Illstar

[Saren]

Well, she sounded like she was telling the truth. And Aerin didn't think she would have done all those things to comfort him if she cared, which meant that she probably hadn't lied. With a silent sigh, he nodded, looking up for the first time and noticing her position. With both wolves laying on her, it was ... cute. Aerin flipped his page over to the blank side, looking down and holding the pencil up. He had been sketching her for a few weeks without asking or showing her, but they'd made a jump in their friendship recently.

"Do you mind if I drew you? The wolves too, but I guess they wouldn't mind too much." If she said no, he would be sad, and probably not respect her wishes. Her body was such a perfect model that he couldn't help it. Lines and shapes worked for him on the paper to draw her just as she was, no modification needed. He'd never used anyone as a model before, even if she wasn't completely aware that he did. It was different, and he was glad his first one was so lovely.

Aerin sifted through his pack until he came upon his colored pencils, finding one of the tips had broken. Grumbling, he put it back, being reduced to light blue and brown. You would have thought someone would have kept a sharpener around, but he had yet to come across a small school sharpener.

 

[Kaisaan]

Nova blinked in surprise at the request and she glanced over her shoulder at the canines, seeing what they looked like before she directed her brown eyes back to Aerin as he searched in his pack. She waited until he looked back up at her before she smiled. It was a soft, faint expression, but showed approval all its own as she laid her chin back down. "I don't mind." was she all she answered before going quiet again, merely watching him even as he started to draw her. She knew he was only looking at her generally, but occasionally their eyes met and Nova wasn't sure why warmth seemed to sweep over her every time it happened.

Something had changed. She didn't know what it was. Just earlier this day she'd looked at him as nothing more than someone she could trust, but also someone she could leave and now...now the thought of departing without him hurt. Her rational mind knew this wasn't rational. She didn't like people. Why was he different? Yes, he'd been nice, decent, respectful...so they could be friends, sure, but this? This was something else entirely.

And it worried her even as she felt it was natural...or part of her did.

Nova wasn't quite aware when her head tilted and her cheek rested on her arm. She wasn't aware of when she drifted off to sleep either.

 

[Saren]

Peace, for a time, had fallen over the room. Aerin knew the quiet spell couldn't last, as something always was happening in the wake of the Illstar. But for now, he could appreciate that there was mostly silence. Every time Nova caught his eye, he smiled, watching as pink settled over her cheeks. Again, he found it cute, but he wouldn't dare tell her that. While she was beginning to open up to him, he didn't know how she would handle a compliment.

The next time he glanced up at her, she was asleep. He continued to sketch her and the wolves until he couldn't see the paper anymore. Once the light was gone completely, Aerin put his materials away and stood up. He took two careful steps before he lightly rested his hand on Nova's hair. "Night, Nova," he said, mimicking the words they always said to one another before bed. He didn't let his hand linger before he moved to lay out on the chair. It wasn't as comfortable as the bed might have been, but he wasn't about to move Nova or the wolves. They deserved the sleep far more than he did.

His last thought was of the young woman stretched out on the bed, the one who was learning to care for him. And that thought made him smile.

~

Two days had passed since Aerin and Nova had arrived in his father's settlement. Aerin and Neil had spoken extensively about everything that had happened over the past year. Neither of them knew what had happened to Aerin's mother, but he found that he didn't care that much. She hadn't loved him. She hadn't even wanted him. If she had died to the Illstar, it was a better fate than she deserved.

In that moment, Aerin was rearranging his pack, making sure his drawings were kept in a separate pocket than everything else. His normally off-white ensemble was now white, save for a few dried blood stains. He'd put the pants and the tank top back on, leaving his jacket alone. It had grown warm in the house with the day to the point where he'd seen himself sweating. Still, he'd been able to keep himself clean, which was rare for anyone still alive.

Neil entered as Aerin was zipping up a side pocket. "Do you have a moment? Natasha as well." His voice was raspier than normal, and even after he finished speaking, he coughed and left without waiting for a reply. Aerin stood up and followed him. He didn't know what his father wanted, but judging from how sick he really sounded, he couldn't imagine it would be good.

 

[Kaisaan]

Nova had kept to herself in the last two days. She'd not wanted to mingle with the infected people, didn't want to get to know them, didn't want to even learn their names. They were going to die and she was not going to form attachments. She had her wolves...and she had Aerin. That part was new, something she still wasn't sure about, but she did. He'd be coming with her and whatever this was...it would only continue. The brunette just wasn't sure how far it would go or what it would grow into.

Over the past two days, she'd been quiet. Not distant per say, but not outgoing either and part of it was because she wasn't certain how to behave now that her exterior had cracked around the blond and the other part was her environment. She didn't like it here.

