But I knew how his lips felt on my body—everywhere. I knew how the rippling muscles on his bare chest felt against my hands. Knew how warm our bellies felt pressed together, and how I rejoiced when he entered me.
How could I if he wasn’t real?
Looking at him now, I felt a warm blush on my cheeks, just thinking of him between my thighs...
“The game begins tomorrow. It’s more of a tournament, actually,” he said, his deep voice and serious face snapped my mind out of the gutter.
“There will be five couples competing. Each of the males are from my world. The females are from various locations on Earth.”
Though I longed to scoff or snort—anything to make him realize how ridiculous this all sounded—I kept silent.
“On board this ship are all the competitors. We will be sent down to Planet Taleon and must be in position by the appointed hour. From there, each team must survive for a total of zexeudn—or, one earth week. We must battle the elements, the wildlife, the Varlings—inhabitants—and each other.”
“I have to battle you?”
“No. The teams may engage each other in order to increase their chances for survival.”
“Engage in what way?”
“The easiest way to destroy the other team is to maim or kill the female. I must keep you alive in order to win.”
I nodded. “And if I die?”
“Then I cannot win.”
“What do you get if you win?” I asked.
He actually appeared embarrassed at my question. “I will be granted a boon. It is why I entered the game.”
“To be granted a boon?” Dare I ask what that would be?
“Yes,” he said.
“I see.” Not really, but I could humor him. “What if more than one team wins?”
“The game is not only one of survival, but also a race to the finish. The first team to the Safe Zone will win.”
“And what happens to the others?” Do I really want to know?
“They do not leave Taleon. Ever.”
Okay then. “Are there judges?”
“The judges are aboard the ship. We will be monitored and my entire world will be watching.”
No pressure there.
“The game is carried out only once an eundn—a year on Earth. I was fortunate to be worthy. In comparison, it is similar in popularity to Earth’s Olympics.”
“Maybe in the early days when people were fed to the lions,” I said. “Our modern games don’t entail people battling for their lives.”
He shrugged. “It’s how things are done on my world.”
His world. Was I completely bananas? How had my Episodes gotten so far out of control? I closed my eyes and opened them several times, willing Ayres to disappear, for the cell to disappear, and in its place would be my nice little room at Lindove. But every time I opened my eyes, there was Ayres, watching me with that cold, calculated look on his face.
“Accept your fate,” he told me.
Indeed, I had. I’d finally gone completely over the edge of sanity.
Chapter 5
“What is the name of your world?” If I had completely flipped into another reality I may as well accept it. At Lindove, I probably lay comatose in my bed, blankly staring up at my ceiling while the nurses and doctors shook their heads in defeat. That thought was more comforting than worrying I might be acting this scenario out, just as I had the last one. As my Episodes escalated over the past few months, I’d begun to live them, not only in my mind, but with my body as well. I never knew where I was gonna end up when I finally did come out of one. I suppose having vivid visions were better than wandering the darkness of my own mind alone.
“Calixtus.”
“And this planet where the game is played—Taleon, you said—don’t they mind you guys using their world for extracurricular activities?”
He smirked. “Varlings do not object. They have neither the ability nor the understanding to dispute what a superior race does on their planet. They enjoy the hunt—it is all they care about.”
What arrogance. “Are they animals then?”
He seemed to ponder my question before he answered. “I would best describe them as similar to early Earthlings—how your race was before my race became involved.”
“So you mean like Cavemen? And what do you mean before your race became involved?”
“Calixtus was highly advanced long before your planet got out of the Stone Age. Once it became habitable for us, we used it for our early tournaments.”
“Are you saying you first played the game on Earth? And that the losers left behind are the ancestors of modern day man?” This was some trip I was having. Vaguely, I recalled some of the alien conspiracy shows I’d seen on TV. There were theories of an alien race being seen as gods, and suggestions that some of them may have bred with early man in experiments. One of them went so far as to say that criminal or outcast aliens were forced to breed with early Earthlings to create a more intelligent race to be used as slaves. I had to be more careful about what shows I watched in the future lest they become part of an Episode.
“I’m not entirely certain how Earthlings came to be what they are today—history was not my best subject. Over time a problem emerged. Earth became overpopulated and over-industrialized, making it unsatisfactory for our purposes.
Well, lucky us. “But not so much that you’re above nabbing helpless females now and again to use in your games?” So what if I was being sarcastic?
He shrugged and actually smiled, becoming more handsome in that instant. “Earth provides a wide range of entertainment.”
Provides. Present tense.
“Helpless females are not the only things we extract,” he informed me.
I raised an eyebrow. Did I really want to hear this stuff?
“Men of Earth have proven quite formidable in other tournaments held on Calixtus, as does your wildlife.”
A vision of gladiators fighting lions and each other popped into my head. What the hell went on on Calixtus? Were they no better than the blood thirsty Romans from days of old?
“Don’t scowl at me like that,” Ayres said. “If it weren’t for my race, yours would still be living in caves trying to figure out how to make fire.”
“I suppose we owe Stonehenge and the Pyramids to you as well?”
He smiled wickedly again. Damn his handsome ass!
