Unnatural Instinct: Abduction

9.

The pain has stopped.

For several moments you close your eyes, basking in the relief of feeling nothing. More tears dribble down your face. You're so sticky; tears have pooled under your ears and into the dip in your throat.

What more are they going to do with you? You hear the heavier thuds of the big alien's footsteps but nothing else. Where are the little ones? Have they left? You open your eyes and roll them around desperately, but you can't see a thing.

You gasp at the feel of a sharp pinch inside you. If you could, you'd scream. The pinch turns to a throb, then an ache, then a wrenching spasm-like pain that shoots up your spine. You snap your eyes shut and grit your teeth. Then, as suddenly as it appeared, the pain's gone.

You open your eyes, feeling someone touching you down there. With another wave of relief, you feel something inside you slowly withdrawn.

Next, he/they/whoever it is, removes the stirrups and gently rests your legs flat on the platform. Is it over? Your heart beats madly in hope. For a long time there's silence, filled only with the sound of your breathing. You blink at a sharp slapping sound, as of someone removing gloves.

It's him. The big, beautiful, horrible one. He's looking down on you with those startling blue eyes, no shield, no gloves.

'It's okay,' echoes his voice around the room, deep and musical. Almost in a trance, you watch his perfect lips as they move. 'There will be no more pain. You're safe.'

You don't know why, but you can't help but believe him. Heat rises up your throat as tears gush out of your eyes.

He disappears and returns, holding some kind of small, square container in his long white fingers. Whatever's inside has a nasty smell. You try to pull away, but can't.

'Have no fear,' he says gently. Slowly, he passes it back and forth beneath your nose. It stinks like an old wet pad. It fills your sinuses. It fills your lungs. It almost seems to press hotly against the back of your eyes. It doesn't take long before you realise what it's doing to you.

It's waking you up.

The heat behind the back of your eyes travels the length of your body, down your arms and torso and legs, then into your fingers and toes. You open and close your hands. You turn your head.

With a cry, you sit up. The alien man steps back as you stare at him wide-eyed. Remembering you're naked, you quickly throw an arm across your breasts and the other across your lap.

'What have you done to me?' you whisper.

'Nothing. I haven't stimulated you enough to retrieve your eggs.'

'My-my eggs?' you say.

He nods slowly. 'That's why you're here. Well, it was once why you're here. Now ...' He purses his lips.

'What are you going to do with me?'

'Nothing.' He considers for a moment. 'Help you.'

A tear trickles down the length of your nose. 'I want to go home.'

'You can't go home. At least, not yet. I'm not due to return to your planet for another two weeks.'

Your heart pounds against your ribs as you pull away from him, sliding off the table until your toes touch the floor. Your lower parts are concealed behind the table now and you feel a little less vulnerable. Wrapping your arms around your breasts, you look swiftly around the room. All the doors are closed. The aliens are gone. You're alone. He doesn't move, watching you, waiting for something.

'Take me home,' you say.

'I can't. Understand that I can't. I am part of a specialised research team. If I return you to your planet when I shouldn't, my seniors will know and investigate.'

'Investigate what?'

'My ... unprofessional behaviour.' His shoulders sag. 'I'll lose everything. And you—' he continues before you can argue '—they won't let you go. They'll dispense of you before risking revelation.'

'What do you mean, 'dispense of me?''

He doesn't answer, but his look is enough.

You take a step back in horror. 'I can't go back?'

'You can but at your allotted time.'

You swallow. 'So ... I stay here.'

He nods.

'With you.' Your voice is a croak.

He stares at you, looking almost dazzling against the bright light of the room. How could something so beautiful be so hard and cruel? But when you look in his eyes, you see no cruelty there. He looks almost ... nervous. 

'Why? Why are you helping me?' you say.

He frowns and doesn't respond; instead, he moves towards the bottom of the platform. As he does, you move away to the top of the platform, still covering your breasts. He bends to pick up something. It's the sheet. It must have slipped to the floor.

He holds it out to you. 'Are you hungry? You must be thirsty.'

You don't answer.

'If you don't let me help you, there's nothing you can do. You're stuck here, unfortunately, until I can safely get you back home.' He holds the sheet out further.

Staying on the opposite side of the platform, you lean across it to take it from him. Your fingers brush. Quickly, you wrap yourself in it.

'I'll find you a suit,' he says, lowering his arm. 'You don't need to be afraid anymore.'

'I need to ...' you lick your lips '... I need to ... to go ...'

'Excrete?' he says, completely without shame.

You wince. What a way to put it.

'Come with me,' he says, taking long, smooth strides towards the door. 'I'll show you where to go.'

He takes you down the corridor. Clutching at the sheet, you look around you. The rest of the ship looks much like the 'lab': cold and empty and full of glowing lights and steel.

With a little shriek, you bunch up close to him as two of those grey aliens walk towards you, their long fingers so thin they almost disappear into the light. Their bare feet slap against the floor. Their big eyes reflect the light of the glowing ship too much, reminding you of empty windows that look into nothing.

'Have no fear of them. They're only drones,' he says.

'Drones?'

'Mindless. They do only what I tell them. They function only as far as their brain formatting allows.'

The two aliens walk past, seemingly oblivious to the frightened, naked woman wrapped in a sheet.

'Won't they ... won't they tell your ... seniors about me ... and you?'

'No. Not unless I tell them to.'

It doesn't make sense but you're too overwhelmed to question him further.

He takes you to a door that opens automatically at his approach.

'These are my quarters,' he says, walking inside.

You enter hesitantly, peering around you. Though bare, it's nice. Really nice. Desk with a chair. Big round bed large enough to sleep four people. There are strange plants placed strategically around the room. You can see the entrance to what might be a little kitchen. Beneath your feet is carpet.

In front of a two-seater white couch that is hovering slightly above the floor is a huge window the size of the wall itself that looks directly onto the blackness of space. You momentarily forget that you're busting to pee as you stare.

'Is that ...?' you say.

'Yes. Your home.'