Chapter 16

Dr Lionel had an office in the centre of town. B.E.N and I got there by bus but since it was late afternoon, the town roaring with life. Smoke came from nearly every building of colour, buses and hover crafts flitted around the crowded streets, street sellers and performers yelled, children screamed and cried. All the shops along the streets were bustling with crowds, the daily commuters in and out for supplies, ships either lazily or flashed over our heads in all different shapes and sizes.

"We are nearly there, just 0.6 miles to go," B.E.N was in front, dodging pet walkers, some pets as tall as their owners.

How will I find her in this? Its bursting with aliens, she will fit right in.

Walking down a flight of stone steps, I overheard a few aliens with multiple eyes chatter over a few tankards of something dark, and a word stood out. "Silver."

I let B.E.N walk ahead as I bent, pretending to fiddle with my boots as I heard them discuss further. They were only on about a few silver pocket watches that they were hoping to sell for big money.

It was crazy, I hear the word 'silver' and I'm transfixed, as if I would drop out of the sky mid-flight.

I missed him. The closest replacement or impression of a fatherly figure, and as selfish as it sounded, I wanted that thrill of adventure back. I guess Ariel was giving me it, just the other day I was stabbed through the chest, and now here I am after the doctor that helped me who is a suspect in her kidnapping.

Morph had vanished a few weeks after Silver departed. He slept soundlessly near my bedside, mumbling his dreams in his gibberish, floating like a cloud by my side for days.

The next thing I knew, I woke up to find the window open slightly and a strange mark of my cheek. I knew all too well that the mark was that of Morph's when he kissed. I guess he didn't enjoy his time with me, and searched for something better. I missed him just as much as I missed Silver.

"Jimmy!" B.E.N shouted from a street away, how I managed to hear him from the chorus of communication I do not know. "Here! It's just down this street!" I caught up with him fast, dodging flailing arms and around children and hopping over tails.

By B.E.N, I saw a big white building with loads of windows, it was the whole practice.

Inside was sickly warm from the heat outside, B.E.N however did not feel the difference, of course. The receptionist was a human, with curly red hair close to her head with a friendly face. A floating computer rested in front of her, a waiting area just beyond her.

"Hello," B.E.N was quick to talk, the receptionist smiling politely. "This here is…" B.E.N, only I could see, placed his finger at the back of the computer, to a component, a flash of white happened. "Bertie Longley, here to see Dr. Lionel Gurgon."

"I'm sorry, but Dr. Gurgon is currently away at the minute. Shall I have another Dr. attend to you? I could fit you in later?"

"Thank you, that'll be great." I punched in, and hurried to a set of lonely seats at the back of the waiting area, B.E.N following close behind, the smell of burning and disinfectant lingering low.

"What now?" B.E.N asked, leaning in close.

"What do you think?" I cocked a brow. "We're going to find her, get out your chest panel." While B.E.N began to tap away on the metal plate that reacted with beeps to his touch, a loud hover craft was heard outside from where we sat. I craned my neck to see the entrance, but only saw aliens flowing through suddenly.

I stood and paced to the edge of the waiting area to get a better look, the hover craft was large and bronze, not entirely appealing, but not a cheap craft. No one was inside. A sickening feeling was flowering in my gut, as well as my shoulder burning an invisible pain.

"B.E.N," I drew back to him who still tapped away. "We need to hurry, found anything?" I rushed him, pressing my hand against the gun at my side, confidence shot up my spine.

"Sorry Jimmy, I cannot go as fast as you'd like," B.E.N's eyes took on a dull glow. "But I can't find any traces of her. I am guessing they scrubbed this place clean when he brought her through! Unless there is a back door?"

"Is there a back door to this place, to Lionel's office?" I asked, fear seizing my nerves.

B.E.N tapped away again, and I gawped over my shoulder to see the entrance clearly, the craft was still parked, a big obstruction to some of the finer carriages.

"B.E.N, walk and type," I grabbed his cold, thin arm and dragged him up, glancing at the unaware receptionist, and made our way through the corridors, whizzing past doctors and patients. "We need to find her quick; I have a bad feeling about that ship outside."

We pushed past a crowd of a family, an alien mother with a large nose and pale purple skin waded through the corridor with her 6 children, all differing in ages and sizes.

"Excuse me, Dr," I asked a mutt like Delbert's kind. "Where can we find Dr. Gurgon's office?"

"Just straight down this corridor, the last right and all the way down to the back of the building, you'll see the fire doors, his office is situated on the right-"

I barely got the end of his sentence as I sprinted down the corridor with a trailing B.E.N who I heard thank the Dr for his directions. Blood forced its way loudly through my body, my pulse felt like a slap in the head in my ears.

She was here. I knew she was, Dr Lionel had her, and he took her here. He must have. He would have.

I skidded to the end of the corridor and glanced to my right, the fire exit meters away, I couldn't make out the sign. There, a large enough crate was being lugged from the door outside by two rogue looking aliens with hunched backs.

"No!" I yelled and ran as fast as my legs could take me to the very end of the corridor. My gums were aching as well as my chest as it heaved burning air into my lungs.

