Camp IX | ✓

23

     "Blaze!" I gasped wrapping my arms around him.

     The side of my face was buried in the side of his neck and his curls brushed against my cheek. I could smell traces of his cologne mixed with sweat. It wasn't a totally unpleasant scent.

     I took a long breath in and closed my eyes feeling the way his arms felt around me. In a world where everything had been tossed upside down, I was grateful to find one small remnant of my normal life.

     After several seconds, we broke apart and Blaze held me at arm's length. His gaze wandered over me, searching for signs of injury.

     "I'm ok," I softly murmured so only he could hear.

     There were others in the room. They weren't paying much attention as they hurried around, getting the ship in order for the flight. Only Val and Griffin stood off to the side, their heads together, occasionally glancing at us.

     "Are you sure? They didn't probe you or anything?" Blaze asked so seriously that I almost missed the joke.

     I rolled my eyes and gently hit him in the arm. "No doofus they didn't."

     Blaze then stepped closer to me, closing the small gap of space between us. His eyes still searching mine for something.

     He lowered his voice so I could barely hear it. It sent a pleasant shiver down my spine.

     "But in all seriousness, why did they take us?"

     I shook my head and decided that for the time being, I would keep my memory problem to myself.

     "Do you think we're hostages?" Asked Blaze. "There's always hostages in war."

     You might be, but I'm not I thought. I didn't say it out loud, however.

     "Are they treating you like a hostage?" I whispered, desperately hoping the answer would be no.

     He shot a look at Val and Griffin but they were talking and not paying attention to us. Blaze pulled aside the collar of his flannel, exposing part of his neck. Circling it was a thin strip of black material. From far away it would look like one of those cheap chokers that girls would buy for Coachella. Up close, however, I could see the faintest blink of light.

     "They must have put it on while I was knocked out because when I woke up, there it was," Blaze muttered.

     I reached out, letting my fingers brush against it. The material felt hard and cold beneath my touch. My fingers trailed a little lower to the hollow of his neck.

     "Have you figured out what it does?" I asked.

     Blaze let go of his collar and the flannel fell back into place. I dropped my fingers from his neck regretfully.

     "It works like a human dog collar."

     "What?" I hissed turning cold.

     "I found out the hard way," Blaze shrugged.

     "That's horrible," I stepped back, clenching my shaking fists. "They can't do that to you. Griff-"

     I turned and raised my voice to get Griffin's attention to have a strongly worded conversation with him. Blaze caught my wrist and pulled me back to him, cutting me off.

     He held me against him, his breath brushing against my hair. His arms encircling my waist in a hug.

     "Take it from me. These aren't the kind of things you pick a fight with. Let it go for now Nova. We don't know enough about them to even begin to fight back. We're not in danger now so let's just wait and play our hand when we're guaranteed to win."

     His low whisper in my ear calmed me yet sent the butterflies in my stomach reeling. My heart beat at an ever quicking pace and my breath hitched when Blaze buried his face in the side of my neck. God if only we weren't surrounded by people on an alien spaceship. I let out a small sigh.

     It was at that moment that Griffin and Val stopped talking and broke apart. She headed to another part of the ship while Griffin stocked forward, his gaze narrowing.

     "We're going to be leaving in five minutes. I'd like to show you to your bunk," Griffin addressed me but his steely gaze rested on Blaze who was still wrapped around me.

     Blaze let go of me and took a step back. I grasped for the memory of his arms and held onto it a little longer.

     Griffin motioned at a part of the crew and pointed to Blaze. Without ceremony, Blaze was grabbed by the upper arm and I opened my mouth to try and stop him from being taken but with a small shake of his head, Blaze was pulled out of the room.

     My mouth fell closed and I stared at the door through which Blaze had gone. I hadn't noticed it before but a small hallow had begun to grow in my chest and I knew Blaze was the one who had caused it.

     Griffin cleared his throat and snapped my attention back to the present. He led me out of the room in the opposite direction and into a low ceilinged room. Bunks lined the walls, some had curtains pulled closed to close them off from the rest of the room while others stood empty.

     "The whole ship sleeps in here," Griffin said leading me farther into the room. "When they're not taking turns running the ship. Your bunk is over here."

     He motioned to a top bunk in the left corner of the room.

     "Mine's the one below it," Griffin pointed and I nodded, still feeling a little empty at what had happened earlier.

     Unaware of my inner thoughts, Griffin flopped into his bunk. He kept talking in a lighthearted manner but I wasn't paying attention. I turned to look at the door. Out there, somewhere on the ship was Blaze, the boy I'd found only to lose again.