NYC VAMPS (The Italians): Vampire Romance (Book Book 2)

by Sky Winters

  When it was all over, they retired to the dining hall for the festivities. They received congratulatory remarks from several of the guests, who were largely Argonites, with a few of their human mates scattered throughout.

  “Come on,” Darius said. He took her hand and led her to a now familiar room on the other side of the building. Dane was resting nearby in a cot, being watched by Annette, who had taken to the child, and was less fearful of her Lord than she had been in the past.

  “What are we doing?” Cynthia asked as Darius led her away.

  “Overseeing the next selection process,” he told her, eying her suspiciously. Images of when she had first arrived rushed through her mind, and she gripped her chest as anxiety beset her. “Don’t worry,” he told her. He rubbed the back of her hand. “It won’t be like it was then.”

  And he was right. This time, the women were brought in, and they got to choose. Cynthia smiled as she sat there, not approving of the fact that humans were still being abducted, but that they would have a chance at a better life. And the men didn’t seem to mind either.

  “What did I tell you?” he asked at the end of it. “It’s a part of the new amendment.”

  “I approve.” She smiled. “The women will appreciate it more, too. But tell me something: does that mean that I am your master now?”

  “Anything you wish,” he told her. He kissed her temple, slipped his hand around her waist, and they all went home.

  THE END

  Kidnapped by An Alien

  Aurora Palmer pulled the throttle back and hurled forward into the black abyss polka dotted by meteor rocks that whizzed by her ship. Her eyes focused on the monitor for any signs of the Thraxians, but all that showed was the red line going back and forth on the screen and detecting nothing.

  “When I get my hands on these sons of…”

  “Not on my ship Nora,” Aurora warned.

  “Why do you have compassion for these things? The Thraxians have been terrorizing our planet for years. This last attack claimed the lives of many, and we can’t seem to get the better of them. I don’t get why you would even want to sympathize with them.” Nora slammed her fist on the panel and got up.

  “You think I sympathize because I don’t want you to call them names on my ship? Nora, my brother is dead because of those things. Why would I sympathize?”

  “Look, I’m tired and frustrated and I just want this thing to be over,” Nora replied and paced the floor.

  “Then let’s just find them so we can go home,” Aurora suggested, and nodded at the seat across from her. “Nora you know I can’t do this without you. You have been my wingman for…I don’t even remember how long.”

  “Eight years,” Nora said and smiled. Then she walked back to her seat and took her place as second in command on the starship Aurora piloted. There was silence for a while as the two checked the blackness for a motion or heat signal, but there was nothing. “Do you think they are even out here?”

  Aurora took up her communicator and pressed the button on the side. “Come in base, this is starship one.”

  “Go ahead starship one,” the muffled voice said over the speaker.

  “We have been circling for over an hour. There is zero activity here. What should we do?” she asked and waited for instructions from the command center.

  “Hold on a second starship one,” the voice said.

  Aurora kept her hands on the device and rested her head against the padded headrest on her seat. She was tired, and she just wanted to go home. It had been a long month, and she was sick of chasing the Thraxians over the galaxy. She had grown up to stories of the animals they were; they would find neighboring planets and pillage and plunder them, taking whatever spoils they could return to their home planet. Their stories were told over bonfires and for bedtime stories to the children of Earth for centuries. Of late, the stories had all come to life after repeated invasions on other planets nearby. The Galaxy Peace Corp had called for assistance from the other planets since Planet Nirvana, the latest planet to come under attack, was unable to defend itself.

  “Starship one, there is activity about thirty-five miles east of your location. Do you copy?” the voice from the speaker asked.

  “Copy base,” Aurora said and clicked off. She replaced the communicator and programmed the location into the monitor. The space ship dipped right and sped off in the direction. Five minutes later and Aurora heard the monitor beeping and the red lights that were flashing before suddenly turned to green. But the size of the vessel they saw was nothing compared to their own, and she looked across at Nora as she gazed at it in shock.

  “Do you think we need help?” Nora asked, her eyes still wide with astonishment.

  “No, I got this,” Aurora said as she opened a compartment below the monitor and flicked two switches that armed the space craft.

  “What’s going on?” someone asked from the back.

  “The Thraxians are in sight,” Aurora responded. “We are going in.”

  “Alright,” the man hooted enthusiastically.

  “Can’t say I blame them,” Nora said and smiled. “We are all itching to snag some Thrax.”

  “Let’s go do just that,” Nora said as she pressed another button and the guns crept forward and set poised for battle.

  The space craft Aurora piloted was about a third of that of the Thrax, but she was accustomed to battle and knew enough to be confident that size was not always an advantage. Those big vessels usually have engines underneath them, and she guided her ship exactly there. She was only a few hundred feet off when the vessel started turning, and before she had even begun to engage, she felt her ship rock as they discharged their weapon.

