Page 1

ONE

My body slides against the grates, my shoulder hitting the bottom of the cage super hard. I’ve got no strength left in me to sit up.

When was the last time they came in here to feed me?

The day Nora was taken away. I don’t know how long ago it was, but by how weak my body is, it’s been a while.

Light filters into the room, making me flinch and look over. A big, burly Venkorian male walks in, carrying a small dog bowl. Eyebrows bunched, I try to push my head up to look, but it doesn’t budge an inch.

The man speaks as he opens the door to the cage, placing the bowl next to my head and jabbing a finger at it.

What does he want me to do with this?

The guard growls and points at the white substance in the bowl before pointing at me, specifically my lips.

He wants me to drink it.

He doesn’t wait to see if I drink it or not before he walks out of the room, leaving me alone in the room. My eyes have adjusted to the dark, so I can still see some of the cages in the room, but it’s still not great.

Sometime after Nora got taken away, the lights turned on. Was it a day later or a week? I have no idea, but once the lights went off again, they didn’t come back on.

I move my head slightly, hitting the bowl, spilling the substance. Some lands on my face, and I lick it up, moaning as the unfamiliar taste fills my mouth.

Frenzy fills me as my stomach cramps from the small droplet of the liquid, but no matter how much the urge to taste more goes through me, I’m not strong enough to lift my head and drink. Tears of frustration and panic fill my eyes, dripping down the side of my face.

This is the end of me.

This is how I’m going to die.

And to think I believe the Venkorians were going to kill me with their hands. Maybe this is the better way to go. Underfed and slowly slipping into unconsciousness until I don’t ever wake up again.

Closing my eyes, I lie here, my stomach growling every so often as I remember the taste in my mouth.

Yelling wakes me up when the door slams open. Cracking my eyes open, I see the same man stalking toward me, anger written all over his face. He’s saying words I don’t understand as he points at me and then the bowl.

“Wh-what?” I whisper hoarsely.

He unlocks the cage door and drags me out of the kennel, continuing to shout into my face. Does he not know I can’t understand a single word he’s saying?

But before I can say anything, pain radiates across my cheek as my head swings to the side. Another smack to the other cheek results in my head moving to the other side; I have no way of stopping it.

Sobbing, I try to pull my hands up to block him from hitting me again, but I can’t move an inch, and the strikes continue. Black dots appear in my limited vision as pain engulfs my body. And before I know it, I go limp as darkness closes in around me.

TWO

Every part of me aches as I slowly wake up once again. How long was the evil guard hitting me after I was knocked unconscious?

No.

I shouldn’t be thinking about that. I need to keep my mind positive right now as I try to make it through this. Surely, Headmistress Helena wouldn’t allow us to leave the space station if she knew we were going to die, right?

There had to be a good Venkorian who would treat me right.

Flinching as the door slams open, my swollen eye cracks open and I see the angry, evil guard from before. This time he looks a little calmer than normal and is holding a baby bottle.

What?

Before I can think or process anything, the man has the door open and has me in his arms. He starts talking once more as he moves the bottle to my mouth, but I keep it close.