Bounty Hunter

Chapter 26

The dimming of the fluorescent lights signifies the coming of night. An eerie silence permeates the cell and Shashira has retired to her bed. An entire day has passed and not once have we been allowed out of our cell. My skin crawls with unrest as I pace around.

"Get in your bed now!" Shashira hisses at me. Startled, I jump into the bed. Any trace of light has been completely sucked away. "Don't make a sound," Shashira whispers in my ear. The close proximity of our cots enables her to speak directly into my ear.

"What's going on?" I ask. I turn my head ever so slightly to see a white light cast across the floor. The sound of heavy boots thud outside of our cell. A light sweat has broken out underneath my arms in response to my nervousness. "What's going on?" I hiss.

"Don't say another word. And whatever you do don't look outside," Shashira warns me.

The loud drum of my heart is so magnified that I fear it will draw attention to me. I almost gasp aloud as I feel Shashira's hand clasp over my mouth. Her body curls around mine and a strange sensation takes over me. It's almost as if I no longer exist. I almost start hyperventilating when our door slides open. I resist all instincts to flee and hold my breath. I can sense someone looking around the room, but they don't seem to find anything. My fear lessens by only a fraction once our door closes. After what seems like an eternity the footsteps fade away. But then I hear the sound of a glass door sliding open again. This time it is someone else's cell. A slithering and harsh voice barks and the sound of someone's feet grating against the floor ensues. What follows next sounds like someone resisting, but then a quick thud obliterates it. We wait another few moments that seem to span a lifetime. Then Shashira's hand slips away from my mouth and I no longer retain the strange feeling of nonexistence.

"You can talk now," Shashira says quietly. "Just don't be too loud."

"Who was that? And what did you just do to me?" I question. I wrap my arms around myself, feeling disoriented.

"I shared my cloak with you. And that was Ohnsha. He's the warden of this place. And every few nights he comes and takes another prisoner away."

"What's your cloak? And where does Ohnsha take the prisoners?" I ask.

"I turned us invisible so that Ohnsha wouldn't see us. If he can see you then he'll take you away. Every few nights a prisoner is taken by Ohnsha if Anson deems them no longer useful. Only prisoners who Anson can use to black mail are kept. Otherwise they're given to Ohnsha to be eaten," she explains.

"Well, I guess we're safe then!" I exclaim.

"Not necessarily. Anson might not know you're here yet. Sometimes if Ohnsha is feeling particularly nasty he'll eat a prisoner of his own accord," she says ominously.

"Kai will come before anything happens to me," I insist.

"I doubt that. Kai's a very selfish person. Even if he did want to find you it'd be inconcieveable. This place is impossible to find and even more impossible to penetrate. If he did manage to find us he wouldn't get here in time. Anson will be here in two days' time."

"How do you know that?" I ask.

"I've been here for a while. I've learned to listen," she says.

Shashira turns over in her bed causing the chains that bind her to rustle. Although they restrain her they extend enough for her to reach the cot. As I turn away from her and close my eyes a small tear slips down my face. The teardrop slides across my lip in a salty mixture of doubt and fear. What if Shashira is right? What if Kai doesn't come in time? Or worse yet, he isn't scouring the galaxy to find me?