“Where is Marduke?” I ask him, afraid he might tell me he killed him instead.
He doesn’t answer me; he just walks towards me, only stopping when he is standing directly in front. His eyes gaze down over me, his expression appearing more interested than furious. I place him in his late thirties to early forties. His body is twice the size of Marduke, and while he gives off the vibe that he can easily protect himself, he doesn’t give the impression he’s in anyway a gentle giant. Marduke is strong and fit, but he also looks kind and compassionate.
“Do you speak English at all?” I ask, realising that there is a good chance he doesn’t. Who does he think I am? What does he want to do with me?
He moves the blade behind him, and I see there is a strap for it there. Before, his chest had been naked. He then pulls out a control similar to what I took from Ival. He waves it over me and I close my eyes, expecting when I open them I will be somewhere else. But I’m not. I’m still stuck on Roth with this madman staring at me.
He moves the control away and places it back in his pocket. He pulls the blade back out and my body tenses, assuming he’s going to maybe behead me like he just did the creature.
He wipes the black blood over his leg, cleaning the blade, and then he surprisingly cuts himself open. It’s just a small cut by his arm, but it makes me wince. I have another sudden need to vomit.
Once he’s made a cut as big as my thumb down his arm, he puts the blade away and I see through the blood there is something metallic in there. In fact, is that a wire? Is this person a machine?
The man then pulls out something from his pocket. It’s covered in blood and looks like a computer chip, although it’s the size of a mobile phone’s SIM card. When he places it inside his arm and gives a small grunt of pain, my feet are stuck to the ground. I wouldn’t be surprised to find a pile of superglue under me.
I can’t move. I can’t think. I can’t see anything past this man. I know he holds my life in his hands, and I have no idea what his next move is going to be.
He closes his eyes, his hands moving to his head to hold it as he winces and grits his teeth, locking his jaw closed. He appears as though he’s in pain as blood drips down his arm, landing on the ground below.
If he is a machine, why is he bleeding?
“English?” he asks me, his accent sounding more like Marduke’s.
“Yes, you can understand me now?” I wince, wondering if Marduke had to do something similar to be able to understand me. I thought he had mentioned he had something in his neck that helped him. This man has his in his arm. Is this something that is surgically implanted, or was he born with it? Will Riley be born with something similar?
“Can.” He nods. As his eyes moving to stare at my vest again, I feel as though this damn vest gets me in just as much trouble as it saves me.
“Then what do you want with me? Where is Marduke?”
“Was… impressed you by, what you did… claw to.” He appears to be struggling to find the correct words, or the order to say them in.
“Are you here to kill me?” My voice shakes and I almost hold my stomach, but I can’t hint to my pregnancy.
“You carrying baby are?”
I tense from his words. So much for hoping he didn’t know. Is that what he wants? Does he want Riley? Why?
“No.”
“You carry baby. Marduke no protect woman on Oden without baby.” When he narrows his eyes at me, I feel the heat of his glare and anger.
“I’m just a human from Earth. I’m not with Marduke and Ival. Please let me go,” I beg.
“Cannot that do. You carry Lomh baby family. Curious because you Oden from not.”
I try to calm my breathing. Panicking is not going to get me out of this situation. If he won’t believe I’m not pregnant, then maybe I can convince him I’m not a part of this war he’s staging against Oden and Marduke’s family. “This isn’t anyone’s baby but my own. Let me go.”
He crosses his arms over his chest, causing all of his muscles to bunch up along his arms, shoulders and chest. It’s incredibly intimidating. “I to plan destroy, torture, hurt Lomh leader family. I see Marduke you looking at. He been allowed care for species not Oden. Curious. That sanctioned?”
“I swear to you, I’m not anyone special. Please, let me go.” I hold my hands up in surrender, hoping to appear as helpless as possible. Unfortunately, I am incredibly helpless right now, so I don’t need to try very hard.
“You come with, impressed you by, very curious. Maybe don’t kill you; maybe torture will Marduke more see you me with. What think?”
