ONE
This can’t be happening.This can’t be happening, Kate Harper thought wildly, casting her eyes from side-to-side as the group she was in—all chained and as naked as she—were led into a massive open-air room that could only be described as an arena.
A roaring crowd made her ears ring and she winced, wanting to squeeze her eyes shut to block everything out, to wake up from this freakingnightmare.Because she was just going to come out with what she knew was undeniably true…
Aliens.
There, she’d said it.
At first, when Kate had woken up in the dimly lit room with shaking walls of metal and to the weeping, hysterical cries of women she’d never even seen before, she thought she’d been kidnapped by sex traffickers straight out of her bed, because turning in for the night after watching an episode of theWalking Deadwas the last thing she remembered.Except her ‘sex traffickers’ weren’t even human.They had scaled green and brown swirled skin, the eyes of lizards, and the mouth of—she shuddered—a…she didn’t even know.They were hideously ugly, even more hideous than the zombies she’d been watching just hours earlier.
So, at first, she thought her mind was playing tricks on her.Then she just never woke up from her dream.It got worse.She’d watched in horror as the aliens took the women out of their cages one-by-one and stripped them naked, chaining their hands in shackles the color of brushed steel and attaching them to together in a single line.She was one of the last women.She could still remember the feel of their cold talons on her flesh as her clothes fell to the floor—her teddy bear pajama shorts she’d had for years and her worn college alumni shirt—and the way their scales looked almost wet and slimy underneath the harsh lighting.Shortly after they’d all been lined up, the whole room shook and vibrated, a loud booming sound and a mechanical whirring reaching her ears.
It was then she realized they were on a ship.
A freakingspaceship.
Kate had never been one to flip out.She had a very matter-of-fact attitude about her, one that had served her well over the years.So, she didn’t weep or cry out or beg as the line of naked women was led from the ship and straight into a long, dark tunnel.She could hear the noise, the chanting voices getting louder and louder.It was hot in the tunnel.Almost unbearably so.Sweat broke out over her body and she tried to curl in on herself to shield her naked breasts.They jiggled with every step, as did her thighs and tummy.She wasn’t stick thin like some of the other women.
She was one of the curvier among them…which led her to realize that there was no discernible pattern among the women the aliens had captured, except that they were all relatively young, in their 20’s.They were all different ethnicities, all different body types.Some were crying, others were blankly staring in front of them, as though on auto pilot.A few, like herself, were looking around, probably searching for a method of escape.
One of their captors led the chain at the front and she realized that he had a long tail like an iguana that hovered just above the ground as he walked.They passed another alien and the one in the front spoke to him, a series of hissing, throaty sounds that she knew no human could ever hope to replicate.Chills broke out over her body despite the heat.
A few moments later, they were led into the arena.
It was a massive structure made out of stone.She’d never been to Rome, but she’d seen the Coliseum in photos…and this place reminded her of it.Except they weren’t in Rome.Not by a long shot.
Automatically, she brought her hand up to shield her eyes from the glaring light, her chains jingling.The top of the Coliseum-like arena was open and her eyes widened when she spotted two suns.The bright stars were steadily sinking into the horizon, casting an intense golden glow over finely ground red rock followed by deep shadows from the stone pillars of the structure that jutted up towards the reddening sky.
A cumulative cry erupted from the women as they were led onto the rock—and a few moments later, Kate realized why.The rock was hot.Tears stung her eyes as her bare feet made contact.She hopped from one foot to another, the soles of her feet starting to blister.The alien leading the chained women made a harsh sound and slapped the girl at the front of the line across the face, whipping her head to the side.
The woman whimpered.Most went silent, but the crowd only grew louder.Kate grit her teeth, trying to ignore the pain as she pulled on the chains, testing them.She was beginning to realize that she was in deep shit.Seriously deep shit.This was becoming more and more real by the second.
What was also becoming more evident was that escape might be impossible.The chains were thick and strong.There was no way she’d be able to break her bonds, not without some sort of tool.And even if she somehow managed to slip away, how far would she get?She was on a strange alien planet.Everything she thought she knew was slowly being turned on its head.
And soon, her feet would be useless too.Every step zapped pain down her spine.Could she even run if she got away?She needed to be smart.
Focus,she commanded herself.
Her eyes finally adjusted to the light and she scanned around the stands of the Coliseum.A knot lodged itself in her throat when she realized that there were different species of aliens.Some looked like their captors, a lizard humanoid alien, but others…not so much.Some were nothing more than jellied blobs of matter, others looked more human.There were seeminglythousandsof them.The combined noise of their languages and sounds created an ear-splitting buzzing that gave her an intense headache.
And then, suddenly, it went quiet.
The hissing, crackling voice of one of her captors filled the arena.The lizard-humanoid alien used something like a microphone that amplified his voice and whatever he was saying was met by cheers.
The women were shuffled into an empty stand, just feet away from the arena floor, and Kate was thankful for the cool relief of the shaded stone beneath her.They were lined up so that they were side-by-side, completely on display and nude.Her nipples tightened into stiff points from fear, from vulnerability, and she swallowed, trying to come up with some semblance of a plan.She’d always had a plan.
The woman next to her was a petite, thin blonde.There was a deep scar that ran up the side of her thigh.What surprised Kate the most was that the woman seemed calm.She stared ahead at the crowd of aliens like it was an every day occurrence, like she’d seen it millions of times before.
The woman saw her looking and inclined her head just a tad, before her gaze flitted to the alien at the end of the line that had secured them into the stands.
It seemed odd to introduce herself, especially in a situation like this, but the woman spoke before Kate could.
“You get used to it after a while,” the blonde murmured quietly.The loud alien voice droned on in the background, being met by cheers every now and again.
Kate’s breath left her.“You’ve done this before?”
“This is my third time now.”
