Alien Freak - Calista Skye Page 0,2

say anything like that.”

“No,” Gabrielle says, her voice hollow. “This is not because of Averie. This is something else.”

All the phones screeching their chilling commands fills my mind and makes it hard to think. I’m on the brink of panic, just like all of us.

On a hunch, I look up. And there it is, just passing in front of the sun and throwing a dark shadow on us: a Bululg flying saucer, dirty white and ugly.

Everyone looks up as the saucer quickly descends.

“Damn it,” I manage, hearing how my voice trembles. “This looks bad.”

“Yeah,” Gabrielle agrees. “They’re here to harvest.”

The saucer lands in the middle of the lawn, and several aliens come out. There are fresk and girku, horrible creatures that the Bululg use as enforcers and shock troops. There’s one Bululg among them, too, leading the others with sharp, thin commands.

The aliens form groups that march fast out from the saucer, and twenty seconds later the first girl has a net around her and is dragged off. Her desperate screams reach us over the din from the phones, and she fights the net and throws herself on the ground, clawing at it while she’s being dragged to the saucer.

The next girl is a fighter and tries to punch the aliens coming for her. They are much larger than her and easily overpower the slender girl. She swears and screams and spits and tries to bite them while she’s being carried away.

And one group of aliens is coming straight for us. One horse-sized fresk with huge teeth and a slimy, tentacled girku.

“Shit,” I exclaim. “Do we run?”

“The implant will zap you hard if you try,” Gabrielle hisses. “It’s like a taser. If they want you, they’ll get you.”

“Well, you had it coming,” Donna says loudly as the aliens approach. “There she is, uh… officer. I tried to tell her to stop, but…” She points at me with her whole arm, tipped with a perfectly painted nail in dark red.

My heart sinks even deeper in my chest, and scared tears burn in my eyes. The aliens are big and ugly, and I have no chance against them.

One of them has a fine-meshed net in its claws.

The aliens look at us with empty, emotionless eyes.

Then they pull the net over Donna and draw it tight.

“Hey, what?!” Donna splutters. “It wasn’t me! It was her!” She points at me again.

The aliens turn around and drag her away.

“No! It was not me! I didn’t say anything! You’ve got the wrong one!” Donna yells from inside the net. “Nooo!” She starts sobbing. “It wasn’t meeehee…. no… stop...”

I can’t stand just watching. I move to help her, but before I can take even one step the implant zaps me so hard I see stars and lose control of my knees. They buckle under me, and I faceplant on the grass, my arms just as powerless to break my fall. “Oof.”

I stay there, unable to move, as Donna’s desperate, scared sobs get overpowered by the phones’ constant screeching while she’s being dragged away.

I’m only down there for a couple of minutes, the cut grass tickling my nose, before everything suddenly goes quiet.

I manage to roll around onto my back and move my eyes. The saucer has taken off and rises slowly into the air.

Gabrielle kneels beside me, her face pale. “Can you move, Averie?”

She slowly helps me get back on my feet.

I wipe my face with one numb hand. “God, I hope that wasn’t my fault.”

She holds my hand and squeezes. “It wasn’t. Normal harvest procedure. I’ve read about it. Just bad luck.”

My throat is all ragged and sore. “Especially for Donna.”

The saucer speeds up and disappears into the blue sky.

Gabrielle sighs. “She’s just their type. Curvy and elegant. They only took four girls.”

We just stand there for a good while, trying to process the horror. Newly mowed grass will never smell good again. It will just give me bad chills.

“Well, at least we can assume they’re done for now,” Gabrielle finally says. “With our college. But I guess—”

Someone starts screaming on the other side of the lawn, and there’s frantic movement. Then more and more voices join in, and suddenly everyone is running wildly.

“Kind of a slow reaction,” I wheeze. “A little late to run now.”

“Yeah…” Gabrielle frowns. “But it’s not the Bululg they’re running from. It’s him.”

I see him in the same moment. A giant shape, shining red in the sunlight, walking fast and relaxed, coming straight for us. Clearly an alien, clearly different from