The Chosen

Chapter 11

The Compound lacked the fresh smell of the dwelling and instead replaced it with a musty smell I was not familiar with. The floor was not stone and instead, a cold hard white cement covered the ground beneath my feet. Xavier walked further in towards an old looking elevator and motioned me to follow hi. Looking around I could see soldiers going about their business hardly giving a second glance to the young human girl in their midst. Stepping into the elevator behind Xavier I wondered where we were going now. The big metal doors shut behind me and I could see Xavier visibly relax where he stood, "we are heading down to the labs now Fae" Xavier said over the creaking of the elevator. Down? I thought, surely elevators only went up, the only ones I had ever been in, which were the ones in the hospital always went up. "What do you mean down?" I asked Xavier frowning "we are on the ground floor". Xavier smiled slyly "well we are going underground," he said as the elevator drew to a halt. 

The doors creaked open to reveal a room very different to the one I had entered into upstairs. It was completely shiny white everywhere. Not a speck of dust to be seen on any surface, even the floor. I looked around in complete awe at the sheer cleanliness of the place interrupted by a pair of blue plastic slippers shoved at me by a foul looking Terrestrial soldier.  I scowled taking the slippers from him,  if he was going to be rude I was certainly not going to be nice back. Behind the grumpy old soldier a younger human soldier stood at attention, his shiny medals caught my eye as they glistened under the fluorescent lights. Xavier must have caught me staring and laughed, "well Fae" he said smiling lightly at me "these two handsome men here" he winked at me playfully "happen to be two of my very finest soldiers" he gestured to the older grey haired terrestrial "this is commander Leroy, one of my best, if not a tad grumpy" he smiled at the scowling commander "oh now cheer up commander you know I mean no harm" Xavier said with a playful grin. The commander stiffened and plastered on a smile "of course sir" he said awkwardly. Xavier seemed pleased with the change and turned now to point at the younger human soldier with the sparkly medals "this Fae is General Rogers, he is the youngest General in our army" Xavier said with pride. The General drew himself up and saluted Xavier loosely. They way the two seemed comfortable around each other made me think they had been working together for a long time and were possibly good friends. 

Xavier spoke once more grinning ear to ear "and may I say he is a human!" he said turning and nudging me "see you are not the only human I like" he pointed at the slippers I had forgotten I was still holding "put them on now, the lab must stay clean" he said before continuing to put on a pair of slippers on himself.  As I slipped on the plasticky blue slippers I caught the young General staring at me out of the corner of my eye. I wondered if he knew why I was here and who I was. He probably did.  After I put my slippers on I motioned by Xavier to follow him into the next room. This next room looked much like the previous one except for a large silver table piled high with neatly organised equipment and a large chair. 

Xavier pointed to the chair "take a seat Fae" he smiled reassuringly "we will try and get this done as soon as possible" he said. I sat in the hard white chair and felt the cold radiating through my body from the metal seat. It smelt like chemicals down here and it made my nose tingle. Xavier moved stuff around on the table pointing at things and asking the commander to clean them or pass them over. The General just stood beside the door watching, a constant unmoving figure observing the goings about of the rest of us. 

Xavier bustled over to me with a syringe in his hands "now Fae I am just going to quickly take a little blood, so I can peer at it under my microscope" he said smiling. I noticed he was in a much better mood now than he was on the drive here and was glad for the company of the smiling Xavier I knew. I breathed in, reminding myself I was not afraid of needles. Xavier placed a wet cotton ball on my arm that I think was soaked in alcohol. It stung a little but he drew it back after a few seconds. He then stretched my skin in his hand and slowly pushed the needle into me. I winced at the sharp pain holding back the involuntary tears. looking up I met eyes with the General. His brown hair was slicked back in the same style most of the Terrestrials wore theirs, his skin an olive brown was a welcome change to the green tinged Terrestrials I had been spending my days with lately. He watched the activity with an unmoving face but when he saw me watching he let the tiniest reassuring smile free, the first emotion I had seen from him since I met him just fifteen minutes ago. 

Xavier drew the needle out and I could see my blood swishing in the base, I was glad it was over but a dull throbbing remained in my arm. Xavier smiled passing the tube of my blood to the commander who then placed on the table and started getting it ready for what I assumed would be an inspection. Xavier nodded at me "you did very well there Fae" he patted my back gently "it was quite a large needle and lots don't take those well" he said before heading off to where his microscope sat. 

"will we find out today whether I am truly useful?" I asked stretching in my seat. Xavier looked up with a grim expression on his face "yes I suppose we will" he said returning to studying my blood. I looked around the room and saw two doors that blended so well with the walls I hardly noticed them before. The cool air down here made me shiver in my seat, I wished for the normal warmth of the city and Zariahs dwelling. "It is quite cold down here," I said to no one in particular. The commander looked up scowling "well, we are underground you know" he shook his head "you wouldn't understand" he said grouchily. I could see the General visibly bristle "now commander, why would she not understand?" he asked, obviously not wanting an answer from the lower ranking Terrestrial commander "I am sure you read the notes which state she has a very high IQ" he narrowed his eyes "and on the off chance you didn't read those notes, I would suggest you do as soon as possible before I find out you have not" he said his voice hold a high level of command. The commander huffed and got back to work, obviously not liking being told what to do by the young human. 

Xavier ignored all this engrossed in my blood, seemingly oblivious to the outside world. I sat patiently waiting for someone to speak or do something for what seemed like hours but surely was not. Finally Xavier looked up with a huge smile on his face, "we have success Fae" he said happily "you could save us all".

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Authors note

Thanks all for reading, please remember to comment and vote as they mean so much to me! 

QOTC (question of the chapter): what do you guys think of the two new characters?!

thanks again

isla xx