Alienation

by S E Anderson

I missed my shot. The Street Sweepers were upon me again, holding me tighter than ever. Four of them grabbed me, two to an arm, and it was enough to render me immobile. One curled around my leg, weighing me down. They brought me before their leader.

  “Sally Webber,” Kun said sadly, his fight with his friend forgotten. “Why are you trying to go?”

  “Um, look, Kun,” I said, as politely as I could, “It's been great and all, but the truth is, I need to get back to my friends. To my family. It’s not you, it’s me.”

  “But you can't,” Kun insisted. “Why don't you believe us? We're your family now. You're going to be my wife!”

  “I need to at least try to go home.”

  Kun let out a heavy sigh. He dropped his head, closing his large eyes and breathing deeply. When he looked back up, he looked resigned.

  “Very well then,” he said, a pout on his mouth as he crossed his arms across his chest. “If you're not going to stay here willingly, we'll have to help you. Get the ropes.”

  “The what, now?”

  The five Downdwellers dragged me into the living room, pulling so hard I thought they would yank my arms out of their sockets. They forced me into a seat by the wall with the old pipes and tied me to them quicker than I could say “Don't you fucking dare!”

  Their knots were haphazard but tight, nothing thought out. They wouldn’t know how to undo them, even if they tried. In the end, I couldn't move, and I think they had cut off the circulation in my left arm.

  “Let me go!” I snapped, trying to find something more dramatic to yell and failing miserably. I struggled at my bonds, but that only seemed to make them tighter.

  “We're going to get married—tomorrow,” Kun asserted. “And then you'll be my sweetie, and you can't go anywhere! Forever! And you'll cook for me and we'll have lots of kids.”

  “Oh for the love of ...” I swore under my breath. “I don't want to marry you. We're not even the same species. There's no compatibility. No kids, Kun.”

  “You'll fall in love with me,” he said, puffing up his cheeks and chest, standing tall and proud. “And then we'll kiss under a full moon and—”

  “Wait,” I stammered. “Is that ... hold on, what now?”

  “Sleep tight, sweetie of mine.” Kun smiled like this was completely natural. “I love you!”

  “But ...”

  And then they were gone.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Meet the In-laws

  It felt like hours had passed as I sat there in the darkness, plotting my escape. I worked the ropes, but they were incredibly tight. Already, my left arm was going numb and limp. I panicked first about toxic blood, if that was even a thing, then amputation, and my situation in general began to hit me.

  First of all, I was trapped. In the underbelly of a city with no way out. On another planet.

  Secondly, no one knew where I was or how to get to me. Everyone I knew and loved thought I was on Earth, and yet here I was, in the basement of an Undercity almost across the galaxy.

  Well, still in the same galactic arm, but it’s the same difference, right?

  And last but not least, Zander would find me.

  I jerked awake. How had I fallen asleep? How long had I even been asleep? Two minutes, an hour?

  The knot in my stomach tightened as I took in my dark surroundings. Panic began to take hold as fear flowed through me like a current, and I struggled to reel it in.

  I told myself that I had control, but that was a lie. I was just as trapped now as I had been when I’d fallen asleep. That, and my left arm was completely numb now.

  It slowly hit me that something was different. There was light now, though it had been moved around since dinner. There was a plate of food—bread, possibly—next to my now completely useless arm. Though the thought was nice, there was no way for me to eat anything. No way for me to move.

  And then, there was a knock on the door.

  Nobody moved to answer it.

  No one was here.

  “Zander?” I struggled to sit more upright, but it hurt to move.

  “Kun!” a voice shouted, deeper than any of the Street Sweepers’. “Get your ass out here, young man!”

  My heart fell—not Zander. Whoever it was, they were angry, though.

  Still, no one showed. The Street Sweepers were gone; no one was in the house but me. I hoped to high heaven that the voice outside the door was on my side.

  “Help!” I shouted. “Help me. They tied me up!”

  The door burst open in a blaze of purple flame. A Downdweller stepped inside, his face almond-shaped and his features fierce. His eyes sparkled with determination and fury. As they landed on me, they bulged from their sockets. The stranger was at my side in an instant.

