Taken (2 page)

Lyzette stared at the dress in the shop window. She was sure the designer imagined a princess when she created it. It was gold and sparkled. The sleeves were puffed, with the skirt long enough to cover the feet of the lucky woman who got to wear it.

Lyzette thought that if she could have a dress like that just once in her life, she would be able to die happy. She wished that she could have things like that. A princess dress, and a coffee maker that would make her favorite cappuccino every single morning that she wanted one.

Lyzette strolled on down the street, window shopping. She was worried that the man in the black suit would be waiting for her when she left today, but there hadn't been any sign of him. She was getting out of the house for an hour or two before she had to go to work.

It was her mother's day off. She tried her best to avoid her mother as much as possible on those days so she wouldn't bother her. It seemed to Lyzette that her mother thought her a nuisance and wished she would go away. Lyzette stayed out of her mother's vision by going out every Tuesday, looking through the windows on the street with the most expensive shops.

Lyzette wore a sundress that ended at her mid-thigh and had thin spaghetti straps. The dress was tight and hugged her round breasts together. If she wasn't careful and bent over, she might show someone her undergarments. But she was always careful and always a lady. She did what her mother taught her and yet somehow things never worked out for her. She couldn't figure out what she was doing wrong. She thought she was doing everything correctly.

But if she was, what was the matter with her life?

She bought a newspaper once she was back in the regular part of town. Lyzette made sure she leaned forward, giving the man a good view of her breasts. The thin yellow material of the dress barely contained them. She smiled at him cheerfully and took her newspaper to the park. Her mother said it wasn't teasing — it was inspiring men to do what you wanted them to by using all of your assets.

On the front page was a story about yet another alien race. Her mother said that the President of Earth was trying to get everyone to like the weird aliens on other planets, but she was damned if she was going to. Her mother had preferred it when humans had thought that they were the only ones in the galaxy.

Lyzette ignored the stories about aliens. She didn't care about that sort of thing, and instead she turned to the comics page and read all her favorites, laughing aloud at some of the silly ones. She surprised herself by finishing the entire word search.

The newspaper took her full attention. If she had been more aware of her surroundings, she would have noticed men consistently giving her looks that would make her blush. They had been doing that since she was fourteen and started needing a bra.

The looks were nearly always at her chest and not her face. Her mother said that men were only after one thing, and there wasn't a decent one that roamed the Earth. The only thing to do was to catch one and make him give you everything you wanted. That was the ticket to a fabulous lifestyle.

Lyzette didn't imagine all men could be dangerous. Some had been kind to her. Old Eddie at the pawn shop was sweet when she brought in her mother's jewelry to sell.

She couldn't think of any others, but that didn't mean there weren't any.

When she got on the crowded five o'clock bus back to her neighborhood, there weren't any seats available. She was forced to stand and hold onto the overhead straps. This made her uncomfortable because her dress rode up high, and her breasts pushed out much. The men on the bus either glanced at her when they thought she wasn't looking, or openly leered at her. One guy got on a few stops after her and grabbed the strap beside her. He swayed his body into hers every time the bus driver braked.

Lyzette was red-faced and embarrassed by the time she got off the bus. She was two streets away from her house. It was late, and the sun had already gone down. She felt anxious. She should have caught the earlier bus, but she had wanted to stay out as long as possible and enjoy being out.

She realized it had been a stupid decision. It was dark enough to obscure her vision but not shadowy enough for the street lights to activate. She pulled her skirt down yet again and made her way home. At least she was only wearing chunky one-inch heels.

She made sure to walk down a different street today than the one that she took yesterday when the man in the black suit followed her.

This street was well-lit which made her feel better. There was only a one-block stretch where there was complete darkness and she would walk quickly across that part. She would be home in five minutes and her mother could tell her again that she had been imagining things.

But instead of going straight home, on a whim she stopped at the local bar to pick up some fries and a sandwich for dinner. Her mother didn't cook on her day off, and she didn't feel like having macaroni and cheese tonight.

The bar was crowded inside. There were three or four tables that were full. One of the tables had a bunch of young, drunk guys.

She placed her order and waited by the cash register. One of the young men sidled up to her and stood close enough to make her feel uncomfortable.

"Hey," he said. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you," she said. Lyzette wished she had stopped at the deli instead.

She didn't ask him to step back. In her experience, they never did.

"Want to have a beer at our table?" he said, smiling charmingly.

"No thank you. I need to get home."

"I could take you home," he said, stepping back and looking her up and down. When he finished examining her body, he licked his lips.

Lyzette swallowed. God, she hated this. Why did it keep happening to her?

"No, thank you. I'll be fine."

"Well, see you around then," he said. He went back to his table, but she could feel his eyes undressing her as she stood.

Finally, her order came, and she took the two bags and pushed the door open with her back. Lyzette headed down the street, and to her dismay she noticed that the man who had approached her in the pub was leaving and walking down the sidewalk behind her. Darn it.

She wasn't being followed again, was she? Twice in two days was too much. She needed to call the cops. But she didn't want to stop now because she thought that might be dangerous too, so she kept on walking.

Soon she got to the block where there was poor illumination. She noticed that there was a dark alley halfway up the street. Lyzette wondered how she could have forgotten about the alleyway. Her breathing sped up as she felt fear squeeze her heart. She glanced back and saw that the young man had nearly closed the distance between them. She accelerated and felt her calves and quads burning as she walked as fast as she could.

But it was no use. By the time she was almost at the alley, he was beside her.

"Hey there," he said. "Can I carry one of those bags for you, beautiful?"

"No thank you," Lyzette said, looking straight ahead. "I'm fine."

"You are fine," he said. "Damn fine."

