Haley Thistle
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Ransom the Shapeshifter: Part One (rough draft)
🕑 Added 2023-04-19 20:00:01 +0000 UTCSomething was wrong. You shouldn't have been able to wake up by now. Your cryostasis should have lasted the whole journey, and you would have been woken by your commanding officer. Instead, you woke to the flashing red lights and warning alarms that something had gone wrong.
You sat up out of your pod, groaning in pain. “Fucking hell. Did we crash or something?” Prickles ran down your arms and the back of your neck as you moved. Your legs ached as you stood from the chamber. Stepping down onto the cold, water covered floor it was more like walking on needles. All the other pods were open as well, but no one was inside them. A pipe on the wall was spewing water, gushing and spilling onto the floor. Perhaps the ship had crashed, but for some reason you had the nagging suspect that couldn’t be the case.
You left the chamber to try and find the others. Perhaps they were working on the problem already. As soon as the door opened a bit, power went off and everything went dark.
“Fuck,” you coughed out. There was a groaning that the ship made, as if settling. There was a grinding and crunch in the distance. “Geez,” you grumbled under your breath. You stretched your neck which helped with the prickling.
You managed to push the door open just enough to wriggle through and step into the hallway. The hall felt tilted and the emergency lights were on. They had this sort of purplish white color. They always had a way of playing tricks on your eyes.
“Hello!” You hollered out. “Is anywhere there? Hello!” You went further down the hall, finding more pipes had ruptured and most of the ship was wet. You rubbed your eyes then searched your pockets for your glasses. Then you remembered they were in storage with the rest of your belongings.
“So fucking stupid,” you huffed under your breath. You placed your hand upon the wall, hoping to come across people as you made your way to storage. “We’ll keep your glasses safe, don't worry.” You said in a mocking tone. “Now here I am walking around pantless and blind.”
You looked around with a scowl upon your face. “I thought it was around here. But…maybe I’m not awake yet.”
A figure walked across the hallway before you, or at least, that’s how it looked from your point of view. You also thought you heard them singing softly, but that was even harder to tell with the sound of water pouring all around you.
“Hey!” You yelled out. “Is someone there? Hello!” You rushed forward, running and tripping into the hallway and sliding into the opposite wall.
“Take me home, country roads, to the place-” The song faded into the depths of the ship, buried with the sound of splashing water as you tried to get up. You smacked the wall trying to rise and the door behind you wooshed open and you were sucked back into the adjoining room.
“Motherfucker!” You screamed as you were played the fool by the slip and slide the spaceship had become.
You crash landed into the room, getting stopped by some overturned bedding and blankets. You crawled out from them, laying down a mattress onto the wet floor long enough for you the gain your barrings. You squinted, trying to make out the room around you. There were lockers! A good start.
“Mine was next to Finnigan’s, which he said was always eighth from the right so mine would be…one two three-” You counted down the row, dragging the mattress with you to keep from sliding in the water.
“Nine.” You placed your hand upon your locker and found the lock on it was busted. Opening the metal door, you patted around inside until you found your glasses case. “Finally.” You cracked open the old case and took your glasses out, setting them upon your face to finally have a good look around.
From your locker you got your uniform, your badge, you holster and weapons. As you dressed, your ears burned as you heard something outside. It sounded like someone singing again.
“To the place, I belong-” the note carried out and faded into the ship.
You listened hard enough it made your ears grow hot, and then you were sure you had been hearing things. You searched your locker for the last thing you wanted with you, your hat. But it was gone.
“Oh all the things,” you grumbled. You closed the locker and left. You managed to get through the hallways now that you had your boots on. Still, no matter where you went in the ship, there was no one to be found.
You made your way to the cafeteria, where everyone usually gathered in a crisis. The side of the ship was opened up there, peeled back like an old tin can.
“What the-” You walked towards the hole, having difficulty as it went up an incline and water was pouring down around you.
