A Bit of Time

"What the hell is this?"

I ran for a few minutes before came to a stop, feeling like I just stepped into somewhere I wasn't supposed to be.

I hated it.

I came to a stop, walking slowly until the feeling of rejection that was slowly building up in me made me stop dead in my tracks.

<Which idiot dares throw about such a revolting presence around me?>

Even I agreed with that. How dare it?

The irritation bubbled on inside of me as I stood in the middle of the hallway, waiting for it to show itself.

"What's your number?" A voice I didn't recognize came from my back, making me whip around in surprise. I shot backward immediately, my eyes quickly turning golden. The shadow in front of me groaned then fell down to its knees.

<Ah. I see.>

I cocked my head in surprise, then walked up slowly to it. I stopped, staring at it silently.

I was supposed to be on guard, but something inside of me told me that the thing in front of me wasn't a threat. It didn't dare to be.

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The girl quickly got to the upper sector, feeling that familiar pressure that always made her legs shiver when she saw those rogues.

Except this was worse.

She ran, feeling that presence move at a speed that was only possible with the top numbers.

"There's no way in hell a primary would still be here. Unless they just woke up."

She moved through the hallways, strangely changing directions whenever the thing she was following changed its own.

Her eyes glowed brighter. She suddenly stopped, her legs shivering as she stumbled. She raised her head, eyes filled with terror and turned back to where she was coming from.

"Where are you running to?" Her eyes widened as she heard a familiar voice, pushing herself even faster.

She breathed heavily, hoping she lost the person as she weaved her away out of sector 4-A. She thought she made it out until something hit her from the side and smashed her against the wall. She whimpered, her cracked ribs quickly snapping themselves back together.

A hand picked her by her head, smashing her again the wall, a pair of red eyes staring down at her. She didn't struggle. It wasn't of any use. She couldn't escape.

His eyes looked beautiful, but there wasn't anything in the world that would make her appreciate their beauty. The owner of those eyes had ruined her life.

"Hello there, 056. I didn't expect to see you all the way up here." He smiled at her, a smile charming enough to stop the heart of any woman.

She stared back with a vacant look in her eyes, "Don't call me that. It's Dori."

He tilted his head to the side, the corner of his lips raised in derision.

"You're asking for something you're not qualified for, 056. Besides, weren't you looking for your little girlfriend?" He smiled at her, with a hint of a British accent hanging in the air.

She widened her eyes, quickly understanding what he meant.

"Don't you dare touch her."

"Feisty as always, no?" He smiled, choking her neck.

"Were you trying to get to him first? Well, I can't blame you. But you also felt that pressure, didn't you?" The man, still choking her, murmured to himself.

"You have to do me a favor now." The man whispered into her ear, his eyes brimming with amusement.

"And why the hell would I do that?!" She spat at his face, staring at him with her eyes glazed over with pain and anger.

"Go there and bring him to us. Don't worry, I won't hurt your….plaything."

He flung her body away, dusting his hands as if he touched something dirty.

"Just do what I tell you, and maybe I won't have your girl for dinner."

She picked herself up, cleaning the dust off her arms as she steeled her gaze. She shot off, tears threatening to spill from her eyes as she ran faster.

"Fuck!"

She expanded her presence as she got closer, making sure it felt her approach.

It suddenly stopped moving and started moving slowly. She quickly ran next to the hallway he was in and concealed her appearance, making her look invisible.

She took in a deep breath and tried to stop her legs from shaking as the pressure from the primary was getting to her.

Her instincts were screaming, telling her to run away, but she wanted to know who it was. She had to know who it was.

She steeled her nerves and walked into the hallway, staring at the man who stopped walking, as though he had seen me.

That's impossible. Right?

"What's your number?" She said, concealing the fear in her voice.

He whipped his head around and turned towards her, throwing himself backward.

She prepared herself for a fight, getting ready to run away if she had to.

Until those golden eyes landed on her.

She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. All she saw were those globes of pure amber staring down at her, about to decide her fate.

She quickly fell to her knees, her body going against her mind as the lights flickered.

'Submit. Submit. Kneel. SUBMIT. SUBMIT. SUBMIT SUBMIT.' Her thoughts were all over the place as her body stayed pinned to the ground.

She gritted her teeth, resisting the urge to fall face flat to the ground.

He walked up to her, his eyes staring down at her with an almost innocent curiosity and surprise.

She looked back up at him, spewing defiance from her eyes. He stared back at her, his eyes almost drilling holes into her.

It wasn't the first time she had been in this situation. The world she lived in did not have room for weakness.

'Is this how I die?' She thought, her limbs shaking in indignation.

She searched his eyes, looking for some sort of emotion to justify her almost inevitable death.

She found what she was looking for, his curious eyes staring back at her with pure disdain and disgust.

He opened his mouth and everything came to a standstill, as though he was a judge, about to pronounce her death.

"What do you mean by that?"