Alien Bride

It’s hard to comprehend how I’m feeling. I take off my mask and realize tears are trailing down my cheeks. I’m crying. I’ve never cried before in my life.

With enough adrenaline coursing through my veins, I stumble toward a drawer. There is a foreign type of medicine, bearing a name I’ve never heard of. Without thinking, I grab them and swallow as much of the liquid as I can.

I groan and cough. The taste is bitter, but I start to feel stronger. My skin does not change, but I can feel my cells starting to regenerate. It’s going to be a long process of healing, if it even works at all.

Footsteps echo up the staircase.

This is no time for nostalgia. Behind me, the door opens. My alpha brethren are nowhere in sight, but a group of sentinels flood in to get me.

“He has killed our leader!” one shouts.

Placing the mask back on my face, I scan the room for an exit. Unfortunately, the only way out is through one of the windows.

We’re too high up.

A laser beam blows a hole through one of the hologram computers near my head. “Shit,” I groan.

I stand as a much older alien than before.

Laser beams shoot around me, but I am able to see them with clear vision. I dodge every shot before facing the window.

There’s only one way down, and it’s absolutely crazy to think this might work. But I have to do it.

I run.

Relying solely on my gut, I dive toward the wide plate of glass.

The universe cannot contain expansion. Eventually, there is a breaking point. That breaking point is me.

I feel my shoulders shatter the window. Pieces of glass surround me.

The hand of gravity reaches out and grabs me by the legs. I’m tumbling through the cool air. The pavement rushes toward me.

When I hit, I feel my left leg shatter.

But I am stronger than the sentinels thought.

When they look down on the street below, I am gone.

I vanish, like a ghost.

Fourteen

Lök

My voice turns hoarse as the Sentinels drag me down the stairs. My fingers attempt to grip each step, nails clipping against the metallic ridges.

Pain means nothing to me anymore. Hatred? Yeah, I’ve lived with it my entire life. They can do anything they want. It won’t change a thing. Even if they kill us, our people will manage to sway this Empire. They’ll topple their empty towers and rebuild.

But nothing can bring Emma back.

“Rekker!” I scream.

It’s no use. The sentinels choke us, throwing us through the entrance of the building.

Another sentinel prods me. “Comply.”

“Where… are… you… doing… to Rekker?” I groan, body spasming.