Vengeance (10 page)

And what of Bastien?
 I have heard nothing about him. Our captors have not appeared
since I awoke.  No food or water has been brought to us, though
I suspect that will come soon enough.  A weak slave is no good
to them.

I wish that I were
free to curl in upon myself and cry.  Though I would hate to
show any form of weakness in front of these men, I cannot help but
acknowledge the need and the longing to release my fears in such a
basic way.

I am afraid.  I
will not deny that. On Earth I had weapons to defend myself.  On
Calisted I had my powers.  Now...I have nothing.

Glancing
to my right I notice that even Callisto and Marius have put distance
between me and them.  The others sit with their backs to me,
refusing to even look in my direction.  I suppose I don’t
blame them.  Not really.  They are all strangers to each
other, thrust into this hell hole of piling feces, rancid urine and
the reek of unclean bodies.  The scents are enough to overcome
even the strongest person but today I am feeling especially trapped
by it all.

I wish that I could
sleep, to escape this nightmare even for a moment.  Then I could
dream.  I could be in Eamon’s arms once more, safe,
happy...content.

But
would Eamon come to me in my dreams?
I
wonder as I shift, trying to stretch out my legs enough to ease the
cramping.  
I
spent my nights with Bastien and my days with Eamon.  Would that
change now that Eamon is no longer by my side?

My stomach begins to
roil.  I can feel bile rising in my throat, eating away at the
sensitive lining as I imagine Eamon broken and left for dead in the
ruins of the palace.  What if he didn’t make it out?  What
if he is gone and I don’t even know it?

Acid rises into my
mouth, sealing off my airway.  I can’t breathe.  I
can’t turn my head to expel the bile.

“Hey, what’s
she doing?”  I hear Callisto ask but I begin to flail in
panic, my arms and legs beating against the floor as I choke.  The
sound of my chains clanking against the metal floor sounds distant in
my ear as a shadow falls over me.  I stare up at Callisto with
wide, frightened eyes.  “Oh crap, she’s choking!
 Someone help her.”

“Grab her head
and tilt it!”  Marius shouts from behind her.  I’m
vaguely aware of his panic and the movement of the men around me but
it is all superficial against the burning need to breathe.

Loud shouts rise
around us, filling the cage as Reyes yells for help, beating his
chains against the wall.  

“I can’t
turn her head!  She’s chained down!”  Callisto’s
panic sends me over the edge.  My right leg presses up against
the bar and the scent of burning flesh stings my nose.  I try to
scream, to thrust the bile from my throat but it is no use.  I’m
drowning.

“Scoop out her
mouth!”  Marius demands.  “You have to clear
her airway.”

A cry from my left
captures Callisto’s attention.  Color drains from her face
as she wrenches back from me, scuttling out of sight.  The floor
vibrates beneath me and a long shadow drapes over me.  Huge
hands grasp my chains, yanking them from the wall.  My head is
thrust to the side and a hand presses on my stomach, forcing me to
gag.

The scent of bile
spilling onto the floor is potent but welcome as I take my first
breath of unrestricted air.  The hand presses again on my
stomach but there is nothing left to come out.

A hiss behind me
makes the pressure on my abdomen instantly release. I am hauled to a
sitting position and thrust back against the wall.  My ears ring
under the force with which I am tossed.  My side screams in
agony as I feel the brunt of my impact ripple up through my broken
ribs.

“Ow,”
I growl, raising my gaze to glare at the giant before me.  Up
close I can see the distinct scale-like flesh on my captor’s
elongated face.  Each scale shimmers crimson and burnt orange
even in this dim light.  “You’re lucky I’ve
got this collar on buddy, cause if I didn’t you’d be in a
world of hurt right now.”

The creature before
me releases a sound resembling a bark.  I can only imagine it to
be a laugh.  Its thin lips peel back to reveal teeth about an
inch in length, narrow and dangerously sharp.  Another hiss
draws my captor’s attention away.

I
glance over its shoulder, forced to crane my neck back in order to do
so and realize that another creature stands in the doorway.  
Doorway?
 Where did that come from?

At the creature’s
feet I see Hyde crawling back onto his knees.  He looks slightly
dazed but every bit the resentful man I have discovered him to be.
 “Hands off, lizard breath.  I ain’t doing
nothing wrong.”

