We didn't really get too far into our journey before we began hearing sirens, alerting the staff of my absence. The noise was so loud that for a moment, I cried out and stopped moving, covering my ears in hopes of blocking out the sound. Joseph behind me covered his ears as well, the sounds of the alarms like an explosion against our eardrums. My eyes were closed tightly, my teeth gritting together painfully as the sirens wailed on. I could faintly hear some of the workers scrambling from wherever we were, things smashing to the ground as if someone were throwing something. The noises were all too much and I nearly passed out.
However a nudge from Joseph had me glancing back at him. I saw the desperation in his eyes and in that moment I knew we had to move on. We had to deal with our ears being assaulted with the wail of the alarms. I began moving forward, sweat dripping from my brow, my body aching to pain nearly unimaginable, my heart hammering in my chest. I was only being fueled by adrenaline as we crawled through the tiny space. I saw some light ahead, and glanced back at Joseph to tell him.
"Let's not jump out just yet. Look through the cracks and let me know what you can see."
I nodded, scooting closer to the grate that covered the vent, squinting through the small openings to see a large empty room. "I see an empty room," I explained, tilting my head to see if I could get anything else. I saw a desk to the left, a woman sitting there as she typed away on her computer. "Wait, it's not empty. There's a woman at a large desk doing something on the computer."
"Do you see large glass doors that lead outside?"
I looked, but only saw a large metal door that was nestled on the other side of the desk. I sighed in defeat, shaking my head as I glanced back at Joseph. "No. There's only a metal-"
I heard a couple of beep sounds and turned my attention back to the almost barren room on the other side of the grate. The metal door that was beside the woman at the desk, opened up to reveal a rather...wrathful looking Issak, whose face spoke murder as he stomped inside.
"Caren, secure a lockdown on the entire building. Level five. Subject Z has escaped." While the woman nodded and immediately did his bidding, Issak's eyes scanned around the room, falling onto the vent we were in. I gulped and gasped, backing away with hopes that he didn't see me, sighing with relief when he tore his gaze away and walked over to the desk. He whispered something to the woman, and I strained to hear, but no avail I heard absolutely nothing. I sighed, maneuvering around to where my face was next to Joseph's, the man looking at me with curious brown eyes. "Issak's saying something to the woman at the desk, but I have no idea what, unfortunately. Though...I did see him looking over here, so I'm a little worried."
Joseph cursed, dragging a large calloused hand down his face. "Great. I should have known it wasn't going to be this easy." He nibbled at his bottom lip, an action I was strangely captivated by, and scratched the back of his neck before he continued. "Until we know for sure that Issak already put two and two together, we should probably stay put. If we're extremely lucky, then he doesn't know where we're at, and we're panicking for nothing."
"I have a feeling we're not going to be so lucky," I muttered with a frown, maneuvering until I was comfortable...well, as comfortable as I could get with my back against one side of the vents, my legs bent to my chin in front of me. "I guess the only thing we can do is wait and see."
Joseph nodded and copied my position, wrapping his arms around his legs as he leaned his head onto his knees. "This sucks. I hate just sitting here, waiting for the inevitable. I have a feeling Issak knows it was me that whisked you away."
I bit my bottom lip, rubbing at my arms. "Jo? I know this is random, and stuff...but ah...what exactly is the plan once we get out of here? Issak's probably going to ground all ships in order to seek us out...so-"
"We'll stay at my place until I figure it out. Issak may have the authority to ban any aircraft from leaving the atmosphere, but he can only ground them for so long. Eventually, the president is going to lift the ban, seeing as most of our food is imported in the air, nowadays. Once that's all cleared up, I can power up my ship and take you home."
"What then? Are you...going to come back here? To your..."Ma"?" I asked, my heart clenching with anticipation for his answer.
Joseph stared at me, his dewy eyes staring into my own, his lips not more than a few inches away. I didn't know why I was focusing on his lips. I should have been focusing on his answer, not those luscious lips of his. And there I go again. What was wrong with me? I shook myself out of my thoughts and came back to reality, just in time to hear Joseph's answer.
"Well, honestly? I was kinda hoping to stay on Glacion. With my Ma. Since, we'd be traitors here. I don't want Ma to be hunted down like an animal, so your planet is all we have."
I couldn't even begin to explain how my heart leapt happily in my chest, my cheeks warming as I felt strangely...overjoyed to hear he would be staying on Glacion, with me. I tore my gaze from Joseph, hoping that he didn't see the dark crimson blush on my cheeks. What was with me lately? I seemed to be blushing more than normal. Was it because of Joseph? Was the the reason I kept getting flustered was because of this man? Did that mean that I...