My stomach grumbled suddenly, reminding me I hadn’t eaten today—at least not in this reality. They were probably feeding me through tubes and IVs in the real world. Ayres eyed my belly, which made me recall how Gol had waved that strange device over my gut and lower. I was pretty sure he’d done the same thing to Lissa. “That guy, Gol. He had this hand-held thingy and he waved it around my belly,” I said.
“Yes.”
“Well?”
“Well, what?” Ayres replied.
How exasperating. “What was he doing?” I swear he was being obtuse on purpose.
“Making sure you were unspoiled,” Ayres said, as though it were obvious.
“Spoiled in what way? Like my parents gave me everything, or in a rotten banana kind of way?”
“That you are untouched by a man—a virgin,” he said the word as though it amused him.
My face grew warm and I knew I was blushing. Of course I was a virgin—unless my erotic fantasies starring the man before me had actually occurred. How strange it was to know how his hands felt on my body. Despite being made up exploits in my mind, it had felt real to me. Ayres moved closer, which made me back up until I felt my ass hit the wall behind me.
“What’re you doing?” I squawked, seeing a strangely intent look in his eye.
“You will only be touched by my hand. No other man will know you,” he informed me in a deep, husky voice.
A tremor raced through me.
“Are...all the women taken virgins?” I asked.
“For now,” he assured me.
The sheer size and strength of him frigh
tened me, but along with fear, I began to feel something else. A heat between my thighs and a tingling in my breasts made me duck my head in embarrassment. Why did I feel this way? In my Episodes, Ayres had taken me many times, in many different ways. We’d been lovers before, and even after he’d turned into a monster. Some of the wild, frantic, near violent sessions we’d engaged in, when he’d turned my rebelling body into a willing, throbbing mass of need, were some of the best Episode sex I’d ever had. Too bad it hadn’t been real. Perhaps if it had been real I wouldn’t be here right now. I wouldn’t fit the bill if I were ‘spoiled’.
Damn my virgin ass!
Breathing deep, I regained control of my emotions; both fear and horniness. This wasn’t real, I reminded myself. So what if Ayres wanted to have me? He’d had me before. Even if this felt incredibly authentic, it wasn’t. The sex would be amazing. Not some hazy, dream-like coupling. Not this time.
I looked him directly in the eye and let my blanket slip a little so it barely covered the tops of my breasts. My invitation didn’t escape him. He smiled and reached out a hand to gently brush atop my cleavage, making me shiver with desire.
“When will you...take me?” I asked breathlessly.
My damned stomach rumbled again ruining the moment. “Soon,” he assured me. “First you need to eat. Then you must rest. You’ll need your strength.”
And with that he turned on his heel and left, the door closing behind him. Food was sent to me shortly. Instead of Ayres bringing it as I’d hoped, it was slid through the bottom slat in the door. I sat and ate, fuming at being so callously denied. This was my fantasy, so why couldn’t I have any control over it? The Ayres in this Episode didn’t show any signs of rage or violence. He was certainly huge and intimidating, but he made me quiver more in anticipation than fear. I napped a little—there not being much else to occupy my time. Later, Gol arrived and took me on another trip to the bathroom. Shortly after, another under-the-door meal arrived, which I figured was probably dinner. I finished my meal and curled up on the hard floor, my mind deep in contemplation.
Would Ayres come back and make wild love to me before I woke up from this Episode? Or would I find myself reviving in a room full of doctors and nurses watching while I gyrated against my pillow? How embarrassing. It’s not like it would be the first time.
Just as I was about to drift off into oblivion I heard a ‘Psst!’ coming from outside my prison cell. I climbed to my feet and shuffled, blanket and all, over to my door. I saw Lissa’s dark head bobbing through the bars across the hall.
“What?” I couldn’t quite figure out the role Lissa played in this Episode. Maybe she was a simulation of a friend I’d had before I went crazy?
“Have they explained anything to you?” she asked.
I assumed she had been paired up with an alien-warrior as I had. “Yeah.”
She cast a discerning eye on me. “You’re from Earth, aren’t you?”
“Yes. Are you?”
“I am.” She visibly gulped. “Mandy, I’m afraid. The man that took me—he’s not human. And this game he told me about...we could die!”
She was really taking this stuff seriously. Probably suffering from virgin jitters. “We’ll be all right,” I told her.
“How will we be all right?” she demanded, sounding near hysterics. “The alien—Oro, is his name—said he would take my virginity. That’s if I live long enough.”
“Did he say he was coming back tonight?” I asked hopefully. Maybe Ayres would return to me too.
She appeared irritated by my question. “No, he didn’t say. Why aren’t you afraid?”
I shrugged even though she wouldn’t see it. “I dunno. Doesn’t this all seem a little ‘out there’ to you?”
“You think this isn’t happening? That we’re imagining it all?”
Well, duh. “Don’t you?”
She shook her head. “Maybe. I don’t know what’s real anymore. I’ve had...visions...for a long time. As crazy as this sounds, I actually feel like I know Oro. He’s been in my life for years—well, in my visions, that is.”
