Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 46803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Commander Rex is far from a stranger to me. You could say he’s something almost like an uncle. He had a place in my family home for a very long time. I played around him and his soldiers when I was still a child.
He’s grayer now, and more intensely devoted to the cause than ever. There might have been a brain in his head once, but now every bit of him is slavishly devoted to the cause and the man he serves.
“I knew there was a reason I was drawn to stay on this vessel of evil,” he says. “I knew I had a calling here. It was you, Stella. I must have felt you. It’s so good to see you.”
A glimmer of a tear lights the corner of one of his eyes. He’s thinking about all the praise and adoration he is going to get when it turns out he rescued me from evil aliens. I look around him, and see that true to form, he is not alone. Rex never travels without a contingent of soldiers. They are maintaining a respectful distance, but their excitement is palpable — as is my dread.
“Don’t worry,” he says. “You’re safe now. We can get you safely back to Earth. We can take this ship and all its technology to your father’s stronghold. We can…”
The newer, braver, bolder part of me finally speaks up.
“No.”
It doesn’t say a lot. But it says what matters.
He cocks his head at me in surprise. He expects me to be grateful to him as a rescuer.
“You want to stay here?”
I nod.
Rex makes a sound of deep concern. “You cannot possibly be happy as the captive of this alien beast. Has he put his hands on you? Has he besmirched your purity?”
My stomach turns at that last question.
“My purity is none of your damn business.”
“I do not mean to disrespect you, Stella. I am concerned that you have been defiled in the company of this monster. You wishing to stay is…”
“I ran away from home, Rex. I’m done with everything. Forever. So go back to my father and tell him whatever you have to tell him. Tell him I’m dead. Tell him I’m gone. Tell him I fell into the sun. I don’t care what you say, as long as you and he, and everyone from Earth leaves me alone forever!”
“You’re hysterical, Stella. Get a grip of yourself. Remember who you are.”
“I have done nothing besides try to forget who I was.”
“You can’t escape your bloodline, Stella. You cannot escape yourself. No matter how far you run. You were born special. You were born to the greatest man in history. You were born to the man who is going to restore peace on Earth. You are…”
He talks with zeal and such deep-seated belief I almost envy him. It must be amazing to think you know what is right, and to be so convinced of it that absolutely nothing scares or dissuades you. Rex is going to do whatever it takes to get me back to Earth. I am certain of that.
“I’m not yours! I’m not his! You can’t make me go back! The alien owns me now!”
It’s sad that I have to tell this asshole that I am owned by someone else, because he cannot process the idea of me being owned by myself, but that’s what I do. I know how to manipulate these radical freaks.
“How could the alien own you? Wait. Are you saying… are you one of…”
And for the first time, he notices the collar.
His eyes widen as that information and all it suggests goes rushing through his brain.
“He’s taken you for his own,” he says in the sort of tone one might use to tell someone else that they are about to die any moment. He does not approve.
I don’t care. I don’t want his approval. I want him to leave me alone. I want him and all his soldiers to stop coveting me with their weird obsession. I want them to think I am desecrated and despoiled.
“It doesn’t matter,” he says, recovering from his shock. “You are your father’s only daughter.”
That could sound sweet. Could sound like it doesn’t matter what I do because daddy will love me anyway. But that’s not what it means at all. It means he still thinks he can drag me back and ensure that I am used for my father’s ends. I am my father’s only daughter, and that means I am the only marriageable pawn. My pussy has been for sale since I turned eighteen, it’s just they were waiting for a bigger payout than most pimps.
“Leave me alone.”
“I can’t do that. I won’t do that.”
Rex reaches for me. He tries to grab me by the fucking collar, attempting to use it as a handhold. I try to swing away, start to run, but he’s a big guy and he’s been fighting his entire life. He’s stronger, faster, and he’s psychotically determined to catch me.