by Zara Zenia
The other girls nodded and many of them held hands to the person beside them. Elena nodded toward Kristin. “Why don’t you start, it’s your story really.”
Kristin nodded slowly and sat cross legged in the middle of the circle facing Betty who now also sat cross legged. “I guess it’s been well over two years now since it happened. I had stayed late in the library at school studying and lost track of time. When I left it was very dark. I should have called for a ride, but I didn’t live very far and I didn’t expect any problems. I hadn’t even gone a block when I was suddenly surrounded by three huge men with strange weapons.
“At first I thought they were there to rob me, or kill me. I tried to fight them off, but they were too big and too strong, and there were three of them. They grabbed me and tied my hands and feet and then put something on my skin that made me fall asleep.
“When I woke up I was in a large room with a black marble bed. I knew then I had been abducted, but I had no idea why, or by whom. I found out soon enough and my whole world turned upside down.
“The Alien that had bought me was the leader of his people and a tyrant. I thought when I saw him that I had gone insane. I had never even imagined that aliens existed let alone come face to face with one inside a bedroom.
“He introduced himself as Carzon and at first I thought that maybe he was kind and that he was going to rescue me or set me free.”
Betty drew in a sharp breath at the name, but tried to keep her face from showing her shock. She knew enough about Barsork’s brother to know that this wasn’t going to be a happy story. She forced herself to pull her thoughts back to Kristin’s telling.
“I found out that night just how wrong I had been. Carzon stole my virginity that night as well as a great many other things I held dear. I learned very quickly and very painfully just what kind of a monster he was.
“Night after night he came to me to spread his seed as he called it. It wasn’t long until I was with child. During my pregnancy I saw very little of Carzon and for that I was grateful. Occasionally he would show up and have other aliens with him.
“They would touch me and look at me as if I was an object and then discuss me as if I could not hear. Sometimes they would ask me questions that I was expected to answer at once, but otherwise I was virtually ignored.
“As my time to give birth drew nearer I became constantly afraid. I had no idea if I would be able to birth an alien child and I wasn’t sure I wanted to. I had spent my life dreaming of medical school, and marriage, and someday having a child, but bearing an alien born out of rape had never been a part of that picture.
“Eventually the day came and my fears were meaningless. The child within me was going to come weather I wanted it to or not. The pain was intolerable, but eventually it was over and I was handed my child. He was so small and human looking, but he was very blue.
“Carzon came immediately and pulled the child from my hands. He held the boy up in front of a roomful of aliens. Then he announced that the birth was a success and that the auction house would commence.
“I had no idea what the auction house was, or why it involved my child, but I would find out soon enough.”
Kristin stopped talking and many of the women laid comforting hands on her as she wiped a single small tear from her cheek. Betty felt completely immersed in the story and couldn’t find any words to offer and so she stayed silent. Elena took up the story from there.
“The rest of us were brought up over the next several months and sold at auction to varying men on Xicret and we were all used as breeding stock. Some of us had better masters than others, but all saw us as nothing more than a sex object and a housing chamber for their offspring.”
“Occasionally we saw each other at other girl’s sales, or at auction parties where we were put on display. Most of us at least knew of some of the others. Then word spread about Carzon’s brother being sent to Earth to harvest more girls and they started appearing at the auction house in droves, ten at a time.
“I guess we became obsolete at that time with fresh meat coming in every week. We were rounded up and sold to a Carzonzan trader and shipped off. Once on Carzonzan we were housed in a large building with very little security. After a few weeks we learned of a sanctuary planet and we planned our escape.
“Three of us didn’t make it, but the rest of us found our way here and were taken in and cared for. We were given this place for added protection because all of us are being hunted and would rather die than have to go back as sex slaves to the auction house.”
Betty had known about the auction house from Barsork, but of course hearing about it from these women had a deeper impact. For the first time, she started to question Barsork.
Elena shrugged and she smiled again. “We’ve done pretty well here and we have people on the outside helping us to find other women who are being sold or held. I had heard that there were more women on the way, but I did not realize that any had arrived yet. When I saw you I knew you must have a similar story.”
Betty blinked several times, her mind weaving between her feelings for Barsork, her feelings for these women, and her desire to go home to Earth. She settled for lying.
Betty quickly filled in a story that resembled the truth, but left out very key elements. She told them that she too had been abducted, but that she had never made it to the auction house because her ship had been shot down in an attack and she had been abandoned on the planet here alone.
She expressed that she had been a hostage to someone high up in the ranks before her ship was destroyed and that she had vast knowledge of the auction house, but she left out anything having to do with Barsork.
The women seemed desperate to know what she knew and she gave them whatever information she could that didn’t endanger Barsork or give herself away.
“Are you trying to get back to Earth? Because I might be able to help with that,” Betty said at last. She was surprised when the women looked at her as if she had just spoken something terrible.
