Project X
All Rights Reserved
© 2015 Luna Black
~*~
As soon as the second can of Pringles was finished, Alexa was tired of watching TV and decided that it would be best to take a shower. She struggled a couple of minutes, trying to turn the TV off, muttering under her breath about any relevant curse word she could think of, and finally found the off button.
She walked around the house, saying her name whenever it was needed and groaned when she couldn't find a bathroom. It was getting really late and she felt sticky; she needed a shower. After a couple of failed attempts, she finally found a bathroom – in what seemed to be his room.
Alexa walked in slowly, widening her eyes in surprise at the plainness of the room. It had black, stoic furniture with a large bed in the centre. White pillows adorned the bed and a black comforter was placed neatly underneath. She let out a low whistle as she slid her hand over the bed, noticing that it was impeccably clean; it didn't even have wrinkles.
There was a medium-sized glassed window on the far right side of the room, overlooking the ocean. It wasn't as amazing as her view, but it was pretty nice. She smiled, realising that he gave her the better room – and then it was gone.
He had kidnapped her to use her as a baby-making machine! They weren't her friends; he was her enemy. She had to make his life hell until he finally budged and sent her back home. She was already missing her fiancé – even though they fought more than they made love.
She let out a sigh as she walked towards the bathroom and noticed a pretty framed picture on his bureau. It was the only thing on it and it added a certain type of elegance and persona-aura to the room. She picked it up gently, widening her eyes at the girl on the picture.
She was beautiful, bright green eyes and a to-die-for smile. Xander had her arms around her and they were both laughing. His eyes were twinkling with happiness and she was amazed that the picture could capture such a loving moment.
Whoever the girl was must've been really important to him. Her hair was jet black, making her skin a bit paler, but she added a nice contrast to Xander's tanned skin. They were almost perfect together and it made Alexa jealous.
Not that they were together, but that that woman was so gorgeous. It was physically inhuman to be so attractive. The picture seemed to be a couple of years old because Xander looked much younger, as if he were in his teens. And even then, he was inhumanly beautiful.
Alexa shook her head, placing the frame back on the drawers and walked towards the bathroom.
She shrugged, stepping into the bathroom and let out a sigh of relief as things seemed pretty normal. She expected some intricate bathroom with 500 settings for water, but it was the standard left-hot and right-cold shower.
Different soaps were placed neatly on a basket hanging over the showerhead and she picked out the best smelling one. It smelled like Aloe Vera with a hint of mint, it was a strange combination, but it smelled wonderful. It was the least man-smelling soap that she could find.
When she finished, she grabbed a white towel hanging from the towel rack and quickly wrapped it around herself. She rummaged through the sink drawers, looking for toothpaste and a toothbrush and let out a triumphal cry as she found some.
She brushed her teeth, wiping her hand over the fogged mirror and noticed that her skin was almost glowing – and it was very soft. Whatever was in the soap had amazing properties and she was going to take it back home whenever Xander decided he had enough of her.
Alexa looked down at her clothes and grimaced. She didn't want to wear her dirty clothes again, but she didn't have any other type clothing. After a couple of minutes of hesitation, she decided to tighten the towel around her and hope for the best.
If Xander was outside and saw her, she'd kick him in the groin and run away. Although, the towel was pretty large, it covered most of her body, hanging right over her knees. She breathed out, picking her dirty clothes up and slowly opened the bathroom door.
"Hello..." she called out loud enough for someone to hear her, and was satisfied when no one replied. She took a deep breath, holding her towel for dear life and ran out of the room. After entering a couple of empty rooms, she finally found hers and breathed out in relief.
No one had seen her half-naked and she felt pretty accomplished.
She dropped her clothes in a corner and walked towards a couple of doors that resembled a closet. She held her towel with one hand and prepared herself to open the door with the other. Whatever was on the other side, could fall and kill her; she didn't know.
Alexa let out a giggle at her childishness and yanked the doors open, jumping away right after. Nothing fell out or killed her, so she opened her eyes and dropped her jaw open in astonishment.
