Page 324 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

Meena

Huddled between two smelly trashcans inside a narrow corridor, I tried desperately to figure out what to do next. I had no clue where I was, but I did know that the past two days had been the worst of my life. I shuddered just thinking about it.

When I’d gone to sleep in my tiny one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco, the last thing I expected was to wake up somewhere else entirely.

Nobody told me what was going on, and there wasn’t anyone even remotely human around me.

When they had yanked me from some kind of glass coffin, completely alien-looking creatures had surrounded me.

Aliens, that’s what I figured they had to be, that or demons.

Considering the fact that the one window I’d seen had provided me with a view of endless stars… I was leaning toward aliens.

Shivering, I rubbed at my bare arms, goosebumps covering me from chin to toe.

Not from the cold so much as the memories.

I’d run at the first opportunity, and I didn’t give a damn what anyone back home would think of what I’d done to get it.

There were still bluish smears of alien blood streaked over my arms and coating my clothing, flaking off in itchy, shimmering scales that were disgustingly pretty, considering what they were.

Now what? Because, Toto, this was definitely not Kansas.

My eyes tracked the neon lights visible through the opening of the alley on my right.

Greens, oranges, pinks, and purples flashed in indecipherable symbols.

They were both extremely familiar and exceedingly strange.

When I escaped, I’d dashed through alley after alley lined with neon lights just like those.

I’d passed so many different aliens that it had all become one giant blur in my already taxed mind.

I didn’t know where to go or who to trust. Was what I’d been through a legal thing here?

Did I even have any rights? I couldn’t understand a single thing anyone said to me, though I had the feeling the reverse was not true.

Each time I’d dared to swear at my captor, he’d punished me swiftly and forcefully. I still wore the bruises from it.

My fingers touched the tight collar around my throat, the other way I’d been punished when I didn’t do what they wanted quickly enough.

I still vividly recalled what it felt like when that pain switch flicked on, sending fire through every single nerve in my body.

Bastards. They totally deserved what I’d done—and then some.

Yet, when I closed my eyes, I flinched from the violent images I saw there; my own memories.

I used to think I couldn’t hurt a fly. Heck, I was the kind of person who would capture a spider or bug with a cup and a piece of paper to safely release it outside.

It was horrible to discover the things I could do when it came down to my survival; I wasn’t sure if I liked that side of myself. At least I was alive, but for how long?

Shadows passed in front of the narrow opening constantly, each one making me flinch deeper into my hiding spot.

I just wanted to catch a little breather—a moment to reorient myself—and I hoped the smell of this place would help conceal me.

There had been no mistaking the way they had looked at me, running for my life through those alleys.

I was not safe, and not a single person or alien had reached out to help me.

Muffling a sob with a fist, I tried to squeeze my eyes shut as hard as I could to keep in the tears.

Feeling sorry for myself wasn’t going to help me; I had to get my act together and figure out a plan.

It was just so hard to even think of anything when the world I was now in was so completely different.

I didn’t know the rules. I didn’t know where I could turn.

I just remembered the auction house where they took me and a dozen other humans from stasis pods, threw us into cells where we awaited our fate, and locked those pain collars around our throats.

The first one they’d pulled out of there had been me.

They stripped me of my clothing, of my humanity, and turned me into an object.

I wasn’t wearing the same lacy lingerie set they’d put me in now, but it might as well have been, for how little it covered me.

They had sold me after I had been forced to twirl like a stripper on a podium, and I’d obeyed because the pain had been too much.

I knew I had little choice, but it still burned me with shame that I’d complied as easily as I had.

I hadn’t even seen who bought me. Mostly, I just remembered what came next: the tiny locked box they’d thrown me in.

For endless hours, I’d been stuck inside, thinking I was about to die, worried they had buried me alive—if not for the noises filtering into my prison.

What came after was far worse than the box, and my brain shied away from that recollection.

It had no use for me here, and I didn’t want to dwell on it.

Forcing myself to focus on the present, on what I could control right now, was hard, but I did it.

I needed to find out where I was. Was I up in space, on a spaceship?

This looked more like the bad part of town, except there was no sky—just pipes and metal ceilings boxing in the alleys and corridors.

A space station? Or was it some kind of weird underground city?

I’d definitely seen a window with stars beyond it, too bright and numerous to be viewed through an atmosphere.

I just didn’t know how long I’d traveled while in that damn box, so I couldn’t be sure if I was still in the same location as the auction house.

I spared a brief moment of worry for the other humans I knew had been in that place.

How long had it been since I’d been auctioned off?

A couple of hours? Half a day? Maybe even longer, I couldn’t be sure.

It felt like forever, and I felt old having gone through it.

Had they all been sold by now? Gone through something similar to what I had? For their sake, I really hoped not.

I was starting to think I had to get up and move simply because I had no idea what else to do.

Sitting here, I’d never find out where I was, or how to get to safety.

I still had the blade, and I knew I was willing to use it if it meant survival.

I was going to have to take my chances at some point and reach out for help.

Would a police station look similar enough out here that I could even recognize one? Did they even have police?

