Max opened his eyes slowly. Everything seemed extremely bright, so he had to squint but doing so made his raging headache even worse. For a second he couldn’t remember what had happened, but when he tried to hold his head he realized that he was tied up. Everything that had happened sunk back in and Max hit his head on the ground, angry at himself, ignoring the extra pain he had just caused.
“God Max, what did you do?” he asked himself out loud.
Once he had gotten used to the light, Max looked around. He was in a small room full of old janitorial supplies. There was a door in front of him and a small window in the corner of the room that let in the dull light that Max had thought was so bright at first. From his position on the ground Max could see the faint glare of the sun through the cloud cover and guessed he had only been out for maybe an hour.
He heard the muffled talking of some people outside guessing that they were probably guards stationed outside of his ‘prison’. Max was beginning to regret following that female Ayra, of whom he could not quite remember the name of. Everything still seemed a little fuzzy.
Max’s attention was drawn to the door as it suddenly opened and a very attractive young woman in her early twenties entered the room carrying some kind of tray in her hands. Her slender body was clothed in Human garb; a black tank top and blue skinny jeans. Her brown bangs were brushed over one of her ears.
She was also shorter than the other Ayra, like the one he had met earlier in the parking garage and then he wondered if all female Ayra were shorter than the males. She also looked more Human with her height. Max had seen Ayra without their armor before but he did not know that Ayra could be so… beautiful.
Suddenly a slick black creature bolted through the door moving quickly but stealthily heading towards Max. Max, startled, tried backing away from the oncoming creature but with no luck and felt warm slobber on his face as the creature licked him. Its wide, almost flat head kind of, in a way, reminded Max of a newt or salamander.
He felt defenseless against this creature… well he was, he had no way of protecting his face with his hands tied behind his back.
The female Ayra called the creature away from Max and it walked over to the Ayra excitedly panting and wagging its tail while staring at Max. The creature was the size of a large dog and acted a lot like one as well.
“What is that thing?!” Max asked startled.
She smiled, “This is my Kahnora. Her name’s Nova. She likes you.”
Two guards walked in behind her and she turned to the guards, “Untie him.”
“But Jaq said…”
“I don’t care what Jaq said,” the young Ayra interrupted them.
“Sorry Aeila, we were told to tie him up. Orders are orders.”
Nova began to growl and bared her teeth at the two guards.
“Wait, Aeila? You’re the one who got me into this mess,” Max muttered.
“Well don’t go pointing fingers, but yeah, I helped you stay alive,” Aeila answered, then turned back to the guards, “What? You afraid this one Tiny Human is going to be able to get through two, Big and Strong Ayra like yourself? Come on, for me?”
Max did not like how she exaggerated the word tiny… or big and strong for that matter. He looked at the two guards, they weren’t that big, Max could easily take them bare handed even if they were taller than him. But he kept quiet.
The two guards looked a little uncomfortable with the way she said it as well, but one replied, “Well okay, I guess if you put it that way…”
“Thank you,” Aeila said as the two guards passed her and walked up to Max.
Nova stopped growling and began panting and wagging her tail happily again as each of the guards pulled out a blade and cut the ropes around Max’s wrists and ankles. Max sat up, massaging his wrists and staring at Aeila.
She nodded towards the doors, “you can leave us.”
The two guards looked confused, “But, Aeila…”
“That’ll be all,” she interrupted, again motioning to the door.
The guards reluctantly left the room. Max watched them as they did so, then he turned his attention to Aeila as the door closed behind her.
There was an awkward silence. Then Aeila spoke, “So you know my name but I don’t know yours.”
“Max,” he stated looking her in the eyes.
Aeila smiled, “Well, Max, I brought you some food.”
Max waited to see if she had anything else to say. She didn’t.
“Is that all?” he asked and Aeila just stared at him blankly, “I mean, you guys hold me at gun point, knock me out, tie me up and throw me in a janitor’s closet. And now you’re bringing me food?”
“Yeah… yeah that about sums it up.” She answered him still with a smile on her face.
“Oh, okay cool.” He said, still confused.
Max stood up and stretched but suddenly felt light headed and had to catch himself on a small desk that was nearby.
“Are you alright?” Aeila asked taking a couple steps towards Max and setting the tray on a self next to her.
