1 #3
He sat up slowly, his head pounding and his chest aching where the rod had hit him. His hands were shaking, and his mouth felt dry and cottony. He touched his throat and found the collar still there, still warm against his skin.
Across the cell, a man sat with his back against the wall. He had short red hair and a bruise on his cheek, and he was watching Aiden with a cautious look.
"You're awake," the man said. "Good. I was starting to think they'd hit you too hard."
Aiden stared at him, his brain struggling to catch up. "Where am I? Who are you?"
The man shifted his position, wincing as he moved. "Name's Marcus. And you're on a collection vessel. They picked us up from our planets and now they're taking us to the markets."
"Markets? What markets? I don't understand. There was a light. I was camping. My girlfriend..." Aiden's voice cracked, and he had to stop and swallow hard. "My girlfriend was with me. Melissa. Did they take her too? Is she here?"
Marcus shook his head slowly. "The females are in a different wing. They sell them separate from the males. I saw a few being marched through a few hours ago. A dark-haired girl. She was crying, kept calling for someone. Aiden. That's what she kept saying."
Aiden's stomach dropped. "Melissa. Her name is Melissa."
"Could have been her. I didn't see her face. Just the hair and the crying."
Aiden surged to his feet and grabbed the bars of the cell, shaking them as hard as he could. "Let me out! Let me out of here! I need to find her."
The bars did not move. They were cold and solid under his hands, and the more he shook them, the more he realized how useless it was. He was trapped. They were both trapped.
He let go of the bars and slumped against the wall, sliding down until he was sitting on the floor with his knees pulled up to his chest. His hands were still shaking, and his head was still pounding.
"Easy," Marcus said, his voice low and careful. "Take a breath. You're not going to do anyone any good if you wear yourself out."
Aiden looked up at him, his eyes burning. "How are you so calm? We're on an alien ship. We've been kidnapped. They're going to sell us."
"I've been here a week," Marcus said. "You learn to survive. You learn to wait. You can't fight them, not directly. The collars make sure of that."
Aiden touched the collar again, and a fresh wave of anger washed through him. "I'm not going to be a slave. I'm not going to just sit here and wait for them to sell me."
Marcus shook his head. "You don't have a choice. None of us do."
"There's always a choice."
"Then tell me what yours is. What are you going to do? Break out of this cell? Fight your way through the ship? Find your girlfriend and escape? How?"
Aiden opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out. Because Marcus was right. He had no plan. He had no weapons. He had no idea where he was or how to get out. He was trapped, and he was helpless.
He looked down at his hands, still shaking, and he thought about Melissa.
He thought about the ring still sitting in his jacket pocket, the ring he was supposed to give her tomorrow.
He thought about the overlook and the sunrise and the words he had practiced.
He thought about everything he had planned, everything he had wanted, everything that had been taken away from him.
He did not know if she was alive. He did not know if he would ever see her again. He did not know anything except that he was trapped in a cell on an alien ship with a collar around his neck and no way out.
But he was not going to give up. He was not going to stop fighting. He was going to survive this, and he was going to find Melissa, and he was going to get them both home.
He lifted his head and looked at Marcus with something hard settling in his chest. "I'm going to get out of here," he said. "I don't know how yet. But I'm going to. And I'm going to find her."
Marcus studied him for a long moment, then nodded slowly. "Okay. That's a good start. But you need to be smart. You need to be patient. You can't fight them if you're dead."
Aiden nodded and pushed himself up off the floor. He walked to the bars and gripped them again, not shaking them this time, just holding on.
"I'm Aiden," he said.
"I know," Marcus said. "You told me. When they brought you in. You were screaming it."
Aiden closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the cold metal of the bars.
He could still hear Melissa screaming his name in the light, could still see her reaching for him.
He did not know where she was or what was happening to her, but he knew one thing with absolute certainty.
He was going to find her. He was going to save her.
And then he was going to ask her to marry him, the way he had always planned.
The hum of the ship vibrated through the floor beneath his feet, and Aiden gripped the bars tighter and let the anger burn in his chest. It was the only thing keeping him warm in the cold metal room. It was the only thing keeping him alive.