I trust him completely as I climb inside. It’s warm and moist, but I say nothing. He shoves his fruits in with me, and I hug them. As he gently but urgently closes his trap, I can see from the gaps of his sharp teeth the shadow has stopped just where I’d been sitting.
It’s a large, imposing void that slithers in the air like a thousand snakes. I can feel Brother Bear shake. He’s terrified of this figure. A surge of protectiveness consumes me. Iknowit’s going to eat us.
“Lin.” It’s a disembodied voice.
A strong stench hits my nose, firing up the sleepy neurons, my muscles reacting. There’s a loud crashing sound somewhere. My vision glitches like those old analog TV’s. I blink hard until I feel my eyes hurting. Something presses my chest harder, and then I’m rolling…my body flipping over into nothingness until I slam on a cold metal space.
“Good, you’re awake.”
I don’t make a sound as I attempt to make sense of what I’m seeing. Everything’s blurry. I can only see shadows of…people.
“Here, your new glasses.” Something gets waved in front of me and I grab it.
I could never wear contacts, and I’m blind without my glasses. So when I peer around, I’m taken aback at how clear my sight is. I touch the glasses, noticing it isn’t mine.
“Like I said, we replace everything that’s safe for the island.”
“These aren’t even bifocals.” I note, seeing the difference of the weight and effectiveness.
Ingar ignores me as he sets down a number of duffel bags on a wide table. There’s something off with my center of gravity. Everything’s moving, shifting…then I realize the crashing sound comes from outside. Waves. We are in the middle of the sea.
I stand, taking in the very outdated scene around me. All my life, it’d been marble, granite and technology. My jaw drops at all the wood I’m seeing. It’s…a pirate ship. From the barrels, to the muskets with golden rings. I feel like I’ve just been dropped into a nautical adventure movie. The only thing that brings me back to reality is the clothing.
The people—mostly women—are dressed in casual nondescript hiking clothes. Boots, pants, plain shirts.
A surge of panic goes through me as I look down at myself. Fuck! Somebody changed my clothes while I was out.
“This wasn’t in the contract. I didn’t sign up to be drugged andtouchedwhile I was unconscious.” I snarl at Ingar, getting in his face as much as my height permits. My reaction surprises me. I’ve never been so openly hostile to someone.
He doesn’t react. In fact, he looks tired. “We made sure you were all changed by a woman.”
I grit my teeth together, my unusual, protective response coming from a deep place in my heart. I can feel it racing in fear even after all this time. No matter how much Mother stifles everything with her conditional gifts, I still remember it.
“You will do no such thing again.” I grind out, reaching to clutch his shirt.
Ingar’s pause is pensive before he lifts his hands. “Understood. I apologize, Professor.”
Releasing him did not extinguish the fire in me. In fact, it only tripled my anger because I have no excuse to take a swing at someone. Leveling my breathing, I grind out, “Am I allowed to ask questions now?”
He inclined his head to the side, away from everyone. I’m confused about this. Why are there women here? From my earlier perusal, I just saw about two men, all wearing Moriarty symbols on their shirts. I follow him inside a room, and it looks like a cargo hold.
There are plenty of chains and more of those muskets that my hands turn cold.
“What in the ripe musk of hell did I get myself into?”
“Shoot everything that tries to eat you.”
Datu
“I have come to water you, my brother.”
Sateva parts the cascading stems of my verdant prison. My sight is long-gone, but I can hear my sister moving around. The leaves do not rustle, they crackle, drier than ever. She has brought water with her like every other day.
I am in pain, but nothing comes out of my mouth like hers. My arms move to readjust themselves in my shackles. The metal that used to burn me has now embedded into my flesh that I cannot feel where I start, where it ends. I feel disgusting, being a part of this unnatural human-made thing.
She bows her head, proceeding to climb up the boost so she can reach me. She pours buckets of water over my head and it soaks quickly into my body. The relief is short-lived. I am needing much more than what she gives…and water is not it.
Something is vibrating in my belly. Thrumming an irregular rhythm. Sometimes it churns loud, sometimes it just shivers.
