by Amy Richie
“You're nineteen. How are you not already graduated?”
“I got held back a year.”
So little miss perfect life had a flaw. I might not have had good parents, but I got good grades at school. Well, good enough to not be held back ever.
“Do you think we'll see them again?” She frowned, pulling at a strand of hair that had fallen into her face.
“No.”
“No?”
What did she want with that quivering bottom lip and wide eyes? Did she want me to lie to her just so she would feel better? We were both in the same boat, ripped from our homes and taken to some far off galaxy; and now we were being held in a crappy room.
“We're never going back to earth.”
Suddenly, Bonnie's lip jutted out and her eyes filled with more tears. It was startling how many she let fall before covering her face. “I want to go home,” she wailed. “My mom is going to be worried about me.”
“Well...”
“I've never been away from home for more than a few days,” she continued, her voice becoming more warped.
Uncomfortable, I fished around for something to say that would make her feel better. “I don't think crying will help us.”
“I know,” she gulped. “I just can't help it.”
“I cried earlier,” I admitted awkwardly. That didn't seem to help her at all.
“I'm...um...sure we'll find a way out of here.” I jumped up and began searching the room again for some clue how to get out. “I think this used to be a door,” I pointed out the place the wall was slightly raised. Bonnie wasn't looking at me. “I think we have a good chance of...”
“We'll be able to what?” she sniffed. “Break down a wall and escape out into a planet of sand?”
“There has to be more than sand here.” This room was here, it was perfectly acceptable to assume there were more buildings out there. “We just need to get out of here so we can look around.”
Tears still glistening on her face, Bonnie leaned back against the wall and let her eyes drift closed.
I pulled in a great lungful of air and let it out slowly. Even Lana didn't cry as much as this girl, how was I going to be trapped with her for... how long did they plan on making us stay here?
“I'm going back to the other door,” I announced.
“You've already tried that door,” Bonnie pointed out, “several times.”
“I don't want to just sit in here.” With you.
Her eyebrows raised over her closed lids. “Good luck,” she mumbled.
Careful not to run, I hurried out of the small lit room and went back to the door that had gotten me trapped in here. It was still dark, but if I left the other door open, it lit the space up just a little bit. Enough to see the gray outline of the door and what I thought was a closed window.
Sighing heavily, I let my head fall forward until it rested on the cool material of the door. I shouldn't have gotten so irritated with her, I told myself firmly. It wasn't her fault she had a family that would miss her. I had friends that would miss me, they were my family.
Why did I tell her I was from Montana?
“Did you get the door to open?' Bonnie called out to me.
Startled, I straightened myself up again. How long had I been standing there feeling sorry for myself. With a quick mental shake, I made my way back to Bonnie. “No luck,” I told her with a frown.
“I didn't expect you to find a way out,” she sighed. “We'll just have to wait for the man to come back for us.”
That wasn't a good plan at all. Snarling, I flung myself back on the floor across from my new found sister.
Chapter Nineteen
My eyes were starting to burn and my neck felt stiff. We had been locked inside the dingy room for too long, so long that I had stopped looking for a way out. Instead, I had taken to watching Bonnie as she tried to get comfortable against the wall.
Her eyes were still red and puffy, the tears wouldn't stop leaking down her pale face. I didn't know people were capable of crying that much. It was incredible: and disgusting. If she wasn't careful, she would end up dehydrated. It wasn't like they were bringing us tall glasses of iced tea.
“How did you get here?” I asked her, breaking the silence with my raspy voice.
“That man,” she replied, sounding like she had a head cold.
“I mean, who took you from earth?”
“It was a man named Kristov.”
Just as I suspected. “He came to get me too,” I pursed my lips thoughtfully. “We ran over him with our car.”
“Did he...tell you weird things?”
“He said a lot of weird things,” I confirmed. “What did he tell you?”
“He told me I was a Princess.”
“Yeah.” I already knew that much.
“Of a planet called Kluff.”
My eyes widened “This planet?”
Bonnie nodded. “It felt weird when I got here,” she admitted as if it were a dirty secret.
“What do you mean?”
Her tongue shot out to quickly glide across her bottom lip. “It felt...like I was home from a really long trip.” Her voice dipped down several octaves.
Was that the strange sensation I felt when I saw Tontine? Like I was coming home? It was a good feeling though, a warm feeling inside my stomach. That's not what home felt like.
“This is your planet?” I mumbled again, amazed by her words.
“I don't know about that.” Her nose scrunched up in distaste. “Do you think Kristov was telling us the truth?”
“I do,” I sighed.
“You do?”
My eyes narrowed. “I don't know if everything he said was true, but it's obvious we're in a different world.”
She nodded, looking thoroughly miserable.
“Do you have compulsion too?” She was a Princess, just like I was. Maybe we all had that special power within us.
“What's that?” Her face crinkled with the question.
“You know,” I explained awkwardly, “a special...power to make people...do what you want.”
“Um...” Her eyebrows shot low on her forehead. “I don't know think I can do anything like that.”
