I took a deep breath, and the elevator plunged into absolute darkness. I closed my eyes, feeling the helpless fall before the elevator jerked to a stop. As I opened my eyes, lights dimly flashed around me. The dark grey of steel and concrete felt like a cumbersome deathtrap waiting to be exploded. Why the government hadn’t issued the command was beyond me. And exactly why my army unit roamed these terrifying halls, was also beyond me and my pay grade. But here we were.

From the cubical-type hallways and switchbacks, this place made my skin crawl and reminded me of a ’90s episode of The X-Files. Visibility through my helmet was like looking through swamp water, cloudy with floating specks of mud. My palms were drenched, and had soaked through the thick gloves. I checked my M4, making certain the safety was off and the magazine fully loaded.

Swallowing down bile, I proceeded forward with my five-person group. Sirens blared as we approached another elevator. Banging from several stories below echoed up like haunting screams from vintage horror movies. The shit that people watched—laughed about even—was my current reality.

Dumbass civilians had breached Area 51, their curiosity outweighing both caution and reason. Four hundred thousand citizens stormed this location for answers then tucked tail, crying, and running when the answers they’d killed for backfired. This remote desert had been selected for a purpose—to keep Americans and the world safe from what was discovered out there in the dark isolation of space. But trying to reason with a bunch of brain-dead idiots was pointless. Maybe smoking more weed—or in some of their cases, meth—would get them some much-needed brain activity.

The sirens ceased blaring, leaving us in eerie stillness. Hissing came from the left—a deep throaty rattle on the end of an aggressive warning. If I hadn’t used the bathroom before I deployed, I quite possibly would have gone in my pants.

“Folsom,” Lieutenant Haris whispered, pointing the tip of his M4 in the direction of the noise.

I nodded. Inside my head screamed a slew of curse words my mother would have slapped me for. Taking a deep breath, I advanced, finger on the trigger.

“Adele, I’ve got your six,” Danes said behind me.

Again, I nodded, not trusting my voice to speak without a feminine squeak. Danes was on the radio, attempting to get signal for back up. Static reached back. Danes turned the radio down as we all held our breath, waiting for a relieving answer from base or that of a creature from down here.

I rounded the corner, sweat beading on my forehead and cascading down my face. The salt felt like fire in my eyes, yet I didn’t dare blink. Even that small, quick action could lead to death.

As I proceeded, each step more weighted and terrifying than the last, I couldn’t help but feel like I was stalking my own death. Danes’s clothes brushed up against my own. His meaty hand rested on my shoulder.

“Adele,” he whispered.

“Yeah, Josh?”

“No one is answering.”

I stopped along the dark-grey wall in the corner, eyes focused on the limited light ahead. “Are you doing it right?”

“That is tragically insulting,” Josh sniffed.

I glowered. “We are going to be tragically dead if we can’t access the control room and lock down the lower cell blocks. Or call for help.”

“We already are.” Josh’s voice cracked.

I refused to let myself slip into that mentality, for if I did, I would certainly be dead before daybreak. My insides rumbled clenching so tight I thought I would puke as my stomach protested further movement up the corridor. My right hand shook near the trigger, so I switched hands.

Becoming bolder, or maybe more stupid, I bolted down the hallway; the control-room light above the door flashing baby blue. Thick glass with iron bars forged inside, on both sides of the door showed a computer lab and monitors. I hit the metal door, the noise echoing throughout the hall. The scraping of nails came from the other side of the door.

Josh hit the side of the door beside me on my left. Hand on the knob, I yanked it open. Josh’s M4 blazed, shells flying out by the second. Screeches of the beast echoed as Josh's bullets struck true. Warm blood trickled out of my ears through my helmet as the glass wall in front of me shattered. The computer screens cracked as the wiring inside sizzled.

The alien’s circular mouth revealed rows of sharp teeth pointing inward. Heavy fleshy red arms came out to the side. Its stance sloped like a hyena as it faced us. Large nostrils inhaled our scent. I swore the fucking thing smiled. My mouth went dry. I fired my weapon into the open mouth of the alien.

“It’s not working!” Josh yelled, his rifle rattling off shots that seemed to bounce off the creature and the inside of the small room.

Out of the creature's arm slithered a growing smaller, independent arm, which advanced toward us like a snake. I dashed past a quaking Josh and slammed my entire body on the button in the middle of the table. No sirens blared. No locks clicked closed. Panicking, I pressed the button multiple times, yet nothing happened. I stared at the button before meeting the sneering fanged gaze of the alien.

“Fuck,” I whispered.

The extraterrestrial’s arm ensnared around my entire body, squeezing me tight and flung me across the room. My back struck the concrete wall. Rifle still in hand, I fired at the beast. My bullets sank into its now deteriorating red flesh and were absorbed. Eyes wide, I rolled to my side to get up. I called out for my comrade, but no answer came back. The alien’s juicy arms reached out as it screamed at me, pinning me down against the grated floor.

I screamed. The slimy, prickly claw inched its way across my vest to my helmet and ripped it off my head. Releasing my M4, I focused both hands on shoving the beast off of me. The alien’s arm sizzled, shrieking backward as it writhed and howled in agony.

Glancing at my hands, then at the alien, I charged and tore my gloves off figuring if my sweat could get that reaction, my ungloved hands could do more. I threw myself at the monster and wrapped both hands around its grotesque neck. The flesh in my hands sizzled and oozed between my fingers as the alien flung itself about to get me to detach.

“Like hell,” I growled, grabbing on tighter.

My nails dug in for purchase. The veiny, gelatinous clotting of the alien seeped through my fingers as its despondent muffled howling wailed through the room. Heavy booted strides vibrated from outside the control room. Shouts of my comrades reached my ears, and for a brief second, I allowed myself to feel relieved.

“God’s teeth!” Lieutenant Haris bellowed.

The alien screeched, bringing my comrades to their knees. Its appendages latched onto me, digging in with its small spines. I screamed, not letting go. I forced my hands farther into the foreign body, my nails abrading anything they came into contact with. The alien spontaneously crumpled in on itself, deteriorating to goop. I landed on my stomach, the air forced from my body. The alien’s blood exploded in my face. I choked on the taste and the singed odor.

“Holy angels, what was that?” Haris’s gravelly voice boomed.

I coughed, staggering to my feet. “Alien.”

“Where is Danes?”

“Don’t know.”

I brushed the gelatinous ooze off my body. I picked up my rifle and checked it over. Doing a quick head count, my group of five had dwindled to only three of us. My eyes scanned the room frantically for some kind of power source, generator, or phone to get in contact with anyone who could lock Area 51 down, or at least secure our side from the outside. The last problem we needed was an alien like that out in the community.

Lieutenant Haris sighed, removing his helmet. He raked his calloused fingers through his pitch-black hair. Back against the wall, he slumped down.

“All communications are down,” he stated painfully.