So the day they started packing, getting ready to go at least, she was feeling a bit better. And then it was ruined when Neil came in. He was getting sicker and the wolves were completely restless around him, growling, moving away when he came close, sticking close to both Nova and Aerin, unhappy when the younger blond went out of their protective circle to go with the older man.

The same thing applied now and Nova quieted them even as she followed the two, wondering what in the world Neil wanted with her. They'd hardly exchanged two words to each other. Nonetheless, she followed and stood with arms crossed, waiting.

 

[Saren]

Aerin followed his father all the way downstairs, watching as Neil braced himself on the counter. He stepped away from Nova to move to his father. "Dad, are you okay?" he asked, reaching forward. He snapped his hand away, however, when his father... growled? That wasn't the sound he wanted to hear. "Dad?" he repeated.

"Sorry. The Illstar has been acting up. I wanted to talk to you about what's happening outside. Andria and the other scouts have been reporting movement of vehicles near the forest at the base of the mountain range. I don't like it. We've had to venture that far for food, but it's getting more and more dangerous. I don't know what's out there. Do you?"

There was a choice then. He could tell his father what he and Nova knew about the government, or he could not. It didn't seem like a choice that was up to him, however. He looked back to Nova, the question in his eyes. How he could even think of risking to keep such information from his father was beyond him. Maybe the Illstar had really changed him more than he wanted. Neil didn't seem to notice their exchange, however, trying hard to focus on a point in front of him. His eyes were blurred and his mouth occasionally curled into a harsh grimace, not unlike a wolfish snarl. Aerin saw and he didn't like it. It was in that moment that he decided that he truly hated the Illstar and what it had done to him and everyone else.

 

[Kaisaan]

Nova felt the hair on her body rise with that growl and her skin prickled with unease. Something was wrong and it didn't stop being wrong when Neil spoke rather intelligently. She watched him carefully, but went paler at what he said, her eyes flickering to Aerin, seeing the question there. She was rather surprised that he didn't simply give his father the information and she gave the blond a questioning look of her own - it wasn't like she was the information police, right? - before looking back at Neil. "They're-" she started and then stopped, eyes narrowing.

She watched his facial expressions and her eyes flashed with a greenish glow, her own lips curling back from her teeth briefly before she controlled the strange urge and took a step back, swallowing hard. "They're no threat to you. Just stay away from them." It was true; they weren't looking for infected and while they'd shoot an Illstar affected on sight, they'd also leave them alone if the infected stayed away from them.

No, she wasn't going to say more, not to this man. She'd been about to, but not now. He might have been Aerin's father, but he was not stable. She could see it, feel it and Nova's teeth grit as she held in a growl, backing away further before she gave Aerin a look that clearly warned him to stay alert before she turned around and went back upstairs, the wolves meeting her on the way, snarling low as they looked downstairs.

 

[Saren]

Something was happening to his father, and Nova could sense it. It was why she'd left. But would his father really harm him? Even through the Illstar, they were related by blood. Surely, he would still see that. Neil had only nodded at her words. There was a distant glaze in his eyes even as Nova and the wolves left. "Dad, if you wanted to tell us that, why did you have us come down here?" Aerin inquired, stepping back up to where he was before. However, this time, his father didn't respond. "...Dad?"

Neil turned on him then, glaring at Aerin like he didn't know who he was. And it was that question that seeped through his snarling lips. "Who are you?" he snapped, hands curling defensively.

Aerin only took a near-stumbling step backward. "Dad... it... it's me. It's Aerin."

"I don't know you, and I don't care. You're going to be my first kill!" He leaped at Aerin, the two crashing to the ground in a heap. Aerin grappled with his father, but he was on the bottom and his father had just as much strength. "Just die!"

"I'm your son! Why are you trying to kill me?" The momentary silence that stilled Neil made Aerin think he'd gotten through to him, but it wasn't meant to be. Aerin had made the mistake of relaxing his grip ever so slightly, and it was how Neil managed to sink his teeth into Aerin's shoulder. He cried out, and it was only made worse by the words that followed: "I have no son, you lying bastard."

Aerin's next motions happened so fast, he wasn't even sure what he'd done. In one fluid action, he had his father on his back, forearm slammed against Neil's neck as the infected man scrabbled to slash Aerin. In the next second, they were back to their original position, but Aerin was prepared. He'd pulled the only knife he'd had strapped on him, and as his father moved in for another bite, Aerin turned his head and stabbed down. Metal crunched against bone, and he wanted to be sick. Forcing his gaze back to his father, he saw that his knife had plunged into the back of his neck, buried so deep, the blade had hit his spine. As he wrenched it free, blood spilled out, coating his arm. There was only a gurgle before absolute silence. Aerin was shaking so bad, the knife slipped from his bloody hand and he shoved his father's body away from his own.

