by S Alexander
“Thank you,” Veekhal says to the guard. We walk through this bright hallway full of blinking lights on the wall. We reach a small square-shaped enclosure with transparent walls. “Get inside. You need to clean and sanitize yourself with gamma rays before you can see the Queen.” Veekhal opens one side of the enclosure and prompts me to enter.
"I don't want to go in there," I tell him and take a step back. My facial muscles make my face grimace in uncontrollable ways. I stare at the beams of light going up and down. "You can't make me. I’m not getting in there.”
“I order you to get inside,” he says in a commanding voice. He grabs the back of my neck and pushes me inside the gamma rays chamber. I try to fight, pulling myself from his grip. He frowns and grabs me again, this time by my arms. “I told you to get inside.” I can’t fight back and let myself dragged into the chamber. I close my eyes and cover my face with my hands. I don’t want to look. I can’t. I drop to my knees and wait for my end. This is it. The rays will beam over me and I’ll drop dead. Gamma means radiations. In a blink of an eye, I hear a loud beep, and my body feels bathed in a sea of warmth. It only lasts for five seconds, then everything goes quiet. I don’t dare to open my eyes. Am I already dead? I stop breathing for a second and wait. No, I’m not dead. I open my eyes and see Veekhal through the glass walls. He’s waiting outside.
“You’re ready. Come out. Move,” he says as the door opens. I stand and go out as he leads the way. I’m walking right behind him. I’d like to run and hide somewhere. Maybe this is my last chance. But where? There are so many twisting corridors that I’m confused. “Hurry!” Veekhal says and turns his head to face me. He stops for an instant and then continues to walk. I stop. I must run. I turn the opposite direction and start running as fast as I can. My race is ended by an electric shock wave that makes my body shake uncontrollably. I fall to the ground and cannot move a muscle. I’m paralyzed.
“You pathetic human! You can’t run. There’s no escape,” he shouts. I’m on the floor, still unable to control my body. I’m trying to move, but I just can’t. My eyes look in all directions, my breaths short and fast-paced. What did I do to deserve this? I wish it all ended, right here, right now. “Just fucking kill me, you monster,” I yell as loud as I can.
“If it were my decision, you’d already be dead. But you’re precious and they need you alive.” He groans back and crouches to grab me. “You should be able to walk now. The paralysis should be gone by now.” He’s right. I’m getting control of my body and I can move my muscles and stretch my legs. I stand and almost fall down again as he pulls me after him.
“Slow down! I can’t walk this fast,” I tell Veekhal. “I’m not the one who ran away. Now, move,” he says.
We keep going and turn left and right through all these corridors. This place is like a maze. I couldn’t find my way back even if I wanted to. Two more corridors and we stop in front of a huge door, inscribed with hundreds of symbols. The shiny metal reflects my appearance. I gaze for an instant at myself. I’m a mess. My hair is tangled, my so-called robe ripped and dirty. “We’re here,” Veekhal says and releases my arm. “You must bow to the Queen. You hear me?”
“She’s your queen. She’s not my fucking queen,” I answer back. He gets near a small circle on the right side of the door and approaches his right eye. A beam of light emerges and scans his eye. “Commander Veekhal identity recognized. Permission to enter granted,” a robotic voice says and the door slides open. We enter a vast hall with a high ceiling and walls plastered with metal pieces of unfamiliar shapes and patterns. Right in front of us, a few feet in the air, seven aliens sit on what I’d describe chairs suspended in the air. Unreal. Six of them appear to be males. They’re much slender than Ka’el and Veekhal and all the aliens I’ve seen so far. Their face is also much more ridged than theirs. They’re wearing golden robes and their hair is white. In the middle of them, there’s a female. She must be their queen, the one Veekhal spoke about. She is wearing a long purple, flowing dress, embroidered with gold patterns. Her icy blue eyes fix their gaze on me, scanning me from head to toe. Her face does not have many ridges like the males beside her. She’s more muscular than a human female, but she looks beautiful.
Before I take another step, the seven chairs float to the ground. “Come closer,” the queen says, her voice echoing in the huge room.
