The night grew cold, but everyone was fast asleep. The sounds of sirens and cop cars, chasing after supercars filled the night.
The neon lights filled the room with their glow, the snores of each person, making the night feel more aesthetic.
Snow's eyes fluttered open, his gaze facing the ceiling above him. It was different from the ceiling he remembered dozing off to.
His eyes scanned the room from his point of view, while lying down until they met with those of Verspera's.
She was fast asleep, her body tired from the day's stress but her face lay close to his.
He shivered, but remained quiet to avoid waking her up. He also noticed she was of the same breed that kidnapped him, which meant they didn't kill him after all.
'What happened?!, Did they bring me here to mate with their kind?!' His thoughts spiralled.
He slowly drifted away from her, his right arm straining under his weight.
It felt different, almost robotic but it also didn't feel any different from his normal right arm so he didn't complain or get scared about it, he simply slid off the bed, placing his feet quietly on the floor.
Now that he stood, he noticed they weren't the only ones in the room. There were several others, but they seemed more human than alien.
'They're coexisting and working with humans? What are these creatures and from where did they originate?'
He took each step quietly, avoiding causing a ruckus and waking them up from their slumber.
'What happened to the other creatures I met earlier, I still have to fulfil the promise I made to him since I survived.' He recalled, his memory still slightly blurry from the drugs they injected him with.
He stopped, glanced around and sought for the way out of the room. He noticed three doors but only one of them could lead him out of this room but he didn't know which.
A voice startled him, low and quiet but easy to hear from his position. It came from behind him, and it was female.
"If you want to leave, the door is that way." She said, pointing towards the direction of the exit.
He turned out of curiosity and his eyes met with Lizzy. For some reason, she was still awake but pretending to sleep and had caught him sneaking off.
She didn't wake up the others like any normal human would, rather she showed him the way out which didn't feel right to Snow.
"Why are you helping me? What's your gain from this?" He asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
She slid off her bed and strolled up to him, he on the other hand cautiously kept his distance from her, at least five feet from where she was.
"Well, it's easy. At this moment, this is the safest place you can be. I'm very sure you recall your friends, the ones who tried to tear you apart?" She whispered, keeping her voice low yet rigid enough to reach his ears.
"Not my friends but yes, I do remember them. What about them?"
"You know why they tried to rip you open? Well, it's the same for half the city. Anywhere you go and they discover you're a full human, well…they'll come after you."
"And if half the city knows about your existence…you can already visualise how it will look for you." She smirked softly, moving closer to him.
"Hmm, and how is that different from what you guys want from me?" he landed a question at her, earning himself a light chuckle from her.
His gaze never wavered from her and the others as they spoke, keeping his mind cautiously active all the while.
"Okay, you're logical and I like that. But we can always agree that you're still alive and healthy, and you haven't been sold either."
"If we did want to sell you, don't you think that would have happened by now?. Why keep you here with us, wìthout being tied or locked up in a basement or something?" She added a point.
He glared at her, but her facial expressions remained the same. That light smile, and chuckle to ease the mood and keep the conversation going.
"But hey, if you still want to leave, be my guest. Right now, I'm the only one awake and I'm choosing not to stop you, open the door and leave before the others wake up."
"Otherwise, they won't let you escape once they're awake. So the choice is yours, I'm going back to bed."
She turned around and strolled back to her bed, stretching before hopping on it.
She glanced at him one more time before shutting her eyes to sleep, leaving him alone with his thoughts.
'She has a point but I'm not willing to trust anyone again. Not after what that alien pulled on me, but how do I survive this?.'
To make a decision so brave as this won't be easy, because if he chooses to stay. The morning might not be as kind as she portrayed it, might be worse than the life out there.
Another point is she could be right, this place might be the safest place he could be at the moment since he had already witnessed and heard first-hand from the alien about the new and improved Blue city.
"Right now I'm weak and useless against these cyborgs, if I move out there I might not survive but trusting another when I just got betrayed is madness."
"I'm not from this century to know anything or how things work here, which is making everything hard for me."
He stepped towards the door she pointed out to be the exit and opened it slowly.
It revealed another room, which seemed similar to the one he was in but slightly different with a bar in the corner and a garage door at the front.
"This must be the lobby,"
He noticed the bartender still cleaning up glass cups, repeatedly and their eyes met. He walked over and took a seat.
If there's one thing he has learnt in his life while living in Blue City is…One, bartenders tend to carry more secrets than those who own the secret. Two, they can be trusted most of the time to keep your identity and your doings a secret while helping you make a wise decision.
He sat on the available stool, and requested the hottest drink they had.
"Give me your best shot, make it snappy." He requested with a bored expression on his face.
The bartender set the glass cup down and slid it his way, then turned around to recover his request.
After setting it down, he did the normal process of opening it and pouring it into the cup for him to drink then proceeded to continue wiping the glass cups.
"So tell me, what might be the problem with you, sir." The bartender asked, his voice old and bass.
Snow took the cup and gulped down the first shot, raising his head and requesting for another.
"I want to know everything I can now about this city, everything you know and can tell."