The fight had lasted about seven seconds, but Aerin had seen two lifetimes pass between his eyes. One of those lives he'd just ended.

Tears fought to fall, but he held everything back. He was vaguely aware that people outside were shouting about something, and he thought he heard 'attack' and 'immune,' but his heart was hammering in his chest, filling his ears with the sound of the organ slamming on his ribcage. He wanted to tell himself that he hadn't just killed his father in self defense, but he couldn't ignore the hard, cold, and dead evidence in front of him. His pain, rage, and sorrow crushed down, and all he could do was fall back on the floor, hardly able to move the heavy limbs that had aided him in his father's untimely demise.

 

[Kaisaan]

She only heard the cry of pain, but it was enough for Nova. The wolves were already leaping from the bed and she followed soon after, all three racing down the hallway and then down the stairs. It was too late, though. Far too late and the brunette felt her heart sink as she came down the last few steps, smelling blood acutely, and took in Aerin. She didn't need to look at his father, she already knew and she cursed herself in that moment for leaving the two alone. She should have known better! She should have been the one to do this. Rather he have hated her than himself.

The past could not be changed, though, and Nova approached the blond cautiously at first, speaking quietly to let him know who it was coming upon him. She'd seen people who'd suffered through something traumatic lash out at help and she wasn't sure if Aerin would be one of them. She sank down by his chest and took a breath, forcing herself to slip into 'doctor mode' as she started to examine his shoulder and the bite wound, hissing unhappily at some of the tearing that had occurred. Her brown eyes went to Fang. "Get the med pack."

The wolf disappeared and Nova looked back to Aerin, gently touching his forehead, moving his hair away from his skin. "It's all right. It's gonna be okay. I'm so sorry, Aerin." The words were soft and sympathetic, but she couldn't focus on the blond for long as Rifle's growl made her head jerk up and Nova's world came crashing around her ears. The man in army gear looked between her and Aerin and smiled, bringing the communication up to his mouth.

"I've found her and the other Immune."

His tranquilizer came up, but Rifle was already moving with a bloodcurdling snarl and he latched on to the man's arm, disrupting his aim so badly that the dart shot into the wall several feet from Nova herself. The woman was rising then, pulling Aerin up with her, yelling at him. "Get up! Get up! Aerin, use your damn legs! Now!" She was already half dragging him into the other room, fear and adrenaline surging through her blood as her brown eyes glowed and she searched frantically for an escape.

 

[Saren]

Aerin felt something warm spill from his shoulder, but the shock of his quick actions hadn't worn off. His eyes flicked toward Nova, unfocused and not recognizing her for a moment. His arm struggled to push away, but her hand came to rest on his forehead, wiping away sweat he didn't even know he'd had. The green orbs closed, allowing her to search his wound, knowing it was bad. And then it was all made worse when the man entered. They'd been found? No one had mentioned their immunity, and only a few people had known.

The slamming of the dart in the wall made his eyes shoot open, but Nova was already pulling him to his feet as Rifle distracted the man. His legs felt like tangled lead, but somehow, he managed to make his body move in a direction away from the government man trying to shoot them. There had only been one door that they knew of, but there were windows. Aerin switched the grips so he was the one dragging Nova. The window behind the couch was big enough to jump out of. Without wasting time, Aerin shoved his foot forward, the old wooden frame of the window cowing under the force of his kick. The glass splintered and cracked, but another blow sent shards flying out. They couldn't afford the precaution of avoiding the sharp points stuck in the frame, and Aerin released Nova to jump out through the massive hole he'd made.

Outside was even worse on the inside in that it was quiet. The Illstar-infected community was lined up with men pointing all manner of guns in their direction. One woman that looked vaguely familiar was questioning each person separately, and if one of them shook their head, they were shot down. The woman's appearance suddenly clicked in his head. Andria. That woman had betrayed the entire community. Had she been the one to tell the government where they were? They had been searching for Nova for a while, as far as Aerin could guess. He couldn't believe that she had betrayed his father, the one laying dead on the ground by his hand. Aerin wanted her to die a slow and painful death.

