Starborne

Chapter 22

His name was Mike, or Matt, or Mitch, or something equally irrelevant. Pilot, crewman, firefighter, superman, his title held no relevance to me. His hair was either blonde or brown and his skin smelled like sweat and hard spirits. Something in my brain reminded me of a scent I preferred immensely, but a sharp pain in my chest caused me to block it out. 

Maybe-Mike bought me drinks, I couldn’t remember how many. This was the first time I had let loose in a while, and my tolerance seemed to be lower than usual. I let him put his hand on my thigh, and the other one in my hair. He was handsome in a generic way, I guess; he had the type of desperation that I knew would never break my heart.

“No Stefin. Who’s Sshtefin? Not me, or you, or me!” A light shone on my face, and I belatedly recognized my own high pitched voice rambling into the night. Maybe-Mike was holding me up as I stumbled out of the bar.

It wasn’t my most graceful exit, but I counted the fact that my stomach was still intact to be a huge win. Mike himself didn’t seem much better off when we were inside, but his grip on my arm tightened and he started to walk with more purpose as soon as we rounded the corner. 

“Mike, dude, slow doooown. I- I’m snot feeling so hot. Snot. Not.” My brain was having a hard time computing things, and everything suddenly seemed like it was moving in slow motion. Blood rushed to my ears, I was underwater, that's why my arms were so heavy, that’s why.

I was being pulled somewhere, even though my legs couldn’t seem to move, and I saw the mouth of a dark alley begin to emerge in front of me. Something in my muddled thoughts screamed at me to fight, to run, to do anything to stop this man from getting me in the shadows. Mike’s face, so boyishly average in the bar, was suddenly set in cruelty and a detached hostility. The man I chose simply because he seemed safe was gone, and fear coursed through my body, slightly sharpening my instincts. 

I’d gotten into drunk fights before. Heck, there was a time where I didn’t leave a bar without getting into a tussle with a fellow cadet. Not my best moments, but sometimes plain old aggression was the best way to prove your worth to that one male Pilot who wouldn’t keep his mouth shut about your boobs. Either way, my body had never given out on me quite so much before, where I felt defenseless and unable to summon my infamous roundhouse kick. That’s when I slowly began to piece together that I had been drinking more than whisky all night. 

“Shit, you… you drugged me bastard. What the actual fuck, dipshit. I swear to god, couldn’t take me sober, huh? Come at me now, you lousy, no good excuse for a pile of - “

My tirade was cut off by a harsh slap, and I fell to the ground in shock. The pain centered me, rookie mistake, and I deduced that I had a few more minutes of clarity before the drugs really set in. I hadn’t tasted anything in my drink, and the fact that I was still standing now meant that he had chosen a slow acting serum. That left a few options as to what was coursing through my system, but I had no choice but to hope that my assessment was correct.

There wasn’t time to figure out who this man was, or what he wanted. I quickly ruled out general assault when he pulled out a comm device and made a call. 

“Yeah? This is Mike. No, I have her here. Yeah, she’s fucking blasted, but this bitch has a mouth on her. It’s pissing me off, I swear-” He cut off as I heard an assertive voice muffled on the other end. 

“No, I know what he said. What, you gonna tell him? Maybe I’ll take a little detour, might as well get something from this bitch before I hand her over.” His laugh was nasty and sour as he listened to the response. 

Detour, my ass. This guy was bringing me to someone, but I had no intention of going anywhere with him. He was preoccupied with the call, and had left me on the ground after he hit me. As far as abduction went, this idiot was breaking every rule in the book. He was far too reliant on the drugs, and must not be informed about the extent of my training. Any other Pilot would be cuffed and bound, too dangerous to risk letting them get in a swing. Yet again, I had been underestimated because of my appearance. This time, it was going to save my life. 

Before he could finish speaking, my leg swung out and caught him in the back of the knee. As he buckled backwards, I jumped up and smashed my elbow into his face. The crunch of his nose was satisfying before my head began to spin. I was able to right myself moments before he lashed out at me from the ground. I clumsily jumped up, dodging the blow, before nailing his jaw with a decisive kick. His head was thrown back, smacking the pavement with a dull thud.

A move like that normally would have knocked any opponent out, but I was weak and disoriented. My aim and power were way off, and as it was I had bought myself only a few seconds. Every part of me wanted to stay, to pay him back for the drugs and what he had planned on doing to me. I knew that the element of surprise was my only real advantage in the moment, though, and he had the privilege of not being on the verge of blacking out. 

I took my last chance, and ran. The ground swayed up to meet me from all sides as I pushed myself forward. Leaving my abductor scrambling up a few steps behind me, I focused on the thudding of my feet to try and make it to safety. I could see the streetlights ahead of me, only a few hundred yards up the street. All I had to do was make it to a more populated neighborhood, and I could disappear into a shop or crowd. 

He was right behind me, cursing up a storm and nursing his nose, but I was scared to find the man gaining on me. Every movement made me nauseous, and I panicked as darkness began to close in on the edges of my vision. The air tasted like metal, my knees were buckling, my ankle had resumed throbbing and I swore every step would send me hurtling towards the swaying pavement. A hand reached out and grazed the ends of my hair, barely missing what could have been a deadly hold. With the last of my adrenaline, I increased my speed, and made it to the edge of the lights.

I didn’t dare stop, even as curious heads turned towards the panicked human screaming for help. My voice was weak, I didn’t know if anything was even coming out, and there was a chance that my attacker had followed me out of the shadows. If I passed out now he could claim to be a friend, and I would have no way of saving myself. 

Desperation drove me towards a courtyard filled with people laughing, sharing drinks and food outside a small establishment. There was a fountain there full of lights, which danced in front of my eyes and sparkled among the droplets of water. They were stars, so pretty, and trailed beams of rainbow ribbons. 

I jolted out of the vision when my knees hit the cobblestones with a thud. I was at the edge of the fountain, and my skin felt damp with mist from the water feature. This was it, the lights were moving more slowly, and all I could see were pinpricks through the darkening curtains of my eyelids. 

Suddenly the lights were gone, blocked out by a shadow standing over me. I tried to open my mouth and call out but my body wouldn’t respond. This was it, I had failed. At least it was warm here, and the darkness was cozy. Would it be so bad if I rested for a moment? I no longer remembered who I was running from anyway. Stefin, right? I was running because I saw Stefin with-

“Holly! What’s wrong? Someone get her…” The voices were loud, and I didn’t like them. Stefin made me mad and I wanted to get back at him, but that didn’t matter because all I became concerned with was drifting off to sleep. 

So, I gave in, pulled into a stuffy darkness before my head could hit the ground. I was aware of my body swaying, and arms holding me up, as I drifted in and out of consciousness. I wondered why I was so scared, the person who held me didn’t seem to want to hurt me. 

Somewhere the memory of a dark alley resurfaced and I jolted up, trying to smash my forehead into the face of the person who carried me. My attempt was pitiful, but as my eyes focused I was surprised to see someone looking down at me with genuine concern. 

“My god, Holly? What happened to you, who did this?” Groff’s soft brown eyes were worried, and I allowed myself to finally relax into his arms. 

“Take me… Palace. Not safe, need help.” I managed to croak out a few words, hoping Groff would understand that he needed to get me off the street where my abductor could have sent in reinforcements. 

“Help, please help…” My lips barely moved as I breathed out the words, and finally succumbed to the blackness for good.