Chapter 19 - Drowning Inside
Sitting on the living room sofa, Aerialus was staring at the TV. It was on the same channel she would watch the morning news. Ever since the evening ballroom party event, she had slowly reverted back to what she was before. With a Primusian scout in the high trees trained at her host family's house, she avoided going in the backyard. Even being in the kitchen would cause her to be paranoid.
Despite Robert and his parents trying to make her feel comfortable, the reality check from the Captain at the party shook her enough. That aspect made her believed that this visitation was coming to an end. And because of that, she needed to be wary and careful of what she did when no family member was present. Resorting to sedentary activities and pacing throughout the home, she became closed up. Feeling like a prisoner again without the Primusian enforcers barking at her.
Remembering to keep face so that the family would not worry, she would fail due from the dread looming around her. When alone, the Baklavaian would feel useless and end up crying. However many times she did that on the prison ship or at this home, it only momentarily made her feel better. When she calmed down and could think clearly again, reality would seep back in. It reminded her of what was and what was not allowed. The echoing aspects of being a slave again kept turning in her mind.
'I have to remain strong for them,' she told herself in her mind. Curling her knees up and hugging them, she felt her back sink further into the couch.
'They shared so much with me...gave me so many things...I have to be dignified if I have to return.'
"..." Aerialus felt her mouth tremble and pout. Shaking her head, water started building up in her eyes.
"...no...I have to...stay strong," the woman muttered. Rubbing her eyes to rid of the moisture, it didn't make her feel better. Hearing something in the background, it took her mind off of what she was feeling. Listening while putting her hands down, it was the mail carrier vehicle. Deciding to stand up, she walked over to the front window.
With the inside drapes closed, it was a faded transparent white color. It would block the sunlight if it was shining directly at the window. Given the source of illumination in the sky was from a different direction, it made looking outside not so bright. Watching and waiting, the postal service van made its way to each mailbox. Watching the person do their job, it seemed to be a fairly simple occupation with a sense of freedom to roam.
Shaking her head, she stared at her host family's mailbox. Her body began to move when she stopped herself quickly. Remembering when she was given permission to have more space to move around, the thought made her ache. The desire and the want to be useful and supportive to her new family combated with the resurfaced paranoid and dread. Moving back to standing in front of the window and staring, frustration, uselessness, and pitying herself voiced in her mind.
"..." Aerialus frowned and curled her fingers to make fists. "...this..."
"...this is...not...fair," she voiced quietly while feeling herself shake. Looking down and focusing on nothing, her thoughts became lost in her manifesting turmoil.
"Why? Why does it have to be this way?" the woman spoke a little louder.
Anxiety mixed with anger filled her emotions from how helpless her situation seemed to be. It brought up different voices in her head that held a different opinion. They were of her own thoughts. However given the freedoms and experiences she had being here on Earth and living with the host family, they held a stronger presence. Each seemed to be their own pathway of personality, wants, and desires.
'What do you mean? You've caused this upon yourself,' an obedient voice chimed in the back of her mind.
'This isn't my fault,' a bolder one touted with confidence and defiance. 'There is something else going on that is making those bastards freak out.'
"I have done everything that the Captain wanted!" Aerialus muttered to no one. "He said he trusted me above all of my kind."
'You lie...you became engrossed in the natives' culture...completely blindsided you...from what you were supposed to be doing...as a slave,' it spoke with disappointment.
'He gave up control for a reason...ain't our fault that the uppers in the Primusian can't handle one of their own being murdered by..."an inferior race",' the other retorted with reason.
"So why must I fear...why do I perceive this is my fault...why? Why? WHY!?" Aerialus shouted visibly upset. Each repeating word she did, she stomped the floor with her right foot. Breathing erratically, her mind seemed to be swimming frantically to find answers. At the same time, the emotional and psychological turmoil was drowning her attempts to think clearly. Feeling the want to scream and shout, a third voice chimed in.
'...c...o...m...e...'
"...?" she resisted hard from opening her mouth. Feeling like a portion of the chaos in her head go away, something else seemed amiss. Thinking her head was trying to play tricks on her again, she froze from hearing it again.
'...s...a...n...c...t...u...a...r...y...'