“What now?” Andrews chimed in. “We are miles away from surface level, and this control room isn’t locking down the lower levels.”

Haris shook his head. “I’m not sure. The other control room is farther in.”

“What happened to Reutov?” I asked, looking around for Danes and not seeing him.

“Like Danes over there.” He nodded toward the floor.

I glanced down to where I hadn't looked and found Josh; whose eyes looked to the ceiling and glazed over with a hole through his throat. I strode over, taking his tags off his neck and shoved them into my pocket. My throat constricted at the thought of having to tell his family and partner. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

“Andrews,” I said softly, “where is the other control room? How do we get there?”

The pack rat whipped off his rucksack and pulled out a neatly folded map from a zipper pocket. He laid it out on top of all the machines and pointed to where we were located. His pencil-pusher-soft finger traced a path all the way down to the other control room.

“If we don’t encounter aliens, it’s a twenty-minute walk. The last control room is on the right side of the gate after we get into Level 9.”

I ran a hand over my face, wiping the tears that dared to fall. I set my M4 on top of a machine. Wrapping my arms around myself, I paced. There were three of us in charge of shutting down the last remaining control room on the eastern side. No further aid was coming. All available sources secured the western side. Communications were down.

I stripped Danes’s body of weapons, shoving grenades, ammo, and his combat knives into my pockets and load-bearing vest. Taking his helmet, I shoved it on my head. I took his rifle and slung it over my back as I went back to my own on top of the machine.

“Let’s go,” I said to Andrews.

“We stay,” Haris said despondently.

“Why? No one is coming. We need to secure the eastern side. The last control room is nearer to us than the surface.”

“We stay, Adele” Haris repeated firmly.

“We can’t stay!” I fumed. “We need to move. I know you’re scared, as am I, but being idle in the water doesn’t guarantee safety.”

Haris rose to his feet, towering over me by a little more than a foot. “That’s an order.”

Snorting defiantly, I walked out the room. “Then shoot me.”

Andrews clung to my side as we walked silently down the hallway. The recessed lighting afforded little visibility. Andrews’s weapon shook in his hands, the soft rattling resonating like a marching band’s drumline in the hall. I paused for a moment, reaching my hand out and covering his.

“It’s gonna be alright,” I whispered.

Andrews nodded, the gulp he swallowed visible in his long neck. I closed my eyes, sending a prayer that nothing had heard his noises. Glancing behind me, I saw Haris didn’t follow. I raised the rifle to my chest and held it firmly as we passed through solid-steel doors.

“Can these shut without making a sound?” I whispered.

Andrews shook his head. I hit the button for them to close. Metal against metal grated, screeching down the corridor for all to hear. I closed my eyes, waiting for the sonorous clasping click of the gate.

With a deep breath, I pushed forward, leading the way down the twisting corridors. Never in my days had I expected to be in the predicament I was in at the moment. I’d enlisted right out of high school, much to my parents’ displeasure. However, I’d never gone overseas—something I was very grateful for. Camels and spiders were a hard no for me.

My decision to enlist for another term had brought me further isolation from my immediate family. I hadn’t seen or spoken to them in close to three years. Memories of growing up in the Indiana sun made me smile. Outside in the sprinkler, all the neighborhood kids would be laughing as we played tag and ate Otter Pops. My mother would beam at all of us playing while she sat on the porch, red hair in a chignon, a Ladies’ Journal magazine in her lap. I closed my eyes for a moment, letting myself drift back to the innocent days.

The memory shifted to my boyfriend, Martin, who was deployed over in Iran. His chiseled tan features under a cropped blond head made me swoon. His wide white smile was enough to bring a woman to her knees. What had started out as a joke of me calling Martin “Pop Tart” had blossomed into a two-year relationship. Our first date had been a lantern-lit dinner of venison and potatoes while we were on leave. Our first kiss had been on his parents’ fishing boat in Alaska as we reeled in king salmon.

“There is a house in New Orleans,” Andrews whispered.

I chastised myself for allowing my mind to wander. Andrews’s breathy voice hitched in a few places as he went to start another line of the song. I scowled, smacking him in the back of the head. Andrews shook behind me, his clothing rustling.

I scowled, leaning in close. “Shut up.”

The sound of metal being peeled back crunched to the right. Andrews yelped. I pulled him to the left, dragging him down the opposite hallway. Andrews’s body quaked like a lamb in a snowstorm.

“Can we still make it from here?”

Andrews nodded. “Takes longer but yes.”

The grating of metal dimmed the farther we traveled. Part of me felt incredibly guilty for leaving Haris behind. The other part loathed him for making a coward’s decision. I’d expected more fire from a lieutenant. Instead, I got a mushy, molded sack of potatoes.

“You think Haris is all right?” Andrews asked as if reading my thoughts.

I shrugged. “We left him with ammunition and grenades.”

Andrews nodded.

“And once we flip the control-room switch, that room will barricade him inside so he will hopefully be safe.”

Andrews licked his lips noisily. “I never wanted this.”

I snorted. “Why did you sign up?”

Andrews shrugged, adjusting the pack on his back. “To prove to my older brothers I was more than an anime nerd.”

My hand touched the side of his helmet. “You are already more than that. Everything will be alright. Trust me.”

Andrews nodded vigorously.

Scuttling sounded in front of us. I paused, holding an arm out in front of Andrews. Clicking teeth, like someone typing on an old typewriter, sent a chill down my spine. The alien released a hiss that, for a moment I confused with a pressure valve releasing. The sharp breathy inhalation noise prickled the hairs on my arm. Andrews got behind me, peeking over my shoulder. He whined softly. I pictured an evil crab before the optimistic part of my mind changed it to a less scary SpongeBob version.

Money, money, money, I mused.

The shadow of the creature was magnified. Andrews whined in his throat, taking off his helmet. Sweat and fear paled his face. Andrews wiped the rivers of sweat from his forehead. Red stubble grew back on his once shaved head. Sweat peppered my upper lip as I raised my weapon, focusing on the oncoming enemy. I held my arm out, keeping Andrews behind me. I felt responsible for keeping him safe.

I bit my upper lip as I stalked forward, my gut clenching tightly; my M4 raised with a fresh magazine. I was ready. Hiding behind a poorly planned divot in the wall, I waited for the enemy to pass. Many feet struck the expanded metal floor, like manicured nails drumming on a desk. The lights around me flickered to near darkness.

The alien howled a deep, rumbling blast that elevated to a higher pitch. I glanced over at Andrews, whose face was drawn as he stood like a statue against the wall. I put a finger to my lips, nodding. Andrews gave a thumbs-up.

My legs wanted to shake and turn the other way. I couldn’t. The fight-or-flight factor had been literally beaten out of us. There was no cowardice, only pushing forward until we were down, and then we kept going until truly dead - a lesson Haris apparently hadn't learned. I sucked in a lungful of humid air.

