Pet | Kylo Ren x Reader | Precious Pet Series | Book 1

War Drums

"Hide under the bed," Lor San Tekka urgently told you.

You nodded, feeling your heart beating like a frightened bird in the cage of your ribs, and wrapped the loose jacket around your shoulders. The First Order was descending upon the village, and there was nowhere to run.

He held up the corner of the blanket to allow you easier access to the space under the platform of his humble bed. You scooted under to the wall and pressed your back again the cool adobe. The blanket flopped back and obscured most of your vision and threw the space into a deeper darkness.

Poe Dameron had already left to get to his X-wing Starfighter by the time you saw the Order's ships closing in and rushed to Tekka's. You had stayed clear of Tekka's home while the pilot was there. There were certain things you knew you shouldn't know. Tekka told you it was safer if you weren't there, and you believed him.

Tekka knew more about the galaxy than you ever would. He told you stories of the Empire and the Force and the Jedi. He told you about Luke Skywalker. It all sounded like myth, but you knew the stories were true. Lor San Tekka had never lied to you.

When you were a girl, he asked if you could feel the Force. You couldn't, of course. You were too young and too ignorant and more interested in learning about the Jedi than actually becoming one. You scoffed at someone like you becoming a Force user now. You were just a weird, mundane girl in a backwater hole of a planet.

You were shaken out of your memories when the blaster fire began. There was screaming and the scrabbling of feet in the sand. You could hear the crackle of stormtrooper comms. You pushed further back in the dark sanctuary of the bed.

A hush suddenly fell over the village and you strained to hear anything. Was it over? Had the Order gotten what it wanted? You had a gnawing feeling it was only beginning.

The whoosh of energy--you couldn't identify the noise, but you knew it wasn't good--pierced the air. There was a collective horrified gasp and more scrabbling and then more blaster fire. Something had happened, something terrible. Someone's death had triggered it all. Suddenly, there were screams and controlled violent blasters, and you covered your mouth to muffle your sob. The village was dead. Everyone you knew was dead. Lor San Tekka was gone. You felt it like a punch to the chest.

You told yourself if you just stayed quiet, no one would know you were there.

There were stormtroopers everywhere. They were ransacking the village, burning the evidence of their crimes. There was a huge, deafening explosion, and you couldn't stop the tears now. You were alone with Order 'troopers swarming all around you. You prayed to the Maker to protect you because you didn't even have a blaster of your own.

The beaded curtains that served as Tekka's front door rattled, and you swore whoever they were could hear your heartbeat.

"Search it," a filtered male voice ordered.

There were three people in Tekka's home, riffling through his belongings. You didn't know how you knew that, but you trusted your instincts. You pressed your face to the ground to see black boots slowly pace near you. That was no 'trooper, you thought. You knew they were looking for whatever Dameron had been given. It was the only explanation.

Dameron was probably long gone, hopefully.

The bed you were under was jerked away to be flung mattress-side to the wall. You were exposed and you fumbled to get to your feet. If you were to die, you would be doing it standing. You weren't afraid of death and you would greet it head-on.

The owner of the black boots was definitely no stormtrooper, you assessed. The person was towering, clad completely in black, and masked. The only shine came from the lines of chrome around the narrow visor. The person was like a walking void, a black hole, sucking up all the light.