"...that...that sounds like..." she began whispering. Lifting her head up and turning, the Baklavaian was staring at where her room was. Feeling confused, she tried to figure out why that dream figure was coming to mind. About to contemplate further, a pseudo cold sensation glided on her left cheek like a dull metal blade.
"...!?" Aerialus flinched hard and took a sidestep away.
Darting her head to the left, there was no one there. Her thoughts from before were replaced with trepidation. The drapes and the window had not changed. Looking around herself slowly, nothing was out of placed. Listening to the house, there were no indications that someone or something was inside. Turning back to the large viewing glass, she held her arms and rubbed them from feeling the creeps. Thinking about moving to another room, there was something seen some distance away through the window.
"..." the woman stared and waited. Seemingly appearing as wind moving one of the tall trees across the street, she noticed that the others weren't moving.
'...was there another scout there too?' Aerialus thought feeling distraught with goosebumps on her arms. Approaching closer to the window and moving a little of the drapes to see through, she waited. Seeing someone climb down from the tree and to the ground, the individual began scanning around.
'...that person...looks familiar,' she pondered.
Staring and observing the person, the individual began to cross the street. Heading to the right where the neighbor's house was, the female slave backed away. Fully curious and not thinking about her emotional episode and weird voices, she headed up the stairs. Using the handrail to climb faster, she turned the corner at the top. Entering her room and making it to her window, she adjusted the slotted blinds enough to have a small view opening. The female stopped at the beginning of the front lawn walkway.
'That's...Fiona?' Aerialus wondered in surprise. 'Why is she approaching...the neighbor's house?'
Observing quietly, she became fully engrossed as the other approached the front door. When the other female turned and looked in her direction, Aerialus ducked quickly. Moving to the left of the window, she stood up. Peering around the corner and looking for the other Baklavaian, she had moved to the side gate. Surprisingly, the door was unlocked. Watching Fiona go further into the homeowner's backyard, every action she took Aerialus would internalize it. Seeing her stop and stare at the side window made her tense up and hold her breath.
'Is she trying to get inside?' she asked herself mentally. Seeing Fiona go around the corner and was out of sight, it was like a cliffhanger. Wanting to see what her fellow Baklavaian was doing, but unable to. She could go to the host family's backyard and try to catch her. At the same time, the obedient self voiced strongly against it.
'...what do I do...' she thought.
Feeling antsy from conflict and indecision, her peripheral vision saw something above. Turning her eyes from the backyard to the second floor, a cold chill down her spine came. Freezing in place and staring with wide eyes, a massive dark silhouette walked by the window on the second floor. It did not look human at all. And it appeared to be dragging something behind it.
"...w-what...what was-!?" Aerialus whispered. In mid thought, a distant scream came to her mind. Not moving an inch and just staring at the 2nd floor window, no one appeared there. After a minute with nothing else happening, a more frightful sound of someone in fear came to her ears. Shaking in place with apprehension, the same voice from before came.
'...A...e...r...i...a...l...u...s...s...s...s...s...'
"...!?" she began to hyperventilate.
Seeing something move in her peripheral again, her eyes moved to the left and down. Her heartbeat was beating faster and faster from seeing the front door slowly open by itself a little. Only a thin opening was seen, but the inside of the door was covered with darkness. Materializing after blinking, two sapphire colored orbs appeared staring at her. Their icy appearance seemed to pierce through her and grip her.
'...M...a...s...t...e...r...s...c...o...m...e...'
'...A...s...y...l...u...m...i...n...s...i...d...e...'
After the retrieval orders were given, Commander Utern went back to the bridge. While he walked, he mulled over of what would be the scenarios of getting the two Baklavaian slaves back. An assumption that they would be resistive to returning was a given. Being exposed to a life outside of captivity, oppression, and submission, it would give any suppressed race a reason to not come back. Despite how confident the Captain was that both would return faithfully, he couldn't bring himself to believe it.
"..." the Primusian leader stopped in front of the main door hatch for the bridge. Instead of resuming his post, he decided to act on his suspicions. Hitting the panel to open the door, he entered.
"Commander on deck," the 1st Lieutenant stated. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to acknowledge the leader's presence.
"At ease. Resume your duties," Utern stated after doing a slow observation and nod. Seeing the soldiers continue to what they were doing, he approached the radar techs.
