What Lies Beyond- Chapter 7: Sympathy for the Devil

NOTES:

Originally released February 2020. I've always liked this chapter, and some scenes were drafted during the story's infancy. It's one of the most polished chapters I've put out.

"You tricked me; it was fun. But be sure that my turn will come."

,.~*~.,

Day 31

,.~*~.,

Kai was pacing again. He was a night owl by nature, and this was the only way he could handle the nights while his brain was active- which it usually was. He'd been trying to stay off the computers past lights-out (the endless halls creeped him out in the dark), but boy was it difficult to go to bed this early. Nine-thirty? Nine-shmirty. Nine-thirty was when Kai was the most awake. All he wanted to do right now was... well, something! But all he could do was pace. And talk to himself, which he knew Mira hated. He was trying to keep his voice to a low mutter so she wouldn't be bothered. It wasn't working.

"Kai!" Mira hissed. "I told you, you need to stop doing that."

"I gotta talk to myself, Mira," Kai whisper-snapped back. "It's the only way I can work through my thoughts and fall asleep this early!"

Mira sighed tiredly. "The only way you're going to fall asleep is if you lay down in that bed and shut up."

Kai folded his arms. "Pff! Easy for you to say..." he grumbled.

"If you have to talk, why don't you pace outside?"

Kai gulped. "Outside? At night?" While it was dark and the creaking noises from downstairs were even creepier? Plus all the potential ghosts that could be hanging around? "No thanks!"

"You'll be fine. There's some light out there," whispered Mira. "Just walk down the hall for a while. Maybe stop by the kitchen and get a snack if it'll help."

"Not hungry," Kai grunted.

"The point is you need to wind down. Staring at those computer screens all day must be keeping your brain active."

"I've always been a night owl!"

"You've also always been a mouse potato." Mira sighed, turning over in her pod. "You don't have to lie down. But whatever you decide to do, keep it quiet. OK?"

Kai sighed through his nose. "OK. I'll try." He glanced at the door, again considering Mira's suggestion. She was right, though he hated to admit it to himself. But the dark hallway... being alone out there with that horrible metallic groaning. Still, he didn't want to keep Mira awake. Finally, the idea of finding favor with Mira became more appealing than hiding from the imaginary ghosts that may have haunted the halls after dark, and Kai headed for the door.

Cautious, he poked his head outside. He swallowed. It was dark. Really dark. Dim lights along the perimeter lit the path ahead, so at least he could see the floor. There was no risk of walking into a wall. This knowledge soothed Kai's nerves enough for him to step out and silently shut the door behind him.

Kai took a few cautious footsteps forward. The more he walked, the quicker his pace became, until he was at a casual walking pace. He kept his eyes to the floor to make sure he stayed on the path. After a few minutes, his eyes adjusted to the dimmer light. Soon he walked with confidence through the dark hall, chattering to himself at full volume.

It wasn't long before he spotted a glowing light from somewhere down the hall. Wonder what that is? Kai crept forward, dreading the prospect of a ghost but knowing that was probably not the case. To his relief, the light came from the staircase- thankfully not from some supernatural creature.

Although he hated to venture too far from the room, he had to admit the light was much more appealing than the dark hallways, even if his eyes had adjusted. Besides, a quick run up and down the stairs could get him beat enough to sleep. Kai huffed, swiped his overgrown bangs aside (decided right then to talk to Adam about cutting them for him because that dude knew how to keep his hair looking good), and marched toward the stairs.

Kai had no plan; no idea where he was going. He ambled down the stairs until he found a floor with a nice, even number- 50. He balked. Wasn't that the floor where Mira and Adam had found the smashed pod? The one where they thought they'd found a dead body? He'd heard Mira relay the tale a couple of times now. She always made it sound so creepy, even though there hadn't been a body. At least the lights worked on this floor now, right?

Kai edged open the door and poked his freckled nose through the gap. The floor lights were active. Seemed normal enough. It wasn't creepy at all... well, aside from the fact that it was yet another dark and endless hallway. Kai slipped through, quietly shut the door behind him, and began his stroll.

Although Kai had been blethering nonstop the entire way down, something about this floor made him shut up. Maybe it was the dingy, broken-down walls, the scattered debris on the floor, or the fact that this was new territory for him. He didn't know, but it was spooky down here. Fear tingled up his spine, like someone had just run their cold, clammy fingers across his back. Kai shuddered, biting his lip to calm himself. "Come on, Kai. Don't be a baby," he murmured. He squared his shoulders and marched forward. "You're a man now. Men aren't scared of the dark."

