Lesson 4 Anger Management for Abductees

I dreamed that I was riding a unicorn. I knew it was a dream from the start, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the experience. We were flying high above the clouds, rainbows shimmering all around us. I gripped the unicorn's silver mane, but I knew I was safe on her broad back even without a saddle. She wouldn't let me fall.

From up here, I had the most spectacular view of the world below. The clouds were semi-translucent, giving me a glimpse of the land we were flying over. The colours seemed strange to me, even for a dream. Instead of green grass or blue water, everything was held in golden and orange hues. Even the ocean was a deep ochre.

We flew higher and higher until the clouds were only small flecks of silver fluff. The unicorn whinnied, pure joy reverberating in the ethereal sound. I laughed and hugged her neck. She whinnied again, this time louder, so loud that it rang in my ears and-

I opened my eyes, suddenly wide awake as if I'd really heard that neigh. It only took me a fraction of a second to recall what had happened. I'd stared into the horse's eyes and that was the last thing I remembered. I must have fainted.

I was inside now, but before I could see more of my surroundings, Bruin leaned over me, his dark eyes filled with concern.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine, I think. What happened?" My throat was dry. How long had I been asleep?

"An'tia thought this was the kindest way. I apologise on her behalf."

His words made no sense. An'tia was the unicorn, right? Was he making fun of me? I rubbed my forehead. A slight headache was starting to pound behind my temples.

"Do you have any water?" I asked, ignoring his strange answer for now.

"Of course."

He turned to the wall to my left. "Andromeda, one hydrogen-oxygen fluid, please."

A hole appeared in the previously flawless white wall and a floating tumbler appeared in the gap. I stared at it, not believing my eyes. I had to be dreaming still. A dream within a dream.

Bruin took the container and the wall became solid once more. If he wasn't holding a glass of water in his hand, I would have thought I'd imagined it all. Or maybe I was.

I pinched my arm. Ouch.

"What are you doing?" Bruin asked, aghast, staring at me with worry. "Why are you hurting yourself?"

"To see if I'm dreaming."

"You are not." He handed me the tumbler. It was made from heavy but paper-thin plastic. I sniffed the liquid. It didn't smell like anything, but I wasn't sure if that was reassuring or not.

I pushed myself up into a sitting position. Bruin looked like he wanted to help, but I was glad he didn't attempt to. The room swam before my eyes and I quickly focused on the tumbler in my hand. I took a small sip, relieved when it tasted like water should, like nothing.

"It is the same H2O you have on Peritus," Bruin said. "I made sure the formula has been programmed into the system."

Again, his words made no sense.

"Peritus?"

"Earth. Your planet."

"Your planet?" I parroted. "Mine, not yours?"

"Please look at the viewscreen. It will make things clearer."

He pointed at the window on the other side of the room. My vision was clearing, revealing a hexagonal room, empty except for a small round table in the centre, the bed I was lying on and a bench to my right. No, I wasn't on a bed, I was on a second bench. Two identical doors on opposite walls and between them the window I'd refused to look at because what lay beyond couldn't be real…

"Very funny," I said without taking my eyes off the spacescape. It wasn't a window; in fact, Bruin had even called it a viewscreen. That made a lot more sense than thinking that we were in space. I must have bumped my head when fainting. I shouldn't have even considered that option.

"I am not called that very often. Attractive, charming, talented, yes. Funny, not so much. But I am pleased you find me amusing."

I tore my gaze away from the screen to look at Bruin. He was smiling, which softened the sharp features of his angular face. He was right. He was most definitely attractive. Not that it mattered right now.

"Where am I?" I demanded.

"On the Xylope, my ship. Well, the IGU's ship, but it's mine for this mission. You are an alien and I have abducted you."

His smile didn't waver. He seemed pleased with himself, until his eyebrows shot up and he fumbled with the strange wristwatch he wore. "Klat, that was the wrong way round. From your perspective, I'm the alien. Apologies. This is my first abduction."

"Abduction?" I echoed, my voice shrill. "You've abducted me?"

"It is permitted for scientific purposes as well as for star-bound mates. I have not done anything illegal."

I gaped at him. "You can't be serious. This is a joke, a prank. Did Sharon put you up to this? Or Tim?"

"I know neither a Sharon nor a Tim," he said calmly. "Technically, my sire instructed me to come to your planet, but it was I who chose to abduct you rather than one of the other natives. You are my – no, let's leave that for later. The manual said not to overwhelm you. Are you feeling overwhelmed?"

