Baaul: A Change of Heart

Chapter 22: Blindsighted

Baaul roared his fury and sent his fist through the wall, the plaster clouding out and then the wall crumbled under the weight of the ceiling. That PAUKING female! She was not giving him a choice at all! Did she not understand that the male ooman needed to die? He knew trouble when he saw it and this Steve was it.

PAUK!

He turned on his heel and started racing back toward his ship. She would make good on her threat. Even if it meant living out her eternal life in heartbreak, she was that stubborn! Though he normally found that stubbornness endearing and he prided her in it, having it turned against him was infuriating! He would NOT let her leave him!

In his haste to get back to his ship, he had misjudged several distances between trees and it greatly slowed him down. By the time he got to his ship, he could see the bright light of the ramp though the exterior was still camouflaged. His mask shifted to pick up Renee’s angry foot steps. She had stomped off into the forest and he followed them.

She hadn’t gotten far, mainly because she had been impeded by a river that she couldn’t cross. He found her stomping beside the angry waters, mumbling something about idiots and scratching vegetation out of her face. Baaul landed in front of her. He released his camouflage and threw out his hands, angry at her defiance and roared.

Renee flinched, but that look on her face didn’t waiver at all. She placed her hands on her hips and yelled back at him. “DON’T YOU DARE ROAR AT ME, BAAUL! YOU ARE AN ASSHOLE!”

“YOU ARE MINE!”

Renee threw up her hands, scowling and rolling her eyes. “NO SHIT SHERLOCK! I FUCKED YOU! NOT HIM!”

And she never would! He was seeing red at even the thought of that ooman male near her! Baaul roared at her again, this time snatching her up and tossing her over his shoulder. He ignored her shouts, not phased even a little by her thrashing. She could be mad at him all she wanted, but he was going to make sure that she would not see outside of his room until they got to Yautja Prime.

“LET GO OF ME BAAUL! YOU ARE NOT SOME NEANDERTHAL! LET GO!”

He was vaguely aware that Neanderthal was a primitive ooman back before oomans were even remotely civilized, but he would not get baited into her angry insults. She would learn not to challenge him soon enough.

He made it back to his ship with Renee still screaming and thrashing. He had managed to tune most of it out though due to his rage. His rage is also why he hadn’t heard the gun click. It was only when the first shot went off that he was even aware they weren’t alone in the cave.

Another four shots went off before he managed to whirl around to see the ooman male Steve hiding behind a natural formation just inside the entrance of the cave. He dropped Renee behind him, more than ready to rip the ooman to shreds, but his vision swam when he took his first step.

He was confused, his mind feeling unnaturally sluggish. He looked down at his side and saw the darts imbedded into his skin, whatever liquid that had been inside already pushing into his body.

“Baaul!” Renee’s voice, which had been a beautiful rage only moments before was now filled with horror but he couldn’t turn to look at her. His knees gave out as his vision went patchy in black blobs. “Steve, no! Stop! Don’t kill him!”

When his vision cleared, he realized that he was lying face down on the dirt. He had passed out. Renee? Where was Renee?

Using every ounce of his fleeting strength, he lifted his head. Renee was motionless in the arms of Steve as he carried her out. He kept saying, “Don’t worry. I’ve got you. I’ve got you. Everything will be okay.”

Baaul recalled the image of the ooman female he had found earlier, her hand stretched out toward the door in her last moments. Had she felt the fear that he felt? Though it was death that scared him. It was Renee’s safety that had his heart racing and pumping his blood and in turn the drugs faster into his system.

Pauk…

His vision darkened.