Taken (3 page)

She might as well have been in a box, not a room.

She frowned, sitting down on the floor again. She felt woozy when she stood up. After an hour or two, she felt tired, and she lay down to sleep.

When Lyzette awoke the second time, she felt the urge to urinate. She called out and waited to see if anyone would answer.

No one did. She didn't know if that was good or bad.

She decided to hold it as long as she could before she polluted the corner. She knew her room would start to smell once she had to go, and she would put it off as long as possible.

She wondered if anyone would attend to her or if she was supposed to stay here until she died. She had no way of knowing how long she had been there and no way of tracking time. She didn't have a watch, and there were no windows.

After another hour of being awake, she couldn't control her bladder any longer, and she relieved herself in a corner. At least she wasn't drinking, she thought; she wouldn't have to do this again any time soon. Her stomach rumbled. She realized that it had been a very long time since her last meal.

She stared at the walls and wondered what her mother was doing since she had disappeared. Mom certainly wasn't calling the police to report her missing. Lyzette thought longingly about the club sandwich and fries that were rotting in the alley.

She would give anything for a bite of a sandwich right now — even her jewel.

After another few hours, she started feeling sleepy again and wondered why she couldn't stay awake. She lay down, drifting off immediately.

When Lyzette awoke for the third time, things had changed.

She was in a different room. She was on a bed; it was not a comfortable bed, but a bed nonetheless. Her dress was gone, and she was wearing an outfit that made her even less comfortable. Especially when she thought about how it had got on her body.

It was similar to a swimsuit, but most of the suit was missing. Cups covered and supported her breasts like a push-up bra. She wore tiny panties that narrowed to a thong in the back, and her butt was hanging out. Several strips of fabric went across her midsection in an X shape but didn't cover anything. Two more straps crossed her back and attached to the panties.

She felt completely exposed.

There was a thin blanket on the bed, and she wrapped it around herself like a towel, covering her body. With nothing else to do, she sat down on the bed to wait.

Somehow her bladder was full again. That's when she noticed that there was a screened-off area of the room, and when she went behind it, there was a toilet and a tiny sink. These were the luxury suites in the alien spaceship hotel.

She used the bathroom and washed up. Once she was finished with her short cleaning routine, though, she got restless and returned to the bed.

Apparently she was dressed this way and in this room for a reason. She had only to wait and see.

Lyzette wasn't sure when it happened. It was impossible to tell time. She could have been there for minutes, hours, or days. All she knew was that after she had blinked, there was someone in the room with her.

It was the man in the black suit.

He looked exactly the same as before. He wasn't wearing panties or a weird alien outfit. She instinctively pressed herself against the wall and pulled the blanket around herself more tightly. Her bite wounds throbbed as he smiled at her.

"Are you ready, little human?" he said.

"Ready for what?" Lyzette squeaked. She hated how small her voice sounded.

"You're going to be on display. There'll be no modesty allowed, unfortunately. Covering yourself with a blanket is simply out of the question when I take you out there. Remember that."

"When you take me out where?" Her heart started to pound. What was going on? She felt completely lost and at the mercy of this creature.

He didn't explain.

"There are going to be a lot of people interested in you. And you are going to smile and look pretty so that one of them will choose you. Do you understand? I want you be selected this round, and if you don't, then I will be very displeased. You don't want to see me upset."

She certainly didn't. His eyes bored into her, and she wished he would look away. He walked over to her and pulled her roughly to her feet. She lost her hold on the blanket, and it fell to the floor. He smiled when he saw her nearly naked body.

"I didn't fuck you because I want someone to choose you. You're most valuable if you're pure. But if you don't go, all bets are off. And I will split you in two, little human. Mordeelans are well endowed, very well endowed."

Lyzette felt her eyes grow wide as she watched him adjust what looked like a snake in his pants. She knew he meant that he would take her jewel.

She didn't know what he meant when he said he would split her in two, but it sounded terribly unpleasant.

"I almost hope you don't go," he whispered in her ear, squeezing one of her butt cheeks.

She didn't have a clue what he was talking about, but she would smile, and she would look cute.

She would do anything to get away from him.

Once she was in the cage, she thought perhaps there were some things she would not do to get away from him.

Aliens tied her up with her arms and legs spread-eagled. The thong left little to any alien's imagination. She had been tied so that her back was arched. Her breasts bulged and nearly tumbled out of their confinement.

After the first three hours, she had stopped blushing.

When the sixteenth alien male had reached in through the bars to squeeze her breasts or slide his hand between her cheeks, she stopped noticing the deep feeling of shame that filled her.

She knew now where she was. It was a slave market, and she was for sale.

Her abductor tied her up and left her hanging in the cage, chatting up potential buyers from a distance. She couldn't hear what was said, and she didn't care. All she wanted was for someone to buy her so that she could get out of this painful, humiliating position and sit down.

A large, muscular male with a tail came by and smiled at her. She didn't like how any of them smiled, but she particularly didn't like the way this one was looking at her — like she was a piece of meat.

He came up to the cage and his tail slid through the bars. He met her eyes while he slipped his tail between her legs, rubbing her lady parts.
She tried not to flinch away because she had learned that made them more eager. She could barely stand him touching her.

"How much?" he shouted to the Mordeelan.

"Would you like to come over here and discuss a price?"

"No. I want to keep touching the whore with my tail while you tell me the price, you fucking idiot."

Her captor named an impossibly large number of credits, nearly making Lyzette choke. She couldn't be worth that much money. As her potential new owner retrieved the funds, she watched another humanoid male walk up to her cage.

"Done." The alien man who had captured her was practically dancing a jig, he was so happy.

"How much for this female?" the new alien said. He ignored the fact that the negotiation was complete.