A shot rang out, a dart thunking into the wall above his head, and it made Aerin jump from his vengeful thoughts. He ran and leaped from the porch, hitting the ground in a sprint. Without the protection of his outer clothes and mask, the sandy wind bit into his skin and stung him. The pain in his shoulder was far worse, and then there was the emotional pain that had permanently settled in his heart. He could hear someone shouting to follow him because he was one of the Immune, and it spurred him to keep running, even if his lungs were burning from the impure air swirling around him. They couldn't possibly get a clear shot, but maybe they had masks and goggles to help them see. All he knew was that their shots were more precise than they should have been, making Aerin duck behind one of the lean-tos in the corner. Panting heavily, he crawled inside, flattening himself on the dusty ground to avoid the sand. He heard heavy footsteps, a set of three, as far as he could tell. There had to be even more searching for Nova, especially because she was more of a threat with her wolves. He couldn't see her, having no idea what direction she'd gone. A pang of regret rushed through him. He hadn't wanted to leave her, but fear and anger had made him rush forward and escape.

 

[Kaisaan]

She'd felt a sinking dread the moment their hands left each other. Nova had been prepared to jump out the window as well, but a dart had stopped her momentum and she'd turned tail in the other direction even as Fang came leaping out at another man's back, knocking him to the floor. She managed to skirt around them, almost running smack into another man who managed to get a slight hold on her jacket. Nova ripped it off desperately and ran again, both wolves now following her as they found the back door. She burst out to find guns pointed at her and Nova ducked the first three shots, Rifle leaping forward with a snarl, opening a space for her that the woman darted through.

She called the wolves then and all three ran for the nearest cover they could find. She pressed her back against the crumbling building and struggled to breathe past the panic clawing savagely at her. Her eyes went to the wolves and Nova knew if they were caught, they would be killed. She couldn't take them back out into that mess, but she had to find Aerin. She couldn't leave him.

"Go."

Snarls answered the command, defiant and Nova snarled back, pointing to the wall. "GO! Wait for us outside the wall. Go!" The canines growled, bristling. They didn't want to go. The last time they'd gone she'd been kept from them for three months and she'd come back damaged. They didn't want to do it again, but it was Nova's will against their own and they eventually snarled horribly in displeasure but fled where she wanted and the brunette felt tears run down her face.

She might never see them again.

Nova tried to push the thought away as she looked out at the chaos, feeling rage ignite in her chest when she caught sight of Andria. The lying snake. She didn't have time for her, though, brown eyes trying to search out Aerin, knowing it was slim chances that she'd find him before the army men did. She didn't even get the chance before someone was shouting and the words came to her clearly even above the wind.

"Nova!" She peeked out, recognizing the male who spoke with a clenching in her gut. He was tall and hard-looking with a buzz-cut and a scar across his cheek. He spoke confidently into the surroundings, knowing she was here. "Nova Enscott! You have nowhere to hide, no chance of escape! Come out now and we won't kill him."

Her name had made her flinch as she'd seen the looks that came over people's faces. They knew that name, were trying to remember how they knew that name. It was the last sentence that made her heart drop, though, but as it was said, Aerin was dragged out by two burly men, a gun pressed to his temple. The speaker smirked. "We don't need him. He's Immune, yes, but there are more. He's nothing special to us, but to you..."

 

[Saren]

Aerin had certainly put up a fight. One man had dragged him out of his hiding place by his foot, but he'd landed a few punches before a second man had to show up and overpower him. He'd tried to get away, but desperation to escape had made his motions sloppy and they'd nearly broken his wrist in the effort. Eventually, he'd stopped struggling, recognizing the inevitability of the situation. A man had shoved him forward while another held both tranquilizer rifle and hand gun to his back. Why he had both was beyond Aerin. If they were trying to keep him alive, the hand gun wasn't going to help. Aerin didn't fight them even as they placed a pair of thick handcuffs on his wrists to keep him from going anywhere. Andria stepped in front of him, a sultry smirk on her face. Aerin didn't even dignify her presence with a verbal response. He simply lashed out with his foot, catching her in the stomach and knocking her off balance. It earned him a slap across the cheek from her when she recovered, anger crossing her features. "You'll pay for that," she snapped.

What could they do to him? He'd already killed his father. He was hoping Nova had gotten away. She was more important to them than he was, and maybe they would just kill him. Then his pain would end.

But it wasn't meant to be. A man stepped forward, tall and rough, to call out to Nova. Except, he used Nova's last name, information not even Aerin had been privy to. Enscott... He knew the name. As he was shoved forward and the cold barrel of the gun pushed against his skin, he knew who she was. She was the daughter of the Enscott man who had originally designed what was supposed to have been a cure for cancer. The medication that had eventually turned into the Illstar. It explained why she had the ability she did. She'd been at the heart of the virus. It explained everything.