“You heard the Queen,” Veekhal whispers in my ear. “Move closer.” I take one more step and then another, my eyes to the floor. I get closer to her, my gaze to the floor. I don’t dare to look at her. My heart beats so hard in my chest, drops of perspiration covering my face.
“Kneel for the Queen,” Veekhal groans and puts his hand on my shoulder, pushing my body down. I drop to my knees, my head bowed.
“She’s so thin, just like the other female,” the queen says. The other female… is she speaking of Emma? Oh, God! What have they done to her?
“Where is Emma? What did you do to her?” I look up and gaze at the queen. I don’t blink and fix her, my eyes frowning. I don’t care she’s the fucking queen. I stand and clench my hands, muscles tensing. “Where is she?” I shout and free myself from Veekhal’s grip.
“You silly creature! How dare you defy the Queen?” Veekhal grabs the back of my neck and forces me down on my knees again. “Let her be,” the queen orders him. Veekhal releases his grip and I stand again. The queen stands from her chair and approaches me. Her gaze is frosty and her face reveals no kindness or other emotion. “Your friend, and for that matter YOU, will carry the honor of saving our race… and you shall speak with respect,” she says. “The female you speak of has been examined by our doctors and they found your kind’s compatible for breeding with Valkryan males. You will both be subjects in the Breeding Program along with others. You will mate with Valkryan males every moon cycle until you are with offspring.”
“What? That will never happen. I’m not your fucking savior,” I say and step backward away from her.
“I said… speak with respect,” she groans and hits me with the back of her hand. The hit throws me to the scant breaths, my cheek burning. I take my hand to my cheek and curl up, tears running down my face. “Take her to the breeding facility. You WILL mate with our males. If you refuse, they’ll force you. For your own sake, I suggest submitting,” the queen says and returns to her chair. The tears continue to find their way down my cheeks, my stomach clenched. I only take scant breaths between sobs. The thought of being fucked by random aliens is sickening.
“Stand female,” Veekhal orders. “Let’s go!” I gather all my strength and stand on my feet. He comes closer, his hand extended for the usual grab of my arm. This time I duck away, kicking him hard between his legs. I run and all I can see is the exit. “You bitch,” he groans in a weird tonality. The next thing I know, the same shock wave hits me from behind, the tingles spreading throughout me. I drop restlessly on the floor, once again unable to move. My breath slows down and the voices behind me become weaker and weaker until I no longer hear them. My eyelids close and then everything is silent.
Chapter 9
Jessica
The sound of sobbing awakes me. I open my eyes just a little, but there’s nobody in sight. My heart hammers inside my chest. I’m afraid to move or stand. The last thing I remember was running for the exit.
“Jess, are you awake?” Emma speaks from somewhere behind me, her sobs making her words difficult to understand. It’s her. She’s not dead. I raise my body off the floor and turn my head. There she is, crouched in a corner of the room. She’s dressed in a white long dress, closely fitted around her body. I push myself up and go to her. “Emma, I’m so glad to see you,” I say and reach for her. I put my arms around her and hug her. My eyes fill with tears that run down my cheeks in a river.
“Jessica, you’re here… I… I thought I’d never see you again.” She hugs me back, her arms squeezing me tightly. “It’s a nightmare Jess… these aliens are monsters,” she says and wipes her tears away.
“I
know, Emma… I know.” I know they’re monsters. Then I remember. The memory strikes back. They want to breed us with their males to become pregnant with their offspring. It makes my stomach sick just thinking about it. “They’re fucking monsters!”
“They told me I’m gonna get fucked by them till I get pregnant. They have some kind of breeding program here and we’re subjects. There are other kidnapped females here. I’ve seen them. They put me through a lot of tests and… and tomorrow the breeding routine is scheduled to start.” Emma takes short quick breaths and almost gasps for air. She cries out loud, her faces buried in my arms. I caress her hair and feel my stomach clenching harder until it almost hurts.
“Yeah. They said the same thing to me. But how did you understand their language, Emma?” I ask and wipe her tears away. We both sit, our back leaning against the wall. There’s a blanket thrown on the floor in the other corner and nothing else. The walls of the room are white, except for the wall in front of us that’s transparent. There doesn’t seem to be a door or exit anywhere.