Inching out of my hiding spot, I opened fire on a large teal creature with pincers for teeth. My bullets ricocheted off the alien, the bullets embedding into the wall. The alien roared, standing up on its four hind legs.

I ran forward and slid under it, leading it away from Andrews. The alien gave chase, tripping me with a barbed front claw. I landed on my back, pulling a grenade out from my load bearing vest. The alien chittered, onyx pincers for teeth close to my face. I pulled the pin and shoved the grenade into its mouth. Rolling over on my stomach, I covered my head.

The alien screeched, piercing me with its barbed front claw. I gasped at the pressure moving into my skin. Hot blood seeped into my suit. The grenade exploded, launching pieces of alien all over me. Heavy booted strides echoed off the wall.

“Folsom!” Andrews called.

Weakly, I raised my hand before rolling onto my back. “That sucked.”

“You’re really brave.” Andrews helped me to my feet.

“I wouldn’t call it that,” I groaned.

I brushed off the larger chunks, trying not to inhale the scorching stench of burnt seafood. Andrews glanced around, his legs wobbly. I put a hand on his shoulder. Andrews vomited on my boots. Patting his back, I led him away from the disastrous scene not even caring there was human vomit mixed in with alien guts on my boots.

“All right,” I said, “where to now?”

“We have three more corners and a gate to get through,” he said, choking back more bile. “I hope the gate is open.”

“We can make it,” I said, tugging him along like a stubborn pup.

“I want to go home. I want out.”

“When is your EAS?”

“Six months.”

“I will make certain you get home.”

Andrews brightened momentarily before his face turned a shade of mossy green. He vomited on the floor. I waited in painful irritation for him to finish. I, too, wanted to go home. When this was over, and if I was still alive, I would call my mom and tell her I loved her. I wasn’t smart enough for college like she’d hoped I would be. My mathematical skills were poor, and I constantly had misspelled words in writing. With my mother being a professor of biochemistry, I was a disappointment. My father never said much about my choices. He didn’t agree with this one, either, but knew college was off the docket.

My comrade choked. He inhaled to stifle the urgent need to vomit again. Grabbing his forearm, I led him farther down the corridor. We were so close to the finish line. My insides leapt for joy at the thought of being done, of seeing sunlight and people.

The radio on my shoulder came in scratchy like a fuzzy TV channel. I lowered the volume, as did Andrews. The hopefulness in his face made my eyes sting.

“Keep your wits,” I cautioned.

Andrews nodded.

Lights powered on. The entire corridor becoming a beacon. Andrews and I glanced at each other. Andrews raised his M4; the weapon shaking in his hands. I paused in my advancement, waiting for him to calm himself.

“Haris?” Andrews asked optimistically.

“Could be.”

Andrews took off at a run down the corridor, screaming our lieutenant’s name at the top of his lungs.

“Stop-” my voice hitched on itself.

The cautious reasoning in my mind refused to yell further. If there were extraterrestrials in this hallway, they would know of me too. I continued at a walk, a sinister sensation prickling at the back of my neck. Garbled words floated down the hallway. I bit my tongue to keep myself from calling Andrews's name.

I rounded a corner cautiously. Andrews wavered and staggered forward, blood gushing from his stomach. Links like sausages collapsed on the ground at his feet. Andrews hit the floor like a pile of laundry in a living room, careless and still warm. I sucked in my lips. My heart lurched at his demise. My breath caught in my throat as I tried to remember how to breathe. I dared to glance around the corner. Andrews’s head still moved from side to side. An alien stood over him.

Scowling, I blinked several times. What I expected was a monster, a large grotesque man-eating goop of a beast. Instead, it was a two-legged person with short brown hair, wearing white boxer briefs. His tanned skin glittered with flecks of blue and gold. Muscles on top of rippling muscles adorned his handsome Greek-God-like body. Bright emerald eyes met mine as he sprinted forward.

Startled, I opened fire at him. My bullets entered his body right in the mid-cavity, but he did not drop. “Fuck…” I cursed, drawing out the ending.

The hulking man growled, charging forward. I emptied my magazine into his body, and it did nothing. I had nothing left to kill him with except grenades. If bullets didn’t drop him, chances were grenades and my combat knives wouldn’t either. My fingers fumbled to release the magazine and insert another.

His hand closed around my throat, lifting me off the ground. I dropped my M4 as I choked, moving my legs to connect with anything. Certainly, a male alien had balls? I glanced down, kicking him where a human dick should be. He groaned, releasing slightly the pressure on my neck. Smiling, I kicked him again, hoping my steel-toed boot would be useful this time.

The alien dropped me. I landed on my butt. Turning quickly, I hurried to my feet. Sprinting down the corridor, I dared not look behind me. My heart thundered in my chest. My skin crawled with the need to flee and survive, yet the trained soldier in me burned to turn around and face my enemy.

The control room’s bright baby-blue light brought a temporary breath to my lungs. I hit the door and burst inside the room. Two other alien males, dressed also in white boxer briefs, turned their heads to me. One with intense magenta eyes rose out of the chair and charged at me.

“Double fuck,” I cursed.

The other alien male stood, silver eyes creased with cautious hatred. I leapt over control stations, the bright-green button I needed to push so close, almost within reach. The silver-eyed male alien sat back down, messing with the computers. The other, with scars along his face, grinned at me with a ferocious gleam. I swallowed.

The alien from before charged into the room, roaring like a train whistle. My eyes bulged. My body quaked. I reached into my pockets and whipped out the knives I’d taken from Danes. If this alien could obtain scars, certainly, something would work to take him out.

I leapt over another steel control panel, my eyes focusing on the scarred alien and the other one with emerald eyes. The button was fifteen feet from me. The door opened slowly. I could not see the figure. With the alien distracted, I leapt to the control button, my fist triumphantly smashing the green key.

My body came smashing back to the ground as the sirens blared. The grating sounds of metal moving to lock in place brought a smile to my face. Getting to my feet, I faced the three aliens. Part of Andrews’s head remained inside the closed door. I briefly closed my eyes.

The aliens stalked forward, surrounding me, with contorted expressions of anger, revenge and sorrow. One extraterrestrial spoke to the other in a rumbled, guttural consonants of unintelligible sounds. The computer alien crossed the space between us, towering over me by at least two feet.

“You… trapped… us,” he said painfully. “You tested… on us!”

“It is my job,” I replied, startled.

The alien relayed the information. The other males growled. The one with scars screamed in my face, lifting me off the ground by my throat. I choked, swinging my legs but not connecting to anything. The ceiling swirled in light.

I was dropped to the floor, my body mechanically inhaling air.

“You… free us. We leave Earth.”

“How do you want me to do that?”

“Get us above!” the scarred alien roared.

