Vengeance (12 page)

“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.”

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.”