Chapter Two
I wake up in a haze of warmth and peace that’s settled over me like a blanket. Blinking a few times brings the world back into focus. I’m not sure where I am, but I’m probably not dead, so that’s a relief. On my left, I see hospital equipment monitoring my vital signs; to my right, a view of the city. I can’t move, but I’m lying in bed, comfortably.
Then I see him: the man from the alley, dressed in a white lab coat and tan slacks. He’s watching me, and smiles beautifully when he sees I’m awake.
“Haley, how do you feel?”
“Who are you?” I ask, ignoring his question. “Why am I paralyzed?”
“My name is Kest. Just relax. You’re safe now.” He sets his hand on my shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze, but I don’t find it very comforting.
Hearing his name, I’m reminded of his strange accent. “Kest? What kind of name is that? Where are you from?”
As I speak, my memory starts to clear: the alley, Thorpe’s men, the guns. The smell of burning. “What happened back there? Are you some kind of spy, or something?”
He winks. “Don’t worry about that. Just relax.”
“I don’t like being told to relax,” I gripe. “I want answers.”
Kest chuckles. “You’ll get them. Be patient.”
I nod, thinking about the goons and how close I came to getting shot. “You saved my life,” I murmur as the reality hits me. “Thank you.”
Frowning, Kest turns away from me and gazes out the window. “Don’t thank me just yet. You’re not going to like what comes next.”
“Wait, what are you talking about?”
He ignores the question and, after a moment, the world begins to blur.
“Oh, God,” I gasp. I’m hallucinating.
My surroundings ripple and change shape, as does Kest. Though his face remains in place, its color takes on a silvery hue to match his eyes. At the same time, his outfit darkens and tightens until the white lab coat is gone, replaced by a black jumpsuit that reminds me of something astronauts might wear on a space station.
The changes don’t end there, either. Once Kest’s appearance becomes stable, the rippling effect spreads outward, engulfing the room entirely. Walls, floors, furniture, the window—all of it shimmers and dissolves, reforming into an almost entirely different place. The room expands slightly, lengthening and taking shape. I’m surrounded by metallic bulkheads, glowing holographic displays, and banks of equipment I don’t recognize. The interior resembles a small laboratory, except for the windows at the far end: considering the instrumentation consoles beneath them, I’m guessing it’s a cockpit.
Finally, the process ends at my bed, which blurs around me until it’s become a table and a series of long metal restraints. I try wiggling my fingers, resulting in a slight movement that gets better the more I work at it. At least I’m not paralyzed.
“What are you going to do to me?” I ask. Stay calm, I tell myself, exhaling slowly. If I want to escape, I can’t afford to panic. I need to get him talking, and to learning everything I can: who is he, where are we going, and what are his intentions?
“For now, I’m going to let you recover from the effects of the stun.”
How valiant.
“I thought you said you would help me.”
He looks at me curiously, cocking his head. “I did. Those men were going to kill you.”
I sigh, not wanting to admit he’s right. “Thank you. Now, wherever this is,” I say, scanning my eyes back and forth, “I need to go.”
Kest shakes his head. “I’m really sorry, Haley, but no. I can’t let you leave.”
“Why?”
Instead of answering, he sits down in a reclining seat by the windows. A holographic display of the stars appears in the air, and begins to move, seemingly zooming in on one region after another. Kest mumbles to himself in a language I don’t understand until one planet has been singled out in the hologram. The computer chirps and an electric churning shakes the room.
“What were you saying?” I ask. “What’s going on?”
Like his accent, I’m dumbfounded not to at least recognize the language he’s speaking. It sounds nothing like any I’ve ever heard—not even close.
“Talk to me, Kest. Where are you from?”
Still he ignores me. That’s fine. I’m not even close to being done.
“What kind of a name is ‘Kest’ anyway? Is that short for something? Is it your last name or first?”
He turns to look at me and raises his finger up to his lips for quiet.
Not gonna happen. “What was that weapon you used? Do you work for the government? Are you a spy or something? Were you investigating Thorpe, like me?”