  “Hold on,” Aurora said as she swerved and flew to the other side of the ship. She targeted a spot on the underside of the vessel and pressed the button. A torpedo flew out and there was a big ball of fire as the vessel was hit. She dipped low to avoid shrapnel backfiring and damaging her ship, and then let fly another. Before it made contact Aurora’s ship jerked and catapulted a few yards away from the Thraxian vessel. She hung from her chair after the ship did, and by the time she realized, she saw smoke coming from the bottom of her ship.

  She looked across and saw blood coming from Nora’s nose, and her body slumped over the seat. She reached for her communicator and pressed the button, but all she heard was a crackling sound. “Mayday! Mayday!” she said with a cracked voice that only came out as a hoarse whisper.

  She tried to sit straight and level the space craft, but when she looked out, she saw the Thraxian vessel directly before her, with the guns aimed directly at her. “Not today,” Aurora said and gritted her teeth. She grabbed the throttle and pulled it back. She hit the seat hard when the space craft suddenly shot into the air, and when she was on top of the vessel she levelled it off. She checked and saw that the Thraxian vessel was too big to turn as quickly, and when it did, she was already too far off.

  She programmed the coordinates for Earth into the monitor, and hoped she could make it home before they caught up with her. She was beginning to get hopeful when she heard a loud beeping sound. She had damaged two of the air ducts, and she felt the panic rising in her as she mentally calculated how long her oxygen would last. The space craft was moving too fast, burning oxygen she needed. Aurora started gasping for air before she decided to set the control to auto pilot.

  Aurora staggered to the back of the ship and strapped the oxygen tank onto her. Then, unsteadily, she tugged the mask over her head and worked her way back to the seat. The beeping was growing louder, and she decided to risk going faster, but one quick glance at the time signal told her she wouldn’t make it to Earth. She scanned the perimeter for the closest friendly planet, but there was none; there was only Thrax. She was left with the decision to die or to try to make it to the enemy planet she was at war with.

  The decision was taken from her when there was a loud explosion and the ship shot forward. One of the engines gave out, and Au
rora’s heart rate increased dramatically as her vessel hurtled across the black void and into Thraxian territory.

  CHAPTER 2

  Aurora’s eyes fluttered open and she gazed around her, trying to make sense of the hanging wires and contraptions dangling before her. She grabbed her head when it started to pound, and then she tried to move. It was only then that she realized she couldn’t when she felt the searing pain shooting up her leg. She cried out in pain and slammed her fist into the only solid sheet she could find: the small space on the floor next to her head. There was fire gashing from the electrical wires a few feet away, and her conscious mind did not register the crash until she saw her crew. Her head snapped upwards as she remembered Nora, and when she looked over to the co-pilot’s seat. Nora’s body was slumped over the seat still, and her hands hung limp.

  “Nora!” Aurora croaked. Then she held her throat which suddenly started to burn. She looked around, but there was no other movement. “Is anyone awake?” she called. She waited, but all she heard was the increasing crackling of the wires as they dangled.

  She tried to move again, and it was then that she saw the blood on her thigh. She moved the torn cloth away and saw a gash just above her knee. She winced and closed her eyes as she used her hands to pry the beam from her. Then she hauled herself along the floor until she was free of the debris that had trapped her. Her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath, and it was only then that she realized she wasn’t using her oxygen tank.

  Aurora tried to stand, but the pain was too much. With tears filling her eyes, she yanked off the bloody shirt she still wore and wrapped her busted leg with it. She screamed in pain as she did, and she slid to the floor again when she was done, pain overtaking her conscious mind and threatening a blackout. She sat there for a while as she tried to regain some semblance of time or space, when it dawned on her that she wasn’t where she was supposed to be. The last thing she remembered was that she was hurtling towards Thrax. Was she now on Thrax?

  “No, no, no,” Aurora said and pulled herself up again. She looked out the windscreen and saw a large deserted wasteland. “Where the hell am I?” She limped back to the dashboard and retrieved the communicator. “Command center, this is starship one,” she said and then waited for a response. There was none. “Come in command. My ship has been downed in enemy territory: come in,” she repeated, but not even the crackling sound was heard that time. “Dammit,” she said and dropped the device.

  She was limping back through the debris, when something glistened in the distance. She shielded her eyes and tried to see what was coming, but the dust and the glare made it difficult. But one thing was for sure; who or whatever was approaching was not friendly. She hastily searched the cabins and the compartments for dischargeable weapons, and by the time she did find one, the rumbling outside had surrounded the ship.

  Aurora pointed the gun forward and walked slowly to the broken door. She stood there, watching and waiting, fright paralyzing her movement. It wasn’t long before she saw the making of what appeared human prying its way into the ship.

  “Stop right there, or I’ll shoot,” Aurora said nervously and backed up further into the wires and metals at her rear.

  “Someone is in here,” the man shouted to someone outside, not daunted in any way by the weapon she wielded.

  “I mean it,” she said and trembled. Aurora knew she was no match for them, not while she was on their planet, but she would die defending herself.

  “No you won’t,” he told her and came closer. “If you kill me, then you will be stuck here,” he told her. He got to her and pushed the weapon down. “Now you have to come with me,” he said and looked around the ship. “Is anyone else here alive?”

