by Zara Zenia
I suddenly wished I could go back to being completely oblivious as to the existence of the Looking Eye.
“You’re right.” She sniffed. She was apparently now dry of the well of tears she had earlier harbored within.
“What?” Perplexed, I wondered if I had misheard her. I was shocked that she would agree with me on the depth of any level.
“You’re right.” She nodded her head, her eyes the mirror of newfound wisdom. “My family has forgotten about me. It’s time I try to become accustomed to my new surroundings. So, what is it you wanted to show me so desperately?”
Her shoulders sagged in defeat and she looked like a crumpled piece of paper, a once vibrant rose that had wilted from the cold.
If I’d known that this was how life would be with a human I would never have agreed to participate in the auction in the first place.
I stared at her, numb from this different girl now standing in front of me. The personality changes she made in a matter of moments was astounding.
I didn’t understand how she could shift her emotions so quickly at the drop of a hat. I guessed I had a thing or two to learn about the women of Earth.
“You’re willing to blend in with the diversity now?” I raised a questionable eyebrow. I wasn’t quite convinced yet that Lucy was willing to jump completely onboard.
“Yep.” She continued her nodding, and pursed her lips with etchings of adamancy stretching across her facial features.
I gave her a weary, apprehensive look. “Well, follow me then.”
We walked for several minutes until we were just on the cusp of the tree line bordering my house.
The leaves crunched under our feet and the serene setting relaxed me even under the circumstances.
“Where are we?” An inquisitive Lucy looked around, assessing her surroundings.
She looked both curious and worried as if she wasn’t sure whether I was going to take her in the woods and kill her or something.
“We’re at my favorite place in all of Xicret,” I admitted with pride and glanced around with a nostalgic smile.
“Yeah?” Lucy’s voice piqued.
“If you’ve noticed, most of Xicret is laden with city streets and skyscrapers. I wanted to make sure my house was developed on untouchable land. It’s so serene and peaceful back here. Come, follow me.”
I led her just inside the tree line. “Look up,” I instructed with a point of my finger to the blue sky. I smiled to make her feel at ease.
“Oh wow.” Lucy’s eyes were a sparkle of splendor. I could tell she was impressed. I wondered if she liked being outdoors as much as I did.
Maybe it was something we had in common. I was going to search far and wide until I finally found something that we could share and connect with.
I followed her gaze as she peered up at the tree house I had worked tirelessly to build. It had taken me almost an entire year, but it was my favorite place to come and relax.
I had definitely put the blood, sweat and tears into this place and I was proud of how amazing it turned out once I was finished with it.
She glanced at me and then back up at the ladder.
“Can we go up there?” She moved her body to the big oak tree and grazed her hands softly against the wood ladder. She was smiling for the first time since I’d met her.
“Of course, that’s why I brought you here. To show you that beauty and creativity exist everywhere, not just in your small town. I want you to broaden your horizons and give this place a chance.”
I hoped that this treehouse would represent the beginning of a solid foundation for us. I wanted her to understand I was willing to compromise and meet her in the middle to make Xicret feel more like home.
Lucy took an animated deep breath. “I’ll think about it. For now, I have to see this amazing treehouse.” Taking her adventurousness as an excellent sign, I followed her up the ladder.
“After you,” I offered. “I’ll climb up behind you.”
When we ascended to the top, Lucy gazed with magnificent wonder at the views across the tree lined horizon.
“The views are stunning up here.” She leaned over the railing I had built out of pewter beams.
“Thank you.” I grinned from her compliment. “Just be careful and don’t lean over too much. That’s a long fall.”
Lucy gave me a peculiar look. “Thanks for um…caring about my wellbeing.”
“Of course,” I told her with open honestly. “I’m supposed to take care of you now and protect you.”
“I don’t need your protecting,” Lucy said as her eyes grew cold and dark once again.
Well that didn’t last long.
“Do you want to see more? How about the inside?” I tried to quickly recover.
“Yeah.” Lucy’s eyes lit up with intrigue. “Yeah sure, I guess we can do that. It’s not like I have any other plans today.” It was a feeble attempt at a joke, but at least she was trying.
We walked inside, and I showed her around. There was a den and a loft, complete with all the luxury items that would make a tech savvy lover swoon.
Huge flat screen tvs mounted the walls and computer systems that monitored the palace grounds adorned the nooks behind the staircases.
There was a bathroom with all the amenities one would ever require or need. There were glass windows that offered breathtaking views of the outside wilderness.
The living area was complete with an electric fireplace against the wall where the TV was kept. A tiny kitchen with a sink and a fridge opened up to the outside balcony.
I was proud of this place and all the fine detail I had put into creating the perfect getaway spot. Sometimes I felt like I would rather live there than in the giant palace. I felt like I was swallowed up in that place, but out here…life was simpler.
With an expression of delight and fantasy on Lucy’s face, a sense of pleasure rose within me as I realized this milestone moment.
