Chapter 5
Because of me, the slight advantage the physician’s had over the seemingly drugged man slipped away from them. And it seemed as if in an instant the control of man was taken down by the rules of nature. Five fully grown men found themselves sprawled on the tiled floor, the impact of a single push laying them low.
Within seconds of my arrival into the room, and my dramatic performance of disarming the physician holding the death drug, I found myself the prey to a predator. I was a fool to think I could just walk away from this day without consequences. And one of those consequences was gazing with heated, unblinking, violet colored eyes into my very being.
I had let the beast free.
In one impressive and beautifully graceful bound, he was off the examining table. I didn’t think to run. The natural instincts of man are still apart of us. And despite our ever growing range of knowledge, the basic imprints of man reveal themselves when needed and without conscious effort. My basic imprint should have told me to flee. It didn’t. Instead it told me to stand my ground and wait because the beast in me recognized its own.
I was pushed against the adjacent wall with enough force to knock the wind out of me. It escaped my body in a single undignified grunt of surprise. My head smacked sharply, bouncing between wall of cold stone and a wall of warm flesh. He kept me pinned to the wall, his naked back blocking my view of the rest of the room. At least he had the decency to have trousers on. I could only hear the chaos that was going on around us. And then he spoke.
“If you wish this woman to live, then you will relinquish hold of my belongings. Stand down now or I will kill her. Choose wisely or I will see you all dead.” Those words were spoken in a voice as pure and rich as the creation of music; hard and lethal as the sharpest blade. It was both enthralling and deadly. And he had just threatened my life.
The tables had turned and without a doubt I knew that the control of man was gone. The beast held power in this room. I would die to save the creature that would have no remorse at ending my existence.
I could hardly catch my breath, flattened against wall and man/beast. Thinking I could side step away from him, I found my way blocked by the unrelenting bands of outstretched arms. I was trapped, put here by one heedless attempt at resistance to the majority. I had jumped of my own free will from the ledge and found myself between a rock and a hard merciless man/beast. I had no one to blame but myself.
Please, I whispered.
I don’t know if he heard the breathy, strangled tone of my voice or if he realized that his larger frame was crushing my chest that I couldn’t take in an adequate amount of air into my lungs. But he moved his body a fraction, giving me enough space to allow my lungs and chest to expand properly.
There was quite a bit of commotion going on around me. I could hear people scrambling to get up off the floor, equipment scraping as it was pushed around and voices’ talking in garbled bursts, layering one voice over another. I could only hear what was transpiring, but I imagined that every one of their faces held the same expression. It had been many years since the unknown on the outside had effect on us on the inside. It was horrifying to know that it had the power to take us down.
Something, a bag perhaps, was handed over. The bearer of the object hastily stepping away, the sound of the persons squeaking shoes hinting that they were moving fast and far away from us. This man/beast was outnumbered, yet it seemed as if he held sway over us. I didn’t believe my presence as his hostage had any effect. For the good of our people they should have sacrificed me to save us all.
He had what he wanted; his belongings returned to him. This would have been the opportune time to release me, allow me to go back to my world. But no, it wasn’t going to be that simple.
Pulled out from the wall to stand in front of him, my back now pressed to his front, one arm squeezing my middle, he shoved a heavy leather bag into my unsuspecting clutches. I held tight, not even looking down to see what I was holding. But I assumed it was a duffel bag of sorts, naturally made and not one of our designs. It smelled strange, musky and wild, very much like the being standing so close behind me.
Now I could see everything that I had missed during my concealment behind this creature. Those in the room, the five physicians and others I hadn’t seen or noticed before had positioned themselves about the room, aiming weapons, directing their focus directly at myself and my abductor behind me. My death was imminent, either by the friendly fire of my people or at the hands that held me captive.
Zeke entered slowly into the room, using the connecting door I had used earlier, his own weapon raised high, aiming not at me, but just above my head. His face looked pinched. I could see his stress, the sheen of glistening moisture on his smooth forehead. His arm never wavered and he refused to look me in the eyes.
“Let her go and we’ll release you from our custody. I’ll take you to our borders myself and allow you to return to your world.” He spoke with his most sincere and charming voice, hoping to sway the mind of this unknown enemy. “Just allow me to take her from you. No one wishes you harm.”
I felt his chest shake, a bitter laugh escaping from him. “Do you think I’m a fool?” he raged. I could see everyone in the room flinch, as did I at the energy in that voice. “As you have already guessed, I understand your language. No harm”, he quoted Zeke’s words. “You and your people were just about to have me put down. And I don’t believe for a fraction of a millisecond that any of you would allow me to simply walk away. No.” he said, his voice harsh. “You can keep your empty promises. There is only one person who showed remorse at the possibility of my death and she’s right here.”
I felt his hand brush a piece of my hair, tucking it gently behind my ear. It was something I didn’t expect, a gesture too tender to come from something so fierce. He continued.
“I think I’ll keep her,” His arm constricted against my middle, a hard band of flesh forcing me closer to his person. “And the second you try to take her from me will be the second before you know you’re dead.”
“Be reasonable,” Zeke persuaded, mustering all his strength and training to free me. “There’s no way to exit our borders on your own. And even if you do escape this room, the minute you leave this building you’ll be taken down.” He lowered his weapon, apparently seeing that it had no effect on this creature. “Already the entire military force is aligning itself outside in the quad, waiting for you. My people will do whatever is necessary to take down this threat. You will die if you try to escape,” for a brief moment his eyes turned to mine, “and Lora will die with you.” He leveled his gaze back on my captor.
They were not of equal height, Zeke falling a few inches shorter, but I think that they were equally matched opponents. “Is that what you want for her?” Zeke questioned, his voice never wavering, simply stating the facts. “The only person who tried to save you will be destroyed for having a pure and generous heart. Will you risk her life as well as yours; and for what?”
“You’re very convincing. I can see that one day you will make an exceptional leader. But today you are just a boy who only wants to save his best friend.”
We moved together as a unit, his arm securing me in front as we hedged our way slowly toward Zeke. We stopped about a foot away, but Zeke didn’t try to take me from him. He eyed us both. I’m not sure what he read in our faces, but he didn’t look pleased.
“It’s Zeke isn’t it?” asked the man/beast.
That startled him. He had appeared so cool and calm during this entire experience, but that one simple question rattled him.
Zeke nodded.
“Today’s not your day to win, but it will be soon. Now step aside.”
Zeke frowned, turning to look at the others in the room before focusing his attention back on us. “You’ll never make it past the front entry way.”
“I’m aware of that, thank you.” He made those words sound polite as if he really were thanking Zeke for something.
Zeke
brought his focus down onto my face, his expression grim. He nodded to the others, telling them with that gesture to stand down. Zeke slowly stepped aside, watching us carefully as we, as one person, moved past him.
Inside the observation room, I felt all eyes on me. Their concern for themselves rather than my well being etched on their tense faces. Mr. Rockthorn, standing safely behind two technicians, was the only one to speak. “It seems you got exactly what you deserved, girl.” An evil twist in his lips revealed the truth. He wouldn’t have cared if I died today.
“And you, Herbert, will get exactly what you deserve,” My captor countered and I enjoyed for a brief moment the horror that crossed Mr. Rockthorn’s face. Then we were gone, racing down a long stretch of hallway to who knows where, a death watch over both of our heads.