I pushed through the heavy fire exit, the sun warm on my face as sweat that beaded my brow. The surrounding bushes at the back of the practice lined the fence of the building, all the way around from the building itself to the car park, I sprinted.

There, I stood bewildered. The bronze hover craft was also a ship as it kicked up from the ground, its roaring engines thrusting with life and hitting the sky. Running to the ship, yelling her name blindly to the deafening mechanics of the machine, it was gone by the time I touched the tarmac of the car park. It hit a certain gravity pull before firing its engines and soaring away into space.

The squishy man-creature left a little while as I sat uncomfortably in the squished box, my skin on fire and goose bumps lacing my flesh. His shocking tests had caused scaly blots all over my tail, some collapsing and oozing blood. I smelled like something burnt, it didn't smell great. My hair a wet noose around my neck, hands red from constant rubbing in fear, my throat dry as well as my eyes, I was terrified for my life.

This terror spun like seaweed around my entire body, I shook with every heartbeat, not know what was coming next. He conducted these tests every few minutes, one minute I felt hot light jolting my muscles and nerves through my system, the next, water was dispensing from the box with new liquid, it was water…But with something else within. It smelled bitter and made my skin numb to the touch. He made me come close to the box wall as best as I could and, within a flash, the water was gone and the panel of the box came down.

The room was quite open with a lot of tables, the door so far away. He tied my welled wrists, some of the bloody blisters popped and blood ran freely down them. Tied, he shone a bright light across my eyes, mumbling to himself. I was famished by the time I awoke, I didn't know if it was possible, but I felt as if I'd lost weight.

He had jabbed long 'needles' into my arm, which stung at first, sealing the samples of blood in tubes and dousing other liquid components into them. He poked at my ears and skin around my neck, checking for 'gills', which I mentally snorted at.

I was too weak and frightened to talk, or at least mumble.

He left after he boxed me back up again, my dry tail that began to erupt in breakages bled, just as water filled up to my hips again. I managed to scoop the water and lather it into my skin, it was surprisingly fresh water.

I wanted father. I regret talking to him last the way I did, getting upset at him. If I were to die now, he would have no idea what had happened to me. He wouldn't know how much I loved him, and I didn't even get to say goodbye. A hollow pain resided in my chest. My sisters would not know what happened to me, they would continue with life without me, Attina ruling if daddy passed away. She was the only one who closely resembled mother, and acted like one to every one of us.

Jim, even he wouldn't have known what happened to me after all this. Them eyes pierced my mind suddenly, his inviting smile and cautious, kind voice as he talked to me. He was so gentle with me, and then the gash on his shoulder…His haunting screams shot through my memory. I missed him. As soon as I entered his life, mine became forever altered by his presence.

The door opened and quietly closed behind the weird creature. He came to the box, poking his eyes through the hole.

"I am finished with you, now." His beady eyes glared at my own. "You are to be transported to a merchant who will have better uses for you." He chuckled, more like snorted to himself.

He went to his devices. I sat for a couple minutes, regretting every little stupid thing I did some more, and came up close to the holes. The fat blob of a creature was in front of his device, the thing changed constantly that I couldn't make out anything.

Before long, there was a knock on the door and a chill blew on the nape of my neck. The creature opened it to horrific looking…Beasts. They had black bodies covered in cloth, stood on what looked like their hind legs with other limbs that looked like sticks. Their backs hunched over their body, their heads connected to their backs with a pale peach face, with striking yellow eyes and grim line of a mouth, one out of the two glanced my way that I cowered further into the corners of the box.

"Gentlemen," Gentlemen! My mind whirled. I began to sweat in dread, my hands braced against the walls of the dark container.

"We're here for the creature," They sounded normal, yet had the audacity to call me creature!

I couldn't see, but the fat lump that had been shocking me for hours sounded cool and composed as he shot back, "Payment first, my boys, I'm sure your boss gave you the right amount, of course." He was slightly mocking.

Payment? Boss? What was happening? In the ocean we had merchants swimming in from all over the waters. But this was incredibly different; I was the goods in this situation.

"Thank you, boys," He sounded contented, "She's over there. Be quick, I have to clean up and resume my work immediately. My kind regards to Levi, if you please." The beasts were at the box quick, one stared inside, their eyes glowed yellow into the darkness, I peered back with utter horror and I felt the beast smile from outside. The box moved suddenly, I was thrown forward, water sloshing, and dropped backwards, my weight being thrown about like pebbles in a river.

"She looks just like what Leviathan described," One of them said, more to the back of the box. "The tail of a fish and chest of a human, she looks delicious." A solid mass took place in my throat.

"Don't get any ideas, or Levi will have both of our hearts." The one at the front warned, hefting the box.

I was too afraid to speak out, to ask who they were, to question where I was going, who this Levi was and why I was being sold like cargo.

Then I heard him.

I am sorry this story is taking so long to do, its well overdue for some of the readers! I believe this will reach a whopping, but short, 25 chapters or more? I hope you are enjoying the story, leave a comment, it helps! It will get better, I promise!