Abducted (Blue Barbarian Series Book 1) Read online

  ABDUCTED

  NIKI & DRAKAR’S STORY

  Rena Marks

  Abducted

  Rena Marks

  Book 1 in the Blue Barbarian series.

  Alien abductions are real.

  I was the third female awakened aboard the spacecraft that specialized in kidnapping females. Their mission? To sell us to other galaxies.

  Human female Numbers One and Two didn’t make it, but I was lucky. I was able to comprehend the instruction from Drakar, a caged abductee from the planet Blaedonia. I live only because of his warning to me not to fight the aliens who have me on the table. Together, we formulate a plan for escape for both us and the ten other unawakened Earthlings.

  Lucky for Drakar, the spaceship crash-lands back on his planet. Unlucky for the Earthlings, we’ll never be able to travel back home.

  We’ll have to learn to adapt.

  * Publisher’s Note: While each Blue Barbarian Series book is a standalone, the greatest enjoyment will come from reading them in series order.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Stranded

  Stargazer Series

  The Hunter

  Shared By Wolves

  Kiss Me Before I Die

  About the Author

  Also by Rena Marks

  Prologue

  I wake to a bright light shining down into my eyes.

  The harshness of the glare causes me a breathy gasp that ends on a moan. Around me, a series of bleeps and whistles whir around the room as my befuddled brain tries to make sense of what’s going on.

  I had been in my car driving through icy-cold rain when the engine stopped. Just stopped. The lights on the dashboard quickly blackened, plunging me into a complete and instant darkness. I slammed on the brakes and the car went spinning out of control, hydroplaning on the wet road, hitting a tree and—when my head banged the steering wheel—slipping me into unconsciousness.

  But it was more than that. There was an eerie stillness to the air when the engine had died. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, the slide of the car in the rain, the squeal of the tires, the feel of the lift as I crashed.

  And the flying-saucer shaped shadow in the skies above me.

  Am I in a hospital? Apparently not, because I’m strapped to the hard table where the light shines still into my eyes. Then I realize the series of bleeps and whistles is a language, and it comes from the creatures standing around me.

  They’re gray in appearance, and their black eyes are oversized in their bulbous heads. Their mouths are tiny, flat slits in their intense, ugly faces. When one turns, the back of his head is bulging, with raw-matter shaped like brains.

  They're creatures I've never seen before.

  Aliens.

  Chapter One

  I remembered no more after waking on the table beyond the realization of an alien abduction. The creature closest to me holds my head still while another holds my eyelids open. A hand-held device moves over my eyes as I wriggle desperately against the ties at my hands and feet. A strap also rides across my chest. I don’t even have enough strength to scream. Instead, pathetic low moans escape my throat.

  Suddenly, a sharp laser of light shoots into my eyes and somehow electrocutes my brain. Everything falls blessedly dark again.

  The next time I wake it’s because of a chattering noise. It takes a while for my numbed brain to understand it’s my teeth. They clatter so loudly I wonder if they’ll break. My entire body shivers and I feel sick.

  One of the aliens is still here. He stands at the foot of the bed, watching me. Then he grimaces.

  Not a grimace...it’s a grin. The creature with the misshapen head, face, mouth...grins. He reaches for my ankles with abnormally long arms—my god, his arms must reach down past his knees—and he spreads my legs.

  I open my mouth and suck in a ragged breath.

  “Don't scream.” The voice is calm and comes from a faraway corner of the room. “Don't do it.”

  The alien who'd spread my legs turns over his shoulder to hiss at the person behind him.

  The male voice is quieter this time when it speaks. “No matter what, don't scream. It hurts their ears and they will discipline you.”

  So I stay still as the gray monster spreads my legs and pokes me with his fingers. I shiver through it all. I’m aware that I’m much thinner and my naked body is covered in a slick layer of sweat.

  Fever.

  The door opens and another alien enters. To my surprise, the one at my feet slams my legs closed.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Not a thing. She just woke.”

  The second man runs a finger along my arm. “She is still too warm. Can she understand us?”

  “I don't...I mean…I didn’t ask; she had just awoke.”

  “You didn't even find out?”

  Before I know it, the second one’s face is inches from mine. His eyes are huge and so glossy I can see my reflection in them. I’m not sure where to focus. “We have input languages from this galaxy into your brain. It is not always successful. Do you understand what I'm saying?”

  Quickly, I realize I could probably learn more if they think I don't understand. They won't watch what they say around me. I force my expression to look blank.

  The creature clucks in disgust. “Another failure. These humans are weak. We dropped the required languages down to under twenty this time. What an ignorant race. They are better off as food.”

  “Agreed. What shall I do with her?”

  “Toss her in the cell with the barbarian. She'll die soon enough.”

  Toss in the cell is literal. The first gray creature picks me up by my arm, not caring that I’m too woozy to walk. He bleeps open the cell with a device like a remote control and throws me in. He laughs when I hit the opposite wall and slide into unconsciousness again.

