Taken by the Aliens

by Anna Lewis

  “Great,” she said, grinning happily. “The best felt in ages. Ever.” She arched her back under my sheets and I felt that familiar stirring inside of me once more. I still wanted her, my body was still craving her touch, so I leant forward and kissed her with an intense passion, and the next thing I knew, she was hovering over me and kissing down my body.

  Somehow we’d gone from zero to sixty in a few seconds, but in that moment I didn’t care. She was making me feel phenomenal.

  “What are you doing?” I groaned in excitement, as she wrapped her lips around me. “Oh fuck,” I cried out in pleasure. “That feels amazing.”

  And then I tossed my head back and I allowed the sensations to consume me.

  ***

  We spent the rest of the morning really getting to know one another’s bodies until I felt like I knew hers better than I knew my own. During that time, we grew closer, chatting and laughing in between our antics, growing a bond that already felt unbreakable.

  But eventually she had to go to do her shift at work. It felt like she was tearing a limb from my body, but there was nothing that I could do about it. She had to go… but at least it wouldn’t be forever.

  “Can’t you stay?” I begged. “Please?” I just wasn’t ready for her to walk out that door. I felt like as soon as she did, the magic surrounding us would fade, and I wasn’t ready for that at all. It wasn’t like I thought she would vanish forever, but it was still hard to deal with.

  “I’m sorry,” she laughed, sounding pleased that I wanted her around. “I really can’t, I’m sorry. But… I can come back when I finish, if you like?” As the blush filled her cheeks, I couldn’t help but feel a real sense of happiness. This kind, lovely woman was mine – how amazing was that?

  “That sounds amazing,” I grinned, before finally releasing her. “I’ll see you then. I’ll be waiting for you.”

  And then I watched with a heavy heart as she walked through that door. I was lucky that my business pretty much ran itself by this point, but I guessed that it wouldn’t hurt to put in an appearance while I had nothing else to do…

  Then I blinked my eyes and thought clearly for a second. Wow, I must have been in a real haze from that night! Why not at least drive her to work? I ran out of the door after her.

  “Chantelle?” I called out, not immediately spotting her. Where was she? She couldn’t have gone that far out of sight already… surely? No one was that fast? But I continued to run regardless.

  But as I got to the gates and looked both ways down the road, she really was nowhere. In fact all that I could see was a van racing off into the distance.

  “What the fuck?” I muttered to myself. My heart started to pound, sensing danger, and I had no idea what to do about it. My eyes scanned the area, desperately hoping that I would see her, but since she was nowhere to be found, I could only assume one thing.

  She was gone, and it was something to do with that van.

  I raced back in doors, desperate to get the number plate from my CCTV footage. There was a mystery here, and I was absolutely determined that I would solve it.

  Book 2: Losing You

  Chantelle

  “Ngh,” I cried out as I fought against my pounding head. It was hurting so much, throbbing so hard that it actually took me a while to realize that I couldn’t see. Then, as I tried to move and I tried to get myself into a sitting position, I also realized that I couldn’t move.

  What was going on?

  I tried to piece together some events but my brain had shut down from the fear and was giving me absolutely nothing. What could I remember last? Where had I been? What had I been doing?

  Flickers of Aaron’s face burst into my mind, and my heart started to pound painfully as I realized that the last person I remembered being with was him. Aaron – the billionaire with a heart of gold. The man who had waited patiently for me to be ready to go on a date with him, even though he was gorgeous enough to have anyone he wanted. The man who I’d just had the night of my life with, one that had led me to actually open up and dream of a future with.

  How had I gone from on top of the world, having the night of my life, to being stuck in this nightmare? It didn’t make any sense. I’d finally let someone in, and it had worked out really well for me – even better than expected.

  Wait.

  I’d finally let someone else in.

  Jon’s words flew through my mind. They might have been yelled in one of our random arguments one time, but they struck a chord now.

  “No one else will ever have you. You will always be mine.”

  Jon was my ex-boyfriend and he had been abusive for a very long time before I escaped his clutches – mentally, emotionally, and eventually physically too. Getting away from him had been the best day of my life, but I’d been looking over my shoulder ever since. I’d been almost waiting for something like this to happen, and had been surprised when it never did.

  But now it seemed like it finally had. My past had finally caught up with me.

  Had he finally acted upon those words? That thought made me feel dizzy and violated – had he been watching me for all that time? What was going to happen to me?

  Panic raced through me, and I desperately tried to escape my ties, but it was no use. Whoever had done this to me did such a good job of keeping me secure that I didn’t even know where I was, never mind how to get out of it.

  There was a distinct rumbling beneath me, of that I could be certain, which meant I was being taken God knows where in some sort vehicle. That could only mean something bad – why would I have to go so far away if this was all innocent?

  Was I going to die?

  Oh God, I thought I’d done such a good job of running away and hiding. I thought my own paranoia was an after-effect of what I went through, but now it seemed that I’d not been careful enough. My hiding had been worthless. I felt like a fool.