The closet was filled with clothing – all types of clothing, ranging from dresses to jean jumpers and skirts. But what astounded her the most was the order they were in. It seemed like a rainbow, starting from the dark colours and ending in the lighter colours; pinks with reds, oranges with yellow and blues with green.
She laughed at the colour coordination of it all and knelt down to look at the shoes. There were heels, flats, boots, and sandals – and they were all her size. She felt her cheeks turning a dark shade of red and then stood up, to walk towards the drawers.
The first one she opened was filled with miscellaneous hair things, like clips, hair ties, hair bands, diadems, brushes, combs and so on. The next one was filled with underwear and bras and she gasped; they were her exact size.
She let out an uncomfortable squeal as she realised that Xander knew how big her breasts were. Nonetheless, she grabbed a pair of white underwear and forced herself to not think about the lace sets in the back of the drawer.
She continued looking through the drawers until she found a comfortable shirt she could sleep in and hung her towel over the closet door. A loud and unlady-like yawn escaped her lips and she shuffled towards the inviting-looking bed.
As soon as she crawled under the covers, she shuddered as the warmth enveloped her and felt herself drifting off into a blissful sleep.
~*~
Alexa opened her eyes slowly, the room hazily coming into view. It became clearer as she sat up and she bolted upright, the spotless white walls came into view. She looked around, taking in the large window that let in sunlight like no other and, glancing down, she noticed she was in a bed. She ran her hand over the dotted comforter, feeling the softness below her fingertips.
She threw the duvet away from her, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and felt the cold wood against her bare feet. She stood up, shakily looking around. The previous night came rushing back like a shock of electricity and she froze on the spot.
The Aliens. Kelly. Xander. Seth.
Oh, god, Seth.
Her heart lurched at the thought of him. She missed him. She wanted him beside her, hugging her and telling her everything was okay. They fought, sure, every couple did but that didn't mean they loved each other any less. She certainly didn't love him any less.
She bent down to the floor to pick up the clothes she had discarded there last night and slipped on the jeans and top. She walked towards the door and looked at it curiously.
"Alexandra," She said to it, waiting for it to wiz open. A little light on the hand scanner flashed yellow.
"Unknown identity," The robotic voice stated. "Try again."
"Stupid thing," Alexa grumbled. "Alex-an-dra." She enunciated, slightly mocking it for its robotic tone.
"Unknown Identity," It said again, the light flashing orange. "Try again."
"Alexandra!" She shouted at it, severely annoyed.
"Unknown Identity," The little light began to flash red. "Try again."
Alexa studied the stupid door, thoughtfully. "Alexa," She said curiously. The light shone green and the door whizzed open. She quickly jogged out of the room, looking back over her shoulder at the temperamental door. She forgot that Xander had said he'd change the security settings.
She walked through the house and her stomach grumbled loudly, making her walk into the kitchen for something to eat. She gave her name to the door and walked in, looking at Xander as he was bent over the dining table, examining it intently.
Xander had heard her come in, but didn't look up, trying to focus on the task at hand. He needed to sort every warrior into the proper class. He examined the profile of a warrior in training and put him into the 2nd level.
"So," Alexa said, sitting at the other end of the table. "Where's the food at?"
"I have ordered you pancakes. They should be here shortly," Xander replied, his voice sounding a bit far-off for he was paying attention to his obligations.
What was he doing? She examined his side of the table from afar, unsure what he was doing. "Great," She smiled at him, but he still didn't look up at her. "So...whatcha doin'?"
He looked up at her, smiling slightly. "Come, I will show you." He relaxed against his chair, his shoulders slowly unwinding and she stood up, unsure, but walked over to him. Alexa raised her eyebrows; it looked like a profile of a person. There was a picture of him looking coldly into the camera and personal information on the side.
"You're perving?" She joked. Xander furrows his brows at her in confusion. "Never mind," She sighed, "What is it you're doing?"
"I am putting the warriors into their classes," He answered, patiently looking up for her reaction. "First level is the top class warriors and very few get ranked as such. Second level is the second class. It is the combat-able warriors that can handle hand-to-hand just as well as any weapon. Third level is the weapon-reliant warriors, those of which are better with weapons than hand-to-hand. Fourth class is a starting level, but some stay in it, meaning that they know little about how to handle a weapon and little about hand-to-hand techniques."
