Page 13 of My Big Scaly Alien Naga
I really didn't know.And that frustrated me to no end.I needed more information so that I could make a decision.That seemed to be something that was important to me.I was learning more and more about myself.Not that it mattered if they caught me.I had a suspicion that I wouldn't stay alive for long if they did.
The message slowly faded until the green light turned back into small stars.They jumped up and down, as if impatient, and one started to move further into the dark tunnel.
I got to my feet.I wasn't going to sit here and wait.I needed to be active.Yes, it would make me even more exhausted, but I wasn't someone who would just give in like that.
Wasn't it funny how I knew exactly who I was, what I wanted and needed, but also had no idea about my past?
Putting one foot in front of the other was surprisingly difficult.My body felt heavy all over.Yet I continued on, following the stars, slowly but surely moving towards...something.
Venom's voice echoed in my mind.He and the monster were the only two people I had memories of.I certainly didn't want to think of the five-eyed alien, so instead I focused on Venom.For some reason, I trusted him.I hadn't seen him, didn't know who or what he was, but deep inside, I knew that he was on my side.I imagined him as a man, large and tall to match his deep voice, with curly hair and massive hands.He probably looked exactly the opposite, but for now, I clung to my imaginary hero, hoping that he might yet get me to safety.
One step left, one step right, one step left...
A small eternity passed.I paused every few minutes to listen for my pursuers, but the only sound was the echo of my footsteps.
I was so focused on not tripping over the cables and detritus on the floor that I almost didn't notice that the green stars had stopped moving.They hovered on one side of the tunnel, gently pulsing like living flames.There was no intersection or even a door, just a curved wall, indistinguishable from the rest of the tunnel.
"Why did you stop?"I muttered.The sound of my voice was almost as alien to me as the real aliens-slash-monsters out there.I'd not said much since waking in that metal coffin, and every time, I'd felt estranged from that voice that was supposed to be mine.Yet another thing that I had forgotten.Or maybe my voice was simply different from what it used to be, some kind of change caused by the coffin.I didn't know and didn't really care.
The green stars pulsed more intently.I stepped closer to the wall and ran my hands over the smooth metal, searching for hidden indentations that might suggest a doorway.Nothing.
But there had to be a reason why we'd stopped.
A bang echoed through the tunnel, followed by voices.
Fuck.They were coming for me.
I slapped my hands again the wall."Open!"I begged."Help me!"
The green light moved down until each star illuminated my hands.I didn't dare move.My skin itched slightly where the light touched it.Surely these guiding stars wouldn't turn on me now, at the very last moment?
The voices were coming closer.There had to be at least five or more people.Aliens.Beings.I didn't doubt for a second that they wanted me harm.
My heart hammered against my chest.I was terrified, but there was also something else in that maelstrom of emotion.
Anger.Rage.
I wasn't going to be taken back to the five-eyed monster.I hadn't come all this way only to fail.
My pinkie burned hot for a fraction of a second, then it sank through the wall.I stared at where my finger was encased by metal.
What the fuck?Two more fingers on my right hand disappeared.Then my entire hand.
Lights flashed in the distance.There was no time.
"Please let me through!"I whispered and pushed against the wall with all the strength I had left.My body burned searing hot, then I was through.I stumbled but just about caught myself.My eyes watered at the sudden influx of light.I blinked and blinked, trying to clear my vision.
I was no longer in the tunnels.I was in a goldfish bowl.
The walls in the pipe had been curved, but this room was an actual ball.I was standing in the centre of a milky-white globe about three times as tall as me.There was no furniture, no screens, nothing.
This had to be what Mr Bubbles had felt like.I felt sorry for the goldfish my parents had got me for my eighth birthday.
I sucked in a sharp breath.I'd drawn on a memory without even realising it.
An actual memory, with colours and smells and texture.I could see that goldfish bowl before my inner eye, could smell the fish food in its tub underneath, remembered the way Mr Bubbles stared at me with big judgy eyes.
A tear ran down my cheek.And it wasn't just because of the bright light.
