Alien Sleeping Beauty

by Zara Zenia

“Am I just going to have to stand here forever?” I yelled, looking to the beast for answers.

  It opened its wide mouth and another round of fire was spewed into the air around me. It was clear to me now that the dragon wasn’t going to kill me unless it got orders to do so. Otherwise, I would already be a crispy corpse of burning flesh on the ground by now.

  I was at an impasse with the dragon, a checkmate. We were both waiting on each other to make the first move. It took a step in my direction. Its giant feet made indentations into the grass.

  I instinctively took a step back, stumbling over my own ankles but able to recover myself before tripping and falling to the ground below.

  “I don’t know what you want,” I screamed in frustration.

  The dragon growled and barred its gangly teeth again. Its breath was rancid. I wrinkled my nose and covered my mouth, retching. I reeled back. The dragon was backing me into a corner of the same very hedge that I had tried to climb a few minutes before.

  My back pressed into the sharp edges of the thorny hedge. I felt it scratching at my back, but I had nowhere to run, nowhere to go. I grimaced as I tried to burrow myself further into the hedge. Perhaps if I disappeared beneath it altogether the dragon would grow bored and give up…

  Of course, I didn’t actually think that was a practical solution to explore in this situation. Especially because I saw the lining of a smooth, gray concrete wall under the cracks in the hedges. There was no way out, no viable escape path that I could see at the moment.

  I did my best not to panic. I had to figure out a plan, but it was extremely difficult to brainstorm a flee route when there was a dragon towering over me with a leer of animosity.

  I had to make a break for it if I wanted to survive. I knew that this dragon probably had rules, but at what point would it toss those reservations to the wind? There was only so much a person could do to control a wild animal like a dragon. It wouldn’t remain bound by mental chains forever.

  Sooner or later, it would give in to its primal urges, its instincts to either tear me apart from limb to limb with those pointy teeth or set fire to me in one fluid motion.

  It looked hungry for destruction. Its round belly looked like it didn’t often miss a meal, but I was prime meat for the taking. The dragon wouldn’t be able to resist the temptation to eat me alive.

  “Pull yourself together, Ariana.” I gritted my teeth and attempted to give myself a pep talk. I needed a surge of adrenaline to propel me forward and launch me into full gear survival mode.

  I wasn’t going to die in this weird world. I had no idea where I actually was, but if Jinurak wasn’t here, I didn’t want to stick around. I still wasn’t sure whether he sent Queen Nora and the wicked dragon to do his bidding, but the damage to my psyche had already been done.

  I started to cry again.

  “You never should have trusted a man,” I told myself. “How could you be so…so stupid, Ariana. Did you really think that there would be someone out there who cared enough about you to make a difference and make you feel safe?” Why was I so incredibly gullible to think that a man from a different planet would sweep me off my feet and be the Prince Charming I had always wanted?

  But was that what I wanted in the first place? I still wasn’t sure. I had been independent for so long. I had grown accustomed to living on my own and fending for myself out there. I didn’t need anyone to take care of me. I was strong and resilient.

  I drew in a sharp breath and glanced at the clear, cobalt sky. Now wasn’t the time to do self-examination on myself or my mistakes. I had a dragon to evade. I had to outsmart it someway.

  Maybe if I distracted it, I could run the other way. From all the stories I’d read, Dragons weren’t necessarily brilliant, but they weren’t stupid either.

  I burrowed myself further into the hedge, wincing in pain as the scratchy spikes on the tips of the leaves began to dig into my skin. I bit my tongue to keep myself from shouting out in pain.

  The dragon was frustrated. It huffed. It shifted its weight impatiently. It roared. The heat from its fire licked at the hedges and then dissipated.

  I had almost completely concealed my body into the hedge. I could barely breath. It was a tight squeeze. I had to stand on my tip toes to fit. Now what? I couldn’t skirt down the perimeter of the castle grounds like this. I wouldn’t get anywhere except severely injured.