"Uh..." Alexa muttered, taking in the information, "sounds...fun...?"
"Press this," Xander replied, indicating to an intricate-looking symbol. She pressed it and a message flashed on screen. Ivo Piers: Level 3. She looked over at Xander, a small smile on his face. "You are a natural."
"Why, if you speak perfect English, do you use weird symbols?" She asked curiously. She found it odd, especially since their English was impeccable.
"There is still a possibility, even with all of our advanced technology, that some of your people find our base and decide to hack our system. Will it not be a surprise when they cannot understand our system?" He said, amused.
A tray-like robot hovered into the kitchen, a plate of golden pancakes on top of it. It flew over to the table and set itself down. The smell of the pancakes hit Alexa, making her stomach growl in hunger. She picked the plate up from the tray and the robot instantly came alive, setting off out the kitchen.
"That," She said, looking at the door where the robot had just went out of, "was the weirdest thing I have ever seen." She sat down opposite Xander as he continued to swipe his finger along the table.
"You will get used to it," He mumbled, concentrating on the table once again.
"About that..." Alexa spoke softly, cutting off a piece of pancake, "when can I go home?" She popped the pancake in her mouth and tried not to moan at the sweetness.
Xander looked up, confused. "I do not...comprehend?" It was his understanding that she was there willingly.
"Well," she began calmly, "your people made a mistake. I'm engaged and-" Alexa was cut off by an announcement in the room, but she wasn't entirely sure where it came from.
"General Jenks requests the appearance of the hundred women to be present for the welcoming presentation."
"We can talk about this later," Xander muttered, swiping his finger on the table to lock the portfolio before standing up. "Best not be late."
She gritted her teeth and said, "I'm not done eating."
"That is fine," he began to press buttons in his watch, his clothing slowly changing into his uniform and he walked past her to enter the closet. He walked out holding a pair of black, steel-toed boots and sat down on the couch to put them on. "Finish eating, we will depart when you are prepared."
Alexa ate a little faster, but not fast enough that he would notice. Even though she didn't want to admit it, she wanted to see how everything looked outside – and if that's what their welcoming presentation was about, she didn't want to miss it. "What am I going to wear?"
He shrugged, opening the fridge to grab a bottle of water. "Whatever you find the most comfortable. They are just going to show you around and answer some questions. They will also talk about the rules and how the process of being pregnant works."
She shuddered, taking a sip of the orange juice on the corner of the tray and hopped off the stool. "Okay, I'm going to brush my teeth and then I'll get ready."
He nodded, watching as she walked towards his room and widened his eyes. "I moved your personal belongings to your room. You have a bathroom of your own."
"Oh," she mumbled, "sorry, I just didn't find one yesterday and that's where I went."
Xander smiled, waiting for her to follow him and opened the door to her room. He walked over to a corner of the room and pressed his hand on the scanner, making a door slide open slowly. It was adjacent to the closet and she gave out a soft laugh.
"Well...I didn't see that yesterday."
"It is alright; I should have given you a better tour of the house. I may give you a better tour of the house, when we return from the community hall, if you wish."
She nodded, waiting for him to leave and walked towards the bathroom. It looked identical to his, except with fruity soaps and her green toothbrush on the sink. The walls were white, but the green curtain added a bit of colour to the dull room.
After she brushed her teeth, she walked toward the closet and stood in front of it for five minutes, just looking at her options. She finally decided on wearing dark skinny jeans with grey t-shirt. She looked simple, but not too bad.
Alexa brushed her hair up into a ponytail and suddenly wished she had some chapstick to add to her lips. They were beginning to look dry and in her books that was an abomination. She squirted some citrus lotion on her hands and walked out to meet Xander.
He was sitting on the couch with his shoulders tensed, as if he were aware of everything that was happening. It made him look powerful and intimidating, but also uncomfortable. The black shirt he wore was tight against his muscles, outlining his carved abs and she frowned.
