Chapter 11: Making Acquaintances

It was a strange dream . . .

After all these years, I've never had one quite like this. It wasn't dark or scary like before but rather peaceful and content. At first, I couldn't see anything but darkness until a bright light shines through it and was growing brighter and brighter until it engulfed me. I squeezed my eyes closed from its intensity but when I had the courage to open them again, I was in a place so familiar that I almost believed it was real.

I was standing in the middle of a white room that was covered with drawings of all sorts of color. To me, they reminded me of something a child would make. I looked around and pass the pictures to know that it was some sort of laboratory like the ones I've seen at the Stargazer base. Everything looked clean but no equipment could be found. It was just one big, empty room until my eyes caught something in the middle of it.

Sitting down with legs crossed was a small child with long, brown hair. I couldn't see her face but I could tell it was a girl from her small voice humming loud. I peeked over her shoulder to see a blue crayon in her hand, drawing on a piece of paper with other colors on it but couldn't understand what she was making. I tried to get closer but my body refused to move.

"Anya! Where are you?"

Responding to my name, I turned around to see the same, greyish-black haired old woman that I've seen back when I was at Stargazer . . . when I touched my companion for the first time. My memory was becoming clearer. She was the one who took care of me when I was young. The only person who ever cared for me at all.

Her arms were crossed over her chest and her grey eyes revealed that she caught someone who was in trouble.

"Anya . . . what are you doing? Come here please."

"Coming, Mother!"

The last voice startled me and I looked back to see the girl on her feet, running in my direction but I could clearly see her face now. She had beautiful blue eyes that stared into my soul and it took me a moment to realize that it was me as a child again. It finally dawned on me that I was dreaming of my past.

My younger-self ran towards me and I was about to grab her until she passed right through me as if I was a ghost. I was shocked by it but I turned my body around to see myself stopping just in front of the woman, holding the drawing she was making earlier.

My mother looked down at her and I could see her expression change from serious to cheery. "Well, well, well. What were you drawing in your room?"

"I drew a picture of the night sky. Look, look, look!"

With such delight, she held it up towards my mother's face and she took it from her and looked at it. Her face widened with a huge smile and glanced back down.

"Well, Anya. It's a wonderful drawing. I would love to hang it in my office so that it will always remind me of you."

"Then take it. It was meant to be a present to you. I hope you like it."

The delight in my younger self's voice flowed through me and I took a huge breath of calmness that eased my body a little bit. My mother went down on her knees and spread her arms out towards my younger self with a huge smile. "Come here, sweetheart."

There was no hesitation as my younger-self jumped into her lap and they both wrapped their arms around each other. I could feel the joy radiating off of them like the sun's rays hitting my skin at dawn. I could only watch as they stayed in that position until my mother pulls away slightly and looks down at my younger self.

"I love the picture. It reminds me of the night sky. Why did you draw something like that?"

My younger-self looked up at my mother. "Because I love seeing the stars. They are beautiful as you. It feels like I can fly towards them, grab them in my hands and never let them go!"

My younger-self threw her hands up toward the ceiling like it was the night sky and giggled so loud that I began to do the same. The joy was filling me up from the inside. This dream was so lovely that I wished I didn't have to wake up.

My mother grabbed my younger self and squeezed her tightly in her arms like she didn't want to let go of this moment. Looking at both of them, a single tear emerged from my eye and slowly trickled down my cheek as I wiped it off with my hand. I almost forgot these moments after I escaped from the lab 10 years ago.

"So, do you ever dream of one day going to those stars? To see each and every one of them?"

My mother raised one of her eyebrows as she stares into my younger self's eyes. She answered her without any hesitation.

"Yes! One day, I'm going to fly into the sky and see every one of them that is out there. I will!"

My mother returned her arms back around my younger self and whispers.

"Someday, you will. Someday . . ."

Then, my dream was over as my vision turned white before darkness took over.

