I was having a hard time thinking about what might happen after we were taken. My thoughts skirted away from the possibilities—especially the ones the old sci-fi movies portrayed. It had taken weeks to get them out of my head after watching them, which was bad enough. But ever since the invasion, they’d chased after my thoughts like stray dogs on a cat. Why had I gone to that stupid slumber party and watched those stupid movies? No one needed horror films when the monsters were real.
Glancing back, I was surprised to see how far away the city was. I realized I’d forgotten to say goodbye to Claire, the one soul in the city that might actually miss me.
Without warning, Kalisha stopped the march.
“This is it,” she said. “This is where we wait.”
There was nothing special about the place; it was just the same grassy brush we’d been walking through for miles. But people started settling in and opening their packs and canteens, so I did the same.
After downing a few small strawberries and stale crackers, my gaze wandered toward my companions. They were all paired or grouped with one another; I was the only one sitting alone. Literally the odd woman out. I wondered why that was. Admittedly, I’d been a little withdrawn since my arrival at the city, but still…. These people were the only ones left, for me.
“They're here” a man said over the hum of conversation, pointing east.
Three large silver balls rolled smoothly through the grass toward our little party. The sight gave me an odd mixture of both fear and relief. Fear, because, aliens. Relief because they’d brought their silver balls, which meant they weren’t here for a massacre.
Theoretically.
The balls arranged themselves in a triangular shape around us, a dozen yards away. I pulled my knives out, and saw several others do the same. Even though this was part of the plan, we didn’t want them to know that, so a scrimmage was necessary. Not to mention sane. Premeditated on or not, it was never wise to face your enemy unarmed.
The silver balls remained placid for a moment before silver doorways slid upward to reveal darkness inside. People shifted nervously as over a dozen Vela, clicking incoherently at each other, emerged from the dark passageways. A couple of women hunched together behind me, as if I was some sort of protector.
Kalisha yelled. “Steady! Remember, they aren’t here to fight. Try to remain calm!”
But then one member of the group—a man not much older than myself—lunged forward, swinging his ax.
“For Janet!” he cried as he plunged the blade into the head of the closest monster. The blow severed the beast, and it fell to the ground. The man rushed toward his next victim, but tripped. It only took a matter of seconds the Vela disarmed him and pushed him into one of the balls.
Despite his defeat, the man’s outburst inspired a barrage of wrathful humans. People began attacking left and right, some so rashly it seemed they’d forgotten their purpose. A woman rushed by me, swinging a hatchet so chaotically she missed my neck by mere centimeters.
“Stop!” I heard Kalisha yelling. “This is not why we’re here!”
No one listened.
I maneuvered backward into the center of what could now only be called a fighting ring, watching the scene play out. The mob had turned bloodthirsty and reckless. Nevertheless, the Vela continued to do their best not to harm anybody. Often it couldn’t be helped due to their claws, but they seemed only to be trying to usher people into the balls.
Then out of the chaos, one alien raised a large blue device, out of which shot several small darts. Each one maneuvered smartly around the Vela and struck a human in the neck, causing them to collapse and lay helplessly on the ground.
One flew for me. I turned and ran, but only made it a few feet before a sharp pain pierced underneath my jaw. A woozy feeling overcame me and my eyes closed. The contrast of the lethargy to the adrenaline rush I’d just had was jarring. I could feel myself being dragged through the grass, hands trailing behind me. The side of my palm brushed against something and with great effort I turned my head to look. It was the older woman who had approached me that morning. Fresh blood was flowing from her nose and her eyes were glazed over.
The Vela didn’t bother taking her.
The rugged rocks and dirt I’d been dragged over disappeared as the surface shifted to even smoothness. Straining, I peeled my eyelids up to watch as a narrow strip of light got smaller and smaller until disappearing completely.
Chapter 24
I was trapped in a semi-conscious state, unsure if what I was sensing was real or the manufactured nightmares of a distressed mind. Visions of huge aliens prodding and pinching unconscious people with their long claws played over and over in my head. But each time they came, the rational part of my mind rejected it as false, like it wanted to shake the hallucination away. Gradually, I was able to pinpoint the location of my eyelids and with great effort, pull them up.
It was so dark I had to blink a couple of times, just to make sure my eyes had actually opened. A moment passed, and I began to make out a very dim source of light: dark purple circles that lined the domed walls in an odd geometric pattern.
Blacklights, my mind found the word.
Grasping desperately at this small bit of illumination, I began to make out shapes: silhouettes of human bodies lying all around me. None moved.
My gaze traveled all around the expanse, but that was it: blacklights and people lying haphazardly like some drunk sleepover. No Vela. I didn’t know if we were still inside the silver ball, or if they’d taken us somewhere else. If we were moving, I couldn’t tell.
The urge to succumb to the sedative was irresistible and my eyelids slid down, where the nightmares returned.
When my eyes finally opened again, a bright light was shining directly above me. I was lying flat on my back on a hard surface and, judging by the stiffness in my muscles, I’d been there a while.
