Calico Descending

by Keri Lake

  Just as when we sat around the table and watched Valdys behead Dean, many of the faces are those I recognize from my treatments. Scientists in lab coats. Medusa. And when I turn just a bit more, I catch sight of Valdys, as always, flanked by Legion soldiers. Though he wears his helmet, I’ve come to recognize him from the scars, and the way his left shoulder is slightly lower than the right, as though it’s been broken a few times.”

  “Good afternoon, my most esteemed colleagues. In the interest of time, I’ll skip the background on the Alpha Project, as many of you are quite familiar with the program. Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen fairly good progression, minus a couple setbacks that have kept us from getting ahead.” Laughter bounces off the walls, as Doctor Ericsson makes light of Dean’s decapitation. “That said, I’m happy to report that Subject Nine-Seven-Nine has had considerable binding success with two of our three more violent Alphas. Due to multiple rejections of his previously assigned females, we decided to take a chance and test Cadmus, as well. We figured he might be more inclined to play along with an audience observing.”

  Oh, God. Cadmus. The one who held me by my neck, back in the yard. Who probably blames me for what happened to him that day. One who nearly killed the female they tried to bind him with.

  “Before we get started, I’ll ask Valdys. Do you have any objections to binding your female with Cadmus?”

  I snap my gaze to Valdys, and with tears in my eyes, I give a subtle nod, praying he’ll notice.

  “No.” His words come down on top of me like a hammer, and it’s clear how deeply his hatred for me runs. That he could watch another Alpha kill me, rape me, or both, in front of all these people, is a testament to how little he thinks of me.

  “Ah, Valdys.” Doctor Ericsson’s voice carries the strained amusement I’ve come to know as irritation. “You are an enigma. So then, let’s begin.”

  My heart is pounding in my chest, my body in a state of paralysis, to the extent that I don’t immediately notice Doctor Ericsson has left the room, until the doors click in unison. More lights flick on, creating a halo of darkness at the perimeter of the room, and I have to squint past the brightness to see the figure striding toward me. As massive as Valdys, if that’s possible, but far more scarred.

  As he accosts me, I back myself away, eyes scanning my surroundings for a place to hide, a place to avoid him.

  A solid surface hits my spine, and I turn around, pressing against the door that won’t budge. My heart is slamming into my ribs, and when I spin back to face Cadmus, he pins both of my arms against the door, pressing the weight of his body into mine. Shivering against him, I turn my head, screwing my eyes shut to avoid having to watch the onslaught of what comes next. Like the other Alphas, he drags his helmet over my skin, the cold metal scraping against my flesh.

  “You smell like him,” he rasps. “Like shit.” The clang of metal steels my muscles, and I flinch, refusing to open my eyes. His hot breath fans against my neck, and I know he’s removed his helmet. But not even that prompts me to open my eyes. “I’d still fuck the shit out of you, though.”

  He releases me, and I gasp with the shock of it as I stumble forward.

  Standing in the middle of the room, he looks up toward the observation deck, the lights so blinding that all I can see is his massive silhouette. “You want a show?” His voice lashes out, like that of a lion chiding his pride. “Send me one that hasn’t been stuck in solitary for a week. Preferably fucking bathed.” Swiping up his helmet, he strides back toward the door through which he came, slamming through it, no doubt to a line of awaiting Legion who will escort him back to his cell.

  The lights dim, just enough that I can see Valdys hasn’t moved from his earlier stance, and I’d bet my rations, he’s wearing a smile beneath that helmet.

  Part of me wants to cry at what almost happened here. Another part of me is far too elated that it didn’t.

  “Pity.” Ericsson’s voice echoes through the room, but there’s no sign of him anywhere. I glance up at the dome, searching for his face among those that stare down at me, and find him amongst the crowd. “I was hoping the binding of the third Alpha would prove fruitful enough to avoid having to test the control group.”

  Control group?

  “By eliminating the human element, we’re left with a very primitive, animalistic mind. Animals don’t have the same reservations as … bathing requirements.”

  The group above me laughs again, shifting and moving about. All except Valdys.

