Blood Lust

I smiled, "Tea after my shoulder."

She nodded and had me follow her, "I see Decon got you to come down from that tower of yours." She looked over at the Guard. "Must've been one hell of a fight." She pointed to my shoulder.

Her comment confused me, "Who's Deacon?" I blurted out without thinking.

"Oh, Dee the Guard. He doesn't care for his name much." The Doctor answered, then proceeded to cut the sleeve on my shirt to get to the wound. She looked closely at it, "Hmmm. That's a nasty one. How many did you have to fight off?" She winked and placed down the scissors to reach for the bottle of peroxide.

"It wasn't really a fight." I said. I hissed when she poured the peroxide and it began to fizz in my cut. "Anton was the only one and he had a knife. So, it wasn't a fair fight." I tried to joke through the pain of her wiping a scratchy gauze pad against my skin.

"Oh?" She questioned. She tilted her head up towards the Guard to give him a stern look. "Well, it's a clean cut but you do need stitches." She stood up and left the room.

I glanced over at the Guard, against my better judgement. He was still glaring at me.

Well, this is awkward.

"Uh...thanks for bringing me here." I tried to divert the uncomfortable feeling. No response.

Thankfully, Doctor Toulouse had walked in and I didn't have to worry about a giant ogre looming over me. "Okay, I'm back!" She set down a tray that carried a variety of medical tools.

She was careful to stitch me back up, going as slow as possible and giving me breaks when I needed them. "We're almost done. I promise." She reassured me. The feeling of the needle weaving in and out of skin only lasted another minute, then she offered up a mirror for me to inspect her handy work. But, I was too squeamish to look. "I would say you could go back to the library, but from the sounds of things, I think it would be best if you stayed in your pod." I couldn't complain against her suggestion and after our ritual cup of tea, the Guard had taken me back.

It didn't take long for Anton to spread rumors about us. He obviously left out the important details that included him stabbing me in the shoulder. He chose to include a new detail, something more scandalous.

Another day in the library, another book. My fingers had landed Japanese Art. The library was the best place to escape my thoughts. Being kidnapped and wondering if anyone was even looking for me. Or, the idea that I was trapped in this place and had no idea who was human or not.

Mr. Chan came and sat next to me, offering me some tea, "Oh, Thank you!" I beamed as I took the cup. Tea was my constant comfort. "I will always wonder how you sneak this in!" I grinned. We weren't allowed to bring anything with us into the library, but somehow Mr. Chan always appeared with tea or some type of biscuit.

I enjoyed our friendship, as one sided as it might've felt. Mr. Chan could not speak English and I couldn't speak Chinese. We made it work though. Most of the time Mr. Chan would just hide behind me when conflict arose. We had first met on the ship. I never figured out where they had gotten him from, most of the people on the ship were from the concert. Mr. Chan had been stowed on the ship with his wife, she cried for most of the trip, causing strife between the crew.

Mrs. Chan's cries had turned into pleas for help, her hand clutched her chest. I had looked around to see what the others would do, but they had the same terrified look. No one wanted to move for fear of the unknown, but Mrs. Chan found out.

She had a heart attack, the crew stood and watched as she pleaded for them to help her. I watched Mr. Chan pull her into his arms and cradle her as she faded. It was the most heart breaking thing to watch. He had tucked a small section of hair behind her ear and kissed her on the forehead one last time.

That was the last time he would ever see her. There would never be a funeral for her. The crew had ripped her body out of his arms. I'm sure she was still warm to the touch, not even enough time for her body to go stiff. They took a sheet and wrapped up her body and pushed it out of a porthole.

The second I heard her body hit the water, my heart dropped into my stomach. My chances of surviving fell into that water, along with her body.

The tea had gone cold. Mr. Chan had also left me, but he did that occasionally. I stood up and stretched, leaving the cup on the table. A strange feeling hit me; the feeling of being watched. I looked over my shoulder and I was alone as far as I could see. I looked up at the Guard's tower.

That Guard was staring down at me intently, his hands gripping the railing for support.

How long have you been staring at me like that?

I quickly looked away once I realized we were both looking at each other.