Dagger’s Hope

2. Two and a half years before - Earth:-3

Jordan didn’t want to admit to her little sister just how weak she was. There was no way that she would be able to continue if they should have to move again. She was pretty sure that at least one of her ribs had been broken when the man had attacked her the other night in the alley.

Bitter tears glittered in her eyes. She had made a stupid mistake. She should have realized that Jesse wasn’t behind her. If she had waited…

No, she thought in resignation. If I had waited, both Jesse and I would have been attacked and Taylor would have been alone.

Jordan tried to still the trembling in her hands. She didn’t think she would ever feel warm or full or safe again. She felt… dirty, both inside and out. A small part of her wanted to just give up. She felt like if she could just lie down and close her eyes, she could just let go and never wake up again.

Her eyes flickered to Taylor. If it wasn’t for her older sister, Jesse, and Taylor, she would. She was tired of running and of being scared and of always being hungry and exhausted.

She was… Her eyes widened when a black, menacing shadow moved out of the darkness. Golden yellow eyes glowed in the dim light cast by their small fire. In the back of her mind, she registered that there were two separate shapes moving toward them, but her eyes were locked with the pair staring at her.

Long white hair hung down past the man’s shoulders. He was dressed all in black, making it even more difficult to see him. She knew immediately that he wasn’t human. He was too confident, too muscular, and even more dangerous than the ones they had encountered on the streets over the last few years.

No, this was a killing machine, a Trivator warrior, an… alien. Her hand began to shake uncontrollably, spilling some of the precious liquid in it onto the blanket wrapped around her legs. Her eyes grew wider as he continued to approach them, a low growl escaped him, causing her to begin to pant in distress.

“What’s wrong?” Taylor asked, turning around.

“Run,” Jordan forced out, never taking her eyes off of the men walking toward them. “Find Jesse and run, Taylor. Now!”

A low cry escaped Taylor. Jordan dropped the cup of soup and tried to rise in an effort to give Taylor time to escape. She paled and almost fainted at the pain running through her at the movement. Opening her mouth, she was about to order Taylor to run again when her little sister erupted into a flurry of rage.

The years of playing softball helped when Taylor grabbed several pieces of the concrete they were using to bank the fire and threw them. Low curses escaped one of the huge men when a piece caught him in the stomach. Jordan tried to push off the ground again, only to fall back onto the pallet with a loud cry of pain.

The sound distracted Taylor, giving the male she was hitting a chance to rush her. Her loud curses filled the underground garage when he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off her feet. That didn’t stop Taylor. She wildly kicked out and slammed her head back against the man’s chin.

“Ouch! You little shewta,” the man growled. “Stop before you get hurt!”

“I’m not the one going to be hurting,” Taylor promised as she kicked her heel into his shin again. “Let me go! I’m going to tear you apart! I’m going to barbeque your remains and feed them to the wild dogs. I’m going to…”

“Enough,” the male holding her grunted when she snapped her teeth at him. “You are a bloodthirsty creature.”

“Let her go,” Jordan pleaded, lying on the pallet violently shivering. “Please, she is just a child. Please don’t hurt her.”

“She is no child,” the man replied with a hiss. “She is a vicious creature with sharp teeth! That hurts! Let go of my arm. I will feed you real food.”

Jordan couldn’t understand what Taylor was saying. She had her teeth buried in the man’s arm and was growling like the old dog they used to have. She started when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning her head, she released a low squeak of fright before crying out again when she tried to move away. Her eyes filled with tears of pain and she moaned as she wrapped her arm protectively around her ribs.

“Please,” she begged hoarsely, gripping the hand that moved to touch her bruised cheek. “Please, don’t hurt her.”

The face gazing down at her, the one that looked so fierce and menacing just moments before, softened. The dark yellow-gold eyes still glowed, but instead of burning fury, they held concern. Unable to hold her head up any longer, she let her head fall back to the backpack that she was using as a pillow.

“Relax, little warrior,” he whispered, glancing at where his friend was still trying to get a firm grip on the other female. A slight smile curved the corner of his lips when Saber released another loud curse. “I think it is my friend who may need to be rescued.”

