Trill

My eyes widened in shock and confusion at what the tall Jahabe had said, but before I could ask any questions, he left along with the two other Jahabes. I was left alone, unable to tell the time with puzzles and toys that I could not enjoy. I could not complete any of them as they confused me, so I could not distract my wandering mind.

“Well soon you will be too.”

What had he meant by that? Did he mean that I would become a Jahabe? Surely he knew that evolution moved forwards, not backwards. I cringed and pushed that thought out of my mind quickly. How could I think that way about someone who had just saved me?

Some time passed and I found myself growing mad with boredom and fear. I was also hungry and thirsty and the lack of natural light in the room enraged me. I found myself heading towards the door that the Jahabe had left through, at a frighteningly fast pace, and yanked at the knob. As I had thought, the door was locked and the knob didn’t even jiggle when I pulled on it.

“Let me out!” I yelled, my foot to kick it. I cried out in pain, when I realized that I was not wearing any shoes, nor was I wearing what I had fallen into the pool in! Who had dressed me? Who had undressed me?!

Dread and anger at my privacy possibly being violated, prompted me to step back and bang into the door with my shoulder. The door shook, and I prepared to repeat the motion, but before I could, the door behind me opened and the tall Jahabe entered.

“Stop that, do you want to break something?” he asked calmly.

“I’m thankful that you saved me, but you can’t keep me here!” I snapped, rushing to try and exit through the other door. The Jahabe grabbed me, and tossed me onto the couch.

“If you leave you’ll die.” He stated. “You and I both know that you aren’t a very strong swimmer, isn’t that right?” he asked, his eyes glittering again.

I glared at him in confusion. “What do you mean?” I gritted out, wanting to tell him that the only reason I been in that pool was because of my weights. But I figured that would just deter the conversation from the matter at hand.

“We, Jahabe, aren’t allowed to live on the surface along with you humans, but we have to live somewhere, so where do you think we go?”

I frowned, as I had never thought about that. I had just assumed that the Government had given them a place to inhabit. I shrugged.

The Jahabe scoffed and pursed his lips. “Underground.” He stated, “There is a whole world underneath yours, and you didn’t even know it.”

“Underground, how? What-Well that still doesn’t tell me why I can’t leave!” I spluttered.

“Where do you think your water comes from, hm? Underground. Everywhere, save for this room is filled with water, and to get back to the surface it would take three or five days for a Jahabe, so how long do you think it will take for a human? You would die before you got three feet away. The only reason you’re here now is because you were thought to be dead.” He stated.

Horror coursed through me. How was I supposed to leave? If it takes that long to get to the surface, how long had I been there? How would I get back to my family? And wait-

“You thought I was dead?! So what did you take me down here to eat me?” I repeated, my eyes widening in horror.

The Jahabe groaned, “It is the job of the Jahabe to dispose of the dead bodies of humans.” He said slowly as if I were a five year old child. “We were on our way to the disposal point when we realized you were alive, so we took you here. It turns out that some of your organs are similar to ours, so when you lost consciousness your human organs shut down, and your Jahabe organs—

“I am not a Jahabe!” I snarled.

“No, not now you aren’t but like I said before; you will be.” He stated, and before I could interrupt he went on. “You’ve been in here for seven days now, you’ve been around several Jahabe, you’ve eaten our food, our drink and now you’re body is starting to change. With some of your organs already being closed to a Jahabe, the change will be complete in a few minutes.” He said, his gaze dropping to my neck.

I sucked in a breath and hesitantly, ghosted my fingers across my skin. Instead of feeling the usual smoothness, my skin felt raised and wet. I stared down at my hands and arms, and saw that their usual brown tone, seemed gray. I was sure that if I looked into a mirror I would see that my usually brown eyes were tinted with red.

“No, no, no. Why would you do this to me? I don’t want—

“Would you prefer that we let you die?” he asked abruptly.

His question stopped the tears from falling, as I thought about it. I didn’t want to die. And I had wanted another chance. Granted this wasn’t what I had in mind, but it was better than dying.
“No.” I said softly.

The Jahabe, stepped forward and enveloped me in a hug. I was surprised by how comfortable and natural it felt to return the gesture.

“Life as a Jahabe won’t be bad. Unlike the human sects, all Jahabes live together as one big family. Everyone is accepted here, and you will be no different.” He said softly.

“Okay.” I mumbled, and the Jahabe pulled back.

“The change is complete, you can come out now. Everyone is waiting to meet you.” He said, and held the door open for me.

I hesitated, and he smiled at me encouragingly. “Wh-What’s your name?” I asked tentatively.

The Jahabe smiled, “My name is Ki’Ur, and you?”

“I’m Thez.”

“Welcome to Jahabe, Thez.”