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Grace

COLD AIR GREETED ME as I opened my eyes. The icy metal mesh floor beneath me sent chills down my spine as the air carried a disgusting smell. The mixture of rotten eggs and sulfur was overpowering as I sat up.

When I pushed my long hair out of my eyes, I gasped.

Two strange beings were standing in front of me with their backs turned. My confusion and fear grew as I listened to their foreign, guttural language.

I felt a sense of panic and stuttered. “Where am I?”

Hearing me speak, the two beings, which I could only describe as aliens, spun round, and I recoiled. My eyes bulged in astonishment when I saw them.

They were both dressed in pale tan jackets and pants, with two legs and two arms like humans, but that’s where the similarities stopped.

The sight of their faces, resembling pigs, terrified me and urged me to flee in the opposite direction.

The problem was it appeared there was nowhere to run.

I found myself in a room devoid of any noise except for a faint humming sound and the voices of the aliens. The walls had a grimy gray hue. The lighting came from the ceiling overhead, but it lacked brightness.

My skin crawled as the aliens got closer.

Both creatures had hands covered in coarse, bristly fur. Their height was about five-foot-five and their midsections were round.

One of the alien creatures yelled something that might have been a curse.

The other pig alien reached for something from its waist.

In a split second, the creature thrust a rod-shaped object against my skin, causing an unbearable searing burn that made my entire body feel as if I’d been struck by a live wire.

I fought against it while my muscles spasmed. It was so intense that my vision blurred.

Within seconds, I fell into unconsciousness.

I EMERGED FROM A SLEEP with no dreams, questioning my surroundings.

Right off the bat, I knew I had been moved because the surface beneath me was hard and felt like a rough stone against my skin.

My senses became heightened as I listened to hushed voices.

Remembering the pig faced aliens and the electric shock which made me unconscious, I shuddered, dreading what might happen to me next.

For several minutes, I lay there motionless like a statue, absorbing the room’s sounds before they noticed I was awake.

Unlike the harsh, guttural language of the pig faced creatures, the voices I heard now were soft and feminine. The smells that rose to meet me were of dirt, sweat, and desperation.

“I’m getting worried. She’s been out for a while,” someone said.

“She’ll be fine. Olivia woke up. So will she,” the other voice reassured.

I was letting their words sink in when I felt a soft tap on my shoulder. The unexpected touch startled me, causing me to sit up before shuffling backwards like a crab.

A woman with dark-hair tied back in a messy ponytail stood beside me, then took a step back. Her eyes, the color of rich chocolate, were fixed on me. I recognized her attire as a specialized branch of military uniform.

A smile of relief crossed her face. “Sorry for spooking you when I touched you. You were knocked out for, like, a whole day and I was freaking out big time.”

Next to her was a curvy woman with a heart-shaped face and light-brown curly hair who observed me without uttering a word.

There was also a third woman. Her short golden-blond hair and striking blue eyes caught my attention, and I couldn’t place the uniform she was wearing.

She let out a bitter laugh. “I would welcome you, but I don’t think you’ll enjoy your stay.” She lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “Fucking aliens have abducted all of us.” With contempt, she spat, “it seems we were all taken at different times.”

Her words penetrated my thoughts, but I couldn’t comprehend any of it for a moment.

Memories flooded my mind. I remember sitting in my mom’s backyard and witnessing an unfamiliar spaceship in the sky.

It came closer, and I’d gone to examine it, but it projected a beam of light toward me and everything went dark.

This, along with the memory of the ugly aliens, made me feel sick with the knowledge I’d been abducted and had no idea how long ago.

With my heart racing, I leaned against the rough wall and mustered the strength to stand.

How much time had passed?

I glanced down at myself and noticed I was still wearing the same clothes from when I was sitting in my backyard.

My t-shirt bore the marks of my struggle with my abductors, with a couple of small tears, but my shorts looked unscathed, despite being dirty.

My hair was a mess and I could smell my own sweat on me.

I took a peek at the women. They weren’t faring much better. “Were you also taken by the pig aliens?”

They nodded.

“Where the hell are we?” I asked, crossing my arms and rubbing them in an attempt to stop my body from shivering. My stomach was all twisted up.

“It’s unclear. We each woke up here on different days,” the woman with a ponytail stated, stepping nearer. “Oh, by the way, I’m Riley.”

