14. Creature Comforts
FOURTEEN
CREATURE COMFORTS
Vivian
A hand shakes me and shakes me again when I refuse to rouse.
“No.” That’s all I can say before my dry mouth and splitting headache remind me I’m dying and that the only good thing about my life right now is Syasku’s soft hissing. I’m aware that I’m alive, but only because I feel him all along my body. He’s warm and his scales slip across my skin like silk, and I want to be as close to him as possible. He hasn’t hurt me. Yet. That’s good enough for me to die on him.
I’m shaken again.
Throwing my arm out in annoyance, I realize Syasku isn’t beside me. I can’t hear his hissing or feel the vibration of it across my skin. I’m cold and everything is white behind my crusty eyelids.
“You must eat and drink.” A familiar voice pierces through the murk of my thoughts.
“Muffin?” My throat cracks on his name as I peel my eyes open. He’s the last person I expect to see. His stretched, wizened features fill my vision despite the blur seeping in around the edges. I rub my eyes and attempt to sit upright.
He puts his arm around me to help. “Careful now.”
As my dizziness wanes, I find that I’m still in Syasku’s cell, and Muffin and I are alone. Frowning, I croak, “Where is he?”
Muffin places a gelatin water pod against my lips. “Drink first. Questions after.”
I open my mouth and accept the pod without argument, still trying to figure out what’s happening. I don’t know how long I’ve been out, and I take a moment to test my body for anything that hurts more than usual. Based on how weak I am, I couldn’t have been sleeping for very long.
“Where’s Syasku?” I ask again as Muffin puts another pod to my lips.
“He’s in another room.”
“Why?” My gaze shoots to the door as I swallow down the second pod. There are three doors in the room on the other side. One to the hallway Ursula found me in, one to this room, and another to which I have no idea.
Muffin shrugs as he hands me a granola bar. I tear into it while he checks my pulse and takes my temperature. “You’re running a fever. I know it might be hard, but try to rest, and eat and drink as much as you can.” He nudges a duffle bag toward me. “And maybe go back to the other side of the room where it’s safe?”
“I don’t understand…” I peer into the bag to discover more granola bars and a case of water pods. I stare at it, trying to discern what it means. “She’s not letting me out? Where’s Ursula?”
The lines around his eyes crinkle. “No. You’re staying here.”
“Why?”
I’d probably know why if I could think straight…
But why?
I haven’t had a chance to talk to Syasku beyond a couple of words.
Muffin leans back. “Ursula didn’t tell me why. All she said was to come in here and check you over, help you eat and drink, and bring you supplies. I didn’t even know you were here until now.”
Shoulders sagging, I rub my face. “So they’re not just going to let me die.”
“It would seem not.”
“I guess I should be thankful for that.” Even if I don’t know what that means, because Syasku could have easily killed me, I'm grateful.
I feel like I should be dead. He told me I wouldn’t be fed. Had accepting his hand changed that? It would make sense if that were what Ursula wanted. Tensing my limbs once more, I’m not hurt beyond some radiating aches and a few bruises.
Feeling more hopeful than I have in days, I grab a few more pods and greedily suck them down. Muffin waits for me to finish.
“If I tried to leave, would you stop me?”
He cringes and straightens. “You’re too weak right now to get past me.”
“So that’s a yes,” I whisper, pulling the duffle even closer, afraid he’ll take it back. I don’t think Muffin has anything against me, but I don’t know him well enough to bet my only bag of supplies on it.
“If they want you in here, there isn’t much I can do to help other than what I’m doing right now. I know that’s not what you want to hear.”
“Ursula trusts you.”
He stands, and I remain seated on the floor, wishing I had the strength to rise.
“I am sorry, Vivian. I don’t like what is happening to you, but you of all people should know how little I can do about it.”
My shoulders slump and I release a breath, deciding it isn’t worth the effort to try convincing him, not when I’m having enough difficulty keeping my stomach from upending. “I understand. Thank you for the food and water.”
He shuffles, looking even guiltier. “There should also be a blanket, and—” He indicates a small bucket sticking out of the top of the duffle with a biohazard symbol printed on the side. “It’s for your waste. If I am to be in charge of your needs, I’ll switch it out the next time I’m allowed to return.” He pauses and looks down at me like he’s waiting for me to say something.
