AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Of course you can," she says excitedly.
I open the small velvet box. Inside is a silver ring with a wave design running through the center. I take out the ring and read the inscription, "No regrets."
Before I can thank Ivy for such a perfect gift, she begins explaining. "I don't have any regrets about Greece or moving forward as if we were actually really married. I don't mind telling people we're married even if it wasn't legally binding. It was real to me."
I put the ring on my finger, and it fits perfectly. Then I take Ivy into my arms, thank her, and kiss her. "It was real to me too." This moment couldn't be more perfect. My life with Ivy is pure, and I don't want anything to ruin it. Especially not a minor detail like, I’m not human.
Twenty-Eight
June 29, 2023
Ivy
I wake up. I have no idea where I am or how I got here. I'm in a cage and surrounded by other people of all ages from all over the world. The woman next to me says, "You're a young one. Did they take you as a child?"
"What?" I say, sitting up and rubbing my head. I have a terrible headache. "Where are we?"
"We're on a Dulu ship. But it's not all Dulu. There are some Octopods slinking around too. I'd recognize their nasty smell anywhere."
"What are you talking about? What is a Dulu?"
"How hard did you hit your head?" the woman asks me harshly. Then she points to my bracelet. "Did your Alliance master teach you nothing? Did you see nothing in your time in the galaxy? How old were you when you were taken?"
"I was never taken anywhere. I've never left planet Earth. Is this a nightmare?" I look around for any clue that this could be a dream or a really cruel joke, but when I look around, I just see sad faces. "Please tell me what is going on."
The woman looks at me sternly. "You're telling me you don't remember any of this?"
"Yes. I have no memory of anything like this."
"Then you should be grateful they erased your memory. We've all been abducted by aliens before, and now we are being abducted again. While you were passed out, the one thing all of us found out we have in common is that we've all been in this situation before. Some of us for decades, others of us for only a few months."
"But I've always been on Earth," I protest again. I feel like this must be a nightmare. I close my eyes and will myself to wake up. But when I open my eyes again, I see the woman staring at me.
"Try to remember. There must've been some time in your life that was unaccounted for. Where people thought you were somewhere else, but you weren't. Think it through. These aliens have superior technology, and they can easily change people's memories and even change official records."
"I can't remember a time," I admit. My brain tries to bring up the camping trip that Scott was obsessed over, but I push that thought down. I would remember if aliens had abducted me. "What do you think is going to happen to us now?"
"We are probably being taken to Gala. It's the main slave trading station."
"We're going to be sold?" I ask loudly in disbelief. A lot of people around us look over at me and give me pitiful looks.
"Probably."
"To whom?"
"Aliens."
"What? Why?"
"Humans are adorable," she says sarcastically.
I get to my feet in the crowded cell and start yelling, "Get me out of here. I want to go home. I'm not supposed to be here. I would bang on bars, but there are none, just a forcefield that stings me badly when I touch it.
Soon, a green alien, just like from all the cartoons I'd seen on Earth, appears and tells me to be quiet or they will have to punish me.
"I'm not like the others. I was never taken before."
"You have a tracking device and a record. Sit down and behave."