"I'm sorry, I just sold her."

"She's my property now."

The new alien flipped his arm over, pulling back his shirt to show three purple interlocking circles on the inside of his forearm. It reminded Lyzette of Venn diagrams she had made in math class a thousand light-years ago, back home on Earth.

She was surprised to see both males back off. Her purchaser lifted his hands, palms facing out.

"She's yours if you want, buddy. No hard feelings."

"I'm not your buddy," the new male said. He wasn't smiling.

"Of course not. Of course not. I'll be going now," he said, backing away with his tail between his legs.

Lyzette would have laughed if she hadn't been in such a horrible situation. The tattoo terrified them.

"How much?"

"Whatever you want to pay, Markanor," her captor said, squatting and placing his hand, palm out, on his forehead. Lyzette assumed it was a gesture of respect.

The male named a price that was half of what the other had agreed to pay. Her abductor seemed to wilt but didn't comment.

"Thank you, sir," was all he said.

Lyzette was trembling with panic by the time she was untied and taken out of the cage. The Markanor never even looked at her. What would he do to her? Where were they going? And who was he that he could command that much respect and fear?

She followed him out of the slave market, walking as fast as she could in her bare feet. He was tall and had broad shoulders. He was the kind of guy who worked out a lot. He had a square jaw. She had noticed that his eyes were blue. They seemed cold and maybe cruel.

He swiped his arm over a scanner, which allowed them to pass through a door. On the other side was what looked like an empty mall. Everything was closed. He pointed at a bench.

"Sit," he said, curtly.

Did he think she was a dog?

But she sat because her legs could barely hold her up anymore.

He walked over to a ladies clothing store and swiped his arm over the lock. It opened, and he passed in. Lyzette watched in confusion as he grabbed clothes from the racks, swiping his arm again over the payment scanners. He locked the store again and came over to her.

"Here," he said, still not meeting her eyes. "Put these on. You look like a whore."

"Aren't I?" she wanted to ask but didn't dare to. Maybe she wasn't a whore. She certainly hoped not. But she didn't have much hope.

Everyone she had seen so far only wanted to take her jewel, and she had a hard time believing that he would be any different. Her new master was a dominant alpha, and she would do well to keep him pleased.

He didn't turn around, so she turned her back to him to give herself a modicum of privacy as she put on her new outfit.

"I didn't tell you to move, I told you to change your clothes," he said coldly.

She clenched her teeth together and turned back towards him. She stripped off the weird outfit she was wearing and quickly donned the new panties, bra, and dress.

She felt a tiny bit better immediately.

"Let's go," he said. Because he had shown her a small kindness, she felt bold enough to ask a question.

"Where are we going?"

He turned and met her eyes for the first time. All she saw there was emptiness.

"I will brand you," he said matter-of-factly.

Did he realize he was saying that he was going to burn Lyzette's skin to show his ownership of her as if she were no more than a prize heifer? Her stomach curled into a cold ball of dread. When would this madness end?

"As long as people know you are mine, you will not be harmed."

Perhaps to an alien, burning her on purpose with a hot iron was not harming her. He turned and walked down the hallway, not bothering to see if she followed him.

He knew she had no choice.

Lyzette awoke to the sound of birds singing. She opened her eyes. Her muscles were sore, and she was confused. Where was she and what was going on? She wasn't in her shabby little bedroom.

The room was white, all white, with a royal blue accent here and there — the button on a pillow, a ribbon, a picture with three blue interlocking circles.

In shock, she remembered everything that had happened. The attack on Earth and being saved by the alien man that kidnapped her. Stuck in a cage and trussed up like an animal. And the tail alien nearly buying her before the man called the Markanor had changed everything — waving his forearm around and scaring everyone.

He seemed kind when he had given her clothes and provided her with a bed to rest on during their shuttle flight down to the planet. But when she tried to thank him, she was informed that the Markanors always treated their slaves well.

He put her in her place, in case she had been getting the idea that she was not a slave.

Still, the room was fantastic.

It was large and airy, with windows on three of the walls. She realized sunlight was coming in through two of the windows, even though they were on opposite sides. There were sheer white curtains that blew softly with the breeze, reminding her of fancy houses in the Caribbean.

The bed was large and had a white canopy with several layers of blankets and a pile of fluffy pillows. There was a breakfast table with two chairs in one corner, and a desk and armchair along another wall. The wooden door was stained dark brown. Lyzette had no idea if there were trees on this planet. She didn't even know the name of this world. She would not have recognized the name of the planet, even if anyone had thought to tell her.

Lyzette got up and looked around. It turned out that one window was a set of French doors that opened onto a balcony. The balcony contained a small table and two chairs. On the table was a simple meal, accompanied by a cup of steaming hot liquid. She wondered if it was for her and realized that she didn't care.

She was ravenous.

It had been at least two days since she had eaten, and she was starving. She gobbled everything and wished there was more.

"It's not good to eat too much right away," a voice said behind her. She spun around on her chair, feeling wary.

She saw a woman with long braided blonde hair that hung down her back. She walked out of the room and onto the balcony, leaning on the railing.

"The Mordeelans have venom that knocks their victims out but has some strange side effects, not the least of which is an upset stomach. As far as we can tell, you were sedated about a week ago. You're still getting the poison out of your system," the woman said.

"A week?" Lyzette said. It was unbelievable.

"Yes, it takes five days to get from Earth to Marka, plus a day at the slave market. Close enough to a week," she said, shrugging.

"Any other side effects?" Lyzette asked, suddenly worried now that she knew that she wasn't going to die immediately.

"The male Mordeelans have overactive libidos. Their bite makes mating more pleasurable for the female so that the male can get more sex."