For the first time since bringing Lucy to Xicret, I got to see her beautiful smile, her radiant glow. I never wanted to forget this shifting moment between us. I wouldn’t exactly go as far as to say she was happy, but I was on the right track.
She was lost in the moment and I wasn’t going to dare pull her apart from that. Having Lucy continuously distracted from what she thought she lost back on Earth was going to be my new goal until she found what she was looking for on Xicret.
____________
The next morning, I went back to my parent’s palace.
“Harkzak, aren’t you going to greet your dear old mother?”
I spun around after having been lost in the moment. “Oh hi, Mom, I’m just looking for Dad. Is he around?”
I hated to be rude to my mom, but I had some things on my mind that I needed to discuss with Father.
My mom clicked her tongue and sighed. “I dedicated my life to my boys, and every time they come over they just want to see their father.”
I got an eye roll from her before she agreed to tell me where Carzon was. “Sorry, Mom. I do love you.” I planted a soft kiss on her cheek before heading off to meet with my father.
My mother was dressed in a long flowing navy dress with an emerald necklace shining as bright as the sun wrapped around her neck.
Not one to pass up an opportunity to wear expensive designer fashions, my mother always wanted to play the part of ‘leader’s wife’. She didn’t want people to know she was suffering behind closed doors. I didn’t know whether to admire her or pity her.
She reemerged into the living room after a moment. “Your father’s out back. Make it quick, we have a dinner party to attend later tonight.”
She winked at me and went back to the kitchen to give us some privacy. I was a man now, not her little soldier anymore.
As soon as I opened the French doors leading outside into their back garden, I found my father looking through a telescope up to the stars.
His inquisitive mind couldn’t let go of what else lay between the blankets
of darkness in the galaxies.
I knew he wanted my brothers and I to follow in his footsteps and be explorers just like he was. He never wanted to stop dreaming and I respected him for that because I felt the same way.
One trait we did get passed down from him was the love of virgins. There was nothing that would stop our insatiable desire for that.
Generation after generation would need the thirst of ripe virgin pussies to be satisfied, no matter what kind of men they turned out to be. I knew that wasn’t the kind of thing that Lucy would turn a blind eye to, but I didn’t know how to stop myself either. I glanced at my father and took a deep breath. I needed to just come right out and say it, get it over with.
“The Looking Eye is broken, Father. I’m sorry, but I can’t return it to you.” I walked up to my father without an ounce of remorse because it was his fault for giving me the damn thing in the first place.
He merely looked at me, and then placed an eye back over the telescope view finder. I was surprised that he didn’t react in anger.
“The device is a lie, it doesn’t matter anyway.”
I shook my head, struggling to overcome my confusion and disbelief. “Huh? What do you mean it’s a lie?” My father kept me guessing, but I was in no mood for his mind games today.
“It’s not an issue, Harkzak.” My father closed up the telescope, visibly annoyed with my presence during his focus time on the galaxy, but I didn’t care because he had some explaining to do.
“Well do you care to elaborate?” A frustrated twinge grew in me and I flailed my arms in the air in exasperation.
“Yes, son, I will explain it to you. Come sit by the fire.”
I followed my father over to the stone fireplace he had ablaze even though it wasn’t winter or even remotely cold outside.
At least he was willing to offer up an explanation to his madness, something I always struggled to understand with the man. We sat down on the chairs surrounding the centerpiece focal point of the back yard, getting settled in and comfortable.
“The device was designed to feed off of negative energy.” My father fidgeted in his seat, visibly uncomfortable with the conversation. “Its sole purpose is to reflect a person’s worst fears by manifesting them directly in front of whoever is observing an unwanted situation on the hover screen.”
I tried to grasp the magnitude of this lie and the emotional torment it held over Lucy. I felt as betrayed as she probably did when she first looked inside the devices screen.
“So, you mean to tell me that the Looking Eye is nothing more than a phony piece of shit that will just show whoever is watching it something that would be deemed their worst nightmare?”
“Precisely.” There wasn’t an ounce of empathy etched on Carzon’s face and he stared straight ahead with hollow eyes adjusted towards the horizon.
“So, what’s the point of crushing a young girl’s spirit? Leading her on to think her family hates her or doesn’t care about her is hardly a gentlemanly thing to do.”
I was trying to take Lucy’s side and empathize with her, clearly something my father didn’t take into account on his own accord. Then, I thought better of it and I stopped myself, because I knew there wasn’t a trace of diplomatic chivalry in my father’s hardened soul. If I tried to argue him it would be a lost cause and a waste of energy.
“My boy, you came to me asking for help, so I granted you the favor.” My father had a glazed and smug smile on his face that made my nerves fray.
“How did you think it was going to help me, Father?” I was trying not to let him get under my skin, but my attempts weren’t working.
“Because,” he tapped me on the top of my head to get me to come to grasps with his explanation. “If she looked inside of it and saw that there was nothing for her back on Earth, she would agree to stay here with you. She would give in.”
My father lit up like a candle as if he was satisfied in internally telling himself he was the wisest man in the galaxy. He was obviously proud of his little plan.
