by Maia Starr
Chapter Twenty-Six
Arin
“Arin, what has happened?” I heard a familiar voice say. I opened my eyes. I put my hand on my head; it hurt. I looked up and saw Lokin looking at me. Bryne was at his side. They both looked very confused.
“It was Keara.”
“What? What do you mean it was Keara?”
“Keara knocked me out. He did this. He took Reena.”
“What?”
“What the fuck?”
They both looked around confused. I stood up. I realize that it was early morning. Shit. I had been out all night, knocked out. This had given them plenty of time.
“Why would he do that? Because she's pregnant? Is he crazy enough to think it is for sure his? What the hell is going on here?” Bryne said.
“No. It is worse than that. She told me, right before he knocked me out. I came outside in the middle of the night and saw them leaving. I thought he was taking her, wanting to be only with her. But then she said it. She said that she is pregnant, but with a human child.”
“What? How is that possible? She was a virgin when she came to us; we have been with her every moment. There is no way a human man has been with her,” Lokin said.
“I am only saying what she said. Which means that Keara was helping her escape because she's pregnant with a human child. He said her life was in danger; that must be what he meant.”
“But maybe she was just lying to him. Feeding him lies so that he could get her out of here,” Bryne said.
“I had not thought of that. It would be a fool that would fall in love with a human female and believe every word that she said, especially that she was pregnant with a human baby, but that would force him to help her escape,” I said.
“The fool!” Lokin said.
“He will realize it in a few months when she gives birth to a Dain hybrid baby,” Bryne said.
“I must speak with the general. There is no time to lose,” I said moving toward the house.
“Yeah, let’s do it,” Bryne said.
“Keara, you fool. You will be tortured for this behavior,” Lokin said, shaking his head as we all went inside. He grabbed the keys, and we raced to the camp in our vehicle.
Half an hour later, I was in front of the general. It made me angry that I had to wait so long to see him, as every minute counted. But he had to be pulled from bed since the camp was not even awake yet except for the guards keeping watch.
“And you are sure of this?” he asked me as he walked back and forth in his office.
“Yes, absolutely sure.”
“Any reason to think that Keara was a spy? With the rebels all along?”
“Keara, a rebel? No, not at all. I think he is just a fool in love that believed the lies of a human female. She has him wrapped around her finger. She was obviously a virgin when she came to us; she was tested. She was in the camp. So if she is pregnant, it is with a child of one of ours. She just made up a lie to tell Keara, and he believed it. She did it in order to get her out of there. She is more cunning than I gave her credit for. But Keara is not a spy, or a rebel. Just an idiot,” I said.
“That is good to know. He is one of our best pilots. But he is not the first husband to run off with a human female after spending time with her in marriage,” the general said.
“No? I have not heard of this,” I said.
“Because it is a disgrace and we try to keep it secret. It does not happen often, but it happens. More often than not they don’t get far, and we find them. We send the husband around the earth to a different military installation, and we send the woman back to her husbands, only she will have one less husband than before. It is part of the flaws of this system, but it is necessary.”
“So what is to be done?” I asked.
“I am ordering patrols in every direction. We will find them. Go home. Look through everything of his and hers and see if you find anything and report to me.”
“But I want to go on patrol. I want to find them.”
“No. You will obey my orders. Do not worry. We will return your wife to your group. Now go.”
I was pissed. I wanted to go on patrol. I could not disobey an order. But deep down inside I knew. I knew by the look on her face that I would never see her again. Damn her.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Reena Okova
I was filled with anxiety as the boat came near the shore. Keara jumped out, holding on to the side. He pushed the boat up onto the sand. He was so strong. I admired him. He had kept true to his word. I no longer saw him as my enemy, but a good friend, just as he had said in the beginning. I trusted him. He was putting his life in danger for me.
The boat was out of the water completely as he dragged it up the sand. Then he held his hand out to me. I grabbed his hand and climbed out of the boat.
“Put your hands up in the air,” we heard a deep voice say.
We both stopped.
“What do we do?” I whispered to him.
“We do as they say. Slowly.”
We put our hands up in the air. Armed human men and a couple of Dains came out of the brush. I was completely relieved. The only reason human men would be alongside the Dains was because this was a rebel group.
“I am a human female. I am pregnant with a human child. This Dain helped me escape. He is my husband,” I said loudly with confidence.
“And how do we know you are not a spy?” a human man asked as they came toward us.
“How do we prove that we are not spies?” I said in return.
They came over to us, guns still pointed.
“Come forward,” they said.
We marched forward; they took us into the woods. We went past the tree line. Once we were there, they opened a large gate. We walked in. It was quiet because it was in the middle of the night. If there were more humans and aliens together, they were sleep.
“Who are you?” a human man said to us.