My mouth dries and I am fairly certain everything around me shifts and moves, or maybe my vision does that. Am I about to faint?
“Why are you doing this? Who are you?”
“Name Jeprow, new leader Oden.”
I don’t understand any of this, but I am certain I’m not likely to get him to leave me alone. “Where is Marduke?”
“He, Ival back on my flying ship. They suffering hands at of my soldiers.”
My throat tightens and I shake hearing his words.
“If you’re insisting on taking me, then I want to see Marduke,” I say, trying to sound confident in my demand.
“You not requests make. You not have say.”
“I want to see Marduke,” I repeat, noticing his face turning red while veins pop out over his forehead, neck and arms. It makes him look even more menacing, if possible.
“No!” he yells at me, grabbing hold of my arms and squeezing me so tightly I cry out in pain. He doesn’t loosen his grip, instead bringing me closer to his face so my feet are no longer touching the ground. “Decide I you live or and die. Own you now baby and. You no say.” He throws me then so that I land painfully on my ass, sliding along the ground until my back lands flat and my head hits the body of the dead creature.
I move quickly away, attempting to stand, cringing at the pain shooting up my spine. I know it’s futile, but I run. I should have run as soon as I saw him, and I know it’s too late to do so now, but I can’t stand here and let him do whatever it is he wants to do with me. I have to at least try to get away.
Without hearing a footstep approaching, he is suddenly directly behind me, grabbing hold of my ponytail and yanking me backwards. I cry out, feeling some of my hair ripping out of my head as I lose my footing, falling to the ground when he suddenly lets me go.
He pulls out the control again, crouches down beside me, and brings his hand to my face. I flinch, expecting him to strike me. Instead, he lightly brushes his fingers over my cheek, touching a tear as it falls from my eye, gravity causing it to move along to my ear.
“Strange. There is fight you in, but you stupid. See Marduke why pick you. Maybe should I pick, too, you.”
“What?” I gasp, trying to move away from his touch, but he grabs hold of my hair and shoves my face upwards, my nose touching his.
“Maybe too trouble you much. Maybe kill now?”
His words anger me, and I slap him hard across the face. From the creepy laugh he gives as a reaction to it, I know I won’t ever want to slap someone again.
I feel trapped and scared. I feel alone.
“You make I laugh.” He steps back, his concentration over his words clear, speaking slowly and making sure he gets what he wants to say right. “I going kill Marduke, Lomh family and he care about, include you, eventually.” Then, taking out the same control he used to scan me, he points it at me, but this time, a bright green light hits me and I find myself taken out of the forest and end up in a holding area.
I see Ival chained to the wall opposite me, his ankles and arms restrained. He has bruises covering every part of his exposed body. He’s bleeding badly from his nose and his lip is split. There is no one around him, but when I hear a groan next to me, I turn my head to find Marduke in the same position as Ival. Although his chin is resting down over his chest, his body is sagged downwards, and his shoulders are bunched together at the back, making him look incredibly
uncomfortable. He’s barely conscious and clearly in pain.
“Marduke?” I hiss, rushing towards him and holding his head in my hands. He has a dark bruise already forming over the side of his head and blood trails down from his hairline. His nose is bloodied, swollen and no doubt broken, and he’s covered in sweat.
I whisper his name again, stroking his face in the hopes he will open his eyes.
He groans quietly, but his eyes don’t open, and he never actually surfaces into complete awareness.
“Leave him be. He’s better off not being awake for this,” Ival states while grunting in pain as he pulls down on the chains around his wrists.
I watch him fail at it then turn back to Marduke and examine his own restraints. They look like solid metal and there isn’t a lock in sight. I have no idea how he was placed in these. I pull anyway, trying to at least dislodge him from the wall.
“Why did he bring you here? You’re just human; you’re not even from Oden,” Ival asks me, sounding a little out of breath.
