CHAPTER 3 #2
The present seemed to disappear as Lila gazed into the piercing eyes of the beast; they entranced her, pulled her in.
It was as though she could see another world in them, an intelligent being with completely different thoughts than hers.
It was beautiful, and terrifying. The creature didn’t look away—he barely blinked.
A soft growl seemed to resonate from the glass, and the firm chest rose and fell deep and slow.
He was truly magnificent; his anatomy was strikingly like that of a human, but—dared she admit it?
—better. It was as though he was the perfect specimen, built for strength and survival.
His bare skin even made her a bit embarrassed; the blue-grey, speckled reptile skin hugged perfectly defined muscles of his shoulders, arms, chest, and abdomen.
Below, his thighs and calves were impressive and statuesque, and Lila found herself almost curious to know what the long loincloth around his hips was hiding.
“Isn’t he cold?” Lila breathed, unable to turn her eyes away from him.
“He seems to like it,” said Melinda. After a few moments, she added, “And he seems to like you.”
The second she felt heat in her face, Lila looked away from the beast. She wrapped her arm around herself, suddenly shy. “H-how do you know that?”
“Trust me,” said Dr. Bryce, “he would’ve walked away if he didn’t.
” She sighed and pressed a button, and a short alarm sounded through the room.
Lila’s heart jumped to her throat, but Melinda seemed calm as a cucumber while the first gate of the steel tube opened. “Come on, big guy. You know the drill.”
The alien bared his teeth, big and sharp, and his growl was so deep, it could be heard through the thick glass, vibrating through the floor.
“Yeah, yeah,” muttered Melinda and waited for the creature to walk over to her.
Atlas rolled his mighty shoulders, huffed, and refused to move.
Melinda sighed and tapped her foot. “You want to show how tough you are for the pretty girl, huh? Come on, we don’t have all day.
” She gestured her hands, signing to him to come, and the beast finally huffed and moved toward her.
A big, metal arm emerged from the metal frame of the gate, with a needle in the end.
Atlas moved to it, and he showed nothing but annoyance as the needle sank into his thick hide.
Lila watched as a black liquid was emptied from him, and she presumed it was his blood. “Do you do this every day?”
Dr. Bryce hummed. “We need to constantly monitor his values, to make sure he’s healthy. At first, we were afraid he wouldn’t survive here on earth, but he seems to have adapted. It’s fascinating, really.”
“Yeah,” Lila mumbled and settled her big eyes on the large alien again. “Fascinating.”
He looked at her, as well, and a deep, intrinsic need arose inside of her—she wanted to communicate. This wasn’t fair; he wasn’t an animal! He was a prisoner!
Melinda was quickly done and joined Lila by her side once more, now carrying a vial of Atlas’s blood.
“We’ve tried different types of environments for him.
At first, we thought he would be most comfortable in humid climates, but that didn’t work.
Then, we tried deserts, and that didn’t work either.
I guess we thought he might be a bit reptilian, because of his skin, but we were wrong.
This one seems to make him most comfortable.
It’s a big enclosure. Huge, actually. It even has its own weather system, and we have installed a complex surveillance system to keep track of him.
It cost Mr. West and Dr. Howland a fortune to build, but they believe in the project.
We try to keep him moving, keep him in his ultimate shape, so we let him hunt his food.
We have a deer farm just a few miles away from here.
Sometimes, when we notice he’s bored, we let in another predator to contest for the food. ”
It was more of shock than of will that Lila looked away from the alien and snapped her head at Dr. Bryce. “You let him hunt his own food? Inside a cage? That’s cruel!”
“Crueler than keeping him in there without any activities?” Melinda was unfazed by the criticism, as with anything. “We do what we can to keep him satisfied, but it’s difficult to know what he wants when he doesn’t even try to tell us.”
Lila wanted to bite back, but she had no retort. Melinda was right; they could only do so much. The thing he wanted the most was probably to be released, but since he didn’t have a ship to return home with, it would mean releasing him into the world—and that could be the end of it.
The big creature slowly walked toward them, his long, black tube-dreads swinging behind him. He stopped by the glass, his breath casting mist on it, as he stood just in front of Lila and gazed down at her.
“He’s intrigued,” said Melinda. “Good. Keeping you here might make him a bit more compliant.”
Lila swallowed and gazed up. He was so large, towering over her like a giant. Melinda made it sound like the alien liked her, but to Lila, it felt more like he was thinking about how easily he could kill her. Perhaps that was the same thing.
“Do you want to stay for the hunt?” asked Melinda. “We could watch it on the monitors.”
Feeling nearly faint, Lila shook her head.
“Okay, let’s go back up, then.” She pressed the button on the screen and said, “I’ll see you later, Atlas.
” She signed something to him, and his eyes almost seemed alarmed before his face turned into an angry, terrifying scowl.
He bared his teeth once more, and his large, clawed hands tightened, but Melinda only rolled her eyes.
“She’s coming back, you brute. Don’t you worry. ”
As Dr. Bryce turned to walk away, Lila hurried to follow. She threw a glance over her shoulder and saw the alien glare at her from behind the glass. She hurried after Melinda, her heart racing. When she threw another glance over her shoulder, Atlas was gone.