He trudged through the hallway, hands shoved into his pockets out of sheer defiance. Kai knew he'd be unable to defend himself with his hands in his pockets in the (admittedly unlikely) event that a monster jumped around the corner to attack him, but he'd be defenseless against a monster anyway, so why should he care? ...Right? OK, that was not a comforting thought. Besides, there was no-one else on the AARC but him, Mira, and Adam. Ghosts, sure. Monsters... probably not.

Unless the yellow flash wasn't just a glitch.

Kai hurled a mass of flames at that thought. The last thing he needed right now was something else to worry about. Kai gritted his teeth. "Men aren't scared of the dark. Men aren't scared of the dark. Men aren't scared of the daaaAAAAAHH!" A particularly loud metallic creak from below sent Kai flailing backwards. He smacked back into one of the doors. A softer creak followed the first one. Kai caught his breath, slumping. "Idiot," he muttered to himself. Some man he was, freaking out over such a familiar noise. It was louder down here, sure, but still the same recognizeable sound.

After grumbling about how much of a loser he was, Kai regained his composure and examined his surroundings. The ceiling looked OK. Some of the bulkheads were kinda off. Not crooked, but... off. OK, maybe a couple of them were sort of crooked. There was a kiosk right across from him. Cool. And he was leaning against a door. He stepped back from the door to check it out. The door was... well, like every other door in this place. Compared to the roughed-up state of the rest of the level, this door was remarkably plain.

Kai idly jostled the doorknob. To his surprise, it didn't budge. "Huh?" He rattled it harder. No effect. Kai scratched his head. He could have sworn the doors were always unlocked. Unless this one was just... randomly stuck. Weird.

A whisper. Kai froze. His gaze darted from side to side in the black hallway, too scared even to breathe. Another whisper- closer this time. Very close. Kai gulped. He could feel his knees begin to clatter. Oh no. What if he'd walked into a trap? What if there were ghosts down here and his suspicions were right all along? Imagine that! Real ghosts! Real SPACE ghosts! Adam was going to love this. If Kai survived, anyway.

Scrape.

Oh gosh... was that the door? Kai wanted to scream.

The knob rattled once. Then the door flew open in a burst of light. Kai wailed and stumbled backwards, landing onto his butt with a thud. He scrambled against the wall and gazed up at the petite figure before him, a bent metal pole grasped firmly between her palms. Her crystal-blue eyes widened at the sight of the scrawny redhead on the ground before her.

Kai's eyes widened as well. "V... Vanessa?" An uneasy feeling rose in his chest.

Relief flitted over her face. "Oh! Kai, it's you!" She held out a hand to help him up. Kai only glared at it. "Sorry for scaring you like that."

Kai grunted and stood up on his own, keeping his icy eyes glued on Vanessa. "I can help myself up, thanks," he dismissed coldly.

Vanessa's eyebrows rose as she gazed up at him. "Wow. You've gotten taller," she remarked.

"Have I?" Kai inquired, caught off guard by the statement. So that was why Mira had been looking so much shorter as of late. He'd have sworn they'd been roughly the same height before. Well, that solved one mystery, at least.

"And your voice has gotten deeper," the girl added.

Kai grabbed his throat. "Has it?" he squeaked.

Vanessa frowned. "Not by much."

Kai drooped. "Oh." His tone hardened when he remembered he was talking to Vanessa. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I'm on guard duty for the others," said Vanessa.

"The others?" Kai questioned. "Reeve and Skeet are here too?"

"Yeah." Vanessa leaned casually against the wall. "We all woke up in these pods a few days ago and none of us knows where we are. We've been hearing noises outside the whole time but... we've never seen anything."

Kai narrowed his eyes. "Uh-huh."

"So, is your team here too?"

"Yep," answered Kai. "But we've been here a lot longer than two days. More like... three weeks. Or a month. I'm not sure."

Vanessa brightened. "Any idea where we are, then?"

A surge of anger ignited inside Kai's chest. "And why should I tell you anything?" he snapped.

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Kai, get over it already. We're not in the Hollow now. There's no need to be so hostile."

Kai bit his tongue. It doesn't matter whether we're in the game- you've tricked me once before, he wanted to say. Why should I trust you with anything, much less information? Yet on some level, he knew she was right. What harm would it do to tell her what he knew about this place? "OK. We're on some sort of huge space complex called the AARC. Don't know why. None of us can remember."

Vanessa giggled. "A space complex? Are you serious?"

