Prisoner of the Void

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. Why they say that I do not know. Were a bunch of astronomers sitting at a table eating sushi when one of them suddenly blurted out “hey guys, I just realized, nobody can hear a scream in space.”? Better to say “Nobody can hear a fart in space, so nobody will know it was you.”

I giggled into the void, but I couldn’t hear it.. I knew I was going mad. Quite mad. At first, I tried to fight it. But the emptiness was all-consuming. Now I embraced the madness. It was the only way I could cope. I drifted aimlessly, feeling like I was floating. But I wasn’t floating on anything, it was just emptiness. Black emptiness. Blackity Black Black Empty. I giggled again. There was no air, but it didn’t matter. I didn’t need to breathe. Or eat. Or drink. I didn’t need to sleep either. I would kill to be able to sleep, to even pretend to have peace for a little while.

I jerked. It was starting again. The memories. I hated them, hated remembering, but after a while, I grew to love them too. In the end, they were all I had in this hell.

Images of Lucy flittered into my mind. First, before the Crishat had experimented on her, when she looked normal. Then, after those bastards altered her and turned her into their assassin, gray and ghostly white with black eyes. No matter how she looked, I still loved her. I remembered our last night together, passionately making love after celebrating the anniversary of her escape.

I remembered her cupping my face in her hands and kissing me deeply. She pulled back with a smile, her white and gray face looking bizarrely beautiful as she smiled at me. “Thank you. I will always love you, Lucy. "

I sobbed into the void. Lucy, it sounded so familiar. Was that me?

No no no, that was someone else. I was no one. Just a part of the void.The Blackity Black Black void. I giggled again.

A flash and she was blinking her eyes. Trying to focus, everything was blurry.

“Ah, you’re awake. Excellent, I definitely wanted you awake for this.” A woman’s voice said from somewhere.

I was lying on something, and could feel my wrists and ankles were bound. I tried to lift my head and felt something hard press against my throat. My neck was restrained.

“What the hell?” I asked out loud, trying to move against my restraints and failing.

“Yes, I think ‘hell’ is the operative word here. Because that’s where the Crishat’s are going to send you. My my, but you have really pissed them off, haven’t you?”

Suddenly, a thin icicle of terror went through my entire being. “I don’t understand. Where am I?”

“You’re in hell. MY hell.” the voice said, and I felt her step closer into view. I gasped. This woman was tall, pale, with her black hair in a thick ponytail going down her back. She was also wearing a black latex outfit that covered her like a second skin. Small rectangular glasses rested on her nose, and deep blue eyes peered at Lucy, shining triumphantly.

“What are you going to do to me?” I asked in a small voice. Clearing my throat, I asked again, “What are you going to do to me?”

The woman laughed. “Not what you think. I just wear this for that moment when you wonder. Besides, I like the fact I will be the last thing you will ever see. I want you to carry this image with you forever, and you will. You will.” She chuckled evilly. I mean, I didn’t know what evil was until I heard that sound.

There were footsteps approaching, heavy and slow. I knew that sound, and dread filled me. A Crishat soldier appeared, its armor making it look too big for the room.

“Finish this.” a low, modulated voice said.

The woman nodded. She reached down and did something I couldn’t see. The lights above me went out, and only a light beneath the woman shone up. Her latex shone in the light, and the shadows from her glasses made her look almost demonic. She was clearly enjoying her theatrics, and I hated it was working on me. I was so terrified I was breathing at light speed.

“Oh, calm down.” She said, almost gently. “You’ll want to listen to this. Well, no, you won’t, but you will listen anyway. As I was saying, you really pissed the Crishat off. Their invasion of earth was going so well. Then you went and stole their prototype assassin from them. They had gone to a lot of trouble to enhance and change the human you call Lucy.”