Even as the information sank in, Aerin tried to snap his arms away from the men holding him down. His leg came forward and tried to kick into the tall man beside him. However, one of the burly men, the one with the hand gun and rifle, brought the butt of the weapon up and smashed it against the back of Aerin's head. The blond dropped, shuddering as fresh pain swept over him. He could feel the barrel switch positions to shove down on his neck, but he still had enough movement to tilt his head and look up at Nova. His eyes pleaded silently: Leave. Go. Just run and leave me. I'm not worth the torture.

 

[Kaisaan]

The brutal treatment Aerin had received for his defiance had driven Nova out of hiding, rage on her face and her eyes had met his. She read the silent message there clearly and her own projected one back just as clearly. Over my dead body.

Her attention snapped to the speaker, Jenson was his last name and she didn't know his first, as the man chuckled, men closing around the female to cut off her chance of escape. "Well, that worked better than expected. He really means that much to you, Nova? Well, then we'll be sure to keep him alive then." The brunette bared her teeth, furious and terrified all at once as her eyes darted around and her body stayed tense, ready to strike out at the first person who made a move toward her. Jenson was the first, merely taking a step forward that had a growl rumbling in her throat. "Where are you wolves, Nova? I'd much rather shoot them now and get it over with."

"Gone."

"Again? Not very loyal creatures, are they? Oh well." He made a gesture and the men tightened their perimeters, eliciting a snarl from Nova that Jenson chided with a click of his tongue. "Now, now, Nova. You need to behave or I'll give the order to have him shot in the leg. It won't kill him, but he might never walk again. And I hear the pain is excruciating." A man aimed for Aerin's leg without prompt and Nova went still, trembling terribly as every instinct in her told her to strike out and yet it also told her not to bring harm to the man she cared about. It was a battle that warred, teetered on the edge of a knife as men approached her - they didn't WANT to tranq her if they could avoid it because her body had given a rather bad reaction last time - and that battle snapped into decision when the first hand descended on her body. It was too much.

Nova's body was a live wire as she lashed out, managing to take out three men before she was pulled back against a fourth, arm wrapped around her neck and she struggled, managing to get her mouth at a good angle to sink in her teeth into the male's arm. She didn't quite realize it wasn't teeth per say that tore through fabric and flesh alike as she was wrenching away from the hold as the man gave a cry.

It was a shot ringing out that made her still, freeze really, horror in her gaze as her eyes immediately darted to Aerin. But he was fine...and then she was not as they finally converged on her, managing to wrestle the furious, growling, snapping woman to the ground. The cuffs were locked tight around her wrists, enough to cut through her flesh if she struggled and a metal bar was forced between her teeth, straps wrapped around her head so her mouth couldn't close, but neither could it open, effectively keeping her from biting anyone. Nova struggled in panic then, fear overcoming anger as she was dragged to her feet.

She stilled, brown eye wide with fear as Jenson approached then, as smug and cocky as she remembered him. His fingers caressed her face and Nova was prevented from jerking back by the hands wound in her hair. "There. That's a good girl. Let's get you home now, all right?" He chuckled as he started to walk away, shouting orders over his shoulder for the two to be loaded in the truck.

 

[Saren]

You're dead if you stay, Aerin wanted to shout, but he was quieted by the cool metal of the gun on his neck. If he tried to save her, he would be shot for it. They had no qualms about harming him, and it seemed that notion was not lost on Nova. She fought them with literal tooth and nail, only to be overpowered and then raise up again. Her battle almost inspired him to move, but suddenly, a shot next to him banged through his ears and the force almost blew him forward. However, no blood seeped from his leg. Still, it stopped Nova, long enough for them to pounce on her. They'd faked shooting him to keep him healthy and to capture her. They were doing what he'd feared: using him to keep her calm. He could see the interaction between her and Jenson, and he wanted to lash at the man for touching her in such an intimate way when Aerin himself had hardly gotten her to open up.

They dragged them both away, flinging them into the back of the covered truck. Aerin banged his head on the metal back, showing his pain with a grunt. Nova followed him up, but his vision blurred with the blow to his head for a moment. "Nova?" he whispered, lurching forward as the truck began to move. He twitched his wrists in the hopes that he could get out of the handcuffs, but the metal bit into his skin, turning it raw. His head hung, partially out of concentration and the rest out of the most recent memories.

"I... I'm sorry, Nova. This is my fault." The roaring engine of the truck might have drowned out his voice, but there was more to Nova's senses than he ever thought. There was more to her... everything. He didn't know what to think about anything he'd previously thought true.

 

[Kaisaan]

Nova gave a grunt as she was thrown into the truck, her shoulder jarring painfully on the metal before she scrambled up to a sitting position. Her heart hammered like a war drum in her chest and her body continued to shudder, unable to stop at all as she pressed up against the side of the vehicle. She heard Aerin's voice as if from a distance as she curled in on herself, bringing her knees up and her forehead down to them. She was stopped before her head could connect with her legs, though, the strap Jenson had threaded through her head straps and her handcuffs - to keep her from slipping them under her legs - preventing even that movement without jarring her arms painfully.

