Short Stories by Liam Termini

The Elevator on the Thirteenth Floor:

   The screams echoed from the hallway once again and a metal screeching sound filled the air with despair and anxiety.

   “What is that?! That has to be the third time today!” Johnny asked.

   “I don’t know. Maybe it has something to do with Friday the 13th?” Ryan asked.

   “I don’t believe in that stuff like the rest of you guys do. Sally is terrified to work up here because it’s floor 13!” Johnny exclaimed.

   “I am too…” Ryan mumbled.

   Johnny let out a sigh and got up. He would be the one to check it out, at least this time the lights had stopped flickering. The noise appeared again. Johnny quickly turned his head and saw that the elevator had a weird ominous glow coming out of it. The carpet clearly showed the floor number, but now it was red, and liquidy? Johnny came closer and glanced down at it, then he screamed in pure shock and horror when he discovered it was real blood! It was oozing out of the elevator, slowly but in great quantities…

   “Is this some kind of prank?!” Johnny yelled as he turned around.                

   There was no response, and one of the doors flung open with papers flying everywhere due to what appeared to be… a wind gust? 

   “A wind gust. From indoors? Is there a window open in there or something…?” Johnny asked, with a hint of fear in his voice.

   His voice trembled as he said, “Hello?” 

   Nobody answered, except for the elevator with its screeching metallic sound. Johnny turned around slowly and gasped as he saw the elevator was open. Inside though… the bottom was covered with blood and two skeletons hung on the sides. A huge sign sat on the floor, with blood covering one specific word. It said, “Hello Johnny…” 

A Whole New World by Lexie Ryerson

This is a work of fiction that has been serialized in our newspaper since Fall of 2022. Check back soon for chapter 10!

Chapter 1: A Mysterious Place and Creature

I shot up.

That was a mistake. My head swam and my vision blurred. I felt nauseous, like I had just spun around fifty times.

I grimaced, shaking my head. Glancing around, I took note of the stark room I was in. 

The walls were painted a pale blue and the floor was covered in white tile. There wasn’t any furniture besides the bed I was on, a pair of plastic chairs and the countless odd looking machines that I was hooked up to. The whole room smelled overpoweringly like bleach, antiseptic, and a metallic tang, which didn't help my growing unease or the oncoming headache. Something was off here and I couldn’t place my finger on it. 

Confused, I placed the mystery of the room aside for the moment. Slowly beginning to stretch each part of my body, I took note of how uncomfortable it was to move. My muscles were sore, but there didn’t seem to be any major problems. 

As I was flexing my fingers, I noticed the wires that were embedded into my arm. I pulled at them gently, Yep, definitely embedded. I followed the wire up to a hanging bag that seemed to be injecting me with something.

I frowned. What exactly was going on? How did I get here?

I tried to recall what had happened. I remembered the party and my friends. We were celebrating Ghosts Day. A day dedicated to remembering the dead as kids dress up and go around collecting candy from neighbours. There was a shout from my friends, a wail of something…

My eyes widened. “Dark!” I shouted, my voice hoarse.

“Geez, no need to be so loud.” A drawling voice reverberated inside my head. “What do you need? Help with taming the chiots?”

“Do you realise what’s going on?” I berated her.

Despite not being able to see Dark at the moment, I got the impression that she was thinking hard. “No? Are we not at home?”

That caused me to frown. “Can’t you see?”

A mental impression told me that Dark shook her head.

The unease grew. Dark should be able to see, we share a body after all. Reaching up, I brushed my long hair back to ensure that there was no damage done. As I did, my fingers gently brushed against something rough that shouldn’t be there.

I jerked my hand back in surprise, my own mixing with Dark’s. Tentatively, I reached up again and felt around. Wrapped around my head was a bandage, holding a circle of something akin to wool gently against my eye.

I frowned. The medics know not to bother bandaging my eye.

As my unease grew, I did a double check of my body and the room. There were a handful of security cameras, all trained on the bed I sat in. The machines were like nothing I had ever seen before. All various shades of white and silver, glowing screens that were covered in signs and lines that I didn’t understand.  There were the wires stuck in my arm, the bandage wrapped around my head, but there was nothing else unordinary.

“What’s going on?” Dark asked. Her voice was tense. She didn’t like not knowing.

“I don’t know,” I responded. “We’re in an unknown room that seems to be a patient's room, but whoever is here doesn’t know us and we’re probably not at home since the equipment here is weird.” 

Dark frowned. “A newbie, maybe? And they’ve bought new stuff?”

I shook my head. “If we were knocked unconscious, they wouldn’t have let a newbie attend to us. At least not without a veteran medic in the room.”

Dark nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah, you're right. Where do you think we are? And the others?”

Right, the others. I had been so caught up in the mess we probably were in, that I forgot all about the others. “I have no idea.”

A deep breath was Dark’s first response. Then she said “How about we start at the beginning. What can you remember before we got here?”

“Well, we were at Blue’s house-”

“Mansion.” Dark stubbornly corrected.

I glared at the empty space in front of me. “House. Where us and our friends were celebrating Ghosts Day. There was then a shout from someone, Alexis I think, followed by a loud wailing noise. Like a giant vacuum.”

Dark snorted.

“Shut up,” I grumbled, grateful for the tense atmosphere to lessen.

With what I assumed to be an eyeroll, Dark prompted, “And next?”

I shrugged, The roaring got louder, causing my ears to hurt and my eyes to water. There was a sudden drop in air pressure and I blacked out.”

Dark was silent for a moment. “Nothing after?”

“Nope,” I confirmed.

Dark pursed her lips, thinking.

Leaving her to her thoughts, I turned my attention back to the nearby screens.

Looking closer at the machine's screens, I noticed something. “Hey, does this look like a language to you?”

“I don’t know because I can't see!” Dark angrily quipped.

I resisted the urge to say something snarky back. Instead opting to try and remove the bandage around my eye.

As I was reaching up to remove the eyepatch, the door that was directly across from the bed slowly opened. 

An odd creature poked their head in. They were much taller than Dark or I, and had longer limbs as well. Their face was covered in pale skin and their eyes were nearly four times smaller than ours. They did have hair similar to us, but it did seem thinner and less vibrant than my yellow-gold. Dressed in matching blue pants and tee-shirt, they were an odd creature that I had felt that I had almost seen before. 

They opened their mouth. “Pliːz dəʊnt tʌʧ ðæt mɪs.”

I started, dumbfounded. “What?”

Dark sucked in a breath. “What was that!”

I studied the creature, lowering my arms. “Dark?” I asked cautiously. “Is that a human?”

Chapter 2: Progress

I sat there, dumbfounded. Humans went extinct nearly a hundred years ago. There was no way that this creature in front of us was a human. But it looked identical to the photos found in the history books.

I blinked at the human. “What are you?” I asked incredulously, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed.

The human immediately rushed forward, speaking in a language I had never heard of before. The message was clear though. If the ushering was anything to go by, they wanted me to stay in bed.

“Okay, okay! Geez.” I grumbled as I layed back in bed. “Why do you want me to stay here?”

Ignoring me, as probably as they didn’t understand me, the human took what looked like a pen out of their breast pocket and marked something down on the clipboard they held. They then strode over to the odd machines. Looking at the screens, they jotted more notes down.

As the human didn’t seem to want to try and communicate at the moment, I returned my attention to removing the eyepatch. Tugging at it, I caught the attention of the human.

“Pliːz dəʊnt tʌʧ ðæt.” They pleaded.

“Val, maybe don’t remove when the human’s in the room?” Dark prompted.

I grumbled, “Do you want this thing off or not?" Then, moving only when the human's back was turned, I managed to gingerly tear the bandage off.

Blinking in the bright lights, I didn’t notice a difference. The far left side of my view was still missing. Dark, on the other hand, noticed the difference. Feeling that she was looking around, I waited for her verdict. 

“This place is weird.” she mused. 

“Thank you Captain Obvious.” I grumbled, crossing my arms.

That caught the attention of the human. Rushing over, they panickedly evaluated the condition of my eye. Pressing a button, they spoke in a panicked voice, too quickly for me to register words.

Dark and I simultaneously rolled our eyes. “It’s always like this.” I pointlessly explained, pointing to the heavy scarring that stretched from my eyebrow to nose. The black viscous liquid sticking to the barely closed wounds. “We’ve tried healing it. Doesn’t work.”

As expected, the human continued to fuss.

Groaning, I let the human do what they wanted to do. Which appeared to consist of taking note of the machines and us.

Growing anxious, I poked at the wires in my arm. “Do you think that I could remove these?” I asked Dark.

Dark shook her head. “No, don’t. One, they’re embedded. That can cause damage if done incorrectly. And two, last time you removed something, it spooked the human. Better not do that again soon.”

I pursed my lips. “Yeah, you're right.”

“As always.” was Dark’s smug reply.

I wanted to slap her, but that would require slapping myself, and I didn’t want to do that. So I opted to glare into the empty space in front of me, earning me an odd look from the human in the process.

"What?" I deadpanned. "Is it the invisible sister thing?"

The human didn’t have time to respond, as in that very moment the door opened again. This time to reveal three more humans.

One was dressed in the same shirt and pants as the first, this time in dark blue, and an open white coat that hung around their knees. But unlike the first, their hands were covered in a thin blue film. Their hair was hidden by a wrap of the same dark blue material they wore, and their nose and mouth was also hidden by a similar material. Hanging around their neck was something that looked like a hose, but it split at one end and the other ended in a disk. 

The other two were dressed very differently. At first glance, I noticed that they were in all varying shades of black and grey. Their clothes appeared to be like armour, a chestplate like piece being the most obvious. Visors and helmets covered their faces and they were the first humans to have gloves similar to ours. Utility belts were also worn by the armoured humans. But what caught my eye was the objects their hands were resting on.

They were vaguely rectangular and seemed to be a small sheath of some kind. Inside was an object with a black rectangular hilt that jutted out at a 90⁰ angle from the sheath. A smaller trigger was seen as well.

Noticing it, Dark tensed. "Don’t tell me that is what I think it is.” She growled out warningly.

“It's a weapon,” I agreed. “The same kind Alexis uses. Keep an eye on them.”

At Dark’s hum of agreement, I turned my attention to the two in blue.

The new one had handed the first a face and hair covering and the blue film gloves. They conversed for a moment as the two in black stood on either side of the door. Then, the one in the darker blue walked towards us. 

I sat up and stared at him. “What do you want?” I asked.

The human crouched down so that they were eye level with us. “Hɛˈləʊ ðeə, aɪm ɪˈlaɪʤə.”

I blinked in confusion. “I don’t understand you.” I said, irritated. “As I have stated before.”

That earned me a slap to the back of the head from Dark. Which I still don’t understand how she can do. “Ow!” I yelped, rubbed the stinging area. “Could you not!?”

The humans rushed forward, but I shot them a glare. “This doesn’t concern you.”

“Du ju ʌndəˈstænd hɜ?” one asked, turning to their companion.

“Nəʊp.” the one kneeling in front of me replied as they reached out slowly. “Aɪm gəʊɪŋ tu traɪ ænd si waɪ ʃi flɪnʧt.”

I frowned, leaning away. “Uh, no.”

“Wi ʤʌst wɒnt tu hɛlp ju. Wɪl ju lɛt ʌs?” The one who had been reaching out tried to soothe.

I glowered at them. “What exactly are you trying to do?” The human only looked mildly disappointed. Turning to the first, the darker blue dressed human said something, then returned their attention to me. They spoke softly as the light blue human quietly walked towards the door.

“They’re going to try something.” Dark warned. “They’re leaving, probably to grab someone or something.”

I frowned, ignoring the human in front of me as I thought. “What should we do?”

“I don’t know.” Dark admitted.

