Page 13 of Einar (The Brigands of Ruk #2)
Chapter Thirteen
ROWAN
My brain has come to a conclusion that my conscious mind doesn’t want to believe.
We’ve … been …we’ve been … abducted by aliens.
There are creatures of every shape and size, creating a cacophony of sound as the females are led up and down the stage. A sudden coughing fit catches me by surprise as the scents in the room finally register. I’m not on Earth anymore and there’s no telling who, or what I’m allergic to in this room.
I can see the Nagas in front grabbing two females at a time, no matter what species they are, ripping their clothing off them and forcing them to walk down the aisle in the middle of the platform. The “ T ” shaped stage is the centerpiece of the giant room we’ve been forced into. Each time a new pair of females is prodded down the length of the platform, the volume of the crowd swells with all sorts of sounds floating across the vast space toward the stage.
The Nagas are showing the females off, twisting their bodies this way and that, ensuring the crowd sees everything each one has to offer. After this goes on for several moments, sometimes a chime will sound and the females that receive the chime are led down a different hallway away from the rest of us. The screams that sound after that door closes are heart wrenching. Females that don’t get the chime are escorted to the back of the stage and left against the back wall, with what appears to be one guard loitering nearby.
As far as the eye can see, there are things staring at the hysterically crying females being paraded up and down the stage … and they all look hungry. In fact, more than one of the beings in front of us has the same look in their eyes that Robert did when he was getting ready to ‘ discipline’ me. Narrowing my eyes, I look closer and when it hits me, the knowledge slams into my brain like a freight train.
The monsters all appear to be MALE .
OH NO , OH NO , OH NO !
Sucking in a labored breath, I emit a high-pitched whine as I start pulling away from Ruby , trying to force myself away from the hell in front of us. My sister doesn’t know. Ruby doesn’t understand , but I do. We are the goods in this market of hideousness. The Nagas are the salesmen, and we are the wares they’re showing off to customers. That’s what the stage is for!
Ruby grabs at me before quietly barking out a question. “ What are you doing? Don’t do anything to make those scaly bastards notice you.”
“ Ruby , I can’t.”
It should shame me to be so weak in front of my beloved sister, but it does NOT when I know what’s most likely to become of us. I would rather die than be some savage’s toy.
“ I don’t think we’re being given a choice in the matter. I’m not super happy about this either sis, but fuck! Do you see a magical door that we can slip through somewhere? I sure as shit don’t and have you looked around at all? Because I believe wholeheartedly that we’re on the other side of the damn rainbow and it isn’t the pretty one, either. This one has led us straight to hell.”
“ Ruby , I’m not like you. My strength and will to live is long gone.”
“ The hell it is! You’re my sister and you are stronger than you’re giving yourself credit for. I can’t do this alone, sis. You’re the only reason I’m not falling apart right now. I need you Rowan , so please, in the middle of everything else, my mind can’t deal with the thought of losing you, too. So , here’s the plan. No matter what they do to us, we do everything we can to stay together. Every time they try to yank us apart, you reach for me, you hear me? We can’t let them separate us, or we’ll be lost to each other forever. I can face this if you’re beside me, but not alone.”
“ I won’t let go.”
Ruby’s words are exactly what I needed to hear. I have to be strong, if not for myself, then for her. I’m the reason she’s in this mess and I owe it to her to do everything I can for her. Guilt threatens to overwhelm me, but I can’t fall apart. No matter how much I want to sink into the blank space inside my mind.
My sister needs me.
I no more than make that vow to her when massive, brutal hands grab at both of us. We were so focused on our quiet conversation that we missed the fact that we were next in line at the base of the stage. One of the Nagas shoves Ruby so hard that I have to catch her before she falls. I don’t know how much blood she’s lost, but the wound in her side has a steady stream flowing from it. Definitely something she needs medical attention for, not that we’ll get any in this hellish place.
The Naga holding us tries to force us apart, to no avail. It hisses out something and a second set of hands grabs us in the effort to separate us. We are putting up more of a fight than any of the other females up to this point. I can feel Ruby’s nails cutting into my arms and I can see the bloody furrows in her skin where my nails have cut her in return, latching onto one another every time our captors tear us apart. I’m fighting with every bit of strength I have left in me, because this is for my sister.
I owe her and refuse to fail her.
Suddenly , I feel a hand in my hair as one of the Nagas wraps his meaty fist in my long tresses. The powerful pull arches my body away from Ruby , yet I continue my attempt to reach my sister. It snarls down into my face only to pause as its eyes scan my visage, seemingly noticing my bruises for the first time. It grunts something out in its language to the one holding Ruby , and they start hissing back and forth.
It doesn’t take a genius to realize that they’re not happy about the condition my face is in. The Naga holding Ruby looks out at the crowd that’s gotten noticeably louder during the time we’ve been fighting the sneaky snakes holding us captive. The one holding Ruby growls something out and yanks her forward. Terror fills me at the thought of being separated from the only person I love, so I lunge toward her, catching the Naga holding me by surprise as I manage to tightly grab hold of one of Ruby’s hands.
