Page 17 of Keeping Freya
“It’s so quiet in here,” she whispers.
“Stay close,” I command while I make my way through the dimly lit hallway.
We follow the hallway and take a left, navigating towards the center of the craft. When we arrive at a crossroads, I decide to go left, deeper into the belly of the ship. I motion for Fr’Ya to stay behind me, which she luckily does. Her face is a mask of sheer determination, though I can smell her fear. The hallway is narrow and has no door. It rounds a corner and opens up into a large circular room. I look at my wrist com and it appears we are at the ship's center.
The room is dark, but faint lights glow at random points on the walls. They pulse and hitch, but we are too far away to get a good look.
“Stay close,” I command as I make my way to the brightest light. A big pulse makes electricity sparkle at the ceiling, and Fr’Ya grabs my harness. The bond flares up at the closeness, and I let it strengthen my calm. It is now more important than ever to keep my mate safe.
Fr’Ya gasps when we are close enough to see what lines the walls. There are huge glass tubes all around. Big enough to fit the biggest alien. And in those tubes, there are bodies floating in some sort of liquid—different species in different states of decay.
“What is this place?” Fr’Ya whispers.
One of the tubes starts glowing, and she lets go of me and walks towards it, as if it is drawing her in.
“Fr’Ya, no! Stay close to me. I think we need to get the hell out of here.” I try to warn her, but it is too late. She touches the tube, and with a yell, she disappears. Cursing, I rush towards the place. It looks as though she activated some sort of trap door. I shove the tube with both hands, trying to get past it, but it does nothing. The hatch does not budge, and I roar when I realise I am separated from my mate.
I try pounding on the floor and using my knife to look for a seam, but I end up frustrated with nothing but lost time. There has to be a lower level to the ship, and I intend to find it. I breathe in, focus on my Warrior Calm, and call on my Warrior mode. When in battle, we can call upon our inner Warrior. My senses heighten, but my features grow sharper, my fingers turn clawlike, and we even grow an inch or two. Whoever took my mate will now experience the full wrath of a Warrior of Arracate.
CHAPTER 10
Freya
Idon’t understand what happened. One minute, I was fine, standing next to T’Rak, and the next thing I knew, I was falling. The drop is short, but my landing is rough. My right foot takes the full hit of my weight, and I cry out when I fall over. My ankle is throbbing.
I bite my lip; now is not the time to start crying. I’m separated from T’Rak, and that’s not a good sign. Luckily, I have my gun.My gun!I definitely dropped it when I fell, so first things first, I have to look for it.
Moving to my hands and knees, I push through the pain and search for the gun with my hands. It can’t be that far. There’s a whole lot of nothing, except for a sticky floor. However, I freeze when I encounter something cold and smooth and… slimy?
A harsh light comes on, and to my utter terror, I am touching feet. Trembling, I look up to see that the feet are attached to a very ugly alien. He holds up the gun in a taunting gesture. “Looking for this?”
Quickly, I scramble away, rising to my feet as best as I can. I step back, but I bump into something, and I don’t even have to look to know it’s another one of those aliens. “Well, well, look what we have here,” he says as he grabs me, and I feel his tongue slithering close to my ear. “Looks like we found ourselves a fancy human…”
No, no, no, no! This can’t be happening, this cannot be happening to me again. Fucking aliens, trying to take me. I have not fought this hard to get free, only to let myself get taken again. Not without one hell of a fight.
I struggle against his hold. “Let me go, you crazy mother fucker!”
I start yelling, kicking, and wrangling. Anything to get myself free. The monsters just laugh at my futile attempts. The one holding me loosens his grip for a second before he shoves me hard. I stumble and fall, right at the feet of the other one. He hoists me back up, grabbing my neck in a tight grip. I already saw that he was ugly, but this close—he is hideous. He appears to be a reptile kind of alien. If a lizard, a snake, and a scorpion were to make a human-sized baby, this would be it. Slimy scales, snake-like head, and a broad tail that has some sort of stinger on top. It’s currently hovering above his head, and I tremble involuntarily. He moves his head even closer and licks my cheek with his disgusting tongue.
“Don’t touch me!”
He just chuckles and throws me back to his companion. I twist my ankle again in the process, the throbbing turning into agony. The alien almost catches me, but steps aside, chuckling menacingly when I fall to the floor again. I barely catch myself on my hands to keep my head from colliding with the floor. I crawl away as quickly as I can, their laughter ringing in my ears.
“She thinks she can escape, isn’t that the funniest thing?”
I feel someone stepping onto my fingers, and I cry out when he grabs my hair and yanks my head up, all the while keeping my hand trapped. “You’re a nice feisty one. You will make us a lot of money.”
“We can always try her out for a test run ourselves,” the other says.
Terror freezes my blood. NO! I would rather die than let anybody rape me again. This bitch is done. With my last effort, I get to my feet and start to bolt, running straight into a third alien.
“What do you two think you’re doing? Did you ever stop to realize she’s probably not alone?” He grabs my arm and starts dragging me with him. “See if you can find her companions and locate their ship.”
The guy is strong and fast, and I have the most trouble keeping up with him. “What’s wrong with you?” he growls.
“I hurt my ankle.”
The minute I say the words, I regret them, because he hoists me over his shoulder. I try to squirm, but his tail instantly hovers near my face. “Don’t try anything. I won’t kill you, but you will wish I did when I sting you.”