She pointed to the blond woman next to her. “This is Avery.”

The woman gave a single nod. “We both arrived a day after each other. I think it was a day, at least.”

The woman with the heart-shaped face moved closer, wringing her hands while she gazed at me. “I arrived just before you. It looks like we might have been taken around the same time.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because I woke up a few hours ago. I’m Olivia, by the way,” she volunteered.

Riley nodded. “She’s telling the truth. We watched the same aliens’ carry each of you in here, but Olivia woke up first.”

I touched the base of my throat. “I’m Grace.” At least I’m not alone. That’s something I guess.

Seeing Riley’s military uniform reminded me of my older brother who died a couple of years earlier.

His death had been really tough on my mother and me. We only had each other after my father died long ago.

It wasn’t long after my brother’s death that mom got sick.

The mere thought of their deaths sent a wave of sadness through my chest, but I couldn’t let it distract me from the task at hand.

I forced myself to push away thoughts of my loved ones. Now wasn’t the time to let emotions get the better of me.

Smoothing my hands down my sides, I cleared my throat, taking in the three women. “Where are you all from?”

Riley put up her palm. “Luna Base One. I was on patrol when they grabbed me. I arrived a day or two after Avery.”

Avery jutted out her chin. “I fly shuttles from the Moon to Earth. I had just landed on Earth for a drop off and was leaving the shuttle when they took me,” she explained.

Olivia offered a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m a schoolteacher from a small town on Earth. They took me after my car broke down. That’s the last thing I remember.” She looked down and rubbed her stomach in small circles as if the action brought her comfort.

All of them looked to be in their late twenties. At thirty-one, I was probably the oldest, but it didn’t matter. We would have to look out for one another if we were going to survive whatever the aliens had planned for us.

The fact that we had been abducted was a total shock to me. “How is it we all ended up abducted? Aren’t there patrols overseeing our planet and the Moon?” I asked, looking at Riley.

She lifted her hands in surrender. “Don’t look at me . I might be stationed on Luna Base, but I’m not part of the space patrols. They are run by another section of the Moon’s military and the Orisians.”

What? My head jerked back. “Orisians? They’re still around? I thought they were long gone.” Shock was evident in my voice.

First contact with Earth was made by the intriguing race of alien’s in 2120, nearly twenty years ago. By then, humans had already long established settlements on Mars and the Moon, so the existence of aliens didn’t come as a shock to some.

I’d never seen the Orisians in person. Only images on vid, but recalled they were huge purple skinned, horned aliens.

When I worked at the hospital in the city before leaving to care for my mother, I’d heard rumors that the Orisians contacted Earth because they wanted Earth females, while others said they were thinking of relocating to Earth.

Then there were whispers of a secretive arrangement with Earth’s government. A couple of years later, apparently the Orisians had been sent away from Earth and told not to return.

Or so I thought.

I scratched my head. How foolish and na?ve am I?

I confess, I was clueless about staying informed on planetary news. All my attention was devoted to caring for my mother during her last year.

Soft scuffling and what sounded like a snort interrupted my racing thoughts. Behind me, a low groan could be heard. Twirling around, I let out a squeak.

A tall, red-skinned alien stared back at me.

I froze, unable to look away. My body twitched in astonishment as I watched the strange being.

The female alien towered at almost six-feet tall.

Black horns protruded from her temples, and her long, dark-hair cascaded down her shoulders like an inky waterfall. Her fingers had pointy black claws. The alien was dressed in a form-fitting outfit that highlighted her lean, toned figure.

Her appearance was both captivating and chilling, resembling that of a beautiful yet fearsome demon.

I couldn’t believe a living, breathing alien was standing right in front of me. The entire situation was so bizarre and ridiculous that I had to cover my mouth to stifle a hysterical laugh.

The peculiar alien stepped up to me, never once breaking eye contact. Something about her stance told me she wasn’t someone to mess with...though, I didn’t feel afraid, exactly. “My name is Joele.” Her voice was both silky and commanding.

I nodded as she spoke and watched as her lips curled into a grin. Joele’s eyes scanned me. Then she nodded in what appeared to be approval.

Still, I couldn’t look away. This alien female exuded strength unlike anything I’d ever seen even in Earth men.