Unnatural Instinct: Abduction

26.

'Let me go!' you scream. You thrash and kick and squirm to no avail. Their slender, cold fingers are like clamps. 'I need to go to him! I need to go to him.'

You know where they're taking you. You know what they're going to do. The same thing he instructed you to do. His 'seniors' are coming and they can't know you've been awake. You must go back to the lab and be put back to sleep. It must seem like you've been there the whole time.

And from there ...

The tears rush out of your eyes—you'll never see him again. You won't even know if he'll live. 'No. No! NO!' you scream.

The door to the laboratory whooshes open as they haul you inside. Working together, they lift you bodily onto the platform. As they pin you down, another arrives at your side with a familiar long needle.

'No!' You thrash your head from side to side. It's no good. With a sting, he injects whatever it is into your arm.

You continue to struggle while the serum takes time to have an effect. They pin you down too effectively, and slowly you lose your strength. You roll your eyes in your head, struggling to stay awake, but your eyelids keep shutting. 'I have to ... I have to get back to him.' Looking into the deep, dark eyes of a drone, you feel yourself sinking. 'I have to ... I have to ...'

Darkness claims you.

Are you dreaming or are you awake? It's hard to tell. Is the serum wearing off already? You squint at the bright light above. Things move on either side of you but everything's a blur. You hear voices; musical voices speaking in another language. Is it him? He's awake. He's alive! You try to sit up but your body weighs a tonne. You try to turn your head but it's impossible. It's just like before.

You're stuck. Trapped. Helpless.

This time you hardly care. You no longer feel fear, only desperation to see him again.

Then a figure leans over you, blocking out the light from the machinery above, and your heart leaps in hope. A shield. A blue suit. A ponytail of white hair. You try to call out to him but all you manage is a splutter. He looks over his shoulder and says something. Why is he ignoring you? Another voice answers back. There's more than one. And you realise the truth—it's not him. This alien's smaller with longer hair. And its voice is too high. One of the seniors?

You get the impression that it's a female. What are they doing? Tears stream down your face as you try to speak. You care nothing for what they might do to you. They can do whatever they want—they can harvest your eggs; they can prick you with long needles—as long as they keep you on the ship with him.

As long as you can find out that he's all right.

The figure pulls away. Don't go! you try to speak, only to fail, spluttering and choking. More tears gush from your eyes. The figure returns, peering down at you through its shield. It places a gloved hand on your forehead.

The darkness swallows you up once more.

The next time, you wake slowly. You blink against the darkness, confused. You're in bed. What time is it? What happened to the lights? His room is never this dark. You reach out to find him but the bed is empty. You sit up, clutching at your head with a wince at a sudden throb in your temples. Why's it so cool? You grab at your arms with a shiver. The ship's temperature is supposed to be controlled. What's happened?

You start to get off the bed, then pause. What's that noise? You turn, listening. Is that the sound of a car? A dog barks, sending an icy feeling shooting up your spine. You clap a hand to your mouth with a gasp.

Him on the floor. The rash. The drones. The alien in the face shield!

'No!'

You scramble off the bed and race across the room, flicking on your light. Your light. You drop to your knees with a cry. It's your room. You're home. They beamed you back home.

'No!' 

The tears come fast but you don't give up. This can't be the end! Leaping to your feet, you race downstairs, rip open the front door and rush outside. You stop in the driveway. The maple tree in your front yard rustles in the breeze. You look up. The stars are twinkling brightly but you see no ship.

He's gone.

A panicky feeling tightens a knot in your stomach and makes you gasp for breath. Your heart is thundering. Your throat swells with hot, painful tears. They just left you! Of all the tortured, painful things they could have done to you, this is the worst.

You shiver, and you suddenly realise you're naked. The drones would have cut off your suit when they sedated you. It would have been a suspicious thing for the 'seniors' to find you in their clothes. You don't care. Nothing matters anymore. Your mind and body have turned numb. Minutes tick by as you stand there. The street is empty. It must be very late in the night. Finally, the cold compels you back inside.

Closing the door behind you, you slide to the floor, naked and quivering as you grip your knees to your chest. You stay like that for a long time as the black of night slowly brightens to the gloomy grey of early morning. All you can think about is how he looked when you last saw him: on the floor with that terrible rash all over him, his eyes dulled, his beautiful face screwed up in pain. How could it have happened?

You have a sudden flashback of that night when you snuck onto his couch, when you first saw him naked, standing in the middle of the room. He'd had an erection and was so frightened about it.

'You've infected me with something.'

'Infected you? With what?'

'With some kind of bug. My species has little immunity against your diseases.'

You give a little choke. 

There comes the sound of a creak, followed by a gasp. You look up. It's Mellissa. She's standing at the top of the stairs dressed in her pyjamas, her eyes so wide they bulge in her face.

You can't hold it back now. You burst into racking sobs.