“I really am sorry,” he whispers. “I’ll try to bring more for you next time.” He turns for the door and walks to it. At his knock, the guard on the other side lets him out. When he’s gone I’m left listening to the heavy locking mechanism alone.
Afterward, there’s only silence.
I sit for a long time gaining my bearings, wondering if I should take Muffin’s advice and retreat to the other side. Because remarkably I am alive and completely unharmed and, right now, utterly alone. Syasku wouldn’t be able to stop me, and I could take the supplies with me.
Reaching into the bag, I run my hand over the blanket and pull out another ration and pod.
He could’ve easily hurt me and he didn’t. I thought it was a real possibility. Instead, I remember his hand wrapping around mine and pulling me into him. I woke briefly with his face burrowed into my hair.
I try to understand what it means, growing nervous where my thoughts lead. Searching around for my hair tie, it’s nowhere on the floor around me.
Weighing my options, I pull my legs under me and face the door, wondering how much longer I have until he’s returned. While I wait, I shift through the duffle bag’s contents to see what else there might be. Besides what Muffin inventoried, there are no surprises, not even underwear or a change of clothes. There’s no medicine or basic amenities. There’s no note.
Taking out the blanket, I wrap it around my shoulders. Why would there be a note?
An hour goes by, and Syasku hasn’t been returned.
I get up and move the bag and the waste bucket to the opposite wall. I drop my defiled shoe in the bucket after I take care of my needs. Afterward, under the cover of the blanket, I remove my dirty underwear and dispose of that too.
Bored, I head back to Syasku’s side of the room, hoping for a clue that might help me understand him better.
One of his chains hangs from a small hole in the upper wall. The other holes where the chains would be are shut. I reach up and tug on the loose one but am met by resistance. It takes both hands and my entire body weight to pull it further out.
When I release it, the chain retracts into the wall. Turning my attention to the floor, I notice a couple of dark drops. Touching one, my finger comes away with a flake of blood. My stomach drops as I wipe it on my pants.
It’s not my blood.
Which means it’s his. He’d been hurt again and right next to me. I hadn’t heard a thing; I never woke. Guilt closes my throat, and I wrap the blanket tighter.
Besides a few silver strands of his hair, which I collect, there is nothing else to tell me more about him.
I wander back to the other side of the room and sit down.
When the doors open, I jerk upright, blinking the sleep from my eyes and jumping to my feet. Syasku is led to the chains on the wall. His gaze meets mine, and I frown at the cage around his head. It’s massive and spiked on the inside. Commander Pierce follows behind the soldiers leading Syasku with their rods.
They relink the chains to Syasku’s bands, and the sound of clanging metal sounds the space. Once he’s secured, the soldiers remove his cage and step away.
“You’re dismissed,” Pierce orders. They file out of the room, never once looking my way.
“Commander Pierce.” I step toward the man who is often at my father’s side. A man I’ve known since I was a child, someone who once intimidated me into silence whenever he was near. He doesn’t frighten me anymore.
“Not now, Vivian.” He dismisses me and he strides up to Syasku. As he does, Syasku’s face wrenches, his lips pull back, and his body starts shaking uncontrollably.
Realizing Pierce is hurting him, I rush forward.
“Fucker,” Pierce curses, ramping up the electricity.
“Stop!” I grab his arm. “You’re hurting him!”
He throws me off him, and I stumble away. Pivoting, I seize his arm again. “Stop!” Pierce doesn’t throw me off this time. Instead, his scowl deepens as he looks at me.
Syasku’s convulsions come to an abrupt end, and his body slumps into his restraints. The reek of burnt flesh and static floods my nose, making me want to gag.
Pierce tugs his arm out of my grasp and returns his attention to Syasku’s smoking form. “That’s for the deaths of my men.” Without acknowledging me further, he storms away and out of the room, the door slamming closed in his wake.
I take Pierce’s place in front of Syasku, sickened by his treatment. He hangs by his bands with his chin tucked against his chest, his hair covering his face. Tendrils of smoke drift off him where his flesh burned.
“Syasku?” I whisper, uncertain if he’s conscious.
I reach to brush his hair aside but pause before my fingers touch it, curling them into a fist. I have no idea what to do. If he wakes, he might attack first and ask questions later.
Straightening, I tug the blanket off my shoulders and gently toss it over his. When he doesn’t lash out, I step closer and adjust it until he’s covered. Afterward, I retreat and grab the duffle.
Returning to him, I sit down on the floor in front of him and wait for him to wake.