“Never mind,” I muttered, glancing down at my hands. I couldn't explain my disappointment, even to myself. All my life I had wanted to fit in with everyone else. I thought, being here, I would finally find people who were just like me. But, once again, I was the odd one.
“Can you do that?” she asked. “Can you make people do what you want?”
“I don't know what I can do.” I looked back up at her. “”Everything here is weird.”
“That's true,” she sighed, relaxing against the wall again.
“Did you meet the Queen,” I blew air out through my teeth, making a whistling sound.
“No,” her eyes widened. “Did you?”
“Yeah.”
“But I thought she lived in the Palace on H..Hurdesh.”
I understood her reluctance to say the word. “Isn't that where Kristov took you when you left earth?”
“He brought me here.”
I glanced around us.
“To the planet,” she clarified. “not this room.”
“Kris did tell me something went wrong,” I recalled out loud. “He didn't know why we went to Hurdesh instead of Tontine.”
“Tontine?” Bonnie perked up at the name.
“Yeah,” I frowned. “Do you know anything about Tontine?”
“It's their military.”
“What?”
“All the soldiers live on Tontine,” she told me with a small nod. “They're trained there and sent out all over the galaxy when they're needed to keep the peace.”
“So, they're like the police?”
Bonnie shrugged. “They're trained to fight and kill if necessary.”
“So are cops.” I tried to keep the snarl out of my voice. Everyone needed people to enforce the laws, it sounded to me like Tontine was the m
ost important planet in the entire Zar galaxy. It figured, I inwardly snorted, that I would be a Princess of a planet full of cops. “How do you know all this anyways? How long have you been on Kluff? And what does Kluff do?”
“I've only been here a few days. The Princess there now is teaching me a bunch of stuff. And I...” She hesitated, chewing furiously on her bottom lip.
“You what?”
“They made me get married,” she said in a rush of words.
Did I hear that right? “They made you what?”
“Lady Tiff said all the Princesses have to marry the appointed Prince within seven days of coming of age,” she recited as if she had heard that a few times. Or more than a few.
“I'm not getting married to anyone.” I crossed my arms tightly over my chest. “They can't force me.”
“It's the law,” she widened her eyes in my direction. “It's been the law for hundreds of years.”
“It's...”
“I know.”
“What's he like?”
“The Prince?”
I nodded.
“I never see him.”
“You've never seen him?” My mouth fell open. How did they get married if she never saw him?
“I did,” she hurried to clarify, “but only during the wedding ceremony. They made us go out on this tower thing and get married in front of everyone.” Her lips pursed tightly at the memory. “He didn't even say hello, just walked in the room and we went out there and got married. I only know his name because Travo told me.”
“Who's Travo?”
“My Guardian.” She took a deep breath and let it back out with force.
“I already know the Prince of Tontine's name.” The wirey man who had brought me here talked about him. He said he didn't want to marry me. “Prince Aiden.”
“Tontine is bigger than Kluff, you'll probably never have to see him either. It sounds like we just have to get married to be official.” Her top lip snarled up. Mine followed.
“If we don't get married in the seven days, does that mean we can't be the official Princess?”
Bonnie shrugged.
“Maybe that's why they locked us up in here, to stop the wedding.”
“Mine already happened,” she pointed out.
“True.” I sat back against the wall, my thoughts stirring wildly.
It was a lot to take in, no wonder Bonnie had spent her time in here crying. Adding a forced marriage to everything else that had happened to me since I left earth was too much. Would this Aiden guy be nice? And who appointed him as Prince? Being the leader of entire galaxy's army couldn't be easy. He was probably some old guy with a bulldog face. Would I be expected to have kids with him?
A shudder traveled the length of my spine. “Ew,” I whispered out loud.
Chapter Twenty
My eyes jerked open.
Disorientated by the yellow light and dingy walls, I ground my fists into my eyes and rubbed away the sleep that had gathered in the corners. I must have fallen asleep, I realized with a jolt of surprise. I got another shiver of surprise when I heard a loud bang coming from the hallway.
That was what must have woken me up in the first place. Someone else was in here with us. I glanced quickly to Bonnie, who was still sleeping in her corner of the room.
Heart in my throat, I jumped up from the floor and hurried to the closed door. I hesitated with my hand on the door handle. It was hard to say what was on the other side of the door, friend or foe. I had no weapon, no phone to call the police, and no one here to help me fight if need be. I only had Bonnie and a burning desire to keep her safe. Or at least alive.
“Let me out of here,” came a girl's voice, followed by another round of bangs. “Open this door right now.”
I held my breath, was it another Princess that they captured?
Bonnie was suddenly beside me, her face white and filled with her round eyes. “Someone is here,” she needlessly pointed out.
“I got that,” I hissed, shoving one finger against my lips so she wouldn't keep going.
Wrapping her bony fingers around my arm, Bonnie bit down hard on her bottom lip. “Do you think she's like us?” she whispered.
“Yeah, I do.”
