Chapter 35: Karina & Silo – Part 2

KARINA

Karina hadn’t moved from her spot on the floor. She ~couldn’t~ move. Was she really doing this?

Was she actually going to do this?

She grabbed onto her knees as her hands shook. She licked her dry lips. He’d been gone a long time.

What was he up to?

No. She didn’t want to know. Whatever was going to happen, she would end up like the others.

They seemed happy enough. Happy—what did that even feel like? She couldn’t remember.

~Then I suppose it will hurt. It will hurt you greatly. To know nothing of love, then to suddenly fall deeply into it…~

Love. She’d loved her father once, her mother…and they’d betrayed her. They’d ~hurt~ her.

What if Silo did the same? The shaking intensified.

“Stop it!” she hissed between her teeth. What was taking him so long? There was too much time to think!

~Whore. Slut.~ Her father’s laughter echoed in her head.

Finally, the door pulled open. He appeared the same, though his face was paler than usual and his eyes bright.

He looked puffed.

“I need you to go into the bathroom,” he told her immediately. “And don’t come out until I open the door myself, understood?”

Karina nodded, then got to her feet. She felt a little unsteady as she hurried into the bathroom without looking at him and shut the door behind her.

Feeling dizzy, she sat down on the toilet and dropped her head between her knees. Her heart was beating erratically. She wiped her hands down her pants, her palms slippery with sweat.

It didn’t seem all that long when the door opened.

He stood to the side. “You can come out now.”

What was he up to?

~It will hurt you greatly.~

She saw that the little table was laden with two meals and three cylinders of a blue liquid. There was a fourth cylinder filled with the usual water.

Silo gestured her over. “I’m sure you’re hungry.”

Karina glanced at him. Immediately, she thought of poison. Was he going to drug her?

But she went over and sat.

“You’re going to feed me?” she asked.

Silo sat opposite her in front of his meal. “That’s right. I want to make this process as normal and comfortable as possible.”

Karina eyed the three cylinders suspiciously. “What’s in those?”

“Nothing that will harm you.”

“But they’re important.”

“Yes.”

“Will they make me sick?”

Silo shook his head. He was looking irritable and stiff. His eyes were a little bloodshot.

“Only if you take too long to drink them. When you start drinking, don’t stop.” He nodded at her meal. “But eat first. Fill up your belly.”

Karina picked up her splock and twisted it between her fingers as she stared at the three cylinders.

“I won’t hurt you,” Silo said.

Karina released a breath. She felt hot and cold. Her fingers were numb.

“You look pale,” Silo said.

“No more waiting,” she said. “Waiting means I think. And I can’t think. What if I drink them now?”

“Just do it quickly. Then I want you to go lie down on the bed.”

“Why?”

“I want you to be safe.”

“You look frightened,” she said.

Karina picked up the first cylinder. It shook dangerously in her trembling grip, so she held it in both her hands as she lifted it to her mouth. She was shaking so hard the blue liquid was swirling around.

Quickly, she downed it. No sip. No test. No time to think. She couldn’t trust her brain.

Karina paused.

“Drink the next one,” Silo said. “Don’t stop.”

He was looking white now. His lips were a little blue. Somehow, she found it comforting that he was scared too.

She drank down the second cylinder. Then the third. She put the last cylinder back and leaned into her seat.

“How do you feel?” he asked.

She gazed at the wall over Silo’s shoulder. “I thought you said something was supposed to happen.”

“It will. It may take time. Everyone is different.”

Karina frowned. She looked down at her hands. She lifted them in front of her face. She twisted them over. Somehow, they looked strange. They ~felt~ strange. Like they weren’t hers.

She wriggled her fingers. “I ~do~ feel odd.”

She lowered her hands and placed them on the table, folding them together. They were no longer trembling. Her gaze fell on Silo, particularly his lips. They looked exceptionally soft.

~Exceptionally~—when had she ever used that word? She looked into Silo’s eyes and for the first time, it wasn’t difficult. It didn’t hurt. It didn’t twist her stomach into a knot. Instead, she felt a sensation much lower. A ~nice~ sensation. A burning sensation.

“You make me feel good,” she said.

He didn’t respond, his gaze fixed on the table.

Karina moved over to the window. “Outer space,” she whispered, touching the glass. “I can’t believe I’m in outer space. I can’t believe you’re an alien.”

There was life outside of planet Earth! She’d been here for days and she hadn’t really thought about how extraordinary it all was.

Extraordinary—another word she never used.

“I feel different. Why do my hands seem so different?” She glanced over at Silo, who was still staring at the table, his forehead furrowed.

Karina then headed to the bathroom.

Standing before the mirror, she touched her face. Was this really her face? How was it that she suddenly didn’t look like herself? She brushed her fingers over her tattoos, then ran her fingers through her short hair.

The only thing that was familiar were her blue eyes. She could see herself ~there~. Who was this person in the mirror? She seemed…mean. Damaged.

Karina stepped back, touching her cheek again. What had she done to herself?

She turned. “Silo, are you okay?”

She walked back out. There was a coldness in her chest that was both familiar and unfamiliar—a weight that pressed down upon her shoulders.

Why did her head feel heavy? She rubbed the back of her neck.

“Silo?”

He was still staring at the table. It was as if he was frozen. His large hands were trembling as they clasped each other. His back was stiff.

“I don’t feel good,” he said.

She went over and touched his shoulder.

He jerked away. “Don’t touch me.”

Karina stepped back with a start.

He shook his head. His yellow eyes were wide and bright and sat sunken in his face. His cheeks were drawn.

Karina went to reach for him again, then stopped herself. “You don’t look good either.”

“I—I think I need to go to the infirmary.”

Karina’s heart skipped a beat. He reached into his pocket with one of his trembling hands, only for the phone to slip through his grasp. He went to reach for it but lost his balance, tumbling from the chair with a heavy thud.

“Silo!”

He was lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling. Karina dropped to her knees beside him.

She grabbed his arm.

“Don’t touch me!” he roared.

Karina snapped her arm back. Then his eyes widened and widened until they bulged in his head. They were glassy.

His neck arched, revealing all the hard cording in his throat. The muscles in his arms tightened as his back lifted from the floor.

Then he was shaking and spluttering, spit flying into the air, his body shuddering so hard that it thumped against the floor.

“Silo!”