  The alien was at least a foot taller than the Street Sweepers. His face was longer and narrower, more elegant and almost handsome. The ponytail that hung out of the point of his skull was wrapped in a lovely silken scarf around his scalp. He looked altogether more refined and more put together than any of the Downdwellers so far, even as he stormed in with flames in his palms.

  And that's when it hit me.

  Kun and Rüt and the rest of the Street Sweepers. They weren't just childish, they were children. And this man, this Downdweller barreling toward me, he had to be a parent.

  Their secret hideaway, this house, was their clubhouse, where they would hang out and play.

  And I was the unknowing tourist who had fallen into one of their games.

  “Did they hurt you?” the stranger asked, kicking the food aside and reaching down, working his hands at the knots. I shook my head.

  He burst a rope open with a well-controlled flame, and suddenly the blood was flowing through my arm again, sending jolts of painful tingles down the length of it as the nerves turned back on. I cried out as the ropes loosened.

  He took my hand and turned it over, looking for signs of harm. “How long have you been here?”

  “About a day, I think.” I staggered forward as I tried to get up. The stranger gave me a sturdy hand to help me stand. “I fell ... and they ... they ...”

  “Don't worry.” He gave me a sweet, reassuring smile. “My name is Tamashi Owasurete Shimat. Call me Tam. And your name?”

  “Sally Webber.” I forced a smile. “Sally. Thank you, Tam.”

  Now standing, I felt the full pain of my last day: the soreness in my joints and muscles from being cramped in a seated position for so long, the bruising along my entire ribcage, my slowly revitalizing arm. I tried to step forward and howled in pain. Tam reached for my sore arm, which only made me hiss.

  “I'm sorry for how my child has behaved,” he said, half apologetic, half furious. “Rest assured that when I find him, he will face a stern punishment. And speaking of ...”

  Kun had returned to see the door of his beloved hideaway shattered to pieces and singed to a crisp. He stepped into the house and froze. All color—the small amount there was to begin with—drained from his face.

  “Kunoch,” Tam said sternly.

  “Kota?” Kun replied, trembling. The other kids poked their heads in the door, gasped, and took off in the other direction. Only Kun stayed, paralyzed with fear.

  “Wait until your koty hears about this!” Tam’s face was purple and getting darker by the second, his fury lighting a fire behind those large black eyes. “Home. Now. March!”

  Tam walked Kun through the dark streets of the Undercity with his hand clutched on the collar of the child’s shirt, shouting the entire way. I followed close behind, rubbing my wrists where the ropes had dug into them. My arm hurt like hell. Fuck, everything hurt like hell, and if Tam wasn't yelling, I probably would have been letting loose a few slurs of my own. Kun said nothing. How could he? His parent wasn't giving him a single opportunity to even attempt to crawl out of this mess.

  The streets were dark and stuffy, like the last time I had been outside. Tam seemed to have no problem navigating them, though. His fire crackled in his hand, angry and sp
arking, unlike the gentle flame I had seen back at the house. The light was my only way to see as I followed them, trying not to think about what lurked in the dark.

  We turned a corner, and my jaw dropped. Suddenly, there was light. Civilization.

  Tam let the fireball dwindle as we stepped onto the clean pavement. A vast market was illuminated by the flames of the Downdwellers, the street vibrant and alive with people. It looked glorious under the purple and blue lights, each stall selling a bounty of food and trinkets so completely out of my world they took my breath away.

  But Tam wasn't stopping. He stormed through the street, the crowd parting to let him and Kun through. Even though his legs were half the length of mine, I struggled to keep up, accidentally bumping into people as I forced my way through, trying not to get distracted by the stalls.

  I had never seen anything like them. The people behind the stalls shouted and roared at each other, bartering and chiding, making trades and advertising wares. Mounds of oddly shaped fruits and vegetables laid on one table, mountains of spices on another. One sold small metal bowls in intricate patterns, some of them holding flames, their light bouncing and reflecting off the polished sides of the bowl and illuminating his stall.

