Page 102 of Owned By Two

Always.

I had never known the word to be so terrifying before.

Alwaysbeing with others?

With no privacy?

I wasn’t even sure what that truly meant but I did know it wasn’t something I wanted.

Then something occurred to me about the way she kept talking:

“Why do you keep referring to yourself as ‘we’?”

The blonde’s smile grew even wider — so wide it showed her teeth and gums.

“Because we arewe,”she said simply. “We are together. Always and forever. We will never be forgotten, will always be remembered. And when our bodies decay and die, we do not fear because we remain alive within the Hive.”

My heart stopped.

I had been lost in the conversation until that moment.

The last word explained everything.

The Hive.

I had heard of them —everyonehad heard of them.

No one was quite sure how they began or why, if they were some kind of disease that allowed consciousness to pass from one person to another — irrespective of their species — for their minds became one, able to share thoughts and knowledge instantly.

Scientists across the galaxy had wanted to study how they did that — to better improve our own systems of communication — but the Hive wouldn’t allow any of their subjects to be experimented on.

They didn’t want any species to develop a defense or weapon that might succeed in destroying it.

After all, if there was any truth in the universe, it was this:

What was a strength always worked equally as a weakness.

If the creatures were linked and capable of incredible networking, then it was possible to discover their weakness and exploit it to utilize that same strength and allow an enemy to wipe them out easily.

And now the Hive wanted me to be a part of it.

I tasted sick in my mouth and I thought I was going to hurl.

“Why me?” I said weakly. “What have I done to you?”

The blonde smiled as she continued arranging various tools on a side table. “You have done nothing. We simply wish for you to be a part of us. And you are our first human. We are excited to learn all about your species.”

The chair I was strapped to morphed into a flatbed.

I struggled harder against my restraints but had no chance of escape.

A large machine descended from the ceiling.

It stopped about a yard from me and I watched as a needle so thin that it would have made a human hair seem huge, extended from the tip, and moved in one direction…

Toward me.

Toward my eye.

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