“My name is Reena Okova. I am a Chicago native. My husband, Richard Okova, was killed a little over two months ago. I was taken to the virgin camps and bid on by this Dain. When I told him my secret, he helped me get here.”
They looked at me confused. “You say you are pregnant with a human child?”
“Yes.”
“How did you pass the virgin test?”
“The blue medicine.”
They all looked at each other, and then they lowered their guns. For some reason that made them trust us.
“There are very few that have access to the blue medicine. We have only started to give it out in small quantities. Anyone that has come across it has come across one of our kind.”
“My husband gave it to me before he was taken from me in the war.”
“And you, Dain?” they asked looking at Keara.
“I am a pilot. Out of the City of Water. I was intruding like anyone else. Until I met this human female. She has my heart. I would do anything for her. I flew over this island a week ago. But I told no one. At that time, my sentiments were starting to change. At that time, I had already fallen in love with this human and had learned humans should not be killed. So I kept the information to myself. In fact, I have the scouts looking for the rebels in the south of the city, away from here. I made sure to tell them that I saw nothing but water out here. When this human told me she was pregnant with a human child, I had to get her out because one of the other husbands found out she is pregnant and was ready to have her tested. We had to leave. That is why we came here in search of sanctuary. I hope that you will accept us. I could be a great asset; I have a lot of information. This woman needs sanctuary. She carries a human, the future.”
They were all quiet. Then they finally said something.
“We will give you shelter for the night. But you will be under guard. We will decide in the morning.”
“We accept,” Keara said.
We were led under guard to a small cottage. It was just one room and a bathroom. We were locked inside. I hugged Kea
ra. “We made it. We found them. Everything is going to work out; I just know it. Thank you so much. Thank you for bringing me here. Thank you for believing in me,” I hugged him tightly.
“Anything for you, as I have said before. I am glad that we made it. You can relax; you are safe here. The fact that those humans were alongside Dains, we are in the right place. They will treat you right; they will treat your child right.”
I began to cry. They were tears of joy. I tilted my head up, and he leaned over and kissed me. Putting my arms around his neck, I pulled him closer to me, kissing him deeply. I felt an enormous amount of emotion for this Dain. he was everything. He was my rescuer, my hero, my lover, and my friend.
“Let’s get some rest. It has been a long night.”
We laid down on the bed; he spooned me, protecting me. I fell asleep fast. I felt extremely safe. Even though the rebels hadn't gone through the motions of accepting us in their words, I knew that they would. We were a human and a Dain that had shown up together. They could give me a pregnancy test if they wanted. They would see that I was pregnant with a human child.
The next morning, we were taken from our cottage and brought out to a clearing. I could see all around now. There were many houses, and a town square. This was an occupied island. It was possibly Mackinac Island or one near it.
“Reena!” I heard someone shout.
I looked around. I could not believe it. Hazel was running toward me. She hugged me.
“You know this woman?”
“Yes, we were in the camps together and then she was my neighbor. She is good. You can trust her,” Hazel said.
“Hazel. How did you… Where did you…” I started to ask.
“It is a long story,” she said.
Then a man and a Dain came forward.
“My name is Thomas, and this is Yeven. We are the leaders here, of sorts. You, Reena and Keara, are welcome here. But know that no one has sanctuary for free. We all work here. Everyone pulls their own weight. We have a lot to do, and there is a war going on.”
“I understand. I am ready to work; put me to use. I only ask that Reena being treated delicately in her condition,” Keara said stepping forward.
“She will be taken care of,” Thomas said. “We are glad that she is with human child. It is a rare thing nowadays.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“We will give you a home and the comforts. Hazel, I trust you will show them around,” Thomas said.
“Yes, of course.”
“Then, welcome, Reena and Keara, to rebel island.”
I smiled. I hugged Keara. “We made it. We are safe. We are truly safe.”
“I promised you that I would protect you. I keep that promise even now that we are here. I love you, Reena. I love you so,” he said to me.
I squeezed him tighter. He was right. He did keep his promise. Now I could have my pregnancy in peace out in the open. I did not have to pretend. Not having to pretend would relieve me of so much stress. This was what I needed. I felt a weight lift off of my shoulders. I felt lighter. I felt happier instantly. This was going to be a good environment for me and the baby. This was going to be good for Keara and me.
He looked down at me and wiped a tear from my cheek.
“Let’s see if we can get our supplies from the boat if they have not done that already. We need to get you fed and into fresh clothes,” he said.
“Yes, I would like that.”
He leaned down and kissed me on the lips. I opened my mouth a little, letting his tongue play with mine. We kissed deeply.
Finally, we pulled away. I looked around as the camp began to wake. I saw a few human females with Dains, holding hands or embracing. I realized that it was love that was causing these Dains to open their eyes. It was loving human females that was changing their mentality toward humans altogether, including male humans. I smiled at the thought.
I looked at Hazel.
“I will show you around,” she said. “I think they have a cottage picked out for you,” she said.
