The Autobiography Of An Alien

Chapter 27 - Entrapment, part 3

Draft #174

Hope is something that I have experienced, of course. But in the face of certain doom, I find myself lacking. Why hope, is my question, when all is lost?

There is no reason for it. There is no reason to waste your energy on hoping for something that will just never happen.

***

The noise that came out of Kohgrash's throat when he spotted the collar was something that Rulshkka has never heard from the human before.

It was a cross between a bewildered laugh and callous scoff. But fear tinged the edges of it.

His tone was relaxed when he said, "If you think that's gonna scare the shit out of me, you're stupider than I thought," but Rulshkka could see the way he was tense.

Kohgrash wasn't as adverse to things around his neck as he was years ago, but they still made him hesitate. He always made sure that whatever accessory he gave the human - scarf, necklace, or otherwise - was loose enough to pull over his head. He enjoyed wearing the blue bandana Rulshkka had gotten him, but other than those rare occasions, Kohgrash's neck was always bare.

But Krrkh simply smiled, teeth bared smugly. "Now, now, Kohgrash," he scolded lightly, shaking the collar and stepping forward. Kohgrash held his ground, but Rulshkka felt all his muscles freeze. "That's not how you speak to your master."

"I will kill you," Kohgrash promised the Outkast, eyes shining bright with wariness and determination. "I don't care what fucking shape you're in."

Krrkh laughed, loudly, "I would like to see you try, mammal. You're nothing! Just a stupid, dumb, pathetic animal!"

Despite not knowing the language while he was under the ringmaster's less-than-kind care, Kohgrash must have recognized the words he spat at him. His arms twitched at his side, aborting their movement halfway through covering his head. Rulshkka took a step in front of him, protective anger bubbling its way into his throat.

"I suppose that the Outkast legend was simply nothing more than mindless chatter," Rulshkka sneered at his mother, who was looking at him with a familiar glare of frustration. Frustration that he couldn't be like Rukka, couldn't be smarter, faster, stronger. "If anything, you're the pathetic animal. Repeating phrases is all you can do-?"

His words were caught in his throat as the Outkast hiding beneath his mother's skin moved faster than he could blink. Sharp pain laced up his leg, and he looked down in mild shock to see some sort of vial sticking out of it. He bent down to pluck it out, holding what had to be the first weapon he's had since they were captured and sneered up at the Outkast.

"Drugs? Your next course of action is-"

Darkness met his words as it was suddenly pulled over his eyes. Kohgrash and the Outkast disappeared, along with the room he had been standing in. There was nothing beneath his feet, and he could scarcely feel the clothes on his body. The air was still. It felt like he was in a vacuum. Was he even breathing?

"Kohgrash?" he asked, growing a bit nervous as the sound barely managed to leave his mouth before being swallowed up by the oppressive silence.

Think rationally, he thought to himself firmly, trying to get a grip on his emotions. But the solitude alarmed him.

Rulshkka may be a coward - it was evident in how long it took him to decide to have an egg with his beloved, evident in how he shied away from anything too... emotional - but he had to be strong for this.

This was new, unknown, and he didn't like it one bit.

The silence seemed to grow louder, pressing on his ears until he was sure they would pop. He spun around in place, but there was nothing to see, nothing to orient himself with.