Ello beasty! Ignoring that random Pirates of the Caribbean reference there. Okay before I get any further along, can I just say "CURSE YOU WIFI!!" My laptop lost connection and deleted a good chunk of the ending, so I had to rewrite it on my phone. Ugh, it's awful. Anywho...so there is finally another writing club topic. Yay! This week's topic is outer space. So the idea for this took forever to develop because my head does not like the idea of aliens apparently. So I sort of combined aspects Star Wars with E.T. If that makes any sense at all, congratulations you understand my head. But basically it involves a human experiment of sorts. The aliens have decided to see if the humans are compatible with their home environment and study their ways of life to see if Earth is suitable for them to live in. However to preform this experiment they need test subjects. How else are you to get test subjects without abducting them?
My body feels like a thousand led bricks are attached to it. Everything is weighted down and I don't have enough energy to move. I can't even find it in me to open my eyes. So all I see is blackness and all I can feel is...my hair against my face. Wait what?I try to move my head but something grazes against my stomach. I furrow my eyebrows together and try to force my eyes open.
For some reason the world is really blurry. I can't make out anything. Confused, I attempt to use my hand to rub my eyes but something holds my arms down. Panic starts seeping in as I look down and see a blurry strip of silver on my wrist and what appears to a chain going down to the ground. But the ground isn't really the ground. There is a ring of metal surrounding the so called ground. I move my foot, which is also chained to the ground at the ankle, slowly forward and it touches a smooth surface. Almost like glass.
My heart rate accelerates even more as I realize that both my arms and my legs are chained to the ground and that I'm somehow floating above the ground, kind of like you do in a swimming pool, where you look down and no matter how close you are to the bottom it still looks like you are floating. I tug at the chains trying to break free softly at first and then I'm trashing in the water like a mad man. That's when I find the mask placed on my nose and mouth, that's connected to a tube leading up. I stop trashing to follow it up. And find a blurred, black, metal cage at the top.
I'm trapped. I'm trapped in a glass tube of water. Crap...
I have to get out. And then I'm tugging at the chains, with more force and power than I ever knew I had. I throw myself against the side of the tube in an attempt to both break out and break the chains. I hit the glass two more times before I hear the muffled shouts and see the distorted colored figures running around outside the glass. Then there is a crisp, keen smell, followed by the weight of the led bricks slowing me down. Until I can't move anymore and my eyelids slide down, dissolving the world into complete, utter, blackness.
***
The world is white. All I see around me is a whiteness. White walls, white ceiling, a white cot, which I am laying on, and a white, locked door. The only color in this room is me. I've got a pair of white underwear on and a white bra, but I didn't put them on, nor do I have any idea if they were on before in that tube. I tried to get up before but I'm strapped down onto the cot, with white straps and there are multiple wires and tubes connected to me. What the wires and tubes are connected to, other than me, remains unknown. But I can feel someone watching me and it's unnerving.
I hear the door click open and I freeze. I don't know why I'm here and I certainly don't know who brought me here. But being strapped to a cot is definitely justifying my fear. I hear the screech of metal wheels on a tile floor and my fingers twitch, itching to move me away from the noise. The screeching stops and then there's a rustling and I hear a sound similar to that of a filing cabinet opening. There's more movement then footsteps walking now away and the click of the door closing. I let out a shaky breath then turn my head to the side, slowly.
My eyes widen in shock there's a boy on another cot connected to wires just like me, wearing only white boxers. I feel my cheeks flame scarlet as I notice this particular fact. His fingers twitch and his chest jerks upward as if he was just waking from a horrid nightmare. Then his head flips to the side and his eyes spring open to meet mine. They are a bright green, a green so startling it renders me breathless. His eyes are wide in fear and I know mine are a mirror image of his, only difference being mine are blue.
I hear the click of the door and I quickly whip my head back straight, hoping he does the same. I close my eyes and wait, for what I don't know. I hear the door click closed and footsteps approach my cot. My lips part and my breaths become quick. Fingers brush my cheek and my eyes fly open, unable to resist my mind wailing in fear. A girl with blue skin, white freckles, white, long, straight hair and grey eyes stands over me. She seems startled by the fact that I am looking at her. She watches me as she removes the mask from my nose and mouth slowly. I take a breath and exhale just as slowly. She seems to relax after that.
