3. Rin

3

Rin

The moment I regain consciousness, I know right away that something isn't right. What trouble have I gotten myself into this time? My brother will never let me back into his house again, not this time. I know it.

An odd, grating sound comes from above me, and I crack one eye open and see a blob… floating? No, there is glass between us. It's staring at me with beady obsidian eyes that radiate nothing but hunger.

Our eyes meet and its face contorts, making my breath hitch. I open my mouth to scream, but a sharp pain attacks my throat, and my hands instinctively press against it. It honks out a wet sound.

My brain is unsure of which horror to process first. Panic fully sets in. It isn't human or any animal I've ever heard of. I need to get away immediately.

"This one will give us a lot of credits," the blob above me says, making the short, honking sound again before sliding off the glass between us and walking away. My stomach heaves as I watch it through the pink-streaked glass, three short legs moving it as flesh jiggles.

I can understand it. Why?

There are more of them surrounding this odd cage I'm in, and I catch a better view of them, retching as I take in more details, my brain burning. The things are shorter than a human, though bigger, and they have no real shape—gray with something pink seeping out of them, leaving a trail as they slobber away from me.

I shut my eyes tight, willing it to be a dream, but when I open them again, the scene is the same, blurring slightly as a headache thumps right behind my eyes.

Where am I? There are odd trees above me, in colors and shapes I have never seen before, but the squelching sounds of the aliens brings my gaze back to them.

Is this a different… planet? My head spins at the thought, instantly rejecting it as ridiculous. Did he just say he planned to sell me? These are obviously bad people… things?

A sense of immediacy drives me. I need to get away, and my hands push against the glass, but nothing happens. It's some kind of glass and silver cage, seemingly made to fit my exact body proportions, and I realize that escaping is impossible.

Whatever these aliens have planned for me, I can't escape by fighting.

I lie there in a silent panic, ignoring my headache, wondering how I ended up here. If I could just retrace my steps, I might figure out how this happened—how I wandered so far from my brother's house and ended up in this strange place with these awful creatures.

My mind is blank, and all my former memories are fragmented, though something tells me Bibi is the cause of all this.

A wet squeal brings me back to reality. I look up to see one of the shapeless creatures in a pile on the ground, while another runs toward my chamber, its three limbs making an awkward gait and its body jiggling sickeningly.

A tall, silvery creature follows behind, walking with long, graceful strides as it catches up to the scurrying slime and stabs a long spear through it. Pink and gray splatter against the glass cover of the chamber, and I flinch, but remain as still as possible, hoping I'll be mistaken dead and left alone.

Unfortunately, I have no such luck. My savior approaches the chamber, looming over me with a strange expression. Its yellow eyes dart over me for a long moment before it turns and walks away.

He's beautiful, too angular to be human, with a shimmer to his silvery skin, and long, flowing green hair framing his features. Alluring, yet still very alien.

A chill runs through me, and I instinctively cradle myself, rubbing my palms vigorously over my goosebump-covered forearm. It's then I realize that my arms are bare. I look down at myself, and a startled yelp escapes my lips when I discover that I'm stark naked, save for a thin band around my waist that I almost didn't notice.

"Why am I naked? W-where are my clothes?"

I try to cover my breasts with one hand, accomplishing almost nothing given their size, and move the other to the juncture of my thighs. They do a terrible job of covering me up until something begins to creep up my stomach. I look down and watch the band expand into a black jumpsuit, stretching up my neck and covering my fingers and my feet.

Looking down, I see my nipples beaded and clearly outlined by the shiny latex material, and I cross my arms over myself again, thinking how this is barely better than being naked. Then I remind myself that modesty is the least of my worries right now. I'm still rattled, feeling like my brain isn't working correctly.

I hear steps approach—odd crunching sounds that don't align with anything human. My rescuer's face comes into view again, green hair falling forward as he bends over to press something on my cage.

He's opening it, I realize. As much as I want out, the idea of being unshielded from him makes my heart skip a beat. The glass slides away, and I finally get a clear look around me now that there's no pink blocking my vision.

His eyes pierce into mine, their yellow color too overwhelming to look at. I look away and wait for the cage to open, glancing around me.

It's a scene of carnage—gray blood and pools of dead aliens everywhere.

"We need to leave," the alien male urges.

Another pain shoots through my throat, and once again I can't seem to get any words out.

He grabs my arm, pulling me out of my dazed panic. "Don't touch me," I hiss.

His grip tightens instead of releasing, and he pulls me out of the cage, carrying me past the gore before placing me on the ground and dragging me along. I bite my tongue, suppressing the caustic words threatening to spill out until he finally lets go of me.

