Starsnatcher - Trapped In An Alien World [COMPLETE]

Chapter 5.y (Bonus Chapter)

LED lamps shone at me like lightbulbs planted before my face. Not very bright, but too bright to sleep.

I woke up on a meat-red table, lying prone with my cheek on the cold surface. It felt slick and slimy.

An oppressive mist filled the round, cabin-sized room. If not for the various bronze ridges extending over the walls, I might have thought I had woken up in the womb of some whale-sized animal.

I stood up and jumped off the black box-shaped table. My neck and back hurt.

I dimly remembered last night. I got out of Ernstburgh in the woods. I encountered two people with abilities I couldn't explain. We fought, I got harmed, and I touched a green orb.

I realized I wore a black armor that felt as light and flexible as a jacket. A visor waited next to the table. I took it on for a few seconds to test if I could still see.

My muscles brimmed with heat. I remembered wounds I didn't have anymore because the orb healed them. I remembered throwing away the orb, being put to sleep, and waking up here. I speculated where I might be.

A section of the wall dissolved into yet more mist. A man stood in the gloom of the corridor beneath. He strode into my cabin.

The man was taller than me by at least one foot. He wore azure armor with heaven motifs on it. Concentric circles of angels gathered around a Sun symbol on his chest. A white coat extended from the back of his suit, ending just above his shoes. Along with the long sleeves, it gave him the overall look of a futuristic priest wearing a high-tech robe, even though he looked no older than twenty-five.

After he entered the room, the wall re-materialized.

I took a few steps back. He advanced towards me. I bumped the table. With that box behind me, I felt cornered.

The man stood still roughly three feet before me and looked at me with piercing dark eyes.

He reached over to stroke my hair.

I slapped his hand. "Get away from me!"

He took his arm back.

"What did you do to me! Where is Layla? Tell me where I am!"

"On my spaceship."

He spoke in a deep and resonant baritone that brought peace to my soul. It made me forget the absurd answer he just gave. He had drained me of any will to flee or fight back, despite my fear.

"No need to be squeamish," he told me. "You already know who I am."

"I-I don't think I know you."

"Think again, then. You attended lectures of mine."

I remembered a man named Dr. Mustafa Ay with the same voice, olive complexion, and dark brown hair as him. It began to gray when I last saw him a year ago. Supposedly, he went lost in an expedition in Antarctica. Nobody had seen or heard of him ever since. Most people saw him as an eccentric scientist who spoke more to the walls than to his students.

"Why did you do this?" I asked. "Why did you bring me here? Why did you make that woman attack us?"

My voice rose during the last question.

He looked unconcerned. "I didn't make her do anything. Why did you decide to stalk us, if I may ask?"

I felt an intimidating aura. Though I knew the answer, I feared speaking it out loud.

"Were you under the mistaken assumption that I wished to harm this woman? This was not the case. I was merely giving her a gift."

He pulled off one of his blue gloves. Under his long sleeve, he wore an azure crystal embedded in his hand, its shape brilliant-cut. A ring shimmered around its widest portion, highlighting it compared to the crystal's otherwise faint glow.