When I can open my eyes, I could see that it wasn't the white room that I dreamt of. Instead, I was lying on a large blanket that was spread out over a stone floor. I moved my eyes around to notice that I was in a large cave, glowing due to the firepit in the middle. I tried to remember the events before I fell asleep. The memory of Rory being scared, the soldier pointing the gun at his head, blood all over the floor and on my hands and then the growl from my companion.

When all if it rushed into my head, I began to panic but as I tried to stand up, my body was being pinned down by something wrapped around my waist. I twisted my head around to see what it was and that is when I saw a huge, green arm lying on me. I was very confused as I trailed it upwards and when I realized who it was, my heart skipped a beat.

Lying next to me was my companion who was still fast asleep. His chest rising and falling slowly in a calm manner while being pressed on my back so I could feel every single breath he took. I couldn't believe what I was seeing at that moment.

What the fuck is going on!?

Without delay, I pulled his arm off of me and scrambled away from him, trying to understand how I got to this point. Stirring from his sleep, my companion opens his eyes and stared at me with a leer. I didn't know if he was mad at me for waking up but I leered back in defense.

"Why are you here and lying next to me?"

He grunted in annoyance as he struggled to turn onto his back, still in obvious pain. I could only imagine that he's still recovering from his injuries. His dreadlocks clinked together from the metal bands on each one. The only thing that I noticed was that he wasn't wearing his armor, which left his chest bare for me to see. It was well toned and his muscles defined and I couldn't stop staring but my self-conscious signaled me to stop.

"Well?"

Again, he grunted but he answered this time. "Talk to your friends about this. They're the ones who moved us to this cave."

McKenna and everyone else?

His words did have some merit in them. I didn't remember being in the cave before and I did pass out during the drive so I must have been knocked out cold enough that I didn't notice them moving me but my companion? I thought for sure that they would get rid of him since I wasn't there to defend but deep down I was glad they didn't.

"But that doesn't explain why you were next to me."

"You were the one who wanted to be next to me. You just walked over and laid down without any regard from anyone else."

I swore that my cheeks turned red from the embarrassment of what I've done as the heat in them grew. I put the pieces together and realized that I moved towards him in my sleep. I turned and covered my face with my hands. My heart kept pounding harder and harder and I struggled to keep it under control.

"Are you alright?"

I removed my hands to see his face turned towards me. Again his golden eyes pierced into me, demanding an answer for what was happening to me. I took several deep breaths before I responded back to him.

"I'm fine. Just need to catch my breath."

We both stayed silent for a minute so I can slow down my heartbeat. My companion just remained still but I could feel that he was waiting for me. Another minute passed and when I could feel my heart slow down enough for me to think properly, I sat down on my knees a few feet away from my companion.

I looked around and noticed something. "Where is everyone?"

I couldn't see McKenna, Rory, Brackett or anyone else around so I couldn't help but wonder where they could be.

"They are outside doing something stupid. I will never understand what you oomans do sometimes."

For confirmation, I listened for any signs of life outside and sure enough, I can clearly hear Coyle making jokes about Baxley and both telling each other to fuck off. I chuckled a little bit. They never get bored of each other.

"What's so amusing?"

I could hear the tone of annoyance in my companion's voice so I could imagine that he frustrated about why I was amused about something he couldn't understand.

"Just the guys making jokes at each other. It's pretty funny to me but judging by your tone, you don't feel the same."

"I don't. Why would I?"

Again, I chuckled at his response and I could hear him growling with his mandibles twitched erratically. I wanted to say how I don't understand how he could move those things but I decided not to.

"Why do you keep making that noise?"

"You mean chuckling? Cause you're funny."

He growled low and lifted his hand to rub his eyes in frustration. I did my best to not chuckle again but it was hard. Just seeing him get annoyed by something so little was great to watch. But I still had other questions at asking him that was eating at my brain but then my companion growled menacingly at the entrance of the cave and I turned to see McKenna slowly walking towards me with concern written on his face.

