by A. G. Wilde
“Take her to the terrarium.”
Athena’s eyes flew to the devil just in time to see him nod.
Terrarium?
2
As the Isclit exited the cell, Athena noticed that the door seemed to shift and let the creature through before settling back into place with no evident indication a door was there. It looked like all bars. She was surprised she didn’t notice that before.
If she was going to get out of this place, she needed to pay more attention to the little things. She’d have to keep a keen eye on everything that occurred around her.
The sound of the chains had her swiveling her head to stare at the devil. He was releasing her ankles and the chains dropped to the floor with a clank.
Athena pulled her legs up towards herself and scuttled away from him, eyeing him as he stepped towards her.
“Stay away,” she warned, but the devil didn’t stop moving.
“I said, stay away!” Her back was against the wall now and there was nowhere to go. Glancing quickly around the cell, she searched for a weapon and her eyes landed on the discarded chains on the floor.
Could she reach them in time?
If she could get to them, maybe she could use them as a weapon to defend herself.
The devil snorted as he realized what she was looking at.
“Don’t even think about it,” he said, as he came to stand over her.
Sneering at him, Athena narrowed her eyes.
The devil leaned forwards and Athena’s breath caught in her throat as he came close.
He was much bigger than she’d initially realized. He practically dwarfed her.
And he was...handsome? With his face so close, she could see that he had a chiseled face with a strong jaw, a flattened nose that had a large gold ring piercing through his nostrils, and deep green eyes that were staring straight back at her.
“Be still,” he said, and Athena found she couldn’t move.
The devil reached behind her neck and, in the next moment, she felt him move her golden hair out of the way and the metal tube that was attached to her neck was taken off.
“The Supplicator has been detached,” he said, easing away.
She assumed he was speaking about the metal tube and she reached her hand to touch the back of her neck, expecting a gaping hole to be there.
Instead, there was nothing. No wound. No holes. Nothing.
It was as if the metal tube hadn’t been attached to her at all.
For a second, she almost forgot the devil was standing there, till he reached for her and she jumped and scrambled across the cell.
He paused, his green eyes tracking her every movement.
The thought that she was naked and alone in God-knows-where didn’t help the fact that she had this...beast...watching her like she was his prey and he a hunter. However, instead of pulling out some remote from his nether regions, he just narrowed his eyes as he watched her move.
He was different from the Isclit, she noticed. Not so intent on making her feel pain as the slug was.
“We must move. There isn’t much time,” he said.
“Where are you taking me?”
“To the terrarium where you will be placed for viewing,” he answered, as he reached for his weapon. The metal on the edge of the spear looked sharp and she wondered if he was going to use it against her to make her follow his orders.
But instead of what she expected, he held the spear at his side.
“It would be best if you do as I say. The Isclit will return and I am not in the mood for pain because of your stubbornness,” he stepped toward her, moving so fast she didn’t have time to run.
Her brain went on autopilot and she grabbed for the chains, swinging them in his direction.
The chains hit his chest, without so much as leaving a mark, before falling to the floor.
Holding firmly onto her arm, he jerked her towards him and a soft yelp escaped her lips.
The sound seemed to catch him off guard and his brows furrowed.
“Come,” he seemed to gather himself quickly and he was pulling her toward the cell door. “Do not resist. Resisting brings pain, and,” he paused, his green eyes roving over her nakedness, “your species doesn’t look like it can handle much pain.”
She was about to protest when the cell door opened and the devil pulled her into a long brightly lit hallway with what looked like cells lining the entire length of it on either side.
“Dammit,” Athena cursed underneath her breath. She hadn’t seen how he’d opened the cell. She’d have to pay better attention next time.
It was strange the light was so bright in the hallway yet none of the brightness seeped into the cells. No sounds came from the cells either, yet, as the devil pulled her along, she could see the outlines of various aliens with Isclits in the cells, along with soldiers, which she assumed the devil was.
Glancing up at him now in the bright light, her eyes widened a little as she was able to see him clearly.
He had a soft sort of brown fuzz that seemed to cover his entire body and she hadn’t been mistaken when she’d realized he was handsome.
It was weird.
He was definitely not a man, definitely not human, but he was obviously male, a powerful one, and something about his face made him attractive.
But the ring in his nose and the horns protruding from his head reminded her of a bull.
Was that what he was? A bull-man?
And she thought he was handsome?
If she got out of this, she would have to seriously reconsider her taste in men...that, and she’d probably never be able to eat beef ever again.
He was holding onto her arm harshly and Athena glared up at him as she tried to yank her arm away, elbowing him in the side in the process. The devil glanced down at her and she saw that amused look cross his face again, as if her attempts were futile.
He did call her frail before. Well, she’d show him. She was stronger than she looked.
“Be still, or I will have to restrain you.” He glanced down at her. “You do not want that.”