I didn’t respond. I couldn’t do as the aliens asked of me. It was impossible and against the law. I would be shot and, if that didn’t happen, certainly court marshalled. Now that the eastern side of A51 was secure, I would have to be released from this area. Level 9, one and a half miles into the Earth, had only one means of exiting, and that was to be let out with a code. I didn’t have it.

“I can’t do that,” I said to the three males still sitting on the floor, looking up.

The scarred one spoke excitedly to the others while pointing at me. Without a doubt, he wanted to take my head clean off. Still, they could not surface without me—or at all, for that matter. All three of them were exactly the same on the outside, with brown hair, tanned skin that glittered with flecks of blue and gold, and muscular frames even the famous Arnold Schwarzenegger would be jealous of. The only differences were in their eyes and their slight facial variations.

“We have to be let out,” I corrected.

“And who… lets us out?” The magenta eyed alien asked.

My eyes met the computer alien. His silver eyes stared into mine with profound grief. To be trapped in a dark hole for months, I couldn’t comprehend. Being down here for a matter of days had me depressed and on edge and I was allowed to freely roam the halls. And then to be tested upon like an animal, I couldn’t imagine. Humans, whatever the reason, were as bad as the aliens who’d captured people on Earth — morally and ethically challenged.

These aliens had been imprisoned and abused. From the distraught grief on their faces, I guessed they’d been taken from their home by us. There was a lot of secret shit that went on no one knew about. I’d sworn a duty to my country. My oath should have outweighed my convictions of morality, yet I found my honor and morals conflicting.

Scar-Face leaned in close to me. His meaty hand pushed me against the grated floor, crushing my chest, his pointed teeth growing over his bottom lip. “Free us!” he growled.

“When you put it like that, it’s not helping your cause,” I wheezed.

“We need to go home.”

The radio on my person sounded, the words coming in scratchy and jumbled. I stared at the side of my chest rig. The three aliens gleamed triumphantly; yanking me to my feet as they snatched the radio from me. Scar-Face tossed me across the room like a rotten apple. I hit the main control panel, my face scraping along the metal side. The steel sliced open my face from lip to ear. I gasped at the pain, warm blood immediately gushing down the side of my face and neck, seeping into my cammies and undergarments.

“Help her,” the emerald-eyed one barked.

Scar-Face came to me and towered over with an ominous glower in his magenta eyes. Rising to my feet, I stared him dead in the eye. His upper lip quirked. Tears brimmed along the lower edges of my lashes. My face burned, the blood searing against my skin. I rose up on my toes to better meet him, the hardness in my face firming.

“Brave,” he commented.

He spat on my open wound. I didn’t flinch but growled in response.

“Grateful,” he muttered. “It heals.”

I touched the side of my face where I’d felt the deep throbbing cut gushing blood. It was now mended. I delicately touched my face, expecting a bulging scar. Instead, my fingers struck smooth skin.

“Thank you,” I rasped.

He sneered, turning back to his people and my radio.

I sat back down, leaning against the machines, my eyes fixated on my pitch-black clothes and combat boots. I’d sworn an oath. My life belonged to the military. My chest constricted with the need to obey orders and the desire to let the aliens go freely back to their homeland.

Their grumbling voices over the stolen radio grew more agitated by the second. Silver-eyed Computer Alien dejectedly sat, staring at his hands as he shook his head. Scar-Face growled into the radio. His menacing voice thundered in the small room. The other, ran a hand over his face.

“My name is Adele,” I piped up.

All three stared at me, perplexed. We were trapped in here together until backup arrived and we were released. If it ever came at all. Or if I happened to get a code. Still, we were trapped.

“Folsom,” my radio called. “Do you copy?”

Scar-Face handed me back the radio.

“Folsom, do you copy?” the radio droned again.

“Copy,” I responded, relieved to hear Haris’s voice.

“You did it. Andrews with you?”

My throat clenched. “No,” I choked out.

“Are you safe?”

I gazed up at the aliens. My mouth went dry. This was my moment. My palms sweated, and my stomach shook. My entire body went icy as if I’d taken a plunge into Antarctica. If I said yes, I could sneak them out and let them go home to their planet. If I said no, backup would come and obliterate them.

I stared blankly at the radio, my mind conflicted about how to register a response.

“Stand by, checking perimeter,” I responded to allow myself more time.

Scar-Face snarled deep in his throat. “You help us, human!”

Head in my hands, I considered very briefly what would happen if I helped them. I would be shot dead or court marshalled, my parents notified of my demise or traitorous ways. I would be disgraced in society. Nothing good would come of this. I’d worked so hard to get where I was, and I could not let this tarnish my name. The only good thing I found myself being grateful for was the government did not have cameras in A51. The last problem they wanted was delicate information being leaked to the public. There was already enough of it with Russia.

I choked, closing my eyes as the words poured out of my mouth. “Will you take me with you?” I met their foul gazes with a concentrated one of my own.

Computer Alien crouched down to my level. “You will be slave.”

I nodded. “Fine.”

“You will be caged,” the middle one with emerald eyes stated, hands clenching.

After taking a deep breath, I got on the radio. “Area secure.”

“Copy,” Haris said, his radio sizzling in and out. “Alpha Victor Foxtrot Charlie Kilo Zulu... Level 8. Meet on ground level. Stay safe Adele. Over and out.”

Three sets of eyes stared at me as I rose to my feet. My breath left my body. I felt like I was floating above myself, watching myself come to terms with the treachery I’d attached myself to. Never again would I be allowed to come back to Earth. Everything I’d worked for, like my good name, was dead.

Striding to the door, I glanced over my shoulder. “Coming?”

Scar-Face shoved past me, the snarl never leaving his mouth. He pointed to me, and I met him away from the others.

“Betray me, I kill you.”

I nodded.

The other two came out, eyes roving over me. Computer Alien’s outstretched hand turned to claws as he ripped my uniform to shreds. I jumped, rising on my toes with the natural instinct to run. I couldn’t. Instead, I closed my eyes and flinched.

A muscular hand encircled around my forearm; clawed fingers dug into my skin drawing blood. I opened my eyes, blood pooling at my feet. Emerald eyes squeezed the blood from my arm while Computer Alien smeared it down as if I had been dragged. Fixating on the scene under my feet, I thought it appeared as if I had died. Instead of stalking death through corridors, I was now dead like Andrews.

I stood before them in an undershirt and bike shorts. “Ready?” My voice squeaked.

I glanced over at the puncture wounds I had from previous encounters. The dark-red holes had stopped oozing blood and fortunately begun closing with the help of whatever these aliens did. My muscles strained against my skin, tightening in the cool air that the now powered fans blew.

The alien with emerald eyes put his right fist to his chest. “Zeren.”

Computer Alien gave a slight smile. “Crelx.”

Scar-Face guffawed, rolling his eyes. “Xylir.”

“Adele,” I stated.

