Pelliccia (Book1) (2011 Sci-fi Watty Awards Winner)

Chapter 12

Sara opened her eyes. She was lying on a bed of straw strewn across a concrete floor. Not the most comfortable bed. She looked up around her; she was locked in a large kennel. There were several other kennels in the room. She saw Tony, Britney, and Ameera, each of them locked in a separate kennel. The only windows in the room were small, covered with plywood and situated closer to the ceiling, which made her believe she was in a basement of some kind.

She got up and tested the door, and sure enough it was locked. The kennels themselves were just chain link fences that went from the floor to the ceiling. Sara figured if given enough time she could break through, she didn’t think she would be given that much time though. She wanted to call out to the others in order to wake them, but she didn’t know who had locked her in there and how far away they were. The only thing handy to toss at the others was straw, and somehow she didn’t think that would awaken even the lightest of sleepers.

It wasn’t long before she heard voices from the lone door at one side of the room. They got louder and louder until she could hear them right on the other side. Sara quickly laid back down in the straw, trying to get in the same position she had been in before. The door opened, and two men walked in.

“I still can’t believe this!” One of them stated. “Just look at them, they’re real, eh.”

“I see, I see. I was there too ya know.” The other replied.

It was hard for Sara to distinguish between them, but they sounded like they were in their late 20’s or mid 30’s. They both had heavy Canadian accents.

“Hurry, take some pictures eh.”

“They aren’t goin nowhere hoser. I’m trying to get the camera to work, eh.”

These guys are idiots, Sara thought. She had to act fast though so they wouldn’t get any pictures. What to do though, time was running out. That’s it!

Sara kicked the fence as hard as she could while the Canadians were messing with the camera.

“Oy! What was that?” One asked.

“I think it came from this one over here.” He said walking in Sara’s direction. He looked down into the kennel at her, and then turned around to his friend. “She’s still sleeping.”

Sara quickly crept her hand up to the fence reached through and grabbed his ankle. He jumped up trying to break her grip but without success. “It gots me! Help!”

The other man went to help him but stopped dead in his tracks when Sara spoke. “Give me the keys, and let me out!” She demanded.

“She can talk! The alien can talk!” they both screamed, the one wiggling even harder to escape.

“Alien?” she laughed, then quickly decided to use it to her benefit. “Just give me the keys before I have my mother ship destroy your puny planet.” Then she let out a evil hiss.

“Waahh!! Evil aliens!” They screamed, but now both were working at pulling her grip free. Sara held on as long as she could but let go when they began kicking at her hand. They tumbled to the ground and scrambled to get up jetting for the door and reaching it just in time for the closest one to get walloped in the face as it was opened from the other side.

The third man that came in was wearing a hastily donned bicycle helmet and he was carrying a baseball bat. He was a large man with a very distinct smell that for some reason was worse for Sara this time than the last time she had the unfortunate chance to smell it.

“Adam!” she gasped.

They all stopped squirming and looked at Sara. “How do you know my name?” He asked.