 I pursed my lips, fingers tapping on the guardrails. Just then, the light blue human returned. In their hands they held a tray with an assortment of fruits and vegetables. It was accompanied by a pitcher of water. The tray was placed in my lap

Dark and I stared at it in disbelief and confusion. “Why are you giving me food?” I asked cautiously, picking up a banana.

The humans didn’t answer me, instead staring curiously at us.

Only just noticing how hungry we were, Dark asked “Can we eat something?”

I prodded the food. “Maybe? I don’t know if we can.”

“Only one way to find out.” Then, before I could stop her, Dark seized control.

Keeping her head down, Dark peeled and practically inhaled the banana. Then after grabbing a couple of strawberries and stuffing them in her mouth, she grabbed the pitcher of ice water and poured herself a glass. Guzzling it, she placed the glass down and wiped her mouth, relinquishing control.

I stare at her. Well, I tried my best to. “What. Was. That?!” I demanded.

She shrugged, “I was hungry,” she defended.

I facepalmed. “By our name, you are an idiot.”

She gave a cheeky smile. “Yep.”

Returning my attention to the tray, I picked up a cherry and popped it in my mouth. It tasted like a regular cherry, so I grabbed a few more, noting the lack of a seed in each. Dark hummed appreciatively at the intake of food.

It was only after I quenched my thirst did the human do something. During the time Dark and I were eating, they stood by, quietly consulting each other and taking notes. Now that I was done, they finally moved.

They moved quickly, removing the wires and bandages, writing things down as they went. Eventually though, all the strange equipment had been removed.

I stretched my arms and legs out. “Thanks for doing that.” I said to the humans. That earned another note on the clipboard.

I bit my lip. “Do you think that they’re evaluating us?” I asked Dark. 

She nodded. “Probably. They note down everything we do.” 

I pressed my lips together, humming in acknowledgement and agreement. “I wonder what they would do if I…?” Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I jumped off. 

The bed was higher than expected, probably due to it being made for humans, so I landed hard on the ground, but managed to stay upright.

I grinned in triumph. Dark playfully rolled her eyes.

The sound of a radio crackle brought our attention to the humans. One watched us intently, making notes again. The other held a walkie-talkie and was speaking into it. The guards at the door hadn't moved, but had drawn themselves up, paying closer attention to our movement.

I paused, glanced over at them. Despite learning about humans in school, I didn't know how reliable that info was.

"Don't get too cocky." Dark warned.

"I know, I know." I grumbled.

A noise draws my attention from Dark. All four humans were now standing at the door. One of the ones in blue gestured to us, then to the door.

I raised an eyebrow. "So they want us to follow them?"

"I think they do." Dark answered.

The human repeated the gesture.

I took a deep breath. "Welp. Let's see what they want." Against all Darks' warnings, I approached the humans.

The one gesturing smiled widely. After making, you guessed it, another note, she opened the door.

I peered out cautiously. The hallway was empty. There was no one in sight in the bare white halls. Bright white lights shone from overhead, illuminating all corners of the hall. giving the hallway the stark and sterile feel I have always associated with hospitals and laboratories.

Dark shifted around uncomfortably my consciousness, an odd feeling. "This place reminds me of the labs from 316000." She murmured. "Or the Possibly Space."

I grimaced, nodding. "Yeah,"

Stepping out carefully, I entered the hall, Watching the humans from the corner of my eye.

They smiled happily and followed us out, chattering excitingly.

They started walking down the hall. Flanking us on all sides, forcing us to follow.

Dark growled lowly. "I don't like this."

"I don't either," I said, matching my speed with the humans. "But there are no other options at the moment. Besides, we can pick up some valuable information."

"Doesn't mean I like it."

We walked in silence for a short while. Following the humans through a labyrinth of twists and turns, the hallway barely changing.

After a few minutes, the hallway finally did change. The wall to our left became glass. A huge window stretched for a couple of metres down the hall, reaching from floor to ceiling. 

I stopped in surprise. Walking over, I pressed my nose against the glass. "It can't be…" I murmured in shock. For once, Dark didn’t have a comeback, to engrossed in the view 

There, just outside, was Mercia. Except it wasn't. It was like humming a song, but not knowing the name. A city I knew, yet didn't.

"The same coin, a different perspective." Dark quoted.

I nodded mutely. Reaching up, I silently pointed out familiar buildings. The whole place seemed so wrong. Yet so right.

I grimaced. "There was another part of that saying, wasn't there? The cosmos doesn't like its peas mixed with its porridge?"

Now it was Darks turn to grimace. "Yeah."

The two of us stood silent for a moment. Then the humans grew impatient and pulled us away. As they did though, I nearly missed the spot on the glass where I had touched. It glowed faintly, the air shimmering like it does above the pavement on a sweltering hot day. And through the one patch of glass, I saw a similar, but distinctively different city.

I gulped. This was so much worse than we thought.

Chapter 3: Testing

We walked silently through the rest of the facility. The shock of what we had witnessed was still fresh in our mind.

The humans on the other hand, didn't seem to realise the size of the problem we were facing. They spoke softly to one another, occasionally glancing towards us or each other.

"Do you think that they realise the problem?" Dark whispered.

I discreetly shook my head. “No, I don’t think so.”

We continued through the corridors. The buzz of the fluorescent lights constant in our ears. Eventually however, we made it to a marked door. In bold white letters was the word Tɛstɪŋ. The humans opened the door and ushered us inside.

The room was just as stark as the rest of the facility. White walls and floors and zero windows. A large mirror stretched the length of one wall, reaching from floor to ceiling. 

In the centre of the room sat a table and four chairs. Three on one side and one across. One was already occupied by another human. This one wore a white floor length coat and the same face and hand coverings as the two blue dressed humans.

As I stood in front of the table, the humans behind us entered as well. As they closed the door behind them, a faint click was heard.

Dark growled under her breath. “They locked us in.”

“Yep,” I grimaced, eyes narrowing at the new human. “What do you think they want?”

Dark merely shrugged.

As we stood there, the two humans dressed in black had stationed themselves on either side of the door while the two in blue had placed the clipboard on the table for the human in white to see.

Seeing us standing there, the human in white gestured to us, then the chairs across from them.

I raised an eyebrow. "Do they want us to sit?" I asked Dark quietly.

"Probably," was her answer.

Suppressing an eye roll, I took the seat across from the human, much to their shock.

They recovered quickly however. As the ones in blue sat, the one in white held out a hand. "Hɛləʊ, maɪ neɪm ɪz dɒktər ælən."

I could only stare in confusion at his hand. "Uh, I have no idea what you said."

The human only continued to look at me until a blue dress human told them something and they retracted their hand looking sheepish.

"A jɛs, aɪ fəɡɒt." They said, then they pointed to their chest. "Alən." They then pointed to the blue human on their right. "ɪˈlaɪʤə". Then to the human on their left. "Arɪə".

I blinked in surprise and confusion. "Are those their names?" I cautiously asked Dark.

 She nodded. "Seems likely."

I hummed appreciatively. "Should I introduce you?"

She pursed her lips. "Not yet. They might not understand, and you know their track record."

Nodding, I pointed to myself. "Valhalla", I introduced.

This time the shock on the humans faces was shorter lived and ended in pleased smiles. They conversed for a moment before they settled down.

The human on the left, Arɪə, pressed a button on a small black box and sat it on the table. It reminded me of a voice recorder, but a much older model.

Alən, the human in white then spoke into the box. I didn't understand what they said, but I assumed it to be a start to a verbal conversation log.

"Valhalla."

I blinked in surprise as I heard the butchered pronunciation of my name. “Yes?”

Alən smiled as they reached under the table and pulled out a stack of cards. As they laid them out, I noticed each card had a different image on it. They were all basic images; the cards were probably for toddlers. 

They laid out six cards. Alən pointed to the top right corner, they said, “Aepl”.

I raised an eyebrow. “Apple,” I responded.

There was a scratching of pencil of paper as ɪˈlaɪʤə noted something down their clipboard.

Pointing to the next one, Alən pointed to a cat and said, “Kæt”.

“Cat.”

This continued for a few hours. Rotating through the stack of flashcards as Alən and I named each animal or object. Then we moved onto colours. Then they presented us with a pencil and had us write out the words, both in our language and theirs.

Finally, mercifully, we finally finished with the exercises.

"Finally!" I complained as I stood up, stretching my limbs until they popped.

Dark made a bored sound of agreement.

We watched as the humans rose and discussed with each other. Then, ɪˈlaɪʤə gestured to us, the to the door.

I pointed to the door. "We can leave?"

ɪˈlaɪʤə nodded.

"Well then," I spun on my heel and strode towards the door. Ignoring the guards, I reached up to open the door. It was unlocked. The guards must have unlocked it as the humans talked.   

Struggling a bit with the size and weight of the door, I eventually got it open. Stepping out of the room, I glanced down the empty hallways.

"Wait for the humans." Dark cautioned.

"I know, I know," I huffed, waiting impatiently for the humans to follow.

When they did, they led Dark and I down the hallways, taking a different route.

The walk itself was fairly boring. The most exciting part was when one of the armoured human communicators rang. The caller seemed stressed. The two communicated for a while before the human barked what sounded like orders to the three researchers. They all made sounds of agreement, and that seemed to be the end of it.

Just then, we passed by the giant window wall again. Only this time, a small crowd had gathered.

Dark and I exchanged glances. Or the equivalent of, as Dark doesn't currently have a physical form. We were both thinking the same thing.

Following the humans towards the window, I felt my stomach drop. Indeed, the humans had found the glitch in reality. 

As we approached, the whispering stopped. All eyes turned to us.

The humans who were escorting us quickly began to interrogate the others. I guessed the others explained as they suddenly parted, and Dark and I saw the damage.

The section was larger now. When before it had been the size of my hand, it was now reaching the ceiling. It didn’t appear to have gotten wider though.

"We need to see it." Dark demanded.

I agreed, so as the humans were debating with each other, I crept closer.

Standing in front of it, I noticed the view hadn't changed. Everything seemed to be the same.

Gingerly, I reached out to brush my fingers against the glass.

As I did however, the world seemed to bend around us. The window seemed to pulse with a violet light and the world took on a violet hue. 

A sharp pain in my head caused me to swear. Clutching my head, I pulled away from the window.

"Ow!" I yelled.

The pain quickly doubled before slowly fading. The pulling of the window slowed and the colours returned to normal.

I grimaced, rubbing my throwing forehead. "What in my name was that!?"

No response.

"Dark?"

Still no response.

I turned around, sure enough, the humans behind me stood shell-shocked. 

"What?" I snapped.

Then, much to my surprise, another voice spoke. "What. Just. Happened."

Turning to my right, I came face to face with the last person I expected.

Chapter 4: Windows to Another World

I blinked in utter surprise and confusion. For a moment, I thought I was staring into a mirror, albeit a one that reflects light incorrectly. For there stood a mirror image of myself, only with royal purple hair instead of gold and reddish-pink eyes where there should be lime green. The clothing was identical to mine. A knee length dress paired with leggings, knee-high boots and a leather jacket. However the clothing was green and white compared to my red and black.

As we stared at each other, my legs grew weak. I almost couldn’t believe it. There, standing in front of me was my twin sister, Dark.

“Dark?” I asked, confused.

With wide eyes, Dark slowly nodded.

Tentatively reaching out, I did the only reasonable thing I could think of to test if she was really here. I poked her between the eyes. My hand passed right through her.

“Ow!” She yelped, scowling. “What was that for!?”

I laughed, “That was for that dumb stunt you pulled years ago.” I tried to flick her in the forehead, my hand passing through her once again. “You're still a ghost.”

Dark nodded. “Yeah, seemed that the lightshow just yanked me out of our head." She smirked. "Good thing too. I don't think I could deal with your thoughts any longer." 

"Like you're any better" I snarked back, rolling my eyes as I crossed my arms.

Laughing, she tried to flick me in the forehead. “It’s nice to see you sis,” She said.

