In The Crossfire

Chapter 3

My head felt as though it had been cracked open. There was a sharp stabbing pain inside my skull. As if glass shards were moving through my brain.

With a moan, I forced my eyes open.

Slowly, I lifted myself up and leaned against a wall. Beneath me was a cold cement floor, hard against my body.

My legs blurred. I stared down at them, trying to steady my vision, to concentrate. Strangely, I had black pants on which were not mine. It took a moment, looking at myself before my vision finally steadied. The edges cleared, and everything came into focus.

The first thing I noticed was that I was dressed in different clothing, not my own. It appeared to be an all-black jumpsuit. Despite it being tighter than what I was used to, the clothing seemed to fit well. Unable to keep myself from touching it, I ran a hand over the fabric covering my arm. It felt soft and clean against my skin, as if it were new. New clothing didn't exist in my world.

Pushing off the floor, I stood up. My head spun. I leaned against the wall while my legs weakly wobbled beneath me. Luckily, it didn't take long to regain my bearings enough to get a better sense of my surroundings. Pacing through the small room, I tried to piece together what was happening.

I wasn't sure if it could even have been called a room. Cell might have been more appropriate. It was plain, made of concrete with nothing in it. There were no windows to the outside, so I had no way of knowing where I was or the time of day. Being in essentially a concrete box was disorienting. I hated small spaces, and I hated being kept in the same place.

Looking around, I understood I wasn't in my world anymore.

For now, at least I was alive and somewhat safe. Though with my clothing gone, so went whatever weapons I had stashed on me. Being weaponless left me feeling even more vulnerable. When was the last time I had ever been without a weapon? I probably held a blade ever since learning how to walk.

Above me, fluorescent lights lit the room. The hum of electricity running through them murmured through the air. It was as if the electricity was taunting me, telling me of how once upon a time it served humans and that now it only served the Seraphs, its new masters. The lights didn't even flicker, not once. Of course, when the rest of the world plummeted into darkness, the Seraphs had a steady stream of electricity pumping through their compound. Turning from the lights, I glanced around the room again, making sure I had missed nothing.

I hadn't.

Besides the single door, and myself, the room was completely bare.

Damn, this was bad.

My mind tried to remember as much as it could from the moments before everything went dark. Were Kat and Alec caught? I couldn't remember.

Pacing, I moved a couple of steps back and forth, too worried to sit still. Eventually, I paused in front of the single door to the room. There were no doorknobs, and it seemed to be made of a solid material. Clearly there was no easy way out of the tiny cell of a room. Someone would have to let me out. My palm touched the metal of its own accord, feeling the cold of it, which was quickly followed by a buzzing warmth running over my skin. Seraph.

With hardly enough time, I darted to the other end of the room and slid down to the floor. Drawing my knees to my chest, I stared at the wall in front of me. Silently the door opened and someone stepped through, closing it behind them, sealing us in the too-small of a space together. Jerking my head towards the newcomer, I was stunned to see a face I recognized.

"Fancy seeing you again." The familiar silky voice spoke, laced with what sounded to be amusement. His green eyes met my own. Nathanial, the royal that had caught me and let me go almost a month ago.