Chapter 8
Peony
“Has it been too long?” Holly asked, getting more nervous with each minute that passed. Hattie, sitting next to her, patted her arm to try to calm her down.
Peony was trying not to let it show that she was equally as nervous.
Atem had left more than an hour ago now.
With no way to contact him, she couldn't know if he had been hurt or captured again.
He had gone out without backup or a weapon or anything.
She didn't know how many lizard aliens were out there or just how strong they were in comparison to Atem.
“Maybe we should go after him?” Scarlet said with obvious reluctance.
Peony was filled with gratitude that she suggested it. Even as she was nodding, however, the other three were all shaking their heads.
“Definitely not!” Holly denied firmly.
“That really seems like a bad idea,” Hattie agreed with an apologetic grimace.
“He's fine,” Alanna assured them with her dreamy expression still on her face. “I won't worry.”
“Okay, but I will. What if he needs us?” Peony looked at the key in the door again.
Before she could press her case, something pounded three times against the door. All five of them jumped, freezing in place as they stared.
Peony had only opened her mouth to wonder what that was when she heard, distant through the thick metal door-
“Peony!”
“Atem!” She beamed, rushing for the key before the others could stop her.
Holly only managed a single peep of protest before Peony unlocked the door.
It opened immediately, revealing a dark blue blood-stained Atem.
He was smirking, victorious, his long tail slowly curling at the end with obvious pleasure.
He had a couple new cuts and bruises, but he somehow looked more alive than when he had when he left.
His dark, demon red eyes shined with inner life and vitality that they lacked before.
He stepped in the room, his hand reaching for Peony, his upper eye on her, but his lower ones looking over the others as he asked something in his growly tongue.
“We're fine,” Peony assured him, taking his hand in hers, surprised by how long his obsidian black claws were now. They definitely hadn’t been that long the last time she held his hand. “Did you... What did you do?”
Of course, he couldn't answer her. Instead, he jerked his head back, pulling gently on their clasped hands, urging her after him.
She hesitated only a moment before stepping over the threshold of their prison.
For some reason, it felt odd. Like, she knew she had been on a spaceship, but it wasn't until she stepped into the utilitarian, metal halls, her bare feet pressing against the grate of the catwalk style paths over a series of exposed pipes and wires, that it really hit her.
Holy cow, she was actually on a spaceship!
The others followed more cautiously. They weren't quite as eager to follow Atem as she was.
Even she wasn't sure why. She found it difficult to look away from his burning red eyes that seemed to glow just a bit in the low light.
He must have felt the same because all three of his eyes remained on her as the doors shut back behind them.
He said something, gesturing down the hall before pulling gently on her hand. The girls all fell in line, walking after him.
The ship was at once somehow bigger and smaller than she expected.
When she thought of spaceships, she either imagined massive, sci-fi style, mega structures or more realistic tiny, cramped shuttles.
This ship was neither, somewhere near the smaller range between those two extremes.
It was very industrial, not modern or sleek at all.
Everything appeared in working order, but she couldn't tell if she was impressed or disappointed by everything.
It was still a spaceship, right? That was cool. Even if it was kind of old and dingy looking.
The thought completely fled from her mind when Atem walked through an open doorway, not all that dissimilar from the one separating their cell from the halls.
This one was held open, however, and led into a room about the size of a bedroom.
Two picnic style tables, bolted to the ground, were on one side and a series of machines lining the wall were on the other.
Atem gestured to the tables, finally releasing Peony's hand.
His third eye remained on her as long as possible as he walked to one of the machines and began pressing a series of buttons.
Peony and the others kept their eyes on him, fascinated as, within moments, he turned, bowls of water in hand.
They were the same type of bowls that they had been given in the cell, but they were bigger, filled to the brim, and the water smelled clean and looked clear.
He placed a bowl in front of Peony, then Scarlet.
Neither of them hesitated to lift the bowls to their lips and drink.
He was back in seconds, placing three more bowls down in front of the others.
Peony had to force herself not to drain the entire thing and make herself sick.
Scarlet must have had the same thought as she stared longingly into the half empty bowl.
Atem was already back at the wall. He moved in front of a different machine, pressing another series of buttons. Moments later, the most delicious smell imaginable filled the air. Peony couldn't identify it, but it immediately made her mouth water.
Within minutes, Atem was passing out more bowls.
These were filled with a hot gruel that looked like beef stew mixed up with mashed potatoes.
It almost smelled like meat, though there weren't any solid pieces she could see.
It barely had any flavor, but it was the best thing Peony had ever tasted in her life.
She forced herself to eat slowly, but it was a difficult task.
Atem stood at the side of the table, watching her with his third eye, his others roaming over the others as he watched over them.
When Hattie finished, he got her another bowl.
When they ran out of water, he replaced it.
They didn't eat much – their starved bellies couldn't hold a lot right now – but they stuffed as much into their mouths as they could fit, even past the point of discomfort.
It was Peony's first brush with true starvation, and she would happily never experience it again.