Smoke stings my nostrils, my tongue bitter from the tinge of ash. Voices fill my ears, so deafening they make my eyes water. I'm running but not moving, stuck in the same spot, listening to the same voices, sucking in the same smog, the sound of engines bursting into flames jarring my memory into jagged edges. 

I hear a voice. A voice I don't want to hear but it lodges itself deep into my brain like a knife. 

"So you never wanted a future with me. You were using me this entire time?" 

I never knew a voice could cause so much pain but it does. My eyes water, my tongue goes numb like cotton and somehow I wish the smoke in my lungs will kill me. 

"Lucian," I call out his name but it fades into the chaos around me. I don't see his face but his words stab at me over and over again, the knife jabs deeper until it draws blood and suddenly all I see is red. 

My eyes flood with crimson as the blood from my brain and his words seeps into my every orifice. It pools in my mouth and suddenly I'm gasping and choking, struggling for breath. 

Am I finally dying? Rosie's face appears, ready to greet me and then Cassandra's, both smiling and eager for me to join them. I would be lying to myself if I said I didn't feel the same way. 

I cough again, a loud gurgling sound that forces me upright and then it all disappears. I blink a few times and hold my throat tenderly, sucking in the air I so desperately need. The plain white walls greet me instantly and I look up at the ships clock. 

We are approaching our ninth cycle on this ship. Just eleven more till we reach Earth. 

"Nightmare again?" Joon asks me. He holds out a small glass of an oxygen infused drink and I accept it gratefully. After all the smoke and blood, my throat is parched. 

"Yeah," I reply after I drink it down in one gulp. The moment my five senses are covered, the rest of my body starts to ache. Dull pain spreads throughout my arm that was shot during our escape but the pain from my right forearm is much worse. 

I look down at the bandaged part and try to move my mangled hand. Removing the tracker had proven to be one of the most difficult things Joon and I had endured. We had to pierce through flesh, muscle, tendons and even nerves. It felt like finding a needle in a haystack. 

Once the ordeal was over we couldn't use our right arms for days. I flip a few fingers up and find myself smiling at the progress. Much better than before I slept.

"I'm going to eat some dinner before you take over. Want to join?" Joon asks as he heads to ship's pantry. 

I nod my head and get up slowly. I'd much rather eat with him than alone with my thoughts. They always went back to Lucian, to the fond memories of us having our meals together in his room. I know it's never going to happen again and it's beginning to feel like poison. 

I wash up briefly, just to freshen up and then join Joon at the pantry while he prepares our meals. Two plates of oxygen infused, water rich and bland tasting algae. My stomach lurches at the sight, the thought of eating the same thing over and over again almost makes me lose my appetite.

I watch him take out the boxes and then notice than more than half have been emptied. My eyebrows raise once again as I wonder if he has been eating more than the stipulated amount of food we set aside for each meal. 

Every cycle a meal goes missing and I can't help but think it would be utterly selfish of him to take extra portions when we are already so limited on food. I want to bring it up but I just can't bring myself to say anything. 

He's the only one here with me and he's been nothing but kind and understanding.

Instead I fill up our cups and place them on the table in an effort to keep busy and then sit down and plaster a forced smile when he looks at me. 

It makes Joon laugh. 

"Did anyone ever tell you that you have the worst happy face?"

"Maybe I was born miserable," I joke and play around with the algae on my plate. I try to imagine the noodles I had with Lucian once and gulp them down but then I start thinking about him and my eyes sting. 

"You've been through a lot. I know. You don't have to hide it from me," Joon reinforces and he swallows his portion of food almost painfully. 

It's safe to say we're both sick of eating this plant repetitively. The worst part is we have eleven cycles to go, which means twenty two more meals like this -if Joon doesn't finish them all first-. If we were travelling on a hyperlane it would have taken us two cycles to reach Earth but it was just too risky. The chances of being caught too great.

We had to take one of the smaller lanes, seldom monitored and commonly used for smuggling. 

"You've been through just as much," I counter as Joon's dark almond shaped eyes meet mine. 

I've learned so much about him during our time here alone. I never realised how strong Joon was for holding it together and how his cheerful, flirty facade had always been a cover, hiding the pain he endured for years. 

Joon had been nominated by Commander Hydra, doomed to serve as her lover where he was tortured behind closed doors to serve her sick, twisted fantasies. He suffered in silence and served in her squad, becoming an exemplary officer in the army despite everything.

I remember him telling me a few days ago about what a relief it had been when he received news of her death after an expedition. He was then free from being her lover and could focus solely on his duty as an officer. He even got promoted to third rank.