"Yes Commander?" one stated addressing him.
"The two Baklavaian slaves. We are able to see where they are. Yes?" he asked with a neutral expression.
"The slaves have a tracker on them that allows us to ping their location. The Captain is the only one that has the codes to know pinpoint location and tracing," the soldier informed."
'That is one way to stay in control,' the commander remarked in his head. Blinking, he gave the person a nod.
"Go ahead and ping their locations. Put it on the high monitor."
"Aye sir," the radar tech replied.
Putting a few inputs on his terminal, the screen above flickered to show different content. Showing a bird's eye map of the Earthling metropolis, two dots came on and flickered. After several magnifications, the view now was over the neighborhood that both Baklavaians were stationed. It showed one inside of a home while the other was showing delayed movement. It appeared that she was crossing the street.
"Can we get live footage of the area?" Utern questioned.
"The ship's scopes can reach that range, but it will be at an angle sir. We could fly a transporter ship to be a spotter in the sky. That give us a better vantage point for monitoring."
"No. We don't have time to scramble a ship for that. Also, without permission from Earthling aerospace towers will violate air space regulations here...and throw suspicion on us. Get me the scope view."
"Activating scope view...visual in 10."
'The recall message was delivered to both with the slave scout getting an audio,' the Commander pondered. Crossing his arms over his chest, he stared at the monitor going into a buffering state.
'So why is she crossing the street...is it to inform the other?'
When the live footage came on, the radar techs and the commander stared. It showed that Fiona was actually heading to the neighboring house instead of Aerialus's host family's home. The slow and careful approach to the establishment made Utern recall the report she gave. Narrowing his eyes, the slave scout approached the front door and knocked. When nothing happened, she gazed at something to the right. With nothing happening, she cautiously went to the side gate and opened it.
"What's that slave doing?" another radar person voiced looking at the screen.
'...are you trying to escape?' Utern pondered. Once she went through, they could no longer see her.
"Switch back to the map view," he ordered.
Without a wait time, the content changed back. With slight latency, the flickering dot moved alongside the house. Once it got to back of the home, there was a pause. As if the ship's processors were working extremely efficent for the moment, the dot slid into the house then stopped. Before someone could comment, the slave's signal vanished. An indication window appeared to show that the signal flatlined.
"Scramble a squad at the loading bay. Wait for my command," Utern ordered and walked to a terminal phone. Picking it up and dialing for the Captain, it was picked up after the 3rd ring.
[Captain Olton speaking] he stated with tired voice.
"Commander Utern sir...I believe we found the Primusian killer."
[You did?] the top leader of the ship voiced in surprise. [How?]
"The slave scout entered the neighbor's home...and her signal vanished afterwards."
[Well now...this is getting interesting. Have a squad ready at the loading bay. I will personally partake in this...investigation and execution]
"Aye aye sir," Utern replied and put the phone down. "Inform the leader of the squad that the Captain will be joining them."
"Relaying message to squad," the nearest radar tech stated.
'Now the question is,' the leader pondered. Turning back to the map view, the remaining flickering dot had not moved. 'Will the other follow suit?'
"...!?" Fiona breathed hard from seeing things moving on their own.
Unable to see everything clearly in the kitchen and dining room area, she tensed up greatly. Perking her ears up and trying hard to listen for anything, only a faint clicking was heard. Slowly turning her head only to the left, the repetitive noise became more distinct. Seemingly coming from the opening to the hallway intersections, it was shadowed over there. Like looking into a veil of blackness though seeing faints of shapes of walls and objects that were close.
With only the soft constant sound in the background, her breathing seemed too loud. Not taking her eyes off the passageways, she pivoted to the left. Now directly facing the opening and waiting, nothing moved or voiced itself. Blinking, she curled her lips in. Putting her hands on the ground, she began to slowly slide closer to the window.
Moving at a snail's pace, the Baklavaian stared like a frightened animal. Though nothing appeared in the room with her, paranoia and anxiety had gripped her. Reaching to what felt like under counter cabinets below the sink, something clicked behind her to her right. Freezing in fright, a whirling sound of water in a large machine came to life. Making her jump and dart to her right, it was a dishwashing machine.
"..." Fiona stared while feeling her pulse and heartrate increase.