  “Gentlemen, please refrain from any sudden movement, or sounds. The glass in front of you is a fairly reliable barrier, so there’s no need to be alarmed.”

  Alarmed? Of what?

  Eyes scanning back and forth between the doors ahead of me and the watching crowd, I back myself as far away as I can. My pulse is racing so fast, it feels as though I could pass out any moment. I steal another glimpse of Valdys, who has removed his helmet, tucking it under his arm, and the expression on his face is the first I’ve ever seen of its kind. Brows drawn, lips set to a hard line, he looks to be very concerned at the moment. But that’s about the extent of it.

  The doors click, and two Legion officers wheel an enormous cage into the center of the room, before they both shuffle quickly back out.

  Breaths shallow, I blink past the sweat in my eyes drawing tears. A red light blinks in time to a beeping sound. Beep. Beep. Beep. It silences, and the red light flicks off.

  A green light flicks on.

  A woman’s robotic voice echoes through the room. “Danger. Please step back. Please step back.”

  There’s a siren, and the steel door of the cage clicks forward, then slides to the side.

  “Danger. Please step back. Please step back.”

  I can’t step back any farther. Twisting around, I push on the door, rattling the handle to no avail. I slide down to the next door. Rattle the handle. A panicked cry dies in my throat, as on the wall beside me, an enormous shadow rises upward. Body seizing in terror, I slowly turn around and find an enormous, monstrous creature, with pale white, almost translucent skin, tiny black eyes, and a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth.

  Sliding along the door, I move slow and easy, so as not to set it off on a chase. Perhaps it was once human, but it’s not anymore. My head tells me to scream, but my lungs, clamped down by fear, won’t allow me.

  As the creature tracks my movements, lowering itself to all fours, I pause.

  It lunges toward me.

  Breath whooshes out of me as I spin on my heel, pushing off the balls of my feet for speed. My feet fly out from beneath me, the shiny floor burns as it passes beneath my body.

  I scramble to get away, my nails bending as I scratch them across the smooth surface.

  I’m yanked back again, harder, and I roll over onto my back, staring up at the belly of the beast.

  “No! No! Please!”

  A long pink tongue lashes out, warm and sticky as it glides over my cheek. I dare a peek to find what I presume is it’s sex organ sticking out between its legs, pulsing with its growing length.

  Oh, God. No. Please no!

  Something crashes, snapping it’s attention just enough for me to scramble from beneath it. I look up to see Valdys falling from the ceiling, before he lands with a hard thud on the floor. Bits of broken glass shatter around him, raining down. He slides on his helmet and charges headfirst toward the creature.

  In a battle of shock and awe, I kick myself backward, away from the brawl. The creature lets out a harrowing screech, and swipes at my leg, it’s long nail tearing across my flesh.

  I cry out and slap a trembling hand over the gash streaked up my leg, before it’s body is hauled across the room, and it slams into the wall at the opposite side.

  Undeterred, it flips to all fours, scampering toward me again, but Valdys steps in its path, hammering his palm into its throat. The creature claws and writhes, its sharp nails slicing his flesh, as Valdys holds it back from me.

  Breat
h shudders through my chest.

  I can see the muscles in Valdys’s arms vibrating with exertion, as he wrangles the beast. A claw slashes at his cheek. Another rips a gash in his thigh. Still, he fights to keep it away from me, his jaw taut with determination.

  In one swift move, he manages to dig his fingers beneath the mutation’s head, and on the sound of tearing flesh, he rips it away from the creature’s body. It rolls like a ball across the shiny floor, dripping a dark, almost black fluid that streaks behind it, until it comes to a stop at my feet.

  Tucking my knees into my chest, I swallow back the scream in my throat, eyes glued to the teeth that could’ve easily torn through my flesh like hot blades slicing through a fig. My body spasms with terror and shock, and it isn’t until the sturdy arms of Valdys slide beneath my legs, lifting me up off the floor, that I divert my attention from the severed head. Like a beast carrying a wounded bird, he draws me to his chest and strides toward the door at the far end.

  Arms wrapped around Valdys’s neck, I tuck my face into his chest. A sob tries to break through, but it can’t. I’m exhausted. Weak. Beyond terror.