He stepped in front of her and forced her to stop. She could see her bosom heaving from her fast breathing, and she knew he had noticed it too.

"Are you out of breath or turned on?" he asked. "A slut like you probably likes it in alleyways, huh?"

He grabbed her arm and began to walk her into the darkness. Lyzette struggled, but it was too late. He dragged her along. Soon she could make out what was in the alleyway: a dumpster for trash and a doorway with two steps going up to it.

He pressed his body towards her and backed her up against the wall. Her bags of food were dropped and forgotten on the dark, dirty, pavement of the alley. She realized at that moment that she was in big trouble.

She was alone with a man who clearly only wanted one thing — her jewel. And he would take it if she wouldn't give it to him. There was no one to help her because her mother didn't know where she was. Anyone from the pub would want a turn instead of helping her.

She felt his hard chest pressing against her soft mounds as he pinned her to the wall. She took a breath to scream and found her mouth covered by his as he kissed her forcefully. He tasted like beer. His demanding tongue thrust into her mouth, and his hands palmed her breasts, squeezing and pinching her nipples.

She made an unhappy sound and struggled, but her resistance only seemed to inflame him more. He lifted her up and wrapped her legs around his waist. She felt something hard pushing against her panties.

That was his cock, she knew, which would push up inside her taking her jewel. She had to get out of this situation immediately.

He pulled his head away from hers to rip her dress down, allowing her breasts to spill out of the tiny bra that held them in check. He groaned and bent to take one in his mouth, and as his face came down, Lyzette drew her head back and walloped him on the nose with her forehead.

"Ow!" he yelled, dropping her and putting his hands on his face. Blood poured out.

Lyzette scrambled to her feet. The man's blood was all over her beautiful dress. She ran for the opening of the alley as fast as she could go, and kicked off her shoes so she could run faster.

"Get back here, you fucking whore," the man growled behind her, but Lyzette didn't stop. Just then, she looked up and saw his friends from the bar closing off her escape.

Lyzette knew that worse things than losing her jewel were in store if they trapped her in the alley. She knew what happened to girls that were caught by a bunch of guys that only wanted one thing.

She skidded to a stop and searched for some other means of escape. She would take any help. At that moment, the door leading into the alley opened, spilling a sharp slice of light into the darkness.

It was as if heaven itself was opening up for her.

"Hey," a voice said. "Do you need help?"

"Yes," she nearly sobbed.

"Come in here. Come on, quick," the voice said.

And Lyzette gratefully scrambled through the door. As it shut behind her, she heard the men pounding on it and yelling.

"Oh my God," she said. "Thank you."

She looked around to see who it was who had saved her and noticed that she was in an empty room that echoed with the sounds of her shaky voice. There was a bare light bulb with a grimy string hanging from it.

"It was my pleasure," said the voice. She realized it had a grating edge that made her instantly nervous. When she moved to the sound, she saw that it belonged to someone with their back to her. But even before he turned around, she recognized the black suit.

"What...what...?" she stammered. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, she thought.

"Don't worry," he said. "I won't fuck you like they would have, much as I would like to. My employers frown on such behavior, but that doesn't mean I can't copy a feel ever now and then," he said. He reached out to fondle her breasts, which she realized were still hanging out of her dress. She hadn't had time to stuff them back in.

"Who do you work for?" she asked.

He laughed. "I guess it doesn't matter now," he said. "You know the mail-order bride company that has all the commercials? TerraMates?"

Lyzette nodded numbly. Their advertising was everywhere, and it looked like a fun adventure. She might have signed up herself, but she wasn't sure about getting married to an alien.

"Sometimes they don't get enough volunteers, and hire independent contractors to increase their bridal pool. Some might call it abduction, or stealing girls off the streets. I prefer to think of it as gainful employment. I mean, I work hard selecting the appropriate candidates." He looked at Lyzette's body appreciatively. "Don't worry. You'll be well taken care of, and they will generously compensate me."

Somehow that didn't make Lyzette feel any better. She stood still, allowing him to touch her because she had a feeling that this man was far more dangerous than the ones on the other side of the door. She felt like an animal on the highway at night, transfixed by the lights.

"Nice." He bent down to suck her nipple into his mouth. She shuddered. She was more afraid than she had ever been in her life.

Without warning, he bit her sharply, and she cried out. In seconds, her knees buckled and her vision got blurry. But before she went completely unconscious, she saw that his eyes had a hint of yellow.

Was he human?

When she came to, Lyzette looked around fearfully for her captor, but there was no one in sight. She was in another empty room. This one had indirect lighting and she couldn't see where the light was coming from.

Blood covered her dress. It was from the man she had head-butted. Her dress was now ripped and torn in several places, revealing more of her skin than she would like. She checked herself over to see if anyone or anything had molested her, but her pride and purity both seemed intact.

Her arms and legs were bruised and scraped. Perhaps she had been tossed around. It seemed unusual that her lady parts were unharmed. As she checked herself over, she thought about the strange not-man that had bitten her breast.

He was clearly an alien.

Unlike many people on Earth, she had no problems with aliens in general. But she didn't like them specifically biting her and knocking her out.

She had watched a few documentaries on some of the other species that inhabited the galaxy, and she had never heard of one that had greenish skin, yellow eyes, and a venomous bite. Apparently she needed to watch a few more.

She pulled her dress down and found that she had teeth marks on her skin. The wound was turning a strange green color, and she hoped that it wasn't getting infected. By the look of it, the cuts had healed a significant amount, and Lyzette immediately wondered how long she had been asleep.

She stood up, tucking her breasts back in and pulling down her dress by habit. She walked around the room. Smooth plastic covered the walls, and there was no door. The floor ran up into the walls seamlessly.