Chapter Nineteen:

Isla and Freya both got ready for bed and by the time they were both ready Freya was getting more and more worried about Isla. She watched as the blonde fumbled to the beds, her hands out in front of her as if she couldn't see that well at all. When Freya saw her eyes she had to turn away slightly; one of Isla's green eyes had clouded over slightly while the other one remained as it always had been. Her cheek was bruised and she was limping quite badly.

"Are you sure you're okay? Your eyes and check, they look...," Freya began.

"Terrible? Awful? Horrible?" Isla muttered getting into bed without looking at her, shame creeping up on her.

"I was going to say painful," Freya whispered, getting into her own bed, facing Isla with her elbow propped up on her pillow

"Yes they are, to be honest ," Isla finally admitted, "and for some reason my back hurts as well. It feels as if there is something trying to come out. I know it doesn't make any sense. Maybe I'm going insane." she laughed, but they could both tell that it wasn't real laughter.

"What did they actually do to you?" Freya asked gently, worry in her pale blue eyes. Isla recounted the experiments, including the one where she was locked up in the glass pillar with the electrocution button and the one where she and Estelle had to crawl through the small hole at the top. Freya listened in amazement not saying a word until she was sure that the blonde had finished talking.

"Wow. I'm so sorry that happened," Freya started, "Did the same thing happen to Finley?"

"I don't know, but he looks to be in so much pain," Isla answered, her head and back throbbing with pain as she lay on her stomach with her arms over her head on the pillow facing Freya, one of the two people she was now sure she was in love with. Her heart thumped in her chest as she realised that even though they were almost right next to each other, she could only see through one eye. In truth she was terrified about that aspect, even more than she was at the things that she felt moving around in her shoulder blades trying to break free. It felt like they were digging into her bones and the pain was something Isla had never experienced before.

Freya didn't say it out loud, but thought to herself 'you look as if you're in pain too'. It hurt her to even look at Isla as she winced every few seconds at the pain that Freya couldn't see or feel. She reached over to Isla to hold her hand. She returned the gesture and they stayed like that for a while, each occupied with their own thoughts.

Just then, Cosmo came into the room, shutting the door behind him with one of his wings. He flew over to them both. Noticing that they were holding hands, he didn't say much as he lay down at Isla's feet.

"I've missed you both," Isla whispered.

"I missed you too," Cosmo and Freya said in unison. He sensed that something was terribly wrong with Isla, but at that moment he couldn't quite grasp what it was. Then the overwhelming sense of dragon's blood wafted through the room. Knowing that the two young women couldn't smell it, he didn't say a word. As the two exhausted humans slowly fell into a troubled sleep still holding hands, Cosmo watched Isla wince every few minutes squeezing Freya's hand in the process. His unease only grew; he knew that something was terribly wrong with his favourite human and it had something to do with dragon's blood.

***

Once Elliot had helped Finley to one of the two beds he asked, "What actually happened, Finley? I noticed you holding back; was it because Isla was there?"

He nodded and turned to face Elliot saying, "how did you know?" Finley winced as his ribs and shoulder blades had sharp pains travelling through them.

"Because I know you too well and I'm not in as much pain as you both are," Elliot whispered gently, staring down at his hands, which still had web-like scars on them from the jellyfish stings.

"I saw what they were doing with the dragons and it was horrible. Mr. Snow and Mrs. Clayton were leading the whole thing," the 20-year-old replied, his hand flying to his back. He'd never explained pain quite like that before and it took everything in him not to scream. The truth was that he was terrified of the things moving in his back and the way Elliot looked at him told him that his boyfriend was just as frightened as he was.

'Oh my God. What did they do to them? And you?" Elliot replied, grabbing his hand, "was it the same as Isla?

Finley squeezed it back gratefully before answering, "almost the same as us. They were in these small cages and raw bleeding marks on their scales from where they had dug into the metal bars. The officers kept on drawing their blood. Did you know that dragon's blood is black?"

Elliot nodded, looking away as he remembered the dying dragons that plummeted on the planet that had once been a dragon's egg. He had yet to tell Finley about the Space Pod's descent, but listened as Finley began to explain further, "they left us for hours at a time sometimes. That was my favourite to be honest because they would let the dragons out of their cages and they would leave the room without a word. The whale-dragons would place their head on my lap. They're such gentle creatures and to see them suffering I," he stopped talking and Elliot squeezed his hand.

