His smile irked me somehow, a giraffes smile was not pleasant by any means. The giraffe carried a more regal air with him, it seemed like he was different from all the others I had met previously, a sort of pressure came off him as if everyone else was unworthy before him.
"I am Heyli, I was tasked with taking care of you. I hope the accommodations were to your liking," he said, an aggravating smirk lined his snout.
I looked to Yuuta next to me and I caught him staring slack jawed at Heyli, he must have got entranced by the midnight black fur that Heyli sported.
"Where are we?" I asked.
"In our underground city, Ygg," he said his smirk quickly changing to pride.
"Why...why did you put us in here? Why are we locked up?" I asked as my voice rang out through the small cell.
Heyli snorted, "It isn't your place to question me, to question us. For now, be thankful that your lives have been spared. If it was up to me, your dried up corpses would be the last evidence of your life."
I shuddered at the thought of my mangled body being put out into public view. Yuuta, now, seemed to fear the giraffe as he subconsciously stepped away from Heyli. Heyli chuckled at the reaction as if he reveled in fear.
Anger, it comes and goes like the wind, but like the wind, there was no telling when anger would close in. At this moment, my anger was primarily directed at Heyli, I did not act on it though. As angry as I was, I was scared, I had always been a coward. It was why I did not fight when Mic unjustly got me fired and it is why I did not dare to fight Heyli.
Fear controlled me, as primal as anger was, fear would overcome it. Fear was like the night that drew nigh, inexorable. Even the mighty sun itself, stepped down and fearfully gave way when the night drew near.
"Come," Heyli said imperiously as he gestured towards us to follow him.
Disgruntled as I was, I followed without much stalling. Yuuta seemed to have been debating it but must have decided that following was the safer option as he walked behind me without a sound. As soon as we stepped out of the cells, I was roughly blindfolded and one of the guards started pushing me forward. I assumed they had blindfolded Yuuta as well as I had heard a muffled cry as I was being blindfolded.
I had no idea where we were being led and the twists and turns they led us through disoriented me and confused my body compass. A waft of cool air hit me and suddenly I felt like I was in an air conditioned room, but the air seemed much fresher. I did not realize how uncomfortable the heat had been until now, the constant flow of sweat was not something comfortable. The blindfold was pulled off my face, no one bothered to untie it but just pulled it off, letting the knot unravel by itself. The experience was not enjoyable to say the least.
"I am sure you must be confused," said someone. The voice was silky smooth, just listening to it made me feel like I was floating on clouds. The voice felt inherently good, like it would keep me safe, it was to be trusted. A smile played out across my face as I heard the sentence.
I look toward where the voice originates from, it takes a while for my eyes to adjust to the light but when I can see clearly I see a different looking giraffe. Then it hits me, this is the first time I have seen a female of the giraffe creatures. I looked around the room
"To tell the truth, we are confused too. We do not know who your kind are, but in the past month, we have already caught multiple of you people," she continues in her ethereal voice.
"A month?," I ask bewildered. I thought I had only been here for a day, did other people come before?
The giraffe chooses not to answer as she ignores my question.
"Who are you?" she asks.
"Humans," I answer, in a matter of fact way. I don't wish to reveal too much information.
"That's what the other people we caught said too, seems like you aren't lying. Trust me, you would not want to lie," the grave threat did not seem to mesh well with her pleasant voice.
"And where do you come from?" she continued.
After what seemed like an hour of questioning, the female giraffe finally relented. I did learn a lot more about them so I benefitted as well. At the end of the interrogation, she sent me away, presumably to individually interrogate Yuuta. The blindfold is once again put over my eyes and I am guided to a new place.
A while later, as the blindfold leaves my head, my surroundings are different from the cell I was in previously. I spot five humans in the cell I am in now, all of them seem displeased with their current predicament. I clear my throat to draw their attention.
"What do you want?" says someone, his face scrunched in annoyance.
"How long have you guys been here?" I ask.
"No clue, the woman told us that we have been here for a month. I don't know who to trust," says someone else. Voices of assent echo around as everyone confirms that they were also told that they were here for a month.
"Did you all hear a voice before you came here?" I ask, genuinely curious.
"Yep, though none of us know what that was about," says the same person.
That at least confirms one thing. All of us were brought by the voice at the same time, and the reason it has been a month since we came here is because the giraffes drugged us or somehow kept us asleep for days on end. That also explains why my breath smells like rotted garbage, the most vile stench emanated from my mouth. I squirmed in displeasure, an unclean mouth wasn't very pleasant to live with.
Seeing as everyone else didn't feel like talking, I decided to stay quiet as well. The giraffes brought us a bowl of warm food, the food was an indiscernible mess of bits and pieces of different substances. The rest of the humans ate quietly and did not complain, I sighed and did the same. After the bowls were taken away, I tried to get some sleep but sleep refused to acknowledge my call. Deciding to forgo sleep, I leaned against a wall and slid down it until I was sitting, then I waited, waited for something to happen.