The girl pulls out a little white box. Of course it's white. They probably don't have any other colors here, where ever here is. She hits a few buttons and the box beeps. Then she starts tightening the straps holding me on the cot. I whimper and try to shift my position. It's then that I see her outfit. Lucky chick, she's got actual clothes. She's wearing a light gray tank top with a pair of camouflage, cargo pants and black combat boots. What is this a military base in Area 51?
"Sorry," she mutters quickly. I cross my eyes at her in confusion. Then there is a wave of intense pain that knocks the breath out of me. For about three point five seconds no air enters or leaves my lungs and then... I scream. I scream like I'm dying, or like I'm terrified of the lion at the zoo that got out of its cage. Then there is the silence when the tears start flowing freely down my face. Something soft is pressed to the area where the tube was and taped against my skin.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I had to remove the tube," says the blue skinned girl in a rush. She then averts her eyes to the ground and steps closer to me. I try to scoot away but the straps keep me still. She removes another tube and my reaction is much like the first. I hear movement on the other cot and I tense up. The boy, I forgot about him, he has to go through this too. The girl removes a couple wires and then walks away to the boys cot, leaving me with with the straps tight and salty cheeks. The boy cries out the first time but when the second tube removed he silences himself so I only hear a grunt. I don't know if he did that for my sake or to save his dignity. After a few more minutes the blue skinned girl leaves and the door clicks closed. The boy doesn't turn to face me, he stays staring at the ceiling. I can see the glistening trail of a tear leaking from his eye though.
"Do you know why?" I croak. Not bothering to finish my question because I know he understands and my throat burns.
"No," he responds in a scratchy voice still not looking at me, but I can detect some sort of accent.
"Where are we, do you think?" I try, forcing my mind to ignore the burning in my throat. He laughs dryly.
"Did you see the girl?" he asks.
"Yes," I reply.
"She had blue skin. I don't think she is human," he says. Then he swallows harshly probably feeling the same burning in his throat. Then I hear a humming sound from the walls. I hold my breath waiting for something awful to happen, but nothing does. I sigh in relief and breath in. The air smells different. More like a forest and less like a hospital.
"So, she's an Avatar?" I question thoroughly confused, as I cross my eyes. The boy turns to me then, and smirks at me clearly amused.
"I was thinking more like an alien," he responds.
"Oh," I reply stupidly. The burning in my throat becoming a dull ache.
"What's your name?" he asks. British, he's got a British accent.
"Charlotte, but you can call me Lottie or Char," I say. Why did I tell him about Lottie? I only go by that nickname with my family and my really close friends. "What about you?" I ask.
"Callum," he answers. The door clicks open again and I look over, expecting to see the blue skinned girl. Instead there is a guy with purple skin, yellow hair and gold eyes. He is wearing a pair of camouflage, cargo pants, black combat boots, and a gray t-shirt. I can see his toned chest and stomach through the shirt. He walks over to me without a sound and looks at me.
"What are you doing?" I ask, once again crossing my eyes in confusion. He presses his mouth into a tight line and pulls out a little, metal cylinder. He presses it to my stomach and my body jerks and I cry out as pain laces up through every muscle in my body. He just shocked me with electricity. I release a shaky breath and remain quiet. He starts unhooking the rest of the wires then he unclips the straps holding me to the cot. I go to sit up and the metal cylinder is once again pressed to my stomach and my body jerks again as another scream erupts from my lips. He shakes his head at me once before pressing the metal cylinder to my neck. I convulse involuntarily again and scream. He removes it and I whimper. The cylinder is then placed on my neck again, but it doesn't shock me at first. I move away instinctively and he slaps me across the face, hard. I gasp as my head whips to the side from the force of it. Never in my life, had anyone ever laid a hand on me. The metal cylinder is then pressed against my neck, much harder than before, and is then taped in place. I feel two tiny needles pierce into my skin and I wince.
The guy then walks over to Callum's bed. I don't hear a single scream or sound from him so he must've caught on while the guy was with me. I hear the door click closed and then movement on Callum's cot. His footsteps approach me slowly. When his face comes in to view I notice his blonde hair.
"Lottie, are you okay?" he asks.
"I think so," I say. The cylinder shocks me again and my muscles spasm as yet another wave of pain, followed by a scream, flows through me.