I wonder if I should ignore him or lie. Before, I thought there would be nothing worse than if Ival knew I was pregnant. Now, we’re all going to die anyway, so what is the use in keeping Riley a secret now?
“Because I’m pregnant,” I answer him. The only response which tells me he heard me is the fact he stops struggling with his restraints.
After several moments of silence, he begins ranting in his own language, and I get the distinct impression that, if Oden has swear words, he’s been saying every single one he knows.
“We didn’t plan it, obviously,” I try to defend ourselves.
“Marduke is such a… I can’t believe he’d dishonour our… He’ll have to be…” he growls without finishing a single sentence.
“I love him and he loves me. Why is that such a dishonour to your family?” I ask, turning to stare at him.
“What would your family say if they knew you were pregnant by him? What do you think your dead parents would think of you now?”
I know he’s hoping to get a reaction out of me, hoping to hurt me. I don’t give him the satisfaction, however. Besides, I don’t know what the answer to that is.
“Do you still have my monit? It should work on this ship if it uses our technology.”
“Do you mean that control? I lost it.”
Ival glares at me, his disgust obvious. “Useless, human. I can’t understand what Marduke finds so appealing about you.”
I open my mouth, ready to snap at him, but Marduke stirring prevents me from starting the fight with Ival.
“Marduke, are you okay?” I crouch over in front of him, watching as he slowly begins to become aware of me and his surroundings. He twitches, his arms jolting the chains as he tries to move. He glances passed me, sees Ival, and then his eyes focus on me again.
“No, you were meant to get away,” he hisses, grief colouring his eyes.
“I’m sorry. I tried, but I ran into one of the creatures and it slowed me down.”
“You ran into a Claw? Are you okay? Is Riley?” He quickly scans my body with his eyes before coming back to focus on my face.
“We survived. He knows I’m pregnant, Marduke. He figured out the baby was yours straight away. What is he going to do to us?”
He winces, his gaze moving back over my shoulder and towards his brother. “I’m sorry you’re here, Mattie. This isn’t your fight. I’ll do whatever it takes to get you and Riley out of here, I promise.”
I nod, wanting to cry at our situation while knowing it’ll just make Marduke feel worse. I don’t think there will be any getting out of this situation.
“Good, you awake all.” Jeprow appears inside the room without using an entrance. I turn around, standing in front of Marduke. “We about leave, so need secure.” He smiles at me and I immediately step back, leaning fully against Marduke.
“I swear, if you touch her, I’ll kill you!” Marduke screams behind me, struggling again to get out of the chains.
“I scared, please don’t,” he sneers, still using English instead of speaking Marduke’s language. I assume it’s so I know what is being said, and most likely, he’s hoping to scare me. “I touch will her whenever want, however want. You don’t nothing about it.” He laughs now, sending awful shivers over me.
Marduke growls, no doubt feeling how scared I am, so I try to calm down. I need to be strong to make this situation less hard on Marduke. Maybe it will trick me into believing this might not be so horrible, too.
However, when Jeprow strolls closer and reaches out his hand to me, I realise nothing will ever convince or trick me into believing this situation is going to be okay. So my instincts take over, ones that are determined to protect myself, protect Riley and also Marduke.
I kick him hard in the groin, watching him gasp and crouch over at the unexpected attack. As he is distracted, I grab hold of the control that is poking out of his side pocket, and to make sure he doesn’t feel my theft, I elbow him in the ribs, sending uncomfortable shockwaves up my own arm from the force. I turn my back to him, quickly wedging the control down the front of my vest, feeling it plant itself between my breasts.
I know now isn’t the time to try and use it because, at best, we’ll be trapped on Roth. Roth is not a place we can disappear on. We need to get to Oden, not only for our own safety, but because I have to find Hannah, Logan and Lisa.
He finally recovers from my assault and delivers one of his own on me. He grabs my arm, spinning me around to face him, his rage easily visible to me, and then his fist appears out of nowhere. I’m struck along my cheek and I fall back into Marduke. I don’t get any recovery time. He hits me again, this time my jaw clicks painfully and my teeth bite into my lips. Blood fills my mouth.
