Oblivion

Chapter 13 part 2

         We came to a black metal door and Orion knocked three times gently. I was going to say, that he should knock harder, but before the words could even leave my lips, the doors slid open slowly.
Orion took a step back and said, "Go on." I hesitated looking into the inky black doorway.

           Allister bent down and whispered, "It's alright, you'll be fine, we'll be out here waiting." And he very gently pushed me through the doorway.

              Once I was inside, the door snapped closed and horrible white lights flickered on; I closed my eyes against the harsh light. When my eyes adjusted to the light, I was able to get a good look at my surroundings. It was pretty simple looking, there was a simple desk and three brown leather chairs were place in front of it, while there was one chair behind the desk, but that wasn't the only thing behind the desk. My heart nearly fell down to me feet as a man, rather young, sat behind the desk, watching me with hawk-like eyes. Has he been waiting in the dark this whole time? The man smiled and chuckled a bit and I was uneasy, believing that he had read my mind, but that wouldn't – doesn't making any sense. All the man did was gestor to one of the chairs in front of him, "Would you please sit down, Addieca?" there was a pull at my stomach and my feet seemed to have a mind of their own and I took a seat at one of the dark brown seats. I had expected the chair to be somewhat soft and plush, but it was as hard as stone.

       "How are you feeling Addieca?" The man asked in a low baritone voice. I found myself wanting to hear his voice more and my head felt groggy, "It's fine." I slurred.

He raised his eyebrow, "Is that the truth?"
      I was vaguely aware that a soft yet strong pressure pressed against my brain and I pushed the feeling away. The moment I did so, it felt like fog was lifting from my mind and I narrowed my eyes at the man, "No actually. I want to know where I am and who the hell you are." I hissed at him.

         The man smiled at me and pushed himself from the chair. I was surprised to see how short he was, his hair was dark and unruly; he walked over to me and his eyes were a blazing blue. He took a seat on the edge of his desk and watched me. I shifted uncomfortable in my seat.
He chuckled, "Forgive me Addie, it's rude for me to know your name but not to know my own, my name is Aris." He held his hand out to me. I looked from his hand to his face. I didn't take his hand.

           "Aris? That's an odd name." I sneered at him and leaned back in the chair, trying to put distance between us. Aris smiled, obviously not offended by me not taking his hand, "And Addieca isn't? Aris is short for Aristotle. My parents named me after the Greek philosopher. They were all for free thinking and such. But you don't really want to talk about that, do you?"
I shook my head, "No, not really." My voice was cool. Aris seemed to think that was funny because he laughed and said, "You know something Addie-"

       "Addieca." I corrected him.
He paused, "Addieca...you are a very unique young girl. Very strong; while most people in the same situations as you have killed themselves, or died in the process, you just picked yourself and kept fighting.

          Your father died; it was expected that your reaction was grief, sadness, but you still kept working. When your city was bomed, again you felt grief and loss, but you still kept living, even when you were on the brink of death, dying from infection, you were still forcing yourself to stay alive. You are a unique girl."
         My face was bright red with anger, "How the HELL do you know any of that?!" Aris brushed my question and continued, "Of course, you had some incentive to stay alive. Your friend's health, got you going after your father's passing. When your city burnt down, Orion was the one who forced you to keep going and told you to leave the dead man you carried for a few days. Now of course your infection you had help from both your friends' Allister and Orion, they were able to keep you from death. But what I'm curious about is how you would work in these situations on your own."

          "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! WHERE THE HELL AM I?!" I screamed at him, standing up to get eye level with him.
     Amusement grew in his eyes and he slipped from the desk corner; he was taller than me by a couple inches. I backed away from him a bit.

         "What I am talking about is your progress since you were chosen. You were chosen because of your will-power and your need to live. But what I want to see is if you're able to do the same tasks alone, without the help of others. And where you are, Addieca, is on my ship."

   "You are crazy! What the hell are talking about?! A ship? There isn't even enough water to take a bath, so how are we on a ship?" I yelled at him trying to take a step up to him only for Aris to shove me back down in my seat.
He laughed right in my face, "I'm not talking about a boat on a lake, what I'm talking about is an aircraft in the air."

     It was dead silent in the room. I was in the presence of a mad man.

     "You don't believe me and that's okay, all you really need to do," and he pressed a panel behind him on the wall and it slid open; it was a window. "is look."
I looked at him with suspension, something was terribly wrong with him.

        "Come on don't you want to know?" Gathering up my courage, I cautiously took a step towards the window, moved around Aris- making sure he was in my sight the whole time. I slid open the panel, the cold metal chilled my fingers. I was greeted by a field of brilliantly bright stars, and swirls of rich purples, reds, and blues.

          Across from us, a little way, was a gigantic orange and yellow orb, suspended in mid-air. It was both a beautiful and horrifying sight. I was only vaguely aware of Aris coming up behind me.

       "Welcome to the Overseer, Addieca Jones." He whispered and that was the last thing I heard before I fell into and to the ground.