The Human Xenocide

Chapter Twenty-Five - The Freezing Cold

She could feel herself being dragged and watched the floor move by her.  She saw the metal gate move past her as she watched the glove slide part-way down her hand.  The bone just past the rotten skin glowed whiter than the ice she could see slowly dropping off her arms and legs.

 Steps, she could see steps.  They went up a few of them.  When she reached the top of the steps she noticed a different kind of light from the cold white light down in the cell.  The light was a warm orange and felt warm as she passed by the lights.  They were torches of fire to keep the pathways well lit and warm.  The headache started to appear again as she turned a corner into a well-lit, warm, room.  As her vision blurred from the burning headache as she caught a glimpse of her hand once more.  The skin was red like the fingers on her other hand when she cracked the ice off.  But she couldn’t feel any pain coming from what little bit of her hand she could see. 

She was dropped.  Her face landed softly on thick warm carpet, her eyes were directed at a nearby fire burning behind a metal grate.  The heat on her face felt good.  With the more peaceful surroundings she closed her eyes and let the headache knock her out.

Awake again.  Lilly’s head had gone from raging pain to a dull throbbing.  It was something she could handle.  She could feel the carpet on her face and bare arms.  The warmth from the fire in the room brought more acute feeling back to her body.  She had no clue where she was or how long she’d been out for.  This time with the warmth on her side Lilly lifted her dead hand and pushed up from the ground.  She managed to lift herself up just enough to shift most her weight to her legs.  She sat there with her hand down and observed the room. 

Everything looked surreal. It was as if everything was glowing just a tad.  The crackling fireplace in front of her had several large burning logs on it—the kind of logs that could last for hours before needing to be replaced.  It was a brick fireplace, with a wooden shelf above it.  On the wooden shelf were a few pictures.  Lilly wasn’t interested in who was in them.  She glanced to either side of the fireplace. The walls had an expensive looking wooden finish to them. 

Before trying to capture any more of the room she was in Lilly looked down at herself.  Her dead hand which was currently pressed against the carpet holding her up was as good as it would ever get.  A little more skin had fallen off but it was still there.  Her legs were still covered with her pants but she noticed several rips and tears in the legs.  Blood speckled the tears. She probably got cut being dragged around. She didn’t remember getting them so she must have been unconscious. 

She looked over at her good hand.  An expansive looking gold bracelet clung to her wrist.  The bracelet had a twisting design to it and was speckled with the occasional shining diamond that looked is if it was placed into the spirals in no particular order. They knocked her out, kidnap her and then dress her up with expansive jewelry?

She pulled herself up more so she was sitting and examined the jewelry.  She touched it.  It was cold, like metal should be.  She tried to turn it.  It clung to her skin and searing pain ricocheted up her arm.  She quickly moved away from the bracelet and let the pain mellow out.  It felt like she was trying to force needles out of her skin by tearing it. 

She drunkenly swung her head around the room. Everything still had that odd glow to it.  With the spin dizziness overcame her.  When the rotating stopped she saw a dark wooden desk.  The desk had papers neatly stacked on it and a handful of folders slipped to one side.  A man sat behind it in a wooden hand crafted chair.  He had short black hair and brown eyes.  She could see he had a white shirt and that a heavy fur coat hung from the corner of the desk.  He kept his eyes on some paper in front of him but was constantly glancing up from his desk at Lilly.  Her head swayed from one side to another as she tried to focus on the man.