“If you kill him, then you kill our only chance to see Eladia again. How many times do I have to tell you?”
Since I found out that Dark Jay has the same soft spot for Eladia as I do, I started using it to appease his anger. It still takes some effort not to hit myself trying to hurt him for having all those illicit thoughts about her, but living with him—my symbiote—has become way easier.
I feel the disturbance inside me calm down; it seems even he can’t risk losing her.
A subtle ring notifies me that I’m on the right floor. The Class 5 spaceship Enigma is big enough for almost ten times its current population, so there are many floors to explore. Even so, I was just called to this particular one.
“I hope this isn’t another stupid chore,” I mumble to myself.
Honestly, I’m at my limit with this young girl, Alyce. It has been a week already and instead of becoming less feisty she’s more of a hindrance than when we first closed her in there. I understand that being imprisoned against your will can do that to you, but this relationship of ours has been getting out of hand.
I carefully enter the code on the control panel next to the door to unlock it and get inside. She’s lying on her bed, reading a book, waiting for me to arrive with that arrogant smug of hers.
“It took you long enough,” she says.
“I was busy. What do you want?” I keep all the nice words out of this conversation.
“Nothing. I just want you to get me a glass of water.”
I turn and see that the glass I got her earlier is still intact. “Are you kidding me?”
I almost growl at her.
“No, I’m not. That is mineral water. I want natural, unprocessed one. The kind you have here is making me sick.”
I’m not sure what happened after that. I blink, and I’m standing next to her, roaring on her face, actually being over her shit. The gutsy girl doesn’t even flinch.
“I could kill you, you know? I could make you choke on your blood while slicing your throat with my teeth. Do you want that?” I say, aiming to intimidate her, but her eyes suddenly fall behind me.
“Can you please hold your dog? You don’t want him to kill your most important asset, right?” she says to someone standing behind me.
I slightly turn my head to see who’s the one standing there, but it’s too late. I feel something pulling me closer to Alyce, a force strong enough to almost sever my hands from the rest of my body. I try to pull back, but I can’t.
I close my eyes, and then there’s α feeling of falling into the void. I scream for a moment but soon, it feels like everything is over. Once again, I’m standing on solid ground. Quickly, I pull my hands away from Alyce and look around me. We’re in the middle of a forest with gigantic trees surrounding us, a forest thick enough that light doesn’t get all the way to the ground.
“What did you do? Where are we?” I ask her immediately, getting even more intimidated by her calm smudge.
“Welcome to my home planet, Zeania. It seems your boss’ plan is going exactly as he intended to.”
Chapter Forty-Nine
Eladia
Breath in, breath out. Breath in, breath out. Don’t forget that every body movement relies on your breathing, Eladia. Cross has his green mask back on. I hate it when he does that. He acts like I’m the enemy and doesn’t hold back.
Of course, I wouldn’t like him to go easy on me, especially not now that I’m fully trained. I want to test my skills, to see how strong I’ve become throughout this last year. Still, these short, plastic clubs we’re using for today’s training are heavy and impractical, unlike my staff.
“Don’t think too much, Eladia. Embrace your instincts. Attack!” he bellows.
He immediately vanishes from my field of view, but I can guess his next move. I know his every move now since we spar every day. I turn around and protect my back by raising both the clubs I have in my hands. This is one of his opening attacks, to go for my weak spot in the back. I expect to see him try to kick me, but the only thing I protect myself from is a small paper ball.
“How many times have I told you to improvise and think creatively when fighting? I won’t be the only enemy you face,” he says, whispering from behind.
I manage to quickly free myself from his grip, but I’m agitated and confused. “How the hell did you do that?” I ask him.
Usually, he would answer me straight away, but today he’s extra rough. He wants to prove a point to me, maybe to test me himself. “Figure it out yourself, Eladia. If you do, then I don’t have anything else to teach you,” he says and stands down. He lowers his guard, which is nice of him, but he does it to further confuse me.
I use my brain to retrace his every step. I was trying to regulate my breathing; he used the time to vanish from my sight; the training area is circular, meaning that the only way to go was up. He jumped over me at the exact moment I opened my eyes. But, even though I expected him to come at me from behind, he returned to his first position faster than I anticipated. So, either he never moved, or he was above me the whole time.
Or...
“You jumped above me, tossed the paper from your vantage point, and jumped back in your place to confuse me. Your trick wouldn’t have worked if you didn’t toss the paper ball to me,” I say.
“Why?” he asks me.
“I expected an attack from behind. So, by giving me exactly what I wanted, you confused me. With the time you earned while I was trying to understand what’s going on, you sneaked behind me and got me.”
I don’t ask if I’m right. I know that I am. So, when he nods, I feel proud of myself.
“You’re something else, do you know that Eladia? I had many students throughout my years with the Organization, but you’re the most promising one. It’s almost disappointing that you’re a Chronicler. You would do better as a soldier or an agent of the Organization.”
He removes his green mask and smiles at me with that charming, gleaming smile of his. I look away.
“I don’t want to work from the shadows, Cross. Murdering people, stopping something from ever happening in the first place; this is not my style. I just want to bring peace in the world from the light. Conquering all the mysteries and bringing to light new technology and mysteries to solve...that’s my style.”
