Short Stories

Featherweight

Warning; contains some bad language paired with a complete badass. 

~ 

Bastards.

The sounds of their steps echoed loudly as they descended the stairs. I used all my control to stop fidgeting. The chains around my hands still shifted with each twitch of my muscles, but either way I couldn't surprise them of with anything. They knew I was in their cell. They knew what I was. They knew almost everything just by breathing in my scent.

Bastards.

The atmosphere dropped as they hit the end of the stairs, and the two guards hissed in greeting to whoever appeared to visit me. I glimpsed a set of ashen white feet of a guard, the talons chipped into the stone. My eyes narrowed as I took in the form of the guard, and they looked up as my cell gate opened to reveal my visitor.

It's a Bastard.

As my visitor stepped into view, hatred pooled in my core. My eyes were narrowed so profusely I was surprised I could see. I couldn't stop my jaw from clenching, or my body from stiffening, as the visitor cocked his head to the side to get a better look at me strapped down. My toes curled in my stiff boots.

He, it was definitely male, stood in the doorway and stared me down with amused, slanted eyes. He had skin the colour of an opal, shimmering different colours under the ceiling light. He had the shape of a human, stood like a human, but he wasn't. His joints were out of place, posture deformed, and had eyes that were not human at all. There was an alien-like gleam out them, as though the Bastard knew the secrets of the universe.
The only reason I could tell that this one was male was the plumage of feathers he had around the base of his neck, decorating his collarbones. Bright, illuminating feathers of a tropical bird, but sprouted from his grey-jewel skin like he'd ripped them off the poor parrot and stabbed its feathers into his neck.

I didn't care what they called themselves in our tongue. I would always call them Bastards. They were bastards from the day they invaded Earth.

"Your kind are...rare." The Bastard croaked. His dialect was off, from no accent of Earth, but he was trying to communicate either way. He most likely stole it, using one of his alien-freak abilities, with the bird feathers somehow. I didn't know, I didn't care. They could be killed and that's all that mattered.
"No thanks to you." I snapped back, my lips pulled into a snarl. I rolled my wrists, embracing the sound of my chains, and didn't look away from the Bastard's eyes. They were constantly swirling a colour I couldn't name but I held his amused and awed stare.
"I never thought I would see a...a hoo-man, in my spectrum." Their voice cracked and broke like a scratched CD. His eyes wandered down my form and his 'lips' spread to reveal a pair of ruby red gums and one slithery tongue that was barbed, dripping saliva. Not wanting to risk a probably-poisonous strike, I kept still. The Bastard knew I couldn't go anywhere...or at least thought I couldn't.
I didn't bother to reply to it. The stolen feathers on his neck quivered as he raised his hand. I watched the sharp, shiny talons that were edging closer and closer to my cheek. The Bastard grinned, the tips of his mouth stretching to the sides of his face, as he stroked his talon over my cheek.
I winced as the tip pierced my skin and ran down my cheekbone. The Bastard's barbed tongue flickered out briefly, eyes dancing around as drops of my blood splattered over my cheek and shoulder.
"Yes.. I never thought....see the day." He choked out, the foreign English not resting on his tongue.

I didn't say a word, grinding my teeth together to stop any sound of pain escaping. I wouldn't let them know I was in pain, wouldn't let them take another thing from me. They took my world, took my home. My family and friends were lost, we all split up when the invasion happened. The Bastards had everything - I wouldn't give them anything else.