Doppled in Gray [Discontinued]

Doppled in Gray [chapter fourteen]

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

It isn’t a Beam-R. Beam-Rs are smaller, retro and cutsie. This is a hovership. I stare in awe at the silvery, metallic pentagon shape that glints in the fresh morning sunlight. It is just as I imagine a coin might have shone in the days where they used currency that could be felt on your fingertips. The ship has a very sharp point at the front but the back is more of a rounded shape. It’s an older model, that is what Elllery tells me, but I find it more amazing than anything I have ever witnessed before.

The door slides down and all six of the recruits, including me, gasps in awe. Lavish is an understatement. Tech is lined against the walls and everything seems so well placed and thought out. It was made to be perfect and in my mind it is. The four agents that are coming with us are less impressed but they are still appreciative of their nice surroundings.

Inside it reminds me of what I’ve read about trains. After passing the cockpit we come into a hallway covered in blue light with a compartment on either side and in the very back is a small door.

“Such a classic Beetle hovership, don’t you think?” Ellery comments to the general population. Two agents agree with inaudible murmurs but all the rest of us are silent.

I slip into the compartment on the right hand side and am welcomed to a burgundy room an automatic bar and full hover capabilities then I hover up about halfway to the ceiling before crossing my legs and pressing my hand onto the scanner for the bar. Most of the others pass by me, wanting to play cards but one comes in. I don’t speak for fear of stammering. Of course, it is Haran. It is always Haran.

He hovers up only about a foot so his eyes become level with mine. I turn my head away from him and reach for the drink that has popped out of the bar. I take a sip of it and smile to myself. It tastes like warmth and energizes me at the same time. Automatic bars really are best at deciding what kind of drink a person needs. If I pressed my hand against it now I would probably get absinthe, maybe something stronger.

“Hello.”

He is leaning against a wall just looking at me. It might be just my imagination but I believe that I see a shadow of a scowl. How could possibly he be angry with me?

“Aren’t you going to run away, Daze?” His voice isn’t venomous, more teasing.

“What would give you that idea?” I ask in return before sipping on my drink once again.

He is in my face now, lips millimeters from touching. My heart is already beginning to quicken by my eyes manage to look very unimpressed. I hated this feeling that he has over me. The longing, the chemical attraction, it all begins to sicken me after awhile. Last night was a mistake. But Haran keeps throwing it in my face, trying to persuade me to talk to him. He thinks I’m emotionally attached. I think I’m emotionally inept when it comes to him. He blinks and it seems that if all the tension that was there suddenly leaves in that moment. He backs away.

“Are you alright?” The only reason I do not note his quick change of subject is because of his tone. It’s as if he actually cares.

I sink to the ground and lean onto the opposite wall from him. The burgundy walls feel like they are all melting together and closing in on me. But it isn’t an uncomfortable feeling, more of a protective one.

“I’m a little tired,” I admit. “But I’ll make it through today just fine. Well, I hope.”

Haran walks over to where I am sitting and sits down close enough that our biceps touch.

“Captain has everyone picked out before Battle training. This is more just to see how they’ll react when really nervous.”

“I can guess that you aren’t supposed to tell me that.”