Across the room in front of the door, I saw an object glimmer catching the sun. I walked toward the object on the floor and bent down to pick it up. It was Xam’s locket.
My stomach dropped. Something was wrong.
Xam was gone.
Chapter 3
“Next.” The Leadership agent called out summoning the next person in line. This time it was my turn.
I slapped the locket down on the counter and fought back the tears building heavily behind my eyes.
“My friend has been taken. I need to know where he is.”
“I am so sorry to hear that darling. Can you provide your friend’s name and address?”
“Xam. He lives at 767 Nexiun Street.” I chewed on my lip, impatiently waiting while she typed this information into the computer in front of her.
The agent scanned the screen in search of any information that might help me out. As she reached the bottom of the report her yellow eyes widened.
“Excuse me, miss. I will be right back.” She flashed me a nervous smile before disappearing through a door behind the counter.
I picked up Xam’s locket and closely examined it in my hand. It wasn’t hard to tell that it had endured a fire. The edges were charred and the clasp had melted forcing the locket to remain closed for the remainder of its days. A tear escaped my eye and ran down my cheek. Eerily, it landed directly on face of the locket. I scooped it up and placed it back into my pocket for safekeeping.
My attention returned to the closed door that the agent had disappeared into. I could see the knob turning and my heart raced. Maybe she had an answer for me as to where I could find Xam.
The look on her face told me otherwise.
Two brawny men followed in tow, their eyes stared straight at me.
“That’s the Earthling. Arrest her.”
“Me? What are you talking about?” I screeched.
“You were the motive of temptation for a Cyan. Such illegalities do not slip by The Leadership unnoticed. You are to be punished for your crime against Moality.”
“How is falling in love with someone a crime? Where I come from, interracial relationships are celebrated not criminalized!”
It was no use. The decision was made.
Each man grabbed one of my arms and started to pull me away from the counter.
“Tell me where he is!” I shouted trying to wiggle out of their grasps. “Let me go!”
No matter how violently I thrashed around, I wasn’t about to be set free.
The prison was dark and damp, much worse than anything I had ever seen on the television when I was a kid.
I was thrown into a holding cell with three native Moalites: a Cyan, a Magenta, and a Yellow. At first they didn’t say much rather they eyed me up as I crossed the cell toward my bunk. I laid down in hopes of sleeping away this nightmare only to find the mattress was composed of recycled card board. I sat back up and stared down at my feet dangling over the edge of the bunk.
“Hey rookie, what’s got you down?” Magenta whistled.
I ignored her.
“What? Are you too good for us?” Yellow balked.
“Leave her alone.” Cyan barked back. “Give her a minute to settle in.”
She made her way toward my bunk with an outstretched hand.
“Xra.” Cyan grabbed my hand and shook it.
I fixed my eyes on my feet.
“Do you have a name?” Xra questioned, picking my chin up between her fingers.
“Kate.” I muttered. I was getting bored with this question.
“Welcome, Kate.” She smiled. “The Yellow is Zici and the Magenta is Qoo.” Xra motioned behind her to the other girls. “I’ll give you some peace but we’re here if you need us.” She patted my leg and turned to walk away.
“I slept with a Cyan.” I blurted.
I heard gasps across the cell.
“It’s all my fault. He told me it was against the rules but we fell in love anyway.” I bowed my head and let the tears flow freely.
“They took him too?” Qoo sounded genuinely concerned for me.
I nodded.
“They didn’t pardon you? You shouldn’t even be here.” Zici stepped forward and threw her arm across my shoulder.
Across the cell, I could tell Xra was thinking of something. “Seeing as you are clearly not from around here I am surprised they didn’t give you a pass to go back home.”
There was that word again. Home.
“We need to get you out of here.” Qoo piped up.
“But how?” I sniffed.
“We bring forward your rights from your home planet. They are required to exercise proper legal disciplines according to the laws held by your home. They will be certain to send you back. Where are you from? We will help you.” I could almost hear the clicking of the gears turning in Xra’s head.
Truthfully, I didn’t care if I ever got out. I just wanted to know that Xam was safe. But in the off chance that I would be granted release, I would spend every minute fighting for his freedom even if it meant sacrificing my own.
I had to get out. For Xam.
“Earth.”
Xra’s eyes shot wide open. “Earth?”
I nodded. “You’ve heard of it?”
“Of course I have heard of Earth! Before I was arrested and locked away, I was a student at Qien College. I studied linguistics and agriculture. The majority of content in my studies revolved around Earth. But as far as I was aware, I thought the barriers between our galaxies had been barred for a thousand years now. How did you get in?” Xra grabbed my hands into hers.
“I met a Yellow boy during my travels to Neptune who had a personal portal device. It malfunctioned and that’s why he ended up on Neptune. He invited me to come with him to Moal.”
“Amazing.” Xra’s drooled. “Does The Leadership know that you are an Earthling?”
“Not that I am aware of.” I hadn’t exactly gone out of my way to tell them so I would have to assume that they didn’t know.
“We have to tell them! They will free you for sure.” Xra ran over to the bars and started hammered on them with her fists in attempt to attract the prison guard’s attention.
