Chapter VIII

It was damn bright inside that ship. Sebastian was looking all around and his eyes had an amazing sparkle of excitement but, as for myself, I was much more interested in the girls up there. My eyes scanned their curves fully, with an inquisitional scrutiny. I approached one of the girls with whom I had been traveling in the back of the truck with a casual: “Hey, hey. So, how are you doing now?”

Her eyes became all fired up as if she was about to transform into some horrid monster. “You! Back off now! From this point on you are but a prisoner!” Her voice was all hoarse and I seriously thought she was about to transform then, so I stepped back. She pointed at me with some nerve and I wondered whether she was trying to get a thunderbolt out of her finger.

“Alright, ‘right, just keep it down; the wrinkles make you look real bad.” I should have expected the slap that came afterward, but could not have imagined the loud noise it made. Everyone looked at me, including Sebastian and Damien, as if I’d done something bad. “Hey I just wanted to get to know her a little better and she got all worked up.” I shrugged, and I heard Sebastian giggling behind. Damien frowned as he always did, and pulled up his leather jacket, caressing the fur on his jacket’s neck for a second, distracted.

They pushed us… I mean, they “escorted” us to our “luxurious suites.” I must admit I wasn’t really all that impressed with the funky restroom in plain sight and the, somehow alarming, buzzing lasers placed in replacement of jail bars. “Fancy,” I said out loud, attempting to call everyone’s attention. “I’m sorry, but when do I get my feet massage and pedicure?” Damien chuckled to himself, but the expressions of the soldier-women that were with us weren’t as amused. “You know? They released a new portable piece of makeup. It’s called ‘sense of humor’. You should get one fast while supplies last!” I challenged their coolness with a wide smirk on my face.

“Get in there,” one of them said roughly. She turned back and, punching a code on a panel beside the hallway door, she dispelled the lasers that safeguarded the adjacent cells. She returned her gaze upon us and pushed her amazing brown hair back before raising a very steampunkish-looking gun against us.

“That’s awesome. You look both beautiful and cool.” I clasped my hands together and looked back at Damien, who was definitely amused by now. Sebastian was just staring at them, quietly. Suddenly, another one of the three women hurled a kick towards Sebastian; however, my reaction was even quicker somehow because my hand caught her leg and pressed tight over it. I was extremely surprised at my timing but I played it cool and didn’t let them notice. “Don’t even think about it. If you are pissed at someone, go ahead and say things straight out into that person’s face.” Sebastian retrieved a few steps and drew close to Damien who had adjusted ever so promptly, shifting to an alert stance. As she pulled her leg back, I felt a burning pain stretching from my hand to my wrist; even my arm ached now. ‘She sure got some strength in that kick. Definitely well trained,’ I thought as I gazed at her defiantly, seizing my arm to reduce the soreness.

“Bring it on!” she said, putting her gun away and raising her fists; yet, in that moment, the woman with the amazing hair touched the other woman’s shoulder as if to retain her from doing it. “But, Seri…,” she tried to protest.

“No buts, Soibsaa. Prisoners, not enemies,” she said in an ear-melting voice. Her finger sprinted up abruptly from her free hand and with it she gestured us to move forward while she held the gun unflinching. I was placed with Sebastian in the one closer to the exit and Damien was placed in the other one by himself. That person with the awesome hair, who I heard was called Seri, and the other woman who had not spoken a word took a last look at us and headed for the door, while that rude crone, …Soibsaa? Yeah, Soibsaa, stayed back, turned on the laser barrier and shut the lights behind her just to be cruel, chuckling. The door slid closed behind her. I determined myself to make her life as miserable as possible for as long as I dwelt between these people. She had definitely started out with the wrong foot, literally. I mean, she did throw that kick, after all.

The shine of the green lasers lighted the room faintly and the blue colored metal now seemed somewhat green as well. The soft buzzing noise coming from the lasers and the far away, flattened roar from the engines were the only things that interrupted the cryptic silence in the room. Eventually, the sound of the engines became much, much louder and a sudden urge to hold on to something came to me. The ship turned and, with a kick, started moving upwards in a very inclined slope, at an increasing speed. I felt Sebastian holding close to something else, and probably Damien was managing by himself as well. My stomach rumbled in unison with the ship and, a few seconds later, I felt an unexpected emptiness on my abdomen, feeling something like falling while going upwards. After a few of this and that, and much more action in my stomach, the floor and walls started vibrating vigorously, which made the buzzing of the lasers grow deeper. Our surroundings leaned sideways, away from the door and, with a scrapping noise, big metal cubes, kegs and other sorts of containers, slid through the room. One of them was even hurtled into the lasers of my cell and bounced back violently. ‘So these lasers are kinda’ dangerous but not deadly. Okay, okay,’ I took notice of it and stayed away anyway.

For a second, I had to hold my breath. All those sensations that were rushing through my body finally blew my mind when the lack of gravity hit us and my entire body rose from the ground, towards the right wall of the cell. I didn’t even notice that I had closed my eyes until I felt my feet brush the wall. I opened them again, feeling the heavy rumble of the ship, probably going through the atmosphere or leaving it, who knows. “I am going to have serious issues with the zero gravity stuff,” I mumbled, feeling pretty dizzy already. I looked to the other corner and saw Sebastian with both arms gripped around a metal pole, but couldn’t tell his expression. Our surroundings shifted to one side furiously and almost threw us towards the laser barrier.

The rumble started to fade away, so I was able to hear the engine clearly once again. For a split of a second, I heard the lasers of the other cell drone louder. Almost immediately, I smelled something that was kind of like burnt wood and wondered what could have happened. I refrained from calling out to Damien, because it would just cause more panic between us. As things were, the only thing we could do was to wait and be individually brave. I held on to something and tried to make myself comfortable, but the lack of gravity made it almost impossible. Sebastian, on the other hand, seemed too quiet; he was just static in the same spot.

Time passed by and everything stayed very much the same, except for the scarce movements of the ship and for some odd tiny sounds in the other cell where Damien was hosted. I was trying to figure out what in the world he was doing when another smell interrupted my train of thoughts. It smelled like cigarettes. I assumed he was merely smoking then, and trying to let time go by, just like us. Sebastian was still unresponsive, hidden in his little corner, probably thinking through all this… and that’s when I heard a soft snort. Dammit! He was sleeping! I shook my head, feeling better and leaving my worries behind about him, and so I decided to simply try to forget about things for a little bit. I began, quite laidback if I must add, to hum softly a tune from a certain band I had always adored, called Dragonmight. I thought for a second about it, but the choice was clear, and clearer than any other. The song I picked then was named “Starlight” which I thought was, indeed, pretty fitting at the time. Passionately, I hummed away, producing a melody I thought deep and tender; I guess almost compassionate. I raised my volume just a tad, perhaps enough for Damien to be able to hear. I looked sideways and saw a thin cloud of smoke soaring idly around the lasers and smiled, knowing that he was, indeed, listening. Once I was finished with that one, I decided to go for something more energetic, picking one from another band I was quite attached to, named Freedom Cry; the song was called “Knights of Shine.” By the time the lyrics came around and I started to sing, I heard a subtle tapping that resembled drums, accompanying my tune. I half-laughed, knowing Damien was enjoying himself as well. Everything was alright.