I opened my mouth, then closed it again. I had no words. Was I overwhelmed? Most definitely. Incredulous, angry, frustrated. I felt like I was at the butt end of a joke, yet nobody bothered to tell me the punch line.

"I forgot to inform you that I don't plan to eat you. Does that make it better?" Bruin looked mighty pleased with himself. I was starting to think he was crazy. I should have known. He'd been too perfect. Good-looking guys always turned out to be either in a relationship, crazy, arrogant dicks or idiots.

I glared at him, gathering all my anger and turning it into confidence. "Let me go or I will call the police."

"Police? Is that another one of your strange Peritan acronyms?"

He had to be pretending, yet I didn't spot a lie and I was good at reading people.

"Law enforcement. Clearer now?"

"Ah, yes, I understand. There's no need for that. You're safe with me."

He smiled again, as if that would make everything better.

"You must be fucking kidding me," I hissed. The time for politeness was over. This guy had kidnapped me. Probably. "You say you've abducted me, but I'm safe? Do you see that that's a big fat oxymoron?"

"I can see why it might seem that way, but trust me-"

"Trust you?! Do the people you abduct usually trust you? No, don't answer that. I'm leaving."

I stumbled to my feet, fighting a bout of dizziness. He didn't stop me. In fact, he stepped aside to open the way to the door. I somehow made it to the other end of the room, swaying as if drunk. The door slid open without a sound. A windowless corridor led to another door, but this one didn't open.

"Andromeda, give bridge access to Tara," I heard Bruin say from behind me.

As soon as he'd spoken, the door slid upwards into the ceiling, revealing a circular room with a glass dome roof. No, not glass, screens again, showing Earth and the darkness of space all around. In the centre sat a large chair that wouldn't have looked out of place on the set of Star Trek. Several smaller workstations were arranged in a circle around the central chair, but none were occupied.

"Do you believe me now?" Bruin asked softly, following me into the room.

"I had to admit, it's a very elaborate and expensive hoax, but no way are we really in space."

He looked a little disappointed, but then grinned. "I know how to prove it. Andromeda, disengage artificial gravity on the bridge."

The strangest ever feeling took hold of my body, like floating in water without getting wet. And I was floating, actually floating! My feet hovered above the ground and even my arms were no longer pulled towards the floor. I'd never realised just how much I relied on gravity to stay upright. With it gone, I was a ship with neither anchor nor rudder.

"And now?" Bruin asked, grinning triumphantly. He looked a lot more at home in zero gravity, elegantly manoeuvring himself until he hovered above the centre chair.

I looked up at the dome – except that up was no longer up, it could have been any direction. The lack of gravity was making me more scared than Bruin's revelation of having abducted me had.

"Could you turn it back on?" I asked, hating to sound weak.

"Of course. Be ready, you'll feel very heavy in a click. Andromeda, engage artificial gravity."

He hadn't been lying. I was sucked towards the floor and almost fell to my knees. Bruin, on the other hand, landed elegantly in his chair. Bastard.

"It's time to say goodbye to Peritus," he said and waved cheerfully at the planet above us. My planet. Earth.

"Goodbye?" I croaked. "We're really in space?"

"We are."

"And… you're an alien?" I felt silly even voicing that question. This wasn't a film or a book, this was reality. Stuff like this didn't happen. Normal people didn't meet aliens.

"I am," he confirmed. "In a way, we're both aliens to one another. But since we're still in orbit of your planet, I suppose I'm more of an alien than you are."

"But you don't look like an alien. You look human."

"That's because I'm wearing a C-shield," he said, patting his wristwatch. "It tricks your eyes into seeing me as one of your own kind. Do you want me to turn it off?"

I nodded.

Without taking his eyes off me, he pressed his watch. The air around him shimmered and sparkled, before he turned purple.

Bruin was bright purple. His physical shape barely changed, he got even more muscular around the chest and arms, and his skull lengthened slightly. Way more noticeable was that his hair had disappeared. He was now completely bald, even his eyebrows were gone. He looked at me with a worried frown, as if he was concerned about what I might think now that I could see him for who he really was. I stared into his eyes, the same dark eyes that had captivated me back at the castle. There was no sign of menace or deceit. He was still the same.

"You're an alien," I whispered. "I've been abducted by an alien."