Chapter 4
Mika blinked back tears.
"I... I don't want to die," she whispered. "Please... I beg you..."
"Nobody ever does," Kai said with a shrug. He must hear these words too often for them to have any real effect on his heart.
"I... I can help you," she spluttered, speaking up. A last-ditch attempt to stay alive. She felt herself begin to glitch - her hands snaking - as an idea occured to her. "I'll do anything."
"Anything?" Kai asked, tilting his head to the side.
'That means he's considering it!' she thought, not daring to count her chickens.
...
'Where does that saying even come from?' she wondered. An inopportune time to be pondering the legitimacy of the old warning.
"Don't even think about it," Vrethie warned him.
"Aww," Kai complained, pursing his lips. "But she's just way too hot to kill, man."
"If we keep her alive, she is your responsibility," Vrethie warned. "She will have to get approval but I can swing that."
"You acctually gonna do anything I say?" Kai asked, bending over to stare into her eyes. "You aren't just talking shit?"
"Yes, Sir," Mika said, nodding furiously.
"Sir?" Kai asked. "Ha! I like that."
"Just don't do anything stupid. You know what these women can be like," Vrethie warned before leaving them alone. "And clean that floor."
Sitting naked in her own blood, Mika looked up at Kai.
"Well you heard the man, clean up your mess," Kai demanded.
'My mess?' she thought.
"But... I... I'm naked," Mika protested.
"So?" Kai shrugged. "Cleaning products are under the sink."
As Mika cleaned she tried to retain what little dignity she could, but ended up slipping on the mixture of blood and water, sliding flat onto her face.
A pair of trainers appeared in her eyeline.
She looked up slowly to see Milo staring down at her.
"Having fun?" he asked, grinning down at her through blonde curls.
Mika wasn't sure how to respond.
"Are you completely useless?" Kai asked, joining Milo. He tutted and led Milo away but Mika could hear their whispers.
"You pulled that bird?" Milo was asking.
"Hmm. Well, I guess you could say that," Kai replied. "Not entirely accurate."
Mika squeezed the thin mix of blood and water into the mop bucket several times until the floor was clean enough. Luckily it hadn't left any marks. She dreaded to think what would happen if she'd caused a stain on Vrethie's precious floor.
After one last check, Mika washed her hands.
She turned off the faucet and took a step back into something hard. Turning, she saw that the hard object was Kai.
"What are you made out of?" she cried. This made him laugh. He wasn't as scary when he was laughing.
"Stronger stuff than you lot," Kai told her.
"Erm," Mika looked down at her naked form. "You wouldn't happen to have any spare clothing?"
"Mine will be too big and Vrethie... well let's just say Vrethie doesn't like to share. Milo is your best bet," Kai told her. "His room is first on the left."
...
As Mika pulled the teenagers clothing onto her small frame she wondered what would be best?
Should I try to run? Stay and clean the house?
'Or do something else entirely, a voice whispered from the deep recesses of her brain. Her unchipped, uncensored thoughts.'
"The only sensible mind I have left" she muttered to herself.
"What was that?" the blonde teenager asked.
He must have been watching - staring at her undress. The thought made her shudder for reasons she couldn't quite describe or assign any meaning to.
She smiled at the angelic looking boy. "Oh, nevermind."
He nodded, still smiling and eyeing her curvy frame as she continued to dress herself in his clothing.
"Suits you better," he commented.
Mika nodded and thanked him.
"Well, what now?"
"We have a mission tomorrow," the boy said casually. "A girl of your.... talents.... could come in handy."
Miaka nodded again, ignoring the subtext.
"I'd love to help in any way I can," she nodded, playing it safe for now. She had no idea how powerful these people were - especially the tall, androgenous one. His aura was more terrifying than even Eigen himself.
"And Eigen is a monster," she muttered under her breath.
"You do that alot." the boy commented, still regarding her with ice blue eyes, like orbs, burning into her soul. "The muttering thing."
His stare continued.
"Don't you know its rude to mutter about people under your breathe."
"Don't you know it's rude to stare?" she shot back without thinking.
"That was a mistake." Kai said, appearing in the doorway.
Miaka's breath got stuck in her throat as she waited for him to continue talking.
...
