Chapter 8
Washed and fed,I hesitate even though I want to explore the level Indiz’s room is on. He said not to go into other people’s rooms, but there is no one here, and I won’t touch anything. Just peek, count the rooms and try to figure out what’s going on.
That doesn’t stop me from being cautions. I’m hoping there’s no bodies, and no remains. I pause at the first doorway. I could go back and sit in his room, but why is that room his? It’s not the first one on this level. Did he select it by random or was it the only one suitable for living in? The need to know burns within me. I take a breath and peer around the corner of the first room. There’s a bed stripped bare, an unlit hearth and a wooden chest. The room is the same as Indiz’s.
There’s no sign of death or decay. It’s just an empty room, waiting to be made up and used. Every room on this level is the same, except one. In that one there is a low table, a sink and storage. It’s not a kitchen, but it’s clearly a place where people gather to eat. Which makes sense given that the private rooms are only for sleeping.
Was this place a resort once?
Am I staying a five-star hotel where rich aliens once came to ski and watch…or hunt…wildlife?
That makes sense, but it doesn’t explain why it hasn’t fallen to ruin and why there’s no record of it. If it were used by the super-rich and powerful, they would’ve stopped the mining company from even poking around.
I go up a level hoping to find something different, my search becoming more frantic, but it’s all the same. Everything is the same. It’s beginning to feel like a nightmare that I can’t wake up from.
Did I die in the crash?
I pinch the inside of my wrist. It hurts. I still feel hunger and cold. And fear. I can’t be dead. Unless being dead is just like being alive. If this is my afterlife, I want out. Though it’s better than sifting through the algae fields for eternity…
The walls are starting glow. I glance up to the opening at the top to watch the sky darken. I make my way down two levels. I’ve wasted a day and discovered nothing.
Not even the beauty of the city as it glows can lift my spirits. Then a light darts across the central cavern. I run the rest of the way down, not watching the stairs, only where the light goes, but I didn’t see which door it went into. I peek into one of the empty rooms, then another. Finally, the baths.
I stop as soon as I enter, not because there’s a giant eel in the water, but because there’s someone in the lake. I stare through the steam before I realize it’s Indiz; naked and bathing like he doesn’t have a care in the world.
Like he didn’t leave me alone all day.
Anger simmers in my blood.
He swims closer through the mist, his purple skin gleaming, and long white hair drifting about him. For a moment I forget how to breathe. He is pretty… and then he gets close and I remember how massive he is. He picked me up with one hand like I weighed nothing.
He rests his forearms on the stone edge of the indoor lake and smiles. “Do you want to join me?”
Is he serious? I bite back all my sharp retorts, draw in a breath and exhale slowly. I don’t want to be tossed back into the cold. But I need answers. “Where have you been?”
“Hunting. I needed to bathe.”
I jerk my chin in agreement. “You could’ve told me you were leaving this morning.” I sound like a petulant child, which wasn’t my intention.
“You were sound asleep.”
Which is true because I never heard him leave.
“How did you find this place?” He asks.
I bite my lip and glance down, not wanting to admit that I have explored all the lower levels. It’s easier to stick to the truth…it’s not a lie if I omit parts. “I saw a light.” I make a circle with my hands. “I’ve seen a few since I crashed, what are they?”
Something flickers over his face. “Did you leave my room?”
“I had to. I needed to pee.”
His eyes widen. “I left the city, went outside.” I press my lips together. I’ve gone from sounding like a toddler to an animal, which is worse.
“I should’ve shown you the ablutions. I forgot you will need them.”
And he doesn’t?
“You have them?”
