Darksiders

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. But when I look out into the vast sea of stars, all I hear is screaming.

“Where is 3CXY-289?” I hear a deep gravelly voice boom from the cell door, pulling me from my memories. I shrink back, flattening myself against the wall under the barred window. It wasn’t me, I was safe again, but the number of children left from the massacre was dwindling.

A small boy, no more than 6 years old stood. It took a moment with how grimy we all were, but I recognized him. He had pale blue skin that looked a bit ashen now, and light blond shaggy hair, though it now had bits of dirt and rubble tangled into it. His clothes were tattered, and you could see tear trails down his cheeks, but I was confident I knew who he was. His name was Jameri, he used to live a few streets over from me, his parents were Le’eri and moved to RS9 to escape the war. I saw the tattooed numbers on his arm glowing, a special feature they added to brands to help you locate a specific animal within the herd. For kidnapped slaves like us, it helped them pick the one they wanted so no one could hide, and no one could play hero.

“Let’s go! Move it!” The man called out, sounding very authoritative. He was a tall burly man and must’ve been Laccxi because all I could see in this lighting was a shadowy silhouette. “Number 3CXY-290, you’re coming too.” He added. My heart stopped, and I slowly looked down at my wrist, the light almost blinding me. Some of the other captives pushed me up, probably just grateful they had another day before finding out what fate awaited us all. We’d seen dozens go, but no one ever came back.

Another man came over to me, grabbing my upper arm so hard I was positive it would bruise. This man was also muscular, but much shorter. He had 2 heads, taupe colored skin, and 4 arms with 3 thick fingers on each- which meant he was probably from Janderu, one of the planets most heavily affected by the galactic war.

They pulled us through the doorway and into a dirty and wretched hall, past several large cells full of children. Judging by the sickening scents I was picking up, not all of these captives were still alive, and none of us had proper toilets. I held back the bile that rose in my throat, I had to stay positive. Maybe whoever is buying us will let us spend some time outside, and I’m sure whatever they let us eat will be better than the stale chunks of dried out travel meals we’ve been sharing in the cell, oh and I bet they have a bathroom- even a bucket would be an improvement.

They took us up some stairs, and through a large hatch, and the space opened into a very bright and otherwise beautiful corridor. Squinting I could see white walls with light blue lighting accents were now all around us, and the blast doors we were passing through had golden detailing too. Whoever these guys were, they worked hard to look like a legitimate business.

We finally arrived at a cleaning station, and the man shoved me and Jameri into two separate stalls. The man took my hands and placed them into cuffs above my head, then he removed my stained and ripped up robe and both of his heads smirked. I knew fighting him would only make things worse, but the way he was looking at me made the bile rise back up again, and my hackles rose up. The door to my stall closed, the glass automatically frosting over, and the sprayers started going. The water came from all around me and moved down from my hands to my head and all the way down to my feet. I focused on keeping my ears and tail hidden, I knew if they found out my family was Katsani I’d be more valuable, but I’d also probably be sold as a sex slave instead. Once the system was done spraying water, it started spraying soap, thankfully the automatic sensors stopped it from spraying on my face. After soap was more water, then two cycles of air. Once it was done cleaning me, the door opened and the man released my wrists from the cuffs, taking way too long for my liking. Then he shoved some clothes in my arms and stood there waiting. That stupid smug smirk still plastered on his faces.

Great. I put the underwear on to hide my tail and then turned around, not knowing if it was worse or better to watch him stare. At least I won’t have to see him anymore once I’m sold. I turned back around once I was dressed, and I was surprised my “handler” wasn’t watching anymore. Instead, he was back by the door, the shadowy figure stood next to him with his arms seemingly crossed. I guess he was in charge and wasn’t happy about Handsy gawking at his merchandise.

I looked over to the other stall and saw Jameri stepping out of it. He looked the way I remembered him now, although his skin was more translucent and had a slight glow to it, I’m sure he enjoyed getting some time in the water since he’s semi-aquatic. I reached out for his hand, and he took it. Neither of us said a word but we didn’t have to, whatever we were facing at least we were going together with someone we were familiar with. I would do my best to look after him, although I was only 14 myself, I would do what I could to keep us safe. I led us toward the shadowy leader, and even in this very bright lighting, only a few feet away, I couldn’t make out any of his features. Definitely Laccxi. It was the first time I’d seen anyone from his planet in person, but I’d heard plenty of stories, and none of them were good.

The handsy one left without a word, and the leader started walking the other way. “Let’s go. Follow me.” He said without even turning his head. I think. We followed him down another corridor similar to before, and we stopped in front of a door to a sitting room with a small couch and coffee table, and two chairs across from it. “Wait here.” He said, allowing us to walk in before closing the door behind us. Walking over to the couch we sat down and waited like he said to. The room was white with light blue lights just like the corridor and cleaning station. It smelled like a mix of sanitizer and leather, and compared to the cells we had been in for the last month the light was blinding. After a good while, another door on the other side that I hadn’t noticed opened up and the shadowy figure led a tall thin man into the room.

This man had gray skin and was at least 7 feet tall. He had on nice clothes that reminded me of a planet I once visited with my parents, Turtego. It was a huge planet three galaxies over from home, with a giant spaceport above it and was one of the main base planets for the Coalition.

The man looked at us, “stand up.” He said. I did as I was asked, afraid fighting would only get us in trouble, or worse. He walked around us, looking over us, appraising us like livestock. “Yes, these two will do just fine.” He said looking over at the leader. He tossed the leader a bag of coins, turned to us and introduced himself. “You may call me Master Claiven. Now come with me.”

“Thanks again for your business, Claiven. See you next month.” Called the Laccxi ringleader, a smile evident in his tone. A shiver shot down my spine, what was he doing with children that made him purchase more every month?

He led us out the door he had come through, which opened into a space port. I hadn’t realized how big this ship, or this operation, was. We walked over to a large, metallic, black ship with ornate golden markings on it. This Master Claiven fellow certainly likes to flaunt his money. Boarding the spacecraft, I looked around and saw it kept with the nice black and gold theme from the exterior.

Master Claiven went straight to the cockpit without another word to us. The doors began closing, and I heard the whirring of the ship starting to power up. The lights dimmed a little which I was grateful for so I could stop squinting so much. My eyesight was naturally great in low lighting, but after being in that dark cell for so long, I couldn’t adjust to the brightness as easily. It would likely take some time to readjust to more light again. I looked around and saw some seats by a kitchenette. I squeezed Jameri’s hand pulling him in that direction. We sat down as I knew what take off felt like and certainly didn’t want to try standing for it.

The ship rotated and the engine whirred even louder, the jets preparing to launch us into the dark vacuum of space. Jameri squeezed my hand, and I looked over to find silent tears slipping down his cheeks. With my free hand I swiped at them, trying to dry them and reassure him. I didn’t know if this Claiven fellow was kind or evil, but it didn’t matter. We were out of the cell, and that meant things could only get better.

Right?