“Wɒt ʤʌst hæpənd?"

Dark and I turned to face the crowd of humans. “Ah, I forgot about them.” I said.

Dark snorted. “How does one forget the crowd of thought to be extinct humans towering over us?"

I tried to cuff her ear, eliciting a sound of discomfort. "Oh, shush."

Rubbing her ear, Dark turned her attention back to the humans. "So, what now?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

A rumble of many approaching feet drew everyone's attention to the corridor on either side. 

Turns out our little show hadn't gone as unnoticed as we thought. Rows of armed humans in the same garb as the two in black appeared on both sides, weapons at the ready.

I gritted my teeth "Oh."

One in the front lines asked the assembled humans something. The response came from Alən, who seemed to be explaining the events that had just taken place.

A short debate seemed to take place before the two guards that had been following us moved towards us. 

I watched them warily as they crept closer.

"Fɒləʊ ðɛm," One said gruffly, pointing to the hallway where Alən, Arɪə and ɪˈlaɪʤə stood. Seeing us look over, Arɪə gestured for us to follow.

"Follow them?" Dark asked.

"I don't see any other option." I answered.

Following the humans, the two in black fell into line behind us. As we navigated the twisting corridors, I noticed both Dark's face flash with confusion and the new height difference.

I raised an eyebrow at Dark. "One, what's wrong? Two, are you too lazy to walk?"

She gave me a smug look. "You're just jealous that you can't easily fly." She dodged another flick to the forehead.

Glancing around, her smug expression faded as she answered my other question, "We are heading towards the room we awoke in."

I frowned, looking around. Sure enough, the corridors felt vaguely familiar. Pursing my lips, I nodded slowly. Count on Dark to notice patterns.

To our surprise however, we walked right past the room as the humans led us deeper into the facility.

Eventually, we found ourselves in front of yet another mystery room. 

Two guards were already stationed there, not even batting an eye at us as ɪˈlaɪʤə stepped forward and touched a small, thin rectangle of plastic to a mechanism next to the door. The machine beeped and the door rumbled open to a small room that resembled an airlock. 

As we stepped in, the door slid closed behind us. Locking us in the claustrophobic room. A faint buzzing was then heard, coming from seemingly everywhere. Panicking, Dark and I glanced around. We saw nothing, but a familiar tingle travelled down my spine, causing me to shiver.

"UV light decontamination." I explained to Dark, who seemed to be panicking.

At this news, she calmed slightly. "Why would we need to be decontaminated?"

I gave her a deadpan look. "We're aliens?"

Her mouth formed a small 'o' before she gave me a sheepish look.

Just then, the UV lights shut off and the door in front of us opened. Turning to us, the humans gestured for us to go first.

Dark was the first to make a move. Gently pushing past me and the humans in the small room. I followed close behind.

Stepping out, my first thought was the room was odd. It seemed to be a child's room. Toys were piled neatly next to a toy box as a bookshelf stood proudly across from it. Both had rugs in front of them and a bean bag was placed next to the bookshelf. A single bed was placed against the far wall. A hammock hung in the far right corner next to a dresser. The walls were painted a pale blue and the floor was wooden. Security cams were fixed in every corner of the room as well as the small door that I could only assume led to a bathroom. 

The oddest thing however was the almost comical large window that stretched across the entire midsection of the left wall, behind the toys.

Dark and I stood in front of the doorway in shock. I was expecting another bland room or a medical chamber, not a child's room.

We were snapped out of our stupor however when the large metal doors slid closed behind us, clicking into place 

I scowled at the door, kicking it with my foot. "Of course it was a trap." I growled. "What is going on? First they examine us, then interrogate us, now we're in a child's room!?"

"I dunno," Dark answered, eyeing the security cams. "But I don't trust them."

"Agreed." I huffed out. Glancing around, my eyes landed on the bookcase. Cautiously moving my way over, I inspected the spines of the many books. Unfortunately, but understandably, I couldn't read any.

Huffing in annoyance, I turned my attention to the giant mirror on the opposite side of the room. Dark stood in front of it, frowning.

"What do you think this is?" She asked, running her finger over the mirror. "Seems kinda random for the rooms to have such large mirrors."

I walked over to stand beside her. I reached out, touching the glass with the tip of my finger. Scowling, I noticed the imperfection in the reflection. I lowered her hand. "It's a one way window." I reported.

Her jaw tightened. "Oh."

"Yeah."

We stood there in silence for a while, pondering our strange circumstances. Finally, the strangeness started to set in. "We're stuck on an alien planet." I said slowly.

"Populated by humans."

"And we have been captured."

"And I was kicked out of your head."

"Because of an unknown anomaly."

"That's probably linked to us."

The two of us turned to face each other. Dark’s face mirrors my own. A mixture of shock, panic and confusion.

I threw my hands up in frustration as I stormed over to the bean bag, kicking it before I threw myself on to it. "Why us?!"

Dark gave me a sympathetic look, but said nothing.

Letting out a sigh of frustration, I sat there, saying nothing as I processed the latest events.

Sensing my mood, Dark occupied herself with finding the limitations of her new form. Attempting to pick up and move objects, make various noises, flying around, etc. 

“Testing!”

I jumped up in shock. Looking around wildly, I realised it was only Dark.

She gave me a smug smile. “So I still can communicate telepathically with you.” She noted happily. Her mouth never moved, but the words rang in my head.

I rubbed my head. “Good job. Don’t scare me next time.” I scolded.

“No promises,” She said in a sing-song voice, completing a slow roll midair as she did so.

I rolled my eyes, returning to my seat to continue my sulking.  The room was silent except for my breathing - apparently Dark didn’t need to breathe - and the faint, high-pitched humming.

Wait. "Are you humming?" I asked Dark suddenly.

She glanced over, confused. "No?"

I frowned. "What's that noise then?"

Tilting her head ever so slightly, Dark paused and listened. Quickly, a frown appeared. "It sounds like machines."

"Yeah, it does." I agreed. Getting up, I tried to trace it back to its location. It seemed to be coming from the bookshelf.

"It's coming from over here." I called to Dark. 

Turning back, I gently ran my fingers over the spines. Nothing happened. Nothing jumped out or seemed to be different, but the sound was definitely louder here.

Scowling, I crossed my arms. "Nothing." I growled.

"Hang on a second." Dark interrupted, leaning over my shoulder. Backing away to allow Dark access, I watched as Dark skimmed the books before levitating a few inches to see on the top of the bookcase. 

Dark gave a triumphant "A-ha!", but soon returned to eye level sulking.

“I can’t interact with it.” She explained sulkily.

“Let me see.” I said, standing on my tiptoes to see the object Dark was talking about. The bookcase was a bit taller than me, so it proved a bit tricky.

Reaching up, I snagged an object from the top. "Hey! Look at this!"

"What?"

Turning around, I held out the object for Dark to see. It was small; about the size of my palm, and completely circular. The material was smooth and reflective, like polished metal. 

I turned it over in my hands. The humming was definitely coming from this object. As I looked over it, I noticed a small button located on the side. Pressing it, the object sprung open. Inside was simply a mirror and a shallow dish.

"The humming is coming from the mirror." Dark noted.

I nodded, inspecting the object closer. It was cool to the touch. Not unpleasantly so, but noticeable. Light seemed to dance around the mirror, weaving patterns into the air surrounding it.

I furrow my brow, taking a closer look at the mirror. “I found another.”

Dark raised an eyebrow. “Another what?”

“Another portal thingy.”

She suppressed a laugh. “Portal thingy?”

I waved a hand around exasperatedly. “You know what I mean!”

She gave me a cheesy grin before returning her attention to the problem at hand. “What does it show? And is it producing the sound?"

Turning it around, I showed her the mini view. In it there was a room full of glowing and humming machines. The grey walls and floor shone like they were freshly cleaned, lights seeming to dance inside of them, lacing together to create a mesmerizing display.

"The control room from home." Dark said curiously. 

"Yep."

She raised an eyebrow. "So, what do you propose we do with this?"

"Besides hide it from the humans? I have no idea." I said casually, slipping the object into my jacket pockets.

Dark nodded. "The humans should never learn about it. It could be used to our advantage."

I hummed in agreement. "When stuck on an alien planet, everything we can find that could be useful should be kept."

Dark nodded again. "Speaking of alien planets, what's our game plan?"

Biting my lip, I thought for a second. "I say we lay low. Comply with the humans for the most part. See what that brings. Hopefully we can learn something."

"Preferably their language." Dark grumbled.

I laughed. "Yes Miss-I-know-too-many-languages."

Dark scowled, but quickly joined in laughter.

"Hug?" She asked suddenly, holding her arms open.

Confused, I embraced her. Or as well as I could as she was incorporeal. As I did though, an object gently fell into my pocket.

Pulling away from the hug, I was met with Dark's pleased expression. A mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

Intrigued, I reached into my pocket. My fingers brushed against a thin object. 

Glancing up, I made eye contact with Dark. She simply smiled back, the twinkle never leaving her eyes.

"How in the everlasting light, did you steal a keycard?!" I shouted.

Dark merely started laughing again.

Chapter 5: Gifts

My fists clenched, white with anger.

Tilting my head up, I stared up into the disapproving gaze of the researcher.

"No." I said defensively. "Absolutely not." 

The researcher, Alən, merely sighed in defeat. Reaching for his walkie-talkie, he spoke into it, probably calling for the guards to take me away. Or to force me into the experiment.

His partner, Stɛfəni, however, had other ideas. She whipped her head around to glare at him, snapping rudely at him. 

Alən glared back at her. He spoke to her in a calm, but firm tone. Whatever he said must have been some kind of reprimand as Stɛfəni shrunk back a bit at his words.

I smiled at that, but shifted uncertainty on my feet as I stood in front of them. Despite being here for almost a month, the language was still foreign and hard to decipher. 

The three of us stood in near silence. The sound of tapping keys from Alən typing on a nearby machine was the only sound that filled the air.

Stɛfəni, unlike Alən, remained where she was. With arms crossed over her chest, lips pursed and nose wrinkled, she glared down at me. A dangerous look glinted in her eyes, hungry and predatory. 

I resisted the urge to shutter. Stɛfəni was Dark and I's least favourite scientist. A sentiment that appeared to be mutual. Fortunately, she wasn’t a part of many tests, for whenever she was, things were sure to be awful for us.

Luckily, I only had to endure her glowering for a short while as it didn’t take long for the guards to arrive. 

There were four of them. Each dressed identically in black armour and helmets. Moving slowly and deliberately, they closed in around me. Large shields held up protecting them from their head to their feet. Guess they didn’t want to have a repeat of last week's ordeal.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, irritated. It wasn't even a big deal! I just pushed the human! 

Once surrounded, one guard shifted their shield to the side and knelt down on one knee.

"Hands please," the guard said slowly, holding out one of his own.

I hesitated. The thought of defying them again passed through my mind, but I quickly pushed it away. No matter how much I didn't like these people, usually they didn't mean harm. Defying them now would only give Dark and I more problems to deal with later.

Settling for giving the guard a rude gesture, I then obediently held out my hands in front of me. I couldn't see the guards face, but the way they hesitated for a moment was satisfying enough.

As I held out my hands, the guard reached to their belt, grabbing a silver object.

Click!

The familiar cold sensation of the handcuffs snapped around my bare wrists.

I glanced down, wiggling my bare fingers unhappily. It was bad enough that they had stolen Dark and I's clothes and replaced them with these thin white ones. On top of that, they had yet to return our gloves. They claimed they were unnecessary, but it felt wrong without them. The gloves were a part of our species' culture. Not to mention that it seemed hypocritical to not give us some form of gloves when I had seen a few researchers with large amounts of fabric covering their hair.

I watched solemnly as the guards adjusted their ranks around me. Quickly and quietly, I placed my bound hands against my body, using the loose fabric to hide them. Then, using one hand, I slowly made a pinching motion. The air around my hand became warm and my hand tingled with the familiar warmth.

