4. Stella

"Wake up, human."

A cold, scaled hand slaps my face. I wake up from my nightmare — to find it's still very much happening.

The green reptile man from earlier is grinning widely at me inches from my face. "Showtime."

I'm standing on a raised platform wearing what I can only describe as bridal lingerie. It's white and floral and silky and gorgeous, but not what I want to be wearing right now.

To make things worse, a metal collar is fit snugly around my neck.

"What the fuck?!" I stammer, and then I try to run.

An intense, all-overwhelming jolt of pain stops me right in my tracks. It's like my entire being is rendered in two. I lose my balance, and the lizard's cold hands stop me from clattering down onto the ground.

"Collar," the reptile smirks. "Keeps you docile."

"What the fuck?!" I repeat again. "What's going on?"

The lizard laughs. "Not too bright, are you, human? Good thing I'm selling you for your looks, not your brains."

Selling? What?!

Now I hear the sounds. Laughter. Rowdy, male laughter. It sounds strange, like it's in a tongue I don't quite understand, yet somehow, I do. They are… chanting.

And they care close. Very, very close.

"Implant," the reptile says as he taps me right under my ear. "Starting to piece things together, are we?"

I swallow the lump in my throat. This can't be happening to me. This is the kinda stuff out of a horror novel. I can barely get the following words out of my mouth.

"I've been abducted by aliens?"

"Bingo," the reptile says as he runs his scaled hands down my body to double-check if the lingerie is all in the right place.

I slap his hands away. "Don't touch me!"

He laughs. "Feisty human. That's good. Drives the price up. Keep this energy, girl."

I raise my arm to slap the reptile right in his face when the platform I'm on suddenly starts moving. We lurch to the side, towards the sound of rowdy, male, alien laughter.

"Showtime," my captor says again. "Bye-bye."