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Chapter 1

The Awakening

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Where was I?

I woke up choking. There was something in my throat. I had the worst gag reflex known to man and to have something on my throat made me panic. I struggled to move my hands but the limp things seemed not to be working.

“Stop struggling,” a voice said, “I'll help you in a second.”

I didn't know who was talking for a second. That made me panic even more. Just as I let out a gasp I felt the person pull out a tube at the tube. I felt a lot calmer once the tube was out.

The man turned back towards me, “It's like a breathing tube I'm thinking. It was connected to that machine there. It was helping you breathe.”
I looked up at the man. My body was slowly getting a hold of me but as I struggled to lift myself I was being forced back down by gravity. It was almost as though my body was too weak or this atmosphere was too powerful. One of the two. I didn't get what was going on.
I looked at the man. He was a medium complexion. He was a handsome black man. I was assuming he was in his mid 20s but I couldn't be sure. He was tall and had bald head. He had a very soft welcoming face though. He looked a lot like Boris Kodjoe but much younger and without the goatee. I couldn't get over how soft his eyes look and how innocent he looked over all. He was extremely handsome. I found myself attracted to him...why...I wasn't gay. Was I?

I couldn't even be sure.

Who was I?

The thought passed over me like a tidal wave for a minute.

“Can you talk?” he asked me, “I couldn't talk when I woke up. Here let me help you. Drink this I remember how parched I was when I woke up. I had cotton mouth.”
He handed me a cup and I held it in my hands. My hand was shaky as I held the cup. I realized just how weak I was. Where the hell was I? Who was this handsome angel?

“Where are we...”

He didn't answer right away. He looked down at me and helped lift me. I realized now that I was being lifted out of something that seemed like some sort of pod. I think it was a pod at least. It was a very snug looking machine connected with a bunch of wires. It was outlined in gel. It was actually very comfortable. He put me on a chair.

“You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you,” he stated shaking his head, “I'm just glad you woke up. You should be one of the last ones.”

“Where the hell are we?” I asked.

He shook his head, “Drink some more of that stuff. You are still very weak.”
I could tell he was avoiding the question. I could look in his eyes though and see that there had to be a very good reason. I looked around the room that we were in. It didn't look familiar. The room was a small room with some sort of computer on the wall. The computer took up the entire wall and it looked like it was in some sort of sleep mode. I wasn't exactly sure what the computer stuff meant but looking at it didn't make too much sense. It just didn't even seem like it was in English. I couldn't tell what language that was.

“Where am I?” I asked.

“I'll show you in a minute. I'll show you what I know but get adjusted for a moment. Drink that. It has a lot of electrolytes in it. It'll come as a shocker and I don't want you fainting on me or anything.”

I looked down at the drink. It tasted like Gatorade. In fact I was sure it was Gatorade or some other energy drink similar to it. It felt good to recognize something in this strange environment. I looked at the walls. They were crafted in a circular way. They were blue but a light beautiful blue. I had never seen anything like it. At least I thought I didn't. My memory was fading.

“Well can you at least tell me who you are?” he asked.

“I'm Jakobi Jameson,” he told me.

It sounded like a movie star name or something. I almost laughed looking at him. A smile actually spread across my face when he said it.

“What you do porn or something?” I asked.

He laughed, “You got jokes I see. Whats your name smartass?”
For a moment the thoughts didn't cross my head. It was such a strange thing to remember. What the hell was my name? I sat there for a minute really trying to sit there and think about it. I knew it. It kept coming to my tongue but kept disappearing.

What the hell was my name?

The fear of not knowing it filled me all of a sudden.

“My name is Sevyn.”

“Like the number?” he asked.

“Yeah...yeah Sevyn Williams.”

I remembered it now. I remembered all the times people called me Sevyn. How could I forget something like that. What the fuck was wrong with me?
“Don't worry. When I woke up I had a hard time remembering what the hell my name was too,” He told me.
“When you woke up?” I asked.

“I think its about time I showed you where we were. Here hold on to my arm. You may still be a little weak.”
Jakobi walked up to me and let me use his arm to put all my weight on. He smelled really good as he got close to me. I had to have been gay. Right? Why was I paying attention to things like that? Why didn't I know what my sexuality was?

