Born of starlight and shadows

~Part twenty two: Stella(?)~

-> On that same note, Maria and my mom and dad...these people had come after me and Hannah. Were they safe? I truly hoped they were.

-> And then, my surroundings: I had woken up in a tiny cell, sitting on a paper-thin cot. There was a camera in the corner-no surprise there.

-> The only positive thing about that: I had too much to think about that I wasn't even bothered by my claustrophobia at all.

-> I also wasn't as affected by fear the man-who, as I noticed, had black hair as well and wore sunglasses inside-walking inside of my cell and leading me down long halls (I could hear our footsteps echoing).

-> The fear of what lay ahead began to penetrate my mind as we continued to walk.

I was a Star Child. Hannah had said-or maybe it was her dad, I couldn't remember, her living room seemed s o v e r y far away, a distant memory-that I was pretty powerful. If she was right, that would at least explain why I was here.

But it didn't explain what they-what these people, whoever they were-were going to do to me now.

And so, I began to be truly afraid when the man who had brought me to this other room-it looked sort of like an office, there was a desk in one corner, an elaborate computer setup, and another hallway leading somewhere-and the other man who had spoken to me a few moments ago began conversing.

What they were talking about jolted me awake quickly. It was strange, really, but I was always hyperaware of instances where I was mentioned in a conversation.

The one positive thing I could think of: At least the man stopped looking at me in the way he had earlier. But both he and the man who brought me here kept glancing over at me, as if to make sure I wouldn't run off.

Never before had I felt so helpless. All of those ridiculously nerve-wracking social experiences from another lifetime hadn't even been this bad. At least in that life I had managed to find some things that did make me feel comfortable.

Now, the word 'comfortable' seemed to have been tossed on its head.

It wasn't just the metal shackles that I wore that seemed to make me feel this way, though I was certain they helped. They did a lot more than restrict my movement, that was for sure.

They also blocked the energy pulsating through me.

If the circumstances had been different, I might've almost been grateful. But this was the situation I was in right now, and things weren't different.

I was still standing in the corner of the same room the two men were standing. I wasn't simply feeling awkward, out of place, the way I always had in other, safer, situations where I was the one who wasn't sure how to join the conversation going on around me. No, it was like my-well, I was pretty sure I had some form of social anxiety at least. I wasn't sure if what Hannah had said, years and years and go back in the school hallway was correct.

In any case, it was like my social anxiety, if that's what it was, had morphed into something else. Something more than fear. I still felt afraid, about the future, maybe more specifically, what would be done to me-for it was me they were discussing as though I wasn't there, the power I possessed. As though I didn't understand plain English, or maybe, as though I was beneath even noticing...I suspected it was the latter, though I didn't want to, no, not at all.

I ran through a list of words in my head, emotions for my current state: apprehensive, yes, scared, that was just a synonym for afraid, worried...wary, maybe-what else was I feeling?

I couldn't put my finger on it until after the man who had come to my-no, the cell nodded to the other, older man in the room and exited. He did glance once in my direction, though I truly had no idea why. Maybe he was worried about leaving me with the other man, maybe he was regretting his choices to work with kidnappers, maybe he was just curious about the latest prisoner...or maybe it was just some sort of coincidence and I was trying to hold onto the smallest chance that this wasn't happening, no, this wasn't happening.