Starkissed. Part 26

The noise that had woken him began again-a quiet, odd sound, carried with the wind and much louder this time. Daniel got to his feet, trying to a.s.sess where it was coming from. He walked into the main room and stood in the center, waiting. Again, he heard it. This time it was loud, ringing in his ears like a bell.

He trembled when he heard the sound again.

It was accompanied by a female voice.

"Da'yel."

Daniel gasped, searching the room frantically, looking for the source of the haunting sound.

"Da'yel," the voice came again, just out of reach and impossible to pinpoint.

"Lights!"

The room illuminated brightly, dispelling any hiding places Daniel had missed.

"Da'yel," he heard again.

Beginning to panic, Daniel ran over to his desk and fumbled with his receiver. He had to alert the Centre. Somehow, by some way, she was here. Triumphantly, he held up his portable communicator.

"Da'yel," he heard again. This time, her voice sounded hurt, insecure.

Daniel lowered his hand and closed his eyes. She pulled him toward her, her voice pounding in his head. He dropped his receiver, listening to it hit the floor. The sound of the receiver against the floor tw.a.n.ged in his eardrums and tingled in the hollow s.p.a.ces of his ear ca.n.a.ls. Her voice came from somewhere else, somewhere deep inside of his head.

She was calling to him, using her mind to connect directly with his.

Following his long-buried instincts, Daniel allowed her to guide him He was floating. Belatedly, he wondered if it was his mysterious girl or the lingering effects of Entaxia. Before he could come to a decision, he stood on his back terrace. He searched the night.

His heart stopped.

He saw her crouched on the steel roof of his transportation storage unit. She watched him with curious eyes.

Daniel took a step into the darkness. He raised his hand, beckoning her down. The girl gave a shy smile and hopped off the roof. She landed silently, almost gracefully, and walked toward him.

Daniel felt the sides of his mouth tug upward. She had waited for him, followed him here. She was drawn to him, as intrigued as he was about their chance meeting. Not since his mother pa.s.sed and he lost Emi'le had he felt so complete.

"h.e.l.lo," he said, at a sudden loss for words.

The girl smiled again and took another step forward. Suddenly, the night sky lit up like day had dawned. Loud sirens filled the air.

"Cease your hostility! You are surrounded!" an amplified voice boomed from above them.

The girl gasped, turned and tried to take a flying leap up to the roof. Daniel watched helplessly as long metal ropes tumbled out of the craft hovering above his building. One looped around the girl's waist, another around a wrist. Soon, both of her hands were ensnared and she stood trapped.

Daniel felt paralyzed as the cables snaked around the girl's ankles and pulled her to the ground with a sickening thud. She groaned, crying out in terror as four Centre officers came and stood over her, weapons drawn. One of them turned to Daniel.

"Good job, Officer Elite. We have been following her since her escape. We thought we had lost her until one of our units saw her on your roof. We were going to alert you, but saw you were already attempting to capture the hostile. We were glad to a.s.sist in her apprehension."

The four men held the girl up, keeping a rifle to her temple. She squirmed, as if considering the odds of fighting back.

"Don't," Daniel called out, knowing the troops would end her existence if given half a reason.

The girl looked at him, her eyebrows knitted in pain and confusion. He could feel her emotions, her anguish. He realized then what had really happened. He had caused her capture, because he called to her and she naively had answered. Whatever happened to her now was of his doing.

end.