Page 6

CHAPTER 6

T he chamber was cold.

Not freezing, but sterile. Bright, clinical light poured from a band along the ceiling, casting long shadows across the smooth, metallic walls. Her transparent container—her cage—hovered quietly in the center of the room, making no sound, not even the hum of a motor.

He left her there.

Without a glance. Without a sound.

He simply turned and walked away, his black wings folded neatly behind him, vanishing through a seamless door that slid shut without a whisper. No hiss of hydraulics. No locking mechanism she could hear. He was just… gone.

Sylvia sat rigidly in the center of her confinement, muscles tight with a simmering mix of fear and fury. Her bare feet pressed into the slick glass floor, every nerve taut. She kept expecting something— someone —to follow him in. Another alien, maybe, to gawk at her. To give orders. To explain.

But no one came.

The silence was absolute. Oppressive.

She waited. Minutes passed. Or was it an hour? Two? Time had started to blur. The only thing that kept her grounded was her rising heartbeat, pounding steadily.

She looked around the space again. The chamber had no corners, no visible panels, no furniture… just the glowing strip of cold light above and the gentle curve of seamless walls. Even the floor seemed suspended over nothing, like it could peel open and drop her into space.

He had just left her.

Like she wasn’t worth his attention.

She swallowed hard. The initial fear that had gripped her in the auction room hadn’t gone away, but now, layered over it, was something else, an insult she couldn’t articulate. He’d bought her like a possession. She was terrified of him, yes, but she was also a person. And he hadn’t even acknowledged that. Not a word. Not even a flicker of curiosity.

Her fists clenched at her sides.

Fine. If he wanted a mindless pet, he could think again. She’d figure out what he wanted from her eventually, and when she did…

A low vibration shuddered through the walls.

Sylvia froze.

There was another tremor, deeper this time. A subtle throb beneath her feet, like the heartbeat of something colossal.

The cage shifted slightly.

She scrambled to brace herself, palms flat against the glass, staring up at the ceiling as if it could offer answers. The vibration turned into motion. A slow, smooth ascent—no jerking, no tilting—but the unmistakable sense of acceleration.

They were moving.

The ship was taking off.

A protest rose to her lips, but the words dried out in her throat. Her breath fogged against the inside of the transparent shell.

She wasn’t just captured. She wasn’t just auctioned off to the most terrifying being she’d ever laid eyes on.

And now, she was leaving.

Earth was behind her now, already out of reach. Her world. Her beach. Her family. Her life.

Gone.

She pressed her forehead against the glass and closed her eyes, trembling.

She didn’t know where she was going. She didn’t know who—or what —he was. She didn’t even know if she was still in the same solar system.

No one to call. No way to scream.

Just her.

And the being who now owned her.