The noise of the mechanical plumbing unit filled the void of the household. It strangely made it seem normal for an instance. Remembering that she took her eyes off the opening, she curled her lips in again. Biting down on them, fresh fear rushed through her. Getting a hold of herself, she told herself of the resolve she made when she went down the tree.
'...I-I...c-came h-here...t-to e-escape...' she thought to herself.
Swallowing and scrapping her mind for willpower, the female slowly turned her head to the left. Seeing the drapes and the dining table, nothing had changed. Continuing further, she saw the opening. Like before, only a blanket of heavy shadowing was seen. The distant clock ticking in the background was barely heard now. Despite that, it was distinct almost like a pulse inside the house.
Keeping her sights on the intersection, she slowly stood up. Feeling things moving directly behind her, she froze. A vague movement of something floating and gliding down an inch or so on her back came. Moving her left arm slowly, she felt a strap going across her body. Recognizing that it was her gear bag, she slowly backed up to the dishwasher.
Without taking her eyes away from the opening, Fiona slowly and quietly removed her bag. Placing it on the ground, the household seemed like it was not standing still. Part of her believed it was her eyes playing tricks on her given that she was locked inside and the amount of trepidation that she had. If she didn't focus on something, there would be small bends in different locations. Blinking, it seemed the bends moved a little. Closing and opening her eyes again, they did not move.
"..." Fiona wondered about calling out.
Initially doing so to ask if someone was here, she immediately stopped herself. Apprehension and her flight instincts pummeled her brain to not go through with it. Stiffening up greatly and trying to focus, small amounts of sweat had developed on her back. Reminding herself what she came in for and finding willpower to move, she hesitantly took a step forward. Slowly walking, her heartbeat was increasing the closer she got to the opening. Standing at the corner, the Baklavaian peered with one eye.
There were two directions to go. Continuing right lead to a hallway. Despite seeing a door on the left, the rest of the hallway was too dark to distinct what was there. Glancing to the left appeared to show a living room. There was a large window on the opposite side of the room from where she was. However, very little light breached through its closed and dense curtains.
'...wait...' the woman pondered and stared at the window. '...weren't the drapes...open a little when I was outside?'
'Maybe I can see better if I get closer,' she continued in her mind. Moving alongside the wall she was near to see both the hallway and room better, something heavy was being dragged in the living room. It was almost spontaneous and almost made her shout in fright from how close it was.
"...!?" Fiona quietly backed up into the kitchen area.
Her skin hairs flared up quickly from hearing a deep, airy breath escape from some mouth. It was accompanied by one heavy footstep and a lighter one. Giving the perception that the individual was handicap, the heavy dragging could be one of its feet or something that is heavy. It seemed the being was heading towards her location as it reached the opening portion. Feeling the onset of panicking, the alien woman noticed something to her left. To the right of the refrigerator was a small, narrow opening.
Deciding to act instead of waiting, Fiona squeezed herself a little. Able to slide in without making much noise, she held mixed feelings. One was it was a good hiding spot; however, she was vulnerable if discovered. The only way out of the wedge she put herself in is to come out the way she came in. Above her were overhead cabinets. Taking a silent inhale, she held her breath and waited.
"...ssssiiiiii...aaaaaahhhhh..." a deep, low voice uttered on the other side of the wall.
"...!?" Fiona froze stiff and tried not to shake. Hearing it drag and limp, it rounded the corner and walked into the kitchen.
Feeling her eyes widen with horror, the sensation of something massive went by; however, all she saw was a black silhouette of unidentifiable features. Seeing it pass by, two things were being dragged on the floor behind it. A body spilt horizontally in two, was sliding against the ground. The head was missing as if it was chomped with crude cuts and tear markings on the neck. Putting a hand on her mouth, she tried to not shake hard despite the fear that coursed through her.
Listening to the unknown being walk, it seemed to stop. Hearing bones and flesh bend, the Baklavaian could only imagine what it was doing. Telling herself that she needed to get out of her current spot, she slowly eased herself out. Sticking her head out enough to peer around the refrigerator, the silhouette of the large monster was seen. It had stopped in front of the dishwashing machine.