"Hey, Anya. You're alive and awake. Are you alright?"

I nodded, giving him a small smile. "I'm fine. Just woke up actually. What's going on and why are we here?"

"We managed to lose those Stargazer soldiers when they were trailing us but the trailer lost a wheel and so we found this cave just a couple miles away that we could hide until repairs could be made."

"What about Rory? Is he okay?"

I remembered that the last time I saw Rory was when we were attacked and he must have been scared by the encounter but I was also afraid that he might be terrified of me now. After what I've done . . .

"He's alright. He wanted to stay with you until you awoken but your alien friend wouldn't let us near you."

I gave him a look of confusion. "What do you mean?"

McKenna shrugged his shoulders. "Well . . . we think you were sleepwalking cause you just waltz right to him and laid down. To our surprise, he just let you do what you like. We wanted to move you but then he growled at us and I didn't want Rory to get hurt so we left you both alone."

Why would my companion do something like that? It doesn't make sense.

McKenna continued on explaining things to me. "We figured that the alien didn't like us. We tried to see if he could understand what we were saying but nothing. We're just glad that he didn't hurt you."

When he said that my companion didn't understand him, I was surprised that my companion didn't speak out to him. He could easily understand me but wouldn't communicate to McKenna or anyone else. I wanted to tell him but then I glanced behind to see my companion looking at me like I shouldn't do it. I shook that thought out of my mind.

"I'm alright now and so is everyone else. That's all that matters but I have one question. Where is his armor?"

McKenna tilted his head to the side and lifted one of his eyebrows. "Why?"

"He might be angry cause you took his stuff earlier and now his armor is gone. He might feel more trusting if it was returned to him."

There was a long pause but eventually, he sighed and rubbed his eyes together. "Alright. We will as soon as Brackett is done with observing it."

Immediately, I was angry at the idea that Brackett was playing around with alien technology. It never ceases to amaze me how Brackett would ignore everything around her just so she could 'study' aliens and such.

"Why do you let her touch his stuff?"

"Why not? She isn't doing any ha—"

I stood up fast and punched the side of the wall with my fist. It did hurt and I knew a bruise would form later but I didn't care.

"Look. She shouldn't be touching it! She's a scientist of Stargazer and if she is allowed to look at it, then she will just exploit it for her own gain. Get the armor and bring it here or so help me, I will drag her down into the forest and feed her to the wolves!"

McKenna reacted quickly by raising his hands as if to show no ill will on his part. "Okay. I will get it but Brackett is going to make a big fuss and she will want an explanation about this."

I growled in warning. "Then I will tell her myself."

With no more words exchanged, McKenna walks out of the cave without looking back.

"What's gotten into you and why do you care about getting my armor?"

My anger disappeared when I looked towards my companion who was just staring at me but with confusion or at least I thought it was. I sat back down with my legs crossed, looking towards him while taking a breath to calm myself down.

"I just don't like scientists in general. They are selfish creatures who take what they want and give nothing back. Plus, it's your stuff and it's rude to take something that is someone else's."

"Are you sure that is all?"

I figured that he thought that I wanted to take the armor for myself but I made it clear to him that it wasn't the case.

"I'm not interested in the armor. I just want to make sure you get it back along with the wrist gauntlet and mask that McKenna stole earlier. I promised I would help you get them so I'm keeping my promise."

I put my head down silently, not wanting to make contact as he made the clicking noise again but I still have no idea of what it meant.

I didn't look back at him but more accurately, I couldn't. I had many reasons for not liking any scientist but I wasn't ready to talk about it. There were so many unknowns that I needed to attend to first. On that note, I looked down at my bandaged arm, rubbing it and I remembered the numbers it concealed but also the wound that spilled out my unusual blood.

He saw my moments and was staring at my arm. I was beginning to feel uncomfortable so I decided to change the subject and looked back at my companion once more, curious about something. "What is your name by the way?"