“Beats me. They connected me to a lot of machines and many times I passed out. Once, when I woke up, I could understand the motherfuckers.” Emma tells me and wipes her nose with her arm. “I don’t even have a napkin to wipe my nose.”
“And where were you, Jess?” She gazes at me with sunken eyes and dark circles around. Her hair looks messy, just like mine. At least she’s not all bruised like I am. “Ka’el took me to an abandoned Valkryan city where we hid for a while...until they found me.” How can I tell her I had sex with an alien and it felt like the best thing in the whole wide world? She’ll think I’m crazy or something. I wonder what he’s done. I wonder if all his words were even true. Maybe it was a trap for him to breed me. He did call me his MATE. I shake my head and feel my body tensing up. Yeah, probably just like all the other guys in my life who fed me lies to get between my legs.
“Ka’el? Who the hell is he?” Emma raises her eyebrows and shrugs her shoulders. Her eyes become larger as she expects me to answer.
“He’s the one who saved me when the other two males got you.” I lower my gaze and stare at my bruised legs showing through my shredded robe. A deep sigh escapes my mouth. “I’m sorry Emma...I should have stayed with you and… I’m sorry for dragging you into this mess.” I rest my head on my knees and wrap my arms around them.
“Don’t beat yourself up, Jessica. How could you have known?” Emma says and puts her hand on my shoulder. “It’s just… I don’t know… a fucking nightmare!”
I can’t give up. I owe it to her to get us both out of this mess. A million thoughts run through my mind. I don’t even know what to do. “It’ll be fine. It always is.” I try to be supportive and be there for her, even if I’m just as scared as she is. One thing is to fuck an alien because you wanted to and quite a different one to be fucked for breeding purposes. Is it even possible? Become pregnant with an alien? The thought gives me shivers down my spine and I refuse to think about it anymore.
“It’s not gonna be fine, Jess. It’s tomorrow. Tomorrow they mate us...oh God,” she says, her lips trembling as she pronounces the words. I must agree. It’s not a pleasant thing to expect.
Our conversation is interrupted by the sound of footsteps outside the cell walls. My heart races like a rocket and I take deep, lengthy breaths. I can sense my ears burning and I bet they’re crimson red. “They’re coming,” Emma says and squeezes my hand, the pressure almost causing a slight pain on my already hurt skin. She’s right. Someone’s coming and I truly hope it’s not coming to fuck us. That is supposed to happen tomorrow according to Emma. We don’t speak another word and wait like a pig awaiting its imminent death. An alien male makes himself seen behind the glass wall in front. A sway of his hand and the wall slides open. He enters, the shadow of his huge posture reaching us.
“Here’s your food. Eat this. Soon you will start the MATING. You need strength. We, Valkryan males, like to last for a long time before planting our seed,” he says with a smirk on his face and a pathetic grin. He throws two plates on the floor with some food and a bottle of water. “Now eat females.” His tone is more commanding this time and the pitch higher. He turns around and exits the room, the wall sliding back behind him. I breathe, relieved. At least for the moment.
“Let’s grab something to eat. It may not be much, but it’s food.” I reach for one plate and bring it closer. It’s the same jello-like stuff, but I’ve got used to the texture. It was weird when I first tasted it, but it’s ok now. I grab a piece of food and shove it in my mouth. I don’t need manners here. I’m in a God damn cell, awaiting my imminent mating. It may sound like a stupid joke, but it’s become a reality for us human females. We’re nothing more than wombs for them to plant their seed. Gross!
“Yeah, I guess you’re right Jess. I was kinda hungry,” Emma says and reaches for the other plate. She looks pale and her sunken eyes enclosed by big dark circles reveal she has eaten little lately. We both stuff food in our mouths like it’s our last meal. And it may as well be. Shoving food down my mouth takes my mind away from what is about to happen. “I’m full,” Emma says resting her body on the floor.
“I could take a few more bites,” I tell her and take another piece of the food. “It’s delicious, really. I can’t stop eating.” Leaving aside the texture, the taste is divine.