Smiling to myself, I moved my hand, positioning to be in a direct shot towards Stɛfəni. Then….

 Thwack!

A small glowing ball zipped towards the protesting researcher, catching her between her eyes.

She stumbled back, yelping in pain, then howling with rage. Turning towards me, she pointed a thin finger and shouted. 

Luckily, the guards marched me out of there before she could retaliate.

As soon as we were far enough away one guard asked, "What hɪt her?”

“I dəʊnt nəʊ, bʌt thank ðə stɑz it did,” One guard murmured. "I heɪt her."

"Dəʊnt we ɔl?" Another replied.

I hummed happily to myself as I walked. While it was extremely annoying only being able to pick out certain words, it felt safe to assume that they were talking about my little stunt back there.

The guards marched me down this corridor and that hallway, following the now familiar route to Dark and I's 'room'. As we walked, we passed by the large window wall. The window now constantly shimmering, shifting between the view of the human city and our birthplace of Mercia.

Home. I really hadn't had time to think of home since we arrived. Not with the seemingly endless list the humans have of things that we need to do. Then the added task of planning our leave since staying here was getting us no closer to returning home. 

As the guards escorted me, I let my thoughts wander back to home. The lush forests, the clear shimmering lakes and rivers and the sapphire blue ocean. The rainbow of flowers in the meadows and in the gardens. The assortment of buildings, all radiating the same dreamlike feeling of magic. The fun times spent with friends and the antics we got up to.

A pull tugged at my heart as homesickness washed over me. Our friends. They must be worried by now. One month and no contract. That is, if time even worked the same way here. It could be years back home.

I let out a small sigh, suddenly feeling worried and antsy. Dark and I need to get home. Now. 

Behind me, one guard grunts, "Move."

I blinked, not noticing that in my musings, I had stopped walking. My sadness and longing were suddenly pushed to the back. Anger bubbling and rising to take its place.

I whipped around, scowling at the one who spoke. The insult fell from my lips before I could stop it. Luckily, the humans didn’t understand enough of our language to be insulted. They simply rolled their eyes and poked me in the back with their weapons. "Move."

I bared my teeth at them before spinning on my heel and continued forward. We continued in silence until we reached our destination. A large grey mechanical door.

Unlocking the door with a keycard, the guards unclipped the handcuffs, shoving me into the decontamination chamber.

I stood there, glaring at the bright lights overhead as the ultraviolet light washed over me. 

I soaked up the light. There wasn’t much sunlight in the facility since most of the rooms don't have windows. The only one I have seen is the huge one that is now a trans-dimensional anomaly. 

Once the process had finished, I stepped into the room. 

Dark sat on the bed, glancing up as I entered. She wore the same outfit I did. Loose off-white white drawstring pants, and a matching tunic that barely fits properly. A pair of fluffy slippers on her feet and no gloves.

I walked over to her. "Anything interesting happen?" I asked, sitting down next to her.

"Nope," Dark said, popping the 'p'.

I groaned, rubbing my forehead in frustration. "It has to do something!"

Dark gave me a sympathetic look. "If you want to check again, you can." She offered, gesturing to the nearby bookshelf.

I sighed, pushing myself off the bed. "Yeah, let's see if we can discover anything." 

Walking to the bookcase, I skimmed through the titles until I found one vaguely interesting book. Plucking it out of the shelf, I carried it back to where Dark sat.

"The Hunger games," Dark read, leaning back as she placed her hands behind her head. "Good idea."

I smile. Opening the book to where we left off, I placed my index finger on the page. Slowly, I uncurled the rest of my fingers. There, concealed in my palm from where I had grabbed it from under the book, was the silver compact. Gently clicking the button, it snapped open, the quiet hum of the machines on the other side caused my ears to flick.

We had been studying it whenever we could, but it proved difficult. We were closely monitored every second of every day. Luckily, the security cameras had a few blind spots we'd discovered, and the humans didn’t completely understand our language. So as long as we avoided certain words, we couldn't be understood.

I slowly began to read the words on the paper, a cover for our actions. Curling up against my side, Dark watched the compact for any signs that it did anything else besides show the one room.

Roughly half an hour later I slipped the compact out, pocketing it as I shut the book. Tossing to book carelessly towards a nearby beanbag, I collapse on my back.

“Found anything?” I prompted, turning to get a better look at Dark’s disgruntled expression.

“Negative.” Dark responded sourly. "You?"

"Same," I grumbled, lips curling into a frown momentarily before smoothing out into a passive look. 

Collapsing on my back, I stared up at the ceiling. "I hate this."

Next to me, Dark made a sound of agreement.

No one spoke for a while. The two of us just stayed on the bed, each caught up in our own little word

"Do you miss home?" Dark asked suddenly. 

I rolled over to get a better look at her. "Of course! Why?"

Dark sighed sadly, avoiding my gaze as she took a seat next to me on the bed. "I just miss home a lot." She looked into my eyes, her pink eyes misty. "Do you think we'll ever be able to get back?"

I paused for a moment. Was there even a chance to return home? An overwhelming hopelessness washed over me, chest constricting as tears pricked the corners of my eyes. I quickly pushed the feeling down. Crying will help nobody.

 "I hope so." I said slowly. "But I have no idea how. Especially when we're trapped here."

"Yeah, that's why I swiped the keycard." Dark admitted. "Thought we could use it."

"Still don’t understand how you were able to." I grumbled, trying to break the gloomy atmosphere. Dark usually wasn't able to interact with solid objects or people, but occasionally she could. Like last week when she punched a researcher who was getting a bit too touchy-feely, though she claimed it took a lot of effort and energy to do so. Clothes seemed to be the exception however.

Flashing me a toothy grin, Dark didn’t respond, opting to enjoy the peace and my company. Following her example, I lay there, taking in the rare moment of comfortable silence.

Just then, the door slid open.

I suppressed a vexed groan, looking up to see who disturbed our peace and quiet. 

Standing in the doorway was a young scientist named Kləʊi. Her black hair was up in a short ponytail and her usually crumpled lab coat hung open. Coco brown eyes skimmed the room until her gaze landed on us. 

She smiled, hurrying over.

Dark sat up, eyes narrowing slightly. "You need something?"

Stopping in front of us, Kləʊi knelt down and sat on her legs so she was eye level with us. "No. A prɛznt."

"A prɛznt?" I asked uncertainty. I didn't know what she was talking about. I pursed my lips. Times like this I really wished that we all spoke a common language.

Kləʊi nodded. Reaching into her coat pockets, she pulled out two small packages, wrapped in thin white paper. A yellow ribbon was tied around one, a purple ribbon on the other. "A prɛznt." She repeated.

"Oh," Dark said in understanding. "I think she means a present."

I nodded, reaching out to grab the bundle with the yellow ribbon. Dark moving to grab the purple one.

Kləʊi all but shoved them towards us, grinning happily. "Open them!" She exclaimed.

I gave her a small smile before turning my attention to the wrapping. I tapped my finger against it. The object concealed felt soft and plush. Like a stack of fabric or a plush toy. The paper covering it felt thin, like a strong wind could rip it to pieces.  The entire package felt as light as the clothes we wore.

Undoing the ribbon, I placed my finger on top of the wrapping. Using a single claw, I tore through the semi-translucent paper. 

Inside of the present was a pair of gloves. Snow white with rings of sparkling gold thread embroidered around the cuffs.

I stared down at the opened present in amazement. Slowly picking them up, I slipped them on over my bare hands. The soft fabric welcomed against my cold skin and fur.

"Thank you." I said quietly, glancing up at Kləʊi.

"Yeah." Dark agreed, flexing her fingers in her new gloves. "Thank you."

Kləʊi grinned wider, if that was even possible. "You like them?" She asked happily. "I mænɪʤd to kənvɪns the lid rɪsɜʧəz to əlaʊ me to ɡɪv them to you."

I nodded, returning her smile with my own. "I do like them." I replied honestly, Dark voicing her agreement.

Kləʊi clapped once, rising to her feet. "Wɛl, aɪd best be off." She said, brushing non-existent dust off her legs. 

As she stood, a strong jolt rocked through the ground. Tremors then started to violently shake the building. The walls creaked uncertainty and Kləʊi was thrown off her feet, landing hitting the wooden floor hard on her shoulder.

The bed Dark and I sat upon vibrated intensely, nearly throwing us off. I was thrown into the wall behind me, smacking my head against it. All of the loose objects in the room bounced around, throwing themselves off shelves and moving jerkily across the floor.

I stuffed my hand into my pocket, grasping the compact. I didn't want it flying out now.

Dark was the only one unaffected. She levated a few inches above the bed, glancing around worryingly.

Then, only a few seconds later, the phenomenon stopped. 

I slumped onto the bed, feeling boneless as Dark lowered herself down next to me. "What was that?!" She exclaimed.

I tried to steady my breathing. "No…idea." I managed to get out between heavy breaths. I reached up, prodding the back of my head. I winced as I felt the sore area. "Ow."

Instantly, Dark was on her knees behind me, inspecting the injury. She sighed in relief. "Just a bump," She reported. "You'll be fine."

Kləʊi rose hesitantly to her feet. She took a few unsure steps towards us  before finding her footing.  Hurring over, her eyes scanned over us, likely checking for injuries. Finding nothing obvious, she glanced towards the door. "Wait here." She ordered. 'Aɪl go see what that wɒz." Then, turning in her heel, she hurried out the door.

I stared at the closing door, lost in thought. What had caused that shaking?

"What do you think caused that?" Dark asked, asking my unasked questions. "A planetshake?"

"Maybe, but Kləʊi seemed panicked." I said, remembering the shocked and scared look on the usually cheerful face. "An attack?"

Dark shook her head. "Probably not. It if was, it wouldn't have ended."

"Hmmmm,"

The two of us sat pondering for a while. I stared at the door, waiting for Kləʊi to come back and explain.

Chapter 6: Synergy

When the door did open twenty minutes later, it wasn’t Kləʊi standing there.

Instead it was four guards and two new scientists. Urgency hung In the air around them, eyes darting side to side, shifting on their feet.

Two guards broke off from the group, moving towards us. Startled, I realised that the scientists were different from others we've seen.

The two scientists lacked the white coats that they usually wore. Instead these wore dark green uniforms reminiscent of the ones Alən, ɪˈlaɪʤə and Arɪə usually wore. Their faces were covered with pale blue masks that covered both their mouth and nose and thin purple gloves hid their hands. I also noticed that the two guards walking towards us held smaller sets of their odd masks.

Without any introduction, the two walked right up to us, shoving the strange suits at us. "Put them on," one ordered.

Dark and I quickly put them on, too perturbed by the recent events and their urgency to ask questions at the moment.

When we were ready, they bound our hands in handcuffs and marched us out. Through winding halls, past other researchers and chambers. Deeper and deeper into the facility until neither of us recognized the passing doors and halls anymore.

"Where do you think they're taking us?" Dark asked under her breath. 

I turned my head ever so slightly. Dark was looking dead ahead. Not giving any hint that she had spoken.

"Don't know." I muttered. "Never seen this section before."

As we descended deeper, the more aware I became of a quiet screeching noise. It was a harsh and high-pitched noise, but seemed to be coming from a far off source.

My ears twitched at the unpleasant sound. Dark, seeming to hear it too, began to tap her gloved fingers on her leg as we walked.

Slowly the sound grew in volume. I ground my teeth at the uncomfortable din. Turning, I glanced back to see how the humans were coping.

They weren't doing much better than us. As we marched forwards, they glanced around uneasily. Stamping their feet harder than normal and tapping on the hilts of their weapons.

"We have arrived," a guard suddenly announced.

We had stopped at an iron door. Although it was no larger than any other door, it felt imposing and dangerous. There was no doorknob, just a keycard slot. Just above it was a yellow and black sign that read, Wɔnɪŋ. Aenɪməlz ɒn ɪɡzɪbɪt.

