"We have to get off here soon. We're almost where we need to be," Loki says.
"Where are we going?" I ask hesitantly.
"Someplace you don't know."
"Uh? Somewhere on Earth, I'm hoping?" Bree pipes up out of the darkness.
"Yes, somewhere on Earth," Loki replied flatly.
Loki looked around rather nervously at the both of us for a few seconds before turning his back and walking back to the hole in the ceiling.
"I'll come down again when it's time."
Bree walks up behind me and whispers in my ear, "Loki is rather… haughty, isn't he?"
I scoff, "Sure. That's only when he's preoccupied with something though. He's different the rest of the time."
"Mmm.." Bree mumbles into my shoulder.
I feel like an adolescent again, my emotions all swirling into each other, colliding and cancelling each other out. I couldn't concentrate properly. I was digging my nails into my skin, in the hope of bringing myself back to reality. Sometimes pain could be effective but it just brought tears into my eyes.
There was a loud thump above us and both Bree and I jump in fright. I look to Bree and she smiles slightly.
A voice comes down the trapdoor, "Come up here now."
Bree shoves me forward and I stumble towards the trapdoor slowly. The trapdoor ladder had been let down and I climb onto it, taking care not to make it swing and possibly hit something.
The first thing I notice when I come out under the ship was the smell in the air. It smelt unusual, not unpleasant, but it was a scent my nose hadn't ever experienced before.
One of the Chitauri was over near the front of the vessel, steering it using some sort of device I had never seen before. Upon my arrival he turns around, but quickly turns back when he sees who is there.
I turn back to the trapdoor to see Bree climbing out of it. I dare a glimpse of the 'ground' beneath the ship, or should I say 'air', we were now too high up for a view of the ground. A wave of dizziness passes over me and I grip onto Bree before pulling us both onto the surface of the Chitauri ship.
"Awh gawd Ellie, what was that?" she spits.
"Just look over the side of the ship," I reply, trying not to sound extremely terrified.
She leans over slightly and nearly gasps audibly at seeing what isn't there. The ground.
"Oh my god, I see now. But falling over wouldn't have made it any less likely for you to have fallen off you know. In fact it made it more likely you'd fall off."
"Dang fear, always getting the better of me."
We both chuckle quietly at our miserable display of humour.
"There's nothing wrong with fear."
My heart skips a beat at the sound of his voice. It sounded cheeky and flirty, like it was when we had first met.
"Loki, we know," Bree says, rolling her eyes.
He raises his eyebrows slightly and looks over at me attentively, "Are you okay Ellie?"
"Yeah, I think I'm okay."
"Well its time we got off of here. They're," he points over to the Chitauri, "getting restless. Not used to having normal humans on board."
"I can tell that much," Bree says drily.
Loki walks away from us and over to the Chitauri who was steering the ship. He speaks under his breath to him. Bree taps me sharply on the shoulder.
"Stop staring at them!" she hisses.
I turn around and stare at her incredulously, "What, why?"
"They can see things easily."
I wasn't entirely sure but I had an idea of what she meant.
"About people. What they're like. Not inside their mind exactly. It's hard to explain but its similar to mind reading."
"How do you know that?" I ask abruptly.
"Thor."
Loki never told me about that. Perhaps he just wanted me not to worry. He would have ended up telling me when he told me everything else.
The ship started to slow down, I could tell this as the wind that had been rushing around us had calmed down a little now. It was still dark but the tell tale signs of dawn had began to appear. The clouds near the horizon were of a lighter blue than the rest of the night sky. I had been on this ship for the entire night, and most of the morning. My stomach rumbles but I pay it no attention, with everything that was going on I wasn't actually feeling hungry.
"Girls."
It's Loki. He grabs my hand, and pulls me towards him. Bree comes up behind me, holding my other hand. I feel like I'm being dragged into prison.
Letting go of my hand for a moment, Loki makes a foreign signal and I can feel the aircraft moving downwards.
"Are we going back to ground?" Bree asks.
Loki smiles in her direction, "Yes, yes we are."
"Why so?" Bree asks, rather pointedly.
"We're finished up here. Thor's gone, and well, I'd guess that I'm safe for now. Safer at least."
"Thor's gone?!" Bree exclaims quietly.
"Yeah, just took off. He does that." he replies distractedly.
Bree doesn't reply. She just clamps onto my hand even harder.
"Where will we go once we're back on the ground?" I ask quietly.
"I don't know. Where ever you two want to, apart from back home of course."
"Can't you tell us exactly why you or us are allowed back home?"
Loki sighs and after a moment says, "No. I am sorry, but to do that would be to put you both in worse danger. And I just couldn't do that."
"Of course..." Bree mutters darkly.
I shake her hand, feeling frustrated with our helplessness in this situation. How much I was relying on Loki, the man I had only known for a few days was unbelievable. It was obviously too late to do anything now though. Bree and I were both in too deep.
There was a massive creaking and groaning then, finally, we were on solid ground. I felt a wave of relief rush over me. I was still apprehensive about what was to come but at least we were on land , Bree and I were all getting off this ship, and we wouldn't have to put up with the Chitauri's malignant glances for any while longer.