Max waved her off, “Yeah, I’m fine. Did you bring me some water? I could really use something to drink right now.”
“Oh, I had your canteen filled,” she said grabbing his canteen off the tray she had set down.
Max took it gladly and gulped down half of the canteen’s contents, but he was still careful not to let any of the water drip out of his mouth. He had made it a habit, years ago to not waste any food or water, and get as much as you could, while you could.
When Max finished drinking he stared at the desk he was leaning on, taking deep breaths and thinking. He looked down at himself and just then realized that he had been stripped of all his gear, down to his undershirt and pants. Aeila stood there in silence watching Max as he frantically search for the yarn doll and necklace.
Then he remembered that the necklace was around his neck and he reached for it to feel that it was truly still there, and that is all that really mattered to him... for now anyways.
Max then turned to Aeila with a puzzled look on his face, “Why being so kind to me, a Human?”
“You saved my life.”
When she said this Nova let out a short whistle and began wagging her tail even more violently.
“That can’t be it, can it? Every other Ayra I’ve met thinks I was the one to endanger your home. How many of you are there?”
“A few hundred,” she said interrupting.
“What!”
“Yeah, there are a few hundred of us.”
“Huh, well that’s just great! So hundreds of Ayra, want me dead?” Max asked, freaking out.
“Oh no, no, no over half of them don’t even know you’re here. The ones that know, like Jaq, they just want you to fix it.”
Max stared at her awkwardly, “Fix it?... Fix what? What did I possible do now?”
“Well nothing, but they’re just blaming you for it.” Aeila stated slowly.
“It? Are you ever going to tell me what ‘it’ is?”
Aeila smiled, “Sorry no, um, Jaq wants to tell you himself.”
“Oh? What, is he my buddy now?” Max asked sarcastically.
Aeila laughed, but then her smile faded, “Well you’re not going to like what he has to say.”
Max looked seriously at Aeila setting his canteen on the desk and then pulling himself up onto it in a sitting position, “Well that doesn’t sound too good… Is it life threatening?”
Before Aeila said anything she cocked her head and stared at Max intently. This made him squirm uncomfortably in his seat.
Max didn’t like the silence and felt relieved when Aeila finally spoke, “You’re bleeding.”
“What? Don’t change the subject!”
“No, your cheek, it’s still bleeding.”
Max reached up and felt the cheek that Jaq had smacked with his pistol. He winced when he touched the large gash on his face. He pulled his fingers away and looked at them; there was wet blood on his fingers.
“It’s nothing.”
“No, let me take a look at it,” said Aeila walking up with an outstretched hand.
She tilted his chin up and leaned in closer for a better look. She grabbed Max’s open canteen and poured some water on the wound making Max jerk away slightly. Aeila opened a small pouch on her belt reaching in and pulling out a piece of cloth. She dabbed the gash gingerly but it still made Max cringe.
His face cringed when she wiped the gash one last time.
She smiled, “sorry.”
Aeila pulled some kind of bandage out of her pouch and placed it over the wound. She pressed gently around the edges of the adhesive part of the bandage to make sure it stayed.
Closing the pouch, Aeila stared once again at Max.
“What?” Max asked uncomfortably.
It wasn’t that he didn’t like Aeila looking at him it was just that it was a little awkward.
“Sorry, nothing. It’s just you… you remind me of someone I used to know,” Aeila answered looking away.
“Stop apologizing. It’s okay, really. It’s just… Well, a little awkward.”
“No, I… I understand, sorry.”
Max rolled his eyes and smiled when she said sorry, then all went quiet. Aeila walked over to where she had set down the tray and picked it up.
Walking back over to Max she set the tray down on the desk, “I convinced Jaq to allow you to live with us. But first you have to do something for us, the safe house. I can’t give you any details. Despite what you saw when I came in I really do listen to most orders. Eat up, and I’ll be back to get you. I need to find someone first.”
Max didn’t answer and watched as she walked towards the door. Without another word she knocked on the door and the guards opened it. Nova dashed through the opening excitedly but before Aeila walked out she turned and took one last look at Max then she was gone as the door shut behind her.
Max shook his head and began eating the food Aeila had brought him.
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