Two As One Jessie meets Alex
This is the preediting version of the first chapter's opening. If you spot anything in here that needs to be fixed, let me know, please? There are a few things that will be cleared up through other chapters, but I don't always catch the little details....
In the beginning, she was alone. The room was large, if plain, with a discretely placed bathroom and pallets on the floor for sleeping. Jessie curled up on one of the pallets, with a blanket around her and shivered. She had been on Earth, going about her life as a dance student, when she’d been taken. The aliens had arrived without warning and in a matter of hours, Earth was an occupied planet and her people enslaved. Jessie wasn’t sure why she had been picked out of the crowd as an ‘example’ of what their fate could be, but that had led to her being taken onboard the alien ship after a few creative punishment demonstrations.
The door opened with a sudden hiss, sliding into the wall quickly and smoothly, dragging her out of her memories. Jessie shivered and huddled in her blanket, wondering if she would now learn what was to become of her. “Let me go,” a man said before being thrown into the room. He straightened and turned back, his reddish brown hair swirling over his shoulder from the speed of his spin. “You’ll regret this,” he called through the closing door.
“I-I don’t think they care,” Jessie said as she sat up, still in her blanket.
The man turned, and smiled at her, “Hi. I know that, the Vyperans as a group are notorious for being cold-blooded reptiles.” He studied her for a long moment, and Jessie shivered as the light glinted off his oval glasses, preventing her from seeing his eyes clearly. “Forgive me,” the man said in a gentler tone, “I’m Alex.”
“Jessie,” Jessie replied as she pushed her dark brown hair out of her face, “are- are you from Earth?”
“Earth?” Alex repeated, confused, “Oh, that little planet in the Sol System. No, I’m not. I’m an Amaranth.” He settled on a pallet across from her, “My partner and I were trying to infiltrate the ship.” He paused and looked briefly annoyed, “With emphasis on trying.”
“What happened?” Jessie asked, hugging the blanket around her a little tighter.
Alex shook his head, “Angel got mad at the central mainframe and forgot to keep her voice down. We were, naturally, discovered by the Vyperans who seemed quite put out to discover us hacking their computers. They attacked us and Angel tried to distract them so I could get away, but that didn’t work out so well.” He spread his arms out and shrugged his shoulders.
Jessie giggled, then clapped her hand over her mouth, “Sorry,” she whispered.
Alex grinned, “So you can laugh, that’s a good thing.” He drew his knees up to his chest, “It must have been a shock, though, to learn you aren’t alone in the universe.”
Jessie shook her head slightly, “That wasn’t the shock,” she told him, leaning forward a little, “my brother’s from Javor.” She paused, “My soul-brother, I believe is the proper designation. Daniel doesn’t like to talk about Before much. His family died in the war.” If you want to say something, come find me at dreamwidth.org under the name guardian_of_hope. Everything I post comes from there.
In the beginning, she was alone. The room was large, if plain, with a discretely placed bathroom and pallets on the floor for sleeping. Jessie curled up on one of the pallets, with a blanket around her and shivered. She had been on Earth, going about her life as a dance student, when she’d been taken. The aliens had arrived without warning and in a matter of hours, Earth was an occupied planet and her people enslaved. Jessie wasn’t sure why she had been picked out of the crowd as an ‘example’ of what their fate could be, but that had led to her being taken onboard the alien ship after a few creative punishment demonstrations.
The door opened with a sudden hiss, sliding into the wall quickly and smoothly, dragging her out of her memories. Jessie shivered and huddled in her blanket, wondering if she would now learn what was to become of her. “Let me go,” a man said before being thrown into the room. He straightened and turned back, his reddish brown hair swirling over his shoulder from the speed of his spin. “You’ll regret this,” he called through the closing door.
“I-I don’t think they care,” Jessie said as she sat up, still in her blanket.
The man turned, and smiled at her, “Hi. I know that, the Vyperans as a group are notorious for being cold-blooded reptiles.” He studied her for a long moment, and Jessie shivered as the light glinted off his oval glasses, preventing her from seeing his eyes clearly. “Forgive me,” the man said in a gentler tone, “I’m Alex.”
“Jessie,” Jessie replied as she pushed her dark brown hair out of her face, “are- are you from Earth?”
“Earth?” Alex repeated, confused, “Oh, that little planet in the Sol System. No, I’m not. I’m an Amaranth.” He settled on a pallet across from her, “My partner and I were trying to infiltrate the ship.” He paused and looked briefly annoyed, “With emphasis on trying.”
“What happened?” Jessie asked, hugging the blanket around her a little tighter.
Alex shook his head, “Angel got mad at the central mainframe and forgot to keep her voice down. We were, naturally, discovered by the Vyperans who seemed quite put out to discover us hacking their computers. They attacked us and Angel tried to distract them so I could get away, but that didn’t work out so well.” He spread his arms out and shrugged his shoulders.
Jessie giggled, then clapped her hand over her mouth, “Sorry,” she whispered.
Alex grinned, “So you can laugh, that’s a good thing.” He drew his knees up to his chest, “It must have been a shock, though, to learn you aren’t alone in the universe.”
Jessie shook her head slightly, “That wasn’t the shock,” she told him, leaning forward a little, “my brother’s from Javor.” She paused, “My soul-brother, I believe is the proper designation. Daniel doesn’t like to talk about Before much. His family died in the war.” If you want to say something, come find me at dreamwidth.org under the name guardian_of_hope. Everything I post comes from there.