by Amy Miles
Hyde waits until the wall appears once more before sinking back onto his haunches. “Well how about that? Room service and everything.”
“No eat.” We all turn and look at Satal.
“What do you mean no eat?” Vondran crawls forward on both his hands and feet. His chains clank loudly as he strains to reach. His fingertips just barely graze the lip of the tray but he cannot get close enough to fully grasp it. “Reyes, get over here and help me.”
For a moment I think Reyes is going to blow him off but he surprises me by reaching out for the platter as well. Each of the men grunt, attempting what I can see is the impossible. I press back against the wall and snort out a laugh. Reyes glances back over his shoulder at me. “Something funny?”
“Only if you want to consider the fact that our gracious hosts are toying with us. I was told that food would be coming shortly. There was no mention that we would be eating, nor that it would be within our grasp. This is nothing more than a sick joke.”
Marius bends at the waist, clutching his stomach. I can hear the obnoxious growl from several feet away. “I’m so hungry.”
“Pipe down,” Hyde glowers, turning his back on the food. “No sense whining about it.”
“Let me see if I can help.” Marius crawls forward to meet the two men in the center of the room. As he does I begin to realize that each of us have been chained at exactly the same distance from the other around the room. Though it looks like a square box it is an illusion, a trick of the mind.
“It’s round,” I whisper, turning to run my fingers along the smooth surface of the wall.
“What’s that?” Reyes calls back over his shoulder. Marius grunts as he stretches as far as he can to reach the platter but he can barely get a fingertip on it.
“The room...it’s circular.”
Hyde snorts and shakes his head. “Now who’s loopy? It’s obviously a square.”
“Then how is it that Reyes, Vondran and Marius are all the exact same length apart? Notice the platter in the center of the room. None of them can get more than a fingertip on it and yet each man is a different height. How do you account for that?”
“I don’t.” He ruffles his hair, patting it down over his eyes as he sinks to the floor. “Keep it down will you? I need my beauty sleep.”
I scoff and roll my eyes but when I do I notice Satal watching me. His gaze seems brighter than before. More alert. “Can you shift while in these chains?” He cocks his head to the side and slowly nods. “Can you get free?”
This time he shakes his head and my hopes plummet. Of course he can’t. If he could then he would have escaped this room a long time ago. Even as I ponder this I know that there was nowhere that he could have run even if he did escape. Then another though hits me.
“Can you only shift into a life form?” Satal almost smiles and I feel my hope rekindle. “You can become an inanimate form, can’t you?”
Satal lowers his eyelids in a slow, exaggerated blink and I am shocked to see a splash of vivid purple on the outside of his eyelids. I start to ask him about it but I hear the clanking of metal and turn to see Marius grinning from ear to ear, holding the platter aloft.
“So apparently he can move stuff with his mind,” Reyes comments.
Marius laughs and grabs a handful of what I assume to be bread, though it is black as coal and looks just as hard as the same mineral. He takes a large bite and groans, closing his eyes as he savors the taste. “A man just needs the proper motivation from time to time, fellas.”
He tosses Reyes and Vondran a small loaf then turns to me. I wave off his offering, still too unsettled to want to eat. Marius turns to look at Satal but the man mutters “no eat” again and swivels his head to stare at the wall.
“You just gonna let me starve?” Hyde gripes, his eyes still closed.
“Figured a man like you could ask politely before he gets some grub.” I snigger behind my hand at Marius’ comment as Hyde’s lip curls into a snarl.
As the three men dig into their meal, I close my own eyes and attempt to get some rest. With my eyes shut I can feel the steady hum of the engines through the wall and am able to decipher a difference in the vibrations of the ship. We are indeed slowing down. The only question is where exactly is here?
I ponder this long after the others fall asleep. Hyde and Satal seem to rest well enough but my other companions toss and turn as if chased by demons in their sleep. I watch as sweat begins to bead along the brows and grow worried.
