A Hero In The Dark

Chapter 71: LoRTnOC oReZ

I wake to the sound of rhythmic beeping. Like a heartrate monitor in activation.

There are cables attached to my forearms and temples. Leading to a machine of sorts. It pumps a vicious black substance into my body. The sight of it makes me sick.

My first instinct is to yank the cables off me, but everything in my body is tense.

I don't know what he did to me, but I can't move. I can hardly function.

I want to see Ella. I almost forget about my telepathy.

"Ella? Can you he-"

I don't get to finish my thought when a sharp pain hits my nerves.

I grit my teeth when I feel it yet I'm powerless to stop it.

With my eyes closed, I try to focus on my Eneration inside me, but it feels as if it's numbed out. I can't reach it; can't summon its strength. So, I just lie there, breathing slowly and steadily with my eyes closed.

Where 'there' is? I am not entirely sure. Soft but hard. Delicate but stiff. Supposedly comfortable but not at all presently. A bed of sorts? That seems like the right answer. Or maybe that's me.

Maybe I am the one that's soft and weak when I should be hard and fierce. Maybe I am the delicate one, frail and stiff. Maybe I should be comfortable with being treated like royalty.

Why aren't I?

Soon I hear his voice and my eyes snap open.

"How are you doing child? Better?" says a voice I recognize all too well, even in my inactive state.

I don't answer him. I can't. My brain won't form the words. My mouth, lips, or jaw won't adjust no matter how much I try.

When he sees that I'm trying to, he smiles.

"Excellent," he continues. "We have entered Earth's atmosphere a little while ago. We'll be able to depart in a couple of hours."

I don't respond. I can barely pay attention to his words, let alone put them into context. He approaches me further and begins to remove the cables attached to me.

When they are removed, he helps me sit up.

Indeed I was lying on a bed. My bed. Or at least, my bed on the Anubis. Strange that I didn't feel its comfort like I have every time before. A bundle of brown fur rests at the edge. For a moment, it doesn't move. Only when it raises its head, do I recognize what – or who – it is. Pixie.

I remember the state she was in last time I saw her. Somehow, she looks better. But I can't tell if it is my brain imagining all of this or if it is real.

I feel as controlled as I am in a nightmare. I can't think. My movements feel forced; I want so much to lie in bed rather than stand or walk or follow or obey. My limbs seem to act on their own accord, without my permission or without my command.

"Come. Today is a good day," he orders.

I struggle to find a response. Though eventually I manage to find my voice.

"Why?" I speak, my voice fragile.

"Today we introduce ourselves to the humans. I will need your assistance. You will be the ambassador between my people and yours; my faithful inhabitant," he explains.

Ambassador. Inhabitant.

Even in my dysfunctional state, I remember those words. From a nightmare of the future. When he gave his speech at the UN.