  I glanced at the ground, scanning the area in the hopes that maybe I would be able to scope out a rock or a pebble or something. Maybe if I could find something to throw into the air, it would distract the dragon and I could run away.

  It was the only shot I had. I didn’t have any other ideas. I was drawing a blank. I knew that I would never be able to outrun the dragon. It would just fly up into the sky and rain down its terror of fire upon me.

  My throat felt tight and swollen as panic began to seep into my veins.

  No. I shook my head. You can’t give up. You can’t let your fright immobilize you. You can’t be paralyzed by the fear.

  Then, miraculously, I saw a stone. It was on the ground beneath my feet. I had maneuvered down the hedge a few inches and the stone was right in front of me as if beckoning for my attention.

  I couldn’t lean down and pick it up without leaving the hedge, and the dragon would certainly find me if I pushed myself out.

  I tried to pick it up with my shoe. I placed one foot over the rock and pushed it up onto the tip of my shoe. If I could just find a way to toss it…

  With a grunt, I kept the stone on the tip of my shoe while I attempted to flick the stone as far as I could.

  One…

  Two…

  Three!

  I kicked my leg as hard as I could through the bush. My plan worked. The stone went rocketing through the air. The dragon flicked its neck in response and began trudging in the direction that I had flipped the stone.

  I took a deep breath and knew that it was going to be painful to exit the hedge, but now was my only shot. I jumped out of the hedge and began running back in the direction of the castle. I had no specific direction, I was just aiming to get out of the dragon’s line of sight.

  As I was running away in a narrowly missed escape launch, a blur of shapes and clusters whirled in front of my vision. I screamed and halted in my tracks, skidding to a grinding halt in the grass.

  The shapes were tiny and delicate, almost like little fairies fluttering through the air. What was happening? What universe was I in right now? The dashing twinkling lights were a trio of blue, pink and gold in front of my face.

  Then out of nowhere, they buzzed past me and began encircling the dragon. I stared at them blankly. They were fairies. They were tiny, yes, but they had arms, legs and a full body. They were making tinkling little noises as they floated and fluttered up and around the dragon.

  The dragon snapped its jaw and flapped its wings, spraying green flames as it attempted to capture the evasive, darting little firefly fairies.

  Wait a minute. Are they here to help me? Were they distraction I had been praying for? I couldn’t waste an opportunity to dodge the dragon creature. I took off running again, ducking behind the castle.

  I peeked around the corner and watched as the fairies seemingly took delight in further frustrating the mighty beast, giggling and making little cackling noises as they swirled around the dragon’s head and face.

  I hoped that they wouldn’t get killed in the meantime. All I could do was gawk at them and the situation as a whole because it was so surreal to witness these strange creatures all around me.

  I began jogging further away, mentally thanking the little fireflies for coming to my rescue. I had caught a break, but I needed to stay alert and keep my wits about me. In this odd little world, anything could happen. I had to be prepared for anything. If I wasn’t spry and on top of my game, then I was destined for destruction.

  I would thank my lucky stars for now about this little distraction, but I had to figure out a more defined and permane
nt solution to my problem with the dragon.

  I leaned against the stone wall on the side of the castle, catching my breath. The stone was cool against the scratches on my back. I was panting hard. I had escaped by the skin of my teeth. If it hadn’t been for the trio of fairies, I probably wouldn’t have made it out of that hedge alive.

  What had I been thinking? Jinurak and Nora were clearly nowhere around to hinder the dragon’s actions, so what did it have to lose, really, by killing me?

  I had to remain hidden, shrouding myself somehow in the shadows. If the dragon saw me again, it might be the last thing I saw before I died. I trembled in dread at the thought. I needed help. I needed to talk to the fairies. Maybe they could enlighten me on what the hell was going on here. In the meantime, I would stay on the side of the castle under this awning where I knew I was safe for now and under the radar of the wicked dragon’s boisterous rage.

