Snatched

Myeong & Roco

Myeong watched the woman, Alexis, prowl around the room.

He didn't come back. He dropped me there. Locked me in like an animal in a cage and left. Chloe hadn't spoken about what had happened to her last night, but she looked shaken up. As for Brenda, she'd told Myeong exactly what had happened to her, her face glowing.

Myeong gripped the edge of the bench as she thought back to her own night. The big alien hadn't done much. He'd spoken with her, keeping his distance as she stood by the door and he sat on the bed, though she hadn't understood what he'd said. Too frightened. Too shocked. It had been hard to concentrate.

How had Brenda learned so much? How had she touched him? She tried to imagine it. Then tried to imagine the giant alien doing the same thing to Myeong as Brenda's alien had done to her. Gripping her elbows, she shivered. He was so big! So much bigger than Paul. And Paul could hit hard.

He'd eventually given up trying coax her over and slept on the floor. Myeong had stood by the door staring for a long time before she finally relented and crawled into bed, her ears pricked up for any kind of movement, hardly breathing as she listened, her heart beating wildly. But all she'd heard was his steady breathing. It was a long time before she'd fallen asleep.

By the time she had woken again, he was gone, the lights on, a set of clothes on the bed and breakfast waiting. He was so different to Paul. Paul would not have tolerated her silence. He would have tolerated her reluctance even less. And she would have suffered for it. The alien seemed nice but so had Paul when they'd first met. Then again, it wasn't Paul's fault she was so useless. She couldn't even fall pregnant ...

Myeong sniffed and quickly wiped at her eyes before the others could see. Where was that man, Juan, and the other two women? She wanted to wait before she tried anything. The helmet was mysterious and frightening. What if it did something to her brain?

Brenda turned to her. 'Don't be afraid Myeong. Try it!'

Pressing her lips together, Myeong picked it up. It was quite heavy and cool in her fingers. Taking a breath, she slid it over her head. She jumped when an image of Earth flashed before her eyes, followed by the solar system, followed by a galaxy, as though she was racing through space. She gripped onto the bench like she was actually flying. It made her stomach lurch. It felt like a rollercoaster. An image of a purply, red planet filled her view. Then that woman's voice spoke loudly in her ears. Myeong gripped the bench harder. Was it in her ears or in her mind?

'Lesson one: introduction, greetings and commands, first tier simple objects.' And she wasn't speaking in English but Korean. As if she knew. As if she knew all about Myeong's history.

Myeong gasped, grabbing at her helmet as the woman spoke of the aliens and their planet. As she spoke, images flashed repeatedly one after the other. The same images over and over again, until Myeong could connect the dots, until each word was rammed hard into her brain like a nail:

'Zibons, Zibon 8, Zibon 8, Zibons, Rictorian, Rictorians, Rictor 8, Rictorians, Rictor 8 ...' Images of Earth, the planet Zibon, the huge Zibons and regular people flashed repeatedly after each corresponding word. And she was remembering. She was understanding!

Her mouth open, she learned.

She soon forgot she was on a ship. She soon forgot she was even kidnapped. She completely forgot that she might be in danger. Too absorbed. Too focused. She'd never been so focused in all her life! As a child, learning English had been easy. But this ... this wasn't normal. More words. Now they were onto greetings. That was easy. So easy! Next, she moved onto objects.

The helmet blocked out most other sounds but not completely and she could see the room through the flashing visor. Though it still took her several moments before she realised someone was standing in front of her speaking to her. It wasn't until they touched her shoulder that she realised what she was seeing and pulled the helmet off.