But Joon's scars ran deeper than even the ones on my back. His mental trauma could never be erased and every dirty memory of Commander Hydra was imprinted on his skin. It was one of the main reasons Joon vowed to take revenge on the Plutonian's and since then he never looked back. 

It was also one of the reasons why Joon remained so focused on our current mission while I was constantly plagued by my guilt.

"Do you think they survived?" My throat constricts and my words are strangled as I ask him about Rosie and the rest. Again. 

"I told you to stop doing that. It's best not to think about them," Joon says calmly and somehow it irritates me this time. 

Usually I agree but now it just feels like he's brushing them off.

"Did you dream about him again?" Joon asks me, trying to change the topic. He knows any question about Lucian will throw me off even though I never want to talk about him. 

"No, " I lie. "I dreamt about them- Rosie, Matt, Jade, Josephine, Ron. You know the people who died helping us." 

My sarcasm doesn't go unnoticed and I watch Joon's face flash with irritation. It seems nine cycles being together were finally getting on our nerves. The niceties and pity were slowly wearing off. 

"You think I don't know that?" His voice raises a notch but I barely even notice. 

"Don't you want to talk about them?" I ask stubbornly. 

"What do you want me to say? That I wish it were me who fell down instead of Josephine? That I wish I had volunteered to go to the Command Centre instead of Rosie and Matt? That a small part of me hopes they're all still alive but we both know the truth, don't we?" Joon almost shouts and then he stands up abruptly. His anger radiating off him in waves. 

I jump slightly, startled at the outburst but then I stand up as well, feeling fired up for some reason. This is a good distraction. This fight, this anger. 

"At least I know how you feel," I reply. "That I'm not the only one who feels this way."

"What good does that do us?" He glares at me. "And we've confided in each other enough these past few days, I think you know more about how I feel than anyone else in the universe." 

I gulp, remembering the time he told me everything he had been through. That he had to hide it from everyone so that he wouldn't seem weak. 

"It's just that we've never talked about them," I try to reason with him but he cuts me off. 

"Matt was one of my closest friends. So were Jade and Josephine. Just because I don't want to talk about it, doesn't mean I don't care, Aria." He takes a deep breath and then continues. "And I would appreciate if you informed me when you take extra portions of food. We can't afford to starve on our journey." 

This time I'm definitely taken a back by the insinuation. 

"What? I thought you were the one taking the extra food?" I say, thoroughly confused. I walk up to him and grab the boxes of powdered algae. There were already three extra portions missing. 

"You think I would do something so selfish?" He asks me, his expression incredulous.

"And I would?" My forehead creases and my eyebrows knit together in a tight frown. 

"Listen when you're ready to admit it, let me know. I'm tired and I'm going to take a nap now. Just keep watch." He walks away before I can retort and I almost throw the boxes of food down on the counter in anger.

The nerve of that guy, calling me a food thief. 

I curse under my breath and walk to the control room. The ship is on auto pilot so I don't have to do much. I sit on one of the pilot seats and stare out at the dark nothingness surrounding us. 

I always knew space was massive but it's vastness always amazes me. Before I can stop myself I think back to the times Lucian and I spent at the Western Border, overlooking the threshold into space. 

Back then escaping had been a goal, a fantasy and Lucian was my reality. 

Now I'm free, travelling in space with my own free will, without the Plutonian control but my heart has never felt so empty without Lucian. I always knew it would come to this but why does it have to hurt so much. 

I get up and pace around, eager to distract myself. I walk around the ship, inspecting for any parts that need maintenance or my attention but everything seems fine. I reach the door to the engines below and realise I've never been down there to check on things even once. We've never needed to.

I turn the wheel and it screeches on its hinges as the metal turns. I doubt Joon has been down here either. One look at his sleeping form causes a twinge of annoyance to rise up within me. 

How dare he blame me for stealing food when he has been the one doing it?

I climb down the metal ladder and the hot air immediately assaults my skin. The sound of the air vents and the low thrumming of the engines fills the space down here, I can hardly hear myself struggle to breathe. It's stifling down here. 

I walk around, checking out nooks and corners. There's nothing special aside from the abundance of metal and stone powder that I used to dig out from the mines in the South. Just the memory of my slave days is enough to make me wince. 

I'm about to make my way back to the ladder when I hear the clanging of metal against metal, like something has fallen. My head whips to my right and I see a small tank rolling down the side of the ship. 

The space craft was travelling so smoothly, it could not have fallen by itself. Somebody had to have knocked it over. 

My blood runs cold and a shiver runs down my spine as my good hand searches for my gun. 

There's someone else down here. 

hey guys welcome back!! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Any guesses on who the intruder may be?