At the edge, you looked out over a sprawling garden surrounded by a stone fence. Then, behind the fence, stood a monstrous tower topped by a spinning light.
“A light house?” You muttered.
“Country roads-”
As you turned to look behind you, you lost your grip and fell off the edge. You landed with a thud in soft, upturned earth in decaying leaves.
A figured came and stood over you, shadowed by the light above.
“You landed on my ube,” someone scoffed. “Geez, I guess the idiot missed one.” You were poked in the side, still in a bit of shock. “Hey. Hey! Get up!”
“Where am I?” You wheezed.
“In my garden crushing my ube mounds.”
You sat up slowly, adjusting your glasses and seeing it was a woman in overalls standing over you. She had a shovel in one hand and a basket in the other.
“Who are you?”
“Your worst enemy if you don’t get up,” she growled. “It’s bad enough I have to deal with him, I don’t want to have to deal with someone who tramples tubers!” The woman shoved you with the edge of her shovel then knelt down as you stood up to tend to the squashed mounds.
You looked back up at the tower, or perhaps it was a lighthouse. The light that emitted from it was the same color as the emergency lights inside the ship.
“What happened?” You asked the farmer. “Did anyone else come out of this ship?”
The farmer sighed heavily and gave you a look. There was something about her eyes that unease you. They didn’t look any different than your own, but there was something inside them, behind them, that caused your discomfort.
“You’re on my bad side, punk.” She flinched in your direction, causing you to take a step back. “You want any questions answered outside of gardening, you go and talk to him.” She pointed towards the tower. “Although, he doesn’t take kindly to the law.”
You patted your hand over your badge. “Wha-what do you mean? Who is this…guy?”
The farmer took a garden spade from her basket and began fluffing up the mound again. “Any questions outside of farming, you can ask him.”
“But I would-”
The farmer flicked dirt at you and hissed. “Tss! Tss!”
You jumped back a bit and went on towards the fence. The stone was old looking, crumbling in some places with signs of some sort of struggle happening around the gate. The gate was made of stained glass, deep purples, dark greens, and a solitary white figure in the center.
Your stomach knotted as you stepped from the garden and onto the glass like path leading to the towering lighthouse.
Dark stones covered the base, rising up into circles of stained glass, crystal patches, and black iron that crawled its way around the tower like vines. You swallowed hard, flexing your hands to try and keep yourself calm. The land around it was covered by black sand and onyx like pebbles. This strange beach stretched out far, coming to an edge where it spilled over like a waterfall. You felt dread thinking about looking over that edge.
“This place is fucking creepy,” you muttered under your breath. At the front door, you thought you heard singing again.
“All my memories gather 'round her. Miner's lady, stranger to blue water-”
You turned around, swearing the singing was coming from behind you. The door then cracked open and someone yawned.
Whiplash could have cursed your neck because you turned around so fast. Standing there in the doorway was a man dressed in a shabby, dark purple robe. He looked disheveled, exhausted, and he looked surprised for a moment, then confused. He also looked vaguely familiar, although you had never seen this man before in your life.
“What are you doing here?” he asked with a strange tone. “I thought you had-”
“I’m sorry I uhm…I just came from the ship, out there.” You pointed back out the door. “I was in the cryo chambers.”
His expression shifted, turning exhausted. “Another one!” He scoffed. He stood and crossed his arms around his chest. “Come on in then.” He walked away, heading towards a room that appeared to have a fireplace.
“Another one?” You followed him, hoping to find some of your crew inside. Instead you walked into a room as disheveled as this man was. Books, papers, stacks of clothing, were all around. The man slithered through the room, coming towards the fireplace where he took out a kettle hanging before it.
“I uh-” You looked around.
“The farmer is probably pissed off now too. Did you hurt anything in her garden?” Despite his weathered appearance, the man was quite handsome. Blonde hair, soft green eyes, even set by dark bags, he had good bone structure.
“I landed in the uhm-”
“If you say her tubers I will shoot myself.” He filled an enamel mug with steaming liquid and took a drink.
