(Disclaimers in the prologue)
A man and a woman stood before the window in a brightly coloured café. Their view consisted not of a road, nor a car-park, nor any earth-bound location, but of bright pin-prick stars and dark, empty vacuum; the infinity of space.
They were surrounded by this void, with no means of leaving the small pocket which sustained them. They had been lured, trapped and finally imprisoned. The last, mocking words of their enemy had chilled them to the bone.
"This place is nowhere. And it's forever."
The man's name was Steel and he turned to his companion with hopelessness in his expression. He was frightened and desperate, and he knew that both he and his friend were now pawns in a game being played by higher authorities. The woman, Sapphire, did not respond to his silent request for support. She stared out into the black void, seemingly oblivious to his presence.
For a moment, confusion sparked in Steel's mind. Something was wrong. Something did not fit.
The moment passed.
He studied his companion. She was everything to him, now, though he couldn't have admitted that fact to anybody, not if his very life depended on it. But Sapphire knew, he thought. They were connected at such a fundamental level that she understood every single element that made Steel the man he was. He let his gaze flow over her face, seeking comfort in her familiar strength and beauty.
She was everything to him.
Steel bit back the panic which threatened. Was this it, then? After all they had achieved, all the perils they had survived, this was the place it must end? A small café which wasn't even real, with no means of escape and no hope of rescue?
How long would it take for them to die? Their bodies were robust and adaptable, with few of the human vulnerabilities that their form suggested. The small amount of oxygen they required was provided, and didn't seem to be reducing with time. They wouldn't suffocate, then. The temperature was comfortable. They were in no danger of freezing, despite the proximity of the surrounding vacuum.
There was food and water, if they needed it. And they didn't really need it.
So what did they have to look forward to? Empty hours becoming empty days and months and years. No hope and no diversion.
The sight of Sapphire's profile prevented Steel from sinking further into the depths of despair. He wasn't alone. That was a great comfort; a selfish one, given that he wouldn't have wished this fate on Sapphire in a thousand years, but her company would steady him and keep him from falling apart.
She was everything to him.
"Sapphire," he whispered, needing her to look at him. They could fight the hopelessness, but only together. She turned to him at last and he smiled gently. The smile was not returned, but in the circumstances, he could understand why. Sapphire stared steadily at him, as beautiful as ever, serene and almost regal.
Steel realised that he wanted to hold her. Correction. He needed to hold her, to gather her into his arms and exorcise the trepidation through her warmth and solidity.
He raised a tentative hand to touch her arm, hoping to transmit his need without having to go through the embarrassment of giving it voice.
She stepped away from him.
Something cold and painful twitched in Steel's gut. His arm dropped back to his side and a wounded confusion crept into his expression.
"Sapphire, what's wrong?"
Now that his own smile had gone, her lips curled upwards. Steel watched as a sly smirk of maliciousness manifested on Sapphire's face. He had never seen her look this way before and it unsettled him greatly. She offered no answer to his question and swept her gaze over his entire frame, head to toe, before returning to his eyes. Her body language was scornful. Contemptuous.
Increasingly distressed, as this final comfort was snatched away from him and the hopelessness was intensified to desolation, he reached for her once more. She had never refused his touch. It was Sapphire who had taught him not to shy from his tactility.
Yet she stepped backwards again and this time her upper lip twitched in an unmistakable sneer.
This couldn't be happening! This was Sapphire, his closest friend, his longest-standing ally. She knew him better than he knew himself, and she was always there for him.
She was everything to him!
"Sapphire?" he repeated, ashamed at the tremble in his voice. She still didn't answer, but her gaze flicked to one side, away from his face and over his shoulder. Steel spun around to see what claimed her attention.
"Silver," he murmured. The dashing specialist was leaning nonchalantly against the door frame, his eyes dancing licentiously over Sapphire's figure. Steel spun back to face his partner, who was licking her lips sensuously, her gaze rapt on the newcomer.