In other guys she would've found it unattractive, but Xander could definitely pull it off. He glanced down at his watch and when she walked further into the room, quickly stood up.
His face softened and his bright blue eyes raked over her, in a non-perverse way. The way he looked at her surprised her, it was almost like he was ready to drop to his knees and venerate her; it made her uncomfortable.
"You look," he breathed in, but couldn't find words to describe her and plainly finished with, "nice."
She smiled, shrugging away his compliment and said, "Thanks. So we ready?"
Xander nodded, motioning for her to walk towards him and placed his hand on her elbow. "Close your eyes," he said softly; breathing in deeply as he recognised the lotion's scent and in a flash they were gone from his home.
~*~
The Alien placed his hand on her back, guiding her into the community hall and nodded in respect as he walked past some guards. Alexa raised her eyebrows at all the people in the room and felt strange at all the beautiful specimen present.
If she had been single and not abducted, she might have considered liking them. They all seemed similar, since they wore the same clothing, but their features were slightly different. Some had buzz-cut haircuts, curly hair, spiky hair, or were even bald.
They also had tattoos; some had them peeking from their shirts and very few had some on their faces. They looked strange, but still managed to look attractive.
Xander cleared his throat, trying to get her attention and said, "Is there a specific spot you would like to sit?"
She shook her head, looking over the crowd for a spot and smiled as Kelly waved her hand frantically. "I'll sit with Kelly."
He nodded, guiding her to the seat and she noticed that all the men wouldn't make eye-contact with her; they looked at Xander with respect, but when she'd looked at them, they'd keep looking at Xander. It was strange to her.
Alexa sat down, smiling at Kelly and breathed out, "Hey."
"Hi!" She grinned, and lowered her voice to a whisper, "Your partner is a hottie! But I think I'll stick with mine; yours is too...intimidating."
She laughed, turning around to talk to Xander, but he was gone. She frowned, since all the women were sitting with their assigned partners and shrugged, turning back to Kelly. She seemed happy, like if she were almost glowing and the man on her side couldn't stop smiling at her.
It was as if they actually liked each other.
"Are you going to introduce me to yours?"
Kelly shook her head and lowered her voice to a whisper as General Jenks walked in the room. "I can't; apparently men can't talk to the women unless their partners allow them too and vice versa. A man can't talk to a woman unless their female partner is present or allows them too."
"Why?" She frowned.
She shrugged, but didn't answer because the General began talking and the community hall got silent.
"Good morning, ladies and gentleman. As you all know, my name is General Jenks; I am the leader of this civilization and I am here to welcome you to our home. Underneath me are two strong warriors; Trent Dower, who is currently not present and," he turned to his side, motioning with his hand at Alexa's partner, "and Xander Nix."
Kelly nudged Alexa and whispered, "Aye, no wonder your boo is so scary-looking, he's a second-in-command."
Alexa groaned, sliding lower in her chair and muttered her distaste under her breath. Great, not only was he extremely handsome, but he was also a high-in-rank.
"After the deaths of our women in our planet from an incurable disease, we tried to travel to different planets to escape, but the rest of our seven planets seemed contaminated as well. In result, we decided to look for other galaxies and found what your people refer to as the Milky Way. The only planet with life was Earth and although it was a bit behind in technology and resources we found no traces of the disease. After negotiating with your President, we obtained this land," he pointed to a holographic image behind him representing the island they were in, "and began to inhabit it. We did not just come into your planet and take a piece of land, we brought resources and we are currently cleansing your atmosphere and repairing your ozone layer."
Kelly ooh'ed next to Alexa and she nodded, liking that they weren't just kidnappers; at least they were helping the damage humans had been causing the planet for thousands of years.
"For months our women lived and seemed to be fighting the disease well, but a sudden outbreak took place and they died in quicker numbers. We tried everything we could," he clenched his fists at his sides in anger, "but there was nothing we could do. All of our advanced medicine seemed to backfire and our women no longer wanted to be test subjects. The disease does not contaminate men or earthlings. It seems that the radioactive waves in your atmosphere, fought off the disease and you all are immune."
