*First Draft

My eyes pop open and I see a metal wall and an orange light. Flicking on and off. My arms are bound behind my back and I am sitting on the cold hard floor.

Panicking, my eyes scan the room and I gasp when I see a figure sitting across me and I immediately look away. There is a man there, but my skin is prickling, warning me not to look again. Staring at the floor, my heart races at his presence. I don't know what is wrong with me, but every part of me is screaming, danger.

Memories of Ethan and the club flood my mind and my stomach clenches in terror. The figure over there is not Ethan, I am almost certain it is not Ethan.

"You're awake."

My head springs up and Ethan is kneeling in front of me. Studying him, I am careful to not let my gaze go any farther to my left, toward the frightening presence.

"You tricked me and drugged me," I accuse. My hurt evident in my voice.

"Nothing personal."

"You called me pathetic." Tears well in my eyes over the memory.

"You remember that? I only meant you were an easy mark, no need to cry over it. The GSA is offering a large sum for you. What I can't wrap my mind around is why." He raises his eyes in question.

"I have no idea. I swear. Magna wouldn't tell me. Ethan. Please take me back home. Magna said the GSA will hurt me."

He rubs his hand down his face. "I doubt the GSA wants to hurt young innocent women."

"So this is what you do? Go around and kidnap people and get paid?"

He scoffs at my accusation."I wouldn't call it kidnapping. I track and collect mostly criminals. Like that nasty fucker over there." He nods in the other man's direction.

I refuse to look, but my curiosity is overwhelming.  The presence feels sinister and unnatural, making my skin crawl.

"Who is he?" I whisper, hoping the man can't hear me.

Ethan's eyes light up and he seems almost giddy. "Repellent."

I wait expectantly for him to say more. When he doesn't, my eyes scrunch in confusion.

"You're shittin' me. You haven't heard of him?"

I shake my head.

Shaking his head in disbelief he says, "You really are the most sheltered person I have ever met. That thing is the most wanted criminal in the Goldilocks System. He is dangerous and part of a mercenary group that is wreaking havoc on almost every planet in the GSA, except for Cerise, I'm assuming." Ethan chuckles a little, like he just made another insult on my planet. I fail to see the humor in it.

Ethan's smile disappears when he doesn't get a reaction from me. His eyes hold a glint of mischievousness as he leans in closer.

"Can you look at him?"

There is a challenge in his words. I almost tell him 'no', but I want to prove him wrong. That Repellent man over there may be a dangerous criminal but the way Ethan calls him a "thing " twists my gut.

Like how he called Vi an ogre.

And me, pathetic.

I squeeze my eyes shut and try to settle my racing heart. Just turn your head, Jade!

Slowly, I turn my head and tremors convulse throughout my body. The revulsion gets stronger and stronger. I push through it.  Fighting, I open my eyes and–

I'm staring into two coal-black irises. My lungs close up.

Breathe, Jade. Breathe. I suck in air and start taking sporadic breaths.

Despite my terror, I notice the blood all over him. His beaten face is hard, yet human. He has a strong jawline and intense eyes that ensnare me.

His whole presence emanates power.

I couldn't look away even if I wanted to.

Suddenly, the butt of a rifle slams into the prisoner's face, breaking the spell. The prisoner grunts in pain from the attack and my heart pangs with guilt.

Horrified, I suck in another breath, and I point my head back to the ground. My body shakes, not from him but from the violence.

"I'm impressed. How did you look at him like that?" Ethan muses as he crouches in front of me.

"Did you have to hit him?" I ask, ignoring the question.

It felt weird talking about the prisoner like he wasn't there, sitting right across from me.

"You were having a panic attack."

"It was my fault, you didn't have to hit him."

"He is a murderer, Jade. A fucking psychopath."

"Okay." I don't want to continue this conversation. He can hear everything.

"I still don't get how you were able to look at him. I've tried and can't stomach it. He is part vultur and part human and he releases some sort of energy that repels people."

Looking at him was almost painful, but for some reason, I want to look at the powerful man again, but not while Ethan is there.

Ethan proudly states, "No one has been able to catch him, but me."

"Congratulations," I mutter.

"Do you want to hear how I did it?"

"Did you spike his martini with drugs? Or do you only do that to women you go on dates with?"

"Well, I –"

"I really don't care," I interrupt harshly.

I'm tired of his games. My head is throbbing and my neck aches from the way that I slept. I want to go home. I just want to go home.

Ethan tilts my head toward him. His mouth pinches and his eyes have a faraway look to them.

"Do you want anything?" he asks softly, removing his hand from my face.

"Water."

"Okay. Any food?"

While shaking my head, I refuse to look at him.

