Page 3 of Stowaway to the Stars: A Duet
Chapter 3
Stepheniegroaned, rolling over and burying her face in the pillow her head rested on. Her temples pounded, and the light that filtered brightly through her closed eyelids was almost too much to handle.Oh, thank God,she thought.It was all just a dream- a creepy nightmare.
She found herself slightly disappointed that she’d actually have to take her psychology exam today, but she supposed that was much better than the alternative: being attacked by some sort of green monster beast.
She squeezed her eyes shut and pulled the blanket over her head, burrowing deeper into the bed. She willed herself back to sleep, but it was no use. After a few minutes of trying, it was clear her body was not going to listen. Besides, she needed to get out of bed anyway. The last thing she wanted was to be late for school. She just knew her Professor would have a fit if she arrived late on exam day- hell, he probably would fail her just for her tardiness, the asshole. She shuddered to think of the possibility of losing her scholarship over something as trivial as oversleeping.
“Alright, Steph,” she said out loud in between yawns. “Time to get up…”
She tossed the blanket off her and sat up in bed. It took her a moment to register her surroundings.
This was definitely not her dorm room, and she was not in her own bed.
The room she was in was much larger than her university dorm. Where hers was little more than a closet space barely able to fit a bunk bed for her and her roommate to share, this was large and spacious. The walls were white and sterile, and other than the few hooks that held what looked like extra large beach towels, they were devoid of any sort of individuality or uniqueness. A desk sat in the far corner with some sort of projected television or computer screen on the wall in front of it.
The bed she sat in was built into one of the walls and reminded her of the type of bunks you’d see in a prison cell, as creepy as the thought was. The blinding fluorescent lights shone from above, like one giant bulb built into the ceiling instead of tiles you’d normally see. There were no windows; it was like a cage or a box. The thought made Stephenie’s chest tighten, and the feeling of claustrophobia was slowly creeping up on her.
She didn’t know where the hell she was, but she knew she had to get out of here and fast.
There was a popping, followed by a hissing sound, and a door slid open within the wall to the right of her.
Stephenie felt her breath catch in her throat, and she struggled to swallow back a scream.
The same blue monster from her dream stepped into the room.
He was bigger than she had originally thought. He towered over her, easily close to eight feet tall. Sharp looking horns raised from both sides of his head, thicker at his scalp and then ending in thinner points at the top. His face was…human like- if it wasn’t for the blue skin and even darker blue tattoos. They started above his eyebrows and branched out down his temples and across his cheekbones, and continued down his chest and across his shoulders. They reminded Stephenie of leopardprints. His hair was long, and the darkest black Stephenie had ever seen; it, too, shone blue in the light from above.
He stared at Stephenie from his place in the doorway as if he were studying her just as she was studying him.
Stephenie shuddered and pushed herself into the corner of the bed, cowering within the pillows and blankets. What was this…this thing? And what did he want withher?
He narrowed his icy eyes at her before grumbling in some unknown language and stomping in the direction of the desk. To Stephenie’s astonishment…she saw he had a long, forked blue tail that was twitching like a cat behind him.
“Um… Hello?” Stephenie asked hesitantly.
The creature didn’t bother to turn. In fact, it was almost like he was going out of his way to ignore her. He continued his poking and prodding at the projected computer screen.
Stephenie slowly slid from the bed, setting her feet carefully on the ground. How had she not realized she was barefoot until now? The hard, metal floor was cold on her feet. She focused on that sensation, using it to ground herself in the present like her therapist had taught her.
“Hello?” She tried again, this time taking a hesitant step in the creature’s direction. When he stilled at the sound of her footsteps, she froze. “Where am I?”
He glanced over his shoulder at her and scuffed, as if her very presence was annoying to him. He finally turned around and glared down at her. When he spoke, his voice was harsh and unintelligible.
“I…don’t understand.” Stephenie sighed in defeat. “I don’t understand any of this.” She stomped back to the bed and flung herself down in annoyance. “The last thing I remember,” she continued, “was going to bed early. And then…and then I woke up here.” She gestured around the chamber. “Well, nothere, but in some sort of storage area. I was in this glass box thing… Ithink… and then some green monster tried to kill me! And then you stepped in and…” She glanced back up at the blue being who was staring curiously down at her. “Yousavedme.”
When she could tell he had no idea what she was saying, she sighed again and tried a different route. “You,”she mouthed, pointing at him. “Saved me.”She then gestured to herself. “You saved me,” she said all at once after her pathetic attempt at signing. Geez, she should have taken ASL instead of Latin in high school. Wait- would that even matter? Obviously, the thing didn’t speak English, so it was a pretty strong possibility that it wouldn’t speak sign language either. God, she could be such an idiot.
The creature only blinked, and Stephenie was about to give up hope of any sort of communication between the two, but then it was his turn to gesture. He pounded on his chest with a closed fist and then pointed in her direction.
“Ee-rah,” he said, pounding on his chest again. “Ee-rah.”
“Ee-rah?” Stephenie asked, even more confused than before. The creature nodded once and repeated the word, pounding on his chest a little harder now. “Okay, okay…” Stephenie said, raising her hands in an effort to calm him down. “Is that your name?”
“Ee-rah,” he replied, and then he pointed at her. “Ee-rah?” This time it sounded like a question.
“Um… Stephenie.” Stephenie said, pointing at her own chest. “Steph-e-nie.” She pronounced it slowly, hoping he would catch on.
“Seph-e-knee,” the creature repeated with a slight lisp on the letter S.
