The Alien’s Reward by Luna Kingsley
Chapter 15
Sarah
“What the hell is going on?”Maren asks. “Are we prisoners, or what?” I haven’t been in the room for long but the other three women have been holding onto their worries since the medical center. From what Maren has explained, they were discharged from there and brought directly here. No opportunity to leave or roam freely. They’re being watched at all times, essentially treated like prisoners.
“I honestly don’t know.” I explain what I know based on what happened to Vah’all and me at the pond earlier. “From the little they’ve explained, there’s going to be another council vote to decide our future. I can only imagine that means there was an uproar over the initial decision that we were allowed to stay.”
“So, we are prisoners.” Willa is huddled on her cot, her knees pulled up to her chest while she rocks back and forth. I haven’t been able to settle down enough yet to sit so I’m still walking a path into the floor.
“Be careful what you say out loud. If we’re prisoners, they’re listening to our conversation right now,” Trinity adds.
“I hate feeling so out of control,” Maren says. She’s up and pacing right behind me now. All four of us are together again so it seems like the appropriate time to figure out a plan B. So far, we’ve been going along with everything but nothing is going our way. If we’re not careful, we’re going to find ourselves with a one-way ticket off this rock in the sky. “We need to figure out what to do instead of leaving our fate up to these creeps.”
“They can’t be all bad,” Willa says in his quiet voice. “They wouldn’t have treated our injuries from the crash if they just wanted to kill us.”
Maren throws her hands up and glares at Willa in frustration.
“What?” Willa asks. “It’s obvious to anyone with eyes that Kraal has a thing for you.”
This is news to me and a conversation we’ll continue when tempers aren’t flaring so hot. “I’ll ask if they’ll let me see Vah’all. Maybe he can give me some answers or give me an idea what we should do next.” I change the subject in an attempt to keep the peace between Willa and Maren. They’ve only been together in this room for a short amount of time, but it’s clear the stress of the situation is wearing on their nerves. The last thing we need is for all of us to start fighting.
“Good luck with that,” Trinity says. “They haven’t let us leave the room since they put us in here.”
Finally, whether from exhaustion or too much stress, I sink down on the last empty cot, resigned to my current situation. “I can’t wrap my head around how we ended up here.” I’m saying the words out loud but not really talking to anyone besides myself.
“At least we’re not in it alone,” Maren says, sitting down next to me. She throws her arm around my shoulder, and I relax into her. Her words make me realize how right she is. We should be thankful we all managed to survive the crash and end up together in this place. Glass half-full kind of attitude and all of that. “Are you okay? Out of all of us, you’ve been the one forced to shack up with an alien these last few days.”
At the mention of Vah’all, my heart seizes up unexpectedly. I swallow past the lump in my throat as images of his gentle fingers brushing over my skin cause goosebumps to break out. “He’s been…kind.” The word is lackluster to describe the ways he’s set my body on fire and made me question my entire existence but it’s what the other women will understand when they haven’t been there to see it.
“That’s good,” she says simply, squeezing my shoulder.
We wait like this for a while. All of us sitting around, wondering what’s going to happen next now that all four of us are together again. Even though I’m determined to stay awake until someone gives me answers about what happened to Vah’all, I end up drifting off anyway when the lights switch off for the night.
“Don’t stress about it,” Maren says. “They do this every night.”
I curl up under the coarse blanket and try to relax but I’m still not as warm as I would be if Vah’all was holding me. Unable to see anything around me, my other senses are heightened. Our room smells almost antiseptic underneath the lightly scented aroma of the one-piece jumpers we’ve all been given to wear. Even though I struggle to hear any sounds outside of this room, I still strain to listen for clues as to whether there’s anyone sitting outside the doors, watching us like a science experiment.
Sleep doesn’t come for a long time, especially once the chills set in. And then, inevitably, the dreams begin.
The night is dark as the passenger door finally gives way and I’m able to stumble from the car. No light except for the high-beams and they shine straight ahead to where my sister lays in an unmoving crumpled heap. Still disoriented from the crash, I have to drag myself along the cold, damp ground until she’s within reach.
“Sam?” The hesitation in my voice reflects how scared I am to see her condition. And yet, I’m struck with the urgency of finding help in order to treat her wounds so she’ll be okay. “Sam, talk to me.” I touch her arm, gently at first and then with more force when she doesn’t respond. It takes me rolling her onto her back before I realize she’s landed on a branch that now protrudes from her stomach. She was crouched in the fetal position to protect her wound, the pain too much for her as her eyes are squeezed shut and she struggles to take shallow breaths.
“It’s going to be okay, Sam. I’m going to get help.” I’m about to force myself to my feet when she protests.
“No, don’t leave me here!”
Her blood encrusted fingers reach for me, her one arm momentarily releasing the wound. When she does, more blood oozes onto her shirt, finally making me realize I should do something about her bleeding.
“Here.” I pull my long-sleeve T-shirt over my head and crumple it into a ball. “I’m going to pull out this branch and then press my shirt to the wound. We’ll stop the bleeding and then I’ll call for help.” She nods frantically like she’s onboard with any plan we make from here on out. Her eyes are solely focused on me and full of trust.
Once I’ve summoned the courage to go through with it, I grip the branch as close to the wound as possible and pull quickly to avoid causing more pain than necessary. Just like I planned to do, I press down on the wound as soon as I can. Except, as I’m pressing my shirt to the wound, it becomes saturated with blood much faster than I anticipated. The flow of blood isn’t stopping, and I don’t have any other supplies.
“Keep your hands on this, Sam. I’m running back to the car to see what else we have to press against the wound.”
I wait for her to respond but she’s drifting in and out of consciousness now. “I’ll try,” she finally says. “I’m just so tired.”
“Try really hard, okay? I’ll be so fast.”
I try to run back to the car, but I stumble over my feet and fall at least three times, all while cursing myself out. Inside the vehicle, I search for my iPhone as well as a blanket or towel that will work to put pressure on the wound. There’s a small fleece blanket jammed under the passenger seat from behind but I’m able to work it out after a few aggressive tugs. When I don’t see my phone right away, that task is abandoned so I can deal with one thing at a time.
Sam isn’t moving when I reach her again. After tossing my now sopping shirt off to the side, I press the blanket against her midsection. She still doesn’t regain consciousness. Tears stream down my face as I sob her name, begging her to wake up and stay with me.
Soon, blood covers us both and I hold her in my lap after the headlights die and I’m shaking from the cold. I’m surrounded by silence. There’s nothing but the sound of my teeth chattering and the scent of death hanging in the air. We lie together in the aftermath of the crash and the only hope I have left is that the forest will come alive and claim me. I scream my wish into the darkness until my voice is hoarse.
“Wake up,Sarah! Jesus, you’re going to wake the dead.” Suddenly, I can breathe again as I sit up in bed with a start. Once I acclimate myself to our surroundings, I flush hot with embarrassment. The rooms on the ship were small but we had our own and they were soundproof. This is the first time the other girls will get a taste of how significant my night terrors can be.
“Sorry.” My heart is pounding like horses stampeding, and I need to press my palm against my chest to keep it from exiting my body. Before I can really pull myself together, the door to the room opens and a warrior whom I recognize as Vah’all’s alpha enters. Normally I wouldn’t pay such close attention, but I want answers regarding Vah’all and this is someone who can give them to me. “Please…I need to see Vah’all. Is he here?”
He’s only stared at me from the moment he opened the door. It takes an eternity, but eventually I get my answer. “Come with me.”
I ignore the shocked expressions on the rest of my friends’ faces and practically run to the door before he can change his mind.