Stars Of Memory

Chapter 4

Jīvitaya opens her eyes slowly, her arms throbbing in agony along with the rest of her body, but at a higher intensity. What happened? The room is blurry, as if she was underwater. She shifts her head to look around the room, because despite the fact that only shapes could be seen, at least it is something. At least she can get a general impression of where things are around her. A shape moves next to the bed, and her head snaps toward it. It comes closer, and she scrambles backward until her back hits something hard, her fear overriding any pain. Jīvitaya's hand darts behind her to feel a wall. She was sitting against the wall, leaving her cornered. The shape moves again, and she flinches.

A soft and soothing voice emits itself from the shape, "I'm not going to hurt you. I promise. I'm just trying to help. I have something for you and if you drink it, it will help your eyesight."

Hesitant, Jīvitaya reaches forward, almost gasping at the sharp pain coming from her arm now that she is no longer relying on her instincts. The person slowly lowers a cup into her hand, waiting for her to wrap her fingers around it before releasing it. She brings it up to her mouth and takes a deep breath before tipping it forward to take a sip. It feels cool and thick as it smoothly runs down her throat, but it tastes like pure lemon juice. Her eyes close as she grimaces and her mouth puckers, but when she opens them again, everything is clear. She almost weeps at the clarity. The person - no, boy - who handed her the medicine - or antidote? - still sits there. He has white hair, like all the others, but his eyes are green like grass, and they are familiar somehow. He is one of the aliens who abducted her - well, not one of the ones who were there, but he is of the same species. Her eyes widen in alarm and she goes to scramble back again before gasping in pain as her body protests. The boy recoils slightly when she tries to scramble away, as if her actions hurt him.

"Who are you?! What are you?!"

"That was rude, but considering you've just been kidnapped and tortured, I'm going to ignore it."

She tries to move away from him again when he reaches toward her but gasps in pain again. His face twitches in pain for a second time. Why is he hurt?

"I'm not going to hurt you! I'm not like the rest of them so please, stop moving, or you will increase how far the Ehthtiur venom travels and you'll make it worse!"

The word sounds like a bunch of random letters to Jīvitaya, so she questions it, "The what venom?"

"The Ehthtiur venom. Those grubs they set loose on you. They are extremely venomous and that is one of the reasons you hurt so much right now."

Jīvitaya prods cautiously, "And what is the other reason?"

"They were burrowing tracks in your flesh. I know, it's gruesome. I didn't authorize it."

She freezes for a moment, looking down at her arms. She gasps when she sees bright purple-red lines crossing back and forth, making a web of tracks all over each arm.

"What do you mean you didn't authorize it, who are you?!"

"Would you like to get out of here first? I presume the grubs were set on you because you were trying to escape and frankly, I don't think it's safe for you to stay here."

"But where would we go?"

He chuckles. "Let's get out of here first. There is only so long that they will abstain from coming after you for."

"Okay- ah!"

He had pressed some buttons that were on a keypad in the wall and the room had just jolted and shot out of the - ship? - yes, it was a ship. Jīvitaya moves over to the window to see a large gray ship growing farther and farther away.

"So . . . where are we going to go?"

He smiled cautiously, "I was thinking, why don't we figure out where you're really from."

Her eyes widen, "I'm from Earth! What the hell do you mean, where I'm really from?!"

"You aren't human, no human would have survived a single Ehthtiur Grub bite, let alone two of them biting repeatedly."

Jīvitaya's face pales and she starts trembling. She's quite sure that if she had been standing, her legs would have collapsed beneath her.

Her voice shakes, "How can I not be human? I've been on Earth for my entire life."

The boy sits on the bed slowly and rests a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I don't know how you aren't human, and I don't know where you're from, but I can try to help you at the very least. I don't know how long it will take, but don't you want to know who you are?"

"I want to know. I do, but my life has just been upended, everything I know is now a lie. Where do I go from here? How do I find anything that will help me know who I am?"

"I don't know. Rest and think, and afterward we can figure it out, alright?"

"Okay."

The boy gets up from the bed and heads toward the door, stopping just before it to turn back.
"I'll leave the door open, and you are welcome to explore my ship if your body is up for it. Just . . . please don't touch anything if you don't know what it does, just so that we don't get sucked out through an airlock or something similar."

He steps out the door after running his hand along a small panel on the wall, dimming the lighting to a gentle glow. Slowly, with her wounds protesting, Jīvitaya slides down the bed to fully lie down. Her thoughts blur back and forth, trying to make sense of this situation. But eventually, they quiet down as she drifts off to an uneasy sleep.

—————————————————————————-
Hello! I feel bad for Jīvitaya. Do you? Who do you think the boy is? Where do you think they're going to go? Do you have any suggestions for me?

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~Goddess Of Fate, signing out