  “Gentlemen.” Doctor Ericsson’s voice breaks through the sound of blood whooshing inside my skull. “I give you, the Alpha Project.”

  My body falls lightly against the mattress of the bed in Valdys’s cell. Had any of the guards outside tried to stop him from bringing me in here with him, I’m certain they’d have met the same fate as the now-headless creature. I’m reluctant to release his neck, but I do, and I curl myself into a ball, shivering, as he covers me with a blanket that holds his soothing scent.

  The click of the door startles my muscles, and my eyes scan the room for another creature, but the gentle glide of Valdys’s palm sends a rush of calm through me. “It’s okay. You’re safe.”

  He removes his helmet and slides down against the wall beside the bed, tipping his head back with a grimace that tells me his wounds hurt as bad as the one on my leg. Instead of tending to his first, he tears a square of fabric from the sheet and leans forward, dabbing it against my leg, and tying it securely around the wound. I reach to tear a piece for him, as well, but he grabs my arm, shaking his head.

  “I’m fine. Get some rest. They’ll be in here soon enough with an army.”

  “You’re hurt, though.”

  “Nothing I haven’t been through before.”

  “Thank you … for what you did back there.”

  “I had no choice.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I couldn’t stand by and watch that thing have its way with you. Cadmus, either, for that matter.”

  His words are a brief and welcomed distraction from the visual of the creature’s organ sticking out, and the horror of what it planned to do with it. “But you … you didn’t have any objections. When Doctor Ericsson asked.”

  “I knew Cadmus wasn’t stupid enough to touch my female, not while I watched.”

  My belly shouldn’t flutter at the sound of him calling me his. I shouldn’t want to know what his hands feel like on my body, either, after having suffered the kind of trauma I’ve suffered, but I do. Whether it’s because of adrenaline, or too many days spent in isolation, I want his hands on me. “Valdys ...”

  His eyes shoot to mine, and it’s then I remember the warning, but it doesn’t matter. I’d welcome the weight of him on top of me, even if it crushed me. He doesn’t move, though, but looks at me, expectantly, for a moment. When I don’t say anything, he pushes up from the floor and hobbles across the room, swiping up a pitcher from a small table beyond the foot of the bed. My mouth puckers at the sight of him pouring water into a cup.

  With a slight limp, he returns to my side, and with one big palm cupping the back of my head, he tips the water into my mouth. It dribbles out of the corner of my lips as I guzzle it back.

  When he lowers the cup, his stormy gray eyes seem to swirl with something else. A sort of hunger that goes beyond food, or water. Hand still plastered to the back of my head, he drags my face to his, and the moment his lips slant over mine, the butterflies in my belly explode.

  His lips taste like spice and metal—a delicious flavor that I want to devour.

  The kiss begins slow and lazy, tongues exploring lips, breath mingling, soft moans trapped behind sealed mouths.

  His grip of my neck grows tighter, tongues become teeth, breaths fervent and shaky, and his moan turns to a growl. A violent storm that begins as a gentle rain and sweeps over me, bringing thunder and lightning.

  The sudden need I have for him is flames in my blood. I wrap my arms around his neck, and he lifts me from the bed to his lap, where he seats himself against the wall.

  Clawing at his scalp, I devour the taste that has me ravenous for more. More of him. Legs stretched over his massive thighs, I feel his erection pressed against my core. It’s far bigger than the bulge in Dean’s slacks.

  Dean.

  I break the kiss, turning my head to the side, and frown at the memory.

  “Are you okay?” The sound of Valdys’s strong, but gentle, voice pushes those thoughts away, and my mind snaps to earlier, when I watched him fall through the ceiling like a God coming to save me.

  I give a nod and press myself against his bulge, observing the way his head tips back, eyes heavy and hungry. It’s as Roz described. Almost beautiful to see, the way he responds to touch this way. I run my fingertips over a scar along his jaw and lip, and the one above the slave band at his throat, taking in their jagged, messy stitchings. Life gave him these scars, but for some strange reason, I suddenly want to be the one who heals them. I want to crawl inside his darkness and illuminate the parts that have never felt the warmth of the light.