  It’s cold and pitch-black when I wake. Again my teeth chatter and I mutter something nonsensical. Another person wraps himself around me and he’s heavy and so warm. “Shh, female. You're all right. They've left you alone for now.”

  It’s the same voice from earlier. The one who’d warned me not to scream.

  “Wha—who are you?”

  “I am called Drakar. They stole me from my planet before your own abduction. They keep obtaining your species, but those awakened—”

  He stops speaking and instantly I know what he wants to avoid telling me. “They died,” I say.

  “Yes. One was during the language input. One screamed when she awoke and they struck her too hard. It snapped her neck. That is why I warned you not to scream. The pitch hurts them.”

  “I'm the only human who's alive?”

  “I do not know. There could be others. I watched them take many from your planet. They keep us in hibernation chambers and wake us one at a time for experiments.”

  “You obviously passed yours.”

  “I am not female. I do not have testing. All the other abductions from your planet have been female.”

  “Why?”

  “I do not know.”

  “Will they come back?”

  “Eventually. But not while the lights are dark. You are safe until morning. Then, they will see if you live.”

  “Do you know what they want with us?”

  “No, I cannot understand their la
nguage. Obviously, you can.”

  “How do you know?” Even though it’s dark, I gape at him. I can't see a thing.

  “Because you understand me. And I understand you. The other females of your race? We did not communicate like you and I.”

  His arm tightens around me and I’m never more aware of being naked. I should be embarrassed, but I’m just too weak to care. It feels good to be cuddled, even if he is a stranger. I suspect he’s been alone long enough to want human contact, too.

  “I don't suppose you have a shirt I can wear?”

  “If I give you clothing, they will assume I'm interested in you. They may try to kill you or use you to get me to do as they wish. We must pretend nonchalance around each other.”

  The situation looks bleak, but at least I have a comrade.

  “Do not worry, small one. We have an upper edge. You did not let them know you understand. We can learn much from them. They will not curb their tongues since they think you cannot understand.”

  “Where were you when you were abducted?” I ask, mostly to make small talk. Here I am, trusting a person I can't even see. But we have an uneasy friendship based on circumstance, and the big guy is keeping me warm. Plus, he smells good. His large body ripples with muscle and he makes me feel safe, as much of a falsehood as that may be. Part of me knows that, and takes solace in the pretense.

  “I was hunting when the flying disk appeared. I forced my men to hide. They wanted to stay to protect me. I am glad I went with my hunch. Now I realize they would have taken us all. Our women and children would have been defenseless and sold like your women.”

  “You were on board then when they traveled to Earth to abduct us?”

  He is patient with my woozy brain. I can’t quite comprehend timelines and events.

  “Yes. I witnessed every one of the abductions from your planet. The aliens have a viewing board in this room, behind the wall. The aliens who guarded me wanted to watch. You were the female in the red object that moved fast.”

  “A car.” They didn't have cars where he was from?

  “Yes. They cheered when it smashed into the tree. And then the chief of the aliens was upset with the others when he came into this room. He thought you may have been killed unnecessarily. You were bloody when you beamed aboard.”

  “Bloody?” I look down, but it’s impossible to see in the dark. I can't even see his arm where it hugs my midsection. I can feel him, though. He’s large and hot like a furnace. How large, I’m not aware.

  He snorts in my ear. “It is no longer there. It has been too long.”

  Long?

  I’m not sure if I want to ask, but I do. “How long has it been?”

  “It was many weeks since they inputted the knowledge of languages into you.”

  “What? That wasn't yesterday?”

  “No. It has been a long time that you have laid on that table. I spoke to you and you mumbled, but never woke.”

  “The guards were here also?”

  “No. They no longer watch me as carefully since I have been here many moons. And they knew you were helpless from watching the other females of your race that were studied.”

  “Do you know how many of us were abducted?”

  He’s quiet for a minute, as if pondering the question. “There were twelve total. Two have died. You are the third risen.”

  Drakar and I talk more through the night, but I’m exhausted and still sick and eventually, I crash mid-conversation.

  The sound of a door sliding open wakes me when the room is light. I’m alone now, without Drakar’s warmth and protection. I look down. I’m still naked as the day I was born. But I barely recognize myself, I’m so thin. It’s as if I've lost twenty pounds in the last few days. Few weeks, I guess, since I’d been out for several weeks after the brain beam. My knees are bony and my wrists look like they'll snap with a strong breeze.

  Three aliens enter the room. I can't tell one from the next, they look so similar. Huge, grotesquely-shaped heads. Gray skin. Bug-eyes and small, lipless slits for mouths. And those extra long arms that nearly reach to their knees.

  “She still lives,” one says and the bastard sounds surprised.

  “Luck,” the one in the middle snorts. “The brain scan did not take. She still does not comprehend the languages.”