I jumped down from my bunk and walked toward Xra.
“Why would that guarantee my release?” I asked.
Xra stopped and looked at me. “You really don’t know, do you?”
“I don’t know what?” She was staring at me so intently I was starting to feel uncomfortable.
“You are an Earthling. Any Moalite along with many other beings in our galaxy who know anything about history, worship Earthlings like they are gods.” Xra stressed. “Our entire culture has been based off achieving natural living like you do on Earth.”
“Clearly it has been a long time since anyone around here visited Earth.” I mumbled under my breath.
“As soon as we tell The Leadership that you are an Earthling they will grant you all of your wishes. You’ll be treated better than royalty.”
Xra went back to flailing her arms about to track down the guard. Down the aisle I could hear the clinking of keys as he came closer.
“Qinto!” Xra called out. “I need to talk to you.”
The guard pressed his face against the bars so that Xra would hear him whisper.
“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me Qinto while I’m on duty? It’s Officer Yru.”
“Fine then, Officer Yru. I need to talk to you.”
He rolled his eyes. She already had his attention. “Go on.” He rolled his arm through the air telling her to advance the conversation.
“My friend Kate here, she is an Earthling.”
His eyes widened. I didn’t know what else to do so I settled for smiling stupidly at him.
“Impossible.” Qinto scoffed and rolled his eyes.
“I thought so too. But it’s the truth Qinto.” Xra prodded.
“Officer Yru.” Qinto corrected.
“Help me out here, Qinto.” Xra
begged. “She truly is from Earth. It is a miracle that she was able to pass the bars into our galaxy. If that doesn’t tell you she is special, I don’t know what else would.”
Qinto glanced down the hallway.
“I’ll be back.” He started whistling and disappeared around the corner.
“Now what?” I asked.
A smile crept over Xra’s blue face. In the dim lighting, it made her look crazy.
“We wait.”
Qinto reappeared whistling the same out of tune jingle. Without as much as a hint of eye contact, he slid a key into the barred door and turned it effortlessly. The click of the latch released echoed sweetly in my ears.
“You.” Qinto motioned toward me. “Come with me.”
I hopped over to him excitedly. I was finally free!
“You owe me, big time.” He pointed at Xra.
She danced her way toward him and pulled him in for a quick kiss.
This time my eyes widened. Xra was a Cyan, Qinto was a Magenta. No wonder Xra was so eager to help me, she knew the pain of forbidden love.
“You go get your man.” She winked at me.
I followed Qinto down a long narrow corridor. After about fifteen minutes of walking, I wasn’t sure if the corridor would ever end or if it spanned the divide to Earth and they were simply making me walk home.
My feet ached and the corridor showed no end in sight.
“Where are we going?” I quizzed Qinto.
“You’ll see.” His voice was shrill.
“Are they going to release me?” I had to know what was going on. I was going out of my mind with worry.
He restrained, holding back his answer.
Whatever hope I had been clinging to suddenly fell flat on its face. My heartbeat echoed empty in my chest and my stomach fell to my knees. My entire being was deflated. This was the prime reason I never hoped for or expected anything.
I trudged along numbly until we reached an unmarked door at the end of the corridor. Qinto held it open for me and I reluctantly entered.
This room was unusually dry compared to the damp cell I had spent that past hour in. Every section of the room was painted glossy white, including the floor. In the center of the room there was a metal table with two plastic chairs on either side of it. The fluorescents messed with my vision casting blue hazy dots along the shiny walls.
I jumped at the sound of Qinto closing the door. In such a small room, the sound lingered longer than I had wanted it to.
What good was this escape? I was an outsider. I am nothing to The Leadership. What did they care if I was dead or alive?
With no indication on what might happen next, I took a seat at the metal table and laid my head down.
The table was alarmingly cold as I pressed my cheek against it. I could feel my nerves screaming under the extreme sensation. But agreeably any sensation was better than the numbness that I had succumbed to. I held my cheek there and let the nerves sing out in agony.
I closed my eyes, uncertain that I would ever want to reopen them again. The blinding white of this room would be the last sight in my memory.
How unfortunate.
The doorknob rattled but I held my eyes closed shut. I was uninterested in what was on the other side of it.
“Kate.” A man’s voice boomed filling the emptiness surrounding me.
“What?” I snapped. Eyes remained shut.
I heard the screeching of the chair as he hauled it out from the table and took a seat.
“I am Leadership Officer Zed and I am here to discuss the recent charges against you.”
Zed. He must be a Yellow. Not that it even mattered to me at all anymore. I just wanted this all to be over with.
“I. Don’t. Care.” I annunciated.
“Well we do. I do.” He stressed. “Kate listen, between you and me, you being here is a miracle in itself. My ancestors were among the few Moalites that ever touched down on the surface of the Earth. Their teachings have rang true to so many generations including my own. We worship your people and your effortless ways of life. I am personally going to assist you on your mission to find Xam. It is our way of thanking you and all Earthlings for your teachings. The Leadership wants to express our sincerest apologies for the distress we have caused you. Under rule 67209-A, you are to be released immediately.”
