Needledrop

5

Trial

Wynnona

The ship no longer needed someone to be piloting it. I turned to the two people I call family sitting behind me. For a moment, my eyes flicker down to my bag before moving back to my friends. There is a strange yellow glow coming from inside the bag that calls my attention back to it. Grabbing the bag, I open it to grab the journal. The yellow stone is shimmering, dark gold flecks swirling in its surface. The glow died down and the stone slowly disappeared.

"What in the world?" I ask, staring at the place there was once a stone. Keya runs her fingers along the leather surface of the book, but still no stone. It's just gone.

"How could it be there one second then gone the next?" Keya questions.

"Jake said that there was a person trapped inside of this journal, maybe it has something to do with that." I say, throwing out a theory to the two.

"How is that possible?" Brett asks skeptically.

"There's a lot we don't know or understand out here." I tell him, looking up into his blue eyes. "This book is likely the only thing we can trust." I shift my eyes over to Keya, who is giving Brett her best puppy eyes.

"Fine." He sighs, unbuckling from his seat and standing. He raises his arms above his head, stretching. His shirt rides up on his stomach slightly, showing off a small part of his toned stomach and strong V-line. I glare at his stomach and place my cold fingers against his warm skin. He yelps and jumps back, making both Keya and I laugh.

"You are a cruel creature and I hate you." He tells me as he glares, cuddling his hands protectively over his stomach. "I'm going to go find some place to sleep." He informs the two of us as we continue laughing, exiting the control room.

"I'm going to join him." Keya tells me softly once we both sober up. She stands, following her boyfriend. "The room closest to here is all yours. I'm exhausted." She yawns and stretches her arms above her head as proof of this fact. I unbuckle and stand to my feet, Stardust yipping happily.

"Sleep well babe." I tell her, wrapping my arms around her shoulders. "Thank you." I whisper to her softly. Learning everything I have in the last couple hours I don't think I would be able to survive this on my own.

"Anything for you. I love you." She says warmly while pulling away. She smiles at me and wonders off after her boyfriend. I sit back down and kick off my boots, pulling my knees up to my chest so that my feet rest on the chair, my toes dangling off. Looking through the window of the ship, the galaxy around it flying by, I can't help but feel lonely. Out here with knowledge I don't remember ever gaining.

My hand reaches up and touches the skin under my right eye. Maybe out here, in the wide-open span of nothingness, is where I belong.

I've always been a freak. No one understands how I can do any of what I do. I'm unexplainable. Maybe I do belong out in space, out here with all the other weirdos. I feel my eyes grow heavy and soon close, the subtle hum of the ship lulling me to sleep.

«----------»

A tall woman with flowing white hair stands in front of me. There are different strips of her pale white hair that have been stained a different colour. Red, orange, yellow, blue, green, purple, and black. The same colours of the stones on the journal.

"So, you've finally decided to show up." The melodic voice I've been hearing all day says softly. She doesn't turn around, preventing me from seeing her face.

"Who are you?" I ask, looking around. There is nothing but endless blank space around us. "Where am I?"

"I don't have long, but I swear all will be answered soon." She still doesn't turn to look at me. I step forward and feel my foot sink into something. "Trust the fox. He will show you where you really need to go. Follow the rules in my book and don't trust where the ship is taking you." The urgency in her voice makes me want to believe her, to trust her. I take another step and fight to free my left foot. Once it's free, I step forward. She's within arms reach. I reach out to touch her, but the ground beneath me shatters like glass.