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“Was I naive in a pretty world, that you paved for this silly girl? Did I believe you every word? Did you deceive your singing bird?”
Whoever it was wore a dark hood that covered their face. I had to blink to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. But the heavy lounge lights didn’t lie. Someone was creeping into the crowd. Whoever it was made my stomach turn.
“Give me more than someone else. Or put me back upon your shelf. I can’t take the never knowing, or the cards that you’ve been showing.”
The hooded figure watched my every move. Nervously, I tried to signal my stagehand to check out the crowd. Between sets, I rushed to the side panels of the stage and tried to alert him.
“There’s someone creepy out there. Get them out of there, please. Dark hood, covered face.”
He came running back a few moments later. “I didn’t see anyone out there that fit that description. Whoever they were, they must’ve gotten bored and walked off.” I hoped he was right.
I didn’t see him when I stepped out into the lights again. But for the rest of my set, I was notably uneasy. The average patron wouldn’t have noticed, but my fans did when the set was over and I declined autographs.
The hooded man had gotten to me, his odd movements, his stealth. I would’ve thought he was a ghost if I wasn’t sure I’d seen him with my own eyes.
Back in my dressing room, my stylist helped me get out of my gown so she could have it cleaned and ready for tomorrow’s show.
“I want the blue to start tomorrow’s set in,” I told her, reaching for the gown so we could prep our set list with a wardrobe option. She just reached for a yellow tulle skirt when the lights flickered over our heads.
“That was odd,” she mused, handing me the skirt. “That never happens at Black Star.”
“It doesn’t?” I asked, more curious than before. I felt the same chill that took over me when the hooded man was in the crowd. “You never have blackouts?”
She never got to answer my question.
The lights flickered again, and this time, they went completely dark. We stood there in the blackness, searching for some light to help make sense of what was going on. I felt my percomm with my fingertips and just before I could pull it out for the light, I felt something cool and damp cover my face.
“What the—” were the last words I managed to say.
In the pitch-black room, I couldn’t say when things went black. Only that I woke up sometime later tied to a chair. I peeked my eyes around the room for something concrete to signal where I had been taken. As soon as I turned my head, a smallish Fanaith stood up and opened the door to the room.
“She’s awake,” the Fanaith said to a dark shape lurking in the doorway. He stepped into the room, into the light overhead, and removed his hood.
“I knew it.” I felt vindicated right up to the moment the hooded figure revealed himself. He tugged at his hood, showing me a Fanaith bigger than most I’d seen. Whoever he was, he didn’t look like someone you wanted to fuck with.
“Evening, Serena,” he said calmly. “Let me welcome you to our little safe house.”
My fear wouldn’t let me say anything, but my gut told me it was just as well.
“This might be a little less than what you’re used to, but it will do until Jalik does as he’s told.”
I had so many questions, but my knee knee-jerk reaction was to spit in this Fanaith’s face.
“You better let me go!” I screamed, trying to wriggle my arms free. “Jalik will kill you when he comes for me.”
“Now that’s the spirit,” he said, squatting closer with his face too close to mine. He wiped my spit from his face and smiled. “We definitely have the right girl then, don’t we?” Fanaiths in the darkness beyond him sniggered their assent.
I shot him my best nonverbal go-to-hell look and kept trying to free my arms.
“It’s no use, Serena.” He smiled, touting at the ropes with his webbed hands. “But I can promise you this. If Jalik doesn’t do as he’s told and throw tomorrow’s fight, you and I will get better acquainted.”
He licked his yellow teeth, sending shivers of fear all over my body. His closeness was too much. I wanted to gag.
Instead, I looked him in the eye, hoping he would get close again so I could smack him with my head.
I was hit with the feeling more than ever that I wanted so badly just to be back at Jalik’s apartment. I’d rather argue with him about what to watch on the holo-vision, or even be his booty call. Anything would be better than being tied to a chair with these seedy characters.
“Laxon, your tools,” came a surly voice, handing my captor a smallish black leather tool kit. Laxon unzipped the pouch and inside was something that he rolled flat onto the table. I felt my heart shudder deeply when I realized it was a set of knives.
