Chapter 2 – In the Dark

Black, thick darkness surrounded her. Teyla felt unable to open her eyes for they were covered with sticky deposit of blood. She was lying on the floor, she could detect the amorphous, rough surface beneath her aching body. Her temple throbbed from the pain.

She moaned out loud. She lifted one of her hands; it was not as painful as she expected it to be. She tried to wipe off the blood from her eyes. The motion came to a halt, when she suddenly felt cold, slippery fingers wrapping around her wrist.

"Don't move," a hoarse, inhuman voice told her. "You are seriously injured."

"I know it," she mumbled, trying to pull her arm from the grip of those dead-like, slimy hands.

"Lie still!" The voice ordered her. "I'll bring you water, medicine and a blanket."

The hands let her free, and she could hear the heavy steps of the monster leaving. It was a Wraith. She knew it. She felt it with all the capacity of sensing of her mind. She did not care about the instruction she got, she wiped off the blood from her eyes, opened them, and looked around. She felt a cold shiver running through her muscles. The place around her was a cell. A disgusting, pulsating, organic cell of a Wraith hive.

She tried to sit up, but as she wanted to lean against the wall and lift her upper body, her head began to ache so sharply that she collapsed back onto the floor.

"It's just a nightmare," she whispered with her eyes closed. "I was in my room meditating. Now I must be still in there. It's just a nightmare..."

She had such a headache of hell that her eyes filled with tears. She was a warrioress, a tough woman, but her body seemed to give in for the pain. Crimson, blood-polluted teardrops were running down on her face.

"No, no! You must keep holding on," she told herself in her thoughts. "You are in a Wraith cell, you are incarcerated. You must find a way to get out."

She struggled hard to adjust herself into a sitting position to examine where her body was injured. She wanted to start with her ankles to check if she could move them or not, but as she lifted her head up, the pain became so intolerable that she fell back onto the ground gasping. She touched her head with one of her trembling hands, and she felt her hair soaking in blood. There must have been a serious wound there.

"Okay, okay, I rest a bit," she encouraged herself. "I take my strength now, later I'll find a way to break out."

She lay on the floor for a while. In the end there was no more burning pain, just darkness, maybe she lost consciousness for a few minutes, maybe she did not. The slow, heavy steps dragged her out of the numb emptiness. She opened her eyes, and caught sight of the returning Wraith. He stood there at the entrance with a blanket and a tin box in his hands.

"Michael," Teyla moaned his name, recognizing him.

"Yes, it's me." The half-Wraith half-human-like creature answered coldly. "Did you expect me to be dead?"

"No," she sighed. "I would never hope that, but that's true I thought you exploded on that planet..."

"You wanted me to die!" His voice became sharp and angry.

"I've never wanted your death."

Michael gave no response, but it was obvious that he did not believe her. He threw the blanket onto her, and then he put the tin box next to her on the floor.

"Where am I, Michael?" Teyla whispered in a tormented, weak voice.

"Aboard a Wraith hive."

"Why?"

"You ask too many questions. You need to take your medicines now." Michael kneeled down beside her, opening the tin box, and took out a white, round pill.

"No," she protested. "I don't want your medicines, I won't take them. Why am I here? Answer me!"

"You should have a rest now," he told her firmly. "You'll need these pills to recover..."

"No!" she grabbed his wrist. "Help me. Please, help me. I need to get out of here."

"You don't want to be here, do you?" he asked with a strange, mysterious expression on his face.

"Of course, I don't," she groaned. "Can you help me to get out?"

"I see that you don't understand at all," he told her slowly. "Let me explain it. You are here, because I brought you here. I want you to stay with me here."

"What do you mean?" she felt the pain in her head increasing. "Michael, please, help me! Please, get me out of here, please... please..."

He put his greenish monster-hand to her face. As his cold fingers touched her cheek, it made her choke from the abomination and from the head-ache as well. "Please," she heaved.

"I'll help you and I'll heal you," he promised quietly, "but you'll never leave this place."

She could not understand him properly because the pain became so sharp, she just gasped and fought to remain conscious. The only thing she could catch from his sentence was his intent to keep her in this cell. She grabbed the tin box of medicines with her spasmodically trembling fingers, and hit it at Michael's face with all the strength she could muster. The keen corner of the metal box cleft his right cheek, and bluish grey blood began streaming from the wound. Colorful capsules fell from the opening box.

"Damn it," he cursed, snatching the can from her shaking hand. "Do you want me to kill you?"

He took a gun from his belt, and pointed it at her. Teyla was not afraid in the least. The pain was unbearable, she was captured by the Wraiths, she was far away from home, and she was alone with one of her enemies in a reddish, organic cell... Well, simple dying was not the worst perspective for her at all.

She was nearly disappointed, when he lowered his weapon, and began to collect the pills from the floor.

"Can you, please, give me some water?" she asked him. "I'm thirsty."

"If you promise me to take your medicines, I'll give you some."

"No. I don't need pills." Her eyes scanned the place for another object to punch Michael with.

He found out her intent.

"You are injured and weak. You can't do me any harm," he told her plainly. "It's better if you do what I want."

"I won't take your poison. Take those medicines away!" she panted.

Michael finished arranging the capsules back in the box. He put it into the pocket of his black robe.

"Alright," he growled. "Tomorrow you'll beg me for these pills."

Teyla closed her eyes for she did not want to see him. She felt tired, thirsty and hopeless.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Her voice filled with sorrow. "Why? I've never meant to hurt you. I'm sorry for every bad thing that happened to you. I've never wanted you to suffer..."

"Oh, so you are sorry now!" Michael burst out in an evil, cold, insane laughter. "You are sorry now! It's nice to hear that. Shall I say as well that I'm so sorry for beating you half-dead with a baseball bat and for kidnapping you? Oh, Teyla, I'm so sorry, I've never meant to do you any harm, it just happened, you know. Things like this just happen sometimes... but it doesn't mean that we are not friends anymore, does it?"

He got up from her side, and left the cell. His inhuman, scary laughter echoed in the passage as he walked away. Teyla realized with a deep sigh that her situation here was even worse than she thought before.