  “No matter. We will test her and try another brain scan. We will see how many it takes before her brain fries like the first female.”

  “What testing will be first?”

  “Awaken another human and we'll see if she is able to transfer the languages with visual stimulation.”

  “But the languages did not take.”

  “That does not mean they are not there. It merely means she is too stupid to comprehend them. However, if she can transfer, she will be useful.”

  “She can be useful in other ways.” The alien on the left leers, smacking his small, thin lips.

  The one in the middle looks sharply at him. “Contain yourself. You are a superior being. Do not be controlled by bodily functions.”

  Bodily functions? Then he would have been the lecherous bastard who had spread my legs. I force myself to look blank, even though my heart pounds.

  I have to look unafraid.

  I have to pretend not to understand.

  The middle alien turns to the one on his right. “Get the female covered.”

  Not for my benefit. He simply wants to turn down the randy factor on his other pal. The one speaking must be the leader, because the second man never hesitates. He leaves the room and returns with a simple garment, wadded up. He tosses it into the cage.

  I grab it quickly, holding it against me. It’s simple; a thin, shapeless gown much like a hospital robe without an opening in back. I slip it over my head and it drapes to mid-calf.

  “Bring her and feed him.”

  Drakar? He’s still here?

  Before I could blink, much less turn around to see the guy who’s kept me warm all night, the door opens and I’m dragged out.

  “Don't scream,” Drakar whispers. He sounds furious. I can only imagine what horrors he’s witnessed with the other girls.

  “Don't you speak English?” I ask the alien in the middle quickly. I want to distract them in case they wonder what Drakar whispered.

  He responds in his strange, native tongue of clicks and whistles. “English? Of course I speak English, you ignorant fool. But you couldn't understand me even if I used your language to respond in. You're too dumb to have a simple language download in that tiny brain of yours.” He turns and I glimpse the back of his monstrous head where I suppose his much larger brain resides. It’s huge and wrinkled, like a grayish, rotting walnut.

  The two aliens with him snicker.

  Bingo. I just learned something new. They do know my language. I force my expression to look disappointed, as if I’m sure he can’t communicate with me.

  “Go get another female,” the bossy one says. One of them scurries away, while the other tosses me into a chair and straps me to it with a cuff around my wrist.

  “Make it loose,” the middle one barks, still irritated with the lecherous one. “I want her to be able to reach the new human for the language transfer.”

  The alien reties the rope, leaving a lot of excess dangling on the floor before the end is tied to the chair. As if I’d run.

  The door opens and the first alien returns, carrying a small, light-haired girl, but she's covered with a slimy gel which darkens her hair color. She’s still unconscious. Her body glows with a faint light, like a bulb is turned on inside her belly. Like I had been, she is completely naked. They strap her down.

  “Shall we wake her?”

  “Let's practice with her still unconscious. I hate when they speak. Their language is so grating.” Bossy sighs and looks at me as if humans are no more than lowly cockroaches.

  I keep my head down. Out of sight, out of mind. Perhaps they’ll forget about me.

  It doesn’t work.

  “
Get over here,” he barks.

  I stare at him as if I’m confused.

  “Damn idiot.” He jerks on the tie attached to my arm, yanking me to him. He pulls his face close to mine and I gasp, moving backward. He taps my brain, points at my eyes, and points at the girl they'd placed on the table.

  What the hell does he want? The confusion is easy this time. “What do you want?” I mumble.

  He sighs and speaks his own language. “They're so stupid. Watch me.” He moves to the unconscious girl. “Focus in your brain.” He taps his forehead for emphasis. “Use your eyes to transfer the mental beam into her eyes.” He opens her eyelids and holds his huge, bug-eyes wide over hers. “Do you get it, fool?”

  I have to play dumb. “I don't understand. You want me to copy you?”

  “Yes.” He gestures wildly, pulling me toward him and thumping my forehead again, harder this time. Then my eyes. Then her eyes.

  I try to look confused.

  “Like this.” His voice is a growl with his impatience. He again closes his eyes, tapping his forehead. Then he opens, and focuses about an inch from hers as he holds her eyelids open.

  She sleeps through it all.

  “Get it?”

  “You want me to copy you?” I ask again.

  “Do it.”

  He steps aside and I move into his spot. I tap my forehead.

  “Ugh, no, idiot. You don't have to tap your head. I was showing you the sign for focus.”

  Oh, I'll focus, all right. I certainly want to see if I can do this. It may keep me alive another day. At least long enough to relay the information I’ve heard to the caged man—Drakar—and possibly the girl, should they wake her.

  I close my eyes, like he did. There it is—a faint throbbing deep inside that feels like the beginning edges of a migraine. That must be the trigger point.

  When I have it, I lean over the girl, open my eyes, and pry her eyelids apart. To my surprise, a beam shoots from my eyes into hers.