Athena’s brows furrowed slightly as the implication of his words sunk into her. Restrained? He was supposed to restrain her but he hadn’t. Why not?
Before she could mull it over, another guard rounded the corner and Athena gasped. It was tall with a long snout with jagged teeth protruding over the edges—teeth she was sure were used for ripping its prey to pieces. Its skin was hard and leathery and it had a long tail that whipped behind it.
As it caught her gaze, its yellow eyes locked on her and it dipped its head towards her and snarled, causing Athena to jump back in fright.
The beast threw its head back and laughed before continuing on its way.
Behind it, a heavy chain around its neck, was what looked like a human male. The man looked to be in his fifties and he was stark naked as she was.
“Move!” The beast snarled again, pulling hard on the chain, causing the man to stumble. With a roar, the beast brandished a whip and with a crack, the whip landed on the man’s back.
Athena winced as the man cried out in pain.
“Stand!” The beast ordered and the man got shakily to his feet, the chain around his neck pulling him forward as the beast continued on its way.
Athena’s eyes widened as she looked up at the devil.
Was that what he’d meant by restraining her?
“I assume that is the male of your species,” the devil murmured, as he continued walking. Her legs complied on their own, as Athena found she had suddenly gone weak in the knees.
What was this place?
Where the hell was she?
“Feeble, just like the females,” the devil continued.
Athena ignored him, instead opting to ask a question of her own. If he was in the mood for speaking, maybe she could get some information to help her when she finally got a chance to escape.
“Where are they taking him? Is he going to a terrarium?”
&nbs
p; “No,” the devil answered. “The males of the species are often disposed of, if they are not used for mating.”
“Disposed of?”
“Killed. Their bodies ground to make bites.”
Whatever was left in her stomach from her last meal threatened to rise to her throat.
Just then, another guard walked past them. Behind him, another older man on a chain was being yanked along. On his back were deep welts where a whip must have landed.
Athena gulped, her eyes darting to the large hand that was grasping her arm.
Why hadn’t he restrained her?
Just then, they stopped walking and Athena realized they were standing in front of a large wall.
In the next second, a door appeared on the flat surface and they were let into a large dim room. Athena frowned. She still hadn’t managed to see how he’d opened the door. Where were these hidden doors and how was he managing to open them?
In the center of the room was a brightly lit area surrounded by glass. From what she could see, it looked as if there was a forest behind the glass.
“You.” The voice came out of nowhere and made her jump. Turning her head to the side, she noticed a light-blue ring coming towards them through the darkness. On top of it was an Isclit and the immediate memory of the pain she’d felt in the cell came flooding back.
“Why is this. Human. Not restrained?”
“The human is compliant,” the devil said.
Athena glanced up at the devil, but he was not looking at her. Compliant? After she’d seen a man getting whipped for just stumbling, she was surprised he hadn’t done the same to her for throwing the chain at him and trying to yank her arm away as he’d carried her through the hall.
What was he up to?
“Good.” The Isclit said, moving the hovercraft over to her. “Put it in. The terrarium. For viewing.”
As the devil pulled her toward the brightly lit forest, she realized it must be a different Isclit. This one had green fluorescent spots on its back. The other had purple. Unless the colors changed, this was not the same creature. Briefly, Athena wondered if the Isclits ran the place. How many were they?
So far, she’d only seen the cells, the hallway, and now this room. But, judging from the size of the room, the compound was rather large. She doubted this was all there was to it.
They approached the glass surrounding the forest and, just as with the wall, a door appeared out of nowhere in the side of the glass.
The next thing she knew, the devil gently pushed her forward and into the forest, just beyond the doorway.
It was sunny and Athena looked up, mildly confused. They were inside a building, weren’t they? Where was the sun coming from? Unless the top of the building was open?
She filed that in the back of her mind under ‘means of possible escape.’
“Try to follow their orders,” the voice of the devil caught her ear and she spun to face him.
“Whose orders? And why are you telling me this?”
“You will see.” He ignored her other question and turned to walk away.
“Wait.” She reached her hand out towards him, then caught herself. For some reason, she didn’t want him to leave. There was something about him that made her...less scared. Athena gulped as he paused.
“I’m Athena. What is your name?” This was not the place for introductions and she was sure he would just storm off and leave without answering. If someone had told her she’d be introducing herself to a man-bull-devil alien in any lifetime, she’d have given them extra pills from the dispensary because they were obviously in need of it. But here she was. Heart beating hard. Naked as the day she was born. Standing at the edge of a forest that held God knew what. And the only thing she could think of doing was to grasp at the one straw that seemed like the lesser of the evils she’d met so far.
The devil turned and looked at her, his green orbs locking with hers.
“My name,” he said, “is Xul.”
3
Turning around to face the forest, Athena wrapped her arms around herself.