Jordan’s eyes flickered to where Taylor had slipped out of the man’s hold and was now on his back with her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs around his waist. She would have been more worried if not for the look of exasperation on the man’s face as he twirled around in a circle trying to get his hands on her little sister again.

Turning her head back to the man staring down at her, she bit her lip. A shiver shook her as the cold, pain, and reaction started to set in. Her eyelids fluttered closed for a moment only to pop back open when she felt a warm, rough palm against her bruised cheek.

“Who did this to you?” the man demanded in a low voice.

Fear, despair, and shame filled her and she closed her eyes again. Suddenly, everything was too much, the pain and the feeling of being powerless to protect Taylor and Jesse hit her hard. Her body and mind were shutting down on her. Between the beating, the lack of food, and her inability to help protect those she loved, she felt more of a hindrance than ever.

“Just don’t… hurt them,” she whispered, turning her face into his warmth as the shivers from the cold and her fever began to uncontrollably shake her body.

“Saber,” Dagger growled in impatience. “This female needs immediate medical assistance.”

“So do I!” Saber snapped back before he winced as the teeth that had been gnawing on his arm a few minutes before now attached to his ear. “Son of a… Will you stop?! You’ve drawn blood again. We are trying to help you!”

The teeth attached to Saber’s ear and the hands around his neck disappeared as if the piranha on his back suddenly vanished into thin air. Turning, he glared at the tiny female’s back as she darted around the fire and fell to her knees next to the one lying on the pallet.

“Jordan,” Taylor cried out when Jordan didn’t respond. The hint of fear thickening it. “Jordan, oh god. You have to help her.”

“We need to leave,” another deep voice said. “This one is injured and needs medical attention as well.”

Dagger nodded when he smelled the blood from the limp figure in Hunter’s arms. He looked up into the dark eyes of the small female that had attacked Saber. She gazed back at him in fear, but there was something else in her gaze as well. A touch of hope and a silent plea for help.

“We will get medical assistance for your companions,” he promised.

“Sisters,” Taylor whispered, rising to her feet and looking back and forth between Jesse and Jordan. “They are my sisters, my family, the only ones I have left since Dad was killed.”

“Saber, call a retrieval transport,” Hunter ordered with a sharp look at his friend. “We will return with them to the compound.”

Dagger noticed that Saber cast a wary look at Taylor and nodded. He grinned when he saw Saber rub his throbbing ear before he touched the comlink at his collar and muttered into it in their native language. Dagger’s eyes were drawn to the half dozen teeth marks on Saber’s arm. His friend was right, the young human was a vicious little thing.

* * * *

Dagger jerked awake when he heard the sound of footsteps approach. Rolling onto his stomach, a low feral growl escaped him as he rose to his feet. His hands wrapped around the chains at his wrists, twisting them to test their strength. They had replaced them while he was in the cage.

“I hope you are rested,” one of the guards said, stepping up to the door of Dagger’s prison cell. “Eat! You will need every bit of it. You are back in the cage in two hours. I have a lot of money on you to win.”

The guard slid the paper-thin tray of food under the door of the cell before hastily jerking back when Dagger stepped forward, straining to break free. He ignored the food. Instead, he focused on the guard’s face. He was going to kill every single one of them.

“Eat,” the guard ordered before turning.

Dagger waited until the door at the far end of the corridor closed before he bent and picked up several pieces of fruit and the thin slab of barely cooked meat. Drawing back into the shadows in the corner of the cell, he squatted down and bit viciously into the meat. He slowly chewed it before swallowing it. Picking up the dark red fruit, he bit into the soft fruit and drank deeply of the vitamin rich liquid inside it.

Staring up at the surveillance camera, he thought moodily of Kelman and the others. Kelman couldn’t see him in the shadows. It was the only place that he could be in the cell without eyes on him. He hated it. Bending his head, he closed his eyes and tried to bring back the image of Jordan’s face in his mind, but it was like the shadows that surrounded him, dark and fuzzy.

Is she even real? he wondered as he finished the small meal. Maybe she is nothing more than a dream.