She pursed her lips, feeling a bit bad for them, but relieved that she wouldn't die from an incurable disease some Aliens had brought.
General Jenks cleared his throat, looking around the room and spoke with authority. "We spoke to your President and asked if he could possibly ask his women to voluntarily help us breed and so here you are."
We didn't come 'voluntarily' President Goodhart wouldn't allow it! You took us from our homes and forced us here to be baby-making machines. But Alexa didn't speak; she simply pressed her lips in a thin line and continued listening.
"After this presentation, we will give you a tour of the island and will take any suggestions you make in order to make this place a bit more comfortable. First, I would like to cover the pregnancy information-"
Alexa shuddered, snapping her attention away from the topic and began looking around the room. It was painted a neutral colour with thin silver doors and guards standing in front of them. She continued looking around and found herself looking at Xander.
He was standing near the General with his hands behind his back, as if he were exposing his toned physique, but seemed too concentrated in what his leader was speaking about, to notice. His jaw was chiselled almost to perfection, with a slight scar on his chin to add to his ruggedness.
The black coloured uniform hugged his muscles nicely, giving an attractive outline and his black hair was slicked back to expose his strong forehead. Normally, Alexa wouldn't find the hairstyle to be attractive, but there was something about him that could pull anything off.
She sighed, feeling a blush creeping up her neck as Xander's piercing blue eyes found hers. He stared at her intently, a small smile curling the corners of his lips upward and she quickly looked away, not liking the suggestive grunt that Kelly made.
After a couple of minutes from listening to the General talk, all the women stood up and were guided out of the room by their partners. Alexa, on the other hand, walked alongside Kelly, who was speaking animatedly to her partner about science.
They divided the women into groups of ten, sending them in different directions with attractive [of course] tour guides. As soon as they were outside, they breathed out in awe.
The sun was shining softly, giving out a warm sensation and the occasional cool breeze balanced it out. Alexa breathed in deeply, closing her eyes at the freshness of the air. It was completely strange; she was used to the factory-produced smoke of downtown Philadelphia.
She could smell the new scent of grass and the slight hint of fresh rain. It must've rained the night before because there were still droplets of moisture in the exotic flowers that were on display in the entrance of the building.
"This is our community hall, the room that you were just in," The tall tour guide spoke. His skin was dark and his eyes were bright green, giving him an eerie, but attractive look. "We hold meetings every month to try and see new ways we can improve the island. Over there," he pointed to a large field, where men were running on, "is our training field. Our men begin training from four in the morning till twelve in the afternoon. The rest of the day is given to them to do as they please."
"Damn," Alexa muttered, making Kelly nod in agreement.
He continued showing them around, pointing to sleek silver-coloured buildings and explaining their purpose. They walked by a large pool with different sized lanes and hundreds of beach chairs. A couple of feet away, was the library and Kelly squealed to her partner in excitement, talking about books being her "life."
There was more pasture than buildings and Alexa loved it. They seemed to appreciate nature's resources as well and she felt more comfortable since that was at touchy subject. Every month she sent fifty dollars to a small organisation that helped cleaning beaches since she didn't live near one herself. All in all, she was a huge nature lover; it was one of her favourite things to paint.
Once the tour was over, they returned to the community hall, standing outside as they spoke to their tour guides about ideas. Most of the women requested for a shopping mall so that they could spend their time working or shopping and other's asked for more materialistic things, such as tanning salons and bars.
One by one, they began to leave with their partners, whom were supposed to take them back to their home or the places they had just visited, but Alexa didn't know where to go. Her partner was nowhere to be seen.
"Uh," A deep voice spoke from behind her and she jumped, turning to look at the man, "are you Ms. Alexa Dominick?"
She nodded and answered cautiously, "Yes; why?"
"Lieutenant Nix is taking care of a fight that broke out on Sector 5. so he is unable to show you back to your room. He commanded that I do so, so if you will allow me, I will escort you to your room."
She raised her eyebrows at his formality, but shrugged and took his extended hand. She quickly closed her eyes as he began messing with his watch and felt dizzy when he released her.
