Chapter 4 ~ The Dwellers

In light of her capture, Arcubella and Anapa have a chat. She's close to find out where he really came from.

Chapter 4 ~ The Dwellers

Buzzing of flickering lights and dripping water... These are all noises I kept hearing as I dazed in and out of consciousness. The pain in my left side was excruciating and my head throbbed like it had been hit with a bat. When I finally came to full consciousness, I did my best to sit up, wincing in pure agonizing pain. From the looks of it, claws of some sort dug into my side, reaching all the way around to my back. It appeared that I was still on the ship by the looks of the symbols on the wall, but there were large webs everywhere. The floors were covered in some weird slimy substance that I couldn't identify. Slowly, I stood up and began walking to the first entrance I saw. However, when I began to walk, there was a sound of something coming towards me from behind. The overwhelming thought of it being the same thing that grabbed me before had me terrified. Slowly, I turned, facing my captor. Words couldn't describe the feeling of panic.

It's height was too much for me to make an accurate assumption. It's face was almost canine, but it had the hands of demon - ten eyes on it's face with one larger eye in the middle. A mane with spines coming out of the back of it's neck as well as the tongue and tail of a serpent. The few seconds I took to analyze the beast felt like an eternity. My body was frozen with fear and it's hiss and growls only got louder as it neared me, gaining on me fast. It's jowels departed taking advantage of my frozen state. However, just when I thought I was finished, Anapa jumped in front of me, raising his bladed staff and piercing it through the chest. The wailing noise it made temporarily deafened me. My body went limp, falling to my knees with quivering lips and light whimpers. I had never been so terrified, speechless and shaky in my entire life.

The beast fell to the ground, motionless. Anapa turned to me, “Get up, Arcubella.” His demand was nearly impossible for me to follow because of the shock. After a few moments of his impatient waiting, he wrapped his arm around me and picked me up, being mindful of the lacerations on my side. “Wh-What was th-that?” My speech was hesitant and I stuttered over my words. Anapa seemed to ignore me and say nothing more on the matter. When we got to an opening, I realized we weren't on the ship at all. The Anubis aliens had built an entire city of their own, resembling what I could only imagine to be an ancient Egypt city. The shock from the attack seemed to slip away as my awe in their production took over my thoughts. In such a short time, they've built something that would have taken the human race years to build. There were more carcasses of whatever that thing was that attacked me on the ground here and there, along with some of the Anubis aliens. Was this another alien invasion? Perhaps an enemy of Anapa's...

When we reached the ship, I watched as some of the human servants washed the blood stains from the walls and floor. Many of them were mourning over friends lost in whatever tragic event happened. “Anapa? What happened?” Again, he ignored my question and continued on to the infirmary on the ship. He put me down on a bed and turned to a woman that stood in the room in a white lab coat. “Fix her.” He demanded, before taking his leave. The woman came up to me and immediately began tending to my wounds. “You're lucky to be alive... Others weren't so lucky.” The doctor praised me and then turned my attention to two others who were lying dead on the cots a few rows over. Sadly, I couldn't feel sympathy for them. I had distanced myself from so many people before Anapa took me in, feeling it would be best without ties.

The good doctor began patching me up and once she was finished, she alerted a guard so that they could escort me back to my room. Initially, I would have fought before going back to my isolation, but the doctor had injected me with some kind of pain killer that had me on the loopy side of things. When I got to my room, Anapa was standing in the middle it, waiting for me. The guards left us and when they let go of me, I nearly fell over, but caught myself, casually leaning on the stand next to me. “What the hell did she give me....?” Everything seemed to be going in slow motion at the moment. Anapa walked over to help me to my bed. “Medicine.” He responded vaguely. “Well, no s**t, Captain Obvious.” My response caught him off guard a little and he gave me a very disgusted look. “... Sorry.” I exclaimed before letting myself plop down on the bed without hesitation. It was a wonder he didn't back hand me right then and there for my obscene comment.

“So what was that thing that attacked me?” The medicine was making things complicated for me, focusing wise, but I was in a little bit of a clear mind to finally speak and hold a conversation.

“They were Dwellers.” He spoke as if I knew what he was talking about.

“And what the hell are Dwellers?” My questioning seemed to annoy him a bit, as he huffed.

“They are our enemies. We came here to be free of them, but they seem to have found us.” Ah, so that was the truth to their coming. But a part of me still thought that these might be Anubis Gods, having risen from the underworld to claim the souls that they so thought was theirs.

“So where did you come from, Anapa?” I could tell he was pondering a response for my question. But just as he was about to open his mouth to speak, the servant girl, Annie, came in with her bucket of bath supplies. Instantly, he hushed up and moved to take his leave, “I will be back to check on you.” As he left, Annie stared at me before closing the door behind Anapa. “It's time for your bath, miss Bell.” A grunt was given to Annie. Honestly, I just wanted to sleep. “I don't think I'm in any position to sit in a tub of water, Annie. Come back later?” She frowned and that's when I noticed the dark circles around her eyes. Clearly, she hadn't slept lately. “Ack... Okay. Fine.” Struggling to get up, I managed to make my way to the bathroom. Annie followed with her bucket and started the water for me, assisting me with removing my clothes so I didn't fall over.