  Aurora shuddered as she looked at the man; he had strange carvings on his skin, and his head was shaved clean. He had a dark complexion, similar to that of the native Americans, and he was tall. Outside of the carvings, and their gait, he looked like a regular man, and nothing like the animal she had thought they would be. They were often given the appearance of hyenas, or something from Riddick.

  “I’m not going with you,” she told him.

  “Fine,” he said and flashed even teeth at her. “Stay here and die; one less enemy to deal with,” he told her and walked out again.

  Aurora stood there after he had stepped out and contemplated her next move; she really had no other alternative than the one he had given to her. When she decided to accept his ‘offer’ she was shocked to see another three of them standing there, and seemingly waiting for her, when she finally disembarked the damaged ship.

  CHAPTER 3

  Aurora tried to climb aboard the strange contraption they rode, but she was prevented from doing so; the wound was throbbing and she felt faintish. The thing walked around to her back and heaved her up and into the seat, and she adjusted her leg for greater comfort. He climbed up after her and sat down. She expected at any minute for them to snag her and torture her, but instead he handed her a pair of face goggles.

  “You need to wear these,” he said gruffly and handed her the device.

  She took it from him, and observed how they wore them, and then decided she wouldn’t be a willing prisoner. “I don’t want them,” she said and rested them next to her. She flashed her head and smoothed her hair behind her ears. She jumped when she heard the loud laughter from the other three men.

  “She will learn,” one of them said and slid inside his.

  “For all intents and purposes you might be trying to poison my mind,” she retorted and folded her arms across her chest.

  “You have it all wrong stranger from another planet,” the one next to her said. “Not wearing it is what will poison you.”

  Then he pressed down on a lever and the contraption skidded into gear, raking red dust all around her. They hadn’t gone ten yards when she discovered the necessity of the head gear and quickly pulled it over her head. Before long her entire clothing looked no different than the wasteland, and she looked over embarrassingly at the things that were now laughing at her.

  She ignored them and stared straight ahead, capturing almost nothing as the endless dirt swirled around them. They hooted and behaved boisterously as they drove, and she was reminded of her senior year in high school when the boys drove around in drop top vehicles on their way from unauthorized gatherings. It wasn’t until about three miles of riding that they finally left the wasteland and traverse across an open plane. Aurora couldn’t help wondering why she had crashed in the worst place possible.

  “We will be there soon,” the thing said when it removed the headgear.

  She did the same and flashed her hair free. “Where are you taking me?” she asked. “I need to get back home. I need to call someone and have them…”

  “You won’t be calling anyone, and even if you did, I’m sure they wouldn’t come. They don’t come unless they fight,” he responded, his eyes still fixed dead ahead.

  “So what then? What are you going to do with me?” she asked nervously. She could hardly imagine the horrors he had in mind for her, and if not him, then surely someone else would be glad to make game of her.

  “We will just keep you here,” he replied. “Now, no more talking.”

  “What do you mean keep me here? I don’t belong here. I have a home and a life to get back to,” she pleaded. “If you let me go, I can tell everyone how gracious you have been and they won’t attack.”

  He looked over at her, disbelief written all over his features and looked ahead again without saying a word. Aurora tried to convince him further, but everything else hit deaf ears; he made no efforts at communicating until they neared a great wall. It resembled something one would imagine in the days of old when castles and drawbridges existed; and she was surprised to see one of the same lowered as they neared.

  As soon as the mobile contraptions were through the gate, a throng of more like him surrounded her and they poked and prodded, and some even spat at her. Aurora looked at their a
ngry faces, covered with red and black markings, and cowered as she envisioned them ripping her apart.

  “Stand back,” the man she rode with said to them.

  “What is the meaning of this?” a voice boomed above the din created by the spectators. “Nevaeh, I thought I told you to dispose of the refuse. Why have you returned with it?” He glared at Aurora, and as the insult stung her, her face contorted with rage too.

  “This one was alive, and it didn’t make sense leaving it there,” the man called Nevaeh replied.

  “And what do you suppose you will do with it here? It looks weak and frail,” the man said loudly still. Then he walked over and gripped her forearm and squeezed it. “Not even good for meat,” he cried, and the spectators laughed at their words. “And what is that?” he asked as he noticed the bandage on her leg.

  “She was wounded when the ship crashed,” Nevaeh told the man.

  “And you want to use our resources to care for it? Do you hope to bed it too?” the man asked.

  “I couldn’t leave her there,” Nevaeh told the man.

  He looked over at Aurora again, who by this time was seething with rage but didn’t think it wise to retort, and then spat on the ground. “I hold you responsible for this monster,” he said and walked away.

  His words registered in Aurora’s head, but nothing made sense. She was classed as ‘it’, in the same way she had always referred to them. And now this man thought she was the monster. They were the monsters! Not her! She stood next to Nevaeh as the crowd thinned and she was left alone with him standing at the drawbridge, and for the first time since she was a little girl, her entire perception of their world was altered.

  She looked up at him, and saw him clenching his jaw, and then he hoisted her over his shoulder and whisked her away east of the gate, and to the building he called home.