My tone is offensive, but it’s meant to be this way. I’m done following men with pools of blood in their hands. Being a Chronicler was my dream since I was a small child, and it would take more than a handsome man to change that.
Except if that man was Jay. Then, maybe...
“Who’s there?” I suddenly feel a presence hiding in the shadows.
Cross must have noticed the man way before me because he doesn’t even flinch. Moreover, the man is standing dangerously close to him to be just a stranger.
“I see you trained her well, Swamp. He could spot me even before I gave away my position. She’s better than I expected,” he says.
Cross is looking at me with the same melancholic glance he darts at me every time he wants to apologize for everything he has done. I’m not sure who the man with the gray mask is, but I don’t care. We’re getting close to Yaerus. One of these days, we’ll be able to see the planet, my home planet, at last. Not that it matters. The Purge is almost certain now.
“She has some ways to go before becoming as good as you, Mist. But she’s on the right path,” he says.
The two men look at me for a moment without saying a thing. Their eyes are pinned on me, but also seem like they see beyond me at the same time. I turn around to gather my things and head to my room when I spot a man standing within a breathe from me. I scream, lose my footing and fall to the floor. “What the fuck?!”
Someone giggles behind me. That Mist-man seems to be enjoying himself. Another man with a gray mask is now standing above me. He must have been standing behind for some time now, concealing his presence at such a degree that I couldn’t even feel him breathing on my neck.
“Le
t me introduce you my brother, Nebula. He’s the best assassin of the Organization, almost coming up to par to your master, the best assassin that ever passed from the Organization.”
Damn, these men are crazy. I still have many ways to go before getting to their level it seems. Nebula stretches his hand to help me get on my feet. Surprisingly, I decide to accept his help.
I wipe the dust off my clothes and turn to watch the men behind me. The one named Mist sounds amused, but Cross seems less than apathetic. It’s like I’m not even here for him anymore. Something changed inside him since these men arrived.
“What’s going, Alec? Did Pyro send you?”
All those strange names. Mist, Nebula, Swamp. My theory that their organization is religiously-based gets stronger by the minute.
“Are you sure you can use our names carelessly in front of her? She might be your apprentice, but...”
“I’m not his apprentice. I’m just a Chronicler that wants to learn how to protect herself. That’s all,” I quickly correct him.
Without ever removing his mask, the man turns to look at me, observing me. “Your girl has guts, doesn’t she? But it seems she can’t control her mouth yet. Maybe a friendly spar would fix that.”
I raise my fists and dare him to attack. Something inside me tells me that this is a big mistake. But Alec never takes a step towards me. A second later, I notice that Cross has raised his hand ever so slightly to stop him.
“You’re not here to test anyone, Alec. Tell me now, what Pyro wants? What’s his plan? I suppose if any of us has a plan, then he’s the one.”
Alec sniffs and stands down. I’m not sure what he would do to me, but after he relaxes his fist, I see a tiny keyboard hiding back into his uniform. He’s a hacker, a man of wits, certainly not on par with the skills of a fighter like me, I’m sure.
Well, I’ll never know now.
“Pyro had a plan the last time I saw him, but it’s as crazy as all his plans are. Hell, the man actually managed to tear down the Great Embassy on Yaerus before anyone knew about the scheme the humans had set up.”
Tear down the Great Embassy? What is he talking about?
“Pyro should have been called Crimson if you ask me. He’s not fire, he’s the color of blood itself,” Cross says.
I feel anger boiling inside me. I remember the faces of my two dead friends, the two Originators on Yaerus.
“Yeah, yeah. He thinks so too. But the others gave him that name for a reason, and I’m sure he’s going to honor it at long last.”
“Leave the chit chat for later, Alec. What’s his plan? Where he’s heading to? He’s not on Yaerus, that much I know.”
For some reason, the other man stays silent for too long. He turns and looks at me or more correctly, behind me. His brother takes a step forward and stops in front of him. They start moving their hands, using sign language to communicate. That means that Nebula can’t talk. I wonder, is it because of the Organization or something else entirely?
The men seem to disagree with each other; Nebula uses sharp, strong signs. It’s like he’s shouting in his own way. Alec seems calmer, collected. He does want to get this over and done with.
Some time goes by before they’re done. Then, they both turn and look at Cross. The man hasn’t changed his expression at all since the two gray-masked men arrived. I can’t tell if he’s angry, anxious, or just bored. He’s just...mundane.
“Look. We were ordered to inform you that Pyros is heading off to Zeania. There was no order to brief you up about his mission, but...”
He seems to think it over. Even so, his brother stretches his hand and helps him go on.
“But we’re afraid that Pyros has gone crazy during this last year. We have assassinated more people than every other team, Swamp. And every time we ask him what’s going on, we get the same excuse. It’s for the Cause. But among the victims were innocent humans, even some teenagers. How can a teenager be a danger to the Cause, Swamp?”
Cross lowers his head; he suddenly looks like those old paintings, the light casting a sinister shadow on his eyes. He knows more than he’s letting us believe.