At this I sat up in my seat and opened my eyes. I studied the man in front of me. He was gigantic. His yellow eyes were much to small for his pumpkin sized head and they seemed to stare right through me. His black hair had been buzzed off leaving only a dark shadow of what used to be. His leather suit squeaked under his heavy breaths. He looked uncomfortable in his own skin as he shifted in his chair.
“Where is he?”
“I have been able to track him down at a prison on a neighboring planet called Ceban. I have fueled a portal and I have taken it with me if you are willing to go there right away.” He removed the device from his pocket and engaged it. “Are you ready?” He outstretched the portal in my direction, his large yellow hand nearly encasing the entire device.
“Let’s go.” I reached my hand out and grabbed it. Within a matter of seconds, we were no longer in the white room.
Chapter 4
I couldn’t believe the state of this Ceban prison. Mold clung to the walls and the smell of stale blood polluted the air. I could hear prisoners moaning and crying for death. Overhead, what few lights they had, flickered incessantly. For fear of an induced seizure I squeezed my eyes shut and followed behind the sound of Zed’s heavy footsteps.
“You stay here, I am going to speak with the superintendent.” Zed turned to me. I opened my eyes to see his expression was serious. “I have no authority in Ceban. The superintendent makes the final decision. I need you to be patient.”
The door clicked shut behind him and suddenly I was alone.
Further down the corridor, I could hear drumming and laughter mixed with the desperate cries of death. For reasons I cannot explain, I felt compelled to explore the sounds further so I started my way toward the drumming.
The corridors lead to a large, circular room. It appeared to be a hub at the center of the prison. The white cinderblock walls were stained brown and red resembling a scene out of a massacre movie. I looked up to see the ceiling spanned up more than twenty stories with aisles of cells circling above. There were dozens of guards on each floor walking around with what appeared to be spiked clubs in their hands. I flinched at the thought of it.
I snuck behind some bleachers in attempt to get a better look at what was happening in the round-room. Inmates dressed from head to toe in black were lined up with their hands pressed against the stained walls. A few feet away from me, one of the inmates whispered to his neighbor. Within seconds a guard brought a spiked club down against his back. Blood splattered the wall and caught me in the eye.
I dropped to my knees and rubbed my face clean. When I was certain there was no blood left, I turned and peeked through the bleachers. What was going on?
A man stood in the center of the room pacing back and forth calling upon several inmates. There was something strange about that man. I couldn’t quite identify what it was.
Aside from his head, he showed no skin. He was layered in velvet cloaks the swept down to his feet. On his head he wore, what appeared to be, a crown of roses.
His expression was harsh. I swept his face and then it hit me. He had no eyes, instead there was a hollow where his eyes used to be.
I clasped a hand over my mouth to stifle my gasps.
“Lantz.” His raspy voice beckoned through the room baring his razor teeth.
One of the inmates was escorted into a queue in the middle of the room.
“Kisza.”
Another inmate was transported to the middle.
“Kate? What do you think you’re doing?” Zed scolded me at a whisper and grabbed my arm.
“Where is Xam?” I snarled.
Zed was quiet.
“Zed. Tell m
e where Xam is.” I could hear a fire in my voice.
“They have denied his release.” Zed started. “He was caught trying to source outside information.”
“I don’t understand.” The numbness started seeping into my bloodstream again.
“He is being sentenced to death. Kate, there is nothing we can do. I am so sorry.” Zed reached forward in attempt to bring me to my feet. I pounded at him until he let me go.
“Hirt.” The eyeless man’s voice echoed.
“There has to be some way we can find him.” I cried.
“Xam.” The eyeless man’s voice boomed filling the hollow in my chest.
I heard my heart hit the floor.
“Xam!” I screamed. I pushed off Zed and darted to toward him. “Xam!”
Xam looked disoriented and confused but his expression lifted when he saw me running toward him.
“Xam!”
“Kate!” He shouted back trying to break free from the guard holding on to him.
As my legs pedaled me closer to Xam, the bruises and blood came into vision. It was quite obvious that he had been severely beaten. His left shoulder drooped out of place and his nose jarred in every imaginable direction. There were bloodstains across his face and running down his back. As he trudged forward, he limped pathetically favoring his right leg.
My pace quickened. He needed my help more than I had realized.
When I reached him I threw myself at him using my own body as a shield to protect him. He winced in pain as I wrapped him in my arms. He tucked his head into my shoulder and gently kissed my neck.
“Xam, I love you.” I whispered. “I have never felt like this in my entire life and I have never breathed those words. With you everything is good in the world and I am going to do everything I can to make you happy.”
I could feel him laugh in my embrace. He leaned back and kissed me. “I love you too.”
Normally a moment like this would make me want to throw in the towel and walk away from the television. The parameters of love tended to soar past my own imagination. But now that I was here, in this moment, I knew that love was an intangible thing. It couldn’t be accurately represented on a television screen or through words on a page. It was beyond describable feeling, beyond explanation. But in this moment I could feel it.
ROMANCE: HIGHLANDER ROMANCE: Seduced by highlander (Historical Mail Order Bride Time Travel Romance) (Military Fantasy Romance Short Stories) Page 98