No. You're not in love. This is just...infatuation. Nothing at all like love, I kept trying to reassure myself, though deep down I knew I was lying to myself. Why else would I enjoy his kisses? His company? Heck, I even adored his horrible attempts at jokes. His voice was like silk against my ears, his laughs lyrical whenever he found something funny. Was this love? Was this the foreign feeling I steered away from? Maybe I was thinking too hard into this. I could be in the clear. For all I know, what I felt for Joseph could very well be a simple crush. Since I never had a crush before, this could easily confuse me for love, since that was also a foreign feeling to me. Crushes could easily lead to love, I thought, nibbling at my bottom lip.
"You're fine with that, right? My Ma and I staying at your place? I don't know if you got like, apartments, or something, but I'm sure I can find a good spot to live. It'd be cold as crap though."
At the sound of Joseph's voice, I snapped out of my thoughts, glancing at him with a raised eyebrow. "Of course we have apartments. We need a cheaper way to live too, you know."
Joseph snorted. "Yeah, well you're a king. You live super comfy in that pretty palace of yours."
"True. Though, I do try to let my people live as comfortable as I am able. Sadly, even with Glacion's profits, some of us Glacics can't afford the luxurious places others can. It's not my fault, since I do try to prevent that. It's just, taxes, and payments. It's very difficult being a king. Especially since I don't have a consort to help. N-not that I need one, or anything. I could just hire a bunch of dudes to do it for me."
"Dudes, Asurah?"
I blushed and smacked him in the arm. "I may be a creature from another planet, but I'm no idiot to slang words. Or...wait, was that what they call the "hip words"? Ugh, you know what? I'll figure it out eventually."
Joseph laughed, quiet enough so no one could hear us. "You're so damn adorable. No, don't give me that look, I mean it. And," he paused, furrowing his brows, "do you smell something?"
I frowned, sniffing at the air before my eyes went wide, my body starting to burn painfully. "I think Issak put something in the vents! My body hurts! Make it stop!" I gasped shakily as my body started shaking, Joseph panicking as he started pushing me towards the exit.
"Screw this, we need to get out of here, and now. Asurah, I know you're in pain, but please, try to move to the exit. If Issak's waiting for us...What am I saying, of course he's waiting for us. Asurah, breathe."
"I can't! It's like what Issak injected into me earlier! My body feels like it's melting." I gasped, clinging onto Joseph as he dragged me towards the vent exit.
"Just hang in there, Asurah! Issak will fix you. I may have to beg on my knees, but damn it hopefully he'll strike me a bargain. At whatever cost, you'll be ok."
I barely had any time to speak before we were slamming into the floor below, a breath escaping my lips as my back smacked against the tile. Joseph fell on me, quickly getting off so he could cradle me in his arms.
"Well, well, well. And the little birdies finally decide to show themselves, huh? Fun, fun. Now I have two little play-things." Issak spoke, making Joseph glare at him with raw hatred within those chocolate depths.
"We're not play-things, you bastard!"
Issak held up a finger, smirking as his gaze fell onto me. "I wouldn't snap at me if I were you, seeing as I have the antidote for your precious boy-toy. I never pegged you to be on that side of the fence, Captain. Though, I have heard the rumors."
Joseph tensed, but said nothing as he glared the older man down. Finally, he glanced down at me, his gaze softening as he brushed my hair out of my face. "I don't care what you say. Want to talk about my past? Fine. Believe the rumors? I don't care. Just...just fix Asurah, please. I...I'll do anything."
A smirk formed on Issak's lips and my heart dropped. He was probably going to ask for his Ma's life. And...I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't let an important person be taken from him so soon, not after everything he did to protect her. For goodness sake, the man betrayed me just so his mother didn't have to fall into the untold terrors of Issak's whims. If he agreed to Issak's wish...he would lose the one thing he wanted to protect in the first place, and all of this would have been for nothing. I had to think of something. Something of equal interest that even Issak wouldn't be able to say no to. Something. Anything.
Suddenly, an idea popped into my head, and as much as I loathed the idea, it was the best shot at getting me better, and protecting Joseph's Ma from harm. I opened my mouth, gasping still from the pain that assaulted my body. Somehow, I managed to get the words out of my mouth without any problem, despite the agony I was in.
"I'll take you to Glacion."