The brunette whimpered, looking up, her glowing eyes finding Aerin in the darkness of the truck. She moved then, awkwardly, slowly but eventually she came to his side and her body pressed into his - careful to be on his good shoulder. Her body didn't necessary like the contact, still shuddering, but her mind needed it. She couldn't speak, the metal bar preventing it, making it difficult to even swallow, but she could use actions.

And right now she just wanted to know she wasn't alone, to reassure him that he wasn't alone. It was the only thing she could do. She couldn't promise that things would be fine. They wouldn't and she knew that better than anyone. She could promise nothing except that she was here. She stayed there with him, unable to hold in the whimpers of fear, until the trucks stopped nearly an hour later.

Nova raised her head from Aerin's shoulder with a growl in her throat and when the back opened, her eyes glittered with a glimmer of feral light. It was just a spark before the fear overwhelmed it and she pressed back into the wall as the men came up to drag them out. As soon as she felt touch, Nova reacted, thrashing and striking out as she could with head, feet and body like a wild animal. It took three men to get her out of the truck and that was after two had been knocked out of commission. She growled horribly as she was dragged away, toward a building built into the mountain. She didn't know what it had been before the Illstar, but now it was hell.

 

[Saren]

Aerin noticed her, shifting for her since the way she was strapped up didn't help her. In the cold inside of the truck, she was warm. His head rested over hers, his lips brushing her ear. While she couldn't talk, she made her presence known. And so, until they stopped moving, Aerin whispered soft nothings to her. It wouldn't help as much as he wanted, but he had to try. There were no promises in anything he said, but there was no lie in it. He spoke about how she was brave, even though they'd been taken away. He apologized about pulling her into his familial affairs, how he wished he could have helped her get away or find some other form of saving her from the torture. Several times, he had to stop, thinking about his father's dead form on top of him. He fought back the emotion and kept his mind focused on Nova.

She skittered away from him as the men barreled in to grab her, and two more came to take him. He didn't fight like she did, because he couldn't. She had ferocity that he could never hope to match. Still, he jerked his arms away, walking behind the snarling mass that was Nova. He looked up at the fancy building, new, unnatural angles jutting from the mountain. Barbed wire fences towered and dug into the ground, ending at the steeper points of the mountain so no one could climb around it. It appeared similar to a hospital, but he knew only death and torture waited inside. He wanted to stop and run the other way, but he wouldn't get far with his hands stuck behind his back. So he had to endure the walk through the sandstorm all the way up to the perfectly rectangular, glass doors. Inside was bare, which didn't make any sense. If it was how he had imagined it (which apparently it wasn't), there would have been several devices for extracting blood and tools for extracting information.

As much as he wanted to be put in the same room as Nova, when they walked into the building, the men leading him veered another way while Nova's guards kept going straight. This time, Aerin pulled on his bonds hard. "I want to stay with her," he snapped, irritation and some fear seeping into his voice.

"No," they both answered, one reaching back to grab the back of Aerin's neck and drag him forward to a set of downward stairs. They descended, Aerin wincing with each step as the pressure on his neck increased. He was thrown into an unmarked room with a metal door, the handcuffs not coming off. There was nothing inside, not even a bed. The walls were annoyingly white and clean and the air smelled of antiseptic, if only to cover up what smelled like blood and death.

Aerin slid against the wall, hands folding behind his back. "I'm sorry, Nova," was all he said before his eyes closed, resting, awaiting what he knew would come: pain.

 

[Kaisaan]

Nova screeched as she was pulled away from Aerin and she fought the entire way down the hall, only growing more frantic when she saw the room they were taking her to. It was hers and when she was pulled in, the guards wasted no time in pulling her toward the woman who picked up a needle from the tray on the table next to the examination table. It didn't take long to inject the sedative into her bloodstream and Nova sagged after about ten minutes, a growl still in her throat, but feeling far too mellow to snap at the hands that removed the bit from her mouth. Her jaw ached, her whole body hurt it seemed and she only put up a slight protesting fight when she was uncuffed and they started to undress her. The brunette was put in a pair of cotton shorts and a sports bra for easy access to her skin and what lay beneath and then she was made to lay on the table, her struggles weak and uncoordinated as they chained her down by her wrists, ankles and a collar about her neck. She'd headbutted too many people for that not to be necessary.

