by Zara Zenia
Chapter 2
Samantha
My legs were burning but I loved it. To me, there’s no better feeling than the pain and invigoration you get from a hard workout. I was jogging on my usual route through the forest at the edge of my neighborhood. The sun was lingering low in the sky, dipping behind the houses as twilight began to descend.
As I entered the dense woods, I reached for my phone to change the tunes. A more natural setting required a more natural soundtrack. Flicking through my playlist I found my favorite Enya song and shoved my phone back in my pocket, making sure not to trip over a fallen branch as I looked back at the trail.
I’m not usually a paranoid person. Actually, I’m the opposite. I love adventure, fear nothing and grab life by the horns. My mom worries about me, though, she’s not like me. When she discovered I was running at night in the forest she gifted me a rape alarm for Christmas. She’s always worrying and fussing over me and I’m always trying to reassure her that I’m ok. Not that she ever listens.
But it was times like this when the air was crisp and the endorphins were pumping that I felt like she was missing out. Life is beautiful when you step out of your comfort zone.
With the music playing softly in my ears, coaxing me further into the woodland I was in a state of pure bliss. The birds were rustling in the trees with the dusky sunlight glinting off the wet leaves. The rain had trailed off an hour ago leaving puddles on the path and I leaped over them one by one, taking them in stride. It was starting to get cold now too and the chilled air lashed against my face as I ran, reviving me and cooling me against the waves of perspiration that were coming over my body.
The most cherished part of my run was the glade that I passed at the halfway mark. It was isolated and although it was only half a mile from the main road that ran through my neighborhood, you’d be forgiven for thinking you were in the center of a national park. Well, until you got through to the other side and heard the traffic once again.
As I reached it, I took my designated break and leaned against a tree. Pulling my headphones from my ears I took in the surroundings, gulping water fast as I rested. Then something struck me. There was something different, something missing. I couldn’t hear the bird in the trees. The only sound was my throat as it swallowed back big mouthfuls of water. I placed my bottle on the ground and looked around. There was definitely a strange feeling in the air. It was silent, eerily silent with not even the scurry of an animal through the undergrowth or the distant sound of a robin chirping.
I stood still. It was as though time had stopped still. For a moment I cast my mind back to a story I’d heard in elementary school.
“It has been said that animals can predict natural disasters and escape cities days before they occur,” my teacher had told us.
Was that true? Was there about to be an earthquake and all the birds, bees and squirrels had run away? It didn’t feel like that. There was an insidious atmosphere, a feeling of being watched. I was never one for believing in ghosts but this was as good a time as any to start. It felt like there were eyes boring through the back of my head, searing into my soul. I shivered despite feeling hot. It was time to get out of there.
Taking a few slow steps before reaching my natural jogging pace, I made a quick exit from the glade, eager to get away and back to the hustle and bustle of the city. But the feeling only got stronger as I ran. I couldn’t stop glancing behind me, imagining hot breath on the back of my neck as I escaped an invisible attacker. It was so strong it made my stomach flip. I was looking behind me more than in front of me and tripped a couple times as I failed to see where I was treading.
Fuck, what’s got into me?
I gasped as I tried to keep my spirits up and steady my nerves.
You’re probably just tired, exhausted from working and jogging too much. You need to get home and take care of yourself. Think of a hot bath, think of chocolate and a movie, think of your puppy who loves you more than anything.
I started to feel better but the moment of mental respite was fleeting. The feeling was back and even stronger. Something rustled in a nearby bush. It sounded huge, bigger than a fox, almost the size of a human.
Just your mind playing tricks on you. Calm down.
I kept running, picking up a faster pace.
Just calm the fuck down, Samantha!
I was angry at myself. It wasn’t like me to lose my cool, to see or feel things that weren’t there. I was a professional, strong woman, one that wasn’t intimidated by anything but here I was, afraid of a few rustling leaves and a mysterious “feeling.”
But the end of the forest was in sight. I could see the faint electric glow of the distant street lamps. In under a minute, I would be stepping out onto the pavement. Yet, there it was again, the rustling.
“Shit!”
I swerved out the way of a bush and tripped over another branch I hadn’t seen hiding in the darkness. My mom was right. It was insanity to be out here in the dark, jogging like everything in the world was innocent, sweet and lovely. I was being watched and nothing could make me think otherwise.
Just think of the street ahead.
I tried to focus my thoughts on the street ahead. The lamps were getting brighter with orange beams drifting through the trees like warm beacons of safety.
“Just a few more feet,” I said under my breath as I pumped my legs.
I could hear my heartbeat in my ears as the blood and adrenaline rushed through my body. I was manic, my body going into overdrive.
Just a couple more steps. Come on….
The bushes rustled again. I jumped, screamed, felt the back of my head hit the ground.
“What the fuck!” I yelled.
