Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
RUBY
Huddled all together in our little corner, it’s hard to tell how much time has passed since the snakes left. I’m not sure if it’s the cold or the situation that has me shaking all over, but I feel like my bones are rattling inside my skin.
At first, I thought the snakes had forgotten about us when the walkway started to sink back into the floor and the lights dimmed. Until an odd ticking sound, like lots of little claws on a hardwood floor, start getting closer. Looking up from where I had my head lying on top of Rowan’s , I see something approaching in the shadows.
Squinting , I strain to see what is headed this way in the low light. The snakes only left one light on and it’s directly out in front of us. It’s the same concept as the stage; it highlights part of our cowering group but blinds us from looking out past the halo of light.
Blinking , I see something moving toward us. If my eyes are not failing me, it looks like hundreds of spiny legs! The second they come into the light, I freeze. Terror fills me as my eyes take in this whole new horror in front of us. It’s fucking bugs, Gigantic . Fucking . Bugs ! They look like a praying mantis had a sick love child with a scorpion. Its large upper limbs mimic that of a praying mantis, the segmented limbs sawing in and out like it’s anticipating an easy kill. Its head is triangular shaped with two black, multifaceted beady eyes and a bulbous-looking abdomen that ends in a tail topped with a massive stinger.
The biggest one in the front comes closer and I react defensively without thinking. Kicking it, my heel impacts with its steel-like legs causing pain to reverberate all the way up into my hip. Raising up onto its rear set of legs, the bug lets out an ear shattering screech before lowering its head, sniffing the air around us as it slinks closer. A long black, tube-like thing unfurls from where its mouth should be and when it reaches out to touch Rowan , I slap it away, hissing in pain when the slick fluid dripping from its mandibles burns the back of my hand. Glancing down, my skin sloughs off where the fluid touched it. Rearing back, it raises one of its front legs up, stabbing it down into my leg like a human would throw a spear.
Screaming out in agony, I try not to pass out as I hold on to Rowan . Ripped from her arms, I’m lifted high in the air and unceremoniously flung into a cage on some sort of hover platform. I feel something crack in my wrist when I land hard on my side. Grasping one of the bars, I drag myself up, screaming out for my sister as I shakily gain my feet.
“ ROWAN !”
I no sooner get her name out when she’s tossed into another cage right in front of me. Scrambling to her feet, she darts over to me, her eyes full of terror.
“ Ruby ! Your leg!”
I let myself slide down to the floor, the cold of the cage beneath me makes me shudder as pain from the wound on my leg almost overwhelms me. “ Shush . There isn’t anything we can do about it right now. I think we may have just gotten the shit end of the stick, Sis . The fact that we were left, and these things are what showed up to get us, it doesn’t say good things to me.”
We both watch as all the other women are also picked up and tossed into the cages without care. I wince as the girl the snake bit and then tossed against the wall is scooped up and thrown in. If that woman is alive, it will be a miracle. A morbid part of me hopes that she isn’t, so at least one of us is spared whatever is to come.
The platform thingy we are on starts to move and I watch as we are hauled out of the arena area into what looks like a, … well … if we were on earth, I would say a shipyard, but these aren’t ships that sail on water.
These are spaceships.
I notice the other things around recoil from our little procession. Growls , shrieks, hisses, bared teeth, and more are directed our way. It’s like they’re scared or disgusted with the bugs. Rowan looks at me before she asks.
“ Does it look like all the other creatures out there are warning these bug things away?”
“ That’s exactly what it seems like to me.” Something that appears eerily similar to a werewolf snarls at the bugs, baring freakishly large teeth, before grabbing a smaller, softer version of itself, pushing it behind the mass of its body. Soft yellow eyes peek out from behind the massive snarling beast, locking its gaze with me. What I see shining in its surprisingly pretty eyes is … pity.
The sound of metal grinding on metal jerks my attention back to the bugs. We’ve stopped in front of what looks like a docking station attached to the scariest fucking spaceship we’ve seen since leaving the arena. My eyes dart around, other ships surrounding us in all shapes and sizes, and they look relatively well kept.
This ship … does not. It looks like it’s held together with duct tape and bubble gum. There are even tiny holes in its side, and it’s covered in rust. Great , we’re about to be loaded onto this bucket of bolts.
I hear several of the girls in the last cages yelling out for help. Nothing or no one even glances our way. It seems this place is no different from any other, it’s easier to simply look the other way.
One of the bugs bangs on the side of the ship and a hatch on the bottom creaks open. Then one at a time, we are transferred inside. When the cage tilts sideways, the blood from my leg causes me to slip and without thinking, I grab hold of the first bar I can. Unfortunately , with my now broken wrist, a jolt of intense pain in my arm causes me to lose my grip and slam the side of my face into the cage, splitting my cheek.
Black spots form in front of my eyes as I try to fight to remain awake. The last thing I hear is Rowan calling out my name.