  The Downdwellers were packed thickly in the street, going about their daily lives with no regard to the bustling city above. They were nothing like the crowd of the Upper City, their hair and clothes varied and they were packed closer together. Some glanced at me as I walked, and they looked away just as quickly.

  But there weren't just Downdwellers here: There were humanoids, too. There were even humans, albeit a few in the masses, though easy to spot with their height difference. But they didn’t look much like me, not anymore. They looked ... worn.

  I shuddered. Is that what would become of me, if I couldn’t make it back to the surface?

  No. I couldn’t think like that. I was getting back up there, even if it meant giving up everything else. There was no other option. I was going home, whatever it takes.

  Zander would find me.

  We rounded the corner from the bazaar, walking down residential streets with beautifully lit fronts. Each home was well-kept, even if it wasn't the pinnacle of sophistication. Flowers hung over their doorways, beautiful bioluminescent blues and purples, like the mushrooms of the cellar.

  Tam stopped in the middle of the street, turning to steer Kun in front of a house and shoving him up the steps. It had a light of its own, emanating a bright, warm orange glow, fronted by a beaten-down, rusty door. In one swift move, Tam retrieved a key from his pocket, jammed it into the lock, and threw the door open, shoving Kun inside.

  Fires of different colors burned in jars on the shelves, as if floating there by magic. As neat as they were, they only dimly illuminated the room ahead. The house had what resembled a sofa and a table, but nothing covered the walls except long, dark stains. It smelled like sweat and salt, like the rest of the Undercity, even though the house looked as clean as it could get—not a cobweb or any dust, proof of a caring owner. Unlike the kids’ hideaway, this home felt warm and smelt faintly of flowers.

  And it was cozily furnished, too. As little furniture as there was, it was properly coordinated. I stared at the couch, wanting to collapse on it then and there from exhaustion. My sleep in the clubhouse hadn't been restful, and every part of me still hurt. I needed rest. I was practically falling over as it was.

  “Marth!” Tam called, and Kun stiffened under his grip. “Get out here. Now!”

  A Downdweller in a trim suit stepped into the room, his clothes tight and elegant. Rather than a ponytail, his hair grew in a crown around his skull, leading to a point and back down either side, brown and flecked with gray. He reminded me of a goblin, though a tall and fishy looking goblin. He crossed his arms over his chest, and I wondered if Griphook had relatives on Da-Duhui.

  “You found him!” Marth exclaimed, fierce and stern all at once. “Where did he run off to this time?”

  “The clubhouse, of course,” Tam replied. “But he had a houseguest ...”

  “Oh, skies above.” Marth’s jaw dropped as he saw me. But his shock was replaced by determination, the look a parent puts on when they were about to lecture their kid. A look I knew well enough from my own family.

  “Hi, I'm Sally Webber,” I said, forcing a smile. “I fell?”

  “Yes, Yes, that much is clear,” he muttered. “Kun. What did we say we did when we find someone from the Overcity?”

  “We bring them to you or Kota,” Kun replied, abashed.

  “And what don't we do?”

  “We don't—”

  “We don't play fucking house with them!” Tam snapped.

  “Tamashi!” Marth exclaimed. “Language! Now, Kun. You realize what you did was astoundingly wrong? How long has she been down here?”

  “A day?” he squeaked. “Not even!”

  “Oh, thank the skies,” Marth murmured under his breath. “Did you hurt her? Did he hurt you?” His head snapped up, his eyes meeting mine.

  “No, I'm fine,” I said, a shiver passing through me. His eyes were intensely dark, like miniature black holes.

  “He and his friends tied her up,” Tam said angrily.

  “Kun!” Marth's jaw dropped again. “Go to your room! You're grounded. I'll speak with you in a minute, but first I have to repair the damage you did.”

  “But, Koty,” Kun whined, “I was going to marry her!”

  “Marry her?” Tam scoffed. “Kun, this is ridiculous. You can't rope an Upper into your games like this. Their lives are not your playthings. Go to your room now.”

