Page 3 of Barbarian Brothers

Male voices breach the thinning walls of my subconscious with low growls and words I cannot understand. They’re unlike anything I’ve ever heard before. They don’t sound human.

My eyes finally peel open. Jewel nudges me with her shoulder. “Come on, babe, wake up and catch up, we’re in the deepest shit.”

“What’s going on?” I mumble, trying to make sense of what I’m seeing.

“You’ve been out for a while,” Cynthia sighs.

“What happened? Where are we?” I ask.

I look at the girls. There’s no denying they are scared out of their minds. Pale-faced and covered in a sheen of sweat, their hands are tied at the front with what looks like some form of silvery thread—tight enough to keep them from trying to wriggle free but not so tight as to dig into the skin. It’s a peculiar restraint. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this metal before.

Then, the rest of the picture comes into focus.

We’re in a large cubic space made entirely out of metal and something akin to thick sheets of fiberglass. Veins of shimmering obsidian spider across every surface, tiny jolts of light rushing through from one end to the other in a slow but steady rhythm. A persistent hum lingers in the background—an engine. An engine the size of the Chrysler Building, judging by the thunderous noise alone.

“What the hell is this?” I breathe as I try to understand my surroundings.

“Do you want the long version or the short version?” Cynthia asks, her tone flat but definitely irritated. “We’ve been awake for long enough to connect a few dots here.”

“Short version first.”

Jewel sighs deeply. Alicia holds back tears. Her warm brown eyes are puffy and glistening with emotion. This won’t be the first time she has cried in the past hour, at least.

Cynthia gives me a hard look. “We’ve been abducted by aliens.”

“Get the fuck out of here,” I immediately reply, disbelief clear in my tone.

A giant creature emerges from behind a sliding door, and we all scream. It stands in the doorway, massive and terrifying in its appearance—a tall fiend at about seven feet, bulging with muscles all over. Two legs, two incredibly strong arms. Humanoid in most of his features and surprisingly… good-looking? Sharp jawline. A straight aquiline nose. Long and silky black hair flowing over his bulky shoulders. But his skin is a deep shade of crimson, and the veins are slightly illuminated underneath as though lava is flowing through them. Short but sharp claws on his fingers. And four black horns protrude from the back of his head and curl forward.

His pointed ears twitch upon hearing our screams. A tail grows from his behind, long and slim and whipping about with a spike at the very end.

“What the hell are you?” I manage, my eyes nearly jumping out of their sockets as pure dread freezes the blood in my veins.

“Our abductors,” Alicia mumbles, shaking like a leaf next to me.

“Actual fucking aliens,” Jewel says.

The creature remains still, giving me a few more seconds to observe the layers of black leather-like fabric wrapped around his massively muscular body. Whatever he is, he seems to be able to breathe the same air as us—although I have a feeling there’s a tad less oxygen in the atmosphere of this bay. I’m somewhat lightheaded, but that could be the horror of this entire predicament having an impact on my senses.

And then I remember the white light.

“You’re serious,” I gasp. “We were taken? What the hell?”

“He’s been coming over here every two minutes or so,” Cynthia warns me. “His buddies manhandled us into this box thingy and tied us up. I’m surprised it took you so long to come to, Amber.”

“How long have I been out?” I ask, my eyes never leaving his. But his are so strange. An almost glowing red that burns with fascination and excitement.

“Maybe an hour,” Cynthia says. “We’re not so sure, either.”

There are no windows anywhere. Only the obsidian veins with their shooting lights. The fiberglass plates. The shiny, sleek sheets of metal. A plethora of tubes stretch across the ceiling, and a multitude of gears connect to two sets of sliding doors on both ends of the chamber. Our abductor came in through the left, so I can’t help but wonder if we might be able to get out through the right. But even if we got out, where the hell would we go?

The demon-like creature steps into the chamber, and my friends and I scream again.

He smiles, revealing perfect white teeth. He has four sharp fangs where the canine teeth are supposed to be. These would easily tear through flesh and crush a human bone or two. Fear chokes me as he moves closer.

“Stop screaming,” Jewel says, recovering her soldier instincts in the midst of this madness. “They haven’t hurt us yet. They only tied us up. They took us from where nobody could see us. It was fast and covert. I’m not sure what they want to do with us, but I suspect they would’ve killed us by now if that was on theiragenda.”

“Maybe death would be better,” I reply shakily.

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