In Search of Home

Chapter 19

Sunlight filtered through the slats of the door, warming Viktor's face as he slept. As the sun crept higher in the sky, the sunlight slowly slid off his face, barred by the closet door and the angle of the building. The lack of sunlight wasn't what woke Viktor, though. It was the loud resounding BOOM of a door slamming open. 

Viktor sat up, startled. He blearily blinked the sleep out of his eyes. He distantly heard Vok'Rul talking in the next room over. There was a lot of thumping. 

"The fuck," he grumbled, wrapping the blanket around him and falling back onto the soft bed. "Can't a man get his beauty sleep?" 

He heard Vok'Rul heading downstairs. He heard shouting soon after. Viktor sighed. 

After his small depressive stint last night, Viktor was feeling a bit better after some sleep. He still felt empty about being unable to see the others again, but he had to hold onto the hope that he would one day meet them again. After this was all over. He just needed to show this alien that humans were sentient. Somehow. 

He shuffled out of the closet, pulling the blanket tightly around him as the morning chill settled on his skin. The door was cracked open, and Viktor heaved it open with a groan. That thing was heavy! He walked across the living room in trepidation, looking around to see if there was anything hiding about in places he couldn't see. As far as he knew, it was just Vok'Rul and him in this section of the mansion. 

But clearly, Viktor thought as some metal clanging came from downstairs, there was something else in here. 

He wondered, idly, if they were getting robbed. Viktor hoped not. Even if he didn't want to be here, he doubted robbers would just cart him back to the pet store. They'd probably sell him to someone else. 

As he got closer to the stairs, peering out from the guard rail, he could see Vok'Rul's tail just in sight. It looked strange without all the jewelry adorning it, but Viktor supposed he wouldn't want to wear jewelry in bed, either. He listened as Vok'Rul spoke with the other unknown alien, who responded in kind. Well, at least there was no robbery. Vok'Rul sounded exasperated, though. 

The scent of food wafted up to him, and Viktor realized that the metallic clanging noise must have been pots and pans banging together. His stomach growled in kind. 

He was thinking about whether or not he should go back to the office to look for more of the treats to eat when Vok'Rul said something in a huff and started towards the stairs. They made eye contact for a split second before Viktor retreated in a hurry, nearly sprinting back to the office. His blanket slid off his shoulders during the run. He managed to heave the door shut as he heard Vok'Rul say something to the alien below and start up the stairs. 

Instead of coming to the office as he expected, the alien went back into his room. Viktor let out a small sigh of relief, shaking off the adrenaline that had flooded his limbs. He picked his way around the desk to crawl back into his carrier, fishing out the dish he had left in there. He frowned when he saw it empty. 

"Oh yeah," he muttered to himself. He had thrown it at that other alien yesterday. The remaining jerky had fallen all over the place. He didn't see any in the carrier, though. He sat back on his knees, wondering where he'd find food. 

"Kohgrash," he heard from outside the door. Vok'Rul entered soon after. Viktor quickly got to his feet, peering around the giant desk, the dish still in one hand. The tall alien was in the loose flowy clothing he had gotten accustomed to seeing the arena aliens in. He had no jewelry adorning his features, either. Maybe he wasn't going anywhere today. Vok'Rul was speaking but the only word he caught was norish. Immediately, Viktor became interested. He would very much enjoy food.