Brian watched on in horror as two aliens beat the shit out of Leanne. She got progressively less steady with each hit, trembling as she ended up on her hands and knees fairly quick.
Brian winced in sympathy with every blow, wishing he could put a stop to it. But he knew that if he interrupted the only thing that would happen would be him getting his ass handed to him by two aliens and Leanne getting hurt even worse.
Tears started streaming down her face as she let out a scream, sending a chill down Brian's spine.
She got one more swift kick to the stomach, causing vomit to spill out of her mouth, before they tied her wrists to a pole in the middle of the room. She gasped for breath as she tried to contain her sobs.
Brian was surprised when both of the aliens left the room, but he took the opportunity to abandon his hiding spot.
He quickly rushed over and softly placed a hand on Leanne's shoulder, causing her to quickly flinch away with a sob.
"Shit, sorry." Brian whispered, his heart sinking further and further with every second that he studied her. "I should've said something. It's me."
She looked back to him in surprise, a grin forming. "Oh thank god!"
He quickly untied her wrists and she threw her arms tightly around him, sinking into his embrace.
"Are you okay?" He whispered.
She didn't answer as she buried her head in his chest, still sobbing. He carefully lifted her to her feet.
"Alright, sorry to cut this short but we should get going before those creeps come back."
Leanne nodded, wiping her face dry as she led Brian out of the room.
As they rushed through the hallway, Brian paused as he heard a bell ringing. "What the hell is that?"
"Oh. That. It's umm... my collar."
Brian's gaze flicked down to her neck and he scowled, clenching his hands into fists.
"I swear, I would kill those guys if they wouldn't totally manage to kill me first."
She chuckled softly. "The important thing is I'm away from those dicks."
"Agreed."
"Do you think you could cover that up or something at least until we get back, so it doesn't make so much noise?"
"Oh, yeah. Good thinking."
Leanne tightly closed her hand over the bell and Brian held onto her other wrist as he took off down the hallway. He was afraid that if he didn't have a hold of her, he would just turn around and she'd be gone.
They had to have been moving for not even five minutes before Leanne started slowing down to a lethargic walk.
"Come on, we have to keep going!" He snapped, trying to pull her forward.
"Br-Brian, I..."
"We have to-" He turned to face her and paused. One look was enough to realize that she had already been pushing herself more than she should have. She was pale and covered in sweat, gasping for air. "Yeah, okay. Let's take a break."
She gave him a small, grateful smile before sinking against the wall. She leaned her head back against the wall and within moments was asleep.
Brian waited to be sure she was asleep before scooping her into his arms and continuing down the hallway. He wanted to put as much distance between Leanne and those creeps as he could.
He flung the door open to the supply closet and Jared, Stefanie, and Lonnie looked up in shock.
All three of them grinned when they saw Leanne.
When Hruyyus told them about the execution, they decided the best plan would be for Brian to show up late and follow Leanne back to where she was being kept. By the time he showed up though, Hruyyus was already gone.
"Thank god she's alive." Stefanie whispered.
Brian nodded. "Yeah."
"How bad was it?" Jared asked softly.
"When I got there, they were beating the shit out of her. I've never seen someone take so many kicks to the gut."
"Yeah, that huge bruise on her face implies as much." Jared whispered.
"God, that sounds horrible." Stefanie said softly, still studying Leanne.
Jared carefully lifted the bottom of Leanne's shirt and winced. "God, this looks awful."
Brian rushed over and frowned. Her stomach was a patchwork of large black-purplish bruises. "That looks really painful."
"Is that a collar?" Jared asked slowly.
"Yeah."
"Well, let's hope there's not a tracker in it." Lonnie said, shaking his head.
Stefanie arched an eyebrow. "Do you really think they'd do that?"
"I wouldn't put anything past those assholes."
Brian went to remove the collar but was surprised when he couldn't get it to budge. "It won't come off."
"You're just not doing it right." Jared said, pushing past Brian. "Really, how hard can it be to take off one stupid collar?"
He tugged at the collar a few times but frowned.
Brian shrugged. "How hard can it be?"
"So I was wrong." Jared muttered softly, crossing his arms.
They finally compromised on using a pair of pliers to at least pry the bell off of it.
Leanne slowly stirred, wincing slightly as she sat up.
"How are you feeling?" Brian asked softly.
"Fine. I just... I just feel really tired, that's all."
"Does anything hurt?" Lonnie asked.
"My stomach, a lot."
"How bad on a scale from one to ten?"
"Maybe a six or seven?"
"At least it's not severe. Sorry we don't have any pain meds to help."
"No, that's okay."
Stefanie pulled Leanne into a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay."
"I'm glad you guys weren't caught at all." Leanne whispered back, tightening her hug around Stefanie.
"So, what happened to Hruyyus?" Lonnie asked softly after a while of silence.
"The girl who was supposed to execute me? Two aliens took her away, why?"
Lonnie's face darkened as he began to pace.
"She's his daughter." Jared said softly.
"Oh."
YOU ARE READING
Gamma Stellaris
Science FictionFive best friends decide to spend a summer day at an abandoned amusement park in town. When they enter what they thought to be an abandoned fun house, they find themselves trapped on an alien UFO.