Then I remind myself that he just saved me, not to mention ensured I didn't touch any of the terrible ooze or alien blood.

A glimpse of green and purple sky through the dense tree canopy only disorients me further. Alien sky, plants… people.

None of it makes sense. None of it does. Fear is clouding my mind, and I work through all my usual mental exercises to push it back down so I can function. They work, just barely.

I glance back at one of the pink and gray blobs. It has completely melted into a puddle, dead and powerless, making me want to spit at it. Taking me to auction? A slaver deserves such an end.

I look up at the other strange alien who towers above me. I'm relieved when he lets go of me and returns to the silver container I was just in. It no longer looks like a cage, but more like something from a sci-fi movie.

My eyes go back to the gray puddle, my mind still spinning.

"Are you injured?" my savior asks from behind me. I whip around quickly and almost lose my footing. He grabs my arm to hold me upright, his eyes not leaving mine.

It discomforts me greatly. So, I look down to compose myself, only to find my nipples hardened and pressing through the jumpsuit, the ample flesh jiggling. My eyes widen, but I gather myself, standing up straight and pulling my arm away from his grasp.

I'm warm, especially between my legs, and a flush of embarrassment and shame rushes over me.

I straighten my shoulders and look at his face, my gaze getting caught by his long, elven-like ears. They're shaped like two long knives, sticking up and behind him.

Is he an elf? It seems like nothing is impossible here. I understood both him and the slime creature when they spoke to me, despite knowing they weren't speaking Farsi or even the same language as each other.

I realize I'm being rude and clear my throat. "Thank you for rescuing me. I don't know how I got here," I say, still dazed as the words leave my lips.

The burn in my throat has passed. My guess is that it has something to do with speaking and everything to do with those slimes.

"The genali are a nasty bunch. I am Tehlmar," he says, clacking his jaws at them.

I catch sight of a row of sharp green teeth and take a step back, swallowing hard.

It takes me a moment to process what he just said. "They are," I retort, glancing back at the puddle to confirm it. "You can call me Nasrin."

"I will check for supplies. Wait here."

I ignore his demanding tone and use the opportunity to get a better look at him. He is significantly taller than me by at least several feet, and his skin shines in the waning light of the forest, which I'm currently mostly ignoring so I don't panic.

He is thin, with his long green hair that almost reaches his waist. His legs move quickly, his foot spikes sink into the leaves and detritus in a way that my brain is struggling to process.

When he speaks to me again, I notice how soft-spoken he is. His language is melodic and soothing, almost like a lullaby being whispered.

"There isn't much this way," he says, pointing in the direction behind him as he walks past, his arm brushing against mine.

My nipples harden again, and the crotch of my jumpsuit grows moist.

I don't know what the genali have done to me, but this must be part of it—my body has never responded to a man this way before. Maybe it's the kind of men I've been exposed to, but I haven't found one attractive in a very long time. Even then, it was more out of curiosity than anything else.

He walks past me, and I catch a whiff of his scent, like some exotic spice. He may not be human, but I have to admit that he is good-looking.

I grumble to myself when another wave of wetness rushes out of me, pressing my legs tightly together. "Control yourself, Nasrin."

"Let's go," he calls to me and I nod, watching as his face twists into what I recognize as confusion.

He's an alien, and I might be the first human he's ever encountered.

A long, tired sigh escapes my lungs as my mind races, unsure of where to begin in figuring this all out. I'm on a different planet with a purple and green sky, I can understand two alien languages so far, and I'm dressed in a too-tight jumpsuit that either works with my thoughts or is some kind of magic.

Where does one even begin when everything is alien?

"You look dazed, but you are far calmer than I would expect," he comments, his voice sounding fake, though I'm not sure how I can know that in an alien language. I don't trust him.

I hear Bibi's voice in my head, scolding me for not trusting any men, reminding me how it only worsens my already terrible prospects. A memory surfaces with it… something about her. I shake my head, as if doing so will help rearrange all the confusion into something that makes sense.

"Fear is constant where I am from," I tell him through gritted teeth. "If you don't master it, you don't survive."

He huffs out a breath, but doesn't respond and it makes my hands twitch. Nothing feels right, but the basic foundation of my instincts seems useless now. Not trusting anyone is a default, but I'm certain I can't get out of this alone.

This is not the time to doubt the one person who literally saved my life from Allah knows what horrors they had planned for me. I'd better keep my head down and learn all I can. A towering, deadly-looking elf alien might just be the companion I need… wherever this is.