“Come, Adele.” Crelx beckoned, drawing out the middle e in my name. “Leave,” he said, pointing to my knives.

I set them on the floor, feeling more vulnerable now in my attire. The fans above my head whooshed cold air onto my body. My skin prickled from it but also from the three sets of eyes watching me. I followed the aliens down the corridor, taking switchback after switchback. The other life-forms in the halls skittered out of their way. I swallowed my nervousness, wondering what these aliens happened to be. Who were these alien men that they made larger, more menacing creatures tuck tail and disappear into unlit hallways?

Xylir walked behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and saw the scowl creasing his handsome face never left. His upper lip curled, magenta eyes darkening. I scurried forward, walking in stride with Crelx. This alien, at least, gave me a slight smile.

“Where is your planet?” I whispered.

Crelx glowered. “Ubsolvyn District, Planet 11.”

“I don’t know where that is.”

Crelx’s silver eyes pinched together. “But you’re human.”

“Doesn’t mean I know. I’m not a part of space exploration.”

“What do you do?” Zeren asked over his shoulder.

“I’m a soldier. I do whatever I’m told… except this.”

We walked under an entryway with a neon baby blue sign announcing Level 8. My stomach fluttered. This was the last part where I could turn back. However, if I did, nothing good would come of it. With a deep breath, I mechanically punched in the code to the pod. The gates peeled back like a banana, metal crashing. My body moved on its own.

Zeren and Xylir spoke hurriedly to Crelx, who ripped open the control panel. Crelx re-routed wires and ripped out others. A mound of yellow and blue wires lay in a twisted pile at his feet. He sliced open his finger, dripping blood into the motherboard. It sizzled like butter in a frying pan before it flashed bright pink. Crelx hooted, his face splitting a victorious smile.

Crelx turned to me, looking over my face. He pointed to my ear. I handed over my diamond earring. He delicately placed it in the motherboard, binding it in place between black and pink wires, dripping more of his blood to coat the diamond. Sirens blared overhead. Red flashing lights illuminated the pod. Commotion came from all around us. The aliens glared at me as if I had called for reinforcements. I held up my hands and shook my head.

Ground troops stormed in, M4s loaded, raised, and aimed at the aliens and me. Other men and women with giant stick-like cattle prods glowed, spewing green electrical charges. The extraterrestrial men roared unanimously, their teeth growing to fangs that protruded over their lower lips like a sabretooth tiger.

Hands still raised, I slunk to the back. All exits were blocked by dozens of allied bodies, only I could no longer call myself an ally. Popping of guns sounded from farther down the hallways, finishing off the aliens we'd just passed by. My heart thundered in my throat as I faced my former comrades. Deep concentrated scowls lined each face in between helmets and black face paint. Their eyes hesitantly focused on the beings I was helping to escape.

I raised my hands level with my head. Zeren stood in front of me while Xylir grabbed me by my throat.

“Release her!” one soldier yelled.

The alien men laughed.

“Open fire!” the man yelled.

The soldiers with the long prods dashed forward, the green electrical charges blazing like fire. Thousands of rounds fired all around me, crescendoing like a great orchestra finale. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see my body be pierced and blood gushing from my body. Bullets went around me and missed the aliens. I was confused as to how this was even happening. Why wasn't I struck?

I gasped for breath as my body crashed into the icy metal of the floor. I rolled to my back, gazing starry-eyed between three sets of feet out the glass door that was closing from top to bottom. Xylir rolled his eyes at me. His rigid stillness bothered me more than I cared to admit.

Zeren’s fist slammed into the button, forcing it into the metal, removing the ability to open the door. Crelx thumbed in numbers on the pod screen. The soldiers continued to open fire at the pod, yet nothing was getting damaged. The bullets bounced off the doors. The engine underneath rumbled to life like an old diesel tractor. Rushing air was released from the pod as it shot forward to the surface.

I sat up, leaning against the glass wall. Below me, troops rushed around like ants, M4s drawn, firing at the remaining aliens before they escaped to public space. The fading light of day ignited the desert in red-orange hues. Fluffy clouds burned in color, swirling together with the fading cornflower blue of day. Still, we sailed upward into the sky. My hands grabbed for purchase at the side of the pod. My fingers latched onto nothing.

I closed my eyes as the pod reached its pinnacle and we descended back to the rust-colored ground.

A hand on my shoulder caused my eyes to jolt open. Crelx’s perplexed eyes stared into mine. A giant metal blimp hovered over us. A four-pronged claw snatched us from the air, pulling us inside like a Venus flytrap capturing prey. My mouth went desert dry. I tried to keep my breathing level but found the simple task strenuous.

I stood, hands at my sides to keep myself from quaking. These alien men saved me from the disgrace of being considered a traitor to my own country. For all the army knew now, I was captured, and no one would come for me.

We were pulled inside the main body of the alien craft. Dozens of men with silver-looking plastic Coke bottles for weapons stood around us. They fired two shots at the pod. The pod door cracked open, the glass shattering into sand particles. A hulking alien man with blue eyes passed wire forward. Zeren’s hard emerald orbs lingered on me expectantly. I held out my hands while Zeren bound them. The wire sizzled into my skin, leaving a circular band of green around my wrists. The feeling wasn’t hot, as I’d expected, but was similar to putting on an itchy, ugly Christmas sweater.

The alien men fell into uniform lines. Xylir pushed me forward. I fell in stride with the group. The ship lurched forward slightly, throwing me for a moment. A small porthole afforded me a dismal view of the darkness of space. I gulped loudly, following Zeren through the chambers. Doors opened, sliding up into the ceiling with a burst of air and a high-pitched engine whine. My booted feet struck the mud-colored metal floor. The aliens did not make a sound.

Another door opened. I was shoved into a small cube no bigger than six feet.

“You belong to us now, Adele,” Zeren stated in my own language.

I tucked in my lips, not trusting myself to speak without wavering. I nodded, glancing down at my feet.

Zeren brought forth a small gun and pressed it against my skin. I yelped as it burned into the underside of my left wrist. “You are now of Ubsolvyn District, Planet 11—Tavolieri property. We will not release you.”

I sucked in my lips, tears forming in the corners of my eyes. “What will happen?”

“Whatever we desire. You might be sold, or we might keep you.”

Zeren turned on his heel and left me. The door slid closed. A bright-grey light illuminated the door. Curious, I touched it. The door zapped me. Hissing, I pulled my finger back.

As I sat on the floor, a large window opened. My eyes connected with Earth. Africa was lit in daylight. And in a blink, Africa was gone.

I leaned my head against the metal. Tears tracked down my face. “What have I done?”

Adele

September 28, 2019 - 8 Days after the Area51 disaster…

Traitor.

That is what I had become. I betrayed my nation. My friends. My family. I didn’t have many friends, nor much in the way of family, but I had betrayed them all. And these aliens, these… whatever their name happened to be, saved me from the ridicule I would’ve faced had I stayed on Earth.