Kristin shook her head, her eyes taking on a terrible anger. “We cannot go back to Earth as long as the auction house remains. How could we go back to our lives knowing what is happening to young women all over Earth? These Aliens must be stopped, and the auction house must be shut down.” Kristin said the last with a tone of hatred and violence in her voice that didn’t seem to match her youthful face.
Betty suddenly felt torn between two worlds, and she had no idea which one she wanted to be in. Her love for Barsork was very real and she knew that, but she also understood that they would never be able to be together.
She wasn’t ready to give up her human life on Earth and he wasn’t ready to stop being Xicret. The more she thought about it, the more she wondered if maybe things had worked out just the way they were supposed to. When Kristin asked her to stay with them for a few days she quickly agreed and found herself hoping that Barsork would be able to forgive her.
Chapter Fourteen
Barsork
Barsork was frantic. He had waited as long as he dared before going after Betty. He should have never let her go out on her own he chided himself as he headed down to the market.
He tried to convince himself at first that he was just being paranoid and that she was simply shopping and had lost track of the time, but something in the back of his mind told him that things were much worse.
After an hour of searching the market, Barsork realized in dismay that Betty was not there. That was when he truly began to panic. He ran from stand to stand asking everyone he came across if they had seen her.
He didn’t even know who to ask for though. Hopefully Betty had been wise enough to disguise herself before coming, but if so he had no way of knowing what she would look like and so had no idea who to ask for.
It was by chance that he overheard a voice that sounded vaguely familiar to him and he pressed himself to the wall. Another voice spoke up then. “I lost her on the other side of the art pavilion,” the voice sa
id from around the corner.
Barsork flattened himself against the side of the clothing stand and shimmied as close as possible without being detected.
“How could you lose her, Crank? She’s the only human on the planet.”
Barsork held his breath at the words. So Betty hadn’t disguised herself after all, and the hunters had seen her. From the sound of things though she had gotten away.
“She’s not the only human, Rigor. I saw another one with her and they were running together in that direction. Then they just disappeared.”
Barsork slid another step closer being as silent as possible. He didn’t know this Crank fellow, but the other voice he recognized. It was Rigor. He was a Xicret hunter who worked only for Carzon. If he was here than Carzon had not given up the hunt.
“You’ve seen this other women?” Rigor asked quietly. “What did she look like?”
Crank described the woman in detail, but the features didn’t seem familiar to Barsork. Rigor on the other hand was very interested.
“I knew she was here,” Rigor said between clenched teeth. “Crank, you show me exactly where you lost those girls and then I want you to gather a dozen of the best hunters you’ve got nearby. Trust me the pay is going to be well worth the trouble.”
Barsork waited until Crank had disappeared and then followed closely behind Rigor who was scanning the area intensely. A wicked smile came across his lips as he looked at the empty stand where Barsork remembered Betty stopping the day before.
Rigor laughed then and began talking to himself. “Oh, Elena. You think you are so smart to get away from me, but I will not let you go so easily. Wherever you are that wench Kristin is as well and Carzon will pay quite handsomely for her head. Right after I have my way with her that is.”
His wicked laughter made Barsork cringe. If Betty was somehow with these women she was in more danger than she realized. They would get her killed. Barsork watched Rigor leave and then waited for the market to close down for the night and all the people to clear out. Barsork had an advantage that Rigor did not. Barsork had worked on Azu-Ban and he knew at least a little about their secrets.
When he was certain that no one was around, Barsork stepped out of the shadows and made his way to the fruit stand. He quickly walked behind the stand and began checking for markers. Only those who had need of sanctuary could see the small nuances of a hide out.
They were very tiny indents in the ground that to the naked eye looked like nothing but the lay of the land. But to one who had at one time or another had need of a hideout, as Barsork had, they were the keys to finding the entrance. At last Barsork found the matching indent and smiled. Whoever had built this hideout had been very clever. The entrance was nearly impossible to find.
Barsork checked one last time to make sure he was not being watched and then disappeared into the secret hideout, vanishing into thin air. Even if someone were to see him vanish, the likelihood of finding the entrance would be impossible.
Barsork headed down the path wearily. He couldn’t keep his mind from Betty. He was so worried for her. Even though Crank had seen her with another girl didn’t mean that she was safe.
Anything could have happened to her in the day that she had been missing. After going a small distance, Barsork decided it was probably safer to stay off the main path and he ducked into the heavy underbrush and thick trees to the side.
His arms and chest continued to be pricked and caught by sharp twigs and thorny bushes. Whoever was hiding in here had certainly done everything in their power to keep from being found. He had to admire the tenacity whoever they were.
When he finally came from out of the tree line, it was so suddenly that he had to catch himself. Barsork glanced around quickly and his heart thudded loudly in his chest. Betty was nearby that much was certain. He didn’t like being out in the open though and shimmied slowly back under the heavy brush out of site.