“Satal?” The man does not offer any hint that he heard me. “Are they ill?”
“Serves them right for not sharing,” Hyde quips and I realize that he now lies on his back, his head rolled to the side to stare at me. I have no idea how long he has been in this position but it gives me the creeps. There is something off with Hyde. A dullness in his eyes that worries me.
“Satal?” I ask, ignoring Hyde. “Will you please answer me?”
The shape shifter gives me a single nod and I know that only by the grace of my stubborn nerves I have been saved from this same fate. He tried to warn us but they didn’t listen.
“Will they die?”
“No.” Satal’s voice seems deeper than before. “No die. Pain.”
I look toward Marius and see his grimace and wonder if it is a physical pain that they feel or a mental one made real within a dream world.
“Will it pass?”
Satal tilts his head from side to side. “Time.”
“Way to not be cryptic there, Satal.” Hyde wipes his face with his hands and then let them fall away to his sides. He stares up at the ceiling, watching the stars. The pass at an even slower rate than before.
“Are you always such a jerk?” I ask. Why of all of the men I am stuck here with is he the only one left to talk to?
He purses his lips and appears to contemplate it. “Yeah, pretty much. I used to take the weekends off but then I just got bored and gave that up.”
“I bet you were a delight to your parents.”
Hyde’s fingers had been tapping idly against the floor but he stops abruptly. He rises to a sitting position and I see that the usual dull look in his eyes has been replaced by something far more dangerous: hatred.
“Never speak about my parents again.” He pronounces each word slowly and with great care.
“You never said where you were from.” I say, skirting around that bombshell.
Hyde laces his fingers and tucks them behind his head like a pillow. He puckers his lips and begins to whistle. Apparently he’s not going to either, I surmise.
The hours pass and my companions’ anguish mounts. It began as a hitch in their breathing, then a passing moan. Over time their pain became groans that sent goosebumps dancing along my arms. Now they writhe on the floor, clutching their stomachs.
I watch them with utter helplessness, but at least I watch. Hyde ignores them as he hums to himself. Satal never looks away from the wall, seemingly lost to his own world. I wish that I could go to the suffering men—offer them what little comfort I could to ease their pain, but I am chained to the wall.
As I pull against my restraints a thought hits me. I am chained to the wall with no way to reach the food. Was this done on purpose? Did the Roamers want to keep me from eating the food? If so, for what reason? Surely they would guess that one of these men would offer to share if they were able to reach it.
The extent to which these mind games play out begins to wear on me as the groans turn to full-fledged screaming, shrill and ear splitting. Hyde plugs his ears and begins to sing aloud a song that I do not recognize but find oddly welcoming. I begin to focus on his words instead of the screams, praying for any end for their suffering...and my own.
I clamp my hands over my ears but it does little to help. The three men scream in unison and I begin to wonder if they share the same dream. Their legs and arms twitch, spasming in sync with each other.
I’m about to begin screaming myself when it all stops. Hyde pauses in mid
song and rises to a seated position. I lower my hands from my ears and stare at the men. Their chests rise and fall in rapid pants so I know they are still alive but the silence that resounds in the room in the wake of their screams feels ominous.
Satal shifts further into the corner and I begin to wonder if I should not be attempting to do the same thing. I look to Hyde, see his confusion but he masks it the instant he sees me looking. “Guess they didn’t like that chorus. Never was too fond of it myself.”
He closes his eyes and leans back against the wall. I cry out in warning but it’s too late. The wall has vanished and he cracks his head against the floor. Dazed by the fall, he looks up, bleary eyed, into the glowing red gaze of our captor. This is not the same as the one who came to speak with me earlier. There is a ridge along his shoulders, rising up to his head like the hood of a cobra. The skin within glows a brilliant scarlet. His arms are enormous. His eyes burn like flames.
Heee iiis ooof nooo uuuseee tooo uuus nooow.