  Chapter 7

  Jinurak

  I sat with David Yadav in his office headquarters in New York City, New York. I had flown in overnight in order to obtain the full briefing from him on the information he had gathered in Ariana’s case. David was going explain to me about how the electronic engineer Nora Morse came into play when it came to Ariana’s befuddling disappearance.

  I glanced around the moderately sized office space that David used, overlooking the Hudson River and a remarkable amount of buildings stacked together and stretching out as far as the eye could see. It was like a horizon of concrete, brick and windows surrounding us from everywhere.

  Yadav gave me a smile as he sat on the other side of his desk. He interlocked his fingers together and leaned back in his office chair. His eyes twinkled and his lips curled into a relatively humored, yet lighthearted smirk.

  “You aren’t used to the city?”

  “Not one of this size.” I sighed and continued to look out the window, wondering if Ariana was somewhere out there fighting for survival. The thought made my stomach quiver.

  “It’s a far cry from Norna,” Yadav said.

  I chuckled and shifted my weight. “One might say that.”

  “You’re worried.”

  Now, Yadav’s eyes were narrowed in concentration as he studied me.

  I licked my lips and briefly flickered my eyes in his direction. I didn’t know what to say. David had hit it right on the mark. I had fallen hard for Ariana, although I didn’t want to admit that verbally to David in his office.

  I might have been feeling somewhat hostile toward her captor as well, ready to avenge Ariana’s kidnapping and bring her to justice.

  “I don’t understand how a person could simply just…” I waved my hand in the air, “go…missing from a plane.”

  “Whoever is behind this crime certainly knew exactly what they were doing,” David said.

  “That much is certain.” I nodded.

  “They planned this abduction to a tee. They must have spent weeks putting it into action before it actually happened.”

  I gave David a blank stare. “You aren’t exactly lifting my spirits here, Yadav.”

  “My apologies.”

  David’s expression was all business now as he cleared his throat and pushed the rim of his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. He had taken a professional shift in demeanor.

  “What do you have for me?” I asked, wanting to cut right to the point.

  I wanted to be proactive in this investigation. Every second counted when it came to finding Ariana. I didn’t want any window of opportunity to slip through my fingers on finding her alive.

  My insides buzzed and tingled with nervous energy. My stomach churned anxiously. Yadav’s assistant had offered me a cup of tea when I walked in earlier which I had to politely decline. I couldn’t eat or drink until I heard some satisfying news about Ariana and her whereabouts.

  The screen of David’s multiple computers glowed in a blue reflection off his glasses as he sternly stared at the wealth of information that he had pulled up in regard to the case.

  “Do you want to come around to this side so you can see?” he offered.

  “Of course.”

  I walked around to his side of the desk and stood over him, leaning over so I could study his findings. My heart thundered like a storm inside my chest. My pulse raced through my ears, swooshing loudly.

  I wiped my clammy palms on my pants. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to handle something terrible happening to Ariana. At this point in the investigation, any lead about her being alive was going to substantially improve my mental state of comfort.

  “I first want to dive into the mind of Nora Morse,” Yadav said.

  “Alright.” I nodded and waited for him to elaborate.

  “The best way to go at these researches is to get into the mind of the abductor,” David continued.

  “It makes sense.” I folded my arms across my chest and looked at the computer screen.

  David had a picture of Nora Morse pulled up on the screen. “I’ve seen her before, but we have never formally met. I know that she gave my brother a difficult time with the genetic scanner and altering its reliability, and that she tried to kill Lortnam and Kelly.”

  “That is just a drop in the bucket for the shenanigans that Ms. Morse here has been involved in.” David pointed to her face.

  To look at her, one might not necessarily suspect she could be the prime suspect in such a heinous crime in kidnapping another person against their will.