My legs were pretty weak as Jakobi walked with me. He took me to the other side of the room. On the wall was something like a clear glass button. He put his palm on the button and almost immediately one of the walls slid up like a sliding door. We walked through the exit and came out onto the other side.

The door slammed shut behind me.

“What the fuck was that?” I asked.

“It's fine. You are safe...well for now at least,” he told me in this really unsure way that wasn't threatening but just confused in a way. Almost immediately I knew Jakobi probably didn't have a lot of answers.

I followed Jakobi down a hallway. This place smelled like a new car. Jakobi didn't mind me holding onto him. It was kind of comforting holding onto him actually. I was more curious then afraid even though this place was definitely strange and different. What did he have to show me.

We walked to another dead end with a glass panel on the side. He once again put his hand against the panel and the wall slid up.

What I saw at that point scared the fuck out of me?

“Oh my god.”

Stars.

I saw stars.

“I know it's amazing right. I call this place the star bridge. Sevyn, we are on a spaceship. I'm not sure how we got here. I'm not sure where we are headed...”

I moved forward into the room that he called the Star Bridge. The room had a glass wall that bubbled out. It seemed almost like the glass that would be used on a submarine or something. I stepped closer to look out at the stars all around us. We were definitely moving as the stars were moving around us. What freaked me out was how fast were were moving. Where I stood it didn't feel like I was moving at but outside all the stars seemed to zoom past us.

“I'm still asleep aren't I?” I asked, “This isn't real.”

“Take it in man. It's as real as you or I.”

I collapsed to my knees. It happened all of a sudden. It was definitely something that I didn't expect to happen. I should have continued holding onto Jakobi's hand. My legs felt like jello all of a sudden again. I wanted to cry all of a sudden again.

Jakobi kneeled down at and looked at me, “You ok man?”

I turned to him. He was really close to me. I looked into his eyes trying to figure out what was going on...but I coudln't.

“Did you do to this to me?”

“Absolutely not,” he stated shaking my head, “I woke up the same as you and I was here. I was alone for a little while and two other people woke up within a few days of me. You just woke up. We still have two sleepers. Come on. I want to introduce you to the others.”

He didn't say much at that time but grabbed me helping me up again. I could feel my legs were definitely getting more secure underneath me. We started to make our way back through those hallways. I could tell by how he looked around often that he wasn't 100 percent familiar with his surroundings as well but he was a lot more familiar than me. Jakobi didn't say anything as he walked with me. I guess he was trying to let me take all this in.

It wasn't something I could take in though. I had to be dreaming. Nothing he said could have make me believe otherwise. I had to still be asleep and this had to be the most realistic dream I'd ever had. I was space traveling? Yeah right. Sleep was definitely much more likely.

“I'm really glad you woke up,” he told me again, “The three of us all took watch over one of the sleepers. You were mine. We didn't want anyone to have the feeling of waking up alone. I'm glad I was there for you.”
I sighed.

Oh please. I didn't know if he expected me to thank him or not. I didn't plan on doing that. I crossed my arms taking them away from him. All of a sudden I didn't want him touching me. I felt fooled. I felt scammed. I didn't understand what was going on and for some reason I blamed Jakobi because he was the only one around to blame.

“What we going to run into pet aliens on the ship as well.”'

“To be honest with you we haven't explored the whole ship,” he stated, “Not completely sure what is all over here. We pretty much stayed in our own wings. Here it's this way down this hallway. They should be eating.”
The hallways seemed large. I looked against the walls. I could see exposed wiring in some parts. There was writing in others. I couldn't read any of it.

The halls seemed to all branch out. He took me to this area and he hit a button.

We stood in a small room.

He smiled over at me, “It's an elevator. This should be familiar right?”
“I just need to wake up.”

“You aren't dreaming Sevyn,” Jakobi stated, “I promise you.”

The elevator went up and when it opened it looked like we were in some sort of dining area. I looked around to see that it was huge. To the right were tables that seemed to sprout directly out of the floor. Behind that was another hallway that lead to god knows where. Besides that seemed to be aroom. There were machines set up all along the walls. The machines were hooked up to pedestals.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“It's the dining deck. At least that's what Vu calls it.”