“Hey,” the girl called again, making her voice go louder than before so that she was practically screaming. “You let me out of here.”
“I'm going to open the door,” I decided out loud. Bonnie nodded, but kept a hold of my arm. What good did she think that was going to do for her?
Slowly pulling the door open, I stuck my head out and peeked down the dark hallway.
It was hard to make anything out at first, the shadows were too dark so that I couldn't tell where the wall stopped and the girl began. Blinking several times, I was finally able to make things come into focus. There at the end of the hall, was a person. Although I couldn't tell for sure in the dark, I guessed it was a young woman who had just turned nineteen.
“Hey,” I croaked. I cleared my throat and tried again. “Hey there!”
The girl spun around, casting her face into the light for the first time. Her hair was pulled away from her face into a ponytail low on her head. “Who's there?” she asked, taking a step forward. “What is this place?”
“Who are you?” I asked back instead of answering her questions. I had to be sure she really was one of the Princesses. For all I knew, she was working with this master guy.
“I'm Mattie.”
“How did you get here?”
“Some guy brought me here. It was really weird, I don't remember much.”
“She must be a Princess too,” Bonnie whispered behind me.
Really? I thought sarcastically, biting back my words. “You better come in here where it's light,” I sighed, moving away from the door so Mattie could see better. Bonnie hurried back to the wall and pressed herself against it, shooting me terrified glances.
In the light, Mattie was a strong looking girl who had obviously seen a few days hard work in her life. Freckles sprinkled across her nose and cheeks and the hair pulled back was light brown with blonde highlights that were more than likely caused by the sun. she was frowning as she looked around.
“Where are we?” she demanded.
“Kluff,” Bonnie supplied.
“And what is that supposed to mean? Where is Kluff?”
“Your name is Mattie,” I stepped forward, attempting a comforting sort of smile. I had a tendency to put people on their guards.
“Matilda Hopper,” she stuck one hand out in greeting, which I took in my own and shook. “Everyone just calls me Mattie.”
“Bonnie Lyon,” Bonnie gave a small wave at Mattie.
“I'm Kalli and Kluff is a planet of the Zar Galaxy.”
Mattie took a step away from me. “What's that you said?”
“We're not on earth anymore.”
“That's stupid,” she spat, “I hope you don't expect me to believe that garbage.”
“It's true,” Bonnie seconded. “Did you just get here?”
“I was going to milk the cows,” Mattie began slowly, “and there was a man in the barn.”
“It must have been Kristov.”
“I asked him what he was doing and he said his master wanted to see me.” She blinked and shook her head several times.
Not Kris then, the wirey guy must have gotten to her first.
“Have we been kidnapped?” She looked from me to Bonnie and then back to me again. “Is that what is going on here?”
“I think so,” I nodded. It wasn't the same kind of kidnapped she was thinking of, but we were being held here against our will – so it was basically the same thing. “We've been trying to find a way out.”
“Do either of you still have your phones? Did you try the police?”
“The police can't help us here.”
“We're not on earth,” Bonnie added.
Mattie rolled her eyes. “That guy probably told you that, but he was obviously delusional and crazy
.”
“We traveled in space,” Bonnie insisted. “I saw it, and so did Kalli.”
“Let me ask you this,” I hurried to cut in before the two could start arguing about whether or not we were on earth.
“What?” Mattie's attention returned to me.
“Were you adopted?”
Her frown relaxed slightly, going to surprise. “Why would you ask me that?”
“Were you?” I insisted.
“Yeah,” Mattie shrugged. “So what?”
“So were we,” Bonnie pointed between the two of us. Technically I was never adopted but why split hairs here? There were more important things to worry about.
“It's not that uncommon,” she huffed. “Lots of people were adopted.”
“Not like us,” I muttered.
“I think we should just focus on how to get out of here,” Mattie raised both her hands. “Then we can decide if we're on earth or not.”
“There is no way out.” I patted the solid wall. “We're stuck in here until that guy comes with his master.”
Mattie took a deep breath that made her shoulders rise up. “There has to be a way out,” she huffed again. “I'm sure I can get that door open if I just go try again.”
Before we could say anything to stop her, she was back out the hallway and pounding on the door again.
“Do you think she's a Princess too?” Bonnie asked when we were alone.
“She must be,” I nodded. “I don't think Kris found her yet though.”
“So,” she concluded, “that guy has the power to go to earth?”
“Yeah.” My forehead wrinkled as I came to the same conclusion. He was a lot more powerful than I first gave him credit for.
Chapter Twenty One
Mattie was mostly looking at me, her lips pursed and her arms crossed. “So,” she said thickly.
“So?” It took all I had not to scowl at her. This wasn't my fault, so why was she acting like I had done something wrong?
“So you're saying we were abducted by aliens?”
“Looks that way.” I crossed my own arms, taking offense at her accusations. Clearly, she thought I was crazy. Whatever.
“And you think,” she turned to Bonnie to include her this time, “that we're aliens too?”
“I know it's a little weird...”
