15. CHAPTER 15

Whatever this green fantasy dwarf-looking bastard was, he gripped my arm so tightly that he cut off the circulation! The pressure in my head was almost unbearable, and when he released me, the blood flowed and rushed to the places that had been closed off before. I wanted to enjoy the relief, but there were more significant problems to worry about. That fight happened so fast! One moment, I was admiring the beautiful jewel Lorvian placed around my neck, and the next moment, I was hiding under a table until a rough, cracked hand gripped my ankle and dragged me across the wooden floor.

I wanted to call for Lorvian, but he had so many of those aliens on him that I didn't want to distract him or burden him. Such a dumb move! I struggled and beat against the thick, rock-like skin.

They stuffed me in the back of a hovering vehicle and only let me out once we were inside the safety of an enclosure before cutting the blood flow to my arm as they led me down a massive red hall and tossed me inside this room.

"You fuckers!" I scrambled to my feet, ready to give them a piece of my mind. "You're gonna regret this! When Lorvian finds me, he'll kill you!" He gestured something toward me, perhaps their version of ‘go fuck yourself,' and slammed the door shut. "I hope."

I looked around the room, and it looked like some fancy bohemian area, something you'd see in a movie about a sultan and his harem of concubines. They adorned the place in red, and whoever decorated it sure loved the color. Sheer red and gold fabrics hung from the high ceilings, forming multiple canopies around the circular floor beds. A table with trays of food lined the walls, and I remember one drink as the one I had shared with Lorvian back on his ship.

A woman approached, dressed in a red gown, split up the sides that left nothing to the imagination. Someone tied her blonde hair back in a unique style with red pins and decorative beads fashioned like a geisha.

Every step her bare feet made on the plush red carpet was timid. But when she pulled back one of the sheer drapes and saw me, her dull eyes lit up enthusiastically.

"Oh my God! Another human!" She approached like she wanted to hug me but thought the better of it. "It's another human!" She swallowed. "My name is Sarah!"

Someone else came over from the back room, a guy, handsome, with a damn near perfect jawline and rich black hair that seemed to have gotten longer since the last time I saw this scumbag!

"Looks—"

"You!" I sneered and pointed an accusatory finger in his direction. Cormac, I didn't think I would ever see him again since he ditched me.

"Long time no see." He replied and stood with his arms folded across his bare chest. He wore nothing but short red speedos, and I forced my eyes not to look at the impression his cock made on the fabric.

"You know him?" The woman asked, confused.

"It ain't like we're friends." He replied, rolling his eyes.

"We're not! You left me to die!"

"You did?" She rounded on him. Good. Hopefully, she will be a decent ally who won't leave me to rot.

"I didn't leave him to die. I helped."

"Yeah, right!"

Sarah shook her head as if to say no more of this nonsense. "Please, let's not fight. We only have each other now in this rotten shithole!" Tears welled up in her eyes. "I want to go home so bad!"

Cormac flung his hand glibly. "Oh god, here we go again."

"You don't have to be an ass, though I'm sure that's difficult for you to do."

"We have to get out of here! I can't stand spending one more night here... pleasing those animals! It's sick!" She shuddered with disgust. "Every cock sucking night, we're sold to the highest bidder. But now we have hope."

"Hope? How?"

"You can speak their language! They even reacted to what you were saying!"

"It's nothing special. The aliens I was with put a chip in my head and something down my throat."

"So, you can talk to them, tell them to let us go! We won't tell anyone what happened."

Cormac laughed contemptuously. "Yeah, 'cause the ‘I won't tell anyone' plea always works. We need an opportunity. Now, the shuttles aren't that difficult to figure out; I was flying just fine until I had to choose between sitting in space till I rot or taking my chances in a city."

"So, the plan is to get to a ship. How?"

"You can speak the language, not us. Maybe we can use that, but not to beg for release."

"Is there any way to fight them?" I asked, trying to think of something. "Maybe I can call one in, and we can take him out and get out of here."

"Don't bother, those things are small but tough fucks. Like those Lord of the Rings Dwarves or something only green."

"There has to be something we can do!" I paced. Just looking at that half-naked woman filled me with dread. I didn't want to be here, and the longer I was here, the greater the possibility of doing the same crap they were making her do became.

A small bell rang, and I noticed Cormac and the woman froze with fear. The door opened, and one of the green men entered, and without a word, he went right over to the woman.

"No, Please!" She cried. "Not me! No!"

Without thinking, I ran over to push him down and fight! But once again, my useless fists did nothing, and I stumbled to the floor without him having to do much. The door slammed shut again, and I heard her screams until I heard them no more.

"Lorvian will save me," I said, almost giving up on my ability to find a way out.

"Who's that? The alien who put a chip in your head?" Cormac asked. When he didn't get a response from me, he sighed. "There's nothing you can do for her. But if you talk to me, we may have a way out by the time she returns."

"No," I replied to his question. "But he's responsible, he's... my lover."

"I knew you'd find a way to make it!" He laughed. "I knew that when you convinced that guy to fork over the creds to get your ID. Good-looking people always have it easier."