"Yes!" Kai exclaimed. "And I don't know what we're doing here so don't ask."

"Well." Vanessa shifted her weight onto her other hip. "Since you don't seem to be starving, I assume you guys know where we can find food?"

Kai raised an eyebrow. "You mean you guys haven't found any?"

Vanessa folded her arms. "OK. To be fair, we haven't gotten very far from where we woke up, no thanks to Skeet. But when we found something that looked like a kitchen, there wasn't anything there."

"Maybe your food generator is broken," Kai said. "Ours works like a charm."

Vanessa reached out to grab Kai's arm, which he pulled away. "Please, Kai! You have to take us to it," she begged.

"Um, no," Kai refused. "I'll bring you guys some. Just... wait here."

"And when it's gone?" Vanessa questioned. "How will we get any more?" Her voice was unsteady. It was clear from her tone that she was desperate.

Kai narrowed his eyes. "I'll see what I can do about your food generator in the morning," he told her. "But Adam would have a fit if I dragged you and your cohorts up to our level."

Vanessa relented with a sigh. "All right. I'll be waiting right here."

Kai nodded and jogged away. Of all the things Kai thought he might find on a lower level of a creepy abandoned space station at night, this was the last thing he expected. On one hand, he was glad it wasn't a ghost. On the other, he liked Vanessa even less than the prospect of the paranormal. He didn't like the way she made him feel. She didn't scare him. He didn't just not enjoy her company. What he felt for her was nothing short of resentment.

So why was he helping her?

Maybe, he thought, he had some sympathy for the devil. And he didn't know whether that was a good or a bad thing.

,.~*~.,

Kai dug furious fingers through his hair, panting after the long run. He skimmed over the many choices in the compartments before him, frantic to find something fast. What should he get for them? What sorts of food did they like? Oh, what did he care? He just had to make sure he got enough to hold them over until morning.

Bananas? No, those never lasted long. Apples would be a good start. Kai opened the container of apples, then paused again. How many apples would he need? Two for each sounded like a good enough number at first. But then, Skeet was a big guy, so he might need more than that- maybe three. Two... four... seven.

Kai removed one apple after the other and set them on the table. After he'd closed up the apples, he searched for something else with a little more energy than apples. Peanuts- perfect. But where should he put them?

As Kai was looking around for a bag, he failed to notice the tall, slim figure step into the kitchen from behind. Kai muttered under his breath as he continued his search. "Bag... bag... something. Ugh... Gotta be here somewhere..."

"Awful big midnight snack you've got there, Kai," Adam remarked.

Kai yelped and spun around. "Wha... what? Who?"

Adam flicked on the light. "You plan on eating all those by yourself or am I invited to the party?"

Kai blinked. "Oh. These?" He pointed at the apples. "Those aren't for me."

"Then you don't mind if I..." Adam scooped up one of the apples.

"No! I mean, yes! They aren't for you, either."

Adam tossed the apple and caught it again in his other hand. "Then... who are they for?"

Kai swallowed and scratched the back of his head. "Um..." He had meant to wait to tell the others about Vanessa in the morning. But, he guessed, since he was confronted now, there was no time like the present. "I was out walking in one of the lower levels cause I couldn't sleep. And... I ran into Vanessa."

Adam's eyes became like black flint. "Vanessa's here?" he hissed.

"Yeah. And Reeve and Skeet too. They just woke up two days ago and they don't have any food down there. I was..."

"You were going to bring them some of ours." His tone was sharp. Disapproving.

Kai nodded. "Y... Yeah. I thought it would be better than dragging them up here. Right?"

Adam didn't respond, though he was plainly tense. He turned the apple in his hand. The stony look in his eyes remained, even as he inspected the fruit.

"I was gonna feed them tonight and fix their generator in the morning. Then they'll be out of our hair. Promise."

Adam seemed to relax, though his features stayed hard as before. He looked up at Kai and bit into the apple, much to Kai's annoyance- but he dared not say anything when Adam was like this. "Fine," he acquiesced. Kai's shoulders fell in relief. "But I'm coming with you."

Kai gulped. Normally he wouldn't object, but... Adam was scary tonight. "Why?"

Adam shrugged. "I want to know where they are. Besides, I'm awake, aren't I?" He took another bite of the apple with an intense lift of his eyebrow.

"Yeah." Kai coughed nervously. "Thanks." He unlocked the peanuts. "So... wanna carry the peanuts or the apples?"