“Yes and I will also need to hear about how you got here,” I said as we followed her.
“I have the same request for you,” she said laughing.
We both had stories to tell, and one day they would be the stories that changed an alien race into an equal race.
Epilogue
Reena Okova
A year had passed living in the rebel stronghold, on the island. It had gone by so fast, and I realized that time seemed to go by quicker when you were happy and safe. It had seemed to drag on during the war days of the beginning of the apocalypse. It had seemed to drag on when I was living in the underground with Richard, my human husband. It seemed to go by quickly when I was hoping for more time when trying to hide my pregnancy. It seemed that time did not obey anyone, human or alien. But now, time seemed to be on my side.
We did not know how safe we were on the island and knew that the Dains could find us any day, but we made the most of it all. We had to. But time was flying by because I felt safe. It was flying by because I was growing life inside of me.
Then the day came. I gave birth to a human child. She was beautiful and perfect. She had dark black hair, just like her father, Richard. I was so happy.
I gave her the name Mary, an old name, very ancient. I thought it was a good name in order to show that the humans had been here a long time, way before we even knew that aliens existed. With the birth of my child came new purpose for me. She was my everything. I wanted to protect her, to nurture her. I wanted to make sure that she had a future and because she was a female, her future could be taken from her if she was ever captured and forced to be a wife to the Dains.
But seeing the Dains get along with the humans brought new faith and hope to me. Especially when Keara claimed Mary as his own, vowing to raise her alongside me.
“I will protect her with my life, just as I protect you,” he said to me the day that she was born. To which I responded:
“I love you, Keara. I am in love with you. You are everything to me.”
He looked at me with happiness on his face. He had been waiting a long time to hear those words for me. I actually really did mean them. I never thought I could fall in love with the enemy, but this man, this alien and man was my best friend, my lover, and my husband. I loved him deeply.
Now, we just had to get through this chaos together. None of knew how the future would unfold, but it was easier to know that everything would be alright as long as we were together. The rebel island was our sanctuary. There were only two hundred humans there, but slowly communication was happening between other rebel outposts around the world. Something was building, and it was going to change everything for the better. A world were the Dains and the humans could live together in harmony was a possibility, but there was a long journey ahead.
Nadia
I ran across the city. I ducked behind a ruined building, complete rubble. I could hear the aliens shouting behind me. They were fast, faster than I ever could be.
But I had to keep going. I had to find my way out of there. I didn't know where I could go. There were very few of us left. I had been on my own for several months, after my family was killed off by the Dains. We had been held up in a bunker on the outside edges of Chicago. But they eventually found us. We didn't stand a chance. When they invaded that section, we all ran for it. I got separated from them, and now I was running for my life.
“There! There she is!” I knew they were talking about me. I ran hard and fast.
“Do not shoot her. Do not harm her! She could be a virgin!” I could hear them shouting these words to each other. It was true. I was a virgin. I didn't know what was worse. For them to capture me and kill me, or to capture me and know that I was a virgin.
I kept running hard. I realized that I was running in the opposite direction of where I should be running. I was running deeper into the city, and I meant to be running towards the outskirts. Everyone knew that the center of the city was oc
cupied by the Dains. They had a big military installation there. We had seen their flight ships fly in and out of there. I needed to turn around.
I ran inside of a building, trying to hide. Maybe I could hide from them, and they would run past me. I found a heap of rubble and hid underneath it. I could hear my heart beating so loud, I thought that they would be able to hear it too. I put my hand over my mouth to stop my breathing so hard.
Then I heard the heavy steps of boots just outside the building. I didn't move. I froze in place. I closed my eyes shut tight.
“You, check in there. You go in that direction. Remember, do not harm her. We need the virgins alive!”
Damn it. They had stopped. Did one of them see me duck inside?
The sound of boots got louder. He was inside the building. I stayed motionless. Then the sound of the footsteps moved away. I allowed myself to relax just a little. He was going to go by me.
“There you are!”
I was suddenly hoisted up by the back of my shirt. My feet were not on the ground. I let out a loud scream. I was terrified. I looked into the face of one of these Dains for the first time since the war had begun. I had never been this close to one.
He just looked at me; I'm so he was confused by my reaction.
“I found her. She is a small one, but we will take her to testing,” he said into his radio.
Then he sent me on my feet and grabbed my arm, yanking me behind him.
“Let me go, you alien Beast! Don't touch me, you alien scum!”
He just laughed. “My name is not beast. My name is Vyder.”
“I don’t care! I hate you! Let me go!”
He just laughed again.
Then, he took me out of the building. We walked out onto the road. A large vehicle with a cage in the back of the vehicle drove up. I realized then the cage was full of humans, women. He opened the cage and pushed me up into it. Then he closed it and locked it.
“Take them to testing,” he said as he counted on the truck.