When the Roamer steps into the room he tosses a body inside as if it weighs nothing at all. I cry out as it hits the floor and lies still. I can see large bare feet riddled with cuts and welts. The legs are a patchwork of wounds that will one day scar over but currently seep with fresh blood. The fingers of his hand are bloodied and curled into fists. I pause in my examination to count and am relieved to see ten fingers intact.
Deep purple bruising runs the length of his exposed arms. His bared shoulder looks almost black. The shirt on his back is torn, shredded by claws that raked deep into flesh.
Hyde scurries to his knees as the wall reappears, craning his neck to see. “Well who the heck is this guy?”
I know without having to see his face. “This is Bastien...my protector.”
ELEVEN
I keep time by counting each of Bastien’s halting breaths, praying that his chest continues to rise and fall. I do not know how he continues to draw strength enough to labor on, but he does. He fights with every ounce of his being for each breath.
I clutch my knees tightly to my chest, afraid to look away from him for fear that if I do he will be lost to me. Blood seeps from around his body, trailing slowly along the floor. I cannot see the full extent of his wounds, but I know they are numerous. Even Hyde seems unable to look away from him.
Satal remains remote, silent as a ghost. His fascination with the wall might seem odd to some, but I don’t really care. If that’s what makes him happy or keeps him sane, then I say go for it. I have a feeling if we don’t arrive at our destination soon he may not be the only one left staring at the walls.
The others have fallen into a fitful sleep. They toss and turn but their throes of agony have dissipated. The sweat that clings to their brows has begun to recede and the fever that stained their cheeks eases. I do not know what chemical was placed in the food, but I can guarantee I won’t be tempted to take anything offered to me any time soon.
Even as I ponder this I realize that I may not be given a choice. My throat has grown parched, painfully so. My headache has swollen to vision-altering heights. I can feel a near constant tremble in my fingers and know that I am suffering from dehydration. It is something we guarded fiercely against while living in the woods on Earth. Dehydration and hypothermia are a hunter’s worst enemies.
As I glance toward the overturned platter I realize that no form of drink was offered. Only the bread-like loaf. Is this just another mind game? A way for them to remind us of who is really in control?
I lift my gaze beyond Bastien and stare at Hyde. He is a mystery to me. Callous, gruff and certainly mean spirited, but he has not given a single hint as to what his ability is. My guess would be that he does not possess an ability that would enable him to escape. At least not yet; otherwise he would have attempted it already. Hyde is not the type of man to take kindly to being caged.
I glance toward Marius from the corner of my eye. He can move things with his mind though it is obvious that he has little control over it. It took great hunger to expose his ability. If we could somehow harness that ability we might be able to figure out a way to remove my collar.
I know that Satal could be beneficial if he could be persuaded. Having a shape shifter as an ally could be useful, but I do not trust him. Not enough to place my life in his hands. None of the others seem to trust him either.
And what of Vondran and Reyes? They obviously know each other but I suspect there is a reason beyond Reyes’ sister that has caused friction between them. Jealousy? Ambition? It is hard to tell.
My thoughts turn back to Callisto and my other female cell mate. I close my eyes and press back against the wall, sighing with relief when my spine releases and slips back into place, self-adjusting from days spent lying prostrate on the floor.
“Do you know any of them?” I ask. Hyde rolls his head to the side and stares at me. “From before you were seized?”
He raises a hand and scratches at the new growth along his jaw. He shrugs and closes his eyes again, rolling his head away. “Doesn’t really matter now, does it?”
“Of course it does.” I press my arms out before me, working out the kinks in my muscles. I ache from sitting. My tailbone protests against the unforgiving floor. Despite the fact that I have had little to drink over the past week I can feel pressure beginning to build in my bladder. I’ll be darned if I have to put myself in such a compromising position where Hyde can watch to his heart’s content. “Then you can know who you can trust.”