The drug was mild, only starting to wear off when she was secure and Nova blinked rapidly, turning her head this way and that as her vision started to clear, the fog in her mind dissipate. The fear came back full force then and she pulled against her restraints frantically but could not get free and only made her wrists start to bleed she had rubbed them so raw. Her brown eyes snapped to the woman who entered the room, her body shivering, but her mind sharp and angry, like her gaze.

"You b***h! You have what you want! Now let him go!"

"Nova, that's no way to speak to me." The woman chided. Her brown hair was pulled up into a bun behind her head and her brown eyes smirked as she approached and set her hand on the younger female's stomach. It might have been comforting in a different setting, but it made Nova's skin crawl now and she jerked with a growl, teeth bared. "Let him go. If you ever loved me, do this one thing for me. Let Aerin go. He didn't do anything."

The woman raised a brow, now scanning over a chart that Nova knew contained all her information, what they'd gathered from her three months ago. "Funny, that is what you'd have me believe about you, but that's not true is it, sweetie?"

"I told you! I don't know anything about Dad's work!"

Jessamine didn't even look over at her daughter. "We'll see."

 

[Saren]

Aerin didn't know how long it had been, but someone eventually brought him water. It was pure and clean and utterly disgusting. Aerin could taste the chemicals in it, but one of the men held a gun to his head, clearly suggesting something if Aerin didn't ingest the water. So he did, feeling like his tongue was coated with vile things, things he didn't want. He felt tired after, but he wasn't asleep. Once whatever drug they used on him kicked in, they dragged him to his feet and released the handcuffs. Shoving him forward to the point where he almost tripped after nearly every step, they took Aerin to a small room with just a chair and a table. He was vaguely aware of a camera in the corner, or maybe there was more than just one. His vision was blurring with every forward motion he took.

Finally, he was sat down in the chair, and people left and locked the room. Not like he could have moved anyway. His limbs felt weighted and he knew he would have stumbled and fallen if he even thought about getting up. The door clicked open and a tall and slender form stood in front of him. He saw red locks and connected the two: Andria. "Hello, Aerin," she said with a velvety, smooth voice. "You're going to tell us what you know."

What he knew? He didn't know anything. He started to shake his head but she grabbed his chin and forced his head up. The green eyes were dark and dilated, but she didn't release him. "Tell us what you know of the work of the Illstar."

"I don't... Why would I know... anything?" His tongue felt and tasted like lead in his mouth, and his speech sort of slurred. Andria scowled, tipping the chair back on it's legs. She lifted her free hand and pointed to the camera. "She can see you, or she will be able to soon. My colleagues are surely setting up the feed now. She'll be able to watch you slip in and out of pain. Maybe then she'll tell us, won't see? Her precious Aerin will be just as scarred as she is, only, you might not make it to see next week or tomorrow or even a year from now. You won't know. You'll be in a perpetual state of fear, wondering if you're going to die and leave Wolf-Girl alone to suffer. We can't have that now can we?"

Aerin tried to shake his head but she had a vice grip on his chin. He glanced at the camera, seeing a small red light beep to life. "Oh, there it is." She slammed the chair back, Aerin moving forward with the momentum and unable to stop. The side of his head cracked on the table and he couldn't help the yell of pain that escaped his lips. He could already feel a bruised bump forming on his brow, but he could hardly move his fingers to rub and nurse the wound. "What did she tell you?" Andria snapped.

"She didn't... I don't know... what you want from me."

"Information, idiot!" Aerin flinched at the insult. "You will tell me one way or another. Or she will tell us. Do you think she'd let you die before she spouted what we want to know?" Aerin didn't want to think about that. His mind was too full of drugs and emotion to think.

 

[Kaisaan]

They'd never done this before. Nova didn't understand what was going on as she watched a monitor be wheeled into the room and a few men set it up. A frown came to her face, trying to figure it out and it was only when Aerin came on the screen that she understood. Cold fear and an even icier fury entered her bloodstream, chilling her body and Nova lurched forward against her restraints, nearly choking herself when the blond was slammed against the table. A snarl left her throat and her mother glanced sidelong at her, watching her reactions instead of what was going on with Aerin.

"Do you see, Nova? We have everything we need to get an answer out of you."

"He doesn't know anything! He didn't even know who I was!" she screeched and Jessamine raised a brow. "Oh? Well, even if that is true, he will be useful." The woman came close and grabbed Nova's jaw, hard enough to bruise her flesh. "After all, you care for him. How long will you let him suffer, sweetie? How much pain does he need to be in? Does he need to scream a few times? Do we have to break his bones? Electrocute him? Water-boarding? Does he need to plead? Maybe cry? Does he need to be so hopeless that he just wants to die?"