Marduke screams something out in his own language, words that mean nothing to me, and apparently, don’t hold much for Jeprow, either, because he doesn’t stop. He twists my arm back behind me, almost to the breaking point, and I can’t hold in my cry of pain.
“Remember, hold in hands your life. I kill will you, make me happiness much.”
I nod because getting anything out of my mouth that isn’t a cry right now is hopeless.
He lets go of my hand and grabs hold of my throat. He doesn’t hold me tight enough to cut off my breathing, but it’s strong enough that I know he has control of me. All he would need is one squeeze and I would be choking.
He pushes me along the wall until I am a few feet from Marduke and then holds me there. “Stay,” he demands, letting go of my neck as his hands grab one arm, holding it above my head, and he pulls a chain out from an invisible place in the wall. His free arm taps his pocket, but he doesn’t find his control.
I wait for him to figure out what I’ve done, to reach back his hand and strangle me to death, but he just yells out in his own language.
As new man, one just as feral looking as Jeprow, enters and passes him another control, he takes it and uses it to secure my chains. He does my other arm and then secures my legs to the floor. With one last glare at me, he walks over to Marduke and hits him hard in his stomach.
“What are you doing?” I gasp, watching Marduke struggle to breathe.
“Reminder if trouble you, he pay will debt as well.”
He hits him again in the same place and then leaves Marduke grunting in pain.
“Marduke?” I cry, tears falling down my face at our predicament, my own aches and pains adding to my feelings of despair and hopelessness.
He nods, but I can tell he’s still struggling to catch his breath.
“I’d say well done except you’re chained up and useless just like us now,” Ival spits out. I know he saw me steal the control from Jeprow.
“Well, maybe I won’t be forever and it will be useful,” I snap back, my tears drying up as Ival brings forth my anger.
“What… talking… about?” Marduke huffs out.
Marduke’s stunted speaking reminds me of how Jeprow sounds. “What is with his English? Why is he sp
eaking so badly? I saw him insert some sort of computer looking chip. Shouldn’t he know everything now?” I ask, pulling on my restraints in the vain hope that I might be strong enough to get free of them.
“He’s not used to it. Marduke and I had six months to adjust to the influx of information we had access to. English is not an easy language, especially not when you add in the double meanings and slang,” Ival explains.
I nod, sort of understanding that.
“Is someone going to explain what you’re talking about?” Marduke sounds annoyed and less breathless.
“If you do get out of those chains and find a suitable time to use it, try and wait for us to be close to Oden,” Ival says, ignoring Marduke’s question.
Even though I have figured as much anyway, I wonder why Ival isn’t content to just land us anywhere when we escape. “Why? Can’t you fly this thing?” I glance around for a window, finding none. How am I supposed to know when we are over Oden?
“It looks like one of ours, maybe an older model, but I don’t know how they’re getting through the shields, so we’re likely to crash like Marduke did.”
“We could find those tube things. They kept me and Marduke safe before,” I say, not really keen on being in another crashing spaceship.
“They’re a newer feature on our craft’s. I’d say, if this crashes, we won’t be walking away from it,” Marduke says softly.
“How long will it take for us to get to Oden?”
“A week, maybe longer.” Ival answers.
“A whole week on this thing?” I gasp, dreading and fearing what is about to happen to us.
“It gives us a week to plan and think.” Ival shrugs. Well, he shrugs as well as he can in his current tied up position.
“What are you talking about waiting until we’re over Oden? Mattie, please don’t even think about doing something stupid. We can try and escape once we land. I don’t want you and Riley put in any more risk than you are,” Marduke begs me.
“I don’t think there is much choice. He plans on killing you. What if we don’t have enough time between when we land and then?”
“We will. I promise you, we’ll work something out. Just, don’t do whatever you’re planning.”
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