Chapter Fourteen
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Day Thirteen: Michael
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“Man, she is attached to that guy, huh?”
“Yes, Michael, she is,” Constellation sighs. “That’s why we need to find Meteor.”
“Well, we can’t do that with Asteroid. She’s too close to the mission. We have to go without her.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes, Nova. I am. She would only slow us down. We leave tonight.”
“Hey, bro?”
“Yeah, Star?”
“What’s with all the technical terms? Code Black, too close to the mission…?”
“Oh. Easy. I’m a trained spy-slash-assassin. I work for the Illuminati.” I guess I forgot to mention that.
“Welp, we're all dead!”
“Wait, the Illuminati is real?”
“Whoa, I didn’t know I was dating a trained killer! I suddenly like you more.”
“Everyone okay with that little bit of information? Ok. Good. Now, as I was saying, we have to leave tonight. Without Asteroid knowing. We have to find Meteor soon.”
“Agreed!” The others are clearly unanimous.
“So… Here are your supplies. Black bodysuits equipped with state of the art tech, like trackers, bomb buttons, you catch my drift?”
“Cool.”
That night, around midnight, while poor Asteroid was lamenting the loss of Meteor, Code Black silently teleported to Burger Bill’s.
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Day Fourteen: Meteor
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“Wake up! I’m moving you,” Galaxy's thundering voice booms above me. Oh, man. I feel horrible! That’s probably the result of being tortured, interrogated, tortured again, then sleeping during daylight hours. I weakly stand up and am immediately shoved into another closet. This time, the walls are glass and in the corner stand Star, Nova, Constellation, and some other random dude.
“Meteor!” Everyone seems so happy to see me. The boy I don’t recognize comes up to me and introduces himself.
“Hey. Name’s Michael.” He lowers his voice to a whisper. “Don’t worry. Asteroid’s safe. She’s pretty broken about your disappearance, though.”
“I figured. And you’re sure she’s safe?”
“Yes.” We finish this hushed conversation as soon as the room starts sinking. I realize it’s an elevator. We go down, down, down for ten minutes at least. Suddenly, we change direction and start going forward. For half an hour. Then we go up for another ten minutes. By the time we get to the end of the ride, it’s pitch black outside. The door opens and we are pushed out. Galaxy leads us to a desk with a man behind it.
“Kalyan, take them to cell eighty-four!”
“Yes, master Bill! Come, children. Your cell is this way.” We all follow Kalyan to a door with two numbers on it.
84
Kalyan unlocks the door and ushers us into a room that looks like a cross between a child’s bedroom and barracks. Two sets of bunk beds line one wall with a twin bed on the opposite wall. The paint is light blue and the ceiling is white. The floor is a beautiful hardwood with a large plush throw rug in the center. I see a whole series of rooms through a door next to the twin.
Kalyan turns to leave and walks to the door. Before he closes it, he turns and says a few words.
“This is your room for the next few days. Do not get on master Bill’s bad side. He will not let you live if you do. Goodbye children.” As soon as the door is closed and locked, and we can no longer hear Kalyan’s footsteps, we all collapse onto the beds. I end up on the twin. No one turns on the light.
“How come you guys are here?”
“We came looking for you, Stupid! After two days of Asteroid’s misery, she decided to go looking for you, so we went instead. She’s probably still crying in your room!”
“You’re right, Star. If we ever get out of here alive, I am never going to leave her again. But you’re sure she’s not here?”
“Yes, positive. Why?”
“I don’t want her to see this,” I say, gesturing to my bruised and broken body. Suddenly, I hear a terrifyingly familiar voice coming from the deepest, darkest, farthest corner.
“See what?”
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Day Fourteen: Asteroid
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I see Meteor tense and hear him curse my boots. His back is towards me. He relaxes and lowers his head. He turns and, running his hand through his bloody hair, faces me, his face is a mixture of shame, sorrow, and regret. His shirt is missing and his pant legs are torn off above the knee. My hands fly to my mouth.
“Oh, Meteor!” A long, deep gash runs down the length of his left leg, and a purple-blue bruise spreads across his hairline and down his temple. The rest of his body is covered in scratches, scrapes, bruises, and cuts. I lean against the wall and sink to the floor.
“Oh, Meteor.” A sliver of moonlight cuts across my face, illuminating the tears in my eyes which I refuse to let fall. Instinctively, Constellation closes the window blind, leaving me in darkness. My tears fall. Meteor strides over and kneels next to me. He picks me up and I wrap my arms around his neck, bury my head in his shoulder, and cry. Even in his weakness, he carries me over to the twin bed and sits down on it, with me on his lap. I pick my head up and look him in the eye. He starts to say something.
“Asteroid, I…” He never gets to finish because my mouth has found his. He tries to pull away but I won’t let him. I just keep kissing him. He again attempts to turn away but my emotions and sadness overwhelm me, forcing me to kiss him, darkness surrounding us. He eventually stops struggling, kisses me back and wraps his arms around my shaking, shivering shoulders.
Hours later, I wake up with a start. I can hardly see a thing. My head is on Meteor’s bare chest, his arms are still around me. I look up and see that he is still awake and looking at me.
“Go back to sleep, Aster. It’s all okay. I promise.”
“Meteor, what happened? Why did you leave?”
“Sweetheart, go to sleep. I’ll tell you in the morning, okay?”
“Meteor…”
“Go to sleep, sweet angel.” I rest my head against his broad shoulder and close my eyes.
“I love you, Meteor. I really love you.”
“I love you too, Aster. I love you too.”75Please respect copyright.PENANApodxhnd1q3