Page 25 of His to Take

13

Ann thought about her friends,Elizabeth and Maria, for the first time in many years that evening. They’d all been typical teenage girls, laughing and giggling over anything and everything. They’d all been the same age, but Elizabeth had been the smallest, pale, petite and blond. Maria had the darker skin of her mother, an immigrant from Honduras, the dark eyes, and all of that enviable black hair.

They’d all been so different from each other, but the moment they met in kindergarten, they’d been friends. That friendship had lasted through the years of their education, and the changes that puberty had wrought in them. For Ann, that meant getting her period and growing boobs before the other two. They’d been so jealous but pleased for Ann. They’d soon followed though, and they all headed straight into maturity with glee.

They’d known everything about each other. Maria’s fascination with another girl at their school, Elizabeth’s preoccupation with getting the best grades out of anyone else in their grade, and Ann’s obsession with Rex. They’d both thought Rex was a douche, but Ann loved him, and she’d ignored their dislike.

What would they say now, she wondered, alone in her room? Would they tell her to run from the aliens, to enlist Rex’s help and escape? Or would they tell her to run from Rex? That was probably what they would tell her, but they didn’t know Rex like she did, they didn’t see the man he could be, if he’d just try a little bit harder.

She braided her hair for the tenth time that day and stared at herself in the mirror. She wasn’t ugly. Some might even say she was pretty. Her nose was small and suited her face, her parents had spent a fortune on braces for her when she was 13, and she now had straight, white teeth. Her skin was clear, and her eyes were a pleasant shade of brown.

Her body had filled out as she matured, and she now had the hips that went with her breasts, and a slim waist, mainly a gift of nature. She’d kept up the walking though, even now that they were in a safe place with no need to stay fit. She liked walking in the garden, learning about the flowers that were now theirs. She had always been inquisitive, and while she might not have had the grades that Elizabeth had maintained, she was a good student, with a sharp mind.

Or so her father had always told her.

She’d pushed memories of her friends away, along with the family that she might have lost. Her mother had a brother somewhere up in West Virginia, and her dad had a sister that lived in Oklahoma. They hadn’t heard anything about any of them, friends or family, and didn’t have much hope that they ever would.

The aliens hadn’t put out a list of survivors, but maybe they should. Ann wrote a note to herself to ask her father about that and went to climb into her bed. She’d showered, put on a pair of black silk pajamas, and was ready for bed. She picked up the book she had, an old copy of something by Anne Rice; Ann couldn’t tell what the book was because the paperback cover and the first few pages were missing. She didn’t care, she just needed to escape, and the tale of witches and ancient beings fascinated her.

The hours passed, and Ann turned off the overhead light and turned on her bedside lamp. She was so close to sleep, but she wanted to finish one more chapter. She didn’t realize she’d closed her eyes and that the book had fallen from her fingers until a crash of sound came from the area around her bedroom.

What was that?

She got out of bed, opened the doors, and saw a dozen pebbles on the ground. Was it Rex? Was he trying to get her attention?

She went to the edge of her small balcony and looked over.

“Ann, come down! Hurry! We need to talk!” he said in a very loud whisper, his face animated with urgency.

“Rex? Fine! I’ll be down in a minute.” She ran back into her room, slipped on a pair of flip flops and a robe, and quietly made her way down to one of the backdoors. There were several at the back of the house.

“Ann, come on, follow me.” Rex grabbed her hand the second she closed the door and ran down to the disguised tool shed where most of the tools he used were kept. There wasn’t anyone else there at this time of night, she knew, and smiled. He wanted to have some time alone with her.

A pleased glow of heat spread in her chest, and she went to sit down on a plastic chair in the corner of the small shed. “What’s going on?”

“I met with the group, Ann. It’s going to happen; the revolution is real!” He all but danced with joy, and Ann felt the glow turn cold.

She’d hoped he’d wanted to talk to her about their relationship, about how much he loved her. He hadn’t said it yet, but surely, he must love her? The way he wanted to kiss her all the time, and all of that other stuff? That was love, wasn’t it? Yet, here he was, talking about some stupid revolution that had no hope of defeating the enemy they’d chosen.

“Rex! Don’t be silly! The revolution can’t win. Why waste your time?” She saw the way his face changed, from overjoyed glee to cold anger, and decided to change tactics. “Look, I know you hate being a servant, but trying to cause a war isn’t the way. You have to change their minds, not try to destroy them. We have so much to learn from the aliens, look at their technology. Why do you want to fight that? Embrace it, and then change the rules with them, convince them to do it. You can’t win a war against them.”

“I should have known you’d take their side. You’re going to become their whore, their baby factory, and still have a nice life. Not like Mom, who has to work for you and your sniveling family for nothing. Some food, clothing, and shelter. What the fuck kind of life is that?”

“Rex! Don’t be cruel! I know why you want to do this, I understand that, but war isn’t the way. And no,” Ann stood up from her seat to look into his eyes. To her surprise, he actually backed up as she stalked towards him. “I don’t want to be some baby-making breeder for alien babies, or for anyone for that matter. I don’t even want that stupid house, or the luxuries we’ve been given. I’d give anything to be back in the bunker, where it was just my family and yours, making our own rules and plans for the future.”

He was against a wall now, his back pressed into a pair of garden shears. “You wouldn’t give up that room and the pool, all those books you’re always reading. You like this new world, the aliens. You don’t have to live this new life like I do.”

“I know I don’t, that’s why I try to include you in the things I can do. When I ask James to send you to me to clear the vines around my balcony, I’m really asking to have time with you, to sit there and enjoy it together. When I tell James the grass around the pool needs cutting, I’m giving you time to join me there. Can’t you see, you silly man? I’m not rubbing your nose in my new luxuries, I’m trying to include you. Which means I’m subverting the aliens.”

He just watched her, his eyes narrowed, but he wasn’t as tense as he’d been earlier.

“Most of all, I plan to spend the rest of my life with you. We’re planning a ceremony to declare that intention before our parents and each other. Okay, so it’s not the wedding I would have liked to plan, but it’s close enough. How much more do I need to prove myself to you?”

Rex relaxed for the first time in a long time and slid down to the floor. His plain jeans and denim short-sleeved shirt were stained with oil and paint, but all of his clothes were now.

“I don’t want you to prove yourself, I…” he stopped and looked away, anger still in his eyes. He had more to say, Ann could see it, but he kept it bottled inside, the same as always. “I just want to be equals again.”

“That’s rich coming from you,” she said quickly and then slapped her hands over her mouth. Her eyes were wide with mortification and she knew she shouldn’t have said it.