Juliet's Tryst

Chapter 46: Messages, Part 1

Juliet fell into a wicked sickness. She fell in and out of consciousness like a yo-yo. At first, it was just a fever. She spent her days in bed, wrestling the covers. Either she wanted to be cocooned as tightly as her body would allow or she wanted the covers as far away from her as possible. The smart room soon learned these patterns and adjusted the temperatures according to the sound of her pained moans. A normal fever did not hurt this bad. One moment, she was a piece of ice ready to shatter. Then, she was a pig roasting over a giant fire pit.

Nothing worked. She was scanned over and over. They even tried to place physical sensors on her which was a sign of diagnostic failure to them. No solution came out of the different methods they tried on her. Yet, everything was wrong. The doctors would murmur in low voices with Dee then shake their heads before taking their leave. On many occasions, she wondered if this meant she was going to die. Every morning came as a surprise.

There was a sort of work from home desk set up for Dee so that she could keep tabs on what was happening, both on Earth and on Kyria. She rarely spoke English. Juliet became used to the sound of sharp clicks and hisses of the Kyrian language. Soon, she would not be able to sleep without it. Every evening, Dee climbed into bed to lay next to her and wrap her arms around her. She did not let go until it was time to go back. It was the only thing that melted the ice and calmed the fire to a gentle glow.

All the while, Juliet was filled with a frustration like never before experienced. She wanted to act and she wanted to discover. Her body prevented her from doing so, swinging her violently in and out of delirium. In her rare moments of lucidness, she tried to get Dee to tell her about the situation at Kyria. Dee refused, promising to tell her when she got better.

It was impossible to refuse a soft and cuddly Dee. The moment Dee buried her face into Juliet's neck, any talk of war was forgotten. Their bodies intermingled which made falling in and out of consciousness less frightening. If Dee was by her side, the darkness felt warm.

The screaming started a week later. Juliet awoke to the sound of a high pitched wail. She looked around, her eyes scanning the sheets, the room, Dee, only to see that everything was normal. She thought nothing of it. It happened again that night. This time it was clearer, as though the radio channel had been tuned. It was a long cry of a creature in anguish. It suddenly vanished as if it was cut off, forcefully silenced. She could not help but stay frozen in an all-consuming fear on the bed.

For the third time, when it came back it screamed her name. The night was barely turning into the morning.

JULIET!

It was inhuman, hissing and gurgling. Juliet screamed in response which made Dee rush over from her workstation to find her shivering in fear.

"What is it?"

"I am hearing voices. Screams at first and now my name."

"When did you hear the first scream?" She looked at her strangely.

"Yesterday," Juliet replied.

"And then two tonight?"

"Yes."

Dee turned away for a second, not sure what to say next.

"Oh Kyria, how I wish you did not burden her with this." The Kyrion spoke into the emptiness in front of her.

"What? What do you know? Stop hiding! I am connected to her, to something."

"No-"

"I can feel something is deeply wrong. Tell me what is happening on Kyria. Now, Dee!"

Dee found Juliet to be lucid enough to understand.

"The Karetchkians is what is happening. This is the species we have been at war with for a long time. They are preparing to use their planet destroying weapons. We are depleted and trying to move as many willing to come over to Earth. Kyria will soon be no more."

Juliet leaned forward and heaved at the sound of those words. The fear inside her was so great that she wanted to expel it out of her body. Dee held her, making sure she did not fall onto her face.

"How long do you have?"

"Weeks, if we are lucky. There are very few Kyrians left, but we cannot move all of Kyria here. She will be gone along with those that chose to die with her."

"What of the screams? You seemed to know the times I heard them."

"Those are because of the bombs. The Karetchkians are targeting the stores of Kulon which are larger than humans can possibly imagine. The target is to kill Kyria herself. I do not know how they know these places. Maybe a traitor."

This was already known, just not through words.

"She might be trying to contact me." Juliet mused, pulling her knees up to her chin. The stars at the top of the room twinkled like they always did. "She might be trying to tell me something, but I do not know what yet."

"If it was a message, we would have decoded it already."

Juliet decided not to cajole Dee about the limits of their own technology. It was greatly rude to insinuate that Kyria was trying to message Juliet by herself. Conversations with the planet were sacred and meant only for the Rulers. Why did Kyria want Juliet? If that even was what this was. It could be a super bacteria killing her slowly. The voices were just her way of trying to be helpful.

"There is another bomb scheduled for the morning." Dee's voice was grim and determined. She was losing her home and yet she was still fighting. She was fighting for the safety of her people like Juliet would eventually have to fight for the safety of her own.

"I will see if I hear something else.'' Juliet's vision was blurring again. Dee gently laid her down and ushered her passage back into nothingness.

The world around her was filled with a black smoke. Kyria. Juliet crawled on all fours, trying to find her way. She did not know where she was going. Away. Maybe to. Go to something. Finally her fingers found the edge of the ground. She waved her arms in front of her, nothingness. The smoke started to clear and Juliet could see an ocean of Kulon as far as the eye could see. It was white and shining. Blood. Bleeding.

She awoke alone and in darkness.

"JULIET!" A gurgle, a hiss, the wail of a mother seeing her dead child for the first time. "COME NOW!"

She started to seize, her legs and arms jerking as though they were trying to lift her up in the air. They were not wings. When Dee finally got to her, she was gone, trapped on a dying Kyria inside her mind.  

Edited by -MissElle