I’m a weakling, I chose the coward's way out by saving my own neck rather than dying bravely. Risked everything for three terrestrials who would do to me the same, or worse, than what was done to them - caged and tested upon by the government.

“Fuck me,” I moaned.

My six-by-six-foot cell was dismal. Even prisons had more contrast. Stark gray, the same lame color palate on an industrial building, metal walls surrounded me. Black, expanded metal lined the floor, leaving diamond shaped patterns on the back of my legs. A small light illuminated where the door happened to be and I scowled at it. Touching it earlier had earned me a nice zap on my finger.

Staring out the small porthole, my mind decided to contemplate the new life before me. Zeren, one of the aliens I had saved from Area51, told me I would be used as a slave or whatever else was chosen for me.

My body involuntarily shook, terrified behind the meaning of those words. At the same time, my mind reasoned with me – I chose my fate and it’s sealed; though it didn't make it any less daunting.

For a brief moment, I was envious of Andrews who died in the long, twisting, underground levels of Area51. He died heroically – in battle, saving everyone from the horrors escaping to the surface. Everyone in my squad fought, died, and lived that way; except me.

You are now of Ubsolvyn District, Planet 11 – Tavolieri property. We will not release you, Zeren’s voice boomed in my head.

Curling up in a ball with my back to the air lift door, I stared numbly out of the porthole window. It was cold in here, and all I had on were the spandex biker shorts I wore under my utilities and a sports bra. The spaceship seemed to hover, like it wasn’t really moving at all. To me, it was like riding in a smooth car down a freshly paved road. Beautiful splotches of color, centered around what I could only assume was a star, was breathtaking. Even the darkness of space was glorious. A dark purple splotch of stars mixed with bright neon pink and teal was my favorite formation I’ve seen thus far. Even with the establishment of the Space Force by the US Government, I still didn’t know shit about space or what I was looking at other than it was super pretty.

The spaceship slowed and lurched like a car slamming on its brakes at a stoplight. Loud banging came from down the hallway. Running feet clattered against the metal floor. Gurgling noises sounded from outside my door, changing into a language I couldn’t wrap my head around. It sounded hard, like Russian, but had different vocal fluctuations like Mandarin, wrapped up in the direct, nasty tone of German to make it sound like a garbled nothingness; or as my dad would say – it sounded French.

Sirens blared overhead, screaming out their warning that something had either malfunctioned or there was an attack. My mind envisioned the long movie series where one had to watch episodes four, five, six first just to know what the fuck was happening and the only cool thing were laser-swords. The little green Yoda guy was the best part, I mused.

“As if it could be that Yoda movie series,” I chuckled.

The door to my cell whooshed open, revealing a tall, hairy humanoid. The creature stood on two legs, was muscular, but covered in long, scruffy hair like a buffalo. Two long tusks came out of its upper jaw and curled down and out to the sides with teeth like a saber tooth tiger. Its legs were like a cat, standing on its hind legs with longer feet and even longer claws. Hands, large and padded, waited at its side. Deep, emerald green eyes met mine. The beast held out a hand to me, waving it for me to rise.

I did so, keeping my distance. The being looked like a popular 90’s Disney movie I remembered watching as a kid where a lady fell in love with a beast and it changed him into a human. I watched the live action of it and was thoroughly disappointed that the male actor wasn’t sexier.

“Adele,” the thing beckoned.

“Zeren?”

The being nodded.

“So… is this your alien form?” I asked, holding out my hands.

Zeren laughed. It sounded deep and threatening like he enjoyed me trying to figure him out. His green eyes pierced mine. My blood turned icy. My regret for not dying in the tunnels was instant.

“We are aliens as you call them,” Zeren answered. “But we are Tavolieri. That is our name like you are human.”

I glowered. It wasn’t the direct response I was looking for.

“Some of us choose to stay how you first saw us, humanoid like you, and others choose to be as we are.”

“And that is?”

“This,”

“Does this have a name?”

Zeren’s bushy brows narrowed on me. “Not everything needs an explicit name. We are Tavolieri. That is final.”

Three more aliens appeared behind him. Zeren grabbed my wrist and lashed the wire to it again. Once my hands were tied, I attempted to fight the bonds to see if escape was possible. The wire dug into my skin, making it bleed. The blood sizzled, closing my wound and leaving a pink scar in its wake.

“Fuckin’ ouch!” I yelped.

Zeren chuckled. “Follow.”

The aliens around him were as he said, the same as him in their alien form or humanoid with similar blue-gold flecked shimmering skin and mouse brown hair. The sole difference was eye color. It was trippy. But I figured this is what it must mean to be a Tavolieri alien or something of the sort.

I poked my head out of the cell. The troops I remembered seeing earlier, when we were snatched out of the air from Earth like a candy machine claw, were nowhere to be seen. The hall was deserted. I scowled, looking left and right.

“You can’t escape,” Zeren growled.

I scoffed. “I know.”

Escaping would be dumb. I would be annihilated in a matter of seconds. I grumbled, following in line behind Zeren. The other being I remembered from the Area51 tunnels, Xylir, emerged from around a dimly lit corner in his beast form. The scar lining his jaw in his human form was more prominent in his beast-mode. It was a wide pink scar, separating fur on his cheekbone. His magenta eyes bore into mine fiercely, seemingly more terrifying than I previously acknowledged. I gulped.

Xylir pointed to me ominously and muttered something to Zeren. I felt my body go cold. Somehow, if I made it to their planet alive, I felt it would truly be the end of me. And if it wasn't then, it wouldn’t be long after.

The alien to my left grabbed my upper arm with its large padded hands and dragged me away from the growling, muttering scene Zeren and Xylir were making. I glanced over my shoulder, meeting the aggravated magenta eyes of Xylir and the slightly less deadly emerald ones of Zeren.

The other alien to my right, clasped it’s even larger hand around my arm. These beings in their beast form, growled while dragging me away from the only two aliens I knew. We maneuvered down the hallway, my bare feet aching on the expanded metal. I tried to walk lightly on it. The pace the aliens set was hard for my short legs and bare feet to keep up.

“Hey,” I said to the alien to my left, “are there any shoes?”

He, or maybe it was she, scowled at me. I looked at its chest for titties, yet saw nothing indicating its sex.

I pointed to my feet. “Shoes?”

It growled, obviously their only form of communication, baring its long, pointy teeth at me. I blinked, shocked at its lengthy chompers. A chamber to my right opened from floor to ceiling with a high-pitched whine and a burst of air. A cold, metal table, held by two extensive chrome poles sticking out of the floor, met my gaze. Metal clamps were on a maneuverable bar attached to the table.

The alien pointed to the table and grunted.

“Allergic to metal,” I quipped.