You remained quiet and looked away.
The man rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’m going to fucking shoot myself,” he grumbled under his breath. “Drink?” He raised his mug towards you.
“No. I just…were there others that came down from that ship?” You asked. “My whole crew is just…gone.”
The man was drinking again, holding up a single finger to keep you occupied. He then lifted his head and exhaled loudly. “There have been.”
Relief swept through your body and you relaxed your shoulders.
“About a month ago,” he added unceremoniously.
You balked, staring in disbelief. “Excuse me?”
“I thought everyone had been evacuated. Apparently not,” he gave you an up and down look. “The last little straggler, I suppose.”
“But they didn’t…they could have-” You sat down in a chair dumbfounded. “A month ago?” You asked again
The man sighed, swiping up his hand which pulled up a hologram calendar. From the back all you saw were shapes and shimmers, but he was counting down. “Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t really have a good grasp on time passing.”
Some hope rose up in you.
He waved his hand out, shaking it. “My bad. It was two months ago.”
A dizziness swept over you. You’d been in cryostasis for two months while everyone else left? You stumbled, hitting a stack that Ransom reached out to stop, but it toppled anyways.
“Sorry,” you muttered.
He rolled his eyes. “You’ve been gone a while. Things have piled up. Drink?”
You were confused by his choice of words. “No I uh…”
The man sighed. “I’m Ransom by the way. I can get you off of this place, but it may take a while.”
You furrowed your brow, still processing, still unable to comprehend the two months. “What is this place?”
“A lighthouse,” Ransom said simply. “A place where all ships end up eventually.” A strange smile crossed his face. “Well, one way or another.”
“What happened?” You asked, looking back up at Ransom. “The ship…the whole crew? What happened here?”
Ransom drank and was silent despite your question. He then shrugged. “You want the short answer or the long answer?”
You just stared back at him.
“Your ship is a military one, right?” He motioned to your badge. “You and your crew were all, in one form or another, hunting someone, right?”
“The Wizard,” you muttered. “I mean, that was his codename for the mission.”
“I know of this Wizard,” Ransom laughed. “He’s the current big baddie everyone is worried about?”
“He’s a danger to the entire galaxy!” You snapped at him. “He’s not some cartoon villain. He’s a threat to our way of life. His power is one that could-”
“Black holes! Missing stars! Galaxies dessimated,” Ransom waved his drink free hand around wildly. “Yes, I’ve heard tales of this Wizard,” his voice grew dark. “Everyone has heard a tale or two of him. A shapeshifter. A vampire. A ghoul. Death incarnate. I even heard the last treasure of Pandora's Box uttered.” He smirked at this, quickly hiding it as he looked at you.
“The devil,” you added.
Ransom shrugged. “Villains and heroes pop up every day. Sometimes they’re one in the same. This Wizard, as I see it, is just challenging the status quo. He has power, and other people want it. Especially anything militaristic.” He looked you up and done. “No offense.”
You scowled after Ransom. “Are you one of his cult?”
Ransom tried to hold in his laughter but he doubled over. “Cult? That’s-” He shook his head. “Please, shut up with that.”
“The Wizard is powerful and his power is only growing. Unchecked, he could bring about the end of many civilizations, planets, even the universe if it so fit his whims.”
“He’s a wizard, not a god,” Ransom scoffed. “Although-” he murmured and turned away from you. “Your Wizard is why your ship is out there in the garden.”
You stood stiff, feeling a tingling going down your spine.
Ransom saw your intense reaction and held a hand up. “Well, it seems like your Wizard found out about your little stealth mission and didn’t take very kindly to it.” He walked over to a stained glass window and looked through one of the small clear panels to the farm.
“We were…attacked?” You stood up, trying to get closer to Ransom but you kept running into piles.
