"Could I potentially have gone back home myself if I had found the black monolith?" she asked. Why hadn't she thought of this earlier and looked more carefully when she had first arrived? Then she could have gone straight back home.
"Yes, but it might have also killed you or destroyed your mind or mangled your body. Most people only pass through safely once in their lifetime. Since you're here, I'm not going to let you even try. It's too dangerous," Mr Huo patted her on the cheek, making her wince and she batted his hand away.
Stacey didn't hear what he had said. Only that she could have gone straight back home if she had seen the black monolith. She knew where it should be. She just needed to go back and find it. She didn't need his help. Didn't have to stay here. She could go back by herself.
"Not now that you've told me where it is. No," he caught her by the arm, preventing her from running to find the monolith in the dark. "Do you think you can beat the less than five percent chance of surviving a second trip, on top of the threefold increased risk from travelling through the stones a second time within the same year? Or do you want to be caught by the beastmen tonight before you've even learnt how to fight? If you're intent on sacrificing yourself, I may as well take you for myself now."
So there was no way back. The odds of surviving another trip were so small? She was trapped here? Her hopes of going home had been mercilessly crushed. But she would almost prefer to face those odds than to have to fight in a battle she was unlikely to be able to survive. If she had to fight, there were two options. Be kidnapped and turned into someone or something's sex toy, or killed.
Whichever way she looked at things, she was going to die. She was going to die. Someone help her. She was going to die and she didn't want to die. She didn't want to die.
Mr Huo wrapped her tight in his arms. Stacey tried to fight herself free but couldn't. His arms were like iron bars, trapping her. His scent filled her nostrils and she frowned. She really hadn't planned to get to know him or get close enough to him that she would get to know his smell. Not that he smelled bad. He had a nice, clean smell but that wasn't what she should be focusing on.
What she should be focusing on was survival. The problem was she was panicking too much. She couldn't calm down.
Impending doom could do that to a person.
It was strange. One part of her was in a blubbering mess, paralysed by fear and despair. The other part was still thinking. Planning ahead. Yet another part was jumping around, making a running commentary on anything and everything without much sense or relevance. Maybe she was trying to distract herself from the possibility that this time next week, she'd be dead.
It was like:
'I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die. I don't wanna die. I want my mummy.'
While:
'I need to learn to fight and be strong to survive. How am I going to learn to fight? Does everyone here know how to fight? Can I ask my friends for help?'
At the same time:
'Once on a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary…'
What Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Raven' had to do with Stacey's current situation other than it was dark and she was going to die, Stacey wasn't entirely sure. Maybe. It was what her brain had jumped to. Not that she'd ever really understood the poem. She hadn't paid attention to her English teacher's explanation of it. All she remembered was the raven crying, 'Nevermore!'
Ahem. Brain. Come back. Stop running away!
And this man, trapping her in his arms.
Mr Huo was mean. A mean jerk who didn't know how to talk nicely. A profiteer who didn't care about her. Except he was stopping her from running off to seek almost certain doom.
Help. She was going to die. Someone save her. Please. Please pretty please with sugar icing and cherries on top.
Stacey leaned her head into his chest and tried but failed to hold back her tears. A good comforting hug was just what she needed right now.
"If you're ever feeling desperate enough to be taken away by the beastmen to become a concubine to the Ancients, please do tell me. At least I would be gentler and make sure you enjoy the process as well. I'm only a few years older than you, so we'd be compatible."
Was that meant to be a joke? If it was, it was a really bad one. It had made her tears dry up completely.
It was his fault. His fault she was in this situation. His fault she was about to die. And now he was saying he wanted to what - bed her? This man was a raving lunatic. Mental. Dangerous. She had to get away from him. Get away.
"Let me go," Stacey shuddered. Not just from the cold or the fear of the centaur from before. Mr Huo was dangerous too.
"Then be a good girl and go back inside," Mr Huo told her, letting her go. "Work hard."
He followed her to make sure she entered the building safely. Stacey glanced back at him and then rushed up to her room where she hid under her blankets. The other ladies were already in bed and the lights were off.
Her thoughts felt muddy and muddled. It was hard to think clearly. The only thing she clearly understood was that this world was scary. It wasn't safe. Even the one other person she had found from Earth was scary. He only saw her as a commodity that could potentially earn him money. She didn't want to be here anymore. She wanted to go home. She wanted to go home. She wanted to go home so much. Was letting her go home so hard?
The problem was, she was pretty much trapped here for life. According to Mr Huo, there was no way home. She would likely never get to go home again. Not unless she was prepared to die in the trying.
It didn't matter that she had only been a lowly customer service rep who had only been able to finish a certificate IV in food services in TAFE. At least she had been relatively safe there. She had money. Her own apartment. She'd been slowly making her way into the world. But now, she felt like she had been knocked back into the ranks of being an ignorant little girl needing the protection of adults older, stronger and wiser than her again.
Would Mr Huo really just use her and then discard her like he said he might if he didn't think she was bringing him in enough money? She didn't want to be sent to the beastmen. She really didn't. She was going to have to work hard on learning some sort of combat. That was going to be her first priority from now on.
Stacey was going to fight.