“I understand. Don’t worry over it, brothers. I will take over from now on.”
Cross turns and gets ready to move out from the room when Alec stops him. “Wait. It’s not over. We also kidnapped a young, female Phadh, the Sector 6 ambassador’s daughter, Swamp.”
“Yeah, I figured when I first saw it in the Grid. He had to find a safe way into Zeania. Only a Phadh can get on the planet unobstructed. He did the right thing.”
“He made us use human weapons.”
Something on that last sentence makes Dale lose his composure. He punches the wall with his free hand. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I have the feeling that my stupid feud with him has suddenly arrived at an end.
Chapter Fifty
Jay
It’s dark; darker than I remember. I look around me and see nothing. It’s like my whole consciousness is locked into a dark box. I can’t breathe, can’t see, I can’t even think straight in here.
I try to move forward, but something stops me. I can’t control my body. Or maybe, someone doesn’t want me to go down that way. I search inside me for the other Jasih’s voice, but he’s nowhere to be found.
For some reason, being alone scares me. Now that I’ve found him, I don’t want to be alone again.
A picture of Eladia pops in my mind. It takes me a moment to recognize her; she has her hair down, waving above her shoulders, caressing her back. She’s beautiful, more beautiful than ever. I want to touch her, to feel her smooth skin, her soft breasts.
Her image keeps me company until an explosion of light suddenly blinds me. I close my eyes, but it doesn’t help. Light manages to pierce through my thin eyelids and make the darkness behind my eyes burn. It’s torture, a never-ending punishment that I can’t bear.
Jasih.
A woman’s voice echoes inside my mind. Is that voice hers? She certainly doesn’t sound like her.
Jasih, you’re close. You have to keep moving, she says.
Close? Close to where? To do what? What is she talking about?
Jasih, open your eyes.
I want to decline, but it doesn’t seem I have another choice. I feel like I’m trying to avoid the unavoidable. Maybe opening them will stop the burning after all.
I do it slowly, carefully. At that moment, everything changes. I’m back on that roof, in the forest of the cemented trees, the place where the buildings don’t float like Mosa. I turn my head and see a woman appear behind me.
She nods at me and points at something on the horizon. I follow her finger and see the imprint of a falling object leaving a long, burning tail behind it, getting closer to the ground fast.
“What is this? Where am I?” I yell, but she doesn’t answer.
She just looks at me.
Jasih, you have to keep moving. Your race, the Esuh, needs you. You have to keep moving.
“I don’t understand! Moving where? To do what?”
She disappears before giving me a clear answer to my question. The object in the sky is now closer to the ground. What is this? Why do I see this vision? What does she want to tell me?
A moment passes and a girl runs into the roof. I gawp when looking at her.
“It’s you!” I say out loud.
She looks at me; she’s scared. She’s holding a small, metal thing in her hand. I’m not sure what it is, but it must be important. The young woman is hurt, seriously hurt, but it doesn’t stop her from moving, not even for a second. Most of her face is covered in blood, and her hands shake.
“Help me! You have to help me. I can’t leave this place, and it’s about to get hit by that thing over there. It’s going to destroy the whole planet. You have to do something,” she says without ever taking a breath.
“I’m not sure what you want me to do. I can’t stop a meteorite with my bare hands. Maybe if I had...”
“No, no.
It’s not a meteorite. It’s something else, something far more dangerous. You have to help me.”
I’m not sure what she’s talking about, but I’m happy she’s here, even if she’s half crazy already.
“Look, my spaceship is close. I can take you to my friends and--”
“There’s no time! Goddammit, there’s no time!” she yells and falls on her knees.
The blond girl bursts into tears, into heart-breaking sobs. Something bad has happened to her, but I’m not sure I understand. I would help her if I could. I would surely do.
I turn to check the falling object.
“Shit! What the hell?”
The big object has changed its trail, and it’s heading straight for us. I stand still for a moment, trying to find a way out of its course when I hear the sound of feet running towards the end of the roof. I have a bad feeling about this.
Everything happens so fast that I can’t keep up. The object is getting really close to us; I can now clearly see that it’s a giant cube, big enough to destroy the whole city in the imminent impact. The girl is now standing on the edge of the roof, one foot hanging above the empty space. She suddenly seems determined to end her life.
“No! Don’t-” I try screaming, but my voice doesn’t even get out of my mouth.
The girl jumps from the roof, leaving nothing behind but the memory of her presence there. However, the weirdest thing comes right after, when the cube gets really small, small enough to fit in her hand, and follows her down.
A flash appears a moment later; I cover my eyes with my hand, but I can still feel the warmth of the flash for the rest of my body.
When it’s over, I open my eyes. I’m suddenly down to the base of the building, standing next to the dying girl. The cube beside her is still red, five strange signs inscribed around her, beating like a heart.
“Fuck! Are you alright?” I get close to her quickly. But, when I touch her, her body collapses under a dust-filled cloud.
I squeeze my fists hard enough to hurt them, but it’s not enough. She’s the second person I could do nothing to save.
Jasih: Paranormal Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Àlien Mates Book 2) Page 22