“It’s been the same with me and Ayres,” I admitted. A thought occurred to me. “Hey, were you institutionalized?”
“Like in a crazy house? No way.”
I was slightly offended by her obvious repulsion.
“My uncle shipped me off to live in an all-girls school when I was ten. It was really strict—absolutely no contact with any boys allowed.”
What better way to keep her a virgin? “You said your uncle sent you there? What about your parents?”
She took a long time to answer. “They...they’re dead. They were murdered when I was little.”
Same as my parents. Then my aunt and uncle as well.
Was this some kind of conspiracy? Isolate the victim and ensure she remains a virgin until such a time that her alien warrior could claim her for the game? It all made perfect sense. It would guarantee she remained unspoiled. And if the alien visited just enough to make her appear crackers, then all the better when she did eventually mysteriously disappear. Certifiable virgins—it was genius.
Chapter 6
“I’m not crazy,” Lissa insisted.
“Yes, you are! It’s okay, so am I.” The sooner she accepted it, the better.
“If this is all a vision, or a dream, then why does it feel so real?”
“The way I figure it, we’ve gone completely over the edge. We’ve slipped into this new reality as a way of coping.” After all, I was an expert on crazy.
“Then how are we both having the same vision?” she challenged me.
I smiled smartly. “Easy. You’re not really here. You’re a figment of my imagination.” I tapped the side of my temple with my finger for emphasis.
“I am real. But if what you’re saying is true, then you’re the one who’s not here.”
There was just no reasoning with a figment of my imagination. “Whatever. You’re having a vision, or I am, either way, it’s not happening. You may as well enjoy it.”
“Enjoy it! Enjoy being hunted down tomorrow? And if I do survive, I get to be molested by a giant perverted alien?”
“Is Oro hot? Ayres is. I don’t know about you, but I plan on taking full advantage of my Episode.”
“You really are insane,” she informed me.
“Come on! An all-girls school? You must be dying to know what it’s like to have a man between your legs.”
She blushed beet-red. “A little bit, perhaps. In your visions—Episodes—did you and Ayres ever...do it?”
“Oh yeah. Lots of times. I imagined a whole relationship between us. And then he became all possessive and stuff and tried to kill me.”
“He tried to kill you?”
“Well, it was all in my mind. Did Oro ever try to kill you?” I asked.
“No. We did have lots of sex though.” She actually giggled.
“We’re still virgins. That thingy the warden-cyborg-dude waved over our bellies confirmed it.”
“I wondered what he was doing,” Lissa said.
“Apparently we have to be virgins to play this game.”
“Sacrificial virgins.” She yawned suddenly. “Oro told me to rest—that I need my strength for tomorrow. That’s when they’re taking us below.”
“To Taleon. Yeah, Ayres told me the same thing. Look, whatever happens, don’t worry, okay? It’s not real.”
She seemed comforted by my reasoning. “All right. Get some rest, Mandy. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“It’ll be entertaining, I’m sure. Sleep well.” I wandered back over to lie down in the middle of the floor again. Tomorrow we would start the game, and then, at night, if Lissa was right, Ayres would claim my virginity—yet again. This time it would feel completely real. I smiled. Let the games begin.
* * * *
I awoke bright and early the next morning.
At least, I assumed it was morning. The lights had gone out last night just as I was drifting off and now
they were back on again. Like clockwork, Gol arrived to take me to the bathroom then returned me to my cell. As soon as I settled myself on the floor, I heard a ruckus in the hall. Sounds of many booted feet and the whoosh of doors opening made me jump to my feet. When my door opened, a guard I’d never seen before stood there. He held a bundle in his hands and tossed it to my feet. As I stared down at what appeared to be clothes, he reached down beside the outside wall and pulled a tray of food into the room. He slid it closer to me with his booted foot.
“Eat, dress, and prepare yourself,” he said.
I resisted the urge to salute.
As the door closed I looked down at the tray of food. It actually looked slightly more appetizing this morning. I sat down and ate quickly, being anxious to get dressed. It’d be nice to move around in something other than the stupid blanket. Done with the food, I held up the clothing to inspect. The outfit consisted of two pieces: a shirt and black pants—similar to the ones worn on old episodes of Star Trek. They must have figured I was going to live through the ordeal considering the shirt was green, not red. They’d also given me socks and a pair of black boots. No panties and no bra. Great. Not that I was top heavy or anything, but still...
As soon as I finished dressing, the door opened again. The same guy who came earlier was back again. He gestured for me to step out into the hall. We began moving down the passageway. I noticed there were other females being escorted by other guards. Ushered down several more hallways, I was led onto an elevator and was quickly whisked below. The guard, who held my arm now, led me down another maze of corridors until we finally walked through a huge set of double doors into what appeared to be a hangar. Several small spacecraft were parked in a row against the far wall. Down the center of the floor appeared to be a runway, at the end of which was a massive exit I assumed led to outer space. Smug in my assurance that this was all fake, I took in my surroundings with awe and wonder—but not fear. It was as though I’d stepped into a three-dimensional movie and I got to be the star.
Survivor Planet Series 2-Book Box Set Page 3
