Caught and Released

Arrival

If one thing was certain, Daniel was absolutely miserable.

He didn't know how long he'd been strapped to this chair, but his limbs had long since gone numb from disuse. His throat was sore from the tube that dispensed a cold sludge into his stomach. He cried long past the point of having tears left to shed. This place was awful. The hum of machines his only companion in this dimly lit cell.

He didn't bother to react to the footsteps he heard outside the room, though there were a lot more than usual. And then there was...screaming? That got his attention. Suddenly, he heard the sound of a door opening. The wave of light made him snap his eyes shut. Daniel heard footsteps approach him. He braced himself for something horrible to happen any second. He instead felt a hand gently come to rest on his shoulder. When nothing else happened, his curiosity eventually got the best of him and he looked up. What was kneeling before him shocked him to his core.

Whatever it was, it defiantly wasn't human. They were easily twice his height, with light blue skin and bright purple eyes. They wore a gentle smile as they knelt in front of him. They started speaking in a language he couldn't begin to understand. He felt hands slowly move from his shoulders to the back of his head. He was too exhausted to really struggle against him as he felt something click. He came to realize that the creature was taking that horrid muzzle off of him. He gagged as the tube slid from his throat, resulting in a coughing fit once it was out. They pat his back until the coughing subsided. He felt the restraints being loosened. He was soon completely free from the chair. It all happened oddly fast considering how slow they were going.

Daniel flinched at something soft draping around his shoulders. He froze as they gently wrapped him in a blanket and picked him up. The warmth and comfort of being held broke Daniel out of his shock. He began to sob into their shoulder as a hand started stroking his back. They started to sway in place, hushing him and speaking to him again.

"Please, please. I want to go home. I just want to go home. Please," Daniel began pleading with the creature, who only kept hushing him. The more they talked, the more it sounded like they were comforting an injured animal. Daniel supposed that was what he was to them. That thought sent a chill down his spine. If what he woke up to however long ago was any indication, this was not going to end well. That thought only made the crying worse, the one holding him speaking to him again in that same tone. "Please, I'm scared. I don't know what's going on." After a minute or two of swaying, he felt them begin to walk. He soon heard the sound of the door opening again and buried his head further into their shoulder to block out the harsh light. The screams were louder now that they weren't muffled by the door.

As soon as he felt the cot hit his back, he also felt something wrap around his waist, then his chest, then his legs. Effectively restrained with the blanket wrapped around him and the straps pinning him to the cot, Daniel started struggling. Well, struggling the best he could. They started speaking to and shushing him again. He felt a mask being slipped over his face which made him struggle even more, trying his best to dodge it. He felt hands on either side of his head, centering it and keeping him from thrashing anymore. They apparently had more than enough strength to keep his head still, and soon he felt the mask on his face again. Within the next minute, Daniel started to feel woozy. He tried to fight it, but with the comfy cot, the lack of sleep, and whatever was being forced into his lungs, he soon felt everything fade to black.

A/N: And here you go! Chapter 1 officially updated. What do you think? Better? Worse? Let me know! I think I'm going to be updating the chapters on a weekly basis. I want to be able to start this thing up again by the time I'm done posting the updated chapters. If enough people need more regular updates, Twitter might be a good place for me to post on a more regular basis about this project (@SamSeahorse8). Thank you to all the people that have stuck with me on this thing, and I hope to get more out to you soon!