Chapter 12
POV Melissa
After my wig fell off, the alien woman seemed to panic.
She ran off, leaving me here in this dark and unfamiliar place, and while she’s gone, I should escape, come up with a plan to get back to the small ship I arrived in, and find a way to contact Unob.
But every time I try to get out of this water, an unbearable cold grips me. I’ve never felt anything like it–so immobilizing and painful. Luckily, this water is just the right temperature for my body, but outside of it, it’s like needles are stabbing every pore, the
pain so intense.
This planet is a death trap for any human.
“Think, Melissa, you need to find the right alien,” I mutter to myself, realizing I don’t
even remember how I got here after being greeted by a huge man. I look around and see
what resembles a large room where several people might bathe at once.
It reminds me of something out of Game of Thrones. It’s old, dark, and devoid of any
electricity.
I’ve never set foot on a planet before; my life has been spent hopping from ship to ship, job to job, where temperatures are always meticulously controlled.
This is the first time I’ve felt this kind of cold or seen a structure that seems to be made
by actual people and not machines that leave everything polished. Part of me feels a strange adrenaline rush–it’s almost Earth–like here, with water and oxygen. Otherwise, I’d already be dead from lack of air.
The other part of me remembers that every second I spend here, my brons are slipping through my fingers.
The brons that would’ve sustained me for the rest of my life.
And apart from the fact that this place feels like what I’ve read about Earth, when I asked who he was, the hairy alien who greeted me said, “Kaleo Ni,” which must be his name. So maybe he understands me at least a little.
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But I don’t have time to think any further because suddenly two different beings enter this place. They come through a corridor I didn’t even have the chance to attempt reaching.
Anticipation makes my heart race, my head throbs again, and soon the two beings appear. I recognize the tall alien woman who screamed and ran off, and beside her is the man who “greeted” me–he must’ve brought me here after I simply passed out, whether from shock or cold.
Maybe she went to get him to say their dinner is defective, with tufts of hair falling off its body. I hope that makes them give up on whatever they’re planning for me. But at the same time, my chest aches with the wound that’s been open for two years because of my sudden hair loss.
Seriously, did she have to scream just because she saw a bald woman?
Still, despite my shame, I haven’t put the wig back on, hoping this might make them send me where I need to go faster.
That’s what you need to focus on now, Melissa–leaving.
As they approach, speaking in an unfamiliar language, I notice that the huge man who said his name was Kaleo Ni is holding a torch in front of his face. This lets me get a better look at the kind of aliens they are, and it makes my mouth dry up–I have no clue what species they are.
I mentally run through my list of known species and come up empty.
I’ve never heard of aliens with sharp blue horns protruding from their foreheads, like demons, with such humanoid bodies. My eyes linger on Kaleo, drawn to his long, wavy hair that falls to his waist, looking incredibly soft, moving like a veil with every step he takes.
Kaleo even has a thick, dark beard around a full, pink mouth–something only humans are supposed to have. His face is very serious, almost brooding, really. If I had to guess his age, I’d say between thirty and thirty–five, but maybe their age system works differently, and he could be, like, a million years old.
And apart from the torch, there’s something else new about him now:
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His lack of clothing.
How is this possible?!
While I’m freezing, this huge guy manages to walk around in just a pair of black pants, leaving his massive chest completely exposed. Kaleo even has nipples!
Could his species somehow be related to mine?
He’s a mountain of muscles, with bronze skin blended with dark blue on his arms and neck, making me shrink back.
They outnumber me, they don’t feel the cold, and they’re ridiculously strong.
Holy crap, I need a miracle!
But miracles never happen to me, so I better start trying to communicate.
“M–my name is Melissa…” I say uncertainly, realizing neither of them seems to care about what’s coming out of my mouth. They’re quietly talking to each other in the corner of the room. “I wanted to say that… t–that I think I ended up on the…” With every word, I lose more courage because they suddenly start approaching me as the woman talks over me to the male. I think I’m going to throw up. “I ended up on the wrong planet.”
In the middle of their “conversation,” she points to her head, touches her hair–similar to Kaleo’s and then points to me, more specifically to my head, leaving no doubt about what she’s talking about.
And her disgusted expression is something any human would understand.
She’s telling him how ugly I am. She’s pointing out my body and listing my flaws, showing off in herself what I lack. And I know I shouldn’t let it upset me. It doesn’t even make sense to be sad about it right now, when there are much bigger problems to worry about.
But even so… my eyes fill with tears, and I feel the humiliation wash over me, while the pain that’s been in my chest for two years intensifies.
I feel ashamed–naked, cold, and clueless, lost so far from where I’m supposed to be.
Things couldn’t get worse.
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But the more she talks about me, the more brooding his expression becomes–if that’s even possible. The torchlight illuminates his wild, masculine face, letting me see the deep
furrow between his brows and his mouth pressed into a tight line, until the woman says. something that seems to push him past the limit of his patience. Kaleo growls at her,
flashing sharp canines, and then turns toward me, actually walking over.
I swallow hard as my apprehension spikes. His eyes really do have red pupils. The first time I saw them, I was so startled by the color that I only focused on that. Just alien irises of a strange shade, right? But now, I’m noticing more than just the unusual hue. I see the
determination in them, the seriousness.
Maybe he’s some kind of leader here.
And somehow, even without fully understanding him, when Kaleo stretches out his hand,
I know he’s calling me. He wants me to take his much larger hand and get out of the
warmth of the water into the freezing air.
“Munai, Melisha,” he says, but there’s no way I’m leaving this comfort to feel pain again.
However, Kaleo doesn’t wait long. His face tells me patience isn’t one of his virtues. Two seconds later, his hand plunges into the water, and no matter how quickly I try to move away, he manages to grab my foot. His grip is firm, the kind that immediately tells me I’ve just gotten myself into even deeper trouble.
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