A swift kick to his
back slams Hyde to the floor.  With a foot the size of a young
oak tree, the creature slams down on Hyde’s back, pinning him.
 Long curled claws as black as onyx protrude from its four toes,
each one beginning to dig into the flesh of his back.  Hyde’s
grunting becomes cries of pain.  “Stop it!” I cry
out, pressing back against my captor’s grasp.

The creature’s
slitted eyes turn toward me.  I watch as a thin layer of skin
slides over the eye and then withdraws. I shiver despite my desire to
remain strong.  This thing really creeps me out!

Youuu
are in nooo possssition to be maaaking demandssss,
a
raspy voice calls to my mind.  I gasp, shocked by the intensity
of its voice.  I can feel the commanding power behind its words.
 

Why
can I understand you?
I
call back but hear only silence.  It stares at me with eyes like
a smoldering coal.  It slowly raises a finger and points to its
neck.  

“Why can I
understand you?” I repeat aloud, catching on to the fact that
my new neck fashion accessory is blocking my telepathy.

I
can feel my companions turn to look at me but I ignore their
questioning glances.  
Becaussse
I waaannt youuu tooo.

“What do you
want from us?”

This time I clearly
see Callisto and Marius exchange a loaded glance.

Thaaaat isss
nooot the realll quessssstion, issss it?

I frown.  “Then
what is the real question?”

Although
I am still very unfamiliar with this creature I have learned enough
to know when it is attempting a smile.  Gruesome, hideous and
distorted but still a smile.  
Youuu
seeeeek the booooyyy.

“Bastien?
 Does he live?”

It
tilts its head to the side and applies more pressure to Hyde’s
back.  He cries out and I can see blood seeping between the
creature’s toes.  
Fooor
noooow.

“What are you
doing?” Callisto hisses, casting a sidelong glance at me.  “You
can’t seriously think that you can understand that thing.”

“It is
translating into our language in my mind,” I say back and turn
my attention away from her.  “Why have you taken us?”

Yooouuu are
speeecciaaal.

“And the
others?”

“Oh man, I
don’t be liking the sound of that none too well,” Marius
mutters under his breath.  He runs his hands over his dense hair
and back down his cheeks to hold his neck.  “They gonna
kill us, ain’t they?”

Noooo.
 
The
creature shakes its head.  
Vaaaluaaable
tooo meee.

“What they
say?” Marius’ voice cracks.  

“He says you
are valuable to him.”  I offer him a tight lipped smile.
 “You’re safe for now.”

Marius releases an
exaggerated sigh of relief but I don’t share his respite.  I
notice movement from my left and turn to look at Reyes.  He has
scooted nearer to Vondran.  This surprises me.  They are
hardly the type to want to bond together even in circumstances such
as these.  I begin to worry that they may be up to something so
I rush to drawn attention back to myself.

“We require
food and water,” I call out loudly.  I glare up at the
creature still holding me.  Its grip is strong enough to
possibly break my arm if it does not ease up a bit.

Iiiit will
coooomeee soooon.

The creature’s
gaze shifts from me and I tense, realizing that it is surveying
Callisto and the girl whose brother I inadvertently killed.  I
have yet to hear her name, though I doubt even if I asked her she
would give it to me.  I don’t like the way he looks at
them. Almost as if they are a meal.

“Are
they valuable to you as well?”
I
ask.

Its
slitted eyes swivel back toward me though its neck does not.
 
Yeeesss.

“So you will
not hurt them, correct?”

Another barking
laugh from the creature looming over me reveals that this is not a
private conversation.  I dig my nails into its hand, attempting
to pry it off but it does not budge.  A tiny bit of brackish
brown blood seeps from its skin where I puncture its flesh with my
nails but it gives no hint that I caused it any pain.

“Your guard is
hurting me.”

The creature across
the room from me jerks its head and the pressure releases but only
slightly.  

“Thank you.”
I feel completely ridiculous to be thanking this monster for
lessening my pain.   “And the other one?”

The
creature looks down at Hyde trapped beneath at his foot.  
Heeee
is noooot yoursss to prooooteeeect.

“Perhaps not
but I insist all the same.”