The pain in his gut spread until it consumed his whole frame. Steel watched helplessly as Sapphire walked slowly towards Silver, swinging her hips and ravishing the specialist with her eyes. When she reached him, she stretched one slender arm over Silver's left shoulder and took a firm hold of his head, then she turned back and gave her partner a single triumphant smile before pressing her mouth against Silver's and allowing him to sweep her into a passionate clinch across the nearby dining table.
Steel stood and watched, immobilised by shock. The scene playing out before him seemed to make some terrible kind of sense. He had always been jealous of the easy flirtation between Sapphire and Silver, but had almost convinced himself that his jealousy was unnecessary. He and Sapphire were so close, he would have known if she had taken a lover.
He felt like a fool. Watching them indulge in this show of foreplay, Steel was introduced to the utter self-loathing which comes with rejection. As Silver's roving hand slid under the folds of Sapphire's dress and smoothly up her thigh, Steel fought the urge to cry out in denial.
She was everything to him, and he was nothing to her.
He suddenly wanted to inflict pain. Not on the two lovers dangerously close to consummating their passion before an audience, but rather on himself. Steel knew now that he was low; unspeakably low. He was unworthy of Sapphire and that was why she had discarded him. He deserved only this pain and humiliation.
A blink, and tears fell unheeded down Steel's face. He made no sound, almost unwilling to offer any distraction to the display of lovemaking which he could only stand and watch. He hated himself for being so weak.
He could only stand and watch.
She had been everything to him and now he had nothing.
Sapphire suddenly pulled breathlessly away from Silver. Her lipstick was smeared over both of their mouths, and her insistent fingers had unknotted his tie and unbuttoned his waistcoat and shirt. She smiled seductively at her lover and straightened her dress, then turned back to the frozen Steel. His heart broke as he saw the way her expression changed to disgust as soon as she met his eyes.
"Come on, lover," she whispered to Silver. "Our work is done and it's time to play."
Silver smiled back at Sapphire and reached for her again, pulling her roughly against his body and glancing pitiably upon Steel. They faded out of the café until Steel was finally alone.
The agony of loss was too intense, and Steel's face crumpled. Still frozen in the same position where he had watched another man make love to Sapphire, he sobbed through tightly clamped lips, a muffled snort which made him sound childish and weak.
How he detested himself.
He was alone now. This was the trap, and Sapphire had willingly been used as bait. She and Silver had left and would be happy. She would forget that he had ever existed. There was only the room; the room and himself. And the room didn't even exist, and he loathed himself.
So there was nothing.
Steel finally raised a sleeve of his jacket and wiped at the moisture on his face. He knew what he had to do. This pain could be halted. The loneliness could be assuaged.
He walked over to the counter, steering well clear of the table on which Silver had ravished Sapphire. Behind it were the normal tools of the café trade; a cash register, some provisions, crockery ...
Cutlery.
He wrenched his jacket from his shoulders and tossed it to the floor, then tore at the cuffs of his shirt. He pushed the sleeves up his arms and studied his wrists for a moment. The cut would have to be exactly right. If he didn't sever the vein completely, his body would have the chance to repair the damage before he died, and Steel was unsure whether he could be brave enough to do this twice.
A further sob consumed his body and his face tensed in pain. He wanted to call out Sapphire's name, beg her to come back to him, but he knew he was unworthy. She deserved better than him. Steel reached for the sharpest knife he could see, a small chopping knife with a wooden handle. He moved over to the sink and readied his left arm across it, using the point of the blade to gently trace the location he would make the gash.
There was nothing.
He was nothing.
Better off dead.
Calling upon all his strength, Steel raised his knife hand and slashed it down. He immediately dropped the blade and sank to his knees, holding his bleeding arm over the sink despite the fact that the pressure in the vein caused the blood to drench the tiles and the floor and the work surface.
It hurt, but was as nothing compared to the pain of his broken heart.
Suddenly dizzy and tired, he rested his head against the cool enamel of the sink, finally managing to smile through his tears.
Not long, now.
Steel waited dazedly for his death. After a short time the pain dissipated and he drifted into darkness.
~~~~~~~
Continued in Chapter 8
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