For the next forty-five minutes, Barsork moved slowly through the brush in the direction in which he sensed Betty. Several times he caught sight or sound of another human girl and he knew that he had found the place Ven had told him of. This was where the auction house women were.
Another ten minutes and Barsork had the spot he had been looking for. In one quick motion, he popped from the tree line and wrapped his arms firmly around the girl putting one hand to her mouth and pulling her quickly back under the trees. She squirmed for several seconds until his whispering registered in her ear.
“Betty, it’s me, Barsork. Don’t scream.”
Betty stopped fighting and looked at him in disbelief. For several seconds, Barsork thought she was going to scream anyways. The look in her eyes was one of hatred and then of dismissal, almost as if she didn’t know him, or didn’t want to know him.
“Betty, what’s wrong. I’ve been looking everywhere for you and I was scared something bad had happened. You’ve got hunters after you and they’re gathering more right now to try and find this place. They know you’re here and they know there are others. I came to get you out.”
Betty shook her head frantically. “Did you know what was going on at the auction house, Barsork? Did you know what your brother was really doing? How could you have helped him!”
Barsork took a step back his heart racing. “Betty, I told you the whole truth. You already know that I knew and that I helped him. I regret those actions very much, but I can’t go back and undo them. Betty, please tell me what is happening.”
Betty looked back over her shoulder at the clearing and suddenly felt conflicted again. Slowly she nodded her head and pulled Barsork further into the deep woods away from the clearing.
“Barsork you can’t be here. These girls know that you helped abduct women to give to Carzon. It doesn’t matter why you did it, they will kill you if they find you. They have been through hell, and a hell that you helped put them in. I know you care about me, but this is a lot to take in. I need some time to think things through.”
Barsork took a step back feeling like he had just been punched. “Betty how can you say that. I am bonded to you. I love you. I found you because of that bond, I can feel when you are near. I know I have done wrong and I will make amends somehow, but don’t ask me to leave you in danger. I cannot.”
Betty breathed deeply and looked into his eyes taking a step toward him. “I am not in danger right now, Barsork. These women want to help me, not hurt me, and I want to help them. Please. I am okay for now. Let me stay with them for a while. Maybe when you have secured travel we can help get them back to Earth.”
Barsork leaned his head down to touch Betty’s forehead. “How can you ask me to walk away? Do you not love me as you said you did? Is this truly your wish? You do not want to come back with me to our own hideout?”
Betty reached up and laid her hand gently on the side of his soft blue face. “Barsork, I do love you, more than I could have ever thought possible. If there is a way for us to be together I will try to find it as I know you will.”
She kissed him fully on his lips, tasting his sweetness. Her hands came up almost involuntarily to wrap around his neck as he pulled her closer to him with his strong arms. She could feel her body filling with need and desire and she wanted nothing more than to be laid down on the forest floor and made love to. With a longing regret, Betty pulled herself from his kiss and placed her hand on his smooth chest.
“I need to be here for right now. Please, Barsork. I think that I can help, and I need you to trust me. Do what you promised to do and find transport for us. I love you.”
Barsork felt his fierce eyes brimming with tears, something he had never experienced before. The thought of leaving her there was cutting out his heart. He knew she was in danger even if she couldn’t see it.
Those hunters were not going to give up until they had their prey and she was walking straight into it. She was too naïve to think that she was safe with these women just because they were human. They were going to get her killed.
Even so, he could not deny her. His heart ached with the need to see her happy even at his own expense. With a last longing look into her eyes and a single tear sliding down his pale blue face, he stepped back and watched Betty turn back toward the clearing.
Chapter Fifteen
Betty
When Betty stepped out of the deep forest and back into the clearing she was quickly grabbed by Kristin and pulled off to the side. “What the hell is going on here?” Kristin asked forcefully.
Betty pulled her arm free surprised at the intensity in Kristin’s face. “I don’t know what you mean?” Betty lied, trying to buy herself some time.
Kristin’s eyes hardened. “Don’t play stupid with me, Betty. I followed you when that man grabbed you because I thought you were in danger. Betty, you called him Barsork.”
Betty did her best to sort through the thought running around in her head. She wanted to be truthful with Kristin and the rest of the girls, but she was scared that they would try to bring harm to Barsork. They couldn’t see that he was different than his brother, they could only see their own suffering.
“It’s not what it looked like,” Betty stuttered not knowing what else to say at the moment.
Kristin took a step back in disbelief. “Really, because what it looked like was you sucking face with Carzon’s brother; the man responsible for our abductions and torture. What it looked like, was that you are in love with him and are helping him to capture us and resell us to the highest bidder, or worse back to his brother.”
Betty held her hands up defensively. “That’s not true, Kristin, please let me explain.”
Kristin made a wretched chuckling sound as she crossed her arms. “This better be a real good explanation.”