Kest grunts, getting up and marching toward me. “You wouldn’t know the language, I’m from somewhere far away, Kest is my full name and it was an energy weapon. I work for a government, but not yours, and I don’t know your Thorpe. Now let me make something clear, Haley: when I ask you to be quiet, don’t test my patience. I’ve been wanting to punish a cute little human for a very long time. I’ll spank your ass so red, the heat signature will register for a week.”
A shiver creeps through my body; I try to bury it away, but blood rushes to my cheeks before I am able.
Kest grins, possibly sensing my distraction, but doesn’t say anything else. I realize his threat has, at last, left me speechless.
He takes his seat again and presses his palm to a polished black surface at the end of the chair’s shoulder rest. The room shudders slightly, and then I feel it: a soft sense of lifting. Out the window I see rows of building’s windows descending and ending, revealing blue skies and pillowy white clouds.
Oh, my God, we’re flying.
“This is crazy! Kest, please let me go.”
“I can’t.”
Layers of clouds disappear beneath us; we’re ascending faster than any plane I’ve ever ridden.
“It’s so fast. Is this a… Is this a private jet?”
Kest laughs, shaking his head.
“Where are we going? Where are you taking me?” I practically scream. “I demand you set us down now!”
Struggling against my restraints, I try to free my wrists, but the bands are too tight. I feel glued to the table; all I can do is wiggle my fingers and toes, and twist my neck. My wrists, ankles, and body aren’t going anywhere. Cursing under my breath, I keep trying anyway, despite the futility of the effort.
After several minutes of straining and fighting, I blink rapidly, refusing to let there be any tears. Yet, with nothing else to do, I can’t help feeling my spirit fall. This day has gone from bad to worse: even with Thorpe’s goons chasing me, I felt grounded. I could make a plan and follow it. Now I have no idea what to do.
Making matters worse, I almost feel as though Kest has drugged me, because the arousal burning between my legs hasn’t gone away. Fighting against my restraints has only made it worse. What’s wrong with me?
Don’t cry, I tell myself. I was strong in the face of certain death back in that alley, I’m not going to give up now. I’ll find a way out of this.
“I know you’re scared, Haley,” says Kest, walking over to me slowly. “If it helps, this wasn’t my plan. I wasn’t going to leave yet, but I don’t have a choice.”
“What does that all mean?” I ask, my despair forgotten.
“You’ll find out soon. You’re going to be safe with me, I promise. Certainly safer than you’d be if I left you behind, with those men after you.”
Maybe he was right. There’s nowhere I’d really be safe from Thorpe, at least not in the immediate future: he’s too powerful and his reach is truly global. I doubt Witness Protection would even be enough. And that assumes I don’t get blamed for the deaths of those two thugs, which I might. “It would have been kinda hard to explain how they died,” I say, finding the idea morbidly funny.
Kest chuckles too. “That’s the spirit.” He pats my head, brushing back a few hairs that had fallen across my eyes and cheek. “Now hang on, pet.”
Very funny.
Sitting back down, Kest again places his hand on the black panel. I don’t know how the device works—it doesn’t light up or appear to have a screen, but somehow he’s controlling the vehicle. Despite the sudden acceleration, I feel next to nothing.
“Is this some kind of spy plane?” I ask.
“Not exactly,” Kest replies. “By Earth standards, I guess it would be. It does have a cloaking device.”
Earth standards?
I’m still wondering what that means when the craft lifts higher in the air and the sky changes, darkening. Then I see the stars.
“Are we in fucking space?”
“Haley, relax.”
“No, stop telling me to relax! We’ve left the planet! We’re in orbit!”
Kest sighs. “We’re in space, yes, but not in orbit.”
“What’s the difference?” I snarl.
“Well, when you’re in orbit, you’re going around something. We’re not going around Earth, we’re leaving it.”
Ice surges through my veins, and my stomach pulls into a knot. “Take me back, Kest. Take me back take me back takemebaaaaaack!”
Something inside the ship hums to life, powering up. I feel a lurching motion, and then the stars merge together, streaking by.
Holy shit.
“This isn’t real,” I mumble. “It’s not real, I’m dreaming. Or hallucinating.”
“It’s real,” says Kest. “Very real.”
I don’t respond, letting his words echo in my head.
Very real.
If that’s true, then I’m in very, very deep trouble.