“Vu?”

“That would be me.”
I turned around to my right to see an Asian man walking over to us. He was somewhat attractive. I would say he was in his very early 30s. He was very muscular. I had never seen an Asian person so built with muscle. I usually assumed they would be more slim type guys but that was probably my ignorance. My neighborhood in Atlanta Georgia didn't have many Asians growing up. At least I didn't think so...my memory was so fuzzy.

Right next to him was a girl. She was maybe a teenager. She was a white girl with red curly hair that fell all the way to her butt.

“Oh my god, did you just wake up?” the girl said smiling at me, “Hi! I'm Elizabeth. You can call me Lizzy.”

Lizzy acted her age. She seemed so happy to see me as if she was in a good mood. I was confused how could she be in a good mood at this time.

Vu looked over to me, “I bet you have a lot of questions.”

“A lot.”
“We probably can't answer them. Believe it or not we are all pretty much in the same boat,” Vu stated, “Jakobi probably knows the most out of all of us.”

“That's not saying much,” Jakobi replied laughing.

I didn't find this funny.

Lizzy looked over at me, “You are a cutie. Got a girlfriend?”

I shrugged my shoulders, “I...I can't remember.”
“That sucks,” Vu stated, “We are pretty much in the same boat as you. We can't remember much of anything. Maybe some food will help. What you in the mood for eating?”

“Don't think lasagna is the lunch special for outer space excursions...”

“Actually...” Lizzy said smiling, “We can make that work.”

I looked over at Jakobi and Vu. They smiled at the moment as Lizzy walked away from me. Sh e walked towards one of those pods and she stood for a second. It was literally just a second. Then within the next second I could smell it. I could smell the Lasagna.

Was I dreaming?'

It wasn't that she brought the plate back over to me that I realized that I really wasn't dreaming this entire time. It was a plate of lasagna...magically appeared out of the pod. I had never been so hungry in my life as I sat down in front of it and began to eat.

I hadn't even asked for an explanation. I didn't care how this was possible. All I knew was that there was food in front of me and it tasted great.

Lizzy was the one who explained it, “It's the best part of the ship. Any food you imagine in front of those pods is provided for you.”

Vu, Lizzy and Jakobi all sat at the table with me. They were just watching me eat. It was strange that they were watching me eat like this. It was almost as though they were expecting me to say something. I wasn't sure what but it felt as though they thought I was the one who actually knew something that they didn't. They just seemed to be waiting and watching in amazement as I ate the lasagna.

I couldn't believe I was eating in front of Jakobi like this. There were no napkins or anything. I could see his eyes watching me as I got it all over the place. I was so hungry that I didn't really care though. It was the strangest and scariest sensation.

“Are you guys sure we are in space?” I asked, “We could be on like a Hollywood set. You know they always bring back the Sci-Fi movies.”

“Well if it was a joke I think someone would have called quits already,” Vu stated shaking his head, “No this is serious. Is there anything you remember at all?”

Jakobi shook his head, “Vu maybe we should let him enjoy his food first.”

“No it's ok,” I told Jakobi.

I could tell he was being polite. He seemed like that type of guy. For some reason I felt like I wasn't that type of guy. Still it seemed like I wished I was. Jakobi just seemed so damn innocent for some reason. Lizzy seemed just as interested as Vu in what I had to say though. They were both almost leaning over the table to listen to me.

“Do you remember anything?” Vu asked.

“Anything before this? What was your last memory?” Lizzy jumped in.

At that moment I could realized that they definitely weren't lying about being as confused as I was. I could see it in their eyes. Vu and Lizzy definitely looked...worried or even scared.

I dug through my memory.

“Nothing. I know where I'm from Atlanta,” I stated shaking my head, “I know my background. I remember small things. But what brought me here no I don't remember. I know this is going to sound weird...but I can't even remember a last specific memory.”
“Great...” Vu stated.

He looked annoyed. He got up off the table and I could see that huge interest he had in me go away at that point. Lizzy seemed turned off as well. She leaned back and rubbed her hands through her red locks. Jakobi was the only one still watching me eat.

Jakobi seemed to be willing to explain their behavior, “We are all kind of frustrated. It is the same with all of us. We wake up and our memories are so spotty we don't remember anything.”

