The Planet Keeper

Chapter 8

I woke up quickly, adrenaline pumping through me. I frantically looked around, trying to figure out where I was.

After my panic attack, I calmed myself down and began to actually take in my surroundings. I noticed my space suit was gone and I was now dressed in grey scrubs and hospital socks. I was in.... I was in a cell. My cell door was steel and painted white, the one person cot I woke up on was only feet away from the door and just a couple feet away from my porthole. What was going on? I was just supposed to see the planets up close, in real life and go back home to my boyfriend and my family, not have the ship I was on attacked, the captain abandon me and be abducted by someone else's ship! I dropped my self back down onto my cot. orrow overcame me and I covered my face with my hands as I began to silently weep into them.

The door opened suddenly and in walked a man dressed in silver armour, his head and face completely protected by a shield-like mask. He stood in the doorway holding his odd looking gun.

" The Keeper will see you now," he said, his voice distorted and computer like.

" Who's ... Who's the keeper?" I asked, my voice trembling.

"Move it!" he demanded, pointing his gun at me.

I got up quickly, walked to the door, and stopped just before him. He pushed the gun into my back and harshly grabbed my arm.

"Walk," he said, nudging the gun.

I started to walk, slowly and cautiously. Who was the Keeper....? The walk was long, but we made no turns or anything, we just walked straight. I stopped a few feet away from the double doors that ended the hallway. He walked around me, opened both doors, and stepped to the right, motioning with his gun for me to continue walking, I obeyed.

After some left turns and a staircase or two we arrived at another set of double doors, but these were different. Their height reached the ceiling. They had the width of a normal set of double doors but they also had an intricate design outlined in gold. It delicately consumed and sat on the surface of the door, over the ombre of light to deeper shades of blue and purple. I couldn't take my eyes off of it. The door itself was mesmerizing. It seemed to be pulling me towards it, beckoning me to come closer. The guard pushed a button on the wall to the left of me.

*** BUUUZZZ*** a loud deeply toned buzzer sounded.

As the buzzer sounded, the sealed doors before me opened with a burst of cold wind. It felt like opening a refrigerator door, but bigger, louder and colder. The wind was so sudden and strong. I felt myself move a few inches and slightly stumble backwards. The guard walked over to the entrance and gestured with his gun for me to continue walking through. I obeyed. Seconds after I walked through, the doors shut with a loud click, causing me to jump. The guard followed close behind me as we walked down the short hall that led to another set of doors, a lot like the ones we just entered but with a different ombre of colors. This one had shades flowing from light greens and yellows to deeper darker shades of greens and yellows. He pushed open both doors and turned to me.

"Enter slowly, and as you approach her majesty's throne, bow like the dirty peasant you are!" he whisper-yelled to me.

I felt the adrenaline start to spill into my system, my body tense, fists clench and knuckles turn white. I stared into the visor of the guard's helmet and grew angrier by the second. Just as I was going to speak, I was interrupted by his gun pushing into my stomach.

"Go on," he said with a smirk. "You don't want to keep her waiting." He moved to my left, gun still pushed into my stomach.

I tried to ignore the urge to fight, yell, and go off on the guard. I stood, trying to calm myself and regain a sense of maturity. Looking down at his gun, I noticed he was holding it loosely but still kind of tight. W

Walking through the doors, I slowly took my steps and stood tall.

"Dirty peasant," he said just loud enough for only me to hear.

Quickly I turned around, and faster than his brain had time to register what was going on, quickly taking advantage of the fact that he had too loose of a grip on his gun, I ripped the gun from his hands. Gripping it as tight as possible, I turned the gun towards him and pushed it into his helmet. He froze. I could feel the fear and utter confusion that coursed through his veins radiating off of him like a wave of signals being sent off to a receiver, as I stood inches before him, gun pressed against his head and finger on the trigger.

"You really don't know when to shut your mouth do you?" I whispered in a sarcastically concerned tone.

He started to tremble, but made no noise. He didn't even respond to my question. Now that was just rude. Oh well. I shrugged my shoulders and pulled my finger back on the trigger. The all black visor on his helmet dripped with a black ooze. Looking up to the wall we were nearest, I saw the same ooze was spattered all over it, as well as onto the floor around us. I could feel the ooze dotting my face and spilling down my cheek like water. My clothes were splattered with the ooze. I felt a surge of adrenaline like relief rush through my body. As I stood there, gun in hand, standing over and looking down at the guard I had just killed.