She leaned in close, as if she were going to kiss me, but stopped and looked into my eyes. I felt a finger trace its way along my jaw. “You just had to take her back, didn’t you? They don’t know how you did it, and I don’t think they care anymore. The two of you organized the remaining humans and turned this into a fight, a more costly fight than they expected or wanted.”

The latex woman raised herself up, and her thick braid landed across my breasts. She hummed, picking up the braid until only the tip touched my skin. I felt each hair, my senses heightened by the terror. She ran the tip of the braid between my breasts and down my belly, then threw the braid back over her shoulder. I couldn’t contain the low moan of despair that slipped out of my mouth. This woman was showing me how completely I was in her power. How did I get here? Where was Lucy? Please help me.

The woman reached over my head and grabbed something. The light shone over her jaw, but her eyes were covered in shadow, like two huge eye sockets on a skull. Suddenly, her hand was filling my vision, and she was showing me a small black circular disk.

“Our Masters want you punished. They want you to spend an eternity regretting what you have done to them. And thanks to this beauty, they will get their wish.” She held the disk before my eyes. “I call this a mindtrap. It changes your consciousness. It changes your perception of time. A void, empty and without hope. Years will pass in your mind, years and years and years.”

My captor leaned down until her lips were near my ear, and she whispered, “Our Masters have promised me I could keep you as a reward for capturing you. Perhaps I will display you naked where I work, so all will know the price for refusing to submit to our Masters.” She let out a shuddering breath, as if she had just been caressed by her lover.

When the latex woman straightened up again, she held the disk before my eyes again. She brought the disk down slowly, and I whimpered, trying futilely to get away. For a brief second, my eyes went to her face, and I could see her lips forming an “oh” of pleasure. Was she? Before I could finish the thought, the disk pressed on my forehead, and I felt myself falling into the void.

The memories stopped playing in my mind. To make sure I never forgot, I knew the Crishat forced this. I screamed into the blackness. I could hear the screams. It was all I could hear. When the scream stopped, I let out a sob. I couldn’t hear that. The only sound I was allowed to hear were the screams. I screamed again.

I hated them. Hated them for turning me into this. I hated giving them what they wanted because what they wanted was all I was allowed. ALL I WAS ALLOWED. I screamed and screamed. Hating them for making me want to scream so I could hear something, ANYTHING.

Somehow I moved. Trying to find a wall to bash myself against. There was no wall. Just the endless void. I could feel myself move, so I would know I would find nothing else, no matter how far I went.

Eventually, the energy left me, and I hung adrift in the silence. I giggled again. There would be no end. I didn’t know if my eyes were open or closed. So I told myself I was closing them. I could see the latex woman. I could see her expression, a strange mixture of victory, dominance, and pleasure. She was getting off on destroying me. Did she really put me on display?

I laughed. She was right. I carried her with me into the void. I couldn’t remember much else. I certainly couldn’t remember what Lucy or her friends or family looked like, but I could remember my captor quite vividly.

She was so beautiful.

Suddenly, white light filled me, and the void was gone. Opening my eyes. I was somewhere. I couldn’t see where. Everything was a blur. Hands held me up and a voice “I’ve got her, Miguel! Let’s get out of here before the Shats realize she’s gone!”

Blackness again. But not the void. Somehow, I knew I was asleep.

I sat up and screamed. A sound I knew all too well. I was in unfamiliar surroundings.

“Hey, Hey, Susan, it’s okay. it’s okay,” Soft hand stroked my hair. I turned and looked at Lucy. Yes, Lucy was her name. Memories were coming back, slowly. I knew I felt something for Lucy. It was vague and undefined, but I knew it was safe.

Lucy pulled me to her. I rested my head on her shoulder, letting her continue to stroke my hair. I sighed softly. She had rescued me as I had once rescued her. Even though I didn't remember, I knew it. I held in a sob. I wanted to feel safe.

All I wanted was to feel safe.

I closed my eyes and immediately calmed down.

There was no void, no blackness. There was only the woman in latex.