Page 11 of Reaper

“Yes! Defective. Thank you,” I said, stupidly feeling accomplished that I hadn’t used imagery, even though I hadn’t remembered the word on my own.

“I will need to look at your optical aid to see if we can repair it or give you an even better one,” Reaper said in a take-charge tone that gave me pleasant shivers.

After so many years being the one trying to keep everyone inside the base alive, it was wonderful to be taken care of, to have someone else take on the responsibility of seeing to my welfare. And Reaper was so gentle. He was so tall—at least two heads above me—and so massively muscular, I never expected such a tender and delicate touch from him. His fingers, as they brushed my dirty, greasy hair away from my face, were the softest thing I had ever experienced. For a split second, I was taken aback as his hands had been very calloused when I’d examined him earlier. But that was his corpse. He was now back in a new body, and I needed him to explain to me how his new body had matured so fast.

However, he proceeded to bombard me with endless questions about allergies, symptoms, known illnesses, any current pains, my diet, and so on. While I knew them to be important, I was getting annoyed. I just wanted more of his amazingly clean water and to fall asleep to the hypnotic sound of his voice.

I didn’t know if I had answered all of his questions, or if he’d sensed my growing reticence, but he finally put down his scanner and pulled out the second bottle. I failed to silence a moan of pleasure when the first drop fell on my tongue. Reaper chuckled, and his arm possessively tightened around me. I snuggled more comfortably against him and forced myself to swallow the contents of the bottle at a reasonable pace. By the time I finished, I was losing the battle to keep my eyes open. My Creckel companions, full-bellied and content, had surrendered to their food coma moments after I had started drinking that second bottle.

The last thing I remembered before sleep claimed me was praying that if this had been a delirious hallucination, that I should never rise from it.

* * *

Iwoke up with a start to the sound of a loud impact in the hallway. Brees was already on the move by the time I regained my bearings. My instant panic immediately faded when I once more felt the soothing presence of Reaper’s hard body still holding me on his lap.

“Do not be afraid, Janelle,” Reaper said in a soft voice. “My team has made a larger opening, wide enough that I should be able to get you out. But it is too small yet for your companions.”

My heart leapt at the thought of getting out of this tomb, but at the same time, it constricted at the prospect of leaving behind those I had come to consider as my brothers and sisters.

Paranoia suddenly set in. What if he was secretly kidnapping me with the intent of leaving the Creckels behind? What if these tests he had performed on me earlier were only to verify if I would make a good test subject for some sort of crazy experiment? What if…?

And yet, even as those uncertainties popped up in my head, I knew them to be false. Why would he have fed my friends if I was all he wanted?

To make them drop their guard so that he could take you away willingly.

That almost gave me pause. After all, they had killed him the first time because they’d believed him to be a threat. However, he could have gassed us and just plucked me right out. And why would they want to experiment on me anyway? I was just a bag of bones with nothing special in my genetics warranting so much effort from them.

“Janelle?” Reaper said when I failed to answer.

“I must tell Brees,” I said, looking at the open door where my friend had disappeared.

I made to rise to my feet, but a wave of dizziness struck me hard. It was odd considering all the rehydration I had just benefited from.

“Do not strain yourself,” Reaper said in a slightly reproving tone. “You are too weak. I will carry you. Who is Brees? The female that the others seem to follow?”

“Yes,” I said in a small voice, secretly pleased to remain in his embrace.

I was beyond starved for human contact and interaction, even though he didn’t fully qualify as such. I allowed him to carry me out of the room, my companions gathering around us as we made our way through the hallway. Brees, Grol, and a few other adults were looking up at the shaft from whence a lot more natural light was pouring in. Stopping near the Creckels, Reaper addressed Brees before I could do so.

“Janelle is very sick,” Reaper said in a concerned tone to the female. “The opening is now wide enough for me to bring her up to our ship to get proper treatment from a professional doctor. But it is still too small for the hovering platform that will take out the rest of you; or more precisely the adult Creckels. If you wish, we can take out the young, but I suspect you would rather keep them with you.”

Brees’ negative reaction was instant. I might have laughed under different circumstances. But even that felt like too much effort. To my relief, my friend bombarded me with images that appeased my guilt at leaving them. She was very worried for my health and helpless to assist me in any way, while these strangers could. And they still had plenty of meat left in the cooler Reaper had brought. Despite the limited training my mother had managed to impart to me before her passing, my scientific and biological knowledge was sufficiently advanced to know I needed more help than just food and water. And Brees also understood it.

Despite her strong refusal to part with the young, the female’s trust towards Reaper left me confused. Once I was better, I’d have to ask her what had been the cause, beyond him providing food. She was fiercely protective of me and everyone else in the base. She wouldn’t lightly let me go with strangers.

“I figured you would say that,” Reaper said to Brees with a smile in his voice. “We will do our best to free the rest of you as quickly as possible. In the meantime, one of my companions will bring you more food and water. Please do not be troubled by his appearance. He is a good man.”

That comment intrigued me. What would be so peculiar about his friend for him to feel the need to give them such a warning? Did he have even stronger Kryptid features than Reaper did?

Brees gave her assent with a small grunt. Her consciousness brushed against mine, and she gave me an affectionate psychic nudge, which I returned.

“The opening is very tight,” Reaper said apologetically. “I’m going to have to hold you very close to me in order for both of us to go through.”

I gave him a strange look, wondering why he felt the need to apologize about that. I wanted him to hold me. Not only had I been painfully craving physical contact with another person, but I especially liked being held by him. Granted, after all those years, I didn’t really have any other points of reference. But I loved his scent, and being in his arms felt like home, felt safe.

The thought that he might be sorry to have to hold me so closely because I stank too much crossed my mind. However, I dismissed it, not that it didn’t have merit. Reaper had been holding me ever since I’d first collapsed in the hallway and had shown no eagerness to put an end to it, even chastising me when I tried to get up on my own. Not knowing how to answer, I merely nodded. Frankly, I wouldn’t have cared if he had attached me to a rope and pulled me up like a rag doll. Whatever it took, I just wanted to be outside.

Setting me down on my feet, Reaper turned me around to face him before pulling me back into his embrace. I instinctively wrapped my arms around his neck, once more impressed by his great height and how incredibly broad and muscular he was. Brees projected in my mind the image of Reaper and me holding each other in this position. It was beautiful in its clarity instead of the blurriness that was the constant in my life. She then displayed a sun erupting from our chests and swirling around us in a spiral, binding us. That took me aback.

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