My legs were restrained. There were people on me. I was being mugged, attacked or something worse. I kicked with all my strength, the sweat making me slippery against my assailants. It felt like there were so many of them as our limbs flayed in a tangled mess but I could only see two heads. They were struggling to keep hold of me as I struggled. Through the darkness and panic, I couldn’t make out their faces. They loomed down on me as I saw the stars behind them, the crescent moon high above their heads.
I screamed again, bit down on one of their arms. They yelled and recoiled in agony, a strange strangled voice uttering a dialect I’d never heard before. They argued with one another as they held me down, obviously annoyed that I was putting up more of a fight than they anticipated. Their accents were weird, distorted almost with voices that were low and grumbled. One of them held their hand over my mouth and I bit down again, the acidic taste of his blood running between my teeth. It was then, as his arm was close to my face and caught a sliver of the moonlight that I noticed his color. His skin was blue.
Wide-eyed in horror I struggled to free myself again, but this time, they were angrier and held me down to tie my arms and legs. As they stood up, pulling me up along with them I could see them clearly for the first time. It felt as though there were more of them because they had four arms. Dumbstruck into silence and frozen out of fear, I could do nothing but let them drag me deep into the forest.
My heart was hammering hard in my chest, so fast I was certain I would pass out or have a heart attack. In the moment I prayed that I would die before my captors could do anything to me. As my feet brushed through the long grass and they pulled me through the foliage with their hands clutching at my elbows, I listened to them. I’d seen enough crime shows to know what evidence they needed. It was the little things that mattered like what they smelled like and what their accents were. It was the unassuming physical traits that often got criminals caught like whether they had a limp or talked with a lisp. As I listened to their voices and felt the weight of their four arms, I came to the conclusion that no policeman would believe a word I said. Their voices came from no human voice box and their limbs were... Blue and multiple. I was shocked and in fear of my life, paralyzed as I helplessly became the victim of a kidnapping, but the more I thought about it, the
more I realized what was happening. I’d been pushing the thought out of my head since the moment I saw the blue skin but the four arms confirmed it. They were alien.
As I looked up I could see something through the trees. It was large and black, almost invisible in the dark. As we approached, the side of it opened and revealed a sparkling spectacle of modern technology. It was the innards of their ship. Dragged inside, I was immediately hit by the smell of an unknown species. There was peculiar beeping all around and the deafening sounds of machinery. However, I was soon dragged far from the buzzing lights and taken deep within the bowels of the ship.
There was darkness all around and cold metal pressing up against my back. I wasn’t sure if there were other prisoners hiding within the shadows. I certainly couldn’t see them but I could sense their breath, feel their fear as though it were my own.
My captors closed the door behind them. I could hear them chuckling as they walked down the long corridor. Then silence. It seemed to last forever and permeate everything around me.
“Hello?”
I spoke to no one in particular in my desperate longing for human contact.
“Is anyone here?”
There was no response. Then suddenly, when I thought the silence couldn’t last any longer, the rumbling started. I felt it in my gut first, then beneath my bottom as the floor began to shake. The engine was roaring into life, growing louder, then louder again until the walls trembled. Then we were off the ground, weightless and free as we shot up through the sky. My ears popped as we ascended and a deep nausea weighed heavy in my stomach. I leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes, praying that when I opened them I would wake up and discover it was all a dream.
Chapter 3
Urie
“Young Urie, I feel as though your thoughts are far from us.”
I looked away from the window and back to the long table that was surrounded by my advisors. All their eyes were on me, waiting for me to speak but my mind was elsewhere, drifting amongst my memories of the battle.
“I am sorry,” I addressed them. “Since the war, I have had much thinking to do.”
“We understand,” my chief advisor placed his hand on the table, reaching out toward mine. “If you tell us what ails you then we can help. It is our duty, after all, to see that you are not troubled.”
I paused for a moment, my face crumpled up in thought.
“The psionic attacks,” I said. “I mentioned them before. Have you gathered any relevant information as to how I was left untouched?”
There was an awkward, tense silence in the room. The chief advisor, Oban nodded his head toward the three scientists situated at the bottom of the table. One of them shifted nervously in his seat before parting his lips to speak, hesitating then closing them again.
“Well?” I flung up my hands.
“I’m afraid we have- we have no- nothing,” he stuttered. “Nothing at all to understand why you were left unaffected.”
Angry, I turned away from them and stood up, walking over to the window.
“So even the most brilliant minds in the kingdom cannot fathom an explanation as to how everyone but me was struck by the psionic attacks?”
“That is correct,” nodded the scientist with his eyes on the ground.
“May I interrupt?” Oban raised a hand.
“Yes, of course.”
“I feel it should be made a priority on the behalf of the council to determine the reasoning behind your immunity. It is not only the most mysterious occurrence but it can also be used to our advantage. It could turn the tide of future battles if we were to know a way for us to immunize our troops against further psionic attacks.”
“You are wise, Oban. That is why you sit beside me here,” I patted him on the shoulder. “And you are correct. It should be made a priority. It is settled.”
Thinking the meeting was drawing to a close, I turned toward the door expecting no one to say another word.