Finley responded and continued, "Then they'd come in again. It took about four or five people just to drag the poor thing back into their cage and the wailing they made was horrible, "Finley paused as he noticed that Elliot wanted to speak. He loved the way he listened to him.

Finley had missed Elliot for more than he'd ever cared to admit and now as he waited for him to speak he realised, not for the first time, that he was completely and absolutely in love with him.

Elliot smiled at him as he noticed Finley staring and he finally spoke, "why are you staring?"

"Because I still can't believe I'm really here and I missed you," Finley whispered.

Elliot glowed with pride, as he replied, "I love you"

He didn't even have to tell him that he also missed him because Finley knew already. Elliot then continued to tell him all about what happened in the Space Pod While he was gone. About the gravity breaking, about Rosiee's laptop and the articles Isla and Charlotte had found. While Elliot was talking the 20-year-old stared in horror, especially when he spoke about the dead dragons and smiled when he found out more about the 3D-printed jellyfish. Noticing that Finley was distracted and had stopped listening to him, Elliot stopped talking.

"Sorry. I was thinking about Luca. the idea that he was actually alive or could have been alive when they took him is just... I don't even know what to say," Finley explained. Elliot said nothing and just nodded, a lump in his throat as he wandered the Very same thing both about Luca and his boyfriend. They stayed sitting together in silence for quite some time until finally getting ready for bed.

***

Rosiee could tell that Charlotte was not doing well; she was still wearing her cast and her blue eyes were watering.

"I'm just going to the toilet," she whispered to Rosiee without looking at her as she passed.

Watching Charlotte leave, Rosiee sighed and turned around as she changed into her rainbow pajamas. Her heart tightened as she heard Charlotte's sobs. She walked towards the bathroom door and knocked softly saying, "Charlie, can I come in, please?"

"It's open," Charlotte whispered, sniffing. When Rosiee opened the door her heart clenched again at the sight before her. Charlotte was leaning against the small bathtub and her eyes were red and swollen. Without a word she sat next to the 23-year-old matching her posture by wrapping her arms around her knees.

"Talk to me, Charlotte," Rosiee whispered, putting her arms around her.

"I'm happy that Finley and Isla are back, really, I am. But I also just wish that Luca could be here, you know? I haven't really talked about him since...," letting out a sob, Charlotte stopped talking.

"Isla's twin, right?" Rosiee replied gently.

"Yes. If you'd have known him you would've loved him just like everyone else does. I felt left out in my Childhood Space Pod. Everyone seemed to have their person. I had friends, obviously. They are all my friends. I love my brother and everything, but... Sorry, I'm rambling,"

"Don't apologise. I think I know what you mean," Rosiee replied gently.

"I just can't get over the fact that he was actually alive and that Finley saw him. Now that we know that, it's almost like finding out he won't be with us all over again. Luca was my 'person'. He was...," Charlotte trailed off. She didn't want to talk about Luca anymore and was grateful that Rosiee didn't push it and hugged her instead. After a while Rosiee spoke, "let's go to bed, Shall we?"

"I don't think I'll be able to Sleep at all tonight. Is no one worried about the fact that Mrs. Thomas, who is an IGF Officer, is on the space Pod?" Charlotte said, accepting Rosiee's hand and thanked her for pulling her up. Wipping the tears away, she held Rosiee's hand and she gladly took it, "Sorry by the way. I shouldn't be crying when two of my oldest friends are alive and well I...,"

"Don't worry about it," Rosiee replied as they walked back to the bedroom. She knew how Charlotte felt; being best friends with Taylor wasn't always easy. Taylor was so outgoing and lovely that everyone loved her. Rosiee was more introverted than her friend and as she explained all of this to the brunette, Charlotte felt a connection with her. It made Charlotte see her in a new light and began to like her even more. Once they were each sitting on their beds facing each other, Rosiee continued, "I do feel a bit uneasy about the whole thing. With Mrs. Thomas, I mean. As I said before, my grandparents were officers and the stories they used to tell me," she shuddered and Charlotte felt a pang in her chest and had an overwhelming desire to hold her close.

"Do you still have the laptop or did you give it to Taylor?" Charlotte asked. The other young lady nodded as she got up from the bed to retrieve it.

"Why?" She asked as she passed it to Charlotte. Balancing the laptop on her knees, she used her good hand to type into the search bar. File after file sprung onto the screen, each labeled 'private,'

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