"Don't talk," he whispers. I look at him, tears pricking the corners of my eyes. "Do you think that...thing will let you sit up?" he questions. I shake my head no slowly, remembering how the guy had shocked me when I attempted to sit up earlier. He bites his lip, and looks back at his cot quickly. "Okay, I'm going to try to take it out," he says.
"Needles!" I shout before once again screaming and spasming. A tear slips out and my lips part allowing a whimper to escape.
"Hey, hey, Lottie listen, you're going to be okay. Alright?" he says as he cups my cheeks, forcing me to look at him. When did we begin to care about each other's welfare? And when did we even become allies? "Okay I'm going to sit you up," says Callum. I nod slowly and brace myself. "One," I take a deep breath and close my eyes tightly. "Two," he slips one arm under my back and the other under my knees, as if he is going to lift me up bridal style. "Three," he says as he pushes me upright and spins me so that my back is to the wall. I hold my breath waiting for the shock, but nothing comes from the little cylinder. Releasing my breath, I allow my eyes to flutter open.
"Okay, so it you can't talk, by you can move," Callum mutters to himself. Then he looks at me and presses his lips together. "Alright, don't say a word, but we are going to move you to that corner so you are further away from the door," he tells me, as he points to the corner behind his cot. I nod slowly and inch my hands closer to my body so that I'll be able to slide of the cot. Then I inch my way off the cot and slip down onto the floor. I crawl to the corner Callum had pointed out and press my back to the wall. I let out a small sigh of relief, still scared of the cylinder's shocks, and look up at Callum who had followed me to the corner. He kneels down in front of me.
"Alright, I am going to attempt to remove that thing," he tells me. I nod my head, knowing that it may hurt and that it also needs to be removed. Callum brushes my hair away from my neck cautiously removes the tape. I brace myself, but thankfully nothing happens. "Now things get tricky. You said there are needles right?" he questions, seeking clarity. I nod in response and he bites his lip, rolling it between his teeth before releasing it. Dang, that was hot. Gosh darn it, Lottie, don't think those things now. Especially, when you are sitting here in only underwear and a bra, not even a sports bra at that. A slight blush rises onto my cheeks as I remember that lovely, little discovery. Callum notices my blush and then seems to realize that neither of us have any real clothes on. My eyes slowly, but not at all slyly, travel down his torso admiring his eight pack that is on full display. He then yanks the cylinder out in one, quick, swift motion. I gasp as my lungs empty of all air due to the pain. As my lungs fill up with air again, a minute later, I feel something smooth and wet slide down my neck and onto my collar bone. I raise my hand shakily let my fingertips graze my collar bone. I pull my hand back and glance at my fingertips. Blood, I have blood dripping down my neck. I look up at Callum and find his tearing a piece of fabric off from the bottom of the cot. He comes over and ties the fabric around my neck to stop the blood flow. I smile at him gratefully and he slides down next to meet on the wall. Just as his butt touches the ground, a voice surrounds us. I grab onto Callum's arm, my fear from before returning.
"Hello, Earthen Humans. Welcome to the experiments on our mother-ship. Our home planet is known as Hoth. We have been orbiting your planet for many cycles around the sun, to study your planet. We have remained undetected because of our higher grade technology. We are studying earth to determine if your planet is sustainable to our species. To complete this process we must test things from our environment on you. That way we can determine if it is lethal or not to you. We also wish to study your behavior and how you interact with the opposite gender and the same gender of your own race. Thank you for allowing us to complete our studies," it says. The second the voice is gone, the door clicks open. Callum instantly moves himself protectively in front of me. I cautiously peek over his shoulder and find the blue skinned girl standing there. Pity flares across her face as she looks at us.
"I'm so sorry," she says quietly. I stay silent and look at her for a moment before responding.
"Phone home?" I croak, trying desperately to ignore the spark of hope she can give me. Callum stills in front of me, and neither of us breathe as we await her reply. She frowns and shakes her head 'no' sadly. I release my breath and fall back against the wall in defeat. Callum moves to my left and does the same. I ignore the blue skinned girl's presence and lay my head on Callum's shoulder. A fat tear slips out of the corner of my eye and rolls down my nose. I'll never see my little sister, Kat, again, or my parents, or my best friend, Jake. Never again, because I can't go home. I've been kidnapped.