“I’m so tired,” she says. Emma curls up, her knees to her chest, and closes her eyes. She covers her body with the only blanket in the cell. She must be exhausted.
“Get some rest, Emma. I’ll stay awake and watch,” I say. I’m exhausted too and all I’d like right now is to sleep. But I can’t. I can’t fall asleep and be taken by surprise. I sit next to her, my back against the wall. I fix my gaze on the glass wall in front of me. I rub my arms with my hands, trying to warm myself. I guess Ka’el’s healing touch is wearing off and I’m feeling colder and colder with each passing moment. There’s so much silence in here, except for Emma’s snoring. It brings a smile to face and for a second I thought we were out camping as we used to when we were in college. I try my best not to fall asleep but my eyelids become heavy and I struggle to keep my eyes open. I look at Emma and she hasn’t even changed her position. I guess she feels safe now that I’m watching. I turn my gaze back to the wall and my semi-conscious state is brought to total awareness by the sound of steps and speech. My heart races like crazy and my head shakes in terror. Are they coming?
“Emma, someone’s coming. Wake up!” I put my hand on her arm and shake it for a bit. She needs to wake up.
“What is it, mom? Leave me alone,” she mumbles in her sleep.
“God damn it, Emma… wake up,” I say and shake her arm harder. She opens her eyes wide and looks at me with those big eyes of her. “They’re coming... no, I don’t want to. Jess, I can’t.”
“Shh,” I whisper.“
The glass wall opens, and the same alien male who brought our food stands in the entrance. “You, female, come with me!”
“ME? No, no... Leave me alone,” Emma cries, her head shaking in despair.
“Shut up, stupid. I’m speaking to the redhead.”
“What for?” I ask the huge male in front of me in a grave voice. I put my chest out and my shoulders back and stand near him. “You can’t make me do anything,” I tell him, my head close to his face. I can feel his heavy breath on my skin, my gaze watching the engorged veins on his temples. Emma is right behind me, hiding in a corner, all crouched. “Get away from him,” she cries at me. “He’s gonna hurt you!”
“How dare you speak to me like this?” The alien puts his hand on my chest and pushes me back. I almost fall, but I manage to keep my balance.
“What will you do to me? Kill me? Do it! Come on you coward, just fucking kill me!” I shout at him, my hands in the air pointing to my heart. The alien remains in the same position, his face showing his rising anger. He clenches his fists and fixes me with his gaze, his eyes narrowed.
“Behave yourself
human,” he commands. “I could kill you in a blink of an eye, so don’t tempt me.”
I keep my stance and look him in the eyes. I don’t move a muscle, but I’m dying inside. His massive build towers over me like a skyscraper back on Earth. He comes closer and reaches for my arm. What is it with these aliens and my arms? I’m all bruised from all the grabbing. I try to fight his grip and free myself, but he’s too strong. Emma is horrified. She doesn’t even blink. Her wide-open eyes stare emptily as the alien drags me out of the cell. I scream and fight with all my force to free myself, but he’s way too strong and I fall. The male doesn’t stop and keeps dragging my body. “You’re hurting me,” I cry to him. “Stop it! Stop!”
Chapter 10
Ka’el
“Prepare for landing,” I instruct the autopilot. “Landing procedure initiated.” The ship lands on the docking area, close to the Council building. Anil'ha is beside me, his gaze watching my every movement. He's been silent all the way to Hellion. I power off the ship and exit. Anil'ha follows me without speaking a word. My blood races through my veins like it's on fire, my heart drumming against my chest bone. I speed to the main entrance of the Council building and put my eye close to the scanner. The device recognizes my identity and the door opens. I storm inside the building, my path blocked by the two guards.
“Stop right there, General Ka’el!” The guard says and puts his hand on my chest, pushing me back. I grab his wrist and push his hand away from my body. “Don’t touch me,” I groan. “Step aside!” The guard holds his stance and tries to block me again.
“I am your general and I order you to move aside,” I say. My blood boils in my veins and my head is about to explode. Anil’ha is beside me in a fighting stance. He reaches for his weapon and awaits my order.
“You can’t get inside general… Queen’s orders.” The guard on my right says and searches for the cuffing device. “Please, surrender!”