“And now, for the moment you’ve all been waiting for,” the announcer crows.
I watch through my watery vision as the giant passes my leash off to another alien. This one is dressed like a disco ball, adding to the already violent bright lights. It’s about the size and roundness of one too.
“I have, in my possession, a purebred human female!” Its voice echoes painfully through my head and around the cave, while clutching my leash above its head. “Now, I know what you must be thinking. ‘Gavid, how could you have possibly gotten your hands on such a rare specimen?’ Well, I didn’t get my hands on just one, butsixof thesepricelesscreatures.”
Before I can roll my eyes, it’s bouncing across the stage and taking me along with it.
“Where should we start the bidding? Hmmm?” I can’t see its face, but it seems to be having the time of its life, so I’m sure it’s grinning. “What about 10,000 credits?”
The audience cheers, and even more lights flicker and stab through my aching eyes.
“Hmmm, do I hear 20,000?”
There is another round of lights and cheers, all while I’m being pulled back and forth across the stage like a fucking poodle and doing everything I can to keep from spewing whatever is left in my stomach.
It goes on like this as the denominations rise higher and higher, weeding out more and more bidders. Eventually it comes down to two bidders. I don’t even care anymore; I just want this to end. My teeth are clacking together so hard I’m surprised they haven’t started splintering, and I’m coated in a cold sweat. It takes all my energy just to stay on my feet, but I’m starting to sway with each passing moment.
Suddenly the crowd is cheering again, and the alien leaps into the air, jarring my neck and nearly yanking me to my knees when he lands further down the stage.
“The winner! The esteemed Madame Athea,” it squeals while I struggle to catch my breath. I would like nothing more than to strangle the shiny piece of shit with the damn leash. Even if I had the strength, which I don’t, it’s already passed the leash back to the giant alien who is dragging me to the other side of the stage and down a steep set of stairs I don’t see until it’s too late.
I make it two steps before my foot slips and I’m in freefall. My hip hits the edge of one of the steps, and then I bounce down two more before landing face down on the stone floor.
Without even giving me a chance to get up, the alien tugs sharply on the leash, strangling me and forcing a harsh gag from my throat. “Get up, bitch!” he growls at me.
His foot swings back, and I barely have time to curl up on my side to protect myself before the toe of his boot slams into my ribs. I hear a crunch, and a sob is forced from my lungs along with all the air on that side.
“I saidget up!” the alien shouts.
The coppery taste of blood fills my mouth, and I prepare for another painful kick, but it’s not my cries I hear this time.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” a deep voice bellows, followed by a loud crash. “Maybe we should take her fee out of your worthless pay, except it would take us tens of revs for you to make us back our lost revenue.”
“I was just—“ The giant lets out a high-pitched scream, and I force my eyes open in time to see the stage alien rolling on his side, cupping his groin.
A shadow covers me as someone crouches in front of me, and I can’t help flinching from this new alien. He’s huge, nearly twice as large as the stage alien, and green with thick yellow tusks jutting from his bottom lip.
“It’s alright,” he says in a surprisingly quiet voice as he reaches out with four stubby green fingers to brush some of my hair from my face. His touch is gentle, his fingers warm and dry against my damp skin. He hisses when he presses the backs of those fingers to my forehead. “Shit.”
With no warning, he scoops me into his arms, and I scream, not because he’s touching me—although, under normal conditions, I’m sure that would have been plenty of reason—I scream because the movement sends fiery jolts of pain through my body and steals my breath.
After everything I’ve endured, this ends up being too much for me, and before he’s even standing, the lights blink out.