Dark frowned up at the door. "Where are they taking us?" She asked carefully, eyeing the logo suspiciously.

I glanced at the odd wheel that replaced the handle. "A bank?" I offered jokingly. Besides me, Dark snorted in tense laughter. 

As we joked, one guard in front of us moved to open the door. He punched in a series of numbers onto the number pad. A series of clicks were heard behind the door as the locking mechanism retracted. A couple seconds later, the clicking stopped and the door slowly swung inwards.

The interior was split in two. The side we were on was practically vacant. The walls, floor and ceiling were made of concrete. The high ceiling gave the room a more open feel however. Bulbous security cameras were placed in each corner of the room, all trained on the other side of the room.

The two halves were separated by a wall of glass that reached to the ceiling. Near the end of the wall, a section had been replaced by an iron gate. A padlock kept it closed.

 The opposite side was much different to ours.  White our side was bare, the other had a few objects. The floor was covered in pale yellow shavings and a black plastic hut sat in the corner of the room. In the centre two bowls sat. One empty, the other partly filled with water.

As we filed in, the door was immediately shut. The jarring sound was much louder now, ringing constantly in my ears. 

"Can someone stop this racket!?" Dark growled, cringing as the noise reverberated around the enclosed space. I was inclined to agree. The loud noise was setting my teeth on edge, making me desperately wish for earplugs. The uncomfortable warmth coming from the side of my leg causing me to shift around every few seconds.

Hold on, where is that warmth coming from?

I let my arms drop to my sides. Underneath my clothing, I felt the outline of a small circular object. Heat radiated from it, warming my fingers.

Surprise washed over me. The compact hidden in my pocket was heating up.  My surprise must have shown on my face as Dark sent me a questioning look.

I discreetly shook my head. Not now. I'll deal with it later. Now was time to focus on the mystery room and the dreadful sound.

A single guard had approached the wall. The others stayed behind us, standing next to the exit door. Standing in front of the box, the lone guard stood. She spoke loudly, trying to make herself heard over the noise. 

I stared at her, confused. "Is she talking to the empty room?"

"Apparently." Dark muttered, eyeing the guard distrustfully.

A loud clicking from the other side caused us both to jump. The sound of paws on the shavings was heard and a creature emerged from the hut.

The sound immediately got worse. The already unbearable screech was multiplied thricefold. Earsplitting and shrill, I violently flinched away, hands shooting up to cover my ears. Next to me, Dark did the same. The humans were all in similar states of torment, clutching their ears and shouting at each other.

I glared over to look at the creature creating the dissonance. It was small, roughly the size of a rabbit. Unlike a rabbit however, it was long and lithe, like a ferret, although its head was larger. Its snout was canine-like and It had long whiskers like a cat. Its ears were small and rounded while its tail was long and bushy. The animal had four legs, all ending in large paws with talon-like claws. Unlike any other creature however, it possessed no fur, scales or skin. Instead it appeared to be made out of a deep crimson crystal. Obsidian black eyes glinted in the artificial light. The creature had its mouth open, revealing two rows of tiny dagger-like teeth. The sound was being created by it.

Despite my muddled brain I dimly wondered why they had placed it in such a room while ours was so different.

I winced, the heat from the compact had steadily risen since the animal had appeared, now barely tolerable as it rested against my thigh.

Amidst the chaos, the leading guard had managed to remove the padlock from the iron section of the wall. Lowering it down, the iron section fell away like a drawbridge to reveal a gate with a basic lock. She then turned around and gestured to Dark and I.

I snarled at her. I didn't want to go near that horrible screeching creature.

Returning with a small huff of her own, the guard walked over and grabbed the both of us by the arms, pulling us over. 

I tried to fight her off, but the noise made it hard to concentrate. The guard managed to drag us over to the gate, where another guard had moved to guard it. As the guard dragged us over, he unlocked the gate. 

Slowly, I realised what they were doing. “Hey!” I tried to protest and Dark renewed her struggle to escape. 

Ignoring us, the gate was unlocked and the two us shoved unceremoniously into the enclosure. 

Instantly the two of us were on our feet. We turned around, but the gate had been relocked and they were putting the iron door into place again.

There was a growl behind us. Slowly turning around, I saw that the crystal creature had approached us.

“Oh. My.” Dark whispered, barely audible over the noise. “It’s adorable!”

While I agreed, I was more concerned with the potential danger it posed.

The three of us stood there, in a standoff. The creature began to inch its way forward, still screeching at the top of its lungs. 

“Don’t back away.” Dark warned. I nodded. We stood our ground as the loud creature advanced. Soon, it was right in front of us. It lowered its head, nose twitching as it sniffed our legs and feet.

I tensed, fearing the worst. Instead, the animal just affectionately bumped its head against my leg. A soft purr like noise rising up from it. The cacophony of high pitched notes stopped. The music died down, becoming a soft-soothing melody. The heat from the compact also died down instantly, becoming cool once again.

All of us stood there, shocked. I could only stare down at the creature in utter bewilderment. Reaching down I ran my thumb over the faceted surface of its head, taking mental note of the subtle engravings that covered the surface.

Perplexed, I turned to Dark. My own shock and confusion mirrored on her face. “Uh, It's friendly?” I said stupidly.

Dark snorted, crouching down. “Hiya cutie.” She cooed.

The creature slowly padded over to her, letting Dark stroke the cool crystal of its back.

I walked over, taking a seat next to Dark and joining her in the patting.

"I have never seen anything like this." Dark murmured, gazing down in awe. "I wonder what it is."

"It must be powerful, whatever it is." I said, inspecting the animal again. "Why else would it be here?"

"Dangerous?" Dark suggested, not looking up. "I mean, you heard what it can do."

I shrugged. "Maybe." I watched as the animal walked closer, jumping into Dark’s lap. Once it was in her lap, the melody shifted slightly. Where it had been reminiscent of the modern day songs I found myself enjoying, it now reminded me of the old folk songs we grew up listening to.

Dark shivered slightly, giving the animal an odd look. “Weird,” she mused.

I raised an eyebrow.

“I feel…like I can detect a new presence in my head.” Dark explained, noticing my look. “Like how you explain it feels when I'm in your head.”

I blinked owlishly at her, then at the being. "Huh?"

Dark rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "Are you going deaf in your old age?" She taunted.

I frowned, "Hey!"

She smirked, continuing as if she didn't hear me. "I said I think this animal can communicate with us."

As soon as she spoke, she flinched. A look of surprise coming over her.

"Scratch that." She said, "It definitely can. It-" she paused. "They say they are most definitely able to."

I blinked owlishly, first at Dark, then at the animal. "Okay then."

Dark rolled her eyes playfully. "Anyway," she continued. "They say that their name is Synergy and they apologise for the noise."

"Ahhh, thanks?" I said, glancing down at the jewel-like animal.

Dark smirked at me before her eyes darted behind me. "Guards." She warned, voice low. "I think they want Synergy." 

I glanced down at the crimson crystal creature. Mentally half-heartedly cursing myself for becoming so attached to an unknown creature. Then again, It didn’t seem to want to harm us and seemed to dislike humans as much as we did.

"Don't let them." I commanded. "The humans will probably want to exploit them.”

“Already planning on it.” Dark said.

As Dark scooped up the creature, I turned and watched as the iron door was lowered and three guards entered. One remained by the door as the other two approached.  We slowly backed away until we were in the centre of the room, giving us room to doge in all directions.

One guard held out both of their hands. "Can I hæv it?" They asked slowly.

Dark held Synergy tighter, shaking her head. "No."

The guard grumbled, reaching to grab Synergy.

Dark held them to her chest as she turned away. "No." She said forcefully.

"Give it here," The guard ordered, sizing her arm.

"I said no!" She yelled. At the same time, the Synergy’s eyes and ‘skin’ flashed dangerously. They switched their tail, growling. As it swung towards the guards, a beam of deep red light shot out, hitting the guard in the square in the chest. Stunned, the guard stumbled back, hand clutched to his chest, eyes wide with shock.

My eyes widened. I started to move forwards to help Dark, but a pair of hands roughly seized my shoulders and arms, pulling me away. I struggled against them, but they had too firm a grip on me.

Undeterred by the threat of laser beams, the remaining guard surged forwards, pinning Dark in place. One then stepped forward and ripped the Synergy from her fingers. As soon as they were removed, the cacophony returned. Shrieking, high-pitched notes flooded the air.

Alarmed and disoriented, the guard holding Synergy dropped them. As I watched them fall, time seemed to slow. Reflexes kicking in, I lunged. Reaching out, I tried to grab them before they hit the ground. Luckily, they seemed to be like cats in the sense they always landed on their feet. Synergy landed perfectly, while I stumbled, trying not to fall on my face.

As I righted myself, I Synergy walked up to me, bumping her head against my leg again. As they did , I swore I heard a quiet 'Thank you' reverberate in my mind. I gave a quick nod towards them. 

As the rest of the guards reorientated themselves, Dark managed to throw the guards off. She turned, jogging towards us. "You both okay?" She asked, concern lacing her voice. 

"Besides the fact that my ears feel like they're bleeding, yeah." I said. "I think Synergy's fine as well.

Synergy let out a mewl-like sound. "I think they agree." I said, kneeling down to scoop them up as Synergy tried to jump into my arms.

Dark breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, good." She looked around. "Ah, what are they doing?" 

I looked to where Dark indicated. The guards and others had apparently recovered from the noise and returned to the other half of the room. Something had caused an argument and it must have been getting pretty heated. They shouted, waving their arms around and pointed at various other people, us included. A few even periodically left the room 

"They're arguing." I said.

Dark gave me an unimpressed look. "I know that." She said, "But about what?"

"They are arguing about what the next course of action should be." A faint echoey voice said. The sound bouncing around my inside head.

I let out a small yelp. "Wha-!?"

"I apologise for scaring you, Mistress." The voice apologised. "I only just got your connection secured. As Mistress Dark had said before, I am Synergy. I am a Vuhy."

"Ah." I said, glancing down at the crimson being in my hands. "It's nice to meet you. How do you know Dark’s name?"

Synergy hummed. "She told me." They explained simply. 

“Oh.” I said, feeling a bit dumb.

Before I could say anything else, Dark asked. "You can translate the humans speech?"

Synergy purred. "Indeed Mistress Dark."

"Great!" Dark grinned. "Do you think you could translate for us? Please?"

Synergy nodded, flicking their tail. "Indeed I can Mistress Dark."

Wrinkling her nose, Dark stuck the tip of her tongue out in displeasure. “Drop the Mistress please?”

“Of course.” They agreed. Turning to look up at me, they asked, “Shall I do the same for you, Mistress…” They trailed off.

“Valhalla” I supplied. “I don’t mind though.”

Bobbing their head, Synergy fell silent.

The three of us sat and watched as the guards argued. A few pulled out communication devices and spoke to others. Eventually, after what felt like they stopped. One broke off from the group, walking over to us.

I held Synergy closer to me.

Eyeing Synergy warily, the guard knelt down in front of us. "We have dɪsaɪdɪd," they said slowly. "To əlaʊ you to kip it."

"Missing words. Decided, allow, keep." Synergy translated telepathically. 

I nodded to the guard. "Thank you." Dark’s voice echoing mine.

The guard nodded slowly, pulling out twin pairs of handcuffs. "Hands."

I huffed in annoyance. Still, I passed Synergy off to Dark and diligently held out my hands. Dark did the same when it was her turn. 

The sound of footsteps drew our attention to the door. One of the two people dressed in green approached. In their hands was an object that looked suspiciously like a harness. 

Synergy protested at first, but after being told that if they didn’t cooperate, the humans would force us apart, they quieted and let the harness be placed on them. Now that we were all chained, we were led out of the room. Dark protectively holding onto Synergy for the entire trip back.