Eigen sat in his seat, dying of boredom.It was always boring when Miaka went off on a mission. He wanted to follow her, but was it a good idea to leave the enclosure."Probably not," he muttered to himself. But he did not care.Not in the slightest."I'm off," he announced to the mechanical guards with a wide, terrifying grin.They mirrored him, staring back in horror as he stood, shaking off the wires and stale air as he went."You can't go," they were crying in union as he slipped through the net. The net designed to keep him in was all the use of a chocolate tea pot.He laughed at their cries as he took flight, flying away from their cries for his return."Please," they cried. "If you go we will be unprotected. WE ALL NEED YOU! We will die if you Goooooo!!!"He didn't even look back as they begged and pleaded."She needs me more," he muttered, focused only on his one true love. Her. The one. Maika.She was on her way to find the monster he dispised the most. Kai. His polar opposit
Miaka smiled as the three boys decided her fate."I almost wish Eigen were here.""Who is Eigen?" Vrethie asked. She shook her head, not aware she had spoken the words out loud. "yOU Didn't" he replied. "I am the worlds most powerful psychic.A boast - but not one that wasn't completely true. This guy had real power."It's his eyes," she thought. "All psychics have those same ice blue orbs."As she stared into his eyes now, she couldn't help but wonder what he thought about when nobody was listening in. What would she think about if she had one spare second to herself."Me." Eigen whispered into her brain. "I am still with you. In spirit and in body."A rush of wind almost knocked over the house and she heard him landing outside."Oh geez," she cried, looking out of the rear house window. "He really did it. He really left.""Who is he?" Vrethie cried."So much for being the worlds best psychic." Eigen cried, grinning widely as he entered the house through the window - how a gaping
Miaka sat in the kitchen, an inch of ash dangling from her cigarette hanging from between her fingers. With each drag a new memory popped in and out of her brain.She turned to her side, shocked to see the grin of her so called souls-mate. He grinned maniachally.Stop trying to read my mind, she thought, amazed at his persistance."Why did you leave the enclosure and come here?" she asked, more to herself than to Eigen.He answered non the less."Because you did," he said, stealing her cigarette and taking a drag. "It was way too boring there without you.""But what about all the others?" she asked. "You were meant to stay back to protect them while I went off to save the world."To the last part she added air quotes. There was no point in pretending anymore. She was not the one. Not the main character. It had to be one of these powerful men.She stared left and right, taking in the scene. The birds, the bees and the humming of electricty as the kettle boiled well past full.She picke
The ticking of the click made the room feel emptier than it was. The clunky ticks and tocks echoed around the circular hall, bouncing off sleek walls and plastic enclosures. Those plastic screens were nine inches thick but reflected like sleek polished glass. Whether that shield of plastic was designed to keep him inside or keep everyone else out had never been explained to Maika."You just sit and watch him," she had been told. That was the sum of her responsibilities. The entire explanation. "Sit in the outer ring. Use your enhanced focus. Don't take your eyes away from him for a second.""Him... Eigen."As they turned onto a glass-lined corridor she squinted. Harsh light shone through the panels of glass, reflecting directly into her retinas. She looked at the floor until the final approach, where the huge mechanical guards lined the walls. They never moved but Maika felt as if they watched. Of course, they were watching. But watching without seeing. The thought gave her chills, li
The ticking of the click made the room feel emptier than it was. The clunky ticks and tocks echoed around the circular hall, bouncing off sleek walls and plastic enclosures. Those plastic screens were nine inches thick but reflected like sleek polished glass. Whether that shield of plastic was designed to keep him inside or keep everyone else out had never been explained to Maika."You just sit and watch him," she had been told. That was the sum of her responsibilities. The entire explanation. "Sit in the outer ring. Use your enhanced focus. Don't take your eyes away from him for a second.""Him... Eigen."As they turned onto a glass-lined corridor she squinted. Harsh light shone through the panels of glass, reflecting directly into her retinas. She looked at the floor until the final approach, where the huge mechanical guards lined the walls. They never moved but Maika felt as if they watched. Of course, they were watching. But watching without seeing. The thought gave her chills, li
Chapter 3'How am I still alive?' Mika wondered.That question was her only focus. 'I was supposed to be dead by now. I didn't plan for this. I have no idea what to do past this point.'Kai turned on the porch lights and entered the apartment building, kicking the front door open with a hefty thud. Lights flickered in the hallway as they climbed the stairs and led her into the most unlikely room.Numerous display cases boasted relics of the old world in conditions she had up to then only dreamed were possible.They had everything. Mika's eyes scanned the relics, trying to identify them. "You have a music player?" she cried, falling to her knees. "What sort of music do you have?"Kai cocked his head to the side before raising an eyebrow and shrugging. "All types. What do you like?"A shadow fell over Mika, and she looked up to him looming over her. 'He's figured me out,' she thought. 'He's going to kill me now.'He smiled. "You don't have to look so scared.""I feel like I should b