Tethered

9: Total Vacancy

You slept like shit.

No, that was an understatement.

You slept worse than shit.

You thought you'd be okay when Kylo left but, as soon as he disappeared, so did the comfort you'd found in the Force. That familiar presence that lay beside you at night vanished and left you cold and lonely.

You missed him. Even if he wasn't right there with you, he would still be with you in the Force and he wasn't anymore. Him being off-ship made it impossible for you to feel him and you missed his presence.

You wanted him to come home. Maybe then you'd get a decent amount of sleep. But, until then, you were doing your best to stay awake. If you were awake you wouldn't be left alone nor forced into a restless sleep.

In your waking hours, you did your best to keep busy; in particular you practiced what Kylo had taught you thus far. You couldn't afford to be out of practice when he got back.

You were proud to say you'd made some progress in your training even without Kylo. Every time you were brought a meal, you'd play with the fork or spoon or whatever utensil you were given. You'd pass it from hand to hand without even touching it, turning it into a lonely game to keep yourself occupied until the guard ultimately returned to retrieve your dishes.

You had to admit that you did like this new power of yours. It made adjusting your itchy blanket without losing your comfortable position so much easier.

When you didn't have objects to play with, you worked on detecting life in the Force. You played a game called "how many people are alive on this ship?" and nearly lost your mind trying to count them all. After you hit 492,711 people, you gave up. Your head spun with numbers and it didn't help that people moved around all the goddamn time .

Although it was quiet and dull, life was decent. You didn't do much and you got to relax. You told yourself this was like a break; it was what you had to do to keep you from missing Kylo too much.

But, like all good things, your peace had to come to an end.

They came for you just days before Kylo was expected home. You didn't even have to look up to know who was at your cell door; you felt them as soon as they took one step in your direction.

Your body was stiff as you lay on your mat. Maybe if you didn't move and feigned sleep they'd leave you alone. Maybe they would decide it wasn't worth it and just return empty-handed.

But you knew they'd never disobey the Supreme Leader like that.

The creak of the key turning the lock haunted you and you clutched your blanket tighter.

Please, no. Not today.

You felt the first hand on your upper arm and you hissed as the stormtrooper jerked you up.

"Let's go," said the stormtrooper that held you, his voice mechanical and cold.

You whimpered softly, squeezing your eyes shut. Fear flooded your senses; there was nothing else.

The other stormtrooper grabbed your other arm and helped his partner drag you from the cell. Your legs were limp, you couldn't make them move to help you run or walk with them. They pulled you like a doll toward your doom.

The hallways were vacant as you went, though you sensed they'd been full of life before. You could still feel the lingering Force signatures. They must've been forced to clear out when you were sent for. Now that you thought about it, there never was any person other than your escorts when you were brought before him. Maybe he did that on purpose: isolate you so you would never know a life outside of Snoke.