Chapter 26: Suriani & Halo – Part 2

SURIANI

Suriani could hear her daughter’s muffled screams. It sounded as if her mouth was covered. Suriani yanked at the man’s arm.

“Take me. Take me instead! For the both of you. Just let her go!”

He didn’t respond, instead dragging her away from the car toward the trees. Suriani stumbled over her feet, her breath wheezing in her tight lungs. The street remained quiet and dark.

There was no one to witness their kidnapping. Or, she dared to think it—their deaths. She felt sick. She wanted to vomit.

“Kylie!” she screamed as the man hoisted her daughter’s thrashing figure over his massive shoulder.

Suriani tried to wrench away from the man holding her, but he hauled her back.

“Stop it!” she cried.

She tried to pry his fingers loose, but they were like steel.

Finally, he’d had enough. Suriani shrieked as he, too, hoisted her over his shoulder. God, he was strong! He kept her arms and legs pinned as she stared at the ground, the blood rushing into her temples.

Her fingers and toes felt numb. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t scream. The terror had snatched away her voice, her strength, her will. She was going to die. He was going to murder her!

She couldn’t hear Kylie anymore, her ears ringing, her world reduced to the thudding of his heavy footsteps against the rolling pavement—and that was the worst thing. Where was her daughter?!

All too quickly his heavy, strange-looking boots crunched against dirt as they entered the trees. Gritting her teeth, she clawed at his shirt but could do little else. She wanted to sob—but she couldn’t even do that!

His boots hit a metal platform. No, a ramp. A metal ramp? Was he taking her into the back of a truck? She started to shiver, then shake. Soon, she was shuddering.

It was hard to decipher much after that. There were lights. There were men. Lots of men. Lots of the same huge men with the same yellow eyes. Where was Kylie? Where was ~Kylie~?

Finally, he stopped. Suriani felt herself sliding as he eased her to her feet. She staggered, and he gripped her arm. All she could do was look up at him, gaping like a fish.

Then she heard shouting. Kylie!

“Kylie!” It broke the shock, and she suddenly found herself racing over to her daughter. She was looking beautiful, perfect…alive.

“Mama!”

Her daughter wrapped her arms around her. Suriani kissed her on the cheek.

They both turned at the sound of a door closing. Suriani looked around, still clutching onto Kylie’s arm. They were in a small room with three small beds.

A large mirror the length of the wall peered back at them, reflecting their distressed reflections. The men were gone—but they weren’t alone.

Suriani gripped hard onto Kylie with a start.

There were three other women, all bunched up against the wall, watching them. They didn’t speak, their eyes bright and fearful. Two had tear-streaked faces. One wore a fierce look as she glared at the mirror.

Prisoners. They looked like prisoners. They were in a prison!

Suriani tucked her gray hair behind her ear as she turned to Kylie. She grabbed her shoulders, looking her up and down.

“Are you okay?”

Kylie nodded. She’d been crying.

“Where are we?” Her wide eyes darted around the room. They locked onto the mirror.

“I—I don’t know.”

There was only one door into the room—and it was large, heavy, and firmly locked. Shaking and numb, they sat together on one of the beds. The three other women kept to themselves, their faces turned away.

They weren’t Malay, all fairly young, all terrified. Where had they come from? They should talk to each other, gather information, but Suriani didn’t know much English. Kylie was fluent—but she was too frightened to ask questions.

They weren’t in the little “prison” for long before more women were brought in. One after the other. Some were dragged in. Others were eased to the floor, their limp figures paralyzed by shock.

Suriani stared at the men. All were different—yet the same. Those ~eyes~.

Though trembling beside her, Kylie finally started to talk. Some were willing to talk back, most keeping to themselves, pale-faced and anxious. The men didn’t return.

“Aliens,” Kylie told Suriani. “They think we’ve been kidnapped by aliens.”

Suriani shivered. “Not a chance! There’s no such thing.”

“You saw it, Mama.”

“I don’t know what I saw.”

They were sitting hip to hip on the bed, hands gripped together in Kylie’s lap. Suriani decided that anything could happen to her, as long as she had her daughter. As long as Kylie was okay.

She looked over at a small woman weeping over her knees. Another woman, white with fright, sat ramrod straight as she stared, frozen, into space. Shock, tears, anger—everyone seemed to have a different reaction.

One woman was pacing, her hands shoved into her pockets. Suriani glanced toward the mirror. She’d never looked so pale in all her life. Her dark eyes were wide with fright. She was clearly the oldest woman here.

Gripping her knees, she bit her lip. They were ~all~ women. There must be a reason for that—a terrible reason. It looked like she’d been right to be afraid. But why her? The rest were relatively young. Too many things didn’t make sense.

Aliens. She shook her head. It was impossible to believe—and yet they’d wrenched open their doors with inhuman strength! And that flash of light! She gripped onto Kylie’s hand more tightly.

“Mama? Are you all right?”

Suriani pushed back her tears. She had to be strong for her daughter. If they were aliens, what did they want with them? Not knowing what else to do, Suriani bent over their clasped hands and prayed.

An indeterminable time later, the door opened with a whoosh. Suriani barely had time to yank up her daughter from the bed before a dozen or so men filed into the room. One by one, they seized each woman.

The room burst with screaming and shouting. A few were trying to fight, but the men were so large they stood no chance. Suriani watched as they were dragged through the door.

Then her eyes locked onto the same two men who’d kidnapped them.

“Kylie!”

“Mama!”

The two women grabbed onto each other desperately. It took barely any effort for the two men to separate them and drag them through the door.

Then they were in a corridor. A remarkable corridor. Terrifying and awesome.

The women ahead were crying out as Suriani and Kylie saw the same thing—space. Outside the weirdly curved windows was the darkness of space. So black. Twinkling stars.

It couldn’t be. It couldn’t be.

The two women looked at each other in horror. They really were in space! In a spaceship.

Aliens. ~Aliens~.

Kylie licked the tears from her lips. Suriani’s heart kept skipping beats.

The alien’s grip on Suriani’s forearm was as tight as a vice. Up ahead, some of the women continued to scream and fight.

Suriani and Kylie were quiet. There was no point. It was too late now.

Suriani mouthed, “Stay with me.”

Kylie gave a shuddering nod back.