Chapter Nineteen
72Please respect copyright.PENANALR6jjjxNVN
72Please respect copyright.PENANADBIjGSrWEr
72Please respect copyright.PENANAeR4Zrnc88a
72Please respect copyright.PENANAClxMI1u6dw
72Please respect copyright.PENANAeBAQuoXSEy
72Please respect copyright.PENANAbiezCqUphs
72Please respect copyright.PENANAwwijbHLh2c
Day Eighteen: Meteor
72Please respect copyright.PENANAsy5TThZtuN
72Please respect copyright.PENANAHcY46xEPdA
I wake up to a stinging pain in my leg and a soothing touch on my forehead.
“Hey, gorgeous.” I cough out. The head on my bed next to me shoots up. Asteroid smiles and it melts my heart and soul.
“Hi, Meteor. Last night, Michael stitched and disinfected your leg. It already looks better. Jupiter says he can wait until you're feeling up to the meeting.”
“I can do it,” I say, hiding a wince as I stand. She gently pushes me down.
“I knew you would say that. Sit.” She pulls out a wheelchair. I willingly agree. Standing hurts. She wheels me into the reconstructed teleportation station. I look at her questioningly. She shrugs. “Michael and Star fixed it and programmed it so only my bracelet will work.” I nod. She types in an address and soon our molecules are whizzing through the atmosphere. We emerge in a dark office. A light snaps on.
“So. You've come to ask for help from a Scallonian spy who’s been out of The Business and everyone else thought was dead for fifteen years? Oh, Asteroid. You are your mother’s daughter. And at least this vagabond is better-looking than the one she brought home,” Jupiter says to Aster. She frowns and wrinkles her forehead, trying to solve the riddle that is Jupiter.
He laughs. “What, no hug for your grandfather? Get over here, girl!” She hangs back, confused. I feel the same way.
“Excuse me, sir? What is your connection to Asteroid?” I query.
“Grandfather. I just said that. Deeper, I suppose, would be her mother’s father. And yours?”
I sit up straighter in my eyesore of a wheelchair. “I’m her boyfriend.”
“What happened to you?”
“Have you heard about the zombie apocalypse happening in New York City? The guy responsible practically murdered me. I can walk, but I just had stitches. It's kind of incapacitating.” He raises his eyebrows.
“I see. Does your mother approve of this vagrant?” he asks, turning his attention to Aster.
I answer for her. “We have not been in contact. To my knowledge she has no idea.”
“Actually,” she says, sounding almost scared, “while you were getting stitches, Michael did a full physical. When he looked at your eyes, he found some sort of contact lens. Star took a closer look at it and found that it was a camera, recording live and sending all the info back home. Similar ones were found in everybody else. Michael removed them after he found them. If you ask me, the whole planet knows.” She shrugs. “Sorry, Meteor. Our moments were less private than we originally thought.” I grimace. Oh, great. The entire planet watched Aster and me kiss. Multiple times! I groan silently and my head flops back. She laughs. I shake my head.
72Please respect copyright.PENANAALHT1mtubS
72Please respect copyright.PENANAthHuWcZoLi
72Please respect copyright.PENANAIpTz1pw94g
72Please respect copyright.PENANAcr7WPwAXDF
Day Eighteen: Asteroid
72Please respect copyright.PENANA8inwnKoXzy
72Please respect copyright.PENANALJFF0fogaI
“Anyway, my grandfather?” I frown. “Mom never told me.”
“Venus was determined to never let you know. She didn’t want me to influence your life choices.”
I laugh fearlessly. “No one influences me to do anything. No one.” But all Jupiter does is smile compassionately.
“You see, Granddaughter, we already have. You were influenced to get on the ship, to stay, to leave. You were influenced to hate, to run, to rebel. To love.” With that last one, he knows he has me. I was influenced to love. I never had to. A boy kissed me. So what? That didn't mean I had to like him.
But I did.
Jupiter suddenly hands me a huge black bag of supplies.
“For you. You're gonna need ‘em.” He pulls me into a hug and plants a kiss on my forehead. Then he lets go.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Meteor stand up, seemingly in zero pain. He grabs my arm.
“We need to go,” he says gruffly. “Come on.” Without any warning, he presses my bracelet. As I fade into molecules, I lunge for Jupiter, wanting answers, but it’s too late. I’m already gone.
Meteor roughly pulls me through the halls of the Orion.
“We need to divide the stuff.” He doesn't seem like himself. Then, as if the thought just occurred to him, he shoves me back against a wall, hard. He plants his hands on the wall, just above my shoulders, and kisses me hard. Really, really hard. I try to pull away but he has me pinned. I begin to panic, but just as suddenly as it started, it’s over. I can breathe. I crumple to the floor, petrified. Another round of panic sets in as I see that Meteor is gone. So is my bracelet. I dash through all of the spaceship. Meteor is nowhere to be found.
72Please respect copyright.PENANADIEqnxscvX
72Please respect copyright.PENANAPwJUpCBkIn
72Please respect copyright.PENANA8AyGwQAqzl
Day Twenty One: Asteroid
72Please respect copyright.PENANARSJHtDZjyZ
72Please respect copyright.PENANAU7pgzEqyNc
I haven't slept well since that kiss. I haven’t seen Meteor, save the occasional glimpse in the hall. His room is now padlocked shut. Every time I go to the teleportation station, I find receipts. The purchases are for punching bags, training dummies, and, most disturbingly, knives. One for a tattoo. The name on the bottom of each receipt is Meteor.
He hasn’t eaten. To my knowledge he hasn’t slept. All signs point to insanity. I haven't found my bracelet and no one knows anything about Meteor’s chilling behavior.
As I walk through the hall, doing my daily sweep, looking for Meteor, he’s there. His hands grab me harshly around my biceps. I don’t have small biceps, and he doesn’t have large hands, yet his fingers are able to touch as they brutally circle my arms. He lifts me up by my arms until I can look him in the eye. He kisses me painfully. I hate every second that this lasts. Eventually, I wriggle free and drop to my hands and knees on the floor.
I don't look away for more than a split second, but in that short moment, he’s gone.72Please respect copyright.PENANA0oZgrRhlfS