A shadow flicked across the narrow opening to the corridor I was huddled in.

I froze, muffling a scared whimper with the heel of my hand, as my eyes desperately tried to decipher who was standing there.

This shadow—unlike the others—wasn’t moving on.

It darkened the passage and made it hard to see anything, blocking out all the neon lights from the alley behind it.

A deep rumble filled the space, low and earthy.

It was a sound that reminded me of the deep rumble of an avalanche, so low, it was almost beyond my range of hearing.

Then an electronic voice said, “Human female, do not be afraid. I am here to help you.” Heck no, I couldn’t trust that.

The concern that he knew I was here followed that thought; how had he found me?

If I stayed huddled in my hiding spot, would he think he was wrong and move on?

I heard something rustle, and the shadow seemed to get even bigger.

I held my breath as long as I could, hoping he didn’t know where I was.

Was that the guy I’d escaped from? The creepy alien with thick gray skin?

He had a body shaped so entirely different from a human’s that I couldn’t do anything but believe I was stuck with an alien.

Was this the same guy? I really hoped not…

I hoped that when I stabbed him in his small, black eye, that was the end of that dirty bastard.

“I know you are there,” the electronic voice translated after another deep rumble filled the space.

There was a deep, gusty sigh, so big that I could almost feel it brush over my skin.

I huddled even deeper into my stolen coat, but I was starting to run out of air.

It felt like he’d know where I was the moment I made a sound to breathe.

“My mate, Agatha, is human, and she says I look scary but have a heart of gold,” the strange voice said with no inflection.

“She said that if I find a human, to remind them that there’s always a silver lining; whatever that may be.

To remind them that even though places like Michigan or New York might be gone, that doesn’t mean they can’t be safe and find a home. ”

I inhaled quietly through my teeth, my head spinning, my mind trying to make sense of the words.

To look for a silver lining; that was a human expression.

Maybe this alien didn’t know what it meant.

The electronic voice had no inflection, but it felt like the deep rumbles that had preceded it had sounded soothing and gentle.

Less avalanche, more the deep purr of a contented cat, a big one.

A motion made me flinch back, thudding my head against the wall behind me, and my fingers twitched around the handle of my knife.

A scream tore from my throat at the sight, my heart rate shooting through the roof.

It wasn’t the alien I’d escaped, but this one certainly didn’t look like an improvement.

Two tusks jutted up from a thick bottom lip—a face that was human, but with exaggerated features, giving him a wholly ugly, terrifying appearance.

A crown of horns circled a bald gray skull; they gleamed obsidian black and looked dangerously sharp.

The slate-gray eyes were his softest feature: kind and serious.

When I screamed, he winced, shuffling back a little from me.

One gray hand came up to rub at one of his tusks a little ruefully.

At least, that’s what it looked like to me.

But who was to say an alien could even feel rueful?

“Sorry,” he rumbled, followed by the electronic translation.

“I know I look a little terrifying. I can’t help it…

” Holding out two palms, he showed me they were both empty, though tipped with sharp black claws.

I could see that he was squatting in front of the opening between the trashcans I was hiding between.

Then my eyes zoned in on the fact that he was wearing nothing more than a leather kilt made up of many leather strips dangling from a studded belt.

His gray legs were bare, bent, and shaped like the hind legs of a lion, down to the clawed feet.

His chest was bulging with muscle, and so were his thick arms. His entire skin seemed to be made up of shades of gray, with a textured appearance that made it look as if he were made of stone.

He shifted, but let me look my fill without comment.

Those gray eyes seemed shockingly kind for a creature that looked like a gargoyle.

Then I heard that fluttering noise again, and I realized that he actually had a set of big, leathery wings sprouting from his back.

No wonder his shadow had seemed so huge; this creature was a nightmare!

My hand with the knife trembled, like with that creep who thought he could buy me.

The only weak spot on this alien seemed to be his eyes.

I didn’t think I had it in me to stab him there.

His eyes were looking at me so patiently.

I was going nuts! This was about survival! I had to; what choice did I have?

“I know things seem hopeless to you right now. How could you possibly trust me after what you’ve been through?

” the alien rumbled, his hands casually resting on his bent knees as he watched me.

His wings were moving, tucking tightly against his back.

“I was sent here to locate and rescue the humans who were stolen and sold. We can’t bring you home, but we can take you to a safe place. Will you let me help you, brave human?”

The words still seemed too good to be true, but everything came down to choices, and I had very few options.

Declining his offer of help meant I was either on my own out here, or he’d drop the ruse and force me to come.

Accepting it, and I might walk straight into a trap… or it could turn out to be genuine.

My body shook, my muscles aching from the cramped way I was sitting.

A part of me wanted to fight, but the bigger part of me was simply so exhausted.

I’d sat here for a while now and come up with zero solutions.

I guessed I’d just have to take the gamble.

If he didn’t take my knife, I could always try to run again if I smelled betrayal.

Mind made up, I gave him a slight nod, then uncurled from my hiding spot. Clutching my stolen coat around my barely clad body, I followed the stranger, hoping he’d prove to be my salvation.