“Look, I’m just a lighthouse keeper. I had to deal with the aftermath and I’m still dealing with the wreckage-” he pointed outside. “Obviously I haven’t done my due diligence.” He waved his hand up and down you. He set down his mug on a precarious pile of papers and books. “Why don’t I get you to a bed so you can sleep? Eh, partner?” He patted your back and there was an electric shock that swept through your whole body. It was so powerful it knocked you over, toppling a stack of books and some other forms of mess.
Something happened while you were in cryo, something that caused this in your body. Two months in cryo isn’t long at all, you’ve faced longer stays. This was different than those times. It felt like you’d been in there longer the way your body was responding.
Before passing out, you saw Ransom hover over you, his eyes shining with a glow that enveloped your vision and followed you as you faded from this world.
“I hear her voice in the mornin' hour, she calls me. The radio reminds me of my home far away.”
Eyes gazed back at you from the darkness and your hands shook as you held onto your gun. Your chest burned from holding your breath, and the back of your neck was soaked from perspiration. The glowing eyes lunged closer towards you in the cave, reaching out towards your face with long, stretched fingers. Your first time coming face to face with the Wizard was almost your last.
Waking up you took in a deep breath, inhaling stale air and dust. The room was lit up pale blue, and outside you could hear harsh winds beating against the windowless walls. Your back was burning from the shock, and there was a weird tingling along the edge of your scalp.
Rising up out of bed there was a dissipating numbness in your arms. Your reached up, rubbing the back of your neck. “Absolute fucking-” You stopped dead when a chill washed over your chest, and you realized you were naked.
“Did that weird guy undress me?” You grumbled as you lifted up the blanket to look underneath.
“Yes, I did.”
You turned to see a wall of monitors that was emitting the blue light, and sitting before them was Ransom. He had an even more exhausted look upon his face than before.
You just stared back at him, unsure of how to respond.
“For one, whatever shocked you singed your clothes, didn’t want it to do further damage to you.” He stood up, holding something in his hand. “Second, when you fell you found an old plate of food and it was...lets just say you didn’t want it on you.” Ransom held up a glowing tablet to you. “Do you know what this is?”
“You’re throwing a lot at me right now,” you answered.
Ransom huffed. “I got curious as to why I never came across you when the ship wrecked. Because, and I recall, everyone was evacuated.” He lifted the tablet up to you again. “Literally everyone on the flight records. You were never found because there was no reason to find you.” He tossed the tablet down upon the bed for you to look at.
“Are you a stowaway?” He said with a smirk.
“No,” you snapped. “I was on that mission!” You looked over the fight record. But the more you looked the more your stomach turned. “I’m really not on here,” you muttered under your breath.
“You really ain’t.” Ransom crossed his long arms against his chest. “So, why were you then?”
“I had a locker. I remember! Before I went under they made me-” You hesitated as you tried to think. “But my hat wasn’t-”
Ransoms sighed. “This could be bad. What if you were a prisoner?”
“Prisoner! You instantly go to that? It must be a mistake! I had a locker, with my things inside!” You touched your face, trying to find your glasses. You then looked around, spying them on a side table. You held them up to Ransom. “Explain how I had a locker with my own things in it!”
Ransom took your glasses, putting them on his face. You then realized the frames were different than you remembered. Ransom took the glasses off and handed them back.
“You know what, partner, I can’t explain it. But what about you?”
You cautiously took the glasses back, wondering if you had seen that right. You thought back to the locker you got into. It was always the one you used. Right next to-
You stopped in your tracks and looked back at the records, checking for Finnegin to appear on the records. He wasn’t there either.
“But that can’t-”
Ransom sighed and tilted his head to the side. “What to do? What to do?” He gave you a look. “A mysterious bit of cargo. Perhaps an enemy, perhaps a friend. Guess which I am leaning towards?”
“I am no enemy! I’m a soldier and an officer, dammit!” You snapped. The tingle along your scalp was seeping deeper in, going to your brain. You scratched at your scalp and snarled under your breath.
