location to stiffle her psychic abilities.  Trina had no idea her father knew about her psychic gifts. In fact, Trina knew little about her father's work at all. A year prior to today, Trina had found herself using her gift to listen to a man half way around the world.  Her gift allows her to see images and hear conversations from others outside vacinity.  By the time she was 16 Trina had perfected her abilities. She was able to simply look at a map and find someone based on their geographic location. 
     The two senior doctors observing Trina had been at this for close to a year now. It was necessary to bring her down to an underground bunker because our National Intelligence had picked up on her interference.  At first, commanders were concerned that her father had been feeding her information about the remote targets.  
     Dr. Forbes tried to explain to his commanders that Trina's paranormal gifts were hers, and hers alone.  Dr. Forbes' commanders but weren't having any of it. It was decided that Trina would be brought to this location under the ruse of a world wide pandemic. 
    Dr. Forbes insisted that she would see right through the scheme to keep her isolated.  It was necessary to use low levels of psychotropic medication in order to keep her from finding out the truth.  Dr. Forbes reluctantly agreed. He understood that there was a risk that he might losing her to the government. Trina found something out that not only put the entire world at stake.