Page 2 of Stowaway to the Stars: A Duet
She couldn’t make out the words on the screen; they were written in the same language as the sign above the door. Her anxiety beat logic in the long run, and she ended up pressing one button at a time, waiting for something to happen. At first, the pad just made weird beeping noises in response.
Come on, come on…She mused to herself as she continued pressing different buttons that crossed the screen. Maybe this hadn’t been the best idea. What if she ended up locking it without realizing it? Why couldn’t she just think clearly sometimes? She always let her anxiety get the best of her, and that often got her into trouble. She paused for a moment to take a deep breath. It’s really hard to ground yourself when you don’t know where the hell you are. She pressed another button.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, she heard a hissing and a popping sound coming from the door in the wall, and slowly it slid open.
Chapter 2
Stephenieheld her breath as she took a step into what looked to be a long, empty hallway. It reminded her of something you’d see in a hospital, shining white without so much as a speck of dust and smelling of some sort of strong disinfectant. She glanced up and down the corridor, listening carefully, but it was as quiet as it had been in the storage area. The only thing she could hear was her uneven breathing and the frantic thumping of her heart in her chest.
Okay, so there goes the plane theory.She supposed that was a plus. If she wasn’t on a plane, then that should up the possibility of her being able to sneak out of wherever the hell this was… Right?
Which way should I go?She glanced up and down the hallway again, biting her lower lip. She couldn’t stay here. There was nowhere to hide; she was too exposed. After what seemed like forever, she decided to head down the left side.
The corridor seemed never ending. To Stephenie, it seemed to go on for miles. She didn’t know how long she had been walking when, eventually, the hall began to twist and turn until finally it opened into a large, open area. She was surrounded by hallways now, and they all met in the center, like some sort of sick house of mirrors.Fuck. Which way should I go NOW?She was lost now more than ever. What if she took the wrong turn and couldn’t find her way out again? She’d die of starvationor dehydration. She vaguely remembered reading a story about something like that on the news a while back.Stop! Focus. What now?
There was a loud shout from behind her, deep and garbled and throaty.
Stephenie glanced over her shoulder in the direction she had just come, and bile rose in her throat.
There was…athing…headed in her direction. She had never seen anything like it. It was large, easily twice her height, and a deep, forest green. It growled at her, displaying bottom fangs against its upper lip. Eight inch horns sprang from either side of its large head, and the only word Stephenie could think of was DEMON. It was like…like something out of a horror movie, something you’d need to exorcise to get rid of- and it was heading right towards Stephenie.
Stephenie couldn’t hold back her scream. As she was about to bolt through the open center and down another hallway, she tripped over a small ledge in the floor and fell to her knees. She quickly jerked around and struggled to crawl away backwards, never taking her eyes off the monster that was now almost close enough to touch.
“Please, no! Stop!” She raised an arm above her in a pathetic effort to shield herself from the creature.
Okay, Steph. You can wake up now. This is fucking crazy. This is fucking insane. This is what you get for double dosing melatonin before bed.
The creature was now directly in front of her. It glared down at her from its towering height. Stephenie could see its steaming breath. It let out another series of distorted gibberish, its voice deep and menacing. When she didn’t respond, he gestured wildly at her and spoke again. She could feel the vibrations from its tone rattle deep in her chest, and she automatically reached up to cover her ears from the deafening sound.
It paused and sniffed the air in her direction before letting out a snort. He sniffed the air again and reached his arm out to touch her, almost curious.
Stephenie gasped and kicked at the creature’s hand, scooting away as fast as she could. “Don’t fucking touch me!” She yelled, glaring at the creature that stood before her.
This did nothing more than piss the thing off. It seemed to glare at her and let out another grizzly like growl before raising its arm at her, reaching towards her, let again.
Stephenie gasped and raised her arm to cover her face in an attempt to protect her head from the creature’s grasp . She squeezed her eyes shut and waited to feel the sting of its claws against her skin… but it never came.
Slowly, she lowered her arm and opened her eyes.
The creature was still standing there, but this time something was different. Its swamp green eyes were no longer staring down at her in disgust. Instead, they were staring blankly ahead…
The creature’s body fell to the ground beside her with an earth-shattering thud.
Stephenie screamed and scurried away, never taking her eyes off the monster at her side.What the fuck?
She stared at the creature, lying face first on the floor. Green blood began to seep in her direction.
The sound of something sniffing drew her attention from the creature that lay beside her.
Another monster, the same size and build with the same tusks prodding from its bottom lip and horns from its head, stood in her attacker’s place. Except unlike the one who had just tried to touch her, this one was a dark blue with eyes the color of ice. And in its hands, it held some sort of weapon that resembled some sort of gun, like something she had seen in a sci-fi movie back home. Blue lights blinked on the side of the weapon, and it made a strange vibrating noise, as if it were powering down.
The beast stared down at her. She could just make out its chest rising and falling, could see the steam with every breath it took. The beast dropped the sword at his side, kicking it in her direction.
Stephenie wanted to scream. She wanted to get up and take off down one of the random hallways and try to find her way out of this terrifying place… but it was as if she were no longer in control of her own body.
The sight was… too much. Everything that had happened within the past few hours was justtoo much.
She felt her eyes roll backwards on their own and her head lull backwards against the metal floor, and then everything went black.