  “But, Kota!”

  “Now,” Marth and Tam said as one. Kun ran off down a hallway, covering his eyes with his hands.

  “Miss Webber, we are so sorry for the actions of our offspring,” Marth said, striding forward then freezing in place. “I'm going to get you something to drink. Tam, can you make her comfortable?”

  “I'll get some blankets.”

  It was weird, how quickly they acted. Marth left without introducing himself, a whirlwind flying out the door he had come in without making a sound. And Tam had left too, dashing off somewhere else entirely while I tried to follow Marth.

  When Tam came back, his arms were laden with thick, fluffy blankets. He ushered me to the couch and handed them over one by one, wrapping me gently in a bundle until I could barely move. I was a burrito of warmth. It was only then that I realized how much I needed the heat. Tears trickled down my face as it hit me how royally screwed I was.

  I was free from one prison, but I was still stuck down here.

  “These are really soft,” I said, slowly.

  “Beast pelts,” Tam replied.

  “I thought the Beast was more slithery, like a snake.”

  “Snake?” Tam clinched his eyes in a shrug. “What the ... no, never mind. What did the children tell you about the Beasts?”

  “They didn't say anything. I saw one. Well, not exactly saw. It was dark. It smelled rank. It was more like ... confronted.”

  Tam's expression was one of shock, his eyes wider than I could have imagined them going. “You what?”

  “I screamed at it until it went away. That's when Kun and his friends found me.”

  “Hot glass of Jee, coming though,” Marth said, grinning as he handed me the mug. “Here. It's warm, so it should help.”

  I had trouble getting my hands from under the blankets, but Marth was patient and waited. I took the goblet with both hands, smiling as I thanked him. He beamed.

  I took a long sip, letting the heat of it flow through me. It tasted of warm cinnamon and thick molasses, and it coated my guts like an internal blanket. Already, I felt calmer. I sank deeper into the furs.

  “Again, we apologize for Kun’s actions,” Marth said, reaching for Tam's hand and giving it a tight squeeze. “He’s never done this before. We don't get a lot of new people down here. He's not used to it.”

  “Not to excuse his actions in any
way,” said Tam. “Trust me, he's not going to leave his room for months. We want to make this right. Whatever you need, tell us.”

  “Just get me out of here,” I said, stubbornly. “I need to get back to the city. My friends need me. I mean, I need them. I need to get home.”

  “Poor child,” Marth said, shaking his head like a bobble. “There's no way back up. Once you're here, you're here.”

  “Hold on, what?” I sputtered, almost spilling my drink over the thick hides. “I assumed after you came along … I thought the kids were messing with me?”

  “No, no, they were telling you the truth.” Marth sighed. “We're cut off down here.”

  “We need to find her somewhere else to stay,” Tam said, in hushed tones, as if I wasn't here. “We don't have room in this house.”

  “But she needs a home,” Marth replied, shooting Tam a harsh look, “and we can provide one, for a little bit, until another unit is cleared out. I mean, Plutarch is at the end. She can have his place when the time comes.”

  “Thank you,” I smiled warmly, willfully forcing myself not to shudder. I had no intention of staying in the Undercity for long. I was going home. “Don't worry, I'll be gone before long. My friends will find me.”

  “Poor child,” Marth muttered, nodding solemnly as if he had heard it all before. “I don't know how much Kun told you—or how much of it was true—but there is no way back up to the city. We're fully cut off down here. We have been for thousands of years.”

  “Oh.” All of this was incredibly sudden and weird, half of it not even making sense. I don't think my situation had become clear in my mind yet. But it was beginning to.

  “And they don't help you?” I urged, glancing back and forth between the two of them. They looked impassive.

  “Politics, I guess,” Tam said. “It's complicated, as most things are. You look exhausted. Are you hungry? Are you hurt from your fall?”

  “No, no, I should be all right.” I cringed at the thought of putting anything in my stomach. Even that one bite of potato from the night before wasn't sitting well. Or maybe I was just too hungry.

  “You must be tired,” Tam continued.