 Once we arrived back at our room, the handcuff and harness were removed. The guards and humans in green left, promising to return tomorrow.

Walking over to the bed, I placed Synergy on it before collapsing onto a beanbag a few feet away..

Sitting down next to Synergy, Dark glanced down at me. “So what was that look about?” She asked.

I frowned, propping myself up on one arm. “What?”

“The one just before we met Synergy.” Dark elaborated.

I searched through my memories for a moment before realising what she meant. “Oh!” I reached into my pocket, before remembering the cameras. “The compact was heating up the closer we got to Synergy.”

Dark frowned. “Let me see.” She said, pointing to the bookcase expectantly.

Scowling playfully at her, I dragged myself over to the bookshelf. Grabbing the first book I saw, I faced away from the cameras and quickly fished out the compact. Slipping it into the book, I then dropped both on Dark’s lap before returning to my beanbag.

Grabbing the book with some difficulty, as she had nearly exhausted her energy manifesting a physical form today, she opened the book and grabbed the compact. Clicking the button, the compact snapped open. As soon as she did, an intense humming noise poured out from it.

My head snapped up. “What’s that?” I asked worriedly, restraining myself from glancing over at the security cameras.

“I don’t know.” Dark whispered panicky. 

Synergy then lifted their head from their paws. “Don’t worry.” She soothed. “The humans will assume that it's me.”

Dark and I both paused and blinked. “I didn’t think of that.” Dark said slowly.

Synergy chuffed happily, returning their head to their paws.

Glancing back down, Dark started to inspect the portal. It only took a few minutes before she grew tired and tossed both the book and compact to me. “I’m done.” She announced tiredly.

I sent her an understanding look. Picking up the book, I flipped it open to reveal the compact. The noise now slightly louder.

I tilted my head. “Is it louder?” I wondered aloud.

“It is louder by 28 decibels, Mistress Valhalla” came Synergy’s voice.

I turned to look at her. “Thanks.” I said. Synergy only gave a canine-like smile and returned to her resting.

Looking back down at the compact, I tapped my lip with a single finger.  “Huh, I wonder…” Grabbing the book and compact, I stood up and began to walk towards the door. The noise increased slightly the closer I got to the door. Turning back around, I walked towards Dark and Synergy. The compact’s noise fades again. 

"It's tracking something!" I whispered excitedly.

Dark furrows her brow, having  looked up when she saw me pacing. "Then why wasn't it making the noise earlier?"

"It probably was," I guessed. "But the compact was closed. And we probably couldn't hear it over Synergy's noise." 

Dark hummed, agreeing. 

"May I see that?" Synergy asked suddenly, standing up from their spot on the bed.

Both Dark and I turned towards them. "Sure," I said, placing the book with the compact in it in front of them. Standing over both to shield the compact existence.

Lowering her head, Synergy sniffed at the open compact, ears forward.

“It’s an Odeatni,” Synergy reported. “An Odeatni is created when two phidats or dimensions overlap and things pass between them. The noise is being created by the machines in your world and the heat from the Odeatni.”

“Can they be used to transport things between them?” I asked cautiously. “Odeatni, I mean.”

“Not between dimensions,” Synergy corrected. “But they can be used to transport people or objects within the current dimension.”

Dark cocked her head. “What are the machines and Odeatni reacting to?” She asked. 

“They are most likely reacting to the Scyvceio,” Synergy answered, turning to look up at Dark. “A Scyvceio is created when two phidats overlap. It’s the only way to move between them. Unfortunately, they are not stationary.”

Dark snapped her fingers. "That's what the shaking was earlier!" She exclaimed.

"It was the Scyvceio moving." Synergy agreed.

I stared down at the compact as I absorbed this new information. A plan began forming in my head.

"Dark," I said. "I think it's time to leave."

Chapter 7: Escape

I took a deep breath. It was finally time. Two and a half weeks of planning went into this. It was risky, and failure would almost certainly squash the possibility of ever attempting it again.

I reached down, patting my pockets. In one, the small silver compact sat. In the other, concealed by the rough white fabric, was the thin rectangular shape of the stolen keycard. 

I glanced over my shoulder to where Dark and Synergy sat. We were lounging in front of the toy box, Dark laying on her chest as she and Synergy were playing with a ball. At least, that's how it appeared to the cameras.

Hidden in the toy box, an arm's reach away, were the water and non-perishable foods we had stolen from our meals. They were contained in a makeshift bag fashioned from materials we had salvaged from a previous building test.

As I looked over, Dark lifted her head. "Time?" She asked simply. In front of her, Synergy paused in their playing. "It is 7:14 am," They reported.

I gave the room one more scan to ensure that we had everything we needed. "If you're ready." I prompted.

Dark stood up, brushing herself off. "Ready as I'll ever be."

I nodded. Standing up, I turned around, looking up one of the many at the security cameras in the room. Focusing, I extended my hand towards the nearest one, zeroing in on the section where it joined to the ceiling. The air around my hand began to heat. 

Crack!

The camera sparked violently, the video feed going dead. I whipped around, repeating the process with each camera.

As soon as I finished, Dark threw open the toy box, seizing the bag inside. Throwing it over her shoulder, she dashed towards the door, Synergy and I on her heels.

As we approached the door, I reached into my pocket, seizing the keycard. Reaching up, I hoped that the scientists couldn't disable missing keycards. Grimacing, I swiped the keycard through the slot.

The machine beeped, the screen turning green with the words "Aeksɛs Grɑntɪd" appearing. The door then began to open.

I shoved the keycard back, turning to give Dark a massive grin, Dark's matching my own. At our feet, Synergy yipped happily.

As we exited the decontaminated chamber, our hope was quickly squashed. A blaring noise began to sound, causing us to jump. Above our heads, red lights began to flash.

"Warning! Entities have breached containment. Facility lockdown commencing." A voice shouted from the overhead speakers, the words being translated by Synergy. "Everyone please evacuate the building."

Dark let out a string of curses. Wasting no time, the three of us broke off at a sprint. As we ran, I attempted to disabled as many cameras as I could.

Dark led us through the maze of hallways. Suddenly she stopped, putting an arm out to stop me. Stopping, I gave Dark a questioning look. I opened my mouth to speak, but Dark quickly placed a finger to her lips, signalling me to be quiet. "Listen." She whispered.

I listened, straining my ears to hear over the sirens. I then froze. Footsteps were heading this way. A lot of them.

"Dark!" I hissed urgently. 

Dark grimaced. Giving me the bag, she reached out with one hand. Pointing towards the footsteps, she whispered something under her breath. A faint green glow enveloped her for a moment before fading. 

Lowering her arm, the three of us stood stock still, listening to the sound of approaching footsteps.

There was a crash. The footsteps paused. Then someone shouted, "They went this way!" The footsteps started up again, heading away via another corridor.

Dark and I let out identical sighs of relief. "Dark," I said. "I love your luck powers."

She gave me a half smile, half grimace. "Don't expect too much more. You know this only works in moderation."

I nodded. "I know." Peering around the corner, I asked, "You remember the way?"

"Down this corridor, take a right at the intersection, then two lefts and a right." Dark recited.

I nodded. Shouldering the bag, we started off again. Thanks to Dark's luck manipulation, we encountered no guards as we made our way towards our destination. We had a few close calls however. Twice, the guards marched right past us. 

As we ran, we kept our ears peeled for any sign of troops. 

My ears flicked. Footsteps. "In here!" I hissed, pulling Dark into an empty room, a supply closet by the looks of things. Synergy followed close behind. I quietly shut the door as the footsteps approached. They sounded fainter than usual, only two pairs.

We stood motionless as the humans approached. The footsteps slowed the closer they got. Next to me, Dark shifted slightly, nervousness radiated off her. I was nervous as well. Of course they had to stop in front of us. I grimaced. Either we would get some useful information or the luck manipulation had worn off and we were due for a whole lot of bad luck.

"Dang it, we lost them," one said, sounding out of breath and annoyed. His voice seemed vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place my finger on it. I scowled, mentally cursing the voice altering effect Synergy's translation created.

"Maybe they're hiding?" The other voice suggested. "I mean, we're in a perfect hideout location and they probably think we're trying to capture them."

They…weren't trying to capture us? I turned to Dark, giving her a quizzical look. She just shrugged, an equally questioning expression on her face.

I pouted. Then, steeling my nerves, I slowly inched towards the door. Cracking the door open just enough to catch a glimpse of who was talking. 

Standing in the centre of the hallway were two humans. The man was dressed in dark blue pants and shirt. A mop of red hair was the only defining feature I could see from where I stood. The woman wore a white lab coat, her black hair was up in a short ponytail. In her hands she clutched a grey backpack.

I sucked in a sharp breath. It was Kləʊi and ɪlaɪʤə. 

Behind me, Dark urgently whispered, "What!?"

"Its Kləʊi and ɪlaɪʤə." I reported. "Kləʊi has a backpack with her."

Dark frowned. "Why are they here?"

"Dunno," I said. Gesturing for her to join me, I peered out again, listening into their conversation.

"Should we call out for them?" ɪlaɪʤə suggested.

Kləʊi shook her head. "No use. They might not understand us."

At that, ɪlaɪʤə's shoulders slumped. "Well we tried." He said. "I just wished we could have helped them a bit more."

"We shouldn't give up so easily!" Kləʊi snapped. She then took a deep breath. "Sorry," she mumbled.

ɪlaɪʤə waved her apology off. "It's fine, you're right anyway."

What? I turned to look at my companions. "Do you think they are telling the truth?"

Dark pursed her lips. "Maybe, maybe not," She said. "It's possible, but it could be a trap."

I nodded solemnly. I then looked down at Synergy. "Can you translate my speech for them?" I asked.

Synergy hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Indeed I can Mistress Valhalla."

I grimaced. "Well then." I turned to face the door. "Only one way to find out." I reached up and pushed open the door, ignoring the warnings and reprimands that Dark whisper-yelled.

Stepping out, I called out, "Who says I can't understand you?"

Both Kləʊi and ɪlaɪʤə whirled around at my voice. The panicked expressions on their faces changed to shock as they saw me, both visibly taken aback.

"Where did you come from?! And since when can you speak English?" ɪlaɪʤə demanded.

I gestured vaguely to the surrounding hallway. "Somewhere." I answered. "Now what was this about helping us?"

Shaking her head, Kləʊi said, "Since we thought you might try and escape, we packed a bag for you." She gestured to the backpack. She then frowned, glancing around. "Where's Dark?"

As I opened my mouth, the plan to lie to them just in case this was a trap on the tip of my tongue, I was cut off by a door opening behind me. Turning around, I came face to face with a very mad Dark.

"Valhalla," she seethed. "You blithering idiot. Think before you act! This could have turned out so much worse!" 

I raised my hands in surrender. "What?" I yelped, clueless to what exactly she was on about.  At my feet, Synergy hummed happily. "I can detect if someone is lying," They said.

Lowering my hands, I stared down at them in realisation. "Well, I'm an idiot." I said.

Dark crossed her arms glaring at me. "Yes, yes you are. If you had waited a moment longer, Synergy could have given us their report."

I gave her an apologetic and sheepish look. "I'm sorry."

Her scowl softened. "Don't do it again." She ordered. She then turned to look at the humans. " And to answer your previous question," Dark picked up Synergy, holding them up. "They can translate our speech." She explained.

Kləʊi blinked in surprise before nodded thoughtfully. "Interesting…" she mused. She then shook herself out of her thoughts.

"Anyway, here's what we packed," Crouching down, she set the bag on the ground and unzipped the main section. Cautiously, Dark and I peered in.

Inside sat multiple piles of neatly rolled clothes. All in various shades of red, green, white and black.

"Are these ours?" I asked uncertainty.

Kləʊi nodded. "They are. There are also some new sets in a few different variations," She whispered quickly. "For various temperatures."