She’d been to the Amazon once, and the forest looked exactly like the one in front of her. For a moment, she wondered if that was where they were.
Was this some secret alien facility in the middle of the Amazon somewhere?
It was possible.
The Amazon was large, secluded...and dangerous.
Athena kept her ears open and her eyes sharp as she looked ahead. Only a madwoman would willingly enter a forest on her own—a forest where there could be snakes, spiders, and a host of other creatures.
Not to mention, she was naked.
The sun shining in was making the forest warm and there was a slight breeze, but she couldn’t see the sky. Looking outside the glass, the room was still dark.
She couldn’t see the Isclit or Xul. It seemed as if she was alone.
Just then, a sound to her right caught her attention. The bushes rustled and there was an ear-splitting scream.
Athena’s heart rose in her chest as the rustling approached and she glanced around for anything she could use as a weapon. The only thing she saw was a rock close by. Grabbing it, she raised it to hit whatever was approaching when a red-haired woman, naked as she was, shot out of the bushes at a mad run.
“Run!” The woman screamed at Athena as she dashed past.
Athena only had a second to think before she heard the growl of something big. She didn’t need more motivation than that. Taking off after the woman, her legs pumped underneath her as she followed the woman’s path. She could hardly see ahead of her with all the bushes in the way. Glimpses of the woman’s red hair were the only thing telling her she was running in the right direction.
She heard the growl again and, this time, it was close.
Shit.
What the hell was it now?
Her heart felt like it was going to fall out of her chest as her lungs burned with the pressure of her overexertion. When she felt like she was about to collapse, another growl made her forget all about her body about to fall apart.
She heard the woman ahead scream “Run!” again and she figured she was talking to her. Dammit, she was running; she was running as fast as she could. But in the next second, she realized the warning hadn’t been meant for her as she saw another woman curled up in the leaves ahead. She was crying, tears and what looked like mascara running down her cheeks.
“Run!” Athena screamed. She didn’t know what they were running from and she didn’t want to wait to find out. But the woman crying ahead just burst into fresh tears.
“Get up and run!” Athena screamed as she reached the woman, grabbing the woman’s hand as she tried to pull her up. But the lady wouldn’t budge.
Another growl, and this time it was really close.
“Shit! Get up!”
“I-I can’t.” The woman trembled. “I just want to go home.” She was looking at Athena as if she wasn’t really seeing her.
“Then run!” Athena screamed.
The woman looked back at her helplessly.
“Come on! Leave her, or you will be meat!” It was the red-head. She’d paused ahead and was staring at them wide-eyed, her chest heaving.
With tears in her eyes, Athena dropped the woman’s hand and began running again.
She’d thought she was in hell, but this seemed even worse than hell.
At least, in hell, you knew what to expect. Hellfire, eternal damnation...and, possibly, even a devil that was green-eyed and surprisingly handsome.
But here, you didn’t know what to freakin’ expect.
The woman’s scream was all she heard next then came the unmistakable sound of bones being crushed.
She could hardly see for the tears that were in her eyes when an arm came out of nowhere and pulled her into the bushes. A hand covered her mouth, stifling her scream and Athena found herself looking into the redhead's sapphire eyes.
“Shh...” The red-head whispered.
Ath
ena nodded and the woman removed her hand.
Their chests heaved as they stared at each other in silence, the sounds of the animal eating reaching their ears. The red-head motioned with her head and began to creep further away from the sounds of the animal eating.
Athena followed behind. The red-head obviously knew what she was doing.
“What is that?” Athena whispered when they were far enough to no longer hear the animal feasting. She couldn’t think about the woman being eaten.
She couldn’t.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” the red-head answered, motioning with her head to the right before she began moving carefully in that direction.
“Try me.” If she was going to survive, she needed to know any and everything.
Knowledge was power. She might not have cared about her high-school principal drilling that in her head when she was a teen, but it sure as hell made sense right now. And she was no idiot.
She was going to soak up as much information as she could.
The red-head paused to glance back at Athena.
“A saber-toothed tiger.”
“A what? Those are extin—”
“Extinct, yes. But I kid you not, I know what I saw.” The red-head began walking again and Athena stood staring at the woman’s back, trying to process what she’d just heard.
The red-head must have been mistaken.
When she realized the woman almost disappeared into the bush ahead, she picked up her pace.
Unlike Athena, whose pale skin stood out among the bushes, the red-head had daubed her body in mud, which made her less easily seen.
Smart.
As they neared a clearing, in front of them was the glass wall. Had they run in a circle? She was sure they’d been running straight ahead but, in the confusion, she wasn’t sure now.
On the other side of the wall, several dozen light-blue rings hovered in the distance.
Isclits. Many of them.
Athena scowled. Glancing at the red-head, she realized she wasn’t alone in her hatred for the slimy creatures.