“Look,” he rolls onto his side, his chains clanking loudly. I wince, praying that it does not disturb Bastien’s rest...or unconscious state. I can’t really figure out which one he has slipped in to. “No one asked you to be the leader here, sweet cheeks. Maybe you were a big shot back on Calisted but we don’t need you here. I don’t want to be friends, and I sure as heck don’t want you thinking you are responsible for me.”
A smile tugs at my lips and then a laugh escapes. Hyde’s gaze widens with surprise. “Something funny over there, Queeny?”
I nod. “Sweet cheeks? Really? That’s my new nickname?”
Hyde rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest. “Don’t you go thinking that I’ve got the hots for you, ‘cause I don’t. You may be nice to look at but you don’t have to worry about me fawning over you like the rest of these idiots.”
“Good to know.” I cover my smile as best I can but he grunts in response, still annoyed that I laughed at him. “Still...don’t you want to get back home?”
This time when he shrugs my smile vanishes completely. “What’s so great about home anyways?”
“Really?” I shake my head, amazed at how bullheaded this man is. “You call being torn from your life and thrown into a pig pen like this better than being on Calisted? What the heck happened to you back there that made you so bitter anyway?”
He turns and fixes me with a glare that does little to veil his hatred. “You really want to know?”
“Yeah. I do.” I say right back. I’m not going to back down to this man, to give him even the ounce of an idea that I won’t go toe to toe with him. It’s not in my nature.
“Fine.” He juts his chin toward Bastien. “He’s the reason my life sucks.”
I blink, sure that I haven’t heard him correctly. “You’re blaming a guy who’s just been beaten to a pulp for why you are here?”
“No.” He pushes up to a sitting position, crossing his legs before him. He snuffs and turns to the side to spit out a glob of phlegm. I refuse to look away from him, no matter how disgusting he decides to be. “I blame him for everything before the attack.”
I consider his words, trying to piece together what little I actually know about Bastien. Kyan told me that he is commander of the outer rim base located on the green moon of Alenida. His mission was to ensure no enemy ships were allowed to enter our airspace and to train an elite force of soldiers who would one day become my personal guard. Beyond that, and what little details I have surmised from my dreams I know n
othing else.
“You were stationed on Alenida with him?”
Hyde snorts and shakes his head. “Oh, we go way back before that.”
I rub my temples, knowing that if I am going to get any information out of him I’m going to have to play his game. “Alright. Tell me what happened before Bastien became commander in the outer rim.”
What I expected as a snide retort rather comes out as wary silence. He watches me, his gaze trailing over the features of my face. “You’re playing dumb now, right?”
I blow out a purposeful breath, counting to five before I shake my head. Hyde laughs, throwing back his head. “Man, he must have done a number on you.”
“Who?”
Hyde’s laughter cuts off. “Bastien. Kyan. Someone did it to you.”
My fingers clench against my arms, my broken nails beginning to pierce my skin. “I suppose you expect me to take the bait and ask who did what to me.”
He leans forward, his blackened gaze wide and searching. He opens his mouth and closes it twice before he finally frowns, looking as if I have just stolen his glory. “You really don’t know, do you?”
I sigh and close my eyes. “Now you’re doing a number on my head, you know that Hyde?”
I hear him move and lower my hand to find him rising up onto his knees. His expression has shifted slightly and it makes me wary. “Do you recognize the name Niyah?”
For a split second I almost feel like the name means something to me, like a name heard years before but I can’t grasp any image to attach to the name, but then it’s gone, lost to nothingness. “No.”
Hyde nods his head slowly, almost as if he expected this. He raises a hand and points a single finger at Bastien. “And you’re telling me that you hold no feelings for this man?”
I look toward Bastien and feel a stirring within my chest. Protection. Pity. Guilt. Yes, I feel those things, but there is something more there too, isn’t there? Something that I can’t quite place a name on and yet I can’t dismiss it entirely either.
“He is my protector. Of course I care about his wellbeing.”