The clanging of a loud bell jerks our attention back to the stage and before either of us knows it, the Nagas on either side of us rip us apart from one another. Long , deadly sharp knives appear in both of their hands as they begin cutting the clothes from our backs. Logically , I knew this was coming, but nothing can really prepare you for something like this. Ruby is fighting back with everything she’s got, but I’m too scared to flail around for fear that one of those pieces of lethal looking metal will slip and cut me deeper than the wound Ruby has on her side.
Seconds later, our clothes are laying in tattered heaps on the ground, showing how skilled our captors are in this onerous task. A stinging sensation around my legs makes me look down and I see little trickles of blood running down my legs where the giant snake cut me on purpose. Glancing up at it, I can see the smirk on its face as it glares back at me.
Ruby’s head turns my way, and I instinctively curl into myself, bending forward while raising my hands up to cover as much of my torso as I can. She still doesn’t know about the jewelry. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Ruby crane her neck to look closer. I know she’s trying to see if I’m hurt any worse, but I can’t stand the shame of what I allowed to happen to me to be seen.
Not yet.
One of the Nagas grabs Ruby and pushes her forward. Her hand streaks out, grabbing onto my forearm as she pulls me on along behind her. She stumbles a little as we make our way out onto the catwalk. Now that we are up here, we cannot see anyone or anything out in the audience. Lights embedded into the floor of the stage reflect back up at us, highlighting our bodies and obscuring the crowd from us. It’s not like that matters all that much.
I can feel them staring.
The knowledge rips a whimper from me, which causes Ruby’s head to whip around to check on me. I see her eyes flare in horror as she sees exactly what I’ve been hiding from her. I know what she’s looking at. The ornate, delicate chain that connects two nipple piercings extends down to my navel piercing and goes even lower to the hood piecing at the top of my vagina. My eyes remain fixed on the floor in front of us, avoiding her eyes the best I can.
Ruby grips my hand, squeezing it in reassurance. She’s trying to provide me with what little comfort she can, considering the circumstances in which we currently find ourselves.
We may not have much … but at least we have each other… for now.
The nasty snake holding Ruby jerks her to a stop and tilts her head back. I can see where its sharp claws are digging into her face. A flash of movement catches me by surprise. There is a little flying orb floating all around us. It floats up and down Ruby’s body, pausing occasionally, and I can see a tiny flash every so often.
It’s taking pictures of her!
I watch as the flying object takes a photo of the mole on her cheek, which makes her flinch, causing the Naga holding her to grip her face tighter in reaction. Red blood beads in every single spot his claws touch her, and my grip on her hand tightens in solidarity. Refocusing on the robot photographer, I watch as it hovers in front of the tattoo on her hip, and the scar on her knee.
The thing circles Ruby several times before a red light goes off and it makes several beeping sounds. It’s inspection of Ruby done, the orb floats over to me and takes twice as long to inspect me as it does my sister. Flash after flash hits me as the sphere takes more and more photos. It didn’t take me long to figure out what the UFO was doing; it’s categorizing our flaws or imperfections.
No one wants to buy damaged goods after all.
I know what my naked body looks like. Once you get past the body jewelry and the fresh bruises … my body is liberally covered in scars. Minutes pass as the UFO circles me over and over.
Finally , the light flashes red and it makes the same beeping sound for me as it did for Ruby . Without warning, our captors haul us back up the stage and toss us along the back wall with the small group of women left there. I groan at the impact my fragile body makes on the unforgiving floor.
Hearing my groan, Ruby grabs me and pulls me as far away from everyone as she possibly can. My teeth are chattering, and I know I’m not far from going into shock. Her hand reaches out and grabs the tiny lock that connects all the chains on my body, inspecting it for weaknesses if I know my sister.
It’s so cold in here. Ruby and I are huddling together, trying to share body heat the best we can to stay warm. Clinging to one another, we sit there and watch as girl after girl, and alien female after alien female, is forcibly paraded down and back on that awful platform. I don’t know how long this goes on, but eventually there are only two human women left.
The girl that was bitten and the lady that helped us when Ruby woke me up. Just as I think the nasty snakes are going to haul that poor unconscious woman up on stage, he pivots and throws her toward us. Her body hitting the wall next to me makes me cringe in sympathy. If she wasn’t dead before, she definitely is now.
Angling my eyes away from the body lying next to us, I watch in horror as the nice lady from earlier is forced down the aisle; the UFO takes her photos and then she’s forced passed us and through the automatic door. Her blood-curdling screams are the last thing we all hear before the door slowly slides shut.
Multi -toned bells sound throughout the room and within minutes, it becomes deathly quiet. The overwhelming sounds from the crowd of buyers have faded and silence has taken its place. The Naga guarding us hisses out a sneer in our general direction before it leaves.
Peering out from under my lashes, I realize that we’ve been left completely alone.
This doesn’t bode well.