It wasn't until I heard a whimper that I realized Lizzy was crying. I dropped my fork at that moment I realized it though. Her head had been down for a few minutes. I thought she was just thinking but it was clear now that she was tearing up. I looked over at Jakobi. He had this look on his face that said this wasn't the first time he had seen her crying. He seemed like he was used to it. I couldn't be used to it though.

“Has anyone tried to find out who is steering this thing?” I asked, “Every ship has a control room.”

Jakobi shook his head, “It seems like we are cut off to the first three floors. The bottom floor is like a living, sleeping area. The second floor has the sleeping pods and then the third floor is here the dining area. There is the 4^th floor and 5^th floors but we can't access them.”

“The control room has to be up there,” I stated.

Vu nodded, “You're right about that.”
I shook my head and looked at these three people. They looked frustrated. They looked more frustrated then I did at that point. They were just standing there looking around at each other and they seemed completely scared.

I felt bad for Lizzy the most. She seemed emotional and she seemed lost.

“There are two other sleeping pods besides you,” Jakobi said, “Who knows maybe one of them would know something.”

“Well someone had to put us here. Someone has to be running this ship.”

No one answered me. They all exchanged looks at that moment. It made me think that maybe they knew something that they weren't telling me. By the look of Vu I didn't think they'd let that information out either. He seemed so cold.

At that moment I wondered if these people were really telling me the truth. Were they all really as innocent as they made themselves out to seem. I was scared. The fear came at me was something strange that I couldn't really explain.

“You can sleep here,” Jakobi stated.

There were bunk beds. Jakobi's bed was on top and he was pointing at the bed underneath his. The room was relatively compact and small. It had a very minimalist feel to it. From the look of it Jakobi was very neat in the room.

I looked at the bed and the pillow. The sheets were pretty soft. I sat on it wondering how good this really felt. I felt alone really as I laid down on the bed.

“You going to be ok man?” Jakobi asked, “If you want to talk about anything...”

“I'm fine!”

I knew that I said it in a harsh tone and immediately I wanted to apologize to him but Jakobi didn't seem to take it in a negative way. He gave me a slight smile and then nodded. He jumped up on the top bunk and cuddled up as if nothing was wrong.

Before I knew it I started to cry. I felt like the biggest punk sitting here crying like I was. I was crying because my memory was so shot. I was crying because I didn't know where the fuck I was. I was a grown man though. There was no reason for me to be so upset. I tried to keep it as quiet as possible but in the darkness I saw Jakobi come down on the bunk next to me.

He was in his boxer shorts and nothing else. Jakobi had a sexy body. His arms were chiseled and his chest was full of muscles. We looked at each other for a second in the darkness. I looked at his full legs. He was so damn beautiful. It was seriously like Jakobi was some sort of angel or something. I couldn't put my finger on it.

Was I alive?

Was this heaven? Was Jakobi my angel?
“I know how it feels.”

I felt so embarrassed. He was feeling PITY on me. I could tell almost immediately that he was feeling pity on me. I buried my face in the pillow below me. I wanted to disappear. He probably thought I was such a kid right now. I felt the bed get a little heavy with his weight. I felt him rubbing on my back. I lifted my head up trying my hardest to dry the tears.

“I'll be fine.”

“You keep saying that,” Jakobi whispered in the darkness, “It's ok if you aren't. You wake up in a weird place. You don't have a memory of who you are or how you got there. It's scary. It's more then scary. It's a nightmare. Sometimes I woke up thinking I was in hell. I thought this was a punishment for things that I've done in my life. You want to know the worst part?”

My head lifted up off the pillow and looked over at Jakobi, “What is the worst part?”

He still had his hand on my shoulder, “I couldn't remember what I did in my life that was so horrible. My memory was so broken. I cried like a fucking newborn. You hear me? And it seemed like no one heard. No one is around to here. It's just us. That's why we have to be there for one another.”

He captured it perfectly. I felt so...warm by having him around. I didn't know how to explain it. The fact that this total stranger could make me feel so at ease was something I wasn't used to. I didn't trust people. I knew that much. I always had huge issues with trust.

“You guys are comfortable?”