Turning my head away from the light, I tried to blink the sunspots from my vision. The room was spacious and white. I was lying on the center of a steel platform. A vaguely familiar scent filled the air—reminding me of science class.
A general sense of grogginess lingered, suggesting that the sedative was still in my system. But the woozy effect all but disappeared when I looked downward.
Thick steel restraints encircled my ankles and wrists, pinning me to the table. And, worse still, I was wearing different clothes—a short red dress—which meant—oh no—which meant they’d undressed me. And if they’d undressed me, what else might they have done? Oh no….
A partition in the wall slid open and an alien creature entered. It was short, squat, and if I’d had use of my arms and legs, could have been killed in a second.
It approached me directly, pulling a long, fork-like instrument from a counter as it drew nearer. My heart stopped.
For one frozen moment, it hovered over me. Our eyes met—glossy blue and muddy brown. I couldn’t bring myself to breathe, so it was impossible to let out the scream that had formed in the pit of my stomach. There was nothing I could do, no way to fight back. I was completely helpless before this unnatural being.
The metal instrument lowered toward me and I steeled myself, promising I wouldn’t give it the satisfaction of hearing me scream. But instead of stabbing me with it, the creature began stroking the device slowly, softly over my skin. It began at my hips and swept gently down my legs to my ankles, where the restraints were fastened solid.
A strange buzzing sound began emanating from the Vela as it worked, which alarmed me even more. Several seconds passed before I realized the sound wasn’t going to be accompanied by anything sinister.
The Vela finished stroking my legs, and moved on to my arms, which received the same treatment. The sensation of the mild touch would have been pleasant except that it was utterly detestable. The adrenaline shooting through my system was screaming at me to fight.
Fight!
I’d hoped that after it was done with my arms, it would leave, but no
. It began wriggling its torso in an unsettling, wobbly manner—a grotesque movement I’d never seen before. A long blue appendage shot from its orifice and waggled around the air above me like a crazed tentacle. An involuntary cry yelped from me. The protuberance began working itself under my back and around my stomach. The dress was there (the dress they’d put on!), but the cold from the appendage permeated through the thin cloth.
My middle tensed, expecting to be constricted, but there was no pressure and a second later it was over. The creature unwound itself from me and then in a disturbing gesture, caressed its claws through my hair before leaving.
As soon it was gone, my stomach convulsed. Without a way to sit up or even clutch my stomach, I heaved violently with just my head turned, hacking noisily. My stomach was empty, though, and there was nothing to bring up.
Miserable as I was, I felt a small sense of relief that the Vela hadn’t caused any pain.
Yet.
I must have laid like that for at least an hour before something happened. The table I was on began moving, on its own, toward the door, which slid open. A blast of cold air greeted me, but other than that, there was nothing besides black.
Gliding in silence along a dark passageway, my eyesight began to adjust and I tried to get a look at my surroundings. The restraints made it impossible for me to sit up and inspect the way I would have liked, but based on the rough-looking texture and choppiness of the walls, I guessed we were underground. The cold temperature sucking away at my body heat also seemed to support my theory.
We passed several metal hatches that were affixed into the walls, and after several turns, one opened. The bed maneuvered through the tight space without so much as a jolt.
Then, blessedly, the restraints slid away. I sprung from the table, ready to bolt. But I hadn’t anticipated the numbness in my feet, and instead of escaping, I collapsed to my knees. I clambered toward the exit, but my feet wouldn’t cooperate, and I fell again. Watching in anguish as the table slid out and the hatch closed, I cursed aloud.
“Are you okay?” a male voice said from behind me.
I turned to look at the speaker and my jaw dropped. It couldn't be him--surely he'd been dead for weeks. But there was no mistaking that alluring face.
It was Tristen.
Chapter 25
“Rhyan?” he asked, incredulity flooding his face.
I gaped at him with an open mouth. It had only been a few weeks since I’d seen him, but he looked different. Good different. He wasn’t as thin as he’d been in the cave, and he was definitely cleaner, like he’d been showering regularly.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” he was saying. “What happened to you?”
Pulling my gaze from him, I looked around the enclosure. It was about the size of a school classroom, but the walls went up at rough angles, like an uneven pyramid. The point at which they drew together was very high up, maybe two stories. The ceiling and walls were dark brown, but were illuminated by a gaudy chandelier—yes, chandelier—plunging into the center of everything. “Everything” included a small elegant table with seating for two, two plush recliner chairs, a handsome wooden wardrobe, and at center stage, a large bed made up with a billowy blue comforter and at least a dozen pillows. The overall effect reminded me of some sort of dark and posh hotel room, which I found horrifying.
“Rhyan?” Tristen repeated, a trace of uncertainty in his voice.
“What is this place?” I asked.
“How did?—I thought you were dead.”
“You thought I was dead? You’re the one who disappeared—went off and never came back.”
“Where’s everyone else? John and Meg? Vanessa?”
That wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have collapsed on the floor. I knelt up and tested the sturdiness of my feet. They buckled again. Tristen came behind me and scooped his arms underneath mine, helping me stand.