  She certainly didn’t seem threatening on the surface. She was smiling in the picture, showing off a row of perfectly white, straight teeth. Her hair was cut into a trendy blonde bob that accentuated her striking features and piercing eyes.

  “She looks like a fashion model, not an electronic engineer,” I mentioned.

  David cackled sardonically. “She’s far from a fashion model. She’s a devious con artist on a ploy to destroy the world.”

  I frowned. “What observations have you discovered to put her at the top of your list?”

  “It’s simple really.” David leaned back in his chair again and glanced at the ceiling reflectively.

  Everything in his office was modern. He had technology on just about every surface area in the room. Tablets, computers, laptops, devices that I couldn’t even identify made up the room.

  He was a genius, yes, and I trusted him exuberantly. I just wanted to get to the bottom of Ariana’s disappearance which meant that I had to be floating in both a skeptical and an accommodating frame of mind.

  David stood up. He was lanky in form and relatively tall, almost my height. He was a prodigy. It was important that I step back and let him do his job. His mind worked in an intricate way and I didn’t want to interrupt his train of thought.

  David walked over to the window and stared down at the massive city down below. He glanced over his shoulder and looked at me.

  “It’s almost serene.”

  “What?” I stared at him.

  “The city. The noise here is almost tranquil. It’s a paradox. Wouldn’t you agree It’s like white noise?”

  I shook my head, feeling suddenly muddled and confused. “What are you talking about, Yadav?”

  “Sometimes you have to strip the layers on the surface in order to get to the soft insides,” David said somewhat cryptically.

  “I’m sorry.” I chuckled politely. “I’m still not following.”

  David had his back turned away from me. “Nora Morse is coy. She’s brilliant. She’s one step ahead of us. We have to expose her weakness and use it against her.”

  Now Yadav was talking my language. “I concur with that statement wholeheartedly.”

  Yadav glanced at me, but it was almost as if he didn’t really see me. It was more like he was…looking through me. Savants were like that though. He had talent for techy stuff, not social interaction. Funny that he was an on the ground in the action kind of guy too.

  That’s where I came in.

  “How do you suppose we go abou
t doing that?” I crossed my legs and leaned in to scrutinize his behavior.

  “There’s a psychological algorithm,” Yadav said. “Where you initially appease people to earn their trust.”

  “Are you saying that we should enlist Nora to help us under the trick that we would really be carefully observing her behavior and finding out information on what she’s been doing lately? Almost like a sting operation?”

  Yadav wrinkled his forehead as he pondered. “That is certainly one avenue we can consider…”

  “I know that she had Lortnam’s new bride working for her at one point,” I mentioned. “Kelly. She was the private investigator Nora originally hired to gather evidence about Lortnam and my family.”

  Yadav nodded and managed a dark smile. “I remember how she became involved.”

  “Maybe we could enlist her to help us?”

  Yadav gave me a cynical look. “ Nora tried to murder her and your brother. Do you really think they want involved in this? No, I think it would be best they stay out of it as much as possible.”

  I leaned back in my chair feeling the disruption of disappointment fill me. “I suppose you’re right.”

  Yadav placed his hands in his pockets and approached his desk once again.

  “I wanted to discuss Nora’s current line of research with you.”

  “Okay.” He had my attention.

  “Nora Morse, who you see here,” he pointed at her smiling, bright and cheery face in the picture again, “has a talent for digging up even the most subtle flaws and using them against a person.”

  “So, we should do the same to her, right?” I stared expectantly at Yadav.

  “Correct.” He gave me an affirmed nod. “But we have to be careful. Nora is not stupid. She will pick up on our plan. We can’t give her any encouragement, especially in the beginning. It is important that we try to remain diligently under her radar.”

  “I’ll do anything to guarantee the security of Ariana,” I said, giving Yadav what I hoped would be a determined expression.

  “Nora is a thirty year old woman who has spent most of her adult life in loneliness and feeling isolated, regardless of her academic successes,” Yadav said.