"There are also food, water and first aid supplies in the other pockets. A bit of money as well as a few miscellaneous objects. I hope you can figure out the money." ɪlaɪʤə added, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Kləʊi…ɪlaɪʤə…" Dark murmured gratefully. "I…thank you." 

They both gave us quick smiles. "We just wanted to help." ɪlaɪʤə said.

I smiled, but it quickly disappeared as a thought struck me. "Won't you get in. trouble?" I asked. "The announcement said for everyone to evacuate the building."

Kləʊi gave a small smile. "There's an escape route just around the corner," she explained. We'll head out that way."

I nodded.

A thundering slapping noise caused us all to flinch. Footsteps.

ɪlaɪʤə quickly looked over his shoulder. "Go." He said urgently, taking our small bag and shoving it in on top of the clothes. Rezipping the bag, he shoves it into my arms. "They'll be here soon. We'll cover for you."

I smiled up at them. "Thank you again." I said quietly.

Kləʊi smiled. "You're welcome." She said quietly. 

Turning around, Dark, Synergy and I darted back to the supply closet. As we did, Kləʊi and ɪlaɪʤəran back the way they came.

"Guards!" Kləʊi shouted. "They went this way!"

We waited with bated breath as the guard's footsteps faded away.

"Go!" Dark whisper-yelled. 

Pushing the door wide open, we raced out. Soon enough, we arrived. 

Towering in front of us, stretching over twenty feet long and reaching to the ceiling was the anomalous window. It's iridescent glass glimmering with magic. The view constantly shifting between the human city of Paris and Mercia.

The three of us stared up at it. "Well, we're here." Dark announced breathlessly.

I bobbed my head, too out of breath too responded.  "What do we do now?" I asked eventually.

At our feet, Synergy made a chuffing sound. "Touch it while holding on to each other."  She explained simply.

Dark hummed. Crouching down, she scooped Synergy into her arms. Synergy purred.

I smiled. Holding out an elbow, I asked playfully, "Shall we depart, dear sister?"

Dark snorted, linking her elbow with mine. "We shall, sister dearest."

Sliping my other hand into my pockets, I checked for the compact and keycard. Check and check.

Taking a deep breath, I reached out. My hand almost reached it…

"Hold it!"

I cursed. The luck manipulation drawbacks must have started. Turning around, we came face to face with an army of guards. Each one with their weapon drawn and trained on us.

Synergy hissed, raising herself up like a cat does. 

"Back away from the window." One guard ordered. 

I glanced over at Dark and Synergy, then at the anomalous window, then back at the guards.

A smirk made its way onto my face. "How about…" I tapped my finger to my lips. "No."

Reaching behind me, I mentally called out. As I did, the very light that streamed through the window began to bend to my will. It rose around us, a whirlwind of dazzling white. I pulled my hand forward, and thrust down. The light obeyed, moving quickly to create a physics-defying solid cocoon. A line of spears, all made of light photons surrounded the barrier, positioned threateningly at the human's chest level.

The guards yelped, stumbling backward.

My smirk grew. Turning to Dark,  I lunged sideways, grabbing her arm. Then, with all my remaining strength, I leaped towards the window, pulling Dark and Synergy along with me. 

Behind me, I heard the guards shouting, calling desperately for backup. A few fired their weapons, but it was too late. Reaching out, I felt my fingertips brush against the cool glass of the window. A tugging sensation was felt in my gut, then everything went black.

Chapter 8: The Noble and the Battle Worthy

As soon as my feet made contact on solid ground, I knew something was wrong. Pain rocketed up my leg, causing me to stumble and let go of Dark’s arm. Dark calling out my name worriedly. The air, smelling like straw and animals, was clouded by a thick, sickeningly sweet and metallic stench that caused my skin to crawl and nose to wrinkle.

Wincing in pain, I hissed through my teeth as I sunk down into a sitting position, my back resting uncomfortably against rough boards of a wall. I could feel something warm and wet seep into the cloth of my pants. Groggily, I drew my vision downward, spotting a glistening crimson stain on my calf. Right where the pain was radiating from.

“Oh.” I murmured. “That’s not good.”

“Valhalla!” Dark called again, dropping to her knees as Synergy jumped out of her arms. “What’s wrong?!” As soon as she said that, she spotted the blood.

She swore violently, carefully reaching for the cuff of the pant leg. As gently as she could, she tugged the pant leg up to my knee. The movement caused me to grimace as the wound was agitated.  

Leaning over, Dark began to inspect the wound. After what felt like forever, she growled, “One managed to land a shot.” Her voice was tense. “The bullet passed right through. Luckily, it didn’t hit anything major…” She trailed off. The unspoken, I think hanging over our head dangerously.

She turned to Synergy. “How far away from the facility are we?”

Next to Dark, Synergy swiftly sat up from where they lay dolefully. “We are currently 16,650 kilometres away from the facility,” they reported, their melodic voice tainted with worry reverating inside my head. “That’s equal to 10,346 miles or 1,682 Ikikias.”

Both Dark and I breathed a sigh of relief at that. “Good. Good.” Dark muttered. “Now…” She reached off to the side where I had dropped the bag that Kləʊi and ɪlaɪʤə had gifted us. Quickly unzipping it, Dark rummaged around hastily until she found a small red fabric bag with a white plus inside of a circle and the words fɜst eɪd kɪt on the front.

Opening it, Dark grabbed a pair of disposable sterile gloves, medical tape and a roll of gauze. Swiftly turning to me, Dark slipped on the gloves over the regular black ones she wore before unwinding the gauze roll. Deftly, she ripped off a large piece, folding it up.

“This is going to hurt.” She warns. Then, without waiting for an answer, she pressed the gauze up against the entrance wound and pushed it in.

 An intense flash of pain rocketed up my leg, causing me to clench my teeth to silence the string of curses that sat on my tongue. 

A faint “sorry,” was barely heard through the haze of pain. I tried to respond, but my tongue felt like lead. 

The process of packing the wound was a slow and painful one that lasted for what felt like forever. Dark sat next to me, packing both the entrance and exit wounds and applying pressure with the help of Synergy in an attempt to stop - or at least slow - the bleeding. 

Some time later, Dark pulled away. Grabbing the roll of gauze and medical tape, she started to dress both wounds. As she did, I decided to finally address where we had landed.

We appeared to have landed inside of a stable, not ideal for treating wounds. The familiar scents of straw, hay, manure, and grain, wistfully reminded me of the stable that I often visited to ride at. 

The stable is brightly lit, light currently streaming in from the many windows and the large open doors. The floor was relatively clean, like it had been swept recently, so that was good news.

The most eye-catching thing however was the large heads that poked themselves out of the top of the stall doors. The one that was directly opposite of us was a sleek bay horse with a white star marking. Their dark brown eyes stared down at us curiously.

“Oh. Hello.” I greeted the large creature. “You’re beautiful.”

At my voice, Dark quickly glanced over to the horse, relaxing when she saw that it was only a horse. “Ah. Yeah, they are. Pity I can’t read the name plaque.”

“His name is Cappuccino.” Synergy piped up, translating the text on the small metal plaque. 

I nodded to Synergy as Dark gave them a smile. “Thanks.” 

In front of us, Cappuccino made a noise akin to snorting, his ears pricked towards us.

I giggled, my own ears flicking and a traditional noise of greeting escaping my lips.

We sat in silence for a while as Dark kept pressure on the wound, trying to get the blood to clot. Eventually it did, and Dark proceeded to dress and wrap the wound.

“Well, that’s all I can do for now.” Dark admitted. “Hopefully we can find somewhere to properly address the wound.”

“Yeah,” I hummed in understanding. “I’m guessing there was a split second where my defences fell as we jumped.”

At that, Dark made a strained noise at the back of her throat. “They got very lucky, unfortunately.” Beside me, Synergy nodded. “It was very unlucky. Your creation of light fell as soon as you came in contact with the Odeatni.” 

The three of us sat in silence for a few moments. The only sounds being the rustle of wind, the horses, and the distant mooing of cows and a dog’s bark. It was a mostly comfortable silence as we all came down from the adrenaline highs. As we sat I grew increasingly aware that something was up with Dark. She was tense and shaking. It was minutely, but it was there. Her shoulders were tense and her breathing was slightly ragged.

“Dark?” I asked quietly, drawing Synergy’s attention to her. “You okay?”

She took a deep breath, her entire body shuttering. Her next couple words were tense and quiet. “You’re lucky that the bullet didn’t hit anything major.”

I turned my head to get a good look at her. Her eyes were wet with tears and I could hear the underlying tones of worry in her voice. “You could have died.” She explained, voice barely above a whisper. “It’s possible to bleed out in as little as five minutes.”

Instantly, the mood dampened. Synergy whined pitifully and curled up on Dark’s lap like a cat. 

“Ah.”

Dark snorted, but it was tainted with underlying worry. “Yes. Ah.” 

I gave a chuff of laughter. “Well,” I placed a hand on Dark’s. “It would take a lot more than a single bullet to put me out of commission.”

Playfully, Dark raised an eyebrow. “I would hope so.” She tried to smile, the image ruined by the tears still in her eyes. I returned the smile, basking in the shared relief. 

“Oh!” I suddenly yelped. Quickly reaching into my pocket, I felt around, my finger coming in contact with the smooth metal of the compact. Pulling it out, I flipped it open. The familiar humming filled my ears, soothing my worries. 

At the sound, Dark cocked her head to the side, ears pricked. "Is it louder?" She asked.

Beside us, Synergy nodded. "Barely," they replied, "but yes."

"That's good," I responded. Flipping it closed, I searched for the keycard. Pulling it out, I tossed it to Dark. "Put it in the bag," I instructed. "For safekeeping."

Dark proceeded to slip it into a small internal pocket. Then, she pulled out an unopened plastic water bottle and a small bottle. 

She inspected the label for a moment, frowning. She then huffed, moving the bottle to show Synergy the label. "Can you translate this please?"

"It says pain relief," The crystal creature translated, their tail waving behind them. “It also says to take two tablets every four to six hours and to not take more than ten tables in twenty-four hours. One hour is equivalent to 0.6 of a cadaro.”

Dark shrugged. “Well then, I hope this helps.” She then tossed them both over. I caught them easily.

After an embarrassing few seconds where I struggled with the cap of the medicine bottle - much to Dark’s amusement and Synergy’s confusion - I managed to take the medicine.

“Shut it,” I threatened with no heat behind it, jabbing a finger towards Dark. She merely laughed. In her lap, Synergy seemed to grow even more confused and exasperated at our antics.

Soon enough, we quietened down again. I had chugged a good portion of the water bottle as I realised how thirsty I was. We hadn’t eaten anything since dinner last night.

I tossed the bottle back to Dark, who promptly drank half of what was left, before placing the bottle on the ground for Synergy. She moved Synergy off her lap, much to their displeasure, to start packing up the medical supplies. 

“Did the medicine help?” Dark asked as she finished repacking.

I glanced down at my leg. It didn’t feel any different. Cautiously, I attempted to move my leg. As I did, a bolt of pain shot up my leg. I cursed violently, but the pain wasn’t as bad as before.

I looked back up at Dark, who was grimacing. “Kinda worked.”

Neither of my companions said anything. Somewhere outside, another dog bark was heard.

At that, all three of us pricked our ears on instinct. The dog barked again. This time, it was closer. Much closer.

Dark and I exchanged worried glances. I was in no position to run if need be. 

The barking grew louder. Dark shouldered the bag, slowly moving between me and the direction the barking was coming from. Synergy protectively sat directly in front of my injured leg.

The barking grew closer and with it, the familiar sounds of human’s shouting followed. 

The three of us all tensed, hoping that they would pass us by, but preparing for discovery. I watched as Synergy's tail waved in complicated patterns behind them, leaving a trail of magenta sparks. Dark tapped her thigh anxiously, as I tugged at the light around us. Unfortunately, I was too weak from the wound to do much of anything to help. 