,.~*~.,

After they'd acquired two spare t-shirts to use as bags, Adam and Kai had decided to divide the load half and half: Three apples for each, and half the peanuts. Peanuts which, still to Kai's annoyance, Adam insisted on snacking on as they made their way down.

"Do you mind?" Kai hissed. "I specifically remember telling you this food wasn't. For you."

"Calm down, Kai," Adam whispered. "They aren't going to know if there's a few peanuts less than what we started with."

"Maybe not," Kai whispered back. "But it's a long way down and if you keep going at that rate, there might not be any peanuts left in your bag by the time we get there, and that would look very suspicious."

Adam sighed. "Fine," he clipped. He tossed a final handful of peanuts into his mouth. Kai restrained an irritated growl.

At last, the two reached the spot where Kai had left Vanessa. She must have gone back inside the room, Kai realized- she was nowhere to be seen. He knocked on the door. "Vanessa, it's me."

Three seconds later, the door opened up. But instead of Vanessa answering the door, it was Reeve. His dark pupils shifted from Kai to the food bags to Adam. "Vanessa never said you were bringin' him," Reeve stated. His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Kai let out a nervous chuckle. "Never said I couldn't bring him," he retorted.

Reeve held out one hand. "Hand over the food and be on your way," he demanded.

"Hold on, Reeve," said Vanessa from behind the door.

The lanky teen glanced back. "Kai brought a friend," he announced.

"That's fine! We aren't on opposing teams anymore. Don't be so suspicious." Vanessa groaned and yanked the door open, forcing Reeve to step aside. She nodded at Adam. "That goes for you too." Adam frowned even harder at her. "Come in. We'll show you we've got nothing to hide." She turned around and sauntered away from the door.

Kai was about to step inside, but Adam's blocky hand stopped him. The taller teen walked in first. Kai glared blisters into the back of his friend's neck. Was he always this much of a jerk this time of night? Because Kai had almost had it with him already.

As Kai stepped inside, he saw that the room looked almost identical to the one where he and his friends had woken up, save the fact the pods were on the opposite side of the room and that there was some damage done to the walls. Skeet sat in front of the center pod, arms wrapped around his knees. He turned his head in Adam and Kai's general direction, but his blue eyes appeared unfocused.

"Hey Skeet. Kai and Adam are here with food," Vanessa alerted him.

"Thought you said it was just Kai coming," Skeet stated.

"I decided to tag along," said Adam.

"Oh. Makes sense." He rested his chin on his knees and stared straight ahead.

Kai frowned. Skeet spoke with none of his usual strength. He sounded tired and unmotivated, and didn't look as if he could care any more about getting to eat than he would getting to starve to death. "You OK there, Skeet?" he found himself asking.

Skeet's brow furrowed, though he still did not look at Kai. "I'm fine."

Vanessa motioned toward the pod closest to the door. "You can set the food there," she said. "I'll divide it up."

"I hope none of you have a peanut allergy," said Kai as he set down his bag.

"I don't think so," said Vanessa. She folded her arms and nodded with approval toward the offering. "Thanks. This will really help." She picked up two apples and tossed them to Reeve. He caught them with ease and strolled off to the furthest corner of the room to eat them.

Vanessa picked up two more apples, but instead of throwing them to Skeet, she walked over to him and handed them to him directly. The punk felt over the apples and brought one to his mouth. His gaze never shifted from its straightforward position. "Now maybe you'll try to get up and walk again," Vanessa said to him as she strolled back toward Kai and Adam. She picked up the final two apples and smiled sweetly at the boys. "Thanks again. Guess we'll be seeing you tomorrow then, Kai?"

Unfortunately. "Yeah," said Kai. He took a final glance at Skeet. "Yeah, guess you will."

As Adam herded him back toward the door, Kai saw Skeet shake his head firmly. "I won't," he murmured darkly.

Adam must have noticed Skeet's odd behavior as well, for as soon as the two friends were on their way back up the first set of stairs, he mentioned it. "What's up with Skeet?" he questioned.

"He was definitely acting weird," Kai agreed. "He looked... I dunno, sick."

"Vanessa did imply he hadn't done much walking," said Adam. "You may be onto something."

Kai straightened his shoulders. That was the nicest thing he'd heard Adam say all night.

"But why them?" Adam questioned. "Why are they the only ones here besides us?"

Good question, Kai realized with a jolt. He gasped. "You don't think they're... um..." What was he even trying to ask? He certainly didn't know. He just felt like this might be bad.

"I don't know what they're doing here," Adam rumbled. "But I'm gonna find out."

,.~*~.,