“I’m part of the regiment that has been tracking down and trying to capture the Wizard! Ever since my first mission!” The eyes of the wizard returned to the forefront of your mind. His outstretched hand turned from cold, silvery fingers to warm, peach toned ones that brushed against your cheek.
“Fuck. My head,” you grunted.
“Headache?”
You nodded.
Ransom patted the top of your head and the tingling began to fade. “I’ll fetch some medicine. And a robe.” He wandered off, opening and closing a door he locked behind himself.
“Fucking hell,” you grunted. You took up the tablet again, scrolling through it, reading names and trying to place them. “Wait a minute,” you muttered. “This is the search and rescue squad. This isn’t the spec ops. What was I doing on a search and rescue…even if I was rescued I still would have been listed. Right?” You looked up towards the screen where Ransom had been sitting.
Wrapping the blanket around you, you made your way over to the computer. The large screen showed several frames within it, each with its own information or patterns within. Ransom had been looking for more than just the flight records, he’d been diving deeper into all the logs of the ship. But he was just a lighthouse worker, how could he know this sort of technology?
You found the last recorded message sent out from the ship you came from. “This is Captain Arda of the SS Juniperus. We are asking permission to land, we’ve suffered damage-” There was static interspersed through the message, cutting off her voice. “-izard. He has sent to us his-” The static was garbling her to where you couldn’t understand. “-only hope lies with-” More scrambled voices. “-second command-lighthouse! Why is there a lig-” The message hissed as the door opened again.
“Hey, that’s my computer,” Ransom scoffed.
You motioned to the screen. “Why do you still have access to everything like this?”
“The ship is abandoned, they can’t exactly cut off the network either until they come to retrieve it.” Ransom came up beside you, turning off his computer and giving you a glare. “I have a responsibility to record and save data in case the wreckage begins to degrade it. And it would be extremely illegal of me to let unknown personnel look at it.” He shoved a robe and a bottle of pills into your hand. “Remember, I’m not the one on trial here.”
“Then what are you going to do to me?” You muttered.
“Move you to another room, and keep a close eye on you until we can get to the bottom of this.” Ransom motioned to the door. “The farmer will keep you busy as well. She’s good at putting people in their place.”
You furrowed your brow at Ransom. “I’m unlisted, you could just kill me.”
Ransom smirked. “Is there a reason you came to that conclusion?”
It may have been a mistake saying that, so you just say nothing else. You stood stiff and still, the tingling and numbness in your limbs was faint, but still there.
The smirk morphed into a smile, he walked towards the door then turned with his arms crossed against his chest. “Where would the fun be in that? After all, a lighthouse can be a very boring place.” He nodded his head out. “Now come along. I’m not going to be caught dead with another corpse in my keep.” He walked out. “And take three of those pills.”
You frowned. “Another?”
“I have means of protection if you do not follow me,” he called back as a warning.
You exhale slowly through your nose and tentatively follow him, keeping a distance between the two of you in case you need to run. He leads you up a set of stairs that spiral around, becoming narrower and narrower as it goes.
The two of you eventually pop up into a small attic like space filled with crates, boxes, and other things covered in large sheets or tarps.
“This place doesn’t quite match the exterior,” you remark at Ransom as he peers under sheets.
He glances back at you, eyes unbothered by your comment. He continues to flip up sheets to gaze under them. “Are you an architect or engineer now? I thought you were an officer?” he gives you a brief flash of a look you can’t read before going under another sheet.
“Here it is.” Ransom tugs the sheet, revealing a four poster bed. The four posts looked like sharp iron spikes jutting from the ground.
“How did this even get up the stairs?” You asked.
“You ask a lot of questions for someone about to be under house arrest.” Ransom patted the bed. “You can probably find blankets somewhere if you try.”
You frowned at him and he just shrugged. “Stay put. I’ll fetch you eventually.”
“If you remember?” You asked, your scalp tingling as you said those words.
Ransom glanced back over his shoulder a strange smile on his lips. “Exactly.” He stepped down onto the stairs, locking the trap door behind him.
