Page 11 of Stowaway to the Stars: A Duet
Chapter 8
Stephenieand Ee-rah slowly pulled away from each other.
“Was that…?” Stephenie asked, her question trailing off in confusion. She didn’t need to finish her sentence, as it turned out, because another scream filled the air.
Stephenie jumped to her feet. “That’s another human!” She started towards the door. “We have to get to them before someone else does!” She recalled the green alien that had found her before Ee-rah. She wasn’t sure what he had had planned, but she doubted it was anything like this. In fact, the creature looked downright frightening, angry at her very presence, and she was sure he would have killed her if it hadn’t been for Ee-rah.
“No!” Ee-rah surprised her by roaring. He grabbed hold of her arm to prevent her from darting towards the door. His eyes pleaded with hers, begging her to stop, to stay here. “You can’t leave. What if someone finds you? They could take you away…or worse.” A look of horror crossed at the thought. “You must stay here.”
“We can’t just leave them!” Stephenie cried, yanking her arm out of his grasp. “Someone could hurt them.”
“Someone could hurtyou.” He countered, icy eyes wild.
“Open the door, Ee-rah,” Stephenie said, yanking her arm free of his hold. His grip was so tight, she had to yank a few times before he actually let her go. “Let me out right now.”
“I-I can’t. What if someone finds you? They could take you away from me…”
“Let me out right now or I swear to God, I’ll scream.” Stephenie narrowed her eyes at him and sucked in a deep inhale, ready to let loose the second he refused to open the door.
The blue alien stood strong for a moment before his gaze finally softened. He marched over to the door area and waved his hand in front of a scanner on the wall. The door swooshed open.
The screaming continued, louder now that the door was open.
Stephenie darted out into the hallway with Ee-rah on her heels.
The ship was confusing; everything looked the same. The hallways were chrome, making the entire area nauseatingly like a house of mirrors. Stephenie could see her reflection following beside her, like a ghost trapped in the wall. She could also see Ee-rah was following right on her heels, and that made her feel a lot safer than if she had taken off in this alien ship by herself. With how reluctant he had been to let her leave the room, there was little doubt in her mind that he would protect her against anything they came across.
The screaming grew louder and louder until they came to a fork in the hallways.
A woman with dark brown hair stood alone, looking positively petrified at the sight before her. A gray alien of the same height and build as Ee-rah was advancing on her. His horns twisted high above his head, even taller and thicker than Ee-rah’s, and he towered over the woman, glaring down at her.
“Hey!” Stephenie cried before she could stop herself. “Leave her alone!”
Both the woman and the alien glanced in her direction.
Okay, maybe that wasn’t the best idea… She flinched when the alien’s dark, gray glare was now directed at her. She took a hesitant step back. “Fu…”
And then everything happened at once.
First, the gray alien turned from the dark haired woman and set his sight on Stephenie. He sent a growl in her direction and took a step towards her, speaking harsh words she could not understand.
Two, Ee-rah dove at the other alien, knocking them both to the ground with a huge thud that vibrated the entire hallway.
Three, Stephenie realized she knew exactly who the dark haired human was.
Darcy. Her roommate.
Chapter 9
“Darcy?Darcy!” Stephenie cried, running passed the wrestling monsters on the floor to embrace her best friend.
“Stephenie!” Darcy wrapped her arms around Stephenie’s neck and squeezed. “What the hell is going on? Where are we?” Her voice trembled as she spoke.
“I… don’t really know,” Stephenie admitted as she pulled back to examine her friend and make sure she wasn’t hurt. “It’s a long story. But we’ve got to get out of here. We’re not supposed to be here, and if anyone finds us… I don’t think it’ll be good.” She glanced up and down the empty hallways. Surely someone had heard the commotion and would soon come out to see what the problem was.
“Stephenie,” Darcy replied, breathless. She glanced down at the large aliens still wrestling at their feet. “What the hell are they? They look like…monsters, like demons or something. Did we open some sort of trap door and enter a new world- like in Monster’s Inc. or something?”
Despite everything, Stephenie rolled her eyes. Leave it to Darcy to relate something so serious and turn it into something ridiculous.. “Okay, but seriously. We have to get out of here- now.” She grabbed hold of Darcy’s arm and pulled her along, back down the way Ee-rah and Stephenie had just come from.At least, Stephenie hoped that’s where they were going… The hallways all looked the same to her.
