JULY 4th, 2045. 08:40.
- Neyven -
ARIA'S POV:
We start walking further south. For a while, I even doubted if we were on the right path and if this even led to the headquarters. I didn't know what I was doing anymore. Where Mom and Dad are, where Ben and Chadwick are, and even Zoe. They can't just go missing like that, right?
"Hey, look! Is that a pod or am I seeing things?" June exclaimed. We all hurried towards the white structure peering from behind some undergrowth. "Chad!" I gasped at the sight of his body, lying unconscious on the forest floor. His leg had been bleeding, but it was almost dry then. I kneel and check his pulse, "Quick June, Oxygen." All three of us sprang into action. June puts him on Oxygen. Ian bandaged his leg, while I dashed into the half-damaged, lopsided pod.
No sight of Ben. I could but only think of the worst. "Ben isn't here." I run around the place for a minute or so. "He, he isn't anywhere. What happened to him?" I gasped, "What if that creature... What will we do now?" I whispered, tears choking my voice. "Hey! Hey, it's alright, we're okay. Ben will be fine. Everything is okay. Calm down." June hugs me and rubs my back slowly. I heard myself sob a few times before letting go. "Yeah. He'll be alright. I'll check inside the pod if anything's working." I get inside the wreck.
The systems were, surprisingly, working just fine. I pressed the right buttons and pulled the starter and the engine whirred up. We won't possibly be able to ride it, but the transducer is of great help. I turned on the microphone and spoke over it, "Hello? Does anybody hear me? This is Aria Grace. Does anyone copy? Hello? Hello?" Oh c'mon!
I cut the connection and tried again, "Hello? This is Aria Grace. Neyven Research Headquarters, does anyone hear me? Hello?" After a few more seconds of static, a voice replied, "You've reached Neyven Research Headquarters. Please report your whereabouts." A mechanical voice, doesn't necessarily mean there's a person present on the other side. No, this isn't helping. I cut the line and head outside. Chad was back in his senses, he was still lying and was on steady oxygen.
"How's he doing?" I ask. "Looks stable," Ian replies, still holding his wrist between his fingers. "Were you able to connect to the headquarters?" he asks back. "Yeah, but it's the AI speaking. I don't think it is going alright over there. Think, why won't they send any search and rescue ops? Why is the record responding to a SOS call instead of a person? This doesn't make any sense."
"What do we do now?" June gets up. The ground tremors for a few seconds straight.
"Stay alive." Not an understatement.
JULY 4th, 2045. 10:30.
- Drew Island -
BEN'S POV:
"Who are you? And why am I here? Please, answer me." I looked straight at the eyes of the attender, or so they call themselves, who was almost done cleaning the table I just had my lunch at. "I'm sorry, I'm not allowed to do so." The man says and leaves me to that white cell alone again.
This was making me go insane. It's like I'm held hostage or something. All I could understand was that I'm on Drew Island and these people don't want me dead. They'd give me food, medicine, even entertainment. I'm kept cuffed now since I turned violent some hours ago. This was a whole different kind of torture. I don't know where or how Aria, June or anybody else is. And there's no way to find out. They could be hostages just like me. Or they could be dead by now. Anything could've happened.
I realised I'd lost sense of time. At this rate, I'd be a crazy lunatic in a matter of days.
My eyes drooped. Of course, they put something in the food. I couldn't fight it, so I lay down and a dark void of sleep drowned me.
"Benedict Wallace." the voice woke me up. "Huh?" It was that man again, who had visited me on the first day. "Dr. Gellert Maurice here," he says. He uncuffs my hands and examines my injuries." I sit up. "How do you feel now?" "What do you think I'm supposed to respond? Great? Never been better? No one is gonna tell me where my friends are, why I'm kept here on Drew Island. Please tell me what is going on." I pressed.
"Ben please calm down. This is for the best. You're safe here. Your friends would be too, if you tell me where they might be." He said it like it was just a suggestion. "Wait. You don't know where they are?" "You supposed I did?" he asks back. "How did you find me?" "There were distress signals coming from a pod lying nearby, that's how. Now, were your friends with you? Do you know where they might be now?" I didn't bother answering, unless, "Will you get them to me if I tell you?" "I don't see a reason not to."
"How can I trust you?" I prompt him. "This is why I'm not forcing you. It's up to you if you'll trust me or not. I can but only try, Ben. I'll never give a promise. If you tell me you're only helping your friends." "You're no more than a stranger to me." "Still I'm not killing you off." he counters in lethally a calm voice. " I'll be blunt, I don't like your ways." "Oh! I get that a lot. I won't take it to heart." he smiles at me. "I'll leave you uncuffed. You're smart. Think about it, okay?"
He walks out closing the door shut. God! What kinda mess did I get into?
YOU ARE READING
THE NEYVEN MAYHEM
Adventure" Summer just got, a whole, lot, hotter." ...Year - 2042. A breakthrough in the scientific world. An island - a treasure trove of resources that were otherwise considered non-existent, hidden all these centuries behind a cloak of clouds has been dis...