"This isn't a game!" I yelled as I picked myself off the ground. "These aliens want to mate with us; if we can have their babies, then they will use that as motivation to take over Earth. Their race is dying, so they have nothing to lose."

"Which aliens?" he asked concerned. "Because if any of them are fucking me because they want a baby, then they're going to be in for a surprise."

"I can't remember the name. They look like elves...I think they call themselves Valisians."

"Like Lord of the Rings elves?"

"Kind of, but they have a darker quality about them, more brutish, but I haven't seen an ugly one among them."

"Lucky you." He mumbled. "So, this Lorvian has been banging you to get you pregnant. Maybe we can use that." His eyes lit up. "I can tell them I'm a human doctor; you can translate. I tell them you're pregnant, we spread the news around—"

"How? Who the hell will tell anyone?"

"or would you rather be rented out? With a pretty face like yours, you'll be seeing a lot of customers; tell those bastards anything."

"I think your desperation is showing. I don't see how this plan will work." I shrugged.

He then looked at the jewel I had around my neck. I thought its eerie dark beauty fascinated him like I was by it, but no, he had a plan.

"Let me see that."

"What? No."

"We can use it to start a fire; maybe they will come in to help us, and we can escape."

"Oh god, we'll be stuck here forever," I said, not believing this plan had legs.

"It's worth a shot."

"Were you this desperate to escape before I got here 'cause you seemed kind of chill over there, and now you're frantic."

"The cold hard truth is that Sarah is getting fucked six ways till Sunday by god knows how many of those aliens, half of which are the fucking guards. Every single time she's taken, I'm working my ass off to get out of here."

"You want to leave her behind? Just like you left me!"

"I was nice enough to kick over that fucking card, give me a break, it's not my job to save you! We'll leave something for Sarah, but that is it."

I couldn't believe it, but I still took off my jewel so he could use it to help us escape. He was right; it wasn't his job to look after me, but that also meant it wasn't mine to look after him. I had to take care of myself, though leaving someone behind in this nightmare was a difficult thing to do.

Everything scared me; I wanted to leave; I wanted to see him again.

Cormac reached out to take it.

"No. It's mine, I'll use it." I said, not wanting anyone else to touch it, almost as if he would taint it somehow. "What do you want me to do?"

He shrugged and led me to the stone wall in the back. "Slide the jewel against the stone to create some sparks." He instructed while gathering up the sheets.

"We're gonna burn ourselves up?" I said in shock.

"No... hope not... we're valuable, so they wouldn't want us to die, right?"

"I would hope they wouldn't."

"Well then, we set a fire in here; they rush in to get us out or find out what's going on; we escape, profit!"

"And if they don't get here in time?"

"We die of smoke inhalation."

"Great."

"Trust me, the moment they get started, you're gonna wish you had chosen smoke inhalation." He ordered. "Go on, do it!"

I complied and went to work scraping the jewel against the stone repeatedly to no avail, with Cormac issuing demand after demand for me to get it right. I could tell he wanted to do it himself, but I was adamant about him not touching the jewel. Also, I didn't need him throwing what he did for me up in my face again.

Then it happened—the first shot of yellowish light, then another and another.

"It's working!" I exclaimed as the embers ignited the bedding beneath my feet.

"Okay, now direct the sparks here and make sure we get as many lit as possible."

I gave it one good scrape against the stone and gasped in pain when I felt something pierce my skin. I checked the damage; the jewel had taken a beating, and a small crack appeared in the center. I didn't notice it when I switched it over, and the crack cut open the palm of my hand. Fuck, some of the liquid had come out, too, but not enough for the colorful sediment to leak.

"Okay!" I said, wanting to preserve what was left of the jewel's splendor. "I think that's all I got." I inspected the jewel. I didn't even think it was real by that point, but then again, maybe they had different classifications for jewels here than back home; all I knew was that Lorvian wanted me to have it, and I wanted to keep it. "I swear if I die here, I'll be so pissed."

"After one night here, you probably wouldn't mind that outcome."

"Hide," I said, placing my hand over my mouth to block the smoke. The room filled up fast, and the fire caught on to several of the hanging drapes in the room.

Two of the green men had entered. I held in the urge to cough and took a chance and stepped for the door through the bellow of smoke. Cormac was right behind me, and it didn't take long for a crowd to form and then disperse once the fire licked beyond the door.

The crowd was leaving out of one of the massive doors that led outside, and I turned to direct Cormac's attention, but you guessed it, he was gone like the wind. "Of course."

I slipped in with the crowd; everyone was focused on escaping with their lives, and I doubt they noticed me. They pushed and prodded and ran through the crowd whenever an opening appeared. The mighty arches that were the doors of this structure were like walking into the Kingdom of heaven if heaven had a purplish-hued horizon. Once I felt the wind in my face, I breathed deeply to take it all in; I didn't care.

A force of nature yanked me away, and I found myself slammed against a wall. I gathered my barring and gazed up at the towering woman. The shell-like elf ears and pale skin gave her away; she was a Valisian woman, without a doubt. I had no time to speak a word, a threat, anything before it was lights out.