Someone getting stuck

They moved forward slowly, to avoid putting too much strain on the old injury. Every once in a while Andreas felt a tiny needle of pain going through the leg and piercing his senses, but it was nothing compared to what he was going through just a few minutes ago. Now it seemed that the mad beast wanting him to suffer has been locked away, in a cage. He knew that it wasn't a permanent solution, but he welcomed it anyway.

"You know I can't..." He started. "I don't want to be mad at you anymore."

"Then don't. I hold no ill will towards you." She almost added 'even though you've treated me like air for the last few days', but she held back. There was no point to tell him what he did wrong, especially since she had a hunch that he already felt guilty about it.

He didn't respond to her verbally. Instead, Andreas took her hand when they were crossing the street, which was the statement on it's own.

They arrived to the town hall a short while after that. It was an old, large apartment building adapted for the needs of the city council, and in its 8 floors contained many offices where people could try and wrestle away all kind of help from the town and the government.

Sally and Andreas went through the metal detector gates without any issues. They learned at the registration that they were supposed to go to the floor 6, that's where the temporary another world immigration office resided.

Then, they stood between a non-choice of taking an elevator and going up by using the stairs. Non-choice, because there was no way either of them could walk up six flight of stairs.

Sally sniffed the air when the doors slid away.

"Something stinks."

"Of course it does, it's a government building."

Andreas commented joyfully and they both stepped in. Nobody else was entering with them. Nobody else would be able to fit either, the Lamias entire body filled almost all available space, Andreas barely had a corner for himself.

He picked a number and then the doors slid behind them.

"I'm sorry for my reaction." He said when they started to move up. "I.. I've been lied to and betrayed already." He said with hardships.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Sally asked while still trying to adjust to the very limited space of the elevator.

Andreas sighed. She deserved to know the truth. And he had to finally open up about it all to someone.

"I was in Spain and we had a fantastic season. Me and my club friends were destroying everyone in the league, and in the international competitions. There was noone that could possibly stand up to us... I led the attack, and I knew that if I keep up all I had, I could win that elusive award for the player of the year."

"I assume it's a big prestige to win it?" She asked while trying to fix her position, but not being able to really move.

"It's the biggest individual award that you can win in this sport." He explained. "Some very rich and powerful people approached me and a few of my friend. They wanted me to play for them, they were offering insane money. Some of my friends - previous friends - accepted the offer."

"But you didn't?" She asked.

"No." Andreas looked crossed his arms on his chest. "I'd have to move somewhere were football isn't a passion anymore, it was just money. So..." He stopped, and raised his hand. "Hold up, isn't this elevator going up for too long?"

The sense of going up was still there, but they'd pass through like 20 floors by now, and not just 8.

"One moment."

Sally began to touch the walls with her hands. In some places, her touch was encountering something different, alien, like a goop that was soft, and yet impossible to penetrate.

"Crap." She commented.

"What's going on?"

"I'm dumb. Somebody closed us in a loop."

"Loop?" Andreas asked surprised. "Can you be less cryptic?"

Sally sighed heavily and tried to punch the wall. Her fist encountered some sort of resistance before getting stopped in the air.

"It's a magical trap. It can't harm us, but it has a long expiry time and we can't reach the source of it from here."

"What?"

"We entered someone's time bubble. Because of that we will be stuck in here for some time. I don't know how long."

Andreas just gave out a short laugh.

"So all we can do is..."

"Sit, and wait, yes. You can rest on my tail, I don't mind."

He did just that. Her tail was much more comfortable than strange walls of the elevator.

"One moment, I'll just call someone..." Andreas pulled out his phone from the pocket. "No reception?"

"Whoever created this trap made sure we wouldn't get away too fast. I'll see if I can work on a solution for this, maybe I can pierce it somehow..." She began to touch the walls, floor and a ceiling, looking for something.

"Makes sense." Andreas answered. "Would you like me to finish my story?"

She turned her head to him again.

"Sure."

"Where was I..."

"Spain, rich people, you didn't accept the offer." She reminded him.

"Right. One of my best friends did accept it, but I didn't mind it. Things are always on the move in this world and we switch our clubs a lot. We still stayed friends. Until..." He stood up and tried to bang his fist against the wall. The weird, invisible substance stopped him from that, completely dispersing the impact of his hit.

She didn't interject anything this time, just gave him time to get through the painful memories.

"We were going to have a game against those rich people. Against our friends. It was an important one, to get to the finals of international competition. A week before it some of those friends invited me over to dinner..." He had troubles speaking, going down to whispers. Andreas raised his hand and wiped the tears with the sleeve of his long shirt. "On the way I had an accident. A car crash. Someone pushed me off the road when I was driving."

"Oh..." That explained the fact why she never saw Andreas behind a wheel. Sally began to move, tried to somehow switch her position in the elevator. A very long tail didn't make it any easier.

"The result was devastating for someone like me. Six broken ribs, a lot of bruises and a broken leg."

He paused, considering his next words. Or maybe just thinking how he could possibly avoid that.

"All of that could heal, it would be a year, maybe two, but I'd be back in the world of football. But then I was told by the same people I used to call friends once to stay away, because much worse things can happen to me and whoever I had left on my side. So I... I made it worse. Myself."

Sally finally got where she wanted. To him. She embraced him with both of her hands, took him in, shared all the compassion she could possibly muster. The Lamia knew that when Andreas was crying, he didn't do that for himself. Not for his past, not for his career or the passion that was taken away from him.

He weeped for his old friends. For friendships that were lost in the crazy world of money and influence. For beliefs that were suddenly shattered.

They stayed like that for a long time.

Tight, in a warm hug, their bodies fitting each other perfectly.

And then, the Lamia started to share her story.