He clicked and rattled as he swung his head toward me. I was guessing that he wasn't expecting me to ask such a thing. "Why?"

"Cause it's important when two people meet each other. Plus, I don't think you appreciate being called an alien all the time. Would you?"

He snorted while his lower mandible expanded just a little bit before he looked back up to the ceiling. The gesture he made reminded me of someone having a twitch of their mouth, which showed irritation. I waited a bit but no answer came so I decided to change the subject.

"Does your body still hurt?"

My companion sighed heavily and I just waited until he looked into my eyes and a shiver went through my body once again but I just ignored it.

"A little . . . It might take a little longer to heal than I thought."

"I can't blame you. It was a hard hit you took during that battle. I just don't get why you would fight, knowing that he was bigger and stronger."

He grunted at my words. "Any honored hunter will fight to the death, even if the odds are against him."

"That's all?"

"That's all."

I could hear in his voice that there was a strong conviction inside him. Even when faced with death, he didn't hesitate to fight for what he believed in. I wondered if I would ever feel the same way as him. He's strong . . .

"I'm wondering . . . How come you didn't speak out towards McKenna and the others when they moved you and me into the cave? You could of easily tell them to not do so."

"They are just prey and don't deserve to be on equal grounds with me so I just don't talk to them."

"But you talk to me and I'm the same as them. Why am I different?"

At that moment, I saw something that I never have seen before with my companion. He moved his mandibles slowly but in a weird way. They were crossing over each other but his eyes are what told me the whole reason why he was acting like that. They showed hesitation within them but also uncertainty like he was conflicted in telling me. Eventually, he relented.

"Cause you saved me three times already and shown great skills as a warrior. Especially with me and the Bad Blood. You have proven your worth."

When he said that and in such a tone that shown truth in his words, I blushed and turned away from him. It sounded like he praised me indirectly but was still the same nonetheless.

I was about to ask him something else until a growl was heard between us. It wasn't coming from my companion and when it happened again, I became embarrassed as I realized it was my stomach.

"Is something wrong?"

I tried to hide my face from his gaze as I told him he reason behind the growls. "Everything's fine. I'm just hungry."

I totally remembered that I haven't eaten anything for a few days and could explain why I was more tired than usual. I needed to hunt for some food so I stood up and turned, heading for the exit.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to hunt for some food. I need the fresh air and exercise and you probably need to eat too. I'll be back soon."

I walked for a bit and was about to exit the cave when my companion suddenly spoke.

"My name is Lar'ja-din but you can call me Lar'ja."

I turned around suddenly, filled with shock and surprise mixed together inside of me. I didn't think he would ever give his name just like that but he did.

"What does it mean?"

He answered without letting another moment pass by.

"It means 'Dark One' in your language."

We both stared into each other until I gave him a genuine smile. Finally, I was earning his trust and now I could put a name to his face. The calmness seeped into me and I was happy that he told me his name. It also suits him since his skin looked darker than anything I've seen before.

"Nice to meet you Lar'ja. My name is Anya."

He just gave a simple bow of his head but it was enough for me. I bowed my head back to him and he gave a small purr in my direction. Somehow, every time he would make that sound, it had an immediate effect, filling me with content inside my chest.

"Thank you."

After that, I turned back around and stepped out of the cave, seeing another bonfire close by with everyone else huddling close to it and making small talk. No one saw me coming until Rory turned to see me, jumping out of his seat and racing to greet me.

"Anya! You're okay!"

He wrapped his arms tightly around my waist and I greeted him back with the same gesture. Soon, everyone was surrounding me, asking if I was alright. Especially with Nettles since he's always concerned for any female's safety.

"You . . . are . . . okay?"

"Yes, Nettles. I'm feeling better actually."

"We thought you hit the bucket or else Baxley wouldn't have anyone else to protect him from my jokes. But then again, his mommy wouldn't mind it."

Somehow, Coyle manages to get Baxley and his mother into our conversations and it was starting to get boring.