I watched the flames dance and lick at the fireplace. “I suppose you are right, Father. I don’t care about the lie, because I think the plan worked.” I hated to admit it, but it was true.
“Oh yeah?” He leaned over to slap me on the knee. “Well that’s all that matters in the end, son.” He chuckled with amusement.
“I took her to my treehouse,” I confessed, blurting it out.
“Did you fuck her? Have you taken a taste of that juicy pussy? I envy you, son. Make sure you savor every drop of that sweet nectar.”
My father never stopped thinking about sex, even in his older age.
“I haven’t fucked her yet, Father. You seem to forget that up until now she’s pretty much hated me. But I think she’s coming around now, she loved the treehouse.”
I didn’t know if he would be disappointed in me, but these things took time and effort.
There was a twinkle in my father’s eyes. “I’ve taught you well, Harkzak. You are going to be a great leader in your own right someday.”
I puffed out my chest at the rare compliment from my father. I hoped he was right, and that Lucy would really make a change for the better.
If she is willing to compromise, I think both of our happiness will improve significantly.
Chapter Ten
Lucy
Harkzak told me I could visit and utilize the treehouse whenever I wanted to. The refuge and peace it brought me to climb that ladder and sink into the plush red couch became an addiction I couldn’t stray from.
I never wanted to climb down from the cozy safety of the treehouse’s warm embrace. I could close my eyes and listen to the wind rustling through the leaves. The birds chirped a song of sorrow for me as I silently wept.
Solitude was my new best friend, because here on Xicret I had no friends, and everything I had ever known was ripped away from me.
I had to build myself up from my own metaphorical ground zero. I had to start from scratch with a new foundation and outlook on this new life.
If I didn’t find some way to adapt to living in this new environment, I feared for the wellbeing of my mind.
I still didn’t understand why the universe placed me here, but I had to embrace it, or I would go crazy in the process of trying to figure everything out without anyone to stand by my side or help me.
Harkzak and I didn’t spend much time together. I had a feeling the dislike between us was mutual, and I did what I could to stay out of his, and everybody’s way.
The day was hot, and the canopy of trees sheltered me from the impact of direct sunlight. With a twinge of guilt, I admitted how lovely this planet was in comparison to Earth.
Being in this wilderness high up in the trees tickled my bones, flipped my stomach. I enjoyed every minute of being in this peaceful quiet place with only the sounds of exotic looking birds to fill the welcomed silence.
Being one with nature certainly brought me a sense of tranquility that I craved. Even back home on Earth, I loved enjoying the great outdoors and would often hike with Fred on weekends in the summer.
I spent my days up here in the treehouse mainly because I didn’t know how to speak Xicretese, and most everyone on this planet couldn’t speak English.
The language barrier gave me a building sense of frustration and a loneliness that cut across the spectrum of my solitude. Harkzak spoke fluent English, but he was the last person there that I wanted to talk to.
At the same time, there was something mysterious about him. I tried to shove those feelings to the back of my mind, but it wasn’t working.
Harkzak was kind enough to let me use his treehouse, I had to give him credit for that. I didn’t want to be attracted to him, but for whatever reason I was. Even though I was still angry with him, the feelings were undeniable and confusing.
Harkzak’s face flashed across my mind, sparking a new curiosity. His dark eyes, his buff and muscular body gave me a captivating throb between my legs that was new. I was
n’t sure if it was something I wanted to welcome or steer away from.
He had been trying all along to be kind to me, and I just now realized the negative ramifications of how I didn’t reciprocate and try to get along with him. I knew he thought I was a heartless bitch, but I was going through the process of trying to adjust to what had happened to me.
In reality, Harkzak was just doing as he was told by his parents, to go to Earth and find a mate. It made no difference if it had been me or some other random girl who had suffered the same fate.
I was the one who was unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and got kidnapped. I knew I wasn’t the first human girl to be abducted by a Xicret man and I certainly wouldn’t be the last.
The more my foggy mind daydreamed in spirals around Harkzak, the more attractive he became in my head. Maybe I was just that lonely that I was resorting to having feelings about him bubble to the surface out of nowhere.
The more I thought about him, the more I wanted to get to know him, even if that sounded crazy in my own head. If he ever came around me again, I would try to make the best efforts to make sure he knew that now I was ready to embrace my new life on Xicret.
On the bright side, he hadn’t beaten me or abused me in any way. In fact, he had gone to greater lengths than I expected even after my spiteful behavior to be nice to me.
My fastidious behavior certainly didn’t deserve a handsome guy like Harkzak. I could get past his different skin color because I was taught to embrace diversity and uniqueness in the world.
My mother might have been a rich suburban socialite, but she had a hippy side to her too that stemmed from her background. She was never judgmental even though she was the most beautiful woman I knew.
Afternoon drowsiness kicked in and wilted my heavy eyes. It was exhausting being this emotional all the damn time.
I was on the brink of drifting away for a nap when an alarming screeching sound dropped my heart into my shoes.