I woke up to see Lizzy standing there. I was surprised to see the position that I was in when I woke up. I was sleeping right next to Jakobi. We were sharing a pillow on my bed. I didn't remember falling asleep but I knew I had a very comfortable sleep. I expected to be tossing and turning the whole time but I wasn't.

Jakobi woke up when I did and we exchanged looks. I could tell it was awkward as hell by the way he jumped off the bed almost immediately. I just sat up and acted like I didn't know what was going on.

“Do you ever knock?” Jakobi asked her.

Lizzy smiled shaking her head, “Knockings for civilization. We are lost in space. Forgive me if I lost my manners.”
“Good morning,” I stated to Lizzy.

I wanted to take the focus off of the fact that Jakobi and I were sleeping in the same bed. Jakobi was busy at this point putting on clothes.

Lizzy laughed with this distinct shrilling laugh that was immediately annoying as hell, “How do you know its morning?”

“I guess you are right.”

“So Sevyn, how's it feel to sleep with Jakobi...”

Jakobi was clearly embarrassed, “Ok, get out.”

“I want to talk to Sevyn.”

“Out!”

Jakobi literally pushed her out of the door. I could feel my face burning with anxiety. It was like having a little sister who put you on blast or something. I could tell Jakobi was probably way more embarrassed then I was at the time but I was pretty damn embarrassed. Lizzy being kicked out of the room didn't really help the matter though. There was still that awkward feeling between Jakobi and I. I wasn't sure exactly what it was. Was this some sort of chemistry?

Jakobi looked over at me, “There are clothes in here if you want we can share. Theres rooms all over this floor. We haven't found a washing machine yet but Lizzy has no issues washing your stuff by if you ask her. She's a sweetheart she can just be...annoying at times.”

He handed me a shirt.

“About last night...” I started.

“Yeah...I'm not really sure what that was about,” Jakobi stated turning around, “I think we just kind of got real comfortable or something. I used to sleep on the bottom bunk a lot when I was in the room myself so it just felt kind of natural.”

“No. I'm not talking about that,” I replied, “I mean just you talking to me. I wanted to thank you for everything you said. It helped a lot. It helped to know I'm not alone in this bullshit.”

“Oh...yeah, no problem,” Jakobi said.

He smiled.

He has the sexiest smile in the world.

The ship was so different from anything I ever expected. Jakobi showed me where the shower was and handed me some towels. The shower seemed more like a carwash or something with the water being sprayed at you from all directions. There was this gel thing that came out as well and I assumed it was some sort of soap but it was more sticky than I assumed. When I got out though I felt cleaner than I remember ever feeling before.

I walked out of the shower and began wandering around a little bit trying to find Jakobi. All the rooms kind of looked the same. I remembered how he was able to raise the strange walls putting his hand on the glass panel. It worked for me after a few tries. The trick was to lay your hand flat on it.

I made my way to the end of a hallway that I didn't actually remember. At the end of the hallway I could feel some sort of heat. It was strange though. I knew Jakobi wasn't down this hallway. He was probably in the cafeteria eating or something with the others.

Still my nerve started to get to me. I made my way down the hallway and saw straight ahead was a door. The door had a glass panel except the glass panel was red or something.

Why was the glass panel red on this door while it was clear on all the others?

“You ok?”

I jumped at the voice. I turned around to see Vu standing there. He was watching me as I was watching him as well.

“What's down there?”

“We can't get through it. It's one of the many places we can't access on the ship. It's probably the guy that woke Jakobi up.”

“What? Someone woke Jakobi up...”

“He didn't tell you?”

“Um no. He said he woke up alone.”

“Damn,” Vu stated shaking his head, “Wonder why he didn't say anything. No Jakobi didn't wake up alone. Someone woke him up. He said it was a guy. The guy just up and disappeared though. Isn't that weird?”

Weird and scary. Why wouldn't the guy stick around? Why wouldn't Jakobi tell me about it. I looked over at the door with the red panel. There was something about it that seemed off. Then again there was something about all of this that seemed completely off. The scary feeling that filled my stomach just kept coming.

“There you guys are,” I heard a voice say.

When I turned I saw Lizzy. She was walking up to us, “The last two pods just woke up. You guys have to come quick...”