Seeing it let go of the decapitated body, its massive hand and fingers unlocked the dishwasher door. Hearing the machine stop and water dripping inside, she watched the body get stuffed inside. While it was doing that and haggardly breathing at the same time, Fiona resumed her evading tactic. By the time the corpse was thoroughly placed in the dishwasher chamber, the creature closed the door. Hearing the door complain about the overcapacity, the abomination shut the door slowly with brute force.
"...fffrrreeessss...nnneeeessss..." the creature spoke to no one.
Pressing a button on the machine, the wash cycle resumed. Complaining at first and making harsh revolution noises, it eventually went away after several seconds. Without warning, the monster's necked cracked loudly from darting its head to the left. Seeing something on the floor, the thing breathed out deeply. Turning around and stomping to the refrigerator, it remained still and stared at the refrigerator. Huffing at the two door unit, it got closer from picking up a smell.
"...slllllaaaavvv..." it softly beckoned. Only turning its neck to the right, various cartilages cracked and snap. Looking at the hallway, it just stared at it with its unblinking eyes.
While tiptoeing as quickly as possible with fear as her adrenaline, Fiona made it to the other end of the hallway. Though not as long as she thought it would be, there was a door on either side of her. She passed two that were across from each other in the middle, but she wanted to put the most space between herself and the unknown abomination. Not wanting to be a sitting duck, she went to the right door. Opening it slowly and quietly, she peered inside. Oddly, it was a small hallway with stairs going up to the second level.
Not questioning it and fully getting inside, she closed the door. Seeing that there was a lock latch on the door frame, she engaged it while keeping the doorknob turned. Feeling a sense of security, she rotated the handle slowly back to neutral and let go. Within a second, the door handle rattled. Flinching hard from it, she began backing up. Turning around with the full intension to go up the stairs quickly, her foot did not land on solid ground or a stair step.
Instead, it passed the floor and she leaned too forward. Losing balance and falling, she began to tumble down the short staircase. Rolling on a short platform hard, her momentum stopped from hitting a wall. Startled, confused, and in pain, the woman shook her head. Remembering where she was, she moved all her limbs.
Feeling them move without issue, she gingerly began to stand up. Using the stair hand railing as support, she clenched her teeth together and tried to collect her thoughts. Standing up fully and leaning against the metal stair guide, she looked back at where she fell. Looking up at the stairs, they were descending down from the hallway. However, there now was no opening.
It was just a stairway to a ceiling. Feeling her mind beginning to hurt, apprehension making her more paranoid. Blinking and looking harder at the environment, there didn't seem to be anything like when she initially saw it. Hearing a repetitive booming in her head, it matched the pulse that was felt in her neck. Trying to comprehend what was happening in the house, it racked her brain. Making her think that something was here or was she losing it fast.
'W-W-What is h-happening!?' the woman asked her mind.
Hearing no reply, she looked to her left where the descending stairs continued. Blinking and shifting herself to put her back against the railing, there was pitch blackness going down. No ticking of a clock was heard anymore. No unforeseen monster lurking for her. Just the look of a cold, merciless void.
Blinking, her eyes widen from seeing two icy blue sapphire orbs. They materialized out of nowhere and were further down in the darkness. A wave of dread washed over her from staring at it. Telling herself to not move and not to blink, it seemed the floating spheres reacted. Moving toward her at a slow pace, she tried backing up. Darting her eyes quickly to the ascending stairs, the ceiling and rest of the steps were lost to the void.
"...F...i...o...n...a..." a deep and airy voice came to her left. It reverberated in the surrounding void and sounded like it was echoing everywhere around her.
"...!?" the woman jumped and let out a whimper of sheer fright.
Shaking hard from the looming doom, she began to hyperventilate. Unable to do anything, a cold and wet appendage slithered around her neck. Wrapping a couple of times, the end went up and rested on her right cheek. Feeling it slowly push inward, her head began turning to the left. Seeing the haunting orbs in front of her, it shined foreshadowing light of what was attached to them.
"...hhiiuuhh...hhhiiuuhhh...HHIIuuhh!?" Fiona utter as terror gripped her mind. The end of the tentacle moved and laid perpendicular to her mouth. A translucent mouth was seen further behind of where the colored orbs were floating.
"...d...o...n...t...b...e...f...r...i...g...h...t...e...n..."