Ethan sighs audibly and he walks toward the other side of the spacecraft. What about the other prisoner? Does he ever get water? It is obvious that Ethan views him and treats him like a bug. The Repellent Man is horrifying, but it still feels wrong.

Ethan returns with a bottle, kneels in front of me, and brings it to my lips. He allows me to take as much as I want, but the darting of his eyes tells me he is growing impatient.

"I won't make you stay like that."

I look at him questioningly.

"I already feel like an asshole. I'll uncuff you soon. I just need to take care of some things first."

"Okay."

"You can stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like I'm a horrible monster. I assure you I'm not the monster here."

"Whatever you say. Does he get water?" I nod my head in his direction, without looking at him.

Ethan visibly shudders. "Fuck, Jade. Like I'm going to get up close to that. Don't worry, I throw a bucket of water on him every few hours."

I shudder with disgust. "How long has he been here?"

"A few days. Don't you dare feel sorry for it. I know you have an urge to stick up for all the creatures in the universe, but like I said, he deserves his lot. Trust me."

He has been here for days with no way to eat or drink or relieve himself. It's inhumane. Absolutely inhumane. Unfortunately, I have a feeling nothing I say will change Ethan's mind on the subject.

So I shrug my shoulders and convey my words through my glare.

Ethan shakes his head in exasperation. "I'll be in the cockpit. Yell if you need me or want anything."

Ethan walks away and I try not to cry again.

The silence bothers me and I can feel his presence, loud and clear.

Ignoring the man across from me has become impossible.

"What is your actual name? Surely it's not Repellent," I ask boldly.

Silence.

"Do you speak the human common tongue?"

Silence.

"Well...As you probably heard, I'm an idiot. I thought that asshole liked me, but he drugged me and brought me here. I'm from Cerise and I work at the human-made club there. It's not too bad a gig, we are rarely busy. I am kind of the behind-the-scenes type of girl. I take in shipments and make sure the books are accurate. Those types of things. Ethan over there said he was a supplier but he obviously lied."

Silence.

"This is my first time leaving Cerise, that I know of. I wish...I wish I could enjoy it but all I want to do is go back home."

I watch the orange light. Off and on.

"Where are you from? You probably have been to a lot of places. Have you been to Cerise? Ethan said it was a shithole, but what does he know? Nothing. He is just a bigoted asshat. He called my friend, Vi, an ogre. I called him out on it, but he said he would apologize, and so I believed he was a decent person. But no. He drugged me. Now I'm here.  Shackled to a pole.  Rambling to a strange powerful man who doesn't talk. Or doesn't want to...sorry...I'll stop. Magna always told me I talk too much. Which I guess I do, sorry if I'm annoying to you. Magna told me I annoyed him often."

The faint buzzing of the light overtakes the quiet. I fidget with a need to continue my speech.

"I'm sorry for looking at you before, I don't think you wanted me to. I didn't mean to get you hurt. I didn't know he would do that. Okay...now I'm actually done talking."

I'm terrible at awkward silences and sitting with just my thoughts. I worry about the places my mind will take me.

Did I just talk incessantly to a wanted murderer? He probably wants to kill me now. I want to kill me now. 

Even the Cerisians get annoyed with me sometimes. Like the time I caught one turning off his translator while I was in mid-sentence. It hurt my feelings at the time, but I'm only like this when I'm nervous or excited.

He has that weird energy that Ethan said was meant to repel. When I met his eyes, though, I didn't want to look away. Can he turn the energy off and on? Or...is it always like that? I open my mouth to ask him but then snap it shut. I promised him I wouldn't talk anymore. He isn't answering anyway.

Maybe he is too hurt to answer. Or too thirsty or hungry.

Of course he is.

Days. He has been here for days.

The silence is deafening.

I start counting the number of times the light blinks at me.

1...144...178...245...321—

Ethan better uncuff me soon. Tilting my head up,  I grunt in frustration.

Why does the silence hurt so much?

Tears start to form again in my eyes. I am pathetic. Magna never told me what the GSA will do, but he said it would be horrible. He thought I was too friendly and not cautious enough. He was right.

The tears start falling. I miss that grouchy old man. I loved him, he was all I had. All I'll ever have.

Sniffling, I try to empty my mind of the depressing thoughts. The more I try, the more the tears come.

The seconds feel like minutes. The minutes feel like hours.

I start to count again.

322...451...512—

"Roman. My name is Roman," he says softly. My head snaps to attention. His voice is deep and sultry and it causes my heart to skip a few beats.

Excitement wells up in my belly. Sucking in my enthusiasm, I reply as calmly as I can, "Roman, I'm Jade. It's nice to meet you."