“Bau! Garm! Heel!” A voice shouted to be heard over the barking. It sounded different however. It was like an accent, but an odd sound underlaid their speech.

Almost as if Synergy could read my mind, they said, "They are speaking English, Mistress. The other humans mostly spoke French." That caused me to relax a bit. If we were far enough away for the people to be speaking a whole new language, we must have travelled pretty far. 

The barking didn’t stop, still growing louder. Now, two pairs of footsteps could be made out, quick and heavy like they were running.They were probably chasing the barking dog.

"Valhalla, stay put," Dark ordered. "Synergy and I will defend you."

I gave a jerky nod. I already knew I was a sitting duck.

The dog and humans grew closer. As they did, so did the tension in the air. Thick and heavy as we waited for their inevitable arrival.

"Heel! The voice cried again. They sounded female and were undeniably out of breath and annoyed. Another bark and the sound of dog paws were the only response, coming from just around the corner.

Then, at the other end of the hallway, appeared two large dogs. 

I blinked, fighting a smile. I knew that the dogs were hunting us, bringing unknown humans along, but they looked so incredibly soft. One looked silky smooth with their chocolate brown fur and the other was a mix of black and grey with a large black spot over one eye and brown patches on the snout and chest.

“Bau! Garm! What’s gotten into you two?!” The human spoke again and what little relief we got from seeing the cute dogs was instantly washed away. Because now, standing next to the dogs, were two humans.

They were slightly younger than the rest of the humans we had seen, so I presumed that they were at the end of their adolescentes. The one on the left was the one who had spoken. She was the taller of the two, although not by much. Her brown hair was hidden under a wide brimmed hat and tied back into a low ponytail. She wore a dark green, long sleeved shirt that she had rolled the sleeves up to her elbows. The shirt was tucked into blue jeans that were held up by a brown belt. On her feet were dusty and scuffed brown riding boots. 

Her companion was a boy that looked around her age with black hair peeking out from under a beige sun hat. He wore a similar outfit with an azure blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up, jeans held up with a belt and brown riding boots. Around his neck hung a dirty white bandanna decorated with black swirling patterns.

Both of them were staring at us, hazel eyes wide and mouths agape in gobsmacked expressions.

For a couple of seconds, nobody moved. Dark, Synergy and I remained stock-still, as the humans gawked. The girl, who had moved to restrain Garm and Bau, now stood with her hands in the dog’s fur. Her accomplice stood behind her, one hand in his jacket pocket, the other on her shoulder.

“Alice.” The boy said slowly. “What are those?”

“I don’t know.” Alice responded quietly. “I have never seen anything like them before.” Then, she began to slowly inch her way towards us. 

The effect was instantaneous. Dark and Synergy both released low warning growls, preparing for a fight. In response, Garm and Bau lowered their chests closer to the ground, barking and growling loudly.

“Hush!” The boy immediately scolded. Both dogs instantly went quiet.

Alice froze. Then, she slowly began to lower herself into a crouched position. She reached her hands out palms up to show that they were empty. “Hey,” she began to coo, “It’s okay. We’re not going to hurt you.”

Neither of my two guardians were convinced. Both continued to growled, tails swishing and ears pinned back.

“Maybe you shouldn’t approach them?” The boy suggested nervously, eyeing us warily.

“But one’s injured!” Alice protested. “We need to help them!”

“I’m not saying we shouldn’t!” He protested. “But maybe we should keep our distance. Like you would a wild animal.”

She paused, thinking. Then she sighed. “Alright.” She rose to her feet and  began to slowly move backwards, not turning her back on us. At that, all of us relaxed a tiny bit.

“What now?” Alice prompted, looking over at the boy. 

He glanced over at us, eyes flicking over to the bloody pant leg and wrapped gauze before looking at the defensive positions my sister and Synergy had taken and then back  at Alice. He grimaced. "Not sure," he admitted.

Just then, my stomach rumbled loudly. My face went flushed red, quickly glueing my eyes to my lap to avoid looking at anyone.

A soft chuckle came from one of the humans. "Get food then," came the boy’s voice. There was the sound of plastic wrapping crinkling and then a sound like something sliding across the floor.

I looked up to see that he had slid a couple of plastic wrapped objects towards us. He must have understood that we wanted distance, so the gesture was appreciated.

Looking down at it and then back at the humans, Dark began to creep forward. Without breaking eye contact, she crouched down to retrieve the objects before retreating quickly.

Glancing down at the retrieved objects, Dark quickly placed one in front of Synergy. "Translate please." She asked curtly, speaking telepathically.

“It’s a granola bar,” came their quick reply.

Cocking my head to the side, I reached out, silently asking Synergy for the bar. Luckily Synergy understood and picked up the packaged food in their mouth. Gingerly, they trotted over and dropped in it my open hand.

I smiled, nodding gratefully to them. Glancing down at the green wrapping, I carefully began to rip into the plastic. Inside was a sticky bar that looked to contain oats, honey, nuts and drizzled with chocolate. As I unwrapped it, a choked noise caught my attention.

Turning back to the humans, I saw that Alice was glaring at her companion. “Why did you give them chocolate!?” She hissed. “You know chocolate isn’t good for most animals!”

He shrugged helplessly. “It’s the only thing I had on me!” He defended. “And who knows, maybe it’s harmless to them!”

“Or it could kill them!” Alice retorted.

 I tuned them out, now staring down at the granola bar worryingly. Back home chocolate was harmless and this place seemed similar enough to home. But it had also proved itself to be different in many ways, like the existence of humans. Because of the humans, this chocolate could be dangerous to our health, and that wasn't something we needed on top of the bullet wound.

Fortunately for me, Dark seemed to be thinking a bit more clearly.  “And are you able to check if this is safe to eat?” She asked Synergy.

Perking up at being addressed, they nodded. “I can if the ingredients are listed.”

Silently, Dark passed the second granola bar to them. After inspecting the back for a few seconds, they said, “It’s safe to eat unless you have a nut, gluten or cocoa allergy.”

I smiled at that, promptly taking a large bite.

Dark rolled her eyes, no real heat behind it, before retrieving and unwrapping her granola bar and taking a bite. 

“Huh,” She mused. “Not bad.” 

I merely hummed in agreement. The chocolate tasted different, but it didn't seem to have any immediate harmful effects. Breaking off a piece on the opposite end of the bar, I held it out for Synergy to take.

Gratefully, they trotted up next to be and delicately ate it off the palm of my hand, licking away the chocolate that had melted off.

It only took a few seconds for the three of us to practically inhale the food. As soon as we did, we fell back into silence. Though this time, the silence was less tense and more awkward.

As we faced-off with the humans and the dogs, Alice gave us a small close-lipped smile. Slowly, as to not startle us, she moved to sit on the ground, pulling both dogs into her lap and prompting her partner to do the same.

No one spoke for a moment. Then Alice spoke in a soft voice. “Can you understand us?” 

I glanced up at Dark. She met my gaze. "Do we respond?" I asked quietly, silently judging the universe for making me the only one that couldn’t speak telepathically.

Dark frowned in concentration. "Not sure," she softly responded. “They could be acting, but they have been nice so far.”

“They haven’t lied so far.” Synergy pointed out.

Dark slowly nodded. She then turned to look at me, eyes glancing down to the bandaged wound. She pursed her lips, eyes flashing as she turned back to the humans. “We can.”

The look of utter shock on the human’s faces as Dark spoke caused me to nearly double over laughing.

Dark took a deep breath, eyes flicking over to give me a half-hearted glare. “V.”

“D,” I managed to get out between giggles.

“Huh?! Wha-!? How!?” The boy sputtered, eyes wide. Next to him, Alice sat with her mouth hanging open once again.

Giving me a half-hearted glare, Dark turned back to the others. "I should say thank you for the food. So thank you."

Blinking in surprise, the boy managed to stutter out, "Y-you're w-wel-welcome."

Luckily, Alice recovered from her shock fairly quickly. "May I ask what your names are?" She asked politely.

"I'm Dark," Dark introduced. "This is Valhalla," she gestured to where I sat. "And this is Synergy." She then gestured to the crystal creature that sat next to me.

Alice smiled. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Alice and this is my brother Harvey." She nudged him as she spoke.

"Huh? Oh, um, g'day?" Harvey said nervously, still trying to process that we could speak the same language as them.

His sister snorted, shaking her head. "And these two are Bau and Garm." She continued, pointing to the brown and tri-colored dog in turn.

I gave them a small smile in return. "Well, it's nice to meet you, but, ah...we’re kinda lost." I then waved towards my injured leg. “And do you think you can help with this?”

“For starters, you’re on our station,” Harvey answered. “Located in New South Wales, Australia. On the planet Earth?”

I huffed derisively. “Well that’s helpful.” I gumbled sarcastically, crossing my arms. “Why are there so many planets called Earth?!”

Dark shrugged. “I know as much as you do. You’d think that so many planets wouldn’t come up with the same name by coincidence.”

Both siblings gave us identical incredulous looks. “What do you mean that there are other planets called Earth?” Harvey asked sceptically.

Dark merely waved the question away. “Long story, doesn’t matter, tell you later.”

Neither looked particularly happy with that, but dropped it anyway. 

Alice then directed her gaze to my wrapped leg. “May I have a look?” She asked, nodding towards the injury.

Dark looked at her distrustfully, but relented, backing up a few steps. 

“Thank you.” Alice said. Slowly, she then moved towards me, kneeling down next to my wounded leg. Harvey stayed where he was, restraining the dogs as they were still gazing at us distrustfully.

“How did you get this?” she asked, visibly inspecting the wrapped gauze.

“Gunshot.” I answered simply.

As soon as I said that, both Alice and Harvey instantly looked over at me, worried looks in their eyes.

“How did you get shot?” Alice asked, concern creeping into her voice.

I shrugged nonchalantly, considering my words. “Some guard shot me as we tried to escape.”

Alice’s eyes widened further. “Well that’s a lot to unpack.” She said to herself, returning her attention to the wound. “In that case, I don’t want to unwrap it.” She glanced over at Dark. “Did you know if the bullet is still in there or not?”

 “It passed through her leg.” Dark reported. “I checked before I wrapped it. I’m fairly certain it didn’t hit anything major either”

Alice let out a breath. “That’s good.” She then turned to me. “We’ll have to give you stitches, but that can be done easily.”

I bobbed my head. 

“Where did you three come from anyways?” Harvey suddenly asked.

“Originally, Dark and I come from a place called Merica.” I replied. “I’m not sure about Synergy, you’ll have to ask them. But we first arrived on this planet near a place called…” I trailed off, trying to remember what the other humans had called the city. “Paris, I think?”

Both Alice and Harvey’s eyes widened. “Paris?” Alice whistled, “Crikey, you have travelled a long way,” she remarked.  

Harvey frowned. “One, how did you get from there to here?’ He asked, brow furrowed. "And two, how can you speak English so well? I would have thought they would have taught you French. Or you would have your own language."

“Magic,” Dark deadpanned.

“Huh-How?!”

“Don’t ask.” Dark said. “We don’t understand it either, but that's how we got here and why we can understand all humans. We do have our own language however."

He nodded. "Ah, that makes sense."

A comfortable silence fell over us. 

Harvey then frowned, deep in thought. “You don’t have anywhere to stay, do you?” He asked, turning to look at us.

“Nope,” I said, popping the p as Dark shook her head.

“Hmm.” Harvey thought for a moment. "You could stay with us," he suggested slowly, side-eyeing his sister. “Until you can find a way back home.”

Alice smiled brightly, nodding enthusiastically. "Yeah! We have a spare room you could use!"

I glanced over at Dark. Neither of us needed words, telepathic or otherwise, to come to an agreement.

I turned back to the human siblings. “If that’s okay with you,” I said. “We would like that.”