It glowered at me, tossing me over its shoulder like I was nothing, and body-slammed me down on the table. Air escaped my lungs, and I had trouble sucking in a breath.

The alien smirked, revealing a side view of his curled lip and teeth. At least it looked like a smirk to me. It clasped me to the table with the heavy metal bonds. The metal snapped quickly around my wrists and ankles first, while massive ones came from somewhere to close around my thighs, midsection, and biceps.

The whirring of the door opening sent a chill up my spine. I lifted my head to see Zeren and Xylir walk inside the chamber. They wore black pants and a white shirt with a golden animal on the left side that looked like a wide eyed, wingless bird with fangs.

The other aliens in the chamber dipped their heads to Zeren and Xylir. I perked a brow. I think the US captured the wrong fuckin’ aliens. I’m so screwed. One of the aliens behind me barked. I sucked in a muffled laugh at the noise. Zeren and Xylir glanced at me then at this large screen as they made their way toward me. Zeren left my side. Xylir stood to my side, facing the direction where Zeren walked.

“Good evening, Heir Tavolieri. The President of the United States would like to negotiate terms for the release of Specialist Adele Folsom,” I heard a man speak, but I could not place his voice.

Zeren and Xylir hummed with amusement.

“My planet negotiated for our release yet we remained on Earth. Why should we give her up so easily?”

“It was a grievous mistake the US Government wishes to rectify immediately. We were given false information and acted thusly without due diligence.”

“Not my problem,” Xylir snarled beside me. “Adele is ours. You had your chance to remedy the insults and injury when your people unlawfully attacked our planet in your unwarranted cause. We're done. Adele Folsom is ours. Consider us even.”

“The US is prepared to declare this an act of war,” the government official’s raspy voice boomed.

Zeren stepped forward, rolling his shoulders back, “It was an act of war when you captured us. Adele is our prisoner of war and will be executed upon arrival to our home planet. An eye for an eye. You stay on your side of the solar system, and we'll stay on ours.”

“I refuse to negotiate with a terrorist who holds our people hostage.”

Xylir laughed. “Take a long look in the mirror. This is an easy means to an end. I suggest you take it as you do not wish to have the wrath of our nation upon you.”

“The United States of America declares this an act of war and will, by any means necessary, issue an all-out assault.”

“Best of luck to you all then,” Zeren chuckled.

“Assemble the Space Force,” Xylir mocked. The communication to the US went out like a click on a TV. “Crelx, are they trying to track our signal?”

“Yes,” the alien answered in a lighter tone. “It's going to take me a bit to sever the connection. We should take the long way home to be sure. Once we are secure, send a message home to put up the barrier to deflect them.”

“Done,” Zeren’s deeper voice replied.

My face scrunched. Down in the tunnels, these assholes acted like speaking English was the hardest damn thing for them, like they legit struggled. Now, every word uttered was with ease, poise, and eloquence, fuckin’ dicks.

My mind had trouble wrapping around the fact I was deemed to die upon arrival. Part of me already knew I was a goner. The other part hoped to keep breathing long enough to escape. Now, I just wanted it all over with.

Xylir turned a hard as stone gaze on me. “Are you gonna beg?”

My face scrunched again. “No.”

“It might help your cause.”

“I got a sore throat.”

I had no idea where the bravado was coming from. I was pretty sarcastic but usually kept the comments to myself around my commanders. Especially if I didn’t want to run or do whatever extra bullshit would be thrown at me for being snarky.

Xylir smirked. “Hook her up,” he shouted.

“I will do it,” Crelx's softer voice said from behind me. “I don't want them blowing a vein in her.”

Xylir shook his head. The door whooshed open and I assumed he left. Crelx came over to me. His kind, silver eyes met mine and he smiled softly.

“Don't move,” he said.

“Couldn't if I wanted to.”

I didn't like needles and looked away as Crelx slipped an IV needle into my right arm.

“You have good veins.”

I didn't respond. Looking to my right, I scowled. What I thought would be an IV drip happened to be a blood bag. They were taking my blood to fill a sack, but for what purpose?

“What's your blood type?”

“I'm O+.”

Crelx nodded, removing the needle and holding out a puff of pink something to staunch the blood flow.

“Why my blood?” I asked.

“We need it,” he replied, a slight scowl on his face.

“For what? To see how many babies I can produce?”

His face grew serious. “Yes and no. We have a deficit in our blood type that your human blood can alter and correct. If your blood proves useful, you have purpose.”

I nodded. “And if not, I'm dead.”

Zeren grabbed my head and tilted it back, forcing me to meet his hard gaze. “No, you will give me a child to see if what we need can be created. If the child proves useless, then so are you.”

“Sounds reasonable,” I whispered.

Just another day, like I’m in a sort of dumbass low budget movie. What in the world happens next? Oh I know, I get knocked up and have a child upside down that turns into a fuckin’ octopus.

Zeren patted my cheek and left with Crelx. I laid on the table wondering, even more, what the fuck I had gotten myself into.

Adele

I was escorted back to my chamber and left alone. I had lost track of time. Space was darkness, save for random specks of light from stars, galaxies, or whatever the fuck they happened to be. All I knew was, Earth was a floating dot, and I was on a floating ship headed to an alien planet where everyone looked like a buffalo-tiger-bear off some kids movie.

A buftigbe, I mused, finally coming up with a name to call them. I glanced over my shoulder at the door and scowled. It had been hours since I had eaten. My stomach growled, but I wasn’t about to ask, shout, or beg for anything.

I wonder if the aliens have their own cute little space words, I pondered. Like oooh Karen your outfit is stellar.

“Ohhh that’s so stupid it hurts,” I chortled, trying to find humor in something.

The ship banked to the right, sending me sliding, unprepared, across the floor. I slammed my back into the door while the rest of me ached from sliding across the expanded metal. My body jolted from the barrier in front of the door and I cried out.

The ship banked again to the left and I slammed against the porthole where my ass somehow magically fit into the little circular hole.

I darkened. “Of course, it did,” I grouched, wriggling out.

Sirens blared overhead. Sounds of stampeding, numerous feet blending to create a cacophony through the door, came from down the hall. I scowled, wondering what in the fuck was happening and debating whether or not I should chance escaping.

A foreign sound came muffled through the speakers. I groaned at the words I couldn’t force my ears to understand. Part of me wondered if the US Government was coming for me. The sitting president, from what I knew, wouldn’t allow an American to not be brought back to American soil.

A body smacked into the door, creating a concave dent. I crossed my arms over myself, pissed that now the door wouldn’t even open. A body smacked into it again, removing the door completely. A three-legged figure, dark purple in color with numerous black eyes on its face, hissed. It ignored me and lunged at the ‘buftigbe’ alien.

Accessing the area, I noticed there were about a dozen of these creatures scurrying around on spindly legs. They looked like a crab with way too many eyes and an eel head.

“Space is fuckin’ weird,” I blinked. “I’m over it.”

