In Search of Home

Chapter 78

Whispers and shouts filled his ears. Viktor tried to take the translator off to see if it would stop, but he kept forgetting where he had it on him. His mind flickered between foggy and dreadfully, awfully clear. His arms ached with his scratching, wet and sticky with what was probably his blood but could've easily been the slobber of Oorah, who was currently resting on the ceiling.

The ringmaster paced outside of his cage, looking in occasionally. Sometimes, it was Vok'Rul, and Viktor's heart would leap into his throat with hope, but then the alien would open its mouth and the ringmaster's voice would come out instead. A blink and Vok'Rul would disappear. Other times, it was Lilac or Pink.

"It's okay, Kohgrash," Vok'Rul said with his own voice. Viktor nodded in agreement, a faint smile appearing on his lips. If he said it was okay, then it was. Simple. Easy to understand. He opened his mouth to ask when he'd be let out, but Vok'Rul turned around, and Viktor flinched backward, slamming his head against the wall as the ringmaster took his place. "It's not real."

"Don't hurt me," Viktor whispered, barely able to hear his voice over the sound of something grinding its teeth against the bars.

"They got you," the human in the cage to his left giggled. They were still, almost deathly. Their chest barely moved. Their face was melted, shreds of skin hanging off their bones, just like that alien he had killed. "I'll be gone soon. It'll be over." He didn't know if they were real. He didn't know if anything was real.

"You'll be okay," Rukka told him, standing outside his cell impassively. Viktor wanted to believe her; he really did.

He wasn't sure how long he stayed in the corner of his cage, back pressed against the wall, which had been solid and unmoving the entire time. Hours, probably, but it could've easily been years. He stopped feeling the worms first; they slid off him, dropping like dead flies. Oorah disappeared after that. Slowly but surely, the buzzing in his head diminished, and he was able to think clearly.

Lilac's face settled firmly into place, and no matter how many times Viktor blinked, she did not change. She looked worried but relieved as he came back to himself. He violently suppressed the urge to cry.

There was no way he could handle this madness. Unknown drugs, unfamiliar surroundings, and the sheer whiplash of being treated nicely by one alien and scorned by the next - it was all too much for Viktor. His heart was still thumping like a drum in his chest, and he still couldn't feel any pain. But at least he stopped seeing and hearing things that weren't really there. Oorah was gone. The ringmaster was gone. He was dead. For good.

There were no humans around him. He was in a cage surrounded by empty ones. He wondered if Lilac had anything to do with that. He specifically remembered someone telling her to put him by dying people. Shivers ran down his spine.

The cage door opened, and Viktor jolted back into the present. He watched warily as Lilac shoved a dish of water into the cramped cage. Rationally, he knew he shouldn't drink any liquid - he would probably just throw it back up - but he eagerly grabbed the dish and held it up to his lips. He drank like a man dying of thirst. And he supposed that he was.

The dish tilted backward, and Viktor's head followed it. He let out an angry, guttural noise as the dish pulled away. Lilac had her claws wrapped around the opposite edge, tipping it down.

"Slow down," she chided gently. Viktor glared at her. "I know you're thirsty. Klaxan and delria," she scoffed to herself, carefully letting up the pressure on the dish to let Viktor drink again, though at a much more sedated pace, "I don't know what they were thinking."

Viktor kept his eyes on her while he drank. He knew, objectively, that she wasn't a threat to his well-being; she had helped him numerous times while in the arena and had seemed to show genuine regret at his home. But he couldn't help but focus on the fact that she was right in front of him, here in this shithole. The other aliens must have blackmailed her or something. That was it. He'd believe that. It would give him some semblance of sanity.