  What was going to happen to me now? The thought of being anywhere near Jon Richards again made me feel sick, and the fact that it was under these conditions made it a million times worse.

  He had plans for me, terrible ones, and there was no telling what that sicko would come up with.

  “Hey!” I tried calling out, hoping that I could negotiate some sort of escape before he took me to wherever we were going, but got no reply. “Hey, what are you doing? What is this all about?”

  Still nothing. The rumble of the engine, and a resounding silence that cut deep into my heart. I was in danger, that much was obvious and I was terrified of what that could mean.

  Aaron.

  I thought of only him, wondering if he knew what had happened to me. Did he see it? Did he hear it? Aaron was my only hope of getting out of this situation, so I had to hope and pray that he had, and that he was going to do something about it. I was just outside of his house when I got taken, which meant that it was possible. At least if he knew, there was hope for me. If not, well, I didn’t know what I would do.

  My heart pounded painfully against my ribs as I realized I was about to head into an unknown. When I’d been with Jon before my entire life had been spent walking on eggshells, but then at least I knew where I stood. I could recognize the signs that a storm was coming, and I could at least prepare myself for what was to come.

  Now, I had no idea what was going to happen and that was terrifying.

  Aaron, I thought to myself, willing the message to get through to him, even though I knew it was hopeless. Please save me before this gets too far.

  I’d never been so afraid in my entire life, and it physically hurt me. Was this going to be the end?

  ***

  Aaron

  “Police?” I sounded panicked as I paced up and down the room practically shouting into my phone. I knew it wouldn’t help my case at all if I sounded so freaked out, but I couldn’t stop it from affecting my voice. I was more scared than I’d ever been in my life, and I had no idea what was about to happen next. “Yes, my name is Aaron Marts, I live at the Marts Est
ate at the top of town.”

  “The big yellow mansion?” The operator knew my address, which was understandable – it wasn’t exactly discrete! Everyone knew where my house was, and that was helpful right at this moment. It saved me from having to explain.

  “Yes, that’s the one. I need some officers sent over right away. My… my girlfriend has been kidnapped.” It felt weird referring to Chantelle as my girlfriend after our one night together, but it was the quickest way to get through this – and I needed time on my side right now. I couldn’t get into the complexities of our relationship; I just needed someone to get over here as soon as possible.

  “Kidnapped?” The operator sounded skeptical, and I couldn’t blame her. It was a very strange situation – almost like something from a movie – but I didn’t have time to explain. I just needed to be believed. Surely they’d dealt with this kind of stuff before? Surely it wasn’t too out there for them.

  “Yes, I have evidence,” I said shakily, looking back over the CCTV footage on my computer screen. “I have cameras all over the ground and I caught something.” Admittedly it wasn’t much. I could see her being hit and taken, but it was really difficult to make out the number plate of the van. I just had to hope that the police had some sort of technology that could overcome that – if they could find out who that vehicle was registered to, then everything would be solved.

  At least it was something. If I had nothing, I would be really worried.

  “Okay, officers will be on their way immediately,” she replied, sounding a little distracted. It was almost as if she thought that I was making it up.

  “Okay,” I said back, trying to sound like I was filled with trust, but for some reason, my heart sank. I wasn’t feeling confident about this at all, and the operator’s tone did not help at all.

  I wandered all over the house, thinking about Chantelle, praying she was okay. I tried to think clearly about the situation.

  Why would someone kidnap Chantelle?

  Who would want to hurt her?

  Why had this happened?

  I just couldn’t work it out. I knew so little about her, except for the fact that she had a horrible ex-boyfriend. Could it really be him? Would he actually go that far? I really had no idea and that was awful.

  I hated feeling hopeless, it was the worst thing to me, but what else could I do? Until I had another lead, I couldn’t do a single thing to help her. For now, she was lost to me, and that was that.

  ***

  Chantelle

  The van eventually stopped, and my body was roughly tugged from it until I hit the ground.

  “Hey,” I cried out. “What are you doing?” But I still got no answer. I was pulled along, some of the way by my hair, which was even worse than what Jon had done to me before. Sure I got the odd slap and punch, but it was instantaneous, spur of the moment. This felt more calculated and manipulative. It felt really planned out, which was scary. How long had this been planned? How long had I been watched?

  Something had changed within Jon and that made it even worse.

  “Please stop,” I whimpered. “Please let me go.” I hated that I sounded so weak, but I wasn’t brave enough to keep hidden either. I might have wanted to stay stoic and strong, but I couldn’t.

  Eventually I tumbled down some stairs and my head hit the floor. After a few moments, I stood up and tried to feel around. I was in a damp, cold basement, or something like that. It certainly smelt that way; old and musty, and horrible.

  But that wasn’t the end of my misery. My time in the basement grew increasingly worse with time. The first day I was left by myself, to go insane with worry. Because I couldn’t see and it was really difficult to move, I was constantly expecting something bad to happen – which was obviously what Jon wanted. He was tormenting me in the worst way possible, and that was driving me mad.

  “Please stop it,” I screamed. “Please talk to me, or something. This is driving me insane!”

