Lovely [The Unedited Version]

Chapter 1

4 Years Later

Lovely sat on the table with her bare feet hanging over the edge. Today was a special day, or so the experimentalists said. They were going to make an announcement and Lovely would be revealed to the world.

Lovely wasn't particularly thrilled with that detail: she had no wish for the human world to know her, to be afraid of her. Everyone was afraid of her; even the kind female experimentalist. They were afraid of what she might do. They weren't even sure what she could do.

She heard the sound of voices approaching. Lovely judged that she would have about four minutes before she would have to lie back down on the table and pretend to be under the drug.

As the voices of the experimentalists neared the titanium door of Lovely's room she swung her legs back onto the table. Lovely tightly folded her pale wings under her so as not to crush them and closed her eyes.

The door swung inwards with a high pitched squealing as it scrapped the tiled floor. Lovely struggled to keep her eyes shut as the human approached her. He ran his hand along her white arm and cheek; where his hand passed small bumps humans called goose pimples arose. Lovely shivered.

"My dear," said the experimentalist, "Do not pretend to sleep. I know you aren't affected."

Lovely opened her eyes to find his face inches from her own. She pushed him back and sat up, unfolding her wings. She starred into his light brown eyes and he stared back, his gaze never failing.

"Hello," said Lovely, "I heard there was a surprise for me?"

He smiled slightly, but it did not reach his eyes. "I trust you know what the surprise is?"

"Of course."

"What then?"

"You plan to reveal your little alien- that is to say me- to the world and tell them to watch out for the invasion." She said, the last words dripping with sarcasm.

Lovely had long ago mastered the human tongue of English and had picked up on the related colloquialisms and sarcasm over the past two years. If the experimentalists were surprised of her quick learning, they had not shown it. They had, however, scanned her brain many times to search for a significant difference from that of a human's.

"Not exactly, although you were quite close. We do not plan to reveal you to the world, so much as release you. Of course you will be monitored and recaptured after we have received enough data."

Lovely's eyes widened with shock and she shook her head several times as if to rid her of the thought. The experimentalist smiled again.

Then it dawned on Lovely, "What do you mean recapture?"

"I trust you know the definition of recapture?" When Lovely didn't respond he said, "You will be sent out into the world for a period of time and we will monitor your actions and how they affect the common people. We have placed you with the family of one of the experimentalists; they will take care of you until it is time for your recapture."

"What if I don't want to be recaptured?"

"Then," he said, "This happens." He pulled out a small black remote and punched in a series of numbers.

Something vibrated near Lovely's collarbone. It lasted for a mere ten seconds then stopped.

"You'll have to do better than-"

Lovely gasped as her body was filled with an excruciating pain. She fell onto the floor and curled herself into a tight ball to wait for the pain to cease. The experimentalist entered another code and Lovely felt instant relief.

"Did I do better?" he asked. Then he walked out of her room, slamming the door shut behind him.

Once Lovely could no longer hear his retreating footsteps, she sat up against the table. She held her hands up to her face. They were shaking. Lovely grasped one of the table's metal bars and struggled to her feet, they had forgotten to put her back in the glass box.

Cautiously, Lovely tested the door handle, but it was locked. Sighing she slumped against the wall. She didn't consider herself so different from humans, but Lovely was told that she was an abomination. A creature that should stay away from the innocent humans.

Innocent. Earth would explode the day that the humans were innocent. They had done countless unspeakable things; the errors of humans were the reason she was here.

Lovely was wrenched out of her reveries when the door slid open, revealing an experimentalist and an armed guard. The experimentalist threw a pile of clothes to Lovely.

"Put those on." she snapped.

"Ask me nicely."

"Damn it, just put them on. We're late."

Lovely did as she was told and slipped on the dress. Lovely seldom wore clothes, she'd never had any reason to and as far as the experimentalists were concerned she was an animal. The dress fit her small figure perfectly and the back was low enough that she would be able to fly if necessary.

"Let's go."

The experimentalist led her down the hallway with the guard following a short distance behind. Lovely tried to ignore that he was pointing a gun at her, while simultaneously; she tried to hold back the instinct of disarming him. They walked through several hallways that all looked the same, but Lovely noticed the tiny differences: the seemingly 'invisible' doors lining a certain hallway and the spotted tiles in another.

They finally stopped in front of a wooden door. Lovely placed her hands against it and felt the vibrations of a hundred voices and footsteps coming from the other side. Lovely rested her head against the door and tried to steady her racing heart.

The experimentalist cleared her throat and Lovely looked back at her. "Now all you have to do is stand on the stage and let everyone else talk. Don't try anything, do you hear me?"

Lovely nodded and said, "I hear you." Lovely spread her angelic wings then added, "That doesn't mean I'll listen."