From Other Worlds

6 》Your New Home

The guards come by an hour and a half or so later, and when they do, they force us against the far wall. I watch as the guards come in, then the six that entered the room approach us, each of them a bit seemingly anxious. When one of them nears Adhmara, she bucks her head back, and strikes the face of one of the guards. The guard stumbles, and she rights him.

But he strikes her across the face, knocking her against the wall. Castien growls as the guard that is near him yanks his arms back, handcuffing him. I look back as the guard cuffs Adhmara, and then, the one who was after me cuffs my wrists together.

I hiss in pain. The guard simply chuckles and pulls me back from the wall, guiding me toward the hallway. I curl my lip when the guard yanks me to the right, and my wrists bark in pain. The others follow me, lead by the guards who restrained us.

As soon as we reach the end of the hall, we enter a big, black door. The door slides open as we approach, and we enter the bathroom. I am dragged into the bathroom where the showers are, and I am unhooked from my restraints. The cuffs fall away from my wrists, and the guard shoves me forward, pushing me between the wings in my back. I stumble, but I find myself in the small shower stall.

The door is thrown shut behind me, and locked on the outside. I know I have five minutes to shower and change. So, I begin my ritual. As I turn on the warm water, thankful that it actually works this time, I unfold my wings and let them take in a lot of the droplets of water. I smile, the warm water feels amazing.

I stand there, washing my aching body, and then, before I am aware of what I'm doing, I'm turning off the water and changing into new clothes. The clothes are gray, the pants and shirt scratchy. The bra and underwear are too soft. But I quickly decide that I prefer that over the scratchy texture of the clothes.

My skin, which is a bit paler gray than the clothes I wear, feels too tight as I walk from the shower stall, and the guard restrains me once more. My white hair hangs in my face, still dripping wet. I don't care if I make a watery mess on the floors, these people should let me fucking go. Maybe if I keep up with the plan, we can get away from here. Maybe we can get out of here.

I am brought to the mess hall, and chained by my ankle to the table. The others sit around me and then, the guards bring us some food. As I begin to eat the gruel they give us, I look around. The mess hall is silent, and the other prisoners do not speak, knowing that any sound other than that of eating is likely to earn you a beating.

But then, Vilkas, who is beside me, nudges me. I glance at him, and he stares down at his food. Vilkas looks as scared and exhausted as I feel. He is scared, just like me.

I can sense the others are scared, too. Something is off, something is changing.

The door to the mess hall is thrust open, and in comes the boss, the leader of this forsaken prison. The female Daendir that runs the place stands between Dain and the Ohnea from before. Daendir are horned with spikes all over their body, gills and fins, and three long, pronged tails that they use to swim. Their legs are slender, and long and strong. This one has auburn hair, is pale white, and green eyes.

"For those who do not know me," she begins, magnifying her voice so that everyone across the mess hall can hear her. "I am Calymine and I am the Warden of this prison ship. So, if you have any ideas of disappearing into the night, just know that I will find you. And if you try to escape, I will not hesitate to kill you. But if you don't value your own life, for whatever reason, I will kill your family back home. And trust me when I say, we know all about your families."

I glance at Vilkas, who is visibly upset. He glares at the female, rage contorting his once kind face. He looks at me and I see such sadness in those green eyes. I blink, trying to tell him he's going to be okay. But then, Calymine clears her throat and continues to talk.

"So, for the foreseeable future, you will be living here, fighting when we tell you to, and doing what we tell you no matter what. You cannot leave, and you will not, not unless you wish for your families to die in the most horrific ways. So, I'd like to say, welcome to the Nexus, your new home."