“But there is something else,” Oban called after me. “Please… I beg of you, Urie. Sit down.”
It is not his place to tell me what to do and I had no obligation to do as he expected but there was something in his eyes that worried me. Sitting on the edge of my seat again, I leaned in close to him.
“What is it?”
“We have been discussing a certain matter,” he gulped as he spoke, his fingers quivering inside his sleeves.
I looked around at the other advisors and saw the worried expressions on their faces. Clearly, they had been discussing me without my knowledge. Rage bubbled up inside my gut.
“Oban what is this? Tell me!” I punched a fist onto the table.
He jumped in his seat, flinched and sat back.
“We are worried about you, young Urie. You are our mighty leader and that is because you are the strongest man in this kingdom but because of this…”
I narrowed my eyes.
“Because of this….what?”
“You are in danger. It troubles us greatly. When you fight in battle you are always on the front line. Your life is at risk, sir! And what will become of the kingdom if you are not around to rule it?”
“What are you really getting at, Oban?”
I could see he had ulterior motives. It wasn’t a simple matter of worrying whether I lived or died. This was a matter of politics.
“Young Urie, if I may be so blunt… You need an heir to your throne otherwise the planet will be in turmoil if you were to die in battle.”
“An heir… You mention this frequently but I have no time to create a bond with a spouse let alone have the inclination to breed with her.”
“But you must think about it!” Oban insisted. “Please, you must think about it. If you perish then Ura-Than will be plunged into a multitude of civil wars… yet if you have an heir, there will be peace.”
I didn’t want to hear anymore and stood up once again, dismissing old Oban’s worries with a wave of my hand.
“I will hear no more of this, for now,” I shook my head as I exited the room. “Until we meet again.”
Back outside, I roamed the palace walls like a caged animal. I needed air and space and freedom to think. These advisors were always in my company, taking up my time, tormenting me with their constant questions. An heir… When was I supposed to produce one of those? Of course, the thought of obtaining a spouse had not been a foreign one to me. Who doesn’t want to be loved and to love in return? But there had been more pressing matters at hand and other things to occupy my time. As I made my way back to my chamber, I looked at my bed. Could I really share it with another one day?
Chapter 4
Samantha
“No! Please…” I kicked.
The beings were silent, large and looming, pushing me down onto the ground. There was nothing I could do.
“I beg you! Don’t hurt me!”
I could smell them. They were so close with their skin brushing mine. All their arms, so many arms, tangled around my limbs as they controlled every inch of my movement.
“Don’t do it!”
There was the flash of metal, the long point of something jagged and deadly. It was aimed right for me, moving at speed toward my face. I screamed, tried to thrash out against the force of the blue skinned maniacs that were holding me captive. But it was useless. With no other option, I lay still and resigned myself to feeling the sharp pain that was approaching.
The needle was enormous, thick and dotted on the tip was a bauble of liquid. I squinted as it hovered over my eyes, could see the green, viscous serum that was about to be plunged inside me. My eyes widened, my pupils dilating with terror. A heavy hand wrapped itself around my chin, forcing my head to the side. Then the needle entered.
It stung the base of my skull. I could feel my hot blood seep out and dribble down my neck. It burned furiously. Tears tumbled off the side of my face but all I could do was whimper. Then the needle was sucked out, it popped as it exited the bone.
They all
moved off me, took a step back as if I was a wild animal ready to pounce. They regarded me coolly, not sure what I was about to do next. I was suddenly aware of all the people in the room, multiple eyes burning into me. Their skin was luminous in the semi-darkness of the dungeon, their eyes burning into me. Two brutes stood before me with their obvious leader in front of them, a softer looking creature with a smaller physique but with piercing eyes. Scattered across the walls of the room, lurking in the shadows were other prisoners. All female, all of different species.
I could hear muffled sobbing coming from the back corner. It was so dark all I could make out was the vague silhouette of a girl with red skin, a large tail wrapped around her body for protection as her exceptionally long fingers wiped away the tears.
Meanwhile, the pain behind my ear was tremendous with the blood still pouring down the back of my neck. What was that needle made of? I clutched my hand to the wound and winced as I felt the hole in my skin.
“It will subside.”
Where did that voice come from? It was speaking in English.
“It hurts for a while but then you will remember it no more.”
I glanced up. The female leader, she was walking toward me, her hand outstretched. I flinched in fear but all she did was place her cool fingers on my shoulder.
“Welcome.”
I didn’t say anything.
“You are still so afraid. That is understandable.”
The shape of her head, the way her eyes were almost like a cat… She reminded me of something I saw in high school. Nefertiti… The shape of her head and the feline features, the way she stood proud like a God. Yet the multiple blue arms? There was a Hindu goddess I learned about years ago, a blue limbed woman named… what was it? Kali? I didn’t know much about these things but I knew enough to realize I was staring at a woman that would have been worshiped on Earth. Is this where myth and folklore came from? Beings from the sky we took to be gods? I looked up at her shaking with fear, frozen into silence.