“Here. Sit here,” he said, pulling me to one of the recliners.
“No, over there.” I pointed toward where part of the wall jutted out, creating a makeshift seat. No doubt it was cold and hard, but I didn’t want any of comforts provided by the Vela. Tristen changed course and helped me settle onto the “chair”. I pulled one of my feet onto my lap and began rubbing, trying to encourage some circulation.
After a moment, I spoke. “John and Meg are dead. Meg was shot by some people who invaded the cave a couple days after you left, and John was—” I faltered for a second, “was killed by an alien.”
Staring down at my foot, I didn’t see his reaction, but I heard him curse under his breath.
“And Vanessa?”
“She’s okay. She went to the city, same as me. We both left the cave after—after what happened to Meg.”
“The city?”
“Springfield. We crossed the plain, hoping to find people, and there were—a bunch that have fortified the whole city.”
He watched me thoughtfully for a moment before asking, “So then, how did you end up here?”
I considered going into it all, but decided it was his turn to talk.
“How did you?”
He ran one hand through his hair before crossing the floor to sit on one of the chairs.
“After Tanya and I left that morning…. Well, we never even made it off the mountain. We got surrounded in the forest. I fought—we fought—but ended up in one of those silver transports. They took us here. They did—“ he shuddered, “medical tests. On us both. And then—”
He paused.
The pause became a minute.
I looked down and switched my left foot for my right, hoping he wasn’t about to say what I thought he was.
“And then, they killed Tanya. Right in front of me.” His voice was thick. “It was so fast. One instant she was there, and the next she wasn’t. I didn’t even have a chance to say anything to her.”
My heart seized.
Not her.
My foot dropped to the ground and I buried my head in my hands.
“You know,” Tristen said after a silent lull, “I thought for sure you were all dead by now. But you’re not, which means… It’s your fault Tanya’s gone.”
I raised my head slowly.
“What?”
“Yeah, I remember now." His voice had taken on a strange, disembodied tone. "I told you to keep Tanya at the cave that morning. I said I was worried about her safety, but you blew it off. And now she’s dead, and you’re not.”
An unnerving glint was forming in Tristen’s eye. My heart started pounding a little faster than necessary.
“I didn’t kill Tanya, Tristen. The Vela did. It was the Vela.”
“They’re mindless killers," he said dismissively. "Like sharks. Just another deadly animal of nature we have to learn to deal with. But you—I told you to let Tanya stay.”
He walked toward me.
“It’s your fault she’s dead.”
I flattened against the wall as he drew closer.
“Okay, Tristen—I’m sorry! You’re right—I should have made her stay behind.”
He struck my face with the back of his hand. Hard.
Numb or not, I pressed my feet into the floor and stumbled to the right, trying to get away from him.
But he didn’t come again. He was standing transfixed, an expression of horror on his face. I scrutinized him carefully from the half-crouch I’d fallen into, and stepped away backward. My feet seemed to be back, mostly.
“Rhyan I—” he cut off and sighed deeply.
That’s when I noticed the lens. It was positioned way up high over his head. The Vela, they were watching this. Were they hoping we would fight?
“I’m sorry, Rhyan,” Tristen said in a low voice, still staring at the wall. “It’s not your fault. If it’s anyone’s, it’s mine.”
I shook my head.
“Don’t. Don’t blame yourself. There’s only one enemy.”
He didn’t respond.
“What do you know about them?”
I asked. “You’ve been here for so long—you must know something.”
He sighed, then finally turned to look at me.
“A lot, actually. But it could take a while. You should probably sit down.”
Chapter 26
“They’re smart. Really smart. I know it doesn’t seem like it the way they lumber around, but I think that’s part of an act.”
“An act?” I said, voice laden with skepticism. I was sitting with my legs crossed on the floor beside an empty recliner. Comfortably sprawled over the other, Tristen had tried to convince me to sit on the chair like ‘any reasonable person would’, but I’d refused.
“Yeah. Like for example, when I first arrived, I started getting these symptoms—exhaustion, thirst, vision problems. At first I thought it was stress, but after a while I realized it was diabetes—it runs in my family. Then I started worrying about insulin withdrawal. I never said a word aloud, but the aliens began sending daily doses of it with the meals.”
“That’s not that smart. A regular zookeeper could probably figure that out.”
“Yeah, maybe. But after a week, the insulin disappeared and a fat white pill appeared in its place. I decided to take it. Afterward, all the symptoms disappeared, completely. It was an absolute cure. A cure for a disease our smartest doctors never found. Would a zookeeper know how to do that?”
I wasn’t as easily convinced as he was.
“If they’re so smart, why do they put themselves out there as such easy targets? I’ve probably killed a hundred of ‘em by now.”
He shook his head.
“That’s one thing I haven’t figured out. There must be some reason they sacrifice themselves so easily, but I don’t….”
He trailed off, lost in thought.
Pursing my lips, I reined in a sarcastic comment. I’d stopped caring about the aliens’ intentions a long time ago. All that mattered is that they were here, and what we were going to do about it.
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