The aliens who captured me were losing the battle to the crab-eel people. Testing the area, I stuck out my hand and found the barrier gone. Without hesitating, I took off the opposite way I was brought earlier to have my blood drawn. Even my arm from where it was drawn, showed nothing of my ordeal. My eyes instinctively scanned for a weapon, not finding much of anything.

How do they even die, I wondered.

Shaking my head, I kept running. The answer to my question could be resolved once I got the fuck off the ship. Buftigbe’s and the crab-eel creatures lay scattered and dead all over the expanded metal floor. I leaped over them, ignoring the pain in my feet the flooring was causing. Cold air came vented from somewhere, making my bare skin prickle. I hated being practically naked in my bike shorts and sports bra.

The hallway stretched on. It felt a little like the tunnels in Area51 where everything was dark, gray metal, with more gray metal and dim lights casting everything in shadows. This was the same. The difference was the creatures dead on the floor remained either the crab-eel’s or the buftigbe’s.

Where in the fuck do I head now, I panicked. This was my chance to beat feet and go, yet I couldn’t. There were no whooshing doors opening on the sides or those cool ones that open from underneath like a trap door.

In front of me, a window permitted me a slightly curved view of space. Dozens of small, hatchback car-like ships hovered outside. Slowing my frantic running, I stopped, awestruck at the hundreds of cars.

“Damnit to hell, is this a fucking traffic jam in space?” I bellowed.

I strode toward the window, pressing my face against the glass and peering both ways, wondering if there were more stupid looking car-ships outside.

All the kickass TV shows I remembered checking out and hardly watching, had cool things in space - cowboys, sexy men, cool aliens. Even kids TV shows had adorable aliens. This space, the real space, was like a horribly written book turned movie everyone loved, but the real fans loathed.

Like Star Trek, I thought. Wait… No… Maybe I like that one, I shrugged. I couldn't remember what I liked anymore, other than securing my freedom, I liked that idea a whole fucking lot.

Glancing around frantically, not really paying attention to much other than the next direction to bolt, my eyes caught sight of the vehement green orbs of Zeren. Spinning on my heel, I dashed back the way I came. My eyes scanned for any form of weapon and found none.

I quickly leaped over the dead bodies of aliens. At this point, my feet stopped hurting, and I couldn't tell if they were covered in alien blood or if it was my own blood. It was just super painful.

I peeked over my shoulder to see Zeren quickly gaining ground on me. Squeaking, I pumped my arms and forced my legs to run faster. My brain only gave me one option, and that was to get the fuck away. I zoomed past my holding cell, swerving around one of the other aliens in its human form.

Zeren’s voice thundered over the din. I was pretty certain he was yelling at them to capture me. Though I wasn’t certain of what they said exactly, my assumption was confirmed upon seeing six more aliens coming after me as well.

Another siren rent the air with a shrill, piercing whistle. A voice on a loudspeaker, still somewhat muffled, bellowed something in its native language and then my name with the second E drawn out. Whatever happened with the other alien-like creatures, had ended faster for me than what I wanted.

Move your teeny legs, I chastised, hoping the insult would add speed. It didn't. My body was thrown to the metal floor and I slid across. The metal snagged my skin, putting diamond shaped splits on my body. I cried out. Blood oozed from the open wounds. It fucking hurt and I was captured before I even got to escape.

Zeren forced me on my back, holding me down by my throat. His green eyes glared into mine.

“Next time, I will break your legs to ensure you won't ever leave,” he growled.

Xylir approached, hands on his hips and lip curled. His magenta eyes narrowed with a venomous hatred I had yet to see in another person. According to my superiors, I would see that kind of disgusted, blind, and furious hostility from those in the Middle East or somewhere similar. I hadn't had the experience of heading Overseas with the army yet. I was out at the southern border to try and contain it, but the same hatred was there.

“Kill her now,” Xylir shrugged. “She’s a waste of air.”

Crelx came up to stand beside Xylir, “Once her blood is tested,” he replied, shaking his head. “We can't kill her until we know if she’s useless.”

Zeren growled, picking me up by my throat and throwing me down the open hall. My back struck the solid metal floor and I tumbled bare feet over my head.

“Then cripple her!” Zeren shouted. “We cannot lose her.”

I groaned, laying on my back. I wasn't sure if I could sit up. My head ached. My body hurt when I moved. I lifted my right arm, seeing gashes and blood ooze. I felt light headed, from the blood drawn earlier, lack of food, and now this.

“Sure, be mad at me for trying to escape when I wasn't mad at you for the same shit earlier,” I quipped.

Xylir stomped to me, enclosed a giant, scarred hand over my shoulder and yanked me to my feet.

“Cut her tongue out,” he growled.

“You won't,” I quipped, rolling my eyes.

Xylir growled, pulling his lips back and revealing his shark like pointed teeth. “Try to escape again, and I will kill you.”

Grabbing me by my hair, he pulled me up the hallway. I recognized where this place was heading to, and my stomach sunk, becoming icy. He forced me forward, by my head, toward the left of the chamber to a clear cylinder tube.

“In,” he seethed.

“What is it?”

Xylir picked me up and tossed me inside. I landed funny on my right wrist and winced at the shooting pain up my arm. I wobbled to my feet and the cylinder tube closed. Droplets of turquoise blue liquid drizzled from the sky. At first, I felt nothing. Then my open wounds sizzled. The intense pain forced me to my knees. I tried to scream but the noise was stuck in my throat. My body shook from the intensity. Tears tracked down my eyes and burned when they combined with the liquid.

I sniffed, looking at my arms. The wounds healed, closing the ripped skin and turning pink; leaving jagged and fresh scars. The liquid stopped pouring from the ceiling around the same time I was yanked from the tube.

“Her blood is ready,” Crelx announced.

Adele

Whatever the fuck was happening, I didn’t know how to feel about it. I sat on a sterile, white bench with my hands on the table. I was given food to eat, finally. I was starving, and did not have a name for what I was putting in my mouth, though, it resembled miso soup. Whatever it was, I was grateful for it.

Outside my clear, little, tube thing, the three aliens I set free, sat down at a table and were talking, though I could not hear them. I watched them as I ate. Xylir was pissed, his constant scowl never leaving his face. Whenever I made eye contact with him, he frowned at me and curled his lip. Crelx would glance at me sorrowfully. And Zeren’s stare was indifferent. Whoever they were, whatever they really were, it was clear Zeren was in charge.

I shrugged, ignoring them as I shivered at the cold blast coming in the tube. To my left, afforded me a view of the dark space. I scowled, it wasn’t as dark as I imagined space would be. It was like a dimly lit closet filled with junk, but the junk was stars and other shit the pilots maneuvered around.

That was a preview of Ubsolvyn District Complete Series - Alien Prince Reverse Harem. To read the rest purchase the book.

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