The Key (Part 2)

Laying on her back on the sandy coastline, Saiba could make out a flare going up in the distance. She didn’t think much of it though, she had her own set of problems to deal with. As she tried to get up, she felt a jolt of pain and got forced back down, her back arching at the most unnatural angle she had ever known. Staring at the vast expanse of the ocean, she reminisced on her past, filled with familiar agony. Her whole life had been a big blur of fear and suffering.

She looked to her side. Her new companion had finally begun to stir. She looked at him and wondered why he was so important? Why was he entrusted with what might be the fate of all humanity? This man was so clumsy he tripped, fell, and knocked himself unconscious in his own home; how he was to shoulder the weight of lives even beyond earth was a mystery to her. A great danger was to come to pass. She had plans to evade it, but she wasn’t sure it would work, especially with a man with such a lack of skill by her side.

~ ~ ~

The bright midday sun was glowing sharply against my tightly shut eyelids. I slowly opened them and looked around, my mouth dry and the taste of sand jabbing at my tongue making me want to barf. I looked around me and instantly remembered what had happened the night before. Next to me was a person lying in the sand. She might as well have been a corpse because I had never seen a single person in my life with a spine that bent. As I sat up, I felt an odd sense of fear in my heart, as if something horrible was lurking and it was somewhere close. I hadn’t felt this imminent fear since…

‘Looks like someone is up from their nap time’ I looked at the girl lying beside me, her back acutely curved still. I wanted to inquire about so much. My mind, a swirling storm of glaring questions like, "Who are you?" "What happened to me?" "Why am I here?" "What do you want from me?" but in my confusion, somehow, I asked the one that mattered the least-

‘How long have I been out?’

‘At least a few hours’ she answered, calm as the air around me. I slowly limped towards her and asked her if I could help. It seemed rude to ask questions while she could very well die. She, very slowly, passed me her small grey pouch and told me to pull out a vial with purple markings on it. I did as she asked, and sure enough, there was a tiny glass vial with detailed neon inscriptions. They looked like a fusion of hieroglyphs and something close to Greek lettering, but not quite.

She asked me to open the vial and bring it close to her. So, I did. She slowly leaned forward and took a small whiff of the smoke ebbing out of it. Instantly, I saw her back straighten and heal as if the death itself was being challenged in a duel where the counterweight of life was winning. With every strike against death, a bone in her spine repaired itself and filled her with newfound light.

Once she could stand again, she took her pouch from me and regarded me with the plainest, most uncaring look I had ever known. It felt like her gaze was laced with contempt, and I did not know how to react to it. Before I could process anything that had happened a few moments ago, she moved ahead of me and looked around as if looking for clues as to where we were. I knew I shouldnt have had trust for her, yet I did. Even if there was resentment in her gaze, I did not feel any fear, any guilt, and any ill-intent that would cause her to harm me. I knew I had been kidnapped but I did not yet know why. In any case, till I saw no immediate danger, I had no option but to interrogate her and trust the answers she gave me.

She looked at me with the same indifferent gaze and declared, ‘We have a long way to go, Mr. Meyers; the destiny of all humanity rests in your hands now. You are, after all, the possessor of the Key.’

To Be Continued...