"Stop it!" Nova screamed it, struggling against her restraints again, unable to keep her eyes away from the screen and what was happening. The emotion in her chest was crushing, guilt and fear and fury pressing down on her, making her head roar with noise. It turned to pain as she felt a sharp flare of fire on her stomach and Nova came back down to her body, feeling blood leaking from the incision cut on her abdomen, not deep, but hurting all the same.

"You will answer my questions, Nova. What was your father working on?"

"The Illstar! You know that!"

Another slash and Nova grit her teeth, hissing at the pain, knowing it could get far, far worse. This was nothing but kitten scratches. "Alongside the Illstar, Nova." Jessamine demanded and Nova looked at the woman who used to be her mother in utter confusion and anger. "I don't know! When will you believe that! I don't know!"

The surgical blade plunged into her stomach and Nova gave a choked cry, fighting the urge to buck, knowing that would only shove the knife in deeper. She struggled to breathe as her mother's voice hissed in her ear. "And yet that formula is inside your body, in your bloodstream. You know something and I will get it out of you, one way or another."

 

[Saren]

Aerin heard something faint. It sounded like a scream, but maybe it was just the rush of blood in his ears. He looked up at the camera, finding that the red light was still on. She could see everything that was happening to him, but he couldn't see her. Some part of him didn't want to. She was being treated just as poorly as he was, or even worse. After all, she was watching what was going on.

Andria seemed to suddenly remember how she'd first saw Aerin, for she pulled the chair back to straddle his lap. Somehow, this was even worse than the pain from his head. Her finger trailed down his cheek and along his neck, pushing the sleeve of his tank top from his shoulder. He managed to push her away and stumble from the chair, but he could only lean on his good shoulder against the wall.

"Afraid that she'll see you enjoying another person?" Andria sneered, pressing him against the wall. One arm came up to defend himself from her advances, but she only shoved his wrist down to pin it against the cold metal wall of the room. He kept his head turned away from her, afraid to look her in the eye. She was somewhat attractive when she wasn't trying to kill him, and he feared that the drugs in his system would push him to do something he would certainly regret.

Her lips pressed to his cheek. They weren't rough or chapped like Nova's. They were soft and coated in lipstick, the sign of a pampered life even in the middle of the Illstar's wake. Her mouth moved to his but he shook his head. Kissing her would have been the beginning of a road he didn't want to travel down. "Stop," he tried to say, but his voice came out as a whisper.

"I don't think you want me to."

Using a strength he didn't know he had, Aerin slammed his palm into her chest, forcing her away. "Let me see Nova," he managed to say, using the wall for support. His legs threatened to slip out from underneath him and he didn't know how much longer he could stand.

Andria shrieked and grabbed his neck, smashing his head against the wall. She released him and he dropped, unmoving. She left him there, sweeping herself from the room and locking his unconscious body inside. She came to walk and stand in front of Jessamine, assuming a neutral position before her superior. "He's not dead. As you saw, he still won't talk. He's most likely defending her," she said with a glare at Nova. "He wanted to see her, but now he won't. He'll be out for a few hours at most."

 

[Kaisaan]

Nova had felt the breath leave her body as soon as Andria's leg came over Aerin's own. It was illogical, completely irrational for her to feel the sweep of what could only be described as possessive rage run through her, but she stayed silent, everything frozen, every reaction stilled as she stared at the screen. A growl rumbled in her throat when Aerin was manhandled but she felt a flare of triumph when he shoved Andria away and she was so relieved in that moment that tears slipped from her eyes and she finally inhaled, shaky and far more emotional than she knew she had right to be.

That didn't register or matter though as Aerin was slammed against the wall and Nova jerked up with a snarling roar, the cuffs cutting into her skin and the strap on her neck leaving marks that would be ugly bruises by that night. Jessamine cursed, apparently not happy with the events that had progressed and she gave Andria a glare when she came in, but didn't speak as she listened to the other woman.

"Your orders were to cause him pain, not flirt and knock him out!" she snapped at the red-head, but then sighed and seemed to rearrange her emotions, looking back at Nova. Her daughter did nothing but snarl at her and Jessamine looked thoughtful, narrow-eyed. She spoke out loud, as was her habit, but it was more to herself and most people knew not to interrupt. Though, Andria was one of the few who could actually interject their opinions without facing pain themselves...if the red-head spoke wisely. It was a rocky area to be in with Jessamine. She wasn't exactly sane anymore.

"She's different this time. Heightened....animalistic...and that man...there is a connection there. We can use that, but perhaps...perhaps not in such blatant manner. Something more subtle, yes...that might work." A smile stretched across her face, a cold and calculating expression. Oh yes, she had a plan now.