"Sorry," he muttered, "I am still new to this whole teleporting thing."
"It's fine," she croaked out, holding her stomach, "it makes two of us. But thanks for bringing me here."
He nodded, bowing his head in respect and decided that walking out the door would be easier than teleporting back.
Alexa sighed, walking to her room and took her shoes off. She hated having them on when she was home, it made her feel constricted and uncomfortable; she liked the coldness of the floor against her bare feet.
She walked back to the kitchen, opening the fridge to grab a water bottle and a can of Pringles before making her way to the living room. After successfully turning the TV on, she decided on watching a marathon of I Love Lucy and that's how Xander found her giggling.
"I apologise for not being present during the tour. Three of our youngest warriors believed it would be comical to play with some unauthorised equipment and almost blew the building up. None of them would assume responsibility, so I was called down."
She shrugged, watching as he searched the fridge for some fruit and said, "It's cool; did you find the culprit?"
Xander shook his head, washing some green grapes and said, "No; we just punished them all and hindered their ability to move up the warrior ranks for a while longer."
"That sucks," she muttered, turning back around to look at the TV. "Why didn't you tell me you had such a high rank in your government?"
He shrugged, swallowing back the grape he was chewing, before speaking. "We do not believe our ranks are higher than anyone else. They are just titles we had to establish to set order in the system. I did not think my rank really mattered, but if you wish to know more, I can answer any questions."
"Oh," she nodded, licking the cheese off her fingers and said, "I was just wondering. Is it really stressful?"
"Not really..." he trailed off, looking for the correct words to express himself, "my biggest chore is training the warriors and determining whether they can move up the warrior levels."
Alexa raised her eyebrows, surprised that he wasn't so full of himself. Most men would have waved their title around and used it to their advantage, but he seemed nonchalant about it all.
"In battle," he cleared his throat, "I fight alongside my squadron and try to protect any of my warriors. If any of them come to harm, I suffer the pain he went through."
"What?" She widened her eyes, "Why?"
Xander smiled, liking the concern glowing in her eyes and said, "We are bounded by blood; we surpass the brother role. During battle, we are all linked; it helps to aid each other and fight more effectively. However, they do not feel each other's pain, only I do; it is my duty as their leader to make sure they survive and if I feel their pain, I will come to their aid quicker."
She shook her head in disbelief. "I don't know if I should admire you or think you're an idiot."
He chuckled. "Our rules and morals differ greatly from yours. I have noticed that your mankind are ruthless and will trample their own family to obtain what they wish. We value family too much to ever do such a thing."
"People are stupid," she muttered, somewhat agreeing with him. "Hey, do you have a phone I could use? I want to call my family and tell them I'm alive."
He quickly nodded handing her what resembled a transparent phone and breathed in relief when she recognised the numbers. Xander stood up, bowing his head in respect at her and said, "I will give you some privacy."
Alexa nodded, breathing out in relief once he was gone and quickly dialled Seth's number. After the third ring, he picked it up and she whispered, "Seth, honey!"
"Alexa?!" He asked in incredulity, "Where the fück are you at? I've been going crazy looking for you!"
"I'm-"
"Do you fücking know how many times I fücking called you and your stupid phone went to voicemail?! Tell me where the hell you're at; I'm coming to pick you up."
She frowned, not liking his agitated tone of voice, but before she could speak, Xander snatched the phone out of her hands and glared down at her. "What are you doing?"
"Telling my fiancé where I'm at so he can take me back home!" She spat, glaring at him.
He shook his head, quickly pressing some numbers in the device to block any traces that the phone call could've left and said, "No one must know of our location; just your government leaders."
She stood up, gritting her teeth and hissed, "You don't understand that I want to go home! You can't keep me here as a damn prisoner; I'm engaged! I have a life!"
"All of the women that are present, came voluntarily," Xander repeated tiredly, confused at her sudden change of emotions. She seemed happy minutes before, how could she have changed to angry so quickly?!
Alexa clenched her fists at her sides and hissed, "But I didn't! If you don't take me back," she glared at him, "I'll make your life a living hell."
~*~