"Why don't you fucking . . . suck, suck, SUCK IT!"

"Suck your cock? I think your mother can handle that!"

Coyle just laughed hysterically along with the others who followed suit but I was glad everyone was having a great time, even in our situation. So I began to laugh as well.

"At least our Sleeping Beauty has decided to grace us with her presence. At least for me."

I rolled my eyes at Nebraska for that remark. I swear that he's trying to flirt with me but I wasn't interested in him. I wouldn't date him in a million years and even if he waited, I would die before that would happen.

"I'm here now but I need to go hunting. Haven't eaten in days and with our current situation, we can't exactly go out to a restaurant."

McKenna nods in agreement. "She's right. With Stargazer tracking us, we can't risk putting ourselves in public so hunting would be best. I'll go with you then."

As much as I enjoy everyone's company, I wanted to hunt alone since it would give me time to think as well. "It's okay McKenna. I can hunt alone and bring food for everyone."

"But—"

"No butts. I know these woods better than anyone and I know where to find prey. Just stay on the lookout for anything suspicious."

I could see McKenna wanted to say something else but I knew that it was better this way. "Alright, but take my rifle along with your knife. It has a silencer so you can use it in your hunt."

He grabs the rifle that was leaning on the tree and places it on my shoulder. I smiled in gratitude for the weapon. "Thanks, McKenna. I will use it well."

McKenna smiles back and pats my shoulder in reassurance. I let go of Rory who was still attached to me and patted his head and begun to walk towards the forest. However, the least person I wanted to see comes bursting out of a tent that was nearby, stomping in anger until Brackett reaches me.

"What right do you have to take the armor while I was studying it?"

While she was speaking out, I watched Lynch holding Lar'ja's armor along with his mask and gauntlets on top of it. We didn't exchange words but we looked at each other eyes and knew that he was taking it to the entrance of the cave. At least Lar'ja had his stuff back.

I was interrupted when Brackett's voice breaks through my thoughts.

"I was studying the armor so we could have a better understanding on what we're up against. Then suddenly, I was told that you wanted to give the predator's armor back and now, I have nothing"

"It was not your to study on. It belongs to him and you have no authority to stop me."

"You don't have the authority to tell me what to do. You're just a child."

I was in such a good mood until you showed up. Now, I need to teach you a lesson.

I walked closer to Brackett until our noses were almost touching. She was a bit taller but it didn't bother me at all. I wanted to make sure who she was messing with.

"I don't listen to you. The only reason that you're here is that I saved your life from the alien and Stargazer who wanted to kill you."

Brackett wanted to get one last word in but I stopped her. I don't have time for this. I'm going to hunt for food so get out of my way."

"Or what? You're just some little girl who chooses a predator over your own kind. You're just as much of a monster as that thing inside the cave."

That was the last straw I could take from Brackett. Before she could react, I slapped her across her face and on her cheek. The impact sends her falling to the ground in pain, holding her cheek with one hand. All I did was look down and stared at her with all the anger inside me but I only had one thing to say.

"Shut the fuck up."

I moved around her and without looking back at everyone's reaction, I disappeared into the cold night, setting my mind to look for good prey like deer or elk. Little did I knew that something else was hunting me that night, watching me with piercing golden eyes and ready for the time to strike.

Hi Readers!

Hope everyone is safe and well. We now got a name to go with our Fugitive predator and got a strong bond growing between him and Anya! I really wanted to name him something that connects with me so I hope you like it. I want to give credit to Colorful Crayola for helping me pick out a name for him. Thank you very much!

I wanted to post this chapter early cause this week is Thanksgiving and I'll be celebrating with my family for the remainder of the time so I won't be able to post another chapter until the end of next week.

Don't worry . . . I will post another chapter as well for Break Free before Thanksgiving so all of my stories will be up to date.

Again, I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving (if you don't celebrate it then Happy Holidays lol) and enjoy spending time with your families.

ENJOY! :)))))