Once I sat down in the tub and relaxed, Annie walked over to my bed and laid down to rest. She was so young and I was relieved that she lived through whatever that attack on the Anubis aliens was. Gazing upon her as I rest my head on the edge of the tub, I wondered what it was like to be her. She seemed so strong-willed to survive this. Who knows what kind of cruelty she was enduring on the outside now? It was bad back when I wasn't chained to Anapa's hip. In my thoughts, I kept thinking about what Anapa was going to say before we were interrupted by Annie's arrival.

“So where did you come from, Anapa?” The question ran through my mind over and over again, until it drove me to sleep. The warm water was soothing to my mind and body, causing me to drift off.

Author's Note

Wowzers... I had the toughest time figuring out a beginning to this chapter. I must have changed it a dozen times before I finally figured something out. Haha.

Reviews

[NoelHC]

I see your writing is improving as you force yourself to write more of this tale.

That Dweller is one fugly b*****d, too bad he and Anapa didn't have about a 4 or 5 paragraphepic battle, with Anapa almost losing before conquering the beast. Build that tension, and build that reason for Arcubella to become even more sympathetic to him.

A couple of little things I noted

hands of demon " a ten eyes on perhaps could be hands of demon and ten eyes on
whaling should be wailing

Whaling is what Moby Dick was about.

Keep it up, well done.

[speckledbyrd]

I agree, I am also curious as to why she is sympathetic to him..

[Cierra]

The reason she becomes sympathetic comes later on, when he reveals the reason he's connected to her some how and why he favors her over all the humans. I'll change the whaling bit - thanks! and those stupid " ! I hate how writers cafe converts things... ;3;

[jjwilbourne]

Good point. I'm in that boat to. I think you can play the "at least this alien is nice to me" card a bit more prior to the battle and then, as Noel said, give a bit more grand of a battle scene to help build the bond between the two.

[NoelHC]

Yeah, think of light saber battle in the old Star Wars movies, back and forth for 5 minutes, lots of injuries, and hanging over the edges of bottomless shafts, that kind of thing.

[Cierra]

That "Dweller" he encountered was one of the weakest. Jeeze guys, gonna make me give away the whole story before it gets to the good bits! Lol - The reason between their connection and the reason she's so tied to him will be revealed later. :) It states in the second chapter, I believe, that she, herself, doesn't know why she's got that connection, and assumes it because she's been forced to spend time with him.

And don't worry, guys! There will be a FEW huge battles scenes in the chapters to come! Like I said, that Dweller they faced was one of the weaker enemies. ;)

[jjwilbourne]

Good deal!

[speckledbyrd]

I'm satisfied with that answer

[Stefanie Holmes]

"The medicine was making things complicated for me, focusing wise, but I was in a little bit of a clear mind to finally speak and hold a conversation."
This sentence seemed a little wordy to me so I would try and reword this differently.
That was the only thing I saw.

This chapter was really good and your writing is improving as you progress with this story. Your imagery and descriptions were very awesome. I could picture the 'dweller' perfectly. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with next and I'm also anxious to see if Anapa ever answers Arcubella's question.

~Stefanie

[SallyDM]

Intrigued to know more, well written in my humble opinion.

[Lyn Anderson]

Improving and moving on, good job. One thing I noticed is the It's is Its when it is possessive.

[Cierra]

Ah yes.... I need to fix that... haha

Thank you!

[melissa]

I am a huge fan of the book i can't wait to read more of this book keep up the great work and keep sending me more to read i love reading them

[Cierra]

Thank you!

[melissa]

You're welcome

[speckledbyrd]

I need to know what happens next! Where are the And bis aliens from? What the heck are the dwellers? Also, I'm a little confused...does A Napa have an animal head or is it human looking? And what does Arcubella look like? Or does that not matter? Sorry, so many questions. Ha

[Cierra]

Ah, no worries!

What dwellers are and where the anubis "aliens" come from will be revealed soon enough!

And if you must know... I have a reference of Anapa on it's way.. Here's a teaser: http://i.imgur.com/tKZe7IA.png - It's not done yet. More color needs to be added. haha That staff is not the one talked about in this chapter though, obviously. :3

I'll have a reference of Arcubella posted soon, as well, once I can get that drawn. o:

[jjwilbourne]

Ooo. I'm so curious now about the dwellers and how they play a role in the story. I was deeply interested this whole chapter. The voice of the protagonist feels much stronger here.
Chapter 5, I eagerly await your arrival.

[Cierra]

The Dwellers will have more appearances! lol They're an interesting creature. :) Chapter 5 on it's way! :)

[wordman]

totally captivating looking more like a good book every chapter

[Cierra]

Thank you!

[wordman]

you are welcome