Yooooouuu
iiiinsiiiist?  Yoooouuu haaaaveee noooo poooweeer heeereee.

I smile.  “Then
why did you just remove your foot from his back?”

The Roamer bares its
teeth at me and a rumbling growl rises from its throat.  Hyde
scrambles away from its reach but cannot go far due to being chained
nearby.  Reyes looks at me with obvious warning but I ignore
him.

Yooouuu areee a
cleeeveeer oooneee.  I waaassss riiiight aaabooouut yoouu.

“You obviously
came to capture me.  I am here now.  Why keep these other
people?”

The
veil of skin falls over its eyes again before it answers.  I
watch as the slits of its nose narrow and widen with each breath it
takes.  
Theeeyyy
aaareee uuussseeefuul tooo mee.

“Yeah,”
I frown, rubbing my sore wrists.  Dried blood flakes away and
flutter to the ground before me.  “I got that.”

Yooouuu waaaant
toooo seeeee yooouuur friiieeend?

“Of course I
want to see him,” I snap, feeling my frustration get the better
of me.

A priiiceee tooo
beee paaaiiid.

“Price?”
 I glance around at the people sitting with me.  What on
earth could we possibly have that they want?  “What
price?”

Cooompaaaanyyy.

“Company?”
 My brow furrows with confusion.  “I don’t
understand you.”

Another bark emits
from my guard.  I cry out as it releases my hand and grabs my
chest, my breast positioned in the middle of its palm, its fingers
spread wide enough to reach my abdomen.  

A vicious hiss from
the creature at the door makes my guard withdraw its hand.  It
rises and steps away from me.  

“No wait!”
I cry out as it seizes Callisto by the arm.  The chains at her
ankles snap effortlessly, clanging as they fall to the floor.  She
wails and beats at its back as the Roamer tosses her over his
shoulder.  “What are you doing? Don’t take her!”

Marius stares up at
my guard as it stomps past him and there, in the recesses of the
darkened corner I finally see the other girl.  She is young, too
young to be stuck in this place.  If she is a day over fifteen I
would be surprised.

“Don’t
touch her,” I scream as the Roamer reaches for her.  She
shrieks and beats at its enormous hand but she is easily captured and
slung over its other shoulder.

I glare at the
commanding Roamer.  “What are you going to do with them?”

Myyyy
soooldiiieeersss haaaveee neeeedsss tooooo.

“No!”  I
shriek and yank against my chains, realizing too late that while I
was speaking my guard had reattached me to the wall.  “You
can’t do this!  Leave the girls and take me instead!”

Hyde thrusts his
head up, his gaze drilling into me as I buck wildly.  Blood
streams down my arms as I thrash but it is no use.  

The Roamer hefts the
girls higher onto his shoulder, unconcerned with their attempts to
fight back.  He nods at a hissed command and ducks past his
commanding officer and into the hall beyond.  I can hear
Callisto and the other girl’s screams.  They tear at me,
damning me.  No amount of longing to see Bastien would be worth
this price, but I was never given a choice.

My hair falls in
wild tangles before my eyes.  It billows before me as my chest
heaves with exertion.  The creature approaches and kneels down
before me, just outside of kicking distance.

Yoooouuu dooo
noooot oooweee theeeseee giiirlsss anyyythiiing.

“They are my
people.  I owe them everything,” I snap.  The
creature seems to ponder my statement before nodding.  “Bring
them back.  I will go with you instead.”

Noooo.
 
It
shakes its head and rises.  It casts one last glance down at me
before walking away.  
Yoooouuu
aaareee nooooot acceeeeptaaaableeee.  

I shudder as the
wall materializes behind where Hyde once sat, appearing as if it had
been there the entire time.  Callisto’s screams cut off
abruptly and I turn to the side and curl up into myself.  

My tears finally
come.

My
tears begin with silence and end with soul-wracking sobs.  I cry
for the innocence being stolen from these two girls, and who knows
how many countless more that may be imprisoned on this vessel.  I
cry for my husband who might be lost to me.  I cry for Bastien’s
suffering at my expense.  I cry for my people who have suffered
so much, and I cry for myself.

As my sobs finally
begin to taper off I look up to find Marius watching me.  He
offers a sympathetic smile as I wipe my nose with the back of my
hand.