Stolen - part 14

Dark. It was so dark and she couldn't understand why. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen the light. She wasn't even sure she knew what it looked like anymore. Because, for her, everything was dark and the acrid scent of smoke.

She sat quietly, as she always did. She allowed her anger and hate to fill her up inside, although she knew it left a hollow space within her. It was a space she longed to fill, a space that no worm of darkness could ever infest and spoil. It was the part of her that longed to cry and scream and beg for death.

A feeling brushed against the walls of her mind, and she knew it was him. He who had harmed her so much... He who had blinded her.

Visas Marr brought her senses back to reality, and stood up. She could sense the anger, hatred, and lust for revenge within the columns amongst which she meditated. The fury of all who had perished was barely contained within the stones, rising up from an acrid mist of blood and pain.

She turned and made her way to the bridge. Her Master rarely summoned her, and when he did, tardiness was not an option. She walked quickly but with an air of importance. None stood in her path.

But none would, anyway. Those who resided on the Master's ship were slowly consumed by him, and they all lost what was once important to them. It did not matter where they came from, they could have been enemies once, but now they stood obedient to his every command, without thought, and without true life.

As her footsteps echoed on the floor, Visas listened to the rhythm. It sounded so alive amongst the dead, the dying and the decay. She could hear her heartbeat and, through the Force, the heartbeats of all on board. So strange... they all seemed to beat at once, in tempo to the echo.

Visas stopped. She had been in the presence of her Master many times, but she still felt like something died in her whenever she kneeled before him. Those on the bridge clung to the very edge of life, because he kept them alive. Finally, breathing deep to steel herself, she stepped onto the bridge.

A rush of Force whirled around her and scrutinised her, as it always did. It searched for weakness, and for any hint of doubt. But the inspection did not last as long as it usually did; it had been nothing more than a casual glance. But there was also another presence, a presence that gave her the scrutiny of a disgruntled guest.

Visas had never met this one before, but she knew who he was. Undeterred, she stepped forward and approached her Master, and the other one. As her feet touched the steps to the raised platform that her Master always remained on, she knelt.

"You summoned me, milord," she stated quietly, as she always did. She never needed to speak loudly, for in truth, words were nothing more than a formality.

Sound penetrated her ears, but it was a sound that held no meaning but death and pain. Beneath the words, she heard his orders.

There is a being within the Force... you have felt it. It must not be allowed to live. Bring it to me.

Doubt suddenly trickled into Visas' mind. Why would her Master want something brought to him?

"Do you feel it is a threat-" Visas suddenly felt her throat constrict. She gasped and choked and realised her mistake.

She had forgotten the man that stood beside them. Her question, as innocent as it could be, had made her Master appear weak. Now, she was being punished and she had to make amends.

"You..." she gasped."You are the darkness, in which all life.... dies milord."

She fell to the floor, her ability to breathe restored. The sudden rush of air to her lungs was making her head spin.

"All life... lives to serve your purpose. And my life..." Visas internally sighed relief as her breathing began to regulate. "My life is yours." I beg, you milord, please... let me die. Despite the thought that she knew she had sent to him, she knew he would not be so merciful.

Find the being... and bring it to me...

Visas stood, her heart felt a little more torn and shredded than before, and bowed.

"I will leave at once milord."

She then turned and walked out without ceremony. But, once her back was turned, she could feel something running down her face. Through the pain, anger and sadness, she was shocked. She had thought that she would never cry again.

 ----------*****----------

Mariah chewed the honeycrust glumly. She gotten what she wanted, but it didn't feel like she'd won anything. The honeycrust was just like it always tasted, sweet and gooey, but there was also something else, something that wasn't in the honeycrust, but it still soured the sweet.

Mariah looked over to the other bed. The hollow man hadn't moved yet. He was staring up at the ceiling with his hollow eyes and blank expression. It was like he missed something, just like her.

Mariah looked down at the bar in her hand. Then, out of pure impulse, she swallowed her mouthful and slid off the bed. She walked quietly up to the hollow man and gently tugged his sleeve. She remembered doing the same thing to Father when she'd had a bad dream and Mother had been away.

The hollow man blinked as he turned his head towards her. His eyes danced over her face as he tried to register anything important about this small figure in front of him.

"Would you like some of my honeycrust?" Mariah offered, holding out the sticky sweet in her hand.

The man looked at her hand for a while, before returning his uncaring gaze back to her face. He stared at for a few seconds, before blinking and turning to face the ceiling again.

Mariah's shoulders fell slightly, and she felt worse than before. With her head down, she began to make her way back to her bed when...

"Why are you here?"

She turned to face the hollow man, he hadn't moved at all.

"I don't know," Mariah replied honestly. "You just came and took me. I'm sure Mother and Father are really worried about me. And Dustil... and Mission... and Bastila, and Jolee, and Junni, and Cander and his friends..."

Now she knew what that something else was. Suddenly, that one memory came flooding back. She had told the yelling man where Cander lived. Her stomach dropped as she realised that she wasn't meant to tell anyone, Cander's home was a secret.

"Cander's gonna be really mad," Mariah's voice quivered. "I wasn't meant to tell anyone where he lives and I told..."

The hollow man looked curiously towards Mariah, not that she could see him properly. She could feel her jaw quivering as she fought herself. She could also feel tears swelling up in her eyes and blinding her. Soon, she felt her whole body start to shake and her lungs didn't want to work anymore. She was breathing in fits.

The next thing she felt was someone holding her shoulder gently. As she blinked to rid her eyes of tears, she felt them running down her face. A rough thumb slid across her left cheek, and then her right. As she blinked her eyes clear, she saw the hollow man was kneeling next to her.

He had one hand on her shoulder; the other was wiping tears away from her face. His eyes still looked hollow, but now there seemed to be a small spark of something. It was the spark of something nice, which Mariah had lived with for her entire life.

Mariah lifted her arm and wiped away her remaining tears and sniffed. She looked up at the hollow man and smiled sheepishly at him. Then, after a second of smiling, she leapt forwards and wrapped her arms around his neck, just like she did with Father or Dustil or Cander.

The hollow man stiffened up when she embraced. But then, slowly and unsurely, he placed his arms around her shoulders. She could feel the tension in his muscles.

Then, she broke away and took his hand. She openly placed the half-eaten honeycrust bar in his hand. Then, apparently satisfied with everything, she stepped back.

"You can have the rest. I don't need it anymore."

Then, with the meeting over, she ran back to her bed and crawled under the covers. Feeling unusually tired, as soon as her head hit the pillow, she fell asleep. She didn't realise that she had left a very shocked Jaq in her wake.