  Silence. A heavy silence that caused me to weep.

  The days that followed were the worst of my life. It went from silence, to agony. I was tossed around and hurt in all kinds of different ways. It wasn’t the hits that I was expecting, but it cut deep all the same. Every hair pull, every scratch, every pinch, it was horrible. At one point I was even sure that a knife was being dragged along my skin, but since I couldn’t feel any blood afterwards, I was forced to assume that it was something else.

  During this time I yelled, I screamed, I fought, but it got me nowhere. Whoever it was doing this to me was far stronger than I was, which confirmed my suspicion that it had to be Jon – I couldn’t think of anyone else who would want to do that to me.

  Who would want to hurt me apart from him? Who would want me to suffer in this way? There was only him in the entire world.

  “Stop fighting,” he eventually spoke to me, which sent a cold fear throughout my heart. “It won’t get you anywhere.”

  They were the first words that he actually spoke to me, and it was terrifying. The voice was robotic, obviously being spoken through a voice changer, which confirmed my worst suspicions.

  “Stop it Jon,” I pleaded. “Please let me go. This won’t get you anywhere.” He laughed, a nasty metallic sound which made me shiver, but I refused to back down. “I’m sorry that I left, and I’m sorry that it was in such a shitty way, but I didn’t think that we were right for each other. I thought that me running away was the best way for both of us…”

  “Leaving was the best thing that you could have done,” he replied in a stoic tone, which meant that he was serious. He really wanted me gone? So why did he have me here in this madness?

  “Then what is this?” I screamed. “What are we doing here? Why have you taken me back if you don’t even want me?” Silence – a long and agonizing silence. “Why do you even want me here?” I had to ask, I needed to know the truth. “Is it because I met someone else?”

  But all I heard was stomping footsteps, leaving the room. He was leaving me behind with no answer, and it was as if he didn’t even care.

  I hung my head in fear, feeling the tears trickle down my cheeks. I was starting to lose hope, to feel like this was going to be the end for me.

  Was I even going to get out of here alive?

  I started to really think about my life, about everything within it as if I might never get the chance again. I thought back to that massive falling out with my parents over something so stupid and pointless, the one that made me run away from them and end up in Jon’s arms. It felt like I’d spent my entire life running from my problems, which had landed me in this mess.

  Sure, I couldn’t blame myself for being kidnapped, but it seemed like I had a part to blame.

  If I’d just faced things, sorted them out in the right way in the first place, then this would never have happened. Maybe Jon had freaked out because he never had his closure. Maybe that was why he’d come for me now.

  But I wasn’t really bothered about him, not any more. I was wondering if I would ever get the chance to make up with my family. We’d been going through my typical teenage rebellion when I’d run off and I’d refused to speak to them since. I couldn’t believe how petty I’d been, and now I might never have the chance to make up for that. I might die in this basement, and that would be the end of it. My mom and dad would find out about my death, and that would be that.

  They wouldn’t get their closure either.

  What the hell was wrong with me?

  I resolved to myself that if I ever did get out of here I would make some changes. I would be a better person, act better and be a more functioning person. I’d spent so long wrapped up in my own selfish misery, and I wouldn’t do that for any longer.

  If I got out of here of course…

  ***

  Aaron

  The police took all the information that I had, but after a few days it was clear that the investigation was going nowhere. They didn’t have any of the equipment that they needed, and that was
a huge problem for me. It meant that my evidence was useless. I had the CCTV footage, but the van’s registration could not be read with the police’s equipment, so there was nothing more that I could do with it.

  It was incredibly frustrating, and slowly driving me insane.

  Of course they did run a media appeal, and I had very high hopes for that. Someone out there in the world had to know what had happened to her, or someone would recognize the van, but so far the help lines had remained frustratingly silent.

  I couldn’t take that, it wasn’t enough. I needed Chantelle safe, I needed her back with me, I needed her in my arms and I needed to know exactly where she was. This not knowing was sending me around the bend. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t do anything without her face in my mind.

  So I ended up taking matters into my own hands, and I pored over the phone book and Internet to find the most expensive private investigator around.

  A brash voice answered the phone when I finally decided which one was right for me. “Hello?” it said.

  “Is this… Rick Heath?” I asked, knowing that it was unlikely that was his real name. Private investigators always used aliases to keep themselves safe, I’d heard.

  “Yep, that’s me, what can I do for you?” His tone was all business, which finally filled me with a confidence. I already felt that if anyone could do this, then it would be him.

  “Have you heard of the Chantelle Neve case?” It had been all over the news, so I was sure that he had.

  “Yep,” he snapped back quickly. “I’ve seen bits of it on the news – the girl that got kidnapped, white van, right?”

  “Right. Okay, well I’m her… boyfriend and I have some CCTV footage that contains the number plate of the van, but I can’t see it and the police can’t either. I feel like this is the key to the entire case. If someone had the right technology, I felt like I could get her back to me.”

  “Okay, I will be over soon.” He replied almost instantly. “Just text me your address. Now you understand that my prices are a little higher than my competitors.”