  Pressing my lips to his once more, I steal his breath, taking it into my body, and when his big arms wrap around me, pulling me closer, I don’t want him to let me go.

  His hands are everywhere—across my back, my ribs, my thighs—as if seeking out every inch of my flesh.

  I realize he’s my safety, and his kiss is my salvation in this place.

  There’s a silent story behind these lips, one of suffering and agony, one I yearn to know, while he savors this moment between us, treating the connection with such reverence, I wonder if he’s ever kissed, at all.

  The door clicks open, but Valdys doesn’t release me. He doesn’t break his kiss, nor pause for air. It’s as if he’s lapping up as much of it as he can before I’m taken away.

  Only when the soldiers slip their hands beneath my arms and pull me off his lap, does he inhale a breath on a lurch toward me, but he’s greeted by the pointed end of a spear at his throat.

  Jaw tight, he doesn’t fight them, as they lead me out of his cell.

  I keep my eyes on his until I’m almost out of the room, and the stormy gray tells me everything I need to know.

  That if I said the word, he would kill every soldier in this room.

  For me.

  Chapter 21

  When a species begins to die, there becomes an innate urgency to repopulate. To carry their genes into the next generation. They become aggressive. Irrational. Determined.

  This is the world I live in. One decimated by disease, to the extent that the living, healthy population has been thinned to small groups of survivors. And the females in those small groups become breeders. It’s why girls menstruate as early as ten years old nowadays, in Mother Nature’s desperate attempt to save our species.

  As much as I might deny it, biologically, there’s a reason I’m attracted to Valdys. Strong. Formidable. Virile. He would ensure my survival, and our children would grow to be strong, as well. I know this is why I yearn for him more than ever now. There’s a constant flutter in my chest at the thought of him, and my mouth waters when I imagine that spicy, metallic taste on my tongue. It’s been two days since I last saw him, since I kissed him and felt his hands on my body.

  Last night, I dreamed of him and awoke in cold sweats, with my thighs burning, trembling as if
from some inexplicable sickness.

  Strange as it is, I can understand the cravings--the vacuous hole inside of me that longs to be filled. What I can’t explain is the ache in my belly that won’t subside--the tight, cramping sensation that has me doubled over, as I lie on a gurney, arm banded over my stomach. It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before.

  “It’s estrus.” Adjusting his thin-rimmed black glasses, Doctor Tims, a stoic and humorless man, pulls a chair up beside the bed. “You’re in heat.”

  “Heat? What does that mean?”

  “It’s a reproductive process, more commonly observed in females of the Therian subclass of mammals.”

  “What?” Another zap of pain strikes my belly, and I cry out, nearly in tears as it radiates to my hip bones.

  “Have you had any sexual thoughts in the last couple of days?”

  My mind slips back to the dream I had the night before, with Valdys pushing himself inside of me, while I lay screaming in a cross between pleasure and pain. “A couple.”

  “It will last approximately three to four days. You may find some relief by …” He clears his throat a second time, while pushing his glasses up onto his nose. “Self-stimulation. Clenching the thighs together tightly may also help.”

  “I’ve … never heard of this before.”

  “That’s because it’s not typical in human females. There is no estrus. Ovulation is more concealed.”

  I frown up at him. “So, why is this happening to me?”

  His face turns as emotionless as his voice, when he says, “I’m afraid that’s all I can tell you for now. Please return to your barracks, or assignment.”

  “Doctor Ericsson asked to see me after my checkup.”

  “I see.” With a huff, he lowers his gaze and adjusts his glasses again. “Perhaps, if you opt not to mention the estrus to him, I will do the same. I’ll have him excuse you from the Alpha cells for a few days on the basis of … acute onset of diarrhea and vomiting?”

  I snort at the serious tone of his voice when he says this. Like listening to a computerized voice tell a joke. Yet, the thought of not seeing Valdys troubles me. I feel like, if I don’t see him soon, my whole body is going to go up in flames. It’s strange how I’ve